Martial Arts News

Its cute that Jake thinks he is a real fighter, Im gonna beat him up April 17 https://t.co/XcsJ8WhmR3

— Funky (@Benaskren) January 26, 2021

Retired mixed martial artist Ben Askren is making his return to combat sports to face YouTube star Jake Paul in a professional boxing bout on April 17.

Both Askren and Paul announced the matchup on social media following an initial report from ESPN. A weight class for the bout, which will take place under the Triller Fight Club banner, has not been determined. The combatants will fight in a 20-by-20 ring and wear 10-ounce gloves. The event will air on pay-per-view, but a location has not been finalized.

Askren retired from mixed martial arts in November 2019 to have hip replacement surgery and underwent a successful procedure this past August. The 36-year-old known as “Funky” ended his MMA tenure after back-to-back losses to Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia in the UFC. A two-time NCAA wrestling champio…

When your head is turning purple, you know the tap is coming soon! #LFA95 pic.twitter.com/wbSWMGYrJ4

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 21, 2020

A flyweight championship tilt between Victor Altamirano and Carlos do Carmo Motta will serve as the headliner for Legacy Fighting Alliance’s centennial event on Feb. 19.

The promotion announced the card on Tuesday. LFA 100 takes place at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas, and also includes a middleweight tournament semifinal between Anthony Adams and Gregory Rodrigues. The card will stream on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, and a limited amount of fans will be allowed to attend. The winner of Altamirano vs. Motta will become LFA’s seventh 125-pound champion, the last four of which are currently in the UFC.

The 30-year-old Altamirano enters the matchup on the strength of back-to-back wins over Chris Ocon and Lloyd McKinney in 2020. He owns an 8-1 career mark, with all of his triumph…

Conor McGregor might not be able to make as quick a turnaround as he might like following his UFC 257 loss to Dustin Poirier.

McGregor is facing a 180-day medical suspension unless he is cleared by a right tibia/fibula X-ray. At a minimum, the former two-division champion is suspended 45 days with 30 days of no contact. The UFC released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to mixedmartialarts.com on Monday.

UFC 257 took place on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and saw Poirier knock out McGregor 2:32 into the second round of their headlining lightweight rematch. Poirier, like everyone on the card, received a mandatory seven-day medical suspension.

Two other competitors from UFC 257 are facing potential 180-day terms pending medical clearance: Andrew Sanchez (nose, tibia/fibula) and Matt Frevola (right hand).

UFC 257 Medical Suspensions:

Conor McGregor: 180 days or cleared by right tibia/fibula X-ray; minimum 45 days with 30 days n…

BJ Penn clearly drunk as he’s arrested. I hope he receives the assistance he needs... pic.twitter.com/5Idv7tXSl7

— Michael Morgan (@mikewhoatv) January 25, 2021

B.J. Penn had another run-in with the law this past weekend.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, the UFC Hall of Famer was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Honokaa, Hawaii, after police received a reckless driving complaint. Penn was eventually released after an investigation, but his blood-alcohol level was not provided.

Additionally, video of what appears to be a belligerent Penn being guided into a police car surfaced on Monday.

Later, the Hawaii Police Department released further details regarding the incident. The statement regarding Penn is as follows:

Jay Penn of Hilo, also known as BJ Penn, was arrested Saturday, January 23, 2021, for operating a vehicle under the influence of intoxicants.

About 4:51 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, Hawai‘i Police Depar…

In the aftermath of his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, Conor McGregor didn’t waste much time before mentioning the possibility of a trilogy.

According to his coach, John Kavanagh, the Irish superstar wants the stakes raised: Ideally, a third meeting between the two lightweights would be for the vacant 155-pound belt.

“That’s the big drive,” Kavanagh told ESPN. “It’s 1-1, they’re right up there in the rankings, they’re very popular fighters. I think the two of them are a beautiful matchup. Stylistically, it’s beautiful to watch. I’d love to see lots and lots of rounds between the two of them.

“Dustin is obviously riding high with confidence now with more experience and more weight. He took some of those shots. I’m sure his confidence is super high at the moment. We have to fix that technique with the leg and a couple of other things, as well, but Dustin vs. Conor 3 for the belt in maybe May, that would be amazing.”

McGregor defeated Poirier via first-…

The UFC just wrapped up a whirlwind week in Abu Dhabi, with three events in an eight-day span.

Though the promotion’s plans remain ever-tentative in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, it doesn’t sound as though a return to “Fight Island” will happen until summer. As of now, events through March — and likely beyond — are expected to be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

“If I had to map it out in my head, we’d come back in June or July,” Dana White said at the UFC 257 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. “Who knows? While we were here there was a new inauguration and we’ll see what happens.

“Traveling in America I think is gonna be another massive challenge for us this year.”

One positive from the series of events at Etihad Arena this past week was the presence of fans in the 18,000-seat venue, which coincided with Conor McGregor’s return to action. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, only about 2,000 people were allowed to attend each card. Still, it made…

There was likely no other fighter who was more interested in the top two fights at UFC 257 than lightweight contender Charles Oliveira.

