Martial Arts News

THAT. IS. IT.@DonMadgeMMA finishes Edwards in round 2 with a CLEAN head kick! #UFCMoncton pic.twitter.com/GbpL5XtiyN

— UFC (@ufc) October 27, 2018

South African lightweight Don Madge will make his Professional Fighters League debut next month.

The two-time UFC veteran announced that he has signed with PFL and will square off against Nathan Williams at the organzation’s championship event on Oct. 27.

[Oct. 27] I’m showing why I’m the best [lightweight] out there,” Madge wrote on his Instagram story. “And I’m only just getting going.”

The PFL Championship takes place at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., and will see fighters from six different weight classes vie for a $1 million prize. The card is topped by a women’s lightweight showdown between Kayla Harrison and Taylor Guardado. Madge vs. Williams will presumably take place on the preliminary draw.

Madge hasn’t competed since September 2019, when he took …

For the second consecutive pay-per-view event, a familiar face will be missing from the UFC broadcast team.

Longtime commentator Joe Rogan will miss UFC 266 on Saturday night, and as a result, will be replaced by retired lightweight contender Paul Felder in the booth. Felder will join play-play voice Jon Anik and fellow retired analyst Daniel Cormier on the cageside broadcast team. Rogan will miss the card to go on a hunting trip, according to a report from MMAjunkie.com. Felder, who retired in 2020, has been calling UFC events since 2017.

Rogan was also absent for UFC 265 in August due to scheduling conflicts with his comedy tour. Rogan has been working with the Las Vegas-based promotion since 1997 and has been a staple of the organization’s pay-per-view broadcasts.

UFC 266 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night and is headlined by a featherweight title clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega, while Valentina Shevchenko …

Anthony Smith is one of six athletes from UFC Fight Night 192 who is facing a potentially lengthy medical suspension.

Smith defeated Ryan Spann via rear-naked choke at the 3:47 mark of Round 1 in their headlining light heavyweight bout on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Lionheart” must now have an MRI on his right knee and receive doctor clearance or he will be sidelined until March 18. Spann, meanwhile, is suspended until Oct. 19 with no contact until Oct. 10.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions to mixedmartialarts.com.

Five other competitors from UFC Fight Night 192 are also facing a six-month sit pending doctor clearance: Devin Clark (alveolar ridge fracture, left ankle), Joaquin Buckley (left orbital fracture), Pannie Kianzad (right cornial abrasion), Zhu Rong (left thumb) and Gustavo Lopez (left infraorbital wall fracture).

UFC Fight Night 192 Medical Suspensions:

Anthony Smith: must have …

After leaving the UFC following a decision loss to Cory Sandhagen in April 2019, John Lineker elected to sign with Singapore-based promotion One Championship.

That decision has paid off to the tune of successive victories over Muin Gafurov, Kevin Belingon and Troy Worthen to begin his promotional tenure. As a result, “Hands of Stone” will get his chance to fight for the bantamweight (145-pound) belt against countryman Bibiano Fernandes on Dec. 5.

“He offended me personally with some statements, but I took it professionally,” Lineker told Sherdog.com. “I don’t like trash talking — my answer will be given in the fight.

“I have no doubt Bibiano is a great champion, but this is my turn. That´s the moment I´ve always dreamed,”Lineker continued. “He is one of the best jiu-jitsu fighters in MMA. For sure the best jiu-jitsu fighter I´ve ever faced, but the fight starts standing up, and I'm going to look for the knockout from the opening second. I´m sure he’s never …

Bellator MMA talent Dillon Danis has apparently recently encountered some trouble with law enforcement.

A video posted on Instagram shows Danis being taken away by police while wearing a brace on his right knee. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist is lifted off the ground, handcuffed and hauled away by officers outside of an establishment that is reportedly Beachcomber Bar and Grill in Seaside Heights, N.J., according to MMAjunkie.com.

Further details regarding the incident are currently unclear, although what appears to be a mugshot of Danis has also surfaced on Twitter.

Dillon Danis got arrested last night for trying to impersonate an MMA Fighter. pic.twitter.com/5aSbMS0uXF

— MMA Roasted (@MMARoasted) September 19, 2021

Meanwhile, Danis’ has only issued the following statement via Twitter:

you need people like me

— Dillon Danis (@dillondanis) September 20, 2021

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt w…

One fighter missed weight ahead of Week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Monday morning.

Hashem Arkhagha, who is slated to face Athlone Dobson in the card’s featured bout, tipped the scales at 189 pounds for their middleweight matchup. Dobson had no such difficulties, checking in at 184.5 pounds. The other eight fighters slated to compete all hit their contracted marks, as well.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs via ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. 

A native of Jordan, Arkhagha has kicked off his professional tenure with six consecutive triumphs, with four wins coming via KO/TKO and two via submission. “Cavaca” last appeared at UAE Warriors 13, where he knocked out Yuri Fraga 2:27 into the opening round of their September 2020 encounter. 

Dobson, meanwhile, is 5-0 with one no contest thus far in his burgeoning career. The Powell, Ohio, native has four first-round finishes to his credit, including …

Gerald Meerschaert will welcome Abusupiyan Magomedov to the Octagon at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Dec. 18.

