Martial Arts News

[embedded content]

Javier Mendez gives the lion’s share of credit to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, for the success of his Dagestani fighters.

Advertisement

Mendez has formed a close bond with the Dagestani contingent over the course of years since Nurmagomedov first walked into the American Kickboxing Academy in 2012. Nurmagomedov went on to establish his status in MMA GOAT conversations by dominating the UFC’s lightweight division during his title reign before retiring with a perfect record.

Following in Nurmagomedov’s footsteps, his teammates and cousins also came under the tutelage of Mendez, bringing a plethora of talent to AKA. Mendez is now coach to UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev (26-1), Bellator lightweight champ Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0) and UFC bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov (13-0), who made his case for the next gold bid with a unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen last weekend at UFC on ABC 7.

Read more

Javid Basharat (14-1) is out of his UFC on ESPN 61 booking against Chris Gutierrez (20-6) due to an injury.

Advertisement

Basharat and Gutierrez were slated to trade leather in a bantamweight matchup at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this weekend. However, Basharat revealed on social that he won’t be able to fight due an undisclosed injury.

“Sad to say I will not be fighting this weekend,” Basharat wrote on Instagram. “I picked up an injury too close to the fight and wouldn’t heal in time for the fight, so me and my team made a collective decision. I was in great shape thanks to all the coaches and training partners at [American Top Team]. Tthey opened their doors for me and leveled me up for sure. Now it’s time to heal up and I will be back as soon as I can.”

It is currently unknown if Gutierrez will remain on the card against a short-notice replacement opponent.

Basharat’s 14-fight winning streak was marred by an unfortunate no contest against Victor H…

Javid Basharat (14-1) is out of his UFC on ESPN 61 booking against Chris Gutierrez (20-6) due to an injury.

Advertisement

Basharat and Gutierrez were slated to trade leather in a bantamweight matchup at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this weekend. However, Basharat revealed on social that he won’t be able to fight due an undisclosed injury.

“Sad to say I will not be fighting this weekend,” Basharat wrote on Instagram. “I picked up an injury too close to the fight and wouldn’t heal in time for the fight, so me and my team made a collective decision. I was in great shape thanks to all the coaches and training partners at [American Top Team]. Tthey opened their doors for me and leveled me up for sure. Now it’s time to heal up and I will be back as soon as I can.”

It is currently unknown if Gutierrez will remain on the card against a short-notice replacement opponent.

Basharat’s 14-fight winning streak was marred by an unfortunate no contest against Victor H…

Ramon Taveras plans to move out of Duval County, Florida, after surviving an attempt on his life last week.

Advertisement

According to Taveras, armed men drove up to his mother’s house in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 29 and attempted to kill him. Taveras also opened fire in defense, footage of which was posted by the UFC fighter. While Taveras luckily escaped unscathed, he and his family don’t feel safe in their home any longer.

Taveras revealed that gun violence took his brother’s life in 2019, and fears he may become a victim of the same. Taveras blamed the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for alleged negligence towards the “less fortunate” parts of the city.

According to Taveras, the JSO also tried to blame him for the recent attempt on his life, accusing him of gang involvement. The UFC featherweight now plans on moving away from Jacksonville. Taveras detailed the situation in a post on Instagram:

It’s unfortunate that I even have to make a post like th…

Belal Muhammad is not buying the narrative from Leon Edwards’ coach that “Rocky” wasn’t 100% in their UFC 304 clash.

Advertisement

Muhammad dethroned Edwards via unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, last month. Edwards subsequently claimed to be feeling “tired” due to the timing of fight, which took place after 5 a.m. BST.

Meanwhile, Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, said that “Rocky” went into the fight with a with a "niggle" in his back. Muhammad has dismissed both narratives, advising Edwards’ camp to come up with unanimous excuse. “Remember the Name” believes even Edwards doesn’t listen to his coach and hopes nobody else will, either.

“He’s a joke. Like I said, he was a joke before the fight as a coach and he’s a joke after the fight,” Muhammad told MMAjunkie.com. “It’s funny that they all have different excuses. Leon was like, ‘Oh, I couldn’t sleep,’ and now his coach came out with, ‘Oh, his back was hurting.’ Get on the …

Marlon Vera plans to step away for a “reset” following his latest loss to Deiveson Figueiredo.

Advertisement

Vera was completely outclassed by the former flyweight champ en route to a unanimous decision loss in their bantamweight clash at UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. This marked Vera second consecutive decision loss following a failed title bid against Sean O'Malley at UFC 299 this past March.

Addressing his latest loss, Vera admitted that he may have returned to action too soon after the O’Malley defeat.

“I fail at myself last [night]. I thought I was ready I felt good in the gym but at the end maybe I come back too quick after a hard title fight,” he wrote on Instagram. “Life doesn’t end here. I still dream about big things, I just need time to let go and reset.

Vera won four consecutive fights from 2021 to 2022, including knockouts over former champs Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz. However, the Ecuadorian has since drop…

Michael Chiesa called out Colby Covington after his win over Tony Ferguson:

"I want to fight Colby Covington... the guy can sit on the sidelines and say whatever he wants...

Advertisement

Are you gonna idly sit around and do nothing, or are you gonna come back and fight. Keep your ranking, I… pic.twitter.com/nDy1iDfUzW — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 4, 2024

Michael Chiesa is eyeing a step up in competition after returning to the win column this past Saturday.

UFC on ABC 7 saw Chiesa rebound from a three-fight slump with a first-round submission win over Tony Ferguson at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. “Maverick” subsequently called out former interim welterweight champ Colby Covington.

Chiesa claims that the matchup has nothing to do with rankings. The Spokane, Washington, native wants to fight Springfield, Oregon’s Covington in order to determine the best welterweight in the Pacific Northwest.

“I want to figh…

The Professional Fighters League welterweight playoffs have a new entrant.

Advertisement

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.

[embedded content]

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

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.”

…

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

Advertisement

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…