Martial Arts News

Kara-Ool Changy looks like a real problem for the rest of the ONE Championship strawweight division.

The undefeated 26-year-old Russian prospect kept his perfect professional record intact in what was a stellar promotional debut, as he battered Arsenio Balisacan Jr. to a doctor stoppage in their ONE Friday Fights 48 showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. A weary and bloodied Balisacan (4-3, 0-1 ONE) bowed out in between the second and third rounds.

Changy (5-0, 1-0 ONE) wore down his Filipino counterpart with a series of trip takedowns and suplexes in the first round, pairing them with suffocating control and steady ground-and-pound. Balisacan simply had no recourse with which to respond. Changy turned up the heat near the end of the middle stanza, where he executed another takedown, hammered the body with knees and opened multiple cuts with a series of brutal elbow strikes from above. As Balisacan wandered back to his corner, it became cl…

While fans can expect Conor McGregor to return to action this year, the details regarding his return are still not being publicly shared by Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.

In a social media post back in December, the former two-division champion announced his long-awaited return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler at 185 pounds on June 29 at International Fight Week in Las Vegas.

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However, in a recent interview with Sportsnet’s Tim Micallef ahead of UFC 297, White refused to divulge any details regarding McGregor's return fight apart from confirming his return to the Octagon this year.

“McGregor will be back this year. Possibly him and Chandler, we’ll see how this whole thing plays out.”

McGregor has been out of action since UFC 264 in July 2021, where he suffered a Round 1 technical knockout loss to Dustin Poirier due to a devastating leg break. Since then, the Irishman has been nursing himself back to health.

McGre…

Former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight queen Rose Namajunas is hoping to make a statement in her second outing in the flyweight division.

Following a split-decision loss to Carla Esparza at UFC 274, Namajunas (11-6) moved up to the 125-pound division in 2023 and faced No. 3-ranked Manon Fiorot at UFC Fight Night 226 .

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Despite suffering a broken right hand in the first round of the bout, Namajunas put on a competitive fight, even securing two of the judges' scorecards in the third frame. However, the French national walked away with the unanimous decision victory thanks to her performance in the first two stanzas.

“Thug Rose” is now slated to take on the No. 8-ranked Amanda Ribas (12-4) in a UFC Fight Night main event duel on March 23 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Having time to get more accustomed to the new weight class, the former champ feels more confident and prepared for her upcoming flyweight contest.

“I actually f…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship hosts its first pay-per-view event of 2024 this weekend.

Atop the UFC 297 card is a middleweight title clash between champion Sean Strickland and No. 1 contender Dricus Du Plessis. Both fighters successfully made weight, as did Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva, who will vie for the vacant bantamweight title. There were two weight misses as Malcolm Gordon came in 1.5 pounds over the flyweight limit for his fight against Jimmy Flick, and would-be bantamweight Ramon Taveras weighed 139.75 pounds for his scheduled scrap versus Serhiy Sidey. Both men will be fined a percentage of their purses as a result.

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Strickland (28-5) is coming off a shocking upset of Israel Adesanya. Over five rounds, Strickland outpointed "The Last Stylebender" with his jab and solid fundamentals. "Tarzan" is now on a three-fight win streak, having also outclassed Abusupiyan Magomedov and Nassourdine Imavov. The American…

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🇫🇷 𝟱-𝟬 vs. 𝟴-𝟬 🇫🇷No Risk, No Reward.#PFLParis | LIVE on DAZN

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Stay tuned to @pfleurope across… pic.twitter.com/GLst0SuWpd

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) January 18, 2024 The Professional Fighters League is wasting little time to get its next European season started.

Via press release on Thursday, the organization announced that PFL Europe’s 2024 Season will begin on March 7. The first event of the year-long tournament will be held at the Accor Arena in Paris, with the promotion returning to the city it first planted its flag in September 2023. Instead of the Zenith Paris La Villette, the fights will post up in the larger arena that has played host to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA in the past. Just one fight has been announced, and it…

In case you were wondering about that one Charles Jourdain tweet ... 😳 pic.twitter.com/h2dMtw9f4o

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 17, 2024

While Charles Jourdain is known for having a brazen social media personality, one particular post from his X, formerly known as Twitter, account attracted extra attention recently.

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Jourdain (15-6) is scheduled to take on Sean Woodson (10-1) in front of his home crowd at UFC 297 this weekend at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Jourdain acknowledged his reach disadvantage against Woodson while also revealing an awkward counter-strategy.

“For this fight, I'm at [a] disadvantage because of the reach. I will use the same strategy I use with my stepsister: penetrate and dominate,” Jourdain wrote.

While the post raised eyebrows for most who saw it, The Mac Life’s Oscar Willis dared to ask Jourdain about it during UFC 297 media day.

