Martial Arts News

Photo Credit: Fury FC

If cancer couldn’t stop Kolton Englund, best of luck to anything or anyone else between him and a shot at regaining the Fury FC lightweight title.

In the main event of Fury FC 48 on Sunday, “The White Assassin” scored a third-round knockout of Alec Williams, his third straight win since returning in March from the health issues that had kept him on the shelf since 2019. Englund took control of the cage from the start, stalking Williams around the perimeter of the cage and tagging him with heavy punch combinations. Williams worked hard for takedowns in the second round, but failed to secure any, and Englund nearly finished the fight late in the round, dropping Williams with punches and teeing off as referee Jeff Rexroad looked on closely. Williams survived to hear the bell, but Englund picked right back up where he left off in Round 3. The end came at 4:34 of the round, as Williams wilted under a pair of huge hooks to the head.

That b…

The upcoming Bellator 264 card has gained several intriguing matchups.

Bellator MMA’s Aug. 13 card is beginning to take shape, as several matchups were announced on Monday. As first reported by MMA Junkie and confirmed by several other outlets, former 170-pound kingpin Andrey Koreshkov will make his return to the Bellator cage after nearly two years since his latest fight under the California-based promotion’s banner. Koreshkov is set to face Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Sabah Homasi on the main card, marking his promotional return after a brief stint in AMC Fight Nights (previously known as Fight Nights Global).

After dropping a narrow split decision to Lorenz Larkin at Bellator 229, Koreshkov (23-4, 13-4 Bellator) was forced to stay away from competition for a while due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like some other fighters, “Spartan” reached a deal with Bellator for a one-off to stay active. Most recently, he submitted Adriano Rodrigues de Oliveira thanks to a fi…

Two bitter rivals will have the chance to settle their rivalry once and for all inside the Octagon.

It appears that Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington will square off again with Usman’s welterweight title on the line. According to ESPN, the Ultimate Fighting Championship currently targets the rematch between “The Nigerian Nightmare” and “Chaos” for UFC 268. The card does not yet have an official date or location, but the promotion is aiming for Madison Square Garden in New York City. The first time the two fighters met, in the main event of UFC 245 in December 2019, Usman stopped Covington with punches 4:10 into Round 5 for his first title defense.

UFC welterweight champion Usman (19-1, 14-0 UFC) has won 14 straight fights, the longest active winning streak in the promotion. After overcoming Covington, Usman upended Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision at UFC 251 before smashing Gilbert Burns at UFC 258. In his latest Octagon walkout, Usman rendered Masvidal unconscious…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 264 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Perhaps surprisingly, given the number of finishes and tremendous back-and-forth battles, UFC on ESPN 27 saw just four bonuses. Winning out for fight of the night in the hotly-contested field was Kyler Phillips against Raulian Paiva, a majority decision that saw an incredible comeback by the Brazilian. In Round 1, Phillips battered Paiva from pillar to post, visibly hurting him again and again with a deadly cross and coming very close to a stoppage on several occasions. Despite the dominance and damage of the stanza, only one judge gave Phillips the 10-8 round. This opened the door for Paiva, who, after Phillips gassed himself going so hard for the finish, came back to win Round 2 and then barely edged out his rival in Round 3. While most media members and fans alike saw it as a 28-28 draw, two of the three judges had it 29-28 Paiv…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 264 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. T.J. Dillashaw returned from more than a two-year absence to reclaim his spot as one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s premier bantamweights. In his first appearance since completing a United States Anti-Doping Agency suspension, Dillashaw scratched and clawed his way to a split decision over former Elevation Fight Team stablemate Cory Sandhagen in the UFC on ESPN 27 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges scored it 48-47: Sal D’Amato and Junichiro Kamijo for Dillashaw, Derek Cleary for Sandhagen.

Pace and pressure served as Dillashaw’s avenues to victory. He routinely pushed Sandhagen (14-3, 7-2 UFC) into the fence and worked from the rear waistlock position, burying knees into the back of his legs. Dillashaw (17-4, 13-4 UFC) did not escape unscathed. Sandhagen was the superior fighter in spa…

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. Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 27 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 The UFC circles back to the ESPN network for another fight night card this Saturday evening, with 11 fights working our way up towards a potential title eliminator in the main event. We start things off in the lightest division of the UFC, with a 115-pound tilt between two women looking to earn their first UFC win in Belbita (13-6, 0-2 UFC) and Goldy (5-1, 0-1 UFC). The referee taking charge in this first fight of the night is Keith Peterson, who rapidly ejects all of the nonsense from the building before the two touch gloves to clock in tonight’s action. The first strike comes from Goldy, who gets off a quick head kick that is bar…

Heavy hitters brought the intensity!!

[ #UFCVegas32 | LIVE on @ESPN & @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/7duGkU57B3

— UFC (@ufc) July 24, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 264 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Brendan Allen danced with danger and survived to tell the tale.

