Martial Arts News

Marcio Barbosa swings a mighty sledgehammer, even at 5-foot-6, 145 pounds.

The Dana White’s Contender Series graduate shined in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, as he zapped Dennis Buzukja for a sensational one-punch knockout in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 273 prelim on Saturday at the Canada Life Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Barbosa (18-2, 1-0 UFC) drew the curtain 1:20 into Round 1.

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Buzukja (12-6, 1-4 UFC) tested the water with a one-two and a front kick to the body, then allowed himself to be lured into a close-quarters exchange. Barboza found the off switch with a clean left hook. Buzukja collapsed to the canvas, his eyes open, the thousand-yard stare in full effect. No follow-up shots were required.

Meanwhile, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 32 finalist Robert Valentin turned away Julien Leblanc with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their middleweight scrap. Leblanc (10-3, 0-1 UFC), who climbed into the…

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Arman Tsarukyan just cannot seem to avoid making headlines wherever he goes.

On Thursday, Russian journalist Adam Zubayraev posted a video purportedly showing Tsarukyan’s ejection from an American Airlines commercial aircraft. Per Zubayraev, he and two friends—American Airlines later noted four individuals were involved—were forced to disembark the flight before departure. The initial reason given was that Tsarukyan would not get off his phone during the takeoff procedure, despite the airline staff telling all fliers that they must disable all electronic devices or place them on airplane mode.

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Tsarukyan and his team were en route from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. The fighter still plans on headlining Real American Freestyle 8, the professional wrestling organization which has gained crossover interest from athletes domestic and abroad. Tsarukyan will be wrestling Urijah Faber in their main attraction on Satu…

Professional Fighters League will next be stopping off in South Dakota in a couple weeks.

The organization completed its lineup of 12 matches for its PFL Sioux Falls offering on May 2. The fights are scheduled to take place inside of the Sanford Pentagon in South Dakota’s most populous city of Sioux Falls—it is not, however, its capital, as that honor falls to Pierre. Capping off the jaunt to the home state of Mount Rushmore will be a local staple against a PFL Europe champ, as Logan Storley (18-4) looks to defend home turf against Albania’s Florim Zendeli (9-1-1).

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Interim Bellator MMA welterweight titlist Storley was absorbed into the PFL following the merger, joining its roster in 2024. After getting knocked out by the first time in his career at the hands of Shamil Musaev, Storley turned things around to enter the final welterweight bracket of the main tourney. While he reached the finals, Thad Jean turned him away on the scorecards.

It has bee…

Main event ready 💪@GilbertDurinho | 171 lbs

[ #UFCWinnipeg | APRIL 18 | 8pmET LIVE on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/ou3V3Bjxzp

— UFC (@ufc) April 17, 2026 The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Canada is now officially set following the UFC Winnipeg weigh-ins.

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Headlining the UFC Fight Night event is a welterweight fight between Gilbert Burns and Mike Malott. Both men successfully made weight for the five-round bout, which sees them meet at very different points in their careers. All 12 bouts are now official after every fighter on the card made their contracted weight.

Burns (22-9) enters his latest UFC main event in desperate need of a win. "Durinho" has come up short against the cream of the crop at welterweight as Belal Muhammad, Jack Della Maddalena, Sean Brady and Michael Morales all handily defeated the 39-year-old. The fan-favorite Brazilian fighter will look to show he still has gas in the tank a…

If anyone knows just how bad Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ Carlos Ulberg’s injury is, it is someone who is going through the same thing.

The newly minted 205-pound king Ulberg starred in one of the most remarkable and improbable scenes in recent memory when he sustained a major injury to his knee in his championship bout atop UFC 327. What very well could be a serious ligament rupture was no reason for Ulberg to quit the fight, as he continued fighting and managed to knock out Jiri Prochazka to claim the vacant belt. His timetable for recovery is currently unknown, but he has already completed surgery, posting about it on Thursday on his Instagram Stories.

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Ulberg is far from the only top-tier fighter to go through this, and not even the lone combatant to blow out his knee recently. Former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos ruptured his ACL in his last outing, succumbing to the knee injury 90 seconds into his UFC 308 conte…

If the lineup holds together, the next Professional Fighters League card in Europe will have the majority of red corner athletes sporting surnames starting with the letter “a.”

Per a press release on Thursday, the PFL has finalized its 12-fight lineup for the May 23 show at the ING Arena in Brussels, Belgium. PFL Brussels will be headlined by a non-title, non-tournament main event pitting undefeated Belgian up-and-comer Patrick Habirora (8-0) against 42-year-old former champion Benson Henderson (30-12).

