Martial Arts News

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. Submission specialist Preston Parsons is about to join the ranks of the Ultimate Fighting Championship on short notice. Welterweight Daniel Rodriguez (14-2) announced on an Instagram story on Wednesday that his opponent Abubakar Nurmagomedov was forced out of their July 17 contest. On Thursday night, MMA Island was the first to report that Nurmagomedov’s replacement would be the newcomer Parsons (9-2). The promotion confirmed this booking on Friday, with the 170-pound bout taking place on UFC on ESPN 26 inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Parsons makes his way to the UFC with a 100 percent career submission rate, and his two defeats also came by stoppage. No pro fight for the Jacksonville Beach, Fla., resident has ever gone past the 4:26 mark of the second frame, win or lose. Four tapouts on Combat Night Pro events from 2019 to…

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. With 11 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship victories under his belt, Paddy Pimblett is set to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in September. On Friday, Combate first broke the story that Pimblett (16-3) would be stepping inside the Octagon on Sept. 4 against Luigi Vendramini (9-2). The UFC Fight Night card slated for London does not yet have a venue established, although this lightweight bout has been booked for this event. News of Pimblett’s debut came from the fighter on his Instagram page on Thursday, and the matchup was confirmed by other outlets on Friday.

Former bantamweight Pimblett has largely impressed since his shift up to the lightweight division in 2018, starting with a flying triangle choke on Alexis Savvidis in his first fight at 155 pounds. An unsuccessful attempt for the Cage Warriors lightweig…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCZ3gk-el9M&w=640&h=360] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 264 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor have a score to settle on what could be the biggest Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view of the year. Both fighters in the main event of UFC 264 had no issue making weight. In fact, all but one competitor on the 13-fight card hit their proper marks. Irene Aldana came in 3.5 pounds heavy for her bantamweight bout against Yana Kunitskaya, and she has been fined 30 percent of her purse. The bout will otherwise proceed as scheduled.

Coming off the biggest victory of his career, Poirier (27-6, 1 NC) will look to go two up in the trilogy against "Notorious." The Louisiana native was able to finish McGregor off with punches in Round 2 of their meeting earlier this year, which avenged a previous defeat to the Irishman in 2014. "The…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTQHgLHDiRM&w=560&h=315] 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. After bursting out of the gate with three quick stoppage wins, hot Ultimate Fighting Championship commodity Khamzat Chimaev will be coming back to the Octagon following a lengthy layoff. According to a report from betting site Octagon.bet on Friday, and subsequently confirmed by multiple outlets, the UFC is booking Chimaev (9-0) for October against Jingliang Li (18-6). The two welterweights will collide at UFC 267, which is slated to go down on Oct. 30 at an undisclosed venue in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This will be Chimaev’s first appearance since a knockout win in September 2020, as the Russian out of Sweden contracted COVID-19.

The future was bright for 27-year-old Chimaev, who debuted in the promotion in July 2020 and went on to rattle off three speedy…

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. Carlos Felipe has made life easier for Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmakers, getting his requested pairing in October. After Felipe (11-1) defeated Jake Collier in June by split verdict, the Brazilian called out Andrei Arlovski (31-20, 2 NC) in the post-fight press conference. The promotion has granted his request, as Felipe and Arlovski will throw down at an upcoming UFC Fight Night card on Oct. 16 inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Felipe announced the news of this pairing on an interview with Canal Encarada on Wednesday, and he subsequently confirmed the heavyweight tilt on his Instagram.

“I have a request for the matchmakers,” Felipe asked at the UFC 263 post-fight press conference. “Put me with Andrei Arlovski. This is the fight to make. I have all the respect for Andrei Arlovski, but I think his time has already passed.…

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. Due to an injury replacement, Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Matt Schnell now finds himself in a matchup against a top-ranked foe. ESPN Deportes first reported the news on Wednesday night that Askar Askarov (14-0-1) has been forced out of his pairing with Alex Perez (24-6) due to a broken hand. The two flyweights were set to dance at UFC on ESPN 27 on July 31, but as a result, Matt Schnell (15-6) will be entering and the bout will be shifted to the UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 28. Perez and Schnell were originally slated to meet at UFC 262, but the scrap fell through and Schnell stayed on the card in a losing effort.

Schnell, who has lost two of his last three to Alexandre Pantoja and Rogerio Bontorin dating back to late 2019, will be taking on the sixth-ranked flyweight Perez on relatively short notice. As mentioned…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A strawweight tilt pitting Amanda Ribas against Virna Jandiroba has been added to the UFC 267 bill.

Combate was first to report the matchup. UFC 267 will take place on Oct. 30 in Abu Dhabi and is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight championshp bout between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.

