Martial Arts News

A light heavyweight clash pitting Anthony Smith against Vitor Petrino has been added to the UFC 301 lineup.

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Multliple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from Laerte Viana. UFC 301 takes place on May 4 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. A headliner for the event has not been announced.

A former 205-pound title challenger, Smith has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 35-year-old “Lionheart” suffered a third-round technical knockout defeat against Khalil Rountree at UFC Fight Night 233 on Dec. 9.

The 26-year-old Petrino is undefeated in 11 professional outings — including four fights under the UFC banner. The Dana White's Contender Series alum was victorious in his first bout of 2024, a three-round verdict over Tyson Pedro at UFC Fight Night 238 on March 2.

#Madonna's "Celebration" tour has been a smash hit, earning rave reviews and leaving fans breathless.

To mark the tour's grand finale, the star is throwing a FREE concert for fans in Rio de Janeiro. Click below for details. (📸: MEGA) https://t.co/PmryIpnSZM pic.twitter.com/ylNQ3aQFy3

— Q Magazine (@QMagazine) March 11, 2024

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A high-profile concert could potentially take attention away from the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming pay-per-view in Rio de Janeiro.

While it has yet to be confirmed, there are multiple reports that pop star Madonna will perform a massive show at Copacabana Beach on May 4 — the same day as UFC 301. Because the show will be free with an estimated audience of more than 1 million people, it has already made a significant impact in Brazil, with thousands of fans reserving hotels and making plans to attend even before the show was confirmed.

That scheduling conflict is just the latest p…

As if his impressive UFC 299 victory over Benoit St. Denis wasn’t message enough, Dustin Poirier had a few words for UFC CEO Dana White in the immediate aftermath of the win.

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When an unranked St. Denis called out Poirier last November, “The Diamond” was initially dismissive of the callout. Poirier was taken by surprise when the Ultimate Fighting Championship called him up with the offer and had to find inner motivation to accept the fight.

An underdog going into his UFC 299 clash against “God of War,” Poirier struggled in wrestling exchanges in the opening. However, Louisiana’s finest came from behind to shut St. Denis lights out with a right hook in the second round.

Having already made a statement with the nature of his win, “The Diamond” then walked over to the UFC head honcho to share a few words. While it initially seemed like Poirier was talking to former U.S. President Donald Trump, Poirier revealed that his message was for White.

…

Cedric Doumbe recently suffered the first professional loss of his mixed martial arts career against Baissangour Chamsoudinov due to an odd mishap.

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When the decorated kickboxer complained about an issue with his foot in the third round of his PFL Europe main event bout, referee Marc Goddard asked him to continue. Doumbe was addressing the issue a second time, this time to his opponent, when Goddard called a stop to the contest, declaring Chamsoudinov the winner via injury stoppage.

Sharing his side of things, Doumbe revealed that there was a splinter in his foot during the fight. The Frenchman was initially unable to explain the issue to Goddard, as he wasn't aware of the English term for the word “splinter.” Doumbe then made eye contact with his fellow French opponent, who could see his discomfort. When Doumbe told Chamsoudinov about the splinter, “Baki” explained it to Goddard but it was already too late.

“At first, if you see the footage, I…

𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗼! 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆!

𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Heavyweights and Women’s Flyweights kick off the 2024 #PFLRegularSeason LIVE from the @BoeingCenterSA

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For more information and tickets 👇🎟️ https://t.co/dkByVDhUe4 pic.twitter.com/fb8Am2bMjJ — PFL (@PFLMMA) March 11, 2024

Professional Fighters League has unveiled full fight cards for each of its first three regular season events.

The lineups will feature some familiar faces — and plenty of new ones — on the heels of the company’s purchase of Bellator MMA last year. PFL announced the events in a release on Monday.

“The Professional Fighters League is excited to return to regular season action this April with three hard-hitting and crowd-pleasing events,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray in a release. “The PFL’s extensive roster of world-class fighters, which now includes Bellator stars, means the toughest test in MMA, the PFL regular season, just got tougher.” 

PFL 1 is headl…

While Ilia Topuria is eyeing another belt before defending his featherweight title, he has advised Sean O'Malley to defend the bantamweight strap once more before making a double-champ bid.

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O’Malley successfully defended his bantamweight title for the first time with a dominant unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera in the main event at UFC 299 on Saturday. Going into the fight, “Suga” had been rallying for a clash against Topuria if he defeated Vera.

O’Malley reiterated his callout in his post-fight Octagon interview while also keeping the door open for another bantamweight title defense against Merab Dvalishvili if the UFC wants to go in that direction.

“I want Illia. Baby, give me Illia… He’s a scary f—-ng dude. Illia excites me, going up a weight class excites me but I’m honestly here for whatever,” O’Malley said. If you guys want me to knockout Merab, I’ll do that too, but Illia is the exciting fight for the people.”

