Martial Arts News

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx9bHNMQVXY&w=640&h=360] Bellator MMA's return to England is officially on as the Bellator 267 weigh-ins largely went on without any issues. Twenty-four fighters on the card, including headliners Douglas Lima and Michael Page, made weight for the event. However, a bout between Benjamin Brander and Charlie Leary was pulled due to COVID-19 protocols.

The former welterweight champion is currently riding a two-fight losing streak after coming up short against Gegard Mousasi at middleweight and dropping his title to Yaroslav Amosov in June. Lima (32-9) hadn't lost two straight bouts since 2009, and will look to bounce back against a familiar foe in Page (19-1), whom he viciously knocked out in their first meeting two years ago. Lima officially weighed 169.4 pounds for the bout.

Looking to avenge his lone defeat is Page. The 34-year-old has bounced back in style with five straight wins, four of which were finishes. He most recently de…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQzEfqrYB0c&w=560&h=315] Former Bellator MMA welterweight champ Douglas Lima may be around even money going into his rematch with Michael Page, but many expect the result will be the same as their first meeting.

At Bellator 267 on Friday in the SSE Arena in London, American Top Team product Lima (32-9) rematches boisterous Brit Page (19-1) atop the card. Already in London to be in Lima’s corner, Lima’s coach Roan Carneiro spoke to Sherdog about the climate of revenge in the hometown of “MVP.”

“MVP were pretty respectful in the first meetings we had,” Carneiro noted, “a natural attitude from someone who got knocked out in the first fight, but we know he will change when we start to have events open to the public.”

The organization, which will be staging the card on Showtime in the U.S. and the BBC iPlayer for British crowds, has put a lot into building up the crowd for U.K. audiences. The coach was quite impressed by the quantity…

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. Pedro Munhoz has decided not to move to flyweight just yet. On Wednesday night, MMA Fighting was the first to report the bantamweight matchup between Munhoz (19-6, 1 NC) and Dominick Cruz (23-3) at UFC 269. Per the report, one that was later confirmed by other outlets, the two have agreed to their Dec. 11 meeting but the contracts have not been signed. Should it come to fruition, Munhoz and Cruz are expected to face off inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Munhoz has lost three of four, with defeats coming to current bantamweight king Aljamain Sterling as well as ex-lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and former featherweight titleholder Jose Aldo. Along the way, he won a thrilling rematch against Jimmie Rivera to even their record to one and one against one another. In his last five appearances, “The Young Punisher” has captured…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p40WVD9nO1Q&w=560&h=315]

As the 2021 Professional Fighters League campaign draws to a close, it appears that big things are in store for the promotion in the year to come.

During a press conference on Wednesday to promote the PFL Championship on Oct. 27, CEO Peter Murray alluded to several new “properties” on tap for the organization in 2022. Those include what sounds like the PFL’s first foray into pay-per-view as well as something similar to what Dana White’s Contender Series does for the UFC in terms of bringing new talent into the promotion.

“Not only are we excited about the upcoming championship, we’re excited about the 2022 season ahead,” Murray said. “We’ll expand our season events, but in addition to that we’re gonna launch new properties. The PFL will be launching a new pay-per-view division and a lineup of events. We’ll also launch the new PFL Challenger Series for pro fighters aspiring to get into the PFL season form…

Former Bellator MMA featherweight queen Julia Budd has signed with Professional Fighters League.

Budd will make her promotional debut at the PFL Championship against an as yet to be announced opponent at the Seminole Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., on Oct. 27. The PFL announced the addition of Budd during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. It is currently unclear if Budd will compete at 155 pounds or if the organization will add a featherweight divison for the upcoming season.

CONFIRMED: Welcome to the PFL, @JuliaBudd! She faces @kaitlin_young at the 2021 #PFLChampionship! pic.twitter.com/Ixp3SCNlqh

— PFL (@PFLMMA) September 29, 2021

“The Jewel” reigned as 145-pound champion in Bellator from 2017 to 2020 before relinquishing the crown to Cristiane Justino at Bellator 238. Budd has since rebounded from that defeat to post triumphs over Jessy Miele and Dayana Silva in her final two promotional appearances.

Budd has been…

A previously postponed women’s bantamweight showdown between Miesha Tate and Ketlen Vieira officially has a new date.

Promotion officials announced Wednesday that Tate vs. Vieira wll serve as the main event for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Nov. 20. The bout was initially slated for UFC Fight Night 195 on Oct. 16 before Tate tested positive for COVID-19.

