Martial Arts News

Britain’s David Cooke prepared a delightful breakfast of violence in a hurry on Friday morning.

The latest offering of One Championship’s Friday Fights series staged one single MMA bout on the lineup. This curtain-jerker saw Cooke (2-0, 1-0 ONE) put on a quick and exhilarating performance against Kohei Takegami (3-4, 1 NC; 0-1 ONE) in his promotional debut. The 21-year-old Cooke claimed a knockout victory in 87 seconds to open up ONE Friday Fights 63.

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Right from the opening bell, Cooke treated fans in the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium to action. Cooke was quick to pressure his foe, backing him up with jabs and a stiff right hand. Once he had Takegami against the ropes, the Englishman unleashed slicing elbows and knees before tying his man up to control the action. After the two disengaged, Takegami attempted to turn things around by getting his offense going.

Starting FAST ⚡️ David Cooke debuts with a first-round TKO!

#ONEFrid…

The #UFCVegas92 main event is OFFICIAL 🔒@EdsonBarbozaJR hits the scale at 145.5lbs!

[ TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus | 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/bjf8q3HKnB

— UFC (@ufc) May 17, 2024 After back-to-back events with raucous crowds, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UFC Apex for UFC Fight Night 241.

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Headlining the 12-fight event are featherweight contenders Edson Barboza and Lerone Murphy. Both main event fighters came in under the 146-pound limit, and the five-round fight is now official. All other fighters also successfully made weight, keeping the card intact.

This marks the fifth main event for Barboza (24-11), who has gone 1-3 in prior outings. However, the Brazilian is on a winning streak after knocking out Billy Quarantillo with a devastating knee and winning a clear decision over Sodiq Yusuff. The 38-year-old looks to go on one final run and came in at 145.5 pounds.

Meanwhile, this is the first …

Is costa out? pic.twitter.com/ImSS63WcGj

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) May 15, 2024 Several UFC fighters have expressed concern about “announced” matchups lately.

In April, the promotion announced at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference that the co-main attraction for the June 1 show in Newark, New Jersey, would be a five-rounder between middleweights Sean Strickland (28-6) and Paulo Costa (14-3). Strickland posted on social media on Wednesday expressing his concerns that the fight at UFC 302 might be in jeopardy, or perhaps was never signed in the first place.

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The former middleweight champ said, “Well, g-- d--- Costa, I’ve heard you have yet to sign that contract, and I’ll tell you what man, I didn’t f---ing believe it. I did not think you’d be acting like a coward. I thought you would man up, sack up, but instead, you're acting like you got f---ing ovaries.”

The antagonistic Strickland continued, “So I wen…

Having learned from two straight Ultimate Fighting Championship losses, Adrian Yanez believes he will walk away with a resounding win this weekend.

Yanez (16-5) kicked off his UFC journey with five consecutive wins, including four finishes, before suffering a first-round knockout loss to perennial contender Rob Font at UFC 287. Yanez went on to drop his next outing to Jonathan Martinez, succumbing to leg kicks at the midpoint of the second round. A torn meniscus following that bout sidelined him to his upcoming May appearance.

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Looking back on his first career slump, Yanez revealed that the Font loss was still on his mind going into his clash against Martinez. While he initially thought he could get past that defeat, the first few leg kicks from Martinez sent him spiraling.

“Honestly, I had changed up my whole stance, almost like my whole style for that fight and I had to stay what’s true to me,” Yanez said during the UFC Fight Night 241 media day.…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship run for Themba Gorimbo has been an emotional rollercoaster.

Gorimbo (12-4) is scheduled to fight Ramiz Brahimaj (10-4) at UFC Fight Night 241 this weekend at the promotion’s Apex in Las Vegas. The Zimbabwean welterweight revealed that his wrestling coach from South Africa has been helping him with his training camp in the U.S. for the past eight weeks, despite the latter’s mother suffering from cancer. Shortly before UFC Fight Night 241 media day on Wednesday, his coach’s mother died.

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Vowing to win for his coach, the 33-year-old said, “All I know is I’m going to win in spectacular fashion for my coach whose mother just died like two hours ago. He’s been here with me for eight weeks. He tells me his mother is sick with cancer. He never told me it was that bad. I just say to him, ‘Okay, after the fight, we go back to South Africa together.’ I didn’t have a plan to go out there, but I was gonna go with him to see his m…

Carlos Ulberg is hoping for a quick turnaround after his knockout victory over Alonzo Menifield last weekend.

Ulberg (10-1) took just 12 seconds to starch Menifield (15-4) with a brutal volley at UFC St. Louis on May 11, snapping the American’s five-fight undefeated streak while earning himself a performance bonus. The previously unranked standout also landed himself the 14th spot on Sherdog’s Official Rankings at light heavyweight with the victory.

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Coming out of the fight relatively unscathed, Ulberg is eyeing a quick return to action, perhaps as soon as next month.

Former light heavyweight champ Jamahal Hill (12-2) will take on streaking contender Khalil Rountree (13-5) at UFC 303 on June 29, on a card that will also feature Conor McGregor's Octagon return against Michael Chandler. Looking for a leap up the rankings, Ulberg is ready to serve as a replacement for Hill vs. Rountree if either man cannot compete on fight night. If not, he is gunnin…

After all the callouts, Bobby Green has earned the chance at derailing burgeoning Ultimate Fighting Championship star Paddy Pimblett.

