Martial Arts News

Michelle Waterson-Gomez is calling it a career.

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The 15-time Octagon veteran announced her retirement following a unanimous decision loss to Gillian Robertson in a preliminary strawweight contest at UFC 303 on Saturday night. “The Karate Hottie” broke down in tears in the Octagon as the promotion played a tribute video on the big screen at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The loss to Robertson was her fifth straight defeat.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the UFC and all you fans continuing to push me. Fighting runs through my veins. It’s made me who I am,” Waterson-Gomez said. “When you fight, you chase greatness.”

The 38-year-old Waterson-Gomez compiled an 18-13 mark over the course of a professional MMA career that began in 2007. She captured the Invicta FC atomweight crown in 2013 and defended that title once before relinquishing the belt to Herica Tiburcio in 2014.

The Jackson-Wink MMA product would then win …

Brendan Loughnane came into the 2024 PFL Regular Season 6 card having already secured a Professional Fighters League featherweight playoff spot, but that didn't stop him from putting on a show against Justin Gonzales.

A clear striking advantage was on display from the very beginning as Loughnane (28-5) was able to find his distance and regularly clip Gonzales (14-5). In clear control, Gonzales would get a nasty cut on his forehead in the second round from a knee to the head. After the doctor looked at the laceration, the fight was called off at 3:34 of Round 2.

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Loughnane will be the No. 1 seed in the featherweight playoffs and will face Kai Kamaka III.

The 2024 #PFLPlayoffs are set

Welterweights & Featherweights finally book their tickets to Washington DC ✈️

B2YB @Join_AFReserve | #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/BJoAcFCMcE

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 29, 2024 Storley Outwrestles Poclit The final welterweight fig…

The Professional Fighters League’s regular season marches on with 2024 PFL 6 Regular Season at 6:30 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round: The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog …

CHAMA 🗿@AlexPereiraUFC is locked in at 204lbs

[ Live on @ESPNPlus PPV | TOM | 10pmET/7pmPT | #UFC303 ] pic.twitter.com/TCPImZQPZi

— UFC (@ufc) June 28, 2024 While it's not the Conor McGregor return that was originally planned, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made the most of a bad situation.

The replacement UFC 303 main event is a good one as Alex Pereira will put his belt on the line against former titleholder Jiri Prochazka. Both men successfully made weight for the rematch of their highly entertaining 2023 fight, which saw the Brazilian claim his second UFC belt. As for the rest of the card, all fighters made weight with the exception of Jean Silva, who came in 1.5 pounds over the featherweight limit for his fight against Charles Jourdain. As a result, Silva will be fined 20% of his purse.

Pereira (10-2) has become a fan-favorite for his vicious knockouts and willingness to fight anyone. Since moving to light heavyweight, "…

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Benoit St. Denis would like nothing more than to go three for three when stopping off in Paris.

At the UFC Fight Night event on Sept. 28 in Paris, St. Denis (13-2, 1 NC) is expected to appear in front of home fans. He will take on resurgent 155-pounder Renato Carneiro (19-5-1), according to an initial report from Ag. Fight. The lightweight stylistic clash has been verbally agreed to by both competitors, but the contracts have not yet been signed. This news has since been confirmed by multiple outlets. The only other fight official for the lineup is Joanderson Brito vs. William Gomis at 145 pounds, although Ciryl Gane is rumored to be appearing and possibly headlining this event in the Accor Arena.

Bayonne, France, native St. Denis appeared at both of the previous UFC cards held in the City of Light, finishing Gabriel Miranda in 2022 and Thiago Moises in 2023. Most recently, “God of War” succumbed to strikes from Dustin Poiri…

🚨🚨対戦カード変更🚨🚨#Yogibo presents #超RIZIN3

RIZINスタンディングバウト特別ルール 69.0kg

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🟥#マニーパッキャオ@MannyPacquiaoボクシング世界6階級王者ーーー🆚ーーー🟦#安保瑠輝也 @anpo_rukiya第4代K-1ｽｰﾊﾟｰﾗｲﾄ級王者

※鈴木千裕が怪我でドクターストップのため欠場… pic.twitter.com/oE4gjS8RYm

— RIZIN FF OFFICIAL (@rizin_PR) June 28, 2024 Rizin Fighting Federation will keep Manny Pacquiao on its upcoming blockbuster show no matter what.

The promotion sent out a press release on Thursday night announcing that Pacquiao would no longer be facing Chihiro Suzuki at Super Rizin 3 on July 28. “PacMan” was expecting to take on Suzuki in a three-round “standing rules” match which consisted of boxing plus spinning strikes. Due to an injury sustained in his exhibition bout against Takanori Gomi in June, Suzuki has been forced out of the matchup. In his stead will be kickboxer Rukiya Anpo, who has already engaged in a similar type of fight ag…

ONE Championship fan-favorite “Reug Reug” will still be vying for the heavyweight title in November.

