Martial Arts News

It appears Tyron Woodley has finally made good on his promise to get ink honoring Jake Paul in the wake of his loss to the social media star in a boxing match on Aug. 29.

Woodley took to Instagram on Monday to showcase an “I love Jake Paul” tattoo on his middle finger. Tattoo artist Rubia Santana is credited for the work. Paul and Woodley made a bet prior to their bout that the loser would get the winner’s name tattooed on his body. Paul later said he would only grant Woodley a rematch if he got the aforementioned “I love Jake Paul” piece.

“I love you son. Now come and get this ass whippin cause I heard you been talking back to your elders,” Woodley wrote in the caption of the post.

Paul defeated Woodley via split decision (77-75, 75-77, 78-74) in an eight-round fight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland last month. While Woodley made Paul stumble when he landed an overhand right in the fourth round, his inability to land with volume ultimately led to hi…

All but one athlete slated to compete on Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series made weight without issue on Monday morning.

The lone exception was Manuel Gaxhja, who tipped the scales at 160.5 pounds for a lightweight clash against Chris Duncan (156). Gaxhja will be fined 30 percent of his purse, and the bout will proceed as planned.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a light heavyweight tilt pitting Lukasz Sudolski (205) against Ihor Potieria (203.5).

A native of Szczecin, Poland, Sudolski is undefeated in eight professional appearances. The 28-year-old Berserkers Team representative has finished six of those victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission — including five inside of a round.

Potieria, meanwhile, has been victorious in 18 of 20 bouts over the course of a career that began in 2015. The 25-year-old Ukraine native enters the Cont…

For two rounds, Nick Diaz took everything Robbie Lawler had to offer while returning fire with his trademark volume boxing in their middleweight bout at UFC 266.

It was an especially impressive effort from the Stockton, Calif., native considering that he had been out of action since 2015. By the third round, however, Diaz’s gas tank had waned and he elected not to continue after getting hit by a right hook and left uppercut 44 seconds into the third frame. It was a bizarre ending to an entertaining rematch, but Lawler believes his shots gradually took their toll on the former Strikeforce champion.

“I felt like it was an accumulation,” Lawler said at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference. “But I felt like I caught him with a little check hook and then a little left after that, then when he went down, I hit him with a little uppercut. Then when he went down he wanted me to come down with him and I was like, ‘Let’s continue the fun stuff.’

“He’s a warrior. He wa…

After a stellar performance in a unanimous decision triumph over Brian Ortega in the UFC 266 headliner on Saturday night, Alexander Volkanovski was already looking ahead to what’s next.

While Volkanovski acknowledges that the Nov. 13 main event between Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez could produce his next challenger, the City Kickboxing standout doesn’t want to wait that long for his next Octagon appearance. Prior to UFC 266, Volkanovski hadn’t fought since July 2020.

“You’ve got the Yair-Max fight, so I’m guessing that’s for No. 1 contender. Whoever wins that gets that shot, right? That’s not til November. I want to fight,” Volkanovski said at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference.

In the name of staying active, Volkanovski isn’t opposed to testing his mettle at 155 pounds.

“So, do I move up to lightweight? Do something,” said Volkanovski, who added he is considering a relocation of his camp to avoid COVID-19 restrictions. “Maybe move up to lightweigh…

Valentina Shevchenko made it look easy against Lauren Murphy in the UFC 266 co-main event. But that was always kind of the goal.

The reigning flyweight queen pitched a virtual shutout for three rounds against a gun shy Murphy before pouring it on in Round 4 to earn a stoppage with elbows and punches at the 4:00 mark of the period at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“Lauren, she’s a tough opponent,” Shevchenko said at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference. “She’s physical and very strong, but I wanted to play my game. My ultimate goal as a martial artist is to reach the level when your opponents, when they’re fighting each other, [they appear to be] furious, powerful, very strong. But when they fight me, it’s like, they cannot touch you, but you can finish them. It’s kind of like what I want [to] be as a martial artist: untouchable. This is kind of next level of martial artist.”

Shevchenko has come close to achieving that goal during her 125-…

Rafael dos Anjos recently revealed to Sherdog.com that he underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his knee approximately two weeks ago that may put his UFC 267 bout against Islam Makhachev in jeopardy.

The Nova Uniao-trained fighter says that he is doing everything he can to keep the bout intact. UFC 267 takes place on Oct. 30 in Abu Dhabi.

“I'm already walking without crutches, in 10 days I need to be able to sparring,” dos Anjos said. “I’m a fighter; I always want to fight. We already told the UFC what happened. By the way, the UFC was great at paying for all my surgery expenses. But of course I can't decide alone. I have to hear from my trainer, my doctor and physiotherapist. We must take the final decision in one week.”

