Martial Arts News

Merab Dvalishvili claims Umar Nurmagomedov refused to accept a fight against Yadong Song.

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Dvalishvili won the bantamweight title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 this past September. Nurmagomedov has since been calling for a title shot against Dvalishvili, who instead wants a rematch against “Suga.”

In the meantime, Nurmagomedov was reportedly close to finalizing a potential title eliminator with Chinese contender Song at UFC Tampa in December. However, Nurmagomedov recently announced that the matchup is off because “Kung Fu Kid” is injured.

Dvalishvili has now countered Nurmagomedov’s claim, accusing the undefeated Dagestani of ducking Song. The Georgian champ has always maintained that Nurmagomedov receives favored treatement from the UFC due to his relationship with cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili reiterated that even if Nurmagomedov gets the next title shot, he is undeserving of it.

“Don’t…

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Rose Namajunas isn’t looking to surpass Manon Fiorot for a flyweight title shot.

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Namajunas moved up to flyweight after losing her strawweight title to Carla Esparza via split decision in 2022. “Thug” suffered a hard-fought unanimous decision loss against Fiorot in her flyweight debut the following year. Namajunas has since racked up consecutive decision victories over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez, earning relevance in title conversations.

Namajunas is scheduled to fight top contender Erin Blanchfield in the co-main event at UFC Edmonton at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A win would likely make Namajunas a potential contender for the next gold bid at 125 pounds against Valentina Shevchenko. While Shevchenko is a training partner of Namajunas, “Thug” wouldn’t mind getting paid for what they would do in training anyway.

“That would be my dream matchup,” Namajunas told ESPN. “Obviously I’m a huge admirer of [Shevch…

Capping off the year with a BANGER 🔥@IanGarryMMA vs @NewMansa94 is the #UFCTampa MAIN EVENT!

Get tickets 👉 https://t.co/eoKeUgRb8k pic.twitter.com/QJofp85j9y

— UFC (@ufc) November 1, 2024 It appears the Ultimate Fighting Championship already had a plan for Ian Garry.

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Per a UFC release on Friday, Garry (15-0) will be coming to blows with Joaquin Buckley (20-6) in the main event of UFC Tampa, also known as UFC on ESPN 63. The two welterweights will get after it inside of the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 14. Garry had been calling for a chance to vie for an interim 170-pound strap against Shavkat Rakhmonov due to champ Belal Muhammad’s illness, but the promotion is going in a different direction.

Garry has passed every test since joining the UFC roster in 2021, introducing himself to the brass by smashing Jordan Williams at the tail end of the first round. The unbeaten Irishman has slugged his way up the welt…

First to the scale! ⚖️

Brandon Moreno weighs in at 125.5lbs!

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[ #UFCEdmonton is LIVE tomorrow on @ESPNPlus | 8pmET/5pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/EfSPqiIBlz — UFC (@ufc) November 1, 2024 The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Alberta, Canada, is now official after the UFC Fight Night 246 weigh-ins.

Sitting atop the 14-fight card is a flyweight main event between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi. Both men weighed 125.5 pounds and are ready for a five-round scrap. The 26 other fighters on the card also successfully made weight for their bouts, so the card will continue as planned.

Moreno (21-8-2) is hoping to break a two-fight losing streak after back-to-back split decision losses to Brandon Royval and Alexandre Pantoja. The former champ has previously beat Kai Kara-France and rival Deiveson Figueiredo before the current skid. Just 30 years of age, "The Assassin Baby" will look to show that he's still an improving…

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Germaine de Randamie is hanging up her gloves.

In a statement posted on Instagram on Thursday, de Randamie (10-5) signaled her retirement from MMA. The inaugural UFC women’s featherweight queen stated that she hoped to take one more fight before calling it quits, but the schedule did not work out this year and she has decided to move on. The 40-year-old has competed once since 2020—including a lengthy layoff to give birth to a son—where she came up short to likely future title challenger Norma Dumont.

“Hey guys,” de Randamie wrote in a caption to her video statement. “With so many mixed feelings I’m sharing this message with you guys. I definitely didn’t plan or envisioned/dreamed it this way, but hey it is what it is sometimes. I begged the UFC for one more fight. But it had to be this year. I promised myself that I would retire from fighting December 31, 2024.”

She continued, “Unfortunately the UFC told me all cards a…

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champ Belal Muhammad’s foot is a balloon.

The 170-pound beltholder revealed on social media on Thursday that a bone infection in his foot—one that made a toe dangerously swell up—has forced him out of action for the next six weeks. As a result of this, Muhammad (24-3, 1 NC) will no longer be competing atop UFC 310 on Dec. 7. News of his withdrawal first came from Al Zullino on X, the service formerly known as Twitter. Per other outlets, the organization is trying to find a replacement opponent for challenger Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0), but he may not remain on the lineup at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on that date.

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Rakhmonov chimed in after learning the news, wishing Muhammad well and expressing his interest in rebooking the matchup at a later date. He still has his eye on the prize.

