Martial Arts News

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 has lost a much-anticipated headliner a month before it was set to go down. ESPN Deportes first announced on Thursday that the UFC on ESPN 26 headliner has fallen through, as Max Holloway (22-6) suffered an injury and has been forced to withdraw from his featherweight contest against Yair Rodriguez (13-2, 1 NC). As a result, Rodriguez has been pulled from the card as well, as the promotion is rebooking the fight on a future date. There is no current replacement announcement for the July 17 main event, and the UFC Apex card in Las Vegas’ highest billed matchup now may be Miesha Tate vs. Marion Reneau at bantamweight.

Holloway snapped a rare losing streak in January by busting up Calvin Kattar in the year’s sure-fire “Beatdown of the Year” candidate, landing more significant strikes in the fight t…

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Credit: Joao Baptista/Sherdog.com “Gorets” had to pull out from his scheduled fight on June 26.

It appears that the upcoming UFC Fight Night 190 card has just lost one of its welterweight clashes. According to a report from MMA Fighting, the bout between Ramazan Emeev and Warlley Alves dropped off the card after Emeev exited. At the moment of publication, the fighter hasn’t disclosed the reason. Alves is currently looking for a new opponent at 170.

Two-time M-1 Global 185-pound kingpin Emeev (20-4, 5-1 UFC) is currently looking for his third-straight victory inside the Octagon. In his previous appearances, the 34-year old Russian upended Niklas Stolze via unanimous decision and edged David Zawada thanks to a narrow split decision at UFC on ESPN 14 and UFC on ABC 1, respectively. The only fighter to top “Gorets” inside the UFC was Anthony Rocco Martin at UFC Fight Night 163, where Martin outpointed Emeev.

Most recently, Alves (14-4, 6-4 UFC) put away Mounir Lazzez wit…

"The Phoenix” will be eligible to fight again in April 2022.

On Wednesday, USADA announced that former Ultimate Fighting Championship contender Erik Koch had accepted his 18-month suspension. "The Phoenix” tested positive for a metabolite of stanozolol called 3′-hydroxy-stanozolol. The test was carried on Oct. 3, 2020, coinciding with the date when his period of ineligibility begins.

Koch (16-6) most recently competed at UFC 240 in July 2019, when he outpointed Kyle Stewart via unanimous decision. That night, the World Extreme Cagefighting vet snapped a two-bout skid in addition to registering his first win since May 29, 2016. Previously, he dropped back-to-back decisions to Clay Guida and Bobby Green.

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.

On Dec. 23, 2020, the news broke out that “The Phoenix” was laid off by the UFC. Th…

Per sources, Khalil Rountree will take on Modestas Bukauskas in a 205lbs clash in an upcoming UFC Fight Night card on Sept. 4. Sources couldn't confirm the location, but previous reports indicated the UFC is targeting London, England, for the event. More coming on @sherdogdotcom.

— Tudor Leonte (@MrTudorLeonte) June 16, 2021

Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweights will collide in the Octagon soon. According to Sherdog sources, Khalil Rountree will face Modestas Bukauskas in a 205-pound showdown in an upcoming UFC Fight Night card, which will go down on Sept. 4. Sources couldn't confirm the location of the fight.

Rountree (8-5, 4-5 UFC) dropped a decision to Marcin Prachnio during their tilt on the preliminary UFC 257 preliminary card in his last action. Previously, the 31-year old fighter was stopped with elbows by Ion Cutelaba at UFC Fight Night 160. The latest victory of “The War Horse” dates back to April 2019, when he upende…

Upper Deck and the Professional Fighters League announced today a multi-year deal for licensed collectibles and memorabilia products and exclusive for trading cards. Collectors will be able to buy, open, collect, and trade their first PFL card beginning on June 18, 2021.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 16, 2021

It appears that fans will be able to collect their favorite Professional Fighters League fighters.

On Wednesday morning, PFL announced that it had signed a multi-year deal with Upper Deck for memorabilia products for its athletes and licensed collectibles, including trading cards. It will be Upper Deck’s first foray into professional fighting trading cards. The partnership will include collectibles that feature autographs and trading cards available in both physical and digital forms.

“Professional Fighters League is excited to partner with Upper Deck to provide MMA fans with unique collectibles of their favorite fighters as…

BREAKING

Unfinished business in the Octagon will be settled on September 18th. Ion Cutelaba vs. Devin Clark is rescheduled for that date in the Light-Heavyweight division. Location TBA.

The fight was originally supposed to happen earlier this year on May 1st. pic.twitter.com/A4315GhELp — MMA DNA (@MMADNANL) June 16, 2021

A light heavyweight clash has been added to the upcoming Sept. 18 UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas.

