Martial Arts News

Patrick "Patchy" Mix will look to end a three-fight losing streak when he squares off against Shoko Sato at Rizin 54.

The Japanese promotion recently announced a handful of bouts for the Aug. 11 event. Rizin 54 takes place at Toyota Arena Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan, and is headlined by a featherweight showdown between Kleber Koike Erbst and Kyomo Akimoto.

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A former Bellator MMA bantamweight champion, Mix was victorious in 20 of his first 21 professional outings prior to signing with the UFC. The 32-year-old New York native dropped a pair of lackluster decision against Mario Bautista and Jakub Wiklacz before being released from the Las Vegas-based promotion. “Patchy” moved to 145 pounds at Rizin 52, where he suffered his third consecutive setback in a second-round stoppage loss to Kyoma Akimoto. He will return to 135 pounds against Sato.

The 38-year-old Sato is a veteran of 58 pro fights dating back to 2008. The former ONE Championship and Shooto competit…

Dana White will have no room to complain about the UFC's new rankings system. | Getty/UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s new rankings system is now live.

The Las Vegas-based promotion, in partnership with Meta, officially introduced its Meta UFC rankings on Monday. The rankings are described as “a new athlete evaluation system transforming how fighters are assessed; offering fans, athletes and media, an objective, data-driven view of the sport's competitive landscape.”

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These polls, which are supposedly “determined entirely by fight data,” mark a departure from the previous rankings that were voted on by members of the media. UFC CEO Dana White has consistently voiced his displeasure with the previous rankings, a sentiment he echoed in Monday’s press release. UFC.com visitors can still toggle between Meta and media-based rankings.

“I’ve been unhappy with the rankings and always believed there had to be a better way,” White stated…

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships is heading to an interesting new venue later this summer.

The organization announced on Monday that BKFC 92 will take place on Aug. 29 at Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox. In the evening’s main event, BKFC featherweight title holder will square off against Massachusetts native Harry Gigliotti.

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A Historic Venue Billed as “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark” on MLB.com, Fenway officially opened on April 20, 1912. The seating capacity is nearly 38,000, though it is unclear how much of that space will be utilized for BKFC 92.

“We’re beyond excited to announce this unprecedented event at Fenway Park on Saturday, August 29,” BKFC president Dave Feldman said in a press release. “The team at Fenway Park has been outstanding to collaborate with in what is truly a can’t miss event on the national combat sports calendar.”

BKFC 92 will also mark the first regulated bare-knuckle boxing event in the state. More bo…

Retired UFC fan favorite Dustin Poirier was arrested in Georgia on Sunday for public drunkenness, according to TMZ Sports.

Poirier was booked at approximately 6:38 p.m. local time and released shortly after 10 p.m. The circumstances surrounding the fighter’s arrest are currently unclear. Poirier made a court appearance on Monday morning. Public drunkenness is categorized as a misdemeanor in Georgia and carries a punishment of up to one year in jail and $1,000 in fines.

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‘Working on Myself ‘ Poirier hasn’t directly addressed the incident. However, a recent post on his Instagram Stories could be related.

“Love you all. I’m working on myself,” Poirier wrote.

Ben Askren has since added some more details to the alleged incident. The UFC, Bellator and ONE Championship veteran shared a brief video, claiming that Poirier was wrestling at the Atlanta airport.

He was having a good time at the airport. Wrestled some of …

After the welterweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Ian Garry was confirmed as the UFC 330 headliner, everything indicates that the organizaiton will soon announce the fight that determines the next No. 1 contender in the division.

After spending six weeks celebrating his technical knockout victory over Jack Della Maddalena, Carlos Prates authored a mysterious Instagram post on Sunday, sharing images of training and indicating that he has already begun preparations for his next camp.

Chapters of the Next Season“Time to start writing the chapters of the next season, which will be called: ‘UFC Champion,’” Prates wrote.

After knocking out two former champions in Della Maddalena in Leon Edwards, The Fighting Nerds standout has made it clear that he feels he deserves to face the Makhachev-Garry winner next. However, he also recently told Sherdog.com that if the UFC were to decide on a different fight, a matchup with fellow contender Michael Morales would make se…

Ian Garry wants to prove a point against Islam Makhachev. 

Garry is scheduled to challenge Makhachev for the welterweight title in the main event at UFC 330 on Aug. 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Garry believes his rangy movement will pose Makhachev problems that he has never faced before. While Garry went to wrestling camp in Georgia, Makhachev recently said that wrestling cannot be learned in a few months. However, Garry hopes that Makhachev takes him down so that he can prove a point. The Irishman vows to defeat Makhachev in wrestling, which is the Dagestani champion’s bread and butter.

‘I’m Going to Bounce Him on His Skull’ “He’s never fought someone as long and tall as me,” Garry said on Instagram. “He’s not fought someone as fast as me. He’s never fought someone that has the distance management, the boxing capability, the head movement that I do. And also takedown defense. He might get me down, I hope he does. Because I want to prove to the wor…

Sharabutdin Magomedov wants his fans to wonder if he could dethrone Sean Strickland. 

Magomedov (16-1) is scheduled to fight Michel Pereira (32-14) at UFC Baku on June 27 at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Pereira’s training partner, Strickland, was recently seen helping by trying to imitate Magomedov’s flashy style in sparring. 

