Martial Arts News

Former UFC welterweight contender Chad Mendes may be considering a return from retirement.

A recent Instagram post indicated as much, as the Team Alpha Male stalwart shared a photo of a boxing session with a caption suggesting that a comeback is imminent.

“Another hard boxing session with [Joey Rodriguez] crushed!!” Mendes wrote. The timing, power, footwork and speed have been coming together the last few weeks! Been loving the [Mike Tyson] and [Canelo Alvarez] style of boxing baby!

“The itch is getting stronger and stronger! Might have to start talking some numbers soon.”

Mendes officially announced his retirement in 2019, some seven months after a second-round technical knockout loss to future featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 232.

"The main reason I didn't say something sooner was there were some loose ends I wanted to tie up," Mendes said then. "I wanted to step away for a little bit and let everything settle, and just make sur…

Maryna Moroz will face Luana Carolina in a flyweight bout at a UFC event on Oct. 16.

Combate was first to report the booking. The card does not yet have an official location or headliner.

Moroz is coming off back-to-back unanimous decision triumphs over Sabina Mazo and Mayra Bueno Silva. The 29-year-old Ukraine native is 5-3 in the Las Vegas-based promotion and 10-3 as a professional overall.

After her appearance on the Brazilian edition of Dana White’s Contender Series, Carolina has been victorious in two of her three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 28-year-old Brazilian garnered a split verdict over Poliana Botelho at UFC on ESPN 23 on May 1.

Dana White addresses Francis Ngannou and how the #UFC265 interim heavyweight title fight between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane came about. Full interview coming to @UFCarabia pic.twitter.com/aU8ewUULJT

— Farah Hannoun (@Farah_Hannoun) July 6, 2021

When it was announced that Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane would square off for the interim heavyweight crown at UFC 265, it raised a lot of eyebrows in the MMA community.

After all, Francis Ngannou had only just claimed the belt with a second-round knockout of Stipe Miocic on March 27, and plenty of promotional champions have been sidelined for much longer without the creation of an interim title.

However, UFC president Dana White doesn’t think that putting an interim title up for grabs was out of line with the promotion’s usual method of doing business.

“You knew this was coming for weeks if we didn’t get a deal done,” White told UFC Arabia. “This has happened a million times.”

Ngann…

pic.twitter.com/QVHskFgjA0

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 6, 2021

Conor McGregor has kicked off UFC 264 fight week with a different type of social media strategy ahead of his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier.

Late Monday night, the Irish star delivered an eerie voice message to his opponent via Twitter.

“Dustin,” McGregor said. “‘Peahead’ ... I’m coming for you Peahead. Silly hillbilly.”

After a cordial approach by both fighters heading into UFC 257, tensions already seem to be rising heading into Saturday’s UFC 264 headliner. Both men will likely have plenty to say at a pre-fight press conference scheduled for Thursday at the T-Mobile Arena 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

After defeating McGregor via second-round technical knockout in their January rematch, Poirier said he was prepared for a less civil approach from the former two-division champion heading into their trilogy.

“The good thing about this one is if it’s c…

A featherweight striker’s delight has been targeted to headline an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on Aug. 28.

According to a report from ESPN, the promotion is targeting a clash pitting Edson Barboza against Giga Chikadze for a UFC Fight Night event on that date. The contest has not yet been officially signed but is close to being finalized.

Barboza is 2-1 since moving from lightweight to 145 pounds. After dropping a closely-contested split decision to Dan Ige at UFC on ESPN 8, the 35-year-old Brazilian has rebounded to score a decision win over Makwan Amirkhani at UFC Fight Night 179 followed by a knockout over Shane Burgos at UFC 262. Barboza had lost four of his previous five Octagon appearances before switching divisions.

Chikadze has won his last eight bouts since August 2018 — including six triumphs in UFC competition. The 32-year-old Kings MMA representative scored his most notable victory to date at UFC on ESPN 23, where he defeated Cub Swanson wi…

The attention of the entire MMA world will be focused on the Octagon this Saturday when Conor McGregor faces Dustin Poirier in one of the most highly-anticipated rubber matches in UFC history.

The fact that Mcgregor beat Poirier via technical knockout in their first encounter in the featherweight division at UFC 178 in 2014 and the American have won the second encounter seven years later at UFC 257 has made that third fight even more intriguing.

Bellator featherweight champ Patricio Freire, who is in the midst of preparations to defend his belt against A.J. McKee on July 31, believes McGregor’s superior technique will be a key factor in the fight.

"McGregor is good at revenge. Actually, he was winning the first fight [before the finish],” Freire said. “Conor may talk a lot of s—t, but he is much more technical than Poirier. I think he will come more prepared this time and win decisively.

