Martial Arts News

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— Kakutogi News (@KakutogiWorld) September 27, 2020

Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion Kai Asakura was simply too much for Shoji Maruyama.

Though his belt wasn’t on the line, Asakura was nonetheless in prime form in the Rizin 24 headliner on Sunday, as he defeated Maruyama via technical knockout 2:37 into Round 1 of their non-title affair at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Asakura has now been victorious in eight of nine appearances within the Japanese promotion.

Asakura took control from the outset, tagging Maruyama with a variety of punches and kicks before dropping his opponent with a one-two combination. As Maruyama attempted to hustle to his feet, the Tri-Force Akasaka product rocked his man with a soccer kick, forcing referee Yauhiro Tazawa to step in and wave off the bout. It was Asakura’s second consecutive victory by way of soccer kicks; he stopped Hiromasa Ougikubo with the maneuver…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Dominick Reyes entered UFC 253 with the mindset of a champion defending his belt. He left the Octagon humbled by Polish power.

Coming off a narrow loss to Jon Jones that many observers thought he won, Reyes was a prohibitive favorite to claim the vacant light heavyweight crown against Jan Blachowicz, but it was the Polish veteran who ultimately emerged with a second-round technical knockout triumph at the Flash forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

Blachowicz adopted a measured approach from the outset, battering Reyes with powerful kicks to the body that left a gnarly bruise on the Californian’s side. In Round 2, Blachowicz appeared to break Reyes’ nose and then later dropped him with a left hand behind the ear. Follow-up punches sealed the deal at the 4:36 mark of the period, making Blachowicz the UFC’s 13th light h…

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Jon Jones didn’t have any backhanded compliments or snarky remarks for Jan Blachowicz following the Polish standout’s title-winning performance against Dominick Reyes at UFC 253.

Blachowicz claimed the 205-pound belt vacated by Jones earlier this year with a technical knockout of Reyes 4:36 into the second round of Saturday’s co-main event on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Though Reyes was favored thanks to a near-miss against Jones earlier this year, Blachowicz was in control throughout, bruising his opponent’s side with wicked body kicks before unleashing a salvo of punches that broke Reyes’ nose and floored him in the decisive second frame.

In his post-fight interview, Blachowicz asked for Jones to come back to the light heavyweight division. Of course, the Jackson-Wink MMA standout is currently preparing for a move to h…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The divide between Israel Adesanya and his top challenger was far greater than anyone realized. “The Last Stylebender” retained the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title with a scintillating stoppage of Paulo Costa in the UFC 253 headliner on Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Costa (13-1, 5-1 UFC) met his end 3:59 into Round 2, the latest victim on Adesanya’s march to all-time greatness.

It was a blowout from start to finish. Adesanya (20-0, 9-0 UFC) wrecked the Brazilian’s lead leg with repeated kicks, frustrated him with quick movements and methodically dismantled him. He unleashed a multi-punch volley to the head and body in the second round, floored Costa with a compact left hook and closed the door on him with mounted ground-and-pound.

Blachowicz Fells Reyes, Strikes UF…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 253 “Adesanya vs. Costa” coverage begins Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Welcome back to “Fight Island,” with a card that will treat fans with a duo of title fights later on tonight. Before those championship affairs, we get things started in the light heavyweight division, as Ibragimov (8-3, 0-3 UFC) tries to keep his spot on the roster as he takes on the debuting Marques (9-2, 0-0 UFC). Referee Jason Herzog draws the first assignment of the evening, and there is no touch of gloves to begin the night! Both men come out cautiously with high guards, and Marques sneaks in a jab before shooting in low for a takedown. The Russian stuffs it with a guillotine choke, and he staves off a takedown by threatening with it. Marques drags…

THE EARTHQUAKE!

@BradQuakeRiddel erupts in the last two rounds for the UD!

[ #UFC253 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/8fLF134oOg — UFC (@ufc) September 27, 2020

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Brad Riddell may not be a household name in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division, but he appears to be moving in that direction.

The City Kickboxing standout weathered some early adversity, hit the accelerator and climbed another rung on the 155-pound ladder, as he took a unanimous decision from Alex da Silva Coelho in the featured UFC 253 prelim on Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three judges scored it 29-28 for Riddell (9-1, 3-0 UFC), who now finds himself in possession of a six-fight winning streak.

