Martial Arts News

A bantamweight showdown pitting Chris Gutierrez against Javid Basharat has been added to the UFC on ABC 7 lineup.

Gutierrez confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from Marcel Dorff. UFC on ABC 7 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3 and is headlined by a bantamweight tilt between Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov.

Gutierrez is coming of a unanimous decision loss to Yadong Song in the UFC Fight Night 233 headliner this past December. Prior to that, “El Guapo” had been victorious in five of his previous six Octagon appearances dating back to 2021.

Basharat, meanwhile, suffered his first defeat in 16 pro outings at UFC Fight Night 238, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to Aiemann Zahabi on March 2. Basharat owns victories over Mateus Mendonca, Tony Gravely and Trevin Jones in UFC competition.

ONE Championship three-division title holder Anatoly Malykhin will defend his heavyweight crown against Oumar Kane when the promotion heads to Atlanta on Nov. 8.

ONE announced the main event booking in a release on Wednesday. ONE Championship 169 takes place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta and marks the organization’s second trip to the United States in 2024. In the evening’s co-headliner, Tawanchai PK Saenchai will defend his featherweight (155-pound) muay thai belt against Joe Nattawut. The card will air live on Prime Video in the United States.

Malykhin is coming off a third-round technical knockout victory against Reinier de Ridder to claim the middleweight (205-pound) title at ONE 166 on March 1. The 36-year-old Russian owns a 14-0 professional mark — which includes six victories under the ONE banner. He captured heavyweight gold with a third-round stoppage of UFC veteran Arjan Singh Bhullar in June 2023.

A native of Senegal who is commonly known a…

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Colby Covington has slammed Sean Strickland for criticizing the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s fighter pay.

Strickland recently engaged in a back-and-forth with Mike Perry over fighter pay in the BKFC. When Perry responded by calling out the UFC’s fighter pay, Strickland admitted that both promotions needed to better their fighter salaries.

However, Covington disagrees with Strickland. Covington noted that while the UFC typically pays $10,000 + $10,000 to show and win to entry-level fighters, Strickland is probably drawing close to $1 million per fight. “Chaos” believes it is hypocritical of the former middleweight champ to criticize UFC fighter pay when he has built a comfortable life for himself with that.

“My thoughts are, Sean changed his life, so he’s kind of hypocritical to be saying this,” Covington said on the SOSCAST with Adam Sosnick. “Now he lives in like a really nice mansion-style type house, you know, has great cars, and …

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Carlos Prates began his habit of smoking cigarettes at a young age.

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Prates recently shut down Charlie Radtke with a violent knee to the body in the first round of their UFC on ESPN 57 clash earlier this month. The Brazilian was seen smoking a cigarette when he learned that his victory earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus. Prates also revealed that smoking before and after a fight is a fairly common ritual for him..

Prates recently opened up further on his smoking habits during an appearance on the ”Show Me the Money” podcast. Prates revealed that he had started smoking at the age of 12 or 13 — though the habit has increased over the years. The pandemic affected Prates, and “The Nightmare” started smoking a lot of marijuana. When he noticed adverse effects of cannabis on his mental health, Prates decided to stick to cigarettes.

“I think I started to smoke when I was 12 or 13. Not like today, of…

Kelvin Gastelum believes his upcoming clash against Daniel Rodriguez has both of their Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts at stake.

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Gastelum is scheduled to face Rodriguez at UFC on ABC 6 on Saturday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Gastelum’s UFC career has been on somewhat of a downward spiral, as he has gone 2-5 since his interim middleweight title loss to Israel Adesanya in 2019. Gastelum dropped back to welterweight after nine years for his most recent outing, where he suffered a submission loss against Sean Brady in December 2023.

With his “back against the wall,” Gastelum feels a win against Rodriguez is imperative for him to stay with the UFC. Gastelum also believes it’s a must-win situation for his opponent to extend his UFC contract, as well. “D-Rod” is coming off consecutive stoppage losses against Neil Magny and Ian Garry after winning his previous four Octagon appearances. While the thought of not getting his contr…

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Olympic gold medalist and World Freestyle wrestling champion Zaurbek Sidakov is reportedly considering a switch to MMA, according to UFC fighter Muhammadjon Naimov.

A three-time world champion, Sidakov won the gold in Men’s Freestyle Wrestling at 74 kilograms (163 pounds) at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. However, Sidakov isn’t eligible to compete in the upcoming Paris Olympics as his name didn’t appear on the recently published list of Russian and Belarusian athletes approved to compete by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Russian and Belarusian athletes were initially banned from competing at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, the IOC later permitted the athletes to participate as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) approved by the Individual Neutral Athletes Eligibility Panel (AINERP). Athletes had to prove their dissociation from the war and their countries’ military forces to be eligible…

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Israel Adesanya recently made his prediction for the upcoming UFC on ABC 6 headliner on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

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Robert Whittaker (25-7) will face unranked prospect Ikram Aliskerov (15-1) in the main event at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Aliskerov stepped up on nine days’ notice, replacing Whittaker’s originally scheduled opponent Khamzat Chimaev, who withdrew from the card due to severe illness.

