Tag: BJ Penn

Daily Update: Masakatsu Funaki, The Rock, BJ Penn

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*Coverage of the Tokyo Dome show

*How did the show accomplish what should have been its key goals

*Thoughts on Aaron Wolf

*Business notes on the show

*Yota Tsuji and the title name change

*The end of the Bullet Club

*Shinsuke Nakamura and his thoughts

*Angle with Will Ospreay

*Records that Tanahashi set during his career

*Tanahashi’s background

*Notes on his last IWGP title win that wasn’t supposed to happen

*The unique way he became a mainstream figure in a news story

*How his career exploded from there

*How Tanahashi differed from prior IWGP champions and how that changed who could hold that title

*The Tanahashi era that turned around New Japan

*A look at his record setting 13 Tokyo Dome career main events

*Various title wins and career awards

*2025 Business Year in Review

*A look at all the shows that drew 15,000 fans

*Biggest individual draws of the year

*Crowds of 15,000 or more by promotion  and how the main companies did

*How UFC PPV gates wer

*The biggest pro wrestling drawing card every year from 1916 to 2025

*What wrestlers were No. 1 for the year the most years in their career

*The 50 biggest arena draws  in pro wrestling history based on the standards of their era

*New Year Dash coverage

*The year in matches, who had the most great matches in 2025, most over the course of a career, top ten arenas of all-time and new records set in 2025 by a promotion for a year as well as for a city

*A look at the life of Johnny Legend, a cult celebrity wrestling fan, his work with Freddie Blassie and Andy Kaufman, and his promotion, Incredibly Strange Wrestling.

*The most detailed look at the ratings of the pro wrestling TV shows and details regarding who watches

*Advanced ticket sales for WWE, AEW and TNA events

*AEW stars headed to CMLL next week

*Another Arena Mexico sellout

*Legendary pro wrestling promoter turns 101

*Old living wrestling personalities

*Ted DiBiase files lawsuit

*The Ted DiBiase Jr. case

*A look at the career of Bob Boyer/Bobby Bold Eagle, who wrestled from 1955 to 1987

*Documentary planned on 80s tag team

*Notes on WrestleMania week shows

*Update on the WBD sale

*Former UFC champion goes for boxing world title

*Update on the home for WWE’s library

*Plans for TV shows this month

*How much Dwayne Johnson has made from the WWE contract he signed two years ago

*Those added to WWE, those leaving, those injured and those they are interested in

*How the Holiday week house shows did

*Why WWE’s weekly  audience on Netflix should go up close to 12 percent over the next three months.

This Week’s Back Issue

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Sunday Update

[email protected]

— Bryan and I will be back tonight covering the weekend wrestling news. On our Friday show we were joined by John Pollock talking about the 2025 Wrestling Observer Awards.

— Hall of Fame Masakatu Funaki, who is now 56, suffered a neck injury in his match with Takanori Ito at the GLEAT show over the weekend. He took a half nelson suplex and was unable to get up. He lost the match he no doubt was scheduled to win. He suffered a cervical interspinous ligament injury. He is out of the hospital now.

— The Golden Globe Awards air tonight on CBS. Dwayne Johnson was nominated for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a drama for his role as Mark Kerr in “Smashing Machine.” Emily Blunt, who played Kerr’s girlfriend Dawn Staples, was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting role. Zootopia, an animated movie where Johnson, Roman Reigns and CM Punk voiced characters also had a few nominations.

— Raw tomorrow from Dusseldorf, Germany airs live on Netflix at 2 p.m. Eastern time because it’s from a different time zone. AJ Styles vs. Gunther and Dragon Lee & Penta vs. Austin Theory & Bronson Reed have been announced.

— In the Google searches for this weekend, at press time No. 1 at 2 million searches when I had checked was the Bills-Jaguars NFL Wild Card playoff game that the Bills won 27-24 to knock the Jaguars out of the playoffs Real American Freestyle was No. 99 at 20,000 due to the Colby Covington vs. Luke Rockhold match. WWE was No. 177 at 20,000 for Smackdown based on the Drew McIntyre title win. Also making the top 500 were AJ Ferrari’s latest arrest, UFC 324 (which takes place in two weeks) and Lance Palmer, who also wrestled on the RAF show.

— The only international matches I’ve been told about to watch as far as the best matches this weekend not on US television were CMLL bouts from Neza, Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo and today’s Hazuki vs. Mei Seira match from Stardom at Korakuen Hall. The highest profile was Friday night’s Mistico vs. Cavernario CMLL light heavyweight title match but others were Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Bandido & Soberano Jr. and Komander & Atlantis Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Hechicero from Thursday and last night’s Dorada & Atlantis Jr. vs. Soberano Jr. & Yutani from Arena Coliseo.

— We are only 11 days into the new year as Mistico has headlined eight sellouts and one crowd of 15,000 that was not a sellout.

— Add Starboy Charlie to the list of those who are going to the WWE tryout in Orlando. KJ Johnson, who was a senior last season at Louisiana State in gymnastics, is also at the tryout aside from names that have already been reported.

— Saya Kamitani’s return after time off to heal up on 2/7 in Osaka will be a World of Stardom title defense against Starlight Kid.

— From last night in Glasgow, Scotland with Drew McIntyre returning to Scotland as WWE champion:

  • Jey Uso b Finn Balor
  • AJ Styles & Dragon Lee b New Day
  • Alexa Bliss b Kairi Sane
  • Wyatt Sicks b Tama & Talla Tonga & JC Mateo & Tonga Loa
  • Drew McIntyre b Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE title
  • Liv Morgan b Lyra Valkyria
  • Gunther b Sami Zayn
  • CM Punk b Bronson Reed to keep the world title

— We’re looking for reports from last night’s show in Glasgow as well as tonight’s WWE show in Copenhagen, Denmark, results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]

— Hall of Famer Salvador “Gori” Guerrero, the father of Eddy Guerrero as well as Chavo (Sr.), Mando and Hector, was born on this day in 1921. Haruka Eigen was born on this day in 1945.  Kuniaki Kobayashi was born on this day in 1956. Abdullah the Butcher turned 85 today. The Mascara Sagrada that worked in the early 1990s for AAA including at When Worlds Collide, considered the greatest mini of all-time, turned 61 today. Former amateur champion, MMA star and pro wrestler King Mo Lawal turned 45 today. Natalia Markova turned 37. Count Billy Varga, a top name made off 1950s television in Southern California which was on network TV, died 13 years ago today at the age of 94. The second La Parka in AAA died six years ago today after months of issues from an in-ring injury at the age of 54.  

— BJ Penn was back in court on Friday after he failed to undergo a court mandated mental health evaluation. Penn blamed his attorney for not informing him of the evaluation. Penn asked the judge to dismiss his current attorney so he could retain a new attorney. He also asked for the judge to be replaced. The judge ordered him to get his mental health evaluation by 2/23 and to be in front of the judge on 3/2 for the next ruling.

— At the RAF show last night in Hollywood, FL, the Yoel Romero vs. Bo Nickal match that was the most talked about on the show never happened. There was a lot of disorganization. The wrestlers expected weigh-ins on Friday, but they were moved to Saturday. Romero had scheduled a dinner with family and friends Friday night after weigh-ins. He went to the dinner anyway and weighed in seven pounds heavy. Nickal refused the match at that point because he missed weight by so much. In a weird fan reaction, Nickal was viewed as the bad guy and not the guy who missed weight by a lot. The feeling is Romero was 48 and Nickal probably would have beaten him. Romero did score a big win on the last show, but he fought Stephen Buchanan, who also missed weight at 205 but that was because he was told it was at 225.  Buchanan beat Romero via 10-0 tech fall. 

 In the main event, Colby Covington beat Luke Rockhold via tech fall at 12-0. While Rockhold is a naturally bigger guy, he was a high school wrestler who was good in high school but hardly great while Covington was a college champion, a totally different level, and several years younger. Covington came out of it saying he wanted to move to middleweight in UFC, and also issued a grandstand challenge to Georges St-Pierre for a wrestling match. I don’t expect we’ll see that but it got him pub.

— Maki Itoh debuted in Stardom today after signing a contract where. Aaya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara beat Itoh & Saori Anou when Sakurai pinned Itoh.

— Yota Tsuji was announced for the 2/27 New Japan show in Trenton, NJ, which will also have El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the World TV title.

— CJ Perry said she was going to return to pro wrestling as a manager on independent shows.

Daily Update: R-Truth & Carlito gone from WWE, Jeff Cannonball, BJ Penn

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest Headlines

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Sunday Update

– Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about the WWE departures of R-Truth and Carlito, weekend TV, Best of the Super Juniors and the UFC main event that didn’t happen.

