Martial Arts News

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…

A heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik has been targeted for UFC 266.

MMAFighting.com was first to report that both parties have verbally agreed to the booking. UFC 266 takes place at an as yet to be announced location and features a light heavyweight championship tilt between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira. A location for the event has not been revealed. MMAFighting.com also reported that the date for UFC 266 has been moved from Sept. 4 to Sept. 25.

Blaydes had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a second-round KO defeat to Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 185 on Feb. 20. Prior to that, the man known as “Razor” had earned successive triumphs over Alexander Volkov, Junior dos Santos, Shamil Abdurakhimov and Justin Willis.

Rozenstruik is 2-2 in his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Bigi Boy” defeated Augusto Sakai via technical knockout 4:59 into Round 1 of their headlining bout…

A light heavyweight main event clash between Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker has been moved back one week.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, the Santos vs. Walker will now take place at a UFC card on Oct. 2. The bout was originally slated for Sept. 25, which is now reportedly the date for the UFC 266 pay-per-view card.

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 Fight Night 178 in September 2020. The former Brazilian Contender Series competitor began his promotional tenure with three straight first ro…

A bantamweight showdown pitting Marlon Moraes against Merab Dvalishvili has been targeted for UFC 266.

Dvalishvili’s coach, Ray Longo, first brought word of the matchup on the Anik and Florian podcast. UFC 266 takes place on Sept. 25 at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.

A former 135-pound title challenger, Moraes has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the former WSOF champion suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Rob Font at UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19.

Dvalishvili has been on a roll, winning six consecutive UFC outings dating back to September 2018. “The Machine” is coming off a three-round verdict against Cody Stamann at UFC on ESPN 23 on May 1.

https://t.co/u7LZPJGvJ2 pic.twitter.com/HGFx17Aa69

— Anik & Florian Podcast (@AnikFlorianPod) June 15, 2021

What a fight!

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Brad Riddell does enough to score a unanimous decision victory at #UFC263 pic.twitter.com/sNgxQEU1d6 — UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) June 13, 2021

Brad Riddell showcased his mettle at UFC 263.

After nearly being knocked out by Drew Dober in the first round of their lightweight bout, the City Kickboxing representative took control over the final 10 minutes, repeatedly landing a solid right hand while also forcing his opponent to defend against multiple takedown attempts. The end result was a unanimous decision triumph, Riddell’s fourth consecutive victory within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I had to mix up that stand-and-brawl style between the stick and move. I think that’s what won it for me and those random shots and takedowns,” Riddell said. “I think the striking was making him like not too tired. It was the wrestling that made him a little more tired maybe.

“I could feel and hear him …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAldssU886g&w=560&h=315]

If he gets his way, Deiveson Figueiredo will have a third meeting with Brandon Moreno in the near future.

Shortly after his submission loss to Moreno in the UFC 263 co-main event, the former flyweight champion spoke to UFC Brasil.

“I had a terrible time in the weight cut process,” he said. “I was really slow in the fight, but I don’t want to make excuses. Tonight was Moreno´s night. He fought a great fight and deserved the belt. All I want is toreturn home, sit down with my team, correct my mistakes and fight the trilogy with Moreno.”

Figueiredo’s manager, Wallid Ismail, was upset that the translator didn’t pass along Figueiredo’s request for “four months to train to have an immediate rematch with Moreno” during his in-cage interview following the bout. Still, Ismail also gave Moreno his due.

“That´s what fight business is about. Deiveson just didn’t show up Saturday and Moreno had a great fi…

De locos la reacción en el gimnasio Entram de Tijuana al ganar @theassassinbaby #UFC263 pic.twitter.com/Z7hI5VQdnT

— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) June 13, 2021

Brandon Moreno’s championship triumph set off a raucous celebration at his home gym in Tijuana, Mexico.

After battling Deiveson Figueiredo to a majority draw at UFC 256 this past December, Moreno claimed flyweight gold with a third-round submission victory in the rematch at UFC 263 this past Saturday. The win made Moreno the first Mexican-born champion in UFC history, and led to a rowdy scene at his home base, Entram Gym. Check out a video of the celebration above.

While virtually any observer who witnessed the UFC 263 headliner would have given the nod to Israel Adesanya without any question, Marvin Vettori has remained in denial about the final verdict.

“The Italian Dream” was seen arguing with Adesanya over the scorecards in the aftermath of their middleweight title bout on Saturday night, and he reiterated that sentiment in an interview with BT Sport following the event. At the end of the night, “The Last Stylebender” received a trio identical 50-45 tallies from the cageside judges.

“I think I did a lot of good things,” Vettori said. “I was having a lot of success with the boxing exchanges. Story of this fight was the leg kick, I guess. I went back and I talked to my coaches, I think the 50-45 was definitely not the right decision but it is what is.”

Vettori’s game plan was to use his wrestling to neutralize the versatile striking arsenal of the reigning champion. Though the Kings MMA product landed four takedowns in t…

A strawweight rematch between Tecia Torres and Angela Hill has been booked for UFC 265.

MMA DNA was first to report the bout. UFC 265 takes place on Aug. 7 at an as yet to be announced location and features women’s bantamweight title tilt between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena. Torres defeated Hill via unanimous decision in their first meeting at UFC 188 in June 2015.

Torres and Hill were initially supposed to square off for a second time at UFC 256 this past December before Hill withdrew due to a positive COVID-19 test. Torres instead faced Sam Hughes, winning via corner stoppage TKO after one round. “The Tiny Tornado” has won back-to-back fights in the Octagon after losing four straight appearances from February 2018 to August 2019.

Hill, meanwhile, snapped a two-bout skid with a decision triumph over Ashley Yoder at UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13. “Overkill” has won four of her last six promotional outings, with her defeats against Claudia Gadelha and Miche…

Nate Diaz didn’t win at UFC 263, but he nonetheless authored the most talk-about moment of his five-round clash with Leon Edwards on Saturday night.

After being outclassed for the first four rounds, the Stockton, Calif., native put Edwards in retreat mode when he staggered him with a left hand in the final frame. Diaz pursued a finish but was unable to put his opponent away in the waning moments of the bout, as he went on to lose a clear-cut unanimous decision.

“The fight was a wrap,” Diaz said. “In a real fight, in the real world, that fight’s a wrap. He was sleepwalking.”

For most of the bout, Edwards blended a varied striking arsenal with takedowns to keep Diaz off balance and remain unbeaten in his last 10 UFC welterweight appearances. The Cesar Gracie protege didn’t hesitate to credit his adversary, although he did so in the most Diaz way possible.

“At the end of the day I feel like he won or whatever, but I feel like I’m the better fighter still, reg…