Martial Arts News

A key flyweight fight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship will serve as a main attraction in April.

First reported by MMA Mania on Thursday evening, Matheus Nicolau (19-3-1) will run it back with Manel Kape (19-6) atop UFC on ESPN 55 on April 27. The flyweights will handle unfinished business at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, in a bout previously booked in January. News of this pairing has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

Advertisement

> The first fight between Nicolau and Kape came on the main card of UFC Fight Night 187 in 2021. The Brazilian emerged victorious by extremely close split decision, one in which every scoring media member saw Kape winning. Part two was set to take place on UFC Fight Night 234, but Kape exceeded the flyweight limit by nearly four pounds and Nicolau refused the fight.

Beating Kape was part of a four-fight win streak in the Octagon that catapulted Nicolau to the top of the flyweight division. In a title eliminator, Nicol…

Happy International Women's Day!#TUF32 coaches will be @AlexaGrasso and @BulletValentina premiering June 4th on @ESPN! @UltimateFighter pic.twitter.com/JC4msNmWuY

— danawhite (@danawhite) March 8, 2024 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is giving “The Ultimate Fighter” another go this summer.

The long-running reality show will be entering into its 32nd numbered season, kicking off on June 4, where it will air on ESPN and ESPN+. The two coaches for the show will be women’s flyweight champ Alexa Grasso and former women’s 125-pound queen Valentina Shevchenko. The weight classes they will coach were announced in December, with the two ladies taking charge of featherweight and middleweight teams. It is expected but not official that they will fight for a third time at the conclusion of the season—some have speculated on the Noche UFC event, also known as UFC 306, inside of The Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept. 14.

Grasso wrested the belt from the d…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view with an exciting bantamweight title fight sitting atop the UFC 299 card.

The championship fight between titleholder Sean O'Malley and challenger Marlon Vera is now official after both men successfully made weight. So is the five-round co-main event between Dustin Poirier and Benoit St. Denis. As for the rest of the card, all fighters made weight except for C.J. Vergara, who came in one pound over the flyweight limit for his fight against Asu Almabaev and has received a 30% fine of his purse.

Advertisement

This marks the first attempted title defense for O'Malley (17-1, 1 NC), who knocked out Aljamain Sterling to claim his spot at the top of the 135-pound division. Prior to the championship win, "Sugar" scored wins over Petr Yan, Raulian Paiva and Kris Moutinho. O'Malley's lone professional defeat was to Vera, who finished off the MMA Lab product within a single round of their 2020 fight.…

A bum big toe knocked a Professional Fighters League hype train right off the rails.

Baissangour Chamsoudinov was awarded a technical knockout over two-time Glory champion Cedric Doumbe in the third round of their PFL Europe 1 headliner on Thursday at Accor Arena in Paris. Referee Marc Goddard called for the stoppage 1:21 into Round 3 after Doumbe (5-1, 1-1 PFL) twice pointed to his ailing left foot.

Advertisement

Chamsoudinov (8-0, 1-0 PFL) controlled much of the first round with repeated takedowns despite his opponent showing surprising resourcefulness on the ground. Doumbe rallied in the second behind a potent jab and improving takedown defense, setting the stage for what many believed would be the decisive final five minutes. Instead, Doumbe called attention to his foot—a small foreign body, perhaps a splinter, was visible—on two occasions, resulting in pauses to the action and the eventual finish.

Meanwhile, two-division Ares Fighting Championship titleho…

JAKE PAUL VS. MIKE TYSON

LIVE on Netflix #PaulTyson pic.twitter.com/WW6Wi3bKM9

— Netflix (@netflix) March 7, 2024 Jake Paul has earned something that most men would not wish on their worst enemies: a date with "Iron" Mike Tyson.

Advertisement

On Thursday, news broke courtesy of the event’s broadcast partner, Netflix, that Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) would be boxing Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) on July 20. The two will headline an event put on by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions company, and it will take place in the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The broadcast will air free on Netflix, and it will not be a pay-per-view. It is currently unclear whether the heavyweight match will be an exhibition or end up on professional records, but Tyson will be age 58 at the time of the bout. Early betting lines opened with the younger Paul as the favorite, ranging from -200 to -350, depending on the book.

“I’m very much looking forward to stepping into the …

Curtis Blaydes believes his well-rounded skillset will overwhelm Jailton Almeida in their UFC 299 clash at Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday.

Blaydes (17-4) was originally scheduled to headline UFC Sao Paolo opposite Almeida this past November before an injury forced him out of the contest. “Razor” was replaced by Derrick Lewis, who was smothered by Almeida (20-2) for five rounds en route to dropping a lopsided decision. However, Almeida’s performance didn’t impress Blaydes, who compared the Brazilian to former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Demian Maia.

Advertisement

“He did what I thought he would do, take him down,” Blaydes said during the UFC 299 media day. “I didn’t think he’d want to hang out on the feet at all. He hasn’t really shown anything with footwork and hands. He’s a traditional jiu-jitsu guy. He’s like a heavyweight version of Demian Maia. Don’t have hands, just wants to grapple.”

When asked which fighter he compares himself to, Bla…

Yadong Song is hoping for a callout if Marlon Vera beats Sean O'Malley in the main event at UFC 299 on Saturday.

