Martial Arts News

HEAVY SHOTS FROM Waldo Cortes-Acosta 🫣 #UFCSingapore pic.twitter.com/ruoBvIgmKB

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 26, 2023 After two straight first-round finishes, there was no way heavyweight bruiser Waldo Cortes-Acosta was gonna break the steak. "Salsa Boy" (10-1, 3-1 UFC) closed out the UFC Fight Night 225 prelims in devastating fashion with a first-round knockout of Poland’s Lukasz Brzeski.

Out of the five finishes on the prelims, Acosta’s may have been the most violent. With just over two minutes left in the round, Acosta parried Brzeski’s jab and made him pay dearly with an overhand right carrying the entirety of his 264-pound frame. Brzeski’s legs stopped, dropped and rolled until he finally face-planted in his own corner. Brzeski, a former DWCS product, has lost his first three fights in the UFC.

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Armfield Steamrolls Kazama Garrett Armfield steamrolled Toshiomi Kazama to secure his first UFC win in bantamweight actio…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses following the UFC Fight Night 225 card.

As expected, the fight of the night was a no-brainer as Max Holloway and Chan Sung Jung put on a thrilling fight in front of the fans. "Korean Zombie" was knocked out in the third round and retired after the fight, which saw Holloway land some incredible punches, including a right hook that ended the career of the fan-favorite South Korean fighter. Both men earned an extra $50,000 as a result.

The two Performance of the Night bonuses went to two impressive knockout artists. Michal Oleksiejczuk earned one for his comeback TKO win over Chidi Njokuani. "Hussar" picked up the finish at the 4:16 mark of Round 1. Finally, Junior Tafa needed just 1:24 to finish Parker Porter. While it took 18 seconds longer than his brother Justin Tafa, "The Juggernaut" was just as impressive, blasting Porter with a number of elbows and punches that put away the heavyweigh…

According to her coach, top Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Mayra Bueno Silva should be ready to return to competition sooner than later.

On July 15, Silva secured the biggest win of her pro career by submitting Holly Holm with a ninja choke in their main event of UFC on ESPN 49. However, the Brazilian announced in August that she had failed her post-fight drug test, breaking the news before it spread from other sources. Silva claimed that she did not intentionally violate the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency ban on the substance, later determined to be ritalinic acid, a stimulant also known as Ritalin or Concerta. She stated that she took the prescribed medication to treat her ADHD, and that she stopped taking it a week before the fight to let it clear out of her system.

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Sherdog spoke to Silva’s coach at American Top Team, Marcos da Matta, more famously known as “Parrumpinha,” who discussed her situation. Da Matta thanked the UFC for working with…

The grizzled Ultimate Fighting Championship vet known as “The Damage” is not finished yet.

Darren Elkins (27-11) revealed on Thursday on his Instagram page that he will be competing on Oct. 14. His first pairing of 2023 will come at the featherweight division, where he will battle it out with T.J. Brown (17-10) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Both men are coming off losses, having dropped two of their last three.

The ultra-durable Elkins split his 2022 campaign with a win over Tristan Connelly followed by a December decision loss to Jonathan Pearce. The 17-10 record in the Octagon for the Team Alpha Male product is the exact same as the entire professional record for his opponent. Since joining the roster over 13 years ago, “The Damage” has secured wins over names like Dennis Bermudez, Mirsad Bektic, Michael Johnson and Hatsu Hioki, to name a few.

Brown cannot currently celebrate a winning record in the UFC, as his three victories are opposed by four defeats. M…

A Ultimate Fighting Championship fight previously booked between Chris Curtis and Anthony Hernandez has completely transformed.

On Wednesday, Hernandez announced that he had suffered an injury during training, and that he has been forced out of the Noche UFC event in September. At one time, middleweights Curtis and Hernandez were set to square off, but Curtis also sustained an injury that knocked him out of the pairing. Roman Kopylov (11-2) tagged in to face Hernandez, and now Josh Fremd (11-4) will be taking Hernandez’ place. Fremd confirmed his short-notice appearance on Instagram on Wednesday.

Fremd appeared earlier in August to snag a decision over Jamie Pickett, and in the process put himself on a win streak in the Octagon. In March, Fremd snapped a two-bout skid by tapping out Sedriques Dumas in the second round. Before then, Fremd unsuccessfully debuted in the promotion against Hernandez in April 2022, and Tresean Gore put him to sleep with a guillotine cho…

Clay Collard had to earn his first Professional Fighters League Championship appearance the hard way.

In a surefire “Fight of the Year” contender, Collard held off a hard-charging Shane Burgos to win a closely-contesting unanimous decision triumph in the PFL 9 headliner at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on Wednesday night. All three cageside judges submitted tallies in favor of Collard: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28. The UFC veteran will advance to face defending PFL champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier in the lightweight final on Nov. 24.

