Martial Arts News

Former UFC competitor Bobby Nash has signed an exclusive, multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA.

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The California-based promotion confirmed the news following a report from MMAFighting.com on Tuesday. Nash will reportedly make his Bellator debut late this year or in the first quarter of 2023.

Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+

The 32-year-old Nash won eight of his first nine professional outings before hitting a speed bump in the Octagon. The East Lansing, Mich., native went 0-3 in the UFC in 2017, suffering a trio of KO/TKO losses at the hands of Jingliang Li, Danny Roberts and Kenan Song.

Nash returned to action in 2019 and has since scored four consecutive first-round finishes on the regional scene to run his career mark to 12-4.

Vegas hating . 209 !!!! Let’s get this money . Stockton slap #UFC279 pic.twitter.com/F6IQruT4Tj

— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) September 8, 2022

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has updated its code of conduct to prohibit its athletes from betting on fights within the promotion.

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UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell wrote in a memo initially obtained by Yahoo Sports that fighters, members of their teams and “certain others” are no longer allowed to wager on Octagon bouts.

“In light of clear direction that we have received from regulators responsible for the regulated sports betting industry in the United States, we are compelled at this time to recognize in the UFC Athlete Conduct Policy certain restrictions relating to wagering by our athletes, members of their teams and certain others,” Campbell wrote.

“As you may already be aware, most states in which regulated sports betting is conducted prohibit athle…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty Images/Zuffa

Karol Rosa will open the show against Lina Lansberg at Saturday’s highly-anticipated UFC 280 card.

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The Brazilian is confident she can rebound from a loss to Sara McMann in her last outing to continue her rise in the bantamweight division.

“I had four straight wins until my last fight,” Rosa told Sherdog.com. “I know Lina likes to fight on her feet and so do I. She is coming off two straight defeats, I am coming off one, but I don't feel pressure. I'm really hungry to get back in the win column.”

Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+ If she is victorious against Lansberg, Rosa already has her next potential opponent in mind.

“I really wanted to fight Raquel Pennington. She's fifth in the [UFC] rankings and it would be a good fight for me because her fighting style fits well with mine. But she already has a fight scheduled [against Ket…

Former lightweight contender Paul Felder will step in for Joe Rogan as part of the broadcast team at UFC 280.

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Felder will join play-by-play veteran Jon Anik and analyst Daniel Cormier on the call for the card at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. MMAFighting.com recently confirmed the lineup with UFC officials.

Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+

Rogan no longer serves as a commentator for the at the Las Vegas-based promotion’s international pay-per-view events. At UFC 275 in Singapore, for example, Michael Bisping stepped in for the popular podcast host.

UFC 280 is headlined by a lightweight championship clash between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev, while Aljamain Sterling will defend his bantamweight crown against T.J. Dillashaw in the co-main event. The main card airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10 a.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Raphael Assuncao was realistic heading into his fight with Victor Henry at UFC Fight Night 212.

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A loss would be his fifth straight within the Las Vegas-based promotion, and with it would have come with some tough decisions. Instead, Assuncao blended savvy counterstriking with takedowns and top control to earn a unanimous decision triumph.

In the aftermath of his first victory since July 2018, Assuncao admitted that retirement would have been on the table if he had come up short, or at the very least, a change in weight class.

“To be honest, probably …I’m not being proud about it,” he said after the fight. “I would have probably made the switch to featherweight, but I’m not positive if I still would’ve been in the UFC. Five losses (in a row) is probably not a good number to be in the UFC. If I decided not to retire if I had lost today, I would probably move up in weight class just because I feel I was losing muscle. Just [contemplating] all t…

Alexa Grasso passed the first five-round test of her professional career on Saturday night.

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The Mexican standout outdueled Viviane Araujo for a unanimous decision triumph in the UFC Fight Night 212 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and she was quite pleased with the end result.

“This was my first time fighting five rounds,” Grasso said at the post-fight press conference. “The training was super hard. The fight was hard too. She’s a tough warrior. I think we did a great job. I did everything I trained for.”

Grasso was able to outland her opponent in significant strikes, but perhaps even more impressively, she stuffed the majority of Araujo’s takedown attempts. And when she was taken down, she was able to return to her feet in relatively swift fashion.

