Martial Arts News

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With losses in four of his last six Octagon appearances, Stephen Thompson is no longer serious title contender in the UFC’s welterweight division.

That doesn’t mean he’s ready to call it a career, however. Following a loss to Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night 199, “Wonderboy” addressed the subject of retirement in a video on his YouTube channel.

“I can’t believe people are saying that I’m old and I should retire,” Thompson said. “I feel like people that do retire, when they sit down on the chair, they just feel like they should retire. Like just, their body’s beat up, aches and pains. … When I sit here and I’m sitting down in this chair, I feel great. I feel fine. I feel better than I was five years ago. I just don’t get it.”

Thompson, who will turn 39 early next year, was on the verge of contention following consecutive victories over Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal, but back-to-back losses to Gilber…

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Sean O'Malley was in a generous mood this holiday season.

In a video posted to his YouTube channel, the UFC bantamweight hands out $100 in cash to random shoppers at Walmart, many of whom were in disbelief when O’Malley placed a wad of cash in their hands. Others recognized the Dana White’s Contender Series alum, as he posed for numerous photos during his visits to the stores. In some cases, people were even reluctant to accept monetary handouts from O’Malley.

During the video, a cast is visible on O’Malley’s right hand, because he suffered a broken thumb in his first-round TKO win over Raulian Paiva at UFC 269. According to medical suspensions from the event, O’Malley could be sidelined until June 10 if he doesn’t receive medical clearance.

The 27-year-old MMA Lab representative has been victorious in seven of his first eight UFC appearances, with five of those victories coming via KO or TKO.

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After an excellent 2021 for Marcus Almeida and Antonio Carlos Jr., two top jiu-jitsu practitioners who decided to transition to MMA, another BJJ standout is focused on the move from the mats to the cage.

"I´ve got the world absolute gold this year, my goal is get my second absolute gold at ADCC next September, something that no one achieved yet, and move 100% to do MMA,” Felipe "Preguica" Pena told Sherdog.com.

"I´m moved by challenges. I feel like when I was a blue belt, I was already dreaming about one day being an absolute champion in the black belt [division]. I'm already looking for a boxing and muay Thai coach here in Minas Gerais. Seeing former opponents like ‘Buchecha’ and ‘Cara de Sapato’ doing great just motivates me.”

The Vinicius Draculino protégé naturally weighs 216 pounds and plans to fight at light heavyweight in MMA. But before making that move, Pena has another dream to achieve in…

A heavyweight clash between Ilir Latifi and Alexander Romanov is set for UFC Fight Night on Feb. 19.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. The event does not currently have a location or headliner.

Latifi snapped a three-bout skid in his last Octagon appearance, when he defeated Tanner Boser via split decision at UFC Fight Night 189. The 38-year-old Swede compiled a 7-5 UFC mark at 205 pounds before transitioning to heavyweight, where he dropped a unanimous decision in his debut against Derrick Lewis at UFC 247 before rebounding to best Boser.

Romanov is undefeated in 15 professional appearances, a streak that includes four triumphs in UFC competition. Most recently, the 31-year-old Moldovan defeated Jared Vanderaa via second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 194 on Oct. 9. “King Kong” has finished all but one of his fights inside the distance.

A lightweight showdown between Benson Henderson and Islam Mamedov will serve as the co-main event for Bellator 273, promotion officials announced Tuesday.

Bellator 273 takes place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix and is headlined by a heavyweight title unification bout between reigning champ Ryan Bader and interim king Valentin Moldavsky. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on the Showtime Sports YouTube channel, the Bellator YouTube channel and Pluto TV.

Two other bouts were confirmed for the main card: Henry Corrales vs. Aiden Lee at featherweight and Sabah Homasi vs. Jaleel Willis at welterweight. Meanwhile, the preliminary draw has three new additions: Saad Awad vs. Christopher Gonzalez at lightweight; Romero Cotton vs. Dalton Rosta at middleweight and Sullivan Cauley vs. Ben Parrish at light heavyweight.

A former UFC lightweight champion, Henderson enters the matchup with Mamedov on a th…

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Another UFC veteran is headed to Eagle Fighting Championship.

Four-time Octagon competitor Yorgan De Castro is expected to face Shaun Asher in a heavyweight bout at Eagle FC 44 on Jan. 28. Cageside Press was first to report the booking. Eagle FC 44 takes place at FLXcast Arena in Miami and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Tyrone Spong and Sergei Kharitonov. De Castro has reportedly signed a multi-fight deal with Eagle FC.

De Castro earned a UFC contract on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series before going 1-3 within the Las Vegas-based promotion. He returned to the win column this past November, when he outpointed Danyelle Williams at CES 65 to run his career mark to 7-3.

Asher, 42, will bring a 13-4-1 record into the matchup with De Castro. Most recently, the Cincinnati, Ohio, native suffered a 55-second TKO defeat to Steve Mowry at Bellator 257.

