Martial Arts News

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Great things have been expected of Tatiana Suarez since early in her Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

She’ll get a chance to deliver on that promise when she meets Weili Zhang in a strawweight title bout at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 8. The situation is a little unusual since Suarez hasn’t competed since submitting Jessica Andrade at UFC on ESPN 50 in August 2023. However, the 34-year-old Californian isn’t altering her mindset heading into the biggest fight of her career to date.

“I don’t feel any different,” Suarez recently said on UFC Unfiltered. “I just feel like it’s another fight. It’s another challenge for me. I’m really excited because I’ve never had a five-round fight. But if anybody can do it, it’s me.”

Suarez is no stranger to lengthy layoffs. Injuries sidelined her for more than three years after a victory over Nina Nunes at UFC 238 in June 2019, but she returned to the Octagon in 2023 to post back-to-back victories…

As far as PFL providing everyone 2 fights this year, I really hope that’s what’s gonna happen and not because many more will be cut.

I want PFL to succeed, it’s good for the sport and for fighters.

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That said, I want to leave right away. Can we agree to it this week? (2/2) https://t.co/Zvx4NS45H8 — Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) December 19, 2024

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire has not been happy with his current situation under the Professional Fighters League banner following its acquisition of Bellator MMA in 2023.

Over the course of several weeks, “Pitbull” has taken to social media to voice his displeasure with the lack of activity he’s seen in 2024, and has stated multiple times that he wants out of his contract to compete elsewhere.

A source with knowledge of the situation talked to Sherdog.com, and said the PFL has exceeded its contractual obligations with the 37-year-old featherweight champion. The sourc…

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The elder brother of UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will make his Octagon debut Down Under.

Aleksandre Topuria is expected to face Cody Haddon in a bantamweight bout at UFC 312 on Feb. 8. The booking was initially reported by Australian MMA and subsequently confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. UFC 312 takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney and is headlined by a middleweight championship rematch between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.

The 28-year-old Topuria will be competing for the first time since May 2023, when he defeated Johan Segas via first-round technical knockout at The Way of the Warrior 9 in Madrid, Spain. “El Conquistador” has won five of his six professional outings, with all of his victories coming inside the distance. He began his professional MMA tenure in 2015 and fought three times that year but did not return to action again until December 2021.

A native of Perth, Haddon has been victorious in eight of his ni…

It’s all good - this guy will get what is coming to him on January 18th. #ufc311 🦾🇬🇪🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hC8YN6vkX9

— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) December 23, 2024

It might be the holiday season, but Merab Dvalishvili wasn’t feeling especially jolly after allegedly being denied entry into the UFC Performance Institute on Monday.

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In a social media post, the reigning bantamweight champion claimed that security wouldn’t let him into the facility because UFC 311 opponent Umar Nurmagomedov was already inside the buildiing.

“I’m here out front of the UFC P.I., and security don’t let me go in because they said, ‘Umar Nurmagomedov is inside,’ and they are protecting him,” Dvalishvili said in a video. “Don’t worry, guys. I’m not going to smash him before the fight. But Jan. 18, different story. I’m not able to go in UFC P.I. because I was supposed to get treatment for my injury. I was supposed to sign some …

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Arman Tsarukyan once viewed fighting in the UFC as an unattainable dream.

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Fast forward to the present day, and he’s less than a month away from challenging for championship gold in the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion, when he locks horns with Islam Makhachev in the UFC 311 main event on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

Competing in the Octagon became a reality shortly after Tsarukyan’s last fight on the regional circuit in Russia in August 2018. Sharing a card with the likes of 2024 PFL heavyweight champ Denis Goltsov, UFC veteran Alexander Romanov and ex-Bellator MMA light heavyweight title holder Christian M'Pumbu, Tsarukyan won his 11th straight bout that night — defeating one-time UFC competitor Felipe Olivieiri via third-round knockout.

After that bout, Tsarukyan recalls his manager telling him that he would be in the UFC soon. About eight months later, he was booked in his short-notice Octagon de…

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Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship has something in special in store for the coming year.

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BKFC president David Feldman recently announced that the promotion will hold a $25 million tournament — “the biggest, baddest tournament that ever took place” — beginning in April 2025.

“It’s going to spread out between nine or 12 months. There’s going to be tryouts, qualifying rounds and those qualifying rounds are going to take place in five different continents,” Feldman said during a post-fight press conference following BKFC Hollywood.