UFD Sports Management first brought word of the middleweight booking, and it was later confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. The event does not have an official location and is also expected to include a strawweight clash between Nina Nunes and Amanda Lemos as well as a bantamweight tilt pitting Raphael Assuncao against Ricky Simon.

Meerschaert is 2-0 thus far in 2021 after posting submission wins over Bartosz Fabinski at UFC on ESPN 22 and against Makhmud Muradov at UFC on ESPN 30. The 33-year-old Roufusport product is 8-6 during his promotional tenure and 33-14 as a professional overall. He has finished 25 of his wins by submission.

The 33-year-old Magomedov has compiled a 24-4-1 career mark while competing in organizations such as KSW, Professional Fighters League and Superior Fighting Championship. The Germany-based fighter made the PFL finals i…

The potential UFC return of Kron Gracie remains a mystery, even to his father.

To help promote “Breathe,” a book about his life in Brazil, Rickson Gracie recently gave an interview on the Combate.com podcast "Mundo da Luta” discussing a number of topics — including his son’s next move.

 "He is living in Montana and I'm allowing him to have his own space to grow as a man and athlete,” Rickson said. “I don’t pressure him for information about his career and don’t know if he will return to the UFC.

“By the way, If you guys find out some news about him, please let me know," Rickson quipped.

Kron Gracie last appeared at UFC Fight Night 161 in October 2019, when he suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Cub Swanson. The 33-year-old Brazilian is 5-1 over the course of a professional career that includes a victory over Alex Caceres in UFC competition as well as triumphs against Tatsuya Kawajiri and Hideo Tokoro under the Rizin Fighting Federation banne…

Yoel Romero’s Bellator MMA debut didn’t go as planned, but promotion head Scott Coker is confident that “The Soldier of God” still has plenty left in the tank at 44 years old.

In his first fight since March 2020, Romero dropped a split decision to Phil Davis in the Bellator 266 headliner at the SAP Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday night. The bout wasn’t as close as the scorecards indicated, as Davis gradually imposed his will over the course of the fight — including a dominant third stanza that saw him take down the Olympic silver medalist repeatedly.

Coker was more impressed with Davis, a former Bellator champion, than he was down on Romero’s performance.

“I think that Phil is an amazing fighter, as we all know, and he just delivered another solid performance,” Coker told media the Bellator 266 post-fight press conference. “He fought smart. Yoel is still dangerous. If he hits you, it’s over. I think Phil probably felt that power early on, so he tried to …

Kai Asakura (@kai_1031_) searching for the kill!

Buy the PPVhttps://t.co/1Ky6EkhwcQ#RIZIN #MMA #RIZIN30 #格闘技 #RIZINFF pic.twitter.com/v0xIPIxoYc

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) September 19, 2021 Eight men collided at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on Sunday in hopes of eventually earning a shot at Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight titleholder Kyoji Horiguchi’s belt. Now only four of those athletes are one step closer to that goal.

The Rizin 30 main card featured all four quarterfinal bouts of the Japanese promotion’s bantamweight grand grix. In the main event, former 135-pound kingpin Kai Asakura (18-3, 10-2 Rizin) extended his winning streak to two after defeating Alan Yamaniha (18-9-4, 1-1 Rizin) via unanimous decision. Both contenders started strong in the first couple of minutes in Round 1, as the 27-year-old Asakura aimed for “Hiro”’s body with wide right hooks and mixed it up with s…

Shortly after a decision loss to Aleksandar Rakic in the UFC Fight Night 175 main event — his second straight lopsided defeat in the Octagon — last August, Anthony Smith was contemplating a return to 185 pounds.

Since then, “Lionheart” has rattled off three consecutive light heavyweight triumphs to re-establish his place in the division. The most recent of those came on Saturday night in a quick submission triumph over Ryan Spann in the UFC Fight Night 192 headliner, after which Smith called for a rematch with Rakic.

“That’s what I wanted. That’s what I asked for,” Smith said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “That’s the fight I’ve been talking about. It’s nothing personal. Me and Rakic have had nothing but positive exchanges with each other both before and after the fight. It’s purely competitive. I want his spot. He took mine, I want to take it back.”

Shortly after Smith’s callout, Rakic seemingly accepted, tagging UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard in a Tw…

A Bellator press release describes it as the “chance of a lifetime” for Julius Anglickas.

Originally an alternate in the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix, Anglickas will step in for Anthony Johnson against reigning 205-pound champ Vadim Nemkov in the Bellator 268 main event on Oct. 16. Promotion officials announced the new semifinal pairing after Johnson was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an undisclosed illness.

Bellator 268 takes place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix and will also see Ryan Bader square off against Corey Anderson in the other half of the light heavyweight bracket. Anglickas’ original opponent, Karl Albrektsson, will now square off against Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov on the preliminary card. Two other bouts were also confirmed for the event: Jaylon Bates vs. Raphael Montini de Lima at bantamweight and Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Jaleel Willis at welterweight. The main card will air on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims …