Martial Arts News

Mario Pinto entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division with a bang.

The undefeated Dana White’s Contender Series graduate punched out Austen Lane in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 253 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. A former Levels Fight League titleholder, Pinto (10-0, 1-0 UFC) drew the curtain 39 seconds into Round 2.

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Lane (13-6, 1-3 UFC) dropped his adversary with a straight right in the first round, but his inability to finish came back to bite him mere minutes later. Early in Round 2, Pinto tagged the American Top Team representative with a left hook and followed it with a devastating overhand right. Lane was unconscious before he hit the canvas. Meanwhile, Elevation Fight Team standout Jose Mariscal climbed another rung on the 145-pound ladder with a unanimous decision over Ricardo Ramos in a three-round featherweight scrap. The surging Mariscal (18-6, 5-0 UFC) swept the cards with 30-…

Merab Dvalishvili says he loves Alexander Volkanovski and doesn’t want to fight him out of respect 🤝

“It’s nothing like I don’t want to take a risk, it’s nothing like I’m scared… I just have so much respect.”

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🎥 @ManoukAkopyan #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/q9ZWMyaQjx — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 28, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili respects Alexander Volkanovski too much to fight him.

Dvalishvili (19-4) is currently looking for fresh contenders to defend his bantamweight title against. Former featherweight champ Volkanovski (26-4) is not a name that excites “The Machine.” While Dvalishvili claims he isn’t ducking the matchup, he respects “The Great” too much to want to fight him. The Georgian also mentioned a callout from flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja.

“I love Alex Volkanovski man, he is one of the greatest,” Dvalishvili told Manouk Akopyan. “And I just really respect him. It’s nothing like I don’t want …

Michael Chandler reacts to the clip of Dustin Poirier calling him "fake" and "a cheater":

"I don't lose a wink of sleep thinking about Dustin Poirier and how he thinks about me.

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Obviously I live rent free in his head and he does lose sleep over me."

🎥 @ZachGelb #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/i7aIx5DxXk

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 28, 2025 Michael Chandler wants to run it back with Dustin Poirier.

Poirier beat Chandler (23-9) via third-round submission in their initial meeting at UFC 281 in 2022. Things have since been sour between the two as Poirier (30-9) accused Chandler of fish hooking and other alleged fouls.

Poirier went on a rant about Chandler, calling him a “fake mother*cker” in a recent interview. While discussing the alleged fishhook, “The Diamond” claimed to have bitten Chandler’s finger so hard that he might have ripped a piece off if not for his mouthpiece.

Responding to Poirier…

🎙️Sadibou Sy said he would like to fight Impa Kasanganay in the PFL MW World Championship, but not for the reasons you might think…

“As soon as the cage door closes, we’re gonna fight. So I don’t have to hate you (to fight you).”

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🎥 @JakeNoeckerMMA x @Home_of_Fight pic.twitter.com/6nJuTcL9rz — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) February 28, 2025

Sadibou Sy wants to face Impa Kasanganay out of his admiration and respect for his fellow fighter.

Sy (17-8) and Kasanganay (18-5) will compete in the light heavyweight bracket as the PFL kicks of its 2025 campaign on April 18 in Florida.

Sy wants to fight Kasanganay in the finals as he really the likes the former light heavyweight champ and his family. However, “The Swedish Denzel” vows to show no mercy once the cage door closes on them.

“Impa [Kasanganay] because I really like Impa,” Sy told Home of Fight. “Whenever I meet his family, his mom and dad, they’re gr…

Starboy is set! ✅@ManelKape hits the scale at 126lbs!

[ #UFCVegas103 | LIVE Tomorrow 7pmET on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/RdvR5PhZJG

— UFC (@ufc) February 28, 2025 The Ultimate Fighting Championship kicks off its March 2025 schedule with 11 fights emanating from the UFC Apex, which is one less than planned.

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Headlining the UFC Vegas 103 event is a flyweight battle between Manel Kape and Asu Almabayev. Both men made weight for their first UFC headliner, which has potential title shot implications. However, the undercard wasn't as professional as the women's flyweight fight between Luana Carolina and Montana De La Rosa was scrapped after Carolina had weight management issues. Additionally, Lucas Almeida came in two pounds over the featherweight limit for his fight against Danny Silva. Almeida will be fined 20% of his purse as a result. Finally, the bantamweight bout pitting John Castaneda (140) against Douglas Silva de A…

Starboy is set! ✅@ManelKape hits the scale at 126lbs!

[ #UFCVegas103 | LIVE Tomorrow 7pmET on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/RdvR5PhZJG

— UFC (@ufc) February 28, 2025 The Ultimate Fighting Championship kicks off its March 2025 schedule with 10 fights emanating from the UFC Apex, which is two fewer than planned.

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Headlining the UFC Vegas 103 event is a flyweight battle between Manel Kape and Asu Almabayev. Both men made weight for their first UFC headliner, which has potential title shot implications. However, the undercard wasn't as professional as the women's flyweight fight between Luana Carolina and Montana De La Rosa was scrapped after Carolina had weight management issues. Additionally, Lucas Almeida came in two pounds over the featherweight limit for his fight against Danny Silva. Almeida will be fined 20% of his purse as a result. Finally, the bantamweight bout pitting John Castaneda against Douglas Silva de Andrad…

Iowan UFC fans will be treated to some great bantamweight action this May.