Ultimate Fighting Championship 205-pound contenders Ion Cutelaba and Devin Clark will lock horns in the Octagon on Sept. 18, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Sherdog. MMA DNA reported was the first to report the pairing. “The Hulk” and Clark should have clashed at UFC on ESPN 23, but Clark pulled out of the contest due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Dustin Jacoby.

Unfortunately for Cutelaba (15-6-1 1NC, 4-5-1 UFC), his clash with Jacoby ended in a split draw. That night, “Th…

Tim Means and Nicolas Dalby will square off at UFC Fight Night 190 after both men lost previously scheduled opponents.

The promotion announced the new welterweight bout on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night 190 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on June 26 and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov.

Means was originally slated to meet Danny Roberts at UFC on ESPN 25 this Saturday, but Roberts had to exit the card due to COVID-19 protocols. Meanwhile, Sergey Khandozhko, Dalby’s original foe, suffered an injury and had to withdraw from UFC Fight Night 190.

Means has been victorious in three of his last four promotional appearances. “The Dirty Bird” is coming off a unanimous decision triumph over Mike Perry at UFC 255 this past November. The 37-year-old FIT-NHB stalwart is 31-12-1 over the course of a pro career that began in 2004.

Dalby is unbeaten in his last seven professional outings. He is 2-0 with one no contest during …

A pivotal welterweight bout between Michael Chiesa and Vicente Luque is on tap for UFC 265.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Cageside Press. UFC 265 takes place on Aug. 7 at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight title tilt pitting Amanda Nunes against Julianna Pena.

Chiesa is 4-0 since moving to 170 pounds from lightweight in 2018. The 33-year-old Sikjitsu representative kicked off his 2021 campaign with a lopsided five-round verdict over Neil Magny in the UFC on ESPN 20 headliner on Jan. 20. “Maverick” also owns welterweight triumphs against Rafael dos Anjos, Diego Sanchez and Carlos Condit.

Luque has won nine of 10 Octagon appearances dating back to October 2017, with his only defeat during that time coming at the hands of Stephen Thompson. Luque’s current three-bout winning streak features finishes of Niko Price, Randy Brown and Tyron Woodley.

I could fight this Moron if he show to fight like that. pic.twitter.com/xQnS3rcqaN

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) June 14, 2021

Paulo Costa has responded to Marvin Vettori’s challenge.

“The Italian Dream” called out the Brazilian middleweight shortly after his loss to Israel Adesanya in the UFC 263 headliner.

“To be honest, I’d like to really destroy this drunk guy that can’t even stay off drinking,” Vettori said of Costa. “It’s ‘Borrachinha’ … I’d definitely like to smack this guy.”

Costa replied in turn, accepting Vettori’s callout while mockingly posting a photo of Vettori from a Venum photo session.

“I can fight this moron if he shows up like that,” Costa wrote.

Costa has not stepped into the Octagon since September, when he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Adesanya in a title bout at UFC 253. Since then, “Borrachina” has been involved in a public dispute with the promotion regardin…

I will not be fighting the 19th. New fight news on the way.

— tim means (@MeansTim) June 15, 2021

A welterweight clash pitting Tim Means against Danny Roberts has been removed from UFC on ESPN 25.

MMAFighting.com initially confirmed that cancellation following a post from Means on social media. UFC on ESPN 25 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday and is headlined by a featherweight tilt between Chan Sung Jung and Dan Ige.

Means has been victorious in three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Dirty Bird” outpointed Mike Perry at UFC 255 on Nov. 21.

Roberts, meanwhile, halted a two-bout skid with a second-round knockout of Zelim Imadaev in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 163 on Nov. 9.

One of the biggest fights in Bellator MMA history now has a date.

On Thursday night, MMA Fighting reported that the featherweight grand prix final will take place on July 31. At the event expected to be named Bellator 263, Patricio Freire (32-4) will come to blows with A.J. McKee (17-0) with the 145-pound throne, the million-dollar prize and significant pound-for-pound consideration on the line. Sherdog.com has since confirmed the date of the event with a source close to the situation.

Current two-division champ Freire – “Pitbull” is the featherweight and lightweight champ concurrently – will put his title up for grabs at 145 pounds and look to extend his promotional record for the most consecutive defenses in one reign. Since suffering a broken leg against Benson Henderson in 2016, Freire has looked nigh-unbeatable as he racked up wins over the likes of Michael Chandler, Daniel Straus and Emmanuel Sanchez twice. “Pitbull” holds or is in contention for most of the to…