Martial Arts News

After back-to-back lopsided losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic to begin his 2020 campaign, Anthony Smith had lost much of the luster that surrounded the beginning of what has largely been a successful run at light heavyweight.

At UFC on ESPN 18, Smith secured a much-needed victory, as he submitted Devin Clark with a triangle choke 2:34 into Round 1 of their headlining bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. A third straight loss would have made Smith all but irrelevant in the UFC’s 205-pound division. Instead, “Lionheart” sent a message to UFC brass — and the right people were paying attention.

“He looked awesome,” UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “[He] came in to make a statement and message received.”

Smith and Clark were initially expected to square off in the evening’s co-main event before a positive COVID-19 test for Curtis Blaydes nixed his headlining heavyweight bout against Derrick Lewis o…

HEADKICK KO!!! @randycosta135 with a HUGE first round finish! #UFCVegas11 pic.twitter.com/tOVssMPhRp

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) September 19, 2020

Randy Costa will meet Trevin Jones at the UFC’s March 6 card.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bantamweight bout. A location and venue has not been announced for the event, which is also expected to include a light heavyweight showdown pitting Thiago Santos against Aleksandar Rakic.

After suffering a submission loss to Brandon Davis in his Octagon debut at UFC 236, Costa has authored back-to-back first-round stoppages of Boson Salmon and Journey Newson in his last two promotional outings. The 26-year-old Lauzon MMA representative is 6-1 as a professional, with all of his triumphs coming via KO or TKO.

Jones, meanwhile, had a memorable Octagon debut when he rallied to stop Timur Valiev in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 15 encounter on Aug. 22. However, the victory was overturned t…

A lightweight rematch pitting Beneil Dariush against Diego Ferreira is slated for the UFC’s Fight Night card on Super Bowl weekend.

ESPN was first to report the booking. The card is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov and is expected to go down on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 6.

Dariush and Ferreira initially locked horns at UFC 179, with Dariush winning a unanimous verdict in October 2014. The 31-year-old Kings MMA product has been on a tear of late, winning his last five appearances within the Las Vegas-based promotion — including four inside the distance. In his most recent outing, Dariush knocked out Scott Holtzman with a spinning backfist at UFC Fight Night 174 on Aug. 8.

Ferreira, meanwhile, has been victorious in his last six UFC bouts. Most recently, the 35-year-old Fortis MMA product tapped out Anthony Pettis with a rear-naked choke at UFC 246 on Jan. 18.

Ton Guida und Michael Johnson wird square off in eine Ultimate Fighting Championship Veranstaltung im Feb. 6.

Guida vor kurzem angekündigt, die leichte Kopplung auf seinem Instagram Konto. Die UFC Fight Night Karte erfolgt voraussichtlich auf Yas Island in Abu Dhabi am Super Bowl Wochenende und titelte ein Schwergewichts-clash zerfressen Alistair Overeem gegen Alexander Volkov.

Der 38-jährige Guida verlor drei seiner letzten vier Octagon Erscheinungen. Die meisten vor kurzem, "Der Zimmermann" war outpointed durch Bobby Grün bei UFC on ESPN (TV-Kanal 11 am Juni 20. Der ehemalige Strikeforce champion 15-14 über den Verlauf einer Promotion Amtszeit, dass begann im Jahr 2006 und besitzt Siege über Leuten wie B. J. Penn, Joe Lauzon, Anthony Pettis, Takanori Gomi, Rafael dos Anjos und Nate Diaz, unter anderem.

Johnson, mittlerweile tritt das matchup auf ein drei-bout skid, die zweite derartige Pechsträhne seiner UFC Karriere. In seinem jüngsten Ausflug, Johnson erlitt…

It's all over!! @Thunder92Baeza ends our #UFCVegas15 co-main via submission in round 2

Live on TSN 3/5 & RDS 2 pic.twitter.com/LU0JJYfTCW

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) November 29, 2020 With three finishes in his first three promotional appearances, Miguel Baeza looks like an emerging star in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division.

“Caramel Thunder” was impressive in his latest outing at UFC on ESPN 18, where he submitted Takashi Sato with an arm-triangle choke 4:28 into the second round of the evening’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Before the finish, Baeza had success landing with a varied arsenal on the feet, but he says patience was the key in his latest victory.

“I did [think I was going to get the finish in Round 1], but I didn’t want to rush it,” Baeza said at the UFC on ESPN 18 post-fight press conference. “It’s something my coaches were telling me, ‘Be patient, don’t force it.…

Anthony Smith needed to get his mind right heading into his UFC on ESPN 18 showdown with Devin Clark.

The former light heavyweight title challenger entered the matchup on a two-bout skid after back-to-back lopsided losses at the hands of Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic earlier this year. Where “Lionheart” once looked like a Top 5 talent at 205 pounds thanks to victories over the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Volkan Oezdemir and Mauricio Rua, his recent performances had knocked him down several notches in the divisional pecking order.

That said, Smith didn’t put any added pressure on himself Saturday night, even after his showdown with Clark was elevated to headlining status when the originally scheduled heavyweight main event between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis was scrapped.

