Martial Arts News

Islam Makhachev's head coach, Javier Mendez, believes that Justin Gaethje was the biggest threat to Islam, and says he's out of the picture now:

"I thought that [Gaethje] was the biggest threat for us, and now he's probably never gonna be in the picture for us going forward.

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No… pic.twitter.com/OG3mgE6Mvg — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 29, 2024

American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez believes the biggest threat to Islam Makhachev’s lightweight title reign is gone.

Mendez considered Justin Gaethje to be the biggest threat to Makhachev. With Gaethje’s wild striking, proven knockout power and NCAA Division I wrestling background, Mendez considered “The Highlight” the toughest stylistic matchup for Makhachev at lightweight.

Untill recently, Makhachev was expecting to defend his lightweight belt against Gaethje, who had essentially earned himself a title shot with a knockout win over Dustin Poir…

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Islam Makhachev is expecting an easy night at the office in his upcoming title defense against Dustin Poirer.

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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. While Makhachev acknowledges Poirier’s experience and elite striking, the lightweight champ believes he’ll dominate “The Diamond” on the ground. Makhachev’s mentor and teammate, Khabib Nurmagomedov, ragdolled Poirier before submitting him in the third round of their title unification clash at UFC 242 in September 2019. Thanks to his own elite grappling skills, Makhachev is expecting similar results.

“Dustin, he is a warrior, legend, and he have more than everybody, experience in this sport,” Makhachev told TMZ Sports. “But his problem is his style. That’s one problem this guy have. His weak point is wrestling and grappling. And I have the key for the easy fight, and I…

Steve Erceg is thrilled by the potential jeers and boos that will come his way as he challenges Alexandre Pantoja in front of the champion’s home crowd at UFC 301.

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The stars aligned for Erceg to receive a flyweight title shot against Pantoja in the main event at UFC 301 on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Known to be among the most passionate MMA fans in the world, Brazilians don’t go easy on visiting fighters. Brazilian fans were even criticized for pelting Brandon Moreno with bottles after his split-decision win over Deiveson Figueiredo in their trilogy clash at UFC 283 in January 2023.

Erceg is definitely expecting a hostile crowd going into enemy territory and is even somewhat excited about it.

“I’m definitely prepared for it,” he told Submission Radio. “I’m honestly excited for the opportunity to get yelled at and asked to die and bottles thrown at me. I think it’s gonna be very exciting. I can’t wait to take the belt, get straight on…

While he is about to exhaust his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, Jose Aldo isn’t interested in other MMA promotions — despite having lucrative offers on the table.

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Aldo announced his retirement following a unanimous decision loss against Merab Dvalishvili in August 2022 that snapped a three-fight winning streak. “Junior” is now coming out of retirement to take on Jonathan Martinez in a bantamweight tilt at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday.

Aldo recently confirmed reports that the Martinez booking is the last fight on his UFC contract, which he hasn’t considered renewing yet. While Aldo expects his upcoming fight to decide his future in the organization, the Brazilian is also considering a switch to boxing.

“Yeah, this is my last fight on my contract,” Aldo told CBS Sports. “When I started talking to Sean [Shelby] and Dana [White] back in January, we had talked about signing a new deal. But I decided against it because…

AND STILL!💥

Chihiro Suzuki gets the 1st round TKO to make his first defense!

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Order the replay on #RIZIN TV!🔗https://t.co/CXiPKkswl0

[ #RIZIN46 ] pic.twitter.com/Ift9z9PHqX

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) April 29, 2024 Chihiro Suzuki made a successful first defense of his featherweight title with a first-round TKO stoppage on Sunday at Rizin Fighting Federation 46 in Tokyo, Japan. The 24-year-old Suzuki overwhelmed veteran challenger Masanori Kanehara with a barrage of ground punches at the 4:20 mark of Round 1. Following an early timeout due to an accidental groin strike, Suzuki (13-3, 1 NC, 8-1, 1 NC Rizin) began to target the lower left leg of Kanehara (29-13-5, 4-2 Rizin) with kicks that slowed him down. With 75 seconds remaining in the first round, Suzuki abruptly picked up the pace, and he swarmed on Kanehara with punches — including a right hook to the temple that wobbled him. When Kanehara fell to the m…

Alex Perez just wanted to remind the rest of the flyweight division of his presence.

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The Team Oyama product did so in emphatic fashion at UFC on ESPN 55, as he knocked out Matheus Nicolau 2:16 into the second round of their headlining encounter at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. On the heels of a three-bout skid and multiple fight cancellations, it was a much-needed performance for the former title challenger.

“It just shows that I’m still here. I never thought I went anywhere. I think the division kind of did, Perez said at the post-fight press conference. “Obviously coming off all those fights getting canceled and obviously my last three fights not going the way I wanted to. Thank God for my team and my friends and family that kept pushing me in the right direction. Just show the division I’m back in it.”

