Martial Arts News

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An unfortunate accident in sparring led to Dan Hooker’s withdrawal from UFC 313.

Hooker, who was scheduled to face Justin Gaethje in a five-round, co-main event bout on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, offered further detail regarding the injury in a recent interview with Sky Sport New Zealand.

“One of the paws is not doing too well,” Hooker said. “I was sparring last night, as I do, just letting some hooks go, just throwing some bombs down range, and I just caught one of the boys on the top of the dome with my knuckle. I don’t think too much of it but they sent me off to get a CT scan. Had a little CT scan and they told me my hand is fractured.”

Hooker is unsure of the promotion’s plans in the aftermath of the injury. At the moment, a replacement opponent for Gaethje has not been announced with less than two weeks to go before UFC 313.

“So yeah, I obviously still would fight, but with the medicals they squeeze your hands…

Melquizael Costa will make his second Octagon appearance in a little more than a month when he squares off against Christian Rodriguez at UFC Mexico City on March 29.

Ag.Fight was first to report the featherweight booking. UFC on ESPN 64 takes place at Arena CDMX in Mexico City and is headlined by a flyweight clash between Brandon Moreno and Steve Erceg.

Costa is coming off a first-round submission victory against Andre Fili at UFC Seattle this past Saturday. The 28-year-old Brazilian has won three of his last four Octagon appearances after falling to Thiago Moises in his promotional debut.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, has won five of his last six in UFC competition. The Roufusport representative last appeared at UFC Fight Night 249, where he removed Austin Bashi from the ranks of the unbeaten in a unanimous decision triumph.

Cristiane Justino’s next boxing match is just around the corner.

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“Cyborg” will face Karen Fernandes in a four-round bout on March 3 in Medellin, Colombia, at 154 pounds. The 39-year-old Brazilian announced the booking via social media. The bout is expected to stream via criscyborg.com.

Justino’s last appearance in the Sweet Science came in an exhibition bout against Aria Wild this past June, which she won via second-round stoppage. Her last professional outing occurred in January 2024, when she defeated Kelsey Wickstrum via first-round TKO.

The Chute Boxe standout’s lone MMA bout of 2024 occurred at PFL Super Fights "Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact,” where she took a five-round verdict over former PFL two-division champion Larissa Pacheco. With a 28-2 record and titles in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA, Strikeforce and Invicta FC, “Cyborg” is one of the most accomplished female mixed martial artists of all-time. A…

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Robert Whittaker recently made his case for a matchup against Sean Strickland.

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While both Whittaker and Strickland have long been among the top middleweights in the UFC, they haven’t fought during their respective promotional tenures. Both are now at a crossroads in their careers and coming off losses. Whittaker believes it is the right time for a bout against “Tarzan.”

During a recent appearance on the "On Paper” podcast podcast with Anthony Smith, Whittaker revealed that he is excited by the idea of trying to figure out Strickland’s trademark defensive style.

“I think Strickland makes a good argument to have. Because I feel like we’ve both been in that top sort of pond for a while, circling each other,” Whittaker said. “For whatever reason we haven’t been matched up, but we’ve both been in proximity for a while. And it’s most likely the fight to make. I’m excited by that fight. I look at his style, and I find it curious. …

Elisandra Ferreira de Oliveira will defend her atomweight belt against Ana Palacios in the Invicta FC 61 main event.

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The promotion announced the bout on Wednesday. Invicta FC 61 takes place on April 4 at the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and will also see Jamie Edenden square off against Jackie Cataline in the evening’s featherweight co-headliner. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on Invicta’s YouTube and Facebook page at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Five other bouts were confirmed for the event: Emily Ducote vs. Sofiia Bagishvili at strawweight; Riley Martinez vs. Jaeleen Robledo at featherweight; Taynara Silva vs. Claire Lopez at atomweight; Joy Pendell vs. Marilia Morais at featherweight and Zoe Nowicki vs. Kellie Marin at flyweight.

Ferreira will take a four-bout winning streak into her first title defense. “Lili” claimed atomweight gold with a five-round verdict …

One Shot to WIN. One Shot to ADVANCE. One Shot at a WORLD TITLE 🏆

Get to know the Middleweights set to compete in the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ #PFLWorldTournament

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[ #PFLWorldTournament | Friday , April 18th | 📺 7 PM EST | ESPN | B2YB @atturotires ] pic.twitter.com/DtfGVmhmwR — PFL (@PFLMMA) February 25, 2025

The lineup is official for Professional Fighters League’s upcoming middleweight tournament.

The bracket features 2023 PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasaganay, who is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov in the 205-pound finals this past November. Kasangany last competed at 185 pounds in February 2024, when he dropped a split decision to former Bellator champ Johnny Eblen.

