Martial Arts News

Savannah Marshall prepares to make her MMA debut in less than four weeks time 👀#PFLNewcastle | Saturday 8th June | Utilita Arena, Newcastle | Tickets on SALE NOW! 🔗 in bio | LIVE on DAZN pic.twitter.com/JD50b8958U

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) May 13, 2024

Savannah Marshall didn’t necessarily expect to get such a big stage for her professional mixed martial arts debut.

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Thanks to a background as a boxing champion, her signing with Professional Fighters League was met with some measure of fanfare. However, Marshall would have been willing to pay her dues on an undercard in her first MMA foray. But that’s not how things turned out: Marshall will headline PFL Europe 2 on June 8 when she faces Mirela Vargas at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England.

“It's amazing for me, and I'm extremely grateful for the PFL to give me this opportunity,” Marshall said on a media call. “I remember a couple of months ago and they were talking…

#BREAKING - A Waco-area MMA coach is accused of sexually abusing a girl he was training over a three year period, an affidavit states. INFO: https://t.co/QO5jWq34GN pic.twitter.com/O1P9ipCrJs

— KWTX News 10 (@kwtx) May 20, 2024

Jacob Brennan, the husband and coach of UFC fighter Hailey Cowan, has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a minor.

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According to a report from KWTX 10, Brennan was arrested and booked into McLennan County (Texas) Jail on May 19 after a woman accused him of touching her inappropriately between 2013 and 2015. The victim was 13 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, while Brennan was 30. Brennan has been charged with indecency with a child with sexual contact, a second-degree felony in Texas that carries a sentence between two and 20 years.

Brennan, who is now 40, is the owner of Next Generation MMA/Blitz MMA in Waco. According to an affidavit, the victim told investigators that Brenna…

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Cage Warriors featherweight Connor Hitchens.

The entire CW family extends heartfelt condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time.

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RIP 🙏 pic.twitter.com/ilwcAwQJsK — Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) May 21, 2024

One-time Cage Warriors Fighting Championship featherweight Connor Hitchens has died at 26 years old.

The European promotion confirmed the news in a post on social media on Tuesday. International Mixed Martial Arts Federation president Kerrith Brown also issued a statement on Hitchens’ passing. The cause of Hitchens’ death was not revealed.

''On behalf of the entire International Mixed Martial Arts Federation we are deeply saddened by the passing of Connor Hitchens,” Brown stated. “We are forever grateful to Connor for his time on the IMMAF platform and proudly representing the UK national team as a distinguished athlete at the European and World C…

Tamires Vidal’s technical knockout loss to Melissa Gatto at UFC Fight Night 241, which occurred as a result of a punch to the breast, has sparked a debate in women’s MMA.

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Tainara Lisboa, who was part of the UFC Fight Pass Brasil commentary team for the event, noted that the rules are the same for men and women — which means there is no foul for blows to the breasts. However, Lisboa pointed out that such strikes could cause the appearance of nodules, which lead to breast cancer.

The need for debate gained even more traction after reporter Evelyn Rodrigues' post-fight with Melissa Gatto.

“Studying for the fight I noticed that she felt a lot of pain with punches to the breast in some previous fights, so I made a point of asking the referee, when he came to my locker room before the fight, if I hit the area it would be a foul, and he made it clear that it would not be an illegal [strike],” Gatto said. “The referee himself clarified that if I hit he…

Islam Makhachev believes teammate Usman Nurmagomedov is a better striker than upcoming opponent Dustin Poirier.

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Makhachev is scheduled to defend his lightweight title against Poirier in the main event at UFC 302 on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Since he’s in the same weight class, Bellator MMA lightweight champ Nurmagomedov is one of Makhachev’s chief sparring partners in camp.

While Nurmagomedov couldn’t join the rest of the team until recently, Makhachev revealed that the undefeated Bellator champ gave him some solid rounds as soon as they sparred. The reigning lightweight champion heaped praise on his teammate, also labeling him a better striker than Poirier.

“Usman, honestly always give me good rounds,” Makhachev said on the "Weighing In" podcast. “After he was sick and he just come back two days ago. We [rest of the team] are one week here. When he feel like better, right away he come to support me. And today he…

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American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez believes Conor McGregor hasn’t been the same since fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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Islam Makhachev recently expressed interest in facing McGregor, backtracking on his previous stance. Asked about the reason behind Makhachev’s interest in McGregor, Mendez, who has coached both Makhachev and Nurmagomedov at AKA, stated the obvious: a massive payday and instant stardom.

“Massive fight, massive amount of money. And at the end of the day when you’re a champion, when you’re a prize fighter, you fight for the prize, the money,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “So, it’s a massive fight for Islam, it will bring up his stock tremendously. Conor definitely brings that to the table regardless of whether you like him or don’t like him.”

