Martial Arts News

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire delivered a statement win in a bid to extend his stay in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Freire took on Doo Ho Choi (17-5) in a featherweight tilt at UFC 331 on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. This being the last fight of his contract, Freire repeatedly stated his desire to continue fighting in the UFC and promised to put on a performance worthy of a contract renewal.

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Patricio Freire knocks out Doo Ho Choi at UFC 331 before calling out Jean Silva Freire backed up his promise, dropping Choi with a monstrous right hand to earn a first-round finish. Having had a lukewarm UFC career before UFC 331, the former Bellator champ apologized to fans and called out Jean Silva, who is known for barking at his opponents, to determine the bigger dog amongst the two.

“I’m sorry about my last three fights,” Freire said in his post-fight interview. “I feel that [UFC 331] was my debut. I don’t know what happened to me. But I…

Jon Jones had a clear view of one of the biggest upsets in Ultimate Fighting Championship history.

His protégé, Gable Steveson, suffered the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career at UFC 331, with Sean Sharaf recording a 12-second knockout at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

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Sean Sharaf hands Gable Steveson his first MMA loss in stunning UFC 331 upset Heavy betting favorite Steveson entered the matchup unbeaten at 4-0, while Sharaf was 0-2 in the UFC. The latter uncorked a left hook early in the fight, putting the former to sleep. Steveson’s mentor, Jones, watched on and his reaction to the knockout is circulating online.

The former two-division UFC champion seemingly said, “Oh, my God!” while looking at his fellow cornermen.

Steveson dismissed Sharaf as a threat in the lead-up to the fight, relegating him to just a stepping stone towards his championship aspirations. “The Smoke” even provoked the polarizing Olympian at the …

Sherdog's live UFC 331 “Van vs. Pantoja 2” coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.UFC 331 live results for Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2 and the full fight card Round 1 Attention at UFC 331 shifts to the women’s flyweight division, as O’Neill (11-2, 6-2 UFC) puts Moura (12-2, 3-2 UFC) to the test at 125 pounds. Jason Herzog polices the proceedings. No glove touch. Moura comes out firing and knocks O’Neill off-balance. She catches a kick and trips O’Neill to the floor, settling in half guard. Moura drops elbows and a few short punches. Crowd boos the lack of action, as Herzog hovers nearby. O’Neill reclaims full guard, but her Brazilian opponent postures and punches. Moura moves from half guard to north south and lures O’Neill into an anaconda choke. She loses her grip after a few tense moments and returns to ground-and-pound. O’Neill elevates the Brazilian, rotates her hips and transitions to a belly-down armbar in one fluid motion. Moura taps in what can only be …

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Los Angeles is now set with a title fight following the UFC 331 weigh-ins.

Main eventing the UFC's latest numbered event is a flyweight championship rematch between Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja. Both men had no issue making championship weight for the five-round fight. All other fighters on the 12-fight card also made weight, so it was a drama-free morning on the scale.

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Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja hit the flyweight championship limit ahead of their UFC 331 rematch Van (17-2) claimed the title in just 26 seconds last year after Pantoja injured his arm. Since then, the 24-year-old has solidified himself as the champion by knocking out Tatsuro Taira. "The Fearless" will look to show that the first victory wasn't just a fluke and officially weighed 125 pounds on the dot.

Meanwhile, this is the first fight back for Pantoja (30-6) since dropping the belt. "The Cannibal" had been o…

Nine months after suffering a serious cervical spine injury that forced her to withdraw from the UFC 324 main event against Amanda Nunes and undergo emergency surgery, Kayla Harrison is back in training for the highly anticipated matchup.

“Her injury was very serious. She had to undergo surgery and spent several months unable to train, but she made a great recovery and, three weeks ago, returned to full training for the fight, which is expected to take place Nov. 14 in New York,” American Top Team muay thai coach Anderson Franca told Sherdog.

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Kayla Harrison resumes full training nine months after cervical spine injury The two-time Olympic judo gold medalist and UFC women’s bantamweight champion will face Nunes, the former two-division UFC champion widely regarded as the greatest women’s mixed martial artist of all time.

Interestingly, Franca was also one of the key coaches in Nunes’ camp for her 2018 fight against Cris Cyborg.

“Amanda was con…

Fresh off a trip to Arizona, where he watched his fighter Jean Silva earn his seventh Ultimate Fighting Championship victory, Flavio Alvaro spoke with Sherdog on Tuesday about Saturday’s UFC co-main event between former Fighting Nerds standout Mauricio Ruffy and No. 2-ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan.

“Funny enough, Ruffy was the one who brought me to the Fighting Nerds. He trained with me from the age of 18 to 24, then joined the Fighting Nerds and introduced me to Sucupira there. Today, even though he’s no longer with us, he’s still a brother to me,” said Alvaro, who worked as a ground coach with the Brazilian team.

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Flavio Alvaro explains why he sees rare talent in Mauricio Ruffy ahead of UFC 331 Alvaro has high praise for Ruffy’s skills, going so far as to compare the UFC lightweight to one of the greatest Brazilian soccer players of all time.

