Martial Arts News

The coach of Bellator MMA great Patricio Freire expects that it is only a matter of time until his fighter is a triple champ.

At Fight Ready in Arizona, Eric Albarracin coaches a solid roster of fighters including former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Henry Cejudo, ex-title challenger Paulo Costa and both of the “Pitbull” brothers Patricio and Patricky Freire. With the top echelon of his squad all holding sky-high aspirations, news broke recently that Patricio was planning on moving to 135 pounds to earn a title in that weight class as well. Albarracin spoke to Sherdog about two of the aforementioned competitors, including Patricio’s plans and Costa’s possible next fight, on Thursday.

“When you reach a certain level, like Cejudo and Patricio, more important than the belt itself is to make history,” the acclaimed coach remarked. “Patricio has already beaten all the records and conquered belts in two weight divisions, now he will get [to] bantamweight and write his…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Thiago Santos believes his former foe will win this weekend.

After nearly 10 years with the UFC, including 24 appearances against some of the greatest fighters to grace the Octagon, Santos is now on the outside looking in. The man known as “Marreta” successfully requested his release from the organization to go fight for greener pastures in the form of the Professional Fighters League. Despite leaving the UFC roster, Santos is still paying close attention to his former company and past opponents, especially ones that invoke his name. Ahead of the UFC 285 clash between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane, Jones suggested that Santos was a more difficult opponent than Gane and a better overall striker. The Brazilian briefly spoke to Sherdog about Jones’ comments and his upcoming match in the new promotion this week.

Advertisement

“A real warrior recognizes the other,” Santos said graciously. “I couldn’t expect anything diff…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight titleholder Jessica Andrade is returning to her old stomping ground in May.

According to Eurosport NL on Friday, Andrade (24-10) will be moving back to strawweight to take on Xiaonan Yan (16-3, 1 NC) on May 6. The two top-ranked 115ers will be squaring off on UFC 288 inside of the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The fight was later confirmed by Andrade on her Instagram Stories.

Advertisement

“Bate Estaca” saw her three-fight win streak across two divisions come to a crushing halt in February, when she stepped up on short notice to battle Erin Blanchfield atop UFC Fight Night 219. The Brazilian flyweight succumbed to a rear-naked choke in Round 2, suffering her first non-championship defeat at 125 pounds. Andrade last competed at strawweight on April 2022, where she snared Amanda Lemos with a standing arm-triangle choke in a one-off at the division she left in 2020. Andrade has since claimed she is willing …

⚖️Main event is official! Brahyan Zurcher and David Evans both make weight for their featherweight bout!

Fights are 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 & 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 on @fuboSports

Advertisement

[ #PFLonFubo | Featherweights | Fri, March 3rd | 9pm ET] pic.twitter.com/K2Q72Rzm3V — PFL (@PFLMMA) March 2, 2023 The latest Professional Fighters League Challenger Series event will feature eight fighters in the featherweight division.

All PFL Challenger Series Week 6 fighters made weight for the four-fight card. Headlining the card will be a fight between the undefeated Brahyan Zurcher and David Evans.

Perfect at 4-0 as a professional, Zurcher won his first PFL fight last year by defeating Ricardo Jimenez via unanimous decision. He'll get a tougher opponent in the 5-1 Evans, who rebounded from his lone career defeat by beating Gary Konkol via decision. Zurcher weighed 146 pounds, while Evans came in at 145.4 pounds.

PFL Challenger Series Week 6: Featherweig…

Seems like you’ve got the Bellator fans excited, @that_dude_JO 👊😎 pic.twitter.com/fYdO7qlwRp

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) March 1, 2023

Bellator MMA has added another decorated wrestler to its roster.

Advertisement

The California-based promotion announced Wednesday that it has signed Jordan Oliver, a two-time NCAA national champion at Oklahoma State University, to an exclusive, multi-fight deal. Oliver will compete at featherweight and is expected to make his debut in 2023.

“It’s an honor to sign with Bellator MMA. I’m grateful for the opportunity to represent an amazing company, showcase my skills, and make my climb to the top to become a world champion fighter as a dedicated competitor,” Oliver said in a release, “I have always accepted and loved to take on new challenges. The 'tough love' sport of wrestling has molded and prepared me for this opportunity for the past 29 years. The vision remains the same… I'm coming to win, and w…

[embedded content]

Those who have followed the UFC career of Jon Jones since the beginning know that his lone career loss comes with an asterisk.

Advertisement

In Jones’ fourth Octagon appearance, he suffered a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill at “The Ultimate Fighter 10” finale after landing a series of illegal 12-to-6 elbows on his opponent. Steve Mazzagatti was the referee in the fight, and it’s a ruling that still irks UFC president Dana White to this day.

“I mean realistically — if you look at all the people that he’s fought, he’s never lost a fight. It kills me that, that one [loss] is on his record. 26-1,” White said on the Jim Rome Show.

