BJ Penn made headlines late last month when video emerged of yet another street fight he was involved in. Penn was initially shown pounding on the civilian on the ground. However, later that day, new footage emerged showing Penn get knocked out cold during the fight after eating a punch. The footage drew a ton […]
Now, he has broken that silence while speaking to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter. Penn explained his side of the story. The Hawaiian claims the man he fought was a friend of his, and things spiraled out of control over some sort of disagreement at a concert. Penn tried to calm the situation down initially and hug his friend, but after eating a few punches, which included him being knocked down, he was forced to defend himself.
“An acquaintance of mine, he gets mad about something. Something was said or if it was an old past thing, and then, he wants to fight about it and I’m like ‘nah, nah,’ I’ve got a lot of witnesses, everybody else can corroborate my story. I was like, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want to fight, we’re friends, everything’s cool,’ this and that.
“So he even walks outside and I’m thinking, like, ‘Oh, this is silly, I’m going to go get him, calm him down, come back inside, we’ll come enjoy the concert,’ we’ve got some other friends there. This and that, this and that. And then I walk outside to go to give the guy a hug. And then he hits me twice and I’m like, ‘No, no! Calm down!’ And I try to give him another hug and he hits me a couple more times. And then he hits me again. I mean, I wish they [TMZ] didn’t cut the video in half. So whoever put that video out cut it in half.
“I wish it had the whole thing that showed me trying to hug the guy. And then finally my adrenaline picked up because he was hitting me so much, I’m like, ‘Oh, go ahead, hit me again.’ I thought the guy would eventually say, ‘You know what? Forget it, BJ, whatever.’ Give me a hug or whatever, walk away, and then he hit me and he hit me good, knocked me down.
“And then when I got back up he tried it again and then I just have to defend myself already. So that’s what you see in the second video. But the last thing I’m trying to do is trying to look to get into a fight. I mean ask anybody who knows me. I’m not the first guy to go around and just start pushing people.
“I’m an older guy too, and I just want to enjoy my life and I’m thinking today driving around, why don’t I have two bodyguards on the sides of me at all times just making sure it’s impossible I can get into any trouble. I was thinking that all morning.“
BJ Penn gives his side of the story of what took place in videos of him in an altercation released recently by @TMZ.
“The last thing I want to do is get into any type of trouble, my custody case, me seeing my kids depends on all this stuff"
This past weekend (Sat. August 31, 2019) at UFC Shenzhen we had a great morning of fights on ESPN and ESPN+. It was a great card that appeared lackluster to most. This event featured eleven fights, seven of which went the distance, with two knockouts and two submissions. The show was headlined by a UFC […]
This past weekend (Sat. August 31, 2019) at UFC Shenzhen we had a great morning of fights on ESPN and ESPN+. It was a great card that appeared lackluster to most. This event featured eleven fights, seven of which went the distance, with two knockouts and two submissions.
The show was headlined by a UFC women’s strawweight championship bout between now-former champion Jessica Andrade and newly crowned champion Weili Zhang, as well as a great co-main event between two of welterweight’s best. The title changing hands was shocking to some, but the finish shocked everyone. No one expected Zhang to run through Andrade that quickly and viciously, and we now have the UFC’s first-ever Asian champion.
We at LowKickMMA have compiled a list of five fights to make after their showings. Where do the winners go from here? Where do the losers go from here? Continue reading to see our five matchups:
Damir Ismagulov (19-1) vs. Leonardo Santos (17-3-1)
Damir Ismagulov has been perfect since making his UFC debut, winning three unanimous decisions, and winning all nine rounds with a couple 10-8 rounds mixed in there in two of those fights. We got to see his well-rounded game in his UFC debut, where he scored five takedowns and out-struck his opponent 103-22 in total strikes, before out-striking his next opponent 64-38. His most recent outing was on Saturday night, where he completely out-classed Thiago Moises quite handily, and once again showed off his brilliant striking.
Leonardo Santos just came back this year after an almost three-year hiatus, which wasn’t the first long break he’s had. At 39-years-old, it’d be great to see this TUF winner fight more often. After all that time away, he came back and KO’d Stevie Ray in round one, he didn’t skip a beat. It’s crazy to see someone at this age continue to improve and get better, and it’s also crazy to see a 4th degree BJJ black belt have as good of striking as he does.