According to the UFC’s announcement on Thursday, Green (32-15-1, 1 NC) vs. Pimblett (21-3) will be taking place on UFC 304, likely as part of the main card. The two athletes will get their wish, after plenty of trash talk from both sides. The lightweight pairing will join confirmed matchups of Muhammed Mokaev-Manel Kape and Arnold Allen-Giga Chikadze high up on the billing. The fights will go down in Manchester, England, inside of the newly constructed Co-op Live.

Dating back the last year, Green has won three of four, with a technical submission of Tony Ferguson and a quick drubbing of Grant Dawson on his ledger. Jalin Turner knocked him out in December, and “King” bounced back in April to outpoint Jim Miller in a bloody one-sided affair. The recent positive run for Green has put him back over the .500 mark in the Octagon, which had p…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is making the unorthodox decision of having an interim champ defend their throne.

In the co-headliner of UFC 304 on July 27, Tom Aspinall (14-3) will collide with Curtis Blaydes (18-4, 1 NC) once again, this time for the interim heavyweight strap. The two first met at UFC Fight Night 208 in 2022, and Aspinall blew his knee out in 15 seconds to suffer the loss. While Jon Jones is currently the division’s disputed champ, the promotion opted to have Aspinall defend while keeping Jones available to presumably face Stipe Miocic at some future date. The Aspinall-Blaydes rematch booking was first announced on Thursday by the UFC, putting together a likely main card for the Co-op Live pay-per-view offering in Manchester, England.

Greater Manchester native Aspinall burst onto the scene in the UFC’s heavyweight class by demolishing five straight foes in the span of less than two years. Aspinall wrecked Jake Collier and Alan Baudot in under tw…

At long last, Belal Muhammad is getting his shot at Ultimate Fighting Championship gold.

The UFC announced on Thursday that UFC 304 now has its main attraction. Atop the billing at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England, is a welterweight title tilt pitting Leon Edwards (22-3, 1 NC) against Muhammad (23-3, 1 NC). The two first tangled in 2021, and the bout ended via no contest after Edwards landed an accidental eye poke. This July 27 show will feature a champ on a 13-fight unbeaten streak compared to the challenger who has not lost in his last 10 outings.

Edwards claimed the 170-pound throne from Kamaru Usman in 2022, laying waste to the champ with a “Knockout of the Year”-worthy head kick. Their rematch about seven months later also went the Brit’s way, as he prevailed by majority decision. His first defense against someone not named Usman came in December against Colby Covington, and Edwards cruised to a decision by winning four rounds to one. On his run to gold, Ed…

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After taking part in a multi-million dollar ad campaign for Brazilian TV that featured Jean Claude Van Damme and five other Brazilian martial arts legends, Anderson Silva’s retirement fight will come against an old rival.

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Silva will square off against former Ultimate Fighting Championship foil Chael Sonnen in a bout that will be contested under boxing rules. Sherdog confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following an initial report from TATAME magazine. While specifics regarding the bout are unknown, the event will be entitled Spaten Fight Night.

Word of the fight, which is part of the Spaten Beer Marketing Campaign, began to spread when Silva posted “Spider Grande Finale June 15” on his Instagram stories. According to a source close to the situation, the fight will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It will be a closed event with only 600 VIP guests allowed to attend. Other fights on the card are expected to be announced in the coming…

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After taking part in a multi-million dollar ad campaign for Brazilian TV that featured Jean Claude Van Damme and five other Brazilian martial arts legends, Anderson Silva’s retirement fight will come against an old rival.

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Silva will square off against former Ultimate Fighting Championship foil Chael Sonnen in a bout that will be contested under boxing rules. Sherdog confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following an initial report from TATAME magazine. While specifics regarding the bout are unknown, the event will be entitled Spaten Fight Night.

Word of the fight, which is part of the Spaten Beer Marketing Campaign, began to spread when Silva posted “Spider Grande Finale June 15” on his Instagram stories. According to a source close to the situation, the fight will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It will be a closed event with only 600 VIP guests allowed to attend. Other fights on the card are expected to be announced in the coming…

The days of Rafael dos Anjos making the cut to 155 pounds appear to be a thing of the past.

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In a post on social media, the former UFC lighweight champion requested to be removed from the promotion’s rankings at 155 pounds. Dos Anjos’ last Octagon appearance was at lightweight, as he dropped a unanimous verdict to Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 299 on March 9.

“Get me out of [the lightweight] rankings,” dos Anjos wrote on X. “For you [lightweights calling me out, I don’t compete at [lightweight from] now on. I have nothing to prove to nobody. I walk around 195 at 39 years old. There’s lots of fights that make sense to me at 170. I want to fight in July. [UFC] get me back in that Octagon.”

Get me out of LW rankings. For you LW out there calling me out I don’t compete at LW now on. I have nothing to prove to nobody, I walk around 195 at 39 years old. There’s lots of fights that make sense to me at 170.I want to fight in July @ufc ge…