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While Magomedov thinks it was somewhat of an imitation, he doesn’t think Strickland came very close. Magomedov calls Strickland an “interesting” fighter, whose title win over Khamzat Chimaev came as a surprise to “Shara Bullet.”‘A Pale Imitation’ “I don’t think he can do it like me,” Magomedov told Red Corner MMA. “But it was kind of an imitation. A pale imitation, though. It would be very different in an actual fight… Sean Strickland is actually a very interesting fighter. I always get surprised when fighters like him become champions. But he is a hard worker, a native talent. I just want to ask …

Michael Chandler’s UFC career is undoubtedly at a crossroads after his latest loss. 

Former UFC welterweight Matt Brown recently slammed Chandler’s lackluster run in the promotion. Chandler suffered a lopsided first-round knockout loss against Mauricio Ruffy at UFC White House. Despite being 2-6 in the UFC, Chandler has never fought on a Fight Night outside of a numbered UFC card. 

Brown believes Chandler’s stardom is undeserved based on his UFC career. Brown believes Dana White should cut Chandler from the roster or politely ask him to hang up his gloves. According to Brown, Chandler should try fighting in smaller promotions if he wants to continue competing. However, Brown believes Chandler clearly has no place in the UFC.

A Better Fit Elsewhere “With Michael Chandler, just his whole UFC run hasn’t been anything to note… He shouldn’t be the star that he is in the UFC,” Chandler told MMAFighting.com. “How are you 2-6 and you’re as big of a star as him… …

Pedro Rizzo has some thoughts about Alex Pereira’s unsuccessful heavyweight debut.

Considered one of the most agressive strikers in UFC heavyweight history, Rizzo spoke with Sherdog.com about the co-main event of UFC White House, when Pereira was knocked out by Ciryl Gane in the second round.

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Rizzo revealed that he tabbed “Poatan” as favorite before the fight. In his opinion, the weight gain weight was not the problem for Brazilian.

“The primary issue, in my opinion, was the loss of reach advantage,” Rizzo said. “Alex is too tall for middleweights and light heavyweights, and he lost that advantage at heavyweight.”

The finishing sequence made Rizzo recall another famous heavyweight fight.

“Whenever I see a southpaw knocking down a right hander with a counter jab, it reminds me of Fedor [Emelianenko’s] fight with Matt Mitrione, which, by the way, was a very similar move to this one with ‘Poatan’ and in exactly the same circumstances: The right…

Alexander Volkanovski is not ruling out a double-champ bid for the third time in his UFC career.

Justin Gaethje (28-5) recently dethroned Ilia Topuria in a massive upset to win the undisputed lightweight in his third attempt. Volkanovski (28-4) admits that he is open to moving up to lightweight to challenge Gaethje for the title. However, the UFC featherweight champion is not sure if he is currently in a position to call for a lightweight title shot. Volkanovski notes that he had defended the featherweight title four times in his first stint before calling for a lightweight title shot against Islam Makhachev. Volkanovski also admits that Arman Tsarukyan should ideally get the next title shot at lightweight. However, “The Great” also notes that Tsarukyan has not exactly been a company man.

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‘I’m Not Going to Call for It’ “Of course, I'll do it,” Volkanovski said on YouTube. “I'm going to call it when I I feel like I deserve it, and you've seen when I w…

Sharabutdin Magomedov believes Michel Pereira is a “hypocrite.” 

Magomedov is scheduled to fight Pereira in a middleweight tilt at UFC Baku on Saturday at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Magomedov recently went off on Pereira for supporting Israel. Pereira walked out with the Israeli flag for his first-round knockout win over Andre Petroski in 2023. 

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“Shara Bullet” condemns Pereira’s support of Israel in the ongoing crisis with Palestine. Magomedov also notes that Pereira rescued dogs from a flood in Brazil soon after showing his support for Israel. Magomedov believes Pereira was only pulling off a publicity stunt by rescuing dogs in Brazil. Magomedov also jokes that “Demolidor” was missed during the floods in Dagestan this past April.‘Farming Likes on Instagram’ “In my eyes, he's a hypocrite,” Magomedov told Red Corner MMA. “To raise the flag of Israel after the fight [the state] that, in front of billions of people, comm…

Islam Makhachev once used a one-liner to invite Daniel Cormier’s kids to Dagestan, and the rest is history. 

Makhachev’s advice to Cormier for his kids was “send 2-3 years Dagestan and forget.” The phrase has since become a part of sporting folklore, transcending the world of MMA. Makhachev recently revealed that almost every athlete he meets from any sport reminds him of his famous one-liner. Makhachev claims tennis icon Novak Djokovic once told him that his phrase is used in the 2026 Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain’s locker room. Makhachev also recalls former boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua seeking his approval to print T-shirts saying “2-3 years Dagestan.”

A Lasting Impact “Whoever I meet, any athlete, any level,” Makhachev told Adam Zubayraev. “..I met Djokovic, Djokovic told me that in the PSG locker room they say, ‘Hey, send him to Dagestan for 2-3 years.’ I’m not really sure how it spreads. Joshua, the boxer, comes up to me and says, ‘I…