Adesanya is picking Whittaker to emerge victorious. “The Last Stylebender” believes Whittaker should be able to hold his own against Aliskerov on the ground, as he was already preparing for an elite wrestler in Chimaev. According to Adesanya, “Bobby Knuckles” will likely dispatch Aliskerov in Round 3 or 4.

“Rob was ready to wrestle this fight anyway, so the wrestling’s gonna be f—-ng top tier in this fight, I think. Striking will be nice. Banger. I like this banger of a fight,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Also this guy …

The interim strawweight (125-pound) belt will be on the line when Jarred Brooks and Gustavo Balart square off at ONE on Prime Video 24 on Aug. 2.

The Singapore-based promotion on Tuesday announced the bout, which was necessitated by an injury to reigning 125-pound champion Joshua Pacio. ONE on Prime Video 24 takes place at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and airs on Prime Video. According to a release, Pacio will be sidelined indefinitely due to a torn ACL.

Brooks lost the 125-pound title when he was disqualified for using an illegal slam on Pacio in their bout at ONE 166: Qatar this past March. Prior to that, “The Monkey God” had been victorious in his first four promotional appearances. Brooks claimed the divisional throne with a five-round verdict over Pacio in their first meeting at ONE 164 in December 2022.

Balart, a decorated wrestler from Cuba, has won four straight contests under the ONE banner. “El Gladiator” is coming off a split-d…

After a two-year absence due to multiple knee surgeries, former Professional Fighters League light heavyweight champion Antonio Carlos Jr. made a successful return to the cage in April, submitting Simon Biyong in the opening stanza at PFL 2 on April 12.

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While that earned “Cara de Sapato” six points in the PFL standings, four other light heavyweights earned quicker finishes than the Brazilian at the event. That means Carlos Jr. enters his PFL 5 matchup with Alex Polizzi in fifth place, so he will need another impressive showing to assure himself a place in the postseason.

“It never happened in PFL history. Five fighters getting a quick six in the first phase. Nobody is guaranteed [a spot] in the playoffs. It´s like we are all starting now,” Carlos Jr. told Sherdog.com.

Carlos Jr. expects Polizzi to try to use his wrestling to control their fight at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.

"He has an excellent folk wrestling technique and prob…

Baissangour Chamsoudinov has parlayed a victory over Cedric Doumbe into long-term security with the Professional Fighters League.

It was announced on Tuesday that Chamsoudinov has signed an exclusive contract with the promotion that will allow him to compete for the PFL, PFL Europe and Bellator Champions Series. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and a date for Chamsoudinov’s next bout was not revealed.

“I'm very happy to have signed with PFL as they are growing more and more just like myself as a developing fighter, so it's perfect,” Chamsoudinov said in a release. “The goal for my career has remained the same since the beginning, to become the best fighter on the planet. I'm here to clean out the division.”

Known as “Baki,” the 22-year-old Frenchman gained notoriety after earning a controversial third-round TKO win against Doumbe at PFL Europe 1 on March 7. While the bout ended when referee Marc Goddard waved off the fight due to a Doumbe toe injury,…

1 Mike, 2 Mikes, 3 Mikes, 4

The fact is every opponent has touched the floor

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5 months until Tyson and I go to war

So in the meantime me & Perry are going to make Tampa roar

I fear no man, anytime, anywhere, anyplace

On July 20th it’s going to be another W, so let us say… pic.twitter.com/SIu6K0VbD5

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) June 18, 2024

The date that once was reserved for Mike Tyson now belongs to Mike Perry.

Perry has agreed to face Jake Paul in a boxing match on July 20 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The fight will be contested over eight rounds in the cruiserweight (200 pounds) division and will be available via pay-per-view through Dazn. Paul was originally slated to meet Tyson on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, but that bout was postponed until Nov. 15 due to ulcer-related medical issues for Tyson.

“When Paul vs. Tyson was rescheduled, I knew immediately that I wanted…

Olena Kolesnyk has withdrawn from a proposed featherweight showdown against Sara Collins at Bellator Champions Series Dublin on Saturday.

Sherdog.com confirmed the cancellation with a promotion official on Tuesday. A reason for Kolesnyk’s exit was not disclosed. Since Collins will not remain on the card, Bellator Dublin will proceed with 13 bouts. Bellator Champions Series Dublin takes place at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, and is headlined by a welterweight title tilt between Jason Jackson and Ramazan Kuramagomedov. The card airs in its entirety on Max beginning at noon ET/9 a.m. PT.

Kolesnyk was going to be making her Bellator MMA debut after competing exclusively for Professional Fighters League since 2021. “Cannon” earned regular season wins over Yoko Higashi and Aspen Ladd before falling to Larissa Pacheco in the PFL postseason in 2023.

Collins is undefeated in five professional outings. The 33-year-old Australian rose to prominence with a first-round …