Martial Arts News

ONE Championship, in its pursuit of spreading the martial arts gospel, has assembled a staggering fight card for its debut on Qatar soil with ONE 166. The event is set to unfold at 7:30 a.m. ET on Friday, March 1. Sherdog.com brings live play-by-play coverage of the event to you, ensuring you are part of every moment.

The must-see event, projected to be a blockbuster, will be stacked with three world title rematches. It also presents a handful of rising talent, and a bunch of aspiring competitors with the stage to strive to produce the kind of statement necessary to carry them to even bigger matchups and more prominence in the later part of the year.

In the main event, Reinier de Ridder puts his 205-pound title on the line against two-division king Anatoly Malykhin. Just before that, the co-main event stages a 155-pound title unification bout as reigning champion Kai Tang locks horns with former champion and current interim title holder Thanh Le. The third title scrap …

A recent mixed martial arts event in Hot Springs, Arkansas, saw a rare altercation between a referee and a fighter.

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Robert Gidron took on Chauncey Foxworth in the Real Deal Championships 10 main event at Hot Springs Convention Center on Jan 20. Midway through Round 2 Gidron blatantly grabbed the cage to defend a takedown, leading to an intervention by referee Jon Munz. However, unlike the norm, Munz didn’t just intervene verbally but proceeded to put his forearm on Gidron’s throat. Gidron told MMA Junkie about the incident:

“I didn’t mean to grab the cage,” Gidron told MMAJunkie. “You can see in the video: When I went to grab the cage, as soon as I grabbed the cage and stood up, as he’s running toward me, I’m throwing my hands up. That tells you I already did wrong. I messed up. Most refs when they grab you, they say, ‘Stop, stop, stop.’

“He ran and put his forearm in my throat. Me, I’m already in fight mode. What I did, I’m not saying I was …

𝙋𝙄𝙏𝘽𝙐𝙇𝙇 𝙄𝙎 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙊 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙁𝘼𝙎𝙏! 👀

One of the greatest featherweights to grace the sport, Patricio Pitbull will be defending his Bellator Featherweight Title on short notice against number one contender Jeremy Kennedy at #BellatorBelfast! 🔥… pic.twitter.com/r4PJ3Mi2Vj

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) February 29, 2024 Bellator MMA is adding one more championship collision to its upcoming show across the pond.

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The promotion announced on Thursday in a release that Patricio Freire (35-7) would be putting his featherweight strap on the line against Jeremy Kennedy (19-3, 1 NC) at Bellator 302. Kennedy was initially slated to face James Gallagher, but Bellator opted to slot him into a title tilt and rebook Gallagher against Leandro Higo. Two additional prelims were added to complete the March 22 slate that no longer includes Sinead Kavanagh due to her foe, Leah McCourt, falling out from injury.

Freire will return to 145 pounds a…

McGregor Vs Gylenhaal!“Roadhouse” out March 21st @mgmstudios @PrimeVideo pic.twitter.com/gRzgbcpklG

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 27, 2024

Conor McGregor will make his major motion picture debut in March, but he apparently turned down many more opportunities in previous years.

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McGregor stars alongside Jake Gyllenhall in the “Roadhouse” remake, which is set to be released on Prime Video on March 21. The former UFC two-division champion plays Knox, who is brought in to take out Gyllenhall’s Dalton.

In an interview with Total Film, McGregor revealed that it took him a while to accept a movie part, and he might have hurt some feelings as a result.

"I had turned down a good few roles in my time on the climb," McGregor said. "I’ve had directors show up at fight camp, really beautiful directors doing really top-end movies… And over and over, they’d come to me, and I always turned them down… I’d leave peop…

KnuckleMania 4 Main Event! @PlatinumPerry vs @ThiagoAlvesATT📍April 27th in Los Angeles, CA🎟️Tix Presale: https://t.co/obIX0KYJ4F pic.twitter.com/pqk7gwBYO5

— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) February 28, 2024

A couple of familiar faces from the MMA world will receive top billing for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s next tentpole event.

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BKFC president David Feldman announced Wednesday on "The MMA Hour" that Mike Perry will square off against Thiago Alves in the BKFC Knucklemania 4 headliner on April 27 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, two former UFC heavyweights are slated for the co-main event, as Ben Rothwell will lock horns with Todd Duffee. The event will mark the first BKFC event in California.

Perry has emerged as perhaps the top star in BKFC, compiling a 4-0 record with the promotion since parting ways with the UFC. Perry has bested the likes of Eddie Alvarez, Luke Rockhold, Michael Page and …

After a 21-second technical knockout victory over Bellator MMA heavyweight king Ryan Bader last Saturday at PFL vs. Bellator, Renan Ferreira is 100% focused on a fight with Francis Ngannou.

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Although Ngannou left the venue without entering the cage for a faceoff with the 2023 PFL heavyweight champion, Ferreira did not interpret those actions as a lack of interest in a future fight.

“Since Francis entered the PFL, that’s the fight everybody wants to see,” Ferreira told Sherdog.com. “I interpreted his attitude after my knockout to be much more of a respectful one. I think Francis knew that this was my moment, and he just respected that. I don’t see any other fight that makes sense for both of us. If he wants to make that in boxing or MMA it will not be a problem to me.”

