Martial Arts News

Sergio Pettis wasn’t exactly the picture of confidence heading into his title defense against Patricio Freire.

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“I thought I was gonna lose this fight. I ain’t gonna lie,” Pettis said at the Bellator 297 post-fight press conference. “I was telling my girl, if I lose to anybody it’s OK to lose to Patricio ‘Pitbull. ‘He’s a legend.”

Pettis then stopped to clarify that statement.

“I didn’t think I was gonna lose. I was just having battles in my mind,” he added. “I was kind of nervous, scared — all of the above. 18 months off of competing. I kind of forgot how all this felt. It’s the opposite of Nate Diaz. I am surprised motherf—ers.”

In his first fight since recovering from knee surgery, Pettis proved the doubters — and himself — wrong in a complete performance, as he confounded Freire with his speed and striking in a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph on Friday night in Chicago. Ultimately, Pettis believes those battles might have helped him …

Shortly after Jared Cannonier outdueled Marvin Vettori in a wildly entertaining slugfest at UFC on ESPN 47, the “The Killa Gorilla” was presented with the prospect of facing Khamzat Chimaev in his next bout.

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While Chimaev is one of the promotion’s fastest rising stars, Cannonier is only interested in such a matchup if the terms make sense for his future goals in the UFC’s middleweight division. After all, Chimaev isn’t really established at 185 pounds, but his future could be in the division after missing weight badly ahead of his last appearance at UFC 279.

“Does that fight get me a title shot? You think so? I don’t know. He’s not even ranked at middleweight, is he?” Cannonier said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I know he’s popular. Everybody wants to see him do his thing and stuff like that. If they called me and said, ‘Hey, Khamzat for contender’s match?’ That’s a yes.

“I’m trying to get to the title. I’m not just fighting to e…

Ante Delija and Larissa Pacheco were two of the five athletes from PFL 5 to earn six-figure paychecks.

The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission released salaries from the event to MMAjunkie.com on Sunday. PFL 5 took place on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta and saw Delija ($100,000) take a unanimous decision over Maurice Greene ($21,000) in the main event, while Pacheco ($100,000) scored a 45-second TKO against Amber Leibrock ($11,000) in the evening’s co-headliner.

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Three other winners from PFL also took home $100,000 paydays: Denis Goltsov, Aspen Ladd and Julia Budd.

Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic commissions do not include any performance-based or discretionary bonuses that may be awarded to a fighter by the promotion. Additionally, the reported figures do not reflect any deductions made by the commission for taxes, insurance, etc., and do not include any sponsorship money that a fighter may acquire for t…

Count Arman Tsarukyan among those who are skeptical that Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor are ever going to square off in the Octagon.

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Tsarukyan called out Chandler following his third-round technical knockout victory against Joaquim Silva in the UFC on ESPN 47 co-main event on Saturday night. The 26-year-old Russian has been victorious in seven of eight UFC appearances since falling to reigning lightweight king Islam Makhachev in his promotional debut.

“If you want to ask me, for sure I want to fight with Michael Chandler,” Tsarukyan said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Because it looks like his fight with Conor McGregor is over. He got to fight with someone, and I am here. I have good win streak and let’s do this fight, because I’m the youngest guy in top 15. He’s the older one. I think for fans it’s good when new generation fights with older generation.”

Hey @MikeChandlerMMA if you think the fight with …

A five round battle between two absolute warriors in tonight's main event 🤜🤛@MarvinVettori & Jared Cannonier take home tonight's FOTN 💰 #UFCVegas75

B2YB @ToyoTires pic.twitter.com/HHlanhXUBC

— UFC (@ufc) June 18, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses following the UFC on ESPN 47 card.

The main event took home fight of the night honors as the middleweight showcase was an early fight of the year contender. Jared Cannonier weathered an early storm to put on an incredible performance against Marvin Vettori, who showed a strong chin and much resilience as the fight continued. Cannonier would ultimately win a unanimous decision win with scores of 49-45, 49-45 and 48-46 in his favor.

Two other fighters earned performance of the night bonuses with impressive knockout wins. First was Alessandro Costa, whose brutal win over Jimmy Flick earned him an extra $50,000. Costa delivered brutal elbo…

Jared Cannonier’s path to the top of the middleweight division just got a little more clear.

The MMA Lab product put forth arguably the finest performance of his career to date, as he battered Marvin Vettori for the better part of five rounds to win a unanimous decision in the UFC on ESPN 47 main event on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges scored the fight for Cannonier: 49-45, 49-45, 48-46. “The Killa Gorilla” has been victorious in four of his last five promotional appearances.

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Initially it appeared as though Vettori (19-7-1, 9-5-1 UFC) would make it a short night at the office when he hurt Cannonier (17-6, 10-6 UFC) with a left hand early in the opening round. While Cannonier recovered from being rocked, Vettori still controlled the stanza behind his boxing. It was all Cannonier from there, however. He took control in Round 2, as he walked “The Italian Dream” down and teed off with numerous powerful right hands. The lop…

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 47 coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Bukauskas (-200), Pauga (+170)Round 1 Welcome to another installment of Dana White’s Saturday Night Contender Series, also known as UFC on ESPN 47 or UFC Vegas 75. This dozen-fight show in the Apex is extremely light on star power, with just three ranked competitors on the whole billing, and two of those are in the main attraction. Starting low in the standings at 205 pounds, either one of these men will reach .500 or pass it with a win today. The latter can be said for Pauga (6-1, 1-1 UFC), while the former is available for Bukauskas (14-5, 2-3 UFC) on his second stint with the promotion. The third man in the cage for the first fight of the night is referee Mark Smith, and the two fighters choose la violencia and proceed without a glove touch. Bukauskas takes the middle of the fence, and Pauga practically runs at his opponent. Swinging his fists wildly, Pauga c…

VICIOUS elbows for the finish for Alessandro Costa 💥 #UFCVegas75 pic.twitter.com/XLksrikZgq

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 18, 2023

Alessandro Costa found a weak point and attacked without remorse.

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The former Lux Fight League champion put together a punishing performance in a technical knockout victory against Jimmy Flick on the UFC on ESPN 47 preliminary card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Costa (13-3, 1-1 UFC) ended the bout with a series of brutal elbows from top position at the 1:03 mark of the second stanza. The Brazilian Warriors export has finished 10 of his 13 professional triumphs inside the distance. Costa laid the foundation for his victory by chopping away at Flick’s left leg, an approach that gradually immobolized the Oklahoman. In between, Costa unloaded with rapid-fire punching volleys to the head and body. Outgunned on the feet, Flick was unable to initiate any takedowns and by the beginni…

Vadim Nemkov added another high-profle name to his resume, as he took a lopsided unanimous verdict against former UFC middleweitht title challenger Yoel Romero in the Bellator 297 main event on Friday night.

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“I’m very happy about this win,” Nemkov said at the Bellator 297 post-fight press conference. “It was very important to me. He’s a great fighter. He’s a legend. He’s an Olympian, so to win over somebody like him who was fighting with a lot of great fighters, top fighters, it means a lot to me.”

Romero absorbed copious amounts of punishment in the bout, but his durability carried him through to the final horn. “The Soldier of God” had his best moment in Round 5, when he was able to take Nemkov down, but other than that the most entertaining portions of the contest occurred when the Cuban feigned being stunned by stumbling around the cage.

Nemkov came away impressed by his opponent’s toughness.

“I was surprised about his head. It’s r…

We told you that tonight could get interesting 👀

The faceoff that you all were waiting for #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/lLonBECFUY

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 17, 2023 It’s probably the closest Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou will get to a confrontation for the foreseeable future.

The heavyweight stars came face-to-face on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. Jones was at the venue to corner training partner Maurice Greene, who lost a decision to Ante Delija in the PFL 5 main event. Ngannou, meanwhile, was on hand after recently signing with PFL as a highly-coveted free agent.

During the interaction, Jones can be heard telling Ngannou, “You don’t want no smoke” but the conversation appeared to be mostly cordial, and the fighters shook hands multiple times. Ngannou parted ways with the UFC earlier this year when he was unable to come to terms with the promotion for a new contract after his existing deal expired. Jones subsequently …

Ante Delija made sure someone would be there to keep him company on the outside looking in when the Professional Fighters League playoffs start in August.

The Mirko Filipovic protégé bounced back from a tepid start to outstrike and outgrapple Maurice Greene to a unanimous decision across three rounds in the PFL 5 headliner on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28 for Delija (24-5, 8-2 PFL).

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Greene (11-8, 1-2 UFC) did his best work in Round 1, where he stalled the Croatian in the clinch, kneed the legs and secured a takedown. Momentum, as it often does, proved fleeting. Delija found his rhythm in the middle stanza, where he engaged his 36-year-old counterpart at close range, fed him a steady diet of power punches and applied merciless pressure. Greene failed to alter the narrative down the stretch. Delija executed a takedown midway through the third round and dialed up just enough ground-and-pound to av…

The best of the best! 🔥

Another phenomenal victory for Vadim Nemkov. Can anyone stop the light-heavyweight king here in Bellator? 🤔#Bellator297 pic.twitter.com/warQbO5UEu

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 17, 2023

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Yoel Romero hoped to turn back the clock and win his first world title, but Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov was having none of it.

The defending champion picked, prodded and peppered Romero with shots for 25 minutes, cruising to another successful title defense (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) in the Bellator 297 main event Friday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Nemkov quickly gained control of the circle and took advantage of Romero’s notorious workrate. At age 46, Romero’s reliance on explosive blitzes and heavy-handed shots failed him early. Nemkov’s (17-2) jab and discipline on the outside carried the champ throughout the fight and routinely opened up Romero’s guard. In round three, Romer…