Martial Arts News

Benson Henderson still has more to accomplish in Bellator MMA.

The former UFC lightweight champion has signed an exclusive, multi-fight contract with the promotion, Bellator officials announced on Wednesday. Henderson concluded his previous deal at Bellator 273, winning a split decision over Islam Mamedov on Jan. 29.

Shortly after that victory, Henderson mulled the possibility that he had competed for the last time within the California-based organization.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be doing this for Bellator, so I wanted to soak it all in,” Henderson said at the Bellator 273 post-fight press conference. “I’m not sure if this is going to be my last fight or not, so I wanted to enjoy it, wanted to enjoy the ‘W,’ enjoy getting my hand raised. I might keep going, I might not, so we’ll find out.”

Ultimately, “Smooth” decide to make another run in Bellator. He’ll enter his new contract on the momentum of his win over Mamedov, who had been unbeaten in 20…

After submitting the undefeated Nasrudin Nasrudinov on Dana White’s Contender Series to earn a UFC contract, Jailton Almeida impressed yet again with a first-round TKO of Danilo Marques in his Octagon debut on Feb. 5.

Now, the Brazilian known as “Malhadinho” is eagerly anticipating his return to action against Maxim Grishin at a UFC Fight Night event on May 21.

“I’m happy UFC gave me another tough test. Maxim has almost three times more MMA fights than I, but I´ll show on May 21 how well trained I am and shock the world again,” Almeida told Sherdog.com. “I´m going the be the Khabib Nurmagomedov of 205-pound division.”

While he admires Brazilian icons such as Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, Mauricio Rua, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Wanderlei Silva, Almeida points to the likes of Nurmagomedov and Khamzat Chimaev as fighters that he admires most.

“I study their game a lot,” he said. “My goal is always to mix their grappling style with my jiu-jitsu submissions and…

An intriguing welterweight showdown has been booked for May 21, as Santiago Ponzinibbio has agreed to face Michel Pereira at a UFC Fight Night event.

The Underground was first to report the booking. The UFC Fight Night card is headlined by a women’s bantamweight bout between Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira but does not have an official location or venue at this time.

Ponzinibbio will be making his first appearance of 2022 when he meets Pereira. “The Argentine Dagger” returned after more than a two-year hiatus in 2021, going 1-2 in the Octagon with losses to Jingliang Li and Geoff Neal and a victory against Miguel Baeza. The 35-year-old notably authored a seven-bout winning streak in UFC competition from 2015 to 2018.

Pereira, meanwhile, has won his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 28-year-old Brazilian known as “Demolidor” garnered a unanimous decision triumph over Andre Fialho at UFC 270 on Jan. 22. His current run also includes victories over t…

With Yaroslav Amosov currently occupied defending his native Ukraine from Russian invasion, Bellator has called an audible for the main event of its May 13 card in London.

The promotion announced on Wednesday that Logan Storley will replace the reigning welterweight champion and square off against Michael Page in an interim 170-pound title clash in the Bellator 281 main event.

“Like the rest of the world, we’ve been shocked by the tragic events in Ukraine and the thoughts of everyone at Bellator MMA are with Yaroslav and all the Ukrainian people during this time,” Bellator president Scott Coker said in a statement. “We wish he and his family the best and look forward to seeing him return safely to happier times, both inside and out of the Bellator cage.”

Bellator 281 takes place at the OVO Arena Wembley in London and will also see Douglas Lima square off against Jason Jackson at welterweight in the co-headliner. The main card airs on Showtime in the United Sta…

Brutal ground and pound gets Alexandr Romanov the W

[ #UFCVegas39 | Prelims LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/lm6KCi7EVT

— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021 Alexander Romanov will step in for the injured Rodrigo Nascimento and lock horns with Tanner Boser in a heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 205.

TSN was first to report the new pairing. The nature of Nascimento’s injury was not disclosed. UFC Fight Night 205 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on April 23 and is headlined by a strawweight tilt pitting Jessica Andrade against Amanda Lemos.

Romanov has yet to taste defeat in 15 professional outings. He is 4-0 in the Las Vegas-based promotion, a mark that includes a second-round TKO triumph against Jared Vanderaa in his last appearance at UFC Fight Night 194.

Boser, meanwhile, will return for the first time since UFC Fight Night 190 on June 26, when he snapped a two-bout skid with a second-round knockout of Ovince St. Preux.

A flyweight clash pitting Tim Elliott against Amir Albazi is in the works for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on June 25.

MMA Ideas was first to report the pairing, which is the first bout for the UFC Fight Night event. The card doesn’t have an official location or venue at this time.

A former flyweight title challenger, Elliott has been victorious in three of his last four Octagon appearances. In his last outing, the 35-year-old Glory MMA & Fitness product took a unanimous decision over Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC 272 on March 5.

