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Former champion Renan Barao returns against debuting fighter at UFC Sao Paulo
There was a time not all that long ago that Renan Barao ruled over the bantamweight division with an iron first. Since losing his title to TJ Dillashaw, however, Barao has been on a significant downslide. Now, he’s been tasked with welcoming a debuting fighter to the Octagon — which would have been unthinkable at […]
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Nikita Krylov booked for Octagon return opposite 4th-ranked Jan Blachowicz
There will be no warmup for Nikita Krylov’s return to the UFC. Krylov, who parted ways with the promotion in 2016, is set to return to the Octagon at UFC Moscow on September 15, where he will battle the UFC’s fourth-ranked light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz. This bout was recently made official by the UFC on […]
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BJPENN.COM’s Scraps of the Month for July 2018
There is a special place in the heart of every MMA fan for a good, old-fashioned scrap… Frenetic fights like Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua I, Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald II, and Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, that hammer their way into our memories and never leave. At the end of each month, BJPENN.COM honors […]
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Demetrious Johnson is still open for a super fight with the bantamweight champion
For a time, it looked as though Demetrious Johnson’s next flyweight title challenger would come in the form of a slimmed down bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw. Unfortunately, the UFC couldn’t lock this fight down. Dillashaw was booked to defend his title against Cody Garbrandt, and Johnson was booked to defend his title against Henry Cejudo […]
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Disrespected Cris Cyborg trashes Amanda Nunes and the UFC
UFC featherweight Cris Cyborg wanted to fight bantamweight Amanda Nunes at UFC 228 in Dallas, but that’s not happening. Instead, Nunes wants the fight to occur at UFC 232 in December, some nine months after Cyborg’s last fight. Cyborg isn’t happy about this. ”Amanda has talked a bunch of stuff, saying she couldn’t fight, that […]
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Dustin Poirier says he’s willing to fight again before title shot
Dustin Poirier has earned a UFC lightweight title shot. If there was any doubt about that, he erased it with his UFC Calgary drubbing of former champion Eddie Alvarez. Unfortunately for Poirier, the title situation at lightweight is tremendously uncertain thanks to the potential comeback of former champion Conor McGregor. Should McGregor return, he will […]
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UFC 227 takes a late hit as Bethe Correia is pulled from bout with Irene Aldana mid fight week
Losing fights is never a good thing for all involved. Especially when it’s right in the middle of fight week, making the task of finding a replacement even harder. And for Mexican bantamweight prospect Irene Aldana, no one is going to be able to fill in for her opponent Bethe Correia. The bout was initially […]
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Top 5 Upcoming Fights for August 2018
July was an awesome month of MMA. So awesome that its top 5 was actually kind of a top 6…! But unfortunately, it turned back into a top 5 as we did lose one of the top bouts in the featherweight title clash pitting champion Max Holloway against the challenger Brian Ortega. Closing out the […]
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Under the MMA Microscope | Which fighters left the UFC on their terms and why?
The UFC is MMA’s pinnacle when it comes to where fighters aspire to be. It’s the top of the mountain, yet for one reason or another, fighters have chosen against it. In 2018, the UFC isn’t as much the end all be all in the MMA world as it once was 15 years ago. The […]
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Paulo Costa confident he could KO Robert Whittaker or Yoel Romero inside 2 rounds
Back in June, in the main event of UFC 225, UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker stepped into the cage with Yoel Romero. Though Romero was not eligible to win the title due to his failure to make the 185-pound limit for middleweight title fights, the pair delivered an absolutely unforgettable fight, pelting each other with […]
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Darren Till explains why Colby Covington isn’t getting the next crack at Tyron Woodley
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is now set to defend his title at UFC 228 on September 8 in Dallas. Yet he will not defend it against current interim welterweight champion Colby Covington. Instead, he’s poised to defend his strap against surging British contender Darren Till, which means that Covington will soon be stripped of […]
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Conor McGregor calls himself “the only undisputed Champ Champ”
When UFC lightweight champion Daniel Cormier knocked out then heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 226, he became one of just two men in UFC history to wear gold in two divisions concurrently. The other is Conor McGregor, who held the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles simultaneously in 2016. Apparently, however, Conor McGregor still considers […]
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Conor McGregor reacts to Jose Aldo’s big win at UFC Calgary: I’m so happy for him
Last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 30 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo rebounded from back-to-back losses with a first-round TKO win over the dangerous Jeremy Stephens. It was incredibly emotional win for Jose Aldo, and a feel-good moment for his legions of fans. Apparently, it was […]
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Manager: Khabib Nurmagomedov deserves at least $10 million for Conor McGregor fight
The UFC is currently working on a massive lightweight title fight between reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor. If this fight is going to happen, however, they’re going to have to make it worth Conor McGregor’s while, who recently deposited north of $100 million in his bank account for fighting Floyd Mayweather […]
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Khabib Nurmagomedov calls Georges St-Pierre the “greatest competitor in the UFC of all time”
