Martial Arts News

Gilbert Burns has issued a statement addressing his loss to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299.

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After surviving an early onslaught from Maddalena, Burns took his Australian foe down towards the end of the first and spent almost the entirety of the second round in top control. While Maddalena was visibly inflicting damage in every striking exchange, Burns landed a takedown in the third as well. Having won the first two frames on two of the judges’ scorecards, “Durinho” seemed to be on the way to a decision win if he could just stay on top of the Australian. However, Maddalena got back to his feet with a desperate scramble and landed a massive knee before unleashing a flurry to get the finish with less than a minute and a half left.

Burns has now addressed the loss, blaming it on a mistake he made in the fight. “Durinho” also didn’t take anything away from Maddalena’s victory and gave him due credit.

“Felt great in there! Put on a great training c…

Merab Dvalishvili sounds confident that Sean O'Malley won’t get a double-champ bid before fighting him.

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Dvalishvili extended his winning streak to 10 with a dominant decision win over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 last month. “The Machine” was logically expected to be the opponent for Sean O’Malley’s first title defense before “Sugar” called out Marlon Vera.

O’Malley put on a striking clinic to defend his strap against “Chito” via unanimous decision at UFC 299 on March 9, avenging the lone professional loss of his career. Awaiting his long-deserved title shot next, Dvalishvili, who was sitting cage side, expected O’Malley to call him out. However, “The Machine” was “mad” to hear O’Malley call out featherweight champion Ilia Topuria instead.

While O’Malley is plotting a double-champ bid against Topuria, “El Matador” has dismissed the callout until “Sugar” defends his strap against Dvalishvili. “The Machine” believes the…

Dylan Budka will make his short-notice Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against fellow newcomer Cesar Almeida on April 6.

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Almeida was originally scheduled to face Josh Fremd in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 240 on April 6 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. However, Budka has now stepped in on three weeks’ notice for Fremd, who was forced out due to an injury. The change was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

Fremd also provided an update on his Instagram Stories, although he didn’t specify the injury. The 30-year-old fighter hopes to avoid surgery and make a return this summer.

“For the [three people] who follow my career: Unfortunately I had to pull [out] from my fight April 6. Been trying to work through an injury to make it to the fight,” Fremd wrote. “I’ve had a series of things out of my control happen, which really aggravated this injury to the point I can't train at full clip [right now]. Hoping to avoid surgery, hit PT really …

Mark Coleman saved both his parents from a raging house fire, then went back in for the dog. He had to be lifeflighted to the hospital.

If anyone can beat back death itself, it's Mark.

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We were close to doing a book and it would have been a fascinating ride. A big, badass life. pic.twitter.com/Ll7ILAP995 — Jonathan Snowden (@JESnowden) March 12, 2024

Mark Coleman is fighting for his life after saving his parents from a fire at their home in Fremont, Ohio, on Tuesday.

According to an Instagram post from his daughter, Morgan Coleman, the UFC Hall of Famer was airlifted to a local hospital, where he is currently in critical condition due to smoke inhalation.

“As many know, our dad was involved in a house fire early this morning along with his parents and beloved dog, hammer,” Morgan Coleman wrote. “He managed to carry both of his parents out of the house but despite his best efforts was not able to save [our dog] Hamm…

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Valentina Shevchenko doesn’t want the weight of Mexican Independence Day bearing down on her trilogy clash with Alexa Grasso.

Shevchenko and Grasso will serve as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 32,” which features a middleweight and featherweight cast. The two are expected to clash for the third time sometime after the series concludes, potentially at UFC 306 on Sept. 14, when Dana White has vowed to put on a one-of-kind spectacle at The Sphere in Las Vegas in celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Having already fought Grasso once on a Noche UFC card last year, Shevchenko wants to have something celebrating her home country of Kyrgyzstan in the trilogy fight.

“I think more fair it’s gonna be one for her, one for me,” Shevchenko said during a promotional press conference for “TUF 32.” “We fought on Mexican Independence Day before. Now we have to find out something with Kyrgyzstan. Even now, I was briefly looking for the [TUF] fighters.…

A light heavyweight clash pitting Anthony Smith against Vitor Petrino has been added to the UFC 301 lineup.

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Multliple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from Laerte Viana. UFC 301 takes place on May 4 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. A headliner for the event has not been announced.

A former 205-pound title challenger, Smith has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 35-year-old “Lionheart” suffered a third-round technical knockout defeat against Khalil Rountree at UFC Fight Night 233 on Dec. 9.