– Regarding the departures of Carlito and R-Truth, which are contracts expiring and not being renewed, ultimately when there are additions coming from NXT, there will be subtractions. Older undercard guys or guys not being used are always the ones at the most risk. With R-Truth, I could see him getting a ton of indie work and TNA, maybe even AAA. But if he wants to continue, he’ll have plenty of opportunities.  Carlito knows the indie scene and worked on it for years.  It is interesting the number of WWE folks who had so much positive to say about R-Truth compared to most who get cut.

– Kosei Fujita beat Yoh to win Best of the Super Juniors earlier today at a sold out Ota Ward Gym. We were told this was a match of the year contender. They went 28:05 before Fujita won using thrill ride.

– I don’t know that Collision will be a great ratings show after the first 45 minutes given the late start, particularly Mascara Dorada vs. Hechicero starting at about 1:30 a.m. But there was a lot of great wrestling on the show and they built the Wednesday night show hard.

– Independent wrestler Jeff Cannonball has been diagnosed with ALS. Cannonball was a regular for a number of Northeast independents. He is 38 and was just diagnosed with the disease a week ago but it progressed very rapidly.

– B.J. Penn was arrested for the third time in a week on Friday for failing to appear in court. He claimed he missed his hearing because he was sick with COVID, but obviously the judge wasn’t buying this. He was released again on another $2,000 bond. His attempt to get a restraining order against his mother, Lorraine Shin, was denied. She still has a restraining order against him.

– Maycee Barber not only missed weight for her fight last night with Erin Blanchfield, which headlined the UFC show at the Apex, but just as a video package playing for the fight finished, it was announced Barber wasn’t medically cleared to compete. Blanchfield said she’s not going to agree to a match at this point with Barber.  Blanchfield said she was in the doorway about to come out when she was told they were delaying the fight six minutes. Then Hunter Campbell came in and told Blanchfield that Barber was having a seizure and the fight was off.  

– UFC Noche which was scheduled for 9/13 at Arena Guadalajara has been moved to San Antonio. It was not announced as a PPV show but originally it was. Arena Guadalajara, which hasn’t opened yet, was thought to be touch-and-go if it would even be ready to open by that date. The big question is with this no longer on PPV, does that mean Dana White will be back working with Turki Alalsheikh in promoting Canelo Alvarez vs. Terrence Crawford that night as the debut of TKO boxing. Everything has remained secretive on that front since Alalshikh announced SELA as the promoter and didn’t announce TKO, Dana White or Nick Khan.

– Announced for Raw tomorrow night are MITB qualifiers with CM Punk vs. AJ Styles vs. Grande Americano and Stephanie Vaquer vs. Liv Morgan vs. Ivy Nile.

– Matches announced for Fyter Fest, a four-hour AEW special on TNT, on Wednesday at 8 p.m. are Kenny Omega vs. Mascara Dorada vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brody King for the International title, Jon Moxley vs. Mark Briscoe non-title, Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa vs. Julia Hart & Skye Blue, FTR vs. Atlantis Jr. & Templario, Rush & Dralistico & Mortos vs. Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight & Komander plus Thekla will have her in-ring debut and The Hurt Business with MJF appear.

– The movie “The Pickup,” starring Eddie Murphy and with Roman Reigns having a role will be released on Prime Video on 8/6.

– AAA obviously went through with plans and El Hijo del Vikingo beat Alberto El Patron to win the AAA Mega title. WWE advertised this coming Saturday’s Vikingo vs. Chad Gable match as being for the title even before Vikingo won the title. Vikingo’s father, who Alberto attacked on a television show a few days earlier, interfered and hit Alberto with a guitar shot to set  up the win.

– Carlito beat longtime rival Ray Gonzalez last night in Bayamon,PR, to win the Puerto Rican title for the WWC promotion.

– Bear Bronson joins Mariah May and Abadon as those who were announced as being finished with AEW, but those decisions were all months ago and none have been used since May had her blow-off match at Revolution on March 1 with Toni Storm.

– In the English language TV show category, this was where Friday’s SmackDown placed on the day of airing in various countries:

4.  Australia

3.  India

4. New Zealand

2. Saudi Arabia

2. U.K.

3. Canada

1. Mexico

– For Google trends, R-Truth was at 100,000 as last checking and last night’s UFC show was at 57.000

– Jun Saito retained the All Japan Triple Crown beating brother Rei Saito in Sendai, where both grew up. They played this up as a big deal, including having someone sing the Japanese national anthem and a video package of them growing up, playing high school football in the U.S., and during their sumo days.

– Pro Wrestling Revolver announced that Myron Reed took a nasty spill and was knocked out in a match last night. The match was stopped immediately. He was taken to the hospital where he has since been released and he did not have any serious injuries according to the doctor.

– United Wrestling Coalition on Saturday night in New Egypt, NJ at the American Legion at 7 p.m.

Daily Update: Nate Diaz, BJ Penn, Simone Johnson

Posted on by Bryan Rose

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

WON NEWSLETTER: February 10, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Major WWE corporate shakeups, more

We look at the changes in WWE business and details on what Vince McMahon was talking about regarding changes in the network and PPV distribution in the lead story of the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

We examine the departure of Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, the drop in the stock price, what it will take to get the price back up, McMahon talking business options, what WWE can learn from how UFC handled a similar situation, the business of WrestleMania, the key players, the different options, the UFC PPV deal, and McMahon talks AEW.

Also in this issue:

WWE fourth quarter numbers in every category, profits, losses, arena business, corporate spending and all categories.

McGregor vs. Cerrone business including details of it being the largest streaming PPV in history, how it did on traditional PPV, how UFC ha helped ESPN+ numbers, ESPN+ subscribers as well a the bundle with Hulu and Disney Plus, and how successful it has been financially.

WrestleMania and the net Saudi Arabia show, a new WWE TV deal, Takeover Portland, what medical treatment wrestlers from many different companies are looking at doing, new WWE signings, John Cena in Fast 9, update on talent that has  wanted their release, Jake Atlas debut, lots of ratings info, WWE Network price notes, Mauro Ranallo talks getting off twitter, Total Bellas story lines, Bret Hart update, most watched shows on WWE Network and coverage of all of last week’s WWE arena events.

New Beginning shows in Sapporo, with a full rundown of the booking, the business, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

A feature on the Jericho Cruise, the top matches, how TV was taped, and what happened.

UFC event from Raleigh with match-by-match coverage and business notes.

A feature on the death of Romeo Cormier and the famous Burke/Martin/Cormier family and the heyday of pro wrestling in Eastern Canada. 

Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker. 

Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.

In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.

Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week. 

ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].

Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.

In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.

For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • The WWE Performance Center’s YouTube channel released part one of a four-part documentary on Tegan Nox’s comeback.
  • Simone Johnson talked to Cathy Kelly about joining WWE and her aspirations of becoming a WWE star.
  • Davey Boy Smith Jr., aka David Hart Smith, appeared on WWE’s The Bump this morning along with other Hart Dynasty members Natalya and Tyson Kidd.
  • Roman Reigns and Sheamus will appear on next week’s episode of WWE’s The Bump.
  • NXT’s Mansoor will be in action at EVOLVE 145 in Queens, New York on February 29 and EVOLVE 146 in Melrose, Massachusetts on March 1.
  • Carmella and Otis will be the guests on tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day-themed episode of After the Bell with Corey Graves.
  • Bianca Belair spoke to Knox News about her track background and how it applies to wrestling.
  • Xavier Woods will host DC Universe All Star Games, an unscripted gaming mini-series that premieres on February 28.
  • Jumanji: The Next Level, which stars The Rock, will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 17.

Other Wrestling

  • AEW has released a Control Center video ahead of tonight’s Dynamite episode.
  • AEW is holding an online pre-sale tomorrow for their Double or Nothing event in Las Vegas. It starts at 12 p.m. ET here and the presale code is FLEETDON.
  • Over the Top Wrestling released a video highlighting the David Starr vs. Jeff Cobb match that will take place at ScrapperMania 6 on February 15.
  • TJPW announced that Yuka Sakazaki will miss their March 1 card at KFC Hall due to scheduling reasons. AEW Revolution takes place a day prior.
  • Dustin Rhodes talked to the Two Man Power Trip podcast about his role in the upcoming film Copper Bill.
  • Here is a trailer for the next DLC for Fire Pro Wrestling World, which includes Stardom wrestlers.

MMA

  • Nate Diaz is considering legal action after The Miami Herald reported that he was involved in an altercation with Miami police and was hospitalized. Zach Rosenfield, Diaz’s publicist, immediately denied the report. The publication later issued a correction saying it was not Diaz, but rather Michael Albert Nates, a local MMA fighter.
  • Police are investigating BJ Penn for a possible DUI violation stemming from an accident in Hilo, Hawaii last week. Penn allegedly was operating a truck that was involved in a single vehicle crash. Penn was taken to the hospital and, according to TMZ, was released shortly after.
  • UFC is currently finalizing a bout between Niko Price and Muslim Salikhov for April 11 in Portland.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship

CONTACT INFORMATION

Hall of Famer BJ Penn released by UFC after street fight videos

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

UFC president Dana White has announced that former lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn has been released from his UFC contract.

