Martial Arts News

Hyder Amil’s furious offensive onslaught paid off handsomely at UFC on ESPN 60.

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The El Nino Training Center export earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for overwhelming Jeong Yeong Lee in a featured featherweight contest at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. Amil managed to land a total of 42 significant strikes en route to a stoppage victory just 65 seconds into the opening stanza. It was one of four performance bonuses handed out by the promotion after the event.

Elsewhere, Virna Jandiroba garnered a $50,000 check for her victory over former title challenger Amanda Lemos in the evening’s strawweight headliner. Jandiroba outgrappled her opponent throughout the fight before eliciting a tap with an armbar at the 4:48 mark of Round 2.

Meanwhile, Steve Garcia took home an additional $50,000 by adding Seung Woo Choi to his list of recent victims in the featherweight co-main event. “Mean Machine” stopped his foe at the 1:36 mark of Round…

Virna Jandiroba is becoming impossible to ignore in the Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title picture.

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In the main event of UFC on ESPN 60, Jandiroba (21-3, 7-3 UFC) soundly outgrappled Amanda Lemos (14-4-1, 8-4 UFC) for just under two rounds before cinching up the fight-ending armbar. The former Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight titleholder wasted little time in bringing the fight into her wheelhouse, shooting a double-leg takedown early in Round 1. Aided by Lemos jumping on a guillotine attempt, “Carcara” extracted her head from the choke, then settled into Lemos’s half guard, where “Amandinha” bucked and swept to top position. Jandiroba countered with a kneebar attempt, which Lemos escaped, but the resulting scramble ended with the jiu-jitsu ace in back control, where she rode out the rest of the frame. Round 2 got off to a better start for Lemos, who kept her countrywoman at arm’s length and touched her with clean punches fo…

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 60 coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Petersen (+110), Usman (-115)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Carolina (-115), Pudilova (-105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPO…

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Cody Gibson may have placed his job as a history teacher on hold for now, but he clearly isn’t done schooling people.

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In the top prelim of UFC on ESPN 60 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Gibson (20-10) overwhelmed Brian Kelleher (24-16) on the feet as well as on the canvas on his way to a first-round submission win. Gibson jumped on “Boom” right away, rocking him with a right hand in the opening seconds of the fight, and never let up. Kelleher tried valiantly to rally, but Gibson never gave him a moment’s peace, hurting him with punches and long kicks at range and mugging him up close with knees. Kelleher jumped on a guillotine attempt late in the round, but Gibson kicked out of it immediately, moved to half guard and locked up an arm-triangle choke. Kelleher tapped out in seconds, putting the stamp on a dominant performance for Gibson. The win brought Gibson’s record in the organization to 2-5 across multiple s…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

It appears that Nick Diaz’s Ultimate Fighting Championship return has run into some complications.

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During the UFC on ESPN 60 broadcast on Saturday night, it was announced the Diaz vs. Vicente Luque bout that was scheduled for Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3 has been postponed due to “travel issues.” As a result, a middleweight clash between Sharabutdin Magomedov and Michal Oleksiejczuk has been added to the UFC on ABC 7 lineup and will serve as the card’s new main event. It was also revealed that the promotion hopes to reschedule Diaz vs. Luque, but a date for that is currently unknown.

Commonly known as “Shara Bullet,” Magomedov is undefeated in 13 professional outings. The 30-year-old Dagestani has kicked off his promotional tenure with a unanimous decision win over Bruno Silva at UFC 294 and a third-round TKO of Antonio Trocoli at UFC on ABC 6.

Poland’s Oleksiejczuk has dropped three of his las…

While his fighting career has been dormant for the past three years, Conor McGregor continues to find other endeavors to keep him occupied.

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According to a report from Sunday World, the former UFC two-division champion will launch a record label, entitled Greenback Records, in his native Ireland. McGregor will partner with Richard Buck, will serve as CEO, and Julian O’Brien, who is creative director and head of A&R, for what is the first major record label based in Dublin. Greenback Records has reportedly signed several artists, who will be officially announced in the coming weeks.

“I am excited to create Ireland’s first major record label in an industry that I have had great interest in for some time,” McGregor said. "To be able to come in and offer music artists a fair deal and properly reward them for their talent.

"This industry, like others, has needed an overhaul for a long time. I am excited for myself, McGregor Sports & Entert…

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Irina Alekseeva has been suspended for one year after testing positive for testosterone more than a year ago.

