Martial Arts News

With a new Bellator deal in hand, it appears that Cristiane Justino has a target for her next title defense.

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During the Bellator 296 broadcast last Friday, “Cyborg” discussed her future plans with Combate commentator Ana Hissa. The reigning featherweight queen revealed that Cat Zigano will likely be her next opponent, and there’s a chance that the bout could take place in Brazil.

“Cat Zingano is next. She's been training a lot, and I believe it's going to be a great fight. I'm just waiting for her to sign the contract, because she should have been fighting for the belt for a while now,” Justino said.

According to “Cyborg,” Bellator president Scott Coker has expressed excitement regarding the possibility of holding the fight in her home country.

“In one of the conversations I had with Scott Coker, he said he really wants to take my fight against Cat to Brazil. It would be a pleasure to defend the belt in my country,” she said. “When I ha…

Fabian Edwards cemented his position as the No. 1 contender in Bellator’s middleweight division with his victory over Gegard Mousasi this past Friday. Now he has a date for his bout with reigning champion Johnny Eblen.

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Promotion officials on Monday announced that Eblen will defend his 185-pound belt against Edwards in the main event of a Bellator card at the 3Arena in Dublin on Sept. 23. Two other contests were announced for the event, as Brian Moore will face Otto Rodrigues at featherweight, while Mads Burnell will lock horns with Daniel Weichel in another 145-pound clash. Bellator Dublin will air in the United States at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

Eblen, 31, is undefeated in 13 professional appearances — nine of which have occurred under the Bellator banner. He claimed middleweight gold with a five-round verdict over Mousasi at Bellator 282 in July 2022 before defending the strap with a unanimous decision win over Anatoly Tokov in his most recent outin…

It is probably fair at this point to call Jailton Almeida a serious problem for the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division.

In the main event of UFC on ABC 4 on Saturday at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, Almeida (19-2, 5-0 UFC) needed just 3:43 to overwhelm Jairzinho Rozenstruik on the ground. The chiseled Brazilian entered as an overwhelming favorite and the bout played out more or less as expected, with Almeida exploiting Rozenstruik’s porous wrestling and grappling on his way to an effortless-looking win. “Bigi Boy” managed to turn aside Almeida’s first takedown attempt, a double-leg from too far outside in the opening moments, but Almeida tried again seconds later and was successful, wrapping up Rozenstruik’s legs and tipping him over in the middle of the cage. “Malhadinho” immediately moved to half-guard and worked to advance, chipping away with short strikes and moving the bigger man to the fence. With under two minutes to go in Round 1, Al…

Sherdog's live UFC on ABC 4 coverage will begin Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Clark (-120), Lisboa (+100)Round 1 The world-famous Octagon sets down in the beautiful city of Charlotte, North Carolina, for an abbreviated fight card that should bring with it plenty of action. Needing no further introduction, this event staged on the ABC network will begin in the women’s bantamweight division, as company veteran Clark (11-8, 1 NC; 4-4 UFC) comes to blows with newcomer Lisboa (5-2, 0-0 UFC). While Clark’s UFC record sits at .500, she has more experience with the promotion alone than Lisboa holds in pro MMA bouts, so it remains to be seen how Lisboa’s muay thai tenure will bolster her resume. The combat begins under the watchful eye of referee Larry Carter, where it kicks off courtesy of a clap of hands. Lisboa backs off to find her space immediately, and she sticks out two hands to score on Clark early. Clark fires back, and short little skirm…

MATT BROWN OMG! pic.twitter.com/mVOQr613lB

— 🔥 Combat Sports Vids (@FireMMAVid) May 13, 2023

Matt Brown may be in the final act of his career, but his stellar highlight reel is still a work in progress.

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In the top prelim of UFC on ABC 4 on Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina, the 42-year-old Ohioan flatlined fellow grizzled welterweight Court McGee with a brutal overhand right. With the first-round stoppage, “The Immortal” tied Derrick Lewis’ record for most knockouts in Ultimate Fighting Championship history. Up until the moment of the KO, the fight seemed to be shaping up into the kind of clinch-heavy grind that had allowed McGee to stay relevant as he headed toward his own 40th birthday. With a minute left in the frame, however, Brown set “The Crusher” up with a front push kick and, as McGee came forward again, landed a single right hand that ended the fight. Referee Dan Miragliotta rushed in to save the stricken…

An incredible performance! 👏

🇵🇱 Andrzej Grzebyk gets the deserved win! #KSW82 pic.twitter.com/SC4g2Z2Rpa

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) May 13, 2023

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Andrzej Grzebyk might be the next welterweight championship contender after his latest Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki victory.

The unusually short, seven-fight KSW 82 card was headlined by a welterweight tilt between former Fight Exclusive Night two-division champion Grzebyk and Brian Hooi. Mixing clean and precise shots on the feet with relentless takedowns followed by ground-and-pound, Grzebyk (20-6, 4-3 KSW) proved he was the best mixed martial artist in the contest. Despite his efforts to outstrike “Double Champ,” Hooi (19-11, 1 NC; 2-2 KSW) couldn’t do much more than showcase an effective butterfly guard that allowed him to get on his feet after being taken down. In the opening frame, Grzebyk had the edge over his foe with quicker strikes, shaking “Hooibooi” on a couple of occasions. …

VIBES ARE HIGH FOR @MALHADINHO_UFC AFTER THAT WIN ?? #UFCCharlotte pic.twitter.com/WtpkZDa8ZY

— UFC (@ufc) May 13, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses following the UFC on ABC 4 card.

Main event winner Jailton Almeida took home an additional $50,000 on top of his purse for his dominant submission win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The win came in the very first round as "Malhadinho" took his foe down and secured a rear-naked choke. The submission was too tight and forced "Bigi Boy" to tap at the 3:43 mark.

Three other fighters earned performance of the night bonuses with impressive knockout wins. Another fighter on the rise, Ian Garry, passed his latest test by battering Daniel Rodriguez with punches after landing a perfectly timed head kick. Veteran Matt Brown picked up $50,000 along with tying the record for most KO wins in the UFC for his knockout punch that floored Court McGee. Finally,…

The most romantic city in the world was on hand for Friday’s Bellator 296 card at the Accor Arena in Paris.

Middleweight contender Fabian Edwards (12-2, 8-2 BMMA) took a step outside of his older brother's shadow after outclassing middleweight legend Gegard Mousasi (49-9-2, 7-3 BMMA) over five-rounds in a Bellator MMA 185-pound title eliminator bout.

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In a back-and-forth fight, Edwards proved to be slightly sharper on the feet than the 37-year old Mousasi. Heading into the final round, the contenders appeared to be tied on the scorecards, before a body lock would give Edwards control throughout most of the fifth. With the win, Edwards set himself up with a shot at Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen (13-0, 9-0) Sept. 23 in Dublin.

In the co-main event, former Bellator lightweight champion Brent Primus (12-3, 10-3 BMMA) advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix after grinding out a grueling unanimous decision (48-47, 4…

Sherdog's live Bellator 296 coverage will begin Saturday at 11:55 a.m. ET. Round 1 Vive la France! For the third year since 2020, Bellator has posted up in Paris for a show to titillate those inside of the Accor Arena. French fans will be treated to 14 bouts of various intrigue, and the show will end with a pair of five-rounders but no belt on the line in either. The proceedings commence in the light heavyweight division between a pair of titanic finishers, as Augusto (7-4, 1 NC; 1-2 BMMA) battles Biyong (9-2, 2-1 BMMA) in a fight that might not last long. Referee Jacob Montalvo is ready and awaiting the violence that is set to begin in front of his eyes, but before that happens, the event begins with the two fighters sharing a sporting glove touch. Biyong leads off with a jab and a body kick, with his significant reach on display immediately. “Gugu” replies with a chopping low kick, and Biyong says two can play that game and gives him two back. Augusto recoils his limb on t…

The journey to million dollars and a PFL World Championship goes through 𝗔𝗧𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗔 with playoff spots on the line!

LIVE from @OvertimeElite Arena

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For more information and tickets 👇https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/ZWb2ruJAZb — PFL (@PFLMMA) May 12, 2023

The Professional Fighters League on Friday unveiled matchups for the second half of its 2023 PFL Regular Season, which resumes on June 8 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta.

News broke earlier this week -- originally reported by MMAFighting -- that nine fighters had tested positive for undisclosed banned substances after their bouts in the PFL heavyweight, light heavyweight and featherweight brackets. The list includes heavyweights Bruno Cappelozza, Cezar Ferreira and Rizvan Kuniev, light heavyweights Thiago Santos, Krzysztof Jotko, Will Fleury and Mohammad Fakhreddine, as well as featherweights Daniel Torres and Alejandro Flores. The fighters have been tempora…

Bigi Boy lives up to his name 💪@JairRozenstruik in at the 265lb heavyweight limit for our #UFCCharlotte main event! pic.twitter.com/0jJBPg99v5

— UFC (@ufc) May 12, 2023 An interesting heavyweight clash will headline UFC on ABC 4, which is now set after the official weigh-ins.

Headlining the 12-fight card is Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Jailton Almeida. "Bigi Boy" will be the larger fighter as he weighed 265 pounds. That is 34 pounds heavier than Almeida (18-2), who came in at 231 pounds.

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There were some issues on the scale, though, as two fighters initially missed weight and a fight was canceled. Bryan Battle came in 2 pounds over the welterweight limit for his fight against Gabriel Green. Meanwhile, Daniel Rodriguez came in half a pound over at 171.5 pounds for a welterweight bout against Ian Garry, although he was able to weigh 170 after weighing in a second time. Finally, Pete Rodriguez had to withdraw from his lightwe…

Watch the #KSW82 Ceremonial Weigh-Ins! Live on YouTube & Facebook! ⚖️

Today at 6pm CEST | 5pm BST | 12pm ET pic.twitter.com/RTn2zCiCF9

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) May 12, 2023 The KSW 82 card is is officially set for Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's May offering after all fighters successfully made weight.

The seven-fight mixed martial arts card is headlined by a welterweight clash between Brian Hooi and Andrzej Grzebyk. Hooi (19-10, 1 NC) is 3-1 in his last four fights and is coming off a TKO win over Jivko Stoimenov. Meanwhile, Grzebyk (19-6) recently rebounded from a two-fight skid by knocking out Oton Jasse. Both men weighed 171 pounds.

KSW 82 will stream live on the promotion's website. The card begins at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Saturday for $9.99.

KSW 82 Weigh-in Results: Brian Hooi (171) vs. Andrzej Grzebyk (171)Filip Macek (136) vs. Sebastian Przybysz (136)Bogdan Gnidko (205) vs. Rafal Kijanczuk (205)Donovan Desmae (156) vs. Raul Tu…