Martial Arts News

Sherdog's live PFL 2021 6 coverage will begin at 6 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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. Round 1 Starting the night's action, we have recent UFC veteran Klidson Abreu (15-4) taking on Jamelle Jones (10-6), perhaps best known for losing via flying knee to Mike Rodriguez on the Contenders Series. Officiating will be referee Gary Copeland. Abreu and Jones come out cautiously to start matters off. Abreu fires off several wild kicks, and his second one, to the legs, is caught by Jones, who scores a single-leg. Jones is in half-guard, but Abreu immediately works to sweep. Jones blocks it and the pace slows a little. Abreu eventually regains full guard, causing Jones to back off. He then re-engages, but it's not long before Abreu postures u…

By The Numbers

WHAT A FIGHT! Both men gave everything but it's Valentin Moldavsky who gets the Unanimous Decision nod over @tbeartim. #AndNew Bellator Interim-Heavyweight Champion #Bellator261 pic.twitter.com/3PNpo2r0Zu

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) June 26, 2021 Bellator MMA crowned its interim heavyweight champion at Bellator 261. The main event saw 36-year-old veteran Timothy Johnson go up against Russian prospect Valentin Moldavsky. Johnson (15-7) looked to brawl with the 29-year-old and found some success on the feet while doing so. However, Moldavsky (11-1) was more technical at a distance and was generally landing the better punches. In Round 3, the Russian started to take Johnson down and found success in the grappling exchanges. As the fight continued, Moldavsky was the fresher fighter despite Johnson always moving forward. After five rounds, the judges awarded Moldavsky the unanimous decision and the interim title with scores of…

OFFICIAL at 265

@AlexDragoVolkov is locked for #UFCVegas30.

[ Main Card 4pmET | Tomorrow on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/xNCFSEFhec — UFC (@ufc) June 25, 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. For the second week in a row, there was no drama on the scales.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship wraps up its busy June schedule with a potential heavyweight title eliminator match between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov atop UFC Fight Night 190. Each of the 26 fighters for this event made weight, and Volkov will keep a 20-pound weight advantage over Gane.

The smaller heavyweight is the undefeated Gane, who yet to taste defeat in his eight professional mixed martial arts bouts, including five inside the Octagon. "Bon Gamin" most recently won a five-round decision over Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and before that, picked up a second-ro…

All fighters slated to compete at Rizin Fighting Federation 29 made weight ahead of their scheduled bouts.

That includes the four contests slated for the opening round of the promotion’s bantamweight grand prix, which are the featured fights on the card. Yuto Hokaumura tipped the scales at 134.1 pounds for his clash against Kuya Ito, who checked in at the same weight. Meanwhile, Takafumi Otsuka clocked in at 134.4 pounds for his first round matchp with Hiroki Yamashita (134.1).

Rizin 29 takes place at Maruzen Intech Arena in Osaka, Japan, on Sunday. The card, complete with English commentary from Joe Ferraro and Damien Brown, is available via pay-per-view for $24.99 here. The card will also include four kickboxing bouts.

Rizin 29 Weigh-in Results:Yuto Hokamura (134.1) vs. Kuya Ito (134.1)Takafumi Otsuka(134.4) vs. Hiroki Yamashita (134.1)Kenta Takizawa (134.4) vs. Masakazu Imanari (133.8)Kazuma Kuramoto (133.8) vs. Alan Yoshihiro Yamaniha (134)Yusuke Yachi (155.9) …

Bellator MMA middleweight king Gegard Mousasi is set to begin his second reign as champion.

The news on Friday first came from MMA Junkie, who reported that Mousasi (47-7-2) will be defending his 185-pound belt against John Salter (18-4) on Aug. 13. The newly announced event titled Bellator 264 will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and no other matches have been released yet. The pairing has since been confirmed by other outlets.

Mousasi reclaimed the middleweight throne in October 2020, when he overwhelmed welterweight champ Douglas Lima and thwarted his foe’s intentions of becoming a simultaneous two-division champion. Mousasi held the strap in 2018, and lost it in 2019 by a majority verdict to Rafael Lovato Jr. A split decision win over Lyoto Machida led to the vacant title fight with Lima, after Lovato Jr. surrendered the crown due to health issues. “The Dreamcatcher” maintains a high stoppage rate of 81 percent throughout his career that d…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BNWys4A33o&w=560&h=315] One of the greatest heavyweights of all time is coming back to Bellator MMA this year.

The promotion announced on Thursday that a press conference for Fedor Emelianenko (39-6, 1 NC) would be taking place on Friday. During this brief announcement, where Emelianenko was joined by Bellator head Scott Coker and commentator John McCarthy, Bellator released the information that the legendary Russian would be appearing at a card on Oct. 23 in Moscow. This event will be staged in the VTB Arena in the capital city of Russia – a Bellator first – although there was no name mentioned for his next adversary. Emelianenko will serve as the headliner for this unnumbered Bellator event.

“The Last Emperor” has two bouts left on his Bellator contract, and his Moscow appearance will not likely be his final battle. The 44-year-old joined the company in 2017, where he faced Matt Mitrione and lost by knockout in 74 seconds. Ea…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loO8Vbb_s2Q&w=640&h=360]

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.

The 2021 Regular Season for the Professional Fighters League will come to a close on Friday, and one fighter has already eliminated herself from contention at the weigh-ins.

Kayla Harrison is set to return to the PFL cage atop a busy card filled with women's lightweights and heavyweights, plus bouts featuring Anthony Pettis and Lance Palmer. Harrison will headline against Cindy Dandois, with the Olympic gold medalist winning her last bout this season while Dandois came up short in her most recent fight. A perfect 9-0 in her career, the homegrown PFL star will come into her meeting with Dandois as a gargantuan favorite, and she hit the lightweight limit of 156 pounds. Meanwhile, Dandois had her four-fight submission streak come to an end against Kaitlin Young…

Bellator 261 weigh-in results: Tim Johnson (@tbeartim) - 260 lbs. pic.twitter.com/tgs8jRxaED

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) June 24, 2021 After 21 months of inactivity in the division, Bellator MMA is ready to open Ryan Bader's heavyweight strap up for dispute.

On Friday, Bellator MMA will crown a new interim heavyweight champion at Bellator 261. Timothy Johnson and Valentin Moldavsky will fight for the interim belt since titleholder Bader is currently busy competing in the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix. All fighters made their contracted weights for the event.

The bigger main in the main event will be Johnson (15-6), who is arguably on the best winning streak of his career. In his last three outings, Johnson rattled off upset wins over Tyrell Fortune, Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo. Now he'll look to win his first belt, and he weighed in at 260 ready pounds.

In his way is Moldavsky, a 10-1 Russian prospect. The FedorT…

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. A main card tilt on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming pay-per-view event will have to wait a little longer to go down. Per Sean Brady (14-0) on his Instagram on Thursday, his opponent Kevin Lee (18-6) has been forced out of their UFC 264 meeting on July 10. According to Brady and Ariel Helwani, Lee suffered a rib injury in training, and that the fight has been pulled altogether from the event. Instead of Brady facing a new opponent on short notice, he and his team are looking to schedule the fight with Lee at an event in August, possibly for UFC 265 on Aug. 7.

Unbeaten as a pro, Brady has surged while in the UFC, with four wins over names like Court McGee and Jake Matthews. The Renzo Gracie Philly standout most recently submitted Matthews with an arm-triangle choke in March, and before then, he put Christian Aguil…

A lightweight clash between Islam Makhachev and Thiago Moises will serve as the new main event for UFC on ESPN 26.

The matchup is a replacement for a previously scheduled featherweight showdown pitting Max Holloway against Yair Rodriguez, which was postponed to an as yet to be announced date after Holloway suffered an injury. MMAjunkie.com was first to confirm Makhachev vs. Moises as the new five-round headliner.

UFC on ESPN 26 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on July 17 and also includes Miesha Tate’s return from retirement, as she squares off against Marion Reneau at bantamweight.

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 subm…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

More details have emerged surrounding the arrest of UFC veteran Luis Pena last weekend.

According to an affadavit from the Boca Raton Police Department, Pena was charged with robbery by sudden snatching, battery and criminal mischief following a fight with his girlfriend on June 14. The fighter known as “Violent Bob Ross” is currently in Broward County Detention Center, where he awaits transport to Palm Beach County. ESPN was first to report the new details in the case.

Pena allegedly smashed the woman’s phone on the ground after accusing her of looking at other men on Instagram. Pena’s girlfriend told police that a fight then ensued in which she ended up with a laceration on her lip along with scratches and redness on her knuckles.

Boca Raton Police received an anonymous tip that night that Pena was suicidal, in possession of a gun and knife and was planning to return to his girlfriend’s home to kill her. Pena refused to p…

Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwood Credit: Jeff Sherwo…