Martial Arts News

Yousri Belgaroui had already experienced every threat possible in his training camp for UFC Seattle. 

Belgaroui (10-3) faced a previously undefeated Mansur Abdul-Malik (9-1-1) in a middleweight matchup at UFC Seattle. Belgaroui battered Abdul-Malik’s lead leg from the onset, while maintaining his distance with a clean jab. Even when Abdul-Malik managed to take Belgaroui down, the 6’5” former kickboxer got back to his feet in seconds. While Belgaroui nearly finished Abdul-Malik in the second round, he was saved by the bell. Belgaroui maintained composure and gradually broke Abdul-Malik down to get a stoppage in the third round. 

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While this was only Belgaroui’s second UFC fight, “Baby Faced Assassin” has a ton of experience competing in Glory Kickboxing. However, Belgaroui believes Abdul-Malik didn’t lose to him due to a lack of experience. Belgaroui credits his training camp for handing Abdul-Malik his first career loss. The Turkish-Dutch p…

Valentina Shevchenko and Khabib Nurmagomedov will never agree about women in MMA. 

Nurmagomedov has always been vocal about the fact that he is not a fan of women fighting in MMA. The UFC Hall of Famer recently reiterated his sentiments, even explicitly calling women weaker than men. Nurmagomedov believes both genders have designated roles in society, and men take on the bigger responsibilities. While duties for men and women are overlapping with time, “The Eagle” prefers both genders to stick to their conventional duties.

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“Every person in life has a mission,” Nurmagomedov said at a recent press conference. “For a man, it’s to raise children, take care of the family, take care of loved ones, neighbors, relatives. There are very few women who take on big responsibilities; it’s very hard for them. It’s not without reason. Even God created it that way: a woman is weaker, a man is stronger. People want to change all this and mix it. I like it when a…

Former ACA welterweight champion Abubakar Vagaev has signed with the UFC. 

Vagaev recently confirmed the UFC signing with a contract in his hands. The 32-year-old thanked Khamzat Chimaev for playing a pivotal role in his UFC signing. Vagaev also expressed his gratitude to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is a close ally of Chimaev.

One Era Ends, Another Begins“Assalamu alaikum, friends. Now that I have a contract with the UFC in hand, I can announce – I'm joining the UFC,” Vagaev wrote on Instagram. “My time in the ACA League has come to an end. I'm relinquishing my championship reign. It's been an exciting 12 years and nearly 30 fights. I've won the belt three times, and that's our legacy. Thank you to the organization for understanding my situation and being accommodating. I've always been accommodating to my beloved League. Now it's time to move in a different direction. I express my sincere gratitude to Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov for his constant support thro…

Israel Adesanya had his moments against Joe Pyfer at UFC Seattle. | Getty/UFC

Although he suffered his fourth consecutive loss in the UFC Seattle headliner, Israel Adesanya hasn’t lost his competitive fire.

The former middleweight champion started well but was gradually overwhelmed by Joe Pyfer in a second-round technical knockout loss in Saturday’s main event at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. It was the third consecutive outing in which “The Last Stylebender” has been finished inside the distance.

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Despite those discouraging circumstances, Adesanya currently has no designs on calling it a career.

“You keep going. Again and again and again and again and again,” Adesanya said during a post-fight interview in the Octagon.

“I’m not f—-ing leaving. You’ll never stop me. I might get beat, but I’ll always remain undefeated.”

Adesanya is regarded as one of the top middleweight champions in UFC history. He claimed the 185-po…

Arman Tsarukyan left no room for debate with his win over Georgio Poullas at RAF 7. 

Tsarukyan and Poullas first clashed in a wrestling match at RAF 6 last month. Wrestler-turned-influencer Poullas was accused of multiple fouls and penalized on points. Tsarukyan eventually won the chaotic affair on points and punched Poullas, leading to a brawl. 

While they were scheduled to meet in a submission-grappling rematch at Hype FC, Poullas pulled out, citing his preference to compete at RAF. Tsarukyan and Poullas finally met in a grudge rematch at RAF 7 on Saturday at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.

An End to the Rivalry? It was a much cleaner bout than their first meeting, and Tsarukyan was leading 1-0 in the first round. A delay in the break due to Poullas getting his hands taped had Tsarukyan worked up. While Poullas managed to take down Tsarukyan in the third round, the UFC lightweight sealed the victory with a four-point throw to win 9-3. 

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Michael Chiesa had a fairytale retirement.

Chiesa (20-7) took on Niko Price (16-11) in his last Octagon outing at UFC Seattle on Saturday. “The Maverick” took Price down, locked in a rear-naked choke, and earned the tap in hardly over a minute. The 38-year-old hung up his gloves on a four-fight winning streak with three finishes. Chiesa says he is glad to ride off into the sunset while he is still winning. The fighter-commentator loves the sport too much to stick around after he is washed up. While he retires from competition, the UFC veteran plans to be a part of the sport for the rest of his life.

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“I want to go out feeling like I can still win fights,” Chiesa said in a post-fight interview. “I don’t want to go down face down in the mud… I have too much respect for the sport to stick around and just end up letting it get the best of me. So I’m gonna get the best of it. I’m gonna go out on my terms and walk away from the sport of MMA as a competitor.…

Alexa Grasso made a statement against Alexa Grasso. | Getty/UFC

Alexa Grasso authored one of the most memorable finishes in recent memory in the UFC Seattle co-main event.

