Martial Arts News

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Brazil for its next pay-per-view event.

Headlining UFC 301 is a flyweight title fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Steve Erceg. Both men successfully hit 125 pounds at the official weigh-ins, making the five-round fight official. All other fighters also made weight for the 14-fight card.

Advertisement

Pantoja (27-5) is looking to make his second defense of the flyweight title. After beating Brandon Moreno via split decision, "The Cannibal" defended the belt against Brandon Royval in a unanimous decision effort. Having not lost since a 2020 defeat to Askar Askarov, the Brazilian brings a five-fight win streak into his first UFC main event.

Meanwhile, Erceg (12-1) is a surprising title contender as the Australian only has three prior fights in the promotion. In his UFC debut, "Astro Boy" defeated David Dvorak via decision in 2023. Since then, he's won a decision over Alessandro Costa and scored a kn…

Two top Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweights will try to move up the ladder this July.

In March, Super Lutas first reported that Arnold Allen (19-3) and Giga Chikadze (15-3) were slated to square off in England, with the date not specified. On Thursday, multiple outlets were able to confirm the featherweight booking for UFC 304, which will go down at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England, on July 27. The only other matchup currently booked for this evening is another 145-pound affair pitting Nathaniel Wood against Daniel Pineda.

Allen is currently riding the first losing streak of his career, having dropped a five-round decision to Max Holloway in April 2023 and then another decision to Movsar Evloev in January. Before losing to the former champ, the Brit had strung together 10 straight wins in the Octagon, where he beat the likes of Calvin Kattar, Dan Hooker and Sodiq Yusuff on his way up the division. This will be Allen’s first outing on home country soil…

[embedded content]

Patrick Mix doesn’t gameplan for opponents. He adjusts and then annihilates them. From flying knees to rear-naked chokes, there’s no technique the Bellator MMA bantamweight champion won’t use to finish a fight. Just ask Magomed Magomedov.

Advertisement

“I have to give him props,” Magomedov said on the Bellator Champions Series Paris media call Thursday. In the first fight, he surprised me. He used his distance to his benefit. This time, I’m approaching the fight differently, and people should expect a war.”

Mix (19-1) hasn’t seen a tough fight since his lone loss nearly four years ago. After submitting Magomedov in 2022, Mix spent the following year starching Raufeon Stots and Sergio Pettis. Today he rules the division with a fearsome fist but wants to prove he’s the best 135-pounder in the world — even if he has to take out former opponents to do it.

“It’s not just me; it’s also the people that I’m fighting,” Mix said. “This guy’s 20-3…

Charles Oliveira wants to make it clear that he would only move to welterweight for one specific fight.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Oliveira spoke to Sherdog ahead of UFC 301. The event in Rio de Janeiro, he is not competing, but he is supporting his countrymen and women as well as cornering teammate Elves Brener. “Do Bronx” is coming off a decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 that served as a title eliminator match, and he says he is ready to put the past behind him.

Advertisement

“I expected more from myself inside the cage,” Oliveira stated about his UFC 300 defeat. “I think I got the best moments in all three rounds. Actually, I think I won [the first] and [third], but that fight’s already gone. I’m not here to cause any [drama].”

Instead of dwelling on the past, Oliveira wants to learn from his mistakes and look to the future.

“Fourteen years are not fourteen days,” Oliviera pontificated. “Don't get me wrong, I don’t …

[embedded content]

Many believe that if Alex Pereira moved up in weight again, he would be successful, but no one is more confident in his skills than his manager.

Advertisement

Ahead of UFC 301, manager Jorge “Joinha” Guimaraes spoke to Sherdog about the future of his fighter, Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Pereira. While some expect that the next challenge for “Poatan” will be Russian wrestler Magomed Ankalaev, Guimaraes threw some cold water on that potential pairing, while discussing additional options including a potential shift in weight for the 205-pound king.

“Not necessarily it will be Ankalaev,” Guimaraes noted. “I don’t think Ankalaev moves the needle, but whatever they bring, I think Alex is ready for anything. He doesn’t choose opponents.”

If Ankalaev is indeed the next contender for the throne, the manager of “Poatan” expresses the utmost of confidence in his client.

“Ankalaev would have a hard time [taking] …

[embedded content]

Natalia Diachkova believes her upcoming opponent, Smilla Sundell, has several holes in her game waiting to be exploited.

Advertisement

Diachkova will challenge Sundell for the ONE Championship women’s muay thai 125-pound title at ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3. While Sundell’s achievements for a 19-year-old are certainly commendable, Diachkova, who won the Russian National Adult Championship at just 16 years of age, isn’t awed.

“Her age doesn't really matter. I won the National Adult Championship when I was 16 years old. But mentally, she is still a child,” Diachkova said.

While Sundell has seemed almost flawless in her career thus far, Diachkova notes that the 5’10” champ has enjoyed a significant height advantage over her latest opponents. Diachkova sees her 5’7” stature posing a problem for the relatively inexperienced Sundell, who will be unable to use her height advantage to the fullest when they cross paths.

