Martial Arts News

Belal Muhammad entered a new tier of welterweight contenders at UFC Fight Night 199, where he earned a convincing unanimous decision victory over former title challenger Stephen Thompson in the evening’s co-main event.

Muhammad is unbeaten in his last seven promotional appearances, and most recent was arguably his best to date, as he grounded “Wonderboy” seven times en route to earning scorecards of 30-25, 30-26 and 30-26 from the cageside judges. It’s a statement victory that Muhammad believes should put him into consideration for a championship opportunity.

“Who’s ever beaten ‘Wonderboy’ 30-26? Who’s ever beaten ‘Wonderboy’ that style? Nobody’s ever beaten him that way,” Muhammad said at the UFC Fight Night 199 post-fight press conference. “‘Wonderboy’s’ fought for the title twice, Demian Maia has fought for the title twice, I beat both of those guys in dominant fashion. So, like, you’re telling me Leon Edwards deserves it over me? He almost got knocked out by Nate…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Former American Top Team stablemates Mariya Agapova and Maryna Moroz will square off at UFC 272.

Both fighters confirmed the flyweight booking on social media following an initial report from Combate. UFC 272 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 5 and is also expected to include a featherweight bout pitting Edson Barboza against Bryce Mitchell.

Agapova has been victorious in two of her first three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 24-year-old Kazakhstan native submitted Sabina Mazo in the third round of their encounter at UFC Fight Night 194 on Oct. 9. The former Contender Series and Invicta FC competitor is 10-2 as a pro, with eight victories coming inside the distance.

Moroz, meanwhile, will enter the bout on a two-fight winning streak after besting Mazo and Mayra Bueno Silva in her last two promotional outings, the most recent of which occurred in March 2020. The 30-year-old Ukraine native is 5-3 in U…

Gleison Tibau, wrestling and jiu-jitsu coach of KSW double champion Roberto Soldic, is impressed by the potential of the Croatian fighter.

"His power is not normal. The only fighter I faced with similar power was Khabib [Nurmagomedov], but his strength was for grappling and throws. Soldic has similar power but for striking,” Tibau told Sherdog.com. “I´ve already trained with Colby [Covington], [Robbie] Lawler and many other top fighters from the UFC, and I´ve never seen anything like this. Everytime I train with him I need two days to recover.”

Soldic became a two-division champion this past Saturday, when he knocked out Mamed Khalidov in the second round to capture middleweight gold in the KSW 65 headliner. Soldic was already the Polish promotion’s welterweight title holder. According to Tibau, Soldic’s feat will attract attention from the world’s largest MMA organizations.

"Soldic has one more fight in KSW ,and if KSW doesn't make an excellent proposal to rene…

After some initial hesitation from the UFC, it appears the promotion is ready to book a strawweight championship rematch between Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza.

UFC president Dana White confirmed in an interview with ESPN that Esparza is next in line for a 115-pound title shot. A date for the proposed bout was not revealed.

“Carla Esparza (is next),” White said. “100 percent.”

Esparza and Namajunas initially squared off at “The Ultimate Fighter 20” finale with the promotion’s inaugural strawweight title at stake. Esparza captured the belt via third-round submission in the December 2014 bout but relinquished the crown in a second-round KO loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her next outing. “The Cookie Monster” went 3-3 in UFC competition from 2016 to 2018 before embarking on a five-bout winning streak that propelled her to her current No. 1 contender status.

Namajunas, meanwhile, is currently on her second championship reign in the strawweight division. She re…

A bantamweight showdown pitting Marlon Moraes against Yadong Song is in the works for UFC Fight Night on March 12.

MMAjunkie.com confirmed the booking after Song initially announced the fight on the UFC’s Migu channel. The UFC Fight Night card is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight clash between Magomed Ankalaev and Thiago Santos. A location and venue has yet to be announced.

A former World Series of Fighting champion and UFC bantamweight title challenger, Moraes has dropped four of his last five outings in the Octagon. Most recently, Moraes rocked Merab Dvalishvili early in their UFC 266 encounter before falling via technical knockout at the 4:25 mark of Round 2. The American Top Team product’s other recent defeats have come at the hands of Rob Font, Cory Sandhagen and Henry Cejudo.

Song, meanwhile, has compiled a 7-1-1 mark during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion. After falling to Kyler Phillips via unanimous decision in his first ap…

Derrick Lewis took sole possession of the all-time UFC knockout record on Saturday night, but he wasn’t overly impressed with the achievement.

“It means something, I guess, because of all the greats that were here before me,” Lewis said at the UFC Fight Night 199 press conference on Saturday night. “But really it doesn’t change anything, because there’s still a lot of other guys that are active and have been doing pretty good as well.

“I preferred to get the win in Houston [at UFC 265] than here in the APEX, so it didn’t really erase anything. I’m still going to be thinking about [the Ciryl Gane loss] late at night.”