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Collard (24-10, 6-2 PFL) set the tone early, utilizing his trademark volume punching to the head and body to rack up a lead on the scorecards. He backed Burgos (16-5, 1-2 PFL) into the fence with a left hook-right hand combination in the opening stanza and sat his foe down with a left hook in Round 2. The Team Tiger Schulmann product was undeterred, however. He targeted Collard with inside low kicks throughou…

The 2023 Professional Fighters League Playoff semifinals wrap up on Wednesday in New York City at PFL 9. The undercard airs live on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the main card starting on ESPN at 9 p.m. Round 1 Featherweight Grimard and featherweight-plus Caldone, who came in heavy for the bout, open up the card under the watchful eye of Keith Peterson. Caldone is southpaw, Grimard orthodox. Grimard goes for a single-leg off a kick immediately, but can’t complete the takedown. Caldone stings Grimard with a jab. Grimard ducks under and shoots a double-leg, running Caldone to the fence. Caldone grabs a front headlock to defend and after a few moments of jockeying, manages to stand Grimard up. They return to the center of the cage. Caldone lands a push kick up the middle. Grimard drops for another takedown and pushes Caldone to the fence once again. Caldone reverses him, shoves him off and throws a flurry of punches. A big right hand gets through, dropping Grimard. Caldone poun…

Sergio Batarelli, the creator of International Vale Tudo Championship (IVC), an event that showcased MMA legends such as Wanderlei Silva and Pedro Rizzo in the 1990s, is starting a new promotion.

Batarelli revealed to Sherdog.com that MMA Fight Sport will hold its debut event in Qatar later in 2023. According to Batarelli, it will be a tournament with qualification matches leading to a "knockout" stage, with a total prize of $1 million in cash per category. In addition, there will be different rules and weight categories, to be announced soon.

"It will be a cage-style event, with weekly editions starting from November 2023 and a pay-per-view event every three months,” Batarelli said. “Anyone who holds or has an official title can send us their information.

Interested competitors can send their fight information via email to [email protected].

#COLLISION6 | NOV. 4 | RICO VS. OSARO

Register for the presale now at https://t.co/mtc7jeFgDP pic.twitter.com/DZIw51XNp1

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) August 23, 2023

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Rico Verhoeven will square off against Tariq Osaro in a heavyweight championship unification bout at Glory Collision 6 on Nov. 4.

The kickboxing promotion announced the pairing on Wednesday. Glory Collision 6 takes place at the GelreDome in Arnhem, Netherlands, and will be available to view on GloryFights.com.

After a knee injury derailed Verhoeven’s return to action earlier this year, the “King of Kickboxing” will fight under the Glory banner for the first time since a fourth-round TKO win against Jamal Ben Saddik on Oct. 23, 2021. That marked Verhoeven’s 10th successful defense of the Glory heavyweight crown. The Dutchman is undefeated in his last 16 bouts overall, a streak that goes back nearly a decade.

Osaro, meanwhile, is coming off a k…

𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑹𝑶𝑨𝑫𝑺 Lead To 11.24.23

Washington DC. Get Ready. The #PFLWorldChampionship is 𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑮 🏆💰 pic.twitter.com/npeuRSetk9

— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 23, 2023

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Professional Fighters League has a location and venue for its premier event.

The organization announced on Wednesday that the 2023 PFL Championships will take place at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 24. The event will see fighters from six different weight classes vying for titles and $1 million apiece. It was also announced that Celsius Essential Energy drink will be the presenting partner for the event, a sponsorship that includes branding on all championship athlete fight kits.

“We are thrilled to announce the 2023 PFL World Championship is coming to the nation’s capital, at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. to host the richest night in MMA on Friday, November 24,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “The PFL World Championship presented by our great partners at Ce…

Zachary Reese thrives on the quick finish.

The undefeated War Training Center prospect was one of three competitors to earn an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he disposed of Eli Aronov with an armbar in the first round of their middleweight headliner on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Reese (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) brought it to a close 74 seconds into Round 1.

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Faced with a six-inch height and five-inch reach deficits, Aronov (6-1, 0-1 DWCS) unleashed a multi-punch burst, tripped his adversary to the floor and pressed his advantages with ground-and-pound. Reese kept his composure, isolated the Israeli’s right arm and drew him deeper into his guard before activating his hips to force the tapout.

Reese has stopped all six of his opponents inside one round.

Featherweight Luis Pajuelo and welterweight Oban Elliott completed the latest crop of UFC signees, bringing the season total to 13.

C…

Sherdog's live coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 3 will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Round 1 Jacob Montalvo will oversee the first fight of the evening. Ring begins things with an outside leg kick. Ring sticks a jab, and then Pajuelo makes him stumble with a heavy leg kick. Ring catches a low kick and counters with an overhand. Ring backs up his foe with a combination and then follows him into the fence with a knee. Pajuelo waves him on and they trade more punches. Ring is throwing combinations well early. Pajuelo walks forward and trades with Ring. It’s a firefight early, but Pajuelo buckles Ring with a clean straight shot, who shoots out of desperation. Pajuelo punches the ribs of his opponent but then gets his ankle caught, allowing Ring to land the takedown. Pajuelo scoots to the fence and works his way to a knee. The Pervuian punches the ribs as Ring works to get him back down. Pajuelo stands and lands a knee in close. They separate and get back to trading. Pajuelo works the…