Martial Arts News

Matheus Nicolau is mourning the demise of UFC and Bellator MMA veteran Guilherme Vasconcelos along with the rest of the MMA community.

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Having been born and raised in Belo Horizonte just like Vasconcelos, Nicolau was deeply affected by the death of “Bomba.”

Nicolau takes on upcoming flyweight prospect Asu Almabaev at UFC Vegas 99 at the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. The Brazilian plans to get his hand raised and dedicate his victory to Vasconcelos.

“He’s not someone I talked to regularly every day or every week, but I liked him very much,” Nicolau told MMAFighting.com. “He’s a bit older than me and got his [jiu-jitsu] black belt before I did, but we had our roads in MMA at the same time. He was always so nice to me. We have so many friends in common — everybody knows each other in the jiu-jitsu community in Belo Horizonte, and I saw him a month ago at the Worlds Master.

“The news hit me and I was crushed, man. I liked him very much, you kno…

⚖️Battle Of The Giants Official Weigh In Results

PFL Super Fights Heavyweight World Title Bout

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Francis Ngannou: 256.8 lbsRenan Ferreira: 261.5 lbs

Buy Battle Of The Giants now on https://t.co/2BtPH3wso4

[ #PFLSuperFights | #BraceForImpact | Sat, Oct 19th | 4PM ET | BUY… pic.twitter.com/NHxU1MBVEY — PFL (@PFLMMA) October 18, 2024 The Professional Fighters League's return to Saudi Arabia is now set following the PFL "Battle of the Giants" weigh-ins.

The pay-per-view card is stacked with three superfight championship bouts, with the mixed martial arts return of Francis Ngannou headlining the event. Renan Ferreira will look to ruin the superstar's PFL debut, and both men came in under the 265-pound limit. All fighters on the card made weight, including the four other title fight participants as Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco will square off for featherweight gold, while Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards clash for m…

185.5lbs for @UFCPereira ✅

Our #UFCVegas99 main event is now official!

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[ 📺 TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus at 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/Jcojw3CHDa — UFC (@ufc) October 18, 2024 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UFC Apex for an intriguing Fight Night card with middleweight contenders atop the card.

Headlining UFC Fight Night 245 is a main event between the surging Anthony Hernandez and the always entertaining Michel Pereira. Both men successfully made weight and came in under the 186-pound limit. All other fighters made weight with one notable exception as Joselyne Edwards came in three pounds overweight for her fight against Tamires Vidal. She'll be fined a percentage of her purse as a result. It's the third time Edwards has missed weight inside the UFC.

This marks the first UFC main event for Hernandez (12-2, 1 NC). "Fluffy" has put together an impressive five-fight win streak that includes finishes…

If all goes as planned, Diego Lopes won’t be needed on Oct. 26.

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However, it’s always good to have a contingency in place, which is why Lopes will serve as the backup fighter for the UFC 308 featherweight title clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway. Lopes announced the role late last month, which means he will weigh in ahead of the event along with Topuria and Holloway.

Lopes does have an opponent preference if he were called upon to step in for the UFC 308 main event.

“I definitely would rather fight with Ilia for the undisputed title. That would be amazing. We’ve also really analyzed everything. We’ve sat down to analyze both fighters. People might take this the wrong way and say, ‘No, I don’t believe him,’ but I think for me, a fight against Topuria would be a better matchup for my style,” Lopes recently told MMAjunkie.com.

UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway Saturday at 2 PM ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

“It’s a fight that suits me. Agains…

Say g'day to summer down under ☀️🇦🇺#UFC312 is coming to @Sydney_Sider!#FeelNewSydney | Feb 09 | Details at https://t.co/A5j1LxWSHS pic.twitter.com/CU46DNUloL

— UFC (@ufc) October 16, 2024

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to Australia for a pay-per-view event in early 2025.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Wednesday that UFC 312 will take place on Feb. 8 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. No bouts were revealed for the card.

UFC 312 is the second event of a four-year, multi-event agreement as part of the promotion’s partnership with the New South Wales Government. The Octagon last touched down in Sydney in September 2023 for UFC 293, which memorably saw Sean Strickland claim middleweight gold with an upset victory over Israel Adesanya in the evening’s main event.

More recently, the company went Down Under for UFC 305 at RAC Arena in Perth on Aug. 17. In the evening’s main event, Dricus Du Pless…

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Video of Mike Perry’s recent DUI arrest shows the BKFC star acting hostile and using derogatory language toward police officers.

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Perry was pulled over by Clermont (Florida) Police for speeding on Oct. 12. Bodycam footage obtained by TMZ Sports shows Perry initially becoming agitated with one officer when he is questioned about his consumption of alcohol.

“Well, you’re talking a little slow, and I can smell it coming out of this side when I came over here,” the officer says.



“Well, you’re talking a little fast,” Perry responds.



“I’m talking a little fast?” the officer says. “OK, I’ll slow it down just for you. Is that better?”