Penn was rumored to face Nik Lentz in a fight originally set for Boston next month, but recent outside the Octagon issues with Penn had caused the fight to be postponed until at least November and ultimately canceled.

In August, two separate videos surfaced in which Penn got into skirmishes with a bar patron in his native Hawaii. One of the videos included Penn taking several punches and being knocked down.

White said earlier this month that Penn wouldn’t fight in the UFC again and that he needed to get his issues under control before he even thinks about fighting.

Penn last fought in a prelim bout at UFC 217 in May, losing via decision to Clay Guida. His only win since 2009 was a second-round knockout over another former 170 lb champion — Matt Hughes — in 2010. Since successfully defending his lightweight title against Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 in December 2009, Penn has gone 1-9-1.

“The Prodigy” was the first lighter weight star to really move numbers for the UFC during a time in which the company’s popularity was exploding. He opened his career by going 7-1-1 over top competition on his way to winning the welterweight title over Hughes in January 2004. He then left UFC due to a contract dispute and was stripped of that belt.

After fighting overseas for most of 2004 and 2005, Penn returned to much fanfare but lost his first two fights back in the company to Georges St-Pierre and the aforementioned Hughes, the latter fight being for the welterweight title that Hughes had regained.

Moving down to 155, Penn stopped Sean Sherk to win the lightweight title in the third round of the main event of UFC 84. He then went on to face welterweight champion St-Pierre in a rematch that drew 920,000 buys, a record at the time for a show headlined by a welterweight title fight.

Penn was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2015.

Indications are that Penn still wants to fight, but if he does it will not be with the UFC.

Daily Update: TakeOver, BJ Penn, Dark Side of the Ring

Posted on by F4W Staff

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News

Latest Audio

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Looking at AEW’s build to Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes

A brother vs. brother match will be one of the key pieces of All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing card.

After weeks of teases, Dustin Rhodes was confirmed as his brother Cody’s opponent for Double or Nothing at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, May 25. Dustin issued a statement about his status with WWE after the announcement was made, revealing that he had requested his release from WWE and was granted it. Dustin also posted a video where he said goodbye to his Goldust character.

WON NEWSLETTER: May 13, 2019 Observer Newsletter: AEW UK PPV details, WWE wild card rule, more

AEW made the first of what is expected to be a series of announcements regarding both Double or Nothing and future television on 5/8, this regarding the U.K. market.

The announcement is that Double or Nothing on 5/25 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena will be carried in the U.K. as a PPV from 1 to 5 a.m. early Sunday morning 5/26 on ITV Box Office for 14.95 pounds ($19.44 U.S.). The U.K. traditionally has far cheaper PPV prices than the U.S., Canada and Australia whether it be boxing or formerly with WWE. The U.K. was also always WWE’s No. 2 PPV market, ahead of Canada, and behind the U.S. The suggested U.S. PPV price at this point is $49.95, but it is the local companies, not the promotion, that sets the price so it could be higher or lower depending upon the carrier. That figure is similar to what Impact charges.

ORDERING INFO:  Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered  via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].

Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.

In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.

For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.

If you order by  mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell,CA  95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

by Joseph Currier and Ethan Renner

WWE

  • The Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut is advertising an NXT Women’s Championship match between Shayna Baszler and Io Shirai for TakeOver XXV. The show is taking place on June 1.
  • Becky Lynch and Daniel Bryan worked out with coach John Kavanagh at SBG Ireland prior to WWE’s house show in Dublin.
  • Matt Hardy and The Usos met up with Jon Jones while flying out for WWE’s European tour.
  • WWE stock closed at $83.87 per share today, down from $84.28 yesterday.
  • Lacey Evans was interviewed by the New York Post and discussed how her job with WWE has helped her battle depression.
  • Ali spoke to TalkSport about Daniel Bryan reportedly being involved in Ali getting called up to SmackDown: “As far as Daniel’s involvement in it, I’ve heard a bunch of different stories, but I refuse to believe anything other than Bryan saw I was capable of doing or he wanted to give back because Bryan himself is a guy who struggled at cruiserweight just like we did. You know, smaller guys, work-rate guys, guys that might not get the best story or chance to show personality and he saw whatever he saw and I was fortunate enough to work him. I would directly say if Daniel Bryan wasn’t involved I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now.”
  • WWE Now released a video on Bray Wyatt’s secret message buried in old promos.

Pro Wrestling

  • This week’s Gino Hernandez episode of Dark Side of the Ring averaged 225,000 viewers on Viceland, which was down from 234,000 for last week’s Von Erichs episode. The rating in the 18-49 demo stayed even at a 0.08. Viewership had increased every week since the premiere prior to this week’s small drop. The season finale airs next Wednesday and is focused on the Fabulous Moolah.
  • Justin Roberts says Brandi Rhodes is the person responsible for his AEW hiring in this video interview with Chris Van Vliet.
  • NJPW is releasing a series of personality profiles on this year’s Best of the Super Jrs. entrants on their YouTube channel. Today’s videos covered SHO, YOH, Shingo Takagi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Titan, Tiger Mask, Robbie Eagles, and TAKA Michinoku.
  • Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. MJF is set for MLW’s TV tapings in Waukesha, Wisconsin on June 1.
  • Starrcast posted a promo video for their “Arn” stage show with Arn Anderson on May 24.
  • Game Changer Wrestling will hold a show called “5150” in Brooklyn, New York on July 14. It will celebrate Homicide’s 25th anniversary in pro wrestling.

UFC/MMA

  • B.J. Penn refused to speak with MMA Junkie yesterday and today, and other media outlets were reportedly instructed not to ask him about his current legal issues at today’s UFC 237 media day.
  • Anderson Silva tells TMZ Sports that he is looking for a fight with Conor McGregor: “Conor accepted the challenge, I accepted the challenge, we’re just waiting for the opportunity. Let’s go see.”
  • A video of fighter face-offs at the Bellator 221 press conference is available here. Jake Hager is fighting on the show, which takes place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL, Saturday at 9 PM ET.
  • A video of fighter face-offs at the UFC 237 media day is available here. UFC 237 takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday.
  • The UFC uploaded episode four of Embedded for Saturday’s PPV.
  • Joanna Jedrzejczyk has a new cookbook available. It has not been released in English yet.
  • The UFC’s Paige VanZant was featured in this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
  • Our Dave Meltzer’s latest “Fortunes changed for five” column is available here at MMA Fighting.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Jerry Lawler wins AWA title from Curt Hennig

F4W Empire Convention Info:

  • Ed in San Antonio presents PODER~! at the FSW arena on Friday 5/24 – Showtime is at noon – Main event: Bryan Alvarez vs. Logan Stunt
  • Empire dinner on Friday 5/24 at 8:30 p.m. at Texas de Brazil – Price is $82 – All you can eat meat and salad, sodas, tea, and coffee, plus dessert included
  • Empire suite party on Friday 5/24 for those who were not able to get the Q&A package – Price is $25

Purchase tickets here. 

CONTACT INFORMATION

UFC Fight Night 112 live results: Michael Chiesa vs. Kevin Lee

Posted on by Ryan Frederick

Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC Fight Night 112: Chiesa vs. Lee, emanating from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The event is headlined by a five-round bout in the lightweight division as rising contenders Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee battle to get themselves into title contention talk.

Chiesa is looking to extend his three-fight win streak as he steps into the Octagon for the first time in 14 months, while Lee puts his four-fight win streak on the line. This matchup had some added fireworks last month when Chiesa and Lee got into a scuffle at the UFC Summer Kickoff press conference prior to UFC 211 in Dallas.

The co-main event sees former UFC Welterweight Champion Johny Hendricks looking to make it two-for-two since moving up a weight class, although he missed weight coming in at 188 pounds, as he takes on Tim Boetsch. Also on the card is former two-division UFC champion and UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn looking to avoid more retirement talk as he takes on Dennis Siver, who returns from a two-year layoff.

Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET with preliminary action all the way through the main card.

UFC FIGHT PASS PRELIMS | 5:30 PM ET/2:30 PM PT

> Josh Stansbury (8-3, 1-1 UFC) vs. Jeremy Kimball (14-6, 0-1 UFC)
Light Heavyweights

Stansbury was on the attack early with a nice combo. Stansbury went for a takedown but it wasdefended. Kimball then dropped Stansbury with a big right hand followed by a big hammerfist and quickly finished him off. Huge win for Kimball.

