Martial Arts News

Sherdog's live Bellator Champions Series Belfast coverage will begin Friday at 12:55 p.m. ET.

The fervent excitement surrounding the Bellator Champion Series is primed to captivate Belfast, Ireland, with a thrilling showcase of two championship battles atop the billing.

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The event will be headlined by a monumental clash for the light heavyweight championship, featuring former title contender Corey Anderson against hometown favorite, Karl Moore. In the co-main event, featherweight king Patricio “Pitbull” Freire will lock horns with Jeremy Kennedy in a bid to defend his 145-pound strap. The card also features Ireland’s James Gallagher taking on Leandro Higo, who steps up to the featherweight division to settle a feud with “The Strabanimal.” Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the …

BELLATOR RETURNS TO DUBLIN! 🇮🇪

🇯🇲 Jason Jackson 🆚 Ramazan Kuramagomedov 🇷🇺👑 Bellator Welterweight Championship

Tickets on sale next week. Stay tuned for further information. 🎟️ #BellatorDublin | SAT JUNE 22 | 3Arena, Ireland pic.twitter.com/TPhsUcufpQ

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) March 22, 2024

The time has come yet again for Jason Jackson to live up to his nickname.

The 33-year-old “Ass Kicking Machine” will put his Bellator Championship Series welterweight title on the line for the first time on June 22 when he faces undefeated Ramazan Kuramagomedov at 3Arena in Dublin.

The fight was announced on Friday during the Bellator Champions Series Belfast telecast and will mark the third card in the Bellator Championship Series 2024 lineup, following a trip to Paris on May 17.

This marks the first title defense for Jackson (18-4) since winning the belt in devastating fashion at Bellator 301. Jackson destroyed Yarosla…

Kara-Ool Changy dominated China’s Gexi Sanlang on his way to a second-round technical knockout in their ONE Friday Fights 56 strawweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The end came 4:25 into Round 2. It was the lone mixed martial arts bout on the ONE Championship card.

It did not take long for Changy to put Sanlang on his back with a kick in the opening seconds of the first round. The Russian kept circling his downed adversary and managed to land a couple of thudding shots to the body before letting him back to his feet. The undefeated prospect continued to pressure his opponent with slick counterstrikes from the southpaw stance, later dropping Sanlang with a left hook while exiting the clinch. The Russian continued to land shots to the head and body from top until the ref allowed the Chinese national to get back to his feet. Sanlang seemed to have no answer for Changy’s constant pressure, ultimately ending the opening stanza on his back…

#RIZIN_LANDMARK9 in KOBE🚢📣 Weigh-in Results 💥

⚔️ Match 12 ⚔️ Main EventRIZIN MMA Rules 71.0kg

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🟥Roberto Satoshi Souza【70.85kg】🧍‍♂️Height: 180cm 💪Reach: 185cm@ToshiJJーーー🆚ーーー🟦K-Taro Nakamura【70.80kg】🧍‍♂️Height: 180cm 💪Reach: 187cm@ktanakamura#RIZIN in Kobe… pic.twitter.com/gnhM7BzCq6 — RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) March 22, 2024 The Rizin Fighting Federation returns with its Landmark 9 card, although it looks different than originally planned. Two fighters missed weight for the card, which is headlined by Roberto Satoshi de Souza vs. Keita Nakamura. This caused one of the fights to be canceled and the other in potential jeopardy.

First, Arman Ashimov came in 5.2 pounds over the flyweight limit. The fight against Yusaku Nakamura will only proceed if Ashimov's weight is below 134.4 pounds on the day of the event. If it does go forward, only Nakamura will be eligible to win with an Ashimov victory or draw re…

Thug Rose is READY 🌹@RoseNamajunas is on weight at 125.5 lbs and the #UFCVegas89 main event is official!

[ TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus | 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/zGev0bJCGg

— UFC (@ufc) March 22, 2024 The Ultimate Fighting Championship continues its busy March with a return to ESPN airwaves.

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UFC on ESPN 53 headliners Rose Namajunas and Amanda Ribas both made weight for the five-round flyweight main event. It is supported by a heavyweight co-main event between Karl Williams and Justin Tafa. The card is now official with 13 fights and all fighters made weight.

"Thug" Rose is looking to rebound from two straight setbacks, which included a dud against Carla Esparza and a return to flyweight against Manon Fiorot. Staying at 125 pounds, Namajunas (11-6) will now look to enter the rankings against a top-10 opponent. The former strawweight queen officially weighed 125.5 pounds.

Meanwhile, this marks the first UFC main …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has filled out the lineup of its final April fight card.

Per a press release from the organization on Thursday, the UFC on ESPN 55 billing is now complete. The UFC confirmed multiple announced matchups for the April 27 show at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, while adding several others. Chief among the additions is the new co-main event, which comes at light heavyweight between Ryan Spann (21-9) and Bogdan Guskov (15-3).

“Superman” Spann will be coming into this matchup on his first losing streak since 2017, having dropped his last two to Nikita Krylov and Anthony Smith for an unsuccessful 2023 campaign. Before then, the Fortis MMA product had run roughshod over Ion Cutelaba and Dominick Reyes in a combined 3:42 to stamp his place as an elite 205er. Six of the last seven outings for Spann have concluded in the first round, win or lose.

