Martial Arts News

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻 🇮🇪🚨

Bellator returns to the @3arenadublin with a 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗘 card featuring Ireland's own @sineadkavanagh0 and British prospect Luke Trainer.

Advertisement

🎟️ Get your #Bellator299 tickets now ▶️ https://t.co/QbOrCp0uem pic.twitter.com/bbztMLQ015 — Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) May 25, 2023 Bellator MMA is loading up its next Dublin-based card with plenty of local talent.

The organization announced on Thursday that it had booked six new matches for the Sept. 23 event at the 3Arena in Dublin. The fight card, titled Bellator 299, appears to have its four-fight main card put together – albeit this could change at any time – with Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards for the middleweight strap as the main attraction. The new bout that will open it up is a featherweight clash between Sinead Kavanagh (9-5) and Sara Collins (4-0).

Former title challenger Kavanagh is aiming for a three-fight win streak, which would be …

Cain Velasquez’s trial setting date has been pushed back until Aug. 2 after the former UFC heavyweight champion appeared in Santa Clara County (Calif.) court on Wednesday.

Advertisement

Accompanied by attorney Renee Hessling, Velasquez’s request to delay the hearing was granted by Judge Panteha Saban. The trial setting date has been postponed on three different occasions.

Velasquez is facing attempted murder and other charges after allegedy chasing and shooting at Harry Goularte, who has been accused of molesting Velasquez’s young son. During a high-speed chase, Velasquez fired at the vehicle containing Goularte and allegedly hit and injured his stepfather, Paul Bender. Velasquez has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If found guilty, he faces 20 years to life in prison.

Velasquez was released on released on $1 million bail in November after spending eight months in a holding facility. He remains under GPS surveillance and cannot leave his home without th…

The mixed martial arts community still has plenty of time to speculate on who Francis Ngannou will face when he makes his Professional Fighters League debut.

Advertisement

The former UFC heavyweight champion signed with the PFL earlier this month with plans to return to MMA sometime in 2024 after he pursues a fight in professional boxing. While that has led to fans looking at the league’s heavyweight roster and free agents outside the UFC’s control, PFL founder Donn Davis is confident that Ngannou’s first booking will exceed expectations.

“To me, what’s so fun here is the mystery box of candy and everything is going to be good,” Davis said on The Spinning Backfist MMA Show. “There’s been all kind of speculation, ranging from the PFL season to [Fabricio] Werdum. I believe it will be something else and bigger and more exciting than you’ve read so far. We have nine months — nine months ago, people would have laughed if we said Francis was gonna come to the PFL. So,…

James Gallagher will face Cris Lencioni in a featherweight scrap at Bellator 298 on Aug. 11.

Advertisement

Severe MMA was first to report the pairing. Bellator 298 takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and is headlined by a welterweight tilt pitting Logan Storley against Brennan Ward.

Gallagher had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his most recent outing, when he suffered a third-round submission defeat to Patrick Mix in a bantamweight bout at Bellator 270 in November 2021. The SBG Ireland product is 8-2 during his tenure with the California-based promotion.

Lencioni, meanwhile, has been victorious in his last four professional appearances — including two under the Bellator banner. Most recently, the Gracie Barra Portland representative submitted Blake Smith in the second round of their encounter at Bellator 294.

It appears that an immediate rematch with Valentina Shevchenko will be next for newly-crowned flyweight champion Alexa Grasso.

Advertisement

Dana White indicated as much during the UFC Fight Night 223 post-fight press conference on Saturday. He did not reveal a potential date or event for the bout, however. “We’re working on that, too,” White said regarding the rematch. “That’s one of the fights we’re definitely working on right now.”

Grasso authored one of 2023’s biggest upsets when she submitted Shevchenko with a fourth-round face crank in the UFC 285 co-main event on March 4. That ended a streak of seven consecutive successful title defenses for Shevchenko, who had established herself as one of the top female pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

The 29-year-old Grasso has won five consecutive fights since moving up to 125 pounds from strawweight. Had the UFC elected to avoid an immediate rematch, Grasso had a number of interesting options for her firs…

A welterweight showdown pitting Logan Storley against Brennan Ward will serve as the main event for Bellator 298 on Aug. 11.

Advertisement

Promotion officials announced the booking on Monday. Bellator 298 takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., and will see Valentin Moldavsky square off against Steve Mowry in the evening’s heavyweight co-headliner. The main card, which airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, will also include a middleweight clash between Dalton Rosta and Aaron Jeffrey and a lightweight tilt between Sidney Outlaw and Islam Mamedov.

Meanwhile, Lucas Brennan will lock horns with Weber Almeida on the preliminary draw, which airs at the Bellator YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.

