Martial Arts News

After Sean Strickland’s shocking win over Israel Adesanya last month, Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick is plotting yet another massive upset.

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Francis Ngannou left his previous gym, The MMA Factory in Paris, in 2020 for Xtreme Couture after his loss to Stipe Miocic in their first encounter. “The Predator” would go on to become UFC heavyweight champion under Nicksick’s tutelage.

Ngannou left the UFC earlier this year after failed contract negotiations and is now scheduled to fight heavyweight boxing champ Tyson Fury in a crossover match on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If the Cameroonian can beat arguably the greatest heavyweight pugilist of all time in his boxing debut, it certainly would go down in the history books.

Nicksick believes Ngannou has a fair shot. Nicksick noted how Deontay Wilder scored an almost fight-ending knockdown over “The Gypsy King” in their first encounter. According to the Xtreme Couture coach, it is unorthodox sty…

Francisco Trinaldo is looking to venture into bare knuckle boxing following his release from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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The UFC parted ways with the former welterweight competitor after a decision loss against Randy Brown in October 2022. “Massaranduba” racked up a 18-8 promotional record over the course of a decade with wins over the likes of Paul Felder, Jim Miller and Bobby Green.

Trinaldo is now looking to dip his foot into bare knuckle boxing and wants to make his debut against Mike Perry, who is arguably one of the biggest draws in the sport today. Perry has made quite a name for himself in recent times under the the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) banner with wins over the likes of Luke Rockhold and Michael Page.

Trinaldo claims he wanted to fight Perry during their UFC days but “Platinum” was always handpicking his opponents.

“I can’t want to beat up this a—hole. I’m sure I can go to BKFC and put a beating on …

Renzo Gracie revealed that he loaned his Abu Dhabi apartment to Paulo Costa and his team ahead of UFC 294.

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“He was using four rooms in a local hotel with his team, and I told him to stay in my apartment,” Gracie said.

Gracie also told Sherdog.com that Costa recently underwent surgery for an injury on his elbow but guaranteed that the Brazilian’s fight with Khamzat Chimaev would still proceed as planned.

“Costa had a little problem on his elbow that required a small surgery,” Gracie said. “But everything is fine now, and later this week he is returning to the normal training. ‘Borrachinha’ brought an excellent team of [sparring partners] to help him there. [Eric] Albarracin brought two wrestlers from Uzbequistan.”

Shortly thereafter, Albarracin sent a message to Sherdog.com correcting Gracie on the nationalities of Costa’s training partners.

“Actually we brought wrestlers from Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan,” Albarracin wrote…

Going into enemy territory to reclaim the lightweight title wasn’t Charles Oliveira’s first choice.

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Oliveira will challenge Islam Makhachev for the 155-pound belt at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's annual event in Abu Dhabi next month. However, UFC 294 on Oct. 21 isn’t the first time Oliveira and Makhachev will meet at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

The Brazilian was on an 11-fight win streak and the uncrowned champ of the 155-pound division when Makhachev submitted him almost exactly a year prior at the same venue. Even back then, Oliveira had openly voiced his displeasure at having to go to Abu Dhabi, which Makhachev’s mentor and teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov famously labeled “our territory.”

The Brazilian also doesn’t think it's “necessarily fair” that the rematch is taking place in Abu Dhabi. However, having been in the fight game for a long time, "do Bronx" understands his position as a challenger well.

“I don’t necessarily thi…

Aljo has a message for the bantamweight champ 🗣️ #POLARIS25 pic.twitter.com/fUyJ9oY3rh

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) September 30, 2023

Aljamain Sterling took the opportunity to demand a rematch against Sean O’Malley after winning a grappling match at Polaris 25 in Wales on Saturday.

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“Funk Master” picked up a decision win over Mike Grundy in a 10-minute match to return to the win column after losing his Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title to O’Malley last month.

“Sugar” floored Sterling in the second frame, ultimately securing a technical knockout victory in their UFC 292 headliner clash on Aug. 19. This also opened up the title picture for Sterling’s close friend and training partner, Merab Dvalishvili, who had avoided fighting for the strap during his friend’s title reign. “The Machine” has since clarified that he will only fight for the title next, even if he must wait for Sterling to get a rematch.…

Alex Pereira has seemingly moved on from the Ultimate Fighting Championship's middleweight division for good.  

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Pereira was just three fights and a year into his stint with the promotion when he secured a middleweight title shot against Israel Adesanya. “Poatan” won the strap, lost it in a rematch, moved up to light heavyweight and is now slated to make another gold bid — all within the span of another 12 months.  

As Pereira goes into his UFC 295 clash against Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light heavyweight belt, the Brazilian seems to have moved on from the prospect of competing for the middleweight strap down the line.  

The former two-division kickboxing champion recently shared that he has no plans of cutting back down to 185 pounds, especially with the recent change in the title picture.  

“Poatan” would have considered a trilogy clash against former champ and long-time rival Adesanya, who w…

A tough fight until the final bell!

[ @FiteTV PPV https://t.co/eEpfmslhPp ] pic.twitter.com/oLif6Jre3Z

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) October 1, 2023 Grappling specialist Alan Yamaniha outworked 23-year veteran Hideo Tokoro to take a unanimous decision victory in Sunday’s bantamweight main event at Rizin Fighting Federation Landmark Vol. 6 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.

