Martial Arts News

🚨𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🚨

𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 For Saturday Night 👀@francis_ngannou will face the winner of the Renan Ferriera vs Ryan Bader bout#PFLvsBellator pic.twitter.com/4dP9RqYiMu

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 22, 2024 Professional Fighters League star Francis Ngannou has his sights set very closely on one upcoming bout.

Per Ngannou (17-3) on “Sportscenter” on Thursday, he is eyeing his return to MMA in 2024. He plans on taking on the winner of the heavyweight title tilt pairing PFL champ Renan Ferreira against former two-division Bellator MMA beltholder Ryan Bader. The two will square off on Feb. 24 atop the first PFL vs. Bellator event, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the Kingdom Arena. Ngannou will be in the building, and may enter the cage the challenge the victor and face off against him.

The PFL immediately released a statement to follow, with CEO Peter Murray saying, “The PFL is excited to announced Francis Ngannou’s retur…

It appears that Alex Pereira will be with the Ultimate Fighting Championship for the foreseeable future.

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The reigning light heavyweight champion revealed Wednesday on "The MMA Hour” that he signed a new eight-fight contract with the UFC this past Friday.

“Starting this fight, there’s eight more,” Pereira said. “My relationship with the UFC is very good. I’m very grateful how the UFC and my management team get together. They’ve been doing great things together. I think the UFC also appreciates who I am because I’m a composed guy, I’m focused and I deliver.”

Pereira, who turns 37 in July, is scheduled to face Jamahal Hill in the UFC 300 headliner on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The booking came together at the last minute as the promotion struggled to find a suitable feature bout for a landmark event.

The former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion has found great success in the UFC, vanquishing longtime rival Israel Ad…

Brian Ortega got to see Alexander Volkanovski at the top of his game.

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He isn’t so sure that was the case when Volkanovski relinquished the title to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 this past weekend.

Ortega dropped a five-round verdict to Volkanovski in their featherweight title tilt at UFC 266 in September 2021. While Ortega absorbed more than 200 significant strikes in that bout, he also placed Volkanovski in serious peril with with submission attempts in the third and fourth frames. Neither was successful, which allowed Volkanovski to take a clear victory on the scorecards.

Volkanovski’s reign ended at UFC 298, where after winning the first round on all three scorecards, “The Great” succumbed to a right hook from Topuria 3:32 into Round 2 to signal a new era at 145 pounds.

“Props to Ilia. He won. That was a very devastating KO he got,” Ortega said at media day ahead of UFC Mexico City. “For Volk, I’m trying to look at it from both perspectives. Top…

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There will be a special guest on hand to award the newly-created title belts to the winners of the featured bouts at PFL vs. Bellator.

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PFL Chairman Donn Davis revealed to ESPN that former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will present the Champion of Champion title belt at Saturday’s event in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia.

"I called Mike two weeks ago, because I thought there was nobody more fitting to award the first ever in combat sports belt that goes to a champion beating a champion than the greatest champion of all time in Mike Tyson," Davis said.

The championship hardware will go to the winner of the evening’s headliner, Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader, as well as Impa Kasanganay vs. Johnny Eblen and Patricio Freire vs. Gabriel Braga. The event marks the first cross-promotional venture for both organizations since PFL acquired Bellator last year.

"I'm really looking forward to this because this is the unification of …

#ONEFightNight19 highlight video: Martyna Kierczynska busts up Nat Jaroonsak pic.twitter.com/Bb9WGOYE3P

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) February 17, 2024

Polish striking sensation Martyna Kierczynska delivered a standout performance against Thai star Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak at ONE Fight Night 19, and now she knows her next assignment.

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Sherdog.com has learned that Kierczynska has been booked to face three-time muay-thai world champion Ekaterina Vandaryeva at ONE Fight Night 20. The three-round 125-pound muay-thai clash will go down March 8 at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

Jaroonsak was initially scheduled to face Dayane de Souza Cardoso in a mixed-rules contest at ONE Fight Night 19. However, Cardoso was forced to withdraw, and Kierczynska stepped in as a late replacement.

Fortunately for her, the gamble yielded great rewards. Going into the muay-thai rules clash as an underdog, the Polish phenom earned a …

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To say that mixed martial arts fans were disappointed with the announcement of the UFC 300 main event would be an understatement.

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After all, UFC CEO Dana White had promised a mind-blowing headliner, but instead, the revelation of the Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill feature was almost buried at the conclusion of last Saturday’s UFC 298 event.

While the main event might lack the “wow” factor that was expected, UFC 300 is nonetheless one of the deepest cards in recent memory. Hill, who will be making his return from a ruptured Achilles tendon, doesn’t understand the criticism.

“There’s been a lot of outrage, a lot of disappointment and things like that,” Hill said on his YouTube channel. “To be honest, it’s crazy to me because for the most part a lot of these people are the same people that have spent the better part of a year or however long calling me ‘cry baby,’ but it’s crazy to see how a card can be stacked—the main card lit…

Viewers will be able to watch Francis Ngannou’s boxing match against Anthony Joshua for slightly less than they paid to see “The Predator” take on Tyson Fury last October.