Tate ended a five-year retirement at UFC on ESPN 26, where she returned with a third-round TKO triumph over Marion Reneau on July 17. “Cupcake” is a former UFC and Strikeforce bantamweight queen with notable wins over the likes of Holm, Sara McMann, Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, Julie Kedzie and Marloes Coenen, to name a few.

After beginning her promotional tenure with four consecutive victories, Vieira has lost two of her last three UFC appearances. Most recently, the 29-year-old Brazilian was outpointed by Yana Kunitskaya at UFC Fight Night 185 on Feb. 20.

Jon Jones has broken his silence after being arrested for battery domestic violence and vehicle tampering in Las Vegas last week.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion released a statement on his Instagram story on Tuesday after a police report revealed disturbing details regarding an alleged assault against his fiancee, Jesse Moses.

The post shows Jones lifting weights with the Randy Newman song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” playing in the background along with several statements scattered around the video. Jones does not directly address his arrest.

“I have way too much trauma to consume alcohol,” Jones wrote. “My brain simply can’t handle it anymore. I will leave alcohol in my past forever.

“Now is the time to work harder than ever.

“Turn this nightmare into the best thing to ever happen in my life.

“What the devil means for bad, God means for good.

“Get right back on my horse.”

Police were called to Caesars Palace in Las Vega…

Brian Ortega displayed a massive amount of heart agains Alexander Volkanovski in the UFC 266 headliner. He also absorbed a great deal of punishment during their featherweight title bout.

“T-City” is now facing a potential six-month medical suspension following his unanimous decision loss to Volkanovski on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ortega must receive clearance from an ophthalmologist for a right orbital blowout fracture or he will be sidelined until March 25. At a minimum, he is out until Nov. 25 with no contact until Nov. 10.

Volkanovski, meanwhile, is suspended until Oct. 26 with no contact until Oct. 17 after making his second consecutive successful 145-pound belt defense. The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions to mixedmartialarts.com.

Nine other athletes from UFC 266 are facing six-month terms pending medical clearance: Jairzinho Rozenstruik (needs dental clearance), Marlon Moraes (right …

That escalated quickly

Ihor Potieria poured it on for the finish on #DWCS pic.twitter.com/VzR5jqgpiR

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 29, 2021 Ihor Potieria proved he belongs with overwhelming force.

The Ukrainian was one of two hopefuls to nail down an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he dismissed the previously unbeaten Lukasz Sudolski with punches in the first round of their light heavyweight feature on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Potieria (19-2) brought it to a close 3:41 into Round 1.

Sudolski (8-1) fired off a few thudding inside leg kicks but struggled to manage distance. Potieria engaged him in the clinch and worked punches, elbows and knees along the fence. The World Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder exploded out of a break, smashed Sudolski with chopping punches and floored him with a right hand. Potieria offered no refuge, swamped the Berserker…

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. Sherdog's live DWCS 2021 Week 5 coverage kicks off Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Kuniev opens up with an oblique kick to the knee, then an outside leg kick. Kuniev gets clipped with a short right hand and stumbles forward. He recovers and the Brazilian tags him again. Kuniev and Santos both land before tying up. Santos with a hard knee to the midsection of his heavier opponent. Another knee lands for Santos before they separate. The Brazilian whips out an outside leg kick, which is answered by Kuniev. Kuniev forces the clinch against the cage, but Santos lands another hard knee. Kuniev drives his man into the fence, but lands a low blow and the action is paused. The action is rese…

Never in mixed martial arts history have so many Brazilian fighters trained as part of American MMA teams.

In addition to the growth of the sport and the increasing number of events in the U.S., one of the main reasons for that exodus is the UFC’s outfitting sponsorship contract with Reebok, which has since changed to Venum. Once that deal was implemented, many brands that supported athletes, teams and Brazilian events for decades left MMA, making it impossible for most event promoters and gym owners to keep their businesses afloat.

Among those who have continued to fight against the current are teams such as Nova Uniao, Team Nogueira, CM System, Evolucao Thai, PRVT, Rizzo RVT, TFT and Chute Boxe. Diego Lima, the leader of Chute Boxe Sao Paulo and the head coach of UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, revealed that he is actually expanding his gym.

"Today Chute Boxe São Paulo has the biggest MMA structure in Brazil. We moved to a four-floor building wher…

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…