Martial Arts News

Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Khusein Askhabov has been suspended for two years due to anti-doping violations.

Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), which took over the UFC’s drug testing program from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in January, announced on Monday that Askhabov has been suspended for 24 months due to a failed drug test. Askhabov tested positive for metabolites of the anabolic steroid Methandienone (aka Dianabol or D-Bol) in an out-of-competition sample collected in Grozny, Chechen Republic on Feb. 6. Askhabov’s suspension became effective on Feb. 28, the day he was notified of a provisional suspension to the adverse findings.

“Lion” returned to competition after a three-year hiatus for his UFC debut in February 2023 against Jamall Emmers, where he suffered the lone professional loss of his career via unanimous decision. While Askhabov was scheduled to fight Daniel Pineda in October, the fight fell through after he was a…

A clash of top heavyweight contenders has been booked for UFC 302 on June 1, as Jailton Almeida (20-3) will take on Alexander Volkov (37-10) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Leo Guimaraes of the Brazilian outlet Super Lutas. Almeida also confirmed the bout on social media.

Almeida will look to bounce back from the first Ultimate Fighting Championship loss of his career when he takes on Volkov at UFC 302. “Malhadinho” was outwrestling Curtis Blaydes before getting knocked out by hammerfists in the second round of their UFC 299 encounter earlier this month, marking the end of a 15-fight winning streak.

Meanwhile, Volkov is riding a three-fight winning streak, which includes a submission win over Tai Tuivasa in his most recent outing at UFC 293 in September 2023. Notably, “Drago’s” only losses in recent years have come against reigning interim champ Tom Aspinall and forme…

Payton Talbott’s admitted insensitivity might have had something to do with him choosing a career in mixed martial arts over one in psychology.

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The undefeated Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight prospect had never trained in MMA until the age of 17 or 18, when he saw Conor McGregor’s highlights while sitting at a restaurant. Talbott was getting his bachelors in psychology from the University of Nevada when he started dabbling in the sport.

“I have a bachelor’s in it [psychology]… I did general but towards the later years I got super into the neuroscience courses because they were more interesting to me. But I started out wanting to do clinical…I got into that [MMA] when I was a senior in high school,” Talbott said during an appearance on "The MMA Hour.”

“When I just graduated, I like didn’t have sports anymore, I was just super bored. And I had always been interested in psychology, so I just did both of those. I was an amateur fighte…

Dana White has given his verdict on the MMA’s greatest of all time debate.

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Former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and reigning heavyweight champion Jon Jones are arguably the two frontrunners in the race for the MMA GOAT along with others like Demetrious Johnson and Anderson Silva. For White, however, there is no question Jones holds the No. 1 spot. “Bones,” who made 13 successful defenses of the light heavyweight belt, returned from a lengthy hiatus to claim the heavyweight crown with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. Jones career record stands at 27-1 with one no contest, but his lone defeat was a controversial disqualification loss to Matt Hamill.

“He’s never been beat,” White told Lex Fridman. “He destroyed everyone at light heavyweight, which at the time was the toughest weight class in the company, in the sport. And then he moved up to heavyweight, won easily at heavyweight. And when you look at the guy and you look …

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It appears that Merab Dvalishvili will receive his long-awaited title shot.

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Dvalishvili was expected to be Sean O’Malley’s opponent for his first title defense before “Suga” called out Marlon Vera after claiming the belt with a knockout of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. In the meantime, “The Machine” went on beat Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 last month to extend his winning streak to 10. While most thought the Cejudo victory would have cemented Dvalishvili’s title shot, O’Malley shifted focus to featherweight champ Ilia Topuria after successfully defending his bantamweight strap against “Chito” at UFC 299 earlier this month.

While Dvalishvili couldn’t figure why O’Malley wasn’t interested in fighting him, he had faith in the UFC giving him the much-awaited gold bid. And it appears the Georgian was correct, as O’Malley recently confirmed him as his next opponent — albeit without a date and location. Dismissing allegations of ducking Dva…

A featherweight clash pitting Edson Barboza against Lerone Murphy will serve as the headliner for a UFC Fight Night event on May 18.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from MMA journalist Laerte Viana. The card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and also includes a flyweight showdown between Tim Elliott and Tatsuro Taira.

Barboza is 4-3 in UFC competition since moving to 145 pounds from the lightweight division. The 38-year-old Brazilian is coming off a 2-0 campaign in 2023 in which he defeated Billy Quarantillo via first-round knockout at UFC on ESPN 44 and outpointed Sodiq Yusuff over five rounds in the UFC Fight Night 230 headliner.

A native of Stockport, England, the 32-year-old Murphy has yet to taste defeat in 14 professional outings. After battling Zubaira Tukhugov to a split draw in his Octagon debut at UFC 242, “The Miracle” has been victorious in his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently,…

Maycee Barber looked strong during a unanimous decision triumph against Katlyn Cerminara at UFC 299, but that wasn’t the case shortly after the event.