The former flyweight queen dropped Maycee Barber, then applied a rear-naked choke to her already unconscious foe, earning an emphatic stoppage victory at the 2:42 mark of Round 1 on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. As a result, Grasso was the recipient of a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Meanwhile, Joe Pyfer garnered the evening’s other $100,00 Performance of the Night” award for his finish of ex-middleweight ruler Israel Adesanya in the evening’s headliner. Pyfer weathered a slow start, then shifted momentum by rocking his opponent with power punches on the feet in the second round. From there, “Bodybagz” landed a takedown and eventually put Adesanya away with ground-and-pound at the 4:18 mark of the period.

Preliminary Barnburner Earns $100K Finally, Tofiq…

Johnny Eblen had one thing on his mind Saturday night, and it only took him four minutes to get it.

Haunted by losing his Professional Fighters League middleweight title in the final minute eight months ago, Eblen returned in his first fight back and reminded the world why people call him “Pressure.” Eblen battered, ragdolled, and choked out Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Bryan Battle en route to a first-round submission (4:10) in the PFL Pittsburgh main event from the UMPC Events Center.

Eblen (17-1, 3-1 PFL) knew that Battle (12-3, 0-1 PFL) was a handful on the feet, so the American Top Team product lifted him off them and dumped “The Ultimate Fighter” winner on his head over and over again. Every time Battle thought he found a shred of space, Eblen dumped him back on the canvas. Eblen finally put Battle out of his misery with a textbook face crank from the rear-naked choke position that forced Battle to tap.

Eblen immediately called out PFL champion Cost…

In the simplest terms, Joe Pyfer has arrived as a middleweight contender.

In the main event of UFC Seattle on Saturday night, the rising middleweight contender faced by far the greatest test of his career in two-time former champion Israel Adesanya. Pyfer wasted little time in trying to secure a takedown, but “The Last Stylebender” calmly fought it off against the fence. Adesanya took the matador’s role, barely slipping some huge power shots from the Philly native and coming back with slick counters, including a couple of nasty leg kicks and an intercepting knee that clearly stung. Pyfer landed a beautiful takedown with under 30 seconds left, but the round expired before he could truly capitalize.

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Adesanya continued to work on Pyfer’s lead left leg in Round 2, drawing greater and greater reactions, but absorbed several big right hands. Unbelievably, Adesanya acquiesced in a brawl in the middle of the round, getting in several heavy shots of his own b…

Sherdog's live PFL Pittsburgh coverage will begin Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

A high-stakes middleweight clash headlines PFL Pittsburgh: Tune in LIVE, Saturday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET.

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Round 1 They keep the line moving in the middleweight division, as Fremd (11-6, 0-0 PFL) toes the line against Al-Silawi (21-7, 4-4 PFL) at 185 pounds. Nick Berens administers the law and order. No glove touch between the two participants. Fremd greets his counterpart with a jab, low kick and lead left hook. Al-Silawi circles and gets off a one-two. Fremd controls the center, then eats an overhand right. Fremd answers with one of his own and charges forward with Al-Silawi off-balance. Strong leg kick from Fremd, who jabs at the body and then goes to the head. Al-Silawi dives on a single-leg, only to run right into a front choke. Nevertheless, he completes the takedown and settles in half guard as Fremd clings to his neck. Al-Silawi moves behind the American and loses positio…

Sherdog's live UFC Seattle coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 271. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Thainara (-600); Brasil (+450)Round 1 To quote the inimitable UFC play-by-play commentator John Gooden, we are about to be delighted with a festival of face-punching here at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle tonight. A baker’s dozen matchups will hopefully provide a plethora of mayhem and carnage, but the good kind that we like to see at a major MMA event. The action all commences with a rematch between ladies that first met in 2019. The lone loss on the ledger for submission specialist Thainara (13-1, 2-0 UFC) came to Brasil (11-6-1, 3-4 UFC) by guillotine choke, and you bet your bottom dollar that the favored Thainara wants that one back. The strawweights and countrywomen touch gloves in front of governing referee Bobby Wombacher, who clocks the two in. Brasil immediately introduces herself with a clubbing body k…

Getty Images/UFC

Tofiq Musayev picked up his first UFC win on Saturday, but it was definitely a wild ride.

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Longtime Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight standout Musayev (23-6; 1-1 UFC) faced short-notice foe Ignacio Bahamondes (17-7; 6-4 UFC) in the top prelim bout of UFC Seattle, and the two collaborated on one of the bloodiest, most dramatic bouts we’re likely to see all year. The momentum swung in Bahamondes’ direction early, as he got the better of most of the standup exchanges, hurting the Azerbaijani several times en route to winning a clear but competitive Round 1. The second frame started off with more of the same, as Bahamondes hurt Musayev with a hard right hand, then looked to hoist and slam him to the ground. Musayev recovered—with the help of a couple of egregious fence grabs—and took Bahamondes down, at which point he cut the Chilean wide open with an elbow. The bleeding was immediate and profuse, and Musayev poured it…