Martial Arts News

Michael Chiesa hit a road block on his path to the top of the welterweight division at UFC 265.

After winning his first four appearances at 170 pounds, “Maverick” suffered a submission loss to Vicente Luque on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. Making the defeat that much more painful is the way the fight started: Chiesa opened a cut under his opponent’s eye with a two-punch combination before landing a takedown and transitioning to Luque’s back early in the first round.

From there, Chiesa threatened with a rear-naked choke and a neck crank, but Luque was able to escape, transition into top position and secure a brabo choke, which forced the Sikjitsu representative to tap at the 3:25 mark of Round 1.

Chiesa later released a statement on Instagram in which he gave credit to Luque while admitting that he may have placed too much pressure on himself leading up to the fight.

First and most importantly, congrats to [Vicente Luque]. He’s a stone cold kill…

After a rough beginning, Jose Aldo has found his stride in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division.

The former UFC and WEC featherweight champion earned his second consecutive triumph at 135 pounds, as he showcased his skilled hands in a three-round verdict against Pedro Munhoz in the UFC 265 co-main event at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night. The Nova Uniao star moved to the new weight class in late 2019 and began his bantamweight tenure with losses to Marlon Moraes and Petr Yan.

Since then, Aldo has authored back-to-back decision victories over Munhoz and Marlon Vera at 135 pounds to regain some much-needed momentum. The soon-to-be 35-year-old Brazilian credits some tweaks to his training for his performance at UFC 265.

“After I lost a fight, I felt I needed to incorporate more things into my repertoire and that’s how I got into Navy-sponsored boxing in Brazil,” Aldo said. “I feel that’s how it made better my punches and obvious…

Ciryl Gane’s performance in the UFC 265 headliner against Derrick Lewis was about as flawless as one could get at the sport’s highest level.

The Frenchman chopped away at his opponent’s legs with kicks to hinder his movement before unloading with heavy punches to the head as Lewis covered up near the fence, forcing a stoppage 4:11 into Round 3. When all was said and done, Gane’s 98-to-16 advantage in significant strikes was the largest ever for a UFC heavyweight title fight. About the only adversity “Bon Gamin” suffered was a couple inadvertent eye pokes from his opponent.

“He touched me maybe one time [or] two times. He gave me a poke [in my] eyes. My vision was blurring for all of the fight. It was not easy to manage this, but I think it was a masterclass,” Gane said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“The feeling was exactly what we expected – exactly what we expected. That’s why he never touched me. He never touched me. Every time, maybe 10 times, it…

Six fighters from UFC 265 boosted their bank accounts with bonus checks on Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Not only did Ciryl Gane claim interim heavyweight gold, but he received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his dominant win over Derrick Lewis in the evening’s main event. Gane outlanded his opponent by a whopping 98-to-16 count in significant strikes en route to a third-round technical knockout victory, much to the chagrin of a vocal hometown throng in attendance to support Lewis.

Elsewhere, Vicente Luque garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for a first-round submission of Michael Chiesa in a featured welterweight contest. After nearly being trapped in a rear-naked choke, Luque turned the tables to submit his opponent with a brabo choke at the 3:25 mark of Round 1.

Earlier, Rafael Fiziev and Bobby Green received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their high-octane preliminary scrap at lightweight. …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Ciryl Gane was on another level. The undefeated Frenchman captured the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title, as he put away Derrick Lewis with punches in the third round of their UFC 265 headliner on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. Having been effectively drawn and quartered in his hometown, Lewis (25-8, 16-6 UFC) succumbed to blows 4:11 into Round 3. Gane (10-0, 7-0 UFC) chipped away at “The Black Beast” with kicks to the legs and body, powerful jabs, occasional combinations and slashing knees from the clinch. He flummoxed Lewis with routine stance switches, controlled the center of the cage and went about dissecting one of the most feared men in the sport’s history. Gane finally broke down the former Legacy Fighting Championship titleholder with leg kicks in the third round, forced him to turtle at …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 265 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 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:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:…

This fight is UNREAL #UFC265 pic.twitter.com/L1b0maDhxx

— UFC (@ufc) August 8, 2021

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Rafael Fiziev cleared another significant hurdle in the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division.

