Martial Arts News

Former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith will need surgery after suffering a broken ankle in his loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the news following an initial report from Ariel Helwani. The injury occurred when Smith threw a kick in the opening round of the light heavyweight bout at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas.

“Lionheart” nonetheless fought into the second round, before suffering a technical knockout loss at the 3:09 mark of the period. That snapped a three-bout winning streak for Smith. Ankalaev, meanwhile, has won nine consecutive fights.

It’s currently unclear how long Smith will be sidelined as a result of the injury.

Philip De Fries will attempt to extend his reign as heavyweight champion when he defends his crown against Ricardo Prasel at KSW 74.

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De Fries confirmed the booking following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. KSW 74 takes place on Sept. 10.

After a bumpy stretch in the UFC earlier in his career, de Fries has emerged as one of the most successful heavyweights in the sport. The 36-year-old England native has won nine consecutive fights and has authored six successful heavyweight title defenses since capturing the KSW heavyweight strap in 2018. Most recently, he defeated fellow UFC vet Darko Stosic via fifth-round TKO at KSW 67 on Feb. 26.

Prasel enters the matchup with de Fries riding the momentum of consecutive finishes of Daniel Omielanczuk and Michal Kita under the KSW banner. The 31-year-old Germany-based Brazilian also appeared on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, where he fell to Don'Tale Mayes via first-round TKO.

Flyweight prospect Muhammad Mokaev will lock horns with Malcolm Gordon at UFC 280.

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ESPN was first to report the 125-pound booking. UFC 280 takes place on Oct. 22 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a lightweight championship showdown between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. In the co-main event, Aljamain Sterling will defend the bantamweight crown against T.J. Dillashaw.

Muhammad is unbeaten in nine professional outings, including a pair of triumphs in UFC competition. In his last outing, “The Punisher” landed 12 takedowns en route to a unanimous decision victory over Charles Johnson at UFC Fight Night 208 in London on July 23.

After coming up short in his first two UFC appearances, Gordon has won back-to-back fights in the Las Vegas-based promotion. The former TKO MMA flyweight champion is coming off a first-round stoppage of Denys Bondar at UFC Fight Night 200 on Feb. 5, a victory that ran his professional record to 14-5.

It’s been nearly two years since James Krause last set foot in the Octagon, and according to him, that was his last time competing as a professional mixed martial artist.

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The 36-year-old Glory MMA & Fitness leader officially announced his retirement on Monday during an appearance on "The MMA Hour." Krause was last in action at UFC Night 180, when he earned a unanimous decision victory against Claudio Silva on Oct. 17, 2020. Krause has been a prominent figure as a coach in recent years, including cornering Brandon Moreno in his interim flyweight title win over Kai Kara France at UFC 277 this past weekend.

“I’ve said this so many times, and this is the No. 1 problem with the sport and the fighters — this has to come to an end at some point. It has to. And professional athletics as a whole has to come to an end,” Krause said. “Football players, they don’t play until they’re 50. This has to come to an end, and unfortunately, we don’t get to pick it…

Roberto Soldic: ONE FC is biggest martial arts in the world.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/lzu2s0WglN

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 1, 2022

Two-division KSW champion Roberto Soldic has left the Polish promotion to sign with One Championship.

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Soldic announced the news on "The MMA Hour" on Monday. Soldic, who held titles at 185 and 170 pounds in KSW, said his decision was motivated in part by the opportunity to compete for belts in other combat sports.

“I chose One because it’s the biggest martial arts promotion in the world," Soldic said. "They give me opportunity to take all the belts: kickboxing world champion, muay Thai world champion, MMA world champion, also boxing world champion. So this makes me something new. I want to create something for my people, for my own legacy. So I chose One for sure.

“After I went to Singapore and I saw the atmosphere with Mr. Chatri [Sityodtong], how he treats the fighters,…

Renato Carneiro is eager to return to action after falling to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 272 this past March.

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“I'm just waiting for a UFC call. Just give me four weeks and I'll be ready for anyone,” Carneiro told Sherdog.com.

“Moicano” is 3-2 at 155 pounds after moving up from featherweight. With that in mind, the American Top Team-trained fighter recognizes he is not in a position to choose opponents.

“As a fighter we must understand our role in the [show]. I'm coming from a defeat and expecting UFC to offer me some undefeated guy making his UFC debut or some tough Russian, but that's not a problem — I'm used to killing two lions per day and that's what I need do that in order to return to the rankings,” he said. But if they want to give me a surprise gift, Paddy Pimblett would be very welcome.”

According to Carneiro, the popular Englishman is one of the most vulnerable fighters in the lightweight division.

“No doubt he has qualities,” Ca…

Week 2 of the latest iteration of Dana White’s Contender Series is now official, as all 10 athletes slated to compete hit their contracted marks on the scale without issue on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a lightweight clash pitting Charlie Campbell (155) against Chris Duncan (155.5).

