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Cris Cyborg looking to make history as MMA’s first ‘Grand Slam Champion’
Cris Cyborg knows she will go down as one of the greats but at Bellator 238 she can cement her legacy even more. In the main event, Cyborg is making her Bellator debut and taking on Julia Budd for the featherweight title. Should she win, she would become the first person to win belts in […]
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Bellator 238 | Pro fighters make their picks for Julia Budd vs. Cris Cyborg title fight
In the main event of Bellator 238, Julia Budd is looking to defend her featherweight title against Cris Cyborg who’s making her promotional debut. Heading into the fight, Budd is a +325 underdog while the Brazilian is a -450 favorite. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions […]
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Thiago Alves explains decision to sign with BKFC
After 14 years and 27 fights with the UFC, Thiago Alves found himself longing for a fresh start. So, when the promotion offered him a new deal after a pair of losses to Laureano Staropoli and Tim Means, he respectfully declined, and signed an exclusive contract with upstart bare knuckle promotion Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship […]
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Curtis Millender says Michael Page has turned him down multiple times, can’t wait to ‘slap’ MVP
Curtis Millender says he’s been offered a fight with Michael Page numerous times, yet “MVP” has never accepted the fight. Millender is set to return to action against Moses Murrietta at Bellator 238 in his first fight since being released from the UFC. Yet he is not fighting a big name like Michael Page, which […]
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UFC Raleigh | Pro fighters make their picks for Curtis Blaydes vs. Junior dos Santos
In the main event of UFC Raleigh, Curtis Blaydes will look to extend his winning streak to three when he battles the former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos. Heading into the fight, Blaydes is a -250 favorite while dos Santos is a +195 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters […]
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Roxanne Modafferi on UFC 246 win over Maycee Barber: ‘I was winning before her knee got hurt anyway’
Roxanne Modafferi was the biggest underdog on the entire UFC 246 card, entering the cage for her fight with Maycee Barber at +600. Yet the 39-fight veteran got the job done by unanimous decision winning, every single round including one 10-8 round on one judge’s scorecard. It was a performance nobody except Modafferi and her […]
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Michael Chiesa says he ‘loves’ UFC Raleigh matchup but doesn’t know why Rafael dos Anjos asked for it
Michael Chiesa wanted a ranked opponent after his win over Diego Sanchez but did not expect to get a top-five opponent in Rafael dos Anjos. Chiesa, who moved up to welterweight in 2018, is now 2-0 in the weight class and revealed it was dos Anjos who asked for the fight at UFC Raleigh. “This […]
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Cris Cyborg: Bellator 238 fight against Julia Budd will be ‘one of the greatest fights in WMMA history’
Cris Cyborg believes her upcoming fight against Julia Budd will be one of the best ever. In the main event of Bellator 238, Cyborg is making her promotional debut and challenging for the featherweight title. It will no doubt be a tough fight for Cyborg. Yet, she is eager for the challenge and the opportunity […]
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UFC 246 | Pro fighters make their picks for Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone
In the main event of UFC 246, Conor McGregor makes his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon, where he will battle Donald Cerrone. Heading into the fight, the Irishman is a -325 favorite while “Cowboy” is a +250 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the […]
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Nathaniel Wood wants Cody Garbrandt after John Dodson fight
Whether you are a connoisseur of European MMA or not, you probably know who Nathaniel Wood is by now. The former Cage Warriors title-holder made his UFC debut just less than two years ago and since then he has racked up three victories in three fights, all won by submission. “The Prospect” is now ready […]
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Timofey Nastyukhin is ‘100% ready to fight’ and build on momentum of Alvarez win
Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez was widely expected to blow through the competition in ONE Championship. Timofey Nastyukhin, the man tasked with welcoming Alvarez to the ONE cage back in March of 2019, didn’t get the memo. Instead, Nastyukhin disposed of the decorated MMA champion inside one round, shocking everybody but himself. […]
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Maurice Greene confident he’ll KO Alexey Oleynik: ‘It’s hard to do jiu-jitsu when you’re getting punched and elbowed’
Maurice Greene is confident he will return to the win column at UFC 246 when he battles Alexey Oleynik. Last time out, Greene suffered his first loss inside the Octagon when he was knocked out by Sergei Pavlovich. Although he lost, he says it was a learning experience and knows what he has to do […]
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Alexander Volkanovski prioritizing title defenses over super fights
There are a lot of dangerous fighters in the UFC featherweight top-10, and the division’s new champion Alexander Volkanovski is more than happy to fight them all. That, he says, is simply the duty of a UFC champion. “That’s how a champ should do it,” Volkanovski told BJPENN.com, adding that defeating his many featherweight rivals […]
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UFC 246 | Alexey Oleynik: ‘I don’t need to go to the ground’ against Maurice Greene
Alexey Oleynik knows he will have a massive advantage on the ground when he takes on Maurice Green at UFC 246, but isn’t sure he will utilize it. Oleynik is on a two-fight losing streak, having recently been TKO’d by Alistair Overeem and then knocked out in 12 seconds by Walt Harris, and knows this […]