Coelho (21-3, 1-2 UFC) secured two taked…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

There were no suprises when it came to bonus selections at UFC 253, as Israel Adesanya, Jan Blachowicz, Brandon Royval and Kai Kara France eached received an extra $50,000 for their work in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

Adesanya earned a “Performance of the Night” award for an impressive stoppage of Paulo Costa in the evening’s middleweight headliner. “The Last Stylebender” chopped away at his opponent’s legs early before flooring the Brazilian with a left hook and sealing his victory with ground-and-pound at the 3:59 mark of Round 2 to retain his 185-pound title.

Meanwhile, Blachowicz garnered the evening’s other “Performance of the Night” check for a second-round technical knockout of Dominick Reyes in a matchup for the vacant light heavyweight crown in the co-main event. The Polish veteran appeared to break Reyes’ n…

BIG takedown from Costello van Steenis on Fabian Edwards in round !

This tense main event is LIVE NOW on @channel5_tv. #BellatorMilan pic.twitter.com/DnlZVKGwMq

— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) September 26, 2020 Costello van Steenis knocked Fabian Edwards from the ranks of the unbeaten at Bellator Milan on Saturday at Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. It was Bellator’s first event in Europe since the COVID-19 outbreak.  

The middleweight contenders studied each other for the majority of the first stanza, but it looked like it was van Steenis (13-2) who deserved to take the round home, as he landed several brutal leg kicks on Edwards’ (9-1) lead leg. In the second frame, "The Spaniard" landed the first takedown of the match, dragging Edwards into a sticky situation thanks to an almost-closed guillotine choke attempt. In the last few seconds of Round 2, van Steenis landed several heavy shots of ground-and-pound that alm…

Mason 'The Dragon' Jones is THE MAN.

A TKO victory in the first round - he is now the double champ. DOUBLE DRAGON #CW116 pic.twitter.com/Pb2vev6E03

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 26, 2020 Mason Jones can now call himself a two-division champion in Cage Warriors.

The reigning lightweight king defeated Adam Proctor via technical knockout to claim the vacant 170-pound strap in the Cage Warriors 116 main event at BEC Arena in Manchester, England, on Saturday. Jones (10-0) brought a halt to the contest with a series of unanswered punches to the side of his opponent’s head 4:31 into Round 1.

“They look good on my shoulders,” Jones said of the belts. “Everyone knew I could do this. I knew I could get him out of there early, and I showed that.”

Jones ignored a visible size discrepancy to draw Proctor (12-2) into a fire fight. Although Proctor was able to sting the Welshman with long, rangy strikes on occasion, “The Dragon” l…

Conor McGregor says he is fighting Manny Pacquiao. PLEASE happen.

Opening odds @betonline_ag :

Pac-Man -1200Conor +700

Odds> https://t.co/Brb9nyMjEX

— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) September 25, 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. Manny Pacquiao has predictably opened as a massive favorite over Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor.

On Friday, McGregor (22-4 MMA, 0-1 Box) revealed that he was negotiating with the UFC and Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) to stage a boxing match towards the end of the year. Even though the matchup is far from official, betting lines have opened with McGregor as a huge underdog against his potential Filipino foe.

According to sportsbook betonline.ag, Pacquiao is a -1200 favorite against McGregor (+700) in their discussed bout. This same book has boxing lines of potential Flo…

A smooth transition to a submission victory for the champAll in two minutes #AndStill #CW115

Knockouts and submissions, whats next for Jack Cartwright? pic.twitter.com/Q8lp0xHlUM

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 25, 2020 It was a quick night at the office for the defending champion. The CW 115 card was headlined by the championship battle between Jack Cartwright (9-0) and Gerardo Fanny (9-2). It took just over two minutes for Cartwright to secure the victory, doing so with style points. The British fighter relocated the action to the floor as soon as the fight started, and after a few scrambles, he locked an arm-triangle choke that forced Fanny to tap. The win was Cartwright’s fifth by submission, and all five have come in the first round.

Precision and pressure, James Webb gets the W and is on the road back to the top

A first round submission #CW115 pic.twitter.com/jUn5fWJ5CS

— Cage Warriors (@…

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. After calling out practically everyone in his division and a few others, Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Marvin Vettori finally has a fight in the form of a previous opponent. The story first breaking from MMA Junkie on Friday, Vettori (15-4-1) confirmed on his Instagram page that he will be squaring off with Omari Akhmedov (20-5-1) at UFC 256. The two middleweights will come to blows for the second time on Dec. 12, and the expected venue for this pay-per-view card is at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. They first fought at UFC 219 in 2017, where the bout was scored a majority draw.

Vettori last competed in June, when he tapped Karl Roberson in the first round to settle their grudge match. The win put Vettori on a three-fight win streak, which tied the record for the longest win streak of any Italian fighter in UFC his…