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Making his pro debut in January 2024, Habirora has rattled off eight victories, seven inside the distance, including four under the PFL Europe banner. The 25-year-old exploded onto the PFL scene last year thanks to a pair of first-round knockouts of Danny Roberts and Kevin Jousset. He has only fought beyond the first round twice as a professional.

While Habirora got his start at the beginning of 2024, it has been since March 2023 that Henderson ha…

This time, it was Darragh Kelly who got mauled.

Taking over for Paul Hughes in the PFL Belfast main attraction, Kelly (9-1, 2-1 PFL) put his flawless record on the line in a dangerous lightweight outing against Jay-Jay Wilson (12-2, 2-1 PFL). Kelly may not have closed as the betting favorite, as lines moved quite closely coming into fight night, but he was the favored man at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Fans were on the side of the “Moville Mauler” from the get-go, even with Wilson attempting to win the crowd over with his walkout of Neil Diamond’s singalong “Sweet Caroline.” All that proved for naught when Wilson smashed Kelly in the ribs with his shin and knocked Kelly into unconscious with his left hand.

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The main event for Professional Fighters League’s second trip to Northern Ireland did not end quite as successfully for local audiences as their first, when the aforementioned Hughes smashed his foe in 42 seconds. Wilson proudly s…

Sherdog's live PFL Belfast coverage will begin Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

A high-stakes lightweight clash headlines PFL Belfast: Tune in Thursday, April 16 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry score…

At times, it seems like Ronda Rousey is more focused on waging war against anyone other than Gina Carano.

While Rousey will square off against Carano in the main event of a Most Valuable Promotions card on Netflix on May 16, “Rowdy” took aim at fellow judoka Kayla Harrison during a press conference on Wednesday. During a recent interview on the ”Death Row MMA” podcast, Harrison, the current UFC bantamweight queen, expressed disappointment that Rousey vs Carano has been touted by some as the biggest fight in women’s MMA history. Harrison also called Rousey “irrelevant.” Harrison was supposed to face Amanda Nunes at UFC 324 before she had to withdraw from the event to undergo neck surgery.

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Rousey was in prime form as she fired back at Harrison during Wednesday’s promotional event.

“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. “So riddle me this, bitch,…

Professional Fighters League’s return to Belfast is now official, as all 24 fighters slated to compete made weight without issue on Wednesday.

PFL Belfast takes place on Thursday at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern, Ireland and is headlined by a ligthweight clash between Darragh Kelly (155.3 pounds) and Jay-Jay Wilson (156). The prelims air on the ESPN app at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT, while the main card airs on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

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⚖️PFL Belfast Official Weigh In

Lightweight Main EventDarragh Kelly: 155.3 lbsJay Jay Wilson: 156#PFLBelfast | Thursday , April 16th | SSE Arena | Belfast, N. Ireland | Early Card 3PM EST on ESPN App | Main Card 7PM EST | ESPN 2 pic.twitter.com/xD8cLZKLYz

— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 15, 2026

Ireland’s Kelly is unbeaten in nine professional outings. He went 2-0 under the PFL banner in 2025, scoring submission victories against Mike Hamel and Bakhtiyar Abdulloev. “The Moville Mauler” a…

Gina Carano fighting in the UFC never became a reality. | Dave Mandel

Before Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey were booked to fight on Netflix as part of Most Valuable Promotions’ first MMA event, there was some discussion that the fight might happen under the UFC banner.

According to Rousey, that possibility ended with the Paramount deal — which eliminated the UFC pay-per-view model for numbered events. Now, Rousey and Carano will meet on May 16 as part of the first ever MMA card on Netflix.

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It wasn’t the first time Rousey vs. Carano in the UFC was discussed. When “Rowdy” was still UFC champion, Dana White confirmed that there were discussions to bring Carano into the promotion for a high-profile fight between the two stars more than a decade ago. Ultimately, the bout didn’t come to fruition.

As for Carano, she admits that competing in the UFC would have been a big deal.

“I really wanted to. I really wanted to do the UFC, make that w…

Conor McGregor has settled the lawsuit filed by former friend and training partner Artem Lobov. | Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions

Conor McGregor has reached a settlement with Artem Lobov in a lawsuit regarding profits from the sale of the Proper No. 12 whiskey brand, according to a report from the Irish Independent.

McGregor, along with partners Audie Attar and Ken Austin, sold their majority share of the whiskey brand for $600 milion in 2021. Lobov was was initially suing for five percent of the revenue from the sale. McGregor admitted to offering Lobov $1 million — which was declined — but denied making an agreement with his teammate regarding a certain percentage of the sale. Lobov claimed that he was the initial creator and co-founder of the whiskey and that he was “muscled out” of the deal. McGregor reportedly made $100 million from the sale.

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Moving Forward Lobov’s attorney, Andrew Walker appeared in court on Wednesday and announ…