Martial Arts News

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

With Aljamain Sterling still on the mend from neck surgery, an interim bantamweight championship bout has been booked for UFC 267.

UFC president Dana White informed broadcast partner ESPN on Tuesday that Petr Yan will square off against Cory Sandhagen for the interim 135-pound crown on Oct. 30 in Abu Dhabi. Yan was supposed to face Sterling in a title rematch after being disqualified for landing an illegal knee in their first meeting at UFC 261. The Yan-Sandhagen winner will presumably be booked in a title unification bout against Sterling at some point in 2022.

Yan had a 10-fight professional winning streak snapped in the loss to Sterling. The 28-year-old Russian known as “No Mercy” was victorious in his first seven UFC appearances, posting notable triumphs against the likes of Aldo, Urijah Faber, Rivera and John Dodson.

Sandhagen, meanwhile, is coming off a contentious split-decision l…

More details have emerged surrounding Jon Jones’ arrest for battery domestic violence and vehicle tampering last week in Las Vegas, and they don’t paint the former UFC light heavyweight champion in a very flattering light.

According to an arrest report released by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department that was obtained by MMAjunkie.com, Jones allegedly assaulted a woman who was later identified as his fiancée, Jessie Moses, and then head-butted a police vehicle as he was being arrested. Jones was in Las Vegas for the UFC Hall of Fame Induction ceremony that occurred on the night of Sept. 23.

According to the report, police arrived at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to respond to a domestic battery call that left Moses bleeding from her nose and mouth. When interviewed by police, Moses stated that she and Jones have been together for 17 years and have three children together, and that she and Jones had not been arguing prior to the incident. Moses said that she elected t…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwX_9n6-GXs&w=560&h=315]

Henry Cejudo was an interested observer on Saturday night when Alexander Volkanovski defeated Brian Ortega in a “Fight of the Year” candidate at UFC 266.

After the event, Cejudo tweeted at UFC president Dana White, with the following claim: “I’m gonna take Alexander the Average’s Soul.” That prompted a succint response from the featherweight champion at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference.

“He’s called out everyone. He’s called out females. Does he actually believe the s—t that comes out of his mouth? Nah, not worried about him. I’ll squash the little germ,” Volkanovski said.

In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Cejudo doubled down on his callout of Volkanovski, pleading with White to allow him to move up to 145 pounds.

“Not only do I believe that I can beat him, I know I can stop him,” Cejudo said. “As much as I saw good things from Volkanovski, there are still a lot of holes. I believ…

A significant gap in experience will be on display when Greg Hardy locks horns with Alexey Oleynik at UFC 270.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the heavyweight booking. UFC 270 takes pace on Jan. 22 at an as yet to be announced location and will also include a pivotal middleweight bout between Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier.

A former NFL Pro Bowl defensive lineman, Hardy has compiled a 7-4 mark with one no contest since turning pro in 2018. The American Top Team product is 4-4 in the Octagon and has suffered back-to-back KO/TKO defeats at the hands of Marcin Tybura and Tai Tuivasa in his last two UFC appearances.

The 44-year-old Oleynik will attempt to halt a three-fight UFC skid when he squares off against Hardy. Oleynik’s current slump includes knockout losses against Derrick Lewis and Chris Daukaus as well as a decision defeat to Sergey Spivak in his last outing at UFC on ESPN 25. “The Boa Constrictor” hasn’t tasted victory since earning a split verdict …

GLORY Collision 3 Main Card (per press release):

Rico Verhoeven vs. Alistair OvereemDonegi Abena vs. Sergej MaslobojevMichael Duut vs. John KingJamal Ben Saddik vs. Benjamin AdegbuyiJames McSweeney vs. Antonio PlazibatHamicha vs. Eyevan Danenberg#GLORYC3 #GLORY79 pic.twitter.com/yA2GJqFRGP

— Kris Dekker (@KrisDekkerMMA) September 28, 2021 The full card for Glory: Collision 3 has been unveiled, and it includes several new bouts.

Glory: Collision 3 takes place on Oct. 23 in Arnhem, The Netherlands and is headlined by heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven defending his title against former K-1 champion and UFC veteran Alistair Overeem. Earlier this month, Sherdog.com reported that Jamal Ben Saddik and Benjamin Adegbuyi were set to rematch in the co-main slot on the card.

In another new addition to the event, Hamicha returns after his first-round finish at Glory 78 on Sept. 4. With three straight first round knockouts, Hamicha is taking on…

A flyweight showdown between Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Manel Kape is on tap for an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on Dec. 4.

Zhumagulov recently announced the pairing via social media. The UFC Fight Night card takes place at an as yet to be revealed location and is expected to be headlined by a 135-pound scrap pitting Jose Aldo against Rob Font.

A native of Kazakhstan, Zhumagulov dropped decisions to Amir Albazi and Raulian Paiva in his first two promotional appearances before submitting Jerome Rivera in the opening frame at UFC 264 on July 10. The former Fight Nights Global title holder is 14-5 as a professional with seven wins via KO/TKO and one by way of submission.

