Martial Arts News

Our #UFCLondon card gets even bigger!@PCraigMMA vs @Volkan_Oezdemir is signed!

https://t.co/SBdaztkmfe pic.twitter.com/jDjoN5Uc4F

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 12, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is stacking the deck when it comes to its return trip to London this July.

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On Thursday, the organization announced a high-stakes light heavyweight battle for the UFC Fight Night event on July 23. The event currently has no title, but it does have its headliner as well as a destination. It will be held at the O2 Arena in London, for a card that has gained Paul Craig (16-4-1) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (17-6) on a billing that already includes multiple intriguing fights.

“Bearjew” Craig will make his way back to action on a six-fight unbeaten streak that includes victories over the likes of Mauricio Rua, Jamahal Hill and Nikita Krylov on his way up. The Scotland native has yet to win a fight on the scorecards, with all 16…

#Bellator281 Official Weigh-In Results: Logan Storley (@storleystorm) (169.4) pic.twitter.com/NW8k3a9344

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) May 12, 2022 Bellator MMA's return to England will see Michael Page look to finally have championship gold, albeit of the interim variety, wrapped around his waist.

The main event of Bellator 281 will see Page take on Logan Storley for the interim welterweight championship. The five-round title fight, like the rest of the card, is now official after the weigh-ins took place on Thursday morning, although prelim fighter Alan Carlos came in 3.2 pounds overweight for his middleweight bout against Charlie Ward. The rest of the mixed martial artists all made weight.

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Page (20-1) has rebounded from his first career defeat, a brutal knockout at the hands of Douglas Lima, by rattling off six wins in a row. Most recently, "Venom" exacted revenge via split decision over Lima. It's now ti…

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Called the best middleweight in the world by Anderson Silva in 2006 and referred to by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira as his toughest ground training partner during the Brazilian Top Team era, Paulo Filho has been retired from MMA since 2018.

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However, he still continues to follow the sport, and he was an interested observer in the UFC 274 headlining bout between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, which “Do Bronx” won via first-round submission.

"The ground level Charles has reached in MMA is something really special,” Filho told Sherdog.com. “The way he moves and reaches submission positions against such high-level opponents is really beautiful to see. It looks like he is playing. I truly don’t see anyone in the division taking this title from him now.”

The only advice the Carlson Gracie black belt has for Oliveira is to take the amount of time of necessary to rest his body before stepping into his next bout, which will be for the now vac…

Michael Page doesn’t need a belt around his waist to make him the biggest star in U.K. MMA. In his mind, he’s already reached that pinnacle.

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“Anybody that doesn’t understand that already is blind. I don’t believe I need a belt to do that,” Page said at Bellator media day. “That was my goal anyway. I think I’ve done enough to have proven myself.”

That said, the flamobyant British striker will get his first opportunity to vie for championship gold when he faces Logan Storley for the interim 170-pound strap in the Bellator 281 main event at the SSE Arena in London on Friday. Storley is a replacement for reigning welterweight king Yaroslav Amasov, who withdrew from the event to defend his native Ukraine against Russian invasion.

“It’s a crazy situation. That fact that I can sit here and tell anybody the reason I’m not fighitng this particular opponent is because they’ve gone out to war is crazy in itself,” Page said. “It shows you the place in the…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNF6fIQVLqM&w=560&h=315]

Unbeaten Mexican strawweight prospect Yazmin Jauregui has signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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Jaurequi’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, announced the signing on Wednesday. A date for her debut with the Las Vegas-based promotion is currently unknown.

A native of Tijuana, Jauregui trains at Entram Gym, which is notably home to former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and multiple other Octagon veterans. The 23-year-old has kicked off her professional tenure with eight consecutive triumphs, including six by way of knockout or technical knockout.

Jauregui has competed primarily for Combate Global and emerged with a trio of victories against Stephanie Frausto, Criszaida Adames and Claire Lopez as part of a one night tournament last August.

Please help us welcome undefeated #TeamIridium killer Yazmin Jauregui (8-0) to the @ufc #TheDarks…

PFL Regular Season comes to Atlanta & @OvertimeElite

Buy Tickets Now! https://t.co/SJJTGiOAHb pic.twitter.com/fx2Ffoq0bk

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 11, 2022

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The excitement is building in earnest for the second half of the Professional Fighters League regular season.

Tickets went on sale Wednesday for events scheduled for June 17, June 24 and July 1 at the OTE Arena at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Ga. All cards will air on ESPN and ESPN+, according to a release. Tickets are available for purchase here.

