Martial Arts News

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to London and brings with it a highly anticipated championship rubber match between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.

Edwards and Usman both made championship weight by weighing 170 pounds on the dot ahead of UFC 286. The only miss on the 15-fight card was by Malcolm Gordon, who came in 3.5 pounds over the flyweight limit. As a result, Gordon has been fined 30% of his purse and his fight against Jake Hadley will move forward. In a surprise to both headliners, former title challenger Colby Covington hit the scales during the proceedings to serve as the alternate, checking in at 170 pounds even.

Advertisement

In the pair's second fight, Usman (20-2) was seemingly in control until a shocking head kick sent "The Nigerian Nightmare" into dreamland. Now champion, Edwards (20-3, 1 NC) is getting to have their trilogy battle on home soil. The shocking title win capped off an incredible stretch for "Rocky" that has…

Robert Ruchala now has some meaningful hardware with which to validate his pristine resume.

The unbeaten Polish prospect walked away with the interim Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki featherweight championship, as he stopped Lom-Ali Eskiev with a burst of elbows in the fifth round of their KSW 80 headliner on Saturday at RSC Hall in Lubin, Poland. Eskiev (20-7, 1-3 KSW) succumbed to blows 4:30 into Round 5.

Advertisement

Ruchala (8-0, 5-0 KSW) overcame a rough start—Eskiev dropped him with an overhand right, then gave chase with follow-up punches in the first round—and settled into a comfortable cruising speed. He spent much of his time building a lead behind a stiff jab and kicks to the body and legs. Ruchala saved his best efforts for the fifth round. There, he took down Eskiev roughly 90 seconds into the period, moved to the back and hunted a rear-naked choke before turning to his ground-and-pound. Ruchala forced his opponent into a defensive shell, cut off avenues for …

Jordan Vucenic is BACK! It was only fitting he would cap off #CW150 with a RNC 💪🙌 Back in the win column with an impressive performance. pic.twitter.com/mcKEiCRO13

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 17, 2023 Former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship featherweight kingpin Jordan Vucenic successfully bounced back after suffering his first promotional defeat.

The CW 150 headliner featured a featherweight affair between Vucenic (10-2, 6-1 CW) and Tiziano Ferranti. Ferranti (6-1, 0-1 CW) started strong and clipped his opponent a few times before Vucenic successfully grounded his opponent. Vucenic had no problem keeping Ferranti on the mat for much of the round after taking some early damage. “The Epidemic” landed a double-leg takedown almost immediately in Round 2, reaffirming that the Italian was outmatched on the canvas. Slowly but surely, Vucenic improved his position until capturing his opponent’s back. Sensing the end was close, Vucenic s…

🚨New Trailer🚨

It is The Underdog Story of Sloppy Balboa 👊 facing The Greatest Siamese Twin Fighter of All Time.

Advertisement

🎪 Fight Circus Vol.6: The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa

🗓️ March 31st📍 Illuzion Phuket🎫 Tickets on SALE SOON!!! pic.twitter.com/atAJlvS1fj

— FMD ☣️ (@FullMetalDojo) March 16, 2023 Their whole lives have been million-to-one shots…now, “Sloppy Balboa” is about to show the world that they’re one-in-a-million. Courtesy of Full Metal Dojo head Jon Nutt on Thursday, the preliminary bout listing for Fight Circus 6: “The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa” on April 1 has been made public. The Thailand-based league will be running its sixth iteration of the “Fight Circus” series on March 31 in Thailand, airing the first of April in the United States, at the Illuzion Nightclub in Phuket. Capping off the evening’s festivities will be a two-on-two “Siamese boxing” match pitting Bob Sapp and Quinton Jackson against Nutt …

SBG Ireland’s Walter Cogliandro was coming off a two-fight skid and needed to overcome an Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran in Mark Striegl to return to the win column. Striegl, who has a win over former UAE Warriors featherweight king Do Gyeom Lee, last saw action at UFC Fight Night 201 in a losing bid to Chas Skelly.

Advertisement

Striegl’s stifling grappling was on display in Round 1, taking down the Italian less than 20 seconds into the fight. But likewise present was Cogliandro’s resilience, even ending the stanza with elbows off his back to open up the Filipino as the bell sounded.

In the second period, a game Cogliandro answered the bell with heightened activity on the feet, utilizing his dirty boxing with a few elbows and knees from the inside. Even when Striegl was able to hold him against the cage, Cogliandro was still throwing punches.

Striegl was able to take him down for some time in the final stage, but as soon as Cogliandro stood u…

👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/zho13QHXeT

— Jeff Molina (@jmolina_125) March 17, 2023 Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Jeff Molina is the victim of extremely unfortunate circumstances.

On Thursday, an intimate video leaked involving Molina. As rumor spread, on Friday morning, Molina released a statement on Twitter where he came out as bisexual, while expressing his disappointment that he was forced out against his will. While there are openly gay and LGBTQ women on the UFC roster, Molina is the first male UFC fighter to publicly come out. Molina (11-2) was a top-15 flyweight with the promotion, who is currently under suspension for his involvement with the James Krause betting scandal.

