Martial Arts News

.@LFAfighting brings the Women's #Strawweight Championship to #Kansas at #LFA94!

Champion@Monster_Demovs.Challenger@LoopyGodinez

: https://t.co/28e5sbk4AM

Friday, October 30@HartmanArena#ParkCity, #Kansas#MMA#LFANation@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/OFiHrG9PBE

— LFA (@LFAfighting) October 14, 2020

Crystal Vanessa Demopoulos will defend her strawweight crown against Lupita Godinez in the Legacy Fighting Alliance 94 main event on Oct. 30.

The promotion announced the matchup on Wednesday. LFA 94 takes place at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas, and will have a “limited” number of tickets on sale to attend the event, per a release. LFA 94 airs on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Demopoulos became the promotion’s inaugural strawweight queen with a fourth-round submission of Sam Hughes at LFA 85 on July 17. She attempted to earn a UFC contract on the Contender Series in August but fell to Cory McKenna via unanimous dec…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99ij9FPSkmw&w=560&h=315]

The women’s featherweight title bout between Cristiane Justino and Arlene Blencowe will proceed as planned after both competitors made weight on Wednesday.

“Cyborg” tipped the scales at 145 pounds, while Blencowe checked in at 144.5. Bellator 249 takes place on Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and will also see Patricky Freire (155.5) square off against Jaleel Willis (159) in the evening’s co-main event. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network and Dazn at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream on Bellator’s YouTube channel and Dazn at 7:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. PT.

It wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone on the scales, as Willis missed weight by three pounds for his lightweight showdown with Freire, as did Leandro Higo (139) for a featured bantamweight clash against Ricky Bandejas (136).

A former 145-pound champion with the UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta, Justino captured …

Ronaldo Souza will lock horns with Marvin Vettori in a middleweight matchup at UFC 256.

Vettori’s trainer, Emanuele Lochner, announced the news on the The Scramble MMA Show, and the bout was also confirmed by UFC broadcast partner ESPN. Vettori was initially expected to face Omari Akhmedov at UFC 256, but that bout did not come to fruition.

UFC 256 takes place on Dec. 12 and features a women’s featherweight title tilt between Amanda Nunes and Megan Anderson. A location for the event has not been announced.

Souza was supposed to square off against Uriah Hall at UFC 249 on May, but a positive COVID-19 test forced “Jacare” to withdraw from the card. The 40-year-old Brazilian is coming off a brief foray to light heavyweight, where he dropped a split decision to current 205-pound champ Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night 164.

Vettori, meanwhile, has won three consecutive Octagon appearances since dropping a split verdict to reigning middleweight king Israel Ade…

I don’t play fighting I fight so get your soft body to Vegas and I will smoke you on dec 19. You are a real fighter so let’s go @NateDiaz209

— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) October 13, 2020

Khamzat Chimaev is on the prowl for a marquee matchup, and he just added Nate Diaz to his list of potential targets.

On Tuesday, Diaz reacted to Conor McGregor’s proposal of a charity exhibition bout between the Irish star and Dustin Poirier this December outside the confines of the Octagon. The UFC has since countered by offering a rematch to the two contenders for an undetermined event.

“Let’s don’t get it twisted I already smoked these [two] now they play fighting,” Diaz wrote on Twitter.

Chimaev responded to Diaz’s post, calling for a December showdown with the Stockton, California, native.

“I don’t play fighting, I fight, so get your soft body to Vegas and I will smoke you on Dec. 19,” Chimaev wrote. “You are a real fighter so let’s go […

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2xpt6J0Zck&w=560&h=315]

After Magomed Ismailov defeated Aleksander Emelianenko by third-round technical knockout at Absolute Championship Akhmat 107, the promotion has found a new challenge for the 34-year-old Russian known as “Bald Hawk.”

Ismailov (16-2-1) will face Ivan Shtyrkov (17-1-1) in the ACA 115 main event on Dec. 12. A location and venue for the event will be announced at a later date.

The 34-year-old Ismailov will make his debut in the light heavyweight division to participate in this bout. Prior to facing Emelianenko in a heavyweight affair, Ismailov had previously only competed at middleweight. But in order to meet "The Grim Reaper, he gained nearly 29 pounds – and was still outweighed by approximately 44 pounds. Now, Ismailov seems to have found a middle ground in terms of weight.

Ismailov is currently on an 11-fight unbeaten streak, with a draw against Vladimir Mineev the only blemish on his ledger during t…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGhI842FkA0&w=560&h=315]

Bellator MMA has signed the cousin of UFC heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Sherdog.com confirmed with a promotion official on Tuesday that the California-based organization has signed Gregory Milliard to a multi-fight contract. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news. Milliard is expected to compete in the Bellator cage before the end of the year.

A light heavyweight, Milliard has been victorious in eight of his last nine professional appearances while competing on the regional circuit. “The Arubian Assassin” began his career with a 2-4 record, which included a loss to Francois Ambang at Bellator 68 in May 2012.

Milliard has finished six of his professional triumphs by KO/TKO, one via submission and three by decision. He last fought in April 2019, scoring a second-round TKO victory in the main event of a card staged in Aruba.

