Martial Arts News

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Jan Blachowicz didn’t have the look of a contender during the beginning of his Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure.

After a successful stint in Polish promotion KSW, Blachowicz suffered defeat in four of his first six Octagon appearances. What followed was a slow climb toward the top of the light heavyweight division, as the 37-year-old Pole rebounded to win seven of his next eight bouts to set up a showdown with Dominick Reyes for the vacant 205-pound belt at UFC 253.

Blachowicz says his self belief never wavered, even during that difficult stretch.

“I never think about that I’m not going to be a champion,” Blachowicz said during a UFC 253 media day. “I always believed in myself, believed in my skills. I just needed to find out what was going wrong and I f…

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The bitter taste of a near miss against Jon Jones at UFC 247 still lingers for Dominick Reyes.

Reyes dropped a five-round verdict to Jones in a light heavyweight title bout on Feb. 8, but it was a fight that many observers — including 14 of 21 media scorecards on MMADecisions.com — thought “The Devastator” deserved to win.

Reyes never got his desired rematch. Jones has since vacated the belt with designs on moving up to take on new challenges in the heavyweight division, while Reyes will square off against Jan Blachowicz for the vacant 205-pound crown in the UFC 253 co-main event on Saturday.

“I have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder from that fight,” Reyes admitted at UFC 253 media day. “I feel like this is my first title defense in a lot aspects. This …

After a lengthy delay, Patricio Freire will finally defend his featherweight crown against Pedro Carvalho at a Bellator MMA event on Nov. 12.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the booking. The matchup is part of the quarterfinal round of the promotion’s 145-pound grand prix. Freire was initially slated to meet Carvalho at Bellator 241 in March before the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nov. 12 card will take place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Freire, who is also the reigning lightweight king, advanced in the bracket with a five-round verdict against Juan Archuleta at Bellator 228. The Brazilian standout is currently on a five-bout winning streak.

Carvalho, meanwhile, punched his ticket to the quarterfinals with a second-round submission of Sam Sicilia at Bellator 226. The 25-year-old SBG Ireland representative has been victorious in his last six professional outings, a stretch that includes four triumphs under the Bellator ba…

Tyron Woodley is facing a potential 180-day medical suspension after suffering a rib injury in his loss to Colby Covington in the UFC Fight Night 178 headliner this past Saturday.

A full list of medical suspensions from the event were released to MixedMartialArts.com on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night 178 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and saw Covington defeat Woodley via TKO at the 1:19 mark of Round 5 due to the aforementioned injury in their welterweight encounter.

While Covington emerged with a clean bill of health, Woodley is suspended for 180 days unless a left costochondral (joint between the ribs and the cartilage in front of the rib cage) tear is cleared by an orthopedic doctor. At a minimum, the former welterweight champion is suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.

Three other athletes from UFC Fight Night 178 are facing 180-day sits pending medical clearance: Niko Price (right hand), Randa Markos (left elbow) and Sarah Alpar (nasal fractur…

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According to Wallid Ismail, the manager of Paulo Henrique Costa, the scale will not be a problem for the middleweight No. 1 contender heading into the UFC 253 main event on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi this Saturday.

“He is having the best weight cut ever. Normally he weighs 200 pounds two days before the weigh-in, this time he is already weighing 200 pounds today (Tuesday),” Ismail told Sherdog.com. “So there is no reason for concern.

“‘’Borrachinha’ is one of the most serious and focused athletes I´ve ever seen. Besides working with a team of excellent professionals, he is absolutely focused on reaching the main goal of his life, which is gaining the UFC belt, and I´m sure he will get it.”

It’s worth noting that Costa has never missed weight for an Octagon appearance.

After his win over Yoel Romero at UFC 241, Costa became one of the most popular MMA fighters in Brazil. His middleweight title b…

Considered one of the most dominant fighters of Pride era, Wanderlei Silva will launch his biography on Oct. 8 in Rio de Janeiro.

Written by journalists Thiago Parijani and Luiz Henrique Gurian, “Sem Coleira” will recount the history of the poor boy from Curitiba, Brazil, who turned into one of the most violent and dominant champions in MMA history.