Official Result- Jeremy Kimball def. Josh Stansbury by TKO (punches) at 1:21 of Round 1

> Tony Martin (11-3, 3-3 UFC) vs. Johnny Case (22-5, 4-1 UFC)
Lightweights

They were feeling each other out early on. Case landed a couple of kicks. They traded leg kicks. They traded punches but neither were landing clean.They went back to trading kicks and started talking trash to each other. Martin stunned Case with a right hand. Case landed a body kick and then they traded jabs. Martin went for a takedown but it was defended against the fence. Close round. 10-9 Martin.

Martin hurt Case early with a punch. Case went for a takedown but Martin defended and landed a knee. They traded jabs. Case with a leg kick and he was avoiding the punches thrown by Martin. They traded in close and Martin just missed a big right hand. Case started talking trash and Martin nailed him with a right hand. Case is bleeding pretty good. Martin landed a right hand. Martin landed a solid left hand. Martin with a huge head kick to end the round. 10-9 Martin, 20-18 Martin.

They were trading early in the third as this fight could be up for grabs here. Both landed right hands and Martin’s looked to have more power behind it. They were trading and Martin hurt Case with a huge knee. Martin then landed a solid right hand. Case missed his punches and is still bleeding pretty good. Martin landed a right hand and scored a big takedown and landed some. Case reversed but Martin reversed back as the horn sounded. 10-9 Martin, 30-27 Martin.

Official Result- Tony Martin def. Johnny Case by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

> Jared Gordon (12-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Michel Quinones (8-1, 0-0 UFC)
Featherweights* (Gordon missed weight, coming in at 149 pounds)

Gordon was landing some hard shots and scored a takedown. Gordon landed some but Quinones was able to get to his feet. Quinones landed a head kick. Gordon was chasing Quinones around the Octagon and it allowed Quinones to land a leg kick and then a side kick. Gordon in control of the Octagon and lands a leg kick late. 10-9 Gordon.

Quinones just missed a spin kick to the head and Gordon almost took him down. They were brawling against the fence and scrambling and Gordon ended up in the guard. Gordon was working from the top and landing. Quinones got to his feet and Gordon dropped him and was landing a lot of punches. Gordon almost finished it but Quinones got to his feet. Gordon scored a takedown. Gordon is landing a lot of punches on the ground and this is close to being stopped. Hammerfists from Gordon and Quinones is just squirming around on the mat. The fight is finally stopped and Gordon gets a huge win.

Official Result- Jared Gordon def. Michel Quinones by TKO (punches) at 4:24 of Round 2

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> Devin Powell (8-2, 0-1 UFC) vs. Darrell Horcher (12-2, 0-1 UFC)
Lightweights

Powell was going for high kicks early. They traded leg kicks. Powell went for a body kick but Horcher caught the leg, then let go. Powell landed a nice leg kick but then got cracked with two left hands by Horcher. They clinched and Powell got a takedown but Horcher reversed to the top. Both men were working for position on the mat with Horcher landing some elbows. Powell was landing some punches and elbows from the bottom as Horcher was trying to improve his position. 10-9 Horcher.

They were trading punches and Horcher cracked Powell with a left hand. Powell dropped down for a takedown. Horcher got a takedown and into the guard of Powell. Powell was landing from the bottom. Horcher started landing from the top. Horcher had Powell firmly planted on the mat and was landing at will. 10-9 Horcher, 20-18 Horcher.

Powell looked tired in this round. They were both landing but at a slower rate. Horcher got a tie up against the fence looking for a takedown. Powell got the beck and dropped down for a guillotine and then rolled to the top position. He didn’t have a submission on but needs to do a lot to win this fight. Powell almost had mount but Horcher able to get to his feet. Powell locked on a standing guillotine and took it to the mat as Horcher escaped. Powell with some late knees to the body. 10-9 Powell, 29-28 Horcher.

Official Result- Darrell Horcher def. Devin Powell by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

> Carla Esparza (#8, 11-4, 2-2 UFC) vs. Maryna Moroz (#10, 8-1, 3-1 UFC)
Women’s Strawweights

Esparza landed a right hand early on. They traded punches and Esparza landed a clean right hand. Esparza went for a takedown but it was defended though she landed a right hand after the broke. Esparza then scored the takedown but Moroz had the neck. Esparza landing punches from the position as Moroz doesn’t have the choke locked in. She escapes. Esparza landing from the top to the head and body. Esparza finishes the round strong. 10-9 Esparza.

Moroz landed a nice combo to start the round. Esparza ducked under and came over the top with a right hand that backed Moroz up. Moroz came back with a right hand. Esparza shot for a long takedown but Moroz stuffed it. Esparza grabbed a leg and got a brief takedown before Moroz got back up against the fence. They traded punches. Esparza got a big takedown into the guard of Moroz. Moroz was able to get to her feet and defended a late takedown attempt. 10-9 Esparza, 20-18 Esparza.

They were trading early on. Esparza landed a Superman punch. Esparza went for a takedown but it was defended. Esparza landed a knee and the scored a takedown after a brief timeout. Esparza not doing much from the top but Moroz not really working from the bottom. They are stood up by Mario Yamasaki. Esparza scored another takedown. She was landing from the top. Moroz with some upkicks but Esparza was landing kicks to the grounded legs of Moroz. Moroz got to her feet and Esparza closed it out with a late takedown. 10-9 Esparza, 30-27 Esparza.

Official Result- Carla Esparza def. Maryna Moroz by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

> Vitor Miranda (12-5, 3-2 UFC) vs. Marvin Vettori (11-3, 1-1 UFC)
Middleweights

They were trading early on. Vettori landed a knee and then a combo against the fence. Vettori with a leg kick. Miranda with a leg kick but Vettori backs him to the fence with some punches. Miranda landed a head kick but Vettori reversed it into a takedown. Miranda able to get back to his feet. Vettori with a late combo. 10-9 Vettori.

They were trading to start the second. Miranda with a heavy leg kick. Vettori landing the better combinations on the feet. Vettori landed a big leg kick. Miranda comes back with some heavy leg kicks. Vettori started landing punches on Miranda and then they clinched. Vettori scored a takedown and was working in the guard. They got back to their feet. Vettori with a late takedown. 10-9 Vettori, 20-18 Vettori.

They were trading and neither man was doing much. Miranda missed on a bad takedown attempt and then just missed a head kick. Both men look very tired. Miranda landed a sloppy takedown that Vettori quickly escaped from. They clinched and Vettori pushed Miranda against the fence and scored a takedown. Both men landing on the mat but Vettori is going to ride it out to end the fight. Boring fight. 10-9 Miranda, 29-28 Vettori.

Official Result- Marvin Vettori def. Vitor Miranda by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

> Clay Guida (32-17, 12-11 UFC) vs. Erik Koch (15-4, 4-3 UFC)
Lightweights

Both men tentative to start and Guida rushes in with some punches. Guida with a head kick. Guida went in for a takedown and pushed Koch against the fence. Guida got the takedown after eating a shot from Koch. Koch got right back up. Loud chants for Guida. Guida landed some good punches at the end of the round. 10-9 Guida.

Guida landed some good punches and scored a big takedown into the guard of Koch. Guida was working to take the back of Koch against the fence. Guida into side control and then moves to the mount and is landing punches. Guida working enough to keep the fight grounded. Guida with more punches from the top. Guida has kept Koch on the mat in defense as he lands punch after punch. This could be stopped. Guida with a merciless attack as he gets a big round there. 10-8 Guida, 20-17 Guida.

Koch with a head kick. They trade punches and Guida gets a brief takedown. More loud chants for Guida. Guida has the leg and is working hard for the takedown and he finally gets it. Guida moves to full mount and is landing knees to the body from the position. Guida landing a big barrage of punches from the top much like he did in the second round. Guida with more punches from the top as he finishes out the fight strong. Strong showing from Guida. 10-9 Guida, 30-26 Guida.

Official Result- Clay Guida def. Erik Koch by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-26, 30-27)

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> BJ Penn (16-11-2, 12-10-2 UFC) vs. Dennis Siver (22-11 1 NC, 11-8 1 NC UFC)
Featherweights

Penn came out firing and Siver tried a takedown but it was defended. Penn clinched up but nothing happened and Siver landed on the break. Penn with a left hand. Siver with a spin kick. Siver landed a right hand and was landing punches and had Penn in a little trouble. They both land punches. Both land at the end. 10-9 Siver.

Penn lands some punches but Siver is attacking the leg with kicks. They are trading but Penn just isn’t firing away like he could in the past. Penn landed a very good combo that stunned Siver. Penn dropped Siver with a right hand and swarmed on looking for the finish. Siver grabbed the arm looking for an armbar but Penn wisely went into side control. Loud chants for Penn. Penn landing some from the top but looking more to improve position. Penn let up too much and Siver survived. 10-9 Penn, 19-19.