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Yamaniha (20-10-4, 4-2 Rizin) took advantage of an early mistake from Tokoro (35-33-1, 3-5 Rizin), who slipped while attempting a stomp and gave up his back in the process. Yamaniha maintained back control for the rest of the round, and then continued his dominance in Round 2 by hurting Tokoro with a punching flurry and following up with elbows to Tokoro’s face after taking him down.

Tokoro’s best success came during the final five minutes. While working from Yamaniha’s guard, Tokoro used body punches to set up a tight shoulder choke that had Yamaniha in s…

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Bobby Green appears to have zero doubt regarding the winner of a potential fight between him and National Basketball Association superstar LeBron James.  

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The 5-foot-10 lightweight is scheduled to take on Grant Dawson in the UFC Fight Night 229 headliner on Saturday.  

Nicknamed “King,” Green recently found out that his opponent’s nickname “KGD” stands for “King Grant Dawson.” That prompted Green to issue a challenge to Dawson.  

“There can only be one King,” Green said in an interview with TMZ Sports. “I just found out that Grant Dawson's fight name is ‘KGD.’ There can only be one king. Let's go find out. The other one's going to get his head cut off!” 

Of course, the most famous athlete to use the “King” moniker is James, the star forward for the Los Angeles Lakers. Although speaking in good humor, Green is confident regarding the outcome of a potential scrap against the NBA’s all-time l…

HOLY 🤬! DOUMBE WITH THE FINISH IN SECONDS!#PFLParis🇫🇷 EN EXCLUSIVITE sur RMC Sport🇪🇺 INTERNATIONALLY LIVE on DAZN pic.twitter.com/UTRWWAF9qL

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) September 30, 2023

Cedric Doumbe raised the bar for himself, perhaps exponentially.

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The former Glory champion dazzled in his Professional Fighters League debut, as he punched out Jordan Zebo in the first round of their PFL Europe 3 headliner on Saturday at Zenith Paris La Villette in Paris. Zebo (4-1, 0-1 PFL) crashed and burned just nine seconds into Round 1, a ripple of shock-and-awe electricity rippling through the crowd.

Doumbe (5-0, 1-0 PFL) caught a head kick, countered with a leg kick and sent a blazing left hook crashing into his opponent’s face. Zebo collapsed and ate a right hook on his way down to the mat. A few hammerfists followed before referee Marc Goddard could arrive on the scene.

In the co-main event, former Brave Combat Federatio…

Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweights Jonathan Pearce and Joanderson Brito are reportedly set to face off at UFC Fight Night 232, scheduled for Nov. 18 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. News of the pairing broke on Friday and was first reported by MMA Junkie.

Currently on a five-fight winning streak, Pearce (14-4) will look to continue his winning ways as he returns to the Octagon following his decision victory over Darren Elkins in December 2022.

While Pearce was slated to face Bryce Mitchell at UFC 288 after his win over Elkins, the Fight Ready product suffered an ACL, PCL and meniscus tear leading up to the match, ultimately causing his exit from the card.

Brito (15-3) is coming off an impressive Round 1 knockout over Westin Wilson back in July. The Brazilian is on a three-fight winning streak with all wins coming via finish in the first frame.

Stamp Dance x “Fast Forward” 💃🎵

Tune in to Prime Video NOW to catch the rest of ONE Fight Night 14!#ONEFightNight14 | 🔴 Live Now🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch live on Prime 👉 https://t.co/Il4tPmkSbR🌍 Live TV broadcast in 190+ countries (check local listings)🌍 Also available on… pic.twitter.com/37YUIYrsl3

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 30, 2023 Stamp Fairtex picked up One Championship's atomweight mixed martial arts world championship in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 14.

The fight was preceded by an announcement from Angela Lee that she was retiring from mixed martial arts and relinquishing the atomweight title. Fairtex had a stern test in Seo Hee Ham, who withstood many thudding kicks early on. However, Ham would knock Fairtex down with a counter punch and make a statement in the second frame. Fairtex would strike back in a major way in the third frame as a right hand to the body would stun Ham, and follow-up punches to the body and…

Sherdog's live ONE Fight Night 14 coverage kicks off Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 Lightweights get the party started, as the unbeaten Cooper (2-0, 0-0 ONE) makes his promotional debut opposite Maurice Abevi (6-1, 0-1 ONE) at 170 pounds. Abevi finds himself on the rebound following his first professional setback—a unanimous decision loss to Halil Amir in April. Mohamad Sulaiman draws the officiating assignment. Abevi paws with his jab and tries to use his length and reach to his advantage. Cooper closes the distance with a powerful right hand, shoots on a takedown and briefly capitalizes on a failed flying submission attempt from his counterpart. Cooper clinches, then dives on a single-leg but cannot get it to the floor. Abevi fires front kicks to the body, drifts into open space and once again zeroes in on the midsection with some sharp shin-to-skin contact. Abevi sticks the Hawaiian with a straight right, forces him onto the back foot and denies another takedown. Cooper lan…