Martial Arts News

Last week, reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov said he doesn't ever expect to face Tony Ferguson after Ferguson was beaten badly by Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 this past May.

"One day you're going to go down and his day come. It was May. Tony Ferguson is finished now,” Nurmagomedov recently told ESPN. “He's gonna come back, and someone gonna beat him again, I believe. Because when you take damage like this, you'll never going to be the same. Never. Even if you're Tony Ferguson.”

Not so fast, says Ferguson. Although the fight has already fallen through on five different occasions for various reasons, “El Cucuy” is confident his day with Nurmagomedov will come. And although his setback to Gaethje was jarring, Ferguson is not happy that many in the MMA community seem to have forgotten that he authored a 12-bout winning streak in the UFC prior to that defeat.

"I see fear in his voice if he thinks he has to talk bad about people," Ferguson told ESPN…

According to Khabib Nurmagomedov, there’s a major difference between Dagestani wrestling and American wrestling.

The debate has taken on added significance as Nurmagomedov prepares to defend his undisputed lightweight crown against interim king Justin Gaethje in the UFC 254 main event on Saturday. Gaethje has been known as a dangerous striker throughout his MMA career, but those skills are backed by a wrestling pedigree that saw him earn NCAA All-American honors at the University of Northern Colorado.

“I didn’t watch any tape on Kahbib. I’ve watched his fights thoughout his career because I’m a huge fan of MMA. But I didn’t go back when I got him as an opponent to analyze him,” Gaethje said at UFC 254 press conference on Wednesday. “I’ve always focused on being my best self. He hasn’t fought somebody who has wrestled or grappled as long as he has. That is me, I have.

“Everyone says they’re ready [for Nurmagomedov]. I will not allow him to put me on the fence. I…

Marlon Moraes won’t have to wait long to rebound from his loss to Cory Sandhagen, as he has been scheduled to square off against Rob Font at a UFC Fight Night card on Dec. 19.

MMA journalist Mike Russell was first to report the bantamweight booking, which has since been reported by multiple outlets. The event takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and does not currently have a headliner.

Moraes fell victim to a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches from Sandhagen in the UFC Fight Night 179 main event. Prior to that, the former WSOF champion took a controversial split verdict against Jose Aldo at UFC 245. “Magic” is 23-7-1 as a professional, with notable wins against the likes of Aldo, Aljamain Sterling, Raphael Assuncao, Jimmie Rivera, John Dodson and Miguel Torres.

Font, meanwhile, enters the bout on a two-fight winning streak after scoring back-to-back unanimous decision triumphs over Sergio Pettis and Ricky Simon. The Team Sityodtong representative is …

Ovince St. Preux will meet Jamahal Hill in a light heavyweight scrap at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Dec. 5.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from Cageside Press. The card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Darren Till and Jack Hermansson.

After a brief foray at heavyweight, which resulted in a loss to Ben Rothwell at UFC Fight Night 171, St. Preux returned to 205 pounds at UFC Fight Night 176, where he knocked out Alonzo Menifield in the second round on Sept. 5. “OSP” is 15-10 over the course of his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

A competitor on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Hill is unbeaten in eight professional outings thus far. However, a first-round TKO of Klidson Abreu at UFC on ESPN 9 was overturned to a no contest after Hill tested positive for marijuana. He debuted in the Octagon with a unanimous verdict over Darko Stosic.

An intriguing welterweight duel has been added to the Bellator 252 card, as Ukrainian Yaroslav Amosov will square off with fellow unbeaten fighter Logan Storley on Nov. 12.

Prime Fight Management, which represents Amosov, confirmed the booking to Sherdog.com. Bellator 252 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and includes a pair of featherweight grand prix matchups: Patricio Freire vs. Pedro Carvalho and Daniel Weichel vs. Emmanuel Sanchez.

The 27-year-old Amosov is unbeaten in 24 career outings – including five under the Bellator banner. “Dynamo” has already earned notable victories in the California-based promotion against the likes of Ed Ruth, Gerald Harris, David Rickels and Erick Silva. He has finished 19 of his 24 career triumphs inside the distance.

A four-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Minnesota, Storley is 11-0 thus far in his professional tenure. The Sanford MMA representative is 6-0 thus far in Bellator and is coming off a fi…

As the most important fight of her career approaches, Jennifer Maia spoke to Sherdog.com about her final weeks of preparation for her upcoming fight against flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in the UFC 255 co-main event.

With victories in three of her last four Octagon appearances, the former Invicta FC title holder is optimistic about her chances against “Bullet.”

“This has been the best camp of my life. Everything is running according with our plans,” Maia said. “Valentina never makes mistakes during the fight, so I don’t see she changing her usual strategy against myself. My main focus will be to impose my rhythm and not let her get comfortable in any moment of the fight.”

