Martial Arts News

Even at 40 years old, Jared Cannonier isn’t here to be a steppingstone in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.

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He proved that on Saturday night, when he rallied for a fourth-round technical knockout victory against Gregory Rodrigues in the UFC Vegas 102 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Rodrigues entered the bout having won five of his last six Octagon appearances, but “The Killa Gorilla” denied the Brazilian’s entry into the upper echelon of the division.

Cannonier balked at the notion that he was settling into a gatekeeper role at this point in his MMA career.

“I don’t think anybody’s put that tag on me. It’s just when I was doing all these interviews, the way I was answering the questions it sounded as if I was a gatekeeper,” Cannonier said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Because you guys kept saying ‘you’re fighting this up and comer, you’re fighting a second up and comer, you’re fighting another up…

Anthony Smith is expected to make his final walk to the Octagon against Mingyang Zhang at UFC Kansas City.

Multiple outlets confirmed the light heavyweight booking following an initial report from Kangzif on social media. The UFC Fight Night event takes place on April 26 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Kansas, and also includes a middleweight scrap between Michel Pereira and Abusupiyan Magomedov. A headliner has not been announced for the event.

Smith is coming off a 1-2 campaign in 2024. He began the year with a first-round submission of Vitor Petrino but then dropped back-to-back fights against Roman Dolidze and Dominick Reyes. After a second-round TKO loss to Reyes at UFC 310, the former 205-pound title challenger revealed that he would like to have one more Octagon appearance before calling it a career.

The 26-year-old Zhang will enter the matchup on an 11-bout professional winning streak. The Chinese standout has kicked off his UFC tenure with …

Alex Pereira recently had an emotional reunion with a fan.

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Pereira initially met Ashton during a visit to a cancer treatement center in Australia in June 2024. Ashton was battling cancer and expected to lose his hair due to the treatments. An avid Pereira fan, Ashton asked his idol to shave his hair, and the UFC champ obliged with tears in his eyes.

However, the story seemingly has a fairytale ending, as Pereira was much happier when he reunited with Ashton during a recent trip to Australia. While he had to once leave muay thai practice to battle cancer, Ashton confirmed that he is now three months cancer-free. While “Poatan” is a two-division UFC champ, the Brazilian hailed Ashton as a real fighter.

“I’m here with Ashton,” Pereira said in a video on Instagram. “I don’t know if you remember, about a year ago or so I came to Australia… I cut his hair at the institute of cancer here in Australia. It was something very emotional, very heavy fo…

Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t think Dagestani fighters are unbeatable, and he has the recent proof to back up that assertion.

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Dvalishvili is the only fighter to have beaten a Dagestani in a major title fight in recent times. After winning the UFC bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 last year, Dvalishvili was initially loathe to immediately defend his title against Umar Nurmagomedov. “The Machine” claimed that the undefeated Dagestani was being gifted a title shot because of the legacy of his cousin, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

However, Dvalishvili eventually agreed to the matchup, which took place in the co-main event at UFC 311 in California last month. While Nurmagomedov didn’t lack in skills, Dvalishvili’s legendary cardio was enough to hand the challenger his first pro loss.

Dvalishvili has subsequently refuted the popular aura of invincibility surrounding Dagestani fighters. While he admits that the region has produced great athlet…

Yaroslav Amosov will return from a lengthy hiatus to square off against Curtis Millender at Fightality “Legacy Revival” on March 14.

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The promotion recently announced the pairing on social media. Fightality “Legacy Revival” takes place at Compass Arena in Willowbrook, Illinois. It’s expected to be a potential showcase for Amosov before moving on to the UFC.

Amosov hasn’t competed since relinquishing the Bellator MMA welterweight strap to Jason Jackson in a third-round knockout loss in November 2023 — his first setback in 28 professional appearances. “Dynamo” did not compete at all once Bellator resumed operations under Professional Fighters League ownership last year. Amosov owns notable wins over the likes of Logan Storley (twice), Douglas Lima, Ed Ruth and Erick Silva.

Millender is a well-traveled veteran who has enjoyed stints in the UFC, Bellator and PFL. He is coming off an 0-2 campaign in 2024 that saw him suffer first-round defeats at…

The UFC Vegas 102 headliner was a fight of major momentum swings.

While the last of those belonged to Jared Cannonier in a fourth-round technical knockout victory, both he and opponent Gregory Rodrigues received an additional $50,000 for their efforts. The middleweight clash, which saw Cannonier recover from two first-round knockdowns to put “Robocop” away 21 seconds into Round 4, was an easy choice for “Fight of the Night” honors on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Edmen Shahbazyan earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his quick finish of Dylan Budka in a featured middleweight clash. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum sent his foe to the canvas with a perfectly-timed counter right hand, then sealed his victory with a few follow-up strikes on the floor 1:35 into the opening period.

