Martial Arts News

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

UFC on ESPN 24 has taken another hit just hours before the beginning of the card.

Amanda Ribas has tested positive for COVID-19, and as a result, her strawweight bout with Angela Hill has been canceled. Ribas confirmed the news following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

"So, guys, as you can see, my hair was ready, I was ready, I came here with negative tests, and then I received the news that I have (tested positive),” Ribas said in a video on her Instagram story. “I hope you guys can still send the vibes for me. Kisses!”

UFC on ESPN 24 will proceed with nine bouts. The event takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a flyweight showdown between Michelle Waterson and Marina Rodriguez.

The card lost its original headliner of T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen when the former bantamweight champion had to withdraw after suffering a significant cut in training. Also, Philipe Lins pulled out of a …

Sergio Pettis’ time has come.

Crisp jabs and clean counters carried the Roufusport standout to a unanimous decision over Juan Archuleta, as he captured the undisputed Bellator MMA bantamweight championship in the Bellator 258 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. All three cageside judges scored it for Pettis (21-5, 3-0 Bellator): 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46.

Archuleta (25-3, 7-2 Bellator) spent much of the fight playing into the challenger’s strengths. Pettis’ used the Californian’s aggression against him, snapping back his head with stinging jabs and sharp counterpunches from both hands. Even when Archuleta turned to takedowns, he failed to consolidate them with positional control or ground-and-pound.

Pettis will carry a four-fight winning streak into his first title defense.

Meanwhile, Anthony Johnson leveled Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros with a devastating right hand and sealed the deal with a follow-up hammerfist in the second ro…

coverage kicks off Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 Kicking off the card, Erik Perez (19-8), who had a sterling 7-2 record in the UFC but is presently 0-2 in Bellator, is a big favorite over Blaine Shutt (8-4). Officiating the contest will be referee Kerry Hatley. Shutt begins the action with a nice leg kick. Perez comes forward with a series of punches, but Shutt mostly avoids them. Perez is stalking forward, but Shutt is bouncing well and circling. Suddenly, Shutt starts limping on a foot and immediately shoots in. He is able to stall, but is eating plenty of punches and elbows. Nevertheless, he gets Perez against the cage and onto his butt. Even in this position, though, Perez continues to pepper him with strikes. Eventually though, Perez is able to get back up, and Shutt goes for a guillotine which has little chance of success. Perez is now on top, in half-guard. Halfway…

With its heavyweight champ tied up in the light heavyweight tournament, Bellator MMA is adding an interim heavyweight belt to the mix.

On Friday, MMA Junkie announced that Bellator is planning an interim heavyweight title tilt between Timothy Johnson (15-6) and Valentin Moldavsky (10-1) atop Bellator 261. The June 25 event will be held in the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and fans will reportedly be in attendance per Bellator head Scott Coker in a media scrum on Thursday. The promotion has since confirmed this news via press release.

Johnson punched his ticket to a title fight with a three-fight win streak over Tyrell Fortune, Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo in 2020. The burly brawler is currently on his longest win streak since a run from 2011 to 2015 where he finished eight consecutive foes to get into the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A tenure where Johnson alternated wins and losses in seven UFC bouts led to him joining the Bellator ranks, where he lost t…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFRXGeBkLrU&w=560&h=315] 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. Everyone has an opinion about the latest Professional Fighters League controversial stoppage. It’s been a long time since a fight result has brought so much controversy to the Brazilian MMA community. Considered one of the most popular MMA fighters in the country, former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum received strong support from the fans on social media after his last bout. Atop PFL 3: 2021 Regular Season, Werdum seemed to have forced Renan Ferreira to tap out to a triangle choke, but Ferreira denied this and went on to knock Werdum out. To shed some light on the matter, Sherdog spoke to three different parties: Werdum, Ferreira and respected Brazilian referee Osiris Maia.

“He got the triangle,” Ferreira admitted, “But it was n…

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. Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Sara McMann will be looking to exact revenge in August. Per MMA Fighting on Friday, Ketlen Vieira (11-2) will once again be facing McMann (12-6) at bantamweight, with the two aiming to square off at the previously unannounced Aug. 28 UFC Fight Night card. The pairing has since been confirmed by other outlets. There has been no location announced for this event, nor are there any other matches slated for the card at the moment. The two first met in 2017, and Vieira landed an arm-triangle choke on the former Olympian to advance her record to 9-0.