The lineup for One Championship “Inside the Matrix” is now complete.

The promotion announced Monday that a lightweight matchup between Eduard Folayang and Antonio Caruso and an atomweight clash pitting Ritu Phogat against Nou Srey Pov will round out the six-bout card on Oct. 30.

One “Inside the Matrix” will be held at Singapore Indoor Stadium behind closed doors with only athletes, officials and production crew at the venue. Four title bouts will top the card: Aung La N Sang vs. Reinier de Ridder at middleweight; Christian Lee vs. Iuri Lapicus at lightweight; Martin Nguyen vs. Thanh Le at featherweight and Jingnan Xiong vs. Tiffany Teo at strawweight.

A three-time one lightweight champion, Folayang has lost three of his last our appearance, including a split-decision setback against Pieter Buist on Jan. 31. Caruso lost for the first time in eight professional outings in his promotional debut, falling to Buist via unanimous decision at One “Dawn of Valor” in October 201…

Khabib Nurmagomedov has no interest in a reality TV gig opposite Conor McGregor.

The reigning lightweight champion confirmed a recent statement made by his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, that he vetoed the possibility of coaching a season of “The Ultimate Fighter” against the Irish superstar.

"'The Ultimate Fighter' with him is good attention for him," Nurmagomedov told ESPN. "I don't want to give him this. I never give him this. Even if they give me $5 billion -- even if they gave me the UFC -- I never do this. This is good attention for him.

"It's done. Everything is done Oct. 6, 2018. I finish him. I finish everything about him.”

After months of bad blood, Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the fourth round of their 155-pound title bout at UFC 229 on that aforementioned date. After his victory, the Dagestani jumped out of the Octagon to confront McGregor’s corner, prompting a melee that resulted in fines and suspensions for both fighters as well as members o…

Orion Cosce, the card's biggest underdog, got the third-round finish from the crucifix #DWCS pic.twitter.com/xLxvijmznH

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 19, 2020

Dana White’s Contender Series alum Orion Cosce will make his Octagon debut against Nicolas Dalby at UFC 255.

Cosce initially announced the booking via social media. UFC 255 takes place on Nov. 21 and is headlined by a flyweight title clash between Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko defends her 125-pound belt against Jennifer Maia.

Cosce earned a UFC contract by rallying for a third-round TKO victory against Matt Dixon in a Contender Series bout on Aug. 18. The 26-year-old Californian is 7-0 as a professional, with all of his triumphs coming inside the distance.

Dalby, meanwhile, had a five-bout unbeaten streak snapped at UFC on ESPN 14, where he was submitted by Jesse Ronson in the opening stanza on July 25. A former Cage Warriors tit…

It appears that Cory Sandhagen did not emerge unscathed from his highlight-reel victory over Marlon Moraes at UFC Fight Night 179.

The Elevation Fight Team member is facing a potential 180-day medical suspension unless he receives clearance from an ophthalmologist. At a minimum, Sandhagen is suspended 30 days with 21 days no contact. Moraes, who was stopped by a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches in the second round of Saturday’s bantamweight headliner, is suspended 45 days with 21 days of no contact.

The UFC, which acted as its own regulating body for the event, recently released a full list of medical suspensions to mixedmartialarts.com. UFC Fight Night 179 took place at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. Everyone who competed received at least a seven-day mandatory suspension.

Five other fighters from the card are facing potential 180-day sits: Tom Breese, Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira, Impa Kasanganay, Tony Kelley and Omar Morales.

…

A proposed middleweight clash between Joe Schilling and Curtis Millender has been removed from Bellator 249.

Sherdog.com confirmed the news with a promotion official on Monday following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. The bout was canceled after the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulations denied Schilling a license to fight at the event for undisclosed reasons. Millender will not receive a replacement opponent.

As a result, Bellator 249 will proceed with 11 bouts. The event takes place on Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and is headlined by a women’s featherweight title tilt between Cristiane Justino and Arlene Blencowe. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT following prelims on Bellator’s YouTube channel at 7:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. PT.

Millender rejoined Bellator after a 3-2 UFC stint and has kicked off his 2020 campaign with a decision win over Moses Murrietta at Bellator 238 and a decision los…

Initially scheduled for UFC 254 on Oct. 24, the lightweight fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev had to be postponed due to Brazilian testing positive for COVID-19 two weeks before traveling to Abu Dhabi.

Dos Anjos spent his camp for the postponed bout at Nova Uniao, where he wowed the likes of former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and head trainer Andre Pederneiras.

"Unfortunately he was caught by COVID-19. He was in such a great shape. But I can guarantee that as soon as he recovers, the fans will see the best Rafael dos Anjos ever,” Aldo told Sherdog.com backstage at a launch event for Wanderlei Silva’s biography last week.

Aldo revealed that he also participated in the camp with dos Anjos and already has his next opponent decided.

"Unfortunately the UFC did not authorize me to release the name, but we will fight in November,” Aldo said. “By December 2021, I want to be the owner of bantamweight belt.”

Pederneiras…