Siver landing some leg kicks and landing the jab. Siver misses a spinning head kick. Siver with a heavy leg kick. Siver with a spin kick to the body. Siver is landing and Penn is doing nothing. Penn is gassed out. Siver is landing punches and kicks at will. Siver with a heavy leg kick and then another. Siver landing at will and he has Penn nearly finished. Penn running away from trouble. Siver with more kicks at the end. 10-9 Siver, 29-28 Siver.

Official Result- Dennis Siver def. BJ Penn by majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-27)

> Tim Means (26-8-1 1 NC, 8-5 1 NC UFC) vs. Alex Garcia (14-3, 4-2 UFC)
Welterweights

Means comes attacking the body with left hands. Garcia cracked Means with some hard punches and scored a takedown. Means back up and landed a heavy leg kick. Means with another leg kick and Garcia just misses a hard right hand. Garcia cracked Means with a combo. Means with a left hand to the body. They trade punches late. 10-9 Garcia.

They trade punches to start the second. Garcia went for a takedown but Means defended it and they broke apart. Means landed a hard left hand that hurt Garcia. He landed another that had Garcia backtracking. Means with a left hand to the body. The crowd is booing this fight. Means with another left hand and Garcia lands a spin kick at the end. 10-9 Means, 19-19.

They were trading. Garcia got a brief takedown but Means got right back up. They were trading in close range and the crowd was not enjoying it as neither was really landing. Both men missing on their punches. Garcia with a body kick. Garcia with a combo and then a leg kick. Garcia with a combo. The crowd has been booing the whole fight. Boring fight. 10-9 Means, 29-28 Means.

Official Result- Tim Means def. Alex Garcia by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

> Joachim Christensen (14-5, 1-2 UFC) vs. Dominick Reyes (6-0, 0-0 UFC)
Light Heavyweights

Reyes quickly hurt Christensen with a left hand. He then dropped Christensen with a big punch and then finished him off quickly. Less than 30 seconds for Reyes to win in his UFC debut.

Official Result- Dominick Reyes def. Joachim Christensen by TKO (punches) at :28 of Round 1

> Felice Herrig (#13, 12-6, 3-1 UFC) vs. Justine Kish (6-0, 2-0 UFC)
Women’s Strawweights

They come out clinched quickly and scramble to the mat and Herrig has the back looking for the choke. They get to their feet. Herrig gets a takedown and has Kish pinned against the fence. Herrig gets to the back again and is landing punches. Herrig gets to the full mount and is landing punches and elbows. Big punches and Herrig looking for the finish. She moves to the back looking for the choke. Kish was able to reverse to the top. They get to their feet and Herrig lands a right hand and then gets a takedown but Kish scrambles to the top. Kish has the neck late. 10-9 Herrig.

They trade and Kish lands a good knee in the clinch. They trade and Herrig lands a good right hand. Kish is bleeding. Both women are landing good punches and Kish lands a kick against the fence. Kish with a spinning back fist and a front elbow. Herrig gets a takedown and Kish gives up her back. Herrig looking for the choke but Kish reverses into the guard. Herrig goes for an armbar but Kish slips out and ends in dominant position. 10-9 Herrig, 20-18 Herrig.

Herrig gets another takedown and is on top. Herrig gets to the mount and takes the back of Kish. Kish gets to her feet but Herrig still has the back and has a standing rear-naked choke locked in. Kish moves to the ground and it is locked in tighter. Kish is surviving. Herrig gets to the moint and then into side control. I don’t know how Kish survived but she has to be done. Herrig with punches from the top. Herrig gets the back again. Herrig with punches in bunches from the back and more to end the fight. Great performance by Herrig. 10-8 Herrig, 30-26 Herrig.

Official Result- Felice Herrig def. Justine Kish by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27)

> Tim Boetsch (20-11, 11-10 UFC) vs. Johny Hendricks (18-6, 13-6 UFC)
Middleweights* (Hendricks missed weight, coming in at 188 pounds)

They were trading early. Both landed leg kicks. They traded again and Hendricks landed a left hand. Both men landed and Boetsch landed with some leg kicks. Hendricks just missed a big left hand. Hendricks lands two left hands that back Boetsch against the fence. Boetsch landed a right hand followed by a leg kick. Hendricks with two leg kicks. Boetsch with a heavy leg kick. Close round. 10-9 Boetsch.

Boetsch hurt Hendricks with a head kick followed by some punches. Beotsch dropped Hendricks with some punches and after a few more the fight was stopped. Big TKO win by Tim Boetsch!

Official Result- Tim Boetsch def. Johny Hendricks by TKO (strikes) at :46 of Round 2

> Michael Chiesa (#6, 14-2, 7-2 UFC) vs. Kevin Lee (#11, 15-2, 8-2 UFC)
Lightweights

They trade kicks. Chiesa lands a left hand. Chiesa hurts Lee with a left and gets him down. Lee scrambles and looks for a takedown against the fence. Lee picks Chiesa up and slams him down but Chiesa has the neck. Chiesa lands some punches from the bottom. Chiesa looking for the armbar but Lee gets out and takes the back. Lee working for the choke. Lee landing punches from the back. Lee going for the choke again but goes back to landing punches. Hammerfists by Lee from the back. Lee still has the back looking for the choke and he has it in. Mario Yamasaki has stopped the fight! WHAT? Chiesa didn’t tap out and the fight was just stopped. This is a disaster. Crowd booing like crazy as it looks like Lee is going to get the win.

Official Result- Kevin Lee def. Michael Chiesa by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:27 of Round 1

UFC’s first show of 2017 battles the NFL, still cracks 1 million viewers

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Even against a massive audience for an NFL divisional playoff game, UFC held up relatively well for its first FS1 Fight Night show of the year as Sunday’s card, headlined by the return of BJ Penn, averaged 1.090 million viewers.

That number was less than half the audience of the Sunday night show a year ago, but that had a much bigger lineup and main event (Dominick Cruz vs then-bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw).

Over half of the four-fight show went up against NBC’s Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs NFL playoff game which did over 37 million viewers. The game was originally supposed to be at 1 PM EST, but weather forced its pushback to 8 PM EST instead. 

To put things in perspective, Sunday would have been the fifth highest rated Fight Night show in 2016 and marks the biggest number since the September 26 Cyborg Justino-headlined show which did 1.109 million viewers.

The prelims, which also aired on FS 1, did 824,000 viewers. That is a good number given that there were no fighters familiar to anyone but hardcore fans.

UFC’s returns to the airwaves a week from this Saturday on Fox, headlined by Valentina Shevchenko vs. Juliana Pena in a #1 women’s bantamweight contender bout.

UFC Fight Night 103 betting & DFS playbook: BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguez

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Here’s some advice for your gambling and fantasy needs for Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 103 in Phoenix, Arizona, headlined by Yair Rodriguez taking on BJ Penn in a five-round featherweight bout on FOX Sports 1.

Yair Rodriguez (8-1) vs. BJ Penn (16-10-2)

  • Betting Odds: Rodriguez (-420), Penn (+335)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Rodriguez- $9,200, Penn- $7,000
  • Key Statistic: Penn last won in November 2010, Rodriguez had yet to make pro debut

Penn finally makes his return to the Octagon when he takes on Rodriguez who is looking to add the biggest win to his resume yet. Penn announced his intentions to return to competition over a year ago, but many snags came along the way. He is a former champ in two divisions and a member of the UFC Hall Of Fame, but training under the coaching of Greg Jackson reignited his passion to compete.

At his peak, Penn was arguably the most talented fighter to ever grace the Octagon. Rodriguez is one of the most talented fighters in the sport today, and he was coached by Jackson in the past, but this will be his second fight under a new training camp out of Chicago. Penn made a name of himself for his relentless speed and aggression in the past with excellent boxing and a strong submission game.

The older you get, the reflexes go, and Penn is now 38. He didn’t look good when he last fought, and that was back in July 2014. He may be too old now to keep up with the speed and pace of Rodriguez. Rodriguez is flashy, but the longer the fight goes, the more he starts slowing down and making it a close fight on the scorecards. I do think this is a bad fight for Penn, but he’s made a career of proving people wrong. He has the right coaching team behind him, and one familiar with Rodriguez.

However, I see this as Rodriguez’ fight to lose. He is a heavy favorite and has the highest fantasy salary, but I still see him as great plays in both as his striking could finish Penn early.

Joe Lauzon (26-12) vs. Marcin Held (22-5)

  • Betting Odds: Lauzon (-110), Held (-110)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Lauzon- $8,500, Held- $7,700
  • Key Statistic: Lauzon and Held have a combined 30 wins by submission

Submission specialists clash in the co-main event as UFC veteran Lauzon welcomes Held to his second appearance inside the Octagon. Lauzon has been with the UFC since 2006, and should be around for as long as he wants to fight. He has racked up the most post-fight bonus awards in company history with 15, and is one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC. Held has 27 career fights at just 24 years of age, and it seems like his best is yet to come. He dropped a decision in his UFC debut to Diego Sanchez, and he doesn’t get an easy second bout.

