Martial Arts News

A lightweight showdown pitting Terrance McKinney against Esteban Ribovics is on tap for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on May 11.

Ribovics confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from ESPN KnockOut commentator Gaston Reyno. The UFC Fight Night event doesn’t currently have an announced location or headliner.

McKinney is coming off back-to-back first-round technical knockout victories over Mike Breeden and Brendon Marotte in the second half of 2023. The Spokane, Washington, native is 5-3 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion, with all of his triumphs coming inside of a round.

Argentina’s Ribovics is 1-1 in the Octagon following a first-round knockout of Thomas Paull on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2022. After dropping a decision against Loik Radzhabov in his promotional debut at UFC 285, “El Gringo” rebounded to outpoint Kamuela Kirk at UFC 290 in his most recent appearance.

The lineup for Bellator 302 continues to take shape, as a lightweight clash between Tofiq Musayev and Alfie Davis and a middleweight scrap pitting Fabian Edwards against Aaron Jeffrey have been added to the March 22 event in Belfast, Ireland.

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Sherdog.com confirmed the bouts with a promotion official following an intial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 302 takes place at the SSE Arena and is headlined by a showdown between Corey Anderson and Karl Moore for the promotion’s vacant light heavyweight crown.

Musayev is 1-1 in Bellator MMA competition, with a 27-second stoppage of Sidney Outlaw and a third-round TKO defeat against Alexandr Shabliy on his ledger. More recently, the Azerbaijan native scored back-to-back knockout victories over Akira Okada and Koji Takeda under the Rizin Fighting Federation banner.

Anchored at London Shootfighters, Davis owns a 16-4-1 professional mark. He’ll enter the matchup with Musayev on a two-fight winning s…

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Alexander Volkanovski has no shortage of motivation heading into his latest title defense at UFC 298.

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Not only is the City Kickboxing standout coming off back-to-back losses to reigning lightweight king Islam Makhachev, but he will be facing a dangerous, undefeated challenger in Ilia Topuria. If he had gotten his way, Volkanovski would have faced Topuria even sooner.

“The good thing is about someone like that, I’m always trying to fight or find a No. 1 guy. A clear contender for me to face in this featherweight division and Ilia is it, right?” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “He was the next, it’s clear. They signed the date. I actually wanted him straight after Yair [Rodriguez at UFC 290]. I told him come jump the fence and get a faceoff because he was undefeated. I didn’t want anyone else fighting him. I wanted to make sure I got a young, hungry undefeated guy that’s got hype around him.

“He likes to talk. So, i…

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Longtime coach Eric Albarracin was not a part of Henry Cejudo’s camp ahead of the former two-division champion’s fight with Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298.

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Cejudo parted ways with Albarracin, who has been his coach since before his MMA career began, on an episode of the UFC “Countdown” show. It was unclear exactly when that particular episode was filmed.

“You were with me for my last Olympic trials, and you’ve been there for me, but as of right now, I just want to let you know that for this camp, dude, I’m getting rid of specific coaches – and that’s you included,” Cejudo said to Albarracin.

At least on camera, Albarracin seemed to take his dismissal in stride.

“The goal has always been the same, for you to be the greatest combat athlete of all-time,” Albarracin said. “To me, that was a dream come true.”

Cejudo, meanwhile, commended the coach for his classy response.

“This is why this man is the GOAT coach — the m…

Joe Pyfer’s response to his loss at #UFCVegas86 pic.twitter.com/krginPS7PH

— MMA Mania (@mmamania) February 11, 2024

Joe Pyfer has come a long way since badly dislocating his elbow on Dana White's Contender Series in August 2020.

Pyfer recovered from that injury to author a five-bout winning streak that included three finishes in UFC competition, a run that led to him to a headlining spot opposite Jack Hermansson at UFC Fight Night 236 on Saturday night. Relying on a stiff jab, increasingly effective leg kicks and a solid gas tank, Hermansson derailed Pyfer’s momentum with a unanimous decision triumph at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The tide truly began to turn in Round 3, when “The Joker” rocked his opponent with a hard jab. Pyfer admitted that he was never able to fully recover from that point forward.

“I’m OK, despite how my face looks,” Pyfer said in a video on his Instagram stories. “I wasn’t rocked. I got punched in the…

Sometimes when two close friends square off in the cage, it makes for a less-than-stellar product on fight night.

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That wasn’t the case in the UFC Fight Night 236 co-main event, where Dan Ige authored a vicious knockout of friend and onetime training partner Andre Fili at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Ige floored his opponent with a massive overhand right and then left no doubt with one final standing-to-ground shot to earn a knockout victory 2:43 into Round 1.

For Ige, it was just business.

“I love Andre, man. He’s like one of my most favorite people in this fight game,” Ige said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “I couldn’t let that get in the way of the business. That’s just how it goes sometimes. You fight people you like. I knew if I went in there and was his friend in there, he would have had much more success. I had to go in there and have some mean intentions, and I got it done.”

