Martial Arts News

While Kai Kamaka III hasn’t had the worst of it, the Hawaiian has seen the Professional Fighters League season format take a toll on fellow fighters.

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Kamaka headlines PFL 9 opposite Brendan Loughnane in a featherweight semifinal on Aug. 23 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. It will mark Kamaka’s third outing within a span of four months, a campaign that began with back-to-back decision wins to advance to the PFL postseason.

“The Fighting Hawaiian” says his gym, Xtreme Couture, which has built a reputation for preparing fighters for short-notice outings, has been of help while fighting so frequently in the PFL season format. However, Kamaka has also seen the format take on toll on others like his teammate, PFL light heavyweight Sadibou Sy. Kamaka revealed that the Swede, who dislocated his thumb in a freak injury loss to Joshua Silveira to start off the 2024 season, has been “banged up” all season. However, “The Swedish Denzel “has since bounced b…

Let's get it on! 🏆

Head to https://t.co/VeFJNoH35S to cast yours.#worldmmaawards #fightersonly pic.twitter.com/I4S77fCR00

— Fighters Only (@FightersOnly) August 6, 2024

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Nominees for the 16th annual World MMA Awards have been announced, and Sherdog.com is among the candidates for Best MMA Media Source.

Fighters Only Magazine, which launched the awards in 2008, announced the full list of nominees in more than 20 categories on Tuesday. In addition to Best MMA Media Source, winners will be selected for Fighter of the Year (in multiple categories), Fight of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Upset of the Year, Coach of the Year, Gym of the Year, Referee of the Year, Best Promotion — and much more. Award nominees are selected by a panel of insiders based on their performances between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

Voting is now live and continues through Sept. 30. Fight fans can visit the World MMA Awards website and cho…

Fans of the UFC and Professional Fighters League are going to have to endure another price hike in they want to keep watching the events held by those organizations.

Disney on Tuesday announced that the ESPN+ monthly subscription fee will increase from $10.99 to $11.99 on Oct. 17. The majority of UFC events and PFL offerings are available through ESPN+, though some can be viewed on ESPN lineal networks, as well. Meanwhile, an ESPN+ subscription is required to be able to access UFC pay-per-view events — which, of course, include an additional charge to purchase.

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When the UFC initially became broadcast partners with ESPN, the price for ESPN+ was $4.99 per month. Subscription price increases have become the norm over the years, as the price was raised to $6.99 per month in 2021 and to $9.99 in 2022. Last October, it went up to $10.99.

The UFC’s broadcast deal with ESPN will expire in 2025. UFC CEO Dana White recently indicated that the promoti…

A middleweight clash pitting Caio Borralho against Jared Cannonier will serve as the main event for UFC on ESPN 62.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. UFC on ESPN 62 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Aug. 24 and also includes a welterweight showdown between Neil Magny and Michael Morales. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

After earning a pair of victories on Dana White’s Contender Series, Barralho has kicked off his Octagon tenure with six consecutive triumphs. Most recently, The Fighting Nerds standout scored a second-round knockout of Paul Craig at UFC 301 on May 4.

A former middleweight title challenger, Cannonier is coming off a controversial fourth-round TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC on ESPN 57 on June 8. Prior to that defeat, “The Killa Gorilla” had been victorious in four of his last five UFC appearances, a run…

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Jose Mariscal recently shared some details of his lethal judo game.

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A lifelong mixed martial artist, Mariscal boasts a suffocating grappling skillset with a combination of judo and jiu jitsu. Mariscal owns a black belt under Bob Schirmer in what he labels “hood judo” based on its Chicago origin. Mariscal revealed that it was that judo skillset which mostly got him out of physical altercations unscathed.

“I call it ‘hood judo’ because it’s from Chicago,” Mariscal recently told MMAjunkie.com. “Nobody really knows where I got my black belt from… It was under Bob Schirmer, the Combat-Do team. I never got into a street fight because I threw people before they even tried to punch me or try to do anything. So when I toss them, someone will lose the air out of their stomach. Someone will be kind of concussed. I’m glad I never got caught up on that.”

While Mariscal admired watching judo being translated into MMA by the likes of Georges St. Pierre and …

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Javier Mendez gives the lion’s share of credit to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, for the success of his Dagestani fighters.

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Mendez has formed a close bond with the Dagestani contingent over the course of years since Nurmagomedov first walked into the American Kickboxing Academy in 2012. Nurmagomedov went on to establish his status in MMA GOAT conversations by dominating the UFC’s lightweight division during his title reign before retiring with a perfect record.

Following in Nurmagomedov’s footsteps, his teammates and cousins also came under the tutelage of Mendez, bringing a plethora of talent to AKA. Mendez is now coach to UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev (26-1), Bellator lightweight champ Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0) and UFC bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov (13-0), who made his case for the next gold bid with a unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen last weekend at UFC on ABC 7.

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Javid Basharat (14-1) is out of his UFC on ESPN 61 booking against Chris Gutierrez (20-6) due to an injury.

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Basharat and Gutierrez were slated to trade leather in a bantamweight matchup at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this weekend. However, Basharat revealed on social that he won’t be able to fight due an undisclosed injury.

“Sad to say I will not be fighting this weekend,” Basharat wrote on Instagram. “I picked up an injury too close to the fight and wouldn’t heal in time for the fight, so me and my team made a collective decision. I was in great shape thanks to all the coaches and training partners at [American Top Team]. Tthey opened their doors for me and leveled me up for sure. Now it’s time to heal up and I will be back as soon as I can.”

It is currently unknown if Gutierrez will remain on the card against a short-notice replacement opponent.

Basharat’s 14-fight winning streak was marred by an unfortunate no contest against Victor H…

Javid Basharat (14-1) is out of his UFC on ESPN 61 booking against Chris Gutierrez (20-6) due to an injury.

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Basharat and Gutierrez were slated to trade leather in a bantamweight matchup at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this weekend. However, Basharat revealed on social that he won’t be able to fight due an undisclosed injury.

“Sad to say I will not be fighting this weekend,” Basharat wrote on Instagram. “I picked up an injury too close to the fight and wouldn’t heal in time for the fight, so me and my team made a collective decision. I was in great shape thanks to all the coaches and training partners at [American Top Team]. Tthey opened their doors for me and leveled me up for sure. Now it’s time to heal up and I will be back as soon as I can.”

It is currently unknown if Gutierrez will remain on the card against a short-notice replacement opponent.

Basharat’s 14-fight winning streak was marred by an unfortunate no contest against Victor H…

Ramon Taveras plans to move out of Duval County, Florida, after surviving an attempt on his life last week.

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According to Taveras, armed men drove up to his mother’s house in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 29 and attempted to kill him. Taveras also opened fire in defense, footage of which was posted by the UFC fighter. While Taveras luckily escaped unscathed, he and his family don’t feel safe in their home any longer.

Taveras revealed that gun violence took his brother’s life in 2019, and fears he may become a victim of the same. Taveras blamed the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for alleged negligence towards the “less fortunate” parts of the city.

According to Taveras, the JSO also tried to blame him for the recent attempt on his life, accusing him of gang involvement. The UFC featherweight now plans on moving away from Jacksonville. Taveras detailed the situation in a post on Instagram:

It’s unfortunate that I even have to make a post like th…

Belal Muhammad is not buying the narrative from Leon Edwards’ coach that “Rocky” wasn’t 100% in their UFC 304 clash.

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Muhammad dethroned Edwards via unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, last month. Edwards subsequently claimed to be feeling “tired” due to the timing of fight, which took place after 5 a.m. BST.

Meanwhile, Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, said that “Rocky” went into the fight with a with a "niggle" in his back. Muhammad has dismissed both narratives, advising Edwards’ camp to come up with unanimous excuse. “Remember the Name” believes even Edwards doesn’t listen to his coach and hopes nobody else will, either.

“He’s a joke. Like I said, he was a joke before the fight as a coach and he’s a joke after the fight,” Muhammad told MMAjunkie.com. “It’s funny that they all have different excuses. Leon was like, ‘Oh, I couldn’t sleep,’ and now his coach came out with, ‘Oh, his back was hurting.’ Get on the …

Marlon Vera plans to step away for a “reset” following his latest loss to Deiveson Figueiredo.

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Vera was completely outclassed by the former flyweight champ en route to a unanimous decision loss in their bantamweight clash at UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. This marked Vera second consecutive decision loss following a failed title bid against Sean O'Malley at UFC 299 this past March.

Addressing his latest loss, Vera admitted that he may have returned to action too soon after the O’Malley defeat.

“I fail at myself last [night]. I thought I was ready I felt good in the gym but at the end maybe I come back too quick after a hard title fight,” he wrote on Instagram. “Life doesn’t end here. I still dream about big things, I just need time to let go and reset.

Vera won four consecutive fights from 2021 to 2022, including knockouts over former champs Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz. However, the Ecuadorian has since drop…