Martial Arts News

WHAT A FINISHSam-A knocks out Josh Tonna in the second round to retain the ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Title! #ReignOfDynasties #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/NnsN646la0

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 9, 2020 One Championship returned to Singapore with a solid MMA card and a muay Thai title on the line in the main event.

One: Reign of Dynasties was headlined by a strawweight championship clash pitting Sam-A Gaiyanghadao against Josh Tonna. It took one round to Sam-A to figure Tonna out, as the opening stanza developed at a slower pace than expected. In the second round, the Thai champion pressed on the accelerator and dropped his opponent three times. The final count came after a series of devastating combinations that mixed punches in with head kicks. The bout’s official end came at the 2:30 mark, courtesy of the promotion’s muay Thai three knockdown rule.

Reece "Lightning" McLaren…

pic.twitter.com/tqEPHn1PRq

— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) October 8, 2020 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 Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming six-fight main card pay-per-view has taken a hit. Rafael dos Anjos posted on Twitter on Thursday night that he has contracted COVID-19 and can no longer compete at UFC 254. Dos Anjos was set to face Islam Makhachev on the main card, which is set to go down on Oct. 24 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is unclear if the promotion will seek a replacement or if Makhachev will be removed from the event altogether.

Dos Anjos made a change in camps from his own RDA Academy and splitting time with Evolve MMA to go down to Nova Uniao and train with Andre Pederneiras and Jose Aldo. The former lightweight king has lost four of five bouts, with a fourth-round submission…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOxjpQ45664&w=560&h=315] Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Fighters League veteran Rashid Magomedov is returning to compete in his home country of Russia.

Magomedov (23-5-1) was originally billed to face Eduard Vartanyan in his first outing with Absolute Championship Akhmat, but Magomedov was forced withdraw from that bout due to health reasons. ACA officials told Sherdog on Thursday that Magomedov will now be taking on fellow ACA newcomer Artem Damkovsky (23-11). The two will square off at lightweight at ACA 113, which will be held on Nov. 6 in Moscow.

Magomedov had competed six times under the UFC banner, losing only once to current top contender Beneil Dariush. Leaving the promotion of his own accord in 2018 to compete for the PFL with visions of winning the million-dollar prize, things did not go as smoothly for him. The 2018 season saw “Gorets” reach the 2018 championships on the strength of two wins and a dra…

Emotional moment of Daniel jubileu MMA pic.twitter.com/JM5Hqbmr8a

— ACAMMA (@ACA_League) October 6, 2020 The ACA 112 event in Grozny, Russia, consisted of only 10 fights, but according to the president of Absolute Championship Akhmat, the shortening of the card actually improved its quality.

The main event and most striking of the evening was the fight between the champion “Jubileu” Deivi Daniel Oliveira de Almeida and Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev. ACA President Alexey Yatsenko admitted to Sherdog that he changed his mind several times during the fight about who would win it.

“I knew from the very beginning that it would be an interesting bout,” explained Yatsenko. “Of course, the audience was disappointed with the defeat of the local star, one of the best Russian fighters. But we knew how Jubileu broke into our league. In February 2019, he came on as a substitute, not in his weight, agreeing to fight five days before the event. And he simply too…

THE TRILOGY STRIKES BACK.

Cage Warriors 117, 118 and 119 will take place on the 10th, 11th and 12th of December.

Multiple world title fights PLUS some big new signings to announce!

York Hall, London. pic.twitter.com/50cZ2M16us

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) October 8, 2020 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship is running a trio of consecutive events again soon.

With Cage Warriors’ success promoting “The Trilogy,” the three back-to-back nights of fight action staged in September, the promotion is using the same strategy again. On Thursday, the British organization announced three more consecutive cards. "The Trilogy Strikes Back” events will consist of CW 117, CW 118 and CW 119. All three will go down at the York Hall in London, England, on December 10, 11 and 12, respectively.

“Reaction to the first Trilogy series was off the charts, so we knew we had to do it again,” wrote Cage Warrior president Graham Boylan in a press releas…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NfgOytZCpI&w=560&h=315] Join DAZN free for 30 days and live-stream fight night anywhere!

Bellator MMA is splitting up its upcoming card to air on various platforms.

The promotion put out a press release on Thursday announcing the official lineup for Bellator 248, which consists of 12 fights and two headliners. The first show, officially titled Bellator 248, will feature of four bouts topped by Michael Page vs. Ross Houston at a 175-pound catchweight. The event will then transition to the title of Bellator Paris, where it will relocate its broadcast for eight bouts ending with the Cheick Kongo vs. Saul Rogers vs. Arbi Mezhidov will move to Channel 5 in the UK.

