Martial Arts News

Clay Collard came into the 2024 PFL 5 main event having already clinched a spot in the Professional Fighters League's lightweight playoffs but that didn't stop Mads Burnell from crashing the party.

Ever the composed striker, Collard (25-12, 1 NC) came out working his jab and landing body punches to establish his attack against Burnell (18-6), who would look to grapple later in the round. This late success gave Burnell a game plan to follow, as the Danish fighter would take the back of "Cassius" in Round 2. Likely even going into the third, Collard would use his volume punching to land more strikes than his opponent before being taken down and controlled for the final moments, with Burnell taking the back of the fan-favorite lightweight.

Advertisement

After 15 minutes of action, Burnell took a unanimous decision win with a trio of 29-28 scorecards but won't make the playoffs. Instead, Collard will face top seed Brent Primus in the lightweight semifinals.

Read more

The Professional Fighters League’s regular season marches on with 2024 PFL 5 Regular Season at 5 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:

Advertisement

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

While Conor McGregor is renowned for showing up on fight night no matter the circumstances, he wanted to make sure that he will be 100% healthy for his long-awaited Octagon return.

Advertisement

In a post on social media, the Irish star revealed that a broken toe forced his late withdrawal from the UFC 303 headliner against Michael Chandler.

“Man we were so f—ing super ready for this fight, it is absolutely gut wrenching to take,” McGregor wrote on Instagram. “I want that new Bugatti! How I gone justify to myself getting that now without banking these fights. We had a lapse in concentration and engaged in a training session without wearing the full protective gear and I hit the toe off the elbow and broke the toe clean. It needs a few weeks that’s it. I couldn’t justify to my team, or fans, that I make the walk hindered again. That walk has been seen.

“This next walk has got to be, and it will be, 100 percent Conor McGregor. The fans deserve it and we are ge…

Roman Dolidze is moving up a weight class to face Anthony Smith on short notice at UFC 303.

Advertisement

Dolidze will replace Carlos Ulberg, who withdrew from the event due to an undisclosed injury. The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the new light heavyweight bout on Friday. UFC 303 takes place on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship rematch between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka.

Dolidze earned triumphs over Khadis Ibragimov and John Allan at 205 pounds in UFC competition before transitioning to the middleweight division. The 35-year-old Xtreme Couture representative has gone 4-3 since then and is coming off back-to-back decision defeats against Nassourdine Imavov and Marvin Vettori.

A former light heavyweight title challenger, Smith has been victorious in two of his last three Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Lionheart” submitted the previously unbeaten Vitor Petrino in the opening sta…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its Saudi Arabia debut with an intriguing 11-fight card that is now set after the official weigh-ins took place.

The main event will see former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker take on short-notice replacement Ikram Aliskerov, who is filling in for an ill Khamzat Chimaev. Both men stepped on the scales looking ready to go all five rounds, with Whittaker coming at 186 pounds and Askerov arriving at a svelte 184 pounds. All 22 fighters on the card successfully made weight.

Advertisement

This marks the second fight this year for "Bobby Knuckles." The Australian previously beat Paulo Costa to rebound from his defeat to now-champion Dricus Du Plessis. Whittaker, who is still just 33 and holds a record of 25-7, will look to show he's still a dangerous contender. The former titleholder comes into the fight having won two of his last three.

This is easily the biggest fight in the career of Aliskerov (15-1…

[embedded content]

The main event for PFL 5 is official, as both Clay Collard and Mads Burnell hit their contracted marks on Thursday.

Advertisement

Collard tipped the scales at 155.8 pounds, while Burnell checked in at 155.6 ahead of their lightweight headliner, which is scheduled for Friday at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. PFL 5, which features regular season bouts at lightweight and light heavyweight, begins with a preliminary card on ESPN+ at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT before moving to the main draw on ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

A 2023 PFL lightweight finalist, Collard kicked off his current campaign with a second-round technical knockout victory against Patricky Freire on April 12. He currently sits xth in the PFL lightweight standings with five points.

Burnell has some work to do if he is to advance to the posteason. The UFC and Bellator MMA veteran had a two-bout winning streak snapped at PFL 2, where he suffered a second-round …

Ian Garry is not buying into any of the hype behind Michael Page.

Advertisement

Garry (14-0) and Page (22-2) are slated to trade leather at UFC 303 on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It is a high-stakes matchup that could catapult the winner into the conversation for welterweight title contendership.

While rallying for the booking, Page aimed multiple shots and promised to punish Garry in “10 different ways,” also calling out the “fake” online image of the Irishman, who has been a dividing personality since the beginning of his Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure.

Responding to “MVP,” Garry has now declared himself levels above the former Bellator MMA star in every aspect.

