Martial Arts News

The stars came out to honor Ricardo Liborio over the weekend.

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Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Arona, João Alberto Barreto, Reyson Gracie, Carlos Rosado, Fernando Pinduka and Arthur Virgílio Netto were among more than 50 jiu-jitsu and vale tudo legends that convened at Brazilian Top Team headquarters in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday to attend the coral belt (seventh degree black belt) graduation of Liborio. Liborio is considered to be among the top three most technical black belts ever taught by the legendary Carlson Gracie.

According to jiu-jitsu tradition, coral belts are only awarded to masters who have been active black belts for more than 30 years.

“It´s hard to express what I’m feeling right now with many generations of jiu-jitsu joining in this special moment,” Liborio told Sherdog.com shortly after receiving his coral belt. “From legends like João Alberto Barreto, who defended jiu-jitsu side by side with my master Carlson; my idols when I star…

A temporary setback didn’t stop Mark Coleman for long on his road to recovery.

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The UFC Hall of Famer was readmitted to the hospital with pneumonia over the weekend after rescuing his parents from a house fire in Ohio last week. He was initially hospitalized in critical condition due to severe smoke inhalation as a result of the fire. Coleman has since been released from the hospital again and continues to make progress in his recovery.

“I am healing up very well,” Coleman wrote on Instagram. “My lungs are sore. My eyes are burnt but I’m very much alive and well. I feel so blessed it’s in my higher power’s hands. He wants me to move forward today and I am. I’m overwhelmed by the love and support that I have received. If I had a wish, it would be that I could meet each and every one of you to give you a big hug and thank you in person. Everybody check in on your loved ones. Life is good. Life is what you make it. Everything starts with a thought. …

Petr Yan may have returned to the win column at UFC 299, but the Russian bantamweight didn’t emerge from the event unscathed.

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The former UFC champion revealed on social media Monday that he will need to undergo surgery for a ruptured ACL, torn meniscus and groin injury suffered in his unanimous decision victory over Yadong Song on March 9 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. “No Mercy” is scheduled to go under the knife on Tuesday.

“Nothing will break me,” Yan wrote. “I’m determined to come back stronger than ever in no time.”

So MRI confirmed acl rupture, meniscus tear and groin injury. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. Nothing will break me, I’m determined to come back stronger than ever in no time 👊🏼

— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) March 18, 2024

A timetable for Yan’s UFC return is currently unclear. The former Absolute Championship Berkut title holder shook off a slow start to rally for a unanimous verdict ove…

Ovince St. Preux revealed that Kennedy Nzechukwu’s lack of one-shot knockout power gave him the confidence to keep going forward during their UFC Fight Night 239 clash on Saturday.

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St. Preux put on an impressive showing, using forward pressure to derail Nzechukwu’s excellent distance management on his way to a hard-earned split decision win. After getting tagged by punches early, St. Preux knew he had to put his opponent on his heels. Without the fear of a one-punch KO, “OSP” didn’t hesitate before biting down on his mouthpiece and marching forward.

“I couldn’t give him the chance to go forward,” St. Preux said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “The thing about me is, I do good going backwards, I can fight going backwards. If you put Kennedy on his heels, he don’t do too good going backwards. But also too, with him, if you get him going, he can start letting his hands go. And there was a couple of times he started letting his hand go, I w…

Isaac Dulgarian accuses Christian Rodriguez of cheating pic.twitter.com/2MezwGR9AZ

— MMA Mania (@mmamania) March 17, 2024

Isaac Dulgarian has hurled some serious accusations at UFC Fight Night 239 opponent Christian Rodriguez after their featherweight bout on Saturday.

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Dulgarian came out with guns blazing, ragdolling Rodriguez to win a 10-8 first round on all of the judges’ scorecards. While “The MidWest Choppa” continued his dominant grappling in the second frame, mounting over four minutes of control time, two of the judges bizarrely gave the round to Rodriguez.

Dulgarian was visibly exhausted in the final round, which Rodriguez went on to win 10-8 across all scorecards, securing a split-decision victory. Dulgarian feels he was unfairly dealt the first pro loss of his career.

“Hey guys, I appreciate the support man. I don’t really know what happened in this fight,” Dulgarian said in a video on his Instagram Sto…

Ange Loosa insists that an eye poke from Bryan Battle left him unable to continue in their co-headlining clash at UFC Fight Night 239 on Saturday.

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Battle appeared to be getting the better of Loosa before an unintentional eye poke from “The Butcher” brought the contest to a halt in the second round. Loosa told the cageside doctor that he couldn’t see, which led to the fight being declared a no contest.

Tensions ran high inside the Octagon, as Battle accused Loosa of quitting, insisting that the Congolese fighter could see with his eye. “The Last Ninja” has since addressed the situation, and he claims to still be dealing with his eye injury.

“[The UFC] wants to send me to an ophthalmologist,” Loosa told MMAjunkie.com. “I have to see another one back in Florida. We will check and see what’s going on, but I feel like there’s something inside [my eye]. It’s itchy and hurting a little bit. We’ll check the eye and see how it goes from there.”

