Martial Arts News

Belal Muhammad is a much-improved fighter since the first time he and Vicente Luque crossed paths, and it showed on Saturday night.

Muhammad (21-3, 12-3, 1 NC UFC) executed his game plan to near perfection, capturing a unanimous decision against Luque (21-8-1, 14-4) in the UFC on ESPN 34 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. “Remember the Name” received scorecards of 49-46 (twice) and 48-47 from the cageside judges to extend his unbeaten streak to eight — the third-longest in the UFC’s welterweight division.

Advertisement

“This is my hump I had to get over,” Muhammad said. “He knocked me out. He beat me. I had to think about that my whole camp.”

While Luque needed just 79 seconds to finish Muhammad at UFC 205 in November 2016, the rematch was more of a chess match — and the Roufusport product was always one step ahead of his rival. Muhammad utilized back-and-forth movement to confound Luque for the duration of the bout, and he grounded his o…

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 34 coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

BetUS.com is offering our listeners an incredible 125% bonus on their deposit for UFC on ESPN 34. Use code SHERDOG and get $2500 in extra money to make fight night even better.

Advertisement

Use code: SHERDOG

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the roun…

Clark sent Knight to the moon 🌙 #UFCVegas51 pic.twitter.com/3w6WGHBbV4

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 17, 2022 Devin Clark survived William Knight’s initial sprint and once he did, the fight was his for the taking.

Clark (13-6, 7-6 UFC) defeated Knight via technical knockout in their heavyweight bout at UFC on ESPN 34, ending the contest at the 3:21 mark of Round 3 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Clark snaps a two-fight skid in victory, while Knight has lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career.

Advertisement

Knight put together a strong start, threatening Clark with a tight guillotine early and then following a jumping knee with a flurry of power punches in the waning moments of Round 1. From there, Knight’s output waned and Clark took control. The Elevation Fight Team landed takedowns in both the second and third rounds and also controlled Knight (11-4, 3-3 UFC) in the clinch.

Clark set the stage for…

グスタボ、2R KOで返り討ち！！やっぱ強い！！#RIZIN_TRIGGER3 pic.twitter.com/lXP3aPEISV

— たなえい、押忍 (@1_mma_w) April 16, 2022

After more than a two-year hiatus, Luis Gustavo Felix dos Santos made his Rizin Fighting Federation return in emphatic fashion on Saturday.

Advertisement

The 25-year-old Evolucao Thai product defeated recent lightweight title challenger Yusuke Yachi via technical knockout in the Rizin "Trigger 3rd" main event at Musashino Forest Plaza in Tokyo, Japan. Dos Santos swarmed his opponent near the fence, dropped him with a right hand and was pulled off by referee Minoru Toyonaga before any more damage could be done at the 3:14 mark of Round 2. Dos Santos and Yachi previously squared off at Rizin 12, with the Brazilian winning via second-round knockout.

It was the first appearance for dos Santos (11-2, 3-2 Rizin) since December 2019, when he fell to current Bellator lightweight champion Patricky Freire as part of…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfr0aDkBY0U&w=560&h=315]

The stage has been set for a trio of title fights at the top of the Rizin Fighting Federation 35 card.

Advertisement

All six competitors slated to compete for championship gold made weight ahead of their Rizin 35 bouts on Saturday. Roberto Souza tipped the scales at 156.4 pounds for his lightweight title defense against Johnny Case (156.3) in the evening’s main event, while reigning featherweight king Juntaro Ushiku checked in at 145.2 pounds for his showdown against Yutaka Saito (145.2). Finally, Ayaka Hamasaki weighed 107.6 pounds for a super atomweight championship clash against Seika Izawa (107.9).

Rizin 35 takes place at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday and airs on pay-per-view at 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT. The event can be purchased for $24.99 here.

Souza enters the main event on a four-bout winning streak after suffering his lone career defeat at the hands of Case at …

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire avenged a July 31 submission defeat and reclaimed the Bellator MMA featherweight throne for a third time, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over A.J. McKee in the Bellator 277 headliner on Saturday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Scores were 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47.

McKee (18-1, 18-1 Bellator) struggled to find an offensive rhythm. The resourceful Freire (33-5, 21-5 Bellator) kept him off-balance with repeated kicks to the inside and outside of his lead leg, pieced together occasional punching combinations and threatened him with a guillotine choke in the third round. McKee did his best work in Round 5, where he executed multiple takedowns, stayed busy with his hands and zeroed in on the Brazilian’s midsection with kicks. Those efforts ultimately fell short in the eyes of the judiciary.

Advertisement

Freire—who moved to a perfect 6-0 in rematches—has won eight of his past nine bouts.

