Martial Arts News

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A flyweight clash pitting Brazil’s Alessandro Costa against Peru’s Kevin Borjas has been added to the UFC 301 pay-per-view scheduled to take place on May 4 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Advertisement

The booking was first reported by ESPN Deportes’ Carlos Contreras Legaspi.

Costa (13-4) will enter the Octagon on the heels of a unanimous decision loss to Steve Erceg at UFC 295 in November. Prior to that, “Nono” secured a technical knockout victory in the second frame against Jimmy Flick in June, bouncing back from a Round 3 knockout loss in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at the hands Amir Albazi.

Meanwhile, Borjas (9-2) is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Myanmar’s Joshua Van in h…

A heavyweight clash between two former Dana White’s Contender Series competitors has been added to a UFC Fight Night event scheduled for April 27.

Advertisement

Brazil’s Jhonata Diniz is set to make his first walk to the Octagon against Florida native Austen Lane. The news was first announced by Diniz’s management company, All In Sports, on social media.

Undefeated in his professional mixed martial arts career, Diniz (6-0) is a former professional kickboxer who transitioned to the sport of MMA in May 2022. Over the course of his MMA journey, the Brazilian has displayed an incredible affinity for finishing fights early, recording six first-round finishes in as many outings. The 32-year-old most recently recorded a Round 1 technical knockout victory against Eduardo Neves in an appearance on the Contender Series in September to earn himself a UFC contract.

Meanwhile, Lane (12-4) is coming off a Round 1 KO loss to Justin Tafa at UFC 293 in a matchup that had…

The #UFCVegas85 main event is LOCKED IN 🔒@Imavov1 is on weight at 185 lbs 👊 pic.twitter.com/94TFwlgVan

— UFC (@ufc) February 2, 2024 The UFC Fight Night 235 weigh-ins took place, and now the 13-fight card is now official.

The main event will be an intriguing middleweight fight between Ultimate Fighting Championship contenders Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov. Both men successfully made weight for the five-round fight. All fighters made weight with the exception of Luana Carolina, who came in at 129 pounds for her flyweight fight against Julija Stoliarenko. Carolina will be fined a percentage of her purse for coming in 3 pounds overweight.

Advertisement

The pride of Georgia, Dolidze (12-2) is coming off a disappointing setback to Marvin Vettori. Prior to the decision defeat, "The Caucasian" had won four straight fights inside the promotion. This includes knockout wins over Jack Hermansson and Phil Hawes. Dolidze officially weigh…

Kayla Harrison understands that meeting the 136-pound limit for her promotional debut against former champion Holly Holm at UFC 300 will be a challenge, but it’s one she’s willing to embrace.

Harrison (16-1) has mostly competed in the lightweight division throughout the course of her mixed martial arts career, leading to questions regarding her ability to safely make the cut to bantamweight and remain effective inside the cage.

Advertisement

However, Harrison, a former Olympic gold medalist in judo and a two-time Professional Fighters League tournament winner, argues that she never cut a lot of weight while competing in the PFL to begin with but is willing to do so considering the platform the Ultimate Fighting Championship provides.

“There’s a misperception out there that I walk around at like 180 pounds or something,” Harrison told Kevin Iole. “I have walked around most of my MMA career at 165, 160, because I don’t like cutting weight. I don’t believe in cutt…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC A clash between two promising bantamweight prospects has been added to March 23’s UFC on ESPN 53, which is set to go down at the Apex in Las Vegas.

Payton Talbott (7-0) is gearing up to face South Africa’s Cameron Saaiman (9-1) for his sophomore appearance in the Las Vegas-based promotion. The news was first reported by MMA Fighting.

Undefeated as a professional, Talbott earned his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract thanks to a unanimous decision victory against Reyes Cortez Jr. in an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2023. The 25-year-old will enter the Octagon against Saaiman on the back of a Round 3 submission victory against Nick Aguirre in his promotional debut back in November…

[embedded content]

Dominick Reyes considers himself extremely lucky to be alive after surviving a life-threatening medical condition.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title challenger was slated to face City Kickboxing product Carlos Ulberg on March 30 but later withdrew from the matchup.

Reyes (12-4) has now revealed that a massage session to reduce pain in his calf led to the revelation that he was suffering from deep-vein thrombosis blood clots in his leg.

“God puts us through some trials, and I’m having another hard go right now,” Reyes told MiddleEasy. “Me and Carlos were slated to fight Jan. 20. He pulled out, I don’t know why. It’s an injury, obviously, but he’s not going to say what his injury is. And then a week later, I ended up getting blood clots. Deep vein thrombosis. So yeah, I’m out for a minute.”

The California native has been prescribed blood thinners and a break from all strenuous activity for the next t…

Forgive Carlo Bumina-ang if he gives off runaway freight train vibes in the ONE Championship bantamweight division.

