Martial Arts News

After their first meeting resulted in an unsatisfying conclusion, Edgar Chairez and Daniel da Silva will run it back at UFC Fight Night 230.

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MMAFighting.comwas first to report the flyweight rematch. UFC Fight Night 230 takes place on Oct. 14 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight tilt between Sodiq Yusuff and Edson Barboza.

Chairez and da Silva initially squared off at UFC Fight Night 227. The bout ended prematurely when Chairez locked his opponent in a standing guillotine choke and referee Chris Tognoni waved off the fight, thinking da Silva was unconscious. After video review, it was determined that da Silva was alert and still defending the choke, so the bout was ruled a no contest at the 3:47 mark of Round 1.

Anchored at Mexico-based Entram Gym, Chairez is still looking for his first promotional triumph. He made his Octagon debut this past July, dropping a unanimous decision to Tatsuro Taira at UFC 290.

D…

The 2023 PFL Championships card is now complete with a couple of key additions to the preliminary lineup.

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The organization announced on Wednesday that Bubba Jenkins will square off against Chris Wade in a trilogy bout at featherweight, while Biaggio Ali Walsh will continue his amateur career against Joel Lopez at lightweight. Those two fights are part of the evening’s preliminary card on the ESPN+ prelims. Additionally, Khai Wu will face Phil Caracappa at bantamweight, while Jesse Stirn will meet Josh Blyden at featherweight.

The PFL Championships take place on Nov. 24 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., and features title bouts in six different weight classes along with a showcase featherweight fight pitting Kayla Harrison against Julia Budd. The main card will air via pay-per-view on ESPN+.

Jenkins and Wade are currently 1-1 in their rivalry. Wade defeated Jenkins via unanimous decision in a PFL postseason matchup in August 2021, but “I’m a…

Stipe Miocic will make his return to the Octagon after a hiatus of over two years when he challenges Jon Jones for the heavyweight title at UFC 295. The highly anticipated clash will headline the marquee card set to go down at the Madison Square Garden, New York on Nov. 11.

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Despite having the most title defenses in UFC heavyweight history, Miocic is a massive +340 underdog going into the fight against the -425 favorite “Bones.” However, the Ohio-based firefighter has defied the odds in several of his title fights, like in the rematch against Daniel Cormier and the first clash against Francis Ngannou.

While he is unbothered by the odds, Miocic did issue a warning to bettors about wagering against him.

“It took me a couple fights, but after a while, I just stopped caring what everyone thought,” Miocic told The Fight Guys in an interview for BetOnline. “I just don’t care anymore. You think I’m going to lose? Good for you. You’re going to waste a…

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Valentina Shevchenko (23-4) looked to reclaim the flyweight title from Alexa Grasso (16-3) in the main event at Noche UFC on Sept. 16. However, Grasso retained her strap courtesy of a controversial split draw after five closely-contested rounds. 

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The 47-47 scorecard rendered by judge Mike Bell included a 10-8 fifth round in favor of Grasso, who had controlled only the last 90 seconds of the period. Shevchenko immediately expressed her disagreement with the result, blaming the controversial score on the potential pressure felt by the judges due to the event being held in honor of the Mexican Independence Day. 

Along with a majority of fans and pundits, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White is also in complete disagreement with the 10-8 score and suggested an investigation of Bell. However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has seemingly assured White that Bell is a capable judge and this was an honest mistake.&…

Tyson Fury is set to take on former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in a crossover boxing match on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fellow Brit and UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall will be helping “The Gypsy King” as a training partner going into the bout. 

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Fury is close to Aspinall and has a high opinion UFC heavyweight contender, who is currently 6-1 in the promotion with all of his wins coming by way of submission or technical knockout in Round 1.

“I’m bringing him in as a sparring partner in preparation for a UFC champion. He’s a good fighter, probably could have made it as a pro boxer,” Fury recently told TNT Sports. “I was quite sure he would have gone on and won a world championship. But he had a derailment with his knee, and that fell out. Now he’s had his comeback trail. I think he can do it. He’s big enough, he’s got the power, he’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu.”

Aspinall recently scored a first-ro…

Jared Cannonier (17-6) is at a crucial juncture in his Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

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Currently No. 4 in the middleweight division according to the UFC rankings, Cannonier’s title aspirations have been reignited by Sean Strickland’s recent title win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. 

“The Killa Gorilla” scored a controversial split decision win over Strickland last December, which “Tarzan” contests to this day. Cannonier believes Adesanya’s performance against Strickland doesn’t warrant an immediate rematch and has made his case for the next title shot. 

Cannonier, who was also the backup for the UFC 293 headliner, has now been offered another fight, but he isn’t especially excited about the opportunity.

"They’ve offered me a fight already, and it’s not as tempting as a title fight,” Cannonier told Sportskeeda MMA Originals. “You know what I mean? Hell, it’s not even as tempting as my last fight, to be honest.” 

