Martial Arts News

Leonardo Damiani (10-2-1) with the RNC to win it. Really good fight for the main event of their first Fight Pass show. Both guys showed up and fought an entertaining competitive battle.#TGC3 pic.twitter.com/Etjzn34qLF

— Dusty Andrews (@Fight_Expert) February 6, 2021

After nearly a year of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Italian MMA returned with the action-packed third event of The Golden Cage series on Saturday.

In The Golden Cage 3 main event, Leonardo Damiani (10-2-1) took on Marco Saccaro (6-3) in a rematch of an October 2018 bout won by Damiani. The promoter never communicated the weigh-in results, but the 180-pound catchweight bout was nonetheless valid for the welterweight belt. Both fighters lived up to their reputations as heavy strikers and exchanged some hards shots early in the opening stanza as Damiani scored with his kicks and Saccaro connected with his punches. After a quick scramble phase against the fence, Damiani …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDkZB2lUmBU&w=560&h=315]

UFC Fight Night 184 is down to 12 bouts after a preliminary clash pitting Askar Askar against Cody Stamann was canceled.

The promotion announced Saturday that Askar was not medically cleared to compete in the featherweight contest. Askar, who made weight on Friday at 145 pounds, was a short notice replacement for Andre Ewell, who was removed from the event due to COVID-19 protocols.

UFC Fight Night 184 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+.

Anchored at Midwest Training Center, the 26-year-old Askar was entering his Octagon debut on the strength of a three-round verdict over Kevin Wirth at LFA 92 this past October. Askar has won 11 of his 12 professional fights overall.

Stamann, meanwhile, last appeared at UFC on ESPN 13, where he dropped a unanimous decision …

for Drago!

@AlexDragoVolkov is official for #UFCVegas18. pic.twitter.com/rSn3axY1s9

— UFC (@ufc) February 5, 2021 After opening 2021 with a series of “Fight Island” cards, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to its home base in Las Vegas with an event that saw every fighter make weight. Headlining UFC Fight Night 184 is a heavyweight bout between decorated veterans Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. While Overeem (47-18, 1 NC) has never tasted gold inside the Octagon, the 40-year-old is a former Strikeforce and Dream heavyweight champion. 4-1 in his last five, Overeem has only faltered in a shocking late fifth-round stoppage to the hard-hitting Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Most recently, “The Demolition Man” has picked up TKO wins over Walt Harris and Augusto Sakai. The Dutch fighter weighed in at 255.5 pounds.

Similar to his opponent, Volkov (32-8) has found sizable success outside of the UFC with Bellator MMA and M-1 Global heav…

Alyona Rassohyna shocks the world by submitting Stamp Fairtex in Round 3! #ONEUnbreakable3 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/URBYVDEEdI

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 5, 2021 All but one battle ended inside the distance of the pre-recorded final part of One Championship's "Unbreakable" series..

The main event of One: Unbreakable 3 saw Alyona Rassohyna (13-4) inflicting the first MMA defeat to Nong Stamp (5-1) in an incredible turn of events. The Ukrainian fighter attempted to immediately impose her wrestling style over Stamp by taking her down. However, “Stamp Fairtex” scrambled her way on top and punished Rassohyna with a couple of knees to the head on the canvas. After a wild scramble that saw both contenders alternate in dominating positions, Stamp bounced back on the feet and ended the first stanza with an emphatic elbow on Rassohyna.

In the second round, Stamp warned the Ukrainian fighter of insisting to ta…

@TheNotoriousMMA I know your last fight was not your best showing, stand tall you are a legend & will continue to have more legendary success! It looks to be cowboy for my UFC finale. Sanchez versus McGregor will always be in the ether! HMU in the dm I might Have a bone for you.

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) February 4, 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. Two grizzled veterans and former training partners are going to dance in May. Diego Sanchez (30-13) first posted the news of his upcoming match when calling out Conor McGregor on Twitter on Thursday, stating that his final MMA bout would likely come against Donald Cerrone (36-15-1, 2 NC). While Sanchez regretted that he would not face the Irishman, his claim was substantiated by an MMA Fighting report and confirmed by ESPN shortly thereafter. The two, who trained toge…

bunch of new names removed from eligibility on the UFC fan rankings:

Peter BarrettAntonio Carlos JuniorSpike CarlyleAnthony IvyJacob KilburnVanessa MeloSarah MorasVinicius MoreiraMarkus PerezCole Williams

— Tom Feely (@omgitsfeely) February 4, 2021 The Ultimate Fighting Championship just made a wave of cuts from fighters largely on losing streaks. MMA Junkie made the first report that the promotion let several fighters go, including Antonio Carlos Jr., Carlton Minus and Rhys McKee. MMA Fighting subsequently released a list of other names to bring the tally to an even dozen. In addition to the aforementioned three, Vanessa Melo is not part of the roster but is looking to sign a new deal. Broadcast partner ESPN confirmed all of the cuts shortly after their initial announcements.

