Martial Arts News

While multiple outlets recently confirmed that Michel Pereira was set to take on Roman Dolidze in a middleweight clash on the UFC on ESPN 57 card on June 8, “Demolidor” recently took to Instagram to clarify that he’d never agreed to the matchup.

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According to the Brazilian, taking a fight against his training partner and “friend” on a month’s notice seemed impossible, not only because of their camaraderie but also because of the logistical problem of finding a different gym to train in such a short time.

“I didn’t accept that fight, OK?” Pereira said on his Instagram stories (translation via AgFight). “That man, he trains with me every day. He trains with me at UFC P.I. He trains at Xtreme Couture and he fights. Got it? He accepted and I didn’t. For me, now is not the time to fight him. If he accepted, that’s his problem. I was even surprised when he accepted. I didn’t accept this fight, OK? Got it? I said if it was someone else I would take it. Bu…

Abdullah Al-Qahtani made his opponent quit in his latest Professional Fighters League assignment. There can be no greater joy for a mixed martial artist.

Al-Qahtani put away Yazeed Hasanain with punches in the second round of their PFL MENA 1 headliner on Friday at The Green Halls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Hasanain (3-1, 0-1 PFL) turned to referee Rich Mitchell, waved his arms and indicated he could absorb no further punishment 4:59 into Round 2. The show featured qualifying bouts in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions for the newly established Middle East and North Africa branch of the PFL.

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Hasanain was more or less outgunned. Al-Qahtani (9-1, 4-0 PFL) staggered him with a left hook in the first round, completed a takedown and went about stalking his Jordanian counterpart. He pressed Hasanian into the fence for much of the second round, dodged return fire and unleashed power punches to the head. Damage was cumulative on Hasanain and ultima…

Mongolia’s Batochir Batsaikhan made a spectacular ONE Championship debut, as he stopped Fabio Harada with just two seconds remaining in the first round of their ONE Friday Fights 62 bantamweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Harada (5-2, 0-1 ONE) came out the gate looking to pressure Batsaikhan (3-1, 1-0 ONE) against the ropes. However, it was not long before the Mongolian reversed his opponent into a corner and landed a series of knees to the body followed by crisp straight lefts, immediately putting Harada on notice. After eating a couple of slick counter straight lefts and a head kick, Harada attempted to take the fight to the canvas but was denied. Gaining confidence in his striking advantage, Batsaikhan landed a slicing elbow on his opponent that clearly hurt Harada. From there, Batsaikhan began to pick Harada apart with stinging counterstrikes to the head and knees to the body while denying the exhausted 24-year-old from completin…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to ESPN airwaves this weekend with a heavyweight main event.

UFC on ESPN 56 main event fighters Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento both made weight for the 12-fight card. Both men weighed near the 266-pound limit, so there won't be a major weight difference. All fighters made weight except for Jared Gooden, who suffered a medical issue and didn't weigh in, thus canceling his welterweight fight against Kevin Jousset.

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This marks the 12th UFC main event for "The Black Beast." However, Lewis has struggled recently and is on a 1-4 stretch. A win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima is sandwiched between losses to Jailton Almeida, Sergey Spivak, Sergei Pavlovich and Tai Tuivasa. Lewis (27-12, 1 NC) will look to show he still has something left at 39 and officially weighed 264 pounds.

Meanwhile, this is the first UFC main event for Nascimento (11-1, 1 NC). "Yogi Bear" is riding a three-fight win stre…

THIS. FIGHT. 🤧

It’s Xavier Alaoui 🆚 Rachid El Hazoume for the Bantamweight bout.

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Who’s ready for tomorrow? 🥊

PFL MENA | LIVE on MBC Action at 6:30 PM (GMT+3)

Tickets on SALE NOW! https://t.co/NtUBc3UAGX#PFL #MMA #MakingHistory #SaudiArabia #MENA@PFLMMA pic.twitter.com/gFvgUGtldy — PFL MENA (@PFLMENA) May 9, 2024

After a decade in the cage, Xavier Alaoui must prove himself to no one. The Tristar Gym jokester radiates confidence before the biggest fight of his career, but Alaoui knows he’s ready. And for those who don’t, prepare to find out.

“I’ve given up on the idea of being on the cusp of breaking through,” Alaoui told Sherdog.com. “I feel like I’ve already broken through. I’ve fought some of the best guys in the world, and the best guys in the world know who the f*ck I am.”

Alaoui (14-5) is set to make his mark in the Professional Fighters League, aiming to be the first to claim in the inaugur…

A mighty Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight matchup makes its way to a show next month.

At UFC on ESPN 57 on June 8, the promotion will be traveling to Louisville, Kentucky, to post up at the KFC Yum! Center. The main event was recently made official, with the reported pairing of Jared Cannonier and Nassourdine Imavov coming together earlier on Thursday. Serving on the main card will a 185-pound scrap between Roman Dolidze (12-3) and Michel Pereira (31-11, 2 NC), as first reported by Eurosport_NL on Thursday. This muscular match has since been confirmed by other outlets.

