Martial Arts News

One month after being released from the UFC, middleweight American Top Team fighter Markus Perez accepted an invitation from Jake Paul´s team to help him with sparring to prepare for his boxing match against Ben Askren on April 17.

In an interview with Brazilian outlet AgFight, “Maluko” detailed how what was supposed to be a friendly training session turned into a war. Perez immediately felt disrespected upon his introduction to the YouTube personality.

“To tell you the truth I had no idea who he was, but when someone related to him offered me $300 (to train with him), I decided to accept. When I arrived at his house with my friend Alexandre Pantoja, I politely went to greet everyone,” Perez said. “But when I went to shake hands, he gave me a closed fist. Then I looked at Pantoja and asked, ‘That was the guy I came to help?’”

Once Perez and Paul hit the ring to spar, intensity quickly reached levels beyond what is normal for that type of session.

“He st…

LEGEND VS. LEGEND TRILOGYShinya Aoki will now face Eduard Folayang in the final chapter of their historic rivalry on 28 April! @a_ok_i @efolayang #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT4 pic.twitter.com/v8HClJw49m

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 12, 2021 Lingering COVID-19 symptoms have forced Sage Northcutt out of a proposed clash with Shinya Aoki at One on TNT 4.

As a result, Eduard Folayang will step in and face Aoki on the April 28 card at Singapore Indoor Stadium. Promotion officials announced the change on Monday. Folayang was initially slated to face Yoshihiro Akiyama on the same card, but Aikyama pulled out of the event due to injury. One on TNT 4 airs on live on TNT in the United States at 10 p.m. ET and is headlined by a light heavyweight title tilt between Aung La N Sang and Vitaly Bigdash.

The 37-year-old Folyang has fallen on hard times of late, losing four of his last five appearances under the One Championship banne…

Tensions are rising between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor heading into their trilogy bout at UFC 264.

While the two lightweight stars were generally cordial with one another in the lead-up to their rematch at UFC 257, the tone of their relationship took a turn when Poirier revealed that McGregor never followed through on a promised $500,000 donation to his charity, The Good Fight Foundation. Poirier’s claim came in response to the SBG Ireland standout’s prediction for their fight.

“That’s a fun prediction! You also predicted a donation to my foundation and you and your team stopped responding after the fight in January,” Poirier wrote. “See you soon. July 10th Paid In Full!”

That's a fun prediction! @TheNotoriousMMA you also predicted a donation to my foundation and you and your team stopped responding after the fight in January.See you soon.July 10th Paid In Full!

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) April 11, 2021

The Good Fight is …

Ryan Bader is moving on in Bellator’s light heavyweight grand prix, and that means the heavyweight division could be moving forward – at least temporarily – without him.

Bader defeated Lyoto Machida via unanimous decision in the opening round of Bellator’s 205-pound grand prix on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. That means his next appearance, tentatively slated for July according to the tournament bracket, will be again at light heavyweight against the winner of the Bellator 257 matchup between Corey Anderson and Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.

Regardless of how Bader fares going forward, even a loss in the next round would mean that a heavyweight title defense would be unlikely to happen until late 2021 at the earliest. For now, he is intent on reclaiming the 205-pound belt he lost to Vadim Nemkov via second-round TKO at Bellator 244 in August 2020.

With that in mind, Bellator president Scott Coker revealed that the promotion will likely move …

Aljamain Sterling will have neck surgery this week to repair on issue that has plagued him for approximately 10 years.

The UFC bantamweight champion told ESPN that he has been diagnosed with a herniated disc and that doctors will operate on his C6-C7 vertebrae on Thursday. Sterling hopes to return from the procedure to defend the belt in a rematch with Petr Yan later this year.

"They told me I will heal in three months, and can start doing cardio to get myself ready," Sterling said. "They wouldn't want to see me take a fight until they see everything has fused in my neck correctly. Five months would be ideal, if I heal up really quick. I'm excited. The faster I heal up, the faster I can fight. We'll find out in the next three months, and get something on schedule.”

Sterling won the bantamweight crown at UFC 259 on March 6, when Yan landed an illegal knee in the fourth round, leaving “The Funk Master” unable to continue. After the result, UFC president Dana Whit…

For a period of time, it looked as though Mike Perry would have a long-term place in the UFC based on his reputation as an action fighter alone.

Lately, however, the welterweight has not been competitive, and losses in four of his last five Octagon appearances — along with numerous issues outside of the cage — have put his future with the Las Vegas-based promotion in doubt. Perry was bloodied and battered in his latest outing, dropping a three-round verdict to Daniel Rodriguez in a featured affair at UFC on ABC 2 this past Saturday.

