Martial Arts News

Nine-time Octagon veteran Joe Solecki is calling it a career. The UFC lightweight announced his retirement in an post via Instagram on Monday. The 31-year-old exits the sport with a 13-6 career mark. The Wenonah, New Jersey, native went 5-4 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

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“Today, after chasing this dream for 10 years, I am officially retiring from the sport of MMA,” Solecki wrote.

“I started this endeavor as a kid with a dream of making it to the UFC. It then grew into so many more goals and dreams, some of which I achieved and others where I fell short. In a way, despite falling short at times (especially this past year), I ‘lived my movie.’ Competing at the highest level in the UFC and grinding it out on the regional circuit to make it to the top have taught me more life lessons and things about myself, hard work, and determination than I ever could’ve imagined. This avenue in life has helped me grow in so many ways as a ma…

Miesha Tate will return to action in a bantamweight bout against Yana Santos on May 3.

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Tate initially revealed the pairing in a post on Instagram, and it was subsequently confirmed by Santos. The UFC has not formally announced the fight. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to take place in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I’ve still got what it takes and if you doubt me, please stick around. Mark your calendars,” Tate wrote.

A former Strikeforce and UFC bantamweight queen, Tate hasn’t competed since defeating the recently-retired Julia Avila via third-round submission at UFC on ESPN 52 in December 2023. “Cupcake” initially retired following a loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 in November 2016, but she returned to action in 2021. Tate has fought sporadically since then, posting a 2-2 mark within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Santos, meanwhile, snapped a three-bout skid in her last outing, when she outpointed Chelsea Chandler at UFC on ESPN 61 t…

Conor McGregor is living up to his vow to challenge the ruling that went against him in a civil lawsuit late last year.

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According to a report from BBC, McGregor filed an appeal of the verdict that found him civilly liable for sexual assault against Nikita Hand in Irish courts this past Friday.

In November, the Dublin High Court found that McGregor sexually assaulted Hand in 2018 and ordered the former two-division UFC champion to pay more than $250,000 in damages. Because it was a civil trial, McGregor did not face criminal charges in the case. He denied the sexual assault accusations during the trial and after the verdict, claiming that it was a consensual encounter.

“People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes,” McGregor wrote in a since-deleted post on social media. “Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love…

[embedded content] The Professional Fighters League has business to conduct beyond the introduction of its new World Tournament format in 2025. Francis Ngannou, the most important fighter on the company’s roster, could take his combat sports career in a variety of directions, with a host of options available to him.

Ngannou ranks as the top attraction for the PFL and also serves as the chairman of PFL Africa, enhancing his long-term importance to the organization. With the PFL looking to find success and build new stars through its international leagues across the globe, Ngannou will have a significant impact—inside and outside the cage. “The Predator” made his long-awaited promotional debut at PFL “Battle of the Giants,” where he punched out Renan Ferreira in the first round of their Oct. 19 pay-per-view headliner. It afforded Ferreira, a rising star within the company, the opportunity to challenge one of the biggest names in the sport and drew plenty of attention.

A…

It was a big deal for Youssef Zalal to share the Octagon with Calvin Kattar.

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So much so that Zalal even needed a little reminder from his coach that he belonged in the cage with the accomplished featherweight before their fight in the UFC Vegas 102 co-main event in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“I don’t think people realize how much pressure I put on myself in every single fight. I remember coach telling me before I walked out: ‘He’s just a face, remove the name.’ I’m still learning that,” Zalal said at the post-fight press conference. “I’m a fan of this sport, No. 1. Also, sometimes I go in there and forgot that I am that good. I am that exciting, I am that guy.”

Zalal relied on speed and mobility to cruise to a unanimous decision triumph over Kattar in their clash, earning his fourth consecutive UFC triumph — and seventh victory in a row overall. An accurate jab and solid leg kicks were the weapons of choice for “The Moroccan Devil” as he rac…

Belal Muhammad says he would never fight Islam Makhachev, and would rather move up to 185 and let Islam fight for the 170 title

“I think 185 is probably the easiest weight class, besides Khamzat. Bro, Strickland and Du Plessis suck.”

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🎥 @barstoolchicagopic.twitter.com/uwAKNSVHtk — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 16, 2025

Belal Muhammad would rather move up in weight than fight Islam Makhachev.

Like many UFC champs, Muhammad and Makhachev have recently expressed double-champ aspirations. However, Makhachev’s primary hindrance is Muhammad, as he is a good friend and training partner of the welterweight champ.

Muhammad also recently clarified that he isn’t willing to welcome Makhachev to welterweight under any circumstance. Muhammad would rather move up to middleweight and let the lightweight champ climb to 170 pounds. While Makhachev has defended his lightweight strap four times, Muhammad is yet to defend h…

A matchup of women’s bantamweights has been added to UFC 315.

