Martial Arts News

A flyweight clash pitting Steve Erceg against Matt Schnell has been rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 238.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the pairing on Sunday. Erceg and Schnell were initially slated to meet at UFC 295, but Schnell was forced to withdraw from the contest for undisclosed reasons. UFC Fight Night 238 takes place on March 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and includes a heavyweight bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gamziev and a flyweight scrap between Muhammad Mokaev and Alex Perez. A headliner has not been confirmed for the event.

Erceg remained on the UFC 295 card, where he took a unanimous verdict over replacement foe Alessandro Costa. The 28-year-old Aussie has been victorious in 10 straight professional outings, including a three-round verdict against David Dvorak in his Octagon debut at UFC 289.

Schnell, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since December 2022, when he suffered a second-round knockout loss to Matheus Nicolau at…

Randy Brown couldn’t have drawn up a better finish than the one he authored at UFC Fight Night 235.

Advertisement

“Rude Boy” followed a double jab with a picture-perfect right hand, flooring Muslim Salikhov and earning a knockout victory 3:17 into Round 1 of their welterweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“One hitter quitter on a striker like that, it means a lot,” Brown said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “He’s a accomplished so much, and I have so much respect for him, it means a lot. It means a lot to go in and perform and finally show the things I’m capable of.”

While the fight could have easily been halted once Salikhov crashed to the canvas, referee Kerry Hatley hesitated at first. The forced Brown to seal his victory with one mostly unnecessary standing-to-ground punch.

“I didn’t want to hit him again. I really didn’t,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘What is this ref doing?’ The ref was unsure, so I had to do it.”

…

The most dominant champ in KSW history vs. a true combat sports legend! 🤩

𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠🇬🇧 @phildefriesmmavs. @JoshLBarnett 🇺🇸

Celebrating 20 years of KSW!

XTB #KSWEpic | Feb 24 | #Gliwice🎟️ @eBiletPL | 📺 PPV https://t.co/KEwIlAHwkA pic.twitter.com/eFPt52gTZO

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 2, 2024

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight champion Philip De Fries will square off against Josh Barnett in a grappling match on Feb. 24.

The Polish promotion recently announced the booking. KSW "Epic" takes place at PreZero Arena in Gliwice, Poland and is available via pay-per-view.

The 37-year-old De Frieds is on a 12-fight winning streak in MMA that dates back to October 2017. He’s successfully defended the KSW heavyweight strap nine times and is coming off a second-round submission of Szymon Bajor at KSW 84 this past July. Fourteen of his 24 career victories have come by way of submission.

A former UFC heavyweight …

Nassourdine Imavov wants to run it back against Sean Strickland after his majority decision win over Roman Dolidze in the main event at UFC Fight Night 235.

Advertisement

Imavov outstruck Dolidze on the feet for the majority of the bout, but he was consistently slowed down by desperate clinching from the Georgian. The French middleweight was also hurt by a point deduction due to an illegal kick in the fourth round, which led to the final scorecards being closer than expected.

Imavov subsequently thanked his team and called for a rematch against r Strickland, who handed him his last loss in January 2023.

“The fight camp was absolutely good, I want to thank all my coaches, first of all Nicholas Ott, second Ilian [Bouafia] one of my training partners, Issa Samake, the boxing coach and of course my brother [Daguir Imavov], I talked about him the first time I came to the UFC. He’s a phenomenal fighter, his record is 15-3 and I can’t wait for him to fight in th…

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have a new date for their highly-anticipated fight, and pulling out will have massive repercussions for both parties.

Advertisement

Fury and Usyk were originally scheduled to clash in a heavyweight title unifier on Feb. 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, the booking fell through less than two weeks before fight night, as it was announced on Friday that Fury has been forced out due to a severe cut suffered in sparring.

Usyk’s camp expressed frustration upon hearing the news, even calling for Fury to be stripped off his WBC title. However, the fight has now been rebooked for May 18 in Saudi Arabia with a significant pullout clause in place. Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment of Saudi Arabia, announced that both Usyk and Fury have agreed to forfeit $10 million from their respective fight purses if they fail to show up on the rebooked date. Alalshikh also plans on having back-up fighters ready for the oth…

Themba Gorimbo is aiming straight for the stars after his first stoppage win in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Advertisement

Gorimbo predicted a first round knockout win going into his third Octagon outing and delivered on it at UFC Fight Night 235. The South African sent Pete Rodriguez crashing to the canvas with a thunderous right hand and finished the bout with follow-up shots on the canvas before referee Herb Dean stepped in to wave off the fight 32 seconds into Round 1.

While he is currently unranked at welterweight, Gorimbo voiced his aspiration to win UFC gold by the end of the year. In addition to reigning champ Leon Edwards, “The Answer” mentioned surging Kazakh contender Shavkat Rakhmonov as potential title fight opponents.