The news first coming from social media user TuckTalksMMA on Friday, Marlon Vera (23-10-1) and Mario Bautista (15-2) will throw down in Des Moines on May 3. The top-ranked 135ers will compete inside of the Wells Fargo Arena, where they will serve as the co-main attraction to Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo. The pairing at this current unnumbered UFC Fight Night show has since been confirmed by Bautista on Instagram.

2024 was a tough year for Vera, who did vie for the bantamweight strap but could not win it. After coming up short in his rematch to Sean O'Malley, Vera went on to drop a decision to Figueiredo. Before those setbacks—just his second career losing streak—“Chito” had beaten names like Frankie Edgar, Rob Font and Pedro Munhoz to keep himself anchored among the elite of the 135-pound ranks.

While Vera has struggled as of late, Bautista comes into this battle with plenty of…

I have the longest history of bringing boxers into MMA going back to Art “One Glove” in UFC I. Combate brought in World Champ Amanda Serrano. Now I welcome boxing champ Kenia Enriquez for her MMA debut with Combate Global in March - Yahoo Sports https://t.co/C2HYV42gvY

— Campbell McLaren (@campbellcombate) February 26, 2025 A once-beaten champion in the realm of boxing is making her way to MMA in a few weeks.

According to a release from Combate Global on Thursday, Kenia Enriquez will be making her professional MMA debut on March 13. She will compete in the main attraction of the “Combate Female” event run by the Florida-based league, where she will face off against British grappler Hayley Valentine (5-0). This comes following the news on Tuesday that all upcoming Combate events will air free on YouTube. No other bouts have been announced for this fight card, which will be the organization’s first since July 2024.

Enriquez (0-0; 28-1, 11…

Everybody and their brother tried to step up and fight UFC star Justin Gaethje.

On Wednesday, UFC 313 took a major hit when Dan Hooker was forced out of his co-headliner against Gaethje (25-5) due to injury. The two lightweights were set to collide for a non-championship five-round affair at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After much consideration and several names offered to the UFC, the promotion selected Rafael Fiziev (12-3) as Hooker’s replacement, setting up a rematch dating back a few years.

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According to Gaethje on Thursday, multiple names were in contention as new foes. Some were shut down by the organization, and others ultimately declined the offer. “The Highlight” stated that Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier all were offered to step in and declined for unknown reasons. Mateusz Gamrot also publicly campaigned for the spot. Even ex-featherweight king Ilia Topuria was floated as a possible adversary. Instea…

Rafael Fiziev and Justin Gaethje are going to run it back.

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Fiziev will replace the injured Dan Hooker and face Gaethje in the lightweight co-main event at UFC 313. While Hooker vs. Gaethje was slated for five rounds, the new booking is scheduled for three. The promotion announced the bout on Wednesday.

UFC 313 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 8 and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev.

Fiziev dropped a majority decision to Gaethje in their first meeting at UFC 286 in March 2023. In his next outing, “Ataman” suffered a knee injury in a TKO loss against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Fight Night 228 in September 2023. The 31-year-old Kazakhstan native, who won six of his first seven Octagon appearances, has been sidelined since then.

Gaethje, meanwhile, is coming off a fifth-round knockout loss to Max Holloway in a BMF title bout at UFC 300. The two-time lightweight…

Jean Silva called his shot, and his request was granted in short order.

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The surging Brazilian knockout artist will lock horns with Bryce Mitchell at UFC 314, the promotion announced on Wednesday. Silva called for a matchup with “Thug Nasty” immediately after his first-round stoppage of Melsik Baghdasaryan at UFC Seattle this past Saturday.

UFC 314 takes place at the Kaseya Center in Miami on April 12 and is headlined by a showdown between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight strap. In the co-main event, Michael Chandler will meet Paddy Pimblett in a five-round, non-title affair.

In addition to Baghdasaryan, Silva has scored KO/TKO triumphs over the likes of Drew Dober, Charles Jourdain and Westin Wilson during his promotional tenure. The Fighting Nerds standout owns a 15-2 professional mark, with 14 of those triumphs coming inside the distance.

Mitchell, meanwhile, recently made headlines for making pro-A…

Khalil Rountree and Jamahal Hill will square off in the UFC Kansas City main event.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the light heavyweight booking on Wednesday night. The UFC Fight Night card takes place at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 26 and will see Anthony Smith face Mingyang Zhang in his retirement bout in the evening’s 205-pound co-headliner.

Rountree is coming off a fourth-round technical knockout loss to Alex Pereira in a title bout at UFC 307 this past October. Prior to that, the 35-year-old Tiger Muay Thai representative had won five straight contests in the Octagon, finishing all of his opponents inside the distance.

A former light heavyweight champion, Hill came up short in his attempt to regain the crown at UFC 300, where he was stopped by Pereira in the opening stanza. More recently, “Sweet Dreams” suffered a third-round TKO defeat to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 311 on Jan. 18. Hill lost just one of his…