Martial Arts News

UFC middleweight Abu Azaitar has received a seven-month suspension from USADA for multiple anti-doping violations.

Azaitar tested positive for tamoxifen, a selective estrogren receptor module, in urine samples collected on Aug. 25, Sept. 4, Sept. 9 and Sept. 17, the organization announced Monday. Tamoxifen is often linked to post-cycle steroid use in athletes.

Azaitar provided medical records that he was prescribed tamoxifen by a doctor to treat “symptoms” for an undisclosed condition. However, the fighter “lacked a valid therapeutic use exemption (TUE) and his subsequent application for a retroactive TUE was denied due to lack of sufficient medical justification.” Azaitar was granted a reduced suspension due to the circumstances of the case and thanks to his full and complete cooperation. Azaitar’s suspension began on Aug. 25, which means he will be eligible to return to action on March 25.

Azaitar is the older brother of former UFC lightweight Ottman Azaitar, …

Charles Oliveira isn’t interested in a short-notice fight with no title on the line.

According to a report published by Brazilian outlet AgFight, “Do Bronx” was offered a fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 258 on Feb. 13, with the winner moving on to face Dustin Poirier for the lightweight belt.

Sherdog.com confirmed the news with Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, who also revealed that his fighter turned down the bout.

"Charles had never been so close to the belt and it's important to note that he worked hard for that. He is on an eight-fight winning streak, with seven coming via submission or KO. The fans and even Poirier recognized that,” Lima said. "Today is Feb. 1. It makes no sense for us to accept a title eliminator for 11 days from now.

“Charles needs time to lose weight, we lose about two days with visa stuff and of course we need to prepare for the fight itself,” he continued. “Our goal was fight for the belt ag…

WHAT A DEBUT!!! @JustinJaynesMMA wastes no time at #UFCVegas3. pic.twitter.com/Hlk10FLw5Z

— UFC (@ufc) June 20, 2020

Justin Jaynes has agreed to step in on less than one week’s notice and face Devote Smith at UFC Fight Night 184.

Jaynes replaces Alex da Silva Coelho, who withdrew from the lightweight contest due to undisclosed reasons. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the change. UFC Fight Night 184 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+.

Jaynes made a big first impression in his Octagon debut, as he knocked out Frank Camacho in 41 seconds at UFC on ESPN 11 last June. The Xtreme Couture representative didn’t fare as well in his next two outings, as he was submitted by Gavin Tucker at UFC Fight Night 174 and knocked out by Gabriel Benitez at UFC on ESPN 19. “Guitar Hero” is 16-6 since beginning hi…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1tAf6gbRvM&w=560&h=315]

Jordan Burroughs could have been mixed martial arts’ next big prospect, and for a little while, he appeared to be on that path.

Burroughs was set to make the transition shortly after winning the gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2012 Olympic games. In addition to that feat, Burroughs was also a four-time World Champion and a two-time NCAA national champion — making him one of the most highly regarded American wrestlers of all-time. Given those credentials — and the success of wrestlers in the sport as a whole — Burroughs would have been highly coveted by most any major promotion.

“I’ve been close. My wife, Lauren, is the one that’s talked me out of it,” Burroughs recently said on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. “When I graduated from college in 2011, University of Nebraska, wrestling was still in its infancy of marketing and branding and really making it a professional career. MMA was the new …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs5iVfVuuxQ&w=560&h=315]

Before Dan Hooker left the Octagon following his first-round knockout loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 257, he left his gloves in the cage — normally the universal signal that a fighter is calling it a career.

In his first public comments since that defeat, Hooker told Submission Radio that he was simply caught up in the frustration of the moment. He isn’t, however, ready to give up on his MMA career just yet. In fact, once things had time to settle down, Hooker says the loss wasn’t any more upsetting than his five-round decision defeat to Dustin Poirier last June.

“You’re always frustrated after a loss,” Hooker said (transcription via MMAFighting.com). “[It was] a balance of everything. Sheer frustration, you’re disappointed, and in that moment I was like, ‘I’m done. I’m finished with this s—-y sport. I’m done.’ Then you get back to the hotel and you think about it and you realize you’re not good at an…

Es ist offiziell!!! PUDZIAN IST ZURÜCK!!!

Mariusz Pudzianowski zurück #KSW59 und @AntunRacic verteidigt seinen bantamweight Titel!!! pic.twitter.com/imAu7Bg6rd

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) 30. Januar 2021 Der ehemalige World ' s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski wird seine Rückkehr zu Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki Käfig auf März 20.

Die polnische Förderung angekündigt, über das Wochenende, dass Pudzianowski wird Headliner KSW 59 "Kampf-Code". Seine Gegner und die Veranstaltung der Standort wurden nicht offenbart.