Dvalishvili, …

Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jack Della Maddalena might have a pivotal welterweight matchup in the works in the near future.

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Della Maddalena called out Rakhmonov for a title eliminator after his third-round stoppage win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 on Saturday.


“There’s some scary people in this division, and I’m the f—-ing scariest,” the Australian said in his post-fight interview. Shavkat Rakhmonov, I think me and you could make a hell of a title eliminator. One of the best in the business, let’s go.”

Della Maddalena has been victorious in his first seven Octagon appearances. With the title picture at 170 pounds somewhat murky at the moment, a showdown with Rakhmonov could be ideal. The undefeated Kazakh also expressed interest in the matchup while issuing a solemn warning on X.

“I respect your courage and confidence Jack, but you will face the same fate as my previous opponents,” Rakhmonov wrote.

I respect your …

Dustin Poirier has seemingly altered the lightweight title picture with his victory over Benoit St. Denis in the UFC 299 co-main event on Saturday.

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The lightweight contender was an underdog going into his clash against an unranked St. Denis. After surviving high pace and pressure from the Frenchman in the opening frame, Poirier came from behind to score a brutal knockout in the second round.

Having bounced back from a knockout loss against Justin Gaethje in perfect fashion, Poirier called for a title shot against Islam Makhachev in June.

Islam in June 😤

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) March 10, 2024

Makhachev, meanwhile, was impressed by Poirier’s performance and praised him on social media.

Very impressive Dustin 👏🏻💎

— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) March 10, 2024

Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, later claimed on social media that the reigning lightweight champ “would be gam…

Allycia Hellen Rodrigues wants to run things back with Stamp Fairtex after successfully defending her ONE Championship women’s atomweight muay thai world title against Cristina Morales.

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Rodrigues picked up a unanimous decision win over the Spanish standout in the co-main event at One on Prime Video 20 on International Women’s Day at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand on March 9. Rodrigues subsequently called for a rematch against reigning ONE women’s atomweight world champion Fairtex, who she defeated for the muay thai title in 2020. Rodrigues is also open to a clash against Phetjeeja, who unified the ONE women’s atomweight kickboxing title against Janet Todd in the evening’s main event.

“I’m expecting to fight against Phetjeeja or Stamp Fairtex, if she comes back to muay thai,” Rodrigues said at the post-fight press conference. ‌

Phetjeeja also expressed double-champ aspirations after the event and has her eyes on Rodrigues’ muay thai ti…

Phetjeeja OrMeekhun is eyeing another title after successfully unifying the ONE Championship women’s atomweight kickboxing title with a victory over Janet Todd in the main event at One on Prime Video 20.

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Phetjeeja picked up an emphatic unanimous decision win over Todd, who announced her retirement after the defeat. Phetjeeja was happy to have shared the ring with Todd in her final fight.

“It's such an honor to fight Janet Todd in her retirement fight,” Phetjeeja said at the post-fight press conference. “I’m very happy that I was part of her last fight so she can remember me, and I can remember her. It’s a historic moment for both of us.”

Having extended her promotional winning streak to six with the victory over Todd, Phetjeeja is now looking for double champ glory. The former Thailand National boxing team representative is plotting a clash against ONE women’s atomweight muay thai champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues, who successfully defended …

If it seems like Benoit St. Denis faded in the second round of his fight at UFC 299, there may have been a good reason for that.

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After a dominant opening stanza, St. Denis suffered a knockout loss against Dustin Poirier at the 2:32 mark of Round 2 in Saturday’s co-main event at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Afterward, the “God of War” took to Instagram to reveal that antibiotics may have hindered his performance as the fight progressed.

“Unfortunately this evening I was not able to fully express myself,” St. Denis wrote (via Google Translate). “My body didn’t respond after a week of antibiotics to fight an infection.

“Throughout I was present, but my body was absent. It did not react as usual. I only had one round to give you.”

Heading into the bout, St. Denis appeared to have a sore on his head, which led to speculation that the Frenchman may have been dealing with a staph infection. While St. Denis did not give specifics on the nature of his …

If it seems like Benoit St. Denis faded in the second round of his fight at UFC 299, there may have been a good reason for that.

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After a dominant opening stanza, St. Denis suffered a knockout loss against Dustin Poirier at the 2:32 mark of Round 2 in Saturday’s co-main event at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Afterward, the “God of War” took to Instagram to reveal that antibiotics may have hindered his performance as the fight progressed.

“Unfortunately this evening I was not able to fully express myself,” St. Denis wrote (via Google Translate). “My body didn’t respond after a week of antibiotics to fight an infection.

“Throughout I was present, but my body was absent. It did not react as usual. I only had one round to give you.”

Heading into the bout, St. Denis appeared to have a sore on his head, which led to speculation that the Frenchman may have been dealing with a staph infection. While St. Denis did not give specifics on the nature of his …