Martial Arts News

Sherdog's live PFL 2025 World Tournament: First Round 3 coverage will begin Friday at 5 p.m. ET.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, April 18 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+.

Advertisement

Round 1 The fight was canceled on Friday afternoon due to an illness suffered by Watley. News of its cancelation broke from the promotion shortly after the event started. Round 1 Every match tonight will have tournament implications as this is a single-elimination grand prix where you win and move on. Four semifinalists for lightweight will be established, but before then, middleweights are up to bat. PFL newcomer Jeffery (15-5, 0-0 PFL) will try to ply his trade with the company, while Ramazanov (12-2, 1 NC; 1-2 PFL) is hoping the 15 extra pounds on his frame will give him the advantage he seeks. Before they throw down, they touch gloves. Referee Blake Grice is ready for what happens next. Jeffery probes his way forward with jabs and leg kic…

It might come as a surprise that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has not booked this matchup before.

The UFC made official a short list of matches on Friday for UFC 316 on June 7. The promotion confirmed several bouts already reported, including its headliner of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O'Malley 2 and the co-main of Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison. One new fight not previously on the books takes place at 170 pounds, in the form of a banger between Vicente Luque (23-10-1) and Kevin Holland (27-13, 1 NC). The two contenders will throw down inside of the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, likely as part of the main card.

Although he has lost three out of five dating back to 2022, things are not entirely grim for the well-traveled Luque. In his last three outings, Luque took a decision over Rafael dos Anjos in a five-rounder, succumbed to strikes from Joaquin Buckley and rebounded in December by throttling Themba Gorimbo with an anaconda choke. The submission,…

[embedded content] Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Charles Oliveira does not care who stands across the Octagon with him as long as gold is on the line.

Celebrating a whopping eight million followers on his Instagram page, Brazil’s Charles Oliveira is the most popular mixed martial arts fighter from that country, even surpassing Alex Pereira’s 6.8 million. The next fight for the jiu-jitsu ace is bound to be a significant one, if it is entirely up to Oliveira. “Do Bronxs” spoke to Sherdog on Wednesday, anxious about his next opponent and hopeful that he will be vying for a belt of some kind—even if it is of the “BMF” variety—in that next outing.

Advertisement

“For me, what makes sense is to fight for the title,” Oliveira evaluated. “I talked a lot about BMF because Islam [Makhachev] said that he just wants to return in October, and October is too much time [out of the cage]. I want to fight [on International Fight Week in June]. But later, Islam said he…

⚖️ PFL World Tournament 3 Weigh Ins are underway!

Middleweight Main Event is official!

Advertisement

Impa Kasanganay: 185.6 lbsFabian Edwards: 185.6 lbs

[ #PFLWorldTournament | Friday, April 18th | 📺 7PM EST | ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/xFALeW9xDq

— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 17, 2025 The Professional Fighters League's 2025 World Tournament continues on Friday, as the first round of the men's lightweight and middleweight tournaments begins.

The PFL World Tournament 3 main event will see middleweights Impa Kasanganay and Fabian Edwards clash. Both men came in under the 186-pound limit for the three-round fight. All 16 tournament fighters successfully made weight for the card.

Kasanganay (18-5) reached the finals last year, where he lost to Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov via knockout. "Tshilobo" will look to rebound and get back to his winning ways as he's won nine of his last 11 fights. Just 31, the Kill Cliff FC product stepped on th…

Can we fast forward to Friday Night 👀🔜

2024 PFL Lightweight World Champion Gadzhi Rabadanov and Marc Diakiese wasted no time in letting each other know how they feel in their first faceoff ahead of Friday 🍿

Advertisement

[ #PFLWorldTournament | Friday, April 18th | 📺 7PM EST | ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/8f1ivtHE7W — PFL (@PFLMMA) April 16, 2025

There will be no shortage of fireworks heading into the Professional Fighters League lightweight and middleweight tournaments this weekend, two of the most anticipated divisions in this year’s tournament. In one of the premier lightweight tournament matchups, 2024 PFL lightweight champion Gadzhi Rabadanov will face Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Marc Diakiese, who signed with the promotion last year and made his debut with a victory over Tim Wilde at Bellator Champions Series.

Ahead of their first-round matchup this Friday in Orlando, Florida, the two met face-to-face for the firs…

While the Cain Velasquez murder trial may have reached its conclusion, there are still other matters to resolve regarding the case.

Advertisement

On Wednesday, judge Elizabeth C. Peterson granted a continuance of a restitution setting hearing, which will now take place on June 3. Velasquez was sentence to five years in prison in March after pleading no contest to attempted murder, felony assault and additional gun charges stemming from a February 2022 incident in which the former fighter fired a gun at a truck containing multiple people. During a high-speed chase, Velasquez shot at the vehicle containing Harry Goularte, who was accused of molesting Velasquez’s son. One of the shots hit and injured Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender.

