Martial Arts News

Jon Jones is no longer the one at odds with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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The former light heavyweight champion recently reworked his contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion, clearing the way for Jones to make his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane in a championship bout at UFC 285. Richard Schaefer, the former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and currently Jones’ advisor, revealed during an appearance on "The MMA Hour" just how lucrative the deal will be. Not only is it the highest in heavyweight history, but now Jones will apparently be one of the highest-paid UFC athletes of all time.

“I think UFC realizes that Jon Jones is the GOAT. He is a generational talent, so they were very much interested and very open to work with us and come to the conclusion of putting together a fair deal, which we did here,” Schaefer said. “That deal we made for Jon makes Jon in the history of the UFC, the highest paid heavyweight athlete. Overall, I think as…

Claudio Silva, a veteran of eight UFC appearances, has retired from MMA at 40 years old.

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The London Shootfighters representative announced his decision in a post on his Instagram account.

“Hello everyone: family, fans, friends and haters!!! I’m write this letter today with the most upmost gratitude and appreciation to you and my coaches and team. I’d like to announce my retirement,” Silva wrote.

“Since I [started competing] in MMA and the UFC, I’ve had nothing but positive memories and special moments that I will never forget. Thank you everyone that helped me achieve my goals as a man, athlete and sportsman. I wish nothing but the best to all my coaches, fans, friends, family members.”

“Hannibal” was released from the UFC shortly after a loss to Nicolas Dalby this past July — his third consecutive defeat within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The Brazilian was victorious in his first five UFC bouts, most notably earning a split-decision…

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An injury suffered in his last bout will delay Paddy Pimblett’s UFC return.

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The lightweight star revealed on his video blog that he will undergo ankle surgery in March to repair an injury suffered in his UFC 282 triumph over Jared Gordon on Dec. 10. Pimblett hurt his right ankle throwing a kick early in the bout.

That procedure likely rules out the possibility of Pimblett competing at UFC 286 in London, which initially seemed to be a natural landing spot for the Englishman’s next Octagon appearance. It is currently unclear how long Pimblett’s recovery will take.

The former Cage Warriors champion has emerged as a star in the UFC after just four bouts. He began his promotional tenure with finishes of Luigi Vendramini, Rodrigo Vargas and Jordan Leavitt before edging Gordon in a controversial unanimous decision triumph at UFC 282. The 28-year-old Liverpool native has compiled a 20-3 record since beginning his professional tenure…

Gunnar Nelson will lock horns with Daniel Rodriguez in a welterweight bout at UFC 286.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Monday. UFC 286 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on March 18 and is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.

Nelson returned to action for the first time in two and a half years at UFC Fight Night 204, where he defeated Takashi Sato via unanimous decision this past March. The 34-year-old Iceland native debuted in the Octagon in 2012 and owns a 9-5 mark in UFC competition overall.

Rodriguez had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, as he suffered a third-round submission loss to Neil Magny at UFC Fight Night 214 on Nov. 5. “D-Rod” has been victorious in seven of nine promotional appearances, with wins over the likes of Kevin Lee, Jingliang Lee, Mike Perry and Tim Means.

After back-to-back losses to close out 2022, Sean Strickland accepted a short-notice fight against Nassourdine Imavov at the UFC’s first event of 2023.

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It wasn’t the most ideal of circumstances for someone badly in need of a victory, but Strickland emerged with a unanimous decision triumph against Imavov in the UFC fight Night 217 headliner on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Since Strickland accepted the fight on less than one week’s notice, the bout was contested at light heavyweight instead of middleweight.

“I got paid flat money just to go fight,” Strickland said at the post-fight press conference. “It was fun. It was nice.”

The former King of the Cage champion emerged as a person of interest at 185 pounds after compiling a six-bout winning streak from October 2018 to February 2022. That momentum slowed, however, when he dropped consecutive fights against Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier. The second of those, a decision defeat to Cannonier in …

If things keep going as they are, Gregory Rodrigues won’t be able to sneak up on the middleweight division for much longer.

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The burly Brazilian who goes by “RoboCop” entered the UFC to relatively little fanfare a year and a half ago, as a former Dana White's Contender Series competitor and Legacy Fighting Alliance contender, but since then he has won four of five fights, with the lone setback coming in a split decision loss to Armen Petrosyan last February.

Rodrigues, who turns 31 next month, had been scheduled to face Brad Tavares at UFC 283 on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, in a bout that would have propelled him well into the middleweight Top 10 with a win. Instead, Tavares was forced to withdraw with an injury, and Rodrigues is now set to square off with the debuting Brunno Ferreira in a bout that offers a very different ratio of risk to reward. Nonetheless, the Kill Cliff FC export trusts to his team and preparation, and expresses satisfaction wi…

For Jessica Andrade, UFC 283 will be a welcome, yet strange homecoming.

