Martial Arts News

UFC on ESPN 53 has a few updates to its lineup, the promotion announced in a release on Tuesday.

Advertisement

First, a middleweight clash between Edmen Shahbazyan and Dusko Tudorovic has been added to March 23 card.

Shahbazyan signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the age of 20 and went 4-0 to start his promotional tenure — including three first-round stoppages. However, the once promising prospect has since lost four of his last five, though all of his losses have come against top-tier competition.

Meanwhile, Tudorovic has gone back and forth in his UFC journey since his debut in 2020, notching a 3-4 promotional record. The Serbian suffered a first-round technical knockout loss against Chris Leroy Duncan due to a knee injury in his most recent outing in March 2023.

Meanwhile, heavyweights Junior Tafa and Karl Williams, two competitors who made their promotional debuts last year, will also clash at UFC on ESPN 53.

After starting his pr…

Tyron Woodley claims to have received the same paycheck as Donald Cerrone during his Ultimate Fighting Championship days, and he isn’t happy about it.

Advertisement

Woodley won the UFC welterweight title in 2016 and defended it four times before losing it to Kamaru Usman in 2019. “The Chosen One” revealed that he made $500,000 for his last title fight against Usman and was planning to part ways with the promotion years prior over fighter pay.

“I was going to leave the UFC after [fighting] Darren Till.” I told them, ‘F—-ing cut me, dog. Ya’ll don’t want me here. Why ya’ll keep holding on to me, dog?’ We [kept] fighting and s—t every fight because you know how I was. I was a gorilla... I knew the numbers so well. I knew what everybody was making. I’m not [going to] go out there and be making the same as 'Cowboy' Cerrone.” Woodley said on the Mighty Cast podcast with Demetrious Johnson.

“That motherf—-er ain’t never touched gold in his life. That’s just a pr…

For those looking for more mixed martial arts viewing options, Legacy Fighting Alliance has you covered.

Advertisement

The promotion announced on Wednesday that it will stream “live premium regional MMA events” on its YouTube channel, which was already home to LFA’s preliminary bouts and content library. This will begin with Attitude MMA Fights 29 on Feb. 10. It was not specified which regional cards will be streamed in the future.

“The LFA has launched the careers of over 300 athletes that have reached the pinnacle of MMA by competing in the UFC,” said LFA CEO Ed Soares in a release. “We also work with commentators and television talent that are currently working for the UFC or are aspiring to work cage side at UFC events.

“Now we are excited to provide a platform for top regional fighters from around the world by launching the LFA Fight Network on our popular YouTube channel. We currently have over a half million loyal subscribers that are hungry for …

California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster wants to clear all confusion regarding when a fighter is considered grounded.

Advertisement

Foster is the man credited for taking radical steps like setting up a pension fund for fighters, setting up rules to prevent extreme weight cuts and barring judges from working events on opposite sides of the country over the same weekend.

Fighters competing at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 in Anaheim, California will be advised to move up a weight class if they put on more than 10% of their body weight plus one pound on fight night.

Foster now wants to remove one of the most confusing rules in mixed martial arts: fighters being considered grounded with their hands on the ground.

In a most recent example, Arnold Allen landed multiple knees to Movsar Evloev’s head from a headlock position during their UFC 297 clash. Evloev desperately tried to put one hand on the ground to be deemed grounded. While Evloev’s p…

Jim Miller has never made championship-level money during his Ultimate Fighting Championship career, but thanks to his staying power, he’s done quite well for himself.

Advertisement

During a recent appearance on "The TRUTH Podcast," UFC CEO Dana White discussed the topic of fighter pay with host Vivek Ramaswamy. During that segment of the show, White referenced Miller as an example of someone who has done much better for himself under the UFC banner than he would in another combat sport such as boxing.

“When you become a world champion, you become a partner. When you got a belt, you share in the pay-per-view revenue,” White said.

That, of course, is limited to only a handful of fighters within the Las Vegas-based promotion. However, competitors such as Miller are their own type of success story.

“Boxing does [it too]. Whoever is the champion in boxing, you get the lion’s share of the revenue. Here, it’s dispersed through across everybody,” White con…

The vacant light heavyweight strap will be on the line when Corey Anderson and Karl Moore square off at a Bellator MMA event in Belfast on March 22.

Advertisement

Anderson confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from Ariel Helwani. The card in Belfast will mark the promotion’s first event since Professional Fighters League’s acquisition of Bellator late last year. Broadcast plans and a venue for Bellator Belfast have not been announced.

Vadim Nemkov officially vacated the Bellator 205-pound belt this year. He will make his heavyweight debut against Bruno Cappelozza at PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions on Feb. 24.

Anderson twice come up short against Nemkov in title bouts under the Bellator banner. “Overtime” appeared to be winning their first meeting at Bellator 277 before an accidental clash of heads resulted in the bout being ruled a no contest. The rematch went differently, however, as Nemkov captured a clear-cut unanimou…

History in the making! ✍️👏

Welcome the newest Amatuer signee to the Professional Fighters League @hattanalsaif24 pic.twitter.com/d3jAnPCKMt

— PFL (@PFLMMA) January 30, 2024

Advertisement

Professional Fighters League has signed Saudi-born Hattan Alsaif to an exclusive, multi-fight contract.