Per sources close to the situation, Oumar Kane (6-1 MMA, 0-0 KB) will be adding another matchup to his calendar this year. At ONE Fight Night 23 on July 5, “Reug Reug” will be battling Senegalese influence Boucher Ketchup under kickboxing rules. The two big men, who share a history with one another as popular laamb wrestlers, will duke it out for three three-minute rounds at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok. As first reported by Sportskeeda, the heavyweights challenged one another on a live broadcast of 221 Live on Tuesday, a show about laamb wrestling.

This will be the kickboxing debut for the 32-year-old training out of 971 MMA. “Reug Reug” entered into MMA in 2019, where he crushed Sofiane Boukichou early into the second round. This lone win propelled him into the roster of ONE Championship, where he went on to crush Alain Ngalani and Patrick Schmid in 2021 to put himsel…

Kohei Wakabayashi prescribed a death-by-a-thousand-cuts treatment for Gexi Sanlang.

The Japanese judoka enjoyed a successful ONE Championship debut, as repeated takedowns and a crushing top game carried him to a split decision over Sanlang in their three-round ONE Friday Fights 68 strawweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Two of the three ringside judges gave the nod to Wakabayashi (8-1-1, 1-0 ONE), who was reduced to tears when the verdict was read.

Sanlang (14-3, 0-2 ONE) was far too content to play defense from the bottom. Wakabayashi tripped him to the canvas in all three rounds, set up shop in half guard, applied some mild ground-and-pound and flirted with a few arm-triangles. Sanlang answered with slashing elbow strikes from his back but not enough of them to make a real difference. He staged a late rally in Round 3, where he caught a Wakabayashi kick and dumped him to the floor before connecting with elbows to the head and …

⚖️Featherweight Main Event Bout is official!

Brendan Loughnane: 146 lbsJustin Gonzales: 145.6 lbs

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[#PFLRegularSeason | Fri, Jun 28th | 6:30pm ET on ESPN+ | 10pm ET on ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/fusmTAqyMh — PFL (@PFLMMA) June 27, 2024

The stage is set for the final Professional Fighters League event of the 2024 regular season.

Brendan Loughnane and Justin Gonzales hit their contracted marks for the PFL 6 headliner during Thursday’s weigh-ins. Loughnane tipped the scales at 146 pounds, while Gonzales weighed 145.6.

PFL 6 takes place on Friday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and features regular season bouts at featherweight and welterweight. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Loughnane, who won the 2022 PFL title at 145 pounds, kicked off his current campaign with a first-round tech…

Charles Oliveira shuts down recent fight rumours ❌#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/KaQPd4LdFz

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 27, 2024

Charles Oliveira dismissed Dan Hooker’s claims of a potential UFC 305 matchup between the pair.

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Hooker (34-10) recently claimed that he is gearing up for a return at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. While Hooker was initially hesitant to name his opponent, he later hinted that it could potentially be Oliveira (23-12). While Hooker is “100%” ready to fight Oliveira, he clarified that “do Bronx” is yet to sign the contract.

“My body’s a 100 percent,” Hooker said on the Mainevent YouTube channel. “Everything’s all cleared. I’m training, I’m training hard, I’m training 100 percent, I’m in camp. Getting ready for Perth; not sure if I can really say [who I’m fighting]. Nothing’s official. But obviously I’m 100 percent in. And the old Charlie Olives, I think that’s a fight that the fa…

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Payton Talbott is oozing a different level of confidence going into his upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship outing.

Talbott (8-0) will take on French prospect Yanis Ghemmouri (12-2) at UFC 303 on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Always portraying an aura of extremely stoic confidence, Talbott is no different going into Saturday. However, this time Talbott went as far as to actually lay down a gameplan for Ghemmouri to beat him.

Talbott advised Ghemmouri to chop his base with leg kicks and throw in volume to be able to land. Talbott also warned “The Desert Warrior” against making it a slow-paced affair.

“The key to success for Yanis Ghemmouri, if you're listening: the way for you to beat me is to take my legs away,” Talbott said on his YouTube channel. “Just kick me as much as you can. It will serve you well. Please throw more than two strikes at a time. Nobody likes watching a slow-paced fight. The counter will be hard to la…

𝗪𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗥 𝗚𝗢 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘

There is no time to waste inside the SmartCage as @Gabrielbragab and @BubbaJenkinsMMA fight to keep their 2024 Million Dollar Dreams alive in Sioux Falls 💰🏆

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[#PFLRegularSeason | Fri, Jun 28th | 6:30pm ET on ESPN+ | 10pm ET on ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/5FMEkHy9FQ — PFL (@PFLMMA) June 26, 2024

Bubba Jenkins (21-8) is eyeing a first-round finish to make it to the 2024 Professional Fighters League Playoffs.

Jenkins is slated to face Brazilian prospect Gabriel Braga (13-1) in a featherweight clash at 2024 PFL 6 Regular Season on Friday, June 28 at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Jenkins started his 2024 campaign with a unanimous decision loss against Kai Kamaka III this past April, a first for the PFL veteran in four years. Meanwhile, his opponent had an excellent start to the season, knocking out Justin Gonzales in a first-round buzzer-beater on the same card to secure six points.

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