Martial Arts News

Bellator MMA has bolstered its talent pool by signing light heavyweight Viktor Nemkov and featherweight Cody Law.

Sherdog.com confirmed the Nemkov signing with a promotion official following an initial report from Tass, while the promotion announced the addition of Law via social media. A date for the Bellator debuts of Nemkov and Law has not been revealed.

Nemkov is the older brother of Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov. A former M-1 Global champion, Viktor Nemkov last competed under the Professional Fighters League banner, where he was eliminated from the light heavyweight tournament following a draw against Bozigit Ataev . The elder Nemkov is a gold medalist in the Russian Combat Sambo championships and owns notable wins over UFC veterans Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Ronny Markes.

Hello @BellatorMMA pic.twitter.com/chDZA4Zp8S

— Cody Law (@codylaw_160) September 1, 2020

Law, meanwhile, is a former Division I wrestler at…

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A rematch of the “BMF” title fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz is currently in the works for a future Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

TMZ Sports initially reported that the matchup would take place on the UFC 256 pay-per-view card on Dec. 12, but ESPN later revealed that a date has not been decided. However, it is unlikely that Masvidal and Diaz would agree to be on the undercard after headlining UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden this past November.

While both Masvidal and Diaz are reportedly interested in the rematch, no agreements have been signed. The contest could potentially headline the UFC’s January pay-per-view, per ESPN.

Masvidal defeated Diaz via doctor stoppage in the UFC 244 main event on Nov. 2. The bout was halted due to a cut on Diaz’s eye, but the Stockton, California, native later…

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Kamaru Usman’s next welterweight title defense will come against Gilbert Burns, and the bout has been targeted for UFC 256 on Dec. 12.

TMZ Sports was first to report the matchup, and it was later confirmed to ESPN by UFC president Dana White. UFC 256 also features a women’s featherweight title tilt between reigning champion Amanda Nunes and Megan Anderson. A location and venue for the event has not been announced.

Usman and Burns were originally supposed to meet at UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi on July 11, but Burns was forced to pull out of the contest after testing positive for COVID-19. Instead, Usman made his second successful title defense with a clear-cut five-round verdict against Jorge Masvidal in the evening’s main event. “The Nigerian Nightmare” has won 16 straight professional bouts – including 12 in the UFC.

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British heavyweight @AspinallBJJ gets his wish!

He faces Serghei Spivac on Oct 10 pic.twitter.com/OtFxhMcDiM

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 1, 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. A heavyweight clash pitting Sergey Spivak against Tom Aspinall has been added to the lineup for the the UFC’s Oct. 10 offering.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the pairing on Tuesday. Additionally, MMA DNA has reported that a bantamweight scrap between Ali AlQaisi and Tony Kelley will take place on the card. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to be held on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a bantamweight showdown between Marlon Moraes and Corey Sandhagen.

A native of Moldova, Spivak has split his first four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 25-year-old captured a majority decision triumph over Carlos Felipe at U…

Former strawweight queen Jessica Andrade is expected make her 125-pound debut against Katlyn Chookagian at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Oct. 17.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. Andrade was originally linked to a matchup with Jessica Eye, but that bout fell apart after Eye reportedly suffered an injury. The card is expected to be held on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight duel between Chan Sung Jung and Brian Ortega.

After losing the 115-pound belt to Weili Zhang in a 42-second TKO defeat last year, Andrade returned to the Octagon at UFC 251, where she dropped a split decision against Rose Namajunas. Prior to that two-bout skid, “Bate Estaca” had been victorious in seven of her previous eight promotional appearances. When she makes her flyweight debut, Andrade will have competed in three different weight classes within the Las Vegas-based organization.

Chookagian, meanwhile, challened for flyweight gold at U…

Legacy Fighting Alliance will close out its “Phase Two” series of cards with a middleweight scrap pitting Chidi Njokuani against Cristhian Torres.

The promotion announced that Njokuani vs. Torres will serve as the main event for LFA 91, which takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Sept. 11. The card will stream on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Six other bouts have been confirmed for the main card: Kyle Stewart vs. Tim Caron at middleweight; Jamal Pogues vs. Tim Hiley at light heavyweight; Hailey Cowan vs. Kelly Clayton at bantamweight; Nick Maximov vs. Johnny James Jr. at light heavyweight; Nate Togbah Richardson vs. Dariius Estell at featherweight and Josh Quinlan vs. Pete Keepers at welterweight.

Njokuani was released from Bellator in 2019 after a 5-3 stint with the California-based promotion. The 31-year-old last appeared at Bellator 224, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to Rafael Carvalho in July 2019.

