Martial Arts News

Nine fighters from the first leg of the Professional Fighters League regular season are facing punishment from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for failed drug tests in relation to their bouts.

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During a meeting on Wednesday, the NSAC announced sanctions or future hearings for the following PFL athletes: Alejandro Flores Garcia , Krzysztof Jotko, Bruno Cappelozza, Rizvan Kuniev, Mohammad Fakhreddine, Cezar Ferreira, Will Fleury, Daniel Torres and Thiago Santos. All of those fighters competed at PFL events held on April 1, 7 or 14.

Three of those fighters received fines and suspensions on Tuesday. Flores, who defeated Torres via unanimous decision at PFL 1 on April 1, was suspended six months and fined $2,926 after testing positive for furosemide. His victory was also overturned to a no contest. Jotko, who dropped a unanimous verdict to Fleury at PFL 1, was suspended six months and fined $6,826 after testing positive. Cappelozza, who defeated Mat…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

UFC fighter Kyler Phillips and ex-Dana White’s Contender Series competitor Darrius Flowers received six-month suspensions after failing drug tests for the banned susbstance ostarine.

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The sanctions were announced at a Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting on Wednesday. Ostarine is a Selective Androgen Receptor Module (SARM) that is banned at all times according to the WADA prohibited list. Ostarine is categorized as an anabolic agent and can aid in areas of athletic performance such as muscle growth, fat burning and endurance. Phillips' suspension will end on July 22, while Flowers' sanction expires on July 27. Both fighters also were ordered to pay attorney fees totaling $407.50.

Phillips was removed from a proposed matchup with Raphael Assuncao at UFC Fight Night 221 on March 11, while Flowers was supposed to make his promotional debut against Erick Gonzalez at UFC Fight Night 220 on Feb. 25 before being pul…

Four athletes from this past Saturday’s UFC on ABC 4 card are facing an indefinite period on the sidelines.

The NC Boxing and Combat Sports Commission released medical suspensions from Saturday’s event. UFC on ABC 4 took place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., and saw Jailton Almeida defeat Jairzinho Rozenstruik via first-round submission in the main event. Neither Almeida nor Rozenstruik received a suspension following their heavyweight bout.

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However, the following four competitors have received indefinite suspensions and will need physician clearance before they can return to action: Tim Means (left foot), Mandy Bohm (left eye), Ji Yeon Kim (right knee) and Gabriel Green (neurologist clearance). Both Means and Kim also received 180-day terms.

UFC on ABC 4 Medical Suspensions:

Johnny Walker: Suspended 30 days

Anthony Smith: Suspended 30 days

Daniel Rodriguez: Suspended 45 days

Ihor Potieria: Suspended 45 days

Tim M…

Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje are going to run it back with some special hardware at stake.

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Poirier and Gaethje will have their rematch in the UFC 291 headliner at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 29, the promotion announced Tuesday. Poirier defeated Gaethje via fourth-round TKO in their first meeting at UFC on Fox 29 on April 14, 2018. This time, the vacant BMF title will be on the line. The belt was initially awarded to Jorge Masvidal for his victory against Nate Diaz at UFC 244 in November 2019 and has not been defended since then.

Poirier will return to action for the first time since UFC 281, where he submitted Michael Chandler in the third-round of their featured lightweight clash, a bout that was one of the best fights of 2022. The American Top Team standout has been victorious in four of his last five Octagon appearances.

A former World Series of Fighting champion, Gaethje was successful in his first venture of 20…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Boston will feature two title fights at the top of the card.

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Dana White announced on Tuesday that UFC 292 will take place in Boston on Aug. 19 and will be headlined by a bantamweight championship clash between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley. In the co-main event, Weili Zhang will defend her strawweight crown against Amanda Lemos.

Sterling will make a relatively quick turnaround after taking a hard-fought split-decision triumph against Henry Cejudo in the UFC 288 main event on May 6. “The Funkmaster” has won his last nine promotional appearances, a run that includes successful title defenses against Cejudo, T.J. Dillashaw and Petr Yan.

O’Malley, meanwhile, is unbeaten in his last five bouts and is 8-1 in UFC competition overall. One of the biggest stars to emerge from Dana White’s Contender Series, “Sugar” Sean secured a title shot with a cotentious split-decision win against Yan at UFC 280 t…

Not only did Matt Brown set a knockout record at UFC on ABC 4, but he also walked away with the highest payday from the event.

Brown took home $250,000 for his first-round knockout of Court McGee ($60,000) on Saturday at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., according to salary figures released by the NC Boxing and Combat Sport Commission. Brown’s KO was his 13th, tying him with Derrick Lewis for No. 1 all-time in promotion history.

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UFC on ABC 4 was headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Jailton Almeida ($102,000) and Jairzinho Rozenstruik ($130,000), which Almeida won via first-round submission. All told, eight fighters garnered six-figure paychecks for their work in Charlotte.

