Martial Arts News

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…

A women’s flyweight clash pitting Tracy Cortez against Justine Kish is expected for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s April 17 event.

Cortez confirmed the booking folllowing an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. The UFC Fight Night card will be headlined by a middleweight scrap between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa.

Cortez has won eight consecutive contests since losing her pro debut to Cheri Muraski at Invicta FC 25 in August 2017. The 27-year-old Fight Ready representative earned a UFC deal with a decision win over Mariya Agapova on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series and has gone on to post decision triumphs against Vanessa Melo and Stephanie Egger in her first two Octagon appearances.

Kish has lost three of her last four in UFC competition. Most recently, the 32-year-old Black House product was submitted by Sabina Mazo in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 177 encounter this past September.

#KSW58 pic.twitter.com/kLZXh4QaMH

— El amigo de lo ajeno (@AjenoAmigo) January 30, 2021

Shamil Musaev and Uros Jurisic have each been fined following their post-fight brawl at KSW 58 this past Saturday.

Shortly after Musaev earned a unanimous verdict over Jurisic in a featured welterweight bout in Lodz, Poland, the two men reconvened in the cage. What momentarily looked like it would be a sportsmanlike embrace instead resulted in Musaev slamming his opponent on the canvas. What followed from there was an all-out melee, with both corners diving on the pile while officials attempted to separate the combatants.

The final takedown. Both fighters sliding away from the pack to meet in the free area.#KSW58 pic.twitter.com/8MDxxQmaNl

— Dusty Andrews (@Fight_Expert) January 30, 2021

KSW officials have reviewed all available video, and as a result of the incident, Musaev has been fined 50 percent of his purse, and Juri…

The exhibition boxing match between retired world champion Floyd Mayweather and YouTube star Logan Paul that was originally scheduled for Feb. 20 has been postponed.

Fanmio founder and CEO Solomon Engel confirmed the news to ESPN on Monday. Fanmio, an online platform that connects fans and celebrities through fan experiences, was supposed to host the event.

"After an absolutely tremendous response to the fight announcement, we're hoping to announce a new date very soon along with some new exciting details,” Engel said.

Initial details regarding the rules of the bout were scarce. The pay-per-view would supposedly increase in price as it got closer to the event. The first million sold would be $24.99 before going up to $39.99. Increases to $59.99 on Dec. 29 and to $69.99 on Feb. 11 were to follow.

Mayweather hasn’t competed in an official bout since he dispatched Conor McGregor via technical knockout in the 10th round of their clash in August 2017. That vi…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYuHQ1dh5V8&w=560&h=315]

A bantamweight matchup pitting Sean O'Malley against Thomas Almeida is expected for UFC 260.

O’Malley initially announced the bout on his YouTube channel, and multiple outlets subsequently reported that verbal agreements are in place. UFC 260 takes place on March 27 and is headlined by a heavyweight championship rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.

The 26-year-old O’Malley suffered his first loss in 13 professional outings at UFC 252, when he injured his ankle and then was stopped with elbows and punches by Marlon Vera 4:40 into the opening round of their Aug. 15 encounter. Prior to that, the Dana White’s Contender Series standout had established himself as a prospect to watch with UFC triumphs over Terrion Ware, Andre Soukhamthath, Jose Alberto Quinonez and Eddie Wineland.

Before O’Malley, Almeida was a red-hot bantamweight talent, with victories in his first 21 professional appearanc…

Raphael Assuncao will not square off against Raoni Barcelos at UFC Fight Night 186 as originally planned.

The Brazilian veteran revealed via Twitter that a positive COVID-19 test has forced him to withdraw from the bantamweight bout. UFC Fight Night 186 takes place on Feb. 27 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis. It is currently unclear if Barcelos will receive a replacement opponent.

2021 started a bit bumpy for sure... a car accident with nagging elbow/arm injury and COVID unfortunately has forced me out of my Feb 27 fight against countryman Barcelos .PT is underway intensively, be back sooner than later.Thx all

— Raphael Assuncao (@RaphaAssuncao) February 3, 2021 Assuncao was hoping to halt a three-bout skid against Barcelos. Most recently, the 38-year-old Ascension MMA product suffered a second-round knockout loss to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 250 this past June.

