Martial Arts News

Artem Vakhitov, the last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, just got a UFC contract 👀

Dana White says he gave him the contract because Alex Pereira said he deserves it 🤝 #DWCS #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/8FhySR8MhE

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 9, 2024

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Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira helped rival Artem Vakhitov get into the UFC.

Vakhitov (3-1) earned a first-round technical knockout over Islem Masraf at DWCS 2024: Week 9 on Tuesday. However, UFC CEO Dana White contemplated before giving Vakhitov a contract as he did not expect the amount of clinching that transpired. White called on his biggest star and Vakhitov’s former foe in Pereira, who was sitting cageside, for his opinion.

“This was an interesting fight, more clinching than I expected. And you obviously got the job done, you got the finish. And I actually called Alex back with me to talk about this fig…

The woman many feel is the WMMA GOAT might be plotting a return.

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Amanda Nunes (23-5) recently hinted that she might be coming out of retirement in a message to Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White. “The Lioness” asked the UFC head honcho to “Call me” in a video posted on Instagram.

White reacted to Nunes’ message at the DWCS 2024: Week 9 post-fight press conference.

“She looks good. She looks great. Looks like she’s still in shape. So, you know where her head’s at. And I love that about her. There’s a lot of things I love about her, I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next. I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”

Nunes’ legendary championship run came to an end via a shock upset submission loss against Julianna Pena (12-5) at UFC 269 in 2021. Nunes reclaimed her belt via a one-sided unanimous decision over Pena in their rematch at UFC 277 the next year. They were s…

Kody Steele found the on-off switch.

The undefeated Syndicate MMA prospect was one of four hopefuls to secure an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he took out Chasen Blair with punches in the second round of their lightweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Steele (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) brought it to a close 4:07 into Round 2.

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Blair (6-3, 0-1 DWCS) went tit for tat with the Texan and held his own for a time. Steele applied merciless pressure, let fly with heavy punching bursts and put visible damage on his opponent across the first five minutes. Blair appeared to turn the tide in the first half of the second round, where he operated behind an effective counter game, basic one-twos and intermittent leg kicks. Steele was unimpressed and undeterred. He pressed forward with supreme confidence and connected with a sweeping left hook the liver that felled Blair at the base of the cage. …

Daniel Cormier reveals that the Alex Pereira camp let the UFC know that they may pull out of #UFC307 before heading to Salt Lake City. This would have resulted in Pennington vs Pena being the main-event.

“The UFC said to him ‘That would suck, but let us know how it goes. We have… pic.twitter.com/d2hgrsTg6z

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 7, 2024

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The UFC 307 main event was close to being postponed.

Alex Pereira (12-2) put his light heavyweight title on the line against Khalil Rountree (13-6) in the main event at UFC 307 at Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 5. While Rountree took Rounds 1 and 2 on the official scorecards, Pereira put on a striking clinic as the fight progressed to earn a fourth-round technical knockout victory.

Pereira subsequently revealed that aside from a tough test against Rountree, he also had a grueling camp. “Poatan” dealt with visa issues, a fever that needed antibiotics and linger…

It has been a long time, to be honest. How are you doing with drugs? Are you still on steroids? https://t.co/Da50uyFXoL

— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) October 3, 2024

Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight king Ilia Topuria is rallying hard for a double champ bid against lightweight champ Islam Makhachev.

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Topuria (15-0) has recently been exchanging words with Makhachev (26-1) and his team. The feud started with a Q&A session where Topuria said he would get the better of Makhachev in a street fight but would rather do it inside the Octagon to avoid paying the Dagestani’s medical bills. Makhachev’s teammate Usman Nurmagomedov fired back at Topuria, who took a dig the Bellator MMA lightweight champ’s recent drug testing failure. Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Tagir Ulanbekov from the Dagestani crew also chimed in to defend their teammates.

In an interview with Match TV, Makhachev warned Topuria about crossing person…

Michael “Venom” Page versus Carlos Condit has been booked for Polaris 30 on Nov. 2, per promotion officials.

MVP has been working on his grappling as of late and this popped up as a good test. pic.twitter.com/hqB2ivO259

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 7, 2024

Michael Page and Carlos Condit will meet in a grappling match at Polaris 30.

The grappling bout will headline the European promotion’s next event on Nov. 2 in London. The matchup was first reported by Ariel Helwani.

Known for his flashy striking, Page (22-3) will debut in pure grappling against Condit (32-14), who comes from a jiu-jitsu background.

“MVP” made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 299 in March when the 37-year-old earned a unanimous decision over Kevin Holland. The Brit has since dropped a unanimous decision against undefeated Ian Garry at UFC 303 in June.

Meanwhile, Condit, 40, retired from the sport following a unanimous d…

Top Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title challenger Kayla Harrison’s body is not reacting well to her weight cuts.

