Martial Arts News

When Conor McGregor revealed that his long-awaited bout against Michael Chandler would be contested at middleweight, it raised eyebrows throught the mixed martial arts community.

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After all, neither McGregor nor Chandler has competed at 185 pounds during their respective careers. Chandler has a theory on why the Irish superstar chose that weight class.

"In his mind, he can't fight at 170 [pounds], because I called him out at 170," Chandler told ESPN. "He had to say 185. ... He always wants to establish dominance, to make people think that I am less than him, and that's fine. I'll take that all day long, because I'm confident in myself, and I don't have an ego.

"I have no problem with what people say. I have no problem with people's opinions. Everybody's got an opinion, and who cares? ... I'll take that 'back seat' to him the entire time, and if he thinks he's taking a fight against a lesser man, then so be it. He'll find out on June 29.”

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Perhaps Stipe Miocic won’t be riding off into the sunset following his heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones after all.

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The ex-UFC champion responded to a series of posts from current interim king Tom Aspinall on social media by suggesting that he’d be willing to face the Englishman in a title unification bout down the road. That, of course, would only become a viable option should Miocic defeat Jones when they square off at some point in 2024. The date for the bout is currently unknown, as Jones is still recovering from a torn pectoral that forced him to withdraw from the UFC 295 main event against Miocic.

“I have never caused a delay in the Jon fight,” Miocic wrote in response to Aspinall. “Tom, once I get this win, let’s talk to unify the belt.”

I have never caused a delay in the Jon fight.⁰⁰Tom, once I get this win, let’s talk to unify the belt.

— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) January 5, 2024

In recent week…

Raul Rosas Jr., the Ultimate Fighting Championship's youngest competitor, is set to return to the Octagon against Ricky Turcios at UFC Mexico City.

Rosas announced the matchup in an interview with the promotion’s Spanish social media account. UFC Fight Night 237 takes place on Feb. 24 at Mexico City Arena and is headlined by a flyweight clash between former champion Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi. The co-main event will feature a rematch between former interim champion Yair Rodriguez and two-time title contender Brian Ortega.

Rosas Jr.is coming off a 54-second Round 1 technical knockout victory against Terrence Mitchell at UFC Fight Night 227 this past September. Prior to that, Rosas Jr. sustained the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career against Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287 via unanimous decision.

After winning Season 29 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Turcios has gone 1-1 in the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 30-year-old will enter the …

A heavyweight matchup has been added to the UFC Fight Night card set to take place on April 6.

Undefeated Valter Walker is set to make his UFC debut against Poland's Lukasz Brzeski. Both fighters recently confirmed the booking on social media. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex and is headlined by a middleeight bout between Brendan Allen and Marvin Vettori.

Currently on an 11-fight win streak, Walker will enter the Octagon coming off a Round 4 technical knockout victory against Alex Nicholson at Titan FC 82 to claim the promotion’s heavyweight championship. Walker was initially slated to make his Octagon debut against Jake Collier on a UFC Fight Night card back in September 2023. However, the GOR MMA product was forced to withdraw from the bout due to undisclosed reasons.

Meanwhile, Brzeski is currently on a four-fight winless streak and will be looking to notch his first UFC victory against Walker. In his most recent outing, the Polish national…

Francis Ngannou is gearing up for his second boxing showdown four months after his professional debut against Tyson Fury. This time, “The Predator” will go up against former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on March 9 in Saudi Arabia.

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The news was first reported by Ariel Helwani on Friday and later confirmed by Turki Al-Sheikh, the Chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment in Saudi Arabia. Promoter Eddie Hearn subsequently announced that a press conference for the 10-round boxing bout has also been scheduled to take place in London on Jan. 15.

Joshua opened -500 favorite according to SportsBetting.ag. Meanwhile, Ngannou serves as a +325 underdog. This means one would have to bet $100 on Joshua to collect a profit of $20. On the other hand, betting $100 on Ngannou could potentially bring in a profit of $325. Those odds are subject to change as the fight draws near.

Ngannou made his boxing debut on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ Chris Weidman is not ready to call it quits just yet.

Weidman (15-7) will be returning to action on March 30 at the unnumbered UFC on ESPN event in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The former kingpin of 185 pounds will battle it out against Bruno Silva (23-10) at middleweight inside of the Boardwalk Hall. News of this pairing first came from Brazilian journalist Laerte Viana, and Sherdog has confirmed from sources close to the situation that the fight is currently in the works. Both men have verbally agreed to the bout, and they are awaiting contracts from the promotion.

This will be Weidman’s second appearance in the Octagon since a gruesome leg injury suffered against Uriah Hall in April 2021. “The All-American” took over two years off to recoup from his broken leg, and he returned at UFC 292 to face perennial contender Brad Tavares. Weidman, 39, lost a decision and endured a whopping 41 leg kicks from his foe to rea…

Those that say former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou “fumbled the bag” could not be more wrong.