Barcel…

NDA soldier 170 lbsCome get you some of the real pic.twitter.com/d97Qqunr0I

— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) February 2, 2021

The date and opponent for Nate Diaz’s next Ultimate Fighting Championship remains a mystery, but the Stockton, California, native does appear to have a weight class in mind.

On Tuesday, Diaz hinted at another welterweight bout on Twitter. Diaz’s last four UFC appearance have all occurred at 170 pounds. He hasn’t competed since falling to Jorge Masvidal via third-round TKO at UFC 244 in November 2019.

“[Nick Diaz Army] soldier at 170 pounds,” Diaz wrote. “Come get you some of that real.”

Recently, Diaz has been linked to a matchup with Dustin Poirier as well as a long-awaited trilogy with Conor McGregor. Diaz later targeted Poirier on social media, though that matchup would seemingly have to take place at lightweight. The two were initially slated to meet at UFC 230 before the bout fell through. Diaz’s last lightwe…

Andre Fialho. Just beautiful. Watch this. #XMMA pic.twitter.com/vysz81frka

— ShayMyName (@ImShannonTho) January 31, 2021

James Vick couldn’t right the ship on the regional scene, and now “The Texecutioner” is calling it a career.

Vick returned to action after more than a year away this past Saturday at XMMA in Palm Beach, Florida, where he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Bellator MMA veteran Andre Fialho. The 15-time UFC veteran absorbed at least 20 punches in the finishing sequence, and he says the injuries suffered in the bout were enough to convince him that he’d fought his last fight.

“[A] few days ago I took the worst loss of my career,” Vick wrote on Instagram. “I went out on my shield like I always have, like a warrior. I am very sorry to everyone who helped and believe in me so much this last year. The truth is I haven't felt that passion/love for fighting the way I [used] to in a long time. But I have always be…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXoCvsFK_A0&w=560&h=315]

ESPN Personality Stephen A. Smith Speaks Against Women Fighting in MMA It’s well-known that ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith is not the most well-versed analyst when it comes to mixed martial arts.

Nonetheless, he is one of the biggest names in sports media, so when he says something controversial about MMA, it tends to draw a reaction. Such was the case for Smith during an appearance with Larry Willmore on the "Black on Air" podcast, when he was asked about women taking more prominent positions in sports management or coaching, such as the Miami Marlins hiring Kim Ng as the first female general manager in Major League Baseball or San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon stepping up to head coach duties when Greg Popovich was ejected from a recent game.

In those cases, Smith is on board with the progress.

“First of all, I love it,” he said. “I think there’s an awful lot of women who are incredibl…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8vXc2Knqq8&w=560&h=315]

A positive COVID-19 test has knocked Andre Ewell out of UFC Fight Night 184 just days before his matchup with Cody Stamann.

As a result, Stamann with square off with replacement foe Askar Askar on Saturday. Multiple outlets confirmed the new bantamweight bout following an initial report from Fighter Path. UFC Fight Night 184 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight duel between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+.

Askar will make his first promotional foray with an 11-1 career mark, that includes stops in promotions such as Legacy Fighting Alliance, Titan FC, Victory Fighting Championship and Island Fights. Most recently, Askar took a unanimous verdict over Kevin Wirth at LFA 92 this past October.

Stamman, meanwhile, is coming off a decision defeat against Jimmie Rivera at UFC on ESPN 13 in his last outing. The Michiga…

Lance Palmer and Natan Schulte will have some new blood standing in their way in their quest to three-peat as champions in Professional Fighters League.

The organization on Tuesday announced the full rosters for the featherweight and lightweight divisions for the upcoming 2021 season. Palmer is a two-time champion at 145 pounds, while Schulte has won back-to-back crowns at 155 pounds. The winner of each weight class, of course, earns a $1 million prize at the end of the season.

Some of the more notable newcomers at featherweight include former Bellator MMA competitor Bubba Jenkins and Dana White’s Contender Series alum Brendan Loughnane. Meanwhile, high-profile UFC signee Anthony Pettis heads up the field at lightweight, joining the likes of Clay Collard and Olivier Aubin-Mercier.

“We’re excited to officially unveil the first two rosters for the 2021 season,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “Our fighter roster is top-tier, and we are looking forward to having fighters from …