Martial Arts News

Colby Covington revisited the onset of his beef with Dustin Poirier that caused him “pain and suffering.”

Covington (17-4) and Poirier (30-9) were former teammates at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where “The Diamond” continues to train. However, a part of ATT since 2011, Covington parted ways with the gym over feuds with Poirier, Jorge Masvidal and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

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Covington claims Poirier used to initially utilize him as a wrestling partner, where he allegedly toyed around with the Louisiana native. According to Covington, Poirier started becoming egotistic once his UFC stardom started growing. While Covington wasn’t quite there yet, he claims to have stood his ground against Poirier.

“When we were training together, he was using me everyday just for wrestling. Never wanted to do anything else but just wrestle with me. I was giving him knowledge, giving him information, obviously toying with him like he was an amateur,” Covington…

Usman Nurmagomedov believes his wrestling is different and better than Arman Tsarukyan’s.

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Nurmagomedov (17-0) is scheduled to defend his Bellator MMA lightweight title against Alexandr Shabliy at Bellator Champions Series San Diego on Sept. 7 in Southern California. Shabliy is training with No. 1 Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight contender Tsarukyan (22-3) for his upcoming fight against Nurmagomedov.

However, Nurmagomedov believes Tsarukyan doesn’t possess the skillset to counter his wrestling. While both Nurmagomedov and Tsarukyan started their combat sports journey with freestyle wrestling, the Bellator lightweight champ later took up combat sambo, like most fighters from his region of Dagestan.

Nurmagomedov claims his wrestling is on a different level than Tsarukyan’s, which he deems one-dimensional. Nurmagomedov believes he wouldn’t make the same mistakes that “Ahalkalakets” did in the sophomore UFC loss of his career again…

We received word back from the UFC matchmaker last week about why we weren't re-signed.

We were told the Flyweight division is comprised of exciting fighters and he doesn't view me as exciting 🥴 I suppose half your fights being finishes/bonuses isn't good enough now.

— Nate Maness (@MayhemManess1) July 29, 2024

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Flyweight prospect Nathan Maness did not get his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract extended despite his best effort.

Maness (16-3) fought out his contract with a unanimous decision win over Jimmy Flick last month. While “Mayhem” was expecting to get his contract extended, he did not hear anything from the UFC. Maness voiced his hopes of getting re-signed even after the exclusive period for the UFC to renew his contract had expired. Despite getting offers from other promotions, Maness was awaiting the UFC’s renewal offer or at least an explanation for the lack of one.

Maness has now allegedly been t…

You can clearly see the moment when Mokaev Tap ✋🏾.

Before the fight we were warned by the same referee that any manipulation of tap or dirty games the judge would end the fight or have removed the point . But ?? #taporfaketapitstap ✋🏾 pic.twitter.com/uW1XS72a2C

— マネル・ケイプ موسى Manel Kape (@ManelKape) July 29, 2024

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Manel Kape had his chance to make a statement inside the cage with Muhammad Mokaev, but instead continues to make them outside of it.

Kape (19-7) took on Mokaev (13-0) at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, at UFC 304 last Saturday. While there was serious animosity leading up to the bout, the contest turned out to be a lukewarm affair. Mokaev outpointed Kape from the outside to rope in a unanimous decision win, which “Starboy” now disputes.

Kape caught Mokaev in a guillotine attempt while defending a takedown in the final frame. While Mokaev eventually escaped the attempt, Kape claims “Th…

[embedded content] Someone’s block will get knocked off come October.

Robelis Despaigne (5-1) is slated to trade leather against Austen Lane (12-5) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas in Oct. 19. The matchup was first announced on Monday by Despaigne on Instagram, and later confirmed by multiple outlets. The two will tangle on a currently unnumbered UFC Fight Night show that currently only has its headliner announced between Michel Pereira and Anthony Hernandez.

2012 taekwondo Olympic bronze medalist Despaigne started his MMA career with four consecutive first-round knockouts, combining for 5:13 of total cage time. His UFC debut in March went swimmingly, as the Cuban crushed Josh Parisian in 18 seconds at UFC 299. “The Bad Boy” was then matched up against Waldo Cortes-Acosta in a quick turnaround at UFC St. Louis in May, but that did not go so well for him. Cortes-Acosta derailed the 6-foot-7 striker by outwrestling him to earn a unanimous decision win.

Meanwhile, for…

A pair of formerly ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweights will try to get a number next to their name in September.

Two large 205ers will come to blows on Sept. 7 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas as part of UFC Fight Night 242, as first reported by MMA Junkie on Monday. Both Ryan Spann (21-10) and Ovince St. Preux (27-17) are 2-3 in their last five respective outings, but a statement performance could still rebound them to fringe contender status. The pairing has since been confirmed by other outlets.

The 32-year-old Spann has dropped three straight outings, with a triangle choke loss to Nikita Krylov, a close decision to Anthony Smith and a stunning knockout at the hands of Bogdan Guskov sullying his recent ledger. Before the trio of setbacks, Spann maintained his status as a top-15 light heavyweight by hitting a quick guillotine choke on Ion Cutelaba and crushing Dominick Reyes in 80 seconds in 2022. As a pro, “Superman” has earned stoppages in 18 of…

Two action fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division will clash in October.

