Martial Arts News

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…

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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 …

Two lightweight veterans will lock horn on short notice at UFC 258 when Jim Miller meets Bobby Green.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the matchup. UFC 258 takes place on Feb. 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight title clash between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns. The main card airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims air on ESPN+ beginning at 6:15 p.m. ET/3:15 PT and on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Miller will make his 37th promotional appearance at UFC 258. The New Jersey native went 1-2 in 2020 and is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Vinc Pichel at UFC 252 this past August.

Green was productive during the pandemic, as he rattled off successive decision triumphs over Clay Guida, Lando Vannata and Alan Patrick to begin his 2020 campaign. Most recently, however, “King” was outpointed by Thiago Moises at UFC Fight Night 181 on Oct. 31.

Jessica Penne will return following a 20-month USADA suspension to square off against Hannah Goldy at UFC 260.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the strawweight booking. UFC 260 takes place on March 27 and is headlined by a heavyweight title rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.

Penne was sanctioned after testing positive for metabolites of stanozolol, 16β-hydroxystanozolol and 3’-hydroxystanozolol, synthetic steroids that are banned both in and out of competition. An initial four-year suspension was eventually reduced when the anti-doping organization determined that Penne did not intentionally take the substance to gain an advantage. The former Invicta FC atomweight queen returns to the Octagon on a three-fight losing streak, which includes a decision setback to Danielle Taylor in her most recent outing in April 2017.

Goldy, meanwhile, earned a UFC contract on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series. She suffered her first professional defeat i…

UFC middleweight Abu Azaitar has received a seven-month suspension from USADA for multiple anti-doping violations.

Azaitar tested positive for tamoxifen, a selective estrogren receptor module, in urine samples collected on Aug. 25, Sept. 4, Sept. 9 and Sept. 17, the organization announced Monday. Tamoxifen is often linked to post-cycle steroid use in athletes.

Azaitar provided medical records that he was prescribed tamoxifen by a doctor to treat “symptoms” for an undisclosed condition. However, the fighter “lacked a valid therapeutic use exemption (TUE) and his subsequent application for a retroactive TUE was denied due to lack of sufficient medical justification.” Azaitar was granted a reduced suspension due to the circumstances of the case and thanks to his full and complete cooperation. Azaitar’s suspension began on Aug. 25, which means he will be eligible to return to action on March 25.

Azaitar is the older brother of former UFC lightweight Ottman Azaitar, …

Charles Oliveira isn’t interested in a short-notice fight with no title on the line.

According to a report published by Brazilian outlet AgFight, “Do Bronx” was offered a fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 258 on Feb. 13, with the winner moving on to face Dustin Poirier for the lightweight belt.

Sherdog.com confirmed the news with Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, who also revealed that his fighter turned down the bout.

"Charles had never been so close to the belt and it's important to note that he worked hard for that. He is on an eight-fight winning streak, with seven coming via submission or KO. The fans and even Poirier recognized that,” Lima said. "Today is Feb. 1. It makes no sense for us to accept a title eliminator for 11 days from now.

“Charles needs time to lose weight, we lose about two days with visa stuff and of course we need to prepare for the fight itself,” he continued. “Our goal was fight for the belt ag…

WHAT A DEBUT!!! @JustinJaynesMMA wastes no time at #UFCVegas3. pic.twitter.com/Hlk10FLw5Z

— UFC (@ufc) June 20, 2020

Justin Jaynes has agreed to step in on less than one week’s notice and face Devote Smith at UFC Fight Night 184.

Jaynes replaces Alex da Silva Coelho, who withdrew from the lightweight contest due to undisclosed reasons. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the change. UFC Fight Night 184 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+.

Jaynes made a big first impression in his Octagon debut, as he knocked out Frank Camacho in 41 seconds at UFC on ESPN 11 last June. The Xtreme Couture representative didn’t fare as well in his next two outings, as he was submitted by Gavin Tucker at UFC Fight Night 174 and knocked out by Gabriel Benitez at UFC on ESPN 19. “Guitar Hero” is 16-6 since beginning hi…

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Jordan Burroughs could have been mixed martial arts’ next big prospect, and for a little while, he appeared to be on that path.

Burroughs was set to make the transition shortly after winning the gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2012 Olympic games. In addition to that feat, Burroughs was also a four-time World Champion and a two-time NCAA national champion — making him one of the most highly regarded American wrestlers of all-time. Given those credentials — and the success of wrestlers in the sport as a whole — Burroughs would have been highly coveted by most any major promotion.

“I’ve been close. My wife, Lauren, is the one that’s talked me out of it,” Burroughs recently said on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. “When I graduated from college in 2011, University of Nebraska, wrestling was still in its infancy of marketing and branding and really making it a professional career. MMA was the new …