Martial Arts News

[embedded content]

Josh Emmett is hoping to make his way to a title shot by taking on former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight king Max Holloway next.

Advertisement

A long-time Top 10 featherweight, Emmett (19-4) was on the way to championship contention with a five-fight win streak back in 2022. However, he had his momentum halted courtesy of Yair Rodriguez in an interim title fight at UFC 284, followed by a decision loss against Ilia Topuria, who is set to challenge Alexander Volkanovski for the crown at UFC 298 on Feb. 17.

The Phoenix native returned to the win column at UFC 296 last month against Bryce Mitchell, who replaced an injured Giga Chikadze on short notice. Emmett put “Thug Nasty” to sleep with an overhand right in the opening frame. The scene captured Sherdog’s 2023 “Knockout of the Year” honors.

“I don’t care who was in front of me, I was going in there to put someone away and get my hand raised and end 2023 on a high note,” th…

Crazy turn of events at #KSWColosseum2 earlier. Krzysztof Glowacki, who has fought Oleksandr Usyk in boxing, made his MMA debut and knocked his opponent out from the bottom of full mount! 🤯pic.twitter.com/qASt2YJV25

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) June 3, 2023

Former World Boxing Organization cruiserweight champ Krzysztof Glowacki, who recently made a sensational mixed martial arts debut for Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, has been banned for four years.

Advertisement

The ban was handed out by UK Anti-Doping, which oversees anti-doping in the United Kingdom and is compliant with World Anti-Doping Agency protocols. Glowacki (32-4 in boxing) was banned after his urine sample reportedly tested positive for Boldenone, an anabolic androgenic steroid.

Glowacki’s alleged failed test dates back to January 2023, following his fourth-round Technical Knockout loss to Richard Riakporhe in Manchester, England. The Polish standout was initially handed a …

[embedded content] One prominent mixed martial arts coach has lofty ambitions for his team this coming year.

One month after cornering Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja through his first title defense against Brandon Royval, American Top Team coach “Parrumpa,” born Marcos da Matta, will be back in business preparing another one of his fighters for a belt. He will back Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC 297 at the end of January, in her vacant bantamweight championship collision against Raquel Pennington. Da Matta spoke to Sherdog on Wednesday, discussing his team’s tough upcoming agenda, their victories in 2023, the UFC’s new anti-doping system and what he perceives to be a little disrespect.

Advertisement

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t have Christmas or New Years,” Da Matta admitted. “Besides, half of my athletes are Muslims, who don’t celebrate those dates, I have [Movsar] Evloev and ‘Sheetara’ [Bueno Silva] fighting in UFC 297 [on] Jan. 20…

[embedded content]

Bryce Mitchell has decided to take a short hiatus following his brutal knockout loss to Josh Emmett last month.

Advertisement

Mitchell (16-2) stepped in on short notice, replacing an injured Giga Chikadze against Emmett (19-4) at UFC 296. Emmett, known as one of the hardest punchers in the entire sport, knocked out Mitchell with an overhand right in the very first frame. As such, “Thug Nasty” has decided to go on his own “concussion protocol” as a result, which will consist of a six-month rest.

“I’m on my own concussion protocol. I’ll consult with my coaches, too, and we’re basically just saying, ‘You know, don’t spar for six months.’ I’ve got to [build a new house] and [expecting my first child], but then I’m right into my next training camp after that. The good thing is that I don’t have to rush into it,” the 29-year-old told ESPN.

Sherdog’s 2023 “Knockout of the Year” was also the first KO of Mitchell’s career. The featherweight was …

A middleweight showdown pitting Brendan Allen against Marvin Vettori will serve as the headliner for an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on April 6.

Advertisement

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Wednesday. A location and venue for the event were not confirmed.

Allen has been victorious in his last six Octagon appearances dating back to February 2022, with five of those triumphs coming by way of submission. Most recently, the Dana White's Contender Series alum tapped out Paul Craig with a rear-naked choke 38 seconds into Round 3 of the UFC Fight Night 232 main event on Nov. 18. Allen is 11-2 over the course of his UFC tenure.

A former middleweight title challenger, Vettori went 1-1 in UFC competition in 2023. After outpointing Roman Dolidze at UFC 286 in March, “The Italian Dream” dropped a five-round verdict to Jared Cannonier in the UFC on ESPN 47 headliner this past June. Vettori owns other notable wins against the likes of Pa…

Khamzat Chimaev posted and then deleted a picture of himself saying he was very sick pic.twitter.com/RDQnhmnOce

— MMA Mania (@mmamania) January 3, 2024

There appears to be good reason why Khamzat Chimaev was left out of the middleweight title picture at the beginning of the year.

Advertisement

In addition to suffering a torn ligament in his hand in his hand during a victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, Chimaev revealed that he was recently “very sick” in a since-deleted post on social media.

“I was very sick, my hand was injured, so I couldn’t return right away,” Chimaev wrote in the translated post, which was accompanied by several concerning images. “I want to tell all the fountains, I want to see myself in battle more than all of you. I love this job. I will do and prove that I am the best, as always we do, and I will be back soon to Insha’Allal training.”