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Barber revealed Monday via social media that she was hospitalized for nine days due to an infection following the March 9 card in Miami. According to the post, doctors struggled to identify the cause.

Following my fight, I spent [nine] days in the hospital being tested and treated for an infection that they thought were a mix of different things from strep A to staph,” Barber wrote on Instagram. “Being in the hospital and still not having a true definitive answer while battling a 105 degree fever for days, having extremely low blood pressure, HR, and oxygen, was incredibly hard. Despite having multiple IV antibiotics and medications over the course of several days, they were unable to get my fever to drop, which eventually led to me developing pneumonia. It definitely wasn’t what I had planned and wa…

It just keeps getting worse for Igor da Silva.

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According to a report from MMAFighting.com, da Silva had his fight purse withheld by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after biting Andre Lima’s arm in the second round of their flyweight clash at UFC on ESPN 53 this past Saturday. Da Silva, who is commonly referred to as Igor Severino, was disqualified at the 2:52 mark of Round 2 once it was determined there were bite marks on Lima’s arm.

It is unclear how much da Silva was set to earn because purses are no longer disclosed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Da Silva was subsequently cut by the UFC, and he could face further discipline at the next NSAC meeting. A similar incident in combat sports occurred on June 28, 1997, when Mike Tyson bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear in their boxing rematch. As a result, Tyson had his boxing license revoked — it was reinstated on appeal in 1998 — and he was fined $3 million.

Da Silva, who at…

Karl Williams uniquely challenged Stipe Miocic to a cookout following his victory over Justin Tafa at UFC on ESPN 53.

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Williams dominated Tafa on the ground for three rounds to cruise to a unanimous decision win on Saturday. Williams used his Octagon interview to issue a one-of-a-kind challenge to former heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic for a barbecue cookout.

“I wanna call out if I can, Stipe Miocic. He works at the firehouse and he said he’s gonna be barbecuing,” Williams said. “He’s working on learning how to barbecue, so this summer let’s do a charity cookout if he’s not busy, you know. He’s an important man. But if you got some time, your firehouse against me and my crew at a charity barbecue [to] help firefighters. So that’s my biggest thing.”

A barbecue enthusiast himself, Williams later explained that the idea of a cookout occurred to him when Miocic got talking about barbecuing with his team of firefighters. Williams had a firefighter nei…

Daniel Cormier says he won’t be returning to NCAA wrestling commentary after criticism received during his latest stint.

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Cormier is a former NCAA All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State University and a two-time member of the U.S. Olympic wrestling squad. After switching to MMA and becoming a two-division UFC champ, “DC” was invited to continue calling fights for the NCAA wrestling championship. Despite his vast experience in combat sports and commentating, Cormier’s commentary has drawn mixed reviews. While some saw Cormier’s energetic style as the way forward, others criticized him for not being technical enough.

Cormier has decided to step away from NCAA commentary after his latest gig over online backlash.

“You guys have it. I am out sorry to ruin your experience! You know I don’t ask to do this. Very important people ask me to do it. Anyhow carry on my friend, I am out. Back to the minor leagues for me.

“Guys [I’m] out. This will be my…

Diego Sanchez recently went on an Instagram rant against his former coach Joshua Fabia in a form of retaliation after being allegedly traumatized for years.

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Fabia initially came to the limelight during Sanchez’s bizarre release from the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2021. Fabia asked the UFC for every medical report of Sanchez’s career, raising concerns about the fighter’s health. When the UFC asked for an assurance about Sanchez’s sound health, the fighter told the promotion through a lawyer that he couldn’t vouch for his health, as he was no health professional and hadn’t recently undergone neurological evaluation. A booking with Donald Cerrone fell through following this, and Sanchez was abruptly released from the promotion.

Sanchez soon parted ways with Fabia, who then accused the fighter of taking advantage of him, being an addict and having sexual abuse issues. While Sanchez initially didn’t respond to Fabia, he has now accused the awa…

Now that she’s back on a winning track, Rose Namajunas is ready to make moves in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division.

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The ex-strawweight champion earned her first 125-pound victory on Saturday night, as she took a unanimous decision triumph over Amanda Ribas in the UFC on ESPN 53 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The bout was competitive for the duration, but Namajunas enjoyed more control time and appeared the land more strikes of consequence throughout. Perhaps just as important was the fact that “Thug” Rose is getting more comfortable in her new weight class.

“I felt actually pretty good,” Namajunas said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “There was some things to work on. I wasn’t as quick, as snappy, as I wanted to be. My arms are a little bigger. I also could feel my strength was great. I know everybody thinks I’m small or weak or something like that, so it’s just good to get better at the grappling aspect o…