The list of fighters reads as follows: Peter Barrett (11-5), Carlos Jr. (10-5, 1 NC), Spike Carlyle (9-3), Anthony Ivy (8-4), Jacob Kilburn (8-4), McKee (10-4-1),…

***BREAKING NEWS***

Cub Swanson returns on May 1st. "Killercub" takes on the Canadian Gavin Tucker in a Featherweight bout. pic.twitter.com/yCcIf6zEl5

— MMA DNA (@MMADNANL) February 4, 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. Cub Swanson is looking to push his win streak to three against a tough Canadian adversary in May.

On Thursday, MMA DNA first reported that Swanson (27-11) would be returning to the cage to face Gavin Tucker (13-1) at featherweight. The two are reportedly set to square off at the recently announced UFC Fight Night card on May 1, which should take place either in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or in Abu Dhabi, Untied Arab Emirates. The 145-pounders should join another featherweight matchup recently discussed for this event, between T.J. Laramie and Damon Jackson, per MMA Lock of the Night on Twitter.

Swanson…

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Conor McGregor seems to believe he’s in a good place even after his second-round knockout loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.

The former UFC two-division champion authored a lengthy post on Instagram Wednesday, where he examined his defeat and the mistakes he made against Poirier in-depth. He also claimed that using Poirier as a “precursor” to a potential boxing match against Manny Pacquiao might have been a mistake. Overall, though, he claims that he is on "the correct path for evolution."

“Thoughts on the bout: I enjoyed racking up some more time inside the famed UFC Octagon. 40 seconds in 3 years is all I’d had up to this bout,” McGregor wrote. “I was savoring very second and enjoying my work. A little single disciplined in my approach and stance with mostly boxing. It’s what I get for picking this bout and opponent as a precursor to a boxing match against ‘Pacman.’ I deserved to get the legs kicked off me going in with this thinking. This is not the game to play a…

Sodiq Yusuff will lock horns with Arnold Allen in a featherweight affair at UFC Fight Night on April 10.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Darren Till and Marvin Vettori. A location for the event has not been formally announced.

An alum of Dana White’s Contender Series, the 27-year-old Yusuff has emerged as a top prospect at 145 pounds with victories in his first four Octagon appearances. Yusuff hasn’t competed since January 2020, when he outpointed Andre Fili at UFC 246. He was forced to withdraw from a scheduled October bout vs. Edson Barboza for undisclosed reasons.

Arnold, meanwhile, is on a nine-bout professional winning streak that includes seven triumphs in the UFC. The 27-year-old Tristar Gym representative has socred notable wins over Gilbert Melendez and Nik Lentz during that span and is 16-1 over the course of his career.

A women’s banamweight clash between Marion Reneau and Macy Chiasson has been postponed for three weeks due to Reneau testing positive for COVID-19.

Reneau announced the news on her Instagram account Wednesday. As a result, the fight has been moved from UFC Fight Night 184 on Saturday to UFC Fight Night 186 on Feb. 27.

“The fight between Macy Chiasson and I has been canceled for this weekend,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, I tested positive for COVID. I am feeling 100 percent fine with no symptoms.

“Macy and I have agreed to run it back on February 27! I appreciate Macy and her camp for being professional and willing to make this fight happen.”

Reneau is currently mired in a three-bout skid, including a decision loss to Raquel Pennington in her most recent outing at UFC on ESPN 11. Chiasson, meanwhile, bounced back from her first career defeat with a unanimous decision victory against Shanna Young at UFC Fight Night 167 in February 2020.

UFC Fight Ni…

Although his Professional Fighters League debut is expected for April 23, former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum still doesn’t know who he will face.

  “While they don’t give my opponent’s name, I heard it would be a Brazilian,” Werdum said. “I´m keeping myself in shape doing some cardio here in Brazil, but on Feb. 20 I'm going to Los Angeles, where I'll start my camp with master Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA.”

In the meantime, Werdum will keep on eye on this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 184 headliner between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. Werdum, who has losses to both Volkov and Overeem (twice) on his resume, gives the Dutch veteran the edge in this instance.

“Overeem has both knockout power and experience to control the distance,” Werdum said. “I believe he is a bad matchup for Volkov.”

As for the following week, Werdum likes Gilbert Burns to pull the upset against Kamaru Usman to claim welterweight gold in the UFC 258 headliner. “Vai Cavalo” bel…