Kape, meanwhile, is an ex-Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight king with a 1-2 mark in UFC competition thus far. The AKA Thailand representative began his Octagon tenure with a unanimous decision loss to Alexandre Pantoja and a split-decision setback to Matheus Nicolau before scoring a first-r…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

It appears that Chris Daukaus will be taking a step up in competition for his next Octagon appearance.

UFC president Dana White told broadcast partner ESPN on Monday that Daukaus will square off against two-time heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Dec. 18. The bout has not been finalized, but it will likely serve as the headliner for the Fight Night card once. The UFC Apex in Las Vegas is the probable venue.

Daukaus is currently on a five-fight professional winning streak, with four of those victories coming in UFC competition. Most recently, the Philadelphia native defeated Shamil Abdurakhimov via second-round TKO at UFC 266. All four of Daukaus’ promotional triumphs have ended inside of two rounds.

Lewis, meanwhile, is coming off a third-round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane in an interim heavyweight title tilt at UFC 265 on Aug. 7. That ended a four-bout winning streak for “The B…

A potential middleweight title eliminator is slated for UFC 270, as Derek Brunson will square off against Jared Cannonier on Jan. 22.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. UFC 270 doesn’t currently have a location or headlliner, though the promotion is reportedly targeting a middleweight championship rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker for the main event.

The 37-year-old 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 successive triumphs against David Branch, Anderson Silva and Jack Hermansson, but a decisi…

The seminfinal matchups are in place for the One Championship atomweight grand prix.

Seo Hee Ham will square off against Nong Stamp, while Ritu Phogat will meet Itsuki Hirata in the other half of the bracket, the Singapore-based promotion recently announced. Fan voting voting determined the semifinal pairings.

The former Rizin atomweight queen, Ham earned a controversial split-decision triumph over Denice Zamboanga in the quarterfinals on Sept. 3. The One Championship competition committee reviewed the fight but ultimately elected not to oveturn the result. Ham has won her last seven outings dating back to June 2017.

The 23-year-old Stamp avenged a previous submission loss to Alyona Rassohyna in her quarterfinal bout, as she captured a split-decision triumph in the rematch. The Fairtex Gym product is 6-1 as a pro, with all of her bouts coming under the One banner.

Inda’s Phogat outpointed Meng Bo in the round of eight at One “Empower” to advance to the se…

A intriguing bantamweight clash pitting Jose Aldo against Rob Font is in the works for an Ultimate Fighting Championship even on Dec. 4.

Aldo’s trainer, Andre Pederneiras, mentioned the potential booking to Sherdog.com last week, and it has since been reported by "The MMA Hour" and Combate.

The event is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with Aldo vs. Font expected to serve as the main event. Other reported bouts for the event include Jimmy Crute vs. Jamahal Hill, Rafael Fiziev vs. Brad Riddell and Brendan Allen vs. Brad Tavares.

Regarded by some as the best featherweight of all-time, Aldo is coming off arguably his most complete performance to date since dropping to 135 pounds, a unanimous decision triumph against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 265 on Aug. 7. The Nova Uniao standout is 2-2 at bantamweight, with a decision victory over Marlon Vera also to his credit as well well as setbacks against Petr Yan and Marlon Moraes.

Font, meanwhile, enters…

Aljamain Sterling has been doing his best to prepare for a bantamweight title rematch against Petr Yan at UFC 267, but training hasn’t been going according to plan after the champ underwent neck surgery earlier this year.

“The Funk Master” took to Instagram to share the lingering issues he has dealt with in camp as a result of that procedure. It was reported over the weekend that Sterling had withdrawn from the Oct. 30 rematch with Yan.

“As always, I like to share the truth and be transparent with my fan base that actually give a shit about fighters’ health,” Sterling wrote. “Training has been going well but I’ve been struggling to get my body to push pass [two rounds] in sparring sessions. The fatigue that sets in and the cramping still lingers, which my surgeon said is due to the nerves still recovering from the long-term trauma, and surgery I just had. Nothing I can do about that, other than show up in another shell of myself and risk wasting the surgery and mayb…

The fight card for the Professional Fighters League Championships on Oct. 27 is official.

The promotion announced the full lineup — with the exception of one as yet to be announced preliminary bout — on Monday. The main card airs on ESPN2 and is headlined by a women’s lightweight title clash betweeen Kayla Harrison and Taylor Guardado. Three other $1 million championship bouts are set for the main card: Ray Cooper III vs. Magomed Magomedkerimov at welterweight; Bruno Cappelozza vs. Ante Delija at heavyweight and Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Chris Wade at featherweight.

Rounding out the main draw is boxing champion Claressa Shields second pro MMA bout, as she meets Abigail Montes.

Two championship fights will take place on the prelims: Antonio Carlos Jr. vs. Marthin Hamlet at light heavyweight and Loik Radzhabov vs. Raush Manfio at lightweight. The preliminary draw will also see Omari Akhemdov face Jordan Young at middleweight, while Don Madge meets Nathan Williams at …