Martial Arts News

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.

Goodnight! Josh Fremd showing off the power! #LFA98 pic.twitter.com/YwcOUtabHJ

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) January 30, 2021 One half of the Legacy Fighting Alliance middleweight tournament final is set as Josh Fremd earned a shot at the vacant title in the LFA 98 main event.

Fremd (7-1) immediately showed a strength advantage against Bruno Oliveira as he took his foe down early in Round 1. The Brazilian would work his way to the feet, which wound up being his undoing as a huge left hook from Fremd would knockout Oliveira (8-3) at the 2:37 mark. He'll now face the winner of Anthony Adams vs. Gregory Rodrigues at LFA 100 for the belt.

The night's co-main event was in the lightweight division as J.J. Okanovich faced off against Lucas Clay. It wound up being a showcase bout for Clay (7-1), who had a clear grappling advantage over "The Bosnian Bomber." While he was never able to tap Okanovich (7-2), "Cassius" impressed and picked up a una…

Chris Weidman vs. Uriah Hall is being moved. The fight, which was scheduled for UFC 258 on Feb. 13, has been canceled, sources say, after Weidman tested positive for COVID-19 recently. The current plan is for the fight to be moved to UFC 261 on April 24, according to sources.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 29, 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. The co-main event of UFC 258 just fell off the card thanks to the coronavirus. ESPN announced on Friday that Chris Weidman (15-5) vs. Uriah Hall (16-9) 2, a rematch booked for UFC 258, will no longer be happening on that card. Testing positive for COVID-19, Weidman has been removed from the Feb. 13 event and he will not be replaced.

The promotion is currently targeting UFC 261 on April 24 for the relisting of the middleweight match, but the fighters have not signed yet. That card…

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 heavy-hitting heavyweights will join an impressive upcoming UFC Fight Night card in March. First reported by Combate on Friday, Ben Rothwell (38-13) will come to blows with Philipe Lins (14-5) at UFC Fight Night 187. The two heavyweights will meet inside the Octagon on March 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Rothwell hinted at his upcoming matchup announcement on Wednesday, but he did not go so far as to confirm his opponent or its date.

Wisconsin native Rothwell has fallen on hard times the last few years, with only two wins amidst four decision defeats along with a lengthy suspension from a failed drug test. In his last time out in October, Rothwell dropped a decision to Marcin Tybura to snap a two-fight win streak. Those victories included a foul-marred knockout of Stefan Struve, along with a close split decision over ex-l…

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. Stop us if you’ve heard this one: Ricky Simon is going to face Brian Kelleher soon. On Thursday, Bloody Canvas first reported that Simon (17-3) and Kelleher (22-11) have been matched up against one another again for an upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship event. Barring another intervening issue, the two bantamweights will finally square off at UFC 258, which is set to go down on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas at the UFC Apex. While taunting his opponent, Simon confirmed the pairing on his Instagram shortly after the report came out.

The two were originally slated to lock horns at UFC Fight Night 176 in September 2020, but the match fell through when one of Simon’s cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. The second attempt to put this fight together came for UFC on ABC 1 in January, but Kelleher himself tested positive for COVID-19…

Mauro Cerilli MASHES the “Dagestan Machine” in Round 2 of our main-event clash! #ONEUnbreakable2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/UNOuN3aBl7

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 29, 2021 If you wanted violence, the pre-recorded second-part of the One Championship: Unbreakable series delivered in spades.

The One: Unbreakable 2 main event saw former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Mauro Cerilli welcome promotional newcomer Abdulbasir Vagabov in a heavyweight clash. The Italian fighter took his time in the early stage, waiting for Vagabov to rush forward carelessly. Vagabov attempted to drag the action on the canvas, but the Italian had no problems stopping his opponent’s attempts. After a brief pause due to an eye-poke from the Russian, Cerilli caught the “Dagestan Machine” with a knee from the clinch before ending the first stanza with a series of punches. At the waning seconds, Cerilli sprang back to his f…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQkJ--X-4Wk&w=640&h=360] Top Polish mixed martial arts promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki will put on its first card of 2021 this Saturday. Sitting atop KSW 58 is a featherweight title clash between champion Salahdine Parnasse and challenger Daniel Torres. Also of note is a light heavyweight bout between Olympic gold medalist weightlifter Poland Szymon Kolecki, who will take on German MMA veteran Martin Zawada. The eight-fight card is now official after the weigh-ins took place and all 16 fighters managed to make weight.