A former interim champion, Storley had a three-bout winning streak snapped in a five-round decision loss to Yaroslav Amosov in a title unification bout at Bellator 291 on Feb. 25. Storley …

Fight news!

Here we go, I’m back 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/lz1PUNxZNo

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) May 22, 2023

Advertisement

Terrance McKinney will lock horns with Nazim Sadykhov in a lightweight bout at UFC on ESPN 49 on July 15.

McKinney announced the pairing in a cowboy-themed video on social media. UFC on ESPN 49 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight duel pitting Holly Holm against Mayra Bueno Silva.

After beginning his Octagon tenure with back-to-back first-round finishes, McKinney has lost two of his last three UFC bouts. Most recently, the 28-year-old Spokane, Wash., native suffered a second-round KO defeat to Ismael Bonfim at UFC 283 on Jan. 21.

Sadykhov scored a third-round KO of Ahmad Sohail Hassanzada on Dana White’s Contender Series last August before defeating Evan Elder via technical knockout in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 219 on Feb. 18. The Long an…

Anthony Hernandez is quietly building an impressive resume in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.

Advertisement

The former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor earned his fourth straight victory at UFC Fight Night 223, pulling away for a third-round technical knockout victory over once highly-touted prospect Edmen Shahbazyan in the evening’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Fluffy” endured a strong start from his opponent before overwhelming him with takedowns, submission attempts and ground-and-pound.

In the aftermath, Hernandez found plenty of room for improvement.

“I got hit, so obviously I’ve got to work on head movement,” he said at the post-fight press conference. “My coaches told me I was making a couple mistakes when I was moving backward. Just back to the drawing board. We just come back and we try to perform better next time.”

Hernandez was confident that he would eventually be able to impose his will on S…

The countdown to #TUF31 begins!!! ⏱

[ #TUF31 Premieres Tue. May 30 on @ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/QpdIYGMySZ

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) April 30, 2023

Advertisement

As Conor McGregor continues to delay his entry into the USADA drug testing pool, there has been some concern in recent weeks that his matchup with Michael Chandler won’t actually happen.

According to UFC president Dana White, a fight announcement will occur during the airing of “The Ultimate Fighter 31,” which features McGregor and Chandler as opposing coaches and premieres on May 30.

“That’s correct,” White said at the UFC Fight Night 223 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. “There’s a fight. He [McGregor] has to get into the USADA pool first. He’s filling out the paperwork. I don’t know how soon that will be done or what’s going on, but that’s his business, that he’s handling with USADA. But it’s all in motion.”

USADA normally requires…

Rose Namajunas has been off the grid since relinquishing the strawweight crown to Carla Esparza in a forgettable rematch at UFC 274, but the ex-champ remains one of the biggest names in the strawweight division.

Advertisement

Mackenzie Dern set her sights on “Thug” Rose following a dominant victory over Angela Hill in the UFC Fight Night 223 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Namajunas hasn’t fought MMA since May 2022, but Dern is aware that she has been honing her grappling skills in recent months.

“I follow her on social media and stuff, and I saw her do an ADCC regional or something like that,” Dern said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I’m a former ADCC champion, so I’m always happy when I see the MMA girls doing jiu-jitsu. But, for sure, fighting Rose is a priority of mine right now at this moment.”

Dern has won two of her last three Octagon appearances dating back to 2022 and demonstrated considerable improvement in…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: © Jerry McCarthy/KO! Media © Credit: © Jerry McCarthy/KO! Media © Credit: © Jerry McCarthy/KO! Media © Credit: © Jerry McCarthy/KO! Media © Credit: © Jerry McCarthy/KO! Media © Credit: © Jerry McCarthy/KO! Media © Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Paul Craig will move to 185 pounds and face Andre Muniz at UFC Fight Night 224.

Advertisement

Super Lutas was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night 224 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on July 22 and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Tom Aspinall and M…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is bestowing a newly announced event with a pair of light heavyweight collisions and one top contender match at 115 pounds.

On Thursday, MMA Junkie first announced that the UFC would be staging a Fight Night card on Aug. 5. The destination is currently unknown, but it is but rumored to be taking place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. On that lineup, two 205-pound affairs have been booked plus one outside that weight class. The first, likely on the main card, comes between Dustin Jacoby (18-7-1) and Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-3). The second, also courtesy of MMA Junkie, which has no distinction as to its placement, features Tanner Boser (20-10-1) against the returning Aleksa Camur (6-2). Jacoby later announced his bout on social media, while Iridium Sports Management confirmed Camur vs. Boser.

Advertisement

Additionally, a pivotal 115-pound affair is on the books for this fight card, as Virna Jandiroba (19-3) is expec…