Martial Arts News

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Johnny Walker is extremely disappointed with the sudden stoppage of his UFC 294 clash against Magomed Ankalaev.

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A highly anticipated showdown between the two on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s marquee card on Saturday in Abu Dhabi met with an anticlimactic end. The fighters had barely felt each other out before Ankalaev (17-1) kneed a grounded Walker (21-7) right on the chin. Following a conversation with the Brazilian, the cage-side doctor deemed him unable to continue, bringing the fight to a close while a confused Walker stomped around in protest.

Walker shared his side of things during a recent appearance on “The MMA Hour.” According to the 31-year-old, the confusion was mainly due to a language barrier. Walker said:

“He asked me if I wanted to continue fighting. I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Where are you?’ I didn’t want to say the wrong answer because I was excited when he was doing the test and I wanted to say the ri…

[embedded content] Tyson Fury doesn’t give much credence to the proverbial “puncher’s chance,” even from one of the hardest punchers in combat sports.

“The Gypsy King” (33-0-1) is all set for a boxing clash against former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (0-0 boxing; 17-3 MMA) on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ngannou currently holds the world record for the hardest punch after recording 129,161 units on a PowerKube to surpass the previous mark, set by kickboxing legend Tyrone Spong. Given the fact that Ngannou has secured 12 of his 17 career wins via knockout, even Fury’s own promoter Bob Arum believes it might not be a good idea to stand and trade with “The Predator.” However, Fury is supremely confident about engaging in a slugfest against absolutely anybody. Referring to Arum’s comments, Fury said during a recent presser (h/t MMA Junkie):

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“Behave yourself, I can stand and trade with anybody. I stood and traded…

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Paulo Costa was not able to make his scheduled bout with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294, but he managed to get in a few punches on Saturday, nonetheless.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contender Costa (14-2) got into a scuffle with more than one attendee during the promotion’s marquee event in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21. “Borrachinha” was originally supposed to co-headline opposite the undefeated Chimaev, but was forced to withdraw the week before the event due to a staph infection in his elbow. Nevertheless, Costa was present cageside in Etihad Arena as his replacement, former welterweight king Kamaru Usman, lost a majority decision to Chimaev.

Well before the co-main event, during the undercard, Costa was involved in the altercation in question, which was caught on video by onlookers. He gave his account of the incident during an appearance on “The MMA Hour” on Tuesday.

“Almost, in the corner, to go to my seat, a guy …

BREAKING NEWS…………… Sergei Pavlovich vs Tom Aspinall for the Interim Heavyweight Championship. Main Event is Jiri Prochazka vs Alex Pereira. #UFC295 is LIVE at MSG on ESPN+ PPV pic.twitter.com/SaPAwpyHi2

— danawhite (@danawhite) October 25, 2023

There has been a significant change atop the UFC 295 lineup.

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Sergei Pavlovich will now square off against Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight crown in the new UFC 295 co-main event after reigning champion Jon Jones was forced to withdraw from the card after suffering an injury in training. Jones was supposed to face Stipe Miocic in the original UFC 295 headliner, but it’s currently unclear if Miocic was offered a fight against either Aspinall or Pavlovich.

Meanwhile, the light heavyweight championship clash pitting Jiri Prochazka against Alex Pereira has been elevated to the evening’s new headliner.

The news was announced by UFC CEO Dana White late Tuesday night.

“Jon…

Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson will have their trilogy in a slightly different combat sports arena.

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The former UFC champions will meet at 170 pounds in the headliner of Karate Combat 43 on Dec. 15 at the Expo at World Trade Market in Las Vegas. The promotion confirmed the pairing following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

Pettis owns a 2-0 mark against Henderson under MMA rules. The two lightweights closed out the World Extreme Cagefighting era in December 2010, when Pettis took a five-round verdict over Henderson in a bout that saw him unveil his “Showtime Kick.” They squared off again at UFC 164 in August 2013, when Pettis claimed the lightweight belt with a first-round submission victory.

More recently, Pettis went 1-4 under the Professional Fighters League banner from 2021 to 2022. He then tried his hand at the Sweet Science, earning a majority decision victory against Roy Jones Jr. at Gamebred Boxing 4 this past April.

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Following an emotional session at the UFC 294 press-conference, there was plenty of concern for Alexander Volkanovski’s mental well-being.

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With his first-round knockout loss to Islam Makhachev a few more days in the rearview mirror, Volkanovski addressed his mindset in a video on his YouTube channel. The UFC’s reigning featherweight champion admitted that the defeat weighed heavily on him, but he also made it clear that he’s in a good place mentally overall.

“So straight after the fight, I did the post-fight press conference and I want people to understand that, yeah, there was a raw emotion seen, but I want everyone to know that I’m OK,” Volkanovski said. “I think that people have to remember that I did just come off getting tagged, knocked out. I lost. I knew that legacy wise and all that, all those things start coming into play, so that was obviously hurting me.”

