Martial Arts News

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The announcement that pay-per-view prices for UFC events would increase for the second consecutive year was understandably met with unhappy reactions from throughout the mixed martial arts community.

Staring with UFC 270 on Jan. 22, pay-per-view events will now cost viewers $74.99. That comes an the heels of another $5 pay-per-view increase one year prior — along with the rising prices of an annual subscription to ESPN+, which has risen from $59.99 to $69.99.

According to UFC president Dana White, the promotion has no input in the price of its premium events since it gave pay-per-view rights to ESPN as part of its broadcast deal.

“We don’t have any say in that,” White said at the UFC on ESPN 32 post-fight press conference. “We gave the pay-per-views to ESPN, so that’s their decision.

“You know how I feel about that stuff. I don’t love when prices get raised, but it’s not my decision, it’s th…

Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze delivered in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first main event of 2022.

Kattar and Chikadze received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for a five-round slugfest at UFC on ESPN 32 on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. While Chikadze was game throughout the fight, it was Kattar who consistently delivered the bout’s most significant blows with a variety of punches to the head and standing elbows. When the dust settled, Chikadze was left bloodied and battered, while “The Boston Finisher” emerged with a unanimous decision triumph.

Elsewhere, converted heavyweight Jake Collier garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award by making short work of Chase Sherman in the co-main event. The former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion tripped his foe to the floor, moved to full mount and landed some damaging elbows to the head of his opponent. From there, he took Sherman’s back and secured the fight-ending rear-n…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Calvin Kattar reasserted himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division and could not have done so with any more authority. The New England Cartel cornerstone carved up Giga Chikadze across five rounds and walked away with a clean-sweep unanimous decision in the UFC on ESPN 32 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 50-45, 50-45 and 50-44—all for Kattar (23-5, 7-3 UFC), who rebounded from his one-sided drubbing against Max Holloway a year ago.

Chikadze (14-2, 7-1 UFC) conceded a takedown and spent much of the first round pinned to the canvas. His situation only deteriorated from there. Kattar applied maximum pressure, forced the Georgian onto his back foot and called upon every weapon in his vast arsenal, from a surgical …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 32 ​coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. 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:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 …

High kick city for @JamiePickettMMA #UFCVegas46 pic.twitter.com/awvBz9pKcq

— UFC (@ufc) January 15, 2022

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Jamie Pickett took another step toward steadying himself inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, as he was awarded a unanimous verdict over Joseph Holmes in the featured UFC on ESPN 32 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three members of the assembled judiciary saw it 29-28 for Pickett (13-6, 2-2 UFC).

Holmes (7-2, 0-1 UFC), who entered his promotional debut on the strength of seven straight stoppage victories, enjoyed some early success behind a kick-heavy approach. However, he appeared to run out of steam and competitive drive in the latter half of the match. Pickett answered with b…

The Golden Boy keeps the gold!!

Marian Ziółkowski with the biggest win of his career!! #AndStill #KSW66 pic.twitter.com/N6Mf5iRNoe

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 15, 2022 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki started the new year with a double championship headliner that went down at the Netto Arena in Szczecin, Poland.

KSW 66 was headlined by a closely-contested lightweight championship affair between divisional kingpin Marian Ziolkowski and former 170-pound titleholder Borys Mankowski. The defending champion Ziolkowski (24-8-1, 1NC; 5-2 KSW) utilized his crisp jab and footwork as he stung his opponent throughout the fight. Meanwhile, Mankowski (22-9-1, 11-6 KSW) retaliated with takedowns and shots from short distance. The match was pretty even going into the fifth stanza, as both fighters took home two rounds each. However, the strategy of “The Golden Boy” turned out to be the most efficient in the final frame, as he continued to score points with his ja…

Hearts all over the world tonight... are happy with joy! Chris Brown gets it done! #LFA121 pic.twitter.com/nT9wE0ESja

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) January 15, 2022 Chris Brown turned a rather uneventful fight into an explosive finish in the blink of an eye as he finished Steven Jones in the third with a barrage of punches. The two men clashed in a 174 lb. catchweight battle in the main event of LFA 121 Friday night inside The Factory in Deep Ellum in Dallas, Texas, but it was Brown who had his hand raised when the dust settled.

