Martial Arts News

𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗘! 💥

Europe’s MMA League returns to Tyneside on Saturday 8th June, featuring Savannah Marshall’s MMA Debut, Kane Mousah vs. Dylan Tuke and stars such as Jack Grant, Lewis McGrillen, Sammy-Jo Luxton and Dean Garnett!

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Make sure you’re in the Utilita Arena… pic.twitter.com/REQcGjvKhe — PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) April 22, 2024

The Professional Fighters League has announced the full card for the final regular season event of its European circuit.

PFL Europe Newcastle will take place on June 8 at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England, and is headlined by the MMA debut of boxing champion Savannah Marshall, as she takes on Mirela Vargas in a showcase bout at 155 pounds. Additionally, the card will feature regular season bouts at men’s bantamweight and women’s flyweight, with winner’s advancing to the PFL Europe postseason.

The bantamweight season pairings include: Dean Garnett vs. Ayton De Paepe; Frans Mlambo vs. Lu…

Former American Top Team coach Andre Benkei is headed back to Florida.

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The Brazilian recently signed a three-year contract to work as an MMA head coach at the new UFC Gym in Largo, Florida, and big plans are in store.

“It´s gonna be huge — 30,000 square feet,” Benkei told Sherdog.com. “Besides an amazing gym with all facilities you can imagine, the gym will have an MMA training center with a top team of coaches. We already signed Dorian Price (muay thai), who has been living in Thailand for the last 20 years, and Adam Mazin (jiu-jitsu), who represents Dean Lister. Cuban boxer Pedro Dias will be with us, and soon we will announce a [decorated] American wrestler.”

Benkei also revealed that an MMA-themed reality show will be filmed at the facility.

“The grand opening will be in August, but we will start filming a reality show called ‘Road to the Cage ‘ before that,” he said. “The reality show will consist of the training routine of our…

.@MoheganSun Get Ready 🔥

Playoff spots are on the line as Heavyweights & Women's Flyweights kick off the second half of the 2024 #PFLRegularSeason on June 13th!

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Tickets On Sale Now! 👇🎟️https://t.co/agkCcio2Xy pic.twitter.com/6Mh0wVz7DN — PFL (@PFLMMA) April 22, 2024

A heavyweight trilogy between Valentin Moldavsky and Linton Vassell will serve as the main event when Professional Fighters League begins the second leg of its regular season on June 13.

The organization on Monday announced the two featured bouts for PFL 4, which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. In addition to Moldavsky vs. Vassell, Dakota Ditcheva will meet Chelsea Hackett in a women’s flyweight contest in the evening’s co-headliner. More fights for the card, which features heavyweights and women’s flyweights, will be announced in the coming weeks.

A former Bellator MMA interim champion, Moldavsky kicked off hi…

Cedric Doumbe will make his Bellator MMA debut against Derek Anderson in the Bellator Champions Series Paris co-headliner on May 17.

The bout is part of a multi-fight extension signed by Doumbe with Professional Fighters League, which purchased Bellator late last year. A former two-time Glory Kickboxing welterweight champion, Doumbe has quickly emerged as one of PFL’s biggest stars in Europe.

"Re-signing Cedric Doumbe to a multi-year contract extension has been one of our highest priorities since he joined the promotion last year," PFL CEO Peter Murray said in a release. "Cedric is a large part of our continued growth in France, and now he will compete at Bellator Champions Series Paris on a fight card that can be streamed by fans in the U.S. on Max, as he continues his trajectory through our global leagues.”

The addition of Doumbe vs. Anderson is part of some significant shuffling at the top of the Bellator Paris card. The event’s original headliner, a …

Lightweights Trey Ogden (17-6) and Loik Radzhabov (18-5) are slated to clash at a UFC Fight Night event on July 20.

The matchup was first announced by Ogden’s management, Iridum Sports Agency. The card has not been formally confirmed by the promotion and does not yet have an official location or headliner.

Ogden is coming off a unanimous decision win over Kurt Holobaugh at UFC on ESPN 53 that saw him bounce back from an unfortunate no contest against Nikolas Motta last November. Holobaugh was minutes away from a unanimous decision win over Motta when he caught the Brazilian in an arm-triangle choke. Referee Mike Beltran prematurely stopped the fight, mistaking Motta to be unconscious, and the bout was ultimately declared a no contest.

Meanwhile, Radzhabov will also look to build a winning streak after a KO win over Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady at UFC Fight Night 238. The Tajik fighter made his promotional debut with a unanimous decision win over Esteban Ribov…

Gabriel Bonfim (15-1) and Ange Loosa (10-3) will trade leather at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on July 13.

The booking was first announced by Bonfim’s management, Iridium Sports Agency. UFC Fight Night takes place on July 13 and will likely be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card does not currently have a headliner.

Bonfim will look to bounce back from his lone career loss, which came via second-round TKO against Nicolas Dalby in November 2023. Prior to that, the former Legacy Fighting Alliance champ finished all 15 of his career wins — 12 via submission — including two in the UFC.