“I just wasn’t too concerned with anything,” Smith said. “In the past I’ve forced myself to feel how I think I’m supposed to feel. I just let myself feel it and make friends with…

Shortly after Bill Algeo earned his first Octagon triumph with a unanimous verdict over Spike Carlyle at UFC on ESPN 18, he issued a callout to Giga Chikadze.

Algeo has had Chikadze on the brain ever since an encounter with the former Glory Kickboxing Standout at Kings MMA. Chikadze has built some momentum in the Las Vegas-based promotion with five consecutive wins to kick off his tenure — including four in 2020 alone. However, according to Algeo, the Georgian fighter wasn’t so successful in what was supposed to be a light sparring session.

“Myself and coach, we were on vacation in California and we went to Kings MMA, which is Rafael Cordeiro’s school. Rafael Cordeiro could not have been more welcoming, He’s such a nice guy,” Algeo said.

“He had one d--- head student—Giga, who tried to take my head off with little gloves. I was like, ‘I’m on vacation, man.’ We were going light and he wasn’t winning. He was losing. He’s got some hot blood. He was just trying to …

Mike and Roy left it all in the ring tonight #TysonJones pic.twitter.com/zUirisWPqN

— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) November 29, 2020

Dana White isn’t necessarily a fan of combat sports events with fighters who are past their primes.

However, the UFC president was keeping a close eye on the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. boxing exhibition while simultaneously working the UFC on ESPN 18 card in Las Vegas on Saturday night. White was admittedly skeptical that the aging boxing stars could put on a show, but he came away impressed following the conclusion of the bout, which was unofficially declared a draw after eight rounds by the WBC judges.

“You guys have been asking me questions leading up to this thing and I didn’t want to say anything negative because I love Tyson and he’s a good friend of mine. I was nervous,” White said at the UFC on ESPN 18 post-fight press conference. “He’s [54] years old. Time is undefeated. Time takes us all down. O…

Four $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses were handed out following UFC on ESPN 18 on Saturday night.

Anthony Smith earned a bonus for a first-round submission of Devin Clark in the evening’s main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Smith landed an early takedown only to see his opponent reverse into top position. “Lionheart” was no less dangerous from his back, however, as he used a triangle choke to elicit a tap from Clark 2:34 into the opening stanza.

Meanwhile, Miguel Baeza received an extra check for his third finish in as many Octagon appearances after dispatching Takashi Sato in the welterweight co-main event. After spending most of the fight outlanding his foe on the feet, Baeza scored a takedown and eventually framed an arm-triangle, forcing Sato to submit 4:28 into Round 2.

Su Mudaerji padded his bank account with a 44-second knockout of Malcolm Gordon in a preliminary flyweight affair. A straight left from Mudaerji stopped Gordon in his tracks,…

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. Anthony Smith agreed to five rounds on short notice. He needed less than one. “Lionheart” returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in more than a year and retained his place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight pecking order, as he submitted Devin Clark with a triangle choke in the first round of their makeshift UFC on ESPN 18 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Clark (12-5, 6-5 UFC) tapped 2:34 into Round 1.

A replacement for Shamil Gamzatov, Smith (34-16, 9-6 UFC) wrapped the former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion in a body lock, secured a takedown and then drew him to the center of the cage and away from the relative safety of the fence. Clark sprang a reversal after being threatened with a twister but uncovered an opponent who was no less dangerous from his back. Smith c…

First win for 's @BerinjaMMA! pic.twitter.com/wypN23oFml

— UFC (@ufc) November 29, 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. Anderson dos Santos has a strangulation fixation. The Babuino Gold Team bantamweight on Saturday strengthened his position on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, as he submitted Martin Day with a guillotine choke in the first round of their featured UFC on ESPN 18 prelim at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Day (8-5, 0-3 UFC) raised the white flag 4:35 into Round 1 and remains winless through three appearances inside the Octagon.

Dos Santos (21-8, 1-2 UFC) swooped in on a takedown midway through the first round despite considerable resistance from the former Universal Reality Combat Championship titleholder. Day absorbed some ground-and-pound, created some space out of butterfly guard and sprang to his feet. How…

Kevin Holland will get his chance to go 5-0 in 2020 after all.

After being removed from next weekend’s UFC on ESPN 19 main event due to a positive COVID-19 test, Holland will square off against Ronaldo Souza at UFC 256. The pairing was announced during the UFC on ESPN 18 broadcast Saturday night.

UFC 256 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 12 and is headlined by a flyweight championship tilt pitting Deiveson Figueiredo against Brandon Moreno. “Jacare” was originally supposed to face Marvin Vettori, but Vettori was tabbed to step in for Holland against Jack Hermansson at UFC on ESPN 19.

So far this year, Holland has earned victories against Anthony Hernandez, Joaquin Buckley, Darren Stewart and Charlie Ontiveros — with three of those wins coming inside the distance. “Trailblazer” is 7-2 during his promotional tenure and 20-5 as a professional overall.

Souza, meanwhile, will return to 185 pounds after losing a split decision to Jan Blachowicz in…