Das beliebte Schwergewicht hat sich nicht beworben, seit November 2019, wenn er besiegte Erko Jundurch in der zweiten Runde technisch K.o. am KSW 51. Der 43-jährige machte seine MMA-Debüt im Jahr 2009 und zusammengestellt hat Funktionen 13-7 Rekord mit einem Nein contest. Alle, aber einer seiner professionellen Auftritte haben, kommen unter der KSW-banner. Er hat besiegt, die gerne von Rolles Gracie, Bob Sapp, Oli Thompson, Sean McCorkle un…

Andre Fialho. Just beautiful. Watch this. #XMMA pic.twitter.com/vysz81frka— ShayMyName (@ImShannonTho) January 31, 2021

James Vick saw the return of Xtreme MMA as a launching point for his own career comeback, but Andre Fialho had something to say about it.

The promotion, which put on seven events in Canada between 2007 and 2009, returned after more a decade on Saturday at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. For its first-ever event in the United States, XMMA brought a card jam-packed with familiar names from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA and other top-tier promotions, none more familiar than Vick, a former UFC lightweight contender.

In the welterweight main event of XMMA 8, Vick took on Bellator and Professional Fighters League veteran Andre Fialho. The matchup represented a chance at redemption for both men, as “The Texecutioner” had been inactive since exiting the UFC on a four-fight losing streak in late 2019, while…

Daniel Torres shocks the world with this knockout over Saladhine Parnasse!!! #KSW58 pic.twitter.com/cOpPUvOOjd

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 30, 2021

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s first event of the year ended with a bizarre knockout shot that resulted in a title change.

The KSW 588 main event saw Salahdine Parnasse (14-1-1) put his featherweight championship on the line against Daniel Torres (12-4). After studying each other for a while, the contenders exchanged a few shots to test each other’s chin. Torres showed his long jab, to which the defending champion retaliated with a head kick that partially landed. After a wide swing from both contenders, Parnasse clipped the challenger with a kick to the body. “Tucanao” seemed comfortable on his feet as he counterpunched when the French fighter rushed forward.

After a minute and a half, Torres threw an inventive shot with his triceps that perfectly landed on the side of Parnasse’s head. The French fi…

Ladies and gentlemen, my fight against Ciryl Gane got rescheduled for February 27! 5x5 minutes main card. Spread the word! @ufc @michaelbabb01 #MMA #BigiBoy #Suriname pic.twitter.com/vBL8Tea9F5

— Jairzinho 'BIGI BOY' Rozenstruik (@JairRozenstruik) January 30, 2021

It appears that Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane will now serve as the new UFC Fight Night 186 main event.

Rozenstruik recently announced on social media that the bout had been moved from UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13 to Feb. 27. Shortly thereafter, Jiri Prochazka revealed that his proposed clash against Dominick Reyes, which was originally set to top UFC Fight Night 186, has been postponed for undisclosed reasons. The Las Vegas-based promotion has not officially announced an update to the card. It is also currently unclear when Reyes vs. Prochazka might be rescheduled.

The fight has been postponed from February 27th, but I’m looking forward to fighti…

Martin Day will replace Julio Arce and square off against Timur Valiev at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6.

The matchup was first reported by Rob Demello. UFC Fight Night 184 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Feb. 6 and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov.

Day is looking for his first promotional triumph after falling to Pingyuan Liu, Davey Grant and Anderson dos Santos in his first three appearances. The 32-year-old Hawaiian owns an 8-5 professional mark overall.

Valiev suffered a second-round KO loss to Trevin Jones in his Octagon debut at UFC on ESPN 15, but the result was overturned to a no contest after Jones tested positive for marijuana. The Dagestani had been victorious in his previous six pro outings, including wins in Professional Fighters League and World Series of Fighting.

DON'T BLINK

@KaiKaraFrance is bringing the flyweight fireworks to #UFC259 and takes on @RogerioBontorin! pic.twitter.com/wsesZeX9dR

— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) January 28, 2021 Kai Kara France will meet Rogerio Bontorin in a flyweight contest at UFC 259.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announced the pairing. UFC 259 takes place on March 6 in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya.

Kara-France went 1-1 in UFC competition in 2020, outpointing Tyson Nam at UFC Fight Night 168 before being submitted by Brandon Royval at UFC 253. The City Kickboxing member is 4-2 in the Octagon and 21-9 over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2010.

Bontorin, meanwhile, earned triumphs against Magomed Bibulatov and Raulian Paiva in his first two promotional appearances before falling to Ray Borg via unanimous decision in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Nig…

A heavyweight clash between Chase Sherman and Parker Porter is set for the UFC’s April 17 card.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the matchup. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight showdown pitting Robert Whittaker against Paulo Costa. A location for the event has not been formally announced.

After a previous 2-5 stint in the Las Vegas-based promotion, Sherman returned with a second-round TKO of Isaac Villanueva at UFC Fight Night 171 last May. “The Vanilla” Gorilla” entered the matchup with Villanueva on the strength of a three-bout winning streak under the Island Fights banner.

After suffering a first-round TKO defeat to Chris Daukaus in his Octagon debut at UFC 252, Porter rebounded to outpoint Josh Parisian at UFC on ESPN 18 on Nov. 28. The former Bellator and CES MMA competitor has notable losses to Jon Jones and Gabriel Gonzaga on the regional circuit earlier in his career.