Martial Arts News

About a month after facing Cory Sandhagen at UFC Des Moines, Deiveson Figueiredo learned that he fought that night with a fractured jaw.

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“My dentist asked for an MRI before I started a teeth whitening process, and when the image came, she found the fracture,” the former flyweight champion told Sherdog.com.

According to the Brazilian, the fracture happened five weeks before the fight.

“I was doing sparring when I got hit hard with a straight punch,” Figueiredo said. “I thought I had dislocated my jaw, and Patricio [Freire] immediately asked to stop. Since it was really painful, I stopped sparring for three weeks, only doing specific training like ground-and-pound and [shadowing]. Basic stuff that could help me to burn calories and make weight.”   

Figueiredo lost to Sandhagen when he hurt his knee during a grappling exchange that resulted in the bout being stopped at the 4:08 mark of Round 2. According to “Daico,” that injury wo…

Riyadh Season and Sela PresentThe Fight of the Century 🔥Canelo vs. Crawford 🥊For the Undisputed Super Middleweight Championship and The Ring Magazine Belt 👑📍 Sept 13 – Las Vegas🌍 Streaming live on Netflix as part of a strategic partnership with Riyadh Season… pic.twitter.com/Z1kJrb0FcN

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) June 10, 2025

UFC CEO Dana White will have a hand in promoting one of the biggest boxing matches in recent memory.

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It was officially announced in a press release on Tuesday that the unified supermiddleweight championship clash between Canelo Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) and Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will take place on Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. While the bout itself — and its date — had already been reported, a few other pertinent details surrounding the fight were also revealed.

Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and president of the Saudi Boxing Feder…

𝙅𝙊𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙉𝙀𝙎𝘽𝙐𝙍𝙂… 𝙒𝙀 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙂! 🔥PFL Africa is coming to the Big Top Arena in Carnival City on Saturday August 9!

🇳🇬 Ocheme vs. Camara 🇬🇳🇦🇴 Esperanca vs. Mané 🇬🇲

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Tickets are available for purchase this Thursday at TicketPro! You don’t want to miss it! pic.twitter.com/9c0aMFfpGu — PFLAfrica (@PFLAfrica) June 10, 2025

Professional Fighters League’s sophomore event in Africa has an official date and venue.

The league announced on Tuesday that PFL Africa 2 will take place on Aug. 9 at the Big Top Arena, Carnival City in Johannesburg, South Africa. The event will feature first-round bouts at featherweight and welterweight and streams in the U.S. on the newly launched PFL App.

The card’s featured bout will be an first-round featherweight showdown pitting Nigeria’s Patrick Ocheme against Guinea’s Mohamed Camara. The co-main event will see Angola’s Shido Boris Esperanca square off against Gambia’s Ibrahima Mane in a…

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Joaquin Buckley wants to skip Islam Makhachev in the title queue if he beats Kamaru Usman. 

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Buckley headlines UFC Atlanta against Usman on Saturday at the State Farm Arena. “New Mansa” is calling for the next welterweight title shot if he beats the former champ on Saturday. 

However, Makhachev, the former lightweight champion, is standing in Buckley’s way. While Makhachev had long been eyeing a welterweight move, his friend Belal Muhammad’s title reign was a hurdle. However, that all changed last month when Muhammad was dethroned by Jack Della Maddalena in an upset at UFC 315 last month. Makhachev immediately confirmed his move to 170 pounds, and UFC CEO Dana White verbally guaranteed him the next title shot. 

Buckley argues that even if Makhachev fights and beats Maddalena, he’s not going to continue at welterweight. Buckley also believes Makhachev will duck him, as he’ll stylistically be a hard matchup for t…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Malcolm Wellmaker (9-0) wants to flatten Kris Moutinho to prove (14-6) that he has more power than Sean O'Malley. 

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Wellmaker will take on Moutinho in front of a home crowd at UFC Atlanta on Saturday at the State Farm Arena. This marks Moutinho's return to the UFC after a brief two-fight stint in 2021-22. Moutinho took his first fight against O’Malley on 11 days’ notice. O’Malley landed a total of 230 significant strikes, the most ever in a three-round UFC bantamweight fight. However, Moutinho showed immense heart in continuing to go forward despite taking damage before being stopped with 27 seconds left on the clock. 

Wellmaker noted that O’Malley, a knockout artist, couldn’t put Moutinho out cold. Now, Wellmaker, a knockout artist in his own right, wants to put Moutinho to sleep to prove a point.

“Do I have more power than Sean O’Malley? So I’m on a mission to show the world t…

Bryan Battle (12-2) and Nursulton Ruziboev (36-9) are scheduled to meet in a middleweight contest at UFC 319.

