Martial Arts News

Kalinn Williams taught Carlston Harris a valuable lesson on Saturday night: Don’t look too far ahead when a dangerous opponent is right in front of you.

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“Khaos the Ox Fighter” secured the fourth knockout victory of his promotional tenure in the UFC Fight Night 241 co-main event, putting Harris away with a massive right hand just 90 seconds into Round 1. After the bout, Williams admitted to finding motivation from Harris’ pre-fight talk of future opponents.

“He was looking past me. Don’t look past me,” Williams said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “You over here talking about who you want to fight after me. You’ve got to beat me. You’ve got to go through me first to even get to them. That’s just what it was.

“I don’t really pay attention to the interviews, but my team told me. It was like, ‘He said he wants to fight this person [and] this person.’ Come on, man. I’m a contender myself, so you’ve got to get through me. I just had to do what…

Piera Rodriguez believes Ariane Carnelossi was looking for a way out in their strawweight fight at UFC Fight Night 241.

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After rocking Carnelossi with a front kick and ending up in top position, Rodriguez landed what appeared to be an accidental headbutt. However, the Venezuelan fighter repeated the maneuver following a warning from referee Mark Smith, which resulted in a disqualification loss at the 3:16 mark of Round 2. Carnelossi took as long as she could to recover following the fouls, but it was ultimately determined that the Brazilian could not continue.

After the loss, Rodriguez’s questioned her opponent’s motives in a post on social media.

“I rather lose a fight because of a mistake I did, than go home calling myself a ‘winner’ knowing I am a coward,” Rodriguez wrote on Instagram. “I made a big mistake, maybe because of adrenaline.

“But you have to go to sleep with that lie in your head your entire life [Ariane Carnelossi]. And you cal…

It was a statement-making performance for Lerone Murphy at UFC Fight Night 241.

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The unbeaten Brit battered veteran foe Edson Barboza for the better part of five rounds, earning a lopsided unanimous decision triumph in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. About the only scare that Murphy had occurred at the end of Round 1, when his Brazilian opponent rocked him with an upkick. Fortunately for Murphy, the blow landed at the horn, and he was able to regain his bearings in the corner.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know what he hit me with,” Murphy said at the post-fight press conference. “I looked up at the screen during the round and he caught me with a good upkick. I think that is what busted my nose, along with a hundred million jabs. But yeah, good fight.”

When all was said and done, Murphy held a 220-to-79 advantage in significant strikes. It was the third largest striking differential for a featherweight fight in UFC history, and…

Adrian Yanez was genuinely concerned for Vinicius Salvador after securing a technical knockout victory over the Brazilian at UFC Fight Night 241.

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Yanez sat Salvador down with a massive right hand midway through the opening round and followed it up with vicious ground-and-pound to secure the finish. The amount of strikes that referee Chris Tognoni allowed Salvador to absorb before stepping in became a topic of debate among observers after the fight.

While some commended Tognoni for giving “Fenomeno” a chance to recover, others believed the referee could have stopped some of the devastating shots from Yanez by stepping in a little earlier. Yanez also admits that Salvador was making enough defensive moments initially for Tognoni to let the fight go on.

“Honestly, I don’t know. Because he was moving, he was doing all the right things,” Yanez said during the post-fight press conference. “I think when he pulled my base down from my hip, he did caus…

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

After missing weight on his first attempt, Oumar Sy was able to cut the 1.5 pounds necessary the second time around to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut official.

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Sy initially weighed in at 207 pounds for his light heavyweight matchup against George Tokkos at UFC Fight Night 241. However, the undefeated French prospect was able to make the non-title limit of 206 pounds on his second attempt after stripping down and weighing in behind a towel. Sy revealed that a major chunk of the 1.5 pounds that he lost was his watch.

“Actually, that was a mistake,” he said during a post-fight media scrum. “Because when I got weighed in yesterday, I had my watch on, and my watch weighs 700 [grams]. So that was part of the difference.”

Sy was originally scheduled to make his debut against Rodolfo Bellato, who was forced out of the event due to an injury. Bellato was then replaced by Antonio Tro…

Tom Nolan revealed that his UFC Fight Night 241 win over Victor Martinez was a really crucial one.

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Nolan earned his UFC contract with a knockout win over Bodgan Grad on Dana White's Contender Series last year — his sixth straight victory. The then undefeated prospect was massive favorite going into his UFC debut against Nikolas Motta this past February. However, “Big Train” went on to suffer his first career loss via first-round TKO.

Nolan admits that he had let some of the hype around him get to his head going into his UFC debut, and he felt pressure to make quick work of his opponent in dominant fashion.