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 …

Fabricio Werdum has entered the Francis Ngannou sweepstakes.

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After Ngannou confirmed his signing with the PFL, Werdum published a video on his Instagram account challenging “The Predator” to face him at a soccer stadium in Brazil. The video shows Werdum being cheered at Gremio Arena, where he was celebrated after winning the UFC heavyweight crown in 2015.

“We brought 48,000 to Curitiba to see my fight with [Stipe Miocic] in the UFC, which is already the national record for an MMA event in Brazil and one of the top five biggest audiences in UFC history. I have no doubt that if Ngannou accepts my challenge to fight at Gremio soccer stadium we will pack the arena with 60,000 people and beat that record,” Werdum said.

Werdum says he would relish the role of underdog in a hypothetical matchup against Ngannou. It’s a position with which he is quite familiar.

“I love to fight as underdog,” he said. “I was also huge underdog against Fedor [Emelianen…

Three fighters are no longer with the Ultimate Fighting Championship following losses at the promotion’s event this past Saturday.

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Twitter account UFC Roster Watch initially brought word that Jessica-Rose Clark, Chase Sherman and Ji Yeon Kim are no longer on the roster, and the news was later confirmed by MMAFighting.com. It is unclear if the athletes were released from their contracts or simply not re-signed. All three suffered defeats at UFC on ABC 4 in Charlotte.

Clark fell to Tainara Lisboa via third-round submission in the card’s opening bout. It was the third straight loss in UFC competition for the bantamweight known as “Jessy Jess.” The 35-year-old Australian went 4-5 during her promotional tenure.

Sherman, meanwhile, went 4-11 over two separate UFC stints. “The Vanilla Gorilla” lost six of his last seven Octagon appearances, including a decision setback against Karl Williams at UFC Charlotte on Saturday.

Finally, Kim exits th…

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Francis Ngannou wasn’t looking out for only himself when he signed with Professional Fighters League.

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The former UFC heavyweight champion took to YouTube to go over some of the details of his deal, which was initially announced early Tuesday morning. While Ngannou isn’t expected to fight for PFL until 2024, one of the most interesting aspects of the contract was the money it appears to have secured for his first opponent.

“This is the best business decision that I have ever done,” Ngannou said in the video. “At the beginning of my free agency I didn’t know that I could have a deal structure where I could have all this in one deal. I have myself a good guarantee, which is more important. And most importantly, I was even able to have a guarantee of $2 million for my opponent, [so] whomever I’m going to fight next is going to make money too.”

As previously reported, Ngannou will compete in PFL’s pay-per-view superfight division,…

After months of speculation, MMA’s biggest free agent has landed.

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Professional Fighters League (PFL) announced on Tuesday that former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has signed a mixed martial arts deal to fight in its Superfight Division. The news was first reported by the New York Times.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨"The Predator" @francis_ngannou is PFL bound!

He’s set to fight in the PFL’s PPV Superfight division https://t.co/Jal3clCZhW pic.twitter.com/5RRaG7oFwr

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 16, 2023

PFL’s Superfight Division, which also includes celebrity boxer Jake Paul, will pay its fighters a 50% share of revenue generated by their fights. According to the NYT article, Ngannou will not fight for the organization until 2024 because it is expected that he will first compete in a boxing match this year. It is yet to be determined whether his opponent will be Tyson Fury, who has publicly embraced t…

Jailton Almeida announced his presence to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division in a major way on Saturday.

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“Maladinho” made short work of Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the UFC on ABC 4 main event, winning via rear-naked choke 3:43 into the opening round of their encounter at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. It was a dominant performance that saw the Brazilian take his foe down with relative ease, advance position and lock in the fight-ending maneuver when the opportunity presented itself. Almeida has won 13 straight professional fights — including five within the Las Vegas-based promotion. It was exactly the type of showing that could help fast-track Almeida to the top of the division.

“This guy looks like he’s going to be a star in the heavyweight division….” UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“His double leg is insane. When he gets that top position, he doesn’t screw around. He go…

Kron Gracie has broken his silence following a listless showing in a decision loss to Charles Jourdain at UFC 288.

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In his first bout since October 2019, Gracie attempted just 57 significant strikes over three rounds and repeatedly attempted to lure Jourdain into his guard. However, Gracie’s efforts to engage his foe in a grappling match were largely unsuccessful, as Jourdain outlanded him on the feet and neutralized him on the ground in a forgettable encounter.

Gracie addressed the performance in a post on his Instagram stories, blaming “bad advice” and a desire to please the jiu-jitsu community for his one-dimensional approach.

“In a lifetime of fighting, it’s always been a fight to the death,” Gracie wrote. “Understand the situation and willing to limit myself, even that being said I threw no punches because of bad advice and tried to please the jiu-jitsu community two days before my fight. First fight in my life I didn’t throw a punch, goi…