Both Battle and Ruziboev confirmed the matchup on social media following an initial report from Home of Fight. UFC 319 takes place on Aug. 16 at the United Center in Chicago and is headlined by a middleweight title clash between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev.

The winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 29,” Battle made his UFC debut in 2021. “The Butcher” has finished five of his seven UFC wins while only dropping a decision against Rinat Fakhretdinov. Currently unbeaten in five outings, Battle is coming off a split-decision win over Randy Brown. 

Meanwhile, Ruziboev paid his dues on the regional circuit before making his UFC debut in 2023. After starting with back-to-back first-round knockout wins, Ruziboev came up short against a big step up in competition in Joaquin Buckley. “Black” has since bounced back with wins over Eric McConico and D…

𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Your updated #PFLWorldTournament 6️⃣ Fight Card!

- 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗽: Mansour Barnaoui vs. Archie Colgan has been added to the fight card

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- The winner of this fight becomes the #1 contender for the PFL Lightweight World Title and will be… pic.twitter.com/k229GX3BfD — PFL (@PFLMMA) June 9, 2025

The World Tournament semifinals won’t be the only high stakes action on tap for Professional Fighters League on June 20.

The promotion announced on Monday that a lightweight clash between Mansour Barnaoui and Archie Colgan has been added to PFL World Tournament 6, which takes place at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita Kansas. As an added incentive, the winner of the contest will become the No. 1 contender for 155-pound champion Usman Nurmagomedov.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the Semifinals of the PFL World Tournament LIVE Thursday, June 12 at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

A native of Paris, Barnaoui is…

American Top Team was thrilled to add another championship to its collection.

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Kayla Harrison received a warm welcome when she returned to the Florida-based gym on Monday following her second-round submission of Julianna Pena in the UFC 316 co-main event. The newly-crowned bantamweight queen was greeted by a large crowd that included the likes of Dustin Poirier and Alexandre Pantoja.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was a two-time Professional Fighters League champion at 155 pounds before signing with the UFC, where she rolled through Holly Holm, Ketlen Vieira and Pena to reach the top of the bantamweight division.

A big-ticket showdown awaits Harrison, as she is expected to lock horns with former two-division champion Amanda Nunes at a future event. Nunes is coming out of retirement following a two-year hiatus that began following her title defense against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June 2023.

Interestingly enough, Nunes admitted…

Manel Kape won’t be fighting Brandon Royval as expected at UFC 317, but the consolation prize isn’t too bad.

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Kape revealed on Monday that a fractured foot that will require surgery has forced him out of the June 28 flyweight bout against Royval. As a result, Joshua Van will step in against the former 125-pound title challenger. Both Royval and Van announced the new booking on social media, but the bout has not been officially confirmed by the promotion.

“Manel Kape is out, Joshua Van is stepping in,” Royval said on Instagram. “I have zero idea of the extent of Manel Kape’s injuries but I do know I have the hottest prospect and probably the most exciting UFC flyweight in front of me. Really nothing changes for me as far as what’s in front of me. I’ve got a gangster that’s ready to take my head off and earn his name off of me.”

Van, 23, has won seven of his first eight Octagon appearances. The Myanmar native is coming off a third-round TKO defe…

Even after a lopsided loss in the UFC 316 co-main event, Julianna Pena is determined to remain in the women’s bantamweight title picture.

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Pena suffered a second-round submission defeat to Kayla Harrison on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, ending her second reign as 135-pound queen in short order. “The Venezuelan Vixen” is already eyeing another title shot, however.

“Thank you to the fans who lifted me with your love and encouragement during this [fight camp] I love you all and feel so grateful for all the support and energy you guys give me—It truly means the world. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get the job done. I’m super disappointed but hats off to Kayla on her win!” Pena wrote on Instagram.

“Time to get healed up and get ready for her next fight because I’m calling dibs on the winner.”

Harrison is expected to face former two-division champ Amanda Nunes later this year. The Brazilian recently revealed that she is…

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Manager Ali Abdelaziz has made a strong assertion while serving as an unofficial mouthpiece of UFC lightweight star Justin Gaethje.

With Islam Makhachev off to pursue championship dreams at 170 pounds, Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira will vie for the vacant lightweight belt in the UFC 317 main event on June 28. Gaethje will have a vested interested in the result of that fight, according to his manager.

“Justin Gaethje fights the winner,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “He’s won three of his last four, he saved the UFC two times. They needed him, and he’s there. The guy did so much for the sport. If anyone said he doesn’t deserve it—and he said, ‘If I’m not going to fight for the title, I’m just going to hang up my gloves.’”

The former World Series of Fighting Champion is 3-1 in his last four Octagon appearances, with victories over Rafael Fiziev (twice) and Dustin Poirier to his credit. His lone loss during that time, a fifth-round k…

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