The once-beaten Tiger Muay Thai star leaned on a sustained body attack and clean power punches, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over former King of the Cage champion Bobby Green in the featured UFC 265 prelim on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. All three cageside judges sided with Fiziev (10-1, 4-1 UFC): 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

Green (27-12-1, 8-7-1 UFC) held his own with the highly touted prospect but lacked the horsepower necessary to fight fire with fire. Fiziev staggered him twice with clubbing right hands in the second round and opened a cut across the bridge of his nose w…

For the second time, a proposed welterweight clash between Sean Brady and Kevin Lee has been canceled.

Brady announced via Instagram that a foot infection has forced him to pull out of the UFC on ESPN 30 bout on Aug. 28. It’s unclear if Lee will remain on the card against a replacement opponent. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news.

Brady and Lee were initially slated to square off at UFC 264 before “The Motown Phenom” pulled out of the event due to a broken rib.

Brady’s post is as follows:

Hey guys so last Friday I got a small cut on my foot training. I didn’t think anything of it but it turns out I had an infection in the cut causing cellulitis. I was out on antibiotics that were unsuccessful in treating the infection.

Kristen and my mom told me to go to the ER so that we could get it under control, thinking I would be out the hospital next day. Turns out, the infection got worse and spread to my tendon and my ankle joint which caused me to…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA_8f5-M85A&w=640&h=360] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The UFC 265 weigh-ins were largely uneventful, but there was still some drama before the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view to crown an interim heavyweight champion. Twenty-five fighters on the card officially made weight, with Manel Kape the lone exception. Kape came in at 129 pounds for his flyweight bout against Ode Osbourne. There was little concern for the main eventers, but Derrick Lewis did come in just half a pound under the 265-pound championship limit. "The Black Beast" will be the far bigger man on fight night, as he was 17.5 pounds heavier than Ciryl Gane prior to rehydrating.

A fan favorite inside the Octagon, Lewis (25-7, 1 NC) is known for delivering shocking knockouts. He most recently demolished Alexey Oleynik and Curtis Blaydes…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DoKwXfPnJU&w=560&h=315] Former Bellator MMA featherweight king Patricio Freire wants to run it back with A.J. McKee one day, but he is not in a rush to line it up.

Freire (23-5) and McKee (18-0) met at Bellator 263, for the finals of the featherweight grand prix with a championship, tournament belt and $1 million check on the line. In their meeting, McKee stunned “Pitbull” with a head kick, and finished him off with a guillotine choke in under two minutes. The Brazilian, after taking a few days off to spend time with his family, spoke to Ag. Fight on Thursday about his defeat and prospects going forward.

Freire was none too thrilled by the stoppage in that bout, when referee Mike Beltran intervened believing that “Pitbull” went limp from the choke. While Freire did ultimately congratulate McKee, crediting the younger fighter for his successes, he believes he was not given the full opportunity to get out of the perilous situatio…

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. Although Abusupiyan Magomedov did not earn a million dollars when competing for Professional Fighters League, he did work his way up to a Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. The Dagestan-born German Magomedov (24-4-1) announced on his Instagram on Friday that he has signed with the UFC. In the last five years, Magomedov has amassed a record of 11-1-1, and the lone defeat came in a PFL title fight. His opponent has not yet been announced, nor has his debut date, but he is expected to compete at middleweight.

“I am happy to announce that I have signed with the UFC,” Magomedov wrote. “A big thanks to my management for giving me this opportunity. I am looking forward to fighting with the best athletes in the world and I am excited to announce my first UFC Octagon appearance soon.”

“Abus” worked his way up the ranks with…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 267 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Two Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights with their eyes on the prize will come to blows in October. MMA Fighting first announced on Wednesday that Alexander Volkov (33-9) will be squaring off with Marcin Tybura (22-6) on UFC 267. This Oct. 30 card will likely be held inside the Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Tybura confirmed the pairing on his Instagram on Thursday.

Russia’s Volkov had a two-fight knockout victory streak crumble at the hands of Ciryl Gane in June, when he came up short and lost a unanimous decision. Before then, he put Walt Harris and Alistair Overeem away, both in the second round. “Drago” charged into the UFC and strung together a four-fight win streak, with a knockout of Fabricio Werdum to thrust him into a title eliminator with Derrick Lewis. Volkov celebrates a fi…