Martial Arts News

Veteran middleweight Omari Akhmedov is no longer on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster.

Akhmedov and the Las Vegas-based promotion have parted ways following a split-decision loss to Brad Tavares at UFC 264 this past Saturday. Sherdog.com contributor Tom Feely initially reported via Twitter that Akhmedov was listed as a “former fighter” on UFC.com, and MMAFighting.com later confirmed his exit.

It’s unclear if Akhmedov was cut with existing bouts on his contract or simply fulfilled his last fight at UFC 264 and will not receive a new deal.

The 33-year-old Dagestani began his Octagon tenure in 2013 and compiled a 9-5-1 record in UFC competition, with victories over the likes of Tom Breese, Ian Heinisch, Tim Boetsch, Zak Cummings and Brian Ebersole. At one point, the man known as “Wolverine” went unbeaten in six promotional appearances from November 2016 to December 2019.

Anchored at American Top Team, Akhmedov is 21-6-1 over the course of a professio…

UFC 266 will officially feature a pair of title fights at the top of the bill.

UFC president Dana White confirmed to promotion broadcast partner ESPN on Tuesday that a featherweight clash pitting reigning champ Alexander Volkanovski against Brian Orega will serve as the evening’s headliner, while Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight crown against Lauren Murphy.

UFC 266 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 25 and will also see Nick Diaz return for the first time since 2015 in a five-round, non-title matchup with Robbie Lawler.

Volkanovski was originally slated to defend his belt against Ortega at UFC 260 on March 27, but the Australian champion tested positive for COVID-19 to put that matchup on hold. The two featherweights were then tabbed as coaches on Season 29 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Volkanovski is currently on a 19-bout professional winning streak that includes nine triumphs in the UFC. He claimed 145-pound gold with a five-…

Nick Diaz has signed on the dotted line to lock horns with Robbie Lawler at UFC 266.

UFC president Dana White confirmed to Yahoo Sports that the previously targeted welterweight bout is nearly official for the Sept. 25 event. Lawler hasn’t yet signed a contract but the bout is expected to be finalized soon. Additionally, the matchup will be a five-round non-title affair, the second in the history of the Las Vegas-based promotion. The first such fight occurred at UFC 263, when Leon Edwards defeated Nate Diaz in a five-round verdict on June 12.

Lawler and Diaz initially squared off at UFC 47, with Lawler losing via knockout at the 1:31 mark of Round 2.

UFC 266 will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 25 and is expected to be headlined by a featherweight championship clash pitting Alexander Volkanovski against Brian Ortega.

Diaz hasn’t competed since January 2015, when he lost a five-round decision to Anderson Silva in the UFC 183 headliner —…

Former Invicta Fighting Championships title holder Pam Sorenson has signed an exclusive deal with Bellator MMA.

Sherdog.com confirmed the signing with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. A date for Sorenson’s promotional debut was not revealed.

Sorenson herself recently revealed via Instagram that she had vacated her Invicta belt.

A 35-year-old native of Blaine, Minn., Sorenson has not competed since taking a five-round verdict over Kaitlin Young for the vacant 145-pound strap at Invicta FC 36 on Aug. 9, 2019. Prior to that, “Bam” was submittted in the fourth round by current UFC talent Felicia Spencer in a title bout at Invicta FC 32.

Sorenson is 8-3 over the course of her professional tenure, with other victories over the likes of Jan Finney, Helena Kolesnyk, Jessica-Rose Clark and Nicco Montano.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZuF5ijCHvc&w=560&h=315]

Jake Paul has big dreams when it comes to his boxing career, and Tyron Woodley is just the beginning.

“[Woodley is my] toughest [opponent] by far and that’s exactly what I want,” Paul said at a press conference on Tuesday to promote his boxing match against the former UFC champion. “I want to continue to increase my opponent’s skill level. I want to challenge myself. This is a legitimate knockout artist. He was boxing while I was on Disney Channel. He’s been boxing probably four or five times as long as me.”

Thus far, Paul is 3-0 in the Sweet Science with his most notable victory coming in April, when he scored a first-round knockout of former Bellator and One Championship title holder Ben Askren. Askren was a decorated wrestler but a below average striker at best — even by MMA standards. Woodley, on the basis of KO wins over the likes of Robbie Lawler, Dong Hyun Kim, Josh Koscheck and Jay Hieron, among …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZuF5ijCHvc&w=560&h=315]

Tyron Woodley isn’t looking at his boxing match against Jake Paul as a one-off opportunity for a cash grab.

Instead, the former UFC welterweight champion has designs on pursuing more fights in the Sweet Science after his Aug. 29 matchup with the YouTube personality.

“I didn’t get into this for a quick payday to get in and get out,” Woodley said during a press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday to promote his fight with Paul. “This is a steppingstone for me. This is my entry into boxing for sure.”

Woodley will face Paul in the main event of a Showtime Sports card at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The event will air via pay-per-view on Showtime beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Paul is 3-0 as a professional boxer, while Woodley will be making his debut in the sport.

