Martial Arts News

Rose Namajunas believes she isn’t far away from a title shot in her new weight class.

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Namajunas moved up to flyweight after her second strawweight title run ended with a split-decision loss against Carla Esparza at UFC 274. Namajunas dropped a unanimous decision loss against Manon Fiorot in her flyweight debut at UFC Paris in September 2023. However, Namajunas has since bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Amanda Ribas this past March to regain relevance in the flyweight division.

Namajunas revealed that winning a second title has certainly motivated her move up to flyweight — though that wasn’t the only reason.

“When I first started my career in the UFC, that was kind of like my vision that I had in mind,” Namajunas told MMAjunkie.com. “It wasn’t like super solid, but I definitely wanted to become champion. And then, somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought to become champion in two divisions as well. But that was so far in the…

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Flyweight prospect Stewart Nicoll (7-0) has been booked for his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in August.

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The undefeated Australian will make his promotional debut against Jesus Santos Aguilar (10-2) in front of a home crowd at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The matchup was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

Nicoll’s UFC signing was initially announced by "From the Stands” and confirmed by Beatdown Promotions, where he has fought for most of his career.

“Stoked to see the man that has worked so hard and consistently for years to achieve a dream. Stayed the course. Well done [Stewart Nicoll],” wrote UFC alum and Beatdown Promotions owner Damien Brown on Instagram.

Nicoll has finished six of his career wins so far — four via technical knockout and two by way of submission. A former Xtreme Fighting Championships flyweight champion, Nicoll most recently scored a first-round TKO win over Japan…

A 185-pound mixed martial arts clash between Hiroyuki Tetsuka and Isi Fitikefu has been added to the ONE Championship 168 lineup.

Sherdog confirmed the booking with a source close to the situation. ONE 168 takes place at Ball Arena in Denver, and features a muay thai title bout between Jonathan Haggerty and Superlek Kiatmoo9 and a 125-pound MMA championship clash between Stamp Fairtex and Jingnan Xiong.

Japan’s Tetsuka will take a five-bout promotional winning streak into the matchup with Fikitefu. Most recently, the 34-year-old known as “Japanese Beast” scored a second-round submission victory against Valmir da Silva at One on Prime Video 21 on April 5.

Australia’s Fitikefu has been victorious in eight of nine professional appearances since beginning his career in 2015. The 31-year-old earned his first promotional win in April 2023, when he submitted da Silva in the opening stanza at ONE on Prime Video 9.

𝙄𝙏’𝙎 𝙒𝙄𝙉 𝙊𝙍 𝙂𝙊 𝙃𝙊𝙈𝙀 🏆💰

The #PFLPlayoffs are here as the road to the 2024 #PFLWorldChampionship heats up 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sHnjlcrGCh

— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 9, 2024

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The pairings are officially set for the Professional Fighters League postseason.

While the brackets were initially determined during last month’s final series of regular season events, there has been one significant change to the playoff matchups. The PFL announced on Tuesday that Linton Vassell will replace the injured Valentin Moldvavsky and face Oleg Popov in a heavyweight semifinal on Aug. 2 at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

The PFL 7 postseason event will be headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Denis Goltsov and Tim Johnson. The main card will also include a pair of women’s flyweight semifinals: Dakota Ditcheva vs. Jena Bishop and Liz Carmouche vs. Taila Santos.

Two weeks later, light heavyweights and lightweight…

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Ailin Perez will lock horns with Dariya Zheleznyakova in a women’s bantamweight clash when the Ultimate Fighting Championship heads to Paris on Sept. 28.

Both fighters confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from MMA Latinoamerica. The UFC Fight night will take place at the Accor Arena and features a five-round lightweight showdown pitting Benoit St. Denis against Renato Carneiro.

After losing her Octagon debut to Stephanie Egger, Perez has rebounded to win three consecutive outings within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, the Argentinian took a three-round verdict against Joselyne Edwards at UFC 302 on June 1. Her current winning streak also includes decision triumphs over Lucie Pudilova and Ashlee …

Darren Till just got into a brawl at Social Knockout after his opponent couldn’t continue… #mma #boxing pic.twitter.com/cyVxq71p7h

— Mase (@cutman_mase) July 6, 2024

While Darren Till’s boxing debut earned him his first combat sports payday since his departure from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, it wasn’t all that lucrative.

Till parted ways with the UFC in February 2023 on his own request, vowing to return to the promotion in a few years after having pursued other interests. “The Gorilla” was scheduled to make his boxing debut against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on July 20 on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. However, that fight fell through due to Till’s visa issues combined with the card being briefly jeopardized before Mike Perry stepped up to replace a sick Tyson.

Till instead made a surprising short-notice debut in the squared circle against Mohammad Mutie at Social Knockout 3 on Saturday in Dubai. The fight ended in a sec…

Bobby Green is eyeing a quick turnaround going into his upcoming UFC 304 fight.

