Martial Arts News

Thrilled to announce that the court in the UFC case has certified the class of mma fighters. We look forward to demonstrating our allegations that the UFC has abused its market power to suppress fighter pay before a jury in Las Vegas. The fight for fighter justice continues!

— Eric Cramer (@CramerEcramer) August 9, 2023 The antitrust case against the Ultimate Fighting Championship is moving forward in a big way.

First reported by Bloody Elbow on Wednesday, federal Judge Richard F. Boulware has granted class certification to the plaintiffs of the antitrust suit against the UFC. The lawsuit was first filed in late 2014, and it will now be considered a class action suit, which allows over 1,200 fighters to sue the UFC together. The class will encompass all fighters that competed for Zuffa from Dec. 16, 2010 to June 30, 2017. This specific “bout class” was certified, and not the “identity class,” opening the door for a case that will likely procee…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship may have secured the services of a fan-favorite heavyweight for the remainder of his career.

On Wednesday, UFC executives spoke to the media about a number of issues. One specific topic was raised, in regards to the recent free agency announcement of Derrick Lewis (27-11, 1 NC). The promotion confirmed he had been re-signed during the scrum, and the terms were announced early Thursday morning by The Mac Life. While the dollar amount was not disclosed, the UFC and Lewis agreed to an eight-bout contract. This is far from the first long-term deal the UFC has issued to fighters towards the end of their careers, as names such as Anderson Silva, Jon Jones and Michelle Waterson all signed similar contracts of this duration.

Lewis last appeared in the Octagon in July, where he was slotted up to the main card on short notice. Facing Marcos Rogerio de Lima, Lewis smashed his foe in 33 seconds and dramatically concluded his career-long three-fig…

🚨 #PFLPARIS 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗 🚨

🇫🇷 5 French Athletes on the card⚔️ Headlined by @CedricDoumbe vs @Jordan_Zebo👑 @LazyKingMMA PFL debut🏆 @PFLEurope Playoffs semifinals🌍 12 European Nations represented🎟 New limited wave of tickets released!!!

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Follow… pic.twitter.com/HeWeA78R6g — PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) August 10, 2023 The Professional Fighters League has established its playoff event for its European tournament.

On Thursday, the organization released the 12-bout lineup of its PFL Europe 3: 2023 Playoffs event. The four weight classes of light heavyweight, lightweight, bantamweight and women’s flyweight will find their finalists at night’s end on Sept. 30. Eight bouts in those four weight categories will sort out the top two competitors from each in Paris. Headlining the fight card will be the highly anticipated debut of French kickboxer Cedric Doumbe (4-0), who will be taking on fellow unbeaten countryman Jordan Zebo (4-0…

[embedded content] A whole 34 fighters hit the scales ahead of the upcoming Bellator MMA fight card, and just one could not make their proper marks.

Former Bellator MMA interim welterweight champion Logan Storley will face off against a fan-favorite in Brennan Ward atop Bellator 298 on Saturday. Both contenders successfully made weight for their five-round affair, and the lone offender who has been fined a percentage of her purse was Diana Avsaragova (127.2). The unbeaten Russian woman clocked in 1.2 pounds over the flyweight limit ahead of her match with Justine Kish (125.6), and the bout will otherwise proceed as scheduled.

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Storley (14-2) is looking to rebound from a failed unification bid against Yaroslav Amosov, who has defeated “Storm” twice – and is the only man to beat Storley to date. Prior to the setback, Storley scored wins over Michael Page and Neiman Gracie. For his first main event in Bellator in front of his home state crowd in South Da…

UFC 292 has taken another hit, as Geoff Neal has withdrawn from a proposed clash against Ian Garry on Aug. 19.

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Garry posted a video of his reaction to Neal’s exit from the card on social media. Undisclosed health issues are reportedly the reason for Neal’s withdrawal.

On Wednesday evening, MMAjunkie.com reported that Neil Magny will replace Neil and face Garry at UFC 292. The 36-year-old Magny is coming off a split-decision triumph against Philip Rowe at UFC on ABC 5 on June 24. Magny is 21-9 in UFC competition overall and is the promotion's all-time wins leader at welterweight.

Garry is regarded as one of the top prospects at 170 pounds. The Irishman is undefeated in 12 professional outings -- including five in the UFC. He last appeared at UFC on ABC 4, where he scored a first-round TKO of Daniel Rodriguez.

UFC 292 takes place at the TD Garden in Boston and is headlined by a bantamweight championship tilt pitting Aljamain Sterling aga…

#Bellator300 takes place on Oct. 7 at @PechangaArenaSD with FOUR world title fights!! pic.twitter.com/yWzYfj0pog

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) August 9, 2023

Bellator MMA is planning an extravaganza for its 300th event.

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The California-based promotion announced on Wednesday that Bellator 300 will feature four championship bouts at the top of the bill: Ryan Bader vs. Linton Vassell at heavyweight; Cristiane Justino vs. Cat Zingano at featherweight; Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Brent Primus at lightweight and Liz Carmouche vs. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane at flyweight. Nurmagomedov vs. Primus is part of the Bellator lightweight grand prix.