Nora Cornolle (8-2) and Hailey Cowan (7-3) will trade leather at UFC 315 on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The matchup was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

Both Cornolle and Cowan will attempt to return to the win column after losses in their previous outings. Cornolle looked to avenge a loss in her pro debut against Jacqueline Cavalcanti when they met in a rematch at UFC Paris in September 2024. However, the Frenchwoman dropped a split decision against Cavalcanti, the only opponent to beat her. That snapped an eight-fight winning streak for Cornolle, who had been victorious in her first two UFC outings.

Meanwhile, Cowan earned her UFC contract with a split-decision win over Claudia Leite on Dana White's Contender Series in 2022. “All Hail” suffered a unanimous decision loss against Jamey-Lyn Horth in her UFC debut in 2023. She has since seen bookings against Zarah Fai…

Even at 40 years old, Jared Cannonier isn’t here to be a steppingstone in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.

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He proved that on Saturday night, when he rallied for a fourth-round technical knockout victory against Gregory Rodrigues in the UFC Vegas 102 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Rodrigues entered the bout having won five of his last six Octagon appearances, but “The Killa Gorilla” denied the Brazilian’s entry into the upper echelon of the division.

Cannonier balked at the notion that he was settling into a gatekeeper role at this point in his MMA career.

“I don’t think anybody’s put that tag on me. It’s just when I was doing all these interviews, the way I was answering the questions it sounded as if I was a gatekeeper,” Cannonier said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Because you guys kept saying ‘you’re fighting this up and comer, you’re fighting a second up and comer, you’re fighting another up…

Anthony Smith is expected to make his final walk to the Octagon against Mingyang Zhang at UFC Kansas City.

Multiple outlets confirmed the light heavyweight booking following an initial report from Kangzif on social media. The UFC Fight Night event takes place on April 26 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Kansas, and also includes a middleweight scrap between Michel Pereira and Abusupiyan Magomedov. A headliner has not been announced for the event.

Smith is coming off a 1-2 campaign in 2024. He began the year with a first-round submission of Vitor Petrino but then dropped back-to-back fights against Roman Dolidze and Dominick Reyes. After a second-round TKO loss to Reyes at UFC 310, the former 205-pound title challenger revealed that he would like to have one more Octagon appearance before calling it a career.

The 26-year-old Zhang will enter the matchup on an 11-bout professional winning streak. The Chinese standout has kicked off his UFC tenure with …

Alex Pereira recently had an emotional reunion with a fan.

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Pereira initially met Ashton during a visit to a cancer treatement center in Australia in June 2024. Ashton was battling cancer and expected to lose his hair due to the treatments. An avid Pereira fan, Ashton asked his idol to shave his hair, and the UFC champ obliged with tears in his eyes.

However, the story seemingly has a fairytale ending, as Pereira was much happier when he reunited with Ashton during a recent trip to Australia. While he had to once leave muay thai practice to battle cancer, Ashton confirmed that he is now three months cancer-free. While “Poatan” is a two-division UFC champ, the Brazilian hailed Ashton as a real fighter.

“I’m here with Ashton,” Pereira said in a video on Instagram. “I don’t know if you remember, about a year ago or so I came to Australia… I cut his hair at the institute of cancer here in Australia. It was something very emotional, very heavy fo…

Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t think Dagestani fighters are unbeatable, and he has the recent proof to back up that assertion.

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Dvalishvili is the only fighter to have beaten a Dagestani in a major title fight in recent times. After winning the UFC bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 last year, Dvalishvili was initially loathe to immediately defend his title against Umar Nurmagomedov. “The Machine” claimed that the undefeated Dagestani was being gifted a title shot because of the legacy of his cousin, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

However, Dvalishvili eventually agreed to the matchup, which took place in the co-main event at UFC 311 in California last month. While Nurmagomedov didn’t lack in skills, Dvalishvili’s legendary cardio was enough to hand the challenger his first pro loss.

Dvalishvili has subsequently refuted the popular aura of invincibility surrounding Dagestani fighters. While he admits that the region has produced great athlet…

Yaroslav Amosov will return from a lengthy hiatus to square off against Curtis Millender at Fightality “Legacy Revival” on March 14.

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The promotion recently announced the pairing on social media. Fightality “Legacy Revival” takes place at Compass Arena in Willowbrook, Illinois. It’s expected to be a potential showcase for Amosov before moving on to the UFC.

Amosov hasn’t competed since relinquishing the Bellator MMA welterweight strap to Jason Jackson in a third-round knockout loss in November 2023 — his first setback in 28 professional appearances. “Dynamo” did not compete at all once Bellator resumed operations under Professional Fighters League ownership last year. Amosov owns notable wins over the likes of Logan Storley (twice), Douglas Lima, Ed Ruth and Erick Silva.

Millender is a well-traveled veteran who has enjoyed stints in the UFC, Bellator and PFL. He is coming off an 0-2 campaign in 2024 that saw him suffer first-round defeats at…