Battl…

IT'S OFFICIAL! Former UFC executive, @MrMarshallZ returns as new CEO of GLORY, the world leader in kickboxing, and will usher in the next phase of continued growth for GLORY.

Full article: https://t.co/F6IaeMcBQT

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) March 18, 2024

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship executive Marshall Zelaznik is returning to Glory Kickboxing for a second stint as the organization’s CEO.

Glory announced the news in a release on Monday. Zelaznik previously served as the promotion’s CEO from 2018 to 2020. During his initial tenure, Glory grew its television distribution and increased sponsorship revenues to “record highs,” according to a release. Zelaznik’s time with Glory was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Marshall’s return is what Glory needs, and we are delighted to have him back. He is the perfect fit for Glory. His track record over the years in combat sports and business speaks for itse…

This was me for years before Conor even got here they want u to die before u get out these contracts it’s up to u to make something pop no one gonna help you but youFree Conor it’s at pattys day in this bitch ☘️ pic.twitter.com/X4WQVNV79X

— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) March 17, 2024

Nate Diaz has found some common ground with former rival Conor McGregor: The oppressive nature of Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts.

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In recent months, McGregor has expressed frustration with the lack of progress in booking a fight for his UFC return. While the former two-division champion initially announced June 29 for his comeback fight, UFC CEO Dana White denied McGregor’s claim and instead has tentatively targeted the fall without offering any concrete details.

“I was hoping for a December date, then a January date, then it keeps getting pushed back, then I lose interest and stop training for a while,” McGregor recently told The M…

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Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall came face-to-face for the first time over the weekend.

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Jones was making an appearance at the Arnold Sports Festival in Birmingham, England, on Saturday, when Aspinall arrived to meet the reigning heavyweight champ. The interaction was largely amicable, though Jones did remove Aspinall’s hand from his shoulder. Aspinall posted a video of the meeting on his YouTube channel.

“Are we going to do this thing?” Aspinall says.

“I would hope so,” Jones responds.

While Jones did grant Aspinall’s request for a photo, he declined a face-off with the interim heavyweight title holder. Aspinall claimed the interim crown with a first-round stoppage of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 this past November. Since then, the Englishman has lobbied hard for a shot at Jones. It’s unclear when Jones vs. Aspinall might happen because “Bones” is expected to be rebooked against Stipe Miocic once he recovers from the torn pec…

𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Your updated 2024 PFL Welterweights roster set to bring the action in the Windy City on April 19th

-Kyle Crutchmer is OUT-Brennan Ward is in the 2024 #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/4lJXj3gUp3

— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 17, 2024

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There’s a new entrant at welterweight for the Professional Fighters League regular season.

Bellator MMA staple Brennan Ward will replace Kyle Crutchmer and face Don Madge in a 170-pound bout at PFL 3 on April 19. The organization announced the change on Sunday. A reason for Crutchmer’s withdrawal from the event was not given. Ward is now expected to take part in the entirety of PFL’s season format.

PFL 3 takes place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago and features welterweight and featherweight athletes. The card is headlined by a clash between ex-Bellator champ Andrey Koreshkov and undefeated Bellator veteran Magomed Umalatov.

The 35-year-old Ward has competed under the Bellator …

Mark Coleman continues to battle health issues after rescuing his parents from a house fire at his childhood home in Fremont, Ohio, last week.

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According to a post from his daughter, Kenzie, on Coleman’s social media accounts, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champ was recently readmitted to the hospital after developing pneumonia.

It’s been a whirlwind of a week,” she wrote on Saturday. “Yesterday, my dad was released from [St. Vincents] in Toledo, where they thought he was stable enough to go home. We were only home for about an hour in Columbus when he started to have numbness in his arms and chest pain. Of course, my sister and I rushed him back to the hospital where we found out he has now developed pneumonia.

“Despite all of this he is still his same positive, spunky, spitfire self just as you can imagine from the video above. He wants to again thank you all for the support and love you have shown him and us during th…

Marcin Tybura hasn’t completely shut the door on fighting Jairzinho Rozenstruik after submitting Tai Tuivasa at UFC Fight Night 239.

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Tybura headlined card opposite “Bam Bam,” which also marked the Polish heavyweight’s fourth outing at the UFC Apex. Tybura maintained his perfect Apex record by submitting Tuivasa in the first round after surviving an early onslaught. Tybura got the finish with a rear-naked choke after raining down a barrage of punches on Tuivasa. Tybura admitted to being surprised by the Australian’s durability during the post-fight press conference.

“For sure, the toughness,” Tybura said. “I was on his back and hitting hard there. I don’t know how many punches [that was], but I was feeling like [they were] pretty heavy. And he didn’t care about them at all. He didn’t look like that’ll be changing anything for him, he’ll be still here defending himself. But I knew he’s very tough. I knew he’d be there til the end, til I make him qui…