Martial Arts News

Stipe Miocic is a little bit upset that he wasn’t part of the conversation when the UFC decided to book an interim heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Derrick Lewis earlier this month.

After all, Miocic is the owner of the longest heavyweight championship reign in promotion history and is coming off a loss to Francis Ngannou in a title bout at UFC 260 on March 27.

"It does bother me, because I just wish they would have at least came to me," Miocic told ESPN. "Even if I wasn't able do it, I would have just loved to be given the opportunity. I think I deserved it. But I'm not gonna bitch and moan about it.”

Miocic’s next move is to fly to Las Vegas for a meeting with UFC president Dana White, where he will express his disappointment at being excluded from the heavyweight title picture.

"I just have to sit down and have a conversation with him," Miocic said. "And everything will fall into place.”

Gane defeated Lewis via third-round technical…

Two of the big winners from UFC on ESPN 29 could be facing potentially lenghty medical suspensions.

Jared Cannonier, who captured a unanimous decision win over Kelvin Gastelum in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, must have a right foot X-ray after his latest middleweight triumph. If the result is positive, he needs orthopedic clearance or he will be sidelined until Feb. 18. Gastelum, meanwhile, is suspended until Sept. 21 with no contact until Sept. 12.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Pantoja is also facing a six-month term following a submission victory over Brandon Royval in a battle of flyweight contenders. Pantoja must have a left knee MRI and receive doctor clearance or he too will be out of action until Feb. 18. At a minimum, the Brazilian is sidelined until Sept. 21. Royval is also facing a six-month suspension pending the result of an orbital catscan and doctor clearance.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medica…

After an exciting back and forth first round, Mohamad Said Maalem lands a beautiful counter follow up with devastating GnP to finish Fakhreddine and become the BRAVE CF Light Heavyweight World Championship pic.twitter.com/iUBK05hV0b

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) August 1, 2021

Brave Combat Federation’s first foray into Italy wasn’t without controversy.

In the Brave CF 52 headliner, Mohamed Said Maalem locked horns with Mohammad Fakhreddine with the vacant 205-pound championship on the line. The clash ended after “L’Ambiance” stopped Fakhreddine with ground-and-pound punches in the opening stanza. However, the Algerian fighter landed multiple punches behind his Lebanese opponent’s head, changing the fate of the fight. Considering that referee Declan Larkin didn’t warn Maalem nor interrupted the action, Fakhreddine filed a formal complaint to the Italian Federation of Grappling and Mixed Martial Arts (Federazione Italiana Gr…

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!

What a debut from Terrance McKinney! #UFC263 pic.twitter.com/dJrXCD8pCg

— UFC (@ufc) June 12, 2021 Terrance McKinney will face Fares Ziam in a lightweight contest at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Nov. 20.

Both fighters confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from MMA DNA. The event does not yet have an official location or headliner.

McKinney is coming off a spectacular Octagon debut, where he knocked out Matt Frevola in seven seconds at UFC 263 on June 12. The Sikjitsu representative is currently on a four-fight winning streak in which he has finished all four of his opponents by knockout or technical knockout inside of a round.

After falling to Don Madge in his Octagon debut, Ziam has rebounded to post consecutive decision victories over Jamie Mullarkey and Luigi Vendramini. The 24-year-old Frenchman has won seven of his last eight professional outings.

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

A potential all-action welterweight scrap between Niko Price and Alex Oliveira will go down at UFC Fight Night 193.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the fight. UFC Fight Night 192 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Oct. 2 and is headlined by a light heavyweight bout pitting Thiago Santos against Johnny Walker.

Price will attempt to halt a three-bout winless streak when he steps into the Octagon with Oliveira. In his last appearance, “The Hybrid” dropped a three-round verdict to Michel Pereira at UFC 264 on July 10. Price is 6-5 with two no contests during his promotional tenure and has earned finishes over the likes of James Vick, Tim Means, Randy Brown, George Sullivan, Alan Jouban and Brandon Thatch.

Oliveira has struggled of late as well, losing five of his last seven UFC fights — including back-to-back submission losses …

Despite being the higher seed in his featherweight semifinal matchup with Bubba Jenkins, Chris Wade enters the Professional Fighters League playoffs as an underdog, both according to oddsmakers and popular opinion.

“I can’t lie. I’m extremely motivated by the fact that people find him to be a clear-cut, in their mind, favorite in this bout,” Wade said during a virtual media day. “I think that at best, if you really know what you’re talking about in fighting, you could give him a coin flip situation…But to be calling him a clear-cut favorite is absurd.

“He doesn’t really do anything that stylistically poses a huge threat to people other than hold on to them in wrestling situations, which I’m very familiar with being a wrestler myself. I’m struggling to see where the real threat is in this bout, let alone how he’s gonna survive it.”

