Martial Arts News

Fabricio de Andrade TKOs John Lineker to win the ONE "Bantamweight" championship at ONE on Prime 7. It was a great fight before Lineker's corner threw in the towel after round 4. pic.twitter.com/kWwUjzdeCv

— Will (@ChillemDafoe) February 25, 2023

Fabricio Andrade hammered away at John Lineker until he could no longer continue.

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The 25-year-old Andrade (9-2, 6-0 ONE) struck One Championship gold in the ONE on Prime Video 7 headliner on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, where he prompted a corner stoppage against his fellow Brazilian in between the fourth and fifth rounds to walk away with the undisputed bantamweight crown.

Lineker (35-10, 4-1 ONE) looked like his old self in spurts. He cornered and staggered Andrade with a left hook in the first round, ripped winging hooks to the body and threatened with takedowns throughout the match. However, he had no answer for his counterpart’s jab. Andrade c…

And just like that our main event is official!@Superman_Spann hits the scale at 205 for #UFCVegas70 💪 pic.twitter.com/TUCxYYq47D

— UFC (@ufc) February 24, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship's final card of February is set with an intriguing 205-pound main event.

Light heavyweight contenders Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann will battle in the headliner of UFC Fight Night 220. While every fighter that hit the scales successfully made their proper marks, one fight did fall through. Hailey Cowan vs. Ailin Perez was called off after Cowan fell ill prior to the weigh-ins.

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Krylov (29-9) is looking to take his Octagon career to the next level in his first UFC main event. Coming off impressive wins over Volkan Oezdemir and Alexander Gustafsson, "The Miner" will look to make it three straight victories. This comes after a rough 1-3 stretch that saw the Ukrainian fighter drop fights to Paul Craig, Magomed Ankalaev and Glover Te…

Sherdog's live PFL Challenger Series 5 coverage kicks off Friday at 9 p.m. ET. The action will be broadcast live and free on fuboTV. Round 1 Kicking off the female flyweights, long-time Invicta veteran Helen Perelta (6-3) faces Lisa Mauldin (4-3). Referee Marcos Perez gets the opening assignment. Peralta throws a very telegraphed overhand right and Mauldin easily ducks under and takes her down with a double-leg. Peralta throws up a very loose triangle, but Mauldin angles off, though Peralta continues attacking with an armbar. Mauldin is in an awkward position, having side control but with her head down and her arm continuing to be torqued. Eventually, she gets out and they resume in the full guard. Yet again, Peralta tries to attack with submissions and Mauldin is throwing nothing at all from the top. Peralta goes for another armbar which Mauldin avoids, though it's Peralta landing the odd strike from her back. Finally, halfway through the round, Mauldin lands an elbow to th…

Two Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts were scratched on fight week before the competitors could even hit the scales.

The UFC announced on Thursday the first of two medical scratches for UFC Fight Night 220, when it stated that Jose Johnson had been forced to withdraw from his 135-pound match against Garrett Armfield. Armfield was unable to gain a replacement opponent on such short notice, and the bout had been ultimately canceled from the lineup. It is unclear at this time if the promotion will reschedule the fight, as Johnson stated shortly after the news broke on his Instagram Stories that he will require surgery.

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Johnson was preparing to make his promotional debut on the Saturday fight card inside of the UFC Apex, but this has been pushed back a bit. “No Way” punched his ticket to the UFC by taking a decision over Jack Cartwright in his second jaunt on Dana White's Contender Series. His first did not go his way, as Ronnie Lawrence defeated…

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧 👑🇬🇧 @phildefriesmma

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 👊🇺🇸 @ToddDuffee #KSW79 | KSWTV | @ViaplaySportsUK pic.twitter.com/9pwnGyEERC

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 23, 2023 Leading Polish mixed martial arts organization Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's second card of 2023 will feature an eagerly anticipated heavyweight title fight.

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The KSW 79 main event will see heavyweight champion Philip De Fries looking to get revenge against Todd Duffee. Back in 2012, Duffee (9-3, 1 NC) knocked out De Fries (22-6, 1 NC) in just over two minutes. More than a decade later, the two will square off once again, with De Fries holding a 25-pound weight advantage as the English fighter weighed 265 pounds while Duffee came in at 240 pounds. All other fighters on the card also made weight.

This will mark Duffee's first fight since 2019, where his comeback bout against Jeff Hughes ended by no contest after an accidental eye poke. De Fries has been much more a…

It’s time to crown an 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙙 champion! 👊@YaroslavAmosov and @storleystorm clash for the Welterweight gold! Who wins? #Bellator291 | Tomorrow, 4pm EST / 9pm GMT | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/heTMW7zLzp

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) February 24, 2023 Bellator MMA returns to Dublin for its second event of February.

Topping the Bellator 291 card is a welterweight title unification fight as the undefeated Yaroslav Amosov returns to face interim titleholder Logan Storley. Both champions had no issue making championship weight, as each came in at exactly 169.4 pounds. The only fighter to miss weight was Leonardo Sinis, who checked in at 148.8 pounds for his 147.5-pound catchweight fight against Ciaran Clarke. The fight will still continue, with Sinis being fined a percentage of his purse.