Lewis ended Chris Daukaus’ five-bout promotional winning streak in resounding fashion, as he knocked out the Philadelphia-based police officer with power punches 3:36 into the opening round of their heavyweight headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It was an impressive bounceback effort from “The Black Beast,” who fell to Gane in an interim title…

Reigning strawweight queen Jingnan Xiong will defend her belt against Ayaka Miura in the main event of One Championship “Heavy Hitters” on Jan. 14.

The Singapore-based promotion recently confirmed the booking, which will be contested at 125 pounds according to One’s weight class rules. One “Heavy Hitters” takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore and will also see light heavyweight kickboxing champion Roman Kryklia defend his title against Murat Aygun in the co-main event.

The rest of the card will include a mix of combat sports disciplines, including the following MMA matchups: James Nakashima vs. Saygid Izagakhmaev at lightweight; Senzo Ikeda vs. Jeremy Miado at strawweight; Yushin Okami vs. Leandro Ataides at middleweight; Shuya Kamikubo vs. Troy Worthen at bantamweight; Tiffany Teo vs. Meng Bo at strawweight and Robin Catalan vs. Elipitua Siregar at strawweight.

The 33-year-old Xiong has been victorious in 11 of her last 12 professional o…

Chael Sonnen received five battery citations after an alleged brawl at the Four Seasons hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday night, according to a report from TMZ Sports.

The former UFC title challenger was detained but not arrested because police did not witness the incident. However, TMZ Sports did obtain video of Sonnen being led away in handcuffs. Authorities are still investigating the incident.

According to an eyewitness account provided to TMZ, Sonnen was seen banging on the door of a room at the hotel at approximately 7 p.m. local time. Shortly thereafter, a couple allegedly walked by and a physical altercation began. A reason for the incident is unknown.

Sonnen was getting the better of the scuffle with the man, according to the witness, before the woman began to scream and the police were called. That ultimately led to Sonnen being taken away in handcuffs and detained. Paramedics also responded to the scene, but it’s unclear if anyone was treated for injurie…

Jordan Young, who fought under the Professional Fighters League banner just this past October, has died at age 27.

Young’s death was announced by his boxing coach, Derik Santos, via Instagram. His passing was later confirmed on social media by his camp, American Top Team, as well as the PFL account. The cause of Young’s death is currently unclear.

It’s with a heavy heart, we have learned about the passing of our teammate Jordan Young. Our team is shocked and deeply saddened by this news. A great teammate, he will be deeply missed by all of us.

Thoughts and prayers to his family. RIP to this warrior

— American Top Team (@AmericanTopTeam) December 19, 2021

PFL is saddened to learn about the passing of Jordan Young. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family during this tragic time. May he Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/PsPAyOxy2y

— PFL (@PFLMMA) December 19, 2021

“Life throws challenges at yo…

the ringside angle of the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley fight #PaulWoodley2 pic.twitter.com/7etlnpt8TI

— Kyng (@KyngSpoilerz) December 19, 2021

The first matchup between Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley didn't exactly leave fans clamoring for a second go-round, but the rematch at least delivered a definitive finish.

In the cruiserweight main event of "Paul vs. Woodley 2" on Saturday in Tampa, Florida, Paul crushed Woodley with a right hook in the sixth round, leaving the former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champ prone and unconscious on the canvas. It was a shocking conclusion to an unexpected headline fight that had been thrown together on just 10 days' notice when Paul's originally scheduled opponent, professional boxer Tommy Fury, withdrew due to a combination of injury and illness. In stepped Woodley, who had lost to Paul by decision in a tepid fight on Aug. 29. With the devastating knockout win, Paul goes to 5-0 as a professi…

Darren Elkins is known for his ability to absorb punishment and keep going. Cub Swanson is now $50,000 richer for changing the narrative.

Swanson received a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his first-round stoppage of Elkins in a matchup of veteran featherweights at UFC Fight Night 199 at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. Swanson was able to remain upright and rock Elkins with multi-punch combinations before ultimately putting his opponent away with a glancing wheel kick 2:12 into Round 1 for his third win in four outings.

Elsewhere, Amanda Lemos and Angela Hill earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their competitive strawweight bout. Lemos started quickly when she rocked Hill with a front kick to the face and followed her foe to the canvas in pursuit of the finish. Hill recovered and made things interesting over the final two frames, even making her Brazilian adversary stumble to the mat with a spinning back elbow in Round 3. It ultimately wasn…

Chris Daukaus is the only one who didn't see this KO coming a mile away pic.twitter.com/DU0xF2N9fA

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) December 19, 2021

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Derrick Lewis stands alone in the Ultimate Fighting Championship record book.

“The Black Beast” broke a tie with Matt Brown and set the promotion’s all-time mark for knockout victories with his 13th, as he battered Chris Daukaus senseless in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 199 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Lewis (26-8, 17-6 UFC) drew the curtain 3:36 into Round 1, winning for the fifth time in six appearances.

Daukaus (12-4, 4-1 UFC) connected with a slashing right elbow and did what he could to steer clear of one of the world’s most dangerou…