“Yes, it will be a proble…

[embedded content]

ONE Championship muay thai women’s 125-pound champion Smilla Sundell recently shared three-sport glory plans ahead of her second title defense.

Advertisement

The youngest champion in the history of the promotion, Sundell has already achieved more at 19 years of age than many fighters do in their entire career. “The Hurricane” became the inaugural ONE Championship muay thai women’s 125-pound champion with a unanimous decision over Jackie Buntan and has since defended her strap with a knockout win over Allycia Hellen Rodrigues. The Swede is now scheduled to defend her title for a second time against Natalia Diachkova at ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3.

Sundell recently shared future three-sport championship aspirations leading up to her bout against Diachkova. Having already started dabbling in mixed martial arts, Sundell wants to simultaneously hold ONE Championship muay thai, kickboxing and MMA titles.

“I just want to be the best version of…

[embedded content]

Alexandre Pantoja recently doubled down on his claims of having gotten the better of Sean O'Malley in sparring.

Advertisement

Pantoja and O’Malley have gone back and forth in the past over the result of a sparring session they had six years ago. Pantoja claims to have bested “Sugar” during a sparring session leading up to the Brazilian’s Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

Meanwhile, O’Malley has completely refuted that narrative, claiming to have stopped Pantoja instead with a liver kick in the very first round.

Pantoja is now scheduled to defend his flyweight title against Steve Erceg (12-1) in the main event at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “The Cannibal” reiterated his stance on the sparring session with O’Malley when asked about a potential move up to bantamweight in the future.

Pantoja claims former champ Henry Cejudo told him that he would never get the sparring footage from O’Malley. While Pantoja admits that a move…

[embedded content]

Ilia Topuria believes there are more deserving candidates for a featherweight title shot if Max Holloway doesn’t put his BMF title on the line.

Advertisement

Holloway captured the BMF title with a fifth-round knockout win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 last month. Topuria called out Holloway immediately afterward, offering him a featherweight title shot in exchange for an opportunity to win the BMF belt. “Blessed” hasn’t yet firmly responded to Topuria’s callout, dismissing it as an “angry girlfriend text.”

Topuria believes it is unfair for Holloway to receive a featherweight title shot without putting his BMF title on the line. According to Topuria, Holloway is hesitant because he wants to remain the BMF champ even if he loses a potential featherweight title fight.

“You are the BMF champ, you have the opportunity for the title, to fight for the title,” Topuria said on the Webpositer podcast. “What are you going to do? Are you going to fi…

Undefeated flyweight Nyamjargal Tumendemberel will make his promotional debut at UFC 302 on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Advertisement

Tumendemberel (8-0) will take on undefeated Brazilian prospect Andre Lima (8-0), replacing undefeated South Korean Hyun Sung Park (9-0) on a month’s notice. The news was first reported by Eurosport NL's Marcel Dorff in a post to X (formerly known as Twitter).

The winner of Road to UFC 1 in the flyweight bracket, Park was forced out of the fight due to a ruptured knee ligament suffered in training. “Peace of Mind” provided footage of the incident along with on explanation via Instagram.

“During sparring in preparation for UFC 302, I collided with a colleague who was training with me from an unseen angle, and my knee was pushed inward excessively, causing the inner ligament of my right knee to rupture, so I was unable to participate in UFC 302,” Park wrote (via Google Translate). “I apologize to e…

[embedded content]

Robert Whittaker is confident that he will be able to hold his own in grappling exchanges against Khamzat Chimaev.

Advertisement

Whittaker will look to hand Chimaev his first career loss in the main event at UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22. While “Bobby Knuckles” admits that his key to victory lies in keeping the fight on the feet, he isn’t afraid of grappling with “Borz.”

“It’s about going out there and pushing my game plan onto him and seeing how he adjusts to me. Because I bring an arsenal of skill sets that he’s not ready for, I believe," Whittaker recently told ESPN Australia. "And I think the shortest way to victory is to go in there, obviously not play to his strengths, which is not engaging in the wrestle, but not be afraid of it. I can wrestle with the best of them, and I have shown and proved that. So, I’m gonna go in there, I’m gonna fight my fight, I’m gonna fight a stand-up fight, I’m gonna see where it goes, I’m gonna drag it out. It…

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has denied a proposed six-month suspension for Igor da Silva after he bit opponent Andre Lima at UFC on ESPN 53 on March 23.

Advertisement

During a meeting on Tuesday, Nevada deputy attorney general Matthew Feeley proposed an adjudication agreement that would result in a six-month suspension and a fine of more than $3,000 for da Silva, who is also commonly known as Igor Severino. Feeley’s reasoning was there was no real precedent for the incident other than when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield during their boxing match in 1997. Feeley noted that Tyson’s incident, which resulted in a $3 million fine and his license being revoked, was more severe tha da Silva’s.

However, NSAC commissioner Anthony Marnell expressed concern about the precedent a relatively short suspension might set going forward, especially since da Silva could potentially sign with another MMA promotion.

“The bigger issue is the precedent we set going fo…