According to Ariel Helwani on Friday, Ngannou (0-1 Box) will take on Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) at a currently undisclosed date in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This news has been confirmed by Turki Al-Sheikh, the Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment in Saudi Arabia. The two heavyweights will battle it out over the course of 10 professional rounds, and no belts will be on the line. Per MMA Junkie, the match will reportedly be held on March 9.

This will be Ngannou’s second trip to the boxing ring, with his first a razor-close split decision loss to Tyson Fury in October 2023. “The Predator” made shockwaves in the boxing—and MMA—community by knocking Fury down in Round 3, but two of three judges awarded the bout in favor of Fury. Ngannou famously departed the UFC at the beginning of 2023, where he was signed by Professional Fighters Lea…

My opponent for my ONE debut at January 28th Rotang has been canceled and changed to Superlek and I’m going to fight for the one championship world title.I have been preparing to fight Rotang for a long time and sacrificed many things for this fight so I was shocked and… pic.twitter.com/SvpjyQk8c5

— 武尊 takeru (@takerusegawa) January 5, 2024 Switching top-tier opponents is no problem for a star like Takeru Segawa.

According to the Japanese kickboxer on Friday morning, his One Championship kickboxing matchup against Rodtang Jitmuangnon is no longer in the cards. Atop ONE 165 on Jan. 28 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Takeru (42-3) will instead throw down with Superlek Kiatmoo9 (136-29-4). This match will put Superlek’s ONE flyweight (135 pounds) kickboxing belt on the line.

Superlek was gearing up to defend his throne against Elias Mahmoudi at ONE Fight Night 18, however, Mahmoudi was also forced out of their meeting due to an injury. In h…

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Anthony Smith believes he needs to alter his approach following a recent loss to Khalil Rountree at UFC Fight Night 233 in December.

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Smith (37-19) stepped up on 10 days’ notice to face Rountree (13-5) in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 233 after Azamat Murzakanov was forced out of his original meeting with the Tiger Muay Thai representative on Dec. 2 due to pneumonia.

On a four-fight win streak, Rountree managed to land with more authority in the first two rounds, even hurting Smith during an exchange in Round 2. Ultimately, “The War Horse” landed a crisp uppercut followed by a left hook in the opening minute of the third round that sent “Lionheart” crashing to the canvas. Smith is now 1-3 in his last four Octagon outings.

Having had the time to reflect on the loss over the holidays, “Lionheart” admitted that taking a short-notice fight against a ferocious adversary such as Rountree was perhaps not the best idea. Mor…

[embedded content] At least three of One Championship’s title fights in Qatar will be under MMA rules.

Per the organization on Tuesday, Kai Tang (17-2) and Thanh Le (14-3) will run it back for the unified ONE featherweight (155 pounds) throne. The two will square off on March 1 at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar, as part of the promotion’s first card in the Middle Eastern nation. It will join a pair of championship rematches of Reinier de Ridder vs. Anatoliy Malykhin—this time at 205 pounds—and Jarred Brooks vs. Joshua Pacio at 125 pounds.

Tang has not competed since claiming a victory over Le in August 2022, where he outworked the Louisiana native across five rounds. In the process, Tang pushed Le to the final bell for the first time in the latter’s career. The fighter from China has not tasted defeat since 2017, running a span of 10 victories including seven under the ONE banner. Tang sports a knockout rate of 76% as a pro, while never winning—or losing—a ma…

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Jailton Almeida is prepared to deliver a feel-good moment in the sport at the end of January.

Almeida is set to return to action on March 9 in Miami against Curtis Blaydes, during the main card of UFC 299. Before then, “Malhadinho” will enter into exhibition, charity match against Alvaro Borges, a fighter with Down syndrome, on Jan. 27. He and Borges will compete at the Bahia Boxing and Martial Arts Training Center—also called the Centro de Treinamento de Boxe e Artes Marciais da Bahia—in Salvador, Brazil. This matchup, along with the other fights on the Demo Fight 18 billing, were announced by the league on Instagram.

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“We know that sport is one of the biggest weapons of social inclusion we have,” the promotion wrote [via Google Translate]. “Thinking about it, we decided to present an exhibition fight with the 2023 MMA revelation athlete Jailton 'Malhadinho' [UFC] and athlete Alvaro Borges with Down Syndr…

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Josh Emmett is hoping to make his way to a title shot by taking on former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight king Max Holloway next.

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A long-time Top 10 featherweight, Emmett (19-4) was on the way to championship contention with a five-fight win streak back in 2022. However, he had his momentum halted courtesy of Yair Rodriguez in an interim title fight at UFC 284, followed by a decision loss against Ilia Topuria, who is set to challenge Alexander Volkanovski for the crown at UFC 298 on Feb. 17.

The Phoenix native returned to the win column at UFC 296 last month against Bryce Mitchell, who replaced an injured Giga Chikadze on short notice. Emmett put “Thug Nasty” to sleep with an overhand right in the opening frame. The scene captured Sherdog’s 2023 “Knockout of the Year” honors.

“I don’t care who was in front of me, I was going in there to put someone away and get my hand raised and end 2023 on a high note,” th…