Advertisement

Molina’s statement reads as follows:

“Welp.. this f---ing sucks

“TLDR: im bi

“Not the way I wanted to do this but the chance to do it when I was ready was taken from me. I’ve tried to keep my dating life private from social media. I’…

Top 15 Incoming 💣 👊🏻🩸 #UFC288 #Frevola #Dober #DirtyJersey #MyTime #Top15 #Steamrolla #TeamSteam #GigaChad #Gfuel pic.twitter.com/WmhI4zCTDu

— Matt “The Steamrolla”Frevola (@SteamRollaa) March 16, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship has put together an absolute banger at 155 pounds for May.

On Thursday, Matt Frevola (10-3-1) broke the news on Twitter that he will be fighting Drew Dober (26-11, 1 NC) at UFC 288. The two lightweights will toe the line at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 6. Dober confirmed their pairing shortly after Frevola’s announcement, doing so on his Instagram.

Advertisement

The two 155ers combine with momentum at their respective backs, with five straight knockouts between them. Dober has rattled off three straight, with a triumphant 2022 campaign that began with a wild collision with Terrance McKinney, led to a battle against Rafael Alves and concluded with a thrashing of Bobby Gr…

[embedded content] The coach of recent Bellator MMA victor Alexandr Shabliy broke down the controversial kick that earned his fighter the win.

At Bellator 292, Shabliy scored a front kick to the lower midsection, and his foot slid down to strike the cup of Tofiq Musayev in one fluid motion. Referee Jason Herzog intervened and determined that the incidental contact with the groin was not significant enough to merit a foul call, and Shabliy earned the win by technical knockout. As it turned out, the specific kick the Russian threw was a technique heavily practiced at American Top Team, as ATT striking coach Katel Kubis informed Sherdog of this in an interview on Thursday.

Advertisement

“It’s a very technical kick that requires timing and precision, and is normally applied between two punches,” Kubis explained. “You can see Tofiq was throwing an overhand, and when Tofiq turned his body, he opened the space Shabliy needed to apply that frontal kick to the abdomen, on…

The final week of this year's Professional Fighters League Challenger Series will feature eight fighters being given a second chance at gaining a contract.

Nearly all of the PFL Challenger Series Week 7 fighters made weight for the four-fight card. The lone miss was Kendly St. Louis, who came in at 156.8 pounds for his lightweight headliner against Paulo Henrique Laia. The rest of the card stayed contract eligible by making weight.

St. Louis (8-4) is coming off a rear-naked choke win over Nick Alley in the first week of the 2023 Challenger Series. The win extended the current win streak for "The Highlander" to five. Meanwhile, Laia (14-6) lost a split decision to Manoel Sousa and will get a chance to put on a more impressive performance.

PFL Challenger Series Week 8: 2nd Chance Fights will air live on FuboTV on Friday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

PFL Challenger Series Week 8 Weigh-in Results:Kendly St. Louis (156.8)* vs. Paulo Henrique Laia (156)Jackie Cataline …

Leading Polish mixed martial arts organization Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's third card of 2023 will feature an interim featherweight title fight.

The KSW 80</> main event will see featherweights Lom-Ali Eskiev and Robert Ruchala battle for the interim title as two-weight champion Salahdine Parnasse focuses on his upcoming lightweight title unification bout. Both men easily made weight as they both came in at 145 pounds on the dot. All other fighters on the card also made weight.

Eskiev (20-6, 1 NC) is actually coming off a split-decision loss to Daniel Rutkowski in his last outing but had previously won five straight fights. Ruchala is a perfect 8-0 as a professional and is 5-0 within the promotion. The Polish prospect is coming off a split-decision win over Damian Stasiak and will look to claim his first title.

KSW you 80 will stream live on the promotion's website starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on Friday.

KSW 80 Weigh-in Results:Lom-Ali Eskiev (145) …

[embedded content] Setbacks tend to lead to self-examination—a truth to which former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder Jennifer Maia can certainly relate.

The 34-year-old Maia stumbled out of the gate in 2022 with back-to-back decision defeats to Katlyn Chookagian and Manon Fiorot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight division, then rebounded by outpointing Maryna Moroz at UFC Fight Night 215 on Nov. 19. In hindsight, it all worked together, from recalibration to redemption.

Advertisement

“Not much has changed regarding my training,” Maia told Sherdog.com. “We’re still covering all areas. Nothing is skipped. The biggest change was my mindset. I gained mental toughness knowing that I’ve already faced the best in our weight class. The two losses were part of my growth as an athlete. I went into my last fight with a stronger mind. I was more focused on what was necessary to walk away with a victory.”

Maia will carry a 5-5 promotional rec…

If Conor McGregor is to be believed, the originally proposed coaching matchup for “The Ultimate Fighter 31” would have renewed one of the UFC’s great rivalries.

Advertisement

During an appearance on "The MMA Hour" on Wednesday, McGregor revealed that he was initally expected to coach opposite Nate Diaz on the long-running reality show. That never came to fruition, though, and McGregor instead matched wits with Michael Chandler on “TUF 31.” A date for McGregor vs. Chandler has not been set.

“‘The Ultimate Fighter’ just kind of presented itself. It was originally for me to be against Nate. It was me vs. Nate,” McGregor said. “I did not mind who it was against, to be honest. Nor do I mind who I compete against, that’s widely known.

“I had agreed to it, it was Nate. It was a day or two before and now it’s Chandler. I’m not sure what went down on that end. It was me vs. Chandler and I have no problem with it, I’m happy with it. It’s gonna be a good bout for sure.…