Coming off eight straight wins — seven via submission or TKO — including an impressive triumph over former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, the Chute Boxe fighter is confident he should face Dustin Poirier for the 155-pound belt next. Poirier, of course, knocked out Conor McGregor in Saturday’s headliner at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Sherdog.com spoke with Oliveira and his trainer, Diego Lima, at approximately the same time UFC president Dana White was starting the post-fight press conference on Saturday night.

"There is no other path to go. I´m coming from a sequence of eight wins. If Khabib [Nurmagomedov] returns, I'm the only one in the Top 4 that didn’t face him. It's me and him or Poirier, who did a great job against McGregor and already knocked out [Justin] Gaethje. So the only fight would make sense is myself a…

A pivotal middleweight middleweight showdown between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa has been targeted for April 17.

Sherdog.com confirmed with sources from both camps that Whittaker and Costa are in negotiations to headline the UFC Fight Night card, likely in Las Vegas. However, an interim title will not be on the line as Whittaker had previously hoped. Reigning 185-pound champ Israel Adesanya is slated to move up a division to challenge light heavyweight title holder Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 on March 6. The UFC has not officially confirmed the April 17 card.

Whittaker lost the middleweight crown to Adesanya at UFC 243 via second-round KO in October 2019. Since then, “The Reaper” has rebounded to post decision wins over contenders Darren Till and Jared Cannonier. The 30-year-old Sydney-based fighter has won 11 of his last 12 Octagon appearances.

Costa, meanwhile, suffered his first professional defeat in 14 outings when he was stopped by Adesanya in the secon…

A welterweight clash pitting Tyron Woodley against Vicente Luque has nearly been finalized for UFC 260.

Promotion broadcast partner ESPN was first to report the booking on Sunday. The bout has not been formally announced by the UFC because contracts have not been signed. UFC 260 takes place on March 27 and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou. A location for the card has not been announced.

A former welterweight champion, Woodley heads into the matchup with Luque looking to snap a three-bout losing streak. “The Chosen One” relinquished his crown in a lopsided five-round decision loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 and wasn’t especially competitive in subsequent five-round defeats against top 170-pound contenders Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington in his two 2020 appearances. Prior to that, Woodley successfully defended his belt four times after knocking out Robbie Lawler at UFC 201 to become champion.

Luque, meanwhile, is …

Nik Lentz is calling it a career after 45 professional bouts.

The 36-year-old Minnesota native announced his retirement via Instagram on Sunday, pointing to ongoing vision issues as the reason behind his decision. Lentz, who dropped a split decision to Movsar Evloev at UFC 257 on Saturday, had to undergo a risky corrective procedure after being poked in the eye in a loss to Arnold Allen last year.

“They say don’t make rash decisions after a loss, but this one is not rash or even quick for that matter. The injury I suffered to my eyes last year was a career ender,” Lentz wrote. “In total I lost about 40% of my vision, but I wanted to see what one more hard-fought battle was like with the new eyes. It was clear to me last night that it’s impossible for me to compete at this level anymore. I just can’t lock on to a moving target like I should, and with 40% of my vision practically gone... it’s chaotic to the least.

“My life as fighter in the best organization on the plan…

About a year ago at this time, a rejuvenated Conor McGregor had big plans in store following a quick finish of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.

An active 2020 calendar didn’t come to fruition for the Irish star, however, and it was a much more somber atmosphere following his first appearance since then, a second-round technical knockout loss to Dustin Poirier in the UFC 257 headliner at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. A victory could have opened the door for numerous possibilities for the biggest star in the sport. Instead, McGregor must figure out how to rebound from perhaps the most damaging loss of his career to date.

“It’s the whole shebang, but I have no excuses here. It was a phenomenal performance by Dustin. I don’t know what to say,” McGregor said at the post-fight press conference. “I’m going to go back. I’m going to chill out. I’ll watch the full fight and get a better grasp on it. The leg was compromised. I was rushing the shots a little bit, and I d…

For years, Michael Chandler was the unofficial face of Bellator MMA.

Even as he enjoyed multiple reigns as the California-based promotion’s lightweight champ, he couldn’t help but consider what it might be like to square off against the UFC’s best at 155 pounds. On Saturday, Chandler showed what he could do in front what was likely a massive pay-per-view audience, as he defeated Top 10 lightweight Dan Hooker via first-round technical knockout in the UFC 257 co-main event.

“I spent 12 years outside of this company thinking about this possibility, thinking about these matchups, thinking about fighting the best guys in the world. Now I’m here,” Chandler said. “I’m going to be ranked inside the Top 5 now, that might knock Conor out of No. 4, maybe put me on No. 3 or 4… I have no idea where the rankings are going to go, doesn’t really matter. Anybody can get a title shot as long as they are in the Top 5, Top 10 actually, so… Just feeling great.

“Pure elation, tons of…