Martial Arts News

Edson Barboza has been forced to withdraw from a proposed featherweight clash against Ilia Topuria at UFC Fight Night 213 due to a knee injury.

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MMAFighting.com was first to report Barboza’s exit. The knee injury required Barboza to recently undergo surgery. UFC Fight Night 213 takes place on Oct. 29 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a 145-pound clash pitting Calvin Kattar against Arnold Allen. It is currently unknown if Topuria will remain on the card against a replacement opponent. Barboza vs. Topuria was slated to be the evening’s co-main event.

Barboza is 2-3 since moving to 145 pounds. The 36-year-old Brazilian is coming off back-to-back losses against Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell.

Spain’s Topuria is a rising prospect who is undefeated in 12 professional appearances. He is 4-0 in the UFC with three straight KO/TKO victories to his credit.

It appears that Rafael dos Anjos is headed back to the welterweight division.

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The former lightweight champion, who said that he would look for fights that motivated him following a loss to Rafael Fiziev this past July, officially announced his return to 170 pounds in an interview on Brazilian YouTube channel “Canal Encarada.”

“The UFC offered me two names at lightweight that didn't make sense to me, taking into consideration the rankings issue. So I asked them to drop me from the rankings and decided to go back up to 170 where I can have a healthier life,” dos Anjos said. “Because I fight well with the big guys.”

During the interview the Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt claimed that he already had a fight lined up for December, but when pressed said that he was not yet authorized to reveal the name of his opponent. However, according to a report from Combate.com, dos Anjos is expected to face Bryan Barberena at UFC Fight Night in Orland on Dec.…

A women’s lightweight final between Kayla Harrison and Larissa Pacheco will headline the PFL Championship card on Nov. 25.

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The organization announced the majority of the lineup for its final event of the year on Wednesday. The PFL Championship will take place at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York and will see Brendan Loughnane square off against Bubba Jenkins at featherweight in the evening’s co-main event. The main card will be a pay-per-view available via ESPN+, and begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. A price point was not announced, however.

The rest of the main draw will feature the remaining four PFL finals: Ante Delija vs. Mattheus Scheffel at heavyweight; Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Steven Ray at lightweight; Sadibou Sy vs. Dilano Taylor at welterweight and Rob Wilkinson vs. Omari Akhmedov at light heavyweight. Additionally, the pay-per-view offering will include a featherweight bout pitting Shane Burgos against Marlon Moraes and on…

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Bellator MMA has bolstered its roster with the signing of King of Pancrase welterweight champion Masayuki Kikuiri.

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The promotion announced Tuesday that it has inked Kikuiri to an exclusive multi-fight, multi-year contract. A date for Kikuiri’s Bellator debut is currently unclear.

“I’m very grateful to (Bellator president) Mr. Scott Coker for this opportunity and everyone involved in making this happen. I promise I’m coming for finishes and will be a Bellator fighter that’ll make Japan proud,” Kikuiri said in a release.


 
“I’ve fought only for Pancrase from my MMA debut and every fight until becoming champion. I’m grateful to Pancrase for helping me grow and kindly sending me out to fight under the Pancrase banner. I’ll be sure to proudly show the strength of the long line of King of Pancrase Champions to the world.”

Kikuiri brings an 8-2-1 record into his Bellator debut. He ended his Pancrase tenure with a five-r…

The #InvictaFC49 main event is OFFICIAL! Atomweight champion @Jessicadmma defends her title against @lionheartjill TOMORROW NIGHT!#InvictaFC49 | Wednesday, Sept. 28 | LIVE at 8/7c on @axstv + @fightnet + @facebook + @youtube! pic.twitter.com/doqJvcDGqi

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) September 27, 2022

The Invicta FC 49 headliner is now official, as both Jessica Correa Delboni and Jillian DeCoursey made weight ahead of their atomweight title showdown.

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Delboni, the reigning champion, tipped the scales at 104.8 pounds, while Jillian DeCoursey checked in at 104.7. Invicta FC 49 takes place on Wednesday at the Sugar Creek Casino in Hinton, Okla., and airs on AXS TV and the Invicta FC YouTube channel and Facebook page beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

After a controversial loss to Alesha Zappitella in her first title bid in May 2021, Delboni claimed the atomweight throne with a five-round verdict in a rematch at Invicta FC 45…

Once-promising bantamweight prospect Aspen Ladd is no longer on the UFC roster following her latest mishap on the scales.

