Martial Arts News

Youssef Zalal is in good spirits following his loss to Aljamain Sterling in the UFC Vegas 116 main event.

Zalal dropped a unanimous decision to the former bantamweight champ on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Sterling controlled the majority of the action with a blend of aggressive striking and dominant grappling, bringing an end to Zalal’s eight-fight professional winning streak.

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Zalal reacted to the loss on social media, posting a photo of himself surrounded by loved ones on his Instagram account.

“Alhamdulillah!! Thank you guys for all the support,” Zalal wrote. “I’ll be back. Keep smiling.”

Sterling then replied with a message of his own in the comments.

"Always love my brotha! You pushed me to new limits and I hope I pushed you too! Wallahi you will be champion one day!” Sterling wrote.

After seeing mixed results during a 3-3-1 stint in his first go-round in the UFC, Zalal emerged as a featherweight contender wi…

Kayla Harrison had some choice words for Ronda Rousey. | Getty/UFC

Ronda Rousey attracted a lot of attention for a rant directed at Kayla Harrison during a recent Most Valuable Promotions press conference to promote her fight against Gina Carano.

Harrison drew Rousey’s ire by calling the fight between two female MMA pioneers “irrelevant.” Harrison, the reigning UFC women’s bantamweight queen, is expected to defend her title against Amanda Nunes when she recovers from neck surgery.

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“If she thinks that her fight is the biggest women’s fight of all-time, why is she getting paid less now than I was 10 years ago?” Rousey said on April 16. “So riddle me this, bitch, are you overvalued or are you overpaid? What really pisses me off more than anything else is how small she thinks. This is not just the biggest women’s fight of all time; this is the biggest MMA fight of all time. It’s going to get the most views on the biggest platform on the …

Aljamain Sterling showed he still has plenty left in the tank on Saturday night. | Getty/UFC

Aljamain Sterling has no desire to hang around beyond his expiration date in mixed martial arts.

That’s why the former bantamweight champion was willing to look at his career realistically had he fallen flat against Youssef Zalal in the UFC Vegas 116 headliner. Instead, “The Funk Master” was in peak form as he overwhelmed his foe with agressive striking on the feet and dominant grappling on the mat en route to a unanimous decision triumph.

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“I’m not going to lie to you, definitely thoughts of retirement and things like that crossed my mind. Depending on how I lost, if I were to lose, and just being realistic,” Sterling said on the post-fight show.

“If I can’t compete, I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s not that I don’t want to do it because there’s no future for it. It’s just if I can’t compete with these young guys, why are you sticking ar…

Victor Valenzuela got a second chance at a UFC career and made the most of it.

Valenzuela (14-4) made his UFC debut in a welterweight clash against Max Griffin (20-13) at UFC Fight Night 274 on Saturday at the Apex in Las Vegas. Despite getting knocked down, Valenzuela fought back and earned a unanimous decision win in a violent affair. 

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Valenzuela initially got a chance at a UFC career on Dana White's Contender Series last year. However, the Chilean prospect suffered a second-round stoppage loss against Michael Oliveira. Valenzuela recently revealed that he had nearly given up on a UFC career following his loss on the Contender Series. However, Valenzuela’s teammates assured him that more opportunities would come his way if he continued to work hard. “Psicosis” bounced back with a stoppage win over Yusaku Kinoshita on the regional circuit last month. Just weeks after his win over Kinoshita, Valenzuela was offered an opportunity to make his UF…

Cody Durden’s wife, Brittany Durden, has always been a huge support system for him. 

Durden faced Jafel Filho on a week’s notice at UFC Fight Night 274 at the Apex in Las Vegas. Durden was a massive +350 underdog going into his clash against Filho. However, Durden earned a huge upset win via unanimous decision in a closely-contested bout. 

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Durden says that while most fans counted him out, his wife believed in him. While Durden flew down from his training camp at American Top Team in Florida, his wife traveled from Atlanta to join him in Vegas. “Custom Made” says that his wife is an integral part of his team, ready to share the wins and losses with him.

“A lot of people didn’t believe in me, 8-to-1 underdog,” Durden said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “But the only person that mattered, believed in me, and that was me and my beautiful wife. She packed her stuff up, came from Atlanta, I came from Florida from training camp and we j…

Jackson McVey has finally picked up his first UFC win. 

McVey (7-2) took on Sedriques Dumas (10-5) in a middleweight clash at UFC Fight Night 274 in Las Vegas. “The Moose” forced Dumas to tap with a brabo choke a little more than two minutes into the fight.

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This marked McVey’s first win in the UFC. McVey had finished all six of his previous outings in the first round when he signed with the UFC last year. However, McVey’s success on the regional circuit did not translate into the UFC. McVey suffered his first professional loss against Brunno Ferreira via a submission in his UFC debut at UFC 318 last year. McVey went on to suffer another submission loss in his sophomore UFC outing against Zachary Reese this past November. Staying Focused McVey learned a big lesson from his early UFC losses. McVey notes that UFC, being the biggest platform, brings a lot of extra noise along with opportunities. McVey says that it is essential to cut out the n…

Michelle Montague isn’t too impressed with her win over Mayra Bueno Silva.

