Martial Arts News

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. Three important Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts at lightweight and middleweight are now booked on the promotion’s first pay-per-view in 2021. MMA Junkie was first to report on Thursday that Arman Tsarukyan (15-2) and Nasrat Haqparast (12-3) will compete against one another at lightweight. The two will face off at UFC 257 on Jan. 23 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Tsarukyan has since confirmed the booking on Instagram, while stating that his initial plan was to take on Alexander Hernandez in December.

Haqparast rebounded from his first career knockout loss with a decision over Alex Munoz in August. Prior to facing Munoz, Drew Dober smashed him in 70 seconds at UFC 246. The German-born fighter holds a 75 percent finish rate throughout his career, with his most recent stoppage win due to strikes com…

After defending various submission attacks from Entwistle, Roa was able to get the upper hand, with the fight coming to an ending due to Ian's injury

Dumar Roa, your winner via TKO for BRAVE CF 45! #BRAVECF #BRAVECF45 #KombatKingdom #Bahrain pic.twitter.com/eMfpx3YygW

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) November 19, 2020 An unfortunate injury marred the ending of an otherwise exciting Brave Combat Federation event. The main event of Brave CF 45 was short but intense. The headliner pitted Colombia's Dumar Roa (9-7) against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Ian Entwistle (9-4), with the latter stepping back into the cage for the first time in over four years. The Englishman shot for a leg lock as soon as the match started, and for a time, it looked like he could end the battle emphatically. Roa kept faith to his "Corazon de Leon" nickname and stoically resisted the submission attempt, all while trying to fight his way out of it. …

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. Although already listed on Sherdog Fight Finder, and confirmed several times over by Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, the ink has finally dried for the big fight. On Thursday morning, The Mac Life announced that Conor McGregor (22-4) and Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) have signed their bout agreements to face one another again at UFC 257. The two will square off on Jan. 23 at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. They will meet for the second time, and over six years removed from their first pairing at UFC 178 in 2014, where McGregor won by first-round knockout.

The official signing by both parties puts an end to negotiations that included potentially shifting the contest to headline UFC 256 on Dec. 12. While they had both verbally agreed to the matchup earlier in November, both men…

The lineup for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event on Dec. 19 continues to grow, as a bantamweight scrap pitting Pannie Kianzad against Sijara Eubanks has been added to the bill.

MMA DNA was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweght bout between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Kianzad is on a two-bout winning streak after earning unanimous decisions against Bethe Correia and Jessica Rose-Clark in her last two UFC appearances. The 28-year-old Swede has compiled a 13-5 career mark while also competing in organizations such as Invicta FC and Cage Warriors.

Eubanks, meawhile, had a two-fight winning streak snapped when she dropped a unanimous verdict to Ketlen Vieira at UFC 253 on Sept. 26. “The Ultimate Fighter 26” competitor owns wins over the likes of Julia Avila, Roxanne Modafferi and Lauren Murphy in the Octagon.

Goiti Yamauchi will square off against former CES MMA lightweight champion Nate Andrews in a lightweight bout on the Bellator 254 main card.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 254 takes place on Dec. 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and is headlined by a flyweight championship tilt between Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Juliana Velasquez.

Yamauchi enters the matchup with Andrews having won six of his last seven promotional appearances. Most recently, the 27-year-old Japan native choked out Daron Cruickshank at Bellator 237 last December. Yamauchi is 11-3 over the course of his Bellator tenure.

Andrews, 36, won nine consecutive fights with CES MMA before a recent 1-2 stint with Professional Fighters League. Andrews concluded his 2019 PFL season with a majority decision loss to Chris Wade in the playoffs last year. “The Snake” is 16-3 as a professional, with all but on…

A light heavyweight clash pitting Misha Cirkunov against Ryan Spann has been added to the lineup for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event on Dec. 19.

MMA DNA was first to report the book. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight tilt between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Cirkunov will compete for the first time in 2020 after going 1-1 in the Octagon last year. Cirkunov rebounded from a 38-second TKO loss to Johnny Walker at UFC 235 with a first-round submission of Jimmy Crute at UFC Fight Night 158 in September 2019. The 33-year-old Latvian is 6-3 during his UFC tenure and 15-5 as a professional overall.

After earning a UFC contract on Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Spann was victorious in his first four Octagon appearances. That streak came to an end at UFC Fight Night 178 in September, when he was knocked out in the first round by Walker. The 29-year-old Fortis MMA product owns an 18-6 ca…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW5Pl7vzFnw&w=560&h=315]

Donald Cerrone knows that his mixed martial arts career is coming to a close, but “Cowboy” would prefer to go out on his terms.