Anchored at Longo Weidman MMA, Campbell enters the matchup on a five-bout winning streak. He has finished his last three opponents inside the distance and is coming off a first-round knockout of Guilherme Santos at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 107 on April 15.

Duncan will be making his second appearance on the Contender Series after suffering a second-round KO loss to Viacheslav Borschev last October. The three-time Bellator veteran has been victorious in eight of nine professional appearances overall.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Charlie Cam…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Joseph Pyfer, the lone fighter to be rewarded with a contract on Week 1 of the current season of Dana White’s Contender Series, will make a relatively quick turnaround for his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

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Pyfer will make his first promotional foray against Alen Amedovski at UFC Fight Night 210 on Sept. 17 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The middleweight booking was first announced during the UFC 277 broadcast on Saturday night. UFC Fight Night 210 is headlined by a bantamweight scrap between Cory Sandhagen and Yadong Song.

After falling to Dustin Stoltzfus in his first appearance on the Contender Series in August 2020, Pyfer made an impression on July 26, scoring a second-round technical knockout victory against Legacy Fighting Alliance champ Osman Diaz in the evening’s featured bout. “Bodybagz” is 9-2 as a professional, with all but one of his triumphs coming inside the distance.

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Amanda Nunes welcomes a third fight with Valentina Shevchenko, even though she believes the flyweight champion should have lost her last title defense.

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Shortly after Nunes regained the bantamweight crown with a dominant five-round verdict over Julianna Pena in the UFC 2777 headliner, Shevchenko took to Twitter to claim that her rival copied some of her striking techniques. When those comments were relayed to Nunes, the two-division champ had a quick retort.

Looks like Amanda decide to fully copy my stand up gameGreat fight both ladies! #UFC277

— Valentina Shevchenko (@BulletValentina) July 31, 2022 “That’s funny,” Nunes said at the UFC 277 post-fight press conference. “She has to put out there something to stand out, because right now, as a champion, Valentina, she lost her last fight. I really think if Taila doesn’t get that headbutt, that fight could have been way different.”

Shevchenko is coming off a closely contest…

Count UFC president Dana White among those who thought that the heavyweight fight between Sergei Pavlovich and Derrick Lewis could have gone on longer than it did.

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Pavlovich rocked Lewis early on in their main card bout at UFC 277 on Saturday night, and the Russian swarmed with heavy punches for the finish. The assault caused “The Black Beast” to fall foward and hit his head on the canvas, which prompted referee Dan Miragliotta to step in and halt the contest as Lewis was returning to his feet. Lewis protested the stoppage immediately, but it was to no avail at that point, as the bout was over just 55 seconds after it began.

While White understands Miragliotta’s reasoning, he still thinks Lewis should have been allowed to continue.

“I think it was too soon, but to be fair – I think Miragliotta’s a great ref – the way that he fell, probably nine out of the 10 people in this room would’ve jumped on him and stopped the fight, including me,” Whit…

Seika Izawa @starflower2525 submits Laura Fontoura in the very first round!!!! #RIZIN37 #RIZINFF #ライジン #JMMA #WMMA #スーパーアトム級ワールドGP pic.twitter.com/rH8wl8DLfS

— Armaan (@armaanyounis) July 31, 2022

Only four remain in the Rizin Fighting Federation atomweight grand prix after Sunday’s action at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.  

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In the Rizin 37 headliner, current super atomweight titleholder and Deep Jewels 115-pound champion Seika Izawa overcame Maria Laura Alves Fontoura in a non-title fight which served as one of the quarterfinals in the tournament. Initially, it appeared that Izawa was in trouble as she was caught in a triangle choke maneuver by Fontoura, but the Japanese fighter kept her composure and escaped the sticky situation. Following a scramble, Izawa ended on top of her adversary and immediately hunted for a guillotine choke. Izawa worked to tighten the submission attempt, event…

Amanda Nunes is once again the Ultimate Fighting Championship women's bantamweight champion after dispatching Julianna Pena in the main event of UFC 277.

Showing no fear, Pena (11-5) came out looking to strike against "Lioness." However, it was Nunes (22-5) fighting out of southpaw that was finding success early as she was able to land right hooks when "The Venezuelan Vixen" rushed in. Early in Round 2, Nunes would floor Pena with a right hand and do the same shortly afterward after the champion rushed in. A huge left hand would once again put down Pena to cement a dominant second frame. Pena would find some success early in the first round, but the champion was taken down and bloodied by punches and elbows.

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NUNES STUNS AND DROPS PEÑA IN THE SECOND ROUND 😳

STREAM #UFC277 NOW ON @ESPNPLUS ▶️ https://t.co/0GQpkhwBKG pic.twitter.com/yqlLhPaLrD

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 31, 2022 Going into the championship rounds, P…