Martial Arts News

The Professional Fighters League welterweight playoffs have a new entrant.

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The promotion announced on Sunday that Don Madge has pulled out of his semifinal bout against Magomed Umalatov due to an undisclosed injury. As a result, Neiman Gracie will step in and face Umalatov on Aug. 23. Additionally, Luca Poclit, who was originally slated to fight Gracie, will remain on the card against Eric Alequin.

PFL 9 takes place at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., and features semifinal bouts at featherweight and welterweight. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Gracie went 1-1 during his 2024 PFL campaign. After dropping a unanimous verdict to Goiti Yamauchi at PFL 3, the Bellator MMA veteran rebounded to outpoint Madge in his second outing at PFL 6 on June 28.

Undefeated in 16 professional bouts, Umalatov is still seeking his first PFL champi…

Rafael dos Anjos will return to the welterweight division for a clash against Geoff Neal at UFC 308.

The pairing was revealed during the UFC on ABC 7 broadcast on Saturday. UFC 308 takes place on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight championship bout between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.

Dos Anjos has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Mateusz Gamrot in a lightweight bout at UFC 299 on March 9. The former 155-pound champion is 5-5 at welterweight since making his first appearance in the weight class in 2017.

Neal will attempt to get back on track after dropping back-to-back fights against Ian Garry and Shavkat Rakhmonov. “Handz of Steel” won his first five fights within the Las Vegas-based promotion but has gone 2-4 in UFC competition since 2020.

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Dana White remains insistent that Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic is the fight to make in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division.

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Jones was originally scheduled to defend the undisputed heavyweight title against Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023 before pulling out due to an injury. Tom Aspinall went on to knock out Sergei Pavlovich in a short-notice interim title fight put together to help save the card.

Despite no clear timeline in sight for Jones’ return to the Octagon, “Bones” wasn’t stripped of his title. Meanwhile, Jones remains adamant on facing Stipe Miocic, who hasn’t fought in more than three years, in his return to action. That bout has been rumored for November, but nothing is official at this point in time.

The UFC CEO not only continues to vehemently defend that matchup, but is visibly irked about Jones losing his status as UFC pound-for-pound king due to inactivity. The UFC rankings are decided …

Umar Nurmagomedov was surprised by multiple aspects of his opponent’s game in a unanimous decision win over Cory Sandhagen at UFC on ABC 7.

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Nurmagomedov put on an MMA masterclass en route to an impressive unanimous decision win over Sandhagen in the main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The Dagestani star subsequently admitted being surprised by both the stand up and grappling aspects of Sandhagen’s game. According to Nurmagomedov, while Sandhagen’s grappling defense was better than he expected, “The Sandman” surprisingly didn’t impress him with his striking.

“He was more tough than I expect,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN. “And his defense much better than I [anticipated]. When I take his back, he almost defense, he go out. I was surprised. It was very hard to hold him, take him down. He is very good. But my strike is much better than him. That I accept. I think he will be much better than me, but I’m not bad. I was not bad today.”

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Tony Ferguson doesn’t want to retire despite suffering his eighth consecutive loss against Michael Chiesa at UFC on ABC 7.

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Ferguson suffered a first-round submission loss against Chiesa at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Ferguson revealed that he was feeling nauseous due to nervousness leading up to the fight.

“Well, I thought it was gonna go a lot further,” he told Full Send MMA. “Time difference is kind of crazy. Right before we walked out I kept on feeling like I was throwing up, kind of feeling just a little bit bad. Lot of nerves going into this s—t. I got 12 [wins] and eight [losses] now, so it’s kind of crazy. Not very happy with my performance. Obviously, could have did a little bit more resting and warming up today. But what the f—k you gonna say man? Good job Mike.”

Ferguson left one of his gloves in the Octagon after his loss to Chiesa, labeling it a “see you later” instead of a retirement. While “El Cucuy” was riding the l…

Steve Garcia (16-5) will look to further raise his stock with a quick turnaround.

Garcia steps up to fight Kyle Nelson (16-5) at UFC Fight Night 242 at the promotion’s Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, replacing Calvin Kattar (23-8), who pulled out due to undisclosed reasons. The change was first reported by MMA media member Robert Tellez and subsequently confirmed by multiple outlets.

This will mark a decently quick turnaround for Garcia, who comes off a first-round knockout win over Seung Woo Choi last month. The win put “Mean Machine” on a four-fight knockout streak, bettering his overall promotional record to 5-2 — with all of his wins coming via finish.

Meanwhile, Nelson comes off a first-round knockout win over featherweight veteran Bill Algeo this past March. Currently riding a three-fight winning streak, the Canadian is 4-4-1 in the UFC so far.

Joel Alvarez simply doesn’t go to the judges when he wins fights, and his latest effort in that regard made him $50,000 richer.