Meanwhile, an inadvertent clash of h…

Sherdog's live Bellator 277 coverage kicks off at 7 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Advertisement

Round 1 Luna is making his pro debut against the 0-1 Hernandez, while the referee is Blake Grice. Both fighters begin trading hooks to start the fight. Hernandez mixes in his attack with body shots and leg kicks, but Luna is happy to throw right back. Luna temporarily loses his mouthpiece, but Hernandez is a gentleman and allows him to pick it up off the floor before going right back to punching him in the face. The pace is nonstop as both men exchange uppercuts in the clinch, displaying plenty of dirty boxing prowess. While Luna's face is now red and slightly bloodied, the featherweight is showing no signs of slowing and continues to fire back. Luna fires a kick to the body and lands a powerful right hand on the jaw of Hernandez to end the highly competitive round.Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores …

CORTES-ACOSTA LANDS BIG!!!

Can he close it out?!?!#LFA129 pic.twitter.com/UL01IcBUWp

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) April 16, 2022

Advertisement

It was rough going for Waldo Cortes-Acosta in the main event of LFA 129 inside Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, on Friday night, but he eventually scored a dramatic knockout in the third round to become the first ever Dominican champion in the organization’s history.

Thomas Petersen was defending his Legacy Fighting Alliance heavyweight title comfortably early on as he took Cortes-Acosta down multiple times and hammered him with punches to the head, arms and body. Even when the two were on their feet, Peterson was landing the cleaner punches, only to have the challenger talk trash and dare him to keep trying to hit him or take him down. But as the fight wore on, Peterson’s gas tank betrayed him and it allowed Cortes-Acosta to capitalize.

Peterson was gasping for…

#TeamIridium hammer @CodyStamann goes for his 6th @ufc win in June! #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/Q63ANmQgxF

— Jason House (@JasonKHouse) April 15, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship card in mid-June has just experienced a few changes.

On Friday morning, the management team of Cody Stamann (19-5-1), Iridium Sports Agency, announced that he would be fighting at the UFC Fight Night card on June 18. In his bantamweight battle, he will take on longtime veteran Eddie Wineland (24-15-1).

Advertisement

Stamann will be looking to end a three-fight skid, where he fell short to Jimmie Rivera and Merab Dvalishvili on the scorecards, and was choked out by Said Nurmagomedov in less than a minute in January. Before the trio of setbacks, “The Spartan” had strung together an impressive ledger inside the Octagon, with five wins opposite a single defeat to current champ Aljamain Sterling, and a draw with Yadong Song up a division. Stamann has mov…

Alexander Volkov vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik will headline UFC Fight Night on June 4, per UFC officials. Nos. 7 and 8 in the division, respectively. Early predictions? pic.twitter.com/9KjskxEXQL

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 15, 2022 Two Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights looking to make a statement will get five rounds to do so at the beginning of June.

The UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN released the news on Friday that Alexander Volkov (34-10) will be taking on Jairzinho Rozenstruik (12-3) to headline the upcoming UFC Fight Night event on June 4. The two heavyweights will like battle it out at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, although a location is not yet on the books.

Advertisement

Volkov has alternated wins and losses in his last four, winning against Alistair Overeem and Marcin Tybura but dropping bouts to Ciryl Gane and Tom Aspinall. The Russian celebrates a finish rate of 74% as a pro, with the majority of his stopp…

1️⃣7️⃣1️⃣ for @VicenteLuqueMMA - we have a main event 🍿

[ #UFCVegas51 | TOMORROW | Main Card LIVE on @ESPN | Prelims LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/Xs9oARE99x

— UFC (@ufc) April 15, 2022

Advertisement

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 2:45 p.m. ET on April 15 to reflect that every fighter has now successfully made weight.

After today's weigh-ins, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is set to return back to ESPN airwaves and the UFC Apex for a 14-fight card.

The UFC on ESPN 34 main event will see welterweight contenders Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad battle for the second time, as the Brazilian knocked out "Remember the Name" in just 79 seconds back in 2016. While both headliners and the majority of the card had no issue making weight, lightweight Drakkar Klose initially weighed in .75 pounds heavy for his bout against Brandon Jenkins. Klose returned nearly an hour later, and he successfully hit the mark of…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkXWycgxQcw&w=640&h=360] Rizin Fighting Federation's third cagefighting event is set, as all 14 mixed martial artists made weight for Rizin Trigger 3rd.

The main event will see a lightweight contest between Luiz Gustavo Felix dos Santos and Yusuke Yachi. The 10-2 Brazilian is looking to rebound after a disappointing TKO loss to Patricky Freire, and is 2-2 inside the Japanese promotion. Meanwhile, Yachi (23-12) most recently lost to Roberto de Souza via triangle armbar, but the Japanese veteran had put together back-to-back wins prior to the setback. Both fighters came in under the 71-kilogram limit.

The previously booked match between "Kintaro" Yuto Hokamura and Kazuma Kuramoto was canceled before the weigh-ins. Hokamura fell ill, and "was in a state where he could not move his body tightly," according to the organizer through a translation by Google.

The event will stream live on Rizin's website on Saturday, April 16, …