“It’s important to take chances in life. I sho…

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Israel Adesanya expects a new middleweight king to be crowned at UFC 297 this weekend.

Sean Strickland (28-5) will defend his strap against Dricus Du Plessis (20-2) in the UFC 297 main event on Jan. 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. While Adesanya respects Strickland, having lost to him, “The Last Stylebender” believes du Plessis will be crowned champ via submission.

“I’m going to go with Dricus,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Is it going to go the distance? I’m going to say no. Not that I don’t respect Sean or his skills; the guy beat me. Of course, I respect his skills. I’ll say [submission]. He’ll submit him.”

While Adesanya was originally scheduled to defend his strap against du Plessis at UFC 293 this past September, Strickland replaced an injured “Stillknocks” on short notice. “Tarzan” shocked the world with one of the best defensive striking displays of recent times and went on to score a massive upset win via decision…

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Dricus Du Plessis confirmed that Sean Strickland did indeed reach out to him on social media and threaten to attack him if the South African decided to bring up his abusive childhood ahead of their UFC 297 clash.

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Strickland (28-5) is scheduled to defend his middleweight strap in the UFC 297 main event on Saturday. The bad blood between the two started during a seasonal press conference last month where du Plessis (20-2) brought up Strickland’s abusive childhood in response to the champ alleging a sexual relationship between “Stillknocks” and his coach.

Strickland went on to attack du Plessis while attending UFC 296 the next day before being escorted out of the T-Mobile Arena by law enforcement. Strickland subsequently admitted that he was triggered by the trash talk and even revealed intimate details about his abusive childhood on a podcast with Theo Von.

While Strickland is known for voicing his unabashed and oftentimes c…

Popular UFC fighters Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann are primed to share the screen in a reality show produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

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The show, which is entitled “Paddy & Molly: Show No Mersey,” will air on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer in the U.K., with a launch date to be revealed soon. The title is a nod to Merseyside, which is the hometown for both Pimblett and McCann and will be featured prominently on the show.

According to a release, “this frank, funny and up-close series will follow Paddy and Molly’s journey inside and outside of the cage as they take on the biggest fights of their lives — which will determine their legacy in the MMA world — all whilst juggling their relationships with friends and family.”

“We can’t wait for you all to see what a day in the life for us both entails,” said Pimblett and McCann in a joint statement. “It’s not all sunshine and rainbows and a lot goes into what we do. You won’t believe i…

Even though he has lost four of his last five Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances, Bruno Silva promises that he has never been more motivated to return to the Octagon.

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“Blinadado” will face Chris Weidman at UFC Atlantic City on March 30.

“I’m motivated by big challenges. My goal has always been to fight the very best,” he said. “Chris Weidman is a former champion, a legend of the sport, a guy who defeated legends of the sport like Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. If the UFC chose me to face him on March 30, it is because they know that win or lose, I always deliver great fights and am looking to finish at all times.”

Silva is well aware of Weidman’s wrestling and grappling credentials. To prepare for that challenge, the Brazilian has been driving 300 miles across Brazil from Curitiba to Criciuma to improve his grappling skills with no gi world champion Henrique Ceconi.

“Weidman is a complete fighter, but I believe he w…

Tatiana Suarez doesn’t expect to be sidelined for too long after an injury forced her to withdraw from UFC 298.

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The strawweight contender was slated to face former title challenger Amanda Lemos on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Instead, Mackenzie Dern will step in on short notice to square off against the Brazilian.

Suarez took to Instagram to address her injury. While she didn’t go into specifics, the 33-year-old Californian offered a relatively positive outlook regarding her Octagon return.

“I’m making this post because I know there are many people who support me that are concerned. I won’t be out for long. A minor setback,” Suarez wrote on Instagram. “I asked to postpone just a few weeks so I could heal up and train. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Sometimes it’s just not meant to be.”

I apologize to [Amanda Lemos]. Some things are just out of our control. Injuries happen; it’s part of the game. I’m thankful …

Dan Hooker is the latest in a long list of fighters who wants in on Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon.

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After a nearly three-year hiatus due to injury rehab and other factors, McGregor recently announced that he will be returning to the Octagon opposite Michael Chandler on June 29.

However, McGregor’s word cannot be taken as confirmation of the booking without any official announcement, as the Irishman has teased a return on several occasions in the past.

Hooker, meanwhile, has now offered to be the backup fighter for that matchup if it comes to fruition. “The Hangman” welcomed Chandler to the UFC in January 2021, where he suffered a brutal Round 1 knockout loss that allowed his opponent to secure a lightweight title shot.

On one hand, Hooker has the lure of avenging a loss against Chandler, and on the other lies the promise of a hefty payday against McGregor.

“You obviously get to play the roulette. You get to take the gamble, the…