Martial Arts News

Three athletes from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 26 card could be sidelined for as long as six months.

Marion Reneau (nose), Malcolm Gordon (right hand) and Alan Baudot (nose) all must receive doctor clearance for their respective injuries or they will be on the shelf until Jan. 14. The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions to mixedmartialarts.com.

UFC on ESPN 26 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and saw Islam Makhachev defeat Thiago Moises via fourth-round submission in the evening’s headliner. Moises is suspended until Sept. 1 with no contact until Aug. 17, while Makhachev emerged with a clean bill of health.

UFC on ESPN 26 Medical Suspensions:

Thiago Moises: suspended until 09/01/21; no contact until 08/17/21

Miesha Tate: suspended until 08/08/21; no contact until 08/01/21

Marion Reneau: must have nose x-rayed, if positive needs ENT clearance or no contact until 01/14/22; minimum suspension no…

A heavyweight showdown between Cheick Kongo and Sergei Kharitonov will serve as the main event for Bellator 265.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Tuesday. Bellator 265 takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Aug. 20 and will also see Adam Borics face Jay-Jay Wilson in a featherweight No. 1 contender bout in the evening’s co-headliner. The main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

After an eight-bout winning streak under the Bellator banner from June 2015 to February 2019, Kongo is winless in his last two promotional apppearances. A heavyweight title shot against Ryan Bader ended in a no contest due to an accidental eye poke at Bellator 226, and the 46-year-old Frenchman returned to drop a split verdict to Timothy Johnson in his most recent outing at Bellator 248 last October.

The 40-year-old Kharitonov will get back in the Bellator cage for the first time since November 2019, when he suffered a second-round TKO defeat t…

HE BROKE HIS ARM @AndreMunizUFC submits Jacare Souza in Round 1!! #UFC262 pic.twitter.com/dH6tn41xhZ

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) May 16, 2021

In recent months, UFC fans have seen three bouts end abruptly after fighters suffered gruesome fractures.

Chris Weidman broke his tibia and fibula throwing a leg kick at UFC 261; Ronaldo Souza had his humerus fractured during an armbar from Andre Muniz at UFC 262 and Conor McGregor broke his leg after stepping awkwardly in the UFC 264 headliner.

Shortly after McGregor’s injury, Sherdog.com spoke to Dr. Rickson Moraes, the orthopedist for Rafael dos Anjos, Jose Aldo, Souza and many other UFC fighters. Moraes speculated about the impact restrictive weight loss diets can have on the bone composition.

"It's pretty common for stress fractures in patients submitted to rigid diets for long periods,” Moraes said. "The bones are a living tissue. All our lives we are forming and reabsorbing bones. Any hum…

Yogibo presents RIZIN.30, Japan Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals set, Super Atomweight Champion Hamasaki returns to action in a non-title. Long time veteran Shintaro Ishiwatari announces retirement.

Yogibo presents #RIZIN302021.9.19Saitama Super Arena#RIZIN #MMA

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) July 20, 2021 A quartet of bantamweight grand prix quarterfinals will be the featured attraction at Rizin Fighting Federation 30 on Sept. 19.

The Japanese promotion recently announced the pairings for its bracket, which are as follows: Kai Asakura vs. Alan Yoshihiro Yamaniha, Naoki Inoue vs. Yuto Hokamura, Hiromasa Ougikubo vs. Takafumi Otsuka and Kenta Takizawa vs. Yuki Motoya. Rizin officials determined the matchups for the quarterfinals.

“We matched the fight where we won’t have any rematches and have new, intriguing fights for the quarterfinals of the bantamweight grand prix,” Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara said at a press conferenc…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The semifinal pairings for all six weight classes in the Professional Fighters League playoffs are now official. The league on Tuesday announced the playoff matchups for its playoff events, which are scheduled for Aug. 13, 19 and 27 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The Aug. 13 and Aug. 27 events will air on ESPN2, while the Aug. 20 card will air on ESPN.

“No sports league can match the thrilling action Professional Fighters League will deliver this August as the final four fighters for each weight division will compete for a spot in the $1 million world championship bout,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “The only playoff format in the sport gives every fighter a chance. The more than 550 million MMA fans around the world are going to witness unmatched intensity durin…

Bellator MMA is expected to venture to South Dakota for an upcoming card on Aug. 20.

Bellator 265 is set for the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., according to an initial report from MMA Island. The has not been formally announced by the promotion, nor does it have an official headliner. According to MMAjunkie.com, a women’s flyweight tilt between Alejandra Lara and DeAnna Bennett will take place on the card.

The California-based promotion previously traveled to South Dakota for Bellator 204 on Aug. 17, 2018, a card that saw Darrion Caldwell defeat Noad Lahat via second-round KO in the evening’s headliner.

Lara last appeared at Bellator 255, where she suffered a split-decision loss to Kana Watanabe. The 26-year-old Colombian is 3-3 in the promotion, including a submission defeat to Ilima-Lei Macfarlane in a 125-pound title bout in June 2018.

