Martial Arts News

Marcin Tybura exploited the lack of dimension in the game of his heavy-handed dance partner.

The former M-1 Global titleholder strengthened his claim as a Top 10 heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he rendered Tai Tuivasa unconscious with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 239 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Tuivasa (14-7, 8-7 UFC) surrendered his grip on reality 4:08 into Round 1.

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Tybura (25-8, 12-7 UFC) walked through considerable fire. Tuivasa blasted him with a series of standing elbows, one of which opened a cut on his scalp. The 33-fight veteran kept his cool under duress, closed the distance behind a one-two and completed a takedown. Tybura hammered away with sustained ground-and-pound and patiently waited for an opening to present itself. Tuivasa chose to go belly down and exposed his neck in the process. Soon after, the fight-ending choke was in place.

The 30-year-old Tuiv…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the Apex Facility in Las Vegas for the fifth time in 2024, presenting a solid card built around a heavyweight clash between ranked contenders Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura. Sherdog.com brings you live play-by-play coverage of every thrilling moment at UFC Fight Night 239, ensuring you don't miss out on any of the Octagon excitement.

Tuivasa, who turns 31 on fight day, enters the bout on a three-fight skid and has been finished in each of those contests. Before that, he amassed five straight victories with five finishes, his best UFC run so far, and will be driven to reclaim his explosive edge. Meanwhile, Tybura registers a 7-2 mark over his last nine fights leading up to the clash against the Australian heavy-hitter. He was last seen inside the Octagon against interim-heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall, succumbing in Round 1 via TKO.

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Stay tuned to Sherdog.com at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT for live play-by-play cov…

Mike Davis re-introduced himself to the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division after a 17-month layoff, and the statement he made could not have been much more profound.

The impressive Fusion X-Cel standout showcased his all-terrain skills before he subdued Natan Levy with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 239 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Levy (8-2, 2-2 UFC), who missed weight for the bout by one pound, conceded defeat 1:43 into Round 2.

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Davis decked the Syndicate MMA product with a right hand—the impact appeared to break Levy’s nose—inside the first 30 seconds, moved to the back and controlled position for most of the opening stanza. The narrative did not shift much in the second round. There, Davis tripped the Israeli to the floor, set off a scramble and again transitioned to the back. He then floated to full mount, framed the arm-triangle and let his squeeze do the rest.<…

The UFC 301 lineup just received some much-needed star power.

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Former featherweight champion Jose Aldo will come out of retirement to face Jonathan Martinez in a 135-pound clash on May 4 in Rio de Janeiro. Ag.Fight was first to report the booking, and it was later confirmed by promotion broadcast partner ESPN. Aldo reportedly has one fight remaining on his UFC contract.

Regarded by many as the greatest featherweight of all-time, Aldo called it a career following a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278 on Aug. 20, 2022. The Nova Uniao standout is 3-3 at bantamweight, with wins over the likes of Marlon Vera, Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font to his credit. Since stepping away from MMA, Aldo has competed three times in professional boxing.

Martinez will take a six-bout promotional winning streak into the matchup with Aldo. Most recently, the Factory X product defeated Adrian Yanez via second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 230 this past Oc…

🔥🔥 The Martial Arts Festival of Midsummer 🔥🔥⚡️ Yogibo presents Super RIZIN.3 ⚡️

📅 7/28 (Sun)🏟 Saitama Super Arena

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The match we’ve all been waiting for… pic.twitter.com/tIMbwvP0tS — RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) March 16, 2024

A featherweight grudge match will headline Super Rizin 3 when Mikuru Asakura squares off against Ren Hiramoto on July 28.

The Japanese promotion announced the booking on Saturday. In an added twist, the loser of the bout has promised to retire from MMA. Super Rizin 3 takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. More bouts are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

A former title holder in the Rings organization, Asakura has compiled a 17-4 mark since beginning his professional tenure in 2012. The Japan Top Team representative is 8-3 under the Rizin banner and is coming off a first-round submission defeat to Vugar Karamov at Super Rizin 2 last July.

Hiramoto ini…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has decided who will get the next crack at flyweight gold, and it will come as a surprise to many.

The promotion announced on Friday that Alexandre Pantoja (27-5) will be putting his flyweight strap on the line against Australia’s Steve Erceg (12-1) at UFC 301. The 125-pound championship affair will not likely serve as its main event, although additional championship bouts or other matches that could be the headliner have not yet been announced. This will be Pantoja’s second attempted defense of his 125-pound title while serving as the first time he has competed in his home country of Brazil since joining the promotion in 2017.

Pantoja has pounded through the flyweight ranks since 2021, stringing together five wins over elite opposition to get him a title shot in 2023. At UFC 290, “The Cannibal” rematched former foe Brandon Moreno and captured a split decision to go up 3-0 over Moreno, including an encounter on the 24th season of “The…

It took the Ultimate Fighting Championship one day to rope in a middleweight happy to headline an event at the Apex.