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According to PPV.com, Ngannou vs. Joshua will be $69.99 and is available to order now. Meanwhile, Ngannou vs. Fury, which aired on pay-per-view via ESPN+, cost $79.99. Ngannou vs. Joshua takes place on March 8 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ngannou made his boxing debut against Fury on Oct. 28. The former UFC heavyweight champion outperformed all expectations, as he dropped Fury in Round 3 en route to losing a competitive split decision. The Cameroonian-born Frenchman is also under contract with Professional Fighters League and has vowed to return to MMA at some point, though a date for his promotional debut has yet to be confirmed.

Joshua meanwhile, owns a 27-3 career mark in professional boxing, with 24 of those triumphs coming by way of knockout. After droppi…

Injuries suffered in sparring have forced Leah McCourt to pull out of a proposed featherweight clash against Sinead Kavanagh at Bellator 302.

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McCourt announced the news Tuesday in a post on social media. McCourt vs. Kavanagh was scheduled to be the Bellator 302 co-main event. It’s currently unknown if Kavanagh will remain on the March 22 card against a replacement opponent.

“Devastated to have to write this and let you know during a sparring accident, I sustained a broken rib and torn oblique. I cannot get medically cleared to fight nor could I physically be able to fight in Belfast. This may require surgery and will know more in the next few weeks,” McCourt wrote.”The muscle has been ripped from the bone and the pain is excruciating. When I didn’t get the title fight, I asked what fight wanted, it was this so especially disappointed.

“I don’t understand the heartbreak and pain of circumstances of everything that’s happened so far this year,…

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6⃣Weight Classes3⃣Cities3⃣Action Packed Nights

𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗼. 𝗟𝗮𝘀 𝗩𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘀. 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗴𝗼. Get ready for the start of the 2024 #PFLRegularSeason 🔜 pic.twitter.com/DKaCPUtU6F

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 20, 2024

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The Professional Fighters League season will begin in April with events in three different cities.

The organization announced on Monday that its season format — which now will include fighters from Bellator MMA — will take place on April 4, April 12 and April 19 in San Antonio, Las Vegas and Chicago. Fighters in six different weight classes will compete in the PFL season, with the winners earning a $1 million prize at the end of the campaign along with their championship status.

“The toughest test in MMA, the PFL regular season, just got tougher with the addition of stars from Bellator,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray in a release.

“The PFL is excited to kick off the 2024 regular season in front of our great fans in San A…

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Alexander Volkanovski is maintaining a strong sense of resolve on the heels of his second consecutive knockout loss.

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Volkanovski relinquished the featherweight title to Ilia Topuria in the UFC 298 headliner this past Saturday, as he succumbed to a devastating right hook from his opponent at the 3:32 mark of Round 2. The defeat ended a championship reign at 145 pounds that had lasted more than 1,500 days for the 35-year-old Australian.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Volkanovski assessed his performance, pointing out some of the positives that occurred before the decisive punch landed.

“This is a crazy game we play,” he said. “We can’t win them all. Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail. Last fight I was the nail; I’ve been the hammer many times. I’ve ruined a lot of people’s parties many times. [Saturday] night, Ilia got the job done.

“I thought I was doing great. I felt great in there. I think the judge…

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Brandon Moreno has received a spot in his own ESPN commercial.

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The former flyweight champion will make his “This is SportsCenter” commercial debut on all ESPN platforms ahead of his bout against Brandon Royval in the UFC Fight Night 237 headliner this Saturday.

The humorous spot is entitled “Elevator” and depicts Moreno and his team arriving at their desired floor as they would for a fight night walkout. Meanwhile, SportsCenter anchor Nicole Briscoe looks on indifferently as the fighter exits and the elevator doors close.

The commercial features both English and Spanish-language versions. In the Spanish version, SportsCenter anchor Jorge Eduardo Sanchez and ESPN Deportes commentator Mauricio Pedroza struggle to exit the elevator as Moreno bounces around and his coach barks out instructions.

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“Early mornings are part of the job here at ESPN. Whether it’s your team hyping you up or a cup of coffe…

WHOA! 😲😲😲@MikeChandlerMMA just called out @TheNotoriousMMA on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/pUN2dUFW1r

— WWE (@WWE) February 20, 2024

The power of the UFC-WWE merger under the TKO Group Holdings umbrella was on full display Monday night.

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UFC lightweight Michael Chandler appeared on WWE Raw and took the microphone to call out Conor McGregor in front of those in attendance at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The timing worked out well because Chandler had been in attendance for UFC 298 at the same venue two days prior.

“Hey, what’s up Anaheim. You are now in the presence of the most entertaining UFC fighter on the planet,” Chandler said. “Hey, now there’s a man from Ireland that’s been making me wait for way too long, and I’ve still got one dude on my mind. Conor McGregor, get your candy ass back to the Octagon. We’ve got some unfinished business, boys. God bless. I’ll see you at the top.”

Chandler has been awa…