The 26-year-old Petrino is undefeated in 11 professional outings — including four fights under the UFC banner. The Dana White's Contender Series alum was victorious in his first bout of 2024, a three-round verdict over Tyson Pedro at UFC Fight Night 238 on March 2.

#Madonna's "Celebration" tour has been a smash hit, earning rave reviews and leaving fans breathless.

To mark the tour's grand finale, the star is throwing a FREE concert for fans in Rio de Janeiro. Click below for details. (📸: MEGA) https://t.co/PmryIpnSZM pic.twitter.com/ylNQ3aQFy3

— Q Magazine (@QMagazine) March 11, 2024

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A high-profile concert could potentially take attention away from the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming pay-per-view in Rio de Janeiro.

While it has yet to be confirmed, there are multiple reports that pop star Madonna will perform a massive show at Copacabana Beach on May 4 — the same day as UFC 301. Because the show will be free with an estimated audience of more than 1 million people, it has already made a significant impact in Brazil, with thousands of fans reserving hotels and making plans to attend even before the show was confirmed.

That scheduling conflict is just the latest p…

As if his impressive UFC 299 victory over Benoit St. Denis wasn’t message enough, Dustin Poirier had a few words for UFC CEO Dana White in the immediate aftermath of the win.

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When an unranked St. Denis called out Poirier last November, “The Diamond” was initially dismissive of the callout. Poirier was taken by surprise when the Ultimate Fighting Championship called him up with the offer and had to find inner motivation to accept the fight.

An underdog going into his UFC 299 clash against “God of War,” Poirier struggled in wrestling exchanges in the opening. However, Louisiana’s finest came from behind to shut St. Denis lights out with a right hook in the second round.

Having already made a statement with the nature of his win, “The Diamond” then walked over to the UFC head honcho to share a few words. While it initially seemed like Poirier was talking to former U.S. President Donald Trump, Poirier revealed that his message was for White.

…

Cedric Doumbe recently suffered the first professional loss of his mixed martial arts career against Baissangour Chamsoudinov due to an odd mishap.

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When the decorated kickboxer complained about an issue with his foot in the third round of his PFL Europe main event bout, referee Marc Goddard asked him to continue. Doumbe was addressing the issue a second time, this time to his opponent, when Goddard called a stop to the contest, declaring Chamsoudinov the winner via injury stoppage.

Sharing his side of things, Doumbe revealed that there was a splinter in his foot during the fight. The Frenchman was initially unable to explain the issue to Goddard, as he wasn't aware of the English term for the word “splinter.” Doumbe then made eye contact with his fellow French opponent, who could see his discomfort. When Doumbe told Chamsoudinov about the splinter, “Baki” explained it to Goddard but it was already too late.

“At first, if you see the footage, I…

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𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Heavyweights and Women’s Flyweights kick off the 2024 #PFLRegularSeason LIVE from the @BoeingCenterSA

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For more information and tickets 👇🎟️ https://t.co/dkByVDhUe4 pic.twitter.com/fb8Am2bMjJ — PFL (@PFLMMA) March 11, 2024

Professional Fighters League has unveiled full fight cards for each of its first three regular season events.

The lineups will feature some familiar faces — and plenty of new ones — on the heels of the company’s purchase of Bellator MMA last year. PFL announced the events in a release on Monday.

“The Professional Fighters League is excited to return to regular season action this April with three hard-hitting and crowd-pleasing events,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray in a release. “The PFL’s extensive roster of world-class fighters, which now includes Bellator stars, means the toughest test in MMA, the PFL regular season, just got tougher.” 

PFL 1 is headl…

While Ilia Topuria is eyeing another belt before defending his featherweight title, he has advised Sean O'Malley to defend the bantamweight strap once more before making a double-champ bid.

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O’Malley successfully defended his bantamweight title for the first time with a dominant unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera in the main event at UFC 299 on Saturday. Going into the fight, “Suga” had been rallying for a clash against Topuria if he defeated Vera.

O’Malley reiterated his callout in his post-fight Octagon interview while also keeping the door open for another bantamweight title defense against Merab Dvalishvili if the UFC wants to go in that direction.

“I want Illia. Baby, give me Illia… He’s a scary f—-ng dude. Illia excites me, going up a weight class excites me but I’m honestly here for whatever,” O’Malley said. If you guys want me to knockout Merab, I’ll do that too, but Illia is the exciting fight for the people.”

Dvalishvili, …