By the end of the contest, Perry had a cut and swelling near his left eye mand his already disfigured nose looked like it might have been broken again. More importantly, Perry didn’t offer much for his opponent outside of a successful takedown late in Round 1, as he was outlanded by a lopsided 129-to-61 count in signficant strikes.

While expressing confusing regarding his latest struggles, Perry revealed in a post-fight statement tha…

Arnold Allen might be the most underrated talent in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s featherweight division.

The 27-year-old Tristar Gym representative earned his eighth consecutive victory at UFC on ABC 2, taking a three-round verdict over fellow 145-pound prospect Sodiq Yusuff in Saturday’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

“Two prospects trying to break through is always going to be a tough fight,” Allen said. “It’s not like when you get a young prospect fighting an old veteran. Sometimes the prospect blows away the veteran and stakes his claim. When it’s two prospects, it’s usually a tight matchup. All respect to Sodiq. He’s tough as hell.”

On two occasions, Allen appeared to be on the verge of stopping his opponent. In the first round, “Almighty” dropped Yusuff with a counter left hand and in Round 2, he rattled the Nigerian fighter with a head kick. However, both times, Allen didn’t display enough of a killer instinct to get the finish as Yu…

Marvin Vettori wasn’t in much danger against Kevin Holland in the UFC on ABC 2 headliner on Saturday, but it wasn’t the type of performance that turns heads, either.

“The Italian Dream” relied on takedowns, top control and ground-and-pound to roll to a unanimous decision triumph over Holland at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for his fifth consecutive triumph at 185 pounds. Vettori’s dominance was reflected in the final scorecards: All three cageside judges submitted 50-44 tallies in favor of the Kings MMA product.

While Holland a few fleeting moments of success when the combatants were on their feet, those were few and far between as Vettori set a middleweight record with 11 takedowns. All told, Holland has been grounded a combined 17 times in back-to-back losses against Vettori and Derek Brunson.

“I knew he was really wild. When he goes for strikes, he really throws himself in. He’s either out or in,” Vettori said after his victory. “If he clinches, there’s no poin…

Jimmy Flick announced his retirement from fighting earlier today. pretty upset we won’t get to see his grappling anymore, the man was a monster on the ground. pic.twitter.com/ZefRYTlK1Y

— ricky (@mysticcrick) April 11, 2021

In just a few weeks, Jimmy Flick was supposed to square off against Francisco Figueiredo at UFC on ESPN 24.

Instead, the 30-year-old flyweight is calling it a career. Flick made his retirement announcement on Saturday at a Freestyle Cage Fighting event in Tulsa, Okla., an organization where he was once 125-pound champion.

“A lot of people keep asking me where I see myself in 10 years. ‘Where do you see yourself in the UFC?’ To be honest, everybody, the UFC is not my dream no more,” Flick said. “A lot of people won’t understand why. It’s hard to explain and it does bring tears to my eyes, but the UFC is not looking out for me. My wife is looking out for me, my kids are looking out for me and that’s what I want. I want …

Julian Marquez and Sam Alvey gave the ABC audience an entertaining brawl on Saturday, and the middleweights are now $50,000 richer for their efforts.

Marquez and Alvey shared “Fight of the Night” honors for their featured clash at UFC on ABC 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Both combatants were swinging for the fences from the outset, but once Marquez hurt his adversary with a right hand and follow-up barrage, he was able to eventually render Alvey unconscious with a modified rear-naked choke at the 2:07 mark of Round 2.

Elsewhere, rising strawweight contender Mackenzie Dern garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a submission victory over the returning Nina Nunes. After punching her way into the clinch, Dern took Nunes down, passed to mount and framed an arm bar. Nunes defended as long as she could until Dern broke her grip, extended the arm and elicited the tapout 4:48 into the opening stanza.

Finally, former KSW champion Mateusz Gamrot earned …

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. There’s a blueprint for defeating Kevin Holland, and Marvin Vettori followed it perfectly on Saturday afternoon. The Italian middleweight took Holland down repeatedly, remained heavy on top and battered his opponent with ground-and-pound en route to a unanimous decision triumph in the UFC on ABC 2 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges saw the fight 50-44 in favor of Vettori (16-4-1, 7-2-1 UFC), who has won five straight fights at 185 pounds. Holland (21-7, 8-4 UFC) was a short-notice replacement for Darren Till, who withdrew from the event with a broken collarbone.

“I’m not too happy with what I did,” Vettori said. “I wanted to finish this guy and I was not able to. But it was a dominant win and I keep improving. I’m not the happiest right now, but I keep winning and I keep progressing.”

Holland,…

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. Sherdog's live UFC on ABC 2 coverage will begin Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. 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 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 Critch…