Martial Arts News

At the moment, it remains unclear which title fight — or fights — will top the lineup for UFC 317 on International Fight Week.

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After Magomed Ankalaev stated that he doesn’t want to wait until October in Abu Dhabi for a rematch with Alex Pereira, speculation began that the light heavyweight rematch could serve as the main event for that card.

Meanwhile, Charles Oliveira has thrown his hat into the ring for another potential featured bout at UFC 317. Recently, reigning lightweight champ Islam Makhachev indicated that former 145-pound king Ilia Topuria should win one fight against a contender before receiving a title shot in the new weight class. Meanwhile, the Georgian-Spaniard issued a scathing response to Oliveira after “do Bronx” stated he didn’t see Topuria as a big fight.

“You have 10 losses: [five] by knockout, [four] by submission, and [one] by decision. You are the contender, while I am the champion, the father of the entire division,” …

Jan Blachowicz was a measuring stick fight for Carlos Ulberg.

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The City Kickboxing representative proved himself in the UFC London co-main event, taking a closely-contested unanimous verdict over the former light heavyweight champion at the O2 Arena on Saturday.

“If you look at the current champion [Magomed Ankalaev] and the former champion [Alex Pereira], their last fight with Jan Blachowicz was a very close fight, as well,” Ulberg said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I beat him with a unanimous decision, so it’s a very good feat for me.”

The triumph wasn’t a thing of beauty, especially for someone who had finished five of his previous seven Octagon opponents. However, Ulberg acknowledged that it’s often difficult to look good against someone with Blachowicz’s style.

“We knew he was gonna come out tough and exactly how he came out,” Ulberg said. “He’s very good at lulling you to sleep. He’s very good at kind of putting this press…

Sean Brady dominated Leon Edwards in a way no previous opponent had — and that includes reigning UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad.

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The Renzo Gracie Philly product earned a signature victory in the UFC London headliner on Saturday when he submitted Edwards with a fourth-round guillotine choke at the O2 Arena. It was the Englishman’s second straight defeat after he previously relinquished the welterweight crown to Muhammad at UFC 304 last July. Brady was the first person to finish Edwards in 28 professional bouts.

“I think I did a lot better than Belal did. I think Belal lost a couple of rounds. He had his back taken for an entire round. I think it was 3-2 when they fought,” Brady said at the UFC London post-fight press conference. “I dominated Leon every round. No one’s ever did it like me. Then I submitted him and made him quit in front of his hometown.

“If we were in Philly, you ain’t making me quit in front of my hometown, I’ll tell…

Ilia Topuria is trying to assert himself among the lightweight elites.

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Topuria won the featherweight title by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 last year and defended it by knocking out Max Holloway at UFC 308. “El Matador” then recently vacated his title, citing a lack of fresh contenders at 145 pounds — though an arduous weight cut may have had something to do with that move.

While Topuria has been plotting an immediate title shot at lightweight, the Georgian-Spaniard might have to prove himself against a legitimate contender at 155 pounds first. Former champ Charles Oliveira recently removed his name from the mix, saying a matchup with Topuria won’t be enticing enough until the former featherweight champ has fought a seasoned lightweight.

Responding to “do Bronx,” Topuria claims he isn’t asking for any favors. Topuria proclaimed himself the “father of the division” while granting Oliveira contender status based on his career lo…

Jiri Prochazka is eyeing a title shot against Magomed Ankalaev.

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Prochazka has been plotting a title shot against Ankalaev since the Dagestani dethroned Alex Pereira at UFC 313 earlier this month. However, Ankalaev has another matchup in mind for Prochazka following UFC London.

Surging contender Carlos Ulberg defeated former champ Jan Blachowicz via unanimous decision in the co-main event at UFC London on Saturday. Ankalaev suggested a matchup between “Black Jag” and Prochazka, calling the Czech “fake ninja” to mock his bushido lifestyle.

Prochazka called Ankalaev a “fraud champion” in response while questioning the integrity of his social media posts. “BJP” also said that he is willing go through other tests to fight Ankalaev, which means he isn’t exactly shying away from a potential fight against Ulberg.

“Who wrote it, you? Or some your slave? Here you showed to everyone who’s fraud champion,” Prochazka wrote on X. “Like I said, I want…

Sean Brady received some extra compensation for the most significant victory of his career to date.

The Renzo Gracie Philly standout was dominant throughout the UFC London headliner, as he outgrappled Leon Edwards before submitting the former champ with a guillotine choke at the 1:39 mark of Round 4 in their welterweight bout. That effort earned Brady a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Meanwhile, Kevin Holland took home a $50,000 peformance check for a unanimous decision triumph over Gunnar Nelson in the evening’s co-main event. Holland dropped his foe in the opening stanza and engaged in multiple entertaining grappling exchanges over the course of the three-round affair.

Elsewhere, Octagon newcomer Alexia Thainara pocketed $50,000 for her submission of crowd favorite Molly McCann in a featured strawweight clash. The Brazilian was able to ground “Meatball” early and then move to her opponent’s back, where she locked in her second attempt at a rear-naked …

Sean Brady may have just made himself undeniable as a welterweight title contender.