In the immediate aftermath of the loss, Volkanovski lobbied …

.@UFC and Anheuser-Busch (@AnheuserBusch) announce multiyear partnership.

More information on the new partnership ➡️: https://t.co/UskNcHo80d

— UFC News (@UFCNews) October 24, 2023

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After a bit of a hiatus, the Bud Light logo will once again grace the Octagon for Ultimate Fighting Championship events.

According to broadcast partner ESPN, the UFC has signed a new partnership with Anheuser-Busch to make Bud Light the official beer of the promotion. While it is reportedly the biggest sponsorship deal in UFC history, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The multi-year contract begins on Jan. 1. The UFC and Anheuser-Busch were previously partners until 2017, when the company switched to Modelo as its official beer.

"Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were UFC's original beer sponsors more than fifteen years ago," UFC CEO Dana White said in a release. "I'm proud to announce we are back in business together. There …

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The best and brightest of the mixed martial arts world will be recognized at the Fighters Only World MMA Awards on Dec. 14.

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The 15th iteration of the event will take place at the SAHARA Las Vegas with a host of fighters, industry executives, personalities and other notables on hand. The World MMA Awards will recognize the achievements and performances of people in the sport during the period beginning July 2022 and ending June 2023.

Categories include Fighter of the Year, Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, Upset of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Submission of the Year, Gym of the Year, Promotion of the Year and many more. Sherdog.com is among the candidates for MMA Media Source of the Year, which is “awarded to the leading source of news, fight reviews and features.”

“This year the awards celebrate a special 15-year anniversary,” said host Rob Hewitt in a release. “The sport has come a long way during that time and this is r…

Islam Makhachev is only one successful title defense from tying the UFC’s all-time record at lightweight.

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The American Kickboxing Academy product authored his second successful defense at UFC 294 with a first-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The lightweight record of three championship defenses is currently held by Khabib Nurmagomedov, B.J. Penn, Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson.

With an upcoming itinerary that likely includes fights against Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, Makhachev could suprass that record as early as 2024 if all goes well.

“He keeps doing what he’s doing, you’ve just got to keep grinding, knocking them down one by one and it will eventually happen,” UFC CEO Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“The truth is when you look at Khabib — and nothing against Khabib, Khabib came in and won the title and defended it — but this kid could go on a defense r…

This bout has been called to a stop.

Victor Henry is unable to continue after an unintentional foul and the fight has been ruled a no contest #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/UWhaeyzMFu

— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2023

While the cageside doctor may have been skeptical, Victor Henry was in agony after absorbing an inadvertent low blow from Javid Basharat at UFC 294.

Ultimately, Henry was unable to continue following the foul, and the bantamweight bout was ruled a no contest 15 seconds into Round 2. Henry, who was reportedly vomiting back stage and went to the hospital after the fight, gave a positive update on his condition via social media on Monday.

“A little update for you guys: doctors said no permanent damage to my pills but I’m gonna walk a little funny for a couple days,” Henry wrote. “Swelling has gone down a significant amount after sleeping with ice on my smooth criminals, which isn’t very easy to do.

“For those of you cal…

Jake Paul won’t be rematching Nate Diaz in the squared circle, but according to his team, the YouTube personality has agreed to face the Stockton, Calif., native under the Professional Fighters League banner.

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Diaz recently hinted that a boxing rematch with Paul was in the works by sharing a fight poster on social media. While Paul recently announced his next fight is set for Dec. 15, an opponent has not been confirmed.

“For the record: Jake Paul will not be boxing Nate Diaz again,” read a statement from Most Valuable Promotions. “Nate Diaz and Jake Paul have received an offer from [the PFL] to rematch in MMA in the SmartCage. Jake Paul has accepted the offer.”

For the record: Jake Paul will not be boxing Nate Diaz again.

Nate Diaz and Jake Paul have received an offer from @PFLMMA to rematch in MMA in the SmartCage. Jake Paul has accepted the offer.

— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) October 23, 2023…

Islam Makhachev was proud to showcase another element to his game in the UFC 294 headliner.

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The reigning lightweight champion retained his title with a first-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in their rematch at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Makhachev hurt his foe with a head kick and finished the job with follow-up punches at the 3:06 mark of Round 1. It was a far cry from their first meeting: a hard-fought unanimous decision win for Makhachev at UFC 294 in February.

“My coaches have told me I have a good head kick. I always try to land the kick when I fight,” Makhachev said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “For an opponent like Volkanovski, who’s a little bit shorter, it’s the best plan to land some kicks. When you have short opponent, it’s easy to land. I show him low kick, body kick and show him head kick. This is the plan.

“(I was) really happy to finish him (in the ) first round,” he added. “If it happened in cha…