Meanwhile, Loosa will also look to set his trajectory right after a controversial no contest against Bryan Battle last month. Battle was getting the better of Loosa on the feet before accidentally poking the Congolese fighter in the eye. Loosa was unable to continue, and Battle later accused “The Last Ninja” of using the eye poke as an excuse to avoid a poten…

Manon Fiorot is adamant on fighting for a title next — even if it is an interim belt.

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Fiorot made a legitimate case for a gold bid with a unanimous decision win over top contender Erin Blanchfield in the main event at UFC on ESPN 54 last month. But the French standout will have to wait for a trilogy clash between champ Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko, who are expected to compete after their stints as coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 32.” While Fiorot would like to serve as the backup for that bout, “The Beast” is also open to another matchup if it has interim title implications.

“If I have to choose, the best choice for me is to be backup on the fight,” Fiorot told MMAjunkie.com. “I think it’s a good thing if Valentina or Alexa have an injury or miss weight or stuff like that. I think the best choice for me now is to be backup for this fight so I can see the fight and perhaps do a faceoff after against the winner. If not, I can fight but for…

Joshua Van appears to be in need of a new opponent after announcing that his proposed 125-pound clash against Su Mudaerji has been canceled.

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The flyweight booking was scheduled for UFC 302 on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. A reason for Mudaerji’s exit is currently unknown.

“Fight is off for June 1 I need a real opponent,” Van wrote on social media.

Joshua Van posts on his IG that his fight between him and Sumudaerji is off for #UFC302 pic.twitter.com/RKvRwG9zmU

— Octagon Update (@octagonupdate) April 21, 2024

Van made his UFC debut with a split decision win over Zhalgas Zhumagulov in June 2023 and followed it up with a unanimous decision win over Kevin Borjas in November. Most recently ,“The Fearless” scored his first UFC finish via TKO against Felipe Bunes this past January.

Meanwhile, Mudaerji bounced back from a foiled UFC debut against Louis Smolka in 2018 by mounting a three- fi…

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Aljamain Sterling recently picked Brian Ortega over Movsar Evloev as his next preferred opponent, a decision that incited a callout from the Russian.

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Sterling earned a lopsided unanimous decision win against Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut at UFC 300. The former bantamweight champ subsequently called out Ortega.

Sterling weighed out the technicalities of the potential fights, both of which are a “grappler’s delight,” according to him. Sterling lauded Ortega’s aggressive guard, which always makes for wild grappling exchanges. While Sterling also lauded Evloev’s wrestling, he believes he can “easily” match the Russian’s ground game. “Funkmaster” also claims to have fared well in grappling against some of the guys that Evloev trained with even while out of shape.

“Both of these fights are a grappler’s delight,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “If I were to fight Ortega, if you take him down, he ain’t gonna hang out…

Justin Gaethje doesn’t regret fighting Max Holloway instead of waiting for a title shot that will now go to Dustin Poirier.

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Gaethje defeated Poirier via a vicious head-kick KO last year to earn the BMF title and bolster his relevance in the lightweight title picture. Poirier bounced back from the loss with a highlight-reel knockout win over surging contender Benoit St. Denis at UFC 299 last month, making a case for the next title shot.

While Gaethje would also have a legitimate claim to the next lightweight gold bid, “The Highlight” put his BMF strap in the line against Max Holloway at UFC 300 earlier this month. With champ Islam Makhachev adamant on defending his title this summer, the turnaround would be unlikely for the winner of that fight.

Gaethje admits that he ruled himself out of the next title shot by accepting the UFC 300 booking against Holloway. Makhachev will now defend his title against Poirier in the main event at UFC 302 on Ju…

Welcome to the League in 2025, @paulhughesmma 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/P4vAyHHpaC

— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 20, 2024

The Professional Fighters League has signed top prospect Paul Hughes (11-1).

PFL president Ray Sefo was recently asked if there was any truth to reports of the promotion courting free agents Hughes and Salahdine Parnasse. Sefo replied in the affirmative while revealing that they had already secured the Hughes signing. The report was also officially confirmed by the PFL via social media.

Hughes exhausted his Cage Warriors contract with a first-round knockout win over Fabiano Silva earlier this month, extending his winning streak to five — a run which includes a win over UFC prospect Morgan Charriere. The former CW featherweight champ had teased a UFC clash against Paddy Pimblett while a free agent. However, “Big News” had also clarified that he would chose the promotion which valued him the most instead of limiting himself to …

[embedded content] Brendan Loughnane had to adapt and overcome some mental hurdles after suffering the first stoppage loss of his career.

In the 2023 regular season, the Brit was lumped up in 94 seconds by Jesus Pinedo, with a defeat that left Loughnane with five playoff points—and not enough for the featherweight top four in the playoffs. This put the 34-year-old on ice until April, when he returned for the 2024 Professional Fighters League 145-pound tourney. On Friday, Loughnane (27-5) bounced back in style at PFL Chicago, drumming out Pedro Carvalho in 86 seconds to get back in the win column.

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While his first fight of 2024 went his way, Loughnane explained in the post-fight press conference that the loss to Pinedo haunted him. Loughnane mentioned that he even considered leaving the sport behind after the crushing defeat.

“That was the best Brendan Loughnane,” he said during the post-fight press conference. “I don’t make excuses for fights, but t…