Martial Arts News

Friday’s Invicta FC 44 card has undergone a couple of changes following the withdrawal of Mara Romero Borella and Monique Adriane from their respective bouts.

The promotion announced Monday that both Borella and Adriane were forced out of the event due to “travel restrictions and visa issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” More specific details regarding each fighter were not given.

As a result, Brogan Walker-Sanchez will step in for Borella and face Emilee King at flyweight, while Marisa Messer-Belenchia replaces Adriane and meets Katie Saull at atomweight. Walker-Sanchez vs. King is slated for the main card, while Saull vs. Messer-Belenchia will take place on the preliminary draw.

Invicta FC 44 takes place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan., and is headlined by a strawweight title tilt between Emily Ducote and Danielle Taylor. In the co-main event, Lisa Verzosa will lock horns with Taneisa Tennant for bantamweight gold. The main card airs at 10 p.m. ET/7…

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Alistair Overeem will make a big splash in his Glory Kickboxing debut.

The promotion announced Monday that Overeem and Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven will lock horns on Oct. 23 in the Netherlands as part of the Glory “Collision 3” card. Sherdog.com previously reported that Glory will return to the GelreDome with a large-scale event that just gained some additional star power.

Known as “The Prince of Kickboxing,” Verhoeven has been near perfect in Glory with a 23-1 mark. His resume includes victories over the likes of Badr Hari, Jamal Ben Saddik, Antonio Silva, Anderson “Braddock” Silva, Benjamin Adegbuyi, Gokhan Saki and many, many more. Most recently, Verhoeven scored dominant wins over Hesdy Gerges and Tarik Khbabez to win the Glory 77 four-man heavyweight tournament in January.

Overeem recently signed with Glory after being released by the UFC. The former Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1…

MMA veteran Anthony Taylor has found himself a lucrative gig training with social-medi- personality-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

The 32-year-old Alameda, Calif., native has compiled a 7-5 record in the cage while competing for organizations such as Bellator MMA, Combate Americas and the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. His last bout came in January 2020, when he captured a majority decision against Chris Avila at Bellator 238. Since then, however, “Pretty Boy” turned down a chance to fight in order to train with Paul.

"I had the opportunity to fight in Cage Warriors but I couldn't pass up the money Jake was offering,” Taylor told Betway Insider US. “I’m getting paid more money as Jake's training partner in two months than I made in my whole entire MMA career in six years. I swear to God, I made more money with Jake in two months than my whole MMA career.

“That’s disturbing when you think about it, because I fought for Bellator. I’ve fought two top five con…

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Legacy Fighting Alliance bantamweight champ Zviad Lazishvili will get his chance to make a mark in the UFC.

Lazishvili will replace Said Nurmagomedov and square off against Jack Shore in a 135-pound contest at UFC Fight Night 191. Adjara Sport was first to report the new booking. UFC Fight Night 191 takes place on Sept. 4 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Darren Till and Derek Brunson.

Lazishvili claimed bantamweight gold with a first-round submission of Ricky Steele at LFA 90 in September 2020. The 29-year-old Republic of Georgia native is 8-0 as a professional, a run that includes two victories in LFA and five triumphs via tapout.

A former Cage Warriors bantamweight king, Shore has kicked off his promotional tenure with wins against Nohelin Hernandez, Aaron Phillips and Hunter Azure. The 26-year-old Welshman is 14-0 since beginning his pro career in…

There’s already some history between Alexandre Pantoja and reigining flyweight champion Brandon Moreno — with most of that tilted in favor of the Brazilian contender.

First, Pantoja submitted Moreno in an exhibition bout on Season 24 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” and then “The Cannibal” outpointed the Mexican star at UFC Fight Night 129 in May 2018. Perhaps that’s why Pantoja delivered the most polite callout ever — with Moreno in attendance — in his post-fight interview following a victory over Brandon Royval at UFC on ESPN 29 on Saturday night.

While both flyweights seem to have a certain level of respect for each other, Pantoja was a little less diplomatic in a scrum conducted after the bout.

“He knows my game. I beat him two times. I think he’s maybe a little scared because he lost to me via submission, and then when he had the possibility to get revenge against me, I destroyed him. I made it 30-26. I proved I’m better,” Pantoja said.

“When he came to the…

Before he lost to Robert Whittaker at UFC 254 last October, Jared Cannonier appeared to be Israel Adesanya’s choice for No. 1 contender at middleweight.

