Martial Arts News

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While coach Eric Nicksick agrees that Sean Strickland could benefit from some sophistication, he doesn’t want his fighter to turn soft.

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Strickland (28-6) is scheduled to take on Paulo Costa (14-3) in a five-round co-headliner at UFC 302 on June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Strickland is notorious for his rants and controversial opinions. However, “Tarzan” was recently seen teaching his pup Harley how to swim, leading people to wonder if the former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ is really kind-hearted and compassionate on the inside.

Strickland’s longtime coach recently confirmed that his pupil is, in fact, a “softy.”

According to Nicksick, Strickland’s girlfriend, himself and other members at the gym all work on refining some of Strickland’s edges. However, they unanimously also don’t want the California native to turn soft altogether.

Order Now! UFC 302 “Makhachev vs. Poirier” Satur…

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While Dustin Poirier (30-8) is one of Mike Brown’s best fighters at American Top Team, “The Diamond” also gives his coach a lot of stress.

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Poirier is scheduled to challenge Islam Makhachev (25-1) for lightweight gold in the main event at UFC 302 on June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. “The Diamond” earned his shot with a second-round knockout over French finishing machine Benoit St. Denis at UFC 299 in March. Prior to knocking out St. Denis, Poirier attempted multiple unsuccessful guillotine chokes, compromising position each time. When Brown told Poirier to avoid the guillotines after Round 1, “The Diamond” responded by saying he could secure one and proceeded to go for another right at the beginning of Round 2.

While things worked out well for Poirier in the end, Brown admits that the Louisiana native is his most stress-inducing fighter by far. Aside from Poirier being hard-headed at times, the pressure also com…

Islam Makhachev had to go through all kinds of trials and tribulations to become the Ultimate Fighting Championship's No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.

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Makhachev (25-1) hails from Makhachkala, Dagestan, a region where the most common dream for kids now is to become a UFC champion. The area has also been successfully churning out a plethora of highly-skilled fighters who have established themselves in every major mixed martial arts promotion in the world.

However, while combat sports have always been a part of Dagestani culture, the hype behind them only peaked with the crowning of Makhachev’s teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov as UFC champion in 2018. The Eagle’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, considered a pioneer of the sport in the Russian territory, is credited for the massive growth of MMA in the region by crafting champions like his son and Makhachev.

Abdulmanap managed to produce world-class athletes under harsh conditions in the mountain…

BREAKING NEWS! Jhonata Diniz (@jho) retorna ao octógono contra Karl Williams no UFC Vegas 95. O brasileiro busca sua segunda vitória no Ultimate seguida no dia 10 de agosto. pic.twitter.com/kkf26Xdchj

— Laerte Viana (@laertevianamma) May 27, 2024

A heavyweight meeting between two Dana White’s Contender Series competitors has been added to a UFC Fight Night event set to go down at the Ultimate Fighting Championship Apex in Las Vegas on Aug. 10.

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Karl Williams (10-1) will take on undefeated Brazilian Jhonata Diniz (7-0) in his fourth Octagon assignment. The news was first reported by Laerte Viana in a post to X (formerly known as Twitter).

The news was later confirmed by both competitors on their social media accounts.

Williams will lock horns with Diniz aiming to extend his three-fight winning streak, which includes unanimous decision victories over Lukasz Brzeski, Chase Sherman and most recently Justin Tafa. Read more

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Order Now! UFC 302 “Makhachev vs. Poirier” Saturday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+

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Sean Strickland's head coach, Eric Nicksick, is confident in his student’s ability to recognize and address the issues that cost him the middleweight strap against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in January.

As Nicksick prepares his charge to compete against Paulo Costa in the UFC 302 co-main event, the decorated coach recently shared his analysis of their previous assignment and how Strickland has worked on not repeating the same mistakes.

“I think there’s a lot of things we could have done better. That's honest to God truth man,” Nicsick told Submission Radio. “For example, we got away from our kicking, our teeps. I think you and I actually talked about this, the teeps are like three or four things that we needed to negate the pressure, to slow Dricus down with the bodywork but also giving another scoring criteria to the judges to see rather than ju…

Jon Jones believes that Stipe Miocic may be deceiving him with newly released training footage 🤔

"A big part of combat strategy is timing, and deception. To make a long story short, if your opponent appears weak, prepare even harder."

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🎥 IG / @stipemiocic #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/fsVsZqS8gz — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 27, 2024

Jon Jones (27-1) isn’t underestimating Stipe Miocic (20-4) judging by the latter’s latest training video.

Jones was originally scheduled to defend his heavyweight title against Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023 before being forced out due to a pectoral injury. Tom Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in a short-notice interim title fight pieced together to save the card.

While Aspinall has since been rallying for a title unification bout against Jones, “Bones” is adamant on fighting Miocic when healthy. Meanwhile, Miocic has also turned down Aspinall, insisting on fightin…

Islam Makhachev is confident that he will keep the belt. He also wants to frame it together with the new gold gloves.

