Exclusive MMA Interviews News
UFC 275 | Pro fighters make their picks for Valentina Shevchenko vs. Taila Santos title fight
Cole Shelton - June 9, 2022
In the co-main event of UFC 275, the women’s flyweight title is up for grabs as Valentina Shevchenko looks to defend her belt for the seventh time against Taila Santos. Heading into the fight, Shevchenko is a -720 favorite on FanDuel while the challenger is a +450 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. To no surprise, the pros are unanimous in thinking Shevchenko defends her belt with the majority also thinking she finds the stoppage sometime in the fight.
UFC 275 | Pro fighters make their picks for Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 2
Cole Shelton - June 9, 2022
On the main card of UFC 275, Weili Zhang is set to rematch Joanna Jedrzejczyk after the two had one of the best women’s fights of all time at UFC 248. Heading into the fight, Zhang is a -172 favorite on FanDuel while the Pole is a +134 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The pros are nearly unanimous in thinking Jedrzejczyk gets the job done likely by decision.
Jack Della Maddalena plans to make UFC 275 scrap against Ramazan Emeev a "very violent fight" that leads to "a brutal finish"
Cole Shelton - June 8, 2022
Jack Della Maddalena expects to kick off the UFC 275 main card with a bang. Della Maddalena is set for his second UFC fight when he meets Ramazan Emeev to open up the main card on Saturday in Singapore. It’s an intriguing matchup and now that he has one UFC fight under his belt Jack expects to perform much better on Saturday.
Jiri Prochazka says Jan Blachowicz will get the next light heavyweight title shot after UFC 275
Cole Shelton - June 8, 2022
Jiri Prochazka expects to face Jan Blachowicz in his first title defense if he defeats Glover Teixeira at UFC 275. Prochazka served as the backup fighter for Blachowicz vs. Teixeira at UFC 267 and it was clear he would face the winner. Teixeira ended up winning the fight by submission, which set up his first title defense against Prochazka at UFC 275 in Singapore.
Alan Belcher vows to KO Frank Tate within a minute in 'BKFC Jackson 2' main event: "That's the only way it goes down"
Cole Shelton - June 7, 2022
Alan Belcher is set to headline his first BKFC event since coming out of retirement. After Belcher dropped a technical decision to Michael Bisping at UFC 159 in 2013, he proceeded to retire from the sport due to an eye injury he sustained in the fight. After years away from the fight game, ‘The Talent’ decided to sign on with BKFC in 2021, a move which he says needed to happen.
Jiri Prochazka excited to fight "true warrior" Glover Teixeira, confident he will get the finish to become the champ: "I know it's my time"
Cole Shelton - June 7, 2022
Jiri Prochazka always knew he would eventually fight for the UFC light heavyweight title but admits this is sooner than he expected. Prochazka is the former RIZIN light heavyweight champion and signed with the UFC in 2020. He made his Octagon debut that July against Volkan Oezdemir, where he continued his win streak with a nasty KO. Jiri followed that up with another violent finish in his most recent effort, sleeping former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes in his first ever main event.
Jeff Molina knows he's "going to get way better” from his split decision win over Zhalgas Zhumagulov: "I felt like I landed the harder shots"
Cole Shelton - June 6, 2022
Jeff Molina expected a grinding type of fight against Zhalgas Zhumagulov. Molina knew Zhumagulov was going to be the toughest test of his career even though the 33-year-old was just 1-3 in the UFC entering the fight. ‘El Jefe’ said Zhumagulov didn’t get enough respect and was anticipating the grueling back and forth fight. However, despite the win, he is ultimately disappointed in his performance.
Ode Osbourne describes "perfect storm" scenario for his UFC Vegas 56 fight with Zarrukh Adashev
Cole Shelton - June 2, 2022
Ode Osbourne has been trying to get a fight for quite some time. Osbourne returned to the win column back at UFC 268, as he edged out a decision win over CJ Vergara. He was hoping to make a quick turnaround after the victory but says nothing came to fruition as other flyweights don’t want to fight him.
Jeff Molina says Zhalgas Zhumagulov is "nothing I've never seen before," expects to finish him: "I'm excited to prove to everyone what level I'm on"
Cole Shelton - June 1, 2022
Jeff Molina is finally healthy. Molina is coming off a second-round TKO over Daniel da Silva back in October to improve to 2-0 in the UFC. After the win, he made it clear he was going to take several months off and rest until he was fully healthy. That is finally the case as Molina will return at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 56 event against Zhalgas Zhumagulov.
