Martial Arts News

Khalil Rountree believes he is deserving of a title shot following his spectacular win over former title contender Anthony Smith in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 233 on Saturday.

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Smith stepped up on 15 days’ notice after Rountree’s original opponent, Azamat Murzakanov, pulled out due to pneumonia. Rountree clearly outstruck “Lionheart” from the outset of the fight before brutally knocking him out with an uppercut and left hook combo early in the third round. This marked the fifth consecutive victory for “The War Horse,” a streak which includes finishes against Modestas Bukauskas, Karl Roberson and Chris Daukaus.

In the aftermath of his latest victory, the streaking light heavyweight shot for the stars by calling for a title shot against Alex Pereira. However, the Tiger Muay Thai rep is also aware that he might have to pass other tests before making a gold bid.

“I came in with high hopes I would have a good performance,” the 33-year-old…

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Leon Edwards recently offered some insight into his perceived dispute with rising welterweight prospect Ian Garry.

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Garry got into a feud with Edwards after being barred from the Englishman’s Team Renegade gym. While Garry claimed to have been thrown out over Edwards’ “insecurities,” the champion entirely dismissed the narrative.

“I feel like once he came to the gym, he just didn’t fit into the gym,” Edwards told MMAFighting.com. “This is like the third gym now he’s been kicked out of. It is what it is. He’s just a different kind of guy. He’s hard to blend with. Everywhere he goes there’s a camera there. Everywhere he goes, his wife is there, his kid is there. There’s a lot going on. There wasn’t any bad blood. He came out and made it into a big thing and it wasn’t. He’s been kicked out of more gyms than mine. Like, why are you making such a big deal out of it? Because I’m the champion, he wants to ri…

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Islam Makhachev would prefer adding new names to his resume than taking on rematches.

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Surging contender Arman Tsarukyan recently announced his arrival at the top of the 155-pound division with a brutal KO win over Beneil Dariush at UFC Austin on Dec. 2. While Tsarukyan’s subsequent demand for a title shot was acknowledged by Dana White, Makhachev believes the Georgian has to pass another test in impressive fashion first.

Asked about Tsarukyan’s prediction of a first-round KO, Makhachev noted that he had won all three rounds against “Ahalkalakets” in their initial encounter back in 2019.

“Well it was a good knockout to be honest. After that fight I think he said loudly that he had won the top [ranking],” Makhachev told Ushatayka. “Well, he is approaching the title chance I would say… He already had the chance to knock me out. But he didn’t succeed. He didn’t win a single round. Let him train mor…

Khalil Rountree got paid a little extra for the most significant victory of his Ultimate Fighting Championship career to date.

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“The War Horse” received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his fifth straight triumph, a third-round technical knockout of Anthony Smith in the UFC Fight Night 233 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Rountree ended the contest 56 seconds into the final stanza when he dropped his opponent with a right uppercut followed by a left hook.

Elsewhere, Nasrat Haqparast pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check thanks to a quick finish of Jamie Mullarkey in a featured middleweigh affair. The Tristar Gym representative sat his foe down with a straight left, then put Mullarkey away with a volley of uppercuts at the 1:44 mark of Round 1.

Tim Elliott stepped in on short notice against Su Mudaerji and was compensated an additional $50,000 for his efforts in a bantamweight scrap. Afte…

Yadong Song sees himself as a serious contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division. Perhaps he has a point.

The burgeoning Team Alpha Male star handled his business with all-terrain expertise and laid claim to a unanimous decision over Chris Gutierrez in the UFC Fight Night 233 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Song (21-7-1, 10-2-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with 50-44, 50-45 and 50-45 marks from the cageside judges, winning for the fifth time in six assignments.

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Outside of a steady diet of leg kicks and a sensational front kick to the face in the second round, Gutierrez (20-6-2, 8-3-1 UFC) was not much of a factor. Song connected with the heavier punches, controlled the center of the cage and kept the Factory X rep in a constant state of retreat. He incorporated takedowns in the second, third and fourth rounds, pairing them with positional control and ground-and-pound. Gutierrez, in what can only be describ…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 233 coverage will begin Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Dos Santos (-148), Alencar (+124)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Taira (-410), Hernandez (+320)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Santos (-185), …

Tatsuro Taira once again served notice to the rest of the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.

The undefeated former Shooto champion put away VFS Academy rep Carlos Hernandez with punches in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 233 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Hernandez (9-3, 2-2 UFC), who had never before been stopped by strikes, succumbed to blows 55 seconds into Round 2.