According to a release, Alsaif is the first female fighter from Saudi Arabia to ink a deal with a global MMA promotion.

“Receiving a contract from the PFL is a dream come true,” Alsaif said. “As the first Saudi woman signed to a global MMA contract I do not take the responsibility lightly, and I am committed to representing my country. I hope to pave the way for aspiring female fighters. I am thankful to God and the PFL for this incredible opportunity.”

The 22-year-old Alsaif has not yet competed in MMA, but she comes from a decorated muay thai background. She was a gold medal winner at the 2023 International Federation of Muay Thai As…

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship founder David Feldman believes Conor McGregor could some day take off his gloves and give bare knuckle fighting a shot.

Advertisement

McGregor previously competed in a crossover boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in 2017, which is the only time in Ultimate Fighting Championship history that Dana White entertained the idea of cross promotion. With that in mind, Feldman refuses to rule out the possibility of McGregor competing under the BKFC banner despite being under UFC contract.

“Look, theoretically he can't because he's under contract with the UFC and we actually have a great relationship with the UFC,” Feldman told The Sun. “But I think Conor plays by a different set of rules anyway. Maybe there’s a way to partner on an event, who knows? But as far as us doing it by ourselves, I don’t think that ever happens. But maybe a collaboration? It could happen, he likes it.”

Conor McGregor was present ringside when his former…

Jared Cannonier is willing to rebook the Khamzat Chimaev fight if he is guaranteed a title shot next.

Advertisement

While Cannonier was offered a short-notice booking against Chimaev at UFC 294, “The Killa Gorilla” suffered an MCL tear in practice shortly after getting the call. Chimaev welcomed former welterweight champ Kamaru Usman to middleweight instead, edging out a majority decision win.

“Borz” claims to have been guaranteed a title shot with a win over Usman and has voiced his frustration about the delay in proceedings. However, Cannonier believes he also has a legitimate claim to title contention and wouldn’t mind taking on Chimaev in a No. 1 contender fight.

“It’ll sound cool to say, ‘I’m your huckleberry.’ It does sound cool,” Cannonier told Inside Fighting. “At this point in time, he’s ranked No. 9. I’m down to make it happen, as long as it’s clear that this is a contender's match. … When I get back, if they’re not going to give me the title …

Henry Cejudo is contemplating retirement yet again.

Advertisement

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship double champ previously announced a surprising retirement in May 2020 after defeating Dominick Cruz via technical knockout at UFC 249.

“Triple C” came out of retirement for a bantamweight gold bid against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 in May last year, suffering a split decision loss.

Cejudo is now slated to face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

With Aljamain Sterling booked for his featherweight debut, the winner of the Cejudo vs. Dvalishvili clash is expected to fight for the title next against the winner of Sean O’Malley’s UFC 299 title clash against longtime rival Marlon Vera.

However, if the 36-year-old Cejudo comes up short at UFC 298, he would consider calling it a career again.

“This is for the No. 1 contender spot,” he told The HJR Experiment. “I think to have to lose it to Alja…

Luke Rockhold is of the opinion that Sean Strickland is not the safest training partner.  

Advertisement

  It is no secret that Strickland likes hard sparring and has even bragged about breaking multiple noses in the past. Former middleweight champ Luke Rockhold recently recounted Strickland’s visit to RVCA in Costa Mesa, California, where “Tarzan” allegedly went over the line with a sparring partner. 

  “He’s just that guy that doesn’t care,” Rockhold told the JAXXON Podcast. “He’ll try to kill you. Sean Strickland walked into RVCA one time and he was such a loud mouth idiot, I was like, ‘Who the f—k is this guy?’ I was so hungover, so annoyed, I was like, ‘F—k, I’m going to get in a spar with this guy, I can’t even take it.’ But I had seen him... he hurt a guy in the gym. He hurt him with a head kick. 

  “With like 30 seconds left, he wobbled him. And [the coach] was like, ‘Keep going, finish out the round.’ Instead of …

John Dodson will put his flyweight title on the line against Dagoberto Aguero in the BKFC 59 headliner.

Advertisement

The promotion recently announced the booking. BKFC 59 will take place at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 29. More bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.

A two-time UFC flyweight title challenger, Dodson has found success in the bare knuckle realm, posting a 3-0 mark under the BKFC banner since his debut with the organization in August 2022. He’s finished all three of his BKFC opponents inside of a round, including a title-winning victory against J.R. Ridge at BKFC 48 last year. The 39-year-old Albuquerque resident has gone 3-2 in MMA since parting ways with the UFC in 2020. Most recently, “The Magician” dropped a unanimous decision to Hiromasa Ougikubo at Rizin 45 on New Year’s Eve.

Aguero, who hails from the Dominican Republic, defeated Chance Wilson via Round 3 stoppage in his BKFC debut this past November. …