Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

On April 8, the UFC will touch down in Buffalo, New York with UFC 210. In the card’s main event, we’ll see light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier attempt to defend his title against an old foe in Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Cormier and Rumble first met back in 2015. On that night, Rumble nearly took Cormier’s head off in the first round, but was ultimately overwhelmed by his foe’s wrestling and cardio, and submitted with a rear-naked choke in the third round. Given Rumble’s incredible punching power, however, the outcome of this fight could well be different. As such, The MMA community seems to be divided when it comes to predictions for this battle.

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

Megan Anderson, who currently holds the Invicta interim featherweight title, is one of the best female featherweights on the planet today. While there is no indication that she’ll sign with the UFC in the immediate future, she is already being discussed as an opponent for UFC star Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, who is far and away the sport’s premiere female featherweight. On Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio, Anderson discussed this potential clash with host Kinch, explaining that she believes she’d make an excellent opponent for Cyborg based on her skillset, control of range, and size. Her words:

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

The next season of The Ultimate Fighter, TUF 25, looks like it should be a good one. The season will be coached by reigning bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and former champion TJ Dillashaw, who are estranged former teammates and heated rivals. The cast, meanwhile, will be composed of TUF veterans – ranging from Joe Stevenson to Julian Lane to James Krause – each eager to get their career back on track with a TUF tournament win. According to Duane Ludwig, who spent three days a week helping his star pupil Dillashaw coach these veterans, the season also produced some dynamite fights. In fact, Ludwig believes this season of the show produced the best fights in TUF history. He explained this belief on Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio.

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

Misha Cirkunov is widely regarded as the hottest prospect in the UFC light heavyweight division. So, when it sounded like a contract dispute would drive him away from the organization, there was widespread disappointment. Luckily, Cirkunov and the UFC were able to iron out their differences and agree to the terms of a new contract. The Latvian-Canadian destroyer is now scheduled for a fight with the dangerous Volkan Oezdemir, which will occur in Stockholm, Sweden on May 28.

Russell Ess - March 13, 2017

Demian Maia is gunning for his chance to fight for the UFC welterweight title but has at least one more fight booked before he gets an opportunity to fight for the belt. Currently ranked #3 in the official UFC rankings, Maia will be taking on #6 ranked welterweight Jorge Masvidal and rising welterweight star Alan Jouban spoke with BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor on a recent episode of Rapid Fire about Maia and his journey to another shot at UFC gold.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2017

UFC welterweight standout Alan Jouban will return to the octagon next weekend in London where he will square off with Gunnar Nelson in the evening’s co-main event. Jouban is very happy to finally be booked against a top-ten opponent, this after working his way up the divisions rankings over the past three years.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2017

Surging UFC welterweight contender Alan Jouban will face the toughest opponent of his young career when he takes on Gunnar Nelson in the co-main event of UFC London on March 18. Jouban recently sat down with BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor where he discussed a number of different topics including the UFC 209 welterweight title fight rematch between Stephen Thompson and Tyron Woodley.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2017

Surging UFC welterweight contender Alan Jouban will return to the octagon at next weekend’s UFC fight card in London where he will square off with the always dangerous Gunnar Nelson in the co-main event. Jouban, who is currently riding a three-fight win streak, is very excited about the opportunity to fight a guy like Gunnar Nelson, who is ranked in the top-10 of the UFC’s stacked welterweight division.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

When the UFC brass ironed out their differences with former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, and pencilled him in for an immediate middleweight title shot against divisional king Michael Bisping, their hope was clearly for a positive reception. Unfortunately for them, this booking has been met with plenty in the way of backlash, as its been criticized by fighters like Yoel Romero and Kelvin Gastelum, MMA personalities like Joe Rogan, and of course, the sport’s ever-passionate fans. Not everyone, however, is bent out of shape over this booking. Streaking middleweight contender Robert Whittaker, for example, has adopted a laissez faire outlook on the whole ordeal. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor, Whittaker explained that he’s not particularly bothered by the booking, and that he hopes it produces the massive payday both Bisping and St-Pierre are looking for.  He even admitted that he’s excited to watch the fight.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Earlier this month, we learned that elite middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will be returning to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 24 on April 15. The Brazilian grappling specialist will do so against rising Australian contender Robert Whittaker, who recently rocketed into the upper echelon of the division with a dazzling knockout defeat of the dangerous Derek Brunson. While this matchup is an undeniably exciting one, its announcement did catch some fans by surprise. Jacare, after all, is one of the very top contenders in the middleweight division. Though the next middleweight title shot will go to returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Jacare could have easily opted to wait for his shot or, to rematch fellow contender Yoel Romero in an effort to lock down the number-one-contender spot. Instead, the Brazilian has chosen to keep a busy schedule, risking his hard-earned contender status against a ferocious young talent in Whittaker.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

