Martial Arts News

The final Dana White's Contender Series event of 2024 is now official, as all 10 fighters slated to compete at Week 10 hit their contracted marks at weigh-ins on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a middleweight showdown between Nick Klein (186) and Heraldo Souza (185).

Known as “The Amish Hammer,” Klein is coming off a 2-0 campaign in 2023 that saw him earn submission wins over Cory Simpson and Collin Huckbody. He owns a 5-1 career mark overall and has finished four of his five triumphs inside the distance.

Brazil’s Souza is unbeaten in his last six outings dating back to January 2022. In his first appearance of 2024, “Savage” stopped Andre Fischer 1:37 into the opening stanza of their May 11 bout.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Nick Klein (186) vs. Heraldo Souza (185)Luis Gurule (125.5) vs. Nick Piccininni (125.5)Yadier Del Valle (1…

What it's all about on October 1️⃣9️⃣th

Everything you need to know about the PFL Super Fights Belt 🏆

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[ #PFLSuperFights | #BraceForImpact | Sat, Oct 19th | 4PM ET | BUY NOW https://t.co/kWyJTEGRvW] pic.twitter.com/q0QVTefMDs — PFL (@PFLMMA) October 14, 2024

Some special championship hardware will be on the line at Professional Fighters League’s “Battle of the Giants” event this weekend.

The organization unveiled its special PFL Superfights World Championship belt, which will be at stake in the card’s two featured bouts — Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira and Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco. According to a video released by the organization, the 12.5-pound belt will feature 10 sides, a tribute to the SmartCage, and side plates celebrating each PFL division, all “culminating in a design that embodies the spirited magnitude of PFL Super Fights.”

PFL “Battle of the Giants” takes place at the Mayadeen in R…

Chris Barnett will replace Justin Tafa and square off against Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC 308.

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The promotion announced the new heavyweight booking during the UFC Vegas 98 broadcast on Saturday night. A reason for Tafa’s withdrawal was not given. Barnett was originally slated to fight at UFC Vegas 98 but was unable to compete due to Hurricane Milton.

UFC 308 takes place on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.

The 38-year-old Barnett will be making his first Octagon appearance since September 2022 after having multiple bouts fall through over the course of the past two years. In his last outing, “Huggy Bear” scored a second-round TKO victory against Jake Collier at UFC 279. Barnett is 2-2 during his UFC tenure overall.

After competing 11 times at 205 pounds in the Las Vegas-based promotion, Nzechukwu will move to heavyweight for the first time. The…

In most cases, Brandon Royval is someone who doesn’t hesitate to offer praise for his flyweight peers.

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That includes Tatsuro Taira, who gave “Raw Dawg” all he could handle in the UFC Vegas 98 headliner on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. While Taira spent the better part of two rounds attached to Royval’s back, the Factory X product was able to do enough quality work on the feet to earn a split-decision triumph. Though Royval has expected great things from Taira, he didn’t necessarily anticipate the struggles he would have to endure against the Japanese standout to get his hand raised.

“I didn’t expect any of that s—t. I thought I was gonna cruise through him, honestly,” Royval said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I give that kid a lot of respect. I give that kid a lot of praise. I 100% believe that he’s gonna be a champion one day. I said that before this fight took place. I said that before I even knew we were gonna fight…

Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira put on a show in the UFC Vegas 98 main event, and the flyweight contenders were compensated appropriately for their efforts.

Royval and Taira received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their back-and-forth battle at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. Royval was able to survive his opponent’s grappling and imposed his will during striking exchanges to emerge with a split-decision triumph in what will likely go down as one of the year’s best bouts.

Elsewhere, Octagon newcomer Ramazonbek Temirov made strong first impression, flooring C.J. Vergara three times en route to a technical knockout at the 2:50 mark of Round 1 in their flyweight pairing. That was more than enough to secure a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for the Uzbekistan native.

Finally, Clayton Carpenter claimed the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award thanks to a second-round submission of Lucas Rocha in a preliminary flyweigh…

Brandon Royval showed he still warrants consideration as one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight elite.

The resilient Factory X standout called upon superior standup, bulletproof submission defense and a seemingly endless gas tank to outlast Tatsuro Taira to a five-round split decision in the UFC Fight Night 244 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three member of the judiciary struck 48-47 scorecards: Sal D’Amato for Taira, Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy for Royval.