With a preface written by legendary Royce Gracie, the book will show how “The Axe Murderer” went from an overweight boy who grew up helping helping his father in their family bar and after suffering bullying, totally changed his life through martial arts. Beginning with his formative years with Chute Boxe, the story chronicles many of the highlights of Silva’s career, including the violent Vale Tudo Tournaments, his championship victory over Kazushi Sakuraba in Pride, rivalries with the likes of Ricardo Arona, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, his final chapter in the UFC and his return to Brazil.

The official launch will…

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Michael Chandler will enter the UFC in an interesting position.

Instead of being booked against a marquee opponent for his Octagon debut, the former Bellator champion instead will serve as an alternate for the lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.

“A lot of guys would at it and say, ‘This guy’s silly for doing this.’ I look at like it’s the perfect way to introduce myself…this is just an opportunity for me to show up,” Chandler recently told ESPN. “Whether I fight Oct. 24 or I do not fight Oct. 24, I’m training as if I am, I’m showing up as if I am, I am making weight as if I am. It just goes to show exactly who I am.

“I think it’s a perfect introduction to the UFC and the UFC fans of who I am and how I conduct myself.”

Chandler was reportedly considered as a p…

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Lara Fritzen Procopio has accepted a six-month suspension from USADA for an anti-doping violation.

Procopio tested positive for ostarine in an out-of-competition sample collected on Feb. 17. The Nova Uniao product was apple to provide a sample of a supplement she received from a Brazilian compounding pharmacy, and although no banned substances were listed, lab analysis revealed the presence of ostarine.

As a result Procopio received a reduced sanction of six months from the normal two-year period, and her period of ineligibility concluded on Aug. 17, 2020.

The 24-year-old Brazilian dropped a split decision against Karol Rosa in her promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 157 on Aug. 31, 2019. Rosa began her professional tenure with six consecutive victories on the regional circuit.

The full USADA statement regarding Procopio is as follows:

USADA announced today that Lara Fritzen Procopio , of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,…

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Despite a discouraging three-fight skid in the UFC, Tyron Woodley does not have designs on calling it a career just yet.

Woodley is coming off a technical knockout loss to bitter rival Colby Covington at UFC Fight Night 178 in which the bout was halted early in Round 5 due to a rib injury. The former welterweight champion was not especially competitive prior to the stoppage, as Covington controlled the majority of the fight.

“I’m not retiring – I’m not giving it up,” Woodley said on Instagram. “I’m not switching all my coaches up. I’m not changing the continent I live on. I’m not doing all that.

“Some s—t didn’t happen and guess what? I don’t know why it didn’t happen. I did everything to make it happen. Now we just take a deep breath and see what’s next.”

Woodley’s statement is in contrast to the advice …

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Recent Dana White’s Contender Series winner Phil Hawes will make his Octagon debut against Robert Whittaker training partner Jacob Malkoun at UFC 254.

AgFight was first to report the middleweight booking. UFC 254 takes place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24 and is headlined by a lightweight championship tilt pitting Khabib Nurmagomedov against Justin Gaethje.

Hawes earned a UFC contract with a 78-second TKO of Khadzhimurat Bestaev on the Contender Series on Sept. 8. The 30-year-old Sanford MMA representative, who came up short on Season 1 of the show, enters his first promotional foray on a four-bout winning streak. Hawes is 8-2 as a professional overall and has finished all his victories inside the distance.

Malkoun, who is based at PMA Super Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia, is unbeaten in three fights…

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Steven Ray has retired from mixed martial arts at 30 years old.

The Braveheart MMA founder revealed his decision in a video on Facebook, citing a knee injury as the motivating factor behind the announcement. Ray said that those knee issues caused him chronic pain in recent years and prevented him from training as consistently as he would like despite undergoing three separate surgeries.

“Going back, before that, for my last three fights my knee’s been pretty badly damaged,” Ray said. “Those that train with me or are close to me know that I was having to spend a lot of days off training, icing my knee, when my opponent was probably training.

“It was f—-ing with my head taking days off and not going into the fight as confident. A lot of stuff I wasn’t able to do. For example, really struggling to wrestle and thro…