Martial Arts News

Sherdog’s coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 10 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 The 2023 season closer opens up with a bantamweight clash between Bittencourt and Rocha, whose five-pound weight miss last week forced the postponement and weight class change here. The referee is Mike Beltran. Bittencourt launches himself across the cage immediately with a flying front kick that comes up short. Bittencourt chases down Rocha, who circles out and tags him with a hard jab. Bittencourt shoots a takedown from far outside and Rocha sprawls well, but Bittencourt turns the corner and takes his back. Rocha gets up and Bittencourt launches him with a belly-to-back slam. Rocha makes his way back up and Bittencourt repeats the high-amplitude slam. Two minutes down and Bittencourt is still stuck to Rocha’s back. Rocha finally spins away and disengages, and Bittencourt catches him with a spinning back kick. Bittencourt changes levels and drives Rocha into the fence. Rocha does a good job of…

Nobody so far has managed to defeat Islam Makhachev, but one former opponent believes he now knows the key.

Advertisement

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Drew Dober faced the current champ at UFC 259 in March of 2021. Makhachev put on a dominant showing, notching over nine minutes of control time before submitting Dober with an arm triangle in the third round. Dober, who got back in the win column by knocking out Ricky Glenn this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 229, learned from the loss and, despite being best known himself as kickboxer with knockout power, believes he made a mistake in approaching their fight as a striker-versus-grappler affair.

According to Dober, several elite grapplers in the 155-pound division have the required skills to beat Makhachev—if they are willing to grapple with him. Dober believes Makhachev’s opponents need to stop focusing on staying on the feet and start wrestling the undefeated Dagestani. The 34-year-old recently t…

Several fighters from the recently concluded Bellator 300 may be forced out of action for a while due to long medical suspensions.

Former Bellator MMA flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (13-3) took on her longtime friend former training partner, current champ Liz Carmouche (20-7) on Saturday’s main card a Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Macfarlane suffered a possible fracture to her left knee en route a fifth-round TKO loss, resulting in a 180-day medical suspension, unless cleared by a physician earlier.

In addition to Macfarlane, six others from the prelims card also faced medical suspensions of six months or until cleared by a doctor: Jesse Roberts (left knee and left jaw), Davion Franklin (left knee), Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (right knee), Herman Terrado (rib), Romero Cotton (right orbital), and Miguel Peimbert (right foot, left hand, right ankle) Other medical suspensions from Bellator’s marquee event included Cat Zingano, who received a 45-day suspensi…

RandyBrown will fight MuslimSalikhov at #UFC296 on December 16th. (per Brown's Discord & @Full_Violence) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/XO63nbtKDI

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 9, 2023

The final Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view event of 2023 has picked up a potential banger of a welterweight matchup.

Advertisement

Randy Brown (17-5) and Muslim Salikhov (19-4) are reportedly booked to meet at UFC 296 in December. Brown broke the news of the booking on his Discord along with @Full_Violence on Twitter. “Rude Boy” had a four-fight win streak snapped at UFC 284 in February, thanks to a first-round submission by Jack Della Maddalena. “Rude Boy” has since regained some momentum with a decision victory over Wellington Turman in June.

Salikhov went on a five-fight win streak starting with his sophomore UFC outing which included wins over the likes of Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Francisco Trinal…

How strong are u? U never really know until you get tested by fire 🔥 of life.I did surgery 3 weeks ago , 10 seams size . But I know how tough I’m and continues improving and overcoming myself. It doesn’t stop me, still doing my things sparrings and everything. I’m so blessing… pic.twitter.com/gbClA66K7l

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) October 9, 2023 Recent unplanned surgery will not keep Paulo Costa from his fight in November.

Renzo Gracie recently informed Sherdog that Costa had arrived to his apartment in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Additionally, he mentioned that Costa had received surgery on his elbow in a procedure that would not put his UFC 294 appearance in jeopardy. On Monday, Costa posted publicly about his operation, with photographs showing his condition before and his training after.

Advertisement

“How strong are [you],” Costa asked. “[You] never really know until you get tested by fire of life. I …

Former champ Cain Velasquez offered high praise for Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight standout Sergei Pavlovich.

Pavlovich (18-1) and fellow contender Tom Aspinall are widely regarded as part of the next generation to potentially rule over the UFC’s heavyweight division. Recently asked about his opinion on the division, Velasquez hailed Aspinall and especially Pavlovich as future champ prospects.

Velasquez also revealed that he had trained with Pavlovich at American Kickboxing Academy several years ago. The former champ noted that while he still acquits himself well in training, Pavlovich was one of the few he found “difficult” to deal with. He also lauded the wrestling skills of Pavlovich, who is currently on a six-fight first-round KO streak. The 41-year-old recently told The Schmo:

“With Sergey, I’ve actually trained with him,” the former UFC heavyweight kingpin stated. “It was a couple of years ago too. So obviously, when he wasn’t at this level yet.…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship brass should be ready to hand out a post-fight bonus check after this upcoming scrap.