With this release, the organization officially confirmed the loss of the Davy Gallon vs. Brian Hooi matchup, as news broke on Wednesday that Hooi tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, it was formalized that Melvin Manhoef will not be facing Simon Biyong on the car…

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. One way or another, Thomas Almeida will fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship shortly. MMA Junkie first broke the news on Thursday morning that Almeida (21-3) will be taking on Jonathan Martinez (12-3) at featherweight on UFC Fight Night 180 on Oct. 17. Almeida was originally booked against Alejandro Perez at UFC Fight Night 179 on Oct. 10, but a failed COVID-19 test for Perez scuttled the matchup. Although both Almeida and Martinez typically fight at 135 pounds, the short-notice nature of the pairing forced it to be contested at featherweight. Martinez has since confirmed the booking on his Instagram page.

Attempting to make his first appearance since UFC 220 in 2018, Almeida is looking to snap his first-ever losing streak. A massive 20-fight win streak to open his career came to a violent end when Cody Garbrandt kn…

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. A few days after conflicting reports over a Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight matchup came out, a fight has materialized. One day after his dominant performance against Heili Alateng at UFC on ESPN 16, Casey Kenney (15-2-1) was rumored to have an upcoming fight booked against Nathaniel Wood (17-4). Both fighters denied that they had been offered the fight, but it soon came to fruition. The report first came from MMA H.E.A.T. Podcast on Sunday, and on Thursday, Kenney confirmed on his Instagram he would be facing Wood at UFC 254.

At UFC on ESPN 16, Kenney battered Alateng for 15 minutes with repeated vicious left kicks to the body and head to put himself on a two-fight win streak. Two appearances on Dana White's Contender Series did not lead to Kenney’s initial signing with the promotion, as he had to go win interim…

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. An exciting welterweight clash in the Ultimate Fighting Championship has received an equally exciting replacement. On Wednesday night, AgFight first reported that Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (22-7) has been forced to withdraw from his bout against Shavkat Rakhmonov (12-0) at UFC 254. The two were set to collide on Oct. 24 at the Flash Forum in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, but Zaleski dos Santos pulled out due to an injury. He will be replaced by fellow countryman Alex Oliveira (22-8-1, 2 NC), and Rakhmonov has since confirmed the news on his Instagram.

Oliveira will be looking to extend his win streak to three with a short-notice opportunity against the unbeaten Rakhmonov. “Cowboy” has not won three consecutive bouts since a stretch in 2015 early in his UFC tenure. The thrilling Brazilian, who has competed both at…

Spoke with the legendary Georges St-Pierre and asked why he would want to step back into the UFC pressure cooker when he could be comfortably retired.

His reply: "Why step back in? But why NOT step back in? We only live once! So that's the question that I'm facing now." pic.twitter.com/IxYLhBE68O

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 7, 2020 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. It seems that “Rush” might be considering fighting again, but only against one opponent.

On Feb. 21, 2019, Georges St. Pierre announced his official retirement from mixed martial arts at a press conference at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Since then, the former UFC champion decided to focus on his acting career, closing the door for a return in the Octagon.

In a recent interview with ESPN, St. Pierre confessed that he has "mixed feelin…

Nadia Kassem of Australia is now a free agent. | Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

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. It seems that Dequan Townsend's adventure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship has come to an end, for now. The UFC has terminated Townsend's deal after his four-bout skid. MMA Fighting first reported the news.

Townsend (21-12) joined the UFC after winning the Warrior Xtreme Cagefighting middleweight and Total Warrior Combat light heavyweight titles. In his promotional debut, he was crushed by Dalcha Lungiambula at the 0:42 mark in the third stanza of their 205-pound encounter at UFC on ESPN 3. “The Tarantula” tried to improve his situation by dropping to the middleweight division, but he conceded a decision to Bevon Lewis at UFC Fight Night 166. He also lost to Devin Clark via decision in his light heavyweight return …

Belal Muhammad (left) and Sean Brady (not pictured) will compete on Dec. 19. | Photo: Chris Unger/Zuffa/Getty

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. An upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship card will add a pivotal welterweight clash. On Wednesday morning, MMA Junkie reported that Belal Muhammad and Sean Brady would square off at an upcoming UFC Fight Night event that will go down on Dec. 19.

Muhammad (17-3) is currently riding a three-bout winning streak. In his latest Octagon appearance, "Remember The Name” upended Lyman Good thanks to a decision at UFC on ESPN 11 back in June. Prior, he submitted Takashi Sato via rear-naked choke in the third round of their UFC 242 encounter, taking home a performance of the night bonus. The Roufusport representative also edged Curtis Millender via unanimous decision at UFC 236.

A former Cage Fury Fighting …