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The 31-year-old, who faces Lauren Murphy in a high-stakes flyweight tilt on Saturday at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, will be competing in her native country for the first time since May 11, 2019, when she wrested the Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title from Rose Namajunas at UFC 237. Separated from that glorious night by six fights, nearly four years and a change in weight class, Andrade finds herself at, not merely a career crossroads but a four-way intersection. As “Bate Estaca” prepares to face Murphy, she spoke to Sherdog about her training, her long road back from injury, the nagging desire for a measure of strawweight revenge and the prospect of fighting without her longtime head coach in her corner for the first time in years.

First and foremost, Andrade is clearly pleased to be back fighting in Brazil. “I'm very happy to be able to fight at home,” she …

Before Jon Jones was paired with Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, it was rumored that “Bones” would make his heavyweight debut against Stipe Miocic in late 2022.

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While that bout didn’t come to fruition, Miocic took notice when Jones vs. Gane was announced for the vacant heavyweight crown on Saturday.

“March 4 — I like it,” Moicic wrote on Twitter. “I got winner in July.”

March 4th - I like it.

I got winner in July.

— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) January 15, 2023

A two-time UFC champion regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport, Miocic is nearing two years of inactivity. The Ohio-based firefighter hasn’t competed since March 27, 2021, when he relinquished the heavyweight crown in a second-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260. The 40-year-old Strong Style Fight Team product apparently isn’t ready to hang up his four-ounce gloves just yet — a fact that was confirmed by UFC pres…

The news of the fight may have leaked somewhat prematurely on Saturday, but the booking itself was legit: Ciryl Gane will welcome Jon Jones to the heavyweight division at UFC 285 on March 4.

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“I’m really happy to be the first guy in this division fighting with Jon Jones,” Gane said at the UFC Fight Night 217 post-fight press conference. “And I’m sure it’s going to be – he’s a great athlete.”

UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout while revealing that negotiations fell through with former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for a potential fight with Jones. As a result, Ngannou was stripped of the belt and has been released of his contractual obligations with the promotion, and Gane vs. Jones will be for the vacant heavyweight title.

While Gane doesn’t possess the same fearsome knockout power as Ngannou, the Frenchman is confident that he might be a more difficult matchup for Jones than the ex-champ.

“I know I’ve got good footwork at firs…

A welterweight championship trilogy bout between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman is official for UFC 286.

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UFC president Dana White announced the booking during the UFC Fight Night 217 post-fight press conference on Saturday. UFC 286 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on March 18 and also includes a lightweight tilt between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev.

Edwards claimed welterweight gold in shocking fashion at UFC 278, when he knocked out Usman with a head kick 4:04 into the fifth round of their headlining clash this past August. The Englishman appeared to be on his way to a decision defeat prior to the finish. “Rocky” is unbeaten in his last 11 promotional appearances.

Usman, meanwhile, saw a 19-bout professional winning streak snapped in the defeat to Edwards. He claimed the 170-pound throne with a five-round verdict over Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 and then successful defended the belt five times before the upset loss at UFC 278. Usman pre…

Dan Ige lived up to his “50K” moniker on Saturday night.

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Ige received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his second-round knockout of Damon Jackson in the UFC fight Night 217 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Ige punctuated his victory with a counter left hand that rendered his opponent unconscious at the 4:13 mark of the second frame.

Elsewhere, Roman Kopylov pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check thanks to a technical knockout victory against Punahele Soriano in a featured middleweight affair. Kopylov put his foe on the defensive with a kick to the body before sealing his victory with a barrage of punches 3:19 into Round 2.

Umar Nurmagomedov also garnered a $50,000 bonus thanks to an impressive KO triumph against Raoni Barcelos at bantamweight. The undefeated Dagestani set the stage for the finish with a kick to the body before flooring his adversary with a left hook. A follow-up hammerf…

There’s some chaos atop the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division.

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UFC president Dana White announced on Saturday that Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane will square off for the vacant heavyweight belt in the UFC 285 main event on March 4. He also revealed that Francis Ngannou has been released from his UFC contract and is now a free agent. White said that the promotion and Ngannou were unable to come to terms on a deal following his victory over Gane at UFC 271 in January 2022. Ngannou has been on the mend after undergoing knee surgery after that fight, and he also expressed displeasure with his contract following his last Octagon appearance.

“We’ve been negotiating with (Ngannou) for more than two years,” White said. “We offered Francis a deal that would’ve made him the highest paid heavyweight in the history of the company – more than [Brock] Lesnar, more than anybody, and he turned the deal down.”

Jones has been on the sidellines si…