“We’re close to locking in a huge streaming platform that’s going to have the rights to this thing, so everything is really falling in place. I can’t give you all the details, but it will be the biggest, baddest, biggest prize money to find the baddest motherf—ker on the face of this earth.”

It’s currently unclear how the prize money will be distributed. However, even the promotion’s biggest stars ap…

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Israel Adesanya will be in an unfamiliar position at UFC Saudi Arabia.

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When he faces Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC Fight Night 250 main event, it will be the first time since February 2019 that “The Last Stylebender” won’t be involved in a championship bout. According to the former middleweight champion, that’s something that only concerns people on the outside looking in.

“I still get paid,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “There’s still a referee. There’s two of us in there. There’s still a crowd. So it’s not in the f—ing Apex or something. It doesn’t feel any different. I think people are making it out to be something how they would react to it but they’re not in my shoes. They’re not in my shorts.

“Yeah it’s different like, ‘Oh my God it must be eating him alive to be on a Fight Night.’ I was like, it’s a Saudi Arabia Fight Night. I still get paid.”

Adesanya is coming off the first two-fight losing streak of his pr…

Ian Heinisch initially planned to take a temporary hiatus from mixed martial arts, but that break has turned into a full-fledged retirement for the benefit of his overall well-being.

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The seven-time Octagon veteran hasn’t fought since July 2021, when he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC on ESPN 27. Citing numerous health issues — including head trauma and concussions — Heinisch announced in 2023 that he was stepping away from the sport. At the time, he insisted that he was “not quitting.” As it turns out, brain injuries would ultimately send Heinisch into an early retirement — but it’s a decision he doesn’t regret.

“Man, I hid it for probably a year-and-a-half. When I was supposed to fight Sam Alvey, I had to pull out of that fight. I couldn’t hide it anymore,” Heinisch recently told MMAjunkie.com. “I couldn’t go to the gym. I didn’t feel like myself. I had headaches all the time. I had confusion. One time,…

.@Tyson_Fury makes his way to the ring to none other than Mariah Carey x Biggie Smalls 🎅#Usyk2Fury | BUY NOW on TNT Sports Box Office ▶️ https://t.co/FXWiFF98Ej pic.twitter.com/5K3DAHI8Fw

— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) December 21, 2024 After 24 rounds shared in the ring, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will forever be linked for their two wars together in the squared circle, but the history books will remember one man as the victor of their storied rivalry.

Usyk put his stamp on the feud Saturday night with a masterful 12-round performance that resulted in him retaining his WBA, WBO, WBC and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles by unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 116-112) in the DAZN main event at Freedom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) had to storm back in their first fight after a slow start, but that was not the case in the rematch. The defending champ took the fight to the 281-pound challeng…

Brandon Royval has a little more work to do if he wants to get another shot at flyweight gold.

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According to an initial report from Ag.Fight, Royval will face former Rizin bantamweight champion Manel Kape in the main event of UFC Fight Night 253 on March 1. Royval and multiple outlets have since confirmed the booking. The event is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

“At the end of the day, I got the toughest résumé since I signed to the UFC,” Royval wrote on Instagram. “Y’all going to learn to put some respect on my name. Only top 10 fighters. 4th main event in a row.”

Royval has won five of his last six UFC appearances. His lone defeat during that stretch came when he challenged Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight belt and dropped a unanimous decision at UFC 296. “Raw Dawg” has since rebounded to post back-to-back triumphs over Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira in headlining bouts.

Kape is also 5-1 in his last six promot…

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The 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦 era is HERE 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇧🇬

Congratulations to 2024 PFL Flyweight World Champion @dakotadofficial on being named @MMAJunkie Female Fighter of The Year pic.twitter.com/GneCsNRf1v

— PFL (@PFLMMA) December 21, 2024

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The marvelous journey for Professional Fighters League’s Dakota Ditcheva continues to grow through the end of 2024. After bursting onto the scene in 2023, Ditcheva made her arrival known by collecting the PFL Europe Women’s Flyweight title, and doing so in emphatic fashion, putting away all her opponents by stoppage during her run to the PFL Europe gold and the $100,000 grand prize.

Not satisfied with her accomplishments at PFL Europe, Ditcheva arrived on the PFL Global stage in 2024, joining the women’s flyweight season and continuing her run of finishes to extend her undefeated record. Putting away all her opponents by stoppage in 2024, Ditcheva’s success would grow even more, becoming PFL champion …