Martial Arts News

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has pleaded guilty to drinking and driving a few weeks before his most recent fight.

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According to a report from the NZ Herald, Adesanya was charged with driving a car in Auckland, New Zealand, with 87 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood on Aug. 19. The legal limit in the country is 50 milligrams.

“I want to apologize to the community, my family and my team for the decision I made to get behind the wheel after drinking at dinner,” Adesanya said in a statement provided to the Herald.“I was pulled over and gave an evidentiary blood test — the reading was 87 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.

“I am disappointed with my decision to drive, It was wrong,” he added. “I know that people might follow me and I want them to know I do not think this behavior is acceptable.”

Adesanya is due for sentencing on Jan. 10. The maximum penalty for the charge is three months in…

Sean Brady will welcome Kelvin Gastelum back to the welterweight division at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Dec. 2.

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The pairing was confirmed by MMAFighting.com after being initially reported on social media by multiple accounts. UFC Fight Night doesn’t have a confirmed location or venue at this time, but the card is also expected to include a middleweight clash pitting Jared Cannonier against Roman Dolidze and a bantamweight showdown between Rob Font and Deiveson Figueiredo.

Brady hasn’t competed since suffering his first career defeat in 16 bouts, a second-round TKO loss against Belal Muhammad at UFC 280 last October. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championships title holder began his promotional tenure with five straight victories, besting the likes of Michael Chiesa, Jake Matthews and Court McGee, among others.

Gastelum was initially supposed to return to 170 pounds against Shavkat Rakhmonov at Noche UFC on Sept. 16, but an in…

Johnny Eblen successfully defended his middleweight title against Fabian Edwards in the main event at Bellator 299 at the 3Arena in Dublin on Saturday.

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Despite being split open and subsequently rocked by Edwards, Eblen turned the tide with a huge right hand in Round 3 and followed it up with some vicious ground-and-pound to record a knockout victory, extending his perfect record to 14-0.

Fueled by the bad blood they shared in the lead-up, Eblen took the chance to speak his mind while towering above his fallen opponent. This prompted Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title holder Leon Edwards to come to his brother Fabian’s defense, leading to a heated exchange of words with Eblen.

However, Eblen doesn’t have any serious bad blood with “Rocky” and claims to have “squashed the beef” backstage. The Bellator middleweight champ is even rooting for Edwards in the UFC champ’s upcoming title defense against Colby Covington at UFC 296.

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Mateusz Gamrot and Rafael Fiziev headlined UFC Fight Night 228 on Saturday in a highly-anticipated clash of lightweight contenders.

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After mostly feeling each other out in the opening frame, Fiziev dropped to the ground in agony after throwing a right kick which was blocked by Gamrot. As a result, “Gamer” was awarded the technical knockout victory due to injury.

Replay revealed that it was Fiziev’s left knee which gruesomely popped while throwing the kick, bringing the fight to an anticlimactic end early in Round 2. While it definitely isn’t the victory he had imagined, Gamrot noted that he made a conscious effort to defend Fiziev’s kicks.

“Of course, this was not what I would like,” Gamrot said in his post-fight interview. “To be honest, when I prepared for this fight, my goal was that my defense would be stronger than his kick. I prepared very good defense in my gym. I wish a quick recovery for Rafael. A win is a win. I wi…

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Bryce Mitchell survived an early scare and went on to secure a unanimous decision against Dan Ige in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 228 on Saturday.

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Despite being busted up near his right eye, which caused the cageside doctor to interrupt the fight twice, “Thug Nasty” showed immense grit in edging out the victory. Known for his polarizing ideas on a variety of topics, Mitchell launched into a bizarre rant on the Hawaii firestorm in his post-fight Octagon interview. Mitchell pledged $5,000 to victims of the tragedy through Ige, who was born in California but calls Haleiwa on Oahu's North Shore home.

However, “Thug Nasty,” while giving credit to Ige’s performance, also opined that the fires were a man-made attempt to drive native Hawaiians out of their land.

“He’s the hardest hitter I’ve ever fought. I didn’t expect him to be so fast and move so well. And his grappling defense is so good too,” Mitchell said of Ige. “I b…

Surging welterweight prospect Ian Garry will get another test when he locks horns with Vicente Luque at UFC 296.

UFC CEO Dana White announced the booking via social media on Sunday. UFC 296 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight title tilt between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight belt against Brandon Royval.

A former Cage Warriors champion, the 25-year-old Garry is undefeated in 13 professional appearances — including his first six in UFC competition. In his last outing, the Kill Cliff FC-trained Irishman outpointed welterweight veteran Neil Magny at UFC 292 on Aug. 19.