In the main event of UFC Fight Night 255 in London’s O2 Arena, the Philadelphia native put in a thoroughly dominant performance, grounding Leon Edwards in every round and mauling him with strikes and submission attempts en route to a fourth-round finish. Brady took it to the former champ right away, surging forward behind a flurry of punches. “Rocky” remained calm, giving ground and looking for counter opportunities. Nonetheless, Brady’s volume and aggression kept Edwards on the back foot for much of the first round. The second frame was less ambiguous, as Brady grounded Edwards early, then went to work. The Daniel Gracie protégé took Edwards’ back, where he locked up a body triangle, pelted him with strikes from behind and looked to set up a choke. Edwards escaped back mount, but Brady remained all over him, moving to regular mount and briefly threatening with a kimura. Edwards survived to …

Sherdog's live UFC London coverage will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 255. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Kutateladze (-425), Fernandes (+330)Round 1 Jason Herzog gets the first officiating assignment of the UFC London card. Kutateladze takes the center of the cage early, but it’s Fernandes who steps in with a jab. The Brazilian follows up with a low kick. Fernandes pumps a couple more jabs. Kutateladze blocks a high kick but absorbs a leg kick. Fernandes digs his toes to the body with a front kick. Fernandes continues to mix up his offense, and he lands a combination during an exchange. That prompts Kutateladze to shoot, but the Brazilian stuffs it and they’re back at range. Fernandes fires a right and they clinch. As they break, a head kick briefly drops the Georgian. Kutateladze is back up and seems to have recovered. Kutateladze is struggling to find his range. A hard outside low kick lands for Fernandes. Kutateladze …

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Chris Padilla may not be able to sneak up on the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division for much longer.

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In the featured prelim of UFC London on Saturday at O2 Arena, “Taco” spoiled Jai Herbert’s UK homecoming in a matchup that promised fireworks but failed to deliver them until the final round. Round 1 was a tentative five minutes, with the hard-hitting lightweights seeming to struggle to deliver their power to their opponent’s chin. Padilla appeared stymied by Herbert’s enormous reach and height advantages, while Herbert was content to chip away at range, wary of Padilla’s takedown attempts. That dynamic carried over to the middle frame, but gradually gave way to a close-quarters, clinch-heavy slog. Padilla finally secured a hip toss only to have “The Black Country Banger” bounce back to his feet instantly. Ultimately, Round 2 was another near stalemate, difficult to score. Herbert came out aggress…

Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria finally appear to be on good terms.

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Their beef initially began due to Pimblett’s controversial remarks about Topuria’s home country of Georgia. The two then came across each other at a fighter hotel ahead of a UFC London card in March 2022, when “The Baddy” threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria.

While the two have since traded multiple barbs over the years, they weren’t on a collision course until recently. There have been talks of a potential future clash between the two after “El Matador” vacated his featherweight title and moved up to lightweight. Pimblett even recently said that he wants to fight Topuria and that “hand sanitizer boy” doesn’t deserve an immediate lightweight title shot.

However, they now appear to have buried the hatchet. Pimblett and Topuria came across each other yet again ahead of UFC London, which goes down at the O2 Arena on Saturday. Pimblett was there to support teammates Moll…

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Julianna Pena thinks good looking people are treated better in general.

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The UFC women’s bantamweight champ understands that the promotion is focused on running a business. And while she doesn’t necessarily expect the UFC to promote fighters based on good looks, she doesn’t expect them to downplay the charm, either.

Pena also believes good looks go a long way in terms of how one is perceived. And at the top of her list of good looking UFC fighters is Kiwi light heavyweight contender Carlos Ulberg. “The Venezuelan Vixen” also mentioned French middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov and former Bellator star Michael “Venom” Page, although “MVP” mostly for his flashy style.

“At the end of the day, the UFC is running a business and everything goes down to business,” Pena said on the Overdogs podcast. “And since it sells, they're definitely going to, I don't want to say play up that s——iness, but they're not going to shy away fr…

It is a sad day for the boxing world, as George Foreman has died at the age of 76.

On Friday, Foreman’s family posted on social media of his death. The beloved boxer competed in the sport from 1967 to 1997, going 22-4 as an amateur while capturing an Olympic Gold Medal at heavyweight in the 1968 Summer Olympics. Turning professional in 1969, “Big George” built a mighty record of 37-0 with 34 knockouts to earn a shot at the WBA, WBC and The Ring titles held by Joe Frazier.

Success continued for Foreman, as he blasted Frazier within two rounds, and defended that throne twice with knockouts of Jose Roman and Ken Norton. This led to one of the most iconic matches in the history of the sweet science, “Rumble in the Jungle” against Muhammad Ali. The legendary Ali employed his rope-a-dope strategy to outguile Foreman en route to a stoppage in the eighth round, flooring “Big George” for the first time during the match. This match served as one of the most-watched televised…