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. Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Julio Arce is hoping that a move down to 135 pounds will provide the spark he needs to move up the ranks. At an unnamed UFC Fight Night card on July 24, Arce (16-4) is planning on dropping to bantamweight to take on Andre Ewell (17-7). The news was first reported by MMA Fighting on Thursday. Arce later confirmed the pairing on his Instagram.

Arce surged into the UFC with a drubbing of Peter Petties on the first season of Dana White's Contender Series, and the New Yorker amassed a win streak of seven before meeting Sheymon Moraes in 2018. At UFC 230, Arce suffered a split decision loss, although he rebounded by head kicking Julian Erosa seven months later. Another split decision setback, this time to Hakeem Dawodu in November 2019, left him at a crossroads. A February matchup with T…

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. Two Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight grapplers with equal 92 percent finish rates will toe the line in June. Seventeen years will separate Alexey Oleynik (59-15-1) and Sergey Spivak (12-2) when they meet at UFC on ESPN 25 on June 19, per a report from Russian outlet Vetnik MMA on Thursday. Spivak has since confirmed the heavyweight pairing on his Instagram, with the two meeting at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The 43-year-old Oleynik is currently on a two-fight knockout loss skid, with Derrick Lewis and Chris Daukaus both putting him away with punches. Against Lewis, Oleynik very nearly had “The Black Beast” finished with a scarf hold, but Lewis survived and blasted him in the next round. The Russian submission magician sports an incredible 46 wins by submission over the years, as one of the very few MMA fighters in histor…

#2021PFL4 Featherweight and Lightweight matchups are OFFICIAL! pic.twitter.com/bFNqftIOZh

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 13, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the PFL live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Even though Anthony Pettis lost his first Professional Fighters League fight, the promotion is placing him higher on his next card than the man that beat him. On Thursday, the PFL released its lineup for PFL 4: 2021 Regular Season, which takes place at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., on June 10. Ten fights throughout the featherweight and lightweight divisions have been matched for this event, plus the previously announced women’s lightweight non-tournament battle between Claressa Shields (0-0) and Brittney Elkin (3-6) which will be high on the main card and possibly even the headliner. The tournament main event comes at lightweight, as Anthony Pettis (24-11) takes on…

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 time may soon come where Ultimate Fighting Championship announcer Bruce Buffer has to say the words “Huggy Bear” at an event. A report from Fight Bananas came out on Thursday stating that Ben Rothwell (38-13) has a new opponent. Rothwell, once booked against Philipe Lins and then later Askar Mozharov, will now be meeting UFC newcomer Chris Barnett (21-6) at UFC Fight Night 188. Ukraine’s Mozharov was forced to withdraw due to visa issues. The news of this heavyweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

Barnett, a frequent super heavyweight, has bounced around promotions like Road FC and Island Fights over the years. The man known as “Huggy Bear,” and more recently as “Beastboy,” is riding a six-fight win streak with four knockouts into his signing. His level of competition throu…

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. Ultimate Fighting Championship fan-favorite Jeremy Stephens is getting a new opponent for his return to lightweight. On Thursday, MMA Junkie reported that Stephens (28-18, 1 NC) is still planning a trip back to 155 pounds, but it will not be against the previously planned Drakkar Klose any longer. Instead, Stephens will greet Mateusz Gamrot (18-1, 1 NC) inside the Octagon on July 17. The UFC Fight Night card on that date does not yet have a location or venue set, although it is expected to take place inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas due to the pandemic still raging on. Gamrot has since confirmed the news of this booking on his Instagram.

Stephens was booked against Klose at UFC on ESPN 22 in April, but a weigh-in altercation where Stephens grabbed Klose’s neck, inflicting damage on Klose and forced the latter out of the fight. Kl…

A middleweight clash of contenders pitting Darren Till against Derek Brunson has nearly been finalized for the main event of an Ultimate Fighting Championship offering on Aug. 14.

ESPN initially brought word of the matchup. The booking is contingent upon Till recovering from a broken collarbone which forced him out of a proposed showdown with Marvin Vettori at UFC on ABC 2 on April 10. The location for the UFC Fight Night event has yet to be announced.

Till has lost three of his last four promotional apppearances. In his last outing, the Liverpool native fell to 1-1 at 185 pounds following a five-round defeat to Robert Whittaker in the UFC on ESPN 14 headliner.

The 37-year-old Brunson is enjoying yet another resurgence thanks to a four-fight winning streak that dates back to May 2019. His last two appearances have been arguably the most impressive, as he has upended middleweight prospects Edmen Shahbazyan and Kevin Holland in consecutive fights.

A matchup between lightweight prospects is in the works, as Islam Makhachev and Thiago Moises are expected to square off in a three-round bout on July 17.

