Martial Arts News

The UFC on ESPN 31 headliner took its toll on both competitors, as Jose Aldo and Rob Font are facing potentially lengthy medical suspensions following their bantamweight clash.

Aldo defeated Font via unanimous decision at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The Nova Uniao product must have a right orbital fracture cleared by a doctor or he will be sidelined until June 3. At a minimum he is suspended until Jan. 4 with no contact until Dec. 26. Font, meanwhile, must have left orbital and nasal fractures cleared by a doctor or he too will be out until June 3. At a minimum, the Boston native is suspended until Jan. 19 with no contact until Jan. 4.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to mixedmartialarts.com.

Five other fighters from UFC on ESPN 31 are also facing potential six-month terms: Jamahal Hill (left elbow), Jimmy Crute (left orbital, nasal fractures), Brendan Allen (left hand), Du…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be heading to Houston for the third time in less than a year early in 2022.

UFC 271 will take place in Houston on Feb. 12, according to multiple outlets. MMAjunkie.com was first to bring word of the location for the pay-per-view event. UFC 262 on May 15 and UFC 265 on Aug. 7 both took place at the Toyota Center.

The UFC announced a multi-event partnership with the venue earlier this year,, which included a “prospective” pay-per-view card in 2022, so it’s likely that the Toyota Center will again be the destination of choice.

The Las Vegas-based promotion hasn’t officially announced UFC 271. A middleweight championship rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker is rumored to be the headliner for the event. A handful of bouts have been reported for the card, including Roxanne Modafferi vs. Casey O'Neill, Carlos Ulberg vs. Fabio Cherant and Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Sergey Morozov.

The UFC Fight Night lineup on Jan. 15 appears to be nearly complete with the addition of two new bouts.

T.J. Brown will square off against Gabriel Benitez at featherweight, while Caio Borralho will meet Jamie Pickett at middleweight at the event, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a 145-pound clash between Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze. Brown vs. Benitez was announced by Iridium Sports Agency, while MMAFighting.com initially reported Borralho vs. Pickett. Borralho was supposed to step in against Dustin Stoltzfus at UFC Fight Night 199 on Dec. 18, but he was unable to compete on that show due ot visa issues.

Brown lost his first two UFC bouts after appearing on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series. In his most recent outing, the Glory MMA & Fitness representative secured his first promotional triumph, a split decision over Kai Kamaka III at UFC on ESPN 23.

Benitez has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, in…

Rashad Evans will end his retirement to compete on Eagle Fighting Championship’s United States debut on Jan. 28.

Yahoo Sports first reported Evans return. The former UFC champion is expected to compete at 205 pounds against an as yet to be announced opponent. “Suga” retired following a 53-second knockout loss to Anthony Smith at UFC 225 on June 9, 2018 – his fifth consecutive defeat within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 42-year-old New York native owns a 19-8-1 career mark that includes victories over the likes of Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson, Michael Bisping, Stephan Bonnar, Tito Ortiz, Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson.

Eagle FC is the MMA promotion owned by retired former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The event, entitled Eagle FC 44, is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight duel between Antonio Silva and Tyrone Spong and will be held in Miami. ESPN was first to report the main event matchup.

A former EliteXC…

Former NBA first-round draft pick Royce White will make his mixed martial arts debut against Daiqwon Buckley at Legacy Fighting Alliance 120 on Friday.

The promotion confirmed the bout following a report from MMAjunkie.com on Monday. LFA 120 takes place at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minn., and streams on UFC Fight Pass. White announced that he was making a transition to MMA in 2019 that coincided with the release of his book “MMA x NBA: A Critique of Modern Sport in America.”

A 6-foot-8, 260-pound power forward who was an All-American at Iowa State University, White was drafted by the Houston Rockets in 2012. His NBA career would consist of three games with the Sacramento Kings in 2013-14 before he was released. He has since played overseas and in the NBA Summer League.

Buckley, meanwhile, is a former fullback at Temple University with a 1-1 mark as an amateur. He last competed in April 2017, when he submitted Austin Swoyer in the third round at…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A matchup between strawweight contenders Amanda Ribas and Michelle Waterson is in the works for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on March 26.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the booking. The event takes place at an as yet to be announced location and is expected to feature a light heavyweight headliner pitting Jan Blachowicz against Aleksandar Rakic. Ribas and Waterson were initially slated to square off at UFC 257 in January before “The Karate Hottie” withdrew from the bout.

Ribas rebounded from her first career defeat in the Octagon at the hands of Marina Rodriguez to score a unanimous verdict over Virna Jandiroba at UFC 267 on Oct. 30. The 28-year-old Brazilian is 5-1 in UFC competition, with other notable wins against the likes of Mackenzie Dern, Paige VanZant and Randa Markos.