“He’s a legend? You said that to line me up… I believe I’m levels above him in every single way, shape and form,” Garry said in an Instagram post. “And this is just an opportunity to show, to prove to people. I go, ‘You guys think this guy’s good? OK: I’ll use him a…

Saturday’s dynamic UFC on ABC 6 card has seen yet another change.

Joilton Lutterbach (38-9) is out of his fight against Sharabutdin “Shara Bullet” Magomedov, 12-0, which was scheduled to go down in Riyadh on June 22. Fellow Brazilian Antonio Trocoli (12-3) has stepped up to replace Lutterbach against Magomedov on three days’ notice. The change was first announced by Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White on social media. Lutterbach subsequently revealed that he wasn’t allowed to fight due a substance found in his urine.

This is Magomedov’s third opponent for his sophomore UFC outing after Ihor Potieria, who accepted a short-notice matchup against Michel Pereira at UFC 301. Meanwhile, Trocoli was scheduled to fight Ikram Aliskerov last weekend before the Dagestani agreed to replace Khamzat Chimaev against Robert Whittaker in Saturday’s main event. While this will mark Trocoli’s UFC debut, “Malvado” has been with the promotion for two years and has no…

[embedded content]

Ikram Aliskerov (15-1) claims Khabib Nurmagomedov’s coaching style is similar to that of his father.

Advertisement

Aliskerov is scheduled to fight Robert Whittaker (25-7) in the UFC on ABC 6 headliner on June 22 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Hailing from Dagestan, Aliskerov often trains with former lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and his protégé Islam Makhachev. Like most other elite fighters from the region, Aliskerov has also had had the privilege of training under Nurmagomedov’s late father, Abdulmanap, who is widely regarded as the pioneer of mixed martial arts in the region.

Aliskerov recently detailed what made Nurmagomedov arguably one of the best coaches in the world. According to Aliskerov, it was Abdulmanap’s emphasis on discipline over talent that set him apart.

“You know the biggest thing about him and I always say this, he put a huge emphasis on discipline,” Aliskerov told Shakiel Mahjouri. “He even had this …

[embedded content]

Sharabutdin “Shara Bullet” Magomedov (12-0) had an interesting encounter with local law enforcement on a previous visit to Saudi Arabia.

Advertisement

Magomedov is slated to face Brazilian debutant Antonio Trocoli (12-3) at UFC on ABC 6 on June 22 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, this isn’t Magomedov’s first visit to the region, where he has achieved surprising popularity. The Russian has previously been to the country for Hajj, which is the annual Islamic pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. While Magomedov hasn’t been out of the fighter hotel much this time, he was overwhelmed by fan support the one time he journeyed beyond.

“Yes, I’m surprised that people recognize me here like they do in Russia,” Magomedov told Red Corner MMA. “People ask to take pictures in the most unusual places. It’s nice. We’ll be taking over the whole Arabian peninsula. People know me in Saudi and the UAE. We’re conquering more shores. There’s nowher…

[embedded content]

Longtime mixed martial arts veteran Shannon Ritch shot and killed a man in a parking lot dispute outside of Phoenix restaurant, according to a report from Fox 10 Phoenix.

Advertisement

According to a police investigation, Ritch, 53, and Alejandro Samplina, 32, were involved in a confrontation regarding an issue over parking outside of a Twin Peaks on June 15. Ritch allegedly shot and killed Samplina after he claimed that Samplina chased him around his car with a knife.

"Ritch was able to retrieve his handgun from the open door of his vehicle. Samplina proceeded to walk towards Ritch with the knife in a threatening manner. In response, Ritch fired one round, striking Samplina," Phoenix Police Sgt. Mayra Reeson told Fox 10.

Samplina died at a local hospital, per the report. Police released Ritch after he “provided a self-defense claim consistent with witnesses and surveillance video.” The exact nature of the argument remains unclear.

…

Joshua Silveira isn’t leaving anything to chance.

Advertisement

The American Top Team export arrived in Salt Lake City more than a week ahead of his PFL 5 encounter with Rob Wilkinson in order to get acclimated to the Utah capital’s 4,265 feet of elevation.

“I know Rob trains out of Colorado, so I had to give myself that same type of elevation workout,” Silvera said during PFL media day. “We’re high up in the mountains. I’m from Florida. You’re like 100 feet above sea level [there]. I’m not used to 5,000 feet, but I came out early, [to] be responsible. We’re at the top level here, so I want to be responsible. I made my investment.”

One of the advantages of training at American Top Team is that Silveira can call upon a whole stable of training partners who have experienced fighting at elevation. Silveira took advantage of that knowledge and put it to use.

“At the end of the day, it’s science. I wasn’t gonna find out on fight night,” Silveira said. “But it…