Though Velasquez is currently in the midst of his sentence — which includes 1,283 days of credit for time served — the ex-UFC heavyweight champion will still be required to pay restitution, which is when “a convicted offender may be…

今日、5/31(土)に韓国・仁川にあるカジノリゾートホテルPARADISE CITYにて開催するRIZIN WORLD SERIES in KOREAの対戦カード発表記者会見を実施しました！いきなり11試合を発表しましたが、ビビって、たじろいでませんか？… pic.twitter.com/5zf4lEMe41

— 榊󠄀原信行 Nobuyuki Sakakibara (@nobu_sakakibara) April 16, 2025

Rizin Fighting Federation will hold what is shaping up to be a primarily Japan vs. Korea-themed card in South Korea next month.

Advertisement

The Japanese promotion recently announced the event, entitled “World Series in Korea,” at a press conference. The event will take place at Paradise City in Incheon, South Korea on May 31. Not every bout on the card follows the country vs. country theme, as the evening’s featured pairing will see Rizin lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza lock horns with Gladiator lightweight king Won Bin Ki. However, the majority of the lineup does follow the aforementioned format.

Other MMA bouts confirme…

Movsar Evloev isn’t letting anyone jump the featherweight title queue ahead of him.

Advertisement

Evloev is riding a nine-fight winning streak in the UFC with wins over the likes of Dan Ige, Arnold Allen, Diego Lopes and Aljamain Sterling. However, Evloev is still not the most obvious contender at 145 pounds, which he thinks is due to lack of finishes on his resume.

Meanwhile, the featherweight title picture changed drastically at UFC 314 last weekend when Alexander Volkanovski won the vacant title against Diego Lopes in the main event. Evloev has no doubt that Volkanovski will agree to fight him, which the champ has already admitted. However, the undefeated Russian isn’t sure if the UFC wants the matchup.

Meanwhile, Yair Rodriguez is calling for a title shot after foiling Patricio Freire’s promotional debut at UFC 314. Previously unranked Jean Silva is also rallying for a gold bid after five straight finishes in the UFC. While Evloev is unsure of his tit…

[embedded content]

Khabib Nurmagomedov prefers that Islam Makhachev fights Arman Tsarukyan instead of Ilia Topuria.

Advertisement

While Tsarukyan is the No. 1 lightweight contender, former featherweight champ Topuria recently vacated his belt to move up to lightweight. Topuria is calling for an immediate title shot at 155 pounds, but Makhachev doesn’t think he deserves the opportunity yet. Nurmagomedov believes Tsarukyan is a more competitive matchup than Topuria for his prodigy.

“In my opinion, not necessarily dangerous, let’s say more competitive, I think it’s Tsarukyan,” Nurmagomedov told Adam Zubayrav. “I think Arman is a more serious fighter than Topuria. Topuria is a good fighter at 145, but we haven’t seen him at 155. I believe Arman is more competitive for Islam.”

Nurmagomedov further explained why a matchup against Topuria isn’t very tempting for Makhachev. Makhachev has already defended his lightweight title twice against Alexander Volkanovski whi…

With Amanda Nunes’ comeback all but official, the former two-division champion will likely be the most interested of all observers when the women’s bantamweight title is up for grabs in June.

Advertisement

Nunes was in attendance at UFC 314 in Miami, where it was announced that “Lioness” would be enshrined in the promotion’s Hall of Fame this summer. Nunes gave multiple interviews during the weekend, and she often indicated that her UFC return was imminent.

If all goes as planned, Nunes will face the winner of the Julianna Pena-Kayla Harrison championship clash slated for UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark, New Jersey. Nunes already has history with Pena, but a fight with Harrison might be even more intriguing for the Brazilian.

“Kayla or Julianna, I want my belt back, and I’ll fight for it,” Nunes said on UFC Fight Pass Brasil (translation via MMAFighting.com). “I’m driven by challenges. I like to fight for something. Kayla is strong as hell, that’s the one I wa…

The UFC 316 lineup continues to grow, as a couple more bouts were made official for the June 7 event.

Advertisement

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Tuesday that Marlon Vera vs. Mario Bautista will square off at bantamweight, while Johnny Walker will face Azamat Murzakanov on the upcoming card. UFC 316 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and is headlined by a bantamweight championship rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley. Vera vs. Bautista was originally scheduled for UFC Des Moines on May 3, but it is unclear why the booking was moved.

Vera has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, he dropped a unanimous verdict against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC on ABC 7 this past August. Prior to that, he fell to Sean O’Malley via unanimous decision in a 135-pound title bout at UFC 299.

Bautista, meanwhile, will take a seven-bout promotional winning streak into the match with Vera. He is coming o…

Marvin Vettori is mourning the death of his younger brother following his death in a fire in Italy.

Advertisement

According to a report from TGCom24, a fire broke out at Patrick Vettori’s apartment in Mezzocorona, which is in the northern Italian province of Trento. Patrick died of smoke inhalation before firefighters could arrive on the scene. He was 30 years old.

You were and always will be [No. 1] my little brother! You left a void that cannot be filled, I will love you until my last breath,” Marvin Vettori wrote on Instagram. “I don’t think I’ll be the same after today because maybe I never told you but you’ve always been my strength. You were the smartest and smartest of the [two], you were creating a wonderful future for yourself and I can’t get over it.

“It is said that Jesus calls back the most beautiful souls prematurely to have them with him in heaven and then I hope that you are there with him looking and watching over us with that goodness th…