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Undefeated in mixed martial arts, Amosov (26-0) will fight for the first time since claiming the throne from Douglas Lima in June 2021. H…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Ronda Rousey is getting involved in the fight game again, but in a very different manner than before.

In the California State Assembly, a proposed bill is coming together to help former fighters. Per ESPN on Thursday, the charge is being led by Assemblyman Matt Haney from San Francisco. It was introduced on Feb. 15, and as it is being discussed and formulated, it could reach the Assembly for a vote or further debate by March 18 at the soonest. The plan is to create a pension fund for ex-MMA fighters, similar to the California fund for former boxers.

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The proposal will pay retired MMA fighters that have competed a certain number of times within the state’s borders. If the language remains intact after discussion, the bill would take $1 from every ticket sold at an MMA event in California and place it in the fund. The pension would pay retired fighters at 50 years of age or older, who competed in around 13 fi…

The latest Professional Fighters League Challenger Series event will feature eight fighters in the women's flyweight division, although only seven made weight.

All PFL Challenger Series Week 5 fighters made weight except for Sandra Lavado, who came in at 127.6 pounds. Her fight against Shanna Young is now a 128-pound catchweight fight, and Lavado will be fined a percentage of her purse.

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Headlining the four-fight card will be Kaytlin Neil vs. Katherine Corogenes. Neil (6-4) weighed in at 125.6 pounds and is looking to extend her win streak to three. After starting her career with just one victory opposite three defeats, "Katniss" has shown plenty of improvement. Meanwhile, Corogenes (3-1) is looking to bounce back from her first professional loss, suffering a knockout at the hands of Dakota Ditcheva in her only PFL fight to date. "The Animal" officially weighed 125 pounds on the dot.

PFL Challenger Series Week 5: Women's Flyweights will air live o…

Marina Rodriguez will lock horns with Virna Jandiroba in a strawweight bout at UFC 288.

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Jandiroba confirmed the booking following an initial report from MMA Melotto on Twitter. UFC 288 takes place on May 6 and is headlined by a bantamweight championship clash between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo. A location and venue for the event has not been announced.

Rodriguez had a four-bout winning streak snapped in her last outing, as she suffered a third-round technical knockout loss to Amanda Lemos at UFC Fight Night 214 on Nov. 5. The 35-year-old Thai Brasil export owns notable wins over the likes of Xiaonan Yan, Mackenzie Dern, Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Amanda Ribas and Tecia Torres.

Jandiroba has won two of her last three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the former Invicta FC champion outpointed Angela Hill at UFC on ESPN 36 last May. Jandiroba is 4-3 during her UFC tenure after beginning her MMA career with 14 straight victories.

🚨 Breaking!! 🚨 #KSW79

New assignment for 🇨🇿 Dominik Humburger as he now faces 🇧🇷 Jorge Bueno this Saturday! @viaplaypl | @novasport_cz | @combate pic.twitter.com/ul7WYnJ05w

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 21, 2023

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After fighting three times in four months on the European regional circuit at the end of 2022, Jorge Luiz Bueno Jr. was enjoying some time off during the Carnival Holiday in Rio de Janeiro when a phone call brought an abrupt change of focus.

"My training partner Joilton ‘Peregrino’ called last Saturday in the middle of Carnival offering a fight (at KSW 79) the following Saturday against Dominik Humburger, a local undefeated fighter from Czech Republic. Since I’m always ready, I immediately accepted,” Bueno told Sherdog upon arriving at the fighter hotel on Wednesday.

Bueno will face Humburger in the KSW 79 co-main event on Saturday at the Home Credit Arena in Liberec, Czech Republic. The card is headlined by …

Curtis Blaydes and Sergei Pavlovich have agreed to a five-round heavyweight bout to headline UFC Fight Night on April 22.

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ESPN was first to report the pairing. UFC Fight Night does not yet have an official location or venue. The card is also expected to include a bantamweight scrap between Yadong Song and Ricky Simon, a lightweight tilt between Bobby Green and Jared Gordon and a featherweight showdown between Norma Dumon and Karol Rosa.

Blaydes has lost just once in his last eight appearances – a second-round KO defeat to Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 185 in February 2021. His last bout ended prematurely when Tom Aspinall suffered a knee injury 15 seconds into their encounter at UFC Fight Night 208 this past July. The Elevation Fight Team representative’s resume includes wins over the likes of Chris Daukaus, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt.

Pavlovich has been victorious in five st…

A strawweight showdown pitting Karolina Kowalkiewicz against Vanessa Demopoulos is on tap for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on May 20.

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MMA Ideas was first to report the booking, and it was later announced by Demopoulos’ management, Iridium Sports Agency. UFC Fight Night doesn’t have a main event or confirmed location at this point in time.

A former KSW champion and UFC title challenger, Kowalkiewicz is coming off back-to-back victories against Felice Herrig and Silvana Gomez Juarez. Prior to that, the 37-year-old Pole suffered through the worst slump of her professional career, losing five consecutive bouts from September 2018 to August 2021.

Demopoulos, meanwhile, has won three straight Octagon appearances since dropping a decision to J.J. Aldrich in her promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 30. Most recently, “Lil Monster” outpointed Maria Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 215 on Nov. 19.