The 29-year-old unbeaten Team Lakay MMA prospect on Friday choked Zhipeng Xie unconscious with an arm-triangle in the first round of their ONE Friday Fights 50 showcase at historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Xie (3-1, 0-1 ONE) lost his grip on reality 1:29 into Round 1.

Advertisement

Bumina-ang (4-0, 4-0 ONE) was off to the proverbial races after he decked the Sunkin International Fight Club rep with a counter right hand inside the first 10 seconds. Xie staggered back to a standing position after being threatened with a guillotine, only to be dropped a second time with a clean left hook. Bumina-ang took top position with heavy ground-and-pound—elbows, knees and standing-to-ground punches worked together in perfect harmony—and framed the fight-ending choke. Squeeze and technique did the rest.

Meanwhile, Raqobat prospect Avazbek K…

20-year-old fighter from Nurmagomedov MMA School was shot dead on Wednesday night in Dagestan’s capital city of Makhachkala. Magomedrasul Mutaev made his debut in professional MMA last November and was scheduled to have his second fight in February. According to media reports… pic.twitter.com/Stq2J6eKHv

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) February 1, 2024

A tragic incident in Russia has shocked the world of combat sports.

Twenty-one-year-old professional mixed martial arts fighter Magomedrasul Mutaev was reportedly shot dead in Makhachkala, the capital city of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Disturbing video of the shooting was caught on camera and published by redcorner.mma on social media.

As per media reports, an arrest warrant has been issued for a 19-year-old Dagestan native in relation to the incident.

Mutaev picked up a unanimous decision win over Elgun Yusibov in his professional mixed martial arts debut this past No…

It’s finally going to happen! Rampage vs Shannon Briggs in Qatar this summer 🥊 my 1st boxing match don’t miss it pic.twitter.com/kh8zTEiJfK

— Rampage Jackson (@Rampage4real) January 31, 2024

Quinton Jackson is ready to return to action, this time inside the boxing ring.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he’ll be making his boxing debut this year.

Jackson, 45, will take on former heavyweight boxing champion Shannon Briggs (60-6-1), in Qatar on June 1.

“I finally got the contract. It’s been over two years in the making of me hearing Mr. Shannon Briggs’ mouth. I get to shut him up once and for all in Qatar, on June 1. I got to sign this contract,” Jackson said in the announcement video.

“Shannon, you’re going to regret even calling me out all those years ago and you’ve been posting just ungodly videos of me, tagging me in ungodly videos, and I…

It wasn’t easy for Raquel Pennington to share the UFC 297 fight card with Sean Strickland.

UFC 297 featured former middleweight champ Strickland against Dricus Du Plessis in the main event, while Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva co-headlined the card with the vacant women’s bantamweight title on the line. Known for voicing his unfiltered opinions on controversial topics, Strickland was true to brand in the leadup to the card in Toronto.

Advertisement

“Tarzan” showed up to media day wearing a T-shirt that read “A woman in every kitchen, a gun in every hand” and went on a rant when a reporter asked him if he still stood by his previous comments on LGBTQ+ topics. Pennington, who is gay and has a daughter with fellow UFC fighter Tecia Torres, certainly didn’t agree with Strickland but tried her best to stay focused on her fight.

“At the end of the day, people are going to talk,” Pennington said on The MMA Hour. “They’re always going to have their own opinions. You’r…

I’m coming out of retirement. I’ll fight MMA again. Idk when, where, or who yet but I’m dropping weight and getting into shape now.

— Kevin Lee MTP (@MoTownPhenom) January 31, 2024

Mixed martial arts veteran Kevin Lee misses the sport and is officially coming out of retirement.

Advertisement

Lee took to social media on Wednesday to announce that he’ll be returning to competition, likely at a lower weight class with no specific timeline in mind.

“I’m coming out of retirement. I’ll fight MMA again. [I don’t know] when, where or who yet but I’m dropping weight and getting into shape now,” Lee wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter.)

“The Motown Phenom” retired in July of last year after being submitted by Rinat Fakhretdinov in under a minute. The fight marked his return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship after being released from the promotion in 2021. It remains unclear if Lee will still be under UFC contract when he…

The rivalry between former UFC heavyweight champions Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum was once considered one of the sport’s fiercest.

Advertisement

After spending 15 years taking shots at each other through the media, dos Santos and Werdum buried the hatchet over three rounds at Gamebred Fighting Championship 5 this past September. Despite losing a spllit decision, Werdum was moved by dos Santos’ respectful post-fight speech and decided to end the rivalry by inviting “Cigano to participate on his “Dos Nossos” podcast.

“Last year I recorded 65 editions in Florianopolis, where I live, but it was difficult to bring guests from Rio and Sao Paulo,” Werdum told Sherdog.com. “Now I’m starting a new phase recording in a studio in Sao Paulo, and ‘Cigano ‘was the first one I invited. Even though he’s in the middle of a camp to face Alan Belcher for the Gamebred heavyweight title, ‘Cigano’ immediately accepted my invitation. It's going to be historical. Me and Ci…