Brown (8-3) had a difficult time landing any of his kicks or punches cleanly early on, as he used a tactical approach against his adversary. Jones (8-3) was looking to take the fight to the canvas throughout, but it was Brown’s power that paved the way toward victory. A left hook on the forehead early in the third wobbled Jones’ legs and when he stumbled down to the canvas, Brown pounced. Brown unloaded an endless s…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Rising Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Claudio Puelles is about to receive a very stern litmus test. First announced by FordewinMMA on Twitter on Friday, Clay Guida (37-21) will be facing Puelles (11-2) at a currently unnamed UFC Fight Night card on April 23. This matchup, which currently has no location set, was subsequently confirmed by Puelles’ management team of Iridium Sports Agency, and then by Puelles on Instagram shortly thereafter. The two men will be facing off at lightweight, on a card that has only one additional fight booked: Louis Cosce vs. Preston Parsons at welterweight, which also broke on Friday from Team Iridium.

Guida earned one of his biggest wins in years in his last performance against Leonardo Santos in December. Taking serious damage in the opening round only to pull off a comeback for the ages…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Viewer discretion is advised for the image of Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Greg Hardy at the bottom of this article. Per his Instagram on Friday, Hardy (7-4, 1 NC) has suffered a gruesome finger injury that will keep him out of action for the near future. Hardy was expected to face Sergey Spivak (13-3) at UFC 270, with an opponent in Spivak stepping in on short notice to replace Alexey Oleynik on Thursday. The timetable for Hardy’s return is currently unknown, as are the plans for the promotion to seek another replacement fighter or pull the matchup altogether.

Hardy was aiming to put an end to a two-fight knockout skid at the hands of Marcin Tybura at the end of 2020 and Tai Tuivasa in July 2021. The much-maligned football star posts a career knockout rate of 86% as a pro, while putting away Maurice Greene, Juan Ad…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Don’t look now, but Ultimate Fighting Championship legend Andrei Arlovski is a few appearances away from the UFC’s all-time record. On Friday, a heavyweight matchup pitting Arlovski (32-20, 2 NC) against Jared Vanderaa (12-6) was announced by Vanderaa’s management team of Iridium Sports Agency. The two are set to battle it out on the loaded UFC 271 card on Feb. 12, which will take place in the Toyota Center in Houston. The former heavyweight champ confirmed the news of this matchup on his Instagram shortly after it was announced.

Arlovski will be entering into his 37th UFC bout when he takes on Vanderaa, one shy of the record currently held by Jim Miller while tying Donald Cerrone for the second-most in UFC history. “The Pitbull” is far and away the most active heavyweight to ever compete inside the Octagon, and his 37 fights in…

One Championship has heard the cries of “50 G’s, baby,” and successfully answered the call.

In the One: “Heavy Hitters” main event, reigning 125-pound queen Jingnan Xiong notched her fifth successful title defense after an uneventful clash with Ayaka Miura. Xiong (17-2, 8-1 One) spent most of the time defending takedown attempts from Miura. The Japanese fighter never managed to implement her game plan, and often times stalled the action by grinding her opponent against the fence. Every time Xiong disengaged from the clinch, she scored with punches. In the championship rounds, Xiong landed a well-timed head kick and some knees to the body, but she never pushed to finish her adversary. Miura (11-4, 1 NC; 4-2 One) showed that she had no plan B, sticking to tiresome takedown attempts that were denied by “The Panda” time and time again. In the final minute, the headliners yelled at one another to try to force a brawl, but neither did enough to take the fight out of the hands of …

The Boston Finisher makes your first main event of 2022

[ @CalvinKattar | #UFCVegas46 | Tomorrow | Main Card 7 LIVE on @ESPN & E+ ] pic.twitter.com/jZtW2eVJwx

— UFC (@ufc) January 14, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is set to make its 2022 debut with UFC on ESPN 32.

The card is headlined by a featherweight showdown between Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze. All fighters made weight for the first UFC card of the year with a weigh-in ceremony devoid of drama.

"The Boston Finisher" is looking to rebound from a beating from former titleholder Max Holloway. Prior to the defeat, Kattar (22-5) had won four of his last five, with a loss to Zabit Magomedsharipov sandwiched between wins over quality opponents such as Dan Ige and Ricardo Lamas. Kattar officially weighed in at 146 pounds.

This marks the second UFC main event for Chikadze (14-2). "Ninja" is undefeated inside the Octagon, and most recently knocked Edson Barboz…