Martial Arts News

Luke Rockhold’s comeback fight will have to wait.

The former middleweight champion announced Monday on his Instagram story that a herniated disc in his back has forced him to withdraw from a proposed clash against Sean Strickland at UFC 268.

“There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight is off in New York,” Rockhold said. “I ended up herniating a disc in my back. L4, L5. The docs say it’s nothing I can play with. I need to do some treatment and recovery time. Some things just aren’t meant to be. New York, motherf—-ing New York. I’m sorry to the friends and the peeps and everyone, but we’ll be back. Until next time.”

Rockhold hasn’t competed since a second-round knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 239 in July 2019. He was planning to return to 185 pounds for his clash against Strickland at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6. It’s unclear at this time if Strickland will remain on the card against a replacement oppone…

A welterweight showdown between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Geoff Neal is on tap for UFC 269.

ESPN was first to report that the promotion is on the verge of finalizing the bout. UFC 269 is expected to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a lightweight championship matchup between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.

Ponzinibbio returned for the first time since November 2018 at UFC on ABC 1, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Jingliang Li on Jan. 16. The Argentina native bounced back in his most recent outing, taking a three-round verdict over Miguel Baeza at UFC Fight Night 189 on June 5. Ponzinibbio has won eight of nine Octagon appearances dating back to December 2015.

Neal began his promotional tenure with five consecutive triumphs to emerge as one of the hottest prospects in the UFC’s welterweight divison. The Fortis MMA product came back to reality in his last two outings, however, falling to Stephen Thompson and Ne…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

More details have emerged regarding the the latest arrest of UFC talent Luis Pena.

Pena was arrested this past Saturday in Deerfield Beach, Fla. on charges of domestic violence and battery. According to a probable cause affadavit obtained by ESPN, Pena is accused of hitting his girlfirend with a closed fist “multiple times.” Pena allegedly continued to strike his girlfriend while she was on the ground, and the woman also suffered abrasions on her left wrist and a bite mark near her left knee.

According to the affadavit, another woman who witnessed the alleged assault attempted to stop Pena, and the fighter struck the woman in the eye with a closed fist. That resulted in the woman falling to the ground, and she was left with a purple contusion to her eye as well as a laceration on her right elbow due to the fall.

Both women provided sworn statements regarding the incident. Police initially responded to a domestic disturbance …

UFC 270 just gained a little more firepower, as a flyweight championship trilogy between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo is expected to move to the Jan. 22 card.

The bout was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 269 on Dec. 12 but was moved after that event added a welterweight fight pitting Leon Edwards against Jorge Masvidal. Ariel Helwani was first to report the new date for Moreno vs. Figueiredo. UFC 270 is headlined by a heavyweight championship unification bout between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane. A location for the event has not been announced.

After battling Figueiredo to a majority draw at UFC 256, Moreno claimed flyweight gold with a third-round submission of the Brazilian at UFC 263 in June. The promotion’s first Mexican-born champion is unbeaten in his last seven professional outings.

Figueiredo won five consecutive UFC appearances from July 2019 to November 2020, claiming the title with a first-round submission of Joseph Benavidez at …

Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal will get a chance to settle a feud that began more than two years ago when they square off at UFC 269.

The pairing was initially reported by Ariel Helwani and later confirmed by promotion broadcast partner ESPN. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout, but contracts have not yet been signed. Edwards vs. Masvidal will be a three-round affair.

Edwards and Masvidal famously crossed paths at UFC Fight Night 147 in London on March 16, 2019. Masvidal defeated Darren Till via second-round KO and Edwards took a split verdict over Gunnar Nelson at the event, but it was what happened backstage that really made headlines. Masvidal was giving an interview when he began exchanging words with Edwards, who was nearby. “Gamebred” then left the interview set to confront the Englishman, and shortly thereafter the fighters engaged in a brief altercation before being separated. That incident led to Masvidal’s famous “three-piece with a soda” line,…

Hakeem Dawodu will lock horns with Michael Trizano at a UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 5.

MMA DNA was first to report the featherweight tilt. The card does not yet have an official location or headliner.

Dawodu had a five-bout winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to Movsar Evloev at UFC 263 this past June. The 30-year-old Canadian enjoyed a 7-0-1 tenure with World Series of Fighting before signing with the UFC.

The winner of Season 27 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Trizano is 3-1 thus far in UFC competition. Most recently, the Team Tiger Schulmann representative outpointed Ludovit Klein at UFC on ESPN 24 on May 8.

There were some difficulties on the scales ahead of Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Two fighters slated to compete on Tuesday’s card missed weight, including Christian Rodriguez, who is scheduled to meet Reyes Cortez Jr. in the evening’s featured bout at bantamweight. Rodriguez initally weighed 138 pounds, while Cortez Jr. tipped the scales at 135.5 pounds. Rodriguez was unable to hit his contracted mark after taking an extra hour to cut weight, as he was only able to get down to 137.25 pounds.

