Martial Arts News

Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson will have their trilogy in a slightly different combat sports arena.

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The former UFC champions will meet at 170 pounds in the headliner of Karate Combat 43 on Dec. 15 at the Expo at World Trade Market in Las Vegas. The promotion confirmed the pairing following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

Pettis owns a 2-0 mark against Henderson under MMA rules. The two lightweights closed out the World Extreme Cagefighting era in December 2010, when Pettis took a five-round verdict over Henderson in a bout that saw him unveil his “Showtime Kick.” They squared off again at UFC 164 in August 2013, when Pettis claimed the lightweight belt with a first-round submission victory.

More recently, Pettis went 1-4 under the Professional Fighters League banner from 2021 to 2022. He then tried his hand at the Sweet Science, earning a majority decision victory against Roy Jones Jr. at Gamebred Boxing 4 this past April.

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Following an emotional session at the UFC 294 press-conference, there was plenty of concern for Alexander Volkanovski’s mental well-being.

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With his first-round knockout loss to Islam Makhachev a few more days in the rearview mirror, Volkanovski addressed his mindset in a video on his YouTube channel. The UFC’s reigning featherweight champion admitted that the defeat weighed heavily on him, but he also made it clear that he’s in a good place mentally overall.

“So straight after the fight, I did the post-fight press conference and I want people to understand that, yeah, there was a raw emotion seen, but I want everyone to know that I’m OK,” Volkanovski said. “I think that people have to remember that I did just come off getting tagged, knocked out. I lost. I knew that legacy wise and all that, all those things start coming into play, so that was obviously hurting me.”

In the immediate aftermath of the loss, Volkanovski lobbied …

.@UFC and Anheuser-Busch (@AnheuserBusch) announce multiyear partnership.

More information on the new partnership : https://t.co/UskNcHo80d

— UFC News (@UFCNews) October 24, 2023

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After a bit of a hiatus, the Bud Light logo will once again grace the Octagon for Ultimate Fighting Championship events.

According to broadcast partner ESPN, the UFC has signed a new partnership with Anheuser-Busch to make Bud Light the official beer of the promotion. While it is reportedly the biggest sponsorship deal in UFC history, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The multi-year contract begins on Jan. 1. The UFC and Anheuser-Busch were previously partners until 2017, when the company switched to Modelo as its official beer.

"Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were UFC's original beer sponsors more than fifteen years ago," UFC CEO Dana White said in a release. "I'm proud to announce we are back in business together. There …

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The best and brightest of the mixed martial arts world will be recognized at the Fighters Only World MMA Awards on Dec. 14.

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The 15th iteration of the event will take place at the SAHARA Las Vegas with a host of fighters, industry executives, personalities and other notables on hand. The World MMA Awards will recognize the achievements and performances of people in the sport during the period beginning July 2022 and ending June 2023.

Categories include Fighter of the Year, Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, Upset of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Submission of the Year, Gym of the Year, Promotion of the Year and many more. Sherdog.com is among the candidates for MMA Media Source of the Year, which is “awarded to the leading source of news, fight reviews and features.”

“This year the awards celebrate a special 15-year anniversary,” said host Rob Hewitt in a release. “The sport has come a long way during that time and this is r…

Islam Makhachev is only one successful title defense from tying the UFC’s all-time record at lightweight.

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The American Kickboxing Academy product authored his second successful defense at UFC 294 with a first-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The lightweight record of three championship defenses is currently held by Khabib Nurmagomedov, B.J. Penn, Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson.

With an upcoming itinerary that likely includes fights against Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, Makhachev could suprass that record as early as 2024 if all goes well.

“He keeps doing what he’s doing, you’ve just got to keep grinding, knocking them down one by one and it will eventually happen,” UFC CEO Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“The truth is when you look at Khabib — and nothing against Khabib, Khabib came in and won the title and defended it — but this kid could go on a defense r…

This bout has been called to a stop.

Victor Henry is unable to continue after an unintentional foul and the fight has been ruled a no contest #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/UWhaeyzMFu

— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2023

While the cageside doctor may have been skeptical, Victor Henry was in agony after absorbing an inadvertent low blow from Javid Basharat at UFC 294.

Ultimately, Henry was unable to continue following the foul, and the bantamweight bout was ruled a no contest 15 seconds into Round 2. Henry, who was reportedly vomiting back stage and went to the hospital after the fight, gave a positive update on his condition via social media on Monday.

“A little update for you guys: doctors said no permanent damage to my pills but I’m gonna walk a little funny for a couple days,” Henry wrote. “Swelling has gone down a significant amount after sleeping with ice on my smooth criminals, which isn’t very easy to do.

“For those of you cal…

Jake Paul won’t be rematching Nate Diaz in the squared circle, but according to his team, the YouTube personality has agreed to face the Stockton, Calif., native under the Professional Fighters League banner.

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Diaz recently hinted that a boxing rematch with Paul was in the works by sharing a fight poster on social media. While Paul recently announced his next fight is set for Dec. 15, an opponent has not been confirmed.

“For the record: Jake Paul will not be boxing Nate Diaz again,” read a statement from Most Valuable Promotions. “Nate Diaz and Jake Paul have received an offer from [the PFL] to rematch in MMA in the SmartCage. Jake Paul has accepted the offer.”

For the record: Jake Paul will not be boxing Nate Diaz again.

Nate Diaz and Jake Paul have received an offer from @PFLMMA to rematch in MMA in the SmartCage. Jake Paul has accepted the offer.

— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) October 23, 2023…

Islam Makhachev was proud to showcase another element to his game in the UFC 294 headliner.

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The reigning lightweight champion retained his title with a first-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in their rematch at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Makhachev hurt his foe with a head kick and finished the job with follow-up punches at the 3:06 mark of Round 1. It was a far cry from their first meeting: a hard-fought unanimous decision win for Makhachev at UFC 294 in February.

“My coaches have told me I have a good head kick. I always try to land the kick when I fight,” Makhachev said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “For an opponent like Volkanovski, who’s a little bit shorter, it’s the best plan to land some kicks. When you have short opponent, it’s easy to land. I show him low kick, body kick and show him head kick. This is the plan.

“(I was) really happy to finish him (in the ) first round,” he added. “If it happened in cha…

Before Kamaru Usman stepped up, the opportunity was supposed to belong to Jared Cannonier.

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In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Cannonier revealed that he was offered the fight against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294, but an injury suffered shortly thereafter prevented him from accepting the bout. Ultimately, Chimaev defeated Usman via majority decision in Saturday’s co-main event in Abu Dhabi.

“I got the call to step in to fight Chimaev,” Cannonier said. “But unfortunately, before I could tell my manager to tell the UFC yes, I had injured myself. So I wasn’t able to take that fight on 10 days. They called me on the 10th. They called me, offered me that fight – before they offered it to Usman, they offered it to me. So it would have been me. It could have easily been me.”

Cannonier has won four of his last five UFC appearances, a run that includes a split-decision triumph over current middleweight champion Sean Strickland. That would have m…

Well, it looks like @SStricklandMMA is ready for a matchup with Khamzat! #UFC294

Didn’t hold back and we wouldn’t expect him to. #ExtraRounds from the @PBR Teams Championship. pic.twitter.com/uuQPRVkOzD

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) October 22, 2023

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As one might expect, Sean Strickland is quite outspoken on the subject of the UFC middleweight division’s new No. 1 contender.

Khamzat Chimaev made his 185-pound debut at UFC 294, where he defeated ex-welterweight king Kamaru Usman in Saturday’s co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Even though he hasn’t beaten anyone in the middleweight rankings, the victory was presumably enough to assure Chimaev of a title shot. At least, that’s what UFC CEO Dana White promised ahead of the fight.

In an interview on the UFC Fight Pass “Extra Rounds” show, Strickland questioned Chimaev’s credentials as a No. 1 contender in his new weight class. Of course, that doesn’t mean…

This bout has been called to a stop.

Victor Henry is unable to continue after an unintentional foul and the fight has been ruled a no contest #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/UWhaeyzMFu

— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2023

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Javid Basharat does not agree with his UFC 294 outing against Victor Henry being ruled a no contest.

On a night that had its fair share of odd outcomes, the bantamweight matchup between Basharat and Henry was the first match to end abruptly.

While Round 1 was quite competitive, Basharat seemed to edge it out in terms of volume and significant strikes landed. As the second round began, Basharat threw an inside leg kick that seemingly landed on Henry's groin, which sent the American crashing to the canvas in agony.

While referee Lukasz Boscacki gave the veteran the entire five minutes to recover, the agony Henry was in rendered him unable to continue. Ultimately, the referee declared the fight a no-contest 15 s…

Khamzat Chimaev might not have been at 100% for the majority of his fight against Kamaru Usman in the UFC 294 co-main event.

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After a dominant opening stanza, Chimaev held on for a hard-fought majority decision triumph over the former welterweight champion at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. After the victory, “Borz” told ESPN that he believes he broke his hand in the opening frame.

"First round, I think I broke my hand and finger," Chimaev said. "I couldn't punch hard with right hand. My right hand is a big weapon. When you can't use it, it's hard to work.”

Chimaev, who was making his 185-pound debut, is expected to receive a title shot against Sean Strickland by virtue of his win over Usman. First, the undefeated fighter will have to make sure his hand is good to go.

"I will check my hand," Chimaev said. "If it's good, I'm gonna try to lift the weights and be ready for the next one."