“Wishing Belal a quick recovery,” Rakhmonov wrote. “We’ll meet when you’re back at 100%. For now, I’m ready to take …

Ailin Perez will square off against Karol Rosa in a women’s bantamweight bout at UFC 311.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from Gaston Reyno. UFC 311 takes place on Jan. 18. A venue and headliner have not been confirmed for the card, which is also expected to include a heavyweight showdown between Jailton Almeida and Serghei Spivac.

Perez has won four straight contests since dropping her Octagon debut to Stephanie Egger at UFC Fight Night 209 in September 2022. Most recently, the Argentina native known as “Fiona” scored a first-round submission victory over Darya Zheleznyakova at UFC Paris on Sept. 28.

Rosa, meanwhile, is 3-3 in her last six promotional appearances. The 29-year-old Brazilian kicked off her 2024 campaign with a three-round verdict over Pannie Kianzad at UFC on ESPN 61 on Aug. 10.

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Prior to UFC 308, Dricus Du Plessis was operating under the assumption that he was going to face Sean Strickland in a rematch for his next middleweight title defense.

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There was a shift in thinking, however, when Khamzat Chimaev submitted ex-title holder Robert Whittaker with a face crank 3:34 into the opening round of their co-main event clash at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi this past Saturday. As a result of that performance, Chimaev might have skipped to the front of the line at 185 pounds.

Chimaev definitely caught the attention of Du Plessis, who claimed the middleweight belt with a split-decision triumph over Strickland at UFC 297 before defending the strap with a fourth-round submission of Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on Aug. 17.

“We always knew between Rob and Khamzat if there was going to be something exceptional that happens, there might be a change in the title fight,” Du Plessis told Radioraps. “We have no clarity on tha…

James Llontop will replace Charlie Campbell and lock horns with Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 309.

Llontop confirmed the booking via social media following an initial report from Te La Cante MMA. UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Peru’s Llontop is still looking for his first promotional triumph. After competing on Dana White's Contender Series in September 2023, “Goku” has fallen to Chris Padilla and Viacheslav Borshchev in his first two UFC appearances. The 25-year-old Llontop owns a 14-4 career mark.

Ruffy, meanwhile, has been victorious in his last five professional outings. Also a former Contender Series winner, Ruffy made a splash in his Octagon debut with a first-round technical knockout win against Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 301. The Fighting Nerds product has finished all 10 of his career wins by KO or TKO.

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Caio Borralho has no doubt that Khamzat Chimaev can dethrone Dricus Du Plessis.

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Chimaev scored a dominant first-round submission win over Robert Whittaker in the co-main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The performance might have been enough to get the Chechen-born Swede the next title shot at 185 pounds, which was previously promised to Sean Strickland.

Borralho is very confident about the outcome of a potential clash between Chimaev and Du Plessis. “The Natural” believes Du Plessis will meet the same fate as Whittaker did against Chimaev, even if it takes a little more time. While Du Plessis is arguably a better wrestler than “Bobby Knuckles,” Borralho doesn’t think the South African can hold his own on the ground against Chimaev.

“I definitely think Khamzat [will win]. I think it’ll be the same as Robert,” Borralho told Submission Radio. “I know that Dricus has a little bit more wrestling skil…

It appears that Sharabutdin Magomedov has his next fight date set already.

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Magomedov is one of the fastest-rising stars in the UFC thanks to both his persona and his entertaining style. With a thick head of curly hair and vision in only one eye, “Shara Bullet” cuts pirate-like figure, an image which the Dagestani has come to embrace.

Magomedov most recently took on Armen Petrosyan in the main card opener at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi. Prior to the fight, Magomedov’s coach, Gor Azizyan, declared that his fighter’s style was more entertaining than light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira’s. Magomedov did his best to back up the coach’s statement with the first-ever double spinning backfist knockout in the first round, earning himself a “Performance of the Night” bonus in the process.

“Shara Bullet” went on to call out former champ Israel Adesanya in his post-fight Octagon interview. Azizyan recently revealed that Magomedov’s next fight date i…

Diego Lopes wasn’t happy about not being included in the UFC’s initial list of potential opponents for Ilia Topuria.

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Topuria successfully defended his featherweight title by knocking out Max Holloway for the first time at UFC 308 on Oct. 26. Lopes, who was also in attendance for the event, was pitched as a potential opponent for Topuria during the champ’s post-fight interview. However, Topuria expressed more interest in a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski, whom he dethroned via knockout at UFC 298 this past February.

Meanwhile, Topuria is also looking to move up to lightweight for a double-champ bid against Islam Makhachev. And former middleweight champ Kamaru Usman has suggested that “El Matador” should be pitted against Conor McGregor to be established as the new face of the promotion.

Volkanovski, Makhachev and McGregor were all featured in a recent "What’s next for Ilia Topuria" graphic, while a fourth spot was left blank. Lopes was un…