Meanwhile, Jake Hadley initially checked in at 127.25 pounds for a flyweight showdown against Mitch Raposo (126). After being given an additional hour to cut weight, Hadley came still came in heavy at 127 pounds.

The Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Anchored at the MMA Lab, Cortez Jr. has been victorious in five of his first six professional appearances. Most recently, he outpointed Axel…

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell was arrested early Monday morning in Los Angeles after an alleged domestic violence incident.

TMZ Sports was first to report Liddell’s arrest. The 51-year-old former light heavyweight champion was booked for misdemeanor domestic battery at the Lost Hills Sheriff Station after an alleged incident between Liddell and his wife in Hidden Hills, Calif.

Lost Hills police were called to respond to a family disturbance at the 24000 block of Jim Bridger Road at approximately midnight local time. It was then determined that a verbal argument became physical. Liddell is married to Heidi Northcott, and the couple have two children together. Northcott did not require medical attention, according to the report.

Liddell released a statement regarding the incident on Monday evening, where he claimed that he was the victim of an assault from his wife, and that he volunteered to go with authorities in her place.

Liddell's statement is as fol…

A bantamweight clash pitting Douglas Silva de Andrade against Sergey Morozov has been added to the UFC 271 lineup.

Combate was first to report the booking. UFC 271 takes place on Feb. 12 at an as yet to be determined location. The event does not yet have a headliner.

Silva de Andrade fought twice in 2021, splitting a pair of bouts. After dropping a unanimous verdict to Lerone Murphy in a featherweight affair at UFC on ESPN 20, the 36-year-old Brazilian returned to 135 pounds and scored a first-round KO of Gaetano Pirrello at UFC Fight Night 193 on Oct. 2. He is 5-4 over the course of a promotional tenure that began in 2014.

Morozov also went 1-1 in the Octagon in 2021. He suffered a submission loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in his debut at UFC on ESPN 20, but rebounded to outpoint Khalid Taha at UFC on ESPN 26. The former M-1 Global champion has won six of his last seven professional outings.

It was not a night to remember for Melvin Guillard at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s event in Billings, Mont., on Saturday.

In addition to suffering a 59-second knockout loss to Joe Riggs in the BKFC Fight Night headliner, Guillard exited the bout with multiple orbital fractures that required surgery on Sunday. “The Young Assassin” brought word of his injuries in an Instagram post on Sunday morning.

“Just found out at 3:15 a.m. I have five fractures in my orbital so I will be having surgery today,” Guillard wrote. “Just wanted to get my fans, friends and family the news. I'll be okay, just keep me in your prayers. I'll be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared right now. We'll see what happens.”

Guillard posted an update later on Sunday that showed him leaving leaving the emergency room, with his left eye still completely swollen shut.

The 38-year-old Guillard fell to 0-4 under the BKFC banner in defeat. A veteran of the UFC and Bellator MMA, Gui…

Mackenzie Dern came up short on the biggest stage of her mixed martial arts career to date, but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt is planning on using the experience to become a better fighter in the long run.

Dern dropped a unanimous decision to Marina Rodriguez in the UFC Fight Night 194 main event at the UFC Apex on Saturday night, ending her four-bout Octagon winning streak. Dern had Rodriguez in trouble after dragging her to the mat in Round 2, as she threatened with a leg lock, landed ground-and-pound from the reverse crucifix position and took her opponent’s back. Rodriguez was able to survive, however, and spent the majority of the contest outclassing Dern on the feet.

“Yesterday wasn’t the result I was training for, but this fight is the biggest learning experience for me,” Dern wrote on Instagram. “Now I have a lot to look back on and fix to become a better fighter! For sure a submission would have been great but to have these rounds for me to work on is su…

Viewers on UFC broacasts are often given an inside look at the coaching in fighters’ corners between rounds. In some instances, the advice given by the corners can be misleading — often because the coaches and trainers are viewing the bout from a different perspective.

After UFC Fight Night 194, James Krause, Tim Elliott’s coach at Glory MMA & Fitness, admitted that his instructions ended up being to the detriment of his athlete. Elliott fell to Matheus Nicolau via unanimous decision, with all three judges submitting 29-28 scorecards in favor of the Brazilian.

Krause, meanwhile, saw a different fight from his cageside seat, and he’s accepting some of the blame for Elliott’s defeat.

“I made a huge coaching error tonight that I’m sure is going to haunt me for some time to come,” Krause wrote on Instagram. “Going into the [third] round I thought for 100% sure we took 1 and 2. Regardless of if that was true or not I should have pushed Tim to work up in the 3rd… …