On Thursday, news broke that Marvin Vettori had suffered an injury and could no longer compete against Brendan Allen (23-5) at UFC Fight Night 240. In his stead will be Chris Curtis (31-10, 1 NC), preserving the middleweight main attraction on April 6. The UFC made this announcement on Friday, running back a fight that first took place in December 2021.

When they first met at UFC on ESPN 31, Curtis was riding a six-fight win streak, including a victory inside the Octagon as an unexpected middleweight threat. “The Action Man” dropped the first round but came back in the second stanza, hurting and ultimately putting Allen away with punches and knees. Since then, Curtis has maintained a UFC record slightly over .500 while beating Rodolfo Vieira, Joaquin Buckley and Marc-Andre Barriault to remain a 185-pound contender.

Since suffering the knockout lo…

Matheus Pereira put on a thrilling performance to walk away with a third-round guillotine choke submission victory against Khasan Khaliev in their ONE Friday Fights 55 lightweight showcase on Friday at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. It was the lone mixed martial arts contest on the bill.

Both competitors came out exchanging a few kicks to the legs and breadbasket before Khaliev managed to catch one and take his foe to the ground. However, the Brazilian was able to get back to his feet when Khaliev attempted to land a punch from top. Khaliev was quick to shoot in for a single-leg, only to be thrown to the canvas by the Brazilian, who followed him to the ground with a thunderous right hand from top. A hurt but relentless Khaliev found the space to attack with another takedown, eventually finding his way back to his feet. A visibly gassed Khaliev then attempted to clinch with the bigger Pereira, who was quick to drop him with a sneaky uppercut. Instead of go…

One half the #UFCVegas88 main event is locked in! 🔒@BamBamTuivasa weighs in at 265.5lbs

[ LIVE tomorrow on @ESPNPlus | 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/fZEb8p4sL0

— UFC (@ufc) March 15, 2024 The weigh-ins were anything but smooth on Friday morning ahead of the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship show.

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Headlining UFC Fight Night 239 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas is an intriguing heavyweight fight between the hard-hitting Tai Tuivasa and Poland's Marcin Tybura. The Australian will be the larger man in the cage as he weighs 18.5 pounds more than "Tybur." As for the rest of the card, three competitors came in overweight: Natan Levy (.5 pounds), Chelsea Chandler (one pound) and Danny Silva (2.5 pounds). All three will be fined 20% of their respective purses.

A fan-favorite in the Octagon, Tuivasa (14-6) is looking to bounce back from a three-fight losing streak. While "Bam Bam" has struggled recently, it has been to the …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has three weeks to come up with a top-10 middleweight or an upcoming show will be in dire straits.

As first reported by Fight Bananas on Thursday, and subsequently confirmed by multiple outlets, Marvin Vettori (19-7-1) will no longer be competing in the main event of UFC Fight Night 240 on April 4. The reasons for his withdrawal are currently undisclosed. His foe Brendan Allen (23-5) suggested earlier on Thursday on Instagram that the fight was off, while calling for names including Jared Cannonier, Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya.

This marks the first time that “The Italian Dream” has pulled out of a UFC fight. The veteran middleweight has had numerous fight cancelations over the years, but none had been previously attributed to him. The former title challenger has struggled as of late, alternating wins and losses since a clear-cut defeat to champion Adesanya in 2021. While the newfound Xtreme Couture product pulled off wins …

Huge Announcement: Today marks the official launch of FIGHT NIGHT AT THE TECH! This event will feature premier mixed martial arts series at Tech CU Arena on Saturday, May 18.

Tickets go on sale Monday 3/18 at 10AM. pic.twitter.com/tLH6cXnZRG

— Tech CU Arena (@TechCUArena) March 13, 2024 If former Bellator MMA head Scott Coker had to sign a non-compete agreement after leaving the company, it was not very strict.

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The Tech CU Arena, which operates in San Jose, California, and is also home to the San Jose Barracuda AHL hockey team, made an announcement on Wednesday that it would be the location of a new MMA league. The organization, called “Fight Night at the Tech,” is co-founded by Coker and longtime MMA veteran Gilbert Melendez. On May 18, the first of a series of events will run in this arena.

Details are otherwise sparse on the new promotion, including any combatants or broadcast information. MMA Junkie reported that …

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While Tai Tuivasa would prefer every fight to end within 10 seconds, it doesn’t mean he isn’t prepared for a five-rounder.

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Tuivasa (14-6) was originally scheduled to fight Marcin Tybura (24-8) at UFC 298 last month but couldn’t recover in time from a meniscus surgery.

“Bam Bam” will now take on Tybura in the main event at UFC Fight Night 239 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. While their UFC 298 clash was scheduled for three rounds, the new main event booking is for five rounds.

Although Tuivasa admits he doesn’t prefer a long fight, the Australian certainly has been preparing for one.

“He gave me five rounds and my coaches didn’t let me down. And I know Marcin can fight those five rounds and he can fight them hard. Which is something we’ve been preparing from. I don’t like going the rounds, but I’ve never gassed out. My fitness is good, I feel good, but to be honest I want to get this party started, I want to get …