“This is business. Mr. Sean Shelby, I’d like the biggest opportunities,” Gorimbo said in his post-fight interview. “I know that when we get out of here, probably I’m getting the biggest contract but I wanna fight the ba…

It was one of the cleanest victories of Randy Brown’s Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Brown quickly dispatched Muslim Salikhov in their featured welterweight clash at UFC Fight Night 235 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, earning himself a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus in the process. Brown followed a double jab with a perfectly-placed right cross that sent Salikhov crashing to the canvas. Though the contest was all but over, Brown landed one standing-to-ground shot before the bout was waved off at the 3:17 mark of Round 1.

Elsewhere, fan favorite Molly McCann received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a successful strawweight debut against Diana Belbita. In a rematch of a 2019 bout that was contested at 125 pounds, McCann was aggressive on the feet before forcing a tap with an armbar 4:59 into the opening frame. “Meatball” snapped a two-bout skid in victory.

Finally, Charles Johnson and Azat Maksum secured “Fight of the Ni…

Nassourdine Imavov took care of business, even if it was messy in practice.

The Frenchman made his pitch as a Top 10 contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division, as he outstruck and outlasted Romand Dolidze to a majority decision in the UFC Fight Night 235 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Judges Derek Cleary and Sal D’Amato saw it 49-44 and 48-46 for Imavov, while Ron McCarthy scored it a 47-47 draw.

Advertisement

Imavov (13-4, 5-2 UFC) was docked a point for an illegal head kick in the fourth round but otherwise controlled the majority of the match with sharp striking. He wobbled Dolidze with a right hand inside the first five minutes, forced him to the canvas with a series of follow-up shots, including a brutal knee strike to the body, and nearly authored a quick finish with ground-and-pound. Perhaps undercut by fatigue, Imavov was hesitant from that point forward yet still managed to extend his lead against a woeful…

Molly McCann put her naysayers in timeout.

The Next Generation MMA mainstay downshifted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division and disposed of Diana Belbita with an armbar in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 235 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Belbita (15-9, 2-5 UFC) conceded defeat 4:59 into Round 1 but not before her limb bent the wrong way.

Advertisement

McCann (14-6, 7-5 UFC), who had beaten the Romanian by unanimous decision back in 2019, was far more decisive in their rematch. She closed the distance without fear and unleashed a variety of weapons, from overhand rights and spinning back kicks to push kicks and her patented spinning back elbow. McCann delivered a late takedown, climbed to full mount and uncorked a series of elbows before she transitioned to the armbar for the finish.

Meanwhile, former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Charles Johnson rallied from an inauspicious start to stun t…

Considered one of the greatest grapplers in history, Marcelo Garcia has emerged from what he called the most difficult fight of his life.

Advertisement

The four-time ADCC champion and five-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion spoke to Sherdog.com after a long battle against esophagus cancer that required eight chemotherapy sessions.

"I moved from New York to Hawaii with my wife and two kids and lived one year totally focused on defeating this cancer,” Garcia said. “And this is the first interview I'm giving after that long battle.”

After revisiting the most important moments of his brilliant career, such as his historic match against Ricco Rodriguez in the 2005 ADCC absolute division and wins over jiu-jitsu legends such as Andre Galvao, Demian Maia, Renzo Gracie and Robert Drysdale, Garcia revealed an interesting episode that made him change his opinion about grappling star Gordon Ryan.

"In the past I didn't like his attitude,” Garcia said. “When I arrived to a j…

Considered one of the greatest grapplers in history, Marcelo Garcia has emerged from what he called the most difficult fight of his life.

Advertisement

The four-time ADCC champion and five-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion spoke to Sherdog.com after a long battle against esophagus cancer that required eight chemotherapy sessions.

"I moved from New York to Hawaii with my wife and two kids and lived one year totally focused on defeating this cancer,” Garcia said. “And this is the first interview I'm giving after that long battle.”

After revisiting the most important moments of his brilliant career, such as his historic match against Ricco Rodriguez in the 2005 ADCC absolute division and wins over jiu-jitsu legends such as Andre Galvao, Demian Maia, Renzo Gracie and Robert Drysdale, Garcia revealed an interesting episode that made him change his opinion about grappling star Gordon Ryan.

"In the past I didn't like his attitude,” Garcia said. “When I arrived to a j…

Geoff Neal is determined to not let his upcoming UFC 298 meeting with Ian Garry go the distance.

Advertisement

Garry and Neal were initially slated to compete at UFC 292 in August. However, Neal was forced to pull out of the bout due to undisclosed reasons and was eventually replaced by Neil Magny.

Garry then went on to record a unanimous decision win against Magny in a dominant showing and has now been rebooked to face Neal at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 after being forced out of his UFC 296 clash with Vicente Luque due to a severe case of pneumonia during fight week.

Infamous for his trash talk and antics, the undefeated Garry has grabbed any and every opportunity available to belittle and intimidate his opponent, including selling T-shirts with Neal’s mugshot on them.

Neal doesn't seem to be perturbed by Garry’s actions outside the Octagon and is looking forward to capitalizing on all the attention on “The Future” by finishing the Irishman before the final hor…