Dolidze was initially set to battle Anthony Hernandez at UFC 302, but an injury for Hernandez scuttled the pairing. The Georgian was shifted back one week to accommodate for his opponent’s recent fight. He finds himself on his first losing streak of his career, having dropped back-to-back decisions to Marvin Vettori in 2023 and Imavov in 2024. Prior to the losses, the 35-year-old had rattl…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is not straying away from middleweight main events, even outside of Las Vegas.

The promotion announced via press release in April the nearly completed lineup of UFC Louisville, also known as UFC on ESPN 57. The fight card held at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, had numerous previously announced matchups confirmed while bringing light to a few others. Of note, the release stated that Dominick Reyes (12-4) and Dustin Jacoby (19-8-1) would be competing in the light heavyweight co-main attraction, while Andrea Lee (13-9) and Montana De La Rosa (12-9) will throw down in the early prelims at flyweight.

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Shortly after the press release dropped, MMA Mania broke the news that the main event would come at 185 pounds between Jared Cannonier (17-6) and Nassourdine Imavov (13-4, 1 NC). This battle on June 8 has now been confirmed by other outlets on Thursday.

This main attraction appearance for Cannonier will be …

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Fabricio Werdum is ready to move to the next stage of his career.

In September 2023, Werdum returned from a lengthy layoff to test himself in bare-knuckle MMA. He faced former opponent Junior dos Santos at Gamebred FC 5, and he suffered a split decision loss to “Cigano.” Following the match, Canal Combate produced a documentary about the ex-champ titled “Werdum, Acima da Dor,” chronicling the late stage of his career. This arrangement led to a partnership with the heavyweight, and he has joined influencer Kefera Buchmann to host an MMA-themed talk show on the network called “Papo Cruzado.” Werdum spoke to Sherdog about his new show that will debut at the second half of 2024.

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“These are topics that go beyond the usual routine of talking about when the next fight is, who you want to fight against, how your training is going,” Werdum explained. “I thought it was cool that we covered topic…

Rodrigo Nascimento has no intentions of stalling the fight by simply maintaining top position against Derrick Lewis in their upcoming showdown.

Nascimento (11-1) will face a step up in competition when he takes on Derrick Lewis (27-12) in the main event at UFC St. Louis on May 11. While Lewis is known for his highlight reel knockouts, Nascimento is not underestimating his opponent’s well-roundedness going into his first Ultimate Fighting Championship headliner.

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“So I think he’s an unpredictable fighter right… He’s super dangerous, you know, he has heavy hands but he’s a complete fighter,” the Brazilian said during UFC St. Louis media day. “I know this, I watch his fights; he knows how to put someone down. He can strike, he can fake. He’s a complete fighter for sure.”

Lewis is coming off a lopsided unanimous decision loss against Jailton Almeida in November 2023, where “Malhadinho” mostly controlled him on the ground without scoring much damage. Wh…

Jan Blachowicz has made his case for a rematch against Alex Pereira upon his return to action.

Pereira (10-2) earned a narrow split decision over Blachowicz (29-10) to make good on his debut in the light heavyweight division at UFC 291 in July 2023. While Blachowicz was scheduled to fight Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 297 this past January, the former champ was forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury that required surgery.

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Meanwhile, Pereira went on to secure the 205-pound title in a clash against Jiri Prochazka and then defended his second UFC title with a brutal knockout win over Jamahal Hill in the main event at UFC 300 last month. While Blachowicz considers “Poatan” to be a better fighter than Hill, he doesn’t think the Brazilian is better than himself.

Making his case for a rematch against the reigning 205-pound king, Blachowicz is steadfast in his belief that he won their first encounter. The Polish standout also noted that while Pereira has k…

While Jose Aldo’s UFC 301 win over Jonathan Martinez was undoubtedly impressive, bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen disagrees with the idea of awarding the former champion a title shot next.

Although Aldo had hung up his gloves following a unanimous decision loss against Merab Dvalishvili in August 2022, “Junior” recently ended his retirement to co-headline UFC 301 UFC 301 in Brazil. Aldo denied the odds to score a shut-out unanimous decision victory at Farmasi Arena on May 4.

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While Aldo’s fight against Martinez was the last on his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, the Brazilian is open to re-signing with the promotion if they match his best offers. “King of Rio” is also hoping to jump the queue for a title shot straight away.

Jose Aldo said at the post-fight presser that he has completed his UFC deal but the promotion still has the option to match whatever offer he gets so he will sit with Dana White to discuss his…

[embedded content] Count former Ultimate Fighting Championship king Vitor Belfort among those throwing cold water on the upcoming boxing spectacle between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.

Belfort held little back when discussing the upcoming boxing match of Paul vs. Tyson. The YouTuber-turned-boxer and the former heavyweight champ will be squaring off on July 20 in Arlington, Texas, and many have debated the legitimacy of their upcoming encounter. The rules, as approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations, consist of the bout lasting eight two-minute rounds, with the heavyweights wearing 14-ounce gloves. Despite this, the Texas commission has declared it will be a professional bout. Belfort, speaking to Sherdog about the matchup on Wednesday, was not a fan.

“Sixteen-ounce gloves are used only in sparring to protect fighters,” the former champ noted. “Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will do a sparring [match] live on Netflix, making millions of dollars.”

Havin…