Martial Arts News

Dricus Du Plessis claims to have no hard feelings for Sean Strickland after their recent scuffle.

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“Stillknocks” is slated to challenge Strickland for the middleweight title in the main event at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto. The two initially got into a war of words during the UFC’s seasonal press conference in Las Vegas, which was held to promote upcoming events. Strickland and Du Plessis were seemingly seated too close for comfort a day later while in attendance at UFC 296, which resulted in a physical altercation between the two fighters. After a verbal exchange, Strickland was seen jumping over chairs to attack Du Plessis before being separated by security and escorted out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Du Plessis claims to harbor no ill feelings for Strickland, as he did what any “real man” in his position would have.

“For me, I was completely calm about – I wasn’t angry. I was having fun, and the security was like, ‘You need to c…

While Ian Garry might have been a target of ridicule leading up to UFC 296, the Irishman believes most of the online hate he received wasn’t real.

Garry has attracted a lot of attention recently for everything ranging from his relationship with his wife to his questionable gym etiquette. As a result, Garry was one of the most eagerly-awaited fighters at UFC 296 media day ahead of his proposed clash with Vicente Luque. However, “The Future” failed to show up to the session and was pulled from the bout a day after due to pneumonia. While Garry inevitably faced a lot of online hate, he believes most of it was fake. The former Cage Warriors champion thanked his true fans in a post on Instagram.

“Fight week didn’t go as planned,” Garry wrote. “Influenza developed into pneumonia as I dropped weight and for the first time in my career I was pulled by the UFC doctor. Flying home I met so many fans who flew out specifically to see me. F—k. This is not how I wanted to m…

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Deontay Wilder is at peace with his decision loss to Joseph Parker on the Day of Reckoning card this past weekend weekend.

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“The Bronze Bomber” appeared somewhat complacent throughout the build-up to the fight, and he went on drop scorecards of 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108 in a significant upset. Asked about his plans for the future, Wilder hinted that he might be nearing retirement.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said during his post-fight interview in the ring. “We have a little bit more left, but I’ve done a great job with managing my money, investing and I’m a happy fighter. We go ahead and do what we do, and we go home and live and spread love to the family and all our loved ones, and then on to the next. I’m a warrior, so I’ll be back soon. And if not, then it’s been an enjoyment. It is been a pleasure and I appreciate everybody for the love and the support that they’ve been giving me for over the years.”

A 2008 Olympic b…

Mayra Bueno Silva and Raquel Pennington will square off at UFC 297 for the women’s bantamweight crown, which was left vacant when Amanda Nunes retired in June.

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Silva was so excited when she heard the announcement that she was initially confused about her opponent, as she at first thought she would be facing former champ Julianna Pena at the Jan. 20 event.

“At first I thought it was going to be Julianna, so we started watching all of Julianna’s fights after dinner,” Silva recently told MMAFighting.com. “A week later, I found out it was against Raquel. I didn’t even think about it, I thought it was Julianna because we were planning for that, right? I was super happy, already studying for Julianna, and then, ‘No, no, no, it’s Raquel.’ I was so excited [to fight for the UFC title], I didn’t even ask who the opponent was.”

While Silva would have preferred Pena as an opponent for marquee value, she believes Pennington will be the tougher fight. Read more

While Joe Rogan acknowledges the caliber of talent in promotions like the Professional Fighters League and Bellator, he believes they are wasting their time competing outside the UFC.

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While the UFC remains the largest MMA promotion in the world, the PFL recently acquired Bellator and laid claim to industry co-leader status by virtue of the newly-enhanced roster. However, Rogan believes most promotions are still a long way from catching the UFC when it comes to viewer interest.

“No disrespect to the other organizations, there’s very good fighters in the other organizations, but I often feel like they’re wasting their career,” he said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “Because I see these elite fighters that are fighting in Bellator or PFL, and I’m like, ‘Hey, guys, no one’s watching.’ I mean, some people are watching. You’re getting a little bit of a fanbase. I don’t want to disrespect. But, there’s a reality. There’s the XFL and there’s the CF…

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Anthony Joshua hasn’t shut the door on a Deontay Wilder matchup despite “The Bronze Bomber’s” lopsided loss to Joseph Parker at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, over the weekend.

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Wilder dropped scorecards of 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108 on the same card that Joshua stopped Otto Wallin in the fifth round. While many expected that result might jeopardize a potential Wilder vs. Joshua bout, the Englishman isn’t ruling out the possibility.

“I’m not too sure what can happen from here, but I’m sure from a fan perspective they’ll be more annoyed. For me I always understand how this game is. You never know,” Joshua said at the post-fight press conference. “This is elite level boxing. Wilder just came up short but he’ll live to fight another day.”

