Martial Arts News

Rafael Fiziev tapped into one of his most trusted weapons at the right time.

The Tiger Muay Thai standout held his ground in the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division, as he cut down Manuel Torres with a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 280 main event on Saturday at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Torres (17-4, 5-2 UFC) checked out 15 seconds into Round 2.

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Fiziev (14-5, 8-5 UFC) was the aggressor from the start and tore into the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate with punishing leg kicks throughout much of the first round. Torres countered sporadically and managed to get his counterpart’s attention with a stiff jab, but he failed to make real headway. Early in the second round, Fiziev sat down the Entram Gym product with a perfectly placed wheel kick and dropped him again with a crushing right cross. Hammerfists followed and sealed Torres’ fate.

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Sherdog's live UFC Baku coverage will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 280. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Abdullaev (-120); Nascimento (+100)Round 1 Native son Abdullayev looks to get the Baku crowd amped up against fellow debutant Nascimento in this welterweight matchup. Jim Perdios is the referee. Both men are orthodox to start things off, Nascimento sliding around the outside as Abdullayev stakes out the center of the cage. Nascimento is one stocky dude for this division. Nascimento reaches out with a low kick. Abdullayev answers with one of his own. The crowd gets loud for a moment, but through the first two minutes, this is a tentative affair. Abdullayev starts to come forward, switching stances and backing the Brazilian off, but there is still very little offense happening. Abdullayev touches the chest with a front kick. He is pursuing, but not cutting off the cage, and Nascimento is able to avoid being corr…

The line of Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweights who want to test Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev figures to grow even shorter given his latest performance.

The fast-rising Turkish contender kept his perfect professional record intact and did so in sensational fashion, as he wiped out Julius Walker with punches in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 280 prelim on Saturday at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Yakhyaev (10-0, 3-0 UFC) slammed the door just eight seconds into Round 1, authoring the second-fastest finish in the history of the 205-pound weight class.

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Walker (7-3, 1-3 UFC) never stood a chance. Yakhyaev felled the Xtreme Couture rep with a devastating overhand right on the counter, pounced with follow-up punches and drew the curtain with an almost dismissive disdain.

Meanwhile, American Top Team’s Nursulton Ruziboev put Andrey Pulyaev to sleep with a vicelike rear-naked choke in the first round of th…

Sherdog's live PFL San Diego coverage will begin Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

Top notch featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.

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Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay …

Anthony Hernandez will attempt to return to the win column at UFC Sacramento. | Getty/UFC

Battle-tested middleweights are set to trade leather at UFC Sacramento. 

Anthony Hernandez and Gregory Rodrigues are scheduled to headline a UFC Fight Night on Aug. 22 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Connected MMA was first to report the booking, which was later confirmed by MMAFighting.com.

Looking to Bounce Back Hernandez (15-3) was on an eight-fight winning streak with six finishes leading up to his last matchup against Sean Strickland. While “Fluffy” was a sizeable favorite going into the fight, Strickland neutralized his wrestling and picked him apart on the feet to score a third-round stoppage win. Hernandez is currently training with Strickland for his upcoming fight against Rodrigues (19-6). 

Meanwhile, Rodrigues is 10-3 in the UFC and currently on a three-fight winning streak. “RoboCop” has gone through the trenches of the …

Professional Fighters League CEO John Martin believes the promotion needs to focus on brand building. 

While the PFL is arguably the second-biggest MMA promotion in the world, it remains well behind industry leader UFC in terms of popularity. Martin believes the focus of the PFL has shifted multiple times since its inception in 2017, hindering its growth as a brand. Martin notes that the acquisition of Bellator in 2023 also came with a lot of issues. 

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Top notch featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Martin, who joined as the CEO of PFL last year, believes the promotion is more important than individual fighters. Martin is now trying to build the brand of PFL.

Brand Over Everything “The PFL’s seven years old,” Martin told Home of Fight. “But within that seven years, the focus and emphasis of the PFL has changed many number of times. There was a world tournament. Then they bought Bellator,…

Jon Jones advises Dustin Poirier to stay busy. 

Poirier was recently escorted off a flight before being arrested at the Atlanta airport for public drunkenness. Bodcam footage also showed an allegedly drunk Poirier trying to fight a police officer. “The Diamond” was released on bail and admitted that he needs help to deal with alcohol. 

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Jones (28-1), who has had multiple run-ins with the law, assures Poirier (30-10) that this too shall pass. Considering Poirier’s retirement from MMA last year, “Bones” advises the former UFC lightweight title challenger to keep himself occupied.

