Martial Arts News

Sean Strickland once again stands alone at the top of the mountain.

The Xtreme Couture mainstay reclaimed the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown, as he dethroned Khamzat Chimaev by five-round split decision in the UFC 328 main event on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. All three members of the assigned judiciary scored it 48-47: Sue Sanidad for Chimaev, Eric Colon and Sal D’Amato for Strickland. The disdain and vitriol the two men had shown toward one another in the lead up to the fight was nowhere to be found once the cage door closed behind them.

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Chimaev (15-1, 9-1 UFC) dominated the first round, where he completed two takedowns, attached himself to the challenger’s back, briefly achieved full mount and threatened the neck in the waning seconds. However, he emerged for Round 2 in a diminished state for reasons unknown. Strickland (31-7, 18-7 UFC) denied his bids for takedowns, racked up points with …

Sherdog's live UFC 328 coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Ochoa (-180), Carpenter (+150)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Susurkaev (-625), Santos (+455)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTI…

Another unsuspecting victim wandered into Ateba Abega Gautier’s blast radius.

The burgeoning Manchester Top Team star revved his engines inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division and punched out Osman Diaz in the second round of their featured UFC 328 prelim on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Diaz (10-4, 1-2 UFC) bowed out 70 seconds into Round 2.

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Gautier (11-1, 5-0 UFC)—now on an impressive 10-fight tear—peppered the onetime Legacy Fighting Alliance titleholder with leg kicks, right uppercuts and one-twos to the head and body. He countered a jab from Diaz with devastating consequences early in the second round. Gautier floored the Cobra Team rep with an overhand right and moved in for the kill just as referee Gary Copeland stepped in to call for the stoppage.

Meanwhile, former Bellator MMA champion Yaroslav Amosov dispatched Joel Alvarez with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their welte…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is headed to the Sooner State for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Saturday that a UFC Fight Night event will be held on July 18 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. No bouts were confirmed for the card, which will air in its entirety on Paramount+.

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“We are honored to host the first UFC event in Oklahoma in nearly 10 years,” said Paycom Center general manager Chris Semrau in a release. “The community has been asking for this kind of event for years, and we’re very excited to finally bring the highest level of MMA back to Oklahoma City. This will surely be one of the major events of the summer for the region.”Memory LaneThe promotion hasn’t been to Oklahoma City since June 25, 2017, when Kevin Lee scored a controversial first-round submission of Michael Chiesa at UFC Fight Night 112.

The upcoming event will be the UFC’s third visit to Oklahoma City overall. …

Most Valuable Promotions’ first MMA card has taken a hit one week before the event.

The promotion on Saturday announced that Muhammad Mokaev has been pulled from his proposed bout against Adriano Moraes due to “visa delays.” As a result, Phumi Nkuta will step in and face Moraes in a 130-pound catchweight matchup.

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Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" takes place on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and is headlined by a five-round, featherweight clash pitting Ronda Rousey against Gina Carano. The main card airs on Netflix beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The prelims, which include Moraes vs. Nkuta, kick off at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on MVP’s YouTube channel.Unbeaten and Experienced A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Nkuta will take an 11-0 professional mark into the showdown against Moraes. The 30-year-old known as “Turbo” last appeared at Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat 34 on March 27, when he took a unanimous verdict over Namiki Kawahara…

Justin Gaethje believes he has faced a tougher opponent than Ilia Topuria. 

Gaethje (27-5) will try to unify the title against the champion Topuria (17-0) at UFC White House on June 14. Topuria is currently on murderous streak with knockouts over Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira. However, Gaethje has made a career out of fighting lightweight legends. Gaethje believes he has faced a tougher opponent than Topuria in Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, Gaethje gives Topuria his flowers for his knockout streak.

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“I think he is my second toughest test ever, next to Khabib,” Gaethje said at the UFC White House press conference. “But yeah, those three knockouts: Volkanovski, Holloway, Oliveira — legendary. So it’s just gonna make this win that much more spectacular.” Putting It All on the Line Gaethje was also the interim champion when he made his first title bid against Nurmagomedov in 2020, suffering a second-round submission lo…

Conor McGregor believes fighters are still trying to copy him on the mic. 

While there have been others like Chael Sonnen before McGregor, “Notorious” undoubtedly took the sport to new heights with his mic skills, which were backed up by his performances inside the Octagon. Many fighters have since realized the importance of mic skills and have been trying to capitalize on them. 