Since posting a 10-0 record including four wins inside the Octagon, Vieira has run into some relatively hard times. Her first loss came at the quick hands of Irene Aldana, who punched her into unconsciousness at UFC 245 in 2019. Although she reb…

Main event official!

@KarateHottieMMA is officially in at 125 lbs for #UFCVegas26. pic.twitter.com/1XDKwR2flM

— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 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. In what should be a formality, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s weigh-ins for its upcoming card were anything but.

The UFC on ESPN 24 headlining bout between Marina Rodriguez and Michelle Waterson is now official after the weigh-ins took place this morning. Neither main eventer had trouble making weight for the short-notice bout since they both normally compete at strawweight, but the same could not be said for the rest of the card.

A flyweight contest between Ryan Benoit and Zarrukh Adashev was called off after Benoit was ruled ineligible by doctors. Benoit was unable to stand still on his initial weigh-in try, then minutes later came in at 129 pou…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHFRd8ZrFRI&w=560&h=315]

The most significant victory of Renan Ferreira’s career will likely come with an asterisk attached.

Ferreira spoiled Fabricio Werdum’s hotly anticipated Professional Fighters League debut, as he took care of the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder with punches in the first round of their 2021 PFL 3 headliner on Thursday at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Werdum (24-10-1, 0-1 PFL) met his end 2:32 into Round, and it was not without controversy.

A two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist, Werdum struck for an inside trip takedown, shifted to half guard and appeared poised to move to full mount. However, the 6-foot-8 Ferreira swept into top position and immediately wandered into a triangle choke. Werdum tightened his squeeze while being punched, appeared to elicit a tapout and then relaxed. Referee Keith Peterso…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the PFL and UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live PFL 2021 3 coverage will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result

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 failed Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight has decided to move back to the featherweight division. On Thursday, Felicia Spencer (8-2) spoke on the Fight Bananas podcast, where she announced that Danyelle Wolf has been forced out of her fight for undisclosed reasons. In Wolf’s stead will be one-time featherweight Norma Dumont (5-1), who will be returning to the division after a few ill-fated trips down to 135 pounds. The two will square off at UFC Fight Night 188 on May 22, which is set to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Dumont made her UFC debut in 2020 against Megan Anderson, and she was punched out by the future featherweight title challenger in the first round. The Brazilian attempted to drop down to bantamweight, and she missed weight badly against Ashlee Evans-Smith but won a decision. A subsequent att…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4ZbdkBLELg&w=640&h=360] The latest Bellator MMA weigh-ins largely went off without a hitch, as every fighter on the card made weight except for preliminary competitor Johnny Soto, who came in 2.5 pounds over the featherweight limit.

The bantamweight title is officially on the line at Bellator 258. Juan Archuleta and Sergio Pettis both made weight without issue, and the light heavyweight tournament quarterfinal between Anthony Johnson and Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros has also been cleared.

Archuleta (25-2) picked up the vacant bantamweight belt in his last bout, defeating Patrick Mix by decision and handing Mix his first career loss. Prior to his first title win, Archuleta bounced back from a defeat to Patricio Freire by winning a decision over Henry Corrales. "The Spaniard" officially stepped on the scales at 135 pounds on the dot.

Looking to claim his first title is Pettis (20-5). "The Phenom" is riding a three-fight win stre…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 262 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Three-time Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Sean Soriano is coming back to the promotion after over six years away. MMA Junkie first reported the news on Thursday that Soriano (14-6) would be making his UFC comeback at UFC 262 in just over a week. At this event that will go down inside the packed Toyota Center in Houston on May 15, Soriano will meet Christos Giagos (18-8). Soriano will be replacing Joel Alvarez at lightweight, who was forced to withdraw from the pairing due to visa issues.

Soriano competed in the UFC from 2014 to 2015, facing Tatsuya Kawajiri, Chas Skelly and Charles Rosa in just over a year’s time. The New Englander suffered his first career defeat to Kawajiri, and he went on to lose to Skelly and Rosas as well to spell his release. The featherweight went on to compete across several American promotion…