Martial Arts News

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.

Julianna Pena is taking her loss at UFC on ESPN 16 in stride.

“The Ultimate Fighter 18” winner released a statement via Instagram after being choked unconscious by Germaine de Randamie in the third round of their bantamweight clash in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. In her post, Pena included a video of her daughter while expressing a desire to set a good example for her child.

“You win some, you learn some. Wasn’t my night! Massive Congratulations to [Germaine de Randamie] it was an honor to compete against you and thank you for your service of upholding the #thinblueline Thank you [Dana White] and [UFC]for the experience,” she wrote.

“I can’t wait to get back to this little love of mine!! I’ve missed her so much! Your kids don’t always follow your advice, a lot of times they follow your example. I’m uninjured an…

Not just a striker @IronLadyMMA #UFCFightIsland4 live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/kxea3rHfIf

— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2020

Germaine de Randamie has always been known for her standup acumen.

In addition to her MMA bouts, the Dutchwoman owns an impressive 46-0 record in kickboxing, which means that most UFC opponents won’t want to stand and trade with her. That was again the case at UFC on ESPN 16, where Julianna Pena did her best to ground “The Iron Lady” at any opportunity.

While that worked well early in the bantamweight bout, Pena paid the price for her strategy in Round 3, when de Randamie trapped her in a guillotine following a takedown and choked “The Venezuelan Vixen” unconscious. It was the first submission victory of de Randamie’s 14-bout MMA career.

“I said before this fight to my coaches, either I’ll get this guillotine—because if you give me your neck, I’m going to put you to sleep—or I’m going to knock her out,” de Randamie s…

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James Krause will step in for Muslim Salikhov and square off against Claudio Henrique da Silva at UFC Fight Night 180.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the change to the welterweight bout. UFC Fight Night 180 takes place at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a welterweight showdown between Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung.

Krause is coming off another short notice appearance, when he dropped a split verdict against Trevin Giles at UFC 247 on Feb. 8. That setback snapped a six-bout winning streak for the Glory MMA & Fitness representative.

After losing his professional debut, da Silva has won 14 consecutive fights – including five in the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, the 38-year-old Brazilian choked out Cole Williams in the opening stanza at UFC on ESPN 5 in August 2019.

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UFC on ESPN 16 was an opportunity for Irene Aldana to solidify herself as the bantamweight division’s No. 1 contender.

UFC president Dana White indicated as much when speaking to media last month following an episode of the Contender Series. However, Holly Holm had other ideas.

The former 135-pound champion, just a couple weeks shy of her 39th birthday, authored one of the most complete performances of her UFC career, as she dominated Aldana for five rounds in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. Once upon a time, Holm was the intriguing new talent, a boxing champion with a pedigree not often seen in women’s MMA.

“When I first came to MMA, a lot of people didn’t really know what to expect,” she said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “And then [eventually] they all knew who I was but there was this whole new ex…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhWytirby10&w=560&h=315]

Joshua da Silveira, the son of American Top Team coach Marcus "Conan" Silveira, has signed with Legacy Fighting Alliance.

The promotion announced the news on Sunday. Silveira will compete in the light heavyweight division, but a debut for his LFA debut is currently unknown.

The 27-year-old notably competed for Titan FC last year, scoring a first round submission of Jahsua Marsh in his professional debut. He followed that up with a head kick KO of Cody Rolling at a regional event on Aug. 13 in Florida.

His father, a longtime coach at ATT, went 6-4 with one no contest over the course of a professional career that began in 1995 and ended in 2007. “Conan” competed against the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba, Patrick Smith, Maurice Smith and Dan Severn.

.@LFAfighting is excited to announce that we have signed top prospect @JMDaSilv. @JMDaSilv is the son of @AmericanTopTeam head coac…

AT. THE. HORN. @CarlosCondit dropped Court McGee at the end of the first round at #UFCFightIsland4 pic.twitter.com/XR0UG1w11q

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 4, 2020

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There were probably quite a few fans watching UFC on ESPN 16 who never saw Carlos Condit at his peak.