Ferreira believes he will present some stylistic challenges for the Cameroonian-born Frenchman.

“Francis is a different guy, very strong with knockout power, but I see him walk…

Brian Ortega’s comeback at UFC Mexico was nearly derailed before it really got going.

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Ortega’s coach, Rener Gracie, revealed that the featherweight suffered a serious cut above his left eye after absorbing a headbutt in training. The wound required four stitches on the outside and 10 on the surface, according to Gracie.

“Being so close to the fight we knew that one light punch in that region would have busted it right open,” Gracie wrote. “It was our biggest concern (until he rolled his ankle during Round 0).”

Gracie posted a video of when the headbutt occurred along with a photo of the wound on his Instagram. Also included was Ortega’s video response to his coach after receiving stitches, where it becomes clear that withdrawing from his fight against Yair Rodriguez was never a consideration.

“The show continues, homie,” Ortega said. “We don’t even care. [We’re] sweating, The show continues.”

While Ortega appeared to hurt his ank…

Anatoliy Malykhin is brimming with confidence ahead of his second meeting with Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166: Qatar on Friday at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.

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Malykhin (13-0) faced de Ridder (16-1) for the first time in December 2022, taking the Dutchman’s light heavyweight title via a brutal Round 1 technical knockout. “Sladkiy” has since knocked out Arjan Singh Bhullar this past June in a heavyweight title unification bout. The undefeated Russian will make a triple champ bid in the main event of ONE Championship’s Qatar debut with de Ridder’s middleweight (205-pound) title on the line.

Malykhin predicted a similar outcome to their first fight during his appearance at the ONE 166 pre-fight press conference.

“I’m ready for this Friday. I’m gonna go and get my third belt,” he said. “I’m gonna knock him out the same way I did before. I’m thankful for this opportunity. I cannot explain how excited I am to be here on Friday and show everybody…

ONE Championship strawweight (125-pound) title holder Jarred Brooks claims he’ll leave no doubt about his GOAT status when he defends his strap against former champ Joshua Pacio at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.

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Brooks (20-2) will return to action for the first time since December 2022, when he dethroned Pacio (20-4) via a hard-earned unanimous decision in a bout that some believe could have gone either way. While Brooks believes he did enough to get his hand raised last time, he plans to quiet the remaining doubters by finishing Pacio in the rematch.

“I think I beat Joshua Pacio pretty [definitively] last time,” Brooks said at a pre-fight press conference. “I’m willing to do that again and again and again until Joshua Pacio’s name is completely out of the picture and I am the best strawweight ever. I am the GOAT of the strawweights.‌

“People are underestimating my hunger and my goals in ONE Championship. Now, I’m here to show Joshua Pacio who i…

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While retirement talks loom large in the aftermath of Jon Jones’ upcoming heavyweight title fight against Stipe Miocic, UFC CEO Dana White isn’t so sure that would be the best move for either athlete.

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While Jones and Miocic were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 295 this past November, “Bones” was forced out due to a torn pectoral muscle. Tom Aspinall went on to defeat Russian knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich in an interim title booking that was put together at the last moment.

Jones was also offered a slot for UFC 300 in April but turned it down, as he wouldn’t recover in time from a recent elbow surgery. With no timeline in sight for Jones’ return, Aspinall initially called for the champ to be stripped of the title and has since been rallying for a booking against either “Bones” or Miocic.

However, judging by their stance over recent months, there is a lot of speculation about both Jones and Miocic retiring after their…

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Israel Adesanya claims to have agreed to headline UFC 300 against Dricus Du Plessis only to find out that the middleweight champ had turned the fight down.

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UFC matchmakers were long in search of a high-caliber booking to feature as the main event of the landmark card, which goes down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 13. While Alex Pereira will now defend his light heavyweight strap against Jamahal Hill in the headliner, Adesanya also reportedly received the call for the slot. However, “The Last Stylebender” claims Du Plessis didn’t accept the fight due to minor injuries suffered in the South African’s title win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297 in January.

“There’s some things that were meant to happen,” Adesanya said on the “This Past Weekend” podcast with Theo Von. “They summoned me, I’m sure this is out there now… but they summoned me for [UFC] 300, and I was like ‘Yep, let’s roll.’ But their side didn’t want it. They …

Raul Rosas Jr. recently detailed the illness that forced him out of his UFC Mexico booking against Ricky Turcios last Saturday.

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The 19-year-old Mexican-American prospect, who is the youngest fighter on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, was slated to appear in front of a home crowd on the main card against Turcios. However, the bantamweight booking fell through at the very last minutem with Rosas Jr. pulling out right before the walkout.

It was announced on the broadcast that Rosas Jr. fell ill and was unable to show up for the fight despite trying his best to be ready throughout the day. “El Nino Problema” has now issued a statement reiterating the same, also detailing the symptoms of his illness while not pinning down the exact cause.

“Sorry to everyone who was waiting for my performance,” he wrote on Instagram stories. “I was sick all day with dizziness, light headed [and] cough. I tried my best to recover to go out and perform s…