According to an interview with TMZ on Monday, recent victor Harrison (18-1) admitted that a week before UFC 307, she was forced to go to the hospital. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, who competed at 172 pounds in the games and 155 pounds while in Professional Fighters League, has struggled greatly to reach the 136-pound cap. Despite the issues, Harrison still defeated Ketlen Vieira on the scorecards to likely claim a shot at 135-pound gold. It was not all sunshine and rainbows for the judoka.

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“I’m still learning, I’m still growing,” the 34-year-old told TMZ. “I feel like there’s a lot of room for improvement for me, it definitely wasn’t my best night in the cage. There are a lot of things that happened…I don’t like to make excuses, but I had to go to the hospital the week before, I was peeing blood and there was…

An ex-Bellator MMA champ wants to make a statement against a rising Ultimate Fighting Championship star.

Former two-time Bellator bantamweight king and current Combate commentator Eduardo Dantas will be shifting gears soon to go over to the realm of grappling. The 35-year-old will face Umar Nurmagomedov in a no-gi featherweight grappling contest at ADXC 7 on Oct. 25 at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. While he was considering continuing his MMA career, according to an interview with Sherdog, he received an offer he could not refuse.

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“I was getting ready to take an MMA fight in December when the promoter of ADXC made me that proposal to face Nurmagomedov, so I just had to stop my boxing and muay thai preparation to focus on my jiu-jitsu training,” revealed Dantas.

According to the Nova Uniao representative, the confrontation of a classical Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a top Dagestani wrestler like Umar was his biggest mot…

[embedded content] The penultimate episode of Dana White's Contender Series is good to go after a brief scare on the scales.

After one fighter needed an extra hour to get to his proper marks, all 10 combatants for Week 9 of DWCS is official. The show that posts up in its usual location of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday night saw Anthony Drilich briefly come in heavy for his flyweight match with Sean Gauci. After initially hitting 127 pounds, he returned an hour later to reach the 126-pound cap, and all systems are go.

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The ninth edition of the 2024 season will be headlined by a light heavyweight collision between power-punching Frenchman Islem Masraf (204.5) and former Glory kickboxing great Artem Vakhitov (205.5). The Tuesday card, as always, kicks off at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ESPN+.

Just three bouts listed on his pro resume, Masraf made a splash in Ares FC in 2023, tapping Azamat Aboukhanov in the second round. A pair of first-round knocko…

"I studied him a lot. I knew it was going to be a tough fight."

Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) speaks on the challenges he encountered during his third successful title defense.

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Results, Interviews & More ➡️: https://t.co/ZYfGe6jwVs — UFC News (@UFCNews) October 6, 2024 Alex Pereira needs a vacation to heal up from some nagging injuries.

Pereira (12-2) defended his light heavyweight title for the third time by dispatching Khalil Rountree (13-6) in the main event at UFC 307 on Saturday. By staving off three challengers in the span of 175 days, Pereira broke Ronda Rousey’s record (189 days) for the quickest time between three straight defenses. After a tough camp and some reaggravated injuries, the most active champion on the roster currently is ready to take some rest after his win over “The War Horse.”

In addition to a much-needed vacation, Pereira also plans on travelling around th…

[embedded content] Light heavyweight king Alex Pereira is less interested in moving back down to claim his old belt than seeking opportunities elsewhere.

Pereira (12-2) put his 205-pound title on the line against Khalil Rountree (13-6, 1 NC) in the main event at UFC 307. “Poatan” successfully defended his throne for the third time with a fourth-round technical knockout over Rountree. When speaking about his options going forward, the Brazilian threw cold water on relocating back down to 185 pounds because of training partner Sean Strickland.

Pereira had initially made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at middleweight, where he went on to defeat former Glory kickboxing foe Israel Adesanya to win the belt before losing it in their rematch. Leading up to UFC 307, the Brazilian expressed interest in moving down to middleweight to challenge reigning champ Dricus Du Plessis, who defended his throne against Adesanya via submission at UFC 305. Pereira earlier said he w…

Alex Pereira just brings a different kind of savagery to the cage, and only a select few can withstand it.

The Brazilian juggernaut retained his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title, as he stopped Khalil Rountree with a hailstorm of punches in the fourth round of their UFC 307 headliner on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Pereira (12-2, 9-1 UFC) brought it to a close 4:32 into Round 4.

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Rountree (13-6, 9-6 UFC) held his own—for a time. The Syndicate MMA rep buckled Pereira’s knees with a counter right hand in the second round and fought fire with fire against one of the most feared men in the sport. However, the high work rate and the damage he absorbed took their toll, and by the end of the third round, the tide had shifted. Pereira tore into the Los Angeles native with clean punches to the head, low kicks and knee strikes, opened multiple cuts and showered the canvas and surrounding area with blood. His f…