Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Chris Taylor - January 12, 2018

T.J. Dillashaw fires back at Cody Garbrandt “You can’t even really be called champ without defending your belt”. Following his thrilling second-round knockout victory over Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217, newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw set his sights on a super-fight with current flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson.

Chris Taylor - January 12, 2018

UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw (15-3 MMA) is gearing up for “The biggest fight of 2018”. The 31-year-old product of Sonora, California is coming off an incredible second-round knockout victory over former teammate turned bitter rival Cody Garbrandt at November’s UFC 217 event in New York.

Chris Taylor - January 12, 2018

Josh Emmett says a fight with Brian Ortega “needs to happen”, weighs in on Edgar vs. Holloway. UFC featherweight contender Josh Emmett is coming off one of the most sensational knockouts of 2017 at last month’s UFC on FOX 26 event in Winnipeg.

Chris Taylor - January 12, 2018

Perennial UFC welterweight contender “Platinum” Mike Perry will look to rebound from his recent loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio when he squares off with Max Griffin at UFC on FOX 28 on February 24 in Orlando, Florida. The welterweight knockout artist, Perry, recently sat down with host Kinch from BJ Penn Radio where he discussed his newly announced fight which takes place in his backyard of Orlando, Florida.

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2018

Just days removed from her exciting UFC 219 victory over Holly Holm, UFC women’s featherweight champ Cris Cyborg is already looking ahead to her next fight. The champ is now hoping to fight Invicta featherweight queen Megan Anderson, ideally when the UFC touches down in Anderson’s native Australia with UFC 221 on February 11. While Cyborg has heard the calls for a superfight between herself and UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, she feels that it’s important for her to fight a legitimate featherweight like Anderson in her next fight – and for a pretty noble reason.

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2018

Last Saturday, in the main event of UFC 219, UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg stepped into the Octagon to attempt her first title defense. Her opponent on this quest was former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. While Cyborg ultimately came out on top in this fight, capturing a well-deserved unanimous decision, Holm certainly didn’t make it easy for her. The former bantamweight champ hung in there for the duration of the fight, landing meaningful offense of her own throughout.

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2017

Earlier today rumors surfaced that former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn would be returning to the octagon this February to battle promotional newcomer Suman Mokhtarian at UFC 221. If this poster is real or not, doesn't matter. @Suman_att will be the talk leading up to #UFC219 & BJ Penn is probably somewhere thinking do I got a fight in Perth. #postergate #MMA pic.twitter.com/BLtJ8PvHb8

Tom Taylor - December 28, 2017

15th-ranked UFC lightweight James Vick has been having a very difficult time finding fights, and that trend continues to this day. Having had his hopes of headlining the UFC’s return to Austin opposite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone dashed, he’s now eagerly waiting to see what else the UFC can come up with for him. While the promotion apparently has four potential opponents in mind for him, the increasingly frustrated James Vick won’t be surprised if they all turn him down. In his opinion, fighters just don’t accept fights with the willingness they once did. And he thinks it’s time they started being punished for their over-selectiveness.

Tom Taylor - December 28, 2017

Riding high off a thudding knockout of the highly-regarded Joe Duffy, James Vick (12-1) feels he’s ready for a big step up in competition. He was hoping to get that step up when the UFC touches down in Austin, Texas – just hours from his hometown – this February. It was his hope that he could battle fan favorite lightweight-turned-welterweight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the card’s main event. Unfortunately for Vick, Cerrone was pencilled in for a scrap with Hawaii’s Yancy Medeiros this week. Though neither Cerrone nor Medeiros is from Texas, their fight will serve as the Austin card’s main event. Unsurprisingly, Vicki is pretty unhappy about this development.

Tom Taylor - December 28, 2017

Glory kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven has already competed once in mixed martial arts, having authored a first-round TKO of Viktor Bogutzki back in 2015. From the sounds of it, he hopes to compete in MMA again – and at the very highest level. Speaking on the latest stacked episode of BJ Penn Radio, Verhoeven shared his interested in fights with both upcoming UFC heavyweight title challenger Francis Ngannou, and with UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic.

Tom Taylor - December 28, 2017

On Saturday night, in the main event of the stacked UFC 219, UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will attempt to defend her strap against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. At present, the featherweight champ is undergoing her cut down to the fight’s 145-pound limit. While she has endured some brutal cuts in the past, she assured BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor that her weight cut is right on track for this contest.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

“Sugar” Sean O’Malley is one of the hottest prospects in the talent-rich UFC bantamweight division. Now 1-o in the UFC, having bested a game Terrion Ware in his recent promotional debut, he’s keen to continue his climb up the bantamweight ladder, and perhaps one day, battle reigning champ TJ Dillashaw. While O’Malley hopes to fight Dillashaw one day, he actually has tremendous respect for him, especially after his thrilling December knockout of Cody Garbrandt.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

British knockout artist Jimi Manuwa is one of the best light heavyweight mixed martial artists on earth. And though he is currently riding a tough knockout loss to upcoming light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir, he is still only a win or two from his own shot at the belt. While Manuwa has plenty of interesting options in the UFC light heavyweight division – ranging from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to Glover Teixeira – he has also been flirting with the idea of a boxing match with fellow Brit David Haye.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

Over the last few weeks, the MMA community has been buzzing about the possibility of undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. cutting a deal with the UFC and stepping into the Octagon. These rumors were started by comments from Mayweather himself, then thrust into overdrive by subsequent statements from Joe Rogan and Dana White, who confirmed outright that the promotion was in talks with the boxer. Since then, of course, Mayweather has assured he has no real intention of competing in mixed martial arts. That said, many fighters are still dreaming of the chance to welcome the boxing legend to the cage – and you can count bantamweight prospect “Sugar” Sean O’Malley among them.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC on Fox 26, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos authored a dominant, unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler, asserting himself as one of the welterweight division’s top contenders in the process. This win seemed to impress the majority of the MMA community, but don’t count surging welterweight contender Colby Covington as part of that group. “I thought RDA looked slow,” Covington said of Dos Anjos’ win on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “He looked old, man. He looked like the same guy that I’ve been calling out since [the UFC’s June stop in] Singapore. They had to put him on my undercard when I was on the main card because he didn’t want to fight me, and he’s been ducking me for a while. He knows what’ll happen if we fight. He’ll get a young buck who hasn’t been tested, a guy who hasn’t had all those miles on his chin.”

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Sean O’Malley became an instant hint when he knocked out Alfred Khashakyan on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. When he smoked up with Snoop Dogg immediately after this win, however, he became a viral sensation. Unsurprisingly, this post-fight session with Snoop was an unforgettable experience for the 23-year prospect.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Sean O’Malley, the rangy, 23-year-old bantamweight who burst into the limelight with an epic knockout on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series (and by getting high with Snoop Dogg after this win), believes he knows who he’ll fight next. Shortly after his impressive UFC debut, in which he bludgeoned a game Terrion Ware to a unanimous decision win, O’Malley was called out by Andre Soukhamthath, who recently won big with a knockout of Luke Sanders.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2017

England’s Jimi Manuwa is one of the top light heavyweight contenders in the UFC. That said, his recent knockout loss to Volkan Oezdemir probably means he’s another impressive win away from a title shot. When weighing the options for Manuwa’s next fight, there are a few that really stand out. One is Glover Teixeira, who won big over Misha Cirkunov last weekend (though he doesn’t seem that interested in this potential fight). Another is MMA legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who has recently been enjoying a significant, late-career resurgence.