One of the sport’s most reliable action fighters for most of his career, the New Mexico native is a former World Extreme Cagefighting titlist and ex-UFC interim champ who has a laundry list of memorable bouts on his resume. Heading into his matchup with Court McGee on Saturday, Condit had fallen on hard times, losing his last five Octagon appearances.

“The Natural Born Killer” shook off a slow start to end that skid, earning a unanimous decision victory over McGee in a preliminary welterweight bout at the Flash Forum in Abu Dh…

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Four fighters received $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses for their work at UFC on ESPN 16 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

Former featherweight queen Germaine de Randamie’s first-ever submission triumph secured her a “Performance of the Night” bonus. The Dutch kickboxer ensnared Julianna Pena in a guillotine choke for a technical submission victory at the 3:25 mark of Round 3 in a featured bantamweight tilt.

Elsewhere, Kyler Phillips earned a “Performance of the Night” check thanks to a second-round technical knockout of Cameron Else in a bantamweight clash. The MMA Lab product brought an end to the contest with elbows and punches from mount 44 seconds into the period.

Unbeaten prospect Dusko Todorovic took home a “Performance of the Night” check for a dominant showing against Dequan Towns…

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. Holly Holm was not ready to pass the torch just yet. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight titleholder ran literal circles around Irene Aldana in the UFC on ESPN 16 headliner, where she cruised to a unanimous decision on Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three judges sided with Holm (14-5, 7-5 UFC): 50-44, 50-45 and 50-45.

A failure to cut off the cage proved costly for Aldana (12-6, 5-4 UFC), who grew increasingly frustrated as time went on. Holm was brilliant from a tactical perspective. The Jackson-Wink MMA mainstay steered clear of the lethal Aldana left hook, attacked the body with kicks and directed sharp punches at the head. Perhaps most importantly, she incorporated takedowns in all five rounds. When the fifth round arrived, Aldana appeared to be overcome by resi…

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. Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 16 coverage will begin Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen …

AT. THE. HORN. @CarlosCondit dropped Court McGee at the end of the first round at #UFCFightIsland4 pic.twitter.com/XR0UG1w11q

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 4, 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.

Even at 36, “The Natural Born Killer” retains some of his trademark killer instinct.

In the featured preliminary matchup of UFC on ESPN 16 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Carlos Condit overcame a slow start to take a hard-fought unanimous decision over Court McGee. A competitive first round seemed to be going the way of McGee, when a picture-perfect right hook from Condit dropped him at the bell, instantly bloodying his nose in the bargain. McGee managed to get up and return to his corner, but the momentum had turned: Condit won the final two rounds in straightforward fashion, as he seemed to be a step ahead of “The Ultimate Fighter” Sea…

RNC’s for The Strabanimal!@StrabanimalMMA gets another first round submission victory at #BellatorMilan! pic.twitter.com/ONtnB3Wjby

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 3, 2020

After being rescheduled three times, the grudge match between James Gallagher and Callum Ellenor finally went down at Bellator Milan.

It took less than one round for "The Strabanimal" to overcome his opponent thanks to a vicious submission that ended the bitter rivalry in Saturday’s bantamweight headliner at Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. Gallagher (11-1) took his opponent on the canvas early in the fight and trapped him in a body lock. Once there, the Irish fighter took his time to expose his opponent's gaps in the grappling. Gallagher teased Ellenor (8-3) with a neck crank before sinking a deep rear-naked choke. "Cal Pacino" tapped at the 4:31 mark in the opening stanza. 

"Give me anyone, everyone, and a big bag of money, and I'll f…

No surprise here! @HollyHolm on weight at

#UFCFightIsland4 is on @ESPN and ESPN+ | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/TXyREqf0IS

— UFC (@ufc) October 2, 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. UFC on ESPN 16 is full steam ahead after every fighter on the card made weight.

The Ultiamte Fighting Championship returns to ESPN airwaves with a card from Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, this weekend. Headlining the event is a women’s bantamweight bout between former champion Holly Holm and rising contender Irene Aldana.

While Holm (13-5) has lost five times since dethroning Ronda Rousey with a sensational head kick, she remains a top contender having challenged for both the bantamweight and featherweight belts since then. “The Preacher’s Daughter” has won two of her last three having earned decisions over Megan Anderson an…