Montague took on Silva in the prelims at UFC Fight Night 274 in Las Vegas. While Montague dominated Silva on the mat for the most part, the former title challenger had her moments in the second round. Montague earned a unanimous decision win after three rounds to notch her second UFC victory in as many outings. 

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Montague admits that she was mentally tested against “Sheetara.” However, Montague doesn’t credit Silva for much. Montague believes she made mistakes, which let Silva had her brief moments. The undefeated Kiwi looks forward to training outside of camp, where she can focus on tidying up her stand-up game.Fight Night Takeaways “I definitely got tested in there mentally,” Montague said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “It’s not like she was doing anything crazy, I was just doing things that I know better than to do… Good things to take, bad things to take… I’…

Coach Cub Swanson flipped a mental switch in Rafa Garcia. 

Garcia took on Alexander Hernandez  (18-9) in a lightweight clash at UFC Fight Night 274 in Las Vegas. While Hernandez showed immense grit, Garcia battered him increasingly as the fight progressed to earn a unanimous decision win. 

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Garcia (19-4) subsequently thanked his coach, Swanson, who is running things at Team Bloodline in Costa Mesa, California, since his retirement from professional competition. Swanson urged Garcia to get “mean” before heading into the final round against Hernandez. Garcia revealed that the UFC veteran has been instilling the “mean mentality’”in him for a while. While Garcia is naturally a “nice” person, he credits Swanson for teaching him to be “mean” inside the Octagon. Not a man of many words, Garcia stays far away from trash talk or other antics outside the Octagon. Garcia says that Swanson advised him to stay true to his nature instead of trying t…

Joselyne Edwards did some deep introspection before the biggest win of her career so far.

Edwards faced her biggest step up in competition in Norma Dumont in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 274 in Las Vegas. Edwards earned a hard-fought unanimous decision win after three rounds of back-and-forth action. 

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Edwards subsequently emphasized her newfound skillset of patience. Edwards revealed that she has recently developed a reading habit and the practice of meditation. The 30-year-old has also been reassessing herself based on her past performances. While Edwards has four losses in her UFC career, the Panamanian believes they were mostly due to her being “dumb” and not learning from her mistakes. Edwards has also leared to enjoy her own company while self-reflecting and planning her future.Self Evaluation “I have developed the virtue of patience in my game,” Edwards said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I now know when to work for thing…

UFC CEO Dana White had a “unique” experience at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday. 

Minutes after the dinner began at the Washington Hilton Hotel, President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, were evacuated due to an alleged shooting incident. A well-known ally of Trump, White was sitting close to the president’s table when the incident occurred. While most attendees ducked for cover, White allegedly stayed up to soak in every moment of the surreal experience. White says that uniformed officers even came over to the table he was sitting to look for the shooter.

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Taking It All In “It started to get noisy,” White told USA Today. “Tables getting flipped over, guys running in with guns. They were telling me to get down, I didn’t get down. It was f—-ing awesome. I literally took every minute of it in. And it was pretty crazy, unique experience… We were sitting right in front of where the president was. Nobody got tackled. Guys …

Ryan Spann put Marcus Almeida to sleep. | Getty/UFC

Ryan Spann seems to be acclimating nicely to the heavyweight division.

“Superman” earned a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his knockout of Marcus Almeida in a featured heavyweight bout at UFC Vegas 116 on Saturday night. Spann rendered his grappling-minded opponent unconscious with a two-punch combination at the 2:10 mark of Round 2, the second consecutive stoppage victory for the converted light heavyweight.

Meanwhile, Jackson McVey garnered the evening’s other $100,000 “Performance of the Night” award by securing the card’s only other finish. McVey put opponent Sedriques Dumas on the defensive with some heavy punches on the feet, powered into top position and eventually created an opening for a brabo choke — bringing an end to the middleweight bout 2:14 into the opening stanza.

Getting Better with Age Finally, Davey Grant and Adrian Luna Martinetti received “Fight of the Night” honors…

Aljamain Sterling can still stand on business with the best of them.

The “Funk Master” inched closer to his goal of becoming a two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder and cleared his latest hurdle with room to spare, as he took a unanimous decision from Youssef Zalal in their five-round UFC Fight Night 274 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 49-45, 49-45 and 49-45.

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Sterling (26-5, 18-5 UFC) seemed to catch the Factory X standout off-guard with his aggression, particularly on the feet. Zalal’s moments were few and far between, though he had his counterpart in real danger with a guillotine choke in the third round. Sterling waded through the adversity and found another gear. He did some of the best work of his career in Round 4, where he punched into takedown range, dragged Zalal (18-6-1, 8-4-1 UFC) to the mat and progressed to the back. Sterling secured his position with a body triangle, hammered “The Moro…