After their fight, @DustinPoirier pledges $20K to a charity of @CharlesDoBronxs’ choice #UFC269 pic.twitter.com/hcj8Cu1lTj

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 12, 2021

The concept of an “Octagon donation” after a fight doesn’t seem so great in hindsight.

First, there was a public dispute between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor after the latter promised to donate money to Poirier’s charity, The Good Fight Foundation, following their second fight at UFC 257. Now, it’s Poirier who is promising to deliver a donation of $20,000 to a cause of Oliveira’s choosing in his hometown following their lightweight title fight at UFC 269 on Dec. 12.

Poirier made his offer in the Octagon shortly after Oliveira defended his belt with a submission win in the UFC 269 main event. “The Diamond” further clarified his donation during the post-fight press conference.

“I saw a video this week of him [Oliveira] showing where he grew up, and where is mom cooked …

Anatoliy Malykhin and Kirill Grishenko will vie for the interim heavyweight crown when they square off in the main event of One Championship “Only the Brave” on Jan. 28.

The Singapore-based promotion announced the pairing on Monday. One “Only the Brave” takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium. No further bouts were announced for the card. The winner of the fight will presumably face reigning heavyweight king Arjan Singh Bhullar at a later date.

A native of Kemerov, Russia, Malykhin is undefeated in nine professional outings. The former Fight Nights Global competitor kicked of his One tenure with first-round finishes of Alexandre Machado and Amir Aliakbari in 2021. He has finished all nine of his triumphs inside the distance.

Grishenko, who hails from Belarus, brings a 5-0 mark into his matchup with Malykin. The 30-year-old is 2-0 under the One banner, with victories against Oumar Kane and Dustin Joynson to his credit.

Two former teammates on a collision course.

Will we see Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou going at it for real in the Octagon? pic.twitter.com/3EUOQG7vHJ

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) June 28, 2021 Francis Ngannou says the footage of him and Ciryl Gane sparring that was released earlier this year was edited with a specific goal in mind.

According to Ngannou, the clips don’t accurate depict what happened during the session, which occurred in January 2019. Ngannou and Gane will meet in a heavyweight title unification bout at UFC 270 at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Jan. 22. According to Ngannou, he and Gane sparred no more than six to eight times total.

“When I saw that footage, my first reaction was laughing – because I know exactly what happened at those training sessions,” Ngannou said on his YouTube channel. “But this is the thing: When they want do some highlight, they always choose the part of the video that they use and they have…

Timur Valiev will step in for Umar Nurmagomedov and lock horns with Jack Shore at a UFC event on March 19.

Both Valiev and Shore confirmed the new bantamweight booking on social media following an initial report from MMA Fight Universe. The UFC Fight Night event does not have an official location or headliner.

Shore is undefeated through 15 professional appearances. The former Cage Warriors champion is 4-0 in UFC competition, with victories over Nohelin Hernandez, Aaron Phillips, Hunter Azure and Liudvik Sholinian to his credit/

Valiev enters the matchup on a nine-bout professional unbeaten streak, though an upset loss to Trevin Jones in August 2020 was changed to a no contest when his opponent failed a drug test. Most recently, the former Professional Fighters League competitor to a majority verdict over Raoni Barcelos at UFC Fight Night 190 on June 26.

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

A potential flyweight title eliminator is on tap for March 26, when Kai Kara France and Askar Askarov are expected to lock horns at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

MMAjunkie.com first reported the booking. The UFC card is currently slated for Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 26 and is headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic.

Kara France is coming off the most high-profile victory of his career to date, when defeated ex-bantamweight king Cody Garbrandt via technical knockout 3:21 into the opening stanza of their encounter at UFC 269. The City Kickboxing representative has won two in a row in the Octagon and six of his eight UFC appearances overall.

Askarov is thus far unbeaten in 15 professional outings, with the lone blemish on his ledger coming in a split draw against current 125-pound king Brandon Moreno at UFC Fight Night 159. He has since…

Another fight has been added to the Rizin Fighting Federation 33 lineup, as former Pride Fighting Championships standout Takanori Gomi will meet kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa under “special standing bout rules” on New Year’s Eve.

The Japanese promotion recently announced the pairing, which does not have a formally announced weight class but will reportedly be a two-round exhibition under boxing rules. Rizin 33 takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and features a lightweight title bout between Roberto de Souza and Yusuke Yachi as well as the semifinals and finals of the bantamweight grand prix. The event is available via pay-per-view here.

Gomi, 43, last appeared at Rizin 26, where he bested Koji Tanaka in a special rules bout in December 2020. His most recent MMA appearance came in July 2018, when he snapped a six-fight losing streak with a first-round knockout of fellow UFC veteran Melvin Guillard.

The bout is expected to be Nasukawa’s last under t…