“Different pressure to last time,” Nolan said in a post-fight media scrum. “Last time the pressure was, ‘Oh you’ve gotta finish this guy in 10 seconds, you’re so much better, so much better.’ And to be honest, I’ve never been dropped, I’ve never been knocked out, I’ve never even really been hurt, I’ve never been cut, nothing. So at my own…

Melissa Gatto wants to move back down to flyweight after a successful bantamweight debut at UFC Fight Night 241.

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Gatto earned a third-round TKO win over fellow Brazilian Tamires Vidal on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Gatto now wants to return to action in August — preferably at 125 pounds.

“I want to fight in August in flyweight division,” Gatto said in a post-fight scrum. “But if the UFC want me in bantamweight division, I’m here to fight. I want to fight. I was born to fight.”

While she feels like a natural flyweight, Gatto also emphasizes that she has no problem competing at 135 pounds if the promotion wants her to. Gatto explained why flyweight is her preferred division.

“Because I think I am a flyweight, my body [likes the] flyweight division,” she said. “And I think I am flyweight, my team said it to me too. Of course but bantamweight no problem.”

Gatto’s win over Vidal came via a punch to the chest that drew a delayed re…

Lerone Murphy is on the cusp of stardom and could find himself ranked in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's featherweight division after dismantling the always-dangerous Edson Barboza on Saturday at the UFC Apex. Murphy dominated one of the the promotion's all-time best strikers from bell to bell en route to a unanimous decision win (49-46, 50-45, 50-45) over the 38-year-old Brazillian in the UFC Fight Night 241 main event.

Murphy (14-0-1) peppered Barboza with the jab and outstruck him despite eating bone-crunching leg kicks. He had Barboza staggered multiple times throughout the fight but cautiously stuck to the game plan and punished his foe in the clinch when the moment presented itself. Barboza never stopped looking for a knockout but Murphy refused to give him an opening. The Manchester Top Team product’s lateral movement and piston-like jab had Barboza eating leather all evening. With the win, Murphy picked up the biggest victory of his career and could see himse…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to its home base of the Apex in Las Vegas Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with UFC Fight Night 241, which is headlined by an electric featherweight tilt. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Ducote (-340), Demopoulos (+270)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Rodrigues (-155), Alateng (+130)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scor…

Nice knee to the body from Tom Nolan #UFCVegas92 pic.twitter.com/NpshMdOM2U

— TakeruCigarra (@TakeruCigarra) May 18, 2024

A bloodied Tom Nolan (7-1) closed out the UFC Fight Night 241 prelims in violent fashion with a first-round TKO win (3:50) over Victor Martinez (13-6). Coming in with 13 knockouts between them, the lightweights did not disappoint. Martinez dropped Nolan with a clean left hook and almost found the finish before Nolan ultimately closed the show with a debilitating knee to the body. It only took a few shots for good mesure for referee Mark Smith to intervene.

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Two UFC newcomers shared the Octagon for the first time as undefeated French light heavyweight Oumar Sy (10-0) matched up against Bellator MMA veteran George Tokkos (10-4). After escaping from a few of Sy’s sprawls, Tokkos decided to tease the Frenchman. Tokkos’ constant reminders of “you’re heavier than me” didn’t faze Sy at all and ultimately b…

Lerone Murphy called for a bonus in his post-fight interview, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship delivered on that request.

Murphy and Edson Barboza received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their five-round clash in the UFC Fight Night 241 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. While Murphy landed more than 200 significant strikes to keep his unbeaten record intact, Barboza had moments of brilliance — most notably an upkick that rocked his English opponent at the end of Round 1. Ultimately, Murphy kept the pressure on for 25 minutes to earn a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph over the Brazilian veteran.

Elsewhere, Kalinn Williams garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check by virtue of a resounding knockout of Carlston Harris in a featured welterweight contest. A massive right hand landed clean and sent Harris crashing to the canvas, effectively ending the fight at the 1:30 mark of Round 1.

Finally, Angela Hil…

UFC 303 is in need of a new co-headliner after Khalil Rountree admitted to taking a banned substance ahead of the June 29 event.

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In a statement on social media, the light heavyweight revealed that he inadvertently took a “blended supplement” that contained dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an endogenous steroid hormone precursor. Rountree was scheduled to face former UFC champ Jamahal Hill at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It is currently unknown if Hill will remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

“I’m gutted to deliver this news to you all, but I will not be fighting at UFC 303 due to consuming a banned substance. I did not do this intentionally, and I am doing everything I can to get this situation taken care of,” Rountree wrote on Instagram.

“I was using a personalized tailored supplement service from a company that I trusted who understood my limitations in what I can and cannot take. They accidentally sent a blended supplement t…