Th…

Valentina Shevchenko's reaction to Alexa Grasso allegedly throwing illegal knees in 1st round pic.twitter.com/8QAOKD8u6D

— Best MMA Moments (@XcellentMMA) September 17, 2023

Valentina Shevchenko (23-4) failed to reclaim the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title in the main event at UFC Noche as her rematch against Alexa Grasso (16-3) ended in a controversial split draw. However, the 10-8 fifth-round scorecard wasn’t the only controversial bit about the highly anticipated rematch that went down on Sept. 16.

During a scramble in the fourth frame, Grasso sprawled out of a takedown attempt by Shevchenko and landed multiple knees to the head while chasing “Bullet.” Shevchenko immediately protested the knees and later claimed the strikes were illegal as one of her hands was on the mat.

When speaking to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, a Nevada State Athletic Commission Official cleared the air regarding the specifics of the “knees to…

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After the success of lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi and former featherweight title holder Kleber Koike Erbst, another Brazilian-Japanese fighter, middleweight Igor Tanabe (3-0), is quickly gaining a lot of attention in Rizin Fighting Federation. 

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Undefeated in MMA with victories over the experienced Melvin Manhoef and former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Daichi Abe, the 23-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace has his sights set on the Rizin belt. 

“Despite having only had one fight at Rizin, I really like the event. Of course the UFC is a possibility, but I want to be Rizin champion, which even gives me the opportunity to face fighters from other promotions,” said the undefeated prospect in an exclusive interview with Sherdog, referring to the Japanese promotion’s partnership with Bellator.

Tanabe will have a second opportunity to compete in the Japanese promotion on Oct. 1, when he will face Koji Shikuw…

Jingnan Xiong has conquered nearly every challenge set in front of her since winning the inaugural One Championship strawweight title six years ago. With few challengers remaining in her division, the only way for “The Panda” to push herself is to limit her diverse skill set against one of the most dangerous strikers on the planet.

That is exactly what she will have to do when she faces muay thai phenom Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak in a ONE on Prime Video 14 special rules match a on Sept. 29 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The bout prohibits kicks, knees, elbows and grappling but allows all forms of punching techniques. Jaroonsak could pose problems for ONE’s reigning strawweight empress, but Xiong believes her boxing prowess should not be underestimated.

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“I think there will be a different pressure, but I will turn this pressure into motivation,” she told Sherdog.com. “I think pressure is a very good thing and will motivate me to fin…

Sherdog’s coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 7 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 Jason Herzog is the referee for the evening’s first contest at flyweight. I. da Silva opens with a leg kick and J. Silva fires off a left to the body. A left hook connects for J. Silva. I. Silva is aggressive with power punches, but J. Silva answers in turn. A left hook lands for J. Silva. I. da Silva moves in with a left to the body. They trade and J. Silva lands a quick three-punch combination. J. Silva with a left hook to the body, then he jabs the boy and I. da Silva counters with a left. I. da Silva gets J. Silva to the canvas, but his opponent gets up in a hurry. I. da Silva with a mat return and he sets up in full guard for a moment before J. Silva scrambles up. I. da Silva dumps him down again, and he drops a couple elbows. I. da Silva works to a rear body lock as J. Silva stands and he drags him down once more. J. Silva rolls and then scrambles up. Both flyweights land in an exchange. A…

Valentina Shevchenko will need to go under the knife for the hand injury she suffered in the opening round of her championship rematch with Alexa Grasso on Saturday night.

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The former flyweight queen revealed on social media that she has a “communited fracture that requires surgery.” According to MMAFighting.com, Shevchenko will be able to resume contact in approximately three months.

Yesterday got the results on my 1 st round hand injury.Comminuted fracture that requires surgery 💪💪💪

— Valentina Shevchenko (@BulletValentina) September 19, 2023

At the post-fight press conference following UFC Fight Night 227, Shevchenko speculated that she broke her thumb in the opening stanza. Despite that setback, “Bullet” was effective with her jab and grappling in a back-and-forth affair that ultimately ended in a split draw due to a controversial 10-8 scorecard awarded to Grasso in Round 5.

“I broke my thumb in the first round…

Hi everyone. My fight has been cancelled due to a drug test subject to further analysis. I have provided all the necessary information and I hope to have all this sorted out in the coming days so I can fight soon.

Thank you.

— Felipinho Bunes (@BunesFelipinho) June 16, 2023

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Felipe Bunes’ Ultimate Fighting Championship debut will have to wait a little longer.

The flyweight competitor was suspended for six months and fined $326 in legal fees at a Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting on Tuesday after testing positive for the metabolic modulator GW1516 earlier this year. As a result of the positive test, Bunes’ Octagon debut against Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC on ESPN 47 on June 17 was canceled.

Bunes, who will be eligible to return to active competition on Dec. 17, announced the failed drug test on social media shortly after he learned of the results.

A 33-year-old Pitbull Brothers export, Bunes has compiled …