“What I can say with confidence is that he’s the most skilled guy I’ve ever seen in MMA. He’s a geni…

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with 60 mixed martial arts fights on his résumé, many of them from the no-holds-barred era, Flavio “The Legendary” Alvaro is primarily responsible for the Fighting Nerds’ ground and cage work.

Thanks to his MMA experience, Alvaro is also highly respected for the mental preparation he provides in the corner, an aspect of his coaching known internally as the “dark side” of the Fighting Nerds.

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“Pablo [Sucupira] and I complement each other even in that. Between rounds, while he brings the fight analysis and enforces our tactical game plan, I keep our warrior mentally armored,” Alvaro told Sherdog on Tuesday.Fighting Nerds coach Flavio Alvaro explains how Jean Silva perfected the choke he used on Jose DelgadoAs Jean Silva showed in a video posted to Instagram on Sunday, the submission he used against Delgado on Saturday was taught to him by Alvaro, which is why it has been dubbed the “Legendary Choke.” “The video Jean pos…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will host its next card in Los Angeles on Sept. 19.UFC 331 streaming details for Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2Here’s a brief rundown for those who intend to watch UFC 331:

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How to watch UFC 331 in the United States UFC 331 goes down at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sept. 19. U.S. fans can stream the early prelims live on UFC Fight Pass and Paramount+ at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. Meanwhile, the prelims air live only on Paramount+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, followed by the main card at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Joshua Van (17-2) puts his flyweight title on the line in a rematch against Alexandre Pantoja (30-6) in the main event. Pantoja defended his title four times before losing it to Van last December. The fight ended in an unfortunate injury loss for Pantoja as “The Cannibal” dislocated his elbow in less than 30 seconds. Van has since defended his title with a knockout win over Tatsuro Taira this past May.

Arm…

Alexandre Pantoja claims he’s fully recovered from his arm injury and is raring to return to action in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The former UFC flyweight champion is set to challenge Joshua Van for the title in a rematch at UFC 331 in Los Angeles on Sept. 19. Pantoja says he has fully recovered from the injury that occurred in their first meeting, crediting his mindset during the recovery and rehabilitation process.

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Alexandre Pantoja details recovery ahead of Joshua Van rematch at UFC 331 Pantoja was a massive favorite going into their first bout in December last year. However, the fight ended anticlimactically as the Brazilian suffered an elbow injury while bracing for a fall after his head-kick was caught by Van. “The Cannibal” recently revealed that he returned to training just days after suffering the injury and remained focused on recovery.

“The first 20 minutes after my injury are the worst,” Pantoja said in a recent interview. “But…

Alex Pereira has taken several shots at Ciryl Gane.

“Bon Gamin” is expected to be elevated to undisputed champ status after Tom Aspinall vacated the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title. The Frenchman, who won the interim title at UFC Freedom 250 by finishing Pereira, is no longer on track for a title unification bout with Aspinall, whose Octagon return has been further delayed due to medical complications.

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Pereira is gunning for a rematch with Gane and recently took to social media to poke holes in the champ’s record.Alex Pereira questions Ciryl Gane’s UFC résumé as the heavyweight title picture changes Pereira shared a post on Instagram of a graphic questioning Gane’s UFC record. He accompanied his post with the caption: “Champion,” followed by three laughing emojis.

The post referenced Gane’s previous heavyweight title losses against Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, as well as his controversial victory over Alexander Volkov in their r…

Eddie Hearn is standing firm on where he believes Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua should take place.

Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO and Zuffa Boxing co-founder Dana White recently claimed Hearn was preventing the fight from coming to fruition, citing disagreements over whether the bout should be held in the United Kingdom or the United States. Hearn recently addressed the same, revealing that he and Joshua remain adamant that the fight takes place in the U.K.

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Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn double down on staging Tyson Fury fight in Britain The Matchroom Boxing chairman has emphasized that the focus should simply be on honoring the existing agreement for the fight.

“Dana White has tried to get involved in a fight that he has nothing to do with,” Hearn told iFL TV. “All we have ever done is say, ‘We’ve signed our contract. Just honor the contract that we’ve signed.’”

Hearn claimed Joshua was offered more money to move the fight to the U.S. bu…

Aljamain Sterling wants to fight Jean Silva to determine the next challenger for Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight gold.

Silva submitted Jose Delgado in the third round of the main event of Noche UFC 4, then called for a shot at the winner of the upcoming Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev championship bout set to headline UFC 333. Sterling, however, believes Silva needs to go through him if he wants a title shot.

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Aljamain Sterling proposes December showdown with Jean Silva in UFC featherweight title race Sterling, who has won his last bouts, had initially suggested a November matchup with Silva at Madison Square Garden. The former bantamweight champ is also open to fighting “Lord” in December, so the latter has ample time to heal and prepare.

“Even if it’s a Fight Night, I don’t give a f*ck,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “December, run that sh*t. Run that sh*t. Run that sh*t. All I’m saying is, I want to give him the fai…