Martial Arts News

Ilia Topuria is adding to his portfolio in his home country.

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The UFC featherweight champion recently became part owner of Spanish promotion Way of Warrior FC. WOW announced its partnership with Topuria on Tuesday.

“We are very excited to welcome Ilia Topuria as a WOW shareholder,” the organization announced on Instagram (via translate). “An alliance that will make MMA in Spain even bigger. Your talent and passion are a perfect match for our mission and together we will celebrate great achievements.”

Since its inception in late 2019, WOW FC has held more than 30 events in Spain, with the vast majority those taking place in Madrid. Its next card, WOW FC 15, is scheduled for Sept. 14 at Vistalegre Arena Palace in Madrid.

“My team and I are immensely happy to join such a promising project like WOW which, with everyone’s effort, will become the perfect platform to help all the Spanish fighters continue to grow in this sport,” Topuria said i…

Elisandra Ferreira de Oliveira and Andressa Romero will square off for the vacant atomweight belt in the main event of Invicta FC 57 on Sept. 20.

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The promotion announced the card on Tuesday. Invicta FC 57 takes place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas and will also see Kristina Williams take on Nayara Maia in the evening’s flyweight co-headliner. The Invicta FC 57 main card will air on CBS Sports Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while prelims can be seen on the promotion’s YouTube channel and Facebook page beginning at 7 p.m./6 p.m. CT.

Three other bouts were also confirmed for the event: Liz Tracy vs. DeAnna Bennett at flyweight; Milana Dudieva vs. Sandra Lavado at flyweight and Maria Djukic vs. Maria Favela at bantamweight.

Also known as “Lili,” Ferreira de Oliveira has been victorious in her first three promotional appearances. Most recently, the 26-year-old Brazilian outpointed Katie Saull at Invicta FC 55 on June 28.

Also hai…

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Sean Strickland coach Eric Nicksick has no problem admitting that they would prefer not to fight Alex Pereira again.

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Strickland got knocked out by a left hook from by Pereira at UFC 276 in 2022 after choosing to trade in the pocket with the former Glory Kickboxing champion. A lot has happened since then, with Pereira going on to win the middleweight title, lose it and then establish a title reign at light heavyweight. Meanwhile, Strickland also won the middleweight title in a huge upset against Israel Adesanya before losing it to Dricus Du Plessis via a narrow split decision.

Du Plessis recently defended his strap with a fourth-round submission win against Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, last weekend. While Strickland has been adamant on fighting for the title next, Du Plessis has attracted a lot of eyeballs with his latest performance — including those of Pereira. The light heavyweight champ expressed interest in moving …

Khalil Rountree says he won’t change his style for his upcoming title fight.

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Even Rountree likely did not expect his wish to be granted when he called for title shot against Alex Pereira after brutally knocking out Anthony Smith in December 2023. At the time, Pereira had just won the light heavyweight title with a knockout win over former champ Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 this past November. Two title defenses later, Pereira is now slated to defend his strap against Rountree in the main event at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

While initially making his case for a title shot against Pereira, Rountree had argued that it would stylistically be a fan-favorite matchup. Now amid severe criticism from higher-ranked contenders, Rountree continues to defend the matchup by citing the standup abilities of both athletes. And since he believes he was granted the matchup for the same reason, Rountree doesn’t plan on robbing fans of …

Tom Aspinall’s digs at Jon Jones continue to get harsher with time.

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Jones has been sidelined since pulling out of his scheduled heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023. Aspinall captured the interim title with a short-notice knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich on the same card. “Honey Badger” has since been calling for a title unifier against Jones, who remains intent on fighting Miocic upon his return to action. Jones vs. Miocic has been rumored for UFC 309 in November, though it has not been formally announced by the promotion.

In the meantime, Aspinall also defended his interim strap with a KO win over Curtis Blaydes in front of his home fans at UFC 304 in Manchester last month. Meanwhile, Jones has hinted at retirement after fighting Miocic, potentially by the end of the year. Former UFC champ Michael Bisping recently revealed that the fellow Brit called Jones a “fanny” when talking about his retirement plans.…

Dan Hooker is hinting at a potential clash against Charles Oliveira next and it isn’t the first time he has done so.

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Hooker previously announced a fight with Oliveira before admitting that he was just fooling around when “do Bronx” dismissed the report. “The Hangman” instead went on to fight Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 which went down in Perth, Australia, last weekend. A +250 underdog going into the fight, Hooker eked out a split-decision win in his “Fight of the Night” war with the Pole.

"We got the hand raised, not bad for an off night,” Hooker recently told The Mac Life. “I feel like I had an off night, timing wasn't really there, and I said that the fight’s going to play out one or two ways; It's either I pick him off from distance and he can't cover that ground or I get taken down and we scramble and I just have to get up and pressure him and kind of wear through him. I feel like it was the second of the two options, it was more of a worst-case …

Last weekend was full of strong emotions for former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.