Luque is a veteran of 20 UFC bouts, and he is second all-time with 13 finishes at 170 pounds. “The Silent Assassin” snapped a two-fight losing streak in his most recent Octagon appearance, as he took a five-round verdict against Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC on ESPN 51 headliner on A…

Masanori Kanehara could now be next in line for the title!

[ #RIZIN44 | @FiteTV PPV https://t.co/eEpfmslhPp] pic.twitter.com/bkgOy5zj2W

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) September 24, 2023 Rizin 44 concluded with a shocking upset in Sunday’s featherweight main event in Saitama, Japan.

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Masanori Kanehara (29-12-1, 4-1 Rizin), who has enjoyed a career resurgence since joining the Rizin ranks in 2020, bested former featherweight champ Kleber Koike Erbst (31-7-1, 1 NC, 6-2, 1 NC Rizin) at his own game en route to a lopsided unanimous decision win.

Kanehara stunned Koike with the first punch of the fight and he continued to have success on the feet until Koike scored a takedown and trapped him in a guillotine choke. Kanehara freed his neck and spent the remainder of the round punching from Koike’s guard. In the second stanza, Kanehara took Koike down and tried to finish the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace with an arm-triangle choke…

Mateusz Gamrot was awarded a technical knockout when Rafael Fiziev suffered an apparent knee injury in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 228 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Referee Herb Dean called for the stoppage 2:03 into Round 2—an unfortunate ending to what was shaping up as a compelling strategic battle between two of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s premier lightweights.

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Fiziev (12-3, 6-3 UFC) inched ahead in a competitive first round, where he leaned on multi-strike bursts, bulletproof takedown defense and a heavy focus on the body with punches and kicks. Gamrot (23-2, 6-2 UFC) completed a takedown to start Round 2, only to have those efforts negated soon after. Fiziev scrambled to his feet and moved to the safety of open space. The Kill Cliff Fight Club collapsed after throwing a body kick—his left knee buckled as he pivoted—and turtled in noticeable distress, clearly unable to continue.

American Top Team…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 228 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Vidal (-238), Rendon (+195)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Inoue (-298), Goldy (+240)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: U…

Miles Johns had more horsepower when it mattered most.

The Marathon MMA rep took another step forward in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division with a unanimous decision over fellow former Legacy Fighting Alliance titleholder Dan Argueta in the featured UFC Fight Night 228 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

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Argueta (9-2, 1-2 UFC) had his moments, including a first-round exchange that saw him climb to the back and threaten with a rear-naked choke. Even so, Johns (14-2, 5-2 UFC) stayed calm under fire and slowly but surely turned the tide with concussive multi-punch bursts and savage inside kicks to the lower leg. Argueta never stopped moving forward but increasingly wandered into his opponent’s heavy hands. By the time it was over, he had suffered considerable damage to his eye and was bleeding heavily from the nose.

Johns has won four of his past five bouts.

Meanwhile, former…

MAJOR pressure from Marina Rodriguez for the stoppage 💪 #UFCVegas79 pic.twitter.com/vYaYZYATGS

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 24, 2023

Marina Rodriguez earned an extra $50,000 for her beatdown of Michelle Waterson-Gomez at UFC Fight Night 228.

The Brazilian muay thai specialist battered her foe with brutal knees and elbows in the clinch, eventually forcing a stoppage at the 2:42 mark of Round 2. As a result of the effort, Rodriguez received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Elsewhere, Charles Jourdain pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his quick submission victory against Ricardo Ramos in a featured featherweight pairing. The Canadian got the better of a wild scramble on the canvas, locked in a guillotine choke and forced Ramos to tap at the 3:12 mark of Round 1.

Finally, Tim Means and Andre Fialho earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their preliminary welterweight scrap. B…

Things got heated after the bell between @JohnnyEblen and Leon Edwards. #Bellator299 LIVE on @SHOsports 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/s1XK2zJ1B0

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) September 23, 2023

Tensions were high in the immediate aftermath of the Bellator 299 headliner.

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Johnny Eblen and Leon Edwards exchanged some heated words after Eblen defended his middleweight crown with a third-round knockout of the UFC welterweight champion’s younger brother, Fabian Edwards, on Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin.

The incident appeared to be triggered by Eblen’s reaction to the stoppage, as he hovered over his opponent and shouted at him. That prompted Leon Edwards to make his way toward the Bellator champion, but security was able to keep the two fighters apart as they yelled at one another.

Things calmed down after a brief period, as Eblen approached the opposing corner and shook hands with Leon and Fabian. Eblen is now unbeaten in 14 pro…