Ribas kicked off her promotional tenure with four consecutive triumphs before falling to Marina Rodriguez via second-round TKO in her most recent outing at UFC 257. She was twice booked to face Angela Hill but both times the fight fell through due to COVID-19 issues for the Brazilian. The 27-year-old Marcelo Ribas Team product is 10-2 over the course of her professional career, with seven triumphs coming inside the distance.

Jandiroba has won three of her last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, she stopped Kanako Murata via second-round TKO at UFC on ESPN 25 on June 19. The former Invicta FC title holder also owns subm…

Nick Diaz’s long-awaited Octagon return is close to becoming a reality.

The promotion is targeting a welterweight clash between Diaz and Robbie Lawler for the UFC 266 co-main event on Sept. 25. UFC president Dana White initially revealed the booking to TSN. Verbal agreements have been issued for the bout, but contracts have yet to be signed.

Lawler and Diaz initially squared off at UFC 47, with Lawler losing via knockout at the 1:31 mark of Round 2.

Diaz hasn’t competed since January 2015, when he lost a five-round decision to Anderson Silva in the UFC 183 headliner — though the official result was overturned to a no contest after “The Spider” failed a drug test. Since that bout, Diaz has flirted with a comeback on multiple occasions, but nothing has come to fruition as of yet. A former Strikeforce champion, Diaz hasn’t won a fight since taking a unanimous decision over B.J. Penn at UFC 137 on Oct. 29, 2011. The 37-year-old Stockton, Calif., native won 11 strai…

Breaking: https://t.co/GUi7KSNP3n (@CryptoCom) becomes first-ever global official fight kit partner & first cryptocurrency platform of @UFC.

More information here :https://t.co/t955WC9WyD

— UFC News (@UFCNews) July 7, 2021 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is partnering with Crypto.com, which will allow the crypto platform to place its branding on UFC fight kits.

According to a report from Sportico, the deal is for 10 years and $175 million – the largest sponsorship ever for the Las Vegas-based promotion. In addition to having the Crypto.com logo on UFC apparel worn by fighters and their corners, the company will also get prominent placement on the Octagon during pay-per-view events and Dana White’s Contender Series cards. Crypto.com “will also be integrated into UFC content on both linear and digital platforms, including live broadcasts, pay-per-views, and UFC-owned social media channels,” per a release.

“This is a partnership …

How about that! NSAC no longer sanctioning for marijuana. Crazy that in my tenure with UFC I've seen NSAC try to suspend Nick Diaz for life for marijuana, to this. Big credit to Exec Director Bob Bennett for spearheading this change. Just don't show up to fight impaired!

— Jeff Novitzky (@JeffNovitzkyUFC) July 7, 2021

Fighters competing in Nevada will no longer be punished for testing positive for marijuana.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of banned substances in the state. As a result, fighters will no longer face sanctions for a positive test.

“We should be always at the forefront of these issues, and I believe it’s warranted and merited since it is legal in this state,” NSAC chairman Stephen Cloobeck said. “I think we need to jump forward being the leader as we’ve always been.”

The new rule will take effect immediately, but fighters previously facing punishment …

The life of the legendary Pride champion Wanderlei Silva will soon be available for viewing on the big screen.

According to Brazilian outlet UOL, Luppi Productions has acquired the rights to the biography “Wanderlei Silva Sem Coleira,” which was written by journalists Thiago Parijani and Luiz Henrique Gurian and launched in Brazil last October.

According to Luiz Pereira, producer and partner at Luppi Productions, one possibility is to launch the film in 2022 in conjunction with a Japanese company. Japan is where Silva’s legend was born, after he defeated the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba to capture the Pride middleweight belt — which led to a lengthy championship reign in the organization. Pereira also said that he hopes to eventually release the film on streaming platforms such as Netlix, Amazon or Disney+.

Retired from MMA since 2018 with a career record of 35-14-1, “The Axe Murderer” is considered as one of the most aggressive and dominant fighters in vale tud…

Herb Dean will oversee the action when Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor square off for a third time in the UFC 264 headliner on Saturday.

The veteran official was approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to referee the trilogy bout during a Wednesday meeting. Dean was the third man in the cage for both of the first two fights between Poirier and McGregor.

Meanwhile, Derek Cleary, Sal D’Amato and Junichiro Kamijo were appointed as cageside judges for the lightweight bout. Neither of the first two fights needed the scorecards: McGregor defeated Poirier via first-round TKO at UFC 178 in September 2014, while “The Diamond” avenged that loss in a second-round stoppage at UFC 257 this past January.

UFC 264 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is available on pay-per-view via ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The preliminary card begins on ESPN and ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.