Both men have a big track record of scoring wins by submission as Lauzon has gotten 18 wins by submission while Held has twelve. They are different in their submission attacks as Lauzon is a more all-around submission artist while Held looks for leg locks. Lauzon has more power in his fists, and that could be a key factor in this one. Held has never been finished by punches, but he has a lot of fights for a young age and that chin is going to be tested eventually.

Lauzon also has better conditioning, and the edge in experience. They are even on the betting odds, but Lauzon is the better bet. Lauzon is also a good fantasy play at his $8,500 salary as I can see him finding a sneaky finish of Held.

Court McGee (18-5) vs. Ben Saunders (20-7-2)

  • Betting Odds: McGee (-105), Saunders (-115)
  • DraftKings Salaries: McGee- $7,800, Saunders- $8,400
  • Key Statistic: In 11 UFC bouts each, McGee has 22 takedowns, Saunders has 2

McGee and Saunders are looking to break into the rankings discussion when they meet in a solid welterweight bout. Saunders steps into the Octagon for the first time in a year after competing in one fight outside of the UFC while he was a free agent. McGee looks to score his second straight win after scoring a decision in his last fight. This is an interesting styles clash fight.

McGee goes after the takedown as he averages two per fight, but he shoots for them several times per fight. Saunders hasn’t shown much of a solid takedown defense game, and he could find himself on his back a lot. Takedowns score points in both the fight and in fantasy, so McGee has the leg up there. Saunders also gets hit a lot as he leaves his chin out there, though McGee hasn’t finished an opponent by strikes since before he was in the UFC. Saunders is durable and he has some flashy submissions, so he won’t mind being taken down if it means he gets to hunt for those submissions.

Saunders also has more knockout wins on his record than he does submissions, though McGee has a solid chin. This fight is close on paper as evidenced by the betting odds. Both men would be solid bets as it will be a tough fight to score. McGee is behind on fantasy salaries, and I could see him scoring a lot of points due to takedowns. He is the better fantasy play and has great value.

John Moraga (16-5) vs. Sergio Pettis (14-2)

  • Betting Odds: Moraga (+130), Pettis (-150)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Moraga- $8,100, Pettis- $8,100
  • Key Statistic: Pettis has been finished in both of his losses

Two flyweights headed in different directions meet in the opening main card bout. Moraga is taking this fight on short notice as a replacement for Jussier Formiga, and he’ll be looking to bounce back from two straight losses. Pettis is looking to score his third straight win. This is a perfect test to see where Pettis is going to go at 125 pounds. He has plenty of potential, but he has hindered himself and been stopped in both of his losses.

Moraga is the type of opponent who can capitalize on openings, and he can apply pressure when needed. Pettis is a very well-rounded fighter who has shown improvement in each fight, but he has been shown to lose focus in fights at times, and it has cost him. Moraga is a sharp boxer, and while he isn’t much of a takedown threat, he is very dangerous on the mat. He is also sharp in the clinch and will go after his foes with elbows and dirty boxing. Pettis will be needing to utilize his footwork a lot in this one to keep Moraga from getting close, and that will be the difference.

They are close on the betting odds, and there is money that could be made on Moraga as he can find chances to score the win. I do like Pettis in this one though. For fantasy, they are even on salaries, and I see this one going the distance, so there are better plays on this card. If you’re looking at one in this fight, I would recommend Moraga as he has the better finishing ability.

Frankie Saenz (11-4) vs. Augusto Mendes (5-1)

  • Betting Odds: Saenz (-165), Mendes (+145)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Saenz- $8,300, Mendes- $7,900
  • Key Statistic: Saenz has a 74% takedown defense percentage

Neither one of these fighters have had it easy lately. Saenz has lost two straight to former champions in Urijah Faber and Eddie Wineland. Mendes lost his UFC debut to the new champion Cody Garbrandt, missing weight in the process, though he took it on short notice.

This could be a fight for a roster spot and both men will need a good showing. Saenz is the better fighter as he mixes his punches and takedowns well. Mendes is a reckless kickboxer who hasn’t shown that he can deal with pressure from an opponent. Saenz lands a lot of strikes and will switch to the takedowns. He hasn’t finished anyone in the UFC, but the power is there. Mendes has power, but he leaves himself open to being hit.

Seanz did get stopped in his last fight by Wineland, and he has left himself open to being hit. Mendes has the kind of power to finish Saenz. I like Saenz in this fight, and he is the play. I do think this one will find the winner scoring the finish.

Aleksei Oleinik (50-10-1) vs. Viktor Pesta (10-3)

  • Betting Odds: Oleinik (-140), Pesta (+120)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Oleinik- $8,600, Pesta- $7,600
  • Key Statistic: Oleinik has 41 wins by submission

There is a huge gap in experience between these two heavyweights, and this will be a curious bout. This will be Olenik’s 62nd career fight, while it’ll be the 14th for Pesta. Neither man land a lot of strikes, and this could be a boring styles clash.

Oleinik is a submission artist but he has heavy hands. Pesta has never been taken down in the UFC, and he has good takedowns. However, he has been knocked out in his last two fights, and Oleinik has some power, though he will be looking for submissions more. Oleinik has 41 wins by submission, so Pesta will need to be on the lookout.

I’m not expecting a particularly exciting fight, but I favor Oleinik big time in this fight, despite the fact he took this on late notice. Oleinik is a good bet to score a finish, so he will be the play to take in fantasy line-ups.

Tony Martin (10-3) vs. Alex White (11-2)

  • Betting Odds: Martin (-175), White (+155)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Martin- $8,900, White- $7,300
  • Key Statistic: White moves up a weight class on short notice

White is looking to score the upset as he moves up a weight class in taking a short notice fight against Martin. It has been a while since we have seen both men in action as Martin hasn’t fought since last January, and White has been out of action since February.

Martin is going to have a slight reach advantage, but White throws with a lot of volume and is the better fighter on the feet. Martin is a better takedown artist, though he begins to slow the longer the fight goes. White keeps a solid pace throughout fights. I do expect Martin to be able to take the fight to the mat as he is a big lightweight and White will be giving up the size in going up a weight class.

Martin is the betting favorite due to that, and due to White coming in on short notice. White is a very live underdog and he has a good shot at scoring the upset, especially as the fight goes deep into the late minutes. He is more of a finisher. White is a very good play in fantasy at a low salary, and he has the tools to stop Martin late in the fight.

Devin Powell (8-1) vs. Drakkar Klose (6-0-1)

  • Betting Odds: Powell (+220), Klose (-260)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Powell- $7,200, Klose- $9,000
  • Key Statistic: Klose took fight on short notice

Both men are making their UFC debuts in this fight. Powell is coming in off of being signed after being on Dana White’s “Looking For A Fight” show. Klose is coming into the fight on short notice as an injury replacement for Jordan Rinaldi. Powell has been fighting longer than Klose has, though Klose has fought more in the time since he made his pro debut.

Powell is more of a combination striker, but he has a lot of power in his strikes. Klose is more well-rounded and has a good takedown game to back him up. He is also a big lightweight so Powell will be giving up some size.

Despite taking the fight on short notice, Klose is the betting favorite and has the huge edge in fantasy salaries. Powell’s power could come into play and makes him a solid underdog fantasy target. I don’t expect this to go the distance, and I like Klose in this fight.

Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (6-3) vs. Nina Ansaroff (6-5)

  • Betting Odds: Jones-Lybarger (+130), Ansaroff (-150)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Jones-Lybarger- $8,100, Ansaroff- $8,100
  • Key Statistic: Both are on two-fight losing skids

Two ladies looking to end their respective two-fight losing skids meet in the featured prelim on Fight Pass, and someone will be back in the win column. Both come from solid camps as Jones-Lybarger is with the MMA Lab team in Arizona, and Ansaroff comes from American Top Team.

This one likely stays on the feet. Jones-Lybarger is tall for the division at 5’7″, and she throws a lot of volume in her striking. She isn’t a hard hitter. Ansaroff is the harder hitter, and she has shown crisp combinations. Both are good defensive wrestlers, but I don’t see this hitting the mat too much. Ansaroff is more diverse on her feet, and I see her getting the decision.

She is the better betting option. However, I wouldn’t recommend having either lady in your fantasy line-ups as they have even salaries, and I don’t see value in either.

Walt Harris (8-5) vs. Chase Sherman (9-2)

  • Betting Odds: Harris (-135), Sherman (+115)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Harris- $8,700, Sherman- $7,500
  • Key Statistic: Both have won all of their fights by knockout

Heavyweight knockout artists clash in prelim action as both are fighting for their UFC futures. Both men have won all of their career fights by knockout, and each man has lost by knockout in their careers.

