Martial Arts News

On Friday, MMA Fighting reported that Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights Don'Tale Mayes and Josh Parisian are set to collide at an upcoming UFC Fight Night event on Dec. 18. The news was confirmed by Parisian on Instagram, where he stated that he’s “excited to have [such a] dangerous and skilled opponent.”

The 29-year-old Mayes (8-4, 1-2 UFC) is coming off his first promotional victory after outpointing Roque Martinez in November. Prior, the Dana White's Contender Series graduate tapped to a heel hook by Ciryl Gane at UFC Fight Night 162 before Rodrigo Nascimento choked him in the second frame at UFC on ESPN 8. The Bronx Hill MMA standout has competed three times on DWCS, rattling off two victories and a defeat, all by TKO.

Legacy Fighting Alliance and King of the Cage veteran Parisian (14-4, 1-1 UFC) recently edged Roque Martinez in a narrow split-decision victory at UFC on ESPN 25. That win got Parisian on track after dropping a decision to Parke…

Retired Ultimate Fighting Championship and Strikeforce competitor Jason Miller has run afoul of the law once again.

According to a Friday report from TMZ, Miller has been arrested in Los Angeles for a charge of felony domestic violence. Per the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, an arrest record on Sept. 10 confirms this report. The 40-year-old with a history of criminal activity following his fighting career is being held on a bail amount of $1.385 million.

Arrested at 3 a.m. local time on Friday, he was taken by the Los Angeles Police Department to the Van Nuys Jail for processing three hours later. According to TMZ, a woman called 911 screaming for help, and police found her at the scene with marks on her face and neck. When police attempted to take “Mayhem” into custody, he resisted and was ultimately tased and cuffed. He was briefly taken to the hospital for the doctors to examine him before bringing him to jail.

Less than a year ago, Miller was charged wi…

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. Should Alex Caceres win this next one, he will be on the longest win streak of his 31-fight career. On Wednesday, Seung Woo Choi (10-3) announced on his Instagram that he would be facing Caceres (18-12, 1 NC) at UFC Fight Night 196 on Oct. 23. The featherweights will square off inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and both will be putting solid winning streaks on the line.

Caceres has won his last four dating back the last two years, putting together his lengthiest victorious stretch since he started his career at 4-0. Along the way, “Bruce Leeroy” has defeated Steven Peterson, Chase Hooper and Kevin Croom on the scorecards, while tapping Austin Springer in the opening frame. The 33-year-old will officially be marking a decade of UFC competition when he comes into this bout, entering the Octagon for the 24th time.

South Ko…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXm0VtJ0EOI&w=560&h=315] Leave it to an MMA fighter to miss weight for a boxing match.

On Saturday, Triller Fight Club is running a boxing event titled “Legends II” in which it will pit a boxing legend against an MMA legend. For boxing, 58-year-old Evander Holyfield, who has not fought as a pro in over a decade, will represent his sport. Against him is the relatively youthful Vitor Belfort, age 44, who is stepping up from his intended 185-pound scrap with Oscar De La Hoya to meet Holyfield at heavyweight. The heavy hitters had no issues coming in below the unlimited heavyweight cap, but the same could not be said about every competitor on the card.

Beyond a few charity exhibition excursions, this will be Holyfield’s (44-10-2, 1 NC, 29 KOs Box) first boxing tilt since his presumptive retirement match in 2011 against Brian Nielsen. The longtime heavyweight champ retired on a three-fight unbeaten streak, and even won a mid-tier WBF F…

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. Try as it might, the Ultimate Fighting Championship cannot shed COVID-related withdrawals from fight cards. On his Instagram on Friday, beloved veteran Jim Miller (32-16, 1 NC) posted a video announcing that he has come down with COVID-19. His bout with Nikolas Motta (12-3) at UFC Fight Night 192 inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 18 has been scratched. As of now, it is unclear if the promotion will be able to find a replacement within the week for the Brazilian lightweight.

“There’s a first time for everything,” a disappointed Miller explained. “In the leadup to my 50th professional fight, having never pulled out of a fight before, I tested positive for ‘rona. So, I will not be fighting next weekend unfortunately. I’ve already talked to [UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby], gonna stay on the grind, take a few days, load up on…

We have signed former @BellatorMMA Bantamweight World Champion @Kyoji1012 Horiguchi and I can’t wait to see him compete in our stacked bantamweight division. pic.twitter.com/m2YKHJf2J0

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) September 10, 2021 A high-profile free agent has just signed on the dotted line for Bellator MMA.

On Thursday night, Bellator head Scott Coker posted on Twitter that the organization has signed Kyoji Horiguchi (29-3) at bantamweight. He does not currently have his first opponent booked, but it is largely expected he will vie for the bantamweight belt held by Sergio Pettis.