The organization has added Chris Curtis (31-11, 1 NC) vs. Kevin Holland (26-11, 1 NC) to the billing of UFC 307 on Oct. 5, courtesy of an initial announcement by Curtis’ management team Iridium Sports Agency on Monday. The former welterweights who have swum in the same circles for years will finally throw down, likely doing so in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City—although that venue is not official. The middleweight pairing has since been confirmed by Holland on social media.

“The Action Man” is coming off a pair of split decisions leading up to this expected main card excursion, winning one against Marc-Andre Barriault in January and dropping a five-rounder to Brendan Allen in April. While the well-traveled Curtis had experienced success introducing himself to the promotion in 2021 and 2021, beating Phil Hawes, Allen and Rodolfo Vieira, he has struggled since then,…

The noble Merab Dvalishvili would rather go out on his shield whenever possible.

Winner of 10 straight in the talent-rich bantamweight division, Dvalishvili (17-4) will get a crack at the title held by Sean O'Malley (18-1) at UFC 306. While friend and training partner Aljamain Sterling held the strap from 2021 to 2023, the pathway is now open for the Georgian to pursue undisputed gold. He will try to do so in the main attraction of the card titled “Noche UFC,” which takes place on Sep. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

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When Sterling was dethroned by O’Malley at UFC 292 in September, he immediately protested his knockout loss to referee Marc Goddard, proclaiming it was too early. Dvalishvili watched that result closely, and vows to prove that O’Malley “got lucky” putting away “Funk Master,” with a light touch from Goddard. “The Machine” told The Schmo on Sunday that he prefers his fight handled a bit differently.

“I’m going to beat Sean O'Malley,” Dval…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has enough with flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev.

Mokaev (13-0, 1 NC) defeated Manel Kape (19-7) in his adopted home country of England on Saturday, picking up a less-than-stellar decision win over his bitter rival. Ahead of UFC 304, the flyweights had brewed plenty of bad blood between them, even getting into multiple scuffles prior to their actual fight. However, that aggression was nowhere to be found once the Octagon doors closed, with referee Mike Beltran even calling for more action in the opening frame. The UFC brass was not impressed by his performance, and even less so by his conduct behind the scenes.

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Approaching this event in Manchester, England, Mokaev revealed that the bout with Kape was the last fight on his UFC contract. While he hoped it would be renewed, he claimed that UFC matchmakers were not a fan of his grappling-heavy style and allegedly told him that his re-signing hinged on his UFC 304 per…

At 33 years of age, Curtis Blaydes still has plenty of time to develop and climb back up the heavyweight division.

Blaydes (18-5, 1 NC) challenged Tom Aspinall (15-3) for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event at UFC 304 in the latter’s home of Manchester, England. The two previously clashed in 2022, with Blaydes picking up an injury stoppage TKO win after Aspinall blew out his knee in 15 seconds. In the rematch, Blaydes fared well in the initial exchanges, but a single jab set “Razor” down, and Aspinall finished the job with ruthless ground-and-pound to notch the stoppage one minute into the fight.

Addressing his defeat, Blaydes apologized for throwing his premeditated gameplan out the window after landing on Aspinall early. “Razor” remained confident that he would have defeated the Brit had he stuck to the strategy designed by his coaches.

“Sorry guys,” Blaydes wrote, “I got greedy when I touched him early and threw out the amazing gameplay that my…

Paddy Pimblett targets Renato “Moicano” Carneiro next after his win over Bobby Green at UFC 304.

Pimblett (22-3) choked Green (32-16-1, 1 NC) to sleep in the opening round of their lightweight matchup in front of a home crowd in Manchester, England. The Liverpudlian had a name ready when given the opportunity to call someone out in his post-fight Octagon interview: “Moicano.” Pimblett hopes to face the Brazilian before the end of the year or early next year, provided the fighter who also calls himself “Money” gets past his upcoming opponent of Benoit St. Denis at UFC Paris in September.

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“I have a name that everybody wants me to fight, Renato ‘Moicano,’” Pimblett said. “Hopefully he gets through [Benoit St. Denis]. We’ll see if we can set it up before the end of the year or in the new year.”

Pimblett and Carneiro have been teasing a matchup for a while now, with the Englishman having issued the initial callout. However, Carneiro didn’t include Pimble…

Muhammad Mokaev’s post-fight admission might have cost him his job.

Unbeaten youngster Mokaev (13-0, 1 NC) picked up a lackluster win over rival Kape (19-7) in front of his home fans in Manchester, England, on the prelims of UFC 304. Leading up to the fight, UFC featherweight Jean Silva reported Kape punched Mokaev outside the UFC Performance Institute. However, Kape dismissed the reports as mere exaggeration by his friend to help promote the fight.

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On fight week, Mokaev and Kape’s teams were captured on video brawling at the fighter hotel after the UFC 304 weigh-ins. While Kape subsequently posted a picture of Mokaev with a cut on the forehead, the Dagestan-born Brit shared a photo of his unscathed face along with a screengrab of a seemingly downed Kape. Kape’s coach, Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture, subsequently accused Mokaev of sucker punching the Angolan on the pretext of taking a photo together.

Kape and Mokaev looked primed to attack one an…