Fighters competing in six different weight classes such as Kayla Harrison, Anthony Pettis, Bruno Henrique Cappelozza, Brendan Loughnane, Antonio Carlos Jr., and Rory MacDonald will continue their push to make the PFL playoffs at these events. Matchups have not been announced at this time but are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.

“The PFL is excited to bring the second half of our 2022 regular season to …

Big fight incoming!@KrylovUFC vs @AlexTheMauler is official for #UFCLondon

https://t.co/SBdaztkmfe pic.twitter.com/kQMXyp33YW

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 11, 2022

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After a brief foray at heavyweight, Alexander Gustafsson will return to 205 pounds for a matchup against Nikita Krylov at UFC London on July 23.

The Las Vegas-based promotion officially announced the pairing on Wednesday. UFC Fight Night takes place at the O2 Arena in London and is headlined by a heavyweight duel between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall.

Gustafsson hasn’t fought since July 2020, when he was submitted by Fabricio Werdum in the opening round of his heavyweight debut at UFC on ESPN 14. The Swede was initially slated to face Ben Rothwell on May 21, but that fight was scrapped after Rothwell was granted his UFC release. The three-time 205-pound title challenger has lost three straight bouts dating back to a third-round KO defeat in a remat…

Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon will get their chance to fight — only it will be a little more than a month later than originally anticipated.

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The lightweight clash has been rescheduled for UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin, Texas, on June 18. ESPN was first to report the new date. Cerrone vs. Lauzon was originally set for UFC 274 before a non-COVID related illness — believed to be food poisoning — forced “Cowboy” to withdraw just hours before the bout.

Shortly after his exit from the card, Cerrone announced that he plans to fight two more times before calling it a career. The BMF Ranch founder is winless in his last six promotional appearances and is coming off a first-round TKO defeat to Alex Morono at UFC on ESPN 24 on May 8.

Lauzon hasn’t competed since October 2019, when he halted a three-bout skid with a first-round stoppage of Jonathan Pearce at UFC on ESPN 6.

UFC on ESPN 37 takes place at the Moody Center and is headlined by a featherwei…

Decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Leo Vieira has been named as Vice President of Grappling for One Championship, the Singapore-based promotion announced Tuesday.

Vieira is a multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Pan American champion and ADCC world champion. Additionally, he is a co-founder of the renowned grappling team CheckMat along with his brothers Ricardo and Leandro.

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“I am thrilled to join One as Vice President of Grappling. I appreciate the trust and opportunity that Chatri and the One team have given me to shape One’s submission grappling divisions,” Vieira said.

“As a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt for over 25 years, I have been able to positively impact lives as a competitor, professor, and team leader, and I will continue to do so at One. It is a dream come true to work alongside people who share similar values and beliefs about martial arts as I do. I am committed to building the world’s most exciting submission grapp…

It has been a busy two weeks for Diego Lima, the head coach of Chute Boxe Sao Paulo.

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Shortly after Charles Oliveira’s victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 this past Saturday, Lima headed to Las Vegas – accompanied by Oliveira – to corner fighters Allan Patrick and Allan Nascimento for their bouts at UFC on ESPN 36 this Saturday. Shortly after their first sparring session on Monday, Lima gave an exclusive interview to Sherdog.com, where he commented on the weigh-in controversy involving Oliveira that occurred last Friday. “Do Bronx” was stripped of the lightweight belt when he missed weight by 0.5 pounds but regained top contender status by submitting Justin Gaethje one day later.

"Since Charles went up to 155, we always go to sleep on Thursday with the weight made. In order to not have problems with different scale setups, this time, we didn’t bring our scale in order to follow the official one,” Lima said. “We even published a photo on our socia…

It has been a busy two weeks for Diego Lima, the head coach of Chute Boxe Sao Paulo.

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Shortly after Charles Oliveira’s victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 this past Saturday, Lima headed to Las Vegas – accompanied by Oliveira – to corner fighters Allan Patrick and Allan Nascimento for their bouts at UFC on ESPN 36 this Saturday. Shortly after their first sparring session on Monday, Lima gave an exclusive interview to Sherdog.com, where he commented on the weigh-in controversy involving Oliveira that occurred last Friday. “Do Bronx” was stripped of the lightweight belt when he missed weight by 0.5 pounds but regained top contender status by submitting Justin Gaethje one day later.

"Since Charles went up to 155, we always go to sleep on Thursday with the weight made. In order to not have problems with different scale setups, this time, we didn’t bring our scale in order to follow the official one,” Lima said. “We even published a photo on our socia…