Martial Arts News

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Before Dan Hooker left the Octagon following his first-round knockout loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 257, he left his gloves in the cage — normally the universal signal that a fighter is calling it a career.

In his first public comments since that defeat, Hooker told Submission Radio that he was simply caught up in the frustration of the moment. He isn’t, however, ready to give up on his MMA career just yet. In fact, once things had time to settle down, Hooker says the loss wasn’t any more upsetting than his five-round decision defeat to Dustin Poirier last June.

“You’re always frustrated after a loss,” Hooker said (transcription via MMAFighting.com). “[It was] a balance of everything. Sheer frustration, you’re disappointed, and in that moment I was like, ‘I’m done. I’m finished with this s—-y sport. I’m done.’ Then you get back to the hotel and you think about it and you realize you’re not good at an…

Es ist offiziell!!! PUDZIAN IST ZURÜCK!!!

Mariusz Pudzianowski zurück #KSW59 und @AntunRacic verteidigt seinen bantamweight Titel!!! pic.twitter.com/imAu7Bg6rd

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) 30. Januar 2021 Der ehemalige World ' s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski wird seine Rückkehr zu Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki Käfig auf März 20.

Die polnische Förderung angekündigt, über das Wochenende, dass Pudzianowski wird Headliner KSW 59 "Kampf-Code". Seine Gegner und die Veranstaltung der Standort wurden nicht offenbart.

Das beliebte Schwergewicht hat sich nicht beworben, seit November 2019, wenn er besiegte Erko Jundurch in der zweiten Runde technisch K.o. am KSW 51. Der 43-jährige machte seine MMA-Debüt im Jahr 2009 und zusammengestellt hat Funktionen 13-7 Rekord mit einem Nein contest. Alle, aber einer seiner professionellen Auftritte haben, kommen unter der KSW-banner. Er hat besiegt, die gerne von Rolles Gracie, Bob Sapp, Oli Thompson, Sean McCorkle un…

Andre Fialho. Just beautiful. Watch this. #XMMA pic.twitter.com/vysz81frka— ShayMyName (@ImShannonTho) January 31, 2021

James Vick saw the return of Xtreme MMA as a launching point for his own career comeback, but Andre Fialho had something to say about it.

The promotion, which put on seven events in Canada between 2007 and 2009, returned after more a decade on Saturday at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. For its first-ever event in the United States, XMMA brought a card jam-packed with familiar names from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA and other top-tier promotions, none more familiar than Vick, a former UFC lightweight contender.

In the welterweight main event of XMMA 8, Vick took on Bellator and Professional Fighters League veteran Andre Fialho. The matchup represented a chance at redemption for both men, as “The Texecutioner” had been inactive since exiting the UFC on a four-fight losing streak in late 2019, while…

Daniel Torres shocks the world with this knockout over Saladhine Parnasse!!! #KSW58 pic.twitter.com/cOpPUvOOjd

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 30, 2021

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s first event of the year ended with a bizarre knockout shot that resulted in a title change.

The KSW 588 main event saw Salahdine Parnasse (14-1-1) put his featherweight championship on the line against Daniel Torres (12-4). After studying each other for a while, the contenders exchanged a few shots to test each other’s chin. Torres showed his long jab, to which the defending champion retaliated with a head kick that partially landed. After a wide swing from both contenders, Parnasse clipped the challenger with a kick to the body. “Tucanao” seemed comfortable on his feet as he counterpunched when the French fighter rushed forward.

After a minute and a half, Torres threw an inventive shot with his triceps that perfectly landed on the side of Parnasse’s head. The French fi…

Ladies and gentlemen, my fight against Ciryl Gane got rescheduled for February 27! 5x5 minutes main card. Spread the word! @ufc @michaelbabb01 #MMA #BigiBoy #Suriname pic.twitter.com/vBL8Tea9F5

— Jairzinho 'BIGI BOY' Rozenstruik (@JairRozenstruik) January 30, 2021

It appears that Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane will now serve as the new UFC Fight Night 186 main event.

Rozenstruik recently announced on social media that the bout had been moved from UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13 to Feb. 27. Shortly thereafter, Jiri Prochazka revealed that his proposed clash against Dominick Reyes, which was originally set to top UFC Fight Night 186, has been postponed for undisclosed reasons. The Las Vegas-based promotion has not officially announced an update to the card. It is also currently unclear when Reyes vs. Prochazka might be rescheduled.

The fight has been postponed from February 27th, but I’m looking forward to fighti…

Martin Day will replace Julio Arce and square off against Timur Valiev at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6.

The matchup was first reported by Rob Demello. UFC Fight Night 184 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Feb. 6 and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov.

Day is looking for his first promotional triumph after falling to Pingyuan Liu, Davey Grant and Anderson dos Santos in his first three appearances. The 32-year-old Hawaiian owns an 8-5 professional mark overall.

Valiev suffered a second-round KO loss to Trevin Jones in his Octagon debut at UFC on ESPN 15, but the result was overturned to a no contest after Jones tested positive for marijuana. The Dagestani had been victorious in his previous six pro outings, including wins in Professional Fighters League and World Series of Fighting.

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…