Martial Arts News

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The trend of last-minute fight cancellations continues in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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UFC Fight Night 236, which goes down at the promotion’s Apex facility on Feb. 10, has lost its third fight within a span of 24 hours.

As per a UFC announcement, Bosnia’s Damir Hadzovic (14-7) is out of a booking against Belgian debutant Bolaji Oki (8-1) due to visa issues and will be replaced by Dana White’s Conteder Series 2023 competitor Timothy Cuamba (8-1). “Twilight Timmy” is riding a five-fight win streak topped off by a stoppage win under the Tuff N Uff banner last week. On the other hand, Oki hasn’t lost a fight since his professional debut in 2018.

Meanwhile, a shoulder injury has forced middleweight prospect Tresean Gore (4-2) out of his booking against A.J. Dobson (7-2), which was scheduled for the prelims card of UFC 298 on Feb. 17 in Anaheim, California. While Dobson teased new fight news soon, he is yet to find an…

Benoit St. Denis claims he had nothing to do with confusion regarding his upcoming Octagon clash with Dustin Poirier.

St. Denis (13-1) is scheduled to fight Poirier (29-8) for five rounds in the co-main event at UFC 299 on March 9 in Miami.

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The booking suddenly appeared to be jeopardized when Poirier announced on social media that the fight was off. The drama ended with the promotion confirming that the fight was on within hours. Notably, “The Diamond” also confirmed the booking on X (formerly known as Twitter), blaming the confusion on “miscommunication.”

Poirier did not divulge much about what went on behind the scenes in a subsequent interview. Regardless, “The Diamond” was quick to express his happiness at finally getting the deal done.

St. Denis has now shared his side of things, which seemed to be a mixture of confusion and hope. “God of War” was aiming for a top-tier opponent but couldn’t be sure that it would be Poirier until the fight w…

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Rumors of Dricus Du Plessis potentially defending his belt at UFC 300 are most likely not true.

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Coming off a split-decision title win over Sean Strickland in a nailbiter at UFC 297 last month, du Plessis doesn’t have a potential timeline in mind for his first defense.

“I have no idea [when it’ll be]. For me, right now, we are still busy with some scans and seeing what we can do in terms of after the fight, some injuries; can we fight soon, is that a possibility and all that,” the middleweight champ told South African radio station Jacaranda FM. “So that’ll be great [to get that done], that’ll be great, but we have to make sure that the longevity of my career is also taken into consideration. We’ve had a very active last year, year and a half. And that’s what I said, we rushed to get to this belt; we had to take every opportunity given to us. Right now, we need to be smart and defend this belt when it suits us.”

Rumors of a…

Sean O'Malley’s longtime coach, Tim Welch, hasn’t seen anything from Marlon Vera that he’s concerned about since their first meeting in August 2020.

Vera (23-8) handed O’Malley (17-1) his lone career loss in their first encounter, which “Sugar” refuses to acknowledge to date, blaming it on a damaged peroneal nerve due to a “fluke” leg kick.

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O’Malley is gearing up to defend his bantamweight strap in a rematch against “Chito” in the main event at UFC 299 on March 9 in Miami. Welch believes Vera won’t be very confident going into the rematch as he hasn’t seen a ton of improvement in the Ecuadorian since the initial encounter.

“I don’t think [he’s improved] a ton. I don’t think his confidence is going to be high,” Welch said in an appearance on The MMA Hour. “And the way he showed up against Cory Sandhagen, he got smoked by Cory Sandhagen. He barely got past a little, short — no diss, but — Pedro Munhoz, who’s not very fast and big, he’s a little bit ol…

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Kevin Lee recently opened up on his decision to return to competition, six months after announcing his retirement.

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Lee (19-8) hung up his gloves after being submitted in under a minute by Rinat Fakhretdinov in July last year. “The Motown Phenom” recently announced his decision to come out of retirement which was seemingly flamed by a conversation with his mother. While Lee was already having trouble staying away from fighting, an observation made by his mother made the axe fall, Lee told Middle Easy:

“It’s a long time coming. I’ve probably been thinking about it for the last two months or so. The one that really kind of pushed me over the edge was a conversation that I had with my mom. She said that the smile in my soul is gone. I remember repeating it back to her to make sure I heard it right. I was like, 'man, that’s deep.’”

“My takeaway from it was just that I needed to fight again. It had already kind of been, like, in …

Former mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano is suing Disney and Lucasfilm over her firing from the “Star Wars” spin-off series “The Mandalorian.”

Back in 2021, Disney abruptly announced that Carano, who played Cara Dune on “The Mandalorian,” would not be appearing on the third season of the show as she was fired over “abhorrent” comments made on Twitter, now known as X, and other social media outlets.

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However, a lot has changed since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and his subsequent promise to pay the legal fees of anyone who faced discrimination for voicing their political views on his platform. Carano has now filed a lawsuit against Disney and Lucasfilm, alleging discrimination and wrongful firing for voicing right-wing opinions.