Perry is then asked to step out of the vehicle. When he refuses to take a sobriety test, Perry is placed under arrest. At that point, Perry addresses his wife, who was in the vehicle with him, and uses homophobic slurs when referring to the officers.

“Latory, I’m getting arrested, beca…

Michel Pereira will take an eight-fight winning streak into his first main event appearance against Anthony Hernandez at UFC Vegas 99 on Saturday.

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“I was really excited to fight in the Sphere, but my agent told me the UFC changed plans and gave me my first main event, which was also good,” Pereira told Sherdog.com. “So it was initially bad news that turned into a [something] good.”

Hernandez also has plenty of momentum, as “Fluffy” enters the matchup having won five consecutive Octagon appearances. Pereira is confident that his training at Xtreme Couture will provide him with the preparation necessary to emerge victorious.

“No doubt Hernendez is a dangerous guy who likes to put a lot of pressure on his opponents, but the level of training and sparring partners I have at Xtreme Couture will certainly help me to take him out of his comfort zone,” Pereira said. “I’ve evolved a lot lately. I’m really well prepared for his game and, concerning …

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After authoring a career-defining moment at 155 pounds, Max Holloway is confident he can return to the featherweight division without issue.

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After knocking out Justin Gaethje to claim the BMF belt in a lightweight bout at UFC 300, Holloway will challenge Ilia Topuria for the featherweight strap in the UFC 308 headliner on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The Hawaiian star addressed concerns that he might struggle to make the cut to 145 pounds in a recent video on his YouTube channel.

“Everybody keeps talking about the weight coming into this fight. The whole question about the last fight was the weight, and now the whole question about this fight is the weight because of what we did in the last fight,” Holloway said. “But it is what it is. I got the best person behind me. I got my wife, she’s chefing it up, and I got my man Tyler Minton back on the team. He’s going to be out there with us fight week, and he’s one of the best …

The tension is rising as Ilia Topuria (15-0) and Max Holloway (26-7) near their featherweight title clash.

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Holloway will challenge Topuria in the main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Topuria recently accused Holloway of trying to avoid fighting him in the beginning.

Holloway initially claimed that he called for a title shot against Topuria. However, Topuria refutes that claim, saying a challenger doesn’t get to call his shots anyway. Holloway earned his claim to title contention with a BMF title win over Justin Gaethje at lightweight this past April. According to Topuria, he asked for the Holloway matchup for his first title defense.

According to Topuria, Holloway allegedly tried his best to dodge the fight in favor of staying put at lightweight. Topuria claims it was the UFC who eventually forced “Blessed” to accept the booking.UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway Saturday at 2 PM ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

"He was avoid…

Conor McGregor is trading barbs with Ilia Topuria leading up to the latter’s title fight at UFC 308.

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Topuria will make his first featherweight title defense against Max Holloway in the main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Topuria’s back and forth with McGregor started when the Irishman visited Marbella, Spain, and claimed he feels more Spanish than the undefeated Georgian-Spaniard.

Responding to McGregor’s comments, Topuria made a somewhat crude comparison of himself and former UFC heavyweight king Francis Ngannou.

“When I see myself in the mirror, below my waist, I also think sometimes I’m more African than Francis Ngannou,” Topuria told Ariel Helwani.

Ilia Topuria responds to Conor McGregor saying he’s more Spanish than him:

“When I see myself in the mirror, below my waist, I also think sometimes I’m more African than Francis Ngannou.” 😭😭😭😭

🎥 @arielhelwani #HelwaniShow pic.twit…

🤯Ilia Topuria says he wants to break the record for the fastest KO in UFC history against Max Holloway:

"I wanna have the fastest knockout in UFC history with my hands because Jorge (Masvidal) has it with a knee, I wanna do it with the hands...

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I don't have any doubts I'm… pic.twitter.com/CItqHlAlrc — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 15, 2024

Ilia Topuria is confident as ever going into his first featherweight title defense.

Topuria puts his strap on the line against Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. And “El Matador” vows to beat Holloway at his own game.

While Holloway was slightly removed from the title picture until recently, he earned his shot with a BMF title win over Justin Gaethje at lightweight at UFC 300 this past April. “Blessed” battered Gaethje for five rounds before iconically inviting him to a slugfest in center of the Octagon and knocking hi…

The 10th and final week of this season’s Dana White’s Contender Series took place Tuesday night and saw four fighters receive Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts.

In the main event, Nick Klein (5-1) wasted no time upsetting huge favorite Heraldo Souza (9-1-1) as he got a takedown in the early seconds of the fight, and in a total of 37 seconds, Klein closed the show with a first-round, rear-naked choke victory.

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Jonathan Micallef, Yadier Del Valle and Luis Gurule joined Klein as winners who were awarded contracts. Two of the winners, Gurule and Klein, both came in on short-notice to secure wins.

The co-main event would have a tough act to follow after Del Valle and Monteiro, but it was quite the follow-up in itself with undefeated flyweights Nick Piccininni and Gurule taking center stage. Both fighters had their moments in the first round, with Gurule finding his momentum in the later stages of the period.

It was very much a wrestler versus…