“I’m super proud. She’s a Brazilian (jiu-jitsu) black belt,” Grasso said. “She’s the toughest opponent I’ve faced. I had two fights with two amazing wrestlers. Every fight that is hard for…

Jonathan Martinez has won five of his last six UFC appearances, but even he has to admit that the latest victory was a little more special.

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The Factory X member spoiled Cub Swanson’s bantamweight debut in the UFC Fight Night 212 co-main event, winning via technical knockout 4:19 into the second round at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“All this week I wasn’t thinking about who I was fighting,” Martinez said at the post-fight press conference. “After I got the win, I was like, ‘I just beat Cub Swanson,’ so I’m really excited.”

Swanson is the biggest name on Martinez’s resume to date, and the 28-year-old Plainview, Texas, native admitted to feeling a little bit overlooked by his opponent heading into the fight. The reason for that sentiment was Swanson’s bizarre media day, where he had a teammate answer questions for him while he sat in silence.

“It felt kind of disrespectful when he was interviewing, he didn’t say anything,”…

Jonathan Martinez received a little extra compensation for his wicked striking display in the UFC Fight Night 212 co-headliner.

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The Factory X standout garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his second-round technical knockout victory over Cub Swanson in the bantamweight bout on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Martinez battered Swanson with kicks to the body, knees and elbows, but it was a series of vicious leg kicks that led to stoppage at the 4:19 mark of Round 2. It was the 14th stoppage stemming from leg kicks in promotion history.

Meanwhile, Dusko Todorovic and Jordan Wright earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their back-and-forth middleweight scrap. Wright controlled the action in Round 1 with takedowns, submission defense and ground-and-pound, but momentum shifted considerably in the second stanza, when Todorovic swarmed his fatigued foe, powered into mount and finished the fight with elbows and …

Alexa Grasso just took another significant step toward contention in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division.

The Lobo Gym MMA took a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Viviane Araujo in the UFC Fight Night 212 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. All three judges saw the fight in favor of Grasso: 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46. Grasso has won four straight bouts since moving up from 115 pounds.

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In most instances, Grasso (15-3, 7-3 UFC) was quicker to the punch than her Brazilian opponent, as she countered effectively and connected with crisp punching combinations to the head while mixing in kicks and the occasional body attack. Araujo (11-4, 5-3 UFC) kept the pressure on and enjoyed some success of her own on the feet, but she couldn’t match Grasso’s overall volume and accuracy. The 35-year-old Brazilian was also unable to ground her opponent for any significant period of time, and when she did land a takedown, …

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 212 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Rodriguez (-730), Jackson (+530)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Taira (-240), Vergara (+200)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry s…

In a competitive bout, explosive bursts proved to be the key for Leomana Martinez.

The Glory MMA & Fitness representative garnered a split-decision triumph against Brandon Davis in the featured UFC Fight Night 212 prelim at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Michael Bell and Tony Weeks scored the bantamweight bout 29-28 in favor of Martinez (10-3, 2-1 UFC), while Junichiro Kamijo submitted a 29-28 tally for Davis (14-10, 2-7 UFC).

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Martinez likely swung the fight in his favor in a couple of key moments. The first came in Round 1, when he clipped Davis with a left hook in what was otherwise a closely-contest frame. A more emphatic statement occurred toward the end of the second period, as the former Fury FC title holder wobbled his foe with a spinning backfist, dislodged hs mouthguard and dropped Davis with a subsequent flurry of punches. Davis survived the salvo and made it to Round 3, where he enjoyed success with rangy right hands, a t…

First to the scale, @AlexaGrasso is in at 125.5 pounds 💪

[ #UFCVegas62 | TOMORROW | Prelims 4pm ET | Main Card 7pm ET | LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/mkRB2w1YxI

— UFC (@ufc) October 14, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns with a card that has lost one of its most intriguing fights.

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Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+ While UFC Fight Night 212's top two bouts are intact, the flyweight contest between Askar Askarov and Brandon Royval will no longer proceed. The issue was that Askarov was unable to make weight, and he reportedly declined the match at a catchweight. Headliners Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo were on target, along with all fighters on the card except for C.J. Vergara, who came in three pounds over the flyweight limit to receive a 30% purse fine. "Before I started the weight cut I heard my opponent [is] not going to make weight," Royval explained on Twitter. "They t…