Wade, a veteran with two PFL playoff appearances already under his belt, went 2-0 during the 2021 season with victories over Anthony …

Credit: Getty/UFC

Kris Moutinho will get a second opportunity in the UFC after giving a valiant short-notice effort in his Octagon debut.

Moutinho will meet Aaron Phillips in a bantamweight contest at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 23. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. The card is headlined by a middleweight tilt pitting Paulo Costa against Marvin Vettori.

Moutinho stepped up to face Sean O’Malley at UFC 264, losing via third-round TKO in what will likely end up as a “Beatdown of the Year” candidate. Still, Moutinho absorbed most of what O’Malley had to offer right up until the stoppage near the end of the fight. The CES MMA veteran is 9-5 over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2016.

Phillips, meanwhile, had a five-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he was submitted by Jack Shore in the second round at UFC on ESPN 13. The Louisiana native is still looking for his first Octagon triumph after going 0-2 in UFC competition d…

Once upon a time, Antonio Carlos Jr. put together a five-bout winning streak in the UFC’s middleweight division.

Despite that success, he didn’t feel like he was close to a title shot, and he wasn’t quite sure what it would take him to get to that point. There is no such confusion for Carlos Jr. in Professional Fighters League. Carlos Jr. will meet Emiliano Sordi in the a light heavyweight semifinal bout in the PFL playoffs on Friday at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Should he win, Carlos Jr. will get a shot to compete for a 205-pound championship and a $1 million prize.

That clarity has definitely made a different in Carlos Jr.’s mindset.

“When you feel you’re close to the belt, you feel more motivated. You’re always thinking about the title,” Carlos Jr. said during a PFL virtual media day. “That’s what I want to reach in my career.

“I never could fight for the belt in the UFC. They see things a little different. Some time ago, I w…

It appears that the Ultimate Fighting Championship is parting ways with Demian Maia and Jimmie Rivera.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, Maia, Rivera and Christian Aguilera are no longer under contract with the UFC. While Maia fought the last fight on his existing deal, it is unclear if Rivera and Aguilera completed their contracts or were released.

A title challenger at both middleweight and welterweight, Maia exits the organization on a two-bout losing streak. In his last outing, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace dropped a three-round verdict to Belal Muhammad at UFC 263. Maia went 22-11 during his UFC tenure, falling to Anderson Silva in a middleweight title bid at UFC 112 in April 2010 and losing to Tyron Woodley in a welterweight title bout at UFC 214 in July 2017. After his latest defeat, UFC president Dana White said that Maia had probably competed in the Octagon for the last time.

Rivera, meanwhile, leaves the UFC having lost four of his last six a…

A strawweight bout pitting Cheyanne Buys against Konklak Suphisara is in the works for a Nov. 20 Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

MMA journalist John Hyon Ko first brought word of the fight on Twitter. The UFC event doesn’t yet have an official location or headliner but is expected to include a flyweight showdown between Joanne Calderwood and Alexa Grasso.

Buys earned her first promotional triumph at UFC on ESPN 28, when she defeated Gloria de Paula via first-round technical knockout. In her Octagon debut, the Dana White’s Contender Series alum was outpointed by Montserrat Ruiz at UFC on ESPN 21.

Suphisara, who is more commonly known as “Loma Lookboonmee,” has been victorious in three of her first four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the Tiger Muay Thai product captured a unanimous verdict over Sam Hughes at UFC on ESPN 23. She also owns wins over Jinh Yu Frey and Aleksandra Albu in UFC competition.

Peter Queally will square off against Patricky Freire in a lightweight rematch at Bellator 270.

The promotion announced the booking on Monday while also confirming a previously reported bantamweight headliner pitting James Gallagher against Patrick Mix. Bellator 270 takes place at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Nov. 5. The main card airs on Showtime in the United States at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on the Bellator MMA YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT.

Queally and Freire initially fought at Bellator 258 on May 7. Queally opened a cut on his opponent’s head with a slashing elbow from the bottom position, which prompted the cageside physician to wave off the bout prior to Round 3. Anchored at SBG Ireland, the 32-year-old Queally has been victorious in three of his last four professional outings.

Freire has now lost two straight fights including a decision defeat to Tofiq Musayev in the…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A light heavyweight showdown pitting Volkan Oezdemir against Magomed Ankalaev is on tap for UFC 267.

MMA DNA was first to report the bout, which was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night 191 on Sept. 4. UFC 267 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 30 and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship scrap between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.

A former light heavyweight title challenger, Oezdemir is coming off a second-round KO loss to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 251 last July. Prior to that, “No Time” scored back-to-back triumphs over Ilir Latifi and Aleksandar Rakic in the Octagon.

Ankaleav, 29, is currently riding the momentum of a six-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. That stretch includes a pair of stoppage wins over Ion Cutelaba as well as a three-round verdict against Nikita Krylov in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 186 on Feb. 27.