Martial Arts News

Tom Aspinall’s digs at Jon Jones continue to get harsher with time.

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Jones has been sidelined since pulling out of his scheduled heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023. Aspinall captured the interim title with a short-notice knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich on the same card. “Honey Badger” has since been calling for a title unifier against Jones, who remains intent on fighting Miocic upon his return to action. Jones vs. Miocic has been rumored for UFC 309 in November, though it has not been formally announced by the promotion.

In the meantime, Aspinall also defended his interim strap with a KO win over Curtis Blaydes in front of his home fans at UFC 304 in Manchester last month. Meanwhile, Jones has hinted at retirement after fighting Miocic, potentially by the end of the year. Former UFC champ Michael Bisping recently revealed that the fellow Brit called Jones a “fanny” when talking about his retirement plans.…

Dan Hooker is hinting at a potential clash against Charles Oliveira next and it isn’t the first time he has done so.

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Hooker previously announced a fight with Oliveira before admitting that he was just fooling around when “do Bronx” dismissed the report. “The Hangman” instead went on to fight Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 which went down in Perth, Australia, last weekend. A +250 underdog going into the fight, Hooker eked out a split-decision win in his “Fight of the Night” war with the Pole.

"We got the hand raised, not bad for an off night,” Hooker recently told The Mac Life. “I feel like I had an off night, timing wasn't really there, and I said that the fight’s going to play out one or two ways; It's either I pick him off from distance and he can't cover that ground or I get taken down and we scramble and I just have to get up and pressure him and kind of wear through him. I feel like it was the second of the two options, it was more of a worst-case …

Last weekend was full of strong emotions for former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.

After being inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame along with five other key figures — Xande Ribeiro, Jean Jacques Machado, Ronaldo Souza, Vinny Magalhaes and Orlando Sanchez — Werdum met backstage with the person mainly responsible for his arrival at the event in 2003: Mark Kerr.

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“Not many people remember, but it was thanks to Kerr that I joined the ADCC,” Werdum said. “The year was 2003. I had gone to Los Angeles to compete in the Jiu-Jitsu Pan American Championship and as I was still starting out and couldn't afford a hotel, I slept in the dojo at the Beverly Hills JJ Club owned by my friend Marcus Vinicius de Lucia, where Kerr trained. When the Pan American ended and I was going back to Spain, Marcus arrived at the gym with Kerr and suggested that I stay in L.A. to help Kerr for the super fight he would have with Arona at the 2003 ADCC in Sao Paulo. I reme…

Week 2 of Dana White's Contender Series is now official, as all 10 athletes slated to compete made weight without issue on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a welterweight showdown between Pat Pytlik (169) and Andreas Gustafsson (170.5). The card airs on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

A native of Ontario, Canada, Pytlik has been victorious in nine of his first 10 professional outings. The 35-year-old is coming off back-to-back first-round knockout wins under the Unified MMA banner.

Gustafsson, 33, has compiled a 10-2 career mark while competing for organizations such as Brave Combat Federation, KSW and Cage Warriors. He has won four of his last five outings, finishing each of his victories within two rounds.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Pat Pytlik (169) vs. Andreas Gustafsson (170.5)Rizvan Kuniev (263.5) vs. Hugo Cunha (259.5)Cortavious Romious (136) vs. Michael Imperato (135…

Tai Tuivasa will “live to fight another day” after his UFC 305 loss against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

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Tuivasa took on Rozenstruik in front of his home fans at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on Saturday. “Bam Bam” was completely outclassed by the Surinamese heavyweight on the feet on the way to a split-decision loss. Howie Booth, the dissenting judge who bizarrely gave all three rounds to Tuivasa, was relieved of his duties for the rest of the card and faced widespread online backlash.

Tuivasa has now released a statement thanking his fans and addressing the loss. The Australian fan favorite says he couldn’t get his hand raised despite having put everything into his preparation for the fight. However, Tuivasa seems set on moving forward with his MMA career.

“F—k. What a sport. I put my all into this camp and didn’t come away with the win,” Tuisvasa wrote on Instagram. “Big love to all my fans. I put my all into this, didn’t get the treats. My…

Carlos Prates and Kalinn Williams are seemingly set on a collision course.

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Prates scored a vicious second-round knockout win over Jingliang Li to start off the UFC 305 main card in Perth, Australia, on Saturday. Despite earning his third consecutive knockout win in the UFC, Prates subsequently called for an “easy” fight against Williams before he takes on ranked opponents. Elaborating on his callout, Prates explained that he was looking for yet another $50,000 bonus in case he wasn’t awarded one at UFC 305.

“I don’t know, I think he is a good opponent, he is a striker,” Prates said at the post-fight press conference. “And to be honest, I almost buy my own house in Brazil. So if I don’t get bonus today, for sure if I fight him, maybe December I’ll get the bonus. Nothing personal against him, just business. And it is what it is.”