Me and him can still get it on, we can still get it cracking. I believe I’m a massive threat. I still think Wilder is a threat, and I still think it does amazing numbers if you g…

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The time away from fighting is starting to irk Conor McGregor.

The former UFC two-division champion vented about his lack of activity in an interview with Talk Sport Boxing over the weekend. McGregor coached opposite Michael Chandler on Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter” earlier this year, but thus far, a date hasn’t been announced for their fight.

“Give me something,” McGregor said. “It was supposed to be April, [and before that] it was supposed to be December. They never treated anyone – no one has ever been treated [like this] for all the figures I’ve brought in this game.

“I sell more than all of them combined. I see more than all of them combined. No one in the history of the fight game has ever been treated the way I’m getting treated – to what I came through, to what I bring … I’m waiting, I’m waiting and I’m waiting. My patience is wearing thin.”

McGregor’s manager, Audie Attar, revealed that the fighter’s team was pushing…

The road to recovery is just beginning for Jan Blachowicz.

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The former light heavyweight champion was forced to withdraw from a rematch against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 297 due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. As it turns out, the Polish star will need to undergo two separate procedures.

“First shoulder operated on,” Blachowicz wrote Saturday on social media. “Unfortunately, there was too much work to do with one, so they couldn’t fix both at once. Another surgery soon. I’ll have to wait a little bit longer to come back.”

First shoulder operated on. Unfortunately, there was too much work to do with one, so they couldn't fix both at once. Another surgery soon. I'll have to wait a little longer to come back.

I wish you all Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/RDIIxDSBgm

— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) December 23, 2023

A timeline for Blachowicz’s return is unknown, and he did not give a date for his sec…

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It appears Israel Adesanya’s hiatus will come to an end in the near future.

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In a recent interview with iFL TV, the former UFC middleweight champion addressed his next Octagon appearance, indicating that it could be on the horizon.

“Me right now, I’m taking my time,” Adesanya said. “My last few fights, I had four fights in 14 months as a champion in the UFC. That’s unheard of. I was the most active champion, not fighter, champion in the league. So life has forced me to take some time off and I will, but you will see me soon.

“I said 2027 and the retards out there actually thought I meant that, but you’ll see.”

Adesanya is coming off an upset loss to Sean Strickland in a 185-pound title bout at UFC 293 this past September. In the aftermath of that defeat, “The Last Stylebender” suggested that he wouldn’t be back in action "for a long time.”

Adesanya went undefeated in his first 12 UFC middleweight appearances befo…

A bantamweight clash pitting Rinya Nakamura against Brady Hiestand is on tap for UFC 298.

Heistand’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, initially announced the contest and it was later confirmed by both athletes on social media. UFC 298 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on Feb. 17 and is headlied by a featherweight championship showdown between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.

Nakamura is undefeated in eight professional appearances. The 28-year-old Saitama, Japan, native won the Road to UFC tournament with a trio of first-round finishes before outpointing Fernie Garcia in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 225 on Aug. 26.

A cast member on Season 29 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Hiestand has won back-to-back bouts after falling to Ricky Turcios in the finale of the reality show at UFC on ESPN 30. Since then, “Bam Bam” has scored triumphs over Fernie Garcia and Batgerel Dana within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first offering of 2024 will have a slightly different look than originally anticipated after changes to multiple bouts on the card.

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Yana Santos has withdrawn from a proposed bantamweight booking against Norma Dumont after suffering a broken nose. MMAjunkie.com confirmed Santos’ exit after the fighter announced the injury on social media. It is currently unknown if Dumont will remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

Elsewhere, Matthew Semelsberger will replace Bassil Hafez and lock horns with Preston Parsons in a welterweight scrap. Parsons confirmed the new pairing on social media. The reason for Hafez’s withdrawal is currently unknown. Semelsberger has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a third-round TKO defeat against Uros Medic in his most recent outing at UFC 291. Parsons suffered a split-decision setback against Trevin Giles at UFC on ESPN 43 in his lone bout of 2023.

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A women's strawweight meeting between Mexico’s Yazmin Jauregui and Iowa native Sam Hughes has been added to the UFC Mexico card.

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The booking was first reported by ESPN Deportes on Friday.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is set to return to Mexico City on Feb. 24 at Mexico City Arena. This will mark the promotion's return to the country after four-and-a-half years.

Jauregui joined the UFC in August 2021 with an 8-0 record and has since gone 2-1. Following her Round 2 technical knockout victory against Istela Nunes in 2022, the Mexican suffered the first loss of her professional career after being knocked out within 20 seconds of her bout against Denise Gomes at UFC 290 in July this year.

Meanwhile, Hughes is coming off a unanimous decision victory against Jaqueline Amorim in their fight at UFC 287 in April. Currently 3-4 under the promotional banner, Hughes will look to make a statement against a much younger opponent in Jauregui. Read more