Martial Arts News

🚨BREAKING NEWS 🚨

The Boss just announced main events for:🇺🇸 #UFCNashville - August 5🇸🇬 #UFCSingapore - August 26🇫🇷 #UFCParis - September 2 pic.twitter.com/MueA05dT71

— UFC (@ufc) June 15, 2023 A potential top contender at the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division may emerge at night’s end.

Via the UFC on Thursday, its comeback to Paris on Sept. 2 has been made official. There is currently one fight scheduled for this UFC Fight Night card's lineup, which was just announced between Ciryl Gane (11-2) and Sergey Spivak (16-3). The two heavyweights will battle it out for upwards of five rounds in front of fans at the Accor Arena. This will be the second jaunt for the UFC to France, as it first made the trip with a Gane-featured show on September 2022.

In March, Gane vied for the newly vacated heavyweight throne, and he faced off against former light heavyweight king Jon Jones. After about two minutes, Jones throttled Ga…

🚨BREAKING NEWS 🚨

The Boss just announced main events for:🇺🇸 #UFCNashville - August 5🇸🇬 #UFCSingapore - August 26🇫🇷 #UFCParis - September 2 pic.twitter.com/MueA05dT71

— UFC (@ufc) June 15, 2023 An all-action Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight scrap will treat fans atop the August event in Singapore.

On Thursday, the UFC announced the main attraction of its next show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Aug. 26. While only one other fight is currently on the books for the UFC Fight Night event on that date – a bantamweight matchup between Rinya Nakamura and Fernando Garcia – the marquee fight will come at featherweight between former champ Max Holloway (24-7) and perennial contender Chan Sung Jung (17-7). Additionally, the company stated that the Road to UFC semifinals events would be going down on Aug. 27 in the same building, to set the stage for the finals of that contract-earning tourney.

Other than to cha…

Dana White with some BIG fight announcements...

Aug 5: #UFCNashville – Cory Sandhagen vs Umar NurmagomedovAug 26: #UFCSingapore – Max Holloway vs Korean ZombieSept 2: #UFCParis – Ciryl Gane vs Sergei Spivak pic.twitter.com/JOEVBX5aIB

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) June 15, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship has formalized its return to Music City on the first weekend of August.

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According to the promotion on Thursday, the UFC will be returning to Tennessee on Aug. 5. The fight card, currently an unnumbered Fight Night show due to the uncertainty of its broadcasting destination, will be headlined by a bantamweight barnburner between Cory Sandhagen (16-4) and Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0). This will be the UFC’s first event in Nashville since UFC Fight Night 148 in March 2019, which saw Anthony Pettis take on Stephen Thompson. It will be held inside of the Bridgestone Arena.

Sandhagen is currently riding high after two vic…

This haircut is 2-0 in ufc even without appearing in the octagon. Another opponent doesn’t want to take his chance and pulled out 🤦🏻‍♂️ 😡 pic.twitter.com/kwvoFIsx2i

— Zhalgas Zhumagulov (@ZhakoZhumagulov) June 15, 2023 Editor's note: The article has been updated on 6:15 p.m. ET to reflect the change in event for Zhumagulov.

The latest Ultimate Fighting Championship card has just experienced a few shake-ups the day before weigh-ins.

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On Thursday, a pair of matchups at UFC on ESPN 47 – the fight card that will take place inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on June 17 – changed. The first, the news came courtesy of the promotion itself, which announced that Miles Johns suffered an injury and is out of his bantamweight battle with Raoni Barcelos. The fight has subsequently been pulled from the lineup.

Johns, who declared he suffered an injury on Wednesday night during training, posted on social media shortly after word sp…

⚖️Heavyweight Main Event bout is official!Ante Delija: 251 lbsMaurice Greene: 255.4 lbs

[Fri, June 16th | 6:30ET on ESPN+ | 10pm ET on ESPN | #PFLRegularSeason] pic.twitter.com/rYv8rsHQDQ

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 15, 2023 The heavyweight and women's featherweight divisions will get the spotlight at PFL 5.

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A heavyweight clash between Ante Delija and Maurice Greene will headline the latest Professional Fighters League event. All fighters on the card made weight except for Evelyn Martins, who came in at 147 pounds. As a result, she'll be deducted a point in the playoff standings and will forfeit 20% of her purse to opponent Marina Mokhnatkina.

Delija weighed 251 pounds and enters the main event contest at 23-5. The Croatian is on a four-fight win streak and defeated Matheus Scheffel in the 2022 PFL Championships. Meanwhile, Greene (11-7) weighed 255.4 pounds and is 1-1 inside the promotion. After losing to Denis Goltsov in…

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 2:40 p.m. ET to add a statement from the UFC. It was edited again at 3:10 p.m. ET to reflect a statement from the Miami Heat.

Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor and his team have denied the allegations.

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According to TMZ on Thursday, a woman represented by attorney Ariel Mitchell penned demand letters claiming that she was raped by McGregor on June 9. McGregor was present at the fourth game of the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat, and he was involved in a halftime skit that sent the Heat’s mascot to the hospital when it went awry. After the game ended, per the letters, a member of McGregor's security team forced the woman into a stadium restroom, and McGregor allegedly assaulted her in it.