O’Malley (17-1) will put his bantamweight title on the line against Vera (23-8) and is looking to avenge a technical knockout loss dating back to 2020. Vera’s win over O’Malley saw him bounce back from a “Fight of the Night” unanimous decision loss to Song, which “Chito” firmly believes he won.

Advertisement

While Song believes O’Malley will successfully defend his strap Saturday, he hopes to hear “and new," which might put him in line for a title shot next.

“I like Sean [O’Malley] you know,” Song said at media day. “I like his style, he’s smart and he definitely will win the fight. But I hope ‘Chito’ win, you know. If he wins, he may call me out because he always complain [about] our first match because he thought he won the fight. But three judges: they say I won the fight. He always complains about that. But I hope he does his best to win and call m…

Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera bump into each other and talk trash at the UFC hotel pic.twitter.com/yw0B0GSpR6

— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) March 6, 2024

Marlon Vera says he is ready for everything Sean O'Malley has to throw at him leading into their UFC 299 rematch.

Advertisement

Vera (23-8) will challenge O’Malley (17-1) for the bantamweight title in the main event at UFC 299 on Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami. During media day, O’Malley informed reporters about direct messages he exchanged with Vera and prompted them to press “Chito” for more information.

When asked, Vera didn’t divulge the exact texts but gave an overview of what transpired.

“He was just trying to get to my head. The text wasn’t weird. He’s a weirdo, so I’m like, I’m not going to engage with you on [in] a conversation. That’s why I sent a selfie back smiling.”

Vera is well aware of O’Malley’s mind games and is seemingly prepared to trade barbs with “S…

[embedded content]

Israel Adesanya gave his predictions for every fight on the UFC 299 main card, barring one.

Advertisement

The UFC 299 main card will be opened by bantamweight contender Yadong Song (21-7) and former champ Petr Yan (16-5) at Kaseya Center in Miami this weekend. Yadong is riding a two-fight winning streak and is 5-1 in his last six outings. Meanwhile, Yan is on a three-fight skid, albeit all against the highest level of competition. While some consider Yan a slow starter, Adesanya believes “No Mercy” will come out all guns blazing for a three-rounder and emerge victorious.

“I like Yan, I like Song Yadong but I like Yan and I’m a fan of his style,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “But I just don’t see him losing four in a row. I’m going to go Yan by UD [unanimous decision]. Three Rounds? He might come out different, like just crazy… It’s a three-round, it’s the first fight of the pay-per-view... So I think Yan is gonna come out crazy with t…

Two championship fights will top the card for a Bellator MMA event in Paris on May 17.

Advertisement

Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight crown against Alexandr Shabily in the evening’s main event, while Patrick Mix will face Magomed Magomedov in a bantamweight championship clash in the co-headliner. The promotion on Wednesday announced the featured bouts for the event, which will be entitled Bellator Champions Series Paris.

Bellator Champions Series Paris takes place at Accor Arena in Paris and also includes two other main card matchups: a middleweight No. 1 contender’s bout between Gregory Babene and Costello van Steenis and a heavyweight showdown pitting Slim Trabelsi against Louie Sutherland. Additionally, Mansour Barnaoui will lock horns with Yusuke Yachi in a preliminary lightweight contest.

Nurmagomedov is undefeated in 18 professional outings. His last bout, which was initially a unanimous decision win against Brent Primus at Bellator 300, …

[embedded content]

The main event of PFL Europe is official, as both Cedric Doumbe and Baissangour Chamsoudinov hit their contracted marks at Wednesday’s weigh-ins.

Advertisement

Doumbe tipped the scales at 170.2 pounds, while Chamsoudinov checked in at 170.4 pounds for the welterweight feature.

PFL Europe 1 takes place on Thursday at Accor Arena in Paris. The card airs on DAZN in Europe, while the event’s main card will stream via the PFL YouTube channel in the United States beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT.

A former Glory Kickboxing welterweight champion, Doumbe has compiled a 5-0 mark in MMA. In his PFL debut, “The Best” scored a nine-second knockout of Jordan Zebo this past September. All five of his professional triumphs have come via knockout or technical knockout.

The 22-year-old Chamsoudinov, who trains at the MMA Factory, has kicked off his pro tenure with seven consecutive victories. In his last outing, “Baki” scored a second-round …

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber will return to action for the first time since December 2019 when he headlines A1 Combat 21 on May 25.

Advertisement

The promotion, which is run by Faber himself, announced the news on Tuesday. An opponent for Faber will be revealed at a later date. A1 Combat 20 will be held at the Visalia Convention Center in California.

A former World Extreme Cagefighting champion and a multi-time UFC title challenger, the 44-year-old Faber hasn’t competed in MMA since suffering a knockout loss against Petr Yan at UFC 245 on Dec. 14, 2019. However, “The California Kid” has taken part in wrestling and grappling matches since then.

Faber previously ended a two-and-a-half year retirement in 2019, when he returned to score a 46-second TKO of Ricky Simon at UFC Fight Night 155 in July 2019. Faber owns a 35-11 career mark in MMA since beginning his professional tenure in 2003.