Bellator 300 takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego on Oct. 7. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The undercard, which will be announced soon, streams on the Bellator MMA YouTube channel and Pluto TV. Bader vs. Vassell is slated to be the evening’s headliner.

“When I first …

Claressa Shields still plans on making on impact in mixed martial arts.

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The two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division world champion boxer has re-signed with Professional Fighters League, the organization announced on Wednesday. According to a release, Shields expects to return to the PFL sometime in 2024. Terms of the multi-year contract were not disclosed, though Shields called it a “great, seven-figure deal” in a video message on social media.

“My goal remains unchanged; I will be the first athlete to hold championships in both boxing and MMA simultaneously,” Shields said. “I have grown so much since my first MMA fight and cannot wait to put my skills on display.”

Shields fought twice under the PFL banner in 2021. After scoring a third-round technical knockout win against Brittney Elkin in her pro debut, she dropped a split verdict to Abigail Montes in October 2021. Since then, “T-Rex” has gone 3-0 in boxing, most recently earning …

When proposed UFC 291 opponent Michel Pereira missed weight by three pounds, Stephen Thompson made a business decision and elected not to take the fight.

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“This isn’t the first time I’ve had an opponent miss weight and given how that played out previously, myself and my team ultimately felt that it’s not smart for us to move forward with the fight,” Thompson wrote as part of a lenghty statement on social media.

“Wonderboy” later went on "The MMA Hour” and revealed that though he hadn’t been paid his show money for the event, he expected that “the UFC is going to do right by me.” It appears there may be different perspectives on what “doing right” actually means.

At the Contender Series post-fight press conference on Tuesday night, UFC president addressed the Thompson situation.

“Guys just don’t get paid to not fight, that’s not how that works,” White said. “We’ve taken care of guys. If you come in and you’re making short money, we take care …

While Conor McGregor recently indicated that UFC was ready to move on from Michael Chandler as a potential opponent, Dana White says that’s not the case.

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McGregor and Chandler have served as opposing coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 31,” and the two are supposed to square off at the conclusion of the season. However, McGregor has yet to enter the USADA drug testing pool, which has put the status of his return in question.

“I talked to Conor, either yesterday or the day before, and yeah, he’s ready to fight,” White said at post-fight press conference for the Contender Series on Tuesday night. “I said, ‘Listen, get in shape and let’s figure this out.’”

After Justin Gaethje defeated Dustin Poirier in the UFC 291 headliner on July 29, McGregor called out the new BMF champion. In a since-deleted tweet, the Irish star claimed that the promotion might be interested in booking him against an opponent other than Chandler.

“I’ll do it if they wan…

Tom Nolan did not disappoint.

The undefeated Team Compton Training Centre prospect was one of five hopefuls to book spots on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster during Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he put away Bogdan Grad with punches in the first round of their lightweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Grad (11-2, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 1:23 into Round 1, suffering his first loss since Sept. 25, 2020.

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Nolan (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) offered the Ettl Brothers MMA export no opportunity to operate. The 6-foot-3 Australian floored Grad with a surgical straight left, jumped in top position, shed an attempted armbar and applied his ground-and-pound before he returned to his feet. Nolan flurried again soon after and slammed a concussive left hook into his opponent’s jaw. Grad crashed to the canvas in a dazed state and ate a follow-up standing-to-ground left before referee Kerry Hatley could arrive on the scene. Middle…

Sherdog's live DWCS 2023 Week 1 coverage will begin Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. Round 1 Chris Tognoni will oversee the first Contender Series bout of the new season. Dias opens up with a lead leg kick. He targets the lead leg two more ties while feinting and moving, but it’s Borjas that lands a right hand. Borjas rips the body in an exchange. Dias just misses a big overhand right. The Brazilian pressures and lands a takedown near the fence. Dias laces Borjas’ legs as the Peruvian posts with his right arm. Dias peppers the ribs with left hands in the meantime. It’s early, but Dias already has a mouse under his eye. Borjas frees his legs and stands, but Dias maintains a body lock. He pulls Borjas down to his seat, but Borjas uses a wizzer to stand while landing a few rapid-fire punches. Dias still hasn’t broken his grip, however, and he presses Borjas into the fence. Dias knees the thighs from this position before spinning Borjas off the cage and onto the mat. Dias applies heavy sho…

BREAKING: Sydney, your #UFC293 main event is official!! 🚨🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/D2t7xTy8Ns

— UFC (@ufc) August 8, 2023

Israel Adesanya’s next middleweight title defense will not come against the opponent many initially anticipated.

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UFC president Dana White announced on Tuesday that Adesanya will face Sean Strickland in the UFC 293 main event in Sydney, Australia on Sept. 9. Three other fights were confirmed for the card: Alexander Volkov vs. Taia Tuivasa at heavyweight; Kaia Kara-France vs. Manel Kape at flyweight and Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa at heavyweight.

“This will be Adesanya’s 11th consecutive title fight. What I love about Israel is he’s always ready to take on the best in the world — anyone, anytime,” White said. “And Strickland is an absolute maniac who doesn’t back down from anyone. This will be a great fight.”

Adesanya was supposed to face top middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis, as indicated by th…