To earn his first UFC victory since June 2020, Perez admitted that he had to change his mindset. To do that, the 32-year-ol…

A bantamweight clash pitting Vinicius Oliveira against Ricky Simon has been added to the UFC 303 lineup.

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Oliveira recently confirmed the booking following an initial report from Ag.Fight. UFC 303 takes place on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight bout between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler.

After earning a contract on Dana White's Contender Series this past September, Oliveira made a strong first impression in his Octagon debut when he authored a flying knee knockout of Bernardo Sopai at UFC Fight Night 238 on March 2. The Brazilian has been victorius in nine of his last 10 professional appearances.

A veteran of 12 promotional appearances, Simon is coming off back-to-back losses to Yadong Song and Mario Bautista in UFC competition. Prior to that, Simon authored a five-bout winning streak in the Las Vegas-based organization.

Conor McGregor announces he and McGregor Sports & Entertainment are now an owner of @bareknucklefc! pic.twitter.com/CFOP0a5xWM

— The Mac Life (@TheMacLife) April 28, 2024

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest star now has a stake in another combat sports organization.

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Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor announced on Saturday night that he is a part owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships. The news was revealed in a video message during the BKFC Knucklemania 4 broadcast.

“’The Notorious’ Conor McGregor here. Ladies and gentlemen, the huge announcement that I have for you today, Conor McGregor myself and McGregor Sports and Entertainment is now an owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships,” McGregor said in the video. “Welcome to the big leagues. David Feldman, baby, we did it.”

According to MMAFighting.com, McGregor Sports and Entertainment becomes a part owner of BKFC, while Triller…

Uros Medic recently revealed that fight purses are not his favorite part of being a UFC athlete.

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The welterweight prospect scored a first-round knockout win over Tim Means at UFC on ESPN 55 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. During the post-fight media scrum, Medic revealed that he was making more money in his previous job than he does in the UFC. However, Medic also acknowledged that the promotion does provide fighters with the opportunity to earn massive paydays with time.

“It’s not the money that’s [most enjoyable] for sure,” Medic said. “I was making more money before the UFC. I quit a really good job that I had just to go be a fighter. So it’s not the money, that’s one thing. But I knew there was an opportunity to make a lot of money in the UFC. You don’t get paid a lot of money right off the bat, but as you progress and you make your time in the company, you can make a very good amount of money.”

The win saw Medic bounce b…

Bogdan Guskov has revealed that his plan was to knock Ryan Spann out in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 55 clash.

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Guskov took a significant step up in competition against Spann in the co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. The Uzbekistan native was easily taken down and controlled on the ground by Spann in the opening round. However, Guskov turned the tables in the second frame, coming from behind to score an upset knockout over an exhausted Spann.

Guskov claimed that the manner of victory over Spann was premeditated. Guskov had planned to concede the first round to Spann, who would tire in the second round. Apart from being surprised by the size of the visibly bigger “Superman,” Guskov seemingly had an easy night at the office.

“You know, before fight we have small plan,” Guskov said at the post-fight press conference. “Give first round [to] this guy [to] work. Because on second round he [he would be a] little bit tire…

63 days…. Plotting with @machinegunkelly #ufc303 pic.twitter.com/nDpX3oGl0h

— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) April 28, 2024

Michael Chandler is seemingly playing mind games with Conor McGregor ahead of their upcoming fight.

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Chandler’s long-awaited fight against McGregor is slated to headline UFC 303 on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “Iron” recently posted a picture with musician Machine Gun Kelly (also known as Colson Baker), who has history with McGregor.

“Plotting with [Machine Gun Kelly],” Chandler wrote on social media.

McGregor and “MGK” got into an altercation at the MTV Video Music Awards red carpet at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in September 2021. Multiple videos showed “Notorious” lunging at the rapper and also throwing a drink at him. The origin of the altercation remains a mystery to this day, as both parties have chosen not to divulge much on the matter.

Initial reports stated…

It was worth the wait for Alex Perez.

The Team Oyama standout posted his first win in 1,421 days and did so with some pizzaz, as he steadied himself within the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division with a sensational one-punch knockout of Matheus Nicolau in the UFC on ESPN 55 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. A short-notice substitution for Manel Kape, Perez (25-8, 7-4 UFC) folded the Brazilian 2:16 into Round 2.

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Nicolau (19-4-1, 7-3 UFC) was content to circle on the outside and unleashed an occasional lightning-quick counter. Perez preyed on his lack of aggression, stayed busy, chipped away with leg kicks and probed for openings with active hands. He pressured Nicolau backward midway through the second round and walked him into a crushing right hook. The Nova Uniao product hit the deck where he stood, necessitating an immediate stoppage.

The victory closed the book on Perez’s three-fight losing streak.

Meanwhile…