The former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion on Saturday leaned on a sustained body attack and laid claim to a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Punahele Soriano in the featured UFC on ESPN 27 prelim at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Allen (17-4, 5-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 marks from the judges.

Soriano (8-1, 2-1 UFC) swung for the fences but came up empty far too often. Allen chewed up the heavy-handed Hawaiian with brutal body kicks and sneaky punches to the midsection, turning him into a mostly stationary target midway through the match. Desp…

Main event@TJDillashaw

[ #UFCVegas32 | Tomorrow | LIVE on @ESPN & @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/UzZX68oxbL

— UFC (@ufc) July 23, 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. The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to ESPN airwaves for the second straight week with UFC on ESPN 27, featuring a disgraced former champion.

The 11-fight event is now official after the weigh-ins took place, and all 22 fighters successfully made weight. The event is headlined by a bout between Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw, in what is the former bantamweight champ's return since being suspended for taking performance-enhancing drugs.

The 29-year-old Sandhagen (14-2) is currently on a roll, having gone 7-1 inside the promotion. "Sandman" bounced back from a submission loss to current champ Aljamain Sterling by knocking out Marlon Moraes wit…

@macychiasson has pulled out on weigh in Eve. This absolutely blows. Who wants to see me fight @mieshatate ? @bokamotoespn @mmajunkiedotcom @theschmo312 @lynchonsports @kbheat @espn @ufc @ufcnewsalerts @mickmaynard2 @danawhite pic.twitter.com/J3mWVIHpqH

— Aspen Ladd (@TheAspenLadd) July 23, 2021 The night before weigh-ins for the next Ultimate Fighting Championship card, the co-main event has fallen through.

Per the UFC on Thursday night, Macy Chiasson (7-1) suffered an undisclosed injury and was forced out of her bantamweight tilt with Aspen Ladd (9-1). The two were set to square off in the co-headliner of UFC on ESPN 27 on July 24 inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Ladd confirmed this news on Twitter, while also noting that it was Chiasson who could not compete. Ladd called out the recently victorious Miesha Tate for a replacement fight, and if that does not come to fruition, it is not clear if Ladd vs. Chiasson will be rescheduled for a lat…

#LFA112 Results: @TheLionMiranda def. Uyran Carlos via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) to win the Welterweight GP and become the #andNEW LFA #welterweight champ. @ShellsDotCom@Drink9mm@KoiCBD@SheathUnderwear@GLCDirect2000@HowlerHead@TeamSmartStop@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/5q5sakn63J

— LFA (@LFAfighting) July 19, 2021 If Legacy Fighting Alliance CEO Ed Soares has his way, the promotion will be making a habit out of traveling to Brazil.

The two editions of the LFA in Rio de Janeiro, LFA 111 and LFA 112, were both successful in Brazil, according to Soares. Broadcasted live nationwide on the Combate channel, and in other markets on UFC Fight Pass, the cards drew solid audiences thanks to the high level of the fights. When the weekend came to a close, 13 of the 23 fights ended inside the distance, which included high-flying finishes and slick submissions as well.

As LFA 112, a one-night welterweight grand prix, continued, the bra…

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. It’s knock out or get knocked out with this upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight tilt in September. The news first came from MMA Junkie on Thursday, reporting that Joaquin Buckley (12-4) would be taking on Antonio Arroyo (9-4) at middleweight at the promotion’s Sept. 18 UFC Fight Night event. The news has since been confirmed by other outlets.

Owner of one of the most spectacular knockouts in UFC history, a spinning back kick to demolish Impa Kasanganay in October 2020, Buckley followed it up with a crushing finish of the then-undefeated Jordan Wright a month later. In his last performance, Alessio Di Chirico starched him with a head kick to end his spectacular winning streak. As a pro, the Finney’s Hit Squad product out of Missouri possesses a career knockout rate of 75 percent – although 75 percent of his loss…

The stakes have been raised for the scheduled boxing match between Vitor Belfort and Oscar De La Hoya.

According to a report from ESPN, the fight, which was formerly slated to be an exhibition, is now a professional bout. It will be contested over eight two-minute rounds at 180 pounds and will take place on Sept. 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The California State Athletic Commission has approved the change.

“(Oscar) is the one who said ‘I’m in the best shape of my life, f- - - this exhibition B.S.’ I’m going for real.’ None of this ballroom dancing boxing has had to endure. Both of them are in incredible shape,” Triller co-founder Ryan Kanagaugh told ESPN.

The 44-year-old Belfort was initially supposed to face “The Real Tarzann” Mike Holston in a boxing match on June 19 before that booking fell through. “The Phenom” signed with One Championship after his final UFC appearance in 2018 but never fought for the Singapore-based promotion. Belfort is a former UFC…