This weekend, Singapore’s ONE Championship will touch down in sun-soaked Bangkok, Thailand with their latest show, which is entitled Warrior Kingdom. This card, which is stacked with talent from Thailand, larger Southeast Asia, and even further afield, has got fans of Asian MMA very excited. Of all the features of this latest ONE Championship card, however, none are generating quite the same buzz as the main event, which will see 115-pound atomweight champion Angela Lee (6-0) attempt to defend her title against Jenny Huang (5-0). This fight is significant for a number of reasons. For one, it marks the latest efforts of Lee, who is quickly emerging as one of the brightest shining stars in women’s MMA. It’s also significant because it marks Huang’s opportunity to become the first Chinese fighter to win a major world championship.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of Bellator 174, Canada’s Julia Budd became the first-ever women’s featherweight champion with a fourth-round TKO of the veteran Marloes Coenen. With this win, Budd extended her win-streak to an extremely impressive eight-straight. Budd’s last loss occurred all the way back in 2011, when she became the fourth victim of Ronda Rousey‘s legendary professional MMA career. In more recent years, of course, Rousey’s career has endured a bit of a downward spiral, as she was first knocked senseless by a Holly Holm head-kick, then took more than a year off, only to return to the cage to be bludgeoned by reigning UFC bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

Singapore’s One Championship is far and away the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in Asia. They broadcast in millions of homes in dozens of countries, and have taken their live product to relatively untapped markets like Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and even further afield. One Championship’s approach to MMA promotion is a little bit different than what we’re used to here in the West. Where organizations like Bellator and World Series of Fighting tend to squabble over jettisoned UFC talent to bolster their rosters with recognizable names, One Championship is dedicated to building their own Asian stars. And this strategy is working.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

For the last few weeks, eighth-ranked UFC lightweight Michael Chiesa has been angling for a fight with former champ Eddie Alvarez. Unfortunately for Chiesa and his fans, Alvarez has been pencilled in for a bout with Dustin Poirier. The two will meet at UFC 211 on May 13 in Dallas. On Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio, Chiesa vented his frustrations about this booking to host Kinch.

Tom Taylor - March 2, 2017

This weekend, the UFC will touch down in Las Vegas with UFC 209. While the card is headlined by a welterweight title rematch between champ Tyron Woodley and challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, it seems that the majority of the buzz for the event surrounds the co-main event. This co-main event will see the streaking Tony Ferguson battle the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov for UFC interim lightweight gold. In advance of this compelling showdown, Ferguson has been working hard in the gym – particularly on his grappling, as that is Nurmagomedov’s bread and butter. Much of Ferguson’s grappling work has occurred under the tutelage of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo.

Tom Taylor - March 2, 2017

This weekend, the UFC will return to glimmering Las Vegas, Nevada with UFC 209. The card is stacked to the rim with top UFC talent, featuring names like Tyron Woodley, Stephen Thompson, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson, Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt. Long before any of these established superstars step into the cage, however, Rhode Island’s Andre Soukhamthath will make his UFC debut against Albert Morales. The former CES bantamweight champion, Soukhamthath has done much of his recent training with the Blackzilians in South Florida. Regrettably, the Blackzilians camp has been enduring a rather public split, as inner conflict has caused the team to splinter.

Chris Taylor - February 26, 2017

Stephen Thompson will get his second crack at UFC gold this Saturday in the main event of UFC 209 in Las Vegas when he squares off with Tyron Woodley for the second time in less than five months. “Wonderboy” and “The Chosen One” battled to a majority draw in the co-main event of UFC 205 this past November in New York and following their “fight of the night” war an immediate rematch was set by UFC officials.

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2017

Last month, a widely unheralded Jorge Masvidal shocked the world by ending the welterweight win-streak of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone with a blistering, second-round knockout. With this win, Masvidal rocketed up the welterweight rankings, where battles with the division’s top fighters now await him. Unfortunately, Masvidal has had a very difficult time getting another fight booked. That, of course, is not for lack of trying. Over the last few weeks, the American Top Team staple has expressed interest in fights with Demian Maia, Neil Magny, Nick Diaz, and even returning welterweight great Georges St-Pierre.