While Ige and Fili have trained together in …

It can be painfully obvious when the Ultimate Fighting Championship elects to put its promotional muscle behind one of its up-and-coming athletes.

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That was the case heading into UFC Fight Night 236, when Dana White’s Contender Series alum Joe Pyfer appeared to be the focal point of the card. Jack Hermansson, Pyfer’s dance partner in Saturday’s middleweight headliner, was something of the forgotten man. That changed over the course of 25 minutes at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, as “The Joker” refused to play the role of gatekeeper in a unanimous decision triumph against the heavily-hyped Pyfer.

“It definitely motivated me,” Hermansson said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “I thought to myself, yeah after this fight people are gonna see that I’m no pushover and you can’t just get one of those younger guys in there and think they are just gonna run through me. I definitely took notice of it. It didn’t bother me too much, but of course it was some motivati…

Dan Ige lived up to his “50K” moniker in a major way on Saturday night.

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The Dana White's Contender Series alum pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” for his first-round knockout of Andre Fili in the UFC Fight Night 236 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Ige flattened his adversary with a massive right hand before sealing his victory with one emphatic standing-to-ground punch at the 2:43 mark of Round 1.

Elsewhere, Rodolfo Vieira set a promotional record for arm-triangle choke victories with his submission of Armen Petrosyan in a featured middleweight affair. The Brazilian grappling ace made his foe tap 4:48 into the opening stanza, earning himself a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check in the process. Vieira now has four arm-triangle victories to his credit in UFC competition.

Carlos Prates had an Octagon debut to remember, pocketing a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for a knockout victory against Trevin Giles …

Experience has no substitute.

Jack Hermansson dug in his heels and curbed some of the enthusiasm around one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division’s fastest-rising stars, as he took a unanimous decision from Joe Pyfer in their UFC Fight Night 236 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges saw it the same: 48-47 for Hermansson (24-8, 11-6 UFC).

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Pyfer (12-3, 3-1 UFC) managed to hold serve through two rounds with booming punches to the body and head. However, he started to unravel when those efforts failed to throw Hermansson off his scent. The former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder battered Pyfer’s lower lead leg with crushing kicks and marked up his face with a piercing jab, seizing the reins with his guile and grit. Hermansson forced the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate onto his back foot, at which point he became far less aggressive and effective. Pyfer had little left in the tank…

This weekend's showdown at UFC Fight Night 236, set against the lonely backdrop of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, hopes to deliver an exciting spectacle, anchored by a compelling middleweight contest. Sherdog.com will bring you live play-by-play coverage of each moment starting at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, ensuring you don't miss out on any of the Octagon happenings.

Headlining the event is a showdown between seasoned campaigner Jack Hermansson and rising prospect Joseph Pyfer—a clash representing the enduring battle between seasoned expertise and the drive of youth.

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Hermansson, returning to the cage after a hiatus since December 2022, seeks to reassert his footprint in a division teeming with talent. Opposite him stands Pyfer, a product of the revered Dana White’s Contender Series, who has swiftly made his mark within the UFC ranks. With each outing, the Philadelphia native has showcased an arsenal of skills, culminating in a pivotal submission victory over…

Carlos Prates made his one shot count.

The Fighting Nerds welterweight broke into the Ultimate Fighting Championship win column in a successful promotional debut, as he punched out Trevin Giles in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 236 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Prates (18-6, 1-0 UFC) sealed the deal 4:03 into Round 2.

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Giles (16-6, 7-6 UFC) was in charge for a majority of the match. He blasted the Brazilian with jabs, cut loose with power punching combinations and zeroed in on the legs with kicks. While Prates answered with brutal stepping knees to the body, he appeared to be digging a two-rounds-to-none hole when lightning struck. He followed a jab with a clean straight left that sent Giles crashing to the canvas. No follow-up shots were required.

Prates will carry an eight-fight winning streak into his next assignment.

Meanwhile, former Atomic Fighting Championship titleholder Bolaji Oki rode a persiste…

Umar Nurmagomedov will welcome promotional newcomer Bekzat Almakhan to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 238.

Multiple outlets confirmed the bantamweight booking following an initial report from Frontkicked. UFC Fight Night 238 takes place on March 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight clash pitting Jairzinho Rozenstruik against Shamil Gaziev.

Nurmagomedov hasn’t competed since January 2023, when he scored a first-round knockout of Raoni Barcelos at UFC Fight Night 217. The 28-year-old Eagles MMA representative was scheduled to lock horns with Cory Sandhagen at UFC Nashville in August, but Nurmagomedov was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury. Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, stated on social media that it has been extremely difficult to find a willing opponent for the Dagestani standout. Nurmagomedov is 16-0 as a professional, with four of those coming in UFC competition.

Almakhan, meanwhile, has been victorious i…