Horiguchi achieved an incredible feat back in 2019 when he captured the Bellator strap from Darrion Caldwell at Bellator 222. As the reigning Rizin Fighting Federation kingpin as well, he became the second fighter in major organizational history to serve as simultaneous champion in two different promotions – Alistair Overeem was the first with Strikeforce and …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJjLgMwbxDg&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. The shift of opponent from a smaller foe to a much larger one has many observers expecting Vitor Belfort will struggle if he does not land an early knockout. In a weekend without a Ultimate Fighting Championship event, there may not be much better for Brazilian fight fans than seeing two legends in action again. It does not matter to them that it’s under boxing rules. The broadcast will air live on Combate in Brazil. The show will feature Belfort in the main event facing the heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield, while Anderson Silva will box Tito Ortiz in the co-headliner. To make it even more interesting for the Brazilian audience, the promoters hired Anitta, a popular young Brazilian singer, who will perform with stars like Snoop Dogg and Lunay.

To discuss the mai…

Unlike past bouts where a different winner was declared, One Championship decided against stripping a victory from Seo Hee Ham.

Ultimate Fighting Championship and Rizin Fighting Federation vet Ham (24-8, 1-0 One) clashed with Denice Zamboanga (8-1, 3-1 One) at One: Empower for a spot in the One atomweight grand prix semifinals. ’The Menace’ appeared to be in control of the fight, but Ham won the contest via decision. After the controversial victory, One Championship founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that the promotion would review the outcome.

After review, the competition committee voted against changing the result, according to an interview conducted by South China Morning Post with the One chairman.

“It’s just one of these things,” the One head stated. “When I look at it objectively, I still believe Denice won, but I respect and can see how the judges scored it for Ham. It went to the committee, and I was obviously wrong relative to the committee.

“…

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. This week has not been great for upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship matchups and the fighters involved. On Tuesday, Makwan Amirkhani (16-6) posted on his Instagram – in a post that has since been deleted – that his opponent Tristan Connelly (14-7) is out of their UFC 267 battle. The two were looking to get down to business at featherweight on Oct. 30 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Connelly’s replacement has not yet been declared, but Amirkhani plans on remaining on the billing.

“Yes [Connelly] is out,” Amirkhani wrote, courtesy of a transcription by MMA Junkie. “It’s a sad story cause it would have been a great matchup between me and Tristan. He said in an interview that he is not expecting that same Makwan what we have been seeing in my last fights. 'We will see a hungry Amirkhani.' Tristan you whe…

Per multiple sources, Jim Lampley has opted out of calling Saturday night’s #HolyfieldBelfort Triller PPV. #boxing

— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) September 9, 2021 Although Florida ultimately said yes to Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort, renowned commentator Jim Lampley said no.

The boxing match between Holyfield (44-10-2, 1 NC, 29 KOs Box) and Belfort (26-14, 1 NC; 1-0 Box) was relocated from Los Angeles to Florida on short notice when the California State Athletic Commission refused to license Holyfield for combat at the age of 58. On Wednesday night, ESPN was the first to break the news that the Florida Athletic Commission had cleared both Holyfield and Belfort for professional competition. The two, who combine for 102 years of age, will compete in an eight-round pro boxing match, which will take place under the Unified Rules of Boxing with two-minute rounds.

Triller announced earlier in the week that the company would be providing an …

Azamat Murzakanov closed the show with a massive right hand #DWCS pic.twitter.com/BMOcWfnpur

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 1, 2021 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. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is eager to plug in Dana White's Contender Series signees as soon as possible. On the second week of DWCS for the 2021 season, the broadcast announced that Week 1 winner Azamat Murzakanov (10-0) already had his promotional debut lined up. On Nov. 20 at an unnumbered UFC Fight Night event, he will take on Marcin Prachnio (15-5) at light heavyweight. The two will likely tangle inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Murzakanov made a statement in the top-billed bout of his DWCS episode, drilling Matheus Scheffel with a solid left and a ruthless right hand to put the Brazilian down for the count. The win propelled “The Professional” to a perfe…

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. When the dust settles at the end of this battle, only one middleweight will likely be ranked. ESPN first brought word of the upcoming matchup between Dricus Du Plessis (16-2) and Andre Muniz (21-4) on Tuesday night. The two 185-pounders will come to blows at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 at an undetermined location. It is unclear if this all-action middleweight scrap will be placed on the main card or the prelims, but the two combine for 34 stoppages in their 37 career wins.

South Africa’s Du Plessis has made a statement since joining the UFC following stoppages of Joilton Lutterbach and Brendan Lesar in KSW and Extreme Fighting Championship, respectively. In his promotional debut, “Stillknocks” became the first man to finish Markus Perez, doing so in a little under three and a half minutes. His sophomore effort was no less impressive, h…