TMZ relayed that the letters wrote, “security refused to let [the woman] exit or allow anyone else, including her friend, inside the bathroom.” They then stated that McGregor came o…

𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗖𝗬 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 🔥

An explosive night at the @WintrustArena sees BW champ @SergioPettis defend gold against #P4P No.1️⃣ @PatricioPitbull. Who wins? 👊#Bellator297 LIVE FRIDAY:🇺🇸 @SHOsports at 9pm ET/6PM PT🌍 Find out how to watch ▶️ https://t.co/jPjMHzLhCd pic.twitter.com/ffP1jtUzZF

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 15, 2023 Patricio Freire is officially a bantamweight, and he will try to make MMA history on Friday.

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Headlining the 15-fight Bellator 297 card is a light heavyweight title fight where champion Vadim Nemkov will take on Yoel Romero. Meanwhile, the co-main event will see Patricio Freire attempt to earn a belt in his third weight class as he takes on bantamweight titleholder Sergio Pettis. All four men in championship matchups made weight, as did the rest of the card.

Nemkov (15-2, 1 NC) is coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over Corey Anderson in their rematch. The light heavyweight champion w…

It appears Ultimate Fighting Championship great Jose Aldo is taking his burgeoning boxing career seriously.

Per sources close to the situation, Aldo (0-0-1, 0 KOs) will be entering the ring for the third time as a boxer on Sunday. Aldo will square off against Argentinian Esteban Gabriel Espindola (0-1-1, 0 KOs) at Shooto Boxing 2. The event, held inside of the Upper Arena in Rio de Janeiro, will be kicking off locally at 8 p.m. on July 2 – or 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The former UFC featherweight king, who ended his pro MMA career at 31-8, already has another fight planned after Espindola, as he will be rematching Jeremy Stephens at an undisclosed date. The two fought to a draw on the Gamebred Boxing 4 show in April.

The match will last six rounds, and it will take place at 63.5 kg (139.7 pounds). Aldo’s previous pairing in Shooto Boxing against Emmanuel Zambrona was considered an exhibition, in what was slated to be his professional debut at the time. It is currently uncle…

While Sergio Pettis is the one defending the bantamweight championship at Bellator 297 on Friday, he still seems like the B-side to Patricio Freire in many respects.

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For one, much has been made of Freire’s cut to 135 pounds and his quest to become a title holder in three different divisions. Meanwhile, Pettis has been flying under the radar during an absence that has lasted more than a year and a half due to recovery from a knee injury. “The Phenom” isn’t concerning himself with any of the external chatter, however.

“I’m not worried about this whole narrative of three-time champion or me coming back,” Pettis said during Bellator media day. “I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better in the sport and as a person. This whole narrative is cool for social media, but I’m going to go out there and get the job done. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to win.”

Pettis added that he doesn’t think he will be negatively affected by the layoff.

“I don’t know a…

A light heavyweight bout pitting Carlos Ulberg against Da Woon Jung is on tap for UFC 293.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announced the pairing via social media. UFC 293 takes place on Sept. 9 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia and is also expected to include a flyweight showdown between Viviane Araujo and Casey O’Neill.

Ulberg has won four straight UFC appearances since dropping his Octagon debut against Kennedy Nzechukwu in March 2021. Most recently, the 32-year-old City Kickboxing representative defeated Ihor Potieria via first-round TKO at UFC on ABC 4 on May 13.

Jung, meanwhile, kicked off his promotional tenure by going unbeaten in his first five bouts. The South Korean has since dropped back-to-back fights against Dustin Jacoby at UFC on ABC 3 and to Devin Clark at UFC Fight Night 218.

After a rough stretch earlier in her career that saw her lose three straight fights in Bellator MMA, Amber Leibrock seems to be hitting her stride.

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The 35-year-old Californian made a statement in her Professional Fighters League debut, knocking out 2022 postseason participant Martina Jindrova with a first-round headkick in their PFL 2 bout on April 7. It was the fourth consecutive victory for Leibrock — all inside the distance — and it sets her up for a showdown with Larissa Pacheco at PFL 5 on Friday night at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta.

Leibrock has pinpointed two key reasons for her career turnaround.

“Everyone asks me, ‘How did you go from the skid to where you’re at now?’ I think it’s accountability,” Leibrock said during a PFL virtual media day. “It’s easy in the fight game to blame somebody else or change camps. At the end of the day it’s all within you, so you have to look at yourself. What are you doing? What are you not doing? Ho…

While Denis Goltsov might be one of the most experienced competitors in the PFL heavyweight field, he knows that can be overrated in the big man’s division.

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“Of course it’s nice to have that (experience),” Goltsov said through an interpreter during a PFL virtual media day. “However, in a fight one punch can change the outcome of everything, especially at heavyweight. I just have to do my job and concentrate on getting the win.”

Goltsov will square off against Yorgan De Castro at PFL 5 on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. Goltsov vs. De Castro is currently slated for the preliminary portion of the event.

Golstov is sitting pretty for a postseason birth following a first-round finish of Cezar Ferreira at PFL 3. The 33-year-old Russian is well aware of the challenges his upcoming opponent, a UFC veteran,…