“You have to understand for the people that don’t know, this was during a time when the Nevada State Athletic Commission was very weak and there was a referee in there that stopped the fight and called Jones the loser in that fight. A fight he was dominating and should have been finished. Instead of disqualifyin…

[embedded content]

Within the span of a couple months, both Jon Jones and Henry Cejudo will return to the Octagon following extended layoffs.

Advertisement

As the wrestling coach of the Fight Ready team, Eric Albarracin was able to observe the daily routines of the two former UFC champions as they prepare to make their highly-anticipated comebacks. Jones will face Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight crown at UFC 285 on Saturday, while Cejudo will lock horns with Aljamain Sterling for bantamweight gold at UFC 288 on May 6. Albarracin discussed the prospects for Jones and Cejudo in a recent interview with Sherdog.com.

“Any athlete who goes three years without competing should be an underdog if they return to fight for a belt, but Cejudo and Jones are probably the only exceptions,” he said. One is the only ‘Triple C’ in the history of combat sports, and the other is the GOAT. They don’t fight only for the belt, but to make history.”

After Jones spent a po…

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will be bringing some new star power to the ring in the near future.

Advertisement

Promotion president Dave Feldman revealed Wednesday on ”The MMA Hour” that BKFC will feature Luke Rockhold vs. Mike Perry and Eddie Alvarez vs. Chad Mendes on the April 29 card at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colo. Rockhold and Alvarez are new free-agent signings for the promotion. While the majority of BKFC events are available through the app for a monthly subscription fee, BKFC 41 will air on pay-per-view for $49.99.

“We have to do it, obviously, to be able to pay for these guys,” Feldman said.

Rockhold returned from a three-year absence at UFC 279, where he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Paulo Costa. The former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion announced his retirement after the bout. He later walked back that decision after being granted his release from the UFC. The 38-year-old Californian lost four of his last f…

A serious condition led to Hailey Cowan withdrawing from her Ultimate Fighting Championship debut last weekend.

Advertisement

While the promotion initially announced that an illness forced Cowan to pull out of a proposed bantamweight clash against Ailin Perez at UFC Fight Night 220, the Dana White’s Contender Series alum offered further details regarding her withdrawal in a social media post.

“I had an ovarian cyst rupture [on] the night before weigh-ins,” Cowan wrote on Instagram. “I lost a lot of blood and the doctors pulled me. I was on weight and ready to go. Super unfortunate but we will rebook ASAP. Apologies to the fans and my opponent but this was beyond my control.”

The 31-year-old Cowan earned a UFC contract after taking a split decision over Claudia Leite on the Contender Series last August. The Waco, Texas, native is 7-2 over the course of a career that includes stints in Invicta FC and Legacy Fighting Alliance.

Darren Till and the Ultimate Fighting Championship have parted ways — though it may not be for good.

Advertisement

The former welterweight title challenger revealed on Twitter that he was granted his release from the Las Vegas-based promotion at his own request. Twitter account UFC Roster Watch initially brought word that Till was removed from the UFC roster.

“What’s happening everyone? Me, Dana [and] Hunter are still cool as f—k,” Till wrote. “I asked UFC [to] remove me just [to] sort some other s—t for the foreseeable [future]. They happily agreed to release me out of contract, which I appreciate.

“I’m not going anywhere. Got big plans to execute [and] I’ll be back.”

What’s happening everyone,Me, Dana & Hunter are still cool as fuck.I asked UFC 2 remove me just 2 sort some other shit for the foreseeable,They happily agreed to release me out of contract which I appreciate.I’m not going anywhere, got big plans to execute &am…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship continues to be a major source of profit for parent company Endeavor.

Endeavor held an earnings report call on Tuesday, where it revealed that its owned sports properties — led by the UFC — generated 1.3 billion in revenue in 2022, which is $224.1 million more (20 percent) than 2021. According to a summary posted by Endeavor, “growth for the year was driven by increased media rights fees at UFC, as well as greater sponsorship, licensing, commercial PPV and event related revenue from more UFC events with live audiences.” Other sports properties owned by the company include Professional Bull Riders and 10 minor league baseball franchises.

Advertisement

“All 21 UFC events with live audiences sold out, continuing a 29 event sell out streak since returning from the pandemic. UFC posted its best sponsorship year ever in 2022, unlocking new categories and inventory to reach a fan base that grew double digits over 2021 in the U.S,” Ende…

With big-ticket main events, it’s always good to have a backup plan.

Advertisement

According to ESPN, Sergei Pavlovich will serve in as the alternate fighter for the Jon Jones-Ciryl Gane headliner at UFC 285 on Saturday. Pavlovich will weigh-in on Friday and must hit the heavyweight mark to be eligible to step in should something happen to either Jones or Gane. UFC president Dana White confirmed during the UFC Fight Night 220 post-fight press conference that the heavyweight title bout would have an alternate but he did not name the fighter who would serve in that role.

Pavlovich is currently scheduled to face Curtis Blaydes in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card on April 22. The 30-year-old Russian owns a 17-1 career mark, with his lone setback coming against Alistair Overeem in his Octagon debut. Since then, Pavlovich has won five consecutive UFC bouts — all via first-round KO/TKO.

UFC 285 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and features t…