This would be a step up in competition for Ismagulov, though many people don’t know who Santos is. The only reason for that, as previously stated, he doesn’t fight often enough, which is unfortunate. It’d be great to see how Ismagulov does on the mat with someone like Santos, and it’d be interesting to see how this would play out on the feet considering how good of strikers they each are.
With UFC records like 3-0 (Ismagulov) and 6-0-1 (Santos), one of these two would have to take their first promotional loss.
Kai Kara-France (20-7) 1 NC vs. Matt Schnell (14-4)
This would be a very fun fight. Both of these guys are former champions, and both guys were on The Ultimate Fighter 24 as part of Henry Cejudo’s team. The agility and skill-set of each of these two are at a very high level, as it should be, being flyweights in the UFC. The UFC didn’t pick Kara-France up initially after their season, but at least they have him now, he’s a great talent that’s very exciting to have.
Kara-France is now 3-0 in the UFC thus far, and Schnell is 4-2 under the promotion’s banner, but has won his last four fights in a row. Both of these guys are very quick on the feet and have very good striking, and both are solid on the ground as well. Kara-France is more of a striker that’ll go for a takedown here and there, while Schnell is always looking for a submission, whether he’s on top or on the bottom, as he won his last two fights via triangle choke.
Both of these TUF veterans have also fought at bantamweight, but are primarily flyweights. If this fight gets put together, the winner would then be very close to a title shot. It looks like Joseph Benavidez may have to fight Deiveson Figueiredo for an interim championship while Cejudo’s out, or maybe he does end up challenging Cejudo for the undisputed title. Whichever the case, the winner of this fight should end up closely behind them.
Robbie Lawler (28-14) 1 NC vs. Li Jingliang (17-5)
Li Jingliang really had the performance of his lifetime on Saturday against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, scoring another late third-round knockout, his second in a row. Now that he beat, and finished, the No. 14 welterweight in the division, he should have his own spot in the top 15. It was really a sight to see, he was just on that whole fight. For a dangerous top guy like dos Santos to look amateurish because of how good Jingliang is was very entertaining and impressive.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos was 7-1 in the UFC with that only loss being via split decision in his UFC debut, meaning he won his last seven straight. That’s not at all an easy thing to do in a division like welterweight, and against good competition too. That all ended when he stepped in the cage this past Saturday. Jingliang didn’t even need to finish the fight, he was certainly winning, but he ended up stunning dos Santos with an uppercut late in round three and followed up with a few more punches to get the finish.
Jingliang out-struck dos Santos, but not by much, with the striking totals being 59-55 in favor of Jingliang. “The Leech” also had two takedowns and three knockdowns, as opposed to dos Santos’ zero takedowns or knockdowns. His performance was absolutely incredible. What a homecoming he had in front of his native Chinese crowd. Even though Robbie Lawler lost his last three fights and hasn’t won in two years, this is a great fight to make – and here’s why.
In Lawler’s last two fights, he lost to Ben Askren, a controversial outcome, and he lost to Colby Covington. Those are the only two times we’ve seen him in almost two years. Many thought he was on his way to beating Askren, and Covington just didn’t let him breathe. This fight won’t go anything like either of those did.
Jingliang isn’t going to try and constantly pursue a takedown as Askren did, and he’s not going to be in Lawler’s face throwing constant volume without taking a break. He’ll fight him like he fights everyone else; throwing mostly punches with his great heavy-handed boxing game, and maybe look for a takedown here and there, but mostly box him the whole fight while mixing in some kicks.
It’d be a good fight to see if Lawler’s still got it, because we already know Jingliang is for real now. Lawler’s also ranked just one spot above dos Santos, this is the best stylistic matchup available for “The Leech.” They’re two tops guys that have real power and great striking fundamentals. How do you think this one would go?
Jessica Andrade (20-7) vs. Rose Namajunas (8-4) II
If Rose Namajunas feels like coming back, it’d be great to see this rematch. Before Andrade picked her up and viciously slammed her, she was looking better than she ever had before. Namajunas’ boxing was looking absolutely impeccable, she was really coming into her own. What a youth beyond her years she’s been, it’d be a shame to see her hang them up already.
Jessica Andrade won her UFC women’s strawweight championship in dramatic fashion and ended up losing it in even more dramatic of fashion. Weili Zhang bullied her way right through her and got the stoppage within the first minute. Andrade threw a couple of hook combinations. Once she caught Zhang, she started pressing more, which proved to be the wrong choice. Zhang caught her coming in with a right hand, then got the clinch and landed some knees. It was game over at that point, and we were crowning a new champion.
