Martial Arts News

An ex-Bellator MMA champ wants to make a statement against a rising Ultimate Fighting Championship star.

Former two-time Bellator bantamweight king and current Combate commentator Eduardo Dantas will be shifting gears soon to go over to the realm of grappling. The 35-year-old will face Umar Nurmagomedov in a no-gi featherweight grappling contest at ADXC 7 on Oct. 25 at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. While he was considering continuing his MMA career, according to an interview with Sherdog, he received an offer he could not refuse.

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“I was getting ready to take an MMA fight in December when the promoter of ADXC made me that proposal to face Nurmagomedov, so I just had to stop my boxing and muay thai preparation to focus on my jiu-jitsu training,” revealed Dantas.

According to the Nova Uniao representative, the confrontation of a classical Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a top Dagestani wrestler like Umar was his biggest mot…

[embedded content] The penultimate episode of Dana White's Contender Series is good to go after a brief scare on the scales.

After one fighter needed an extra hour to get to his proper marks, all 10 combatants for Week 9 of DWCS is official. The show that posts up in its usual location of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday night saw Anthony Drilich briefly come in heavy for his flyweight match with Sean Gauci. After initially hitting 127 pounds, he returned an hour later to reach the 126-pound cap, and all systems are go.

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The ninth edition of the 2024 season will be headlined by a light heavyweight collision between power-punching Frenchman Islem Masraf (204.5) and former Glory kickboxing great Artem Vakhitov (205.5). The Tuesday card, as always, kicks off at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ESPN+.

Just three bouts listed on his pro resume, Masraf made a splash in Ares FC in 2023, tapping Azamat Aboukhanov in the second round. A pair of first-round knocko…

"I studied him a lot. I knew it was going to be a tough fight."

Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) speaks on the challenges he encountered during his third successful title defense.

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Results, Interviews & More ➡️: https://t.co/ZYfGe6jwVs — UFC News (@UFCNews) October 6, 2024 Alex Pereira needs a vacation to heal up from some nagging injuries.

Pereira (12-2) defended his light heavyweight title for the third time by dispatching Khalil Rountree (13-6) in the main event at UFC 307 on Saturday. By staving off three challengers in the span of 175 days, Pereira broke Ronda Rousey’s record (189 days) for the quickest time between three straight defenses. After a tough camp and some reaggravated injuries, the most active champion on the roster currently is ready to take some rest after his win over “The War Horse.”

In addition to a much-needed vacation, Pereira also plans on travelling around th…

[embedded content] Light heavyweight king Alex Pereira is less interested in moving back down to claim his old belt than seeking opportunities elsewhere.

Pereira (12-2) put his 205-pound title on the line against Khalil Rountree (13-6, 1 NC) in the main event at UFC 307. “Poatan” successfully defended his throne for the third time with a fourth-round technical knockout over Rountree. When speaking about his options going forward, the Brazilian threw cold water on relocating back down to 185 pounds because of training partner Sean Strickland.

Pereira had initially made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at middleweight, where he went on to defeat former Glory kickboxing foe Israel Adesanya to win the belt before losing it in their rematch. Leading up to UFC 307, the Brazilian expressed interest in moving down to middleweight to challenge reigning champ Dricus Du Plessis, who defended his throne against Adesanya via submission at UFC 305. Pereira earlier said he w…

Alex Pereira just brings a different kind of savagery to the cage, and only a select few can withstand it.

The Brazilian juggernaut retained his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title, as he stopped Khalil Rountree with a hailstorm of punches in the fourth round of their UFC 307 headliner on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Pereira (12-2, 9-1 UFC) brought it to a close 4:32 into Round 4.

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Rountree (13-6, 9-6 UFC) held his own—for a time. The Syndicate MMA rep buckled Pereira’s knees with a counter right hand in the second round and fought fire with fire against one of the most feared men in the sport. However, the high work rate and the damage he absorbed took their toll, and by the end of the third round, the tide had shifted. Pereira tore into the Los Angeles native with clean punches to the head, low kicks and knee strikes, opened multiple cuts and showered the canvas and surrounding area with blood. His f…

Sherdog's live UFC 307 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

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BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Means (-225), McGee (+185)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Pennington (-180), Esparza (+150)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:T…

[embedded content] UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

It's now official, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's light heavyweight and women's bantamweight titles will be on the line at UFC 307.

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The 12-fight card's main event will see Alex Pereira put his light heavyweight championship on the line against Khalil Rountree, while the co-main event sees Raquel Pennington look to make her first bantamweight title defense against former champion Julianna Pena. All four title fight participants, along with the rest of the card, made weight.