While Chimaev appeared to be a leading candidate to face reigning m…

Ian Garry has taken a jab at Sean Strickland after the outspoken middleweight champion declared that there are lines one must not cross during trash talk.

Advertisement

Strickland and Garry have been feuding ever since the middleweight champ questioned the Irishman’s relationship status with his wife, who is 14 years his senior. Last month during a seasonal press conference, Strickland once again broached the topic while slamming Garry for turning off Instagram comments amid backlash despite having trash talked others.

During the same presser, Dricus Du Plessis brought up Strickland’s abusive childhood after the champ alleged a sexual relationship between the South African and his coach. Strickland subsequently attacked Du Plessis while attending UFC 296 the next day.

Strickland recently admitted that Du Plessis’ comments had triggered him as they crossed certain boundaries. The 32-year-old also shared vivid details about his abusive childhood in an emot…

[embedded content]

While Sean Strickland is known for his unabashed trash talk, the middleweight champion believes some topics are off limits.

Advertisement

Strickland slammed Colby Covington for bringing up Leon Edwards’ deceased father in the lead-up to their UFC 296 clash. The American felt similar boundaries were crossed by his upcoming UFC 297 opponent, Dricus Du Plessis, during a recent seasonal presser.

Bringing up Strickland’s abusive childhood, Du Plessis told the champ that he would put on a worse beating on him than his father. “Tarzan” was admittedly triggered by Du Plessis’ comments, which led to him attacking the South African while attending UFC 296 a day after the presser.

Strickland discussed his feelings said during an appearance on comedian Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast.

“There’s some things that are off limits. You don’t really talk about a man’s wife, you don’t talk about a man’s kids, and you don’t talk about a kid being abu…

Charles Johnson will replace the injured Nathan Maness and take on Azat Maksum on a month’s notice at UFC Fight Night 235.

Advertisement

Maness was scheduled to take on Maksum in a flyweight bout on Feb. 3 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Johnson has reportedly agreed to step up on short notice, according to MMAjunkie.com. The matchup has not been officially announced by the promotion.

Johnson has lost three straight within the Las Vegas-based promotion, including a unanimous decision defeat against Rafael Estevam in his most recent appearance at UFC Fight Night 232 this past November. He is 2-4 in UFC competition overall.

A former Octagon Promotion flyweight champ, Maksum notched a split decision win over flyweight veteran Tyson Nam in his promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 49 in July.

UFC Fight Night 235 is headlined by a middleweight meeting between ranked Roman Dolidze and ranked Nassourdine Imavov. Meanwhile, the co-main event will feature a lightwe…

Ian Garry is aiming for the top in 2024.

Advertisement

Garry is set to clash against welterweight veteran Geoff Neal at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Should the Irishman get past Neal, he is eyeing a matchups against former interim champ Colby Covington and reigning middleweight champ Sean Strickland.

Garry revealed his potential hit list in a recent post on social media, writing out Neal’s and Covington’s names on a piece of paper with J. Cole’s “Middle Child” playing in the background. The video ends before Garry can complete the third name on his list, but it seems likely that the “Sean” in question is Strickland. Recent online and media feuds have led Garry to target both Covington and Strickland.

Covington is coming off a lopsided title loss against Leon Edwards at UFC 296 last month in what was his third bid at undisputed gold. “Chaos” subsequently posted a callout to Garry, taking a jibe at his relationship with his …

Things hit a boiling point between the coaches tonight on #TUF31 🤬

[ Watch new episodes every Tuesday on ESPN & ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/yyz5iE7ft1

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) July 5, 2023

Advertisement

Although he hasn’t competed in more than two years, Conor McGregor is still slightly favored against “The Ultimate Fighter 31” coaching rival Michael Chandler.

According to BetOnline, McGregor is currently listed as a -130 favorite, while Chandler checks in as a +110 underdog. The Irish star recently announced that he will face Chandler in a middleweight bout on June 29 as part of the UFC’s International Fight Week. The promotion has not confirmed a date for the bout at this time.

McGregor, 35, is 1-3 in his last four Octagon appearances dating back to October 2018. In his last outing, the former two-division champion broke his leg in the opening round of a technical knockout loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 …

pic.twitter.com/eoUqZJhBZ4

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) December 23, 2023

Dricus Du Plessis’ coach, Niel Geyser, claims Sean Strickland was partly right in throwing his jiu-jitsu black belt into the garbage bin.

Advertisement

The effectiveness of jiu-jitsu in MMA has been questioned by several fighters, including some notable mentions like Derrick Lewis. Strickland was latest to mock BJJ by uploading a video of him throwing his black belt into the garbage.

“Over 10 years of my life wanting a piece of fabric,” the UFC middleweight champion wrote.

Strickland is set to defend his strap against Du Plessis in the main event at UFC 297 in Toronto on Jan. 20. Geyser agrees with Strickland’s stance, although only somewhat. Geyser claims pure gi jiu-jitsu is very different than MMA grappling and a black belt is likely to suffer a beatdown in an MMA bout. However, Geyser also believes there is the possibility of Strickland just p…