The first fight between these two was very fun to watch, and as previously implied, the result didn’t tell the story of the fight. Both of these women are only 27-years-old, it’s very possible, and likely even, that they’ll each regain the title again in the years to come. Or is Weili Zhang the next big thing that’s going to hold onto the belt for some time to come?
Weili Zhang (20-1) vs. Tatiana Suarez (8-0)
This is the only women’s strawweight title fight that makes sense, unless Namajunas comes back and wants an instant crack at the belt, which is possible. The UFC mentioned they didn’t want to move Tatiana Suarez too fast, but when the only other girls in the top five are Rose Namajunas, Nina Ansaroff (lost to Suarez in last fight), Joanna Jedrzejczyk (coming off a loss and scheduled against Michelle Waterson), and Claudia Gadelha (2-2 in last four and hasn’t looked great recently), Suarez is the clear choice.
These are two of the most dominant fighters in the game today. Weili Zhang just proved to all of us how good she is, and Tatiana Suarez has been proving to us how good she is since The Ultimate Fighter 23, a season she went 3-0 on and won. With all her wrestling credentials coming into the MMA world, Suarez has certainly lived up to every expectation we’ve all put on her thus far.
Both of these women are so elite, it’d be great to see how they match up together. Everyone expects Suarez to win the title at some point, and while Zhang flew under the radar until now really, she’s now the undisputed champion. For Suarez being 8-0 as a professional, 3-0 on TUF, and 2-0 as an amateur, as well as Zhang not losing since her professional debut, something’s got to give in this fight. These women have won their last 33 fights, that’s absolutely remarkable, and have a total combined record of 33-1.
This is certainly the fight that should be made, there’s nowhere for either of them to go but upward. Perhaps after this fight happens, the winner could defend their belt and then go up and challenge Valentina Shevchenko. Women’s MMA isn’t mediocre anymore, there are some real dangerous threats.
Not just one or two either, like back in the day when the only elite female fighters were Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey, now we have a good amount of them that could justifiably be on the pound-for-pound list. This is a very exciting time in the sport, and only after 26 years. This is quite literally the tip of the iceberg.
Dominick Cruz believes Henry Cejudo still has a lot of growing up to do as a fighter. Cejudo hasn’t been shy in taking aim at a number of fighters, even female UFC champions. Since becoming a two-division champion, Cejudo has taken his cringe gim…
Dominick Cruz believes Henry Cejudo still has a lot of growing up to do as a fighter. Cejudo hasn’t been shy in taking aim at a number of fighters, even female UFC champions. Since becoming a two-division champion, Cejudo has taken his cringe gimmick to a new level. One of the fighters that Cejudo has […]
While it’s almost impossible now, Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader did make an effort to fight former UFC heavyweight title-holder Daniel Cormier. Cormier and Bader were previously slated to fight in a light heavyweight bout when they were both in the UFC. And with both fighters holding the heavyweight title for their respective promotions over […]
While it’s almost impossible now, Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader did make an effort to fight former UFC heavyweight title-holder Daniel Cormier.
Cormier and Bader were previously slated to fight in a light heavyweight bout when they were both in the UFC. And with both fighters holding the heavyweight title for their respective promotions over the past year, there was talk of a potential cross-promotional fight.
That’s not happening now especially after Cormier lost his heavyweight title to Stipe Miocic last month at UFC 241. However, Bader tried to make it happen as his management reached out to the UFC:
“You know where I stand on the Cormier fight, I wanted that fight forever,” Ryan Bader told MMA Fighting. “We tried to get Cormier [in] cross-promotion, champ-champ versus champ-champ fight, we reached out to see if there was any interest in doing a little cross-promotion. It’s probably never going to happen but you never know. It’s happened before in boxing, I don’t see the UFC doing it with Bellator but you never know.
“My manager has a relationship with both [organizations] and he threw the idea out there. I don’t think it went too far but it’s one of those things where eventually something like that is going to happen. You never know. It could happen with us.”
In reality, it doesn’t seem likely even if Cormier did retain his title against Miocic. But even if that fight never happens, Bader still believes he’s the best heavyweight in the world:
“For me, I believe that [I am the best],” he added. “If you don’t believe that, then you shouldn’t be in this sport. I do believe I’m the best in the world.