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MMAFighting.com was first to confirm Ladd’s release after Twitter account UFC Roster Watch revealed that the figher had been removed from the UFC women’s bantamweight rankings. Ladd has lost three of her last four Octagon appearances.

Fighter removed: Aspen Ladd

— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch) September 27, 2022

Ladd was scheduled to face Sara McMann at UFC Fight Night 210 on Sept. 17, but the bout was canceled after Ladd checked in two pounds overweight for the 135-pound clash. That was Ladd’s third weight miss in the UFC, as she also came in heavy for fights against Macy Chiasson in 2021 and against Leslie Smith in 2018. Both of those bouts were scrapped as a result. She also missed weight for a fight against Jessica Hoy under the Invicta FC banner in 2016, but that bout went ahead as planned…

One Championship heavyweight Martin Batur is facing sanctions from the promotion after failing a drug test in relation to his most recent fight.

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One Championship announced Tuesday that Batur has been suspended for 1 year after testing positive for an androgenic anabolic steroid. As a result, his first-round technical knockout victory against Paul Elliott at One Championship 160 on Aug. 26 has been overturned to a no contest.

According to a statement, Batur’s sample was collected and processed by International Doping Tests and Management (IDTM). Additionally, the Croatian will be subject to in- and out-of-competition testing in the future.

One Championship 160 was Batur’s debut with the Singapore-based organization. Prior to that, the UFD Gym export compiled a 7-3 career mark, with a notable loss to UFC heavyweight Aleksander Rakic at Austrian Fight Challenge 1 in 2015.

The Professional Fighters League isn’t waiting until next season to throw Shane Burgos and Marlon Moraes into the fire.

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According to ESPN, the recently-signed fighters have agreed to square off at the PFL Championships in November at featherweight. The promotion hasn’t officially announced a date or venue for the event, but the card is expected to take place on Nov. 25.

Burgos recently parted ways with the UFC following an 8-3 stint with the Las Vegas-based organization, which prompted Dana White to admit that it was a mistake not re-signing the Team Tiger Schulmann representative. The 31-year-old known as “Hurricane” is coming off back-to-back decision triumphs over Billy Quarantillo and Charles Jourdain in the Octagon.

Moraes, meanwhile, announced his retirement in April before returning to sign with the PFL. Moraes was the World Series of Fighting’s first bantamweight champion before signing with the UFC, where he earned wins over the li…

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Mike Perry isn’t scheduled to fight anyone in Russia, but that didn’t prevent him from nearly brawling with Magomed Ismailov during an impromptu faceoff.

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Perry was reportedly in Russia to corner traininer partner and fellow UFC veteran Alex Nicholson against Vagab Vagabov. Perry appeared on Russian TV to promote the event, and for some reason he squared off against Ismailov during the event. That ultimately led to a brawl nearly breaking out in a television studio before the two fighters were separated.

According to Perry, Ismailov mistook an expletive for a more serious insult.

“I almost got jumped in there,” Perry said on his Instagram stories. “Luckily, people was breaking it up. But in Russia if you call someone a motherf——er, they think you’re talking about someone’s mom so then the whole team coming to get you. But in America when you say motherf——er it’s like normal words. It’s normal. I’m not talking about your mama,…

If anyone has a right to be bitter about 17-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. Jr. securing a UFC contract on his first Dana White’s Contender Series appearance, it’s Bo Nickal.

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After all Nickal is a three-time NCAA national champion wrestler at Penn State University, won an under-23 world championship and was a finalist at the 2020 U.S. Olympic team trials. As one of the most highly-touted prospects in recent memory, Nickal rolled through Zachary Borrego on Week 3 of the Contender Series, winning via submission in 62 seconds. And yet, UFC president Dana White needed to see more.

“I don’t know what else he could have done to look any better. He looked incredible. The only reason I didn’t sign him tonight is because he’s 2-0 now,” White said after the fight. “We got eight more weeks of this. Why not have him fight here again, you know what I mean? It just makes sense.”

It would seem that Nickal’s credentials would far surpass that of someone like Rosas Jr.…

Sherdog's live DWCS 2022 Week 10 coverage will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

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

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Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchf…