Martial Arts News

When the Tony Ferguson-Paddy Pimblett booking was announced, it raised some eyebrows in the mixed martial arts community.

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Ferguson, a former interim lightweight champion, will enter UFC 296 on a six-bout losing streak. That might be construed as favorable matchmaking for Pimblett, a fighter who has received a strong push from the promotion. However, all of Ferguson’s losses — Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush, Michael Chandler, Nate Diaz and Bobby Green — have come against competition that is more proven than Paddy “The Baddy.” That’s why UFC CEO Dana White thinks the fight is compelling.

“I think a lot of people think that Paddy is unproven, and I think a lot of people feel that Tony isn’t in deep water like he’s been in, in his last several fights. I think the matchmaking and the timing on this fight is excellent and couldn’t be more perfect,” White said at the Contender Series post-fight press conference on Tuesday night.

“I…

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Daniel Cormier will be enshrined in another Hall of Fame in the very near future.

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The former UFC two-division champion will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2024, it was recently announced. Cormier, a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, joins notables such as ex-New Orleans Saints star quarterback Drew Brees and Olympic gold medalist and UFC veteran Kevin Jackson in the nine-person class. The inductees were chosen out of 149 nominees by a 40-member Louisiana Sports Writers Association committee. The date for the ceremony will be announced soon.

Cormier and Jackson are the first amateur wrestlers to be inducted in to the LSHOF. Jackson also coached Cormier for Team USA in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.

“DC” made his name on the mats at Lafayette’s Northside High School, where he compiled a 101-9 record and won three straight state titles. He went on to earn All-American honors at Oklaho…

Who DO YOU have claiming the ONE Interim Women's Atomweight MMA World Championship on September 29 at ONE Fight Night 14?#ONEFightNight14 | Friday at 8PM ET🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch live on Prime 👉 https://t.co/Il4tPmkSbR🌍 Live TV broadcast in 190+ countries (check local listings) pic.twitter.com/eZQsZBT5V5

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 27, 2023 Stamp Fairtex will look to make history as a three-sport world champion when she faces Seo Hee Ham for the interim One Championship women’s atomweight title in the ONE on Prime Video 14 main event on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Having already captured gold in muay thai and kickboxing, Fairtex now sets her sights on mixed martial arts.

Fairtex can draw upon past history, as she fell short in her first bid for an MMA championship. The 25-year-old lost to reigning atomweight titleholder Angela Lee in March 2022 but has since improved her all-around game. With back-to-back …

John Lineker will have his third fight for One Championship this year when he faces Stephen Loman on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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"I´m so glad to have the opportunity to fight three times in a year,” Lineker said ahead of his bout at One on Prime Video 14. “That´s something really important for a family man like myself. To tell you the truth, I came almost straight from the camp against Jae Woong Kim on Aug. 4 to that one against Loman and my body reacted in a excellent manner.”

Lineker spent the last portion of his current camp in Phuket, Thailand. It’s something he plans on making a regular occurence.

"This time I came 15 days before the fight to train here in Thailand and adapt myself better to the time zone. From now on I´ll always do that before my fights in Asia,” Lineker said.

Loman enters the matchup on an 11-fight winning streak. Lineker is expecting a difficult test from his Filipino opponent.

"Loman is a very tough op…

Charles Oliveira’s 11-fight win streak came to end with a lopsided title loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 last year.

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Oliveira looked completely outclassed by the Dagestani and even admitted to refusing an immediate rematch. Having since bounced back with a technical knockout win over Beneil Dariush, “Do Bronx” will look to reclaim his title exactly a year later in the rematch against Makhachev at UFC 294.

Makhachev’s long-time training partner, Usman Nurmagomedov, believes the UFC 294 lightweight title rematch will play out exactly like the first outing. While he does acknowledge the unpredictable nature of the sport, Nurmagomedov doubts Oliveira has anything new to offer to his teammate.

“I think it’s going to be the same thing,” Nurmagomedov recently told ESPN. “Of course,Charles Oliveira – maybe he’s going to fix some mistakes. This is a fight. Something can happen. But I know Islam is training very hard. He’s very smart. He can wrestle…

Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland in a massive upset in the main event at UFC 293 earlier this month.“The Last Stylebender” subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of drunk driving from an incident dating back to Aug. 19.

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The former middleweight champ was returning home with friends after dinner when they encountered a “Random Breath Testing Unit.” Adesanya was 37 milligrams over the legal limit of 50 milligrams and has issued an apology for his misconduct. 

Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White was recently asked to weigh in on Adesanya’s DUI charge and whether it had any role to play in his title loss. White summed it up crisply calling it a “bad decision” while also advising people to use cabs or drivers when drunk, especially if they can afford it easily.

“Bad decisions, man. No matter how many drinks you’ve had – if you drink, don’t drive,” White said at the Contender Series post-fight press co…

After arriving in Abu Dhabi just a week ahead of his UFC 253 title fight against Israel Adesanya, Paulo Costa won’t make the same mistake as he prepares to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

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Renzo Gracie revealed to Sherdog.com that Costa arrived in Abu Dhabi the first week of September, even though his middleweight bout vs. Chimaev isn’t until Oct. 21.

"I was in Abu Dhabi, and I met ‘Borrachinha’ in there with his team split up in four rooms of a local hotel. I told him to stay in my apartment with his staff,” Gracie said in an interview from his academy in New York.

According to Gracie, Costa had the support of two wrestlers from Azerbaijan, coach Eric Albarracin and other three teammates who were helping him with sparring.

"He is having excellent sparring and all the structure necessary. My apartment is above the Cobra MMA Academy, and there is a supermarket very close. So he has all the structure there,” Gracie said. “That’s somethin…

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Danny Barlow shined bright in the spotlight.

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The undefeated Law School MMA export was one of six hopefuls to punch a ticket to the Ultimate Fi…

Sherdog’s coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 8 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 Mark Smith will oversee this bantamweight clash to begin the evening. Oliveira targets the leg of Madrigal early. Madrigal walks forward, but he’s already absorbing heavy kicks to the legs and body. Madrigal shoots but Oliveira shucks him off and fires a straight right. Oliveira ducks under an overhand and connects with a big counter uppercut. Madrigal is undaunted, and he’s still moving forward. A head kick just misses for Madrigal. Oliveira backs his man up with a two-punch combination. Left hands are starting to get through for the Brazilian. A straight right by Oliveira makes Madrigal stumble back to the fence and “Lok Dog” follows up with a flying knee. It doesn’t land clean, but the Brazilian is still chopping away at his foe’s lead leg. Madrigal keeps on moving forward. Oliveira misses a right hand during an exchange in the pocket, but an ensuing left look lands clean to the chin. The bl…

It appears that Mark Hunt’s long legal battle against the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White and Brock Lesnar has reached its conclusion.

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U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey dismissed Hunt’s lawsuit on Tuesday when she determined that the former UFC heavyweight failed to prove the promotion and White booked him against Lesnar while knowing that his opponent was using performance enhancing drugs. Conduct Detrimental writer Jason Morrin first brought word of the dismissal on social media.

Hunt initially filed a civil lawsuit against the trio in 2017. The case was initially dismissed in 2019 but found new life in appeals court in 2021. Dorsey concluded that Hunt did not meet the evidentiary burden on his remaining claims of fraud, battery, aiding-and-abetting battery and civil conspiracy.

“In sum, each of Hunt’s fraud theories requires far too many inferential leaps and ignores too much contrary evidence for a jury to reasonably find…

Julia Polastri is intent on making her mark in the mixed martial arts world.

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Hailing from the Gramacho neighborhood in the municipality of Duque de Caxias, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Polastri has not only captured titles in significant national events but has also become the latest signing for the UFC through Dana White's Contender Series, fulfilling a dream that has been rooted in her heart since the beginning of her career.

Polastri's journey is marked by determination, sacrifice and a passion for MMA. She started her career in muay thai and quickly transitioned to MMA with a clear goal: to fight in the UFC, the largest MMA organization in the world. Over the years, Polastri worked tirelessly to achieve her dream.

Today, Polastri boasts an impressive record of 12-3 in her MMA career. One of those losses occurred in her first appearance on the Contender Series, but she didn't let it deter her. Polastri continued to train diligently, and a…

As many observers feared, Rafael Fiziev suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his UFC Fight Night 228 loss to Mateusz Gamrot.

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The lightweight contender confirmed the injury in a video on social media. Fiziev will likely be out for up to a year during the rehabiliation process.

“I will be back,” Fiziev said. “I’m just sad because I had a very great camp, and I was ready to show my best skills. And I’m sad because it happened only in the second round.

“I can get ready for a loss like that but I’m more than happy, 100 times more happy if it happens in the last round. But I believe I could show in this fight very nice skills. We have plans, but God has different plans. His plan is always the best.”

After a tactical opening round where Fiziev appeared to have gained a slight advantage thanks to his striking and takedown defense, the bout ended at the 2:03 mark of Round 2 when his left knee buckled while throwing a body kick. Th…