Martial Arts News

First to the scale! ⚖️@JanBlachowicz in at 204.5lbs for his shot to reclaim LHW gold tomorrow #UFC282 pic.twitter.com/m9aARrhrRQ

— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2022 Editor's note: the article has been updated at 2:15 p.m. ET on Dec. 9 to reflect a fight cancellation.

The UFC 282 card is now official after the weigh-ins, and the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight championship will be on the line.

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While the former light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz and top contender Magomed Ankalaev both made weight without issue, one fighter failed to hit his mark. Daniel da Silva came in three pounds overweight at 129 pounds for his flyweight fight against Vinicius Salvador. Although he was initially fined 20% of his purse, the match has since been removed from the UFC 282 lineup.

After losing the title to Glover Teixeira last year, Blachowicz (29-9) will now have a chance to regain the belt he once held. The Pol…

We're kicking our 30th anniversary off with a 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆 💥 pic.twitter.com/g7l1VLveXQ

— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2022 In the next few months, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is venturing out beyond the walls of the UFC Apex more and more.

At the end of the UFC 282 press conference on Thursday, the organization announced the majority of its fight card lineup from January to March 2023. Notably, the promotion did not mention a jaunt to South Korea on Feb. 4 that already has several fights on the books. Three of the first six UFC events of next year will go down in Las Vegas, with three shows at the UFC Apex on Jan. 14, Feb. 18 and Feb. 25. The others will be international, with Rio de Janeiro and Perth, Australia, already confirmed.

The UFC formalized the date and location of UFC 285 in its announcement as well, which will take place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The following week, the promotion will remain in Las Vegas, bu…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s next trip to Australia is jam-packed with local talent.

On Thursday, MMA Junkie broke the news that Nasrat Haqparast (14-5) will take on Jamie Mullarkey (15-5) at UFC 284. The two lightweights will battle it out at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on Feb. 11. Both Haqparast and Mullarkey subsequently confirmed their appearances at the event on their respective Instagram pages.

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Born in Germany to Afghan parents and currently representing Morocco, Haqparast concluded his first winless streak in September by taking a decision over John Makdessi. The victory reversed his fortune after two straight decision losses to Dan Hooker and Bobby Green in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Each of the last five outings for Haqparast have seen the final judges’ scorecards, but prior to that, he had sparked Joaquim Silva early in the second round only to get blasted by Drew Dober in 70 seconds a few months later.

Australia native…

Just found out that the UFC is looking to book Amanda Ribas on the March 4 event (UFC Fight Night 221).

— Christian Stein (@CopperHeartCT) December 8, 2022 A fan-favorite flyweight up-and-comer in the Ultimate Fighting Championship should be back in action within a few months.

According to a source close to the situation on Thursday, Amanda Ribas (11-3) is being targeted for a flyweight fight at UFC 285 on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Her opponent is still to be determined, but it is not expected to be Tracy Cortez. Options being considered include a rematch with Katlyn Chookagian, or fresh matchups against either Viviane Araujo or Taila Santos.

Ribas and Cortez were slated to face off against one another at UFC on ESPN 42 on Dec. 3 in Florida, but Cortez was pulled shortly after the weigh-ins concluded. Cortez had successfully made weight, with the medical scratch reportedly unrelated to her weight cut. This put an end to …

The talk is over.

Tomorrow @RaufeonStots & @ShockThisWorld will finally fight. #Bellator289 pic.twitter.com/EhmYJSePcJ

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) December 8, 2022 Bellator MMA ends its year with a card containing a pair of title fights, and every fighter on the bill has made weight.

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Interim bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots (134.4) made weight for his title defense against Danny Sabatello (135), and so did women's flyweight champion Liz Carmouche (124.8) for her rematch with Juliana Velasquez (124.2). It was a drama-free day on the scale, as all fighters for Bellator 289 successfully made weight.

Stots (18-1) is coming off an impressive knockout over Juan Archuleta that saw him claim the interim title. He'll go up against "The Italian Gangster" in the Bellator bantamweight grand prix semifinals, as the trash-talking Sabatello (13-1) is on an impressive seven-fight win streak. The winner will square off against…

It's happening! We're taking #UFC286 to London and it's going to be a big one! 🇬🇧

Register now for early access to tickets 🎟️ https://t.co/wg9VkLrok2 pic.twitter.com/6z9065E6jn

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) December 7, 2022

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship is headed overseas for a pay-per-view event in March.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Wednesday that UFC 286 will take place at The O2 Arena in London on March 18. It will be the first pay-per-view event in England since UFC 204, which saw Michael Bisping retain his middleweight crown with a five-round verdict over Dan Henderson in the evening’s main event on Oct. 8, 2016. No bouts have been confirmed for the upcoming event.

