MMA News

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 5, 2024

Mikey Musumeci intends to leave everything on the line when he runs it back with Gabriel Sousa. The rematch happens at ONE 167 on Prime Video, airing live in U.S. primetime from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, this Friday, June 7.

Curtis Calhoun - June 5, 2024

Former UFC featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski feels his two-time foe, Islam Makhachev, deserves the pound-for-pound nod over Jon Jones. Makhachev defeated Dustin Poirier by fifth-round submission to retain the UFC lightweight belt at UFC 302. He remains the UFC’s pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter as of this writing, with Jones in the No. 2 spot.

Curtis Calhoun - June 5, 2024

One of Dustin Poirier’s American Top Team teammates has vehemently defended him against recent public jabs from another teammate, Arman Tsarukyan after UFC 302. Poirier’s third and likely final attempt at UFC undisputed gold fell short against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 on Saturday. Despite a competitive first four rounds, Makhachev sealed the victory by tapping out Poirier with a D’Arce choke in Round 5.

Cole Shelton - June 5, 2024

Dustin Poirier left his UFC 302 title fight against Islam Makhachev with some serious injuries. Poirier suffered a fifth-round submission loss to Makhachev for the lightweight title last Saturday in the main event of UFC 302. Although he lost, Poirier had his moments in the bout and taking to social media on Wednesday, ‘The Diamond’ revealed he suffered some serious injuries, including a partially torn ACL.

Fernando Quiles - June 5, 2024

Eddie Alvarez has made his prediction for a possible rematch between UFC lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. Makhachev and Tsarukyan had a competitive showdown back in 2019. Makhachev emerged victorious via unanimous decision. While Makhachev has gone on to become a UFC champion with three successful title defenses, Tsarukyan hasn’t done too bad either, going 9-1 since that encounter.

Fernando Quiles - June 5, 2024

Mark Hunt remains confident that his long legal battle with the UFC will sway in his favor. It’s no secret that Hunt has been going after the UFC and Brock Lesnar in court. Hunt was initially beaten by Lesnar via unanimous decision at UFC 200, but the result was changed to a No Contest after “The Beast” failed his drug test. Hunt ended up suing the UFC, Dana White, and Brock. The “Super Samoan” alleged the UFC conspired with Lesnar knowing the former heavyweight champion was on PEDs.

Fernando Quiles - June 5, 2024

Henry Cejudo believes the UFC 302 co-main event between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa was a total bore. Strickland vs. Costa was a one-sided fight, but don’t tell that to judge Dave Tirelli, who somehow gave Costa a baffling 49-46 score total. Strickland overcame the oddball judge to emerge victorious via split decision thanks to his forward pressure. “Borrachinha” couldn’t do much while backpedaling, and it made for an uneventful fight.

Harry Kettle - June 5, 2024

UFC fighter Michal Oleksiejczuk has claimed that his arm didn’t actually break during his UFC 302 showdown with Kevin Holland. Last weekend at UFC 302, Kevin Holland got back on the winning trail. He defeated Michal Oleksiejczuk via submission, with the referee jumping in to stop the bout after it appeared as if Oleksiejczuk’s arm was broken.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 5, 2024

Itsuki Hirata vows to do everything in her power to return to her winning ways. “Android 18” squares off with Victoria Souza in a women’s atomweight MMA bout at ONE 167 on Prime Video. This U.S. primetime card emanates live from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, June 7.

Harry Kettle - June 5, 2024

UFC contender Belal Muhammad has made a big statement regarding his plans for Leon Edwards at UFC 304. While some fans may not like it, Belal Muhammad is the number one contender for the UFC welterweight championship. He will challenge for the belt next month in Manchester, England when he takes on reigning champion Leon Edwards. Of course, as we know, the two have met before, with an unfortunate eye poke bringing the fight to an end prematurely.

Harry Kettle - June 5, 2024

The UFC has officially announced that Maycee Barber vs Rose Namajunas will headline their return to Denver, Colorado. For the longest time now, Maycee Barber has been a rising prospect at flyweight. In equal measure, Rose Namajunas has been one of the biggest names in women’s mixed martial arts. Both have achieved some big things in the sport already, but of course, Namajunas is the one who has really put herself on the map with two major upset title wins.

