Martial Arts News

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5mfHxOleBU&w=640&h=360] Top Polish mixed martial arts promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki returns for its final event of 2021, and the KSW 65 weigh-in was filled with drama.

Most notably, former featherweight champion Daniel Torres lost his belt prior to his first title defense. Torres (12-4, 1 NC) came in a pound over championship weight and has been stripped of the title. His bout against Salahdine Parnasse will continue with only Parnasse (15-1-1) eligible to win the belt, and Torres will surrender 30% of his purse as well. Additionally, prelim fighters Hassan Shaaban and Bartosz Rewera failed to make weight. Shaaban has been replaced by Piotr Olszynka, who will now face Patryk Likus, while Rewera has been fined 30% of his purse.

The card is headlined by a champion versus champion bout between middleweight titleholder Mamed Khalidov and welterweight king Roberto Soldic. Both fighters made the middleweight limit as Soldic (19-3…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFKO4apSjI&w=560&h=315] 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 middleweight Andre Muniz has his sights set on who he would like for his next opponent. Recently at UFC 269, Muniz snared an armbar over Eryk Anders to improve his win streak to four in a row. His last three victories inside the Octagon have come by armbar, already putting him with the second-most in UFC history. Currently a top-ranked middleweight, #15 on the Sherdog official rankings and #13 in the UFC, Muniz earned his place largely due to finishes of Ronaldo Souza and Anders. On Wednesday, Muniz spoke to Sherdog about his ranking and who he wants next.

“Darren Till is [ranked #8], but he is coming from two straight losses,” Muniz noted. “I’m [ranked #13] but coming from four straight wins, so I think it would be a fair mat…

Retorno marcado! UFC volta ao Brasil com card no dia 7 de maio no Rio de Janeiro https://t.co/C0GwknRJ8D pic.twitter.com/57dItz3k44

— Combate (@canalCombate) December 16, 2021 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. After over two years away, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will finally be staging an event in Brazil. On March 14, 2020, the UFC held its final event before shuttering for a few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show, UFC Fight Night 170, went down in Brasilia, Brazil, and no fans were allowed in the building. Since that fight card headlined by future champ Charles Oliveira and former UFC fighter Kevin Lee, the UFC has held fights in either the United States or in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Recent reports have stated that the UFC will head to England on March 19, but UFC head Dana White has said that it will dep…

BREAKING

@BellatorMMA returns to @3ArenaDublin on Friday, Feb. 25th!

Middleweight World Champion @mousasi_mma defends against No.1 contender @austinv170mma & Ireland's @peterqueally faces @Kane86mousah.#BellatorDublin go on sale, Sat., Dec. 18 at @TicketmasterIre pic.twitter.com/hTCL55Fh6Q — Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) December 16, 2021 Ireland will officially not need to wait very long between Bellator MMA shows.

On Tuesday, news broke that Bellator was planning on heading back to Dublin on Feb. 25, with a headliner between Gegard Mousasi and Austin Vanderford for the middleweight strap. The organization has confirmed this via press release on Thursday, while announcing three additional matchups including its co-headliner. The fight card will be held in the 3Arena in Dublin, just like its Nov. 5 event of Bellator 270.

As Mousasi-Vanderford will take top billing, the second marquee matchup will be filled by a lightweight…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Jon Jones has received little more than a slap on the wrist for his latest legal entanglement from September.

First reported by TMZ on Thursday, Jones has accepted a plea deal with the prosecutors that will allow him to avoid any jail time. The oft-maligned light heavyweight has pleaded nolo contendere – no contest, which means that the defendant will not contest the charge but will not be admitting guilt – to the charge of a misdemeanor destruction of property damaging something valued between $25 and $250.

As a result, the prosecutors have dismissed the charge of domestic violence against him. Jones will be required to pay $750 in restitution to the victim, seek counseling for anger management, and “has been ordered to stay out of trouble.” Initially, the charge of tampering with a vehicle rose to the level of a felony as the damaged was assessed above $5,000, as Jones allegedly headbutted a police car according to the co…

UFC issued this memo moments ago regarding the then-new policy of fighters having to pay for COVID tests out of pocket: pic.twitter.com/7yGiflTj1E

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 15, 2021

While the UFC has updated its COVID-19 protocol, the promotion won’t be requiring its athletes to cover the cost of pre-fight testing as was recently reported.

In a memo sent out to fighters, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell revealed that the organization will no longer provide at-home testing kits as they did earlier in the pandemic. Instead, athletes will have the freedom to handle their own testing with the promotion reimbursing them for the expense. To be reimbursed, a copy of the receipt and a test result must be submitted to the UFC medical coordinator.

“Please be advised that we are updating UFC’s COVID-19 testing program to give all athletes and corners the freedom and flexibility to secure their own COVID-19 test prior to depar…

Alesha Zappitella will face Jessica Correa Delboni in an atomweight championship rematch at Invicta FC 45 on Jan. 12.

