Martial Arts News

After an uneven beginning to her Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure, Virna Jandiroba has emerged as a serious title contender over the course of the past two years.

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The former Invicta FC strawweight queen earned her fourth straight victory on Saturday night, as she submitted ex-title challenger Amanda Lemos with an armbar in the second round of the UFC on ESPN 60 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Jandiroba outgrappled and outscrambled her opponent for the majority of the contest before securing the fight-ending maneuver late in Round 2.

“She’s a fantastic striker. But on top of just being very technical and very good striker, she’s a knockout artist. So I had to be extremely careful with that because I know that any wrong movement could be the end,” Jandiroba said through a translator at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Luckily we were able to put everything in place, get the fight to the ground and work the way it did. She’s a …

Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight prospect Hyder Amil did not always plan on becoming a fighter.

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Amil scored his second UFC win on Saturday, besting Jeong Yeong Lee via first-round TKO at UFC on ESPN 60. “The Hurricane” subsequently shared how he got into combat sports after being raised to become an “intellectual” and an artist.

The only male in the family growing up, Amil initially started training martial arts to protect his sisters and mother. Amil’s natural athletic abilities soon attracted people’s attention, who then introduced him to several sports. Amil, who claims to have a knack for anything art related, “blames” his friends for getting him into sports and MMA.

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! “I was just myself, my two sisters and my mom. So, I wanted to learn martial arts originally, what motivated me to stay in it was to protect them,” Amil said during a post-fight media scrum. “Becau…

Trey Ogden has called for an “easy” opponent in Chase Hooper after his win over Loik Radzhabov atUFC on ESPN 60.

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Ogden dominated Radzhabov on the ground for three rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Ogden subsequently called out Hooper, who “Shamurai” believes is overrated. According to the Marathon MMA head coach, Hooper is not a “scary” opponent.

“I want to fight Chase Hooper. I keep calling this dude out. I’ve been calling him out for three fights,” Ogden said during a post-fight media scrum. “I think he is overrated. I don’t think he’s that good. And I want to pick some of that low-hanging fruit… I’ll smash him easily. He’s not a scary dude, for a change.”

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! Hooper has scored seven of 14 career wins via submission so far in addition to making a name for himself by competing in UFC Fight Pass Invitational grappling tourn…

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Tom Aspinall believes he can get the better the Alexander Volkov yet again in a potential rematch.

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Aspinall is slated to defend his interim heavyweight title in a rematch against Curtis Blaydes in the main event at UFC 304 on Saturday in Manchester, England. Meanwhile, Volkov is fresh off a unanimous decision win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Abu Dhabi last month. While a clash between Volkov and Ciryl Gane is reportedly in the works for UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi in October, “Drago” claimed to have not received a contract for the bout a week ago.

Meanwhile, lineal champ Jon Jones is currently sidelined with injury and slated to fight former champ Stipe Miocic upon his return. With Miocic having not fought in over three years, Volkov considers the Jones vs. Miocic matchup more of a fantasy fight rather than a real title fight. Volkov recently called for rematch against Aspinall, with a potential win putting him in a title unification bou…

Hyder Amil’s furious offensive onslaught paid off handsomely at UFC on ESPN 60.

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The El Nino Training Center export earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for overwhelming Jeong Yeong Lee in a featured featherweight contest at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. Amil managed to land a total of 42 significant strikes en route to a stoppage victory just 65 seconds into the opening stanza. It was one of four performance bonuses handed out by the promotion after the event.

Elsewhere, Virna Jandiroba garnered a $50,000 check for her victory over former title challenger Amanda Lemos in the evening’s strawweight headliner. Jandiroba outgrappled her opponent throughout the fight before eliciting a tap with an armbar at the 4:48 mark of Round 2.

Meanwhile, Steve Garcia took home an additional $50,000 by adding Seung Woo Choi to his list of recent victims in the featherweight co-main event. “Mean Machine” stopped his foe at the 1:36 mark of Round…

Virna Jandiroba is becoming impossible to ignore in the Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title picture.