Looking to defend his belt is the undefeated Parnasse (14-0-1). The Frenchmen knocked out Roman Szymanski in April 2019 to claim the promotion's interim belt and was promoted to full champion once Mateusz Gamrot signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Not competing in 2020, Parnasse took a unanimous decision over Ivan Buchinger in his latest bout in December 2019. The titleholder had no issue making weight a…

Now that the #LFA98 weigh-in is in the books, which fight are you looking forward to the most tomorrow?

: https://t.co/Ssea6rbRua

: https://t.co/tseNkk5ywl@ShellsDotCom@USENDmoney@PsoRite@GLCDirect2000@AthleticCBD@IncaKolaUSA@HartmanArena@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/CFxEm4bwVj — LFA (@LFAfighting) January 29, 2021 The first match of the Legacy Fighting Alliance middleweight semifinals is now official.

The LFA returns on Friday for its second card of 2021, and brings with it an event in LFA 98 that commences the middleweight tournament. The headliner is that tourney match, as Josh Fremd takes on Bruno Oliveira to advance. The winner will take on the victor of the Anthony Adams-Gregory Rodrigues semifinal that is set to take place at LFA 100 next month.

Undefeated within the LFA is Fremd (6-1). The 27-year-old is on a four-fight win streak and has notched two first-round knockouts over Antonio Jones and Lamar Gosey. Fremd will look…

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. Chalk up one more opponent change for Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Seung Woo Choi. On Wednesday night, MMA DNA first reported that Collin Anglin (8-1) had been forced to withdraw from his prospective debut against Choi (8-3). In his stead will be a man matched against him in 2020, with Youssef Zalal (10-3) stepping up on short notice. The two were originally scheduled to face off at UFC Fight Night 179, but Choi was forced out for undisclosed reasons. Zalal and Choi will be squaring off at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6, which will take place in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Zalal confirmed that he was stepping in on his Instagram late Wednesday.

South Korea’s Choi rebounded from a pair of loses to Movsar Evloev and Gavin Tucker to win a decision against Suman Mokhtarian at the end of 2019. Choi scored three knoc…

Here’s the facts. Please read. pic.twitter.com/XYmSOJ4Zs6

— Raquel Pennington (@RockyPMMA) January 28, 2021 Editor's note: This article has been updated at 3 p.m. ET on Jan. 28 to add the official sanction from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

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.

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Raquel Pennington did not want the story coming from anyone but her first.

On Thursday, Pennington announced on social media that she has inadvertently violated anti-doping policy from prescribed medicines to recover from a medical condition. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency subsequently released information regarding her violation, writing that two substances of 7-keto-DHEA and AOD-9064 -- both banned anabolic agents -- were reported by her. First announced by ESPN shortly after she released her statement, Pennington h…

Justin Gaethje finds it ridiculous that Conor McGregor and his team are pushing for a trilogy title bout with Dustin Poirier just after UFC 257.

McGregor did well enough in the opening stanza, but Poirier’s leg kicks took a toll before “The Diamond” won via second-round knockout. McGregor remains a massive draw, but Gaethje doesn’t belive the promotion should cater to the Irish star after they did enough of that leading up to UFC 257.

"For them to come out and say he wants a title shot next, rematch with Poirier, they're f---ing idiots," Gaethje told ESPN. "He's been treated special over and over and he didn't capitalize on this opportunity. That event was for him, it was for him to win. He wants to be ‘Mr. Humble’ now, but you know he would have been an asshole had he won that fight.”

Gaethje himself challenged for lightweight gold at UFC 254 against Khabib Nurmagomedov, losing by second-round triangle choke in the second round in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24. The fo…