Bennett, meanwhile, has won just two of her last 10 professional fights dating back to January 2016. Most rece…

Bellator 263 has gained a trio of contests while losing an intriguing bantamweight matchup.

Promotion officials announced Monday that the following three bouts have been added to the July 31 card: Brent Primus vs. Islam Mamedov at lightweight; Vanessa Porto vs. Ilara Joanne at flyweight and Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Daniel Carey at 150 pounds.

Missing from the bout order was a previously scheduled bantamweight matchup pitting Raufeon Stots against Magomed Magomedov. Sherdog.com subsequently confirmed that bout has been removed from Bellator 263 for undisclosed reasons.

Bellator 263 takes place at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Patricio Freire and A.J. McKee. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on Bellator’s YouTube channel, Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Primus vs. Mamedov is slated for the main draw, while Porto vs. Joanne a…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A heavyweight clash pitting Chris Daukaus against Shamil Abdurakhimov that was originally slated for UFC on ESPN 27 this Saturday has been pushed back one week.

Multiple outlets confirmed the change following an initial announcement from Daukaus via Twitter. Daukaus revealed that COVID-19 protocols forced the postponement, and MMAjunkie.com later reported that a positive test in the Abdurakhimov camp was the cause.

Fight pushed back until next week, Covid strikes again! Thank you for everyone for the support! pic.twitter.com/etIN1s2rVr

— Chris Daukaus (@ChrisDaukausMMA) July 19, 2021

Daukaus vs. Abdurakhimov will now take place at UFC on ESPN 28 on July 31. That card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Uriah Hall and Sean Strickland.

Daukaus is on a four-bout winning streak – including three in UFC competition. The 31-year-old Philadelphia …

Thiago Moises is moving forward with a positive attitude following his loss to Islam Makhachev in the UFC on ESPN 26 headliner this past Saturday.

Moises succumbed to a rear-naked choke in the fourth round of his lightweight clash with Makhachev at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The 26-year-old American Top Team representative struggled to get any offense going against the suffocating style of his opponent, as he landed just 13 significant strikes and was controlled for 8:11 during the bout.

Despite what could be viewed as a discouraging effort, Moises is taking the defeat in stride.

“Thank you all SO much for the incredible support. I’m proof we could put on a show for you tonight,” Moises wrote. “Islam is an amazing fighter, and he was the best guy tonight. No excuses, we keep improving. I’m only 26 years old, I have a lot of time to be in my prime, but fighting is in my blood and I won’t stop.

“I’m still a winner because I have a great family, a great team,…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfR0YJyhvyE&w=560&h=315]

If there is one obstacle to Islam Makhachev’s rise through the UFC’s lightweight division, it’s that his style is not as fan friendly as some of the other top contenders.

It was something of a slow burn on Saturday night, as Makhachev gradually imposed his will on Thiago Moises before submitting his opponent with a rear-naked choke at the 2:38 mark of Round 4 in the UFC on ESPN 26 headliner. It wasn’t a performance that was able to keep Dan Hooker’s interest.

“I kind of was watching and on fast forward,” Hooker said in an interview with Submission Radio “I got bored. So, I can’t really… like, yeah. It kind of is what it is.”

Makhachev is currently on an eight-bout winning streak at 155 pounds and has been anointed by teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov as a future lightweight champion. The Dagestani has gradually improved the level of competition in the Octagon since his 2015 debut, with recent submi…

A shoulder injury has forced Doo Ho Choi to pull out of a proposed clash with Danny Chavez at UFC on ESPN 28.

“The Korean Superboy” announced his exit from the card in a post on his Instagram account on Sunday.

“First of all, I'm so sorry for the fans who are waiting for my fight because I couldn't have a fight due to injury. I'm in a fight business. That means an unexpected accident can happen at any time and I also think a fighter should take the fight even if he has a some injury because that is way it is,” Choi wrote. I injured my shoulder in the last sparring session on Friday night. It was very light and easy rolling but something bad unlucky thing happened.

“It is not a huge injury, but definitely it isn’t something that can handle the fight. If I had more time for recover, I would push forward and take the fight, but our camp [inevitably] decided that two weeks were just too shorts to recover.

“I'm so sad that I prepared for this fight very hard a…

We’re BACK on 30 July for ONE: BATTLEGROUND, topped by a thrilling ONE Muay Thai World Title clash and featuring the returns of Aung La N Sang, Ritu Phogat, Victoria Lee and MORE! @AungLANsang @PhogatRitu #ONEBattleground #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/A4aoBmt4cA

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) July 17, 2021

One Championship “Battleground” will feature a strawweight muay Thai title bout and the return of former two-division champion Aung La N Sang at the top of the bill.

The Singapore-based promotion announced the full card for the event, which takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on July 30. In the main event, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao will defend his strawweight crown against Prajanchai PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym, while Sang will square off against Leandro Ataides in a featured MMA clash at middleweight (205 pounds).

The event will take place behind closed doors and according to a release, the promotion “is wor…