🎥: Sport 24 (YT) pic.twitter.com/Su3xvtaGoq

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 25, 2024

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Order Now! UFC 302 “Makhachev vs. Poirier” Saturday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+

Islam Makhachev (25-1) has mixed reviews about the new Ultimate Fighting Championship gloves.

The new gloves will debut at UFC 302 where Makhachev is set to defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier (30-8) on June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Upon testing the new gloves, Makhachev found them stiffer than the prior generation, restricting the extension of one’s fingers. While the gloves have been re-designed to prevent lacerations, Makhachev believes they could instead lead to more cuts due to the stiffness.

“The [new gloves] are very stiff. As I told you, they will cause more cuts, as the previous UFC glo…

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Order Now! UFC 302 “Makhachev vs. Poirier” Saturday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+

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Dustin Poirier’s (30-8) longtime coach, Mike Brown, claims “The Diamond” has made necessary adjustments to his game after his loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Poirier suffered a third-round submission loss against “The Eagle” in his first undisputed title shot at UFC 242 in 2019. Poirier is now scheduled to fight Nurmagomedov’s protégé Islam Makhachev (25-1) in the UFC 302 headliner on June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. With both Nurmagomedov and Makhachev sporting very similar wrestling-heavy styles, Poirier believes he has a fair understanding of what’s coming his way.

“Islam and Khabib have similar styles,” Poirier said. “I got to have a bit of understanding of the pressure, the strength and the style of wrestling that those guys have. It’s kind of a little bit of serendipity here cause now I’m fighting his protégé. Once again fo…

If you still feel the same about it @USMAN84kg, let’s go. I will be ready. https://t.co/hiYf2MvhtK

— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) May 25, 2024 Kamaru Usman believes he is big enough to fight at light heavyweight.

At UFC 276, then-welterweight champ Usman (20-4) squared off with Jan Blachowicz (29-10-1) in July 2022. Although competing 35 pounds apart, “The Nigerian Nightmare” did not give up much size to the former light heavyweight champion. Blachowicz measures two inches taller while also holding a two-inch advantage in reach, but Usman’s last three outings saw him square off against a 6-foot-2 opponent.

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Usman recently brought up his faceoff with Blachowicz, reiterating the similarity in their sizes. While Blachowicz is known to pack immense power, Usman still believes he has the stylistic advantage over the top Polish contender. According to Usman, he could handle Blachowicz on the feet if he tires him out with gra…

According to his coach, Islam Makhachev’s skills have reached their zenith.

Makhachev’s striking coach, Magomedgadzhi Bagandov, believes the champ can outstrike Dustin Poirier (30-8, 1 NC). Makhachev (25-1) is slated to defend his lightweight strap against Poirier in the main event at UFC 302 on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. With Poirier’s notoriety for emerging victorious in lethal slugfests and Makhachev’s Dagestani grappling background, taking the fight to the ground would be the obvious gameplan for the champion.

Makhachev’s camp has been highlighting the recent developments of their pupil’s striking skillset. Makhachev recently claimed that his teammate, Bellator MMA lightweight champ Usman Nurmagomedov, has better striking than Poirier. Coach Bagandov claims that Makhachev can not only hold his own in the stand-up against Poirier, but he may even have the advantage on the feet against “The Diamond.”

“I have been following Poirier f…

Adrian Yanez may be his own harshest critic.

Yanez (17-5) triumphantly rebounded from a skid of two straight knockout losses by blasting Vinicius Salvador at UFC Fight Night 241 on May 18. Yanez subsequently called out unranked up-and-comers Victor Henry and Daniel Santos, with the latter having already accepted the callout. Yanez also aimed high, eyeing Deiveson Figueiredo, but believes it’s a long shot. Yanez recently talked with MMA Junkie, where he discussed his plans to work his way back up the ladder.

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“If I’m trying to eek my way in, trying to somehow squeak my way in to fight someone in the top 15, I feel like I would like to fight someone like ‘Figgy’ [Deiveson Figueiredo]. I feel like just because of the fact that he fought Brandon Moreno a couple of times, my favorite fighter is Brandon Moreno,” Yanez explained.

A fight against Figueiredo may be off the table for now, as “Deus da Guerra” recently agreed to face Marlon Vera at UFC Abu Dhabi…

Tom Aspinall understands why Jon Jones wants to fight Stipe Miocic.

Jones (27-1, 1 NC) was originally scheduled to defend his heavyweight strap against Miocic (20-4) at UFC 295 in November 2023 but was forced out due to a torn pectoral muscle. To keep a heavyweight title tilt on the card, Tom Aspinall (14-3) faced and knocked out Sergei Pavlovich for the interim variety. Since then, Jones has suggested he will stay the course and has his sights set solely on the former heavyweight champion rather than the surging 31-year-old.

With no timeline for Jones’ return, Aspinall initially called for the champ to be stripped of his title. However, the Brit has since changed his tune and has been rallying for a clash against Jones. “Bones” does not want that matchup; the same goes for Miocic. Some expect that when Jones and Miocic collide—a date for their meeting is rumored for November—it will be a retirement match for both heavyweights.

With Jones and Miocic turning him d…