On Sunday, management team Iridium Sports Agency announced that Mario Bautista (13-2) and Ricky Simon (20-4) will meet in the first UFC card of 2024 on Jan. 13. The bantamweights will square off at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The bout has subsequently confirmed by Bautista, who posted about the matchup on his Instagram, while opponent Simon remarked that he had signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion on his own Instagram page.

MMA Lab product Bautista is riding a five fight win streak that includes three submissions over Brian Kelleher, Benito Lopez and Guido Cannetti. Of note, his reverse triangle armbar of Lopez in 2022 served as just the second of its type in company history. Most recently, the 30-year-old Arizonan picked up a hard-fought decision win over Da’Mon Blackshear at UFC 292 in August.

Simon will be hunting for his first win si…

Jailton Almeida will be going from a grappler to a striker on a month’s notice.

Per Ag. Fight on Monday, Curtis Blaydes will no longer be competing in the headliner of UFC Sao Paulo, also known as UFC Fight Night 231. In his stead will be Derrick Lewis (27-11, 1 NC), who will be stepping in on short notice against Almeida (19-2). The reason for Blaydes’ withdrawal has not yet been made public. News of this change in the heavyweight headliner on Nov. 4 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

Lewis saw his career-long three-fight skid come to a crashing halt in July when he smashed Marcos Rogerio de Lima in 33 seconds. This marked his first win since 2021, with stoppage losses to Tai Tuivasa, Sergei Pavlovich and Sergey Spivak along the way. With his speedy finish of Rogerio de Lima, Lewis reestablished himself as the UFC’s knockout king, with 14 victories via strikes in his storied tenure with the company.

Since joining the UFC off t…

It was smooth sailing for the 12 men on the scales ahead of the last week of the 2023 Dana White's Contender Series season.

Due to a weight issue for one of the combatants in Week 9, the organization rescheduled that fight for this event. The show will proceed with six bouts, with the rebooked tilt between Davi Bittencourt (134.5) and Lucas Rocha (133) extending the card beyond its usual five affairs.

Advertisement

Week 10 of the Contender Series takes place on Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a bantamweight battle pitting Ramon Taveras (136) against Cortavious Romious (136).

Taveras will try to maximize his second chance to make a first impression, as the Floridian succumbed to strikes in half a round to Serhiy Sidey on DWCS in September. The defeat snapped a four-fight win streak in the Combat Night promotion in Florida, which included three stoppages – with one of tho…

🚨 #TeamIridium News 🚨

Our man @MeanMachine505 eyes his 3rd straight stoppage victory vs. Melquizael Costa on Dec. 2 ✍🏽 #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/dUIqb1G5aj

— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) October 8, 2023

Advertisement

The lineup of “UFC Austin” continues to take shape, with the addition of a compelling scrap between two up-and-coming featherweights.

Steve Garcia (14-5) will take on Melquizael Costa (20-6) as the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the Texas capital on Dec. 2. The matchup was first announced by Garcia’s management firm, Iridium Sports Agency. After going 1-2 in his first three UFC outings, the Jackson-Wink MMA export seems to have found some momentum. “Mean Machine” will look to extend the first win streak of his UFC run, as he carries the momentum of back-to-back knockout wins over Chase Hooper and Nuerdanbieke Shayilan into the bout.

Costa stepped up on short notice for his promotional de…

N.Ruziboev out. Caio Borralho will now fight Abus Magomedov at #UFCSP on November 4th. (per @MMAFighting) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFCSaoPaulo #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/P0qNF9UrwQ

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 8, 2023

Caio Borralho will not have to miss out on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first trip to Sao Paulo in four years.

Advertisement

“The Natural” (14-1) was originally scheduled to face Nursulton Ruziboev (35-8) at UFC Fight Night 231 on Nov. 4. However, MMA Fighting recently reported that Ruziboev pulled out of the matchup for undisclosed reasons and has been replaced by former Professional Fighters League standout Abusupiyan Magomedov.

Borralho is undefeated in four UFC outings with a submission win over Michal Oleksiejczuk in his most recent walk to the Octagon on April 29. The 30-year-old Brazilian, who has not fought in his native country in nearly three years, will look to put on a showing in front…

N.Ruziboev out. Caio Borralho will now fight Abus Magomedov at #UFCSP on November 4th. (per @MMAFighting) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFCSaoPaulo #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/P0qNF9UrwQ

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 8, 2023

Caio Borralho will not have to miss out on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first trip to Sao Paulo in four years.

Advertisement

“The Natural” (14-1) was originally scheduled to face Nursulton Ruziboev (35-8) at UFC Fight Night 231 on Nov. 4. However, MMA Fighting recently reported that Ruziboev pulled out of the matchup for undisclosed reasons and has been replaced by former Professional Fighters League standout Abusupiyan Magomedov.

Borralho is undefeated in four UFC outings with a submission win over Michal Oleksiejczuk in his most recent walk to the Octagon on April 29. The 30-year-old Brazilian, who has not fought in his native country in nearly three years, will look to put on a showing in front…