Cole Shelton - June 4, 2024

Jared Cannonier will be making the walk to the Octagon again after a year off due to injuries. Cannonier last fought back on June 17, 2023, when he defeated Marvin Vettori by decision. He was then offered to fight Khamzat Chimaev on short notice in Abu Dhabi, but Cannonier injured his MCL which has kept him out of action until now.

Cole Shelton - June 1, 2024

Jailton Almeida is ready to climb up the heavyweight ranks again. Almeida is coming off a knockout loss to Curtis Blaydes back in March and is set to face Alexandr Romanov at UFC 302 on Saturday. The Brazilian is the betting favorite and he has confidence he will be able to get back into the win column in a big way.

Cole Shelton - May 30, 2024

Jailton Almeida will be looking to return to the win column on the main card of UFC 302 on Saturday against Alexandr Romanov. Almeida is coming off a knockout loss to Curtis Blaydes at UFC 299 in the second-round, this after he dominated the first round. Although the Brazilian lost the fight, he says it was a good learning lesson which is why he isn’t viewing it as a loss.

Cole Shelton - May 30, 2024

Sean Strickland knows he is a much better fighter than Paulo Costa. Strickland is set to face Costa in the co-main event of UFC 302 in a five-round fight. Strickland is looking to return to the win column after losing his middleweight title back in January to Dricus Du Plessis.

Cole Shelton - May 30, 2024

In the co-main event of UFC 302, a middleweight bout goes down as Sean Strickland takes on Paulo Costa. Heading into the fight, Strickland is a -250 favorite while the Brazilian is a +190 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the middleweight fight. The pros believe the five rounds will favor Strickland as they expect the American to beat Costa by decision.

Cole Shelton - May 28, 2024

Alex Morono jumped at the chance to rematch Niko Price at UFC 302. After Morono defeated Court McGee in April, he returned to the gym to prepare for any short-notice fight that came up. Shortly after his win, Jeremiah Wells fell out of his fight against Price and Morono called the UFC to get his rematch.

Cole Shelton - May 17, 2024

Khaos Williams will be ending his year-long layoff on Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 92 against Carlston Harris. Williams has not fought since last May when he defeated Rolando Bedoya by split decision. After the fight, Williams says taking time off was part of the plan as every time he steps into the Octagon he says he wants to make sure everything is 100 percent perfect.

Cole Shelton - May 9, 2024

Terrance McKinney is excited to fight in front of fans again, as he takes on Esteban Ribovics at UFC St. Louis on Saturday. McKinney is coming off a 20-second knockout win back in October and was hoping to make a quick turnaround after the result. Unfortunately, it took seven months for ‘T-Wrecks’ to get his night fight booked, but he’s ready to bring the heat again this weekend in Missouri.

Cole Shelton - May 8, 2024

Chase Hooper knows he will have to get Viacheslav Borshchev to the ground if he is going to get his hand raised at UFC St. Louis. Hooper is set for his third fight at lightweight as he’s 2-0 and coming off a submission win over Jordan Leavitt back in November. After the win, he was hoping to get a quick turnaround, but that didn’t happen.

Cole Shelton - May 2, 2024

Tristan Hamm made quick work in his boxing debut and now he wants to see how far he can take it. Hamm, also known as Mr. Adventure on social media with over two million Instagram followers, had his boxing debut in January on the Misfits card. He scored a quick knockout win, and although he’s only been boxing for six months, Hamm says being part of the influencer boxing was something he had been interested in.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

In the main event of UFC 301, the flyweight title is up for grabs as Alexandre Pantoja looks to defend his belt against Steve Erceg. Heading into the fight, Pantoja is a -200 favorite while the challenger is a +154 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the flyweight title fight. The pros are unanimous in thinking Pantoja will remain the flyweight champ as they believe this is too big of a step up in competition for Erceg.

Cole Shelton - April 30, 2024

Drakkar Klose called for the easiest fight in the lightweight division after his last win and he says he got his wish. After Klose scored a slam KO over Joe Solecki in December, he said he didn’t care who was next, as he just wanted the easiest guy for the most amount of money. Klose ended up getting the call to face Joaquim Silva at UFC 301 in Brazil, which is exciting for the American to go into enemy territory.

Cole Shelton - April 24, 2024

Austen Lane wasn’t surprised when he got offered to fight Jhonata Diniz at UFC Vegas 91. Lane is coming off a knockout loss to Justin Tafa back in September at UFC 293, this after their no-contest result. Following the loss, Lane wanted to return much sooner as he wanted to be as active as possible.