Albazi is a veteran of Brave Combat Federation and Bellator MMA and has won 14 of his 15 professional bouts overall. The London Shootfighters export has kicked off his UFC tenure with a submission of Malcolm Gordon at UFC Fight Night 172 and a decision win against Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC 257.

Gegard Mousasi is expected to make his next Bellator middleweight title defense against Johnny Eblen at an event in June.

The targeted 185-pound booking was initially reported by Ariel Helwani. An exact date and venue are currently unknown at this point in time, as Bellator has not formally announced its schedule for June.

Mousasi last appeared at Bellator 275 on Feb. 25, when he made short work of the previously undefeated Austin Vanderford in a first-round technical knockout victory. The Armenian-born Dutchman has been victorious in seven of eight appearances within the California-based promotion and is on his second term as middleweight champion.

American Top Team’s Eblen has kicked off his professional tenure with 11 consecutive triumphs, including seven victories under the Bellator banner. Most recently, Eblen cruised to a three-round verdict over former title challenger John Salter at Bellator 276.

Good morning to everyone except those that think talking about someone’s kids is cool

— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) March 22, 2022

More details have emerged regarding the altercation that occurred between UFC rivals Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington in Miami on Monday night.

According to a Miami Beach police report, Masvidal is facing felony battery charges after he allegedly attacked Covington while he was walking outside the Miami restaurant Papi Steak. Covington’s name was redacted in the police report, but MMAFighting.com confirmed that he was the victim in the incident.

Covington told police that Masvidal ran up on his left and sucker punched him two times – once in his mouth and once in his left eye -- which resulted in a fractured left tooth. Covington also suffered an abrasion on his left wrist. After the alleged attack, Covington claims he heard Masvidal say, “You shouldn’t have been talking about my kids.” Masvidal m…

Alexandre Pantoja will be an interested observer when Askar Askarov and Kai Kara France square off at UFC on ESPN 33 this Saturday.

After back-to-back wins against Manel Kape and Brandon Royval, Pantoja was supposed to face Brandon Moreno for the flyweight title at UFC 270, but a knee injury knocked him out of the bout and Deiveson Figueiredo got the opportunity instead.

“I had defeated Moreno twice and since he was the champion, the trilogy made sense, but unfortunately I had to withdraw from the fight to have knee surgery,” Pantoja told Sherdog.com. “Deiveson got the belt back in another close fight. There are a lot of possibilities on the table, but personally I believe UFC is going to make the fourth fight between Moreno and Deiveson. I just hope this one gets a clear winner, so the division can go on."

Askarov, along with Figueiredo, is one of only two mean to beat Pantoja in his last eight fights. Pantoja believes that if Askarov wins on Saturday, it will …

Juliana Velasquez will make her second flyweight championship defense when she faces Liz Carmouche in the Bellator 278 main event on April 22.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with promotion officials following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 278 takes place at the Neil S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii. The event is will be free to attend for military veterans and first responders.

The 35-year-old Velasquez is undefeated in 12 professional outings. She captured the 125-pound strap with a five-round verdict against Ilima-Lei Macfarlane at Bellator 254 before notching her first successful defense in a split-decision triumph over Denise Kielholtz at Bellator 262.

Carmouche is no stranger to title fights. In her final Octagon appearance before signing with the California-based promotion, “Girl-Rilla” dropped a five-round verdict to Valentina Shevchenko in a 125-pound championship clash at UFC Fight Night 156 in August 2019. She also helped ushe…

Chael Sonnen is facing 11 charges — including felony battery by strangulation — for his role in an alleged hotel fight in Las Vegas this past December.

TMZ Sports first brought word that prosecutors filed the charges against the UFC veteran last week. Sonnen is also facing 10 misdemeanor battery charges for the incident. According to court records, Sonnen committed battery against six victims during the altercation. Sonnen is accused of choking one man, striking a woman and punching or kneeing others in the face at the Luxor Hotel and Casino.

Sonnen was initially hit with five battery citations, but was not arrested because police did not witness the incident, although video showed the former fighter being led away in handcuffs. The case was dismissed in Nevada court “without prejudice,” which means the state had the option of refiling the case.

A cause for the incident is unknown, but Sonnen was seen banging on the door of a hotel room at approxmately 7 a.m. …

Bellator bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis will not be part of Bellator’s bantamweight grand prix as originally planned.

An injury has forced Pettis to withdraw from a proposed opening round clash against Raufeon Stots at Bellator 279, and as a result, Juan Archuleta will step in for the reigning 135-pound champion. Promotion officials confirmed the news following an initial report from CBS Sports. An interim title will be on the line when Archuleta and Stots square off on April 23.

The exact nature of Pettis’ injury was not disclosed, but the Roufusport standout did release a statement via social media revealing that his ailment will require surgery and a lengthy recovery process.

“Well, some things aren’t meant to be,” Pettis wrote. “Unfortunately hurt myself bad last week during training, was waiting for the results and it turns out I’ll be out for the next [six to nine] months. I’ll be getting my first surgery after years of competing which happens to be…