Now 39 years old, Woodley parted ways with the UFC following a four-bout losing streak. He last appeared in the …

Conor McGregor may very well be on the decline in his mixed martial arts career, but he nonetheless remains the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s top draw.

According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, UFC 264 drew a total of 1.8 million pay-per-view buys, making it the second-highest selling event in promotion history. UFC 229 was the top seller with a reported 2.4 million pay-per-view buys for a card headlined by a lightweight championship clash between McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

UFC 264 reportedly sold 1.3 million buys in the United States on ESPN and another 500,000 internationally. The card, which took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, saw Dustin Poirier emerge victorious in the rubber match against the Irishman when McGregor suffered a gruesome leg break after stepping awkwardly at the end of Round 1.

Earlier in 2021, McGregor’s second-round TKO loss to Poirier in the UFC 257 main event on Jan. 23 did a reported 1.6 million buys. Al…

Bellator 262 is down one fight following the cancellation of a proposed heavyweight clash between Linton Vassell and Marcelo Golm.

The California-based promotion announced that the bout was scrapped due to an undisclosed injury to one of the competitors. As a result, a bantamweight scrap pitting Matheus Mattos against Cee Jay Hamilton has been promoted to the main card. Additionally, a lightweight showdown between Charlie Campbell and Nick Giulietti has been added to the preliminary draw.

Bellator 262 takes place on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and is headlined by a women’s flyweight championship tilt between Juliana Velasquez and Denise Kielholtz. The main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims stream at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on the Bellator YouTube channel, Showtime Sports YouTube and Pluto TV.

A former light heavyweight title challenger, Vassell is coming off back-to-back technical knockout victories against Ronny Mark…

It should come as no surprise that Conor McGregor is one of six fighters from UFC 264 who is facing a lengthy medical suspension.

The former two-division champion suffered a broken left leg late in the first round of his trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier this past Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The “Notorious” one must receive orthopedic doctor clearance or he will be sidelined until Jan. 7. At a minimum, McGregor is suspended until Aug. 25 with no contact until Aug. 10. The Irish star underwent surgery for the injury on Sunday, when he had an intramedullary rod inserted into his tibia and a small plate and screws attached to the fibula.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to mixedmartialarts.com. Poirier, who improved to 2-1 in his series with McGregor, emerged with a clean bill of health.

Elsewhere, former NFL Pro Bowler Greg Hardy is also looking at a six-month term follow…

Disney To Hike Price For ESPN+ By A Dollar A Month In August; Bundle, UFC PPV Costs To Remain Unchanged https://t.co/dVi4ysUWj0

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 12, 2021

Access to UFC Fight Night cards is going to cost a little bit extra later this summer.

According to a report from Deadline, the subscription price for the ESPN+ streaming service will increase from $5.99 to $6.99 on Aug. 13. Additionally, the annual subscription rate for ESPN+ will increase from $59.99 to $69.99. As of now, UFC pay-per-views will remain the same cost at $69.99.

When ESPN+ launched in 2018, its price was $4.99 a month. That increased to $5.99 per month earlier this year as the service added more live sports to its offerings. Pay-per-views also increased from $64.99 per event to $69.99 at the beginning of 2020.

In its most recently quarterly earnings report, Disney revealed that ESPN+ had 13.8 million subscribers, per Deadline. The Las Vegas…

Herb Dean’s decision to halt the UFC 264 fight between Sean O'Malley and Kris Moutinho at the 4:33 mark of Round 3 was controversial, but not because Moutinho’s safety was at risk.

In the moment, the veteran official’s ruling was not popular because Moutinho appeared to be reasonably coherent— albeit in an increasingly lopsided bout. One person who believes Dean made the right call is UFC president Dana White.

“I think it could have been stopped three minutes before that,” White said at the UFC 264 post-fight press conference. “He could have stopped in the second round. That fight could have and should have been stopped at any moment. I have no problem with that stoppage.”

When all was said and done, O’Malley set UFC bantamweight records for most significant strikes landed in a single fight (230), in a round (83) and significant striking differential (+160). Moutinho, a short-notice replacement for Louis Smolka, deserves plenty of credit for remaining in the fig…

Lightweight champion Charles Oliveira had a front row seat for the anticlimactic outcome of the UFC 264 trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

Poirier won via doctor stoppage when McGregor stepped awkwardly and broke his leg toward the end of the first round of their bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Prior to the injury, Poirier had impressed Oliveira by asserting his will from top position, dominance that was evident by a pair of 10-8 scorecards that were submitted in his favor.

“I tought Conor was favorite until the second round,” Oliveira told Sherdog.com. “From the third on, I thought Poirier would take it. But Dustin impressed me a lot, always walking forward, showing a great ground-and-pound game. When Conor stood up, he was already tired when the injury happened.”

Oliveira anticipates that his championship fight with Poirier will be scheduled for December. “Do Bronx” doesn’t expect his strategy to stray much from …