“Wanted to write and tell my n—a [Dustin Poirier] to keep your head up, life happens,” Jones wrote on X. “This too shall pass. Just keep yourself busy my man, it helps. ”

Wanted to write and tell my nigga Justin Poirier to keep your head up, life happens. This too shall pass. Just keep yourself busy my man, it helps

— Jonny Meat (@Jon…

Professional Fighters League CEO John Martin admits that Most Valuable Promotions did better than his organization in some aspects in its first MMA show. 

MVP hosted its first MMA card this past May featuring stars like Francis Ngannou and Ronda Rousey. Martin admits that MVP did better than the PFL in reeling in casual fans. Martin believes MVP co-founder Jake Paul’s massive popularity played a pivotal role in bringing in casual fans. Martin also lauded MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian for building the brand. 

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Top notch featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Martin claims he was wishing MVP success for its first event, as he believes it would boost the growth of the sport as a whole. Martin is open to collaborating with MVP in the future. However, Martin clarifies that it won’t come at the cost of PFL fighters being used to build some other brand.

Bringing in the Casuals “I know Nakisa, I have …

⚖️ #PFLSanDiego Official Weigh Ins ✅

Fighters weighed in. The countdown to Fight Night is now on! ⏳

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Everything that went down at today’s #PFLSanDiego Official Weigh Ins

B2YB @gorillaenergy #PFLSanDiego | Saturday, June 27th | 📺 ESPN 2 | Prelims 7PM EST | Main Card 10PM… pic.twitter.com/mjbImUMipm

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 26, 2026 The Professional Fighters League's first event in San Diego is officially set following the official weigh-ins. Headlining PFL San Diego is the return of A.J. McKee. The former Bellator MMA featherweight champion takes on undefeated prospect Salamat Isbulaev for his second fight of 2026. All fighters made weight for the nine-fight card with the exception of Sarvarjon Khamidov, who came in 1.6 pounds over the bantamweight limit.

McKee (24-2) enters the main event having gone 3-1 inside the promotion. Since losing a split decision loss to Paul Hughes in 2024, "Mercenary" has since defe…

A member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster since 2006 is moving on.

Joining the UFC in 2006 at UFC 63, Joe Lauzon (28-15) debuted against Jens Pulver and put him away in 48 seconds. Rather than advance in the unstable lightweight division—the weight class would not have a stable title picture until B.J. Penn claimed the throne from Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 in 2008—Lauzon elected to join the massively popular reality series of “The Ultimate Fighter.” “J-Lau” competed in its fifth season, picked up by Team Penn against Team Pulver, coached by a man he knocked out not long before.

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While he never managed to vie for a lightweight championship, Lauzon kept himself in the contendership picture as an all-action figure that could all-but guarantee post-fight bonus money. The Massachusetts native amassed a whopping 15 bonus checks over the years, including a double-bonus performance when he tapped Jamie Varner in 2012 to earn both “Fight of the Nigh…

Oleksandr Usyk wants to go out with a bang.

Turning 40 years of age in January, unified heavyweight boxing champion Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) has decided to relinquish his WBA, WBC and IBF belts. The Ukrainian wishes for those next in line to vie for his old belts, while he has his sights set on one final bout. He has not tipped his hat as to whether it would be a rematch against a former foe like Rico Verhoeven or Tyson Fury, or even if there would be any gold on the line for his final bout.

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Usyk took the boxing world by storm, crushing names like Tony Bellew and Chazz Witherspoon as a cruiserweight before moving up to the heaviest division. There, he picked up the WBO intercontinental strap from Derek Chisora in 2020, and looked nowhere but up. A year later, the 18-0 big man challenged Anthony Joshua for the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts, and he claimed them all by picking up a decision after 12 rounds of combat.Rematches upon rematches upon rematchesThe n…

Even as a child, Ilara Joanne knew fighting would be her destiny, despite not knowing the sacrifices that laid ahead. While preparing for her clash against former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Shannon Clark, “Arya Stark” fondly looks back at the events that brought her to this point.

“I left the interior of the Brazilian state of Ceara. I’m from the back country,” she shared with Sherdog in her native Portuguese.

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“When I arrived at the state capital, Fortaleza, I found a place to train. I started training in capoeira, kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. By the time I was 19, I had my pro debut. It’s when I decided this is how I’d be spending the rest of my life. As soon as I stepped off the cage, I told my coach that this is the life I wanted for me.”Ilara Joanne's road from rural Brazil to PFL San Diego Things haven’t been easy, but she feels it’s all been worth it. “From my Bellator debut in 2019 until now, I had to overcome multiple obstacles. I worked …