Martial Arts News

The first rule of UFC Fight Club: don’t mention Francis Ngannou’s name…

Here’s a look at the clip from the UFC 305 Countdown episode versus what Adesanya actually said at the UFC 305 Pre-Sale Press Conference.

It’s no surprise, but the UFC’s attempt to erase Ngannou from its… pic.twitter.com/PZpA7UAtSe — AFeldmanMMA (@afeldMMA) August 13, 2024 Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Israel Adesanya is not pleased by how his company is handling Francis Ngannou’s legacy.UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

At UFC 305 media day on Wednesday, Adesanya spoke up on the UFC seemingly erasing mentions of Ngannou on its broadcasts and postings. This was partially in response to AFeldmanMMA, who posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a side-by-side video comparison on Tuesday, showing that the promotion had edited out Adesanya invoking the name of Ngannou when talking about legacy for African fighters. Dur…

⚖️ #PFLPlayoffs Light Heavyweight Main Event is official!

Impa Kasanganay: 203.8 lbsJosh Silveira: 205.2 lbs

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[ #PFLHollywood | Fri, Aug 16th | 9pm ET on ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/MpdW0q3xMi — PFL (@PFLMMA) August 15, 2024 The Professional Fighters League returns with an 11-fight card featuring four semifinal fights.

Headlining the card is a light heavyweight fight between Impa Kasanganay and Joshua Silveira. Both men have proved to be finishers, so it should end the night with some excitement. The winner of Kasanganay (17-4) and Silveira (13-3) will face whoever emerges victorious between Rob Wilkinson and Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov in the co-main event. All four men successfully made weight.

Additionally, all four lightweight semifinals made weight. Brent Primus will face off against Clay Collard in what will be a fan-friendly striking matchup. Meanwhile, Gadzhi Rabadanov, who is undefeated within the PFL, will l…

The Octagon is headed BACK to Macau 🚨#UFCMacau is locked in for Nov 23 at Macau Galaxy Arena!

Learn more 👉 https://t.co/Em93FXMmKe pic.twitter.com/YvVTcEcEdw

— UFC (@ufc) August 15, 2024 After over 10 years away, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be heading back to the “Las Vegas of the East.”

Per the organization on Wednesday night, a UFC Fight Night event on Nov. 23 is planned for the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China. This non-pay-per-view offering will serve as the organization’s first trip to the special administrative region in China since UFC Fight Night 48 in 2014. While that last event was held in the Cotai Arena, the promotion has upgraded to the Galaxy Arena, which serves as Macau’s largest indoor arena sporting 16,000 seats. No fights have been announced as of yet.

Once in 2012 and twice in 2014, the company traveled to Macau to stage an event. Cung Le sparked Rich Franklin in the inaugural Macau show, which also was …

THE RETURN TO THE NORTH! 🇨🇦

We’re back in Canada with #UFCEdmonton Saturday November 2nd!

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[ Tickets On Sale Sept. 20th | Register your interest at https://t.co/AeOlqnw9GM ] pic.twitter.com/IJneFSivIB — UFC (@ufc) August 15, 2024

A women’s flyweight clash pitting Erin Blanchfield against Rose Namajunas will serve as the main event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Edmonton on Nov. 2.

UFC CEO Dana White initially confirmed the news to Sportsnet on Wednesday night. In the co-main event, Derrick Lewis will square off against Alexander Romanov at heavyweight. The UFC Fight Night event will be held at Rogers Place and will also include the following four bouts: Ariane da Silva vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius; Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus; Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Ivana Petrovic and Chad Anheliger vs. Cody Gibson.

GET READY EDMONTON! 🗣️

In an interview with @aaronbronsteter,…

Former Strikeforce competitor Lumumba Sayers has been arrested after allegedly killing a man to avenge the death of his son, according to a report from Denver7.

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According to an arrest affadavit obtained by the network, Sayers was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly approached a man and shot him in the head at a child’s birthday party at Pioneer Park in Commerce City, Colorado. The victim was identified as Malcolm Watson, who was believed to have been a friend of the man accused of killing Sayers’ son last year. According to witness accounts, Sayers allegedly walked back to the man’s body and attempted to shoot him again, but the gun “jammed.” Witnesses also claimed that Sayers removed a set of keys from Watson’s pocket and attempted to plant a gun near his body.

Tyrell Braxton was arrested in connection with the death of Sayers’ son, but the murder case has since been dismissed, according to the report. The exact nature of the relationship betw…

Tai Tuivasa hit a low point when he dropped his fourth consecutive UFC bout earlier this year.

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After a first-round submission loss to Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night 239 on March 16, Tuivasa told Fox Sports Australia that he exited the UFC Apex almost immediately, walking barefoot in Las Vegas while still wearing his fight gear.

“I was so angry,” Tuivasa said. “And my head, it was everywhere. I just kept saying to myself, ‘How s—t is this…how s—t is it to be a loser?’”

