Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Tom Taylor - July 6, 2017

On July 29, in the co-main event of UFC 214, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will attempt to defend his title for a third time opposite Brazilian grappling wizard Demian Maia. Because this fight was just made official last week, there has been widespread speculation that Maia has been short-changed on time to prepare for this rapidly approaching challenge. According to Woodley, however, there’s no reason to feel bad for Maia.

Tom Taylor - June 29, 2017

On July 16, on the main card of the UFC’s second trip to Glasgow, Scotland’s own Steven Ray will step onto the canvas with Paul Felder in an effort to take another big step toward the lightweight title. That title, of course, is currently on hold, as the champion Conor McGregor is focused on a boxing match with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. In advance of his fight in Glasgow, Ray made an appearance on BJ Penn Radio, and weighed in on this blockbuster Mayweather vs. McGregor fight. In his opinion, McGregor has a far better chance than people seem to think. In fact, he thinks the UFC champ has a better chance at cracking the Mayweather code than most boxers would.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2017

Now that Holly Holm has returned to bantamweight and Germaine de Randamie seems poised to do the same, the UFC’s new women’s featherweight division comes down to two fighters: Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Megan Anderson, who will battle for gold in the co-main event of UFC 214 this July 29. Two fighters, of course, is not enough for a healthy division. In order to maximize the potential of its new women’s featherweight division, the UFC will need to sign many more female featherweights. Strangely, however, the promotion has seemed very hesitant to do so.

Tom Taylor - June 25, 2017

In advance of his January comeback fight with Yair Rodriguez, many fight fans suggested BJ Penn would have been wiser to just call it a career. When he lost to Rodriguez, these cries for his retirment grew even louder, and they’ve continued to this day, when he’s just hours away another fight with Dennis Siver. According to Penn, however, true greats don’t just quit when the going gets tough. The real legends of MMA – like Anderson Silva – fight as long as they want to, and retire on their own terms.

Tom Taylor - June 22, 2017

Earlier this year, former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn made his long-awaited return to the Octagon. He did so against red hot featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez. Though Penn fought valiantly, this fight unfortunately didn’t go his way, as he was finished by a volley of second-round Rodriguez strikes.

Tom Taylor - June 22, 2017

This Sunday, on the main card of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Oklahoma City, our very own BJ Penn will return to the Octagon opposite dangerous German veteran Dennis Siver. In advance of this compelling scrap, Penn joined host Kinch on BJ Penn Radio to discuss Siver as an opponent. “I think he’s a great opponent,” Penn said of his Oklahoma City dance partner. “I think it’s a great matchup for me. Other people might not. I don’t know if Siver was watching my last fight [against Yair Rodriguez] and was like ‘oh we can capitalize here and there,’ but that’s on him. That’s his work he’s got to do. But I think he’s a great fighter. I’ve never really seen him be disrespectful to any opponents or anything like that. He’s just out there doing his thing.”

Tom Taylor - June 22, 2017

Last weekend, on the main card of the UFC’s latest trip to Singapore, rising welterweight Colby Covington scored a career-best win over established contender Dong Hyun Kim. Shortly after this win, Covington made several callouts of his former training partner Tyron Woodley, who now wears the UFC welterweight title. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Covington elaborated on his comments about Woodley, and why he’d be so confident against the champ.

Tom Taylor - June 22, 2017

Earlier this year, we learned that the well-established MMA promotion World Series of Fighting was being rebranded as the Professional Fighters League (PFL). This rebranded organization will seek to revolutionize the MMA landscape by providing fighters with salaries, using tournaments to ensure title shots, and awarding tournament winners with a whopping million dollars. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, kickboxing legend and PFL boss Ray Sefo joined host Kinch to discuss this new initiative. “The team and I sat down, and the name was developed, and everybody agreed it was a good name, and it was that time” Sefo said of the rebranding process. “Change is always good. As long as it’s positive, it’s always good. Obviously the format, it makes it a professional fighters league where everybody has an opportunity to step up and fight regularly. Let me back up a little bit. Running a promotion, one of the things that you hear the most is that fighters are not active enough. The Professional Fighter’s League is going to provide that missing link in terms of fighters being active. Obviously for us, in 2018, it’s going to be 12 fighters per division. That’s going to change in 2019, it’s going to be 16 fighters per division moving forward. But the league is going to provide a lot of different things that fighters complain about [not getting]. Not fighting enough, not fighting for a world title, and not making enough money. The professional fighters league is going to provide all that and more. The team and I are very happy with the structure and the way we put it together.”

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2017

Back in February, Holly Holm battled Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight title. On August 29, in co-main event of UFC 214, Megan Anderson will battle Cris “Cyborg” Justino for that same title. Speaking exclusively to BJPenn.com on Monday, Anderson weighed in on Holm’s recent head-kick knockout defeat of Bethe Correia, and the three-fight losing streak that preceded it.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2017

When Germaine de Randamie won the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight title by defeating Holly Holm back in February, the expectation was that she would then defend that title against the division’s consensus best fighter, Cris “Cyborg” Justino. Instead, however, De Randamie refused to fight Cyborg on the basis of her previous failed drug test, which is now years in the past. As a result of this refusal, De Randamie was stripped of the featherweight title. Cyborg will now battle Invicta champion Megan Anderson for the vacant title in the co-main event of UFC 214 this July 29.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2017

After months of rumors and reports, it’s now official. Germaine de Randamie has been stripped of the UFC featherweight title, and Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Megan Anderson will battle for the vacant featherweight throne in the co-main event of UFC 214 this July 29. On Monday afternoon, Anderson spoke with BJPenn.com about this newly announced title showdown. While she was reluctant to give up the details of her game plan for the incredibly dominant Cyborg, she did shed some light on how she plans to approach the fight.

Chris Taylor - June 18, 2017

A frustrated Tyron Woodley issues a warning to Demian Maia Current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is hoping to defend his title against top division contender Demian Maia at July’s UFC 214 event in Anaheim, California.

Tom Taylor - June 15, 2017

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor have certainly had their issues in the past. When Woodley heard the news that the Irishman had finally made his much-discussed boxing match with Floyd Mayweather happen, however, he could only offer his respect. “I immediately started thinking in my mind how I’m going to be at the fight, that’s the first thing I thought” Woodley told BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor of his reaction to the news. “Obviously, you know, me and Conor haven’t seen eye-to-eye a couple of times, but from a standpoint of what he does for the sport – I’ve made a lot of money being on the same card as him. Do I really want to sit here and act like I can’t stand this dude or I can’t respect him? I’d be lying to you. I respect the hell out of his hustle, and what he’s done to put himself in this position that he’s in. His ability to go out there and make himself this larger than life figure, and then to get the pound-for-pound best boxer of our generation to come out of retirement and fight him? Come on now. Give the dude his due. Everybody stand up, everybody clap. He is now the ambassador of quan. He just made something that happen that wasn’t even fathomable in our minds. So with that being said, I can deal with it and I’m excited to see it.”

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2017

Next weekend, in the first bout of the UFC Singapore undercard, undefeated South Korean bantamweight Ji Yeon Kim will make her UFC debut against a game opponent in the Czech Republic’s Lucie Pudilová. In advance of this fight, Kim has been sharpening her tools alongside one of the most dangerous fighters in the game, and the most famous fighter to emerge from South Korea: “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.

Tom Taylor - June 10, 2017

If things had gone according to the original plan, undefeated South Korean bantamweight Ji Yeon Kim would be making her UFC debut against former champion Holly Holm when the UFC touches down in Singapore later this month. Regrettably, Holm turned this fight down, and Kim was instead paired with rangy Czech fighter Lucie Pudilová. Despite the lesser-known opponent, Kim told BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor that she’s very excited about her imminent UFC debut.

Tom Taylor - June 8, 2017

AJ McKee and James Gallagher are two of the hottest prospects on the Bellator roster and as luck would have it, they happen to compete in the same weight class and have some real issues with one another. Though Gallagher is currently scheduled for a stark test against Chinzo Machida at Bellator 180 on June 24, he and McKee seem to be destined to collide. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, McKee explained to host Kinch that he hopes to fight Gallagher, whether the Irishman wins or loses against Machida later this month.

Tom Taylor - June 8, 2017

Last weekend, on the main card of UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Yancy Medeiros stepped into the Octagon with ever-dangerous Brazilian finisher Erick Silva. Despite the scale of this test, the Hawaiian talent defeated Silva in his own back yard, putting him down with a thudding, second-round combo. With this impressive win, Medeiros built on the momentum of a submission defeat of Sean Spencer, and moved to 2-0 since jumping from lightweight to welterweight.

Tom Taylor - June 5, 2017

Since their respective knockout wins on the main card of the UFC’s latest trip to Nashville, “Platinum” Mike Perry and “Ragin'” Al Iaquinta have exchanged some serious heat on Twitter. Despite the fact that they fight at welterweight and lightweight respectively, the two talented fighters seem very down to fight each other. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor, Mike Perry spoke on this possibility, and assured that a fight with Iaquinta is one that he is indeed interested in.