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UFC Freedom 250 is a one-of-a-kind card scheduled for June 14 at the White House. A pre-fight press conference for the card was held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday, ahead of the UFC 328 ceremonial weigh-ins. The card features UFC’s latest trash-talking sensation, Josh Hokit, against Derrick Lewis. Hokit didn’t miss his chance in the limelight, going all out against Lewis, Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria. McGregor saw multiple “spin-offs” of himself at the Freedom Fights 250 press conference.The Sincerest Form of Flattery “McG spin offs all…

Steve Erceg is eyeing two very stylistically different opponents for his next fight. 

Erceg is coming off a unanimous decision win over Tim Elliott at UFC Perth earlier this month. “Astro Boy” has been watching suggestions about his next potential opponents. Amir Albazi and Brandon Royval are two of the most suggested names for Erceg, which makes sense to the Australian. Erceg notes that Albazi and Royval are two stylistically different matchups but he is willing to face either.

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Ready and Willing “I have watching and looking up posts of who people think I should fight,” Erceg told heavywgtMMA. “Two that were brought up were Amir Albazi and Brandon Royval. I think they are both coming off losses but they are ranked ahead of me. So I think it would be a good time to meet either one of them. They are obviously two very different fighters. Meet up and let’s have a crash.”  

Erceg (14-4) went on a three-fight slump starting with his failed…

Cody Garbrandt edged Long Xiao at UFC 326. | Getty/UFC

A bantamweight pairing has been added to UFC 329 that has all the makings of a potential banger. 

Cody Garbrandt will face Adrian Yanez at UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. MMAFighting.com was first to report the bout.

Back in the Win Column Garbrandt (15-7) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Long Xiao in a bout he was essentially losing. The scorecards turned in favor of Garbrandt as Xiao was penalized with two points due to three low blows. The win saw Garbrandt rebound from losses to Deiveson Figueiredo and Raoni Barcelos. 

Meanwhile, Yanez (17-6) fought Ricky Simon to a majority draw this past March. Yanez has only won once in his past five outings, a knockout victory over Vinicius Salvador in 2024. 

Kangjie Zhu won’t face Ramon Taveras at UFC Macau. 

Zhu and Taveras were set to trade leather in a featherweight tilt at UFC Fight Night 277 on May 30 at the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China. However, Taveras is now out of the booking due to unknown reasons. Taveras will be replaced by Rodrigo Vera, who steps in on three weeks’ notice. Vera’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, was first to announce the new booking.

Riding a five-fight winning streak, Kangjie (21-4) makes his debut in his homeland after winning the Road to UFC Season 3 featherweight tournament last year. Meanwhile, fellow debutant Vera (21-1) is also making waves on the regional circuit. The Peruvian is undefeated in 13 straight bouts since 2020. 

Prospects Collide

🚨 We’re very pleased & excited to announce that #TeamIridium’s @rodrigovera3 (21-1-1) is taking his talents to the @ufc & will make his highly anticipated Octagon premiere at #UFCMacau 📃🖊 #…

Ultimate Fighting Championship head Dana White had few answers for his actions a couple years ago.

At a New Year’s Eve celebration in Mexico at the end of 2022, White was filmed slapping his wife in the midst of a physical altercation. As seen in the video, he appeared to grab wife, Anne, by the wrist, and she struck him in the face. He responded by slapping her back, before others intervened. White received no public punishment from his organization, and no charges were filed.

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White and his wife both explained later that alcohol played a factor into tensions escalating between them, resulting in them slapping one another. After regularly declaring that “there is never an excuse for a man to put his hands on a woman,” he did so and did not receive any notable consequences. White suggested that the stigma of him doing so was his punishment, that he would always been known as a man who struck his wife.Rules for thee, not for me Appearing on a recent e…

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Conor McGregor is coming back soon.

Ultimate Fighting Championship star McGregor has often been a subject for discussion since his last fight in July 2021 when Dustin Poirier broke his leg in their trilogy match. Regularly injecting himself into championship conversations, keeping himself in the news by floating things like vying for the middleweight belt, he has been regularly asked about by fans and media members alike.

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On Thursday, UFC chief Dana White appeared on “The Jim Rome Show,” where he spoke about McGregor’s future with the promotion. White explained upfront that the relationship between McGregor and the company is indeed in a good place. He further noted that the comeback for the Irishman, who will turn 38 in July, is in the works. McGregor himself often posts photos and videos of his training to get in shape for his next match.The cure for the summertime bluesIf what White says comes to fruition…