Martial Arts News

Former Matrix Fight Night featherweight champion Sanjeet Budhwar (11-2) recorded his 11th professional victory at MFN 14, as he knocked out Afghanistan’s Abdul Azim Badakhshi (14-4) in their main event meeting on Saturday at the Noida Indoor Stadium, in Uttar Pradesh, India.

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The opening minutes of the first frame saw both competitors feel each other out, with Badakhshi looking to control the center while keeping his foe on the end of creative spinning-kick attacks and punches. Budhwar, on the other hand, seemed content staying on the outside while making his reads, clearly looking for counter shots. However, the round soon came to a halt, first due to a groin strike by Badakhshi followed by an accidental eye poke by the Afghan with 10 seconds left in the first stanza.

Following a check-up on Budhwar by the ringside physicians and an eight-minute gap in action, the athletes resumed directly in Round 2. Budhwar managed to control the center of the…

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Bantamweights Rani Yahya and Victor Henry will lock horns at UFC on ESPN 55 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on April 27.

The news was first reported by Eurosport NL’s Marcel Dorff on X (formerly known as Twitter). UFC on ESPN 55 will be headlined by a flyweight clash between Matheus Nicolau and Manel Kape.

Yahya (28-11) has gone 2-1 in his last three Octagon outings and is coming off a Round 1 knockout loss at the hands of Montel Jackson in April last year. The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak for the 39-year-old Brazilian, which included a unanimous decision win over Kyung Ho Kang and a Round 2 submission victory over Ray Rodriguez in 2021.

Meanwhile, Henry (23-6) made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut back in January 2022 and sports a 2-1 promotional record. “La Mangosta” will enter the Octagon on the heels of a meeting with Javid Basharat at UFC 294 that was ruled a no-contest due to an accidental groin kick landed by Basharat in Round 2. …

Thai star Phetjeeja OrMeekhun unified the ONE Championship atomweight kickboxing title with a five-round unanimous decision win over Janet Todd in the ONE Fight Night 20 main event at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

Phetjeeja and Todd headlined a nine-fight, all-female card to celebrate International Women’s Day and left it all in the ring. Todd, who entered as the reigning champion, hadn’t fought in over a year, while Phetjeeja, the interim champion, stayed busy with five wins during that span.

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Phetjeeja’s activity showed early as the 22-year-old’s timing led the way. Todd looked to lead and land hard, but Phetjeeja made it difficult with her movement and counters. Todd found success in close range but didn’t have an answer on the outside.

The fight remained competitive throughout all five rounds, until Phetjeeja put the definitive cap on her performance with a knockdown in the final 40 seconds. Todd hopped up immediately, but she knew she was…

ONE Championship presents ONE Fight Night 20, a celebration of International Women’s Day with an all-female card showcasing top tier-talent from around the globe. The main event pits reigning ONE women’s 115-pound kickboxing champion Janet Todd against interim champ Phetjeeja OrMeekhun.

The event will also feature the final bout of Todd’s illustrious career as she aims to defend her title against the formidable Thai bruiser. The narrative for the main event is set: can Todd retire as the undisputed queen of kickboxing or will Phetjeeja spoil her farewell? Brazilian powerhouse Allycia Hellen Rodrigues occupies the co-main event spot in a bid to defend her ONE 115-pound women’s muay thai world championship against fiery Spanish sensation Cristina Morales.

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Stay tuned to Sherdog.com for live play-by-play updates starting at 8 p.m. ET, ensuring you won't miss any action from ONE on Prime Video 20 on March 8. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result …

WHAAAT JOSHUA KILLS NGANNOU! #JoshuaNgannou pic.twitter.com/yMqpWRkoG0

— TakeruCigarra (@TakeruCigarra) March 9, 2024 Anthony Joshua reminded the masses that it only takes one shot at the heavyweight division.

To headline the all-day boxing showcase in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Anthony Joshua represented the sweet science against the marauding Francis Ngannou. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king acquitted himself extremely well in his pro boxing debut against Tyson Fury in 2023, but the same could not be said when he took on “AJ.” Joshua wasted little time putting the dangerous Ngannou on ice, dropping the MMA fighter twice before completely flattening him with a right hand in the second round.

Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) only needed to score five power punches, according to Compubox numbers, to record three knockdowns in their heavyweight main attraction. Ngannou (0-2, 0 KOs) kept things close to start, jabbing the head and…

An epic night of boxing action awaits combat sports enthusiasts as ranked heavyweight boxing stars

are set to collide in an event dubbed “Knockout Chaos.” The heavyweight showdown is set to unfold on March 8 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and promises to be a pivotal moment in the heavyweight boxing landscape, potentially propelling the victor towards a shot at a heavyweight crown next.

Joshua seeks to extend his win streak to four, while Ngannou aims for his maiden triumph since crossing over to the boxing world. Sherdog.com brings live play-by-play updates, ensuring you don’t miss any moment from the “Knockout Chaos” event, with ring walks expected to start at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp sco…

Sanzhar Zakirov emerged victorious and nailed down a One Championship contract with a second-round technical knockout of Ryosuke Honda in their ONE Friday Fights 54 strawweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Zakirov was quick to take the center and begin pushing his foe back with measured attacks to the head and body before landing a knee below the belt, leading to a pause in the action. Zakirov got back to cornering Honda before successfully taking him down to the canvas. However, the South Korean was quick to make his way back to his feet. Nevertheless, a relentless Zakirov managed to lock both his hands behind Honda’s knees a few seconds later and proceeded to slam him to the canvas and take his back. However, Honda managed to safely make it back to his feet once again. Zakirov continued with his forward pressure, landing elbows and punches on his cornered counterpart before once again securing a takedown and unleashing ground-and-pou…

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.

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> 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.

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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.

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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…