The UFC is close to finalizing the 155-pound contest, according to broadcast partner ESPN. A main event and location for the card have yet to be determined.

A teammate of former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev is currently on a seven-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, the 29-year-old Dagestani submitted Drew Dober with an arm triangle in the third round of their UFC 259 clash on March 6.

Moises, meanwhile, is on a three-bout winning streak in the Octagon. After submitting Michael Johnson, the 26-year-old American Top Team representative has earned consecutive decision triumphs over Bobby Green and Alexander Hernandez.

Credit: Joao Baptista Credit: Joao Baptista Credit: Joao Baptista

Paulo Costa and Jared Cannonier will headline a UFC event on Aug. 21.

ESPN was first to report the middleweight booking, which is expected to be finalized soon. The location for the card has yet to be determined.

Costa hasn’t competed since suffering a second-round TKO loss to Israel Adesanya in a middleweight championship bout at UFC 253 last September. “Borrachinha” was slated to face Robert Whittaker on April 17 but was forced to pull out of the bout due to illness. The 30-year-old Brazilian was victorious in his first 13 pro outings before falling to Adesanya.

Cannonier was tabbed as a title contender in waiting following a trio of TKO victories against David Branch, Anderson Silva and Jack Hermansson. That momentum was derailed, however, in a decision defeat to Whittaker at UFC 254 in October.

The whiskey business has been quite lucrative for Conor McGregor.

The former UFC two-division champion checked in at No. 1 on Forbes’ list of highest paid athletes for 2021. McGregor’s ranking was due in large part to selling a majority stake of Proper No. Twelve for $150 million.

According to Forbes, McGregor earned a total of $180 million the past 12 months, and that includes $158 million outside of his fighting career. The Irish superstar joins Tiger Woods and Roger Federer as the only athletes to garner in excess of $70 million outside of their sport while still actively competing.

While whiskey was the main source of McGregor’s rise to the top of the list, he also secured endorsements with DraftKings, the video game Dystopia: Contest of Heroes and Roots of Fight. McGregor previously made the Forbes Top 10 in 2018 with $99 million in earnings following his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.

McGregor, who ranked just ahead of soccer stars Lionel M…

A matchup of Brazilian light heavyweights has been targeted for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Sept. 25.

Former 205-pound title challenger Thiago Santos is expected to lock horns with Johnny Walker on the card, which hasn’t been official announced by the promotion. While verbal agreements are in place for the fight, contracts have not been signed. Combate was first to report the booking. The event doesn’t have an official location or headliner at this time.

Santos will look to end a three-bout losing streak when he squares off against Walker. After fallling to then champion Jon Jones in a competitive split decision at UFC 239, “Marreta” returned from multiple knee surgeries to drop back-to-back fights against Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. The 37-year-old Brazilian was victorious in eight of nine Octagon appearances from February 2017 to February 2019.

Walker, meanwhile, snapped a two-fight skid with a first-round knockout of Ryan Spann at UFC…

Charles Oliveira’s coach is confident that his fighter will be able to finish Michael Chandler inside the distance at UFC 262.

Diego Lima, the leader of Chute Boxe Sao Paulo, spoke to Sherdog.com shortly after arriving in Houston for fight week along with Oliveira and Jorge Macaco. He said that preparations for the lightweight title bout have gone much smoother than they did for “Do Bronx’s” last Octagon appearance.

“Our last fight against [Tony] Ferguson was such a stressful atmosphere due to the short notice of one week,” Lima said. “Besides not having a normal camp, we had a pretty tough weight cut, plus [dealing with] all the visa and COVID-19 processes.

“This time, everything went perfectly. We tested negative in Sao Paulo and here in Houston. And, besides being very well trained, Charles just needs to cut 11 pounds by Friday.”

Lima revealed that the whole Chute Boxe team collaborated in helping Oliveira prepare for his title fight with Chandler.

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Have peace in the process and joy in the journey! @RoSimonJr @Fast7v7 @Deestroying @KevinLamarCole1 @vitorbelfort pic.twitter.com/d84AsY9mdT

— Davi Belfort (@DaviBelfort) March 7, 2021

Davi Belfort, the 16-year-old son of former UFC champion Vitor Belfort, has drawn the attention of several colleges thanks to his quarterbacking abilities.

“He followed me in the gym since he was very young. Certainly that routine helped him to fall in love with football, because I never forced him or my daughters to fight,” Belfort told Sherdog.com.

According to the elder Belfort, Davi drew interest ahead of schedule for his abilities on the gridiron. The quarterback prospect attends Cardinal Newman in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“I was really impressed how focused he is and how he uses social media to make good connections to improve,” Vitor said. “Now, for example, he is training with (University of Alabama quarterback) Bryce Young in Costa Mesa. Bryce in…