While Makhachev is open to fighting McGregor, the lightweight champ is extremely dismissive of the Irishman, who he believes is well past his prime., Mendez al…

Colby Covington can get on anyone’s nerves, and that includes UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

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Covington landed himself a title shot against Edwards at UFC 296 in December 2023. Known for crossing limits with his trash talk, Covington insulted Edwards’ late father at the pre-fight press conference.

Edwards was admittedly affected by the comments but successfully maintained his composure to put on a lopsided beating against Covington en route to a unanimous decision victory. “Rocky” revealed that he looked for Covington backstage immediately following the press conference to slap him. However, the American was nowhere to be found, potentially having been escorted out by security personnel.

“Yeah [I looked for him backstage]. But they moved him, I don’t know where he went but he weren’t backstage at all,” Edwards said on "The MMA Hour.” “I feel like the security took him away and I don’t know where they put him, but he was somewhere… S…

A matchup of welterweight prospects has been added to the UFC 304 card.

Oban Elliott (10-2) will trade leather against Preston Parsons (11-4) at UFC 304 on July 27 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England. The matchup was first reported by MMA Orbit and later confirmed by Elliott on social media. The card will be headlined by Leon Edwards putting his welterweight title on the line against Belal Muhammad.

Elliott earned a Dana White’s Contender Series opportunity by racking up a four-fight winning streak in Cage Warriors Fighting Championship. Elliott earned a majority decision win over Kaik Brito on the Contender Series in August 2023 to secure an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. “The Welsh Gangster” made his promotional debut against Valentine Woodburn at UFC 298 this past February, where he survived an early knockdown to come from behind and rack up a unanimous decision win.

Meanwhile, Parsons suffered a first-round knockout loss against Dan…

Two heavyweight bouts have undergone changes heading into the second leg of Professional Fighters League’s 2024 season.

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Daniel James has withdrawn from a proposed bout against Tyrell Fortune at PFL 4 on June 13. As a result, Marcelo Golm will step in and face Fortune in a regular season bout at heavyweight. Meanwhile, Oleg Popov will now face Davion Franklin after original foe Marcelo Nunes pulled out of their clash on the same card. Sherdog.com confirmed the updated heavyweight bouts with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com.

PFL 4 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and features regular season bouts at heavyweight and women’s flyweight. In the evening’s main event, Valentin Moldavsky will square off against Linton Vassell.

Fortune and James were supposed to meet at PFL 1 before Fortune withdrew from the event. Fortune was also previously slated to lock horns with Golm at Bellator 301…

After losing his first opponent, Sharabutdin Magomedov will now face Joilton Lutterbach at UFC Saudi Arabia.

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“Shara Bullet” was originally scheduled to meet Ihor Potieria at the June 22 event, but the Ukrainian middleweight accepted a short-notice bout against Michel Pereira at UFC 301 and would not have been cleared in time to compete again. The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announce the new booking in a release. UFC on ABC 6 takes place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is headlined by a middleweight clash between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev.

Magomedov is unbeaten in 12 professional outings over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2017. He enjoyed a successful Octagon debut at UFC 294, as he outpointed Bruno Silva in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21.

A veteran of 48 pro MMA bouts, Lutterbach will take a four-fight winning streak into his promotional debut. The 31-year-old German has compiled a 38-9 mark with one …

Former UFC and BKFC competitor Geane Herrera has died at 33 years old.

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Herrera was reportedly killed in a motorcycle accident in Tampa, Florida. A GoFundMe account has been started by Herrera’s family to help cover funeral expenses.

“Our family is devastated by the tragic loss of our beloved Geane Carlos Herrera, known in the professional fighting world as ‘La Pulga,’ whose life was cut way too short at only 33 years old,” reads the post written by Herrera’s family on GoFundMe. “Geane leaves behind a 16 year-old son, his 3-month pregnant girlfriend, mother, father, sisters, a brother and a family that loves him and will deeply miss him.

“Geane was full of life, always trying to live life to the fullest, he was a dedicated athlete with big dreams of making a difference and leaving his print in this world. He was such a happy go lucky person that left a mark in everyone that came into his life.”

Herrera most recently competed for BKFC, l…

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Justin Gaethje claims his fighting style has a lot to do with where he has made it as a fighter so far.

Arguably one of the biggest fan favorites in the history of the sport, Gaethje is known for going out on his shield every time he steps into the Octagon. Despite being a former NCAA Division I wrestler from the University of Northern Colorado, Gaethje is rarely seen using his grappling skills. The former BMF champ instead choses to engage in brutal slugfests that have produced some of the best highlights in the history of the promotion.

Gaethje recently explained his unwillingness to adopt a wrestling-heavy approach despite having the skillset. According to “The Highlight,” a big part of the purse he now makes is because of the way he fights.

"This is my job. I do this for the money. And if I was to take a heavy wrestling approach, they [UFC] would never be paying me what they're paying me now,” Gaethje told Title Sports Network. “I've had hu…