Waterson, meanwhile, is coming off a five-round decision defeat to Rodriguez in the UFC on ESPN 24 headliner on May 8. The 35-year-old …

It looks like Tyron Woodley will get his rematch with Jake Paul after all.

Showtime Sports announced Monday that Tommy Fury has withdrawn from a proposed bout against Paul “due to a medical issue that impacted his training camp.” Paul vs. Woodley 2 will be contested over eight rounds at 192 pounds. The event takes place on Dec. 18 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., and airs via pay-per-view on Showtime beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

“When my team woke me up on Friday to tell me Tommy was pulling out, I told them I’m ready to fight anyone on Dec. 18,” Paul said in a release. “Troy, Trey, Trevor, Travis. I don’t give a damn who it is. So, as I predicted Tommy Fumbles and Tyron is there to pick it up, stepping in, and contractually he is getting an extra $500,000 if he knocks me out. First time I outboxed him. This time I’m gonna punish him and leave no doubt.”

Paul and Woodley initially squared off on Aug. 29 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, with the so…

Julia Avila has suffered a knee injury and won’t face Raquel Pennington at UFC Fight Night 199 as originally anticipated.

MyMMANews first reported Avila’s withdrawal from the Dec. 18 card. It is currently unclear if Pennington will receive a replacement opponent. UFC Fight Night 199 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Derrick Lewis and Chris Daukaus.

The 33-year-old Avila has been victorious in three of her first four promotional appearances — including a third-round submission of Julia Stoliarenko in her last outing at UFC Fight Night 190 on June 26.

A former bantamweight title challenger, Pennington is coming off back-to-back decison wins over Marion Reneau and Pannie Kianzad.

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

It was a blend of mixed emotions for Rafael Fiziev following his latest triumph, a third-round knockout of Brad Riddell in the UFC on ESPN 31 co-main event Saturday night.

After all, Fiziev and Riddell are friendly from crossing paths in Thailand, where both lightweights have served as coaches for the vaunted Tiger Muay Thai camp. Riddell previously held that position, while Fiziev is currently in the role.

“I don’t know if I’m sad or I’m happy, because it’s not so good when your friend’s like that,” Fiziev said. “Of course, I’m happy, and sad, and happy. I don’t know.”

Regardless of the feelings that followed, Fiziev’s finish was a thing of beauty. He forced Riddell to circle to his right, then unleashed a spinning wheel kick that connected to the side of his opponent’s head. Riddell stumbled forward and fell to the canvas while unsuccessfully trying to grab a leg, prompting Herb Dean to step in and wave off the fight.

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Jose Aldo once again has T.J. Dillashaw in his sights following another impressive victory in the bantamweight division.

The former featherweight king earned his third consecutive triumph at 135 pounds in the UFC on ESPN 31 headliner, taking a five-round verdict over Rob Font at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Despite a reputation for fading in longer fights, Aldo held up for 25 hard-fought minutes against a surging contender. Aldo did not attend Saturday’s post-fight press conference due to being transported to a hosptial for precautionary reasons, but he did share his thoughts on his performance — which featured a blend of powerful striking and timely grappling — during an interview in the Octagon.

“Everyone thinks I can only go three rounds but I proved I can do five and I want to be a champion of this division and I’m still working for that,” Aldo said. “We’ve been talking about this, to become a complete MMA fighter. So yes, I’m going to be standing …

The UFC was in a generous mood on Saturday night, as six competitors from UFC on ESPN 31 received $50,000 bonus checks.

Rafael Fiziev was an easy selection for one “Performance of the Night” bonus thanks to his “Knockout of the Year” candidate against Brad Riddell in the co-main event. A spectacular spinning wheel kick ended the lightweight bout 2:20 into the third round, giving Fiziev his fifth consecutive triumph at 155 pounds.

Elsewhere, Jamahal Hill earned a “Performance of the Night” check after making short work of Jimmy Crute in a featured light heavyweight bout. In a matchup of former Dana White’s Contender Series competitors, Hill dropped his foe with a right hand early, then finished Crute with a right hook and follow-up ground strike just 48 seconds into Round 1.

Earlier, Clay Guida rallied from the brink of defeat to submit Leonardo Santos, earning a “Performance of the Night” payment in the process. Guida was on the ropes in the opening stanza after…

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. Jose Aldo still has plenty of story left to tell. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder withstood significant damage to his right eye to beat the favored Rob Font by unanimous decision in the UFC on ESPN 31 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Aldo (31-7, 13-6 UFC) swept the scorecards with 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 marks from the cageside judges.

Font (19-5, 9-4 UFC) pushed a breakneck pace behind a stinging jab, and while he enjoyed his share of success, the New England Cartel representative had no answer for the Brazilian’s punching power. Aldo staggered him on more than one occasion with right hands, often stymying momentum and alternating the complexion of entire rounds in an instant. He also introduced …