Since losing the middleweight championship back to Israel Adesanya, Pereira (11-2) has looked great at light heavyweight. "Poatan" is currently on a four-fight win streak that includes two TKO wins over Jiri Prochazka, plus victories over Jan Blachowicz and Jamahal Hill. The Brazilian officially stepped on the scale at 205 pounds on the dot.

Meanwhile, Rountree (13-5, 1 NC) c…

[embedded content] The Brazilians surveyed largely predicted that Alex Pereira will violently defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship crown on Saturday.UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

In the main attraction of UFC 307, Pereira (11-2) will look to keep an iron grip on his light heavyweight strap against Khalil Rountree (13-5, 1 NC). Claiming the throne in 2023 by crushing Jiri Prochazka, Pereira mercilessly turned away former champs Jamahal Hill and a rebounding Prochazka in 2024 thus far. Sherdog polled several former or current Brazilian greats, including training partners and trainers alike, who weighed in on the matchup. Results were strongly in favor of their countryman to prevail.

Cesar Almeida, UFC fighter and training partner of Pereira: “In addition to having fought with Alex three times in kickboxing, I spent the last two months training with him almost every day in MMA. Khalil has a very still muay thai style, he …

It’s veteran-on-veteran violence as two longtime favorites with over 30 fights apiece come to blows in the Ultimate Fighting Championship cage this November.

According to MMA Fighting on Wednesday night, Jim Miller (37-18, 1 NC) will throw down with Damon Jackson (23-7-1, 1 NC) at UFC 309. The two lightweights—with Jackson coming up from 145 pounds—will compete on Nov. 16 inside of Madison Square Garden in New York. Both Miller and Jackson have since confirmed this pairing on their respective Instagram pages shortly after news broke late Wednesday.

Miller, 41, saw his two-fight finish streak come to a halt in April when he fell short to Bobby Green on the scorecards. Before the loss, the New Jersey native crushed Jesse Butler with one punch in 2023 and landed a face crank submission on Gabriel Benitez in January. Now known as “A-10,” Miller holds the UFC records for the most wins (26) and most appearances (44), while also celebrating the second-most finishes (18) an…

Rorion Gracie is asking for help for his first-ever student, who also played a role in the birth of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

One day after using social media to celebrate the birthday of his father, Hélio Gracie, who if he were alive would have turned 111 years old on Oct. 1, Rorion created a post seeking assistance for American Richard Bresler. Bressler rented a house with Gracie, where the Brazilian started teaching classes in the garage. That marked the beginning of the project that would lead to the promotion of jiu-jitsu in America and the creation of the UFC.

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“The story of jiu-jitsu in the U.S. started almost half a century ago when my first student, Richard Bresler, agreed to rent a small house with me in Hermosa Beach, California, where the famous “Garage Days” happened,” Gracie wrote on Instagram. His enthusiasm for jiu-jitsu was such that he could not stop talking about it. At his restaurant in the Hawthorne Mall, and elsewhere,…

👊Mario Bautista eyes a future rematch with Cory Sandhagen:

"If things go well and I keep moving up, I wouldn't want to move past Cory Sandhagen especially since it was my debut fight and I've worked all this way just to get back here and he's still in front of me...

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It… pic.twitter.com/9GZfUjlhLl — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 1, 2024

Mario Bautista wants to avenge his loss against Cory Sandhagen at some point.

Bautista suffered a first-round submission loss against Sandhagen in his UFC debut back in 2019. However, Baustista has since racked up an 8-1 promotional record, which includes a current six-fight winning streak.

Bautista is now scheduled to face arguably his toughest test since Sandhagen in Jose Aldo on the UFC 307 main card on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. If he gets past Aldo and maintains his upward climb, Bautista would like to run it back with “The Sandman” before e…

Austin Hubbard is loving training closer to home for his upcoming fight.

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Hubbard takes on Alexander Hernandez in a lightweight matchup on the preliminary card at UFC 307 on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Previously a member of the Elevation Fight Team in Aurora, Colorado, Hubbard recently shifted to the Valle Flow Striking Academy in Bensenville, Illinois.

Hubbard had no bad blood with his previous gym, and the move was primarily inspired by the birth of his daughter, Charlie Jo, this past May. While Hubbard still has to drive an hour and half each side from his home in Dixon, Illinois, “Thud” likes being closer to his family.

“It was too hard to go out to Colorado for this camp and be gone for seven, eight weeks. So, I've been home, and I've been training at Valle Flow Striking in Chicago,” Hubbard told UFC.com.

“I love Elevation. They've been great for me and my career and obviously they've contributed to a lot of m…