Martial Arts News

Raul Rosas Jr. will return to action against Vince Morales at UFC Mexico City.

Multiple outlets confirmed the bantamweight pairing following an initial report from ESPN Deportes. UFC Mexico City — also known as UFC on ESPN 64 — takes place at Arena CDMX on March 29 and is headllined by a flyweight scrap pitting Brandon Moreno against Steve Erceg.

The 20-year-old Rosas Jr. has been victorious in four of five Octagon appearances since earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in September 2022. In his last outing, “El Nino Problema” went the distance in victory for the first time during his promotional tenure, taking a unanimous verdict against Qileng Aori at UFC 306.

Since beginning his second UFC stint last year, Morales has dropped back-to-back decisions agianst Taylor Lapilus and Elijah Smith. Morales went 3-5 during his first go-round in the promotion before winning five straight bouts on the regional circuit to earn another shot in the …

Chris Gutierrez will get to remain on the UFC 313 card after all.

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After originally being booked against Jean Matsumoto, Gutierrez will instead lock horns with John Castaneda on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Matsumoto was pulled from the event to face Rob Font at UFC Seattle on Feb. 22. Castaneda, meanwhile, was supposed to face Douglas Silva de Andrade at UFC Vegas 103 this past Saturday before the bout was scrapped. Multiple outlets confirmed the new matchup, which will take place at 145 pounds, following an initial report from Eurosport NL.

Gutierrez fought just once in 2024, taking a unanimous decision against Quang Le at UFC on ESPN 61 this past August. The Factory X product is 9-3-1 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Castaneda last appeared at UFC on ESPN 57, where he dropped a three-round verdict against Daniel Marcos this past June. The longtime Combate Americas veteran is 4-3 in the Octagon.

UFC…

A boxing match between Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans Diego Sanchez and John Makdessi is on tap for the ICS Mania Boxing event scheduled for April 12.

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The promotion recently announced the booking, which has also been confirmed by both Sanchez and Makdessi. ICS Mania Boxing takes place at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is headlined by a clash between former UFC foes Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson. The card, which is co-promoted by Albuquerque’s Tapia Promotion’s and Florida’s Signature Punch Promotions, will feature a number of local boxers from New Mexico.

Sanchez, 43, was one of the winners on “The Ultimate Fighter 1.” He last competed in MMA at Eagle FC 46 in March 2022, where he lost a unanimous decision to Kevin Lee. More recently, “The Nightmare” fought under the BKFC banner in February 2023, when he suffered a fourth-round stoppage loss to pro boxer Austin Trout.

The 39-year-old Makdessi will be making his boxing de…

Alex Pereira wants Magomed Ankalaev to put his money where his mouth is.

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Ankalaev has been a consistent presence on social media leading up to his title opportunity against Pereira in the UFC 313 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. This past weekend, the Dagestani issued another strong statement regarding the upcoming light heavyweight bout.

“CHAMA is a dead man walking. I’m going to drown this man,” Ankalaev wrote on X.

CHAMA is a dead man walking I’m going to drown this man

— Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) March 2, 2025

Ankalaev’s confidence hasn’t gone unnoticed by the reigning 205-pound king. Pereira recently issued a challenge to Ankalaev, urging his opponent to put up a significant amount of cash for a good cause.

“Since you are so confident you will win, $200,000 to the winner’s charity of choice,” Pereira wrote on X. “Win or lose, this will help those in need. It’s in y…

A pair of light heavyweights coming off quick finishes at UFC Seattle will square off in Montreal this spring.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Monday that Modestas Bukauskas will meet Ion Cutelaba in a 205-pound bout at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on May 10. UFC 315 is headllined by a welterweight title tilt pitting Belal Muhammad against Jack Della Maddalena, while Valentina Shevchenko will defend the flyweight crown against Manon Fiorot in the evening’s co-main event.

After going 1-3 during his first UFC stint, Bukauskas has been victorious in four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Baltic Gladiator” defeated Raffael Cerqueira via first-round knockout at UFC Fight Night 252 on Feb. 22.

Cutelaba also had a short night at UFC Seattle, as the Moldovan veteran tapped Ibo Aslan with an arm-triangle choke 2:51 into Round 1. The 31-year-old known as “The Hulk” has won three of his last four UFC outings after en…

Leon Edwards says he wanted to step in and fight Belal Muhammad but it wouldn’t make sense to take him off the London card

He also says the UFC told him the winner of the fight between him and Sean Brady will fight for the title

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@Leon_edwardsmmapic.twitter.com/fLDLZTb5W3 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 2, 2025

Leon Edwards is looking forward to a title shot with a win over Sean Brady.