Maia also praised former opponent Jessica Andrade, who made her 125-pound debut last weekend with a first-round TKO of Katlyn Chookagian in the UFC Fight Night 180 co-headliner. The Parana, Brazil, native previously defeated Andrade via unanimous decision at Samurai FC 9 “Water vs. Fi…

UFC 254 is pretty big deal, that much is well documented.

Earlier this week UFC president Dana White revealed that the card is trending to be the promotion’s top-selling pay-per-view of all time, potentially surpassing the blockbuster showdown between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor in 2018.

For Justin Gaethje, UFC 254 is significant beyond pay-per-figures and the chance to unseat Nurmagomedov as the organization’s reigning lightweight champion. It’s about long-term security for his family. Both Gaethje’s mom and dad will be in attendance when he stands across from Nurmagomedov at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. That will be a memorable moment in itself.

“My parents have never flown international,” Gaethje said at a pre-fight press conference on Wednesday. “They got to fly business class [to Abu Dhabi]. They’ve never flown business class.

“My dad retired a little over a year ago. He worked 37 years in the copper mines. My mom is going to…

It appears that Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev have a new date.

According to information released by MMA DNA and later confirmed by Combate.com, the fight between dos Anjos and Makhachev has been rescheduled for a UFC event on Nov. 14. It is currently unclear if the lightweight bout will serve as the headliner for the card, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is expected to be UFC Fight Night 182.

Dos Anjos and Makhachev were initially scheduled to meet at UFC 254 on Oct. 24. However, dos Anjos tested positive for COVID-19 during his camp at Nova Uniao in Rio de Janeiro and the matchup was postponed. Dos Anjos revealed to Sherdog.com that the illness was really bad for the first week, but after that he recovered began his training following a 14-day quarantine.

A former UFC champion at 155 pounds, dos Anjos will return to lightweight for the first time since 2016 following a 4-4 stint as a welterweight. The 35-year-old Brazilian last comp…

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Jared Cannonier heads into the UFC 254 co-main event as the man targeted by reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya as the No. 1 contender-in-waiting.

However, before “The Killa Gorilla” can get his title shot, he must first vanquish former title holder Robert Whittaker on Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi.

“I have all the respect for anybody who’s competing in this sport. If they respect, me I’m going to definitely reciprocate it,” Cannonier said at a virtual media event on Tuesday. “I’ve said it before, I’ve been a fan of Izzy before he was in the UFC. He definitely sees guys coming up doing their thing, and I guess I caught his attention. He vocalized that in front of the world and now the world is eating it up.

“But I’ve got fights ahead of me and I’m not really resting on my laurels based on what someone else says about me. I’m doing what I’ve got to do to make sure I get what I…

Fighting for the second time in Abu Dhabi in 2020, Alex Oliveira will face the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 254 on Saturday.

Coming off back-to-back decision wins against Max Griffin and Peter Sobotta, the 18-time UFC veteran told Sherdog that he is really motivated to welcome the fighter from Kazakhstan to the Octagon.

“I don’t care if it’s a veteran or a young talent who is making his debut in UFC, when I step in the Octagon my main focus is to maintain my winning streak and return to the place I belong, which is the top of the rankings of the welterweight division,” he said.

Andre Tadeu, Oliveira’s head coach, recognizes Shavkat as a tough challenge, but said that the experience his fighter had in his 18 UFC appearances will make the difference in the result.

“The guy is pretty tall for the division and has a nice striking technique, always walking forward. But I saw all his 12 fights. He never had a hard time, or bled,” Tadeu said. “Saturday wi…

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There’s still a few days left before Saturday, but UFC 254 is already generating a lot of interest.

“This thing’s trending off the charts for us right now,” UFC president Dana White told TMZ Sports. “It’s the end of Tuesday going into Wednesday…On Monday, this thing was trending to be the biggest fight we’ve ever had. Not Thursday, not Friday — Monday.”

UFC 254 takes place at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and is headlined by a highly-anticipated lightweight title unification bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje. Nurmagomedov’s victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October 2018 holds the pay-per-view record, with a reported 2.4 million buys.

However, even White admitted that things could change by the weekend, and sales could be affected by the fact that the main card begins at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT in the United States.

“It’s trending bigger than that [UFC 229] r…

Bellator 250 has its co-headliner, as Henry Corrales will square off against Brandon Girtz in a featherweight affair.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official on Tuesday following a report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 250 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Oct. 29, and is headlined by a middleweight title tilt between Gegard Mousasi and Douglas Lima.

Corrales was eliminated in the opening round of the featherweight grand prix by Darrion Caldwell at Bellator 228 before falling to Juan Archuleta in his most recent appearance at Bellator 238 on Jan. 25. Prior to that, the 34-year-old Fight Ready representative had won five straight bouts within the California-based promotion, a streak that included triumphs against the likes of Aaron Pico, Noad Lahat and Georgi Karakhanyan.

Girtz, meanwhile, has won just two of his last seven fights dating back to 2016. In his first appearance of 2020, the Genesis Training Center ex…