“I believe coming up to heavyweight, I can shine. That’s where I feel the best in terms of being agile, speed, cardio, all that kind of stuff plus I have the power. It was nice to get that recognition, too. So now I just have to go out there and continue to prove it.”
Bader defends his heavyweight title against Cheick Kongo at Bellator 226 this weekend.
Who do you think would have won in a Cormier vs. Bader fight?
Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC — and so, he’s not bothered if he’s regarded as the pound-for-pound best in the sport. Nurmagomedov defends his lightweight belt in a title unification fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 this weekend. Should he win, he’ll have another top fighter in […]
Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC — and so, he’s not bothered if he’s regarded as the pound-for-pound best in the sport.
Nurmagomedov defends his lightweight belt in a title unification fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 this weekend. Should he win, he’ll have another top fighter in his resume while he’ll also go 28-0.
That is why he frankly doesn’t care if he’s on top of the pound-for-pound rankings or not:
“Honestly, if you’re a fighter you have to be like, ‘I want to become the best fighter in the world,’” Nurmagomedov said in a recent conference call. “‘I want to become pound-for-pound No. 1.’ You have to worry about this. You have to think like this but I don’t care about this. I just focus on my every single opponent.
“That’s why I am here. I am almost on the top pound-for-pound. This fight nothing changes. I am focused on my opponent. Of course, who knows, maybe next Saturday I’m going to finish Dustin Poirier and maybe I’m going to become pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter. Who knows. Nobody knows.”
Nurmagomedov Plans On Staying At 155
Nurmagomedov is currently ranked No. 2 in the UFC rankings just behind light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. And “The Eagle” doesn’t particularly feel moving up or down in weight will improve his rankings or his legacy for that matter:
“I think if you want to improve your legacy, changing weight classes, I don’t think this is a help for you,” Nurmagomedov added. “Only thing that helps you, you have to beat tough opponents. What about when you beat tough opponents and you’re still undefeated for more than 11 years? I think this is can improve your legacy. If you lose a couple of times in the UFC and then you win one title and a second title, then you lose again, even if you win three titles, this not make you great.
“My opinion, winning undefeated a long time and you never lose, this one is real thing. This is my opinion. It doesn’t matter what people think. It doesn’t matter what they want. When you go to the cage again, again, again, you win, win, win, win, they have to talk about this guy is the best.”
With a potential bout against Tony Ferguson coming next should he beat Poirier, Nurmagomedov has plenty of challenges in his current division:
“I don’t focus on welterweight or featherweight. My focus is on the lightweight division,” Nurmagomedov explained. “I’m a real lightweight and my fight is going to be in the lightweight division.
“I don’t want to change any weight classes. I want to focus on my weight division.”
UFC president Dana White has laid out a bold prediction — he expects a champion from the Middle East within the next few years. UFC 242 takes place this weekend and will mark the promotion’s return to Abu Dhabi for the first time in five years. Headlining the event is a lightweight title unification fight […]
UFC president Dana White has laid out a bold prediction — he expects a champion from the Middle East within the next few years.
UFC 242 takes place this weekend and will mark the promotion’s return to Abu Dhabi for the first time in five years. Headlining the event is a lightweight title unification fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.
Nurmagomedov will garner much of the Muslim support on Saturday but in time, White expects there to be a Middle Eastern champion as well:
“I won’t be surprised – I said this about England, I said this about Australia, Canada and every country we have gone to – there will be a champion from the Middle East probably within the next six to seven years,” White said (via MMA Junkie).
As of now, there is very little representation from the Middle East in the UFC with only a few notable names like Belal Muhammad and Nasrat Haqparast having ties to the region.
However, White believes the talent will eventually pop up especially with events returning to Abu Dhabi for a start:
“Since we have done events in Abu Dhabi – and it happens everywhere we go, it kick-starts the market,” White added. “Gyms pop up and people are training. Talent is coming out of the area.”
As for UFC 242, it will be the first of five yearly events taking place in Abu Dhabi. White says the UAE has been good to the UFC over the years and promises to bring huge fights whenever they come back:
“We have a really close connection with Abu Dhabi because we’ve already been there a few times and the fights we’ve done there before,” White explained. “The people of the UAE have been so good to the UFC. We are going to continue to come back and bring big fights to the Middle East.”
Do you think there’ll be a Middle Eastern champion in the UFC soon?