Dan Ige trained with Gaethje and Cejudo ahead of Mosvar Evloev fight, expects to "break" the Russian: "I know I have the ability to break guys"
Cole Shelton - May 31, 2022
Dan Ige made some changes to his usual training camp for his UFC Vegas 56 fight against Movsar Evloev. Ige is set to face the undefeated Russian on Saturday in the co-main event in a crucial fight for both men. The Hawaiian is on a two-fight losing streak after dropping decisions to Josh Emmett and Korean Zombie in his most recent efforts. After the setbacks, Ige expected he’d get someone ranked below him so he wasn’t surprised when he got the offer to face Evloev.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik expects to "put away" Alexander Volkov and face either Tom Aspinall or Tai Tuivasa next
Cole Shelton - May 31, 2022
Jairzinho Rozenstruik is glad to finally make the walk to the Octagon. Rozenstruik was supposed to face Marcin Tybura at UFC Columbus but the fight was ultimately moved to UFC 273 on April 9. However, after weighing in, Tybura fell ill and the fight was canceled again. After that, the promotion quickly booked him to face Alexander Volkov in a main event slot which Rozenstruik is happy about.
Joseph Holmes thought his knee would've KO'd Alen Amedovski, "extremely happy" with his performance to pick up his first UFC win
Cole Shelton - May 26, 2022
Joseph Holmes wanted to prove to everyone just how good he is. Holmes earned his way into the UFC after winning on both the Contender Series and Dana White Lookin’ For A Fight. However, in his debut, he suffered a lackluster decision loss to Jamie Pickett so heading into this fight, he wanted to prove he belongs. He wound up doing just that as he submitted Amedovski in 64 seconds.
Holly Holm would KO Katie Taylor in what would be "the biggest women’s boxing fight of all time," says Mike Winkeljohn
Cole Shelton - May 25, 2022
Mike Winkeljohn believes Holly Holm would have a ton of success should she get the chance to box Katie Taylor. Recently, it was reported by an Irish outlet that Holm is the frontrunner to face Taylor next. It was originally expected that Taylor would have an immediate rematch with Amanda Serrano, but negotiations have stalled and now Holm, who has one fight left on her UFC deal, has been linked to the fight.
Chase Hooper believes TKO win over Felipe Colares was the best performance of his career, hints at possible move to lightweight
Cole Shelton - May 25, 2022
Chase Hooper wanted to prove he belongs in the UFC and believes he did just that. Hooper was facing Felipe Colares at UFC Vegas 55 as he was looking to return to the win column after dropping a decision to Steven Peterson his last time out. Heading into the fight, Hooper had a ton of confidence in himself and it showed as he got a third-round TKO which he says was the best performance of his career.
Mike Winkeljohn "disappointed" with "goofball" judges that scored Holly Holm-Ketlen Vieira fight: "It's not fair to the fighters"
Cole Shelton - May 24, 2022
Mike Winkeljohn was shocked when he heard Ketlen Vieira being announced as the winner in her UFC Vegas 55 main event fight against Holly Holm. Winkeljohn, a coach of Holm, was confident his pupil had won the fight when the final bell rang. It was a close competitive fight, but Holm had nearly double the significant strikes of Vieira and had almost nine more minutes of control so, for Winkeljohn, he doesn’t know how Vieira got her hand raised.
Andre Petroski saw a lot of "holes" in Nick Maximov's game, told his friends he'd submit him in the first round
Cole Shelton - May 20, 2022
Andre Petroski wasn’t surprised when he submitted Nick Maximov despite being the biggest underdog at UFC Vegas 54. Petroski asked for the fight as he knew Maximov came with a lot of hype due to the fact he was undefeated and a main training partner of the Diaz brothers. Why he wanted the fight was due to the fact he saw a lot of holes in his game and knew he could expose them.
Davey Grant wants on UFC London card after KO win over Louis Smolka: "I want to be remembered as an exciting guy"
Cole Shelton - May 19, 2022
Davey Grant believes he fought as well as he ever has in his KO win over Louis Smolka at UFC Vegas 54. Grant took on Smolka in a fight many fans were looking forward to and it lived up to the hype. It was a back-and-forth war with Grant ending up winning by third-round KO, and for Grant, being in another entertaining fight is nothing new.
Parker Porter believes Jailton Almeida fight is a "lose-lose" for him, hopes to earn first UFC finish
Cole Shelton - May 18, 2022
Parker Porter was surprised when he found out he would be fighting Jailton Almeida. Porter has strung together three straight wins and on a month’s notice, he got the call to fight Almeida which surprised him. The Brazilain is 1-0 in the UFC and is a light heavyweight so Porter never expected to face Almeida.