The 31-year-old Tuivasa quickly became a fan favorite in the promotion thanks to his affable nature, penchant for knockouts and post-fight shoey celebrations. “Bam Bam” had endured a three-fight losing streak earlier in his UFC tenure, but he rebounded with a five-fight tear that culminated with a brutal elbow finish of knockout king Derrick Lewis at UFC 271 in February 2022.

Since then, however, Tuivasa has fallen on hard times, suffering losses to Tybura, Alexander Volkov, …

Dricus Du Plessis could help bring an Ultimate Fighting Championship event to his home country if he successfully defends his middleweight title on Saturday night.

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The South Africa native will face Israel Adesanya in the UFC 305 main event at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Tension for the championship bout initially began to build last summer, when Du Plessis and Adesanya had a heated face-off in the Octagon at UFC 290. While it took some time for their grudge match to materialize, the stakes remain high heading into the bout.

“You have one of these situations where, both guys, everything is on the line, especially because they dislike each other so much,” UFC CEO Dana White said at the post-fight press conference for the Contender Series on Tuesday night. “And if [Du Plessus] can beat Izzy and bring that belt back to South Africa, obviously we’ll do an event there. And if Izzy can retain and win the title, it’s huge for him and his legacy — …

Caio Borralho has received some valuable advice from Sean Strickland heading into the first Ultimate Fighting Championship main event of his career.

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Borralho will headline UFC on ESPN 62 opposite veteran middleweight contender Jared Cannonier on Aug. 24 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Originally a part of The Fighting Nerds team in Brazil, Borralho is training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas for his upcoming bout.

Borralho has the added guidance of one of the biggest names in the gym, Strickland, who has previously faced Cannonier. Strickland suffered a razor-thin split decision loss against “The Killa Gorilla” in a UFC Fight Night headliner in December 2022.

Drawing from that loss, Strickland has advised Borralho to put together a corner who can scream loud. Strickland seemingly believes that while he landed the more effective punches on Cannonier, it was the consistent applause from his opponent’s corner that swayed the judges scorecards. Read more

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UFC 305 debutant Stewart Nicoll recently revisited his childhood growing up in the Solomon Islands, which was then embroiled in turmoil.

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The Solomon Islands were in political and ethnic chaos in the late 90s, leading to a coup d'état in 2000 and subsequent years of violence involving rape, murder, torture and abductions. While Nicoll’s family was caught right in the middle of it, the undefeated flyweight, who makes his UFC debut this weekend, doesn’t remember much of the trauma. What he vividly remembers is an image of his father sailing away in a dugout canoe from a beachfront in the Solomons, unsure whether he’d return.

“Because my memory, it isn’t that great. I’m forgetting things all the time,” Nicoll told Fox Sports Australia. “But that image of dad leaving? Man, it’s seared onto my brain. As if it happened yesterday. Like maybe I was asleep for the other stuff.”

The reason Nicoll’s father went away was because dangerous…

Usman Nurmagomedov is more than grateful for the guidance of his cousin, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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Usman looks to defend his lightweight title against Alexandr Shabliy in the main event at Bellator Champions Series on Sept. 7 at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. While Khabib had taken a short hiatus from all things MMA last year, “The Eagle” has recently taken a more active role in helping his teammates and relatives from Dagestan, including the likes of Umar Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.

Khabib is also helping the undefeated Bellator lightweight champ for his upcoming title defense and will be cornering him as well. Usman says the training environment is just different in Khabib’s presence. According to Usman, Khabib’s knowledge of the sport is second to none and it is a divine gift to have the UFC Hall of Famer by his side.

“For us, this is gift from God,” Usman said during a recent Bellator media call. “People like Khabib, this …

BREAKING: Dana White confirms that Sean Strickland will fight the winner of Du Plessis vs. Adesanya fight

(Via @jimrome) pic.twitter.com/htxyio6dL2

— Cageside Access (@CagesideAccess) August 13, 2024

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Dana White has provided some clarity to the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title picture — at least for now.

Dricus Du Plessis will put his middleweight strap on the line against former champ Israel Adesanya in the main event at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, on Saturday. A few candidates appear to have a legitimate claim to the next title shot once that fight has concluded.

One potential contender would be the winner of a bout between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev scheduled for UFC 308 in October. However, No.1 ranked contender Sean Strickland remains adamant on fighting for the title next, even turning down a potential matchup against Whittaker if “Bobby Knuckles” defeats Chimaev. During an appearan…

Lone’er Kavanagh knows how to make an entrance.

The Great Britan Top Team prospect was one of four hopefuls to nail down an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he punched out An Tuan Ho in the first round of their flyweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Kavanagh (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) froze the MMA Lab export with a wicked left hook 2:35 into Round 1.

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A brief feeling-out process gave way to a series of leg kicks and a few standup exchanges between the two men. Kavanagh stepped into a lightning bolt of a lunging left hook midway through the first round, connected with surgical precision and separated his previously unbeaten counterpart from his senses. Ho (6-1, 0-1 DWCS) remained prone and motionless for several tense moments before exiting the cage.

Featherweight Jose Delgado, middleweight Mansur Abdul-Malik and light heavyweight Bruno Lopes are set to join Kavanagh on the UFC r…