After being inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame along with five other key figures — Xande Ribeiro, Jean Jacques Machado, Ronaldo Souza, Vinny Magalhaes and Orlando Sanchez — Werdum met backstage with the person mainly responsible for his arrival at the event in 2003: Mark Kerr.

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“Not many people remember, but it was thanks to Kerr that I joined the ADCC,” Werdum said. “The year was 2003. I had gone to Los Angeles to compete in the Jiu-Jitsu Pan American Championship and as I was still starting out and couldn't afford a hotel, I slept in the dojo at the Beverly Hills JJ Club owned by my friend Marcus Vinicius de Lucia, where Kerr trained. When the Pan American ended and I was going back to Spain, Marcus arrived at the gym with Kerr and suggested that I stay in L.A. to help Kerr for the super fight he would have with Arona at the 2003 ADCC in Sao Paulo. I reme…

Week 2 of Dana White's Contender Series is now official, as all 10 athletes slated to compete made weight without issue on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a welterweight showdown between Pat Pytlik (169) and Andreas Gustafsson (170.5). The card airs on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

A native of Ontario, Canada, Pytlik has been victorious in nine of his first 10 professional outings. The 35-year-old is coming off back-to-back first-round knockout wins under the Unified MMA banner.

Gustafsson, 33, has compiled a 10-2 career mark while competing for organizations such as Brave Combat Federation, KSW and Cage Warriors. He has won four of his last five outings, finishing each of his victories within two rounds.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Pat Pytlik (169) vs. Andreas Gustafsson (170.5)Rizvan Kuniev (263.5) vs. Hugo Cunha (259.5)Cortavious Romious (136) vs. Michael Imperato (135…

Tai Tuivasa will “live to fight another day” after his UFC 305 loss against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

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Tuivasa took on Rozenstruik in front of his home fans at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on Saturday. “Bam Bam” was completely outclassed by the Surinamese heavyweight on the feet on the way to a split-decision loss. Howie Booth, the dissenting judge who bizarrely gave all three rounds to Tuivasa, was relieved of his duties for the rest of the card and faced widespread online backlash.

Tuivasa has now released a statement thanking his fans and addressing the loss. The Australian fan favorite says he couldn’t get his hand raised despite having put everything into his preparation for the fight. However, Tuivasa seems set on moving forward with his MMA career.

“F—k. What a sport. I put my all into this camp and didn’t come away with the win,” Tuisvasa wrote on Instagram. “Big love to all my fans. I put my all into this, didn’t get the treats. My…

Carlos Prates and Kalinn Williams are seemingly set on a collision course.

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Prates scored a vicious second-round knockout win over Jingliang Li to start off the UFC 305 main card in Perth, Australia, on Saturday. Despite earning his third consecutive knockout win in the UFC, Prates subsequently called for an “easy” fight against Williams before he takes on ranked opponents. Elaborating on his callout, Prates explained that he was looking for yet another $50,000 bonus in case he wasn’t awarded one at UFC 305.

“I don’t know, I think he is a good opponent, he is a striker,” Prates said at the post-fight press conference. “And to be honest, I almost buy my own house in Brazil. So if I don’t get bonus today, for sure if I fight him, maybe December I’ll get the bonus. Nothing personal against him, just business. And it is what it is.”

Prates ultimately did win a “Performance of the Night” bonus at UFC 305, again his third in as many UFC outings. How…

Strawweights Amanda Ribas (13-5) and Mackenzie Dern (14-5) will run it back at UFC Tampa near the end of the year.

Ribas will take on Dern at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 14. The matchup was first reported by Ag.Fight.

Dern will have the chance to avenge a unanimous decision loss against Ribas that occurred at UFC Fight Night 161 in October 2019. Dern bounced back from that loss with a four-fight winning streak that included three finishes. Currently 2-2 in her past four, Dern is fresh off a unanimous decision win over Lupita Godinez at UFC on ABC 7 on Aug. 3.

Meanwhile, Ribas’ initial win over Dern was part of a four-fight winning streak to start her UFC journey. The Brazilian has alternated wins and losses in her last eight outings, most recently suffering a unanimous decision defeat against Rose Namajunas in a flyweight bout this past March.

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Dricus Du Plessis coach Morne Visser recently weighed in on potential future matchups for the middleweight champ.

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Du Plessis defended his strap with a fourth-round submission win over Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, on Saturday. While “Stillknocks” and Adesanya had long been beefing over their authenticity as “African champ,” they appeared to bury the hatchet after their fight on Saturday.

Visser says it’s a relief to have peace in Africa. Visser also revealed that he had already discussed a potential rematch with Adesanya when they crossed paths. According to Visser, Adesanya is the most suitable opponent for a potential UFC card in South Africa, which could happen during Du Plessis’ title reign.

“There’s peace in Africa now, which is a good feeling,” Visser told Submission Radio. “I did say to Izzy when I saw him earlier, I said to him that I believe there’s talks of doing [a UFC card in] …