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Taira (16-1, 6-1 UFC) was stellar in the grappling exchanges through four rounds, as he advanced to the back on multiple occasions, secured his position with body triangles, applied his ground-and-pound and threatened the neck. Royval (17-7, 7-3 UFC) answered on the feet, where he connected with surgical combinations and the occasional knee. He had Taira on the proverbial ropes early in the third round, as he sent two-, three- and four-punch volleys crashing…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to its homebase of Las Vegas Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with UFC Vegas 98. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 244. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Carpenter (-192), Rocha (+160)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Haddon (-185), Argueta (+154)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round…

Ramazonbek Temirov throws the kind of heat that keeps others awake at night.

The Uzbekistani prospect announced his arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division with some serious pizzazz, as he cut down C.J. Vergara with punches in the featured UFC Fight Night 244 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Vergara (12-6-1, 3-4 UFC) met his end 2:50 into Round 1.

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Temirov (16-2-1, 1-0 UFC) tested the waters with a couple spinning back kicks to the body while darting in and out with power punches. He floored Vergara with a left hook, gave chase with follow-up punches and dropped the Pete Spratt protégé a second time with a clubbing right over the top. Temirov kept his foot on the accelerator, allowed his opponent to stand and brought it to a close with a wicked left hook to the body.

The 27-year-old Temirov now finds himself on a 10-fight winning streak.

Meanwhile, former Cage Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Pat …

Two title fights will get top billing at UFC 310 on Dec. 7.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday that a welterweight title tilt between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov will serve as the evening’s main event, whileAlexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight crown against Kai Asakura in the co-headliner. UFC 310 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and marks the promotion’s final pay-per-view offering of 2024.

White also confirmed that a welterweight clash pitting Nick Diaz against Vicente Luque and a heavyweight showdown between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov have been rebooked for the event.

Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 11 Octagon appearances dating back to April 13, 2019. He claimed 170-pound gold with a unanimous decision triumph against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 on July 27. “Remember the Name” also owns notable wins over the likes of Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, Luque, Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia, to name a few.

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[embedded content] Micael Galvao and Amit Elor met backstage at a jiu-jitsu championship event in San Francisco in 2017, unaware of the future in store for the two of them.

Recently turning 21 years of age, Galvao has established himself as a major player in the jiu-jitsu scene. After conquering the so-called “Super Grand Slam”—victories in the Brazilian, Pan American, European and World Championships events—the youngster has ambitions that rival his ample skills. Galvao, also an ADCC champion, revealed to Combate’s Mundo da Luta podcast last Monday that he is considering representing his home country in the Olympics. Galvao’s girlfriend, Elor, won the Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2024 games at 68 kg (150 pounds), and he would like to match her accomplishment in 2028.

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“I have this desire to compete in the Olympic games, and I believe that wrestling would be the easiest path,” Galvao claimed. “I tried to see if it would be possible …

Our #UFCVegas98 main event is official ✅@BrandonRoyval hits the scale at 125.5lbs

[ Live TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus| 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/21p2aAky9a

— UFC (@ufc) October 11, 2024 Editor's note: The article was updated at 2:15 p.m. ET to reflect the cancelation of one bout.

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After an electric pay-per-view event in Salt Lake City, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UFC Apex for UFC Fight Night 244.

Headlining the 12-fight card is a five-round flyweight contest between former title challenger Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira. Both mixed martial artists came in under the 126-pound limit. However, the rest of the card wasn't nearly as professional. Three fighters missed weight: Jared Gooden came in 1.5 pounds over the welterweight limit for his fight against Chidi Njokuani, Josh Fremd hit the scales in three pounds overweight for his middleweight fight against Abdul Razak Alhassan and Dan Argueta clocke…

Rising Ultimate Fighting Championship talent Carlos Prates has already earned a place on the marquee.

Per MMA Fighting on Thursday, the promotion has pulled Prates (20-6) from his welterweight pairing with Randy Brown at UFC 309. Instead, the surging Brazilian will collide with grizzled veteran Neil Magny (29-12) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 247, also known as UFC Vegas 100. An excited Prates has since confirmed the matchup on his Instagram page.

Fan-favorite Magny has alternated wins and losses in his last eight, staving off tough outs Mike Malott and Daniel Rodriguez while coming up short to elite threats in the division like Shavkat Rakhmonov and Gilbert Burns. Most recently, the 37-year-old saw his brief bit of momentum from the Malott victory dry up when Michael Morales punched him out in the first round. Magny, who now goes by the nickname of “The Haitian Sensation,” holds a litany of records at 170 pounds including the most appearances (33), the most …