Martial Arts News

Anthony Birchak will make his first Octagon appearance since 2016 when he steps in on short notice to face Gustavo Lopez at UFC on ESPN 17.

Birchak is a replacement for Felipe Colares, who recently tested positive for COVID-19. Fansided was first to report the new bantamweight bout. UFC on ESPN 17 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight clash pitting Thiago Santos against Glover Teixeira.

Birchak enters the matchup with Lopez on a three-fight winning streak, with each of those victories coming inside of a round. In his last outing, the 34-year-old Arizonan scored a first-round submission of Erik Radleim at Combate Americas “Tucson” in October 2019. Birchak went 2-2 during a brief UFC stint from 2014 to 2016 before transitioning to Rizin, where he went 0-3 in the Japanese organization in three 2017 appearances.

A nine-time Combate Americas veteran, Lopez had a three-fight winning streak snapped in his debut wi…

Nick Browne by sub #LFA76 pic.twitter.com/CVu7cBz68R

— ShayMyName (@ImShannonTho) September 14, 2019

The event schedule for Legacy Fighting Alliance continues to roll on, as the promotion announced that its Phase 4 slate of events will kick off later this month.

While Phase 3 concluded with LFA 94 on Oct. 30, Phase 4 will begin with LFA 95 at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas on Nov. 20. LFA 95 will be headlined by a lightweight championship clash between Nick Browne and Arthur Estrazulas.

The rest of the LFA 95 main card is as follows: Myron Dennis vs. Dylan Potter at light heavyweight; Alexsandro Pereira vs. Thomas Powell at middleweight; Victor Altamirano vs. Lloyd McKinney at flyweight; Natan Levy vs. Bruno Assis de Souza Filho at featherweight; Michael Stack vs. Jordan Mapa at featherweight and Tabatha Ricci vs. Flore Hani at strawweight.

The second and final event of Phase 4 will be LFA 96 on Dec. 4. That card will feature a …

Saturday will be an evening of strong emotions for former UFC heavyweight contender Pedro Rizzo.

In addition to cornering Raoni Barcelos in his fifith Octagon appearance against Khalid Taha in a featured bantamweight bout at UFC on ESPN 17, he will also witness a fight between two of his very close friends in the main event when Glover Teixeira squares off against Thiago Santos in a battle of light heavyweight contenders.

“Glover Teixeira is like a brother to me. When he came to Brazil in 2008, we trained together every day for almost five years. We even lived together for almost one year in Florida,” Rizzo told Sherdog.com. “‘Marreta’ is a student who trained with me for four years. Actually, when UFC announced they would fight, I promised that I would go to my farm where my telephone and TV don’t work. That was my plan until UFC invited Raoni to the same card.”

Even though he doesn’t enjoy watching two friends fight, Rizzo recognizes the logic behind the matc…

One fighter missed weight on Tuesday for the latest edition of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Edson Gomez tipped the scales at 174 pounds for his welterweight clash against Ignacio Bahamondes (168.5). The fight will go forward as planned, but Gomez has been fined 20 percent of his purse. Meanwhile, all of the other six competitors slated to compete hit their contracted marks.

There were other issues with Wednesday’s card: A strawweight clash between Pauline Macias and Gloria de Paula has been postponed to a Contender Series event on Nov. 17 after de Paula tested positive for COVID-19. De Paula revealed the news on social media.

Dana White’s Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Wednesday and airs on UFC Fight Pass at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between Bruno Oliveira (203) and Carlos Ulberg (202).

Oliveira, 36, has won eight of his first nine professional outings. He last appeared at Titan FC…

Ex-Rizin Fighting Fighting Federation champ Manel Kape is expected to finally make his Octagon debut against Alexandre Pantoja at a UFC Fight Night event on Dec. 19.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bantamweight booking. The card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and will likely be headlined by a welterweight showdown between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Kape claimed the vacant Rizin bantamweight crown with a second-round technical knockout of Kai Asakura on Dec. 31. The 26-year-old AKA Thailand representative has won four of his last five professional outings — with each of those victories coming inside the distance. Kape was previously slated to make his promotional debut against Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 252 before his opponent withdrew from the bout due to injury.

Pantoja, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Askar Askarov at UFC Fight Night 172 on July 18. Prior to that defeat, “The Cannibal” had been victorious in four of h…

Both Uriah Hall and Anderson Silva are facing potential six-month layoffs following their headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 181.

Mixedmartialarts.com recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event. UFC Fight Night 181 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this past Saturday and saw Hall defeat Silva via technical knockout at the 1:24 mark of Round 4 in their middleweight clash. The bout was expected to be the last in UFC competition for “The Spider.”

Hall is suspended for 180 days unless both hands and his right foot receive doctor clearance. At a minimum, “Primetime” is not allowed contact until Dec. 1. Silva, meanwhile, is also facing a 180-day sit unless his broken nose is cleared by a doctor. At a minimum he is suspended for 60 days with 45 days no contact due to a left upper eyelid laceration.