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Alexander Volkanovski responds to Korean Zombie callout: ‘It ain’t gonna be that easy’
Alexander Volkanovski is exactly one month into his reign as the UFC featherweight champion. While he’s still healing up from an arm injury sustained in his title-winning battle, a unanimous decision win over long-time champ Max Holloway, he’s beginning to look ahead to his first challenge as champion. The options for that challenge are plentiful. […]
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Manager: Carlos Condit suffered ‘common injury’, will fight in 2020
Carlos Condit was hoping to get back on track to end 2019 before an injury forced him to withdraw from his scheduled fight with Mickey Gall at UFC Washington, DC. While the exact reason for the withdrawal hasn’t truly been revealed, Condit’s manager Abe Kawa says that “The Natural Born Killer” didn’t suffer a serious […]
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UFC 246 | Diego Ferreira believes it will come down to ‘who wants it more’ against Anthony Pettis
Diego Ferreira is days out from arguably the biggest fight of his career. He will take on Anthony Pettis in the UFC 246 pay-per-view opener this Saturday in Las Vegas. With a win, the Brazilian might just enter the lightweight rankings. Although Pettis, who is the former WEC and UFC lightweight champion is a big […]
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Cynthia Calvillo heading to 125, expects UFC flyweight debut in April
Cynthia Calvillo is officially done with the 115-pound weight division. After closing out 2019 fighting Marina Rodriguez to a majority draw — a fight in which she missed weight after her body began to shut down during her cut — Calvillo has made the decision to make the move up to the women’s flyweight division. […]
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Gilbert Burns believes welterweight division has become ‘stagnant’ like lightweight when McGregor was champ
Gilbert Burns believes the welterweight division has become stagnant, just like the lightweight division was when Conor McGregor was the champion. When that was happening, Burns had a hard time getting fights or ranked opponents. So, in 2019 he decided to move up to welterweight. Immediately, he got two short-notice fights against Alexey Kunchenko and […]
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Promoter: Claressa Shields ‘is carrying the sport of women’s boxing on her shoulders’
Claressa Shields is looking to make history on Jan. 10 when she battles Ivana Habazin for the vacant WBC and WBO light middleweight titles. Should she win, the two-time Olympic gold medalist would become a three-weight world champion. Not only would Shields become a three-weight world champion like Canelo Alvarez, Vasyl Lomachenko, Bud Crawford, Floyd […]
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Gilbert Burns says Demian Maia didn’t want to take fight, believes win puts career on ‘another level’
Gilbert Burns got his wish as he will indeed fight Demian Maia in the co-main event of UFC Brasilia. Yet, the fight almost didn’t come to fruition. Burns, who is now 2-0 at welterweight with two short-notice wins over Alexey Kunchenko and Gunnar Nelson says mutual friends between him and Maia said the Brazilian legend […]
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Promoter: Claressa Shields vs. Amanda Nunes ‘would be the biggest women’s sporting event of all time’
Claressa Shields has made it known that she wants to fight Amanda Nunes in MMA and in boxing. If it happens, Shields’ promoter in Dmitriy Salita believes it would be the biggest women’s sporting event of all time. Shields is set to fight on Jan. 10 against Ivana Habazin. If she wins, she would become […]
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Devonte Smith using ‘lessons learned’ towards recovery, ‘winning’ 2020
To say Devonte Smith’s 2019 was chaotic would be a bit of an understatement. After starting the year off with a highlight reel first round KO win over Dong Hyun Ma at UFC 234 — in the first PPV prelim headliner in UFC history on ESPN — “King Kage” was on everyone’s radars. In fact, […]
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Geoff Neal says Usman-Covington was ‘entertaining’ but technique wasn’t good
Geoff Neal was surprised how the UFC 245 main event between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington played out. It was a battle between two high-level wrestlers, yet there was not one takedown attempt. Instead, they decided to stand and trade until Usman dropped Covington twice in the fifth and earned a TKO win to retain […]
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Manager: ‘God bless whoever has to fight Tyron Woodley next’
After losing the UFC welterweight title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235, many began to question the motivation of Tyron Woodley. Was he taking on too much? Has he gone “too Hollywood”? Does he still want to fight? All of these questions have been asked by the MMA community. Those questions didn’t just make Woodley […]
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Geoff Neal knew head kick would be there against Mike Perry, eyes anyone ranked above him
Geoff Neal picked up the biggest win of his career at UFC 245 when he knocked out Mike Perry in the first round. He was also the first person to knock out the fan favorite out in MMA. Neal was confident he would earn a finish but was surprised it happened so soon into the […]
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Claressa Shields says she will train with Jon Jones, make MMA debut in 2020
Claressa Shields is looking to make a lot of history in 2020 — in the boxing ring, and in the world of mixed martial arts. Shields has the opportunity to become a three-division world boxing champion and do so faster than any fighter in history when she faces Ivana Habazin on Jan. 10 for the […]
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Manager lays out 2020 goals for Jorge Masvidal
Whether he was your pick for 2019 Fighter of the Year, or at least in your top-3, no one had a bigger surge over that 12-month stretch than Jorge Masvidal. After losing back-to-back fights in 2017, and not competing at all in 2018, “Gamebred” took the UFC by storm with highlight reel knockouts over Darren […]