Martial Arts News

Raphael Assuncao will lock horns with Kyler Phillips in a bantamweight bout at UFC Fight Night 221.

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Phillips’ management, Iridium Sports Agency, announced the pairing on social media. UFC Fight Night 221 takes place on March 11 at the Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The event does not currently have a headliner.

The 40-year-old Assuncao snapped a four-bout skid in his last outing, as he earned a unanimous decision triumph against Victory Henry at UFC Fight Night 212 on Oct. 15. The Ascension MMA representative was a top bantamweight contender earlier in his UFC tenure, notably winning 11 of 12 appearances from August 2011 to July 2018.

Phillips, meanwhile, has been victorious in four of his first five promotional appearances. Most recently, the former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor submitted Marcelo Rojo in the third round of their clash at UFC 271 last February.

As a former Rizin athlete, Kyoji Horiguchi was a little bit conflicted following Bellator’s 5-0 head-to-head triumph against the Japanese promotion on New Year’s Eve.

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“I don’t know if I should be enjoying this as much as I am,” he said at the Rizin 40 post-fight press conference.

The former Rizin bantamweight champion represented Bellator over the weekend, earning a unanimous decision triumph over Hiromasa Ougikubo in a flyweight clash. Horiguchi improved to 3-0 in his career against Ougikubo with his latest victory.

“From the first and second matches, I knew what he was looking for, so it was easier for me to put up a game plan to try to fight him,” Horiguchi said.

“I thought Ougikubo was really tough. Even though I gave him a clean hit a couple of times, his eyes weren’t dying. It was a very tough fight.”

Horiguchi competed three times in 2022, winning his last two fights after dropping a unanimous decision to Patrick Mix in the Bella…

Juan Archuleta left Rizin 40 with plenty of respect for opponent Soo Chul Kim following a hard-fought split-decision triumph on New Year’s Eve.

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Archuleta defeated Kim, a former Road Fighting Championship title holder, via split decision as part of a Bellator vs. Rizin main card at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. “The Spaniard” believes Kim would be a ranked fighter if he competed on a regular basis in Bellator’s bantamweight division.

“Definitely in the Top 6, above the Top 10 that’s for sure,” Archuleta said at the Rizin 40 post-fight press conference. “I think he finishes a lot of guys we have in Bellator just because of toughness and his grit. It reminded me a lot of my last opponent I fought, Enrique Barzola.”

Though it was close on the scorecards, Archuleta believed he did enough significant work to get the nod at the end of the fight.

“I inflicted the first damage; bloodied him up. Then, I started the takedowns. It was slippery. …

In a somewhat surprising announcement, UFC lightweight contender Damir Ismagulov appears to have retired from mixed martial arts.

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The 31-year-old Russian announced his decision on Sunday in a post on his Instagram account.

“Unfortunately, due to circumstances and health problems, I am forced to end my sports career,” Ismagulov wrote. “Thanks to all those who were with me regardless of the outcome in the battles, who were sincerely sick and worried. It was an interesting journey, a moment to remember. [Hugs to] everyone.”

Ismagulov last appeared at UFC Fight Night 216, when he lost a unanimous decision to Arman Tsarukyan in the evening’s co-main event on Dec. 17. That ended a 19-bout winning streak for the former M-1 Global champion, who had been victorious in his first five Octagon appearances. He owns a 24-2 career mark, with notable victories over the likes of Guram Kutateladze, Thiago Moises and Joel Alvarez, among others.

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Bellator MMA president Scott Coker was riding high following his promotion’s 5-0 victory in its head-to-head matchup against Rizin Fighting Federation on New Year’s Eve.

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“I always said my wish was to go 5-0, and I’m happy that my guys won, but to me, it was very competitive out there,” Coker said at the Rizin 40 post-fight press conference. “That last fight, [Roberto] de Souza when he was fighting A.J. [McKee], there were a couple of times I thought he might get tapped.

“It was very stressful to watch that last fight. It was very back and forth. I’m glad A.J. did what he had to do to win. But anything can happen in a fight in MMA. It was an entertaining night of fights.”

A.J. McKee closed the show for Bellator with a unanimous decision against de Souza, Rizin’s lightweight champion, in the evening’s main event at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Patricio Freire, Kyoji Horiguchi, Juan Archuleta and Gadzhi Rabadanov also e…

A.J. McKee embraced the entire experience of fighting in Japan.

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The former featherweight champion set the tone for his night by walking to the ring in black samurai attire, and he closed the show of the Bellator vs. Rizin themed card with a three-round verdict against Roberto Satoshi de Souza in the evening’s main event at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on New Year’s Eve.

“I’m just trying to embrace it all,” McKee said at the Rizin 40 post-fight press conference. “Being here in Japan and fighting in front of all the fans, it’s an experience. It’s an honor to be here and an honor to put on a great show.

“…This is about one of the best arenas I’ve fought in,” he added. “The fans are phenomenal, the culture is phenomenal. I’ve heard so many stories so to finally be here is amazing.”

The Team Bodyshop representative had his hands full with Rizin’s reigning lightweight champion. Satoshi made McKee work on the canvas, as he took the American…

𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓...