The all-female promotion announced the booking on Wednesday. Invicta FC 45 takes place in Kansas City, with broadcast information to be revealed at a later date. Zappitella defeated Delboni via five-round split decision in their first meeting at Invicta on AXS TV on May 21.

According to a release, Invicta FC will hold its events on Wednesday nights in 2022.

"We are always looking for new ways to showcase our athletes and having events on Wednesdays will put the spotlight directly on them,” Invicta FC president Shannon Knapp said. “The rematch between Zappitella and Delboni is a perfect way to kick off the action on our new night.”

Five other bouts were announced for the card: Claire Guthrie vs. Lauren Mueller at bantamweight; Courtney King vs. Morgan Frier at featherweight; Monica Franco vs. Hailey Cowan at bantamweight; Hilarie Rose vs. Em…

Considered one of the top prospects in the bantamweight division, Raoni Barcelos had a five-bout UFC winning streak snapped at the hands of Timur Valiev at UFC Fight Night 190 this past June.

Barcelos lacked the volume of his opponent, but he authored the fight’s most decisive moment when he floored Valiev twice in the second frame. Ultimately, he was unable to secure the finish and Valiev escaped with a majority decision triumph.

"I was one punch away from deciding the fight in the second round and let it escape,” Barcelos told Sherdog.com. “But that defeat was a great learning experience for me and it opened my mind, just increasing my desire to train more and never letting the fights go to the judges. That's what I´ll focus on Saturday.”

Originally slated to face Trevin Jones, Barcelos will instead meet Victory Henry on short notice in a bantamweight contest at UFC Fight Night 199 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. The opponent change didn’t faze the former R…

A pivotal bout between middleweight contenders Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier is getting a new date.

According to ESPN, Brunson vs. Cannonier has shifted from UFC 270 on Jan. 22 to UFC 271 on Feb. 12. UFC 271 takes place at the Toyota Center in Houson and is headlined by a middleweight championship rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. The bout was moved because the promotion wanted to have it on the same card as the Adesanya-Whittaker title bout, per the report.

Brunson is currently in the midst of the second five-bout winning streak of his UFC tenure. That stretch includes triumphs over the likes of Darren Till, Kevin Holland and Edmen Shahbazyan in headlining appearances in his last three outings. The North Carolina native previously authored a five-bout winning streak from August 2014 to September 2016 before losing four of his next six inside the Octagon.

Cannonier, meanwhile, was on the verge of securing a 185-pound title shot after suc…

Eagle Fighting Championship has added another notable name to its roster.

Promotion officials announced during a Wednesday news conference that former UFC lightweight interim title challenger Kevin Lee has signed a multi-fight contract. Lee was in attendance at the press conference in Miami to announce the deal, and he mentioned that the organization’s commitment to a 165-pound division played a “big part” in his decision to choose Eagle FC. His debut is expected to take place at an event on March 11.

“It’s amazing. Walking into this building feels like a fresh start,” Lee said. “I could feel like a new energy. And to be around a great champion and great champions in the past and try to follow in their footsteps, I feel like it’s big shoes to fill, and I’m here to do that.

“…I’ll be the first 165-pound world champion … It’ll feel nice to make a little piece of history for mixed martial arts.”

Once upon a time, Lee vocally pursued a clash with Nurmagomedov …

Gegard Mousasi will make his next middleweight title defense against Austin Vanderford at a Bellator MMA event in Dublin, Ireland on Feb. 25.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. Vanderford had already been tabbed as the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds, so it was just a matter of announcing a date and venue for his matchup with Mousasi. The card, which has not been formally announced by the promotion, takes place at 3Arena.

Mousasi, 36, regained middleweight gold with a five-round verdict against ex-welterweight champ Douglas Lima at Bellator 250 in October 2020. The Armenian-born Dutchman returned to defend the belt with a third-round technical knockout victory against John Salter at Bellator 264. Mousasi is 6-1 overall within the California-based promotion with a pair of middleweight championship reigns to his credit. “The Dreamcatcher” has won 11 of his last 12 pro outings dating back to February 2016, a run that includes five triumphs in UFC competition.<…

A flyweight clash pitting Alex Perez against Matt Schnell has been rebooked for UFC 271.

Promotion officials recently announced the rescheduled 125-pound bout. Perez and Schnell were supposed to square off at UFC 269, but the bout was canceled when Schnell was not medically cleared to compete. UFC 271 takes place at the Toyota Center in Houston on Feb. 12 and is expected to be headlined by a middleweight title rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.

Perez will return to action for the first time since falling to Deiveson Figueiredo via first-round submission in a flyweight title bout at UFC 255. Prior to that, the Team Oyama representative had been victorious in six of his first seven promotional appearances.

Schnell, meanwhile, has lost two of his last three UFC bouts. Most recently, “Danger” dropped a three-round verdict to Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 262 on May 15. Schnell is 5-4 in the Octagon overall, including a four-fight winning streak from Oct…