Martial Arts News

As expected, Sam Alvey is no longer part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster.

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Alvey has parted ways with the Las Vegas-based promotion on the heels of a first-round technical knockout loss to Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC on ESPN 40 this past Saturday. It was Alvey’s ninth consecutive Octagon appearance without a victory, a UFC record.

“Smile’n” Sam confirmed his departure in good natured fashion while sharing some of his favorite memes regarding the situation via Instagram. “Hey [Jake Paul], I’m not under contract anymore,” he wrote.

Alvey revealed that he suffered a broken jaw in the loss to Oleksiejczuk. His last UFC victory came at UFC Fight Night 131 on June 1, 2018, when he defeated Gian Villante via split decision. His UFC tenure, which began in 2014, included other notable triumphs against the likes of Rashad Evans and Nate Marquardt.

The Bellator 286 lineup continues to grow with the addition of two new bouts, as Aaron Pico faces Jeremy Kennedy at featherweight, whle Juan Archuleta meets Enrique Barzola at bantamweight.

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The promotion confirmed the pairings following an initial report from ESPN. Bellator 286 takes place on Oct. 1 at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt between Patricio Freire and Adam Borics. In the co-main event, A.J. McKee makes his lightweight debut against Spike Carlyle.

Four preliminary bouts were also confirmed for the event: Max Rohskopf vs. Mike Hamel at lightweight; Islam Mamedov vs. Nick Browne at lighweight; Keoni Diggs vs. Ricardo Seixas at lightweight and Khadzhimurat Bestaev vs. Khalid Murtazaliev at middleweight.

Pico and Kennedy were initially slated to lock horns at Bellator 277 in April before Kennedy withdrew from the bout. Pico remained on the card and defeated Adli Edwards via third-r…

Anthony Pettis will be on the mend after suffering fractures to his left hand and right thumb in a lightweight playoff loss to Steven Ray at PFL 7.

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The former UFC and WEC lightweight champion posted photos of his X-rays and revealed that he will need to undergo surgery to repair the injuries. Pettis fell to Ray via unanimous decision on Aug. 5, his second consecutive loss to the Scottish UFC veteran. Even if “Showtime” had been victorious, it is unlikely he would have been able to fight in the PFL Championship.

Pettis has gone 1-4 during his PFL tenure, with his lone victory coming against Myles Price via first-round submission on May 6. Since 2015, the Roufusport stalwart is just 7-12 as a professional. It is currently unclear if Pettis will return for the next PFL season.

Ray and Olivier Aubin-Mercier will square off for the lightweight championship and $1 million at an event later this year.

There’s bad injury luck and then there’s what happened to Christos Giagos while the UFC lightweight was doing some work around the house.

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Giagos announced on Monday that he has withdrawn from a proposed UFC Fight Night 209 bout against Benoit St. Denis after severing his pinky on a broken toilet. It’s currently unknown if St. Denis will receive a replacement opponent on the Sept. 3 card.

“It kills me writing this so I’ll keep it short,” Giagos wrote on Instagram. “I was getting some cleaning done and while wiping down a piece of my grill in the trash my hand hit a broken porcelain toilet and gashed my hand open, cutting a tendon in my pinky.

“Unfortunately, due to the severity of the injury I had to pull out of my upcoming fight in Paris. I was praying the damage wasn’t bad so I could still take the fight, but that wasn’t the case.

“I went to a hand specialist today to check the damage and had to undergo a minor surgery to reattach my …

Zachary Borrego was already a significant underdog heading into his matchup with Bo Nickal on Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, and that was before he encountered issues on the scale Monday morning.

Borrego tipped the scales at 187.5 pounds for his middleweight clash with Nickal, which will serve as the card’s featured bout on Tuesday evening. As a result, the fight will proceed as a catchweight, and Borrego will be fined a percentage of his purse. Nickal made weight without issue, checking in at 186 pounds.

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The Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday night and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

A former three-time NCAA national champion wrestler at Penn State University, Nickal is one of the more highly-touted prospects in recent memory to appear on the Contender Series. The 26-year-old made his professional MMA debut on June 3, when he knocked out John Noland in 33 seconds at Jorge Masvidal’s iKon F…

The UFC on ESPN 40 headliner did not go as planned for Thiago Santos, but the former light heavyweight title challenger is maintaining a positive outlook.

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Santos fell to Jamahal Hill via fourth-round technical knockout on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Marreta” had his moments, including a fourth round where he landed five of his six takedowns. That effort drained his stamina, however, and Hill was able to pour it on for the finish in Round 4. The bout was ultimately received “Fight of the Night” honors from promotion officials.

“I worked hard and I had a amazing training camp,” Santos wrote on social media. “I [left] everything there and still wasn't enough, no shame about that —just a bad night in the office. Congratulations to Hill. I will be back stronger and better. Thank you all.”

I worked hard and I had a amazing training camp, i let everything there and still wasn't enough, no shame about that, jus…

If it seemed like Nick Diaz was fighting well below his usual standards at UFC 266 last September, there’s a pretty good reason for that, according to coach Cesar Gracie.