If the bout is canceled, it would be the third time that dos Anjos vs. Makhachev has fallen through. A matchup at UFC 254 was scrapped after dos Anjos contracted COVID-19, while a rebooking in at UFC Fight Night 182 November 2020 was nixed due…

It had been more than six years since Nick Diaz last set foot in the Octagon, and while he wasn’t able to make a triumphant return against Robbie Lawler on Saturday night, he did provide some entertainment for as long as the fight lasted.

Diaz traded punches with Lawler for two rounds at UFC 266, often showcasing his trademark volume, but he eventually ran out of gas in Round 3. That’s when Lawler landed a right hook that dropped Diaz to a knee before connecting with a left uppercut that sent the Cesar Gracie protege to his back. Moments later, Diaz confirmed to referee Jason Herzog that he didn’t want to continue, ending the bout 44 seconds into the third frame.

All told, Diaz outlanded Lawler by a 150-to-131 count in significant strikes, becoming just the 12th fighter in UFC history to land that many strikes in a loss.

“I’m glad I at least put on a show,” Diaz said during an interview with Daniel Cormier in the Octagon. “I knew I had it coming. Old Rob. I had…

Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega put on a show in the Octagon in the UFC 266 headliner, and both men received a little extra compensation for their efforts at the end of the evening.

Volkanovski and Ortega garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their featherweight championship bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. While Volkanovski ultimately prevailed via unanimous decision behind a relentless pace and volume striking, he endured a few precarious moments in the bout, most notably a pair of tight submission attempts in the third frame. Both men continued to stand in trade until the final horn in a clash that will undoubtely end up on some year-end awards lists.

Elsewhere, Merab Dvalishvili captured a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus by virtue of his come-from-behind triumph against Marlon Moraes in a preliminary bantamweight tilt. After nearly being finished by strikes in Round 1, the Georgian fighter regained h…

Alexander Volkanovski’s great was too good for Brian Ortega.

Volkanovski (23-1, 10-0 UFC) strengthened his grip on the undisputed UFC 266 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it for the Australian: 49-46, 50-45 and 50-44.

The story was told across five grueling rounds. Volkanovski let fly with powerful two- and three-punch combinations, pestered the Californian with his jab and refused to take his foot off the accelerator. Round 3 was sensational. Ortega (15-2, 7-2 UFC) knocked the champion off-balance with a left hand, jumped on a mounted guillotine choke and appeared to be a heartbeat or two away from finishing it. Volkanovski freed himself and moved into top position, only to find himself entangled in a triangle choke—the very maneuver from which the challenger’s nickname originates. Again, the Freestyle Fighting Gym rep managed to escape. Ferocious ground-and-pound followed, and an exhausted Ortega struggled to ge…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 266 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 266 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round…

What a comeback victory for @MerabDvalishvil

[ #UFC266 | Live on @ESPNPlus & ESPNews ] pic.twitter.com/tk1wM7wgbi

— UFC (@ufc) September 26, 2021 Merab Dvalishvili now has the world wondering whether or not he is human. The Serra-Longo Fight Team product staged a remarkable comeback and climbed another rung on the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight ladder, as he put away Marlon Moraes with punches in the second round of their featured UFC 266 prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili (14-4, 7-2 UFC) brought it to a close 4:25 into Round 2, extending his current winning streak to seven fights.

Moraes (23-9-1, 5-5 UFC) slammed kicks into the former Ring of Combat champion’s lower leg, ripped combinations to the head and connected with a crippling left hook in the first round. He swooped in for a potential finish on the Georgian but emptied his gas tank and conceded a takedown. The indomitable Dvalishvili cle…

The long-awaited bantamweight championship rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan won’t happen at UFC 267 as originally anticipated.

Sterling has withdrawn from the bout due to lingering issues with his neck. “The Funk Master” underwent surgery in April to repair a herniated disc in his neck that has plagued him for years dating back to his collegiate wrestling career. MMAFighting.com was first to report Sterling’s exit from the card.

Sterling captured bantamweight gold at UFC 259 on March 6, when Yan landed an illegal knee that rendered the Serra-Longo Fight Team member unable to continue. Yan, who had claimed the vacant belt with a stoppage of Jose Aldo, could remain on the UFC 267 card in an interim championship clash against Cory Sandhagen, according to a report from MMAjunkie.com. Bout agreements have not yet been issued to either Yan or Sandhagen, however.

Sterling is on a six-bout Octagon winning streak that also includes triumphs over the lik…