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In the main event of UFC on ESPN 60, Jandiroba (21-3, 7-3 UFC) soundly outgrappled Amanda Lemos (14-4-1, 8-4 UFC) for just under two rounds before cinching up the fight-ending armbar. The former Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight titleholder wasted little time in bringing the fight into her wheelhouse, shooting a double-leg takedown early in Round 1. Aided by Lemos jumping on a guillotine attempt, “Carcara” extracted her head from the choke, then settled into Lemos’s half guard, where “Amandinha” bucked and swept to top position. Jandiroba countered with a kneebar attempt, which Lemos escaped, but the resulting scramble ended with the jiu-jitsu ace in back control, where she rode out the rest of the frame. Round 2 got off to a better start for Lemos, who kept her countrywoman at arm’s length and touched her with clean punches fo…

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 60 coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Petersen (+110), Usman (-115)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Carolina (-115), Pudilova (-105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPO…

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Cody Gibson may have placed his job as a history teacher on hold for now, but he clearly isn’t done schooling people.

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In the top prelim of UFC on ESPN 60 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Gibson (20-10) overwhelmed Brian Kelleher (24-16) on the feet as well as on the canvas on his way to a first-round submission win. Gibson jumped on “Boom” right away, rocking him with a right hand in the opening seconds of the fight, and never let up. Kelleher tried valiantly to rally, but Gibson never gave him a moment’s peace, hurting him with punches and long kicks at range and mugging him up close with knees. Kelleher jumped on a guillotine attempt late in the round, but Gibson kicked out of it immediately, moved to half guard and locked up an arm-triangle choke. Kelleher tapped out in seconds, putting the stamp on a dominant performance for Gibson. The win brought Gibson’s record in the organization to 2-5 across multiple s…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

It appears that Nick Diaz’s Ultimate Fighting Championship return has run into some complications.

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During the UFC on ESPN 60 broadcast on Saturday night, it was announced the Diaz vs. Vicente Luque bout that was scheduled for Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3 has been postponed due to “travel issues.” As a result, a middleweight clash between Sharabutdin Magomedov and Michal Oleksiejczuk has been added to the UFC on ABC 7 lineup and will serve as the card’s new main event. It was also revealed that the promotion hopes to reschedule Diaz vs. Luque, but a date for that is currently unknown.

Commonly known as “Shara Bullet,” Magomedov is undefeated in 13 professional outings. The 30-year-old Dagestani has kicked off his promotional tenure with a unanimous decision win over Bruno Silva at UFC 294 and a third-round TKO of Antonio Trocoli at UFC on ABC 6.

Poland’s Oleksiejczuk has dropped three of his las…

While his fighting career has been dormant for the past three years, Conor McGregor continues to find other endeavors to keep him occupied.

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According to a report from Sunday World, the former UFC two-division champion will launch a record label, entitled Greenback Records, in his native Ireland. McGregor will partner with Richard Buck, will serve as CEO, and Julian O’Brien, who is creative director and head of A&R, for what is the first major record label based in Dublin. Greenback Records has reportedly signed several artists, who will be officially announced in the coming weeks.

“I am excited to create Ireland’s first major record label in an industry that I have had great interest in for some time,” McGregor said. "To be able to come in and offer music artists a fair deal and properly reward them for their talent.

"This industry, like others, has needed an overhaul for a long time. I am excited for myself, McGregor Sports & Entert…

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Irina Alekseeva has been suspended for one year after testing positive for testosterone more than a year ago.

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Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) announced the sanction while taking a shot at the UFC’s previous anti-doping partner, USADA, in a statement on Friday:

Alekseeva tested positive for values consistent with the administration of testosterone of exogenous origin in a urine sample collected by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on June 21, 2023, while USADA was still the independent administrator of the UFC’s Anti-Doping Program (UFC ADP). However, USADA failed to report the results of this sample to her and to UFC until October 31, 2023, more than four (4) months after the sample was collected and AFTER Alekseeva was allowed to compete in a UFC event in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 14, 2023. USADA collected two additional samples from Alekseeva BEFORE her October 14, 2023, fight, (August …

Six of the seven billed fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship show on Mexican Independence Day have one competitor repping Mexico.

Iridium Sports Agency, the management team of Raul Rosas Jr. (9-1), announced on Friday that Rosas would be squaring off against Qileng Aori (25-11, 1 NC) at UFC 306. The Sept. 14 event, also titled “Noche UFC,” will take place inside of The Sphere in Las Vegas as part of a 10-bout attraction. The bantamweight affair has since been confirmed by other outlets.

“El Nino Problema” burst onto the scene after picking up a contract on Dana White's Contender Series by becoming the youngest UFC fighter to pick up a win. Currently 19 years of age, Rosas Jr. suffered his first pro loss in April 2023 against Christian Rodriguez. He bounced back with a first-round knockout of Terrence Mitchell, and most recently tapped Ricky Turcios in June.

With a .500 record in the Octagon, Aori’s last outing in the cage went poorly when he was bludge…