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Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) announced the sanction while taking a shot at the UFC’s previous anti-doping partner, USADA, in a statement on Friday:

Alekseeva tested positive for values consistent with the administration of testosterone of exogenous origin in a urine sample collected by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on June 21, 2023, while USADA was still the independent administrator of the UFC’s Anti-Doping Program (UFC ADP). However, USADA failed to report the results of this sample to her and to UFC until October 31, 2023, more than four (4) months after the sample was collected and AFTER Alekseeva was allowed to compete in a UFC event in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 14, 2023. USADA collected two additional samples from Alekseeva BEFORE her October 14, 2023, fight, (August …

Six of the seven billed fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship show on Mexican Independence Day have one competitor repping Mexico.

Iridium Sports Agency, the management team of Raul Rosas Jr. (9-1), announced on Friday that Rosas would be squaring off against Qileng Aori (25-11, 1 NC) at UFC 306. The Sept. 14 event, also titled “Noche UFC,” will take place inside of The Sphere in Las Vegas as part of a 10-bout attraction. The bantamweight affair has since been confirmed by other outlets.

“El Nino Problema” burst onto the scene after picking up a contract on Dana White's Contender Series by becoming the youngest UFC fighter to pick up a win. Currently 19 years of age, Rosas Jr. suffered his first pro loss in April 2023 against Christian Rodriguez. He bounced back with a first-round knockout of Terrence Mitchell, and most recently tapped Ricky Turcios in June.

With a .500 record in the Octagon, Aori’s last outing in the cage went poorly when he was bludge…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has started building its Salt Lake City event.

The first fight of UFC 307 is on the books, as Movsar Evloev (18-0) will come to blows with Aljamain Sterling (24-4) in a pivotal featherweight affair. While the two hinted at this fight coming together this past month, French social media account MMA Propagande first reported on the matchup on Wednesday. Sterling confirmed the bout on social media on Friday. This fight card is expected to take place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5, and the double championship main event is rumored to be Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway with the co-headliner of Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Pena.

Evloev has not tasted defeat as a pro, including eight appearances in the Octagon since debuting in 2019. The Russian has gone the distance in eight straight outings as well, accounting for the lion’s share of his career decision wins. Now training out of American top team, Evloev celebrates recent…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Cody Garbrandt is getting back on the horse after his first career submission loss.

Eurosport NL broke the news on Thursday that Garbrandt (14-6) would be returning to the Octagon against Miles Johns (15-2, 1 NC) at a currently unnamed UFC Fight Night card on Oct. 12. The fighters have confirmed this collision at the UFC Apex on their Instagram pages. There is currently no main event on the books for this show.

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Garbrandt saw a two-fight win streak—his longest since 2016—come to a crashing halt when former flyweight king Deiveson Figueiredo tapped him out at UFC 300. In the process, “No Love” suffered the first submission defeat as a pro, and he has still not registered a sub in the win column. His two wins came in 2023 came over Trevin Jones on the scorecards and Brian Kelleher via blistering one-punch knockout. Garbrandt came into the promotion undefeated and won a belt against Dominick Cruz in 2016, but h…

Tomorrow night's main event is locked in 🔐@VirnaJandiroba makes it official coming in at 115.5 pounds!

[ #UFCVegas94 | Live on @ESPNPlus | 8pmET/5pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/cz2OxjMdZF

— UFC (@ufc) July 19, 2024 While every Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter made weight ahead of this weekend's card, it still lost one fight.

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Headlining UFC on ESPN 60 is a five-round fight between Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba. Both women successfully made weight and came in under the 116-pound limit. All other fighters made weight as well, but one bout will not make it to the finish line. Brad Tavares (185.5) and Jun Yong Park (186) both hit their proper marks, but Park failed his medical exams and was not cleared to compete.

Lemos (14-3-1) recently bounced back from losing her title bout against champion Weili Zhang by winning a decision over Mackenzie Dern. Prior to the setback, "Amandinha" had won seven of her eight UFC fights w…

Let the record show that Ultimate Fighting Championship up-and-comer Jean Silva is tough beyond words.

On Thursday, days after a three-round thriller against Drew Dober at UFC on ESPN 59, Silva shared on Instagram X-ray images of his hands. While Silva ended up finishing Dober due to a doctor stoppage technical knockout due to elbows slashing open a massive cut on Dober’s eyebrow, Dober was not the only one with a souvenir. Silva revealed that he broke both hands in the first round of their “Fight of the Night”-winning encounter.

“As everyone saw, the fighter with Dober was very tough,” Silva said in a video on Instagram. “[Between] the first and second round, I told my corner that I had broken both hands, and they instructed me to continue using knees and elbows, and that’s what I did. No way I was going to lose that fight, and no way I was going to lose [for] any of you. I am coming [back].”

The three-fight run for Silva with the promotion has been as memo…