The organization twice traveled to England in 2022. UFC Fight Night 204 was held at The O2 Arena on March 19 and saw Tom Aspinall defeat Alexander Volkov via first-round submission in the headliner, while UFC Fight Night 208 return…

Sabah Homasi will face Brennan Ward in a potential welterweight slugfest at Bellator 290.

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Bellator president Scott Coker announced the booking on Tuesday evening. Bellator 290 takes place at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Feb. 4 and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt pitting Ryan Bader against Fedor Emelianenko. The evening’s main card will air on CBS at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Homasi went 2-0 under the Bellator banner in 2022. After scoring a first-round submission of Jaleel Willis at Bellator 273 on Jan. 29, “The Sleek Sheik” knocked out Maycon Mendonca in 58 seconds at Bellator 282 on June 24. The American Top Team product is 5-2 in the California-based promotion, with losses to Paul Daley and Andrey Koreshkov.

After more than four years away from the cage, Ward returned to active competition at Bellator 274, where he defeated Brandon Bell via second-round TKO. He followed that performance with a second-round stoppage of Kassius Ka…

Israel Adesanya likely won’t face criminal charges for taking brass knuckles through security at JFK Aiport in New York last month.

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According to TMZ Sports, the Queens County (N.Y.) District Attorney issued Adesanya an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD), which means that the charges will be dismissed in six months if he isn’t arrested again in the county.

Adesanya was detained at JFK Airport on Nov. 16 when airport security discovered the brass knuckles in his luggage. The fighter’s manager, Tim Simpson, released a statement claiming that the weapons were given to Adesanya by a fan and that the charges were dismissed after the former UFC champion complied with authorities.

As it turns out, Adesanya was facing fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, which comes with a maximum sentence of one year in jail or three years’ probation if convicted , and he was ordered to appear in court on Tuesday. According to MMAFighting.co…

It looks like Ovince St. Preux won’t be competing at UFC 282 after all.

The former interim light heavyweight title challenger has been removed from Saturday’s card after Antonio Trocoli, St. Preux’s third prospective opponent, withdrew as a result of visa issues. MMAFighting.com was first to report Trocoli’s exit from the event, while MMAjunkie.com confirmed that the promotion was unable to find a fourth replacement for “OSP.”

UFC 282 will proceed with 13 bouts. That card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev. The main card airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Prelims begin on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT and move to ESPN2 and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

The 39-year-old St. Preux was previously scheduled to face Alexander Gustafsson and Philipe Lins at UFC 282 before both opponents pulled out of the event. The former University o…

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At the age of 29, bantamweight Luan Lacerda is the newest representative of Brazil in the UFC.

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The Macapa, Brazil-born Nova Uniao representative will make his Octagon debut against Cody Stamann at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 21, the fighter confirmed to the site Psicoticos por Vale Tudo.  

  The path to the UFC, however, was not easy. Born in Amapa, Luan started training jiu-jitsu at the age of 12. During this same period his father took him to a Vale Tudo/MMA event, where the fighter fell in love with the sport for good. From that day on he already knew he wanted to fight.  

Lacerda is currently the Shoot Brazil bantmaweight champion and owns a 12-1 career record since making his professional debut in 2012. In his last appearance, Lacerda submitted Marcirley Alvis da Silva at LFA 132 this past May.

Currently living in Rio de Janeiro, where he trains under the command of master Andre “Dedé” Pederne…

Professional Fighters League has added champions from three regional promotions to its roster.

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The promotion announced on Tuesday that it has signed Eagle FC heavyweight champ Rizvan Kuniev, Standout Fighting Tournament lightweight title holder Manoel Sousa and Jungle Fights welterweight king Quemeul Ottoni. The Ottoni signing was recently reported by Sherdog.com. It is unclear when the three new signings will make their respective promotional debuts.

“We are excited to add these elite fighters to our global roster,” PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo said. “The PFL will put these athletes on the global stage.”

Russia’s Kuniev will bring an 11-fight winning streak into his PFL debut. After a third-round technical knockout victory against Edivan Santos on Dana White’s Contender Series failed to net a UFC contract in September 2021, Kuniev captured the Eagle FC belt with a first-round submission of Anthony Hamilton this past March. Read more

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After welcoming Alex Pereira to mixed martial arts with a rear-naked choke victory at Jungle Fight 82 in 2015, Quemuel Ottoni followed a totally different path than the current UFC middleweight champion.

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While “Poatan” decided to focus on his kickboxing career and won Glory belt in two divisions, Ottoni kept on the MMA track, capturing the Jungle Fight welterweight title seven years after defeating Pereira. Now, Ottoni is excited to compete at 170 pounds for Professional Fighters League in 2023.

“I've waited a long time to have my chance to fight in the United States, where everything happens, and I'll finally have that chance,” he told Sherdog.com.

Quemuel considers the point system of PFL the best for his style.

"I love the point system of PFL [because it is] based on meritocracy. The most impressive wins get more points, and that's really good for an offensive fighter like me,” he said. “I´m working harder than ever to br…