The 185-pound roster also includes Fabian Edwards, a two-time title challenger under the Bellator MMA banner and Joshua Silveira, who lost to Kasanganay in the PFL light heavyweight final in 2023. Additionally, ex…

Jose Aldo will face Aiemann Zahabi in a bantamweight bout at UFC 315.

The promotion announced the pairing on Tuesday. UFC 315 takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on May 10 and is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight crown against Manon Fiorot.

This is the third consecutive bout in which Aldo has been booked against a rising 135-pound talent. In 2024, the former featherweight king took a unanimous decision over Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301 before dropping a split verdict agianst Mario Bautista at UFC 307. The Nova Uniao standout is 4-4 since moving to bantamweight in 2019.

A native of Laval, Quebec, Canada, Zahabi will take a five-fight winning streak into the matchup with Aldo, with four of those victories coming at 135 pounds. Most recently, the Tristar Gym member earned a unanimous decision victory agai…

The UFC 313 card as taken a significant hit, as Dan Hooker will not be competing on the March 8 card.

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Hooker was supposed to face Justin Gaethje in a five-round, non-title bout in the evening’s co-headliner. However, “The Hangman” announced via his daughter’s YouTube channel that an injury has forced him to withdraw from the event.

“Dad had a fight, or was supposed to have a fight,” Hooker said. “But I’ve busted my paw.”

The UFC has not formally announced Hooker’s exit, so it’s unclear if Gaethje will remain on the card against a replacement opponent. UFC 313 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship bout between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev.

Hooker had won his last three Octagon appearances, posting successive victories over Claudio Puelles, Jalin Turner and Mateusz Gamrot. Prior to that, the 35-year-old Kiwki had lost four of his previous five promotional outings. Hooker …

WE'RE BACK 💪🔥https://t.co/MtQtlR4dBb#CombateGlobal

— Combate Global (@combateglobal) February 25, 2025

Combate Global’s events will be available on YouTube next month.

The promotion on Tuesday announced that it will air its live events for free on the platform, beginning with “Combate Female” on March 13. According to a release, Combate Global is “YouTube’s first premium producer of live MMA programming for global distribution.” The Combate Global Events will be broadcast in Spanish.

“With YouTube in our corner as it grows its interest in live sports, Combate Global will be able to achieve its mission of delivering ‘Much More Action’ to a global Spanish-speaking audience via the biggest streaming video platform on the planet,” said Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren in a release.  “Combate Global couldn’t ask for a better partner than YouTube as we launch full speed into the future and spearhead the rapid growth and engagement …

A flyweight showdown pitting Jasmine Jasudavicius against Jessica Andrade has been added to the UFC 315 lineup.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the bout on Monday. UFC 315 takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and is headlined by a welterweight title bout between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena.

Canada’s Jasudavicius has been on a roll of late, winning her last four UFC outings. The 35-year-old Niagara Top Team represenative kicked off her 2025 campaign with a unanimous decision triumph over former bantamweight title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC Fight Night 250 on Feb. 1. She has also bested Ariane Lipski, Fatima Kline and Priscila Cachoeira during her current winning streak.

After posting back-to-back strawweight victories over Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez, Andrade returned to 125 pounds in her most recent appearance at UFC Fight Night 242, where she dropped a three-round verdict to Natalia Silva this pa…

Shortly after his hard-fought triumph against Brendan Allen in the UFC Seattle co-headliner, Anthony Hernandez alluded to struggling with some illness-related issues leading up to the bout.

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“I plan on getting better for the next one,” Hernandez told Michael Bisping in the Octagon. “I’m sorry about the performance. I just finished my antibiotics yesterday. I was sick as f—k. But I came here and I made the s—t happen. Hope you guys enjoyed the show.”

“Fluffy” was able to elaborate on what he was dealing with during Saturday’s post-fight press conference, while also revealing some additional injury issues that hindered his performance.

“Let’s just say I got off amoxicillin Friday,” Hernandez said. “I felt like s--t, and I’m not going to lie: I messed up my ribs two weeks ago. My ribs were f---ed before. It was just thank God for the [UFC Performance Institute]. They were here and they helped me every f---ing day. We got it to be good enough for th…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA competitor Guilherme Vasconcelos took his own life last year.

According to TMZ Sports, the case report from Oct. 15 reveals that police determined that Vasconcelos committed suicide the previous night at approximately 11:45 p.m. local time. “Bomba” was found by an unidentified woman in the garage of the Illinois residence at 9 a.m. the next day.

A suicide note was not found, and a toxicology report only revealed the presence of caffeine in Vasconcelo’s system. The house was searched and several vials of anabolic steroids were recovered. Two were nearly empty and two were unopened, according to the report. Vasconcelos was 38 years old.

Vasconcelos went 10-6 over the course of an MMA career that began in 2012. After competing on “TUF Brazil 3,” his lone Octagon appearance came at UFC 175, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Luke Zachrich on July 5, 2014. “Bomba” also went 3-3 during a six-bout stin…