Martial Arts News

[embedded content] Count former Ultimate Fighting Championship king Vitor Belfort among those throwing cold water on the upcoming boxing spectacle between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.

Belfort held little back when discussing the upcoming boxing match of Paul vs. Tyson. The YouTuber-turned-boxer and the former heavyweight champ will be squaring off on July 20 in Arlington, Texas, and many have debated the legitimacy of their upcoming encounter. The rules, as approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations, consist of the bout lasting eight two-minute rounds, with the heavyweights wearing 14-ounce gloves. Despite this, the Texas commission has declared it will be a professional bout. Belfort, speaking to Sherdog about the matchup on Wednesday, was not a fan.

“Sixteen-ounce gloves are used only in sparring to protect fighters,” the former champ noted. “Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will do a sparring [match] live on Netflix, making millions of dollars.”

Havin…

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Heavyweight knockout artist Robelis Despaigne is eyeing a title shot within a year of his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

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Despaigne (5-0) needed just 18 seconds to knock out Josh Parisian in his promotional debut at UFC 299 in March. The undefeated prospect is now set to make his sophomore walk to the Octagon against Waldo Cortes-Acosta (11-1) at UFC on ESPN 56 on May 11. Despaigne believes a win over Costa, followed by a few others will secure a title shot for him next year.

“Look, if all goes according to plan, I think that by the beginning of next year I’ll be fighting for the UFC heavyweight title, or at least the interim.” Despaigne told MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura.

Despaigne has finished all of his fights in the first round, with a total fight time of 37 seconds for his last four outings combined. Given that the landscape has witnessed Alex Pereira’s meteoric rise to double champ status in less than two years o…

A memorable competitor from the inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championship show has died at the age of 60.

Art Jimmerson represented the sport of boxing at UFC 1 in 1993, famously wearing one glove when facing Royce Gracie. This drew him the nickname of “One Glove,” and despite competing just once in the sport of MMA, it was a memorable appearance. Gracie, around 20 pounds lighter, took Jimmerson down and forced him to submit 2:18 into their bout. The UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN reported that Jimmerson had died on Wednesday, according to Jimmerson’s daughter. His son also confirmed Jimmerson’s passing on social media.

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[embedded content] “It’s funny looking back, I just never knew,” Jimmerson told Sherdog in 2009 about his match with Gracie. “But I said, ‘No problem,’ because it was only going to take me one punch.”

Jimmerson continued, “I won't say I was young and dumb, it’s that I'm always up for a challenge. I don’t want to be perceived as a …

MAIN EVENT - Featherweight 🔥

Abdullah Al-Qahtani: 145.6 LBSYazeed Hasanain: 146.6 LBS

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PFL MENA | LIVE on MBC Action at 6:30 PM (GMT+3)

Tickets on SALE NOW! https://t.co/NtUBc3UAGX#PFL #MMA #MakingHistory #SaudiArabia #MENA @PFLMMA pic.twitter.com/vsT4ozLrIX

— PFL MENA (@PFLMENA) May 9, 2024 The first Professional Fighters League card for its MENA branch has changed significantly on weigh-in day.

PFL MENA, a venture that will serve as the brightest stage for fighters from the Middle East and North Africa region competing in the PFL Season format. May 10’s debut will go down at The Green Halls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the card's lineup has been reshaped to 10 matchups on weigh-in day. Multiple fighters missed weight, resulting in a transformation of the main event.

The card is set to ignite a new wave in the region’s combat sports landscape and features fighters in the featherweight and bantamweight …

A flyweight pairing pitting Muhammad Mokaev against Manel Kape is in the works for UFC 304.

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Mokaev announced the fight on social media, and it was later confirmed by MMAjunkie.com that Kape has verbally agreed to the booking. UFC 304 takes place on July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. The event is also expected to include a featherweight clash between Arnold Allen and Giga Chikadze.

Mokaev has emerged as a contender at 125 pounds with victories in his first six Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 23-year-old known as “The Punisher” outpointed former title challenger Alex Perez at UFC Fight Night 238 on March 2. The Brave Combat Federation veteran is 12-0 with one no contest over the course of his professional tenure.

Kape was supposed to compete at UFC on ESPN 55 on April 27, but he withdrew from a proposed bout against Matheus Nicolau after suffering a rib injury. After dropping his first two promotional outings, the former Ri…

Things are starting to get REAL between Cedric and Jaleel… 😳#BellatorParis | Friday May 17 pic.twitter.com/FfHV84XhEl

— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) May 8, 2024

Chael Sonnen is one of the greatest heels in mixed martial arts history, but even he thinks Jaleel Willis is approaching dangerous territory.

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Willis might be the most hated man in Paris by the time he squares off with French kickboxing phenom Cedric Doumbe at Accor Arena on May 17 in the Bellator Champions Series Paris co-main event. The Memphis native’s verbal jabs have been non-stop, much to the delight of the “American Gangster.”

Sonnen praised — albeit warned — Willis on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account Wednesday after Willis insulted the French fanbase’s MMA knowledge. Willis (16-5) criticized Doumbe’s (5-1) lack of cage time and implied his fans only support him because they know no better.

