Martial Arts News

On the heels of a massive upset loss to Julianna Pena at UFC 269, Amanda Nunes will have a new training home.

According to a report from Brazilian outlet Combate, Nunes is leaving American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., to start her own team in the Sunshine State. Her wife, UFC strawweight Nina Nunes, will accompany her in the transition.

Nunes joined ATT following a third-round technical knockout loss to Cat Zingano at UFC 178 on Sept. 27, 2014. “Lioness” then embarked on an extended run of success with the renowned camp, winning 12 consecutive bouts while becoming a simultaneous two-division champion along the way.

Nunes relinquished the bantamweight crown in a second-round submission loss to Pena on Dec. 12, perhaps the biggest upset of 2021 in MMA. She remains the UFC featherweight champion, however, and the move could potentially clear the way for a clash with two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison, who remains a free agent but has been in talks with the U…

Credit: Getty/UFC

After snapping a two-bout skid in his last Octagon appearance, Wellington Turman is focused on earning a decisive win over fellow Brazilian Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 270 this Saturday.

"Rodolfo is a great opponent, very good at jiu-jitsu. I respect all the legacy he has built on jiu-jitsu, but we are going to fight under MMA rules on Saturday,” Turman told Sherdog.com. “He improved his striking a lot lately, but I´ve been doing that for much longer and I have very good takedown defense, so I´m really confident to win this one.”

Turman, who is a training partner of UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira and former Glory Kickboxing two-division champion Alex Pereira, revealed that his goal on Saturday is to avoid going to the judges.

“Of course, my goal is keep the fight standing up, but unlike most guys in the division I’m not afraid to go to the ground with him,” said Turman, who has been living in Connecticut for the past seven months. “I´…

A previously rumored bout between Yaroslav Amosov and Michael Page now has a date and venue, as the welterweight championship clash will go down in London on May 13.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Monday. Bellator London takes place at the SSE Arena in Wembley and the main card airs in the United States via Showtime at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. Prelims begin at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT on the Bellator YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV.

Undefeated in 26 professional outings, Amosov claimed welterweight gold with a five-round verdict over Douglas Lima at Bellator 260 this past June. The Ukraine native is 7-0 with the California-based promotion with notable wins over the likes of Logan Storley, Ed Ruth, David Rickels and Erick Silva. Amosov is a multiple time combat sambo world champion.

Page meanwhile, has lost just once in 21 fights — a second-round KO defeat to Lima in the welterweight grand prix at Bellator 221. The L…

A previously rumored bout between Yaroslav Amosov and Michael Page now has a date and venue, as the welterweight championship clash will go down in London on May 13.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Monday. Bellator London takes place at the SSE Arena in Wembley and the main card airs in the United States via Showtime at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. Prelims begin at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT on the Bellator YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV.

Undefeated in 26 professional outings, Amosov claimed welterweight gold with a five-round verdict over Douglas Lima at Bellator 260 this past June. The Ukraine native is 7-0 with the California-based promotion with notable wins over the likes of Logan Storley, Ed Ruth, David Rickels and Erick Silva. Amosov is a multiple time combat sambo world champion.

Page meanwhile, has lost just once in 21 fights — a second-round KO defeat to Lima in the welterweight grand prix at Bellator 221. The L…

Former UFC bantamweight queen Miesha Tate will move to the flyweight division for her next Octagon appearance.

Tate will make her 125-pound debut against former title challenger Lauren Murphy at a UFC event on May 14. MMAFighting.com was first to report the pairing. The card does not yet have an official location or headliner.

Tate returned from a five-year retirement this past July, where she scored a third-round TKO win over Marion Reneau at UFC on ESPN 26. In her next outing, “Cupcake” fell to Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision in the UFC Fight Night 198 main event on Nov. 20.

Murphy hasn’t competed since falling to Valentina Shevchenko via fourth-round TKO in a flyweight title tilt at UFC 266. Prior to that, the former Invicta FC champion had been victorious in her previous five Octagon appearances.

Perennially-ranked UFC flyweight Katlyn Chookagian is a free agent – at least for now.

After defeating Jennifer Maia via unanimous decision in a rematch at UFC on ESPN 32, Chookagian revealed that she just fought the last fight on her current deal.

“This was the last fight on my contract, and usually when you have one more, they renegotiate your contract,” Chookagian told assembled media after the event. “So when they offered this fight, I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m up for negotiation for a new contract,’ and they were like, ‘Oh no, we want you to fight this [contract] out.’

“That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to cut me, but it’s usually not good news. Hopefully with this performance, I’d like to think they want to keep me. I want to stay here. So hopefully I proved that tonight.”

Chookagian challenged for flyweight gold in 2020, falling to Valentina Shevchenko via third-round TKO at UFC 247. She wasn’t especially competitive in that bout, nor was she again…

After five brutal rounds in the Octagon at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze shared a moment of mutual respect after being transported to a local hospital.

Chikadze posted a photo of the two posing together on social media with the caption “respect” following their UFC on ESPN 32 headlining bout, which Kattar won via unanimous decision. Neither featherweight attended Saturday’s post-fight press conference for precautionary reasons, but it was Chikadze whose face showed the more visible damage in the aftermath.

Respect @CalvinKattar pic.twitter.com/T8GNWX4qNA

— GIGA CHIKADZE (@giga_chikadze) January 16, 2022

While Kattar kept his opponent off balance for the majority of the contest behind punches to the head, standing elbows and the occasional takedown, Chikadze never completely wilted, and he fired back against “The Boston Finisher” to the best of his abilities. It wasn’t enough to extend what was previously a nine…

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

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…