Harris has a reach advantage of three inches in this fight, and that could play a difference. He is a pure striker whereas Sherman has some wrestling to rely on. Sherman has bad defense on his feet, though, and he eats a lot of punches. He is durable enough, but that is going to catch up to him against an opponent with a lot of power like Harris.

I like Harris in this fight to win by knockout. I would be confident having him in my fantasy line-ups.

Bojan Mihajlovic (10-4) vs. Joachim Christensen (13-4)

  • Betting Odds: Mihajlovic (+200), Christensen (-240)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Mihajlovic- $7,400, Christensen- $8,800
  • Key Statistic: Mihajlovic makes his debut at 205 pounds

Mihajlovic fought at heavyweight in his UFC debut, and he gave up a ton of size to Francis Ngannou, who dwarfed him and finished him quickly. He is moving down to light heavyweight for his second UFC bout, and he gets a tough for in Christensen, who is in search of his first UFC win.

Both men are solid strikers, but both are older fighters in the twilight of their careers. Mihajlovic is going to be giving up height and reach, and that will help a solid pocket striker like Christensen. Mihajlovic packs power, but so does Christensen, and Christensen can switch it to a grappling battle better. He also has very good submissions.

This is likely a loser gets cut fight, and I favor Christensen in this one. He is a solid betting favorite and a solid fantasy play as I see him scoring a finish.

Dmitrii Smoliakov (8-1) vs. Cyril Asker (7-2)

  • Betting Odds: Smoliakov (+105), Asker (-125)
  • DraftKings Salaries: Smoliakov- $8,200, Asker- $8,000
  • Key Statistic: Asker absorbs almost 10 strikes per minute

A low-level heavyweight bout with a job on the line opens the card in Phoenix. Asker is the slight betting favorite, and he is the better striker of the two. Smoliakov hits hard and has some decent wrestling to turn to, but Asker is good at defending takedowns. Smoliakov put on a really bad performance in his UFC debut loss while Asker put up more of a fight before being knocked out.

Asker can be hit but Smoliakov doesn’t put together his punches all that well, and he showed a lack of finishing instinct in his UFC debut. Someone is likely going to sleep in this one, which could make for interesting fantasy plays. I like Asker in fantasy as he has a slightly lower salary, and I think he has the better chance to win.

With BJ Penn out, UFC cancels Manila show

Posted on by Josh Nason

On Thursday afternoon, UFC announced they are canceling a Fight NIght event scheduled for next week in Manila.

The Saturday, October 15th event was scheduled to be headlined by BJ Penn vs. Ricardo Lamas, but Penn had to pull out this week due to a rib injury. With no replacement on short notice and a lack of notable fighters on the show, UFC pulled the plug today saying they will “reschedule” the show. However, no date was given.

The show was set to air on UFC Fight Pass and with the promotion currently in a stretch of eight straight weeks of shows, the cancellation will have little to no impact in the grand scheme of things.

According to the promotion, fighters on the show will be rebooked for future shows and will be compensated for the cancellation. Remaining fighters of note on the show included Derrick Lewis, Cole Miller, Kyoji Horiguchi, Sam Alvey, and Ali Baugitinov.

UFC debuted in Manila (more accurately, Pasay’s Mall of Asia Arena) in May 2015 with a show headlined by Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Edgar. The event drew 13,446 but the gate revenue was undisclosed.

It’s safe to assume that the event wasn’t selling well, making the decision that much easier. As of Thursday afternoon, second row tickets cageside were still available.

However, FloSports’ Jeremy Botter tweeted out some interesting information sourced by TalkMMA, claiming the Philippines government was going to drug test fighters, employees and production staff. If anyone failed for anything, passports were going to be seized. 

BJ Penn out of UFC 199 due to IV use in March

Posted on by Josh Nason

UFC Hall-of-Famer BJ Penn is out of UFC 199 in roughly two weeks because he admitted to using an IV back in March. Yes, you read that right.

Originally scheduled to fight against Dennis Siver and then Cole Miller on the June 4th event, Penn has been provisionally suspended by USADA for using an IV “in excess of 50 ML for more than a six-hour period” which is now banned in or out of competition except while used in a hospital, surgical procedure, or as part of a diagnostic clinical investigation.

As you’ll see below, Penn said he was unclear that IV use was now banned year-round, saying it had changed since his last fight which was in July 2014. As FloSports’ Jeremy Botter pointed out on Twitter, Penn was talking about IVs being for “wimps” last year. 

The 37-year-old was looking to make a comeback after a near two year absence and three straight lossses. 

On his website, Penn released the following:

“I voluntarily disclosed to USADA that during a non-fight period that I had an IV administered under the care of a doctor. The rule for IV usage had changed since my last fight in the UFC and was unaware of the change and voluntarily disclosed the information to USADA. I had no idea that IV use was banned 365 days a year. At no time in my career in martial arts have I ever doped and anticipate all test results from USADA will come back clean and will be working with the UFC to get the matter cleared up and return to fight as soon as possible.”

The UFC released the following:

“The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) informed BJ Penn of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation. Penn disclosed the usage of a prohibited method – the use of an IV in excess of 50 ML in a six-hour period – during a March 25, 2016, out-of-competition sample collection. In accordance with the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, Penn has received a provisional suspension, and has been removed from his scheduled bout against Cole Miller on June 4 in Los Angeles UFC will announce a replacement opponent for Miller shortly, and additional information will be provided by USADA and UFC at the appropriate time as the process involving Penn moves forward.”

Daily Update: BJ Penn accused of sexual assault, Bellator, LU

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The weekend schedule

There is a big weekend upcoming with Bellator’s biggest show so far this year tomorrow night, WWE’s Fast Lane show, a Sunday live UFC show, two ROH shows in Japan, NXT full touring and WSOF.

Bryan and I will be posting the first of two shows tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we will cover Bellator and the first ROH of the weekend in Japan.  The Sunday Wrestling Observer Radio we will cover FastLane, the second ROH in Japan and UFC.  We’ll also be doing shows next weekend on both Friday & Saturday covering the ROH PPV from Las Vegas and the UFC Fight Pass from London.

We’re looking for reports on tonight’s NXT shows in Upper Darby, PA and Crystal River, FL at Dave Meltzer

SMACKDOWN TONIGHT ON USA NETWORK AT 10 P.M.

Lucha Dragons & Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev & Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus

Sasha Banks vs. Tamina

Chris Jericho vs. The Miz

Charlotte vs. Natalya non-title

Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Dudleys

ROH ON NEW JAPAN WORLD LIVE TONIGHT AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN AND 1:30 A.M. PACIFIC TIME

Jushin Liger & Matt Sydal vs. Dalton Castle & Ryusuke Taguchi

Gedo vs. Delirious

Kushida vs. Frankie Kazarian

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Tomoaki Honma & Moose vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall

Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Young Bucks & Kenny Omega

Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

Jay Lethal & Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi

Roderick Strong vs. Tomohiro Ishii for ROH TV title

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly 2/8/2016 Kevin “Mordecai” Thorn voices issues with WWE Network royalties, more
Former WWE Superstar Kevin Thorn voices his frustrations with the amount of money WWE pays in royalties for the WWE Network, plus more.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Feb 22, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE 2015 Financial Report, Kevin Randleman passes

The 2015 business of WWE is the lead in a  packed issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We go through the keys to the current business: biggest revenue streams, why the stock was down, compare with the past, the truth about television ratings, house show business, social media effect, Vince McMahon talks ratings, what ratings mean right now and in the future, network numbers, both good and bad signs regarding those numbers, why numbers declined and will go up soon and what kind of seasonal gain can be expected.

The career of Kevin Randleman, his most famous matches, comments from Bas Rutten, comments he made about first getting into fighting, plus his career as a pro and college wrestler.

We also have a piece looking at matches that in one night changed promotions or made superstars, and how that fits in with this past week’s Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega match.  A full rundown of the New Beginnings in Osaka and New Beginning in Niigata shows, with match-by-match coverage, story behind both shows, star ratings and poll results.  We also look at the big shows coming up for New Japan.

Lots more about Daniel Bryan, details on his medical issues, lots of things not really put into perspective, Brie Bella;s retirement, Wade Barrett situation, Titus O’Neil suspension and fine, FastLane notes, the weirdness of the Fast Lane main event as it pertains to the company’s future, WWE injury updates, more on John Cena’s injuries, Cesaro talks his own injury and Bryan retirement, WWE Network notes, notes on wrestlers who received tryouts last week, Jericho vs. Styles notes, WWE star opening up a wrestling themed restaurant, plus highlights of all the NXT and WWE house shows over the past week and business notes.

WWE’s new Global Cruiserweight series concept, how the tournament will work, the schedule, the scouting of participants and more.