Prates ultimately did win a “Performance of the Night” bonus at UFC 305, again his third in as many UFC outings. How…

Strawweights Amanda Ribas (13-5) and Mackenzie Dern (14-5) will run it back at UFC Tampa near the end of the year.

Ribas will take on Dern at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 14. The matchup was first reported by Ag.Fight.

Dern will have the chance to avenge a unanimous decision loss against Ribas that occurred at UFC Fight Night 161 in October 2019. Dern bounced back from that loss with a four-fight winning streak that included three finishes. Currently 2-2 in her past four, Dern is fresh off a unanimous decision win over Lupita Godinez at UFC on ABC 7 on Aug. 3.

Meanwhile, Ribas’ initial win over Dern was part of a four-fight winning streak to start her UFC journey. The Brazilian has alternated wins and losses in her last eight outings, most recently suffering a unanimous decision defeat against Rose Namajunas in a flyweight bout this past March.

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Dricus Du Plessis coach Morne Visser recently weighed in on potential future matchups for the middleweight champ.

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Du Plessis defended his strap with a fourth-round submission win over Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, on Saturday. While “Stillknocks” and Adesanya had long been beefing over their authenticity as “African champ,” they appeared to bury the hatchet after their fight on Saturday.

Visser says it’s a relief to have peace in Africa. Visser also revealed that he had already discussed a potential rematch with Adesanya when they crossed paths. According to Visser, Adesanya is the most suitable opponent for a potential UFC card in South Africa, which could happen during Du Plessis’ title reign.

“There’s peace in Africa now, which is a good feeling,” Visser told Submission Radio. “I did say to Izzy when I saw him earlier, I said to him that I believe there’s talks of doing [a UFC card in] …

Things appeared to be going fairly well for Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, but momentum shifted quickly in the championship rounds.

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About halfway through the fourth frame, Dricus Du Plessis clipped the Nigerian-born Kiwi with a series of right hands before powering him to the canvas. Shortly thereafter, the reigning champion elicited a tapout from Adesanya with a rear-naked choke at the 3:36 mark of the period.

“For me, I have to watch it again because I don’t think I was rocked. I think I slipped and I was like, ‘What the f—k was that?’ And then he was trying to catch me as I was exiting,” Adesanya said at the UFC 305 post-fight press conference. “I can’t remember how he took me down because everything in me is always a blur…

“I tried to fight the top hand, and I don’t know what mistake I made because I tried to turn into him, but then he got on my back because I was using the fence, maybe? He switched to a Gable grip, and then I wasn’t able to s…

Dricus Du Plessis is well aware of Alex Pereira’s callout, but he isn’t so certain it’s the best idea for the Brazilian to challenge him at 185 pounds.

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After Du Plessis defended his middleweight title with a fourth-round submission of Israel Adesanya in the UFC 305 headliner on Saturday night, “Poatan” hinted at a return to the middleweight division. Pereira initially claimed 185-pound gold with a stoppage of Adesanya in his fourth Octagon appearance at UFC 281. He moved to light heavyweight after falling to “The Last Stylebender” in their rematch, and the Brazilian has since become the promotion’s champion in his new weight class, authoring two successful title defenses thus far in 2024.

“I honestly don’t think Alex Pereira should drop down to 185. If he wants to, great, perfect. But then we’re going to hear the excuses,” Du Plessis said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I saw Izzy stiff that man in the first round. I felt Izzy’s punchin…

Dricus Du Plessis has multiple eyes on his him after his first successful middleweight title defense.

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Du Plessis and Adesanya went toe-to-toe in an entertaining championship bout at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on Saturday night. While Du Plessis had some early success, Adesanya started finding momentum as the fight progressed, visibly edging past the champ on the feet. However, “Stillknocks” rocked Adesanya with a blistering flurry in the fourth round and almost immediately sunk in a rear-naked choke to earn the finish.

Sean Strickland, who lost his title to Du Plessis via split decision at UFC 297 this past January, has long been adamant on fighting only for the title next. Strickland called for a rematch against Du Plessis in the immediate aftermath of the UFC 305 main event.

“Time for war Dutch man,” Strickland wrote.

Time for war Dutch man......

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) August 18, 2024

When a…

Valter Walker weighed in on his chaotic win over Junior Tafa at UFC 305 on Saturday.

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Walker took on Tafa in preliminary featherweight matchup at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Walker controlled Tafa on the ground throughout the first round before locking in a heel hook that incited a scream from the New Zealander. While Walker did not tap, referee Steve Perceval called a stop to the contest at 4:52 of the opening frame.

Tafa seemed to only briefly protest the stoppage before squaring up to Walker and slapping his unsuspecting opponent while surrounded by security. Weighing in on the stoppage, Walker says he would have snapped Tafa’s foot if the referee hadn’t intervened.

“If referee not stop, I broke his foot,” Walker said during a post-fight media scrum. “I take his foot to home with me. My coach say, broke and I go to broke. I don’t go for tap, I go for him screaming.”

Walker said Tafa was not a man for cheap shotting him when he couldn’t l…