Uzbekistan’s Guskov introduced himself to the UFC against Volkan Oezdemir in September 2023, and h…

Undefeated featherweight prospects will meet in a potential banger of a mixed martial arts clash at ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3. The event will air on Amazon Prime in the U.S. and Canada.

Sherdog learned Thursday that Kyrgyz standout Akbar Abdullaev (10-0, 2-0 ONE) will face Turkey’s Halil Amir (10-0, 3-0 ONE) in a three-round clash at the prestigious Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. The news was confirmed by a source close to the negotiations.

Abdullaev has finished all 10 of his career wins, which includes two ONE Championship outings, only advancing past the first-round once. “Bakal” made his promotional debut in March 2023, knocking out Ho Taek Oh in under a minute. In his most recent bout in July 2023, the 26-year-old scored a spinning back kick technical knockout against previously-undefeated Aaron Canarte, again in less than a minute.

Meanwhile, Amir has gone the distance only once in his 10 career wins and is coming off a stoppage win over Ahmed Mujta…

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While she has managed to endure it mentally, Rose Namajunas believes cutting down to strawweight is no longer healthy for her body.

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Namajunas (11-6) made her flyweight debut in September 2023, coming up on the short side of a unanimous decision against top contender Manon Fiorot. “Thug” is slated to make her sophomore flyweight appearance this Saturday against Amanda Ribas (12-4) in the main event at UFC on ESPN 53.

Going into the matchup, Namajunas feels healthier not being bogged down by the additional turmoil of a strawweight cut. Along with an increased confidence in absorbing head strikes, Namajunas also believes her punches have gotten harder with the extra weight.

“My body is feeling great,” Namajunas said at UFC Media Day. “I definitely put on more muscle for this fight. I’m around the same size as I was last time but I’m just more filled in and more dense. So yeah, muscles are recovering, definitely was a very int…

Walt Harris will be ineligible to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship until 2027 after testing positive for multiple banned substances.

Harris (13-10) tested positive for anabolic steroids drostanalone and testosterone, as well as an aromatase inhibitor anastrozole, across multiple drug tests. Harris tested positive on drug tests administered on June 24 and July 12. Despite being informed of the adverse finding, Harris’ urine sample collected on Aug. 6 included anastrozole along with the previous steroids.

Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), the company that took over the UFC’s drug testing program from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), imposed a four-year ban on Harris, which the UFC officially announced Wednesday. Harris’ ban came into effect on July 11, the date when he was informed of a provisional suspension due to his first failed drug test.

When Harris’ bout against Josh Parisian scheduled for July 15 fell through due to the failed dru…

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Which of the 4⃣marquee fights are you looking forward to most...❔

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(POLL BELOW) pic.twitter.com/d3IWdD2kKH — RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) March 19, 2024

Rizin Landmark 9 will take place on March 23 at World Memorial Hall in Kobe, Japan.

The Landmark series card replaced Rizn 46, which was the originally planned card for the date and venue.

Reigning lightweight champ Roberto Satoshi de Souza (15-3) will take on Keita Nakamura (36-11) in a non-title affair in the main event. The bout is scheduled for three five-minute rounds under Rizin mixed martial arts rules, which allow knees and kicks to the head of a grounded opponent.

De Souza’s five-fight winning streak, which included three title fights, was snapped by a decision loss to A.J. McKee in a non-title bout at the first Rizin vs. Bellator event in 2022. The Japanese Brazilian bounced back with a decision win over Spike Carlyle, but went on to suffer…

[embedded content] Bellator MMA returns for its first event since being purchased by the Professional Fighters League.

The Bellator 302 main event will see Corey Anderson take on Karl Moore for the vacant light heavyweight championship. Both men weighed 204.6 pounds for the title fight. Additionally, featherweight king Patricio Freire will put his belt on the line against Jeremy Kennedy in the co-main event after both weighed 145 pounds on the dot. Only one fighter missed weight as Vikas Singh Ruhil came in one pound over the featherweight limit for his prelim fight against Nathan Kelly.

"Overtime" is looking to claim his first title after coming up short in 2022 against Vadim Nemkov. Since then, Anderson (17-6, 1 NC) has picked up a split decision win over Phil Davis. Looking to derail Anderson's attempt at glory is Ireland's Moore (12-2), who is riding a four-fight win streak inside the promotion. While three wins have been via decision, the Belfast native also hol…

Get ready for the launch of @BellatorMMA 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 this Friday March 22nd! @KarisaMaxwell breaks down everything you need to know about Bellator’s new home in the US! Streaming exclusively on @SportsonMax 📝#BellatorBelfast pic.twitter.com/lvjp8YJXr9

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) March 20, 2024

The Professional Fighters League vowed to give Bellator MMA a makeover, but the organization's face remains the same -- just ask Eric Albarracin.

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“There will never be anybody to pass the Bellator GOAT because we’re in a new home,” Albarracin said of Bellator featherweight king Patricio Freire during a Zoom conference Wednesday. “Patricio started with MTV2 and then MTV, and then he was on the Spanish channel, Spike, Paramount, Showtime; and now we’re debuting on Max. Patricio has been a champion for all of that.”

The 36-year-old “Pitbull” will defend his title against Jeremy Kennedy on Friday at SSE Arena in Belfast, Nort…