There are a number of exciting possibilities on UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s horizon. One of those options is a showdown with former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Nurmagomedov has called St-Pierre out on several occasions in the past. For the lightweight champ, the appeal of the fight seems to be that St-Pierre […]
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Cody Garbrandt is still interested in dropping to flyweight to challenge ‘Mighty Mouse’
During Cody Garbrandt’s reign as UFC bantamweight champion, there was much discussion surrounding his potential move down to the 125-pound flyweight division to challenge dominant divisional kingpin Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Today, as Garbrandt readies to attempt to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title from TJ Dillashaw, the man who ended his reign, he’s still interested […]
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VIDEO | See the street fight that left UFC lightweight Jared Gordon with 21 stitches on his fingers
Whole fight here: pic.twitter.com/1MRPiBkXnq — Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) July 30, 2018 UFC lightweight Jared Gordon lost his last fight, succumbing to first-round punches from Carlos Diego Ferreira in February. To say he wasn’t 100% for this fight, however, would be a gross understatement. Two months before his fight, he was involved in an insane and totally […]
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Cody Garbrandt reflects on UFC 217, talks fighter pay, ‘Something’s gotta change’
At UFC 217 we witnessed one of the most anticipated grudge matches of the year and the bantamweight gold was on the line. That fight, of course, being the battle between heated former teammates TJ Dillashaw and the then champion, Cody Garbrandt. Initially, the fight was supposed to go down at UFC 213 as the […]
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Max Holloway gives update, expects return by year’s end, ‘This wasn’t a weight cut thing’
We lost out on one of MMA’s most highly anticipated matchups in the lead up of UFC 226’s fight week. But in the end, it was for fighter safety. Showing concussion-like symptoms prior to his showdown with Brian Ortega, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was removed from the card. Exactly what was wrong with Holloway has yet to […]
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Report | Derek Brunson vs Israel Adesanya close to finalization for UFC 230
UFC 230 is already setting up to be an unofficial middleweight tournament and the bracket only appears to be getting bigger. Already added to the November 3rd Madison Square Garden event is a trio of awesome 185-pound clashes. Most notably is the recent title challenger Yoel Romero taking on the red-hot rising contender, Paulo Costa. […]
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Coach admits he accidentally advised Eddie Alvarez to throw a 12-6 elbow: “I feel horrible”
Eddie Alvarez’s UFC on Fox 30 rematch with Dustin Poirier did not go the way he planned. Instead, the all-action lightweight star was swarmed and TKO’d in the second round. That said, Alvarez was not without his moments in the fight. In fact, it could even be argued that Alvarez was soundly in control of […]
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Anthony Smith explains why he deserves Daniel Cormier fight over “safe bets” Anderson and Latifi
The most lucrative fight on Daniel Cormier’s calendar is his planned heavyweight title fight with former champion Brock Lesnar, which is expected to occur sometime in the new year. Between now and then, however, Cormier plans to defend his light heavyweight title, most likely before the year is out. When it comes to opponents for […]
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Chance to retake the strawweight throne still in play for Joanna Jedrzejczyk
The mantra is typically two strikes and you’re out when referring to title opportunities in combat sports, but things have obviously escalated to a traditional baseball sense when breaking down the scalding feud between UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and former titleholder Joanna Jedrzejczyk. It could take three strikes before Jedrzejczyk is out. At […]
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Three exciting fights announced for UFC Sao Paulo
On September 22, the UFC will return to the mixed martial arts hotbed of Sao Paulo, Brazil. This UFC Sao Paulo card is coming together quickly. On Sunday, the promotion announced a trio of new bouts for this UFC Sao Paulo card, featuring a number of former MMA champions and title challengers. The first of […]
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Report | Khabib Nurmagomedov confirms “Conor’s next,” suggests Poirier vs. Ferguson fight
There is no shortage of options for UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s first title defense. The most likely option of course, is former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who was ultimately stripped of both titles for inactivity. McGregor was recently tied up with a legal debacle stemming from his crazed April rampage in […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Phil Baroni explains the difference between PRIDE fighters and today’s fighters
On October 20, fan favorite MMA veterans Phil Baroni and Chris Leben will step through the ropes to battle in a bareknuckle boxing match. While this matchup has generated a bit of controversy among fans, mainly due to Leben’s recent health problems, it’s one that has Baroni very excited. In Leben, Phil Baroni sees a […]
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Dustin Poirier addresses Eddie Alvarez’s illegal elbow and “wet willy”
In May of 2017, Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez met in a thrilling fight that unfortunately ended in controversy, as Alvarez landed an illegal knee and the bout was ruled a no contest. 14 months later, in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC on Fox 30 card, the pair met again. This time around, […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Phil Baroni wants to fight TRT-fuelled Vitor Belfort
Phil Baroni’s next challenge will occur in October, when he steps into the ring for a bareknuckle bout with a fellow veteran Chris Leben. For Baroni, this bareknuckle battle with Leben, a durable, ferocious, bona fide fighter, is just what the doctor ordered. Yet this isn’t the only prospective scrap that interests Baroni. Speaking on the latest […]