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The 23-year-old Taira (15-0, 5-0 UFC) countered a takedown into top position in the first round, and the rout was on. He progressed from half guard to full mount, then advanced to the back while consolidating his efforts with ground-and-pound. Early in the second, Taira stepped into a beautifully timed right hook. The impact froze Hernandez where he stood and left him defenseless to follow-up attacks. Taira drove him to the mat with punches and sealed the deal with ground-and-pound.

Taira was not the only unbeaten flyweight prosp…

A lightweight showdown pitting Drew Dober against Renato Carneiro has been added to the UFC Fight Night 235 lineup.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking after “Moicano” initially announced the bout on his YouTube channel. UFC Fight Night 235 takes place on Feb. 3 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight tilt between Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov.

The 35-year-old Dober has been victorious in four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, the Elevation Fight Team product defeated Ricky Glenn via first-round technical knockout at UFC Fight Night 229 on Oct. 7. Dober owns the most KO/TKO victories in the UFC’s lightweight division with nine.

Carneiro, meanwhile, is 3-1 in his last four UFC bouts but did not compete at all in 2023. The 34-year-old Brazilian is coming off a first-round submission triumph over Brad Riddell at UFC 281 in November 2022.

A flyweight meeting between former Dana White’s Contender Series competitors Ode Osbourne and Jafel Filho has been added to a UFC Fight Night event on March 16.

The meeting was first announced by Filho’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, in a social media post on Friday. The card is set to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Currently 4-4 in the promotion, Osbourne has had his share of ups and downs inside the Octagon. The Wisconsin native is coming off a Round 2 rear-naked choke submission loss to Kazakhstan's Asu Almabaev in August. Before that, Osbourne recorded a split-decision victory against Charles Johnson at UFC Fight Night 220 in February.

Meanwhile, Filho most recently secured a Round 1 arm-triangle submission win against Daniel Barez at UFC Fight Night 224 in July. This came after the Brazilian took on surging flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev in his promotional debut. While Filho ultimately lost the bout due to a Round 3 submission, “Pa…

A women's bantamweight matchup between Montserrat Rendon and Nora Cornolle is set to go down at a UFC Fight Night Event scheduled for March 23.

The booking was announced by Rendon's management, Iridium Sports Agency, in a social media post. The event will take place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Rendoni is undefeated in six professional outings and is coming off a split-decision victory against Tamires Vidal in her promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 228. All of Rendon's professional mixed martial arts wins have come by way of decision.

Cornolle is coming off a unanimous decision victory against Joselyne Edwards in her promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 226 in September. Cornolle's lone professional MMA loss came in her pro debut, where she competed in the featherweight division.

A flyweight bout between Nathan Maness and undefeated Kazakhstani prospect Azat Maksum has been finalized for next year's UFC Fight Night 235 card.

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The booking was first announced by Maksum's management, Underdog Management, in a post on social media and subsequently shared by Maksum as well.

Maness kicked off his Ultimate Fighting Championship career with three consecutive victories. However, the Kentucky native has gone 1-2 in his last three outings, with losses at the hands of Tagir Ulanbekov and Umar Nurmagomedov. Maness is coming off a Round 1 technical knockout victory against Mateus Mendonca at UFC Fight Night 229 that saw him bounce back from his two-fight skid.

Meanwhile, undefeated Kazakhstani prospect Maksum is coming off a split-decision victory against UFC veteran Tyson Nam in his promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 49. The former Octagon Promotion flyweight champion owns a 17-0 career mark that includes 12 victories inside the dis…

#ONEFightNight17 highlight video: Roman Kryklia clocks Alex Roberts pic.twitter.com/6tAUVGBVG0

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) December 9, 2023

ONE Fight Night 17ONE Fight Night 17 was a pure muay thai affair, featuring eight bouts of the martial art and set in its chief temple, the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. It also served as validation for more such cards, as an amazing 7 of the 8 contests featured knockouts, most of which were sensational. And the only fight which went to the judges was not only the fight of the night but a candidate for fight of the year in any combat sport.

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In the main event, the inaugural ONE muay thai heavyweight crown was at stake. On one side was the tough Australian striker Alex Roberts. On the other was the formidable Roman Kryklia, already the ONE kickboxing heavyweight champion. The first round was a back-and-forth, full-blooded affair. Kryklia scored a solid knockdown with a right cro…