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Green faces Liverpudlian prospect Paddy Pimblett at UFC 304 on July 27 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. Green then wants to fly across the globe for UFC 305 on Aug. 17 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Green will already be at UFC 305 to corner teammate Alex Reyes, who will seek his first UFC win against Tom Nolan after back-to-back first-round stoppage losses. Looking to make the best of his visit, Green expressed interest in a clash against Dan Hooker, who is also seemingly eager to be on the card.

“My plans is to fight Paddy, and if I can, if the UFC let me, I want to fight in Perth too,” said Green on his Instagram Stories. “You can pick that person. I heard Dan Hooker is looking for a fight. I’ll fight Dan, I don’t care. But all I need is for you to do me this favor, work out them taxes. Because I’m not trying to give up $90,000 in f—-ing t…

While Brendan Allen claims to have accepted a UFC Paris booking against Nassourdine Imavov, he isn’t settling for anything short of a main-event slot.

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Allen revealed on Monday that he recently accepted a booking against Imavov for UFC Paris on Sept. 28. Having headlined in three of his last four outings and won all three, “All In” called for yet another main-event slot against Imavov.

However, Allen’s status as the headliner was put into question by the announcement of a five-round clash between lightweight fan favorites Benoit St. Denis and Renato Carneiro While St. Denis vs. Moicano has been booked for five rounds, it has not been officially confirmed as the UFC Paris headliner.

Allen is adamant on not getting surpassed by St. Denis and “Moicano” for the main-event spot. Allen also believes his fight against Imavov deserves a higher place on the card than St. Denis vs. Moicano regardless of how many followers the lightweights have on socia…

Alex Pereira recently shut down a callout from Artem Vakhitov, who was the last man to beat him in kickboxing.

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Pereira defeated Vakhitov via split decision in their first encounter at Glory 77 in January 202, to win the light heavyweight title. Vakhitov exacted revenge in their rematch later that year, defeating Pereira via majority decision to win back the title at Glory 78.

Pereira had finalized his Ultimate Fighting Championship signing a day before that fight, marking the end of his kickboxing career. “Poatan” has gone on to become a two-division champ, earning four victories in title bouts within less than three years in the promotion.

Meanwhile, Vakhitov competed in one muay thai bout after his win over Pereira before switching to MMA, where he is currently 2-1. Vakhitov is motivated by the idea of a potential trilogy clash against Pereira in MMA.

The Russian believes Pereira has room for improvement in his striking defense which was e…

It appears that Cesar Gracie won’t be part of Nick Diaz’s camp for his upcoming fight against Vicente Luque at UFC on ABC 7 in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3.

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Diaz’s longtime coach doesn’t like a few aspects of the booking, including the overseas travel and the matchup against Luque. It will be Diaz’s first Octagon appearance since a third-round TKO loss due to retirement against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 in September 2021.

“I’m really not involved in that fight. I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. That wasn’t my idea. It wasn’t a fight I would have had,” Gracie recently told Submission Radio. “Like if I was advising Nick, I wouldn’t have advised him to do that fight. It’s in Abu Dhabi. I wouldn’t advise to go fight overseas at this point, especially [because] Luque is a very tough guy. You know Nick is a tough guy, but it just doesn’t make that much sense for me where Nick is at in his career.

“And I don’t know. It’s not the fight I would have mad…

Carlos Leal Miranda delivered one of the biggest highlights at LFA 187 this past Saturday, when he defeated Manuel Mena via first-round technical knockout in a Brazil vs. Latin America-themed event.

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After the victory, Leal revealed to Sherdog that he wants to fight for the LFA welterweight title he once held, but his real dream is to compete in the UFC.

“I showed in this fight that I am already at the level of fighting in the biggest event in the world against the best in the world,” the former Professional Fighters League talent said. “In fact, I didn't lose the LFA belt, I left it vacant when I went to the PFL. The ideal for me is to compete for the title again here at LFA. If the invitation to fight in the UFC doesn't come, I'm going to wait.”

Leal also revealed the reason why he departed from the PFL after losing to Sadibou Sy in the 2023 postseason.

“The PFL is a very good organization,” he said. “I grew and matured as a man and…

Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 59 card will end up looking a lot different than originally intended.

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This includes two late additions to the lineup: a bantamweight clash between Montel Jackson and Da'Mon Blackshear and a women’s flyweight tilt pitting Jasmine Jasudavicius against Fatima Kline. The promotion recently confirmed the bookings on its website. Jasudavicius was originally slated to meet Viviane Araujo before the Brazilian withdrew from the event.

UFC on ESPN 59 takes place at Ball Arena in Denver and is headlined by a 125-pound showdown between Rose Namajunas and Tracy Cortez. The main event was one of six fights on the card that either changed or was canceled entirely, as Cortez is a replacement for Maycee Barber.

Jackson has been victorious in his last four promotional appearances. Most recently, he scored a first-round knockout of Rani Yahya at UFC Fight Night 222 in April 2023.

Blackshear, meanwhile, had a two-bout winning streak …