Edwards lost the welterweight title to Muhammad via unanimous decision at UFC 304 in July 2024. The Englishman was originally supposed to return to action against Jack Della Maddalena on March 22 at the O2 Arena in London. Meanwhile, Muhammad was expected to defend his strap against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 315 on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. However, Maddalena replaced Rakhmonov, who couldn’t accept the matchup due to an injury. Meanwhile, top contender Sean Brady replaced Maddalena on the UFC L…

Love this. Manel Kape actually breaking down Alexandre Pantoja’s flaws instead of giving the usual ‘He’s going to find out’ response.

These two respect each other and it seems like the next Flyweight title fight @ufc pic.twitter.com/ClM99mvUft

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) March 2, 2025

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Manel Kape (21-7) recently laid down his gameplan to beat Alexandre Pantoja (29-5) in a potential title fight.

Kape took on Asu Almabayev in the main event at UFC Vegas 103 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. “Starboy” put on a striking masterclass, beating down Almabayev to force the finish in the third round. The Kazakh had not been beaten in 17 outings since 2017. However, it must be noted that two eye scrapes from Kape went unpenalized, including one that started the finishing sequence.

Regardless, Kape’s stock skyrocketed after the entertaining win, leading to his name being pitched as the next flyweight title cont…

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Tom Aspinall isn’t exactly moving on from Jon Jones just yet, but he is willing to consider the possibility of facing other opponents.

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Jones returned from hiatus at UFC 309, where he defeated Stipe Moicic to retain the heavyweight title this past November. “Bones” implied that it would require a significant payday to entice him to face Aspinall, the reigning interim heavyweight king, in a championship unification bout. UFC CEO Dana White has expressed optimism that the fight would eventually happen, but thus far, there have been no significant updates on that front.

According to Aspinall, any delay is coming from Jones’ side.

“Where we’re at right now is, I have spoke to the UFC on multiple occasions on this fight,” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. “I’m chasing it. I want the fight. I’ve been on record and said that I want the fight. I’ve been on the phone with the UFC saying, ‘I want the fight. When’s it happening?’ …

Don’t tell Manel Kape that his latest victory was marred by a few uncalled fouls.

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“Starboy” won for the sixth time in his last seven outings, defeating Asu Almabayev via stoppage at the 2:16 mark of the third round in the UFC Vegas 103 headliner on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. While Kape was sharp throughout the contest, replays showed that that Almabayev suffered multiple eye rakes prior to the finish. However, despite Almabayev’s protests, none of those were acknowledged by referee Mike Beltran. According to Kape, it was up to the veteran official to step in if a foul was committed.

“That’s not my job,” Kape said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I didn’t see nothing. I think the [referee] should be more attentive. I’ve suffered so [much] stuff in the Octagon, so I don’t know. It was clear, for what I’ve seen, it was good. [He] could see me good. If he was not able to fight, if I think he was really stopping, so he was c…

UFC Vegas 103 was an entertaining affair with four fighters earning bonuses.

Manel Kape (20-7) earned an extra $50K Performance of the Night bonus for a stoppage over Asu Almabayev (21-3) in the flyweight headliner. Kape thoroughly outstruck Almabayev from the opening bell, never allowing the Kazakh to implement his wrestling. “Starboy” eventually delivered too much damage on Almabayev, forcing the referee to step in at 2:16 of the third round, ending his undefeated streak that dated back to 2017. However, the Angolan seemingly scraped Almabayev twice in the left eye, which went unpenalized.

The second POTN bonus went to undefeated heavyweight debutant Mario Pinto (10-0) for his knockout win over Austen Lane (13-6). Pinto got dropped by Lane in the opening frame before rallying back to put the former football defensive end to sleep with a left hook-straight right combo early in the second round.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s Nasrat Haqparast (18-5) and Argentina’s Esteba…

Manel Kape may have cleared the final obstacle between him and a long-sought shot at the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight crown.

The former Rizin Fighting Federation titleholder was awarded an anticlimactic technical knockout over Asu Almabayev in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 253 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Referee Mike Beltran stepped in to wave it off 2:16 into Round 3, even though Almabayev (21-3, 4-1 UFC) seemed to be lucid and defending himself.

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Kape (21-7, 6-3 UFC) was the aggressor from the start. He unleashed lightning-fast punches from odd angles and called upon bulletproof takedown defense against the Kazakhstani grappler. Almabayev—who entered the cage on a 17-fight winning streak—emerged for the second round clearly bothered by the damage he sustained to his left eye. Kape zeroed in on it, sometimes with punches and sometimes with what appeared to be clear fouls—replays showed he raked the eye…

Sherdog's live UFC Vegas 103 coverage will begin Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 253. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Temirov (-115), Johnson (-105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Dayne Fox scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Dayne Fox scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Dayne Fox scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Aldrich (-205), Lee (+170)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Dayne Fox scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Dayne Fox scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Dayne Fox scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | …