Martial Arts News

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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…

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. The fifth week of Dana White’s Contender Series is now official, as all 10 competitors hit their contracted marks on the scales Monday. The only fighter who experienced any serious difficulty was William Knight, who weighed 207.5 pounds on his initial attempt. After being given an additional hour to cut weight, Knight checked in at 206 pounds for his light heavyweight clash with Cody Brundage (205).

Dana White’s Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured contest is a featherweight tilt pitting Melski Bagdasaryan (145) against Dennis Buzukja (145.5).

Anchored at Glendale Fighting Club in California, Bagdasaryan has kicked off his professional tenure with victories in four of his first five outings. Perhaps even more impressively, all …

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Frankie Edgar’s victory over Pedro Munhoz immediately made him a person of interest in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division. Now “The Answer” has his sets set on a fellow former champion.

During an appearance on Bruce Buffer’s ”It's Time” podcast, Edgar expressed interest in a future matchup with ex-bantamweight title holder Dominick Cruz. Cruz returned to action after more than three years away at UFC 249, where he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Henry Cejudo in a title bout on May 9.

Edgar believes Cruz makes for an ideal pairing as he waits for the title picture at the top of the bantamweight division to clear up.

“Another guy that’s also a little older and a legend himself is Dominick Cruz,” Edgar said (transcription via MMAFighting.com). “A lot of people are still talking about t…

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Brian Kelleher will welcome Kevin Natividad to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 176 on Saturday.

Natividad is a replacement for Ricky Simon, who was pulled from the card after one of his cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the change to the featherweight bout. UFC Fight Night 176 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Alistair Overeem and Augusto Sakai. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+ beginning with prelims at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT followed by the main card at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Kelleher will be competing for the fourth time this year. After kicking off his 2020 campaign with finishes of Ode Osbourne at UFC 246 and Hunter Azure at UFC Fight Night 171, “Boom” dropped a unanimous verdict to Cody Stamann in his most recent a…

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Tensions between Dominick Reyes and Jon Jones seemed to have eased somewhat since “Bones” elected to vacate his light heavyweight crown earlier this month.

In the weeks following Jones’ controversial decision triumph over Reyes in the UFC 247 headliner, the challenger lobbied hard for an immediate rematch. Jones, meanwhile, was not particularly receptive to the idea.

However, now that Jones is focusing on a move to heavyweight, Reyes will square off against Jan Blachowicz for the vacant 205-pound belt at UFC 253 on Sept. 26. “The Devastator” took some time to reflect on his first title bout and buried the hatchet with Jones in the process. Of course, that doesn’t mean he would be opposed to a rematch down the road.

Hey [Jon Jones] thank you for the experience, man. I wish you the best of luck in your journey,” R…

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Alexa Grasso appears to have found a home in the flyweight division.

The Lobo Gym representative impressed in her 125-pound debut at UFC Fight Night 175, earning a unanimous verdict against former Deep Jewels champion Ji Yeon Kim at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“The only thing I want to prove clear is that I belong here and I belong at the top of the division,” Grasso said. “I’m here to prove that every time I step in the Octagon.”

In a bout that featured a number of spirited exchanges, it was Grasso’s combination punching and low kicks that won the day. The 27-year-old Mexican outlanded Kim by an 88-to-68 count in significant strikes and punctuated her victory with a takedown in the late stages of Round 3.

“I knew she was a tough opponent. She has no expression when you hit her,” Grasso sa…

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It wasn’t that type of performance that leaves a lasting imprint on the minds of those who witnessed it, but there’s no denying that Aleksandar Rakic was in complete control against Anthony Smith in the UFC Fight Night 175 headliner.

The Austrian contender utilized leg kicks, positional dominance and ground-and-pound to cruise to a clear-cut unaniomus decision over the former light heavyweight No. 1 contender at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“I [said] in my interviews this week I need to make a statement,” Rakic said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I’m not going to rush a finish, if the finish comes, it comes. If not, my goal is to make a great performance and this is what happened. In the third, I think I dropped him. I followed up, but I knew Anthony’s a tough guy. He can take a beating a…

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Anthony Smith never seemed further removed from his days as a top light heavyweight contender than he did at UFC Fight Night 175.

The former title challenger was largely overwhelmed by Aleksandar Rakic in Saturday’s three-round headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas en route to losing a clear-cut unanimous decision. Rakic battered “Lionheart” with low kicks, and when Smith attempted to initiate grappling exchanges, the Austrian stifled his opponent from top position while staying busy with ground-and-pound. The end result was a bout in which Smith, while he didn’t feel out of his depth, was rarely able to threaten a more powerful opponent.

“The first round I stayed in kicking range at the beginning, which is obviously stupid now. He beat up my lead leg. Then we got in our clinch and grappling exchanges, which I felt …