Meanwhile, UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira might have the m…

Bellator MMA has signed former Eagle Fighting Championships lightweight king Gadzhi Rabadanov to an exclusive, multi-fight contract.

Sherdog.com confirmed the deal with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. A date for Rabadanov’s Bellator debut was not revealed.

Rabadanov claimed the interim belt with a victory over Joao Paulo de Moura e Silva when the promotion was still known as Gorilla Fighting Championships. He was elevated to undisputed champion before dropping the title to Mehdi Dakaev in a five-round decision at Eagle Fighting Championship 30 this past December.

The Dagestani competed once for Professional Fighters League during the 2019 season, earning a unanimous verdict over Steven Siler in a featherweight matchup. Rabadanov missed the featherweight mark for two ensuing PFL appearances, however, and has since moved to 155 pounds. He enters his Bellator debut having won eight of his last nine professional outings, a run…

Credit: Joao Baptista/Sherdog.com Credit: Joao Baptista/Sherdog.com Credit: Joao Baptista/Sherdog.com Credit: Joao Baptista/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: TJ De Santis Credit: TJ De Santis Credit: TJ De Santis Credit: TJ De Santis Credit: TJ De Santis Credit: TJ De Santis Credit: TJ De Santis Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel …

Credit: © Jerry McCarthy/KO! Media © Credit: © Jerry McCarthy/KO! Media ©

The lineup for UFC on ESPN 26 continues to grow, as the promotion recently announced three more bouts for the July 17 event.

The three new matchups are as follows: Amanda Lemos vs. Montserrat Ruiz at strawweight; Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira vs. Alan Baudot at heavyweight and Miles Johns vs. Anderson dos Santos at bantamweight.

UFC on ESPN 26 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a lightweight tilt pitting Islam Makhachev against Thiago Moises. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

After falling to Leslie Smith in her promotional debut, Lemos has won three straight bouts, including a first-round TKO of Livinha Souza in her last outing at UFC 259. Ruiz, meanwhile, outpointed Cheyanne Buys in her first Octagon foray at UFC on ESPN 21 to improve to 10-1 as a professional.

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNVzdic3iCs&w=560&h=315]

One former Jon Jones training partner believes “Bones” will continue his extended run of success when he moves to the heavyweight division.

In an interview with TMZ Sports, former Jackson-Wink MMA teammate Rashad Evans discussed Jones’ potential at heavyweight. After Evans spit from the Albuquerque, N.M.-based camp, he faced Jones for the 205-pound title at UFC 145, losing a five-round verdict on April 21, 2012. While there was once bad blood between the two rivals, Evans still has plenty of respect for Jones.

“Jon moving up, it’s going to be a continuation of the legacy of Jon Jones,” Evans said. “Jon Jones is a phenomenal athlete. He’s a phenomenal fighter and his IQ inside the Octagon, it can’t be surpassed by anybody. So I expect him to carry that to the heavyweight division.

“The things that I think may give him some problems is the fact that these guys are big and they do hit harder. But for …

For Dustin Poirier, it was an easy decision to choose a trilogy with Conor McGregor over a lightweight title fight.

"If I am the best in the world, then I'm gonna beat Conor and fight for the belt. It's like doubling down on yourself,” Poirier told ESPN. “I’m a gambling man. I believe in my skills and fighting. So I just doubled down. That’s what it was.”

It seemed like a virtual certainty that “The Diamond” would be next in line to fight for the vacant lightweight crown after defeating McGregor via second-round technical knockout at UFC 257 in January. However, Poirier opted for the trilogy with the Irish star over a title bout, and Charles Oliveira claimed the throne with a stoppage of Michael Chandler at UFC 262.

“I don’t know how much you want to get into the actual contractual stuff with this, but me fighting for the belt, I wouldn’t have got pay-per-view [points]. I”d have got a base salary of probably not even a third of my base salary for this fight,” Po…

#BellatorFWGP finalist @ajmckee101 stopped by the desk to chop up #Bellator263 with @BCusterTV #ColbertNyambayar @BellatorMMA pic.twitter.com/qpAsth4XvE

— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) July 4, 2021

The Bellator 263 headliner between Patricio Freire and A.J. McKee may very well be the biggest fight in the history of the California-based promotion, but McKee is willing to take it one step further.

Not only does “The Mercenary” believe the featherweight grand prix final determines the No. 1 fighter under the Bellator banner, but he thinks the winner also deserves a spot at the top of all pound-for-pound lists, regardless of organization.

“Definitely. Hands down,” McKee said on Saturday’s Showtime Boxing broadcast. “This fight is for the pound-for-pound best, I feel, in the world. At 145 pounds, there’s not too many guys that can stop myself or ‘Pitbull.’”

McKee has kicked off his professional tenure with 17 consecutive triumphs in Be…