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While Diaz’s return against Robbie Lawler marked the Stockton, Calif., native’s first Octagon appearance in more than six years, he was dealing with more than just age and ring rust. Diaz, who called it quits 44 seconds into the third round of the bout, was also battling a pretty serious neck injury.

“So Nick, he went into that fight and his neck was pretty messed up,” Gracie said in an interview with Submission Radio. “Robbie’s a great, tough fighter and everything. And, Nick was doing great. And then you kind of see Nick kind of just kind of fading as the fight wore on. So, Nick had an operation very recently here seven weeks ago. So, two of the discs had ruptured in his neck before the fight. So, he was having numbness of the hands. That’s why he didn’t make 170. He fought at 1…

A bantamweight clash pitting Cody Garbrandt against Rani Yahya has been rebooked for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Oct. 1.

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Garbrandt and Yahya were originally supposed to meet at UFC on ESPN 39 on July 9, but Yahya was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a neck injury. Both fighters confirmed the rescheduled date on social media following an initial report from MMA Mania.

The UFC Fight Night card doesn’t have an official location or venue as of yet, but it is expected to feature a by a strawweight showdown between Mackenzie Dern and Xiaonan Yan.

A former 135-pound champion, Garbrandt will return to the division following a short-lived stint at flyweight. In his lone 125-pound appearance, “No Love” fell to Kai Kara France via first-round technical knockout at UFC 269 on Dec. 11. The 31-year-old Ohioan has lost five of his last six in UFC competition.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and former ADCC champion, Yahya has b…

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With approximately two weeks remaining before he faces Luke Rockhold at UFC 278, Paulo Costa has confirmed that he is no longer managed by Wallid Ismail.

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In a 13-minute video published on his Youtube channel, Costa recalled his entire history with Ismail, making it clear that he did not have any issues with his former manager.

“I have nothing bad to say about Wallid. He is an honest person and very professional, I just have compliments about him,” Costa said. “We just have different views about my career and, because of that, we decided to not work together anymore.”

Costa revealed that his girlfriend, Tamara Alves, will serve as his representation going forward. The separation comes about two months after another major loss suffered by Ismail's agency. In June, UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo parted ways with Ismail after a disagreement over the UFC’s decision to creat an interim flyweight belt while he recovere…

In addition to setting a promotional record for longest winless streak, it appears that Sam Alvey suffered a broken jaw in his loss to Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC on ESPN 40 on Saturday night.

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Alvey succumbed to punches 1:56 into the opening round of the middleweight bout, the ninth straight time the 36-year-old Team Quest representative has failed to achieve victory in the Octagon. His only non-defeat during that time was a draw against Da Un Jung at UFC 254.

Alvey, who still seemed to be in good spirits, revealed the extent of his injuries via TikTok.

“I would still say there’s not a person on the planet that likes doing this sport more than me,” Alvey said. “Although at this current moment, I have a broken jaw from the first damn punch he hit me with. Son of a b—h. I’m likely getting my mouth wired shut. I’ve got to tell you, I wouldn’t have picked a different career if I had the opportunity years ago.”

The setback almost certainly …

Despite losing her bantamweight belt to Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 one week prior, Julianna Pena was on site at UFC on ESPN 40 to cheer on the athletes she coached on Season 30 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

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Nunes, however, was not in attendance — a fact that was not lost on Pena.

“I’m ready to go Round 8 right now,” Pena said during the UFC on ESPN 40 post-fight show. “Like, let’s freaking go. I’m here. Where you at, Amanda?

“Amanda, seriously, where are you at? You left your girl hanging out there. I showed up for Team Pena. She didn’t show up for Team Nunes. I’m here, I’m ready to go Round 8.”

Nunes reclaimed 135-pound gold with a decisive five-round verdict over Pena in the UFC 277 headliner on July 30 at American Airlines Arena in Dallas. That came on the heels of Pena’s second-round submission of Nunes at UFC 269, a result that is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. Nunes made the necessary adjustments for the rematch, includ…

The IBJJF and Jiu Jitsu community are extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Leandro Lo. Lo was one of the greatest athletes our sport has ever produced. An example of a true black belt, martial artist and champion on and off the mats. Rest in peace legend. pic.twitter.com/lHK3n8pF4K

— IBJJF (@ibjjf) August 7, 2022

The jiu-jitsu world is in mourning following the death of Leandro Lo early Sunday morning.

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Lo, one of the most respected champions of Brazilian jiu-jitsu history, was shot to death by a police officer during a concert in Sao Paulo. According to a police report, officer Henrique Otávio Oliveira Velozo shot Lo once in the head after an altercation near Lo’s table. The incident allegedly began when witnesses saw Velozo take a bottle from Lo’s table, which led to the jiu-jitsu champion taking the officer down and holding him. The two men were separated, and at that time Velozo pulled a gun and shot at Lo’s fo…