Martial Arts News

Bogdan Grad (14-2) will make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against Lucas Alexander (8-4) in February.

The Austrian will take on Alexander at a UFC Fight Night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 1. The matchup was initially reported by Marcel Dorff and subsequently confirmed by Grad on social media.

Grad has finished 11 of his 14 career wins, eight of them via knockout. “The Unleashed” was riding a five-fight winning streak when he got his first Dana White's Contender Series shot in August 2023. However, Grad went on to suffer a first-round stoppage loss against Australian prospect Tom Nolan. Grad subsequently racked up back-to-back finishes on the regional circuit to earn another chance at redemption on the Contender Series. The 29-year-old edged out a hard-fought split decision win over Michael Aswell this past August to make his way into the UFC.

Meanwhile, Alexander came into the UFC as a highly-touted prospect riding a five-fight winning str…

Top light heavyweight contenders will collide at UFC 311 in January.

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Former champs Jiri Prochazka (30-5) and Jamahal Hill (12-2) are scheduled to fight at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The matchup was announced during the UFC Macau post-fight show and subsequently confirmed by “BJP” on Instagram. Multiple outlets have since confirmed the pairing.

🚨 On the #UFCMacau post-fight show, Dan Hellie said that Jamahal Hill will be fighting Jiri Prochazka in January 👀

(h/t @certifiedzester) #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/a1D8ySvemr

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 23, 2024

Both Prochazka and Hill are coming off losses against champion Alex Pereira. Prochazka saw a 13-fight winning streak snapped with a title loss against Pereira at UFC 295 last year. The Czech bounced back with a come-from-behind stoppage win over Aleksandar Rakic but went on suffer another stoppage loss in a failed title remat…

SPINNING WHEEL KICK KO 🤯 #UFCMACAU pic.twitter.com/25KJ8OqmSx

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 23, 2024

Muslim Salikhov has a knack for spinning offense.

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“The King of Kung Fu” received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his first-round finish of Kenan Song in their welterweight clash at UFC Macau on Saturday at Galaxy Arena. Salikhov dropped his adversary with a perfectly placed spinning wheel kick and sealed his victory with a standing-to-ground hammerfist at the 3:49 mark of Round 1. It is the second time the 40-year-old has used a spinning wheel kick to end a contest in UFC competition.

Elsewhere, Gabriella Fernandes garnered a $50,000 bonus for her upset victory over Cong Wang in a women’s flyweight bout. Wang appeared to have a comfortable lead on the scorecards when Fernandes hurt her foe with a head kick and dropped her with an ensuing left hand. From there, the MMA Masters product secured a rear-naked…

Petr Yan reminded his peers he still possesses all the tools that could someday see him return to power in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division.

“No Mercy” outboxed, outfoxed and outhustled Deiveson Figueiredo to a five-round unanimous decision in their UFC Fight Night 248 headliner on Saturday at Galaxy Arena in Macau, China. Yan (18-5, 10-4 UFC) swept the cards with identical 50-45 scores from the judges, further distancing himself from the three-fight skid that plagued him from April 9, 2022 to March 11, 2023.

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Figueiredo (24-4-1, 13-4-1 UFC) had no answer for the volume and variety the former 135-pound titleholder brought to bear. Yan kept him off-balance with feints and stance switches, creating openings for his finely tuned offensive weapons. Biting leg kicks, accurate punching combinations and slashing uppercuts at close range tipped his spear, but he also found time to mix in a few flying knees, a spinning backfist and a j…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to China Saturday at 3 a.m. ET with UFC Macau. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 248. Round 1 Round 2

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Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result

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Myktybek Orolbai is a beast of nature.

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The Kyrgyz mixed martial artist’s second-favorite sport is just as challenging as MMA — if not more. Orolbai recently revealed that his other love is the traditional sport of Kok Boru. Generated among nomadic Asian tribes, Kok Boru is known as Kokpar in Kazakhstan and Buzkashi in Afghanistan, where it is also the national sport. Also played by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Uyghurs and other tribes, the sport consists of two teams on horseback wrestling to carry a goat carcass to the other team’s goal post. The competition is usually fierce, and players cover themselves with thick gear to avoid opponents’ whips and shoes.

While it is believed that a skilful Kok Boru player is usually in his 40s, the 26-year-old Orolbai already claims to be champion of the sport.

“Kyrgyz sport that’s called Kok Boru… It’s on horseback – Kok Boru. I love that sport… There a lot of horses… You take a goat’s carcass on yo…

Tom Aspinall believes activity will be a factor in the upcoming rematch between Ciryl Gane (12-2) and Alexander Volkov (38-10).

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Gane and Volkov will run it back at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The two initially met back in 2021, when the Frenchman outpointed Volkov in a lackluster unanimous decision.

However, Aspinall believes things might play out differently this time. While Volkov bounced back from the Gane loss with a decision win over Marcin Tybura, he went on suffer a submission loss against Aspinall immediately afterwards. But “Drago” has since racked up four consecutive wins — including three finishes — within a span of two years. The Russian is fresh off a lopsided unanimous decision win over former training partner Sergei Pavlovich this past June.

Meanwhile, Gane has gone 3-2, alternating between wins and losses since his victory over Volkov. “Bon Gamin” hasn’t fought since a technical knockout win over Serg…

Dustin Poirier retweeted a tweet thanking him for knocking out Conor McGregor after he was found liable for sexual assault#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/CENfSL8ZEr

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 22, 2024

The verdict in Conor McGregor’s civil lawsuit has incited some strong reactions from several prominent figures in the combat sports community.

The Dublin High Court on Friday found McGregor liable for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand in 2018. While Hand had claimed that McGregor and James Lawrence raped her that night, the court didn’t find Lawrence liable for sexual assault. “Notorious” has been ordered to pay 248,603.60 euros ($259,025) to Hand in damages. The former UFC two-division champ was not found guilty of any charges, as it was civil lawsuit. Breaking his silence on the topic, McGregor has vowed to appeal the decision.

Former foes Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, who have never been on the best of terms with McGr…

BREAKING: Nikita Hand speaks outside court. pic.twitter.com/H1K4eit8Ug

— Paul Healy (@Healyhack) November 22, 2024 A jury has found Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor liable for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand in 2018.

The trial of McGregor has come to an end, with the Dublin High Court finding that McGregor assaulted Hand during their 2018 encounter. She testified earlier that both he and another man, James Lawrence, raped her at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin on Dec. 9, 2018. The jury did not find that Lawrence had assaulted her. As a result of the civil case decision, according to the Irish Mirror and RTE, “Notorious” has been ordered to pay 248,603.60 euros ($259,025) to Hand in damages.

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McGregor denied all accusations of harmful contact, claiming any activity was consensual when describing the acts he believed she had consented to. Hand relayed a number of injuries including bruising all over her b…

Heading full steam into Saturday night 😮‍💨@PetrYanUFC comes in at 135.5 pounds for #UFCMacau

[ Live SATURDAY on @ESPNPlus | 6amET/3amPT ] pic.twitter.com/SNXMcSZS4H

— UFC (@ufc) November 22, 2024 The Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its return to China with a 13-fight Fight Night card.

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All 26 fighters on the card made weight for UFC Fight Night 248. That includes the two former champions in the main event, Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo, who both came in under 136 pounds. The card will move on as planned, with all fights streaming from the Galaxy Arena in Macau.

A former 135-pound champion, Yan (17-5) is looking to show he still is a danger to all fighters in the division. "No Mercy" rebounded from a three-fight skid by winning a decision over Yadong Song in his last outing. The 31-year-old Russian stepped on the scale at 135.5 pounds.

Meanwhile, Figueiredo (24-3-1) has looked great since moving to banta…

A few years later, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is trying again with an interesting lightweight tilt.

On Thursday, Fight Bananas brought to light the rebooking between Grant Dawson (22-2-1) and Diego Ferreira (19-5) for Jan. 18. The two 155ers will come to blows at UFC 311 inside of the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The pairing has since been confirmed by Dawson on his Instagram on Thursday. This will be the second attempt to put this bout together, as the two were previously booked for UFC Fight Night 193 in 2021 only for a Ferreira injury to scuttle the matchup.

Dawson bounced back from his first loss in years in a big way, outworking Joe Solecki and stopping Rafa Garcia in 2024. The defeat, a 33-second knockout to Bobby Green, put an end to a nine-fight unbeaten streak in the Octagon that included victories over names like Jared Gordon and Julian Erosa. With an 82% finish rate in tow, “KGD” worked his way to the promotion in 2017 as part of the first season of …

2nd generation fighter Taisei Sakuraba set to make his MMA debut in RIZIN, 31 December 2024. He brings a judo black belt background along with the amateur and catch wrestling lineage of his father, Kazushi. #RIZIN @KS_SAKU39 @rizin_PR pic.twitter.com/vR9ZdXKHfm

— Sᴛoo Fᴜʟᴛᴏɴ (@_StewartFulton) July 29, 2024 A Sakuraba will be competing in MMA again very soon.

In preparation for the Rizin 49 Decade event on Dec. 31, Rizin Fighting Federation sent out a press release announcing a trio of new matchups for the show at the Saitama Super Arena. Most notable of the three is the debut of Taisei Sakuraba (0-0), son of MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba. He will be competing at 155 pounds, and his first bout in a ring will be against longtime vet Yusuke Yachi (27-14).

Sakuraba first began training while a teenager, studying judo until it blossomed into full-bore MMA practice. The youngster made his way on the scene in 2023, appearing at Quintet 4 and tapp…