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Legacy Fighting Alliance will close out its “Phase Two” series of cards with a middleweight scrap pitting Chidi Njokuani against Cristhian Torres.

The promotion announced that Njokuani vs. Torres will serve as the main event for LFA 91, which takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Sept. 11. The card will stream on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Six other bouts have been confirmed for the main card: Kyle Stewart vs. Tim Caron at middleweight; Jamal Pogues vs. Tim Hiley at light heavyweight; Hailey Cowan vs. Kelly Clayton at bantamweight; Nick Maximov vs. Johnny James Jr. at light heavyweight; Nate Togbah Richardson vs. Dariius Estell at featherweight and Josh Quinlan vs. Pete Keepers at welterweight.

Njokuani was released from Bellator in 2019 after a 5-3 stint with the California-based promotion. The 31-year-old last appeared at Bellator 224, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to Rafael Carvalho in July 2019.

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Jon Jones is preparing to make his heavyweight debut, and he’s already making a case as to why he should leapfrog Francis Ngannou to be the division’s No. 1 contender.

“Stipe [Miocic] doesn’t want to fight Francis again because the first fight really wasn’t close,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “Looking at it from Stipe’s point of view, fighting Francis again is definitely more of a lose situation than a win. Stipe asked for a new challenge, why not fight the light heavyweight GOAT?

“Besides, we’re way closer in size. What’s more exciting than that?”

Jones recently vacated his light heavyweight title in preparation for a move to heavyweight. A date for his debut in the big man’s division is unknown, but UFC president Dana White has stated that Ngannou is next in line to face Miocic, who is coming of a trilogy victory…

Brock Lesnar is a free agent once again.

According to a report from ESPN, the former UFC heavyweight champion is no longer under contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE removed Lesnar’s merchandise from the organization’s online store over the weekend. Pro Wrestling Insider was first to bring word of Lesnar’s free agency.

The 43-year-old Lesnar captured the UFC heavyweight crown in 2008 and defended the belt twice before falling to Cain Velasquez via first-round TKO at UFC 123 in October 2010. He retired from the sport following a loss to Alistair Overeem in December 2011.

The multiple time WWE champion returned to the Octagon in July 2016, when he took a unanimous decision over Mark Hunt at UFC 200. However, that victory was overturned to a no contest after Lesnar tested positive for a banned substance.

In the past, Lesnar has been linked to a UFC return when there are negotiations involving his WWE contract. Most recently, he appeared in the ca…

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Though an inadvertent eye poke from Stipe Miocic hindered Daniel Cormier’s vision for the second half of their UFC 252 title bout, it looks like “DC” will be able to avoid surgery for the torn cornea he suffered on Aug. 15.

"The first week and a half, [the eye] was really bad, it wasn't opening, and it was completely blurry, but now it kind of feels like an eyelash is in it," Cormier said during his ESPN show on Monday. "I went and saw the doctor last week, and he told me I'm probably not going to have to have surgery, just kind of rest and recover. And today it feels good, but just feels like something in there, you know when you get an eyelash and can't get it out? It's just right in the corner.

"It was concerning initially, because they didn't know how severe the impact was going to be going forward. They didn't k…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejj75W3qt3U&w=560&h=315]

Bellator MMA is hosting two cards in Milan, Italy, in September.

It seems that the Bellator European Series is ready to make its long-awaited return after the long hiatus forced by the ongoing COVID-19 health emergency. According to multiple sources, Italian fighter Chiara Penco will face Aleksandra Toncheva Plamenova in a 115-pound clash that will go down on an upcoming card in Milan, Italy, on Sept. 26. The sources asked for anonymity since the news isn’t official yet.

In her latest cage appearance, former Extreme Cage Fighting champion Penco (4-2) dropped a decision in front of Danni Neilan at Bellator 240. Prior, "Beasty Barbie" lost her divisional title to Karolina Wojcik after a close match that took place at EFC 76 back in December 2018. That loss snapped a four-bout winning streak that featured all submission victories.

IMMAF World and two-time European Champion Toncheva…

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Felipe Dias Colares is expected to square off against Gustavo Lopez at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Nov. 7.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bantamweight bout. The location and venue for the card have yet to be announced.

A former Jungle Fight champion, Colares has dropped two of his first three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 26-year-old Team Nogueira representative was outpointed by Montel Jackson at UFC Fight Night 166. “Cabocao” is 9-2 as a professional, with seven of those triumphs coming inside the distance.

Lopez, who previously held Combate Americas gold, lost a unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili in his promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 10 on June 13. That halted a three-bout finishing streak for the 31-year-old Xtreme Couture product, who is 11-5 with 10 finishes over the…