The 36-time Octagon veteran is winless in his last five UFC appearances. After his last bout, a majority draw with Niko Price at UFC Fight Night 178 on Sept. 19, Dana White suggested it was time to have a conversation with Cerrone about retirement.

“For him tonight, the win for him tonight, he was on his way out in the first 30 seconds of the first round,” White said at the card’s post-fight press conference. “He fought back, he’s tough, he’s durable. I love ‘Cowboy,’ and I know this is going to f—ing crush him and break his heart, but it’s time to have a conversation with him.”

Cerrone dismissed the notion at the time but more recently, the BMF Ranch founder acknowledged that his career does have a shelf life.

“This is the last run,” Cerrone said in a video posted …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZZYaULbC2U&w=560&h=315]

Darrion Caldwell and A.J. McKee are ready to vie for a berth in the championship round of Bellator MMA’s featherweight grand prix.

Both Caldwell and McKee made weight without issue on Wednesday ahead of their headlining clash at Bellator 253. Caldwell tipped the scales at 144.7 pounds for the five-round bout, while McKee checked in at 144.8. The Caldwell-McKee winner will eventually square off against the winner of the Patricio Freire-Emmanuel Sanchez bout in the finals of the tournament with 145-pound gold on the line.

Bellator 253 takes place on Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and will also see Benson Henderson (170) make his return to welterweight against Jason Jackson (170) in the co-main event. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network and Dazn at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream on Bellator’s YouTube channel and Dazn at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT.

Caldwell,…

It appears that Jesse Ronson could be spending a significant amount of time on the sideline after failing a USADA drug test.

The UFC welterweight announced the news in a post on his Facebook page. Ronson says he tested positive for the anabolic steroid Metandienone, which is also known as Dianabol.

“It is with great surprise, and sadness that I have to inform you that I have received a suspension from USADA for the detection of a banned substance in my sample provided to them during an out of competition test,” Ronson wrote. “This has turned my world upside down as it’s a 20-month suspension. I haven’t slept much and have been sick to my stomach as I would never knowingly or purposely take a banned substance.”

Ronson added that he spent $1,000 to have a supplement sent to a testing facility, but it came back clean. The fighter added that he was unable to provide USADA with any of his other supplements that might have been tainted.

“USADA has been working w…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 255 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. J.P. Buys, Gloria de Paula, Tucker Lutz and Victoria Leonardo punched their tickets to the Ultimate Fighting Championship during the Season 4 finale of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The season concludes with 37 new UFC recruits, some of whom have already touched down inside the Octagon. Buys (9-2) joined his wife Cheyanne on the UFC roster with his controversial technical submission of Jacob Silva in the first round of their flyweight showcase. With Silva stuck in a guillotine choke near the base of the fence, referee Marc Goddard intervened 4:54 into Round 1 despite the fact that there was neither a tapout nor concrete proof that the former Fury Fighting Championship titleholder had lost consciousness. Nevertheless, the stoppage was called, with Silva (6-4) immediately leaping to his feet …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 255 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live DWCS 2020 Week 10 coverage kicks off Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 The flyweights touch gloves and we’re underway for the opening bout of the night. Hackett lands a delayed front kick, a leg kick and another front kick to the face before Leonardo forces the clinch. Hackett is able to separate and they’re back in the center of the cage, where Hackett lands a heavy leg kick. Hackett goes high with a kick, but Leonardo blocks it. Moments later, Hackett connects with a punching combination, but Leonardo closes the distance and trips her foe to the mat. Leonardo is in top position near the fence, sitting in half guard. Leonardo stays busy, landing periodic left hands to the face. Hackett works her way up and eats a knee. Leonardo …

Paul Felder is facing a potentially lengthy layoff following his loss to Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC Fight Night 182 headliner.

mixedmartialarts.com obtained a full list of medical suspensions from the event, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. Felder must have an X-ray or MRI on his right elbow and doctor clearance or he will be sidelined until May 14. At a minimum, “The Irish Dragon” is suspended until Jan. 14 with no contact until Dec. 30.

Dos Anjos, who defeated Felder by split decision in his lightweight return, is suspended until Dec. 15 with no contact until Dec. 6.

Three other fighters from UFC Fight Night 182 are facing potential six-month suspensions: Cory McKenna (left ankle sprain), Alex Morono (right knee) and Roque Martinez (left knee).

UFC Fight Night 182 Medical Suspensions:

Rafael dos Anjos: suspended until 12/15/20 ;No contact until 12/06/20 for hard fight

Paul Felder: must have X-Ray or MRI of rig…