“When you call yourself a veteran, you’re calling t…

There was a method behind the madness of Mauricio Ruffy’s post-fight callout of UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev last weekend.

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“Since I beat his best sparring partner (Raimond Magomedaliev) in a higher weight class (170 pounds) on the Contender Series, I thought it was a good moment to make a statement,” Ruffy told Sherdog.com. “After all, the UFC lightweight champion guaranteed [Magomedaliev] was going to be the new king of the 170-pound division. And Magomedaliev is really tough. Before facing me, he beat the 2023 PFL light heavyweight champ, Impa Kasangany, who fights three divisions above.”

Ruffy has made a habit of knocking out sparring partners of high-profile fighters. Last year, he scored a first-round stoppage of Corneliu Lascar Rotaru, who has trained with Irish superstar Conor McGregor.

“A few months before receiving the invitation to the Contender Series, I broke my left hand in the first fight of the Centurion FC Grand P…

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Professional Fighters League has added a pair of prospects from the United Arab Emirates to its roster.

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The organization announced on Wednesday that flyweight Hadi Omar Al Hussaini and featherweight Youssef Al Housani have signed exclusive, multi-fight contracts with the PFL. Al Hussaini and Al Housani are expected to compete in showcase bouts during the PFL MENA season this year before joining the season format in 2025.

“We are thrilled to welcome two of the UAE’s top prospects to PFL MENA,” said PFL MENA vice president of fighter operations Gustavo Firmino in a release. “The mission of the PFL is to find the best fighters in every region around the world. Our partnership with SRJ Sports has allowed the PFL to identify and sign exceptional fighters like Al Hussaini and Al Housani, who we know have the potential to become global stars in the sport.”

Al Hussaini is 5-0-1 since beginning his professional MMA career in 2021. H…

Herb Dean fault @ufc #ufc300

— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) April 14, 2024

Derrick Lewis has a different take on the walkoff knockout that wasn’t for Jalin Turner at UFC 300.

Turner took on Renato Carneiro on at UFC 300 on April 13. A sizeable favorite going into the bout, Turner dropped Moicano with a left hook in the closing seconds of the opening frame. However, Turner bizarrely chose to walk away, although referee Herb Dean hadn’t stopped the fight. “Moicano” was back up on his feet in seconds and came from behind to finish “The Tarantula” in the second round.

Lewis, who hadn’t tweeted since February 2022, opted to weigh in on Turner vs. Moicano after the fight, declaring it “Herb Dean fault.” While many praised Dean for allowing “Money” the opportunity to recover, Lewis believes otherwise. Explaining his comments in a recent interview, “The Black Beast” said that the fight should have been stopped when Moicano got dropped.

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Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Matt Brown recently shared his feelings about his decision to hang up his gloves.

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While Brown announced his retirement on Saturday via X (formerly known as Twitter), he had informed the UFC of his decision a while back. Despite having arrived at the decision much earlier, Brown was admittedly impassive about it until he had the conversation with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby.

Brown was waiting to board a flight at Los Angeles International Airport and was admittedly overwhelmed with emotions while informing Shelby of his retirement. “The Immortal” also admitted to feeling similarly emotional while recently announcing his retirement on social media.

“When I first called Sean Shelby and told him, ‘I’m pretty sure this is what I’m gonna do,’ I was at an airport at the time”, the 43-year-old told MMAFighting.com. “This was a few months ago. I was at an airport and I think he returned my call, which is…

Movsar Evloev claims that while Dana White criticized his fight against Arnold Allen, the UFC CEO wasn’t even paying close attention to the bout.

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Evloev took on Allen in a featherweight matchup at UFC 297 this past January. While Evloev maintained his perfect record with a unanimous decision win, the fight failed to live up to the hype, as the Russian cruised to victory through takedowns and positional control.

White was clearly unimpressed with Evloev’s performance and voiced his thoughts during the post-fight press conference.

“That fight sucked the wind right out of the arena… That was the least fun fight anybody’s ever seen,” White said.

Evloev took issue with White’s criticism of the fight, which apparently didn’t have the UFC boss’ full attention. Evloev claims that American Top Team founder Dan Lambert told him that he saw White watching the NFL playoffs during the bout.

Allen caught Evloev in a front headlock in the final roun…

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Michael Chandler claims UFC 303 will either see Conor McGregor retire or mount the greatest comeback in combat sports history.

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After a build-up of more than a year, Chandler is finally scheduled to fight McGregor in the main event on June 29. "Iron" advises everyone to not miss the card, as it might be the last time they can witness “Notorious” set foot inside the Octagon.

The former Bellator MMA champion vows to force retirement on McGregor. However, Chandler also acknowledges the opportunity the former two-division champion has to mount arguably the greatest comeback in combat sports history.

McGregor has been out of action since July 2021, recovering from a broken leg he suffered in his trilogy loss against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. Given Chandler’s status as one of the biggest fan favorites in the UFC, “Iron” admits McGregor defeating him could potentially be the greatest comeback in combat sports history.

“You h…