2024-04-01 - Martial Arts Kleinanzeigen™

Bruno Silva Criticizes Ref Gary Copeland for Eye Poke Controversy at UFC Atlantic City

Bruno Silva wasn’t pleased with referee Gary Copeland’s approach during his controversial loss to Chris Weidman at UFC on ESPN 54.

"Before the fight, the referee comes to the dressing room and advises all fighters that open hands are not allowed and can be considered a foul,” Silva told Sherdog.com. “Weidman was unfair during the whole fight.”

“Blindado” pointed out that Copeland wasn’t as lenient earlier in the evening, when he took a point from Herbert Burns for a knee to the groin in the opening round of his bout against Julio Arce.

"He took one point from him after the second [knee],” Silva said. “I got eye poked four times, and he did absolutely nothing.”

Silva said that his team didn’t initially understand why he fell to the ground during the final sequence against Weidman until they viewed the replay. While the bout was initially a stoppage win for Weidman, it was later changed to a technical decision victory for the ex-middleweight c…

Dominick Reyes Cleared of Blood Clot Issues, Ready for UFC Return

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes is ready to return to action after battling through potentially serious issue.

Reyes revealed in a video post on Instagram that he has received a “clean bill of health,” clearing the way for him to fight again in the near future. “The Devastator” had been dealing with blood clots in his leg, which put a potential booking against Carlos Ulberg at UFC on ESPN 54 on hold.

“Hey everyone, I just got out of my appointment at Victor Valley Imaging and I got a clean bill of health. No evidence of deep vein thrombosis anymore. I’m pretty excited,” Reyes said. “I just got to finish off these next few days of blood thinners and I’m good to go, 100%. Thank you, everybody, for the kind words, the love, and reaching out and everything. Time to get back at it, baby. I’m ready to go.”

Reyes, who is perhaps best known for taking Jon Jones to the brink of defeat at UFC 247, has lost four straight O…

Urijah Faber to Face Jeff Curran in Combat Jiu-Jitsu Bout on May 25

Urijah Faber’s return to combat sports has been confirmed.

Faber announced in March that he would be returning to action under the banner of his own promotion, A1 Combat, but he didn’t specify an opponent. The promotion on Sunday officially announced a rematch between Faber and Jeff Curran that will headline A1 Combat 21 on May 25 at the Visalia Convention Center in California. The matchup will take place under combat jiu-jitsu rule set, which allows open palm strikes.

Faber and Curran faced each other for the first time at WEC 31 in 2007 with Faber’s featherweight title on the line. “The California Kid” went on to successfully defend his strap via a second-round submission.

Faber initially announced his retirement in 2016 following a unanimous decision win over Brad Pickett at UFC on Fox 22. He returned to competition in 2019, knocking out Ricky Simon in under a minute. Faber then suffered a brutal knockout loss to Petr Yan later that sa…

Julio Arce Discusses Bizarre Weight Miss Leading Up to UFC Atlantic City Victory

Julio Arce had a lot of pressure to deliver going into his UFC Atlantic City bout against Herbert Burns, and deliver he did.

Arce scored a second-round KO win over Burns in his first bout since November 2022. Arce’s return was delayed when he was forced out of a UFC 285 booking against Cody Garbrandt in January 2023 due to an ACL tear that required surgery.

With the undeniable jitters of coming back from an injury already in his mind, Arce also had a bizarre weight miss. Arce initially weighed in at 147 pounds, a pound over the non-title featherweight limit, and was given an hour to shed the extra weight. While Arce claims to have tried his best to sweat it out, he miraculously gained half a pound the second time he weighed in. However, Arce doesn’t want to make any excuses about the odd weight miss and vows to make weight in future.

“I got on the scale, it said 147, we had an hour,” Arce said during a post-fight media scrum. “Because I know…

Igor da Silva Claims He Was in ‚Autopilot Mode‘ When He Bit Andre Lima

Igor da Silva is looking for a second chance after being cut from the Ultimate Fighting Championship for biting his opponent.

Da Silva and Andre Lima squared off during the UFC on ESPN 53 preliminary card on March 23. The fight got off to a promising start, but the bout was called to stop in the second round with Lima complaining of a bite from da Silva. Referee Chris Tognoni briefly halted the contest before calling it off, as Lima’s right bicep showed an evident bite mark. Lima was declared the winner via disqualification and da Silva lost his UFC contract along with his perfect record.

While da Silva doesn’t have any explanation for his actions, he claims to have gone into “autopilot mode” after absorbing an elbow from Lima.

“There’s no plausible explanation [for the bite], right? I remember exchanging strikes with him, a close fight, but I was in autopilot mode after that elbow,” da Silva told MMAFighting.com. “I don’t remember anything af…

Nursulton Ruziboev Wants to Avenge Countryman’s Loss Against Gerald Meerschaert

Nursulton Ruziboev wants to settle the score for Uzbekistan against Gerald Meerschaert after his UFC on ESPN 54 victory on Saturday.

Ruziboev defeated Sedriques Dumas via technical knockout to score his second consecutive first-round finish in the UFC. Ruziboev called out Meerschaert in his post-fight Octagon interview and later elaborated on it during a media scrum.

Ruziboev is one of only three Uzbek fighters in the UFC, along with Bogdan Guskov and Makhmud Muradov, who suffered a submission loss to Meerschaert in 2021. Ruziboev now wants to avenge his fellow countryman’s loss against “GM3.”

“There’s only three Uzbek fighters in the UFC and one of them was beaten by Gerald Meerschaert. So, I want to revenge that loss and I wanna show that Uzbek fighters are not weak,” Ruziboev said.

With Meerschaert coming off a submission victory against Bryan Barberena earlier this month, the turnaround time might be perfect for a clash between the two.…