Bellator’s deal with Rampage Jackson and details of how it happened.

PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

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Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: Jan 11, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Finger Poke of Doom, Awards results, Sam Muchnick passes away
Details on World Title changes in 3 promotions including the Finger Poke of Doom, full results of the Observer Awards, plus tons more.

THURSDAY UPDATE

Rumors started up yesterday about BJ Penn being accused of sexual assault that occured last August on the big island of Hawaii.  UFC has put a hold on Penn’s expected comeback to investigate the allegations.

Bellator and Spike TV announced the launch of a new promotion, Bellator kickboxing that will air on a regular basis and will be the sister promotion to Bellator MMA.  Scott Coker will be running both groups.  The promotion debuts on 4/16 for a show in Torino Italy with Melvin Manhoef vs. Alexandru Negrea and Karim Ghaji defending his 165 pound weight class title against Mustapha Haida, the 158 pound champion.  It will be a combination MMA & Kickboxing show.  The MMA show will air live at 3 p.m. an the kickboxing will air on tape in prime time at 9 p.m. 

Lucha Underground set its record once again last night with 152,000 viewers for the 8 p.m. show on the El Rey Network.  That’s a record for the show on El Rey, although it has drawn more on Unimas most weeks.

TNA Impact on Tuesday night did 273,000 viewers for the 9 p.m. airing and 87,000 for the midnight airing.  The Tuesday number was about the same as the week before, while the midnight number is down from 112,000.  Combined, it was the fewest viewers for Impact since the first first-run episode on Pop TV.

Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling Amped show has its first announced TV deal, in New Zealand, starting in March.

WWE

  • An interview with Paul Levesque on the upcoming cruiserweight network show
  • Bomani Jones of ESPN was critical of Steve Austin using the term “shucking and jiving” as a term in reference to Titus O’Neil in the Vince McMahon incident on his podcast, saying on Twitter:  “When you try to say something wasn’t racist, but you say `shucking and jiving,’ that’s unfortunate.”
  • A story on the WWE website redesign.
  • A story on The New Day
  • Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson, Enzo Amore & Big Cass and Sami Zayn are all scheduled for the 3/12 show in Toronto which is the live network special.  Whether they’ll be on the TV special isn’t clear.
  • Charlotte will be judging a “Whooo” contest on Saturday at the Lake Erie Monsters hockey game.
  • Zack Ryder does a video workout for Newsday
  • Tickets for Raw on 4/11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles are available in a pre-sale that lasts until 10 p.m. tomorrow night using the code LAVIP
  • The stock was down 23 cents per share today, closing at $15.24
  • ProWrestlingTees A.J. Styles merchandise will no longer be on sale after tomorrow.
  • The Edge & Christian Show that Totally Reeks of Awesomeness debuts right after Fast Lane on Sunday.  

UFC/MMA

  • The Los Angeles Times has a story today on Royce Gracie
  • Holly Holm talks Ronda Rousey’s comments on suicide
  • Spike TV has a special on the life of Kimbo Slice tomorrow night from 7:30 to 9 p.m. called “Kimbo Slice:  The Truth.”   
  • World Series of Fighting runs a live show on Saturday night at the Next Level Sports Complex in Orange County at 9 p.m. on NBC Sports with Marlon Moraes (15-4-1) vs. Joseph Barajas (12-1) for the bantamweight title.
  • The M-1 Challenge group has moved its 3/4 show in St. Petersburg, Russia to 4/8 due to building renovations.  They have a show tomorrow night in Moscow headlined by former Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko (51-9) facing Vyacheslav Vasielevsky (27-3) and Alexander Volkov (24-6) vs. Denis Smoldaraev (11-1).

MISCELLANEOUS

  • The BBC has a story on Drew Galloway being an inspiration to going after your dreams
  • Rolling Stone has a story on Billy Corgan and his job in TNA
  • Rob Van Dam has been added to the House of Hardcore shows on 4/15 in Queens, NY and 4/16 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena.
  • Updated list for the Icons of Pro Wrestling convention on 4/16 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena before the House of Hardcore show is:  Shawn Michaels, Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Lex Luger, Roadkill, Bull Dempsey, Sean Waltman, So Cal Val, Road Warrior Animal, Ricky Steamboat, Stan Hansen, Ron Bass, Abyss, Billy Gunn, Bill Apter, Justin Credible, Brian Cage, Cliff Compton, Kevin Thorne, Maven, Jeannie Clark, Curt Hawkins, Amber Gallows, Danny Cage, Blue Meanie, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Sabu, Melissa Coates, Little Guido, Marty Jannetty, Rhino, Sami Callihan and Mil Mascaras.
  • Believe it or not this song, a tribute to The Crusher, got a lot of air play in the 60s and 70s on the Dr Demento type of shows
  • A story on an Australian pro wrestling movie featuring ex-WWE stars
  • Pro wrestler Devon Nicholson, a wrestling alternate for the Canadian Olympic team, wants to face Roy Jones Jr. in that fan boxing match
  • Some comedy video of Brock Lesnar and Hillary Clinton
  • A story on the news in Chattanooga about a cancer victim who wants to meet Dwayne Johnson
  • ECWA on Saturday night in New Castle, DE at the United Asbury Methodist Church with Deonna Purrazzo vs. Miranda Vionette for their women’s title.
  • United Wrestling Coalition on 3/12 in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Bar and Banquet Hall for their 20th anniversary show, bring back Don Montoya and Rick Silver.
  • Mark Nulty’s visitation will be Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at the Roberts Funeral Home East Chapel at 2739 SE Maricamp Rd. in Ocala, FL, and the funeral will be Sunday at the Church of Hope at 3233 SE Maricamp Rd.  In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations in the anem of Evan Nulty at Gateway Bank. 
  • Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 3/5 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds headlined by Flash Flanagan vs. Vic the Bruiser & Tommy Danger in a handicap match.
  • Bull James, formerly Bull Dempsey, headlines for Grand Slam Wrestling on 3/12 in Moosic, PA at the Moosic Youth Center.
  • Superkick’d Pro Wrestling on 3/11 in Toronto at the Great Hall.
  • CWF on 4/16 in St. Catherines, ONT at the Haig Bowl Arena.
  • Luchaproof on 4/17 in Toronto at The Rockpile.
  • Kurt Angle will be the guest referee for the Battlarts Academy show on 4/10 in Mississauaga, ONT.  He’ll ref the main event of Tyler Tirva vs. Stone Rockwell vs. Randy Reigns vs. RJ City in an elimination match.
  • Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 3/12 in Vancouver, BC has the 2016 Pacific Cup tournament with Alex Plexis, Bishop, Artemis Spencer, Phantasmo, Billy Suede, Nelson Creed, Nicole Matthews, Tony Baroni, Pete Powers, Ethan HD and Air Adonis participating.
  • Ignite Wrestling on 2/27 in Fort Pierce, FL.
  • Gouge Wrestling on Sunday in Raleigh from Noon to 5 p.m. at the CAM Raleigh with free admission to a Sunday family event.
  • National Fighting Championships on 2/27 at Center Stage in Atlanta for its 82nd show. 

ON THIS DAY IN WORLD PRO WRESTLING HISTORY: War to Settle the Score; Superstar vs. Bruno steel cage match

UFC puts B.J. Penn return on hold following sexual assault allegation

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The UFC announced Thursday that they have postponed plans to use Hall of Famer B.J. Penn on an upcoming show after a sexual assault claim was made against him.

“UFC is aware of the recent allegations made against B.J. Penn. The organization requires all athletes who compete in the UFC to act in an ethical and responsible manner, as detailed in the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy. UFC will not tolerate violations of the policy. Every athlete is deserving of proper review and this situation, as with any serious investigations, will be investigated by an independent party and thoroughly reviewed by the UFC.  The UFC organization will also cooperate with any law enforcement investigations.  In light of the serious allegations, UFC has postponed plans to book Penn for an upcoming bout until more details are determined.

“UFC holds athletes who compete in the organization to the highest standard and will continue to take appropriate action, if and when warranted.  It is important to note that Penn is considered innocent until proven guilty and UFC is not prejudging this matter.”

Earlier in the week, Pedro Carrasco, a former reporter with BJPenn.com that had left the site in October, had gone on Twitter with allegations that Penn had sexually assaulted his girlfriend.

Even though this alleged attack took place in Hilo, Hawaii, the alleged victim, a 29-year-old woman, filed a police report on Tuesday in Delaware County, Ohio, claiming the incident took place in August. The report has been sent to the Hilo, Hawaii, police department.

Penn, 37, who had retired after a loss to Frankie Edgar on July 6, 2014, was expected to return on UFC’s April 23 show, although that had not been officially announced by the company. He has been training at Greg Jackson’s gym in New Mexico.