That setback knocked “The Killa Gorilla” down the contender’s queue, but Cannonier rebounded to post a five-round verdict over Kelvin Gastelum in the UFC on ESPN 29 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“Any win is good,” Cannonier said at the post-fight press conference. “I feel good after that win. Took a little bit of damage but I’m not broken so I can go home and hug my kids and be able to play with them come Monday and stuff like that. So I’m happy.”

In his post-fight interview in the Octagon, Cannonier said that he was “broke,” so it was important for him to earn a victory in his first bout since that aforementioned loss to Whittaker. It was a competitive fight throughout, but Cannonier scored the only knockdown of the fight and appeared to get stronger as the matchup progressed.

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IGNACIO BAHAMONDES ENDS IT IN THE LAST 10 SECONDS!! #UFCVegas34 pic.twitter.com/5wxlKMJvVT

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 22, 2021

In one fell swoop, Ignacio Bahamondes earned his first UFC triumph while submitting a strong entry for “Knockout of the Year.”

The 23-year-old Valle Flow Striking product received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award thanks to a spectacular finish of Roosevelt Roberts in a preliminary lightweight affair at UFC on ESPN 29 on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. After picking his opponent apart with strikes to all levels for the better part of three rounds, “La Jaula” abruptly ended the contest with a highlight-reel spinning wheel kick at the 4:55 mark of Round 3.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Pantoja garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for a second-round submission of Brandon Royval in a pivotal flyweight matchup. Following a competitive opening frame, the Brazilian took his adversary’s bac…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Jared Cannonier at the very least kept his name in the conversation. The MMA Lab standout maintained his position in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight pecking order with a unanimous decision over Kelvin Gastelum in the UFC on ESPN 29 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges scored it the same: 48-47 for Cannonier (14-5, 7-5 UFC), who rebounded from his Oct. 24 loss to Robert Whittaker.

Both men fought well in spurts. A short-notice substitution for Paulo Costa, Gastelum (16-8, 11-8 UFC) kept a brisk pace and tried to push his opponent’s buttons with leg kicks, lunging left hands and sneaky one-twos. Cannonier was masterful from a defensive standpoint and for the most part managed to steer clear of danger. He floored Gastelum with a clean right hook in t…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 29 ​coverage will begin Saturday at 7 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:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry …

Lingo with the late knockdown!

[ #UFCVegas34 | Prelims are LIVE on ESPN2 & @ESPNPlus] pic.twitter.com/5gagHlPMA5

— UFC (@ufc) August 22, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Weaponized cardio made all the difference for Austin Lingo.

The Fortis MMA prospect overcame a difficult start, bit down on his proverbial mouthpiece and took a unanimous decision from Luis Saldana in the featured UFC on ESPN 29 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Lingo (9-1, 2-1 UFC) was awarded 29-28 marks by all three cageside judges.

Saldana (15-7, 1-1 UFC) opened a cut near the onetime Legacy Fighting Alliance headliner’s right eye and doubled him over with a body kick in a productive first round. However, his output dipped in the middle stanza, where Lingo applied maximum pressure, went headhu…

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The upcoming event held by the Abu Dhabi Warriors Fighting Championship has gained an exciting welterweight clash.

On Sunday morning, a source close to the situation informed Sherdog that Omar Hussein Abufarah and Wisem Hammami will collide in a 170-pound feature bout at UAE Warriors 21: Arabia 4. The source asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

BREAKING: Sources tell me Omar Hussein Abufarah is welcoming Wisem Hammami in the welterweight division at the upcoming UAE Warriors 21: Arabia 4 event on Sept. 3. "187" is looking for his 4th victory under the UAE banner. Hammami has all finishes on his record.

— Tudor Leonte (@MrTudorLeonte) August 22, 2021

Aburafah (8-2, 3-1 UAE) is coming off a narrow split-decision victory over Yassin Najid in his latest cage appearance at UAE Warriors 17: Arabia 2. “187” was supposed to…

Dan Hooker will square off against Nasrat Haqparast in a lightweight duel at UFC 266.

The pairing was announced during the UFC on ESPN 29 broadcast on Saturday night. UFC 266 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 25 and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega. Hooker vs. Haqparast is slated for the preliminary portion of the card.

Hooker will look to snap a two-bout skid after falling to Michael Chandler via first-round TKO at UFC 257 and losing to Dustin Poirier by unanimous decision in the UFC on ESPN 12 main event. Prior to that, “The Hangman” had been victorious in seven of his last eight promotional appearances, with notable victories over the likes of Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta, Gilbert Burns and Jim Miller.

Haqparast, meanwhile, enters the pairing with victories in five of his last six outings. The 25-year-old Tristar Gym representative was able to rebound from a KO loss to Drew Do…