Martial Arts News

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Jack Shore will square off against Khalid Taha in a bantamweight scrap at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Nov. 7.

Taha initially announced the pairing via social media. The card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight duel pitting Thiago Santos against Glover Teixeira.

A former Cage Warriors 135-pound champion, Shore has submitted Nohelin Hernandez and Aaron Phillips in his first two Octagon appearances. The 25-year-old Welshman is 13-0 as a professional, with all but one of his victories coming inside the distance.

Taha’s most recent victory over Bruno Silva was overturned to a no contest when Taha tested positive for a diuretic. Taha’s one-year suspension will end in October. Prior to that, the Dortmund, Germany, native lost a decision to Nad …

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Paulo Costa was expected to bring the fight to Israel Adesanya at UFC 253.

Instead, the hulking Brazilian spent the majority of the middleweight championship bout either absorbing pinpoint strikes or taunting his opponent before falling via second-round technical knockout at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi this past Saturday night. All told, “Borrachinha” landed just 12 significant strikes before the contest was called at the 3:59 mark of Round 2.

It was a far cry from the blitzing middleweight whose aggressive style had resulted in 11 professional victories via knockout or technical knockout.

“So much for ‘Fight of the Year’ – it was ‘Domination of the Year,'” White said at the UFC 253 post-fight news conference. “It was weird because if you look at every other fight that Costa has had, he comes out and goes after…

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Makwan Amirkhani will step in for Sodiq Yusuff and face Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 179.

Combate was first to report the change to the featherweight bout. A reason for Yusuff’s withdrawal is currently unknown. UFC Fight Night 179 takes place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 10 and is headlined by a bantamweight showdown between Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen.

Amirkhani, 31, enters the matchup with Barboza having won three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Mr. Finland” scored a first-round submission of Danny Henry at UFC 251 on July 11.

Barboza made his featherweight debut at UFC on ESPN 8, where he dropped a closely-contested split decision against Dan Ige on May 16. The 34-year-old Brazilian has lost five of his last six promotional outings, with his only win during that stretch c…

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Bobby Green will square off against Thiago Moises in a lightweight contest on the UFC’s Halloween bill.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the matchup. The card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight tilt between Anderson Silva and Uriah Hall.

Green has enjoyed an active 2020 thus far, posting decision triumphs over Clay Guida, Lando Vannata and Alan Patrick. Prior to that streak, the former King of the Cage champion had been victorious in just one of his previous seven UFC appearances dating back to November 2014.

A former Resurrection Fighting Alliance title holder, Moises has alternated wins and losses in his first four promotional outings. Most recently, the 25-year-old American Top Team product submitted Michael Johnson in the second stanza at UFC Fight N…

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A lightweight showdown pitting Renato Carneiro against Rafael Fiziev is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Nov. 28 card.

Combate was first to report the booking. The event is headlined by a heavyweight bout between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis. A location for the card has not been announced.

After a successful stint at featherweight, “Moicano” made his 155-pound debut at UFC Fight Night 170, where he submitted Damir Hadzovic in just 44 seconds on March 14. He was scheduled to face Magomed Mustafaev on Oct. 17 but withdrew from that contest.

After dropping his Octagon debut, Fiziev has scored back-to-back decision triumphs against Alex White at UFC Fight Night 162 and against Marc Diakiese at UFC Fight Night 172. The 27-year-old Kyrgyzstan native is 8-1 as a professional, with six triumphs comin…

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UFC 254 will feature a larger-than-average pay-per-view lineup.

The promotion revealed on Saturday that main card for the Oct. 24 event will feature six bouts; usually UFC pay-per-views consist of five fights. The last pay-per-view to have a six-bout main draw was UFC 190, which took place on Aug. 1, 2015 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and was headlined by a women’s bantamweight championship clash between Ronda Rousey and Bethe Correia.

UFC 254 takes place at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and is topped by a lightweight title unification bout pitting reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov against interim king Justin Gaethje.

The rest of the pay-per-view lineup is as follows: Robert Whittaker vs. Jared Cannonier at middleweight; Alexander Volkov vs. Walt Harris at heavyweight; Islam Makhache…

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It appears the Ultimate Fighting Championship has shifted gears when it comes to its plans for Jorge Masvidal.

The Las Vegas-based promotion was reportedly looking to book Masvidal in a “BMF” title rematch against Nate Diaz at some point in early 2021, but those plans have changed following Colby Covington’s dismantling of Tyron Woodley at UFC Fight Night 178. Now, a showdown between former American Top Team stablemates appears to be on the horizon.

“It’s very possible (Masvidal vs. Covington) is next,” UFC president Dana White said at the UFC 253 post-fight press conference on Saturday. “… I don’t know if we’ve even talked to Nate yet. But yeah, after the Colby fight (vs. TWoodley), how do you not make that fight? That’s the fight that makes sense.

“The Nate Diaz rematch is going to be there no matter what hap…

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Saturday’s UFC 253 headliner was billed as a potential “Fight of the Year” contender, a clash of undefeated titans in the middleweight division.

In the end, it was little more than a showcase for reigning 185-pound champion Israel Adesanya. “The Last Stylebender” was never threatened by Paulo Costa on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, and he ultimately cruised to a technical knockout victory 3:59 into the second round. The City Kickboxing representative saw the writing on the wall early.

“After the first round,” Adesanya said at the UFC 253 post-fight press conference. “I was so fresh. I looked over and I could see he was sitting down. In the second round, his antics, what they want — they want me to stand there. ‘Come, come, why you running, come here.’ They just want me to stand there so you can punch me.

“I’m not …

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— Kakutogi News (@KakutogiWorld) September 27, 2020

Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion Kai Asakura was simply too much for Shoji Maruyama.

Though his belt wasn’t on the line, Asakura was nonetheless in prime form in the Rizin 24 headliner on Sunday, as he defeated Maruyama via technical knockout 2:37 into Round 1 of their non-title affair at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Asakura has now been victorious in eight of nine appearances within the Japanese promotion.

Asakura took control from the outset, tagging Maruyama with a variety of punches and kicks before dropping his opponent with a one-two combination. As Maruyama attempted to hustle to his feet, the Tri-Force Akasaka product rocked his man with a soccer kick, forcing referee Yauhiro Tazawa to step in and wave off the bout. It was Asakura’s second consecutive victory by way of soccer kicks; he stopped Hiromasa Ougikubo with the maneuver…

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Dominick Reyes entered UFC 253 with the mindset of a champion defending his belt. He left the Octagon humbled by Polish power.

Coming off a narrow loss to Jon Jones that many observers thought he won, Reyes was a prohibitive favorite to claim the vacant light heavyweight crown against Jan Blachowicz, but it was the Polish veteran who ultimately emerged with a second-round technical knockout triumph at the Flash forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

Blachowicz adopted a measured approach from the outset, battering Reyes with powerful kicks to the body that left a gnarly bruise on the Californian’s side. In Round 2, Blachowicz appeared to break Reyes’ nose and then later dropped him with a left hand behind the ear. Follow-up punches sealed the deal at the 4:36 mark of the period, making Blachowicz the UFC’s 13th light h…

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Jon Jones didn’t have any backhanded compliments or snarky remarks for Jan Blachowicz following the Polish standout’s title-winning performance against Dominick Reyes at UFC 253.

Blachowicz claimed the 205-pound belt vacated by Jones earlier this year with a technical knockout of Reyes 4:36 into the second round of Saturday’s co-main event on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Though Reyes was favored thanks to a near-miss against Jones earlier this year, Blachowicz was in control throughout, bruising his opponent’s side with wicked body kicks before unleashing a salvo of punches that broke Reyes’ nose and floored him in the decisive second frame.

In his post-fight interview, Blachowicz asked for Jones to come back to the light heavyweight division. Of course, the Jackson-Wink MMA standout is currently preparing for a move to h…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The divide between Israel Adesanya and his top challenger was far greater than anyone realized. “The Last Stylebender” retained the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title with a scintillating stoppage of Paulo Costa in the UFC 253 headliner on Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Costa (13-1, 5-1 UFC) met his end 3:59 into Round 2, the latest victim on Adesanya’s march to all-time greatness.

It was a blowout from start to finish. Adesanya (20-0, 9-0 UFC) wrecked the Brazilian’s lead leg with repeated kicks, frustrated him with quick movements and methodically dismantled him. He unleashed a multi-punch volley to the head and body in the second round, floored Costa with a compact left hook and closed the door on him with mounted ground-and-pound.

Blachowicz Fells Reyes, Strikes UF…