Carano also claims to have faced harassment on social media over her views on Black Lives Matter, gender pronouns and regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The former Strikeforce title challenger further accused th…

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Alexander Volkanovski claims he was drinking alcohol every day leading up to his rematch against Islam Makhachev this past October.

Volkanovski (26-3) was coming off a successful title defense against Yair Rodriguez in July and recovering from a hand surgery when the otherwise disciplined featherweight champ developed a drinking habit. When Volkanovski received the call to replace Charles Oliveira on 12 days’ notice against Makhachev, the temptation to correct his UFC 284 decision loss against the lightweight champ was highly enticing.

While “The Great” went on to suffer a Round 1 head kick knockout, it’s the lack of discipline in the months prior that bothers him more than the loss.

“It was like a little kick up the arse for me – I wasn’t disciplined,” the Australian said on his teammate Israel Adesanya’s YouTube channel. “I’m known for being disciplined all year round, 24/7, and I just wasn’t that time. I was really disappointed. I wa…

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Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s destruction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship gym door during “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 remains one of the most iconic moments in the history of the show.

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Jackson starred opposite “TUF 2” winner Rashad Evans as a rival coach on “TUF 10,” which drew record views, courtesy the addition of street fight icon Kevin Ferguson. Jackson and Evans had plenty of heated altercations during the show, adding to its lure.

However, Jackson’s team didn’t find much success with only one fighter, Marcus Jones, progressing beyond the first round. So, when “Rampage” destroyed the gym door after Scott Junk’s majority decision loss against Matt Mitrione, fans assumed the reason to be overall frustration. However, Jackson claims there were more serious grievances that led to that moment.

“Do you know why I was so pissed on that show? I had done that season with Rashad but I did it with Forrest [Griffin] first…

Brendan Allen believes a middleweight title shot should be in his immediate future if he defeats upcoming opponent Marvin Vettori.

Allen (23-5), the No. 7-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight, is scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night 240 against the No. 5-ranked perennial Italian contender on April 6 at the UFC Apex in Vegas.

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“All-In” believes a victory over Vettori (19-7) will propel him to title contention or at the least secure him a shot at the No. 1 title contender spot.

“I feel it’s based on my performance,” the 28-year-old told MMA Junkie. “I think if I go out there and finish him and make it look easy, I think I drop my name in the hat for a title shot. But worst case scenario, a true No. 1 contender fight is after that. I really think it just comes down to me. It’s really up to me.

“I think overall, I think this is my fight to lose. I think I’m better in every single place the fight can go. The guy is definitely tough.…

UFC Fight Night 236 has undergone a couple of changes just a few days before the event.

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Melsik Baghdasaryan has withdrawn from a proposed featherweight clash against Hyder Amil due to injury and will be replaced by Fernie Garcia. Meanwhile, visa issues have removed Albert Duraev from a middleweight showdown against Robert Bryczek. As result, Ihor Potieria will step in on short notice and face Bryczek.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the new matchups on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night 236 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday and is headlined by a middleweight duel pitting Jack Hermansson against Joseph Pyfer. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+ with prelims beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT followed by the main draw at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Garcia has dropped his first three promotional appearances — all via decision. In his last outing, the Fortis MMA product fell to Rinya Nakamura on the scorecards at UFC Fight Night 22…

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Dana White will get some screen time during the most watched television event of the year.

The UFC CEO appears in a commercial for Bud Light with the likes of retired NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and music star Post Malone in an ad that will air during the Super Bowl matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. The theme of the commercial, according to a release, is “an easy night out with the Bud Light Genie.”

"It was an absolute blast to be a part of Bud Light's Super Bowl commercial this year," White said in a statement. "Anheuser-Busch and the Super Bowl are two of the biggest American brands in the world. The cast, the director and Peyton were fun to work with and it was such an incredible way to kick off my new partnership with AB and Bud Light." 

The UFC signed a multi-year partnership with Anheuser-Busch to make Bud Light the official beer of the promotion. The deal, which became effective…

Bruce Buffer gave the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers a proper, Ultimate Fighting Championship-style introduction on Monday night.

The longtime UFC ring announcer was on hand as the Chiefs and 49ers arrived in Las Vegas for the opening night of Super Bowl festivities. As the teams entered Allegiant Stadium, Buffer provided his usual array of catchphrases on the microphone to give the evening something of a big-fight feel.

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Watch video of Buffer’s introductions below:

A proper Vegas introduction for the reigning champs. @Chiefs

📺: #SBOpeningNight on NFLN & CBSSN📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/N2i58DBzaT

— NFL (@NFL) February 6, 2024

Entering the stage... the NFC Champion @49ers 🔥

📺: #SBOpeningNight on NFLN & CBSSN📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/tZRFjoN45Q

— NFL (@NFL) February 6, 2024