Three other fighters from UFC Fight Night 181 are looking at potential six-month terms: Bryce Mitchell (left hand), Bobby Green (left eye) a…

Credit: One Championship Credit: One Championship Credit: One Championship

Kyrgyzstan native Kiamrian Abbasov will defend his welterweight title for the first time against American James Nakashima at One Championship “Inside the Matrix 2” on Nov. 6 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Prime Fight Management, which represents Abbasov, first brought word of the matchup. Abbasov's title defense against Nakashima was scheduled for April, but it was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2016, Abbasov became the champion of the Prime Selection Grand Prix and also won the MixFace/Tech-Krep FC Grand Prix belt, scoring three victories in one evening. In February 2018, the athlete signed a One Championship contract and three weeks later had a 10-bout winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to Luis Santos.

Abbasov rebounded to finish Agilan Thani and Yushin Okami under the One banner before claiming the title with a five-round verdict over Zebaztian …

An intriguing strawweight showdown between Michelle Waterson and Amanda Ribas is on tap for UFC 257 on Jan. 23.

ESPN was first to report the booking. UFC 257 does not yet have a location or venue but will reportedly be headlined by a lightweight tilt between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. That contest has not been finalized, however.

Waterson is coming off her third headlining appearance in the Las Vegas-based promotion, as she edged Angela Hill via split decision in the UFC Fight Night 177 main event on Sept. 12. That snapped a two-bout skid for “The Karate Hottie, who had previously dropped back-to-back bouts against Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

The 27-year-old Ribas has emerged as an interesting prospect at 115 pounds following victories in her first four Octagon appearances. The Brazilian last competed at UFC 251, where she submitted Paige VanZant in the opening stanza at UFC 251 on July 11.

A flyweight bout pitting Katlyn Chookagian against Cynthia Calvillo has been targeted for UFC 255.

ESPN was first to report the pairing. Contracts have not been signed, but the Las Vegas-based promotion is close to finalizing the matchup. UFC 255 takes place on Nov. 21 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a men’s flyweight title fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez, while Valentina Shevchenko puts her 125-pound strap on the line against Jennifer Maia in the co-main event.

UFC 255 will mark Chookagian’s fourth Octagon appearance of 2020. She suffered a third-round TKO loss to Shevchenko in a title bout at UFC 247 before outpointing the champion’s sister, Antonina Shevchenko, at UFC on ESPN 9. Most recently, “Blonde Fighter” fell to Jessica Andrade via first-round KO at UFC Fight Night 180.

Calvillo, meanwhile, made a successful foray to flyweight with a five-round verdict over former No. 1 contender Jessica Eye at UFC on ESPN 10 on June …

A positive COVID-19 test has knocked Pearl Gonzalez out of a matchup with Erin Blanchfield for the vacant flyweight crown at Invicta FC 43 on Nov. 20.

Gonzalez announced the news in a tearful video on her Instagram account Monday.

“I’m really sorry, but I’m not fighting on Nov. 20,” Gonzalez said in a video. “I got COVID and I’m really sick these last couple of days. My camp, [Invicta FC President] Shannon [Knapp], myself, just decided it would be best and that if I hold out. One, I might not be cleared of the COVID test anymore and two, I’m really f—-ing sick. This is really f—-ing brutal.

“I just wanted to tell you guys that I’m really sorry. I’m heartbroken. But I’m gonna focus on getting stronger.”

A promotion official confirmed to MMAFighting.com that Gonzalez vs. Blanchfield will be postponed until a later event. Meanwhile, a strawweight championship showdown between Emily Ducote and Montserrat Ruiz will serve as the new Invicta FC 43 main event.

I…

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The COVID-19 virus has caused a couple changes to Thursday’s Bellator 251 lineup.

Both Chris Curtis and Nainoa Dung have withdrawn from the event due to positive COVID-19 tests. Curtis was slated to face Austin Vanderford, while Dung was scheduled to meet Piankhi Zimmerman. As a result, Vanderford will square off against current CES MMA champ Vinicius de Jesus in a main card affair at middleweight, while Zimmerman will lock horns with Ali Zebian on the preliminary draw at lightweight.

Meanwhile, a preliminary light heavyweight clash pitting Terrance Jean-Jacques against Gustavo Trujillo has been canceled for unknown reasons.

Sherdog.com confirmed the updates to the card with a promotion official on Monday following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. MyMMANews first brought word of Curtis’ positive COVID-19 test.

Bellator 251 takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticu…

Veteran action fighter Tim Means will replace Robbie Lawler and lock horns with Mike Perry at UFC 255.

ESPN was first to report the new booking. UFC 255 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Nov. 21 and is headlined by a flyweight championship clash between Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko defends her 125-pound belt against Jennifer Maia.

Means has won two of his last three Octagon appearances and is coming off a three-round verdict against Laureano Staropoli at UFC Fight Night 174 on Aug. 8. The 36-year-old New Mexico native is 12-9 with one no contest over the course of his promotional tenure.

Perry, meanwhile, halted a two-bout skid with a unanimous decision triumph against Mickey Gall at UFC on ESPN 12 on June 27. The 29-year-old known as “Platinum” is 14-6 as a pro and 7-6 in UFC competition.