Finally, Gabriel Bonfim secured the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check by putting Kalinn Williams to sleep in their preliminary welterweight bout. The Bra…

Jared Cannonier may not be as far over the hill as some thought.

The 40-year-old MMA Lab star stood his ground in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, as he punched out Gregory Rodrigues in the fourth round of their UFC Fight Night 251 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Cannonier (18-8, 11-8 UFC) closed it out 21 seconds into Round 4, rebounding from back-to-back defeats to Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho in resounding fashion.

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Rodrigues (16-6, 7-3 UFC) roared out of the gate with an overwhelming first round, as he decked “The Killa Gorilla” twice with right hands. However, it proved to be an unsustainable pace for the Brazilian. Cannonier called upon his guile and big-fight experience to push the former Legacy Fighting Alliance titleholder out of his comfort zone and beyond his bounds. He leveled Rodrigues with a standing elbow and followed up with ground-and-pound near the end of the third round, and as th…

Sherdog's live UFC Vegas 102 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 251. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Cavalcanti (-440), Avila (+340)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Walker (-225), Mayes (+185)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler…

Jose Delgado sent a loud-and-clear message to the rest of the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division: He intends to stick around awhile.

The MMA Lab prospect made quite the impression in his organizational debut, as he wiped out Connor Matthews with elbows and punches in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 251 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Matthews (7-3, 0-2 UFC) succumbed to blows 2:58 into Round 2.

Delgado (9-1, 1-0 UFC) took his time, probed for openings and unleashed his hands. He floored Matthews with an overhand right and immediately powered into full mount, prompting the New England Cartel product to surrender his back. A few elbow strikes and punches from Delgado were enough for referee Dan Miragliotta to wave it off.

Meanwhile, Alliance MMA standout Angela Hill rebounded from an Aug. 24 loss to Tabatha Ricci and did just enough to skate past fellow former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder Ketlen Souza …

Gracias! @RagingPandaMMA anuncia su retiro de la competencia #UFCVegas102 pic.twitter.com/vWHqyo6dXS

— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) February 15, 2025

UFC bantamweight Julia Avila (9-4) called it a career inside the Octagon on Saturday.

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Avila fought streaking up-and-comer Jacqueline Cavalcanti on the prelims at UFC Vegas 102 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. The Portuguese prospect beat up Avila for three rounds to earn a dominant unanimous decision victory, which makes her unbeaten in four Octagon trips.

Avila subsequently laid down her gloves inside the Octagon and announced her retirement from the sport.

“This is it. I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to fight on the world’s best stage,” Avila told Daniel Cormier in her post-fight interview. “Usually I start my fight with the Psalm 144:1 — May God strengthen my fists for battle and my fingers for warfare. But today I say, God says, ‘Well do…

The UFC Mexico City card continues to take shape with the addition of three new fights.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion on Friday announced the following bouts: Drew Dober vs. Manuel Torres at lightweight; Lupita Godinez vs. Julia Polastri at strawweight and Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Kevin Borjas at flyweight.

UFC Mexico City — also known as UFC on ESPN 64 — takes place at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico, on March 29 and is headlined by a flyweight showdown pitting Brandon Moreno against Steve Erceg.

Dober has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a third-round TKO defeat to Jean Silva at UFC on ESPN 59 this past June. Mexico’s Torres had a three-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a first-round TKO loss to Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 306.

After winning all four of her fights under the UFC banner in 2023, Godinez dropped back-to-back decisions to Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern last year. P…

🗣️ Islam Makhachev on Ilia Topuria:

“I heard [Ilia] has problems cutting weight… he’s probably already gained fat from the good life…

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Let him move up, and when he earns his chance we will definitely fight.”

🎥 @MatchTV #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/7RjHW94szK

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 14, 2025

Islam Makhachev believes Ilia Topuria’s primary motivation to move up is his inability to cut weight.

Topuria has recently been planning a move up to lightweight to challenge Makhachev for the lightweight title. The ever-confident featherweight champ believes he can have his way with Makhachev, currently the UFC’s pound-for-pound king.

However, Makhachev isn’t willing to offer Topuria an immediate title shot upon moving to lightweight. The lightweight champ believes Topuria’s plans to move up to 155 pounds stem from an inability to make 145 pounds due to the “good life.” While he is willing to fight T…