The Pac-Man, @MannyPacquiao himself will fight in the RIZIN ring in 2023 against a Japanese fighter 🇯🇵!

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[ #RIZIN40 | @FiteTV PPV link in bio ] pic.twitter.com/iLPMIK9wRj — RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) December 31, 2022

Manny Pacquiao will be competing for Rizin Fighting Federation sometime in 2023.BR> The former champion champion announced during the Rizin 40 broadcast that he plans to fight for the Japanese promotion next year. An exact date and opponent were not revealed.

“A few months ago, I was here as a guest, and today I have a very exciting announcement. I have agreed with Rizin to fight next year, the date will soon be announced, and also my opponent that Rizin will choose,” Pacquiao said. “I’m open and excited to fight a Japanese fighter.”

Pacquiao will follow in the footsteps of former boxing rival Floyd Mayweather Jr., who has defeated Tenshin Nasukawa and Mikuru…

The cross-promotional event between Bellator MMA and Rizin Fighting Federation ended with a complete victory for Bellator fighters, who went 5-0 at the end of the evening.

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A wild ending to round 1!

This is why JMMA rules, rule!

[ #RIZIN40 | #RIZINvsBellator ] pic.twitter.com/ilQwCWxI7h — RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) December 31, 2022

The Rizin 40 headliner featured a clash between current Rizin 155-pound titleholder Roberto Satoshi de Souza and former Bellator featherweight champion A.J. McKee. The pair went back-and-forth for three rounds, where McKee (20-1, 1-0 Rizin) showed he had the advantage over his foe with his striking, while de Souza (14-2, 7-2 Rizin) attempted to force the action to the canvas. Overall, “Mercenary” was the better man in the ring, showcasing versatility in landing soccer kicks whenever he found the opportunity. De Souza attacked with different submission attempts during the bout,…

[embedded content] Big fan of Patricio Freire here. I’ve written glowingly about him before as one of the greatest fighters to ever live and a peerless martial artist who has thoroughly mastered every aspect of the game. While he easily topped the list of Sherdog’s 10 best Bellator MMA fighters of all-time, he remains underrated, as many fans fail give him his proper due simply because his accomplishments have not occurred on a canvas emblazoned with the Ultimate Fighting Championship logo.

More than that, I love Freire’s old-school, uncompromising attitude. No joking or pro wrestling-type antics. I always got the impression that he viewed his fights as duels between two warriors with their worth as competitors on the line. Masahiko Kimura and Helio Gracie shared this attitude when they fought in 1951, and it was present in early vale tudo. However, it has become lost as MMA has been commodified into mere entertainment.

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As such, it was a treat to sp…

[embedded content] Kleber Koike Erbst could not have drawn up a more daunting challenge for himself.

The reigning Rizin Fighting Federation featherweight champion will take on current Bellator MMA featherweight champion Patricio Freire as part of a promotion-versus-promotion supershow at Rizin 40 on Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Erbst enters the co-headliner on the strength of a seven-fight winning streak. The 33-year-old last appeared at Rizin 39, where he submitted Juntaro Ushiku with a triangle choke in the second round of their Oct. 23 pairing.

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In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Erbst touches on the path he traveled to mixed martial arts, the opportunity to meet a pound-for-pound great like Freire and the motivations that continue to drive him forward:

Sherdog.com: How did you get into martial arts?Erbst: I started very young in judo. My mom signed me up because I was very high-strung, always looking to pick…

The first fight set in April for the Ultimate Fighting Championship should be a great one.

On Friday, MMA Fighting broke the story that Rob Font (19-6) will be battling it out against Adrian Yanez (16-3) in the bantamweight division. The two will tangle on a currently unannounced UFC event on April 8, one that has rumored to be the date of UFC 287. There is no location on the books, although some speculate it may be held in New York. Both fighters confirmed the pairing on their respective Instagram accounts later on Friday.

It is unclear whether their match will serve as the main attraction if it instead a UFC Fight Night affair and not a pay-per-view card. Font is coming off three straight headlining appearances in 2021 and 2022, although he has dropped his last two. While UFC Fight Night 188 ended with him getting his hand raised against Cody Garbrandt, both Jose Aldo and Marlon Vera topped him on the scorecards in subsequent efforts. On the outside looking in of t…

Heavy-handed Ultimate Fighting Championship 185er Bruno Silva believes the worst is behind him now.

Due to his strong mind, tough chin and aggressive style, Silva earned the nickname of “Blindado,” or “armored,” by his teammates many years ago. In the sport of MMA, there are limits to how far one’s toughness can go, and even the stoutest competitor can reach a breaking point. Brazil’s Silva, who raced through a torrid schedule with the promotion with five appearances in less than 14 months, started to slow down. After his most recent outing, a deflating submission loss to Gerald Meerschaert, Silva suffered a serious accident that put him on the shelf for some time. The subsequent injury may have been a blessing in disguise for Silva, who spoke to Sherdog on Thursday about his last performance and the accident.

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“I don’t want to say how was the accident now, but it caused me a very serious injury that demanded an immediate surgery,” Silva explained. “It…