Martial Arts News

Your BKFC 66 Main Attractions just dropped 🔥#BKFC66 | Sept 13 | Tix on sale now ➡️ https://t.co/LJX5urGkRW pic.twitter.com/FzictmuVql

— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) July 13, 2024

Muhammed Lawal will make his first combat sport appearance in nearly five years when he faces Dave Mundell at BKFC 66 on Sept. 13.

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The promotion recently announced the pairing, which will take place at lightweight heavyweight. Lawal initially retired from MMA in June 2019 but briefly returned a few months later, falling to Andrew Kapel via first-round KO at Bellator 233. It will be the first bare knuckle boxing match for Lawal.

The 43-year-old Lawal is a former Division II national champion wrestler at the University of Central Oklahoma and an NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State University. “King Mo” compiled a 21-10 record with one no contest in MMA and has recently served as a coach at American Top Team.

Lawal was a Strikeforce mid…

A middleweight matchup pitting Brendan Allen against Nassourdine Imavov has been added to the UFC Paris lineup.

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Multiple outlets recently confirmed the booking following an initial report from Fight Minds. Allen initially revealed that he had been offered the bout but wouldn’t accept it unless it was elevated to the main event. However, UFC Paris is still expected to be headlined by a lightweight scrap between Benoit St. Denis and Renato Carneiro.

Allen has won his last seven fights under the UFC banner. “All In” kicked off his 2024 campaign with a split-decision triumph against Chris Curtis in the UFC Fight Night 240 headliner on April 6. The Dana White's Contender Series alum has finished five of his seven opponents by way of submission during his current winning streak.

Imavov, meanwhile, is coming off a fourth-round technical knockout triumph against Jared Cannonier in the UFC on ESPN 57 headliner on June 8. The Paris native is 6-2 with…

A lightweight showdown pitting Mateusz Gamrot against Dan Hooker is in the works for UFC 305.

Multiple outlets recently confirmed that the bout has been verbally agreed to after Hooker initially announced the booking on social media. UFC 305 takes place at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, and is headlined by a middleweight championship clash between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.

A former KSW champion, Gamrot has been victorious in seven of his nine Octagon appearances. The 33-year-old Pole is currently in the midst of a three-bout UFC winning streak that includes triumphs over Rafael dos Anjos, Rafael Fiziev and Jalin Turner. “Gamer” also owns a victory over current lightweight No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan.

After losing four of five promotional outings from June 2020 to March 2022, Hooker has rebounded to post consecutive triumphs against Claudio Puelles and Jalin Turner. The 34-year-old City Kickboxing representative hasn’t competed since a sp…

Welterweights and Lightweights did not disappoint in Riyadh!

All The Finishes From PFL MENA 2 #PFLMENA pic.twitter.com/HalC5XdDNZ

— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 12, 2024

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Semifinals matchups for the Professional Fighters League’s first season in the Middle East and North Africa are now in place.

Welterweights Mohammad Alaqraa, Jarrah Al-Silawi, Badreddine Diani and Omar El Dafrawy punched their respective tickets, along with lightweights Mohsen Mohammadseifi, Souhil Tahiri, Abdullah Saleem and Georges Eid at PFL MENA 2 on Friday at The Green Halls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A $100,000 grand prize goes to the winner of each weight class, along with consideration to be included on the PFL’s global roster in 2025.

Alaqraa (6-0, 1-0 PFL) made his intentions known, as he disposed of Youcef Ouabbas with punches in the third round of their welterweight quarterfinal. Ouabbas (3-1, 0-1 PFL) met his end 53 seconds into Round 3. The A…

Gokhan Saricam Accepts Sanction for Violation of PFL Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/U5STdxlebp

— USADA (@usantidoping) July 11, 2024 The 2024 Professional Fighters League campaign for Gokhan Saricam was over before it could begin.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced on Thursday that Saricam had failed a pair of out-of-competition tests in April and May. The heavyweight from Turkey tested positive for clomiphene and its related metabolites, which are banned both in and out of competition under USADA and PFL policies. As a result, Saricam has been issued a one-year suspension effective the date of the first failed test, April 29.

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Saricam last competed under the Bellator MMA banner, doing so for his previous seven matchups. Planning on joining the PFL heavyweight bracket, he was once booked against Steve Mowry as a late addition to the season. When Mowry withdrew from the fight, Danilo Marques stepped in his place, but …

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 59 coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: N/ARound 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the Round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the Round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the Round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Fremd (-110), Petroski (-110)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the Round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the Round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the Round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING …

With the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title picture in flux, the victor of this affair might be a couple wins away from a crack at gold.

Ranked 135ers Karol Rosa (17-6) and Pannie Kianzad (16-8) will toe the line at a currently unnamed UFC Fight Night card on Aug. 10. The two will square off inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with the first report on Wednesday from Brazilian outlet Ag Fight. Kianzad subsequently posted about the pairing on social media on Thursday to confirm its veracity.

Having alternated wins and losses in her last six, Brazil’s Rosa is coming off of a titanic tussle with Irene Aldana at UFC 296 in December. The two slugged it out for 15 violent, bloody minutes, and although Aldana picked up the nod on the scorecards, both ladies scored $50,000 bonus checks for their handiwork. As the Parana Vale Tudo fighter remained a contender in her division, she has bested the likes of Yana Santos, Lina Lansberg and Bethe Correia, all via dec…

THE WAIT IS OVER 🚨 Tickets are on sale NOW for ONE 169: Atlanta on November 8, featuring THREE World Championship bangers and more massive fights to be announced 👉 https://t.co/UzqKRWrAxK

Don’t miss this blockbuster event as two-division MMA World Champion Christian Lee… pic.twitter.com/HHa7KlGs0r

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) July 12, 2024 One Championship is going for broke in Hotlanta this November.

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Atop ONE 169 in Atlanta on Nov. 8, three championship affairs will sit on the marquee. The main attraction at the State Farm Arena is already released, in a battle for the heavyweight throne between champ Anatoly Malykhin and “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane. The co-main event, first reported by MMA Fighting on Friday and subsequently confirmed by the promotion, will put the 170-pound strap up for grabs between two-division beltholder Christian Lee (17-4) and interim champ Alibeg Rasulov (15-0). Additionally, Tawanchai P.K…

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHTS! 💪

🇺🇸 Keri Melendez 🆚 Sumiko Inaba 🇺🇸 @KeriMelendez415 returns to the Bellator Cage on September 7th, where she puts her undefeated record on the line against Sumiko Inaba! 🔥@sumikoinaba will be looking to give Keri her first loss at #BellatorSanDiego.… pic.twitter.com/gv27pHIP2S

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) July 11, 2024 A pair of talented Bellator MMA flyweights will grace the cage at the Pechanga Arena this September.

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The promotion released a number of fights this week, bolstering a lineup for a show held on Sept. 7 in San Diego. The first of three for this next Bellator Champions Series event comes at 125 pounds between flyweights Keri Melendez (6-0) and Sumiko Inaba (7-1). MMA Junkie first broke the news of this pairing, with Bellator locking it down shortly thereafter.

Melendez, 40, has put together an unbeaten record since debuting in the sport in 2016. The former kickboxer has seen her wh…

She cut off her hair to make weight! 126 #UFCDenver pic.twitter.com/C01B7fYOTe

— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) July 12, 2024 The UFC on ESPN 59 main event is now official, but there was some drama on the scales.

While former Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight champion Rose Namajunas made flyweight easily, opponent Tracy Cortez did not. Cortez was initially overweight at 126.5 pounds but later weighed 126 on the dot after cutting off some of her hair. All other fighters made weight as well.

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Namajunas (12-6) recently rebounded from a two-fight skid by winning a unanimous decision over Amanda Ribas. Now 1-1 at flyweight, "Thug" will look to become a title contender in a second division. The 32-year-old stepped on the scale at 124.75 pounds.

Meanwhile, Cortez (11-1) is riding an impressive 11-fight win streak. Cortez is undefeated inside the UFC, having gone 5-0 in the promotion. Most recently, the 30-year-old picked…

Gadzhimurad Amirzhanov knows how to impose his will, and ONE Championship stands to benefit from his exploits.

Dogged takedowns, suffocating top control and effective ground-and-pound carried the undefeated Russian prospect to a unanimous decision over Matheus Pereira in a three-round ONE Friday Fights 70 lightweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. All three ringside judges scored it for Amirzhanov (6-0, 3-0 ONE), who was forced to go the distance for the first time since his December 2020 professional debut.

Pereira (7-3, 3-1 ONE) could not stay upright. Amirzhanov sat him down with an overhand left and threatened with a brabo choke in the first round, then settled into a rinse-and-repeat cycle across the final 10-plus minutes. Pereira did all he could from bottom position, even though he received a yellow card for repeated punches to the back of the head. Those efforts—they included a powerful upkick in the third round—proved futi…

. @Jon_Anik has to get a 337 tattoo if I win https://t.co/gzuBwZRWsR

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) July 9, 2024

While Dustin Poirier (30-9) appears interested in fighting Nate Diaz (21-13), he believes the Ultimate Fighting Championship won’t do business with the younger Diaz brother.

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After parting ways with the UFC in 2022, Diaz (21-13) has been dabbling in boxing, dropping a controversial split decision against Jake Paul before bouncing back with a unanimous decision win over fellow UFC alum Jorge Masvidal last weekend. Meanwhile, Poirier (30-9) is at a crossroads in his career after having come up short in his third and likely final lightweight title bid against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 last month.

While he has been contemplating retirement, Poirier admits that it’s difficult for him to stay away from fighting. UFC color commentator Jon Anik recently suggested Diaz as a potential opponent that would make sense …