The Spaniard earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his third-round stoppage of Elves Brener in the main card opener at UFC on ABC 7 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Alvarez gradually built momentum before rocking his foe with a left and unleashing a stream of knees to the head in Round 3. “El Fenomeno” polished off his victory with a pair of punches on the ground to bring an end to the lightweight bout at the 3:36 mark of the period.

Elsewhere, Azamat Murzakanov received a $50,000 “Peformance of the Night” award for putting away Alonzo Menifield in their preliminary light heavyweight clash. “The Professional” sent his adversary tumbling to the canvas with a series of heavy shots, and he needed just two follow-up ground strikes before the contest was halted 3:18 into the second stanza.

Finally, Sharabutdin Magomed…

Umar Nurmagomedov put the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division on notice and cemented himself as a legitimate title contender with perhaps his most complete bell-to-bell performance to date.

Efficient standup, tactical takedowns and doggedness in the scrambles carried the undefeated Russian to a unanimous decision over Elevation Fight Team’s Cory Sandhagen in their five-round UFC on ABC 7 headliner on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three judges sided with Nurmagomedov (18-0, 6-0 UFC): 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46.

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Sandhagen (17-5, 10-4 UFC) competed from start to finish but failed to shake the American Kickboxing Academy star’s steely resolve. Nurmagomedov excelled, on the feet and on the ground. He routinely dragged Sandhagen down from behind, putting him in potentially compromising situations and forcing him to burn energy through intricate, drawn-out scrambles. Nurmagomedov also proved superior in a maj…

Sherdog's live UFC on ABC 7 coverage will begin Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Dumas (-218), Tiuliulin (+180)Round 1 Fight fans on the West Coast of the U.S. will be having combat with coffee this morning, as the UFC takes to Abu Dhabi with a show featuring a number of fighters that struggle to get into the U.S. Plenty of international talent litters this event, with over a dozen countries repped at one point tonight. The fist pairing of the evening is more regular rivalry between America and Russia, as the much-maligned Dumas (9-2, 2-2 UFC) battles the struggling Tiuliulin (10-9, 1 NC; 1-4 UFC) in a match that might lead to at least one roster cut. Both men prefer the knockout, with the Evolve Gym fighter more inclined to headhunt. The middleweights choose not to bump fists to start the day’s festivities, and referee Keith Peterson is ready to cut all nonsense out of the equation. They lash out with dueling low kicks, and Dumas whiffs on …

Azamat Murzakanov made his most significant move yet in the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division, as he disposed of Alonzo Menifield with punches in the second round of their featured UFC on ABC 7 prelim on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Menifield (15-5-1, 8-5-1 UFC) met his end 3:18 into Round 2.

In his first appearance in more than a year, Murzakanov (14-0, 4-0 UFC) picked up apart the Fortis MMA standout with a variety of weapons, uppercuts and knees chief among them. His handiwork resulted in a cut near Menifield’s left eye. Murzakanov stepped on the accelerator in the second round, absorbed the return fire and set his counterpart on skates with a slashing left uppercut. He let his heavy hands fly from there, drove Menifield to his back and drew the curtain with two devastating standing-to-ground punches.

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Murzakanov, 35, has secured 10 of his 14 professional victories by knockout or technical k…

Ilia Topuria will make his first featherweight title defense against former champ Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced the booking on Saturday morning. In the evening’s co-headliner, Robert Whittaker will square off against Khamzat Chimaev in a rebooked middleweight showdown. Other featured bouts on the card include Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic at light heavyweight and a previously reported heavyweight bout pitting Ciryl Gane against Alexander Volkov. UFC 308 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26.

Topuria claimed featherweight gold with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 on Feb. 17. The Spainard is undefeated in 15 professional outings, a run that includes victories in his first seven Octagon appearances and other notable triumphs against the likes of Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell.

Holloway, 32, hasn’t held the featherweight belt since 2019, when he relinquished…

The date for Islam Makhachev’s next title defense remains uncertain due to a hand injury.

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Makhachev is coming off a fifth-round submission win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 303 this past June. While most lingering effects from the fight against Poirer gradually wore off, Machachev’s right hand continued to bother him. An MRI scan revealed that he had partially torn a ligament in his hand, which is currently in a cast.

Makhachev is scheduled to remove his cast in a couple of weeks and another subsequent MRI will tell how to proceed with the injury. Makhachev recently said that a potential defense at UFC 308 in October in Abu Dhabi seems doubtful, which was confirmed by the announcement that Ilia Topuria will face Max Holloway in the event’s headliner. However, the lightweight champ hopes to defend his strap again by the end of 2024.

“I just waiting what my doctor say. After 10 days I remove this thing and we will see what he say,” Makhachev told …