Martial Arts News

The UFC will take a card to Saudi Arabia for the first time in March 2024.

It's worth noting this happened just weeks after UFC merged with WWE under TKO Group Holdings — WWE has a lucrative $50 million per year deal to hold events in Saudi Arabiahttps://t.co/FV2MPNgKyD

— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) October 11, 2023

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship will soon make its debut in Saudi Arabia, a destination that has swiftly become a major player in global sports.

A UFC Fight Night has been scheduled to go down in Saudi Arabia on March 2, 2024. The news was confirmed by Damon Martin following an initial report by ESPN.

Word of the event follows the aftermath of a merger with World Wrestling Entertainment under the banner of TKO Group Holdings. WWE entered an arrangement with the nation after finalizing a reported $50 million deal with the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, where they stage two marque…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has decided to end its partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency starting January 2024.

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USADA has been the UFC’s independent drug testing partner since 2015. However, things have now seemingly turned sour over the mandatory testing window for former two-division champ Conor McGregor’s return to action. According to USADA CEO Travis Tygart, the relationship with the UFC became “untenable” over recent comments made by the promotion's leaders and one commentator. Tygart was likely referring to popular podcaster and longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who recently called for the promotion to cut ties with USADA over the six-month testing window and ban on certain peptides. Tygart said in a written statement:

“The relationship between USADA and UFC became untenable given the statements made by UFC leaders and others questioning USADA’s principled stance that McGregor not be allowed to fight without be…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s marquee card in Abu Dhabi has suffered its second major change in the past 24 hours.

After the scheduled main event of UFC 294 fell through on Wednesday when Charles Oliveira withdrew from his scheduled rematch with lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, the co-main event has also undergone a change with Paulo Costa (14-2) not being cleared to compete due to a staph infection on his elbow. In place of “Borrachinha,” former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-3) will step up on 10 days' notice for his middleweight debut against Khamzat Chimaev. UFC CEO Dana White made the official announcement on Instagram.

Usman has not competed since UFC 286 in March, when came up short in a bid to win his title back from Leon Edwards. Prior to the back-to-back losses to Edwards, Usman had enjoyed a 15-fight win streak in the promotion including a long reign atop the welterweight division. Meanwhile, the upcoming bout will mark Chimaev’…

Invicta Fighting Championships’s Boston debut later this month has been stacked with several new high-profile matchups.

Invicta FC 54 will now feature a strawweight co-main event between mixed martial arts veteran Kalindra Faria (19-9) and fellow Brazilian and former champion Valesca Machado (12-4). “Tina Black” will replace Faria’s originally scheduled opponent Isis Verbeek, who was forced out of the card recently. A three-time Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, Faria has faced former Invicta champs Jennifer Maia and Vanessa Porto, as well as contenders Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Joanne Calderwood, over a career spanning more than a decade. Additionally, a bantamweight clash between Canada’s Maria Djukic (2-1) and Massachusetts-based Brazilian Fernanda Araujo (2-3) has been added to the card.

Invicta FC 54 takes place Oct. 27 at Citizens House of Blues in Boston. In the main event, Invicta strawweight champion Danni McCormack (7-2) will …

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Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White was in attendance as the Las Vegas Sphere debuted this weekend with concerts by Irish rock band U2. White was so impressed with everything about the Sphere that he’s now admittedly “obsessed” with putting on a UFC event at the venue. The UFC head honcho has been in regular contact with concerned parties as he plots the “greatest live combat sports event anybody has ever seen.”

Interestingly, White wants the card to go down on Mexican Independence Day in September 2024, which according to him should also be the first live sports event at the venue. The 54-year-old is confident in his ability to put on a show that will set the precedent for live events at the Sphere.

Moreover, White vehemently dismissed the possibility of any boxing promotion securing the bid before him as he believes none of the promoters have the money required.

“I will put on the greatest live combat sports event anybody has…

🚨 Breaking 🚨

Cameron Smotherman (@Lilcampster) and Mando Gutierrez (@MandoGoes4Gold) will throw down in the main event of Fury FC Challenge Series 10 which takes place November 12th. pic.twitter.com/jXzfsSmuuq

— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) October 10, 2023

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Cameron Smotherman and Mando Gutierrez will trade leather in the main event at Fury Fighting Championship Challenger Series 9 on Nov. 12. The booking was first reported by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania on Wednesday.

Smotherman (8-4) will look to defend his Fury FC bantamweight title against Gutierrez in a five-round affair that will go down in Houston. “The Baby-Faced Killer” dethroned former champ Peter Caballero with a stunning Round 2 knockout to top off a four-fight win streak back in February.

Smotherman subsequently made an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 2 in a bid to earn an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, where he wa…

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes (17-4) recently pulled out of his scheduled clash against Jailton Almeida (19-2).

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Blaydes was slated to clash against Almeida on Nov. 4 in the UFC Sao Paulo main event, which will mark the Las Vegas-based promotion’s return to the Brazilian city after four long years. However, the booking recently fell through with “Razor” being replaced by knockout artist Derrick Lewis (27-11), although the reason for Blaydes’ withdrawal hasn’t been disclosed.

Blaydes has now released a statement on Facebook addressing his withdrawal while offering an apology to his fans. The perennial heavyweight contender is seemingly dealing with several injuries suffered during camp, all of which will require a considerable amount of rehabilitation.

While it took him a while to realize the same, Blaydes now plans to take time off from training and solely focus on recovery.

“Injuries from camp we…

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The main event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming card in Abu Dhabi has suffered a massive blow with just 10 days to go before fight night.

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Former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira (34-9) has withdrawn from his UFC 294 title rematch against Islam Makhachev (24-1) due to a cut suffered in training. Featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski (26-2) will step up on short notice to take on Makhachev in his second bid for lightweight gold. The news was first reported by OverDogs Podcast on Instagram and subsequently confirmed by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes.

UFC President Dana White officially confirmed the news on Tuesday at the post-fight press conference for DWCS 2023, Week 10. White revealed that “do Bronx” was forced to pull out after having his eyebrow split open during sparring the night before he was supposed to fly down to Abu Dhabi. The UFC president also expressed his displeasure with Olivei…

One of the world’s top grappling events is on the calendar for next year, and fittingly, the world’s top grappler will be the main attraction.

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The 2024 Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Championships have a fixed date and venue as trials have started for the Europe, Middle East, Africa and East Coast regions. The event will go down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Aug. 17-18 and will premier exclusively for fans on FloGrappling.com with a subscription. Tickets for the mega grappling show will go on sale on Black Friday, Nov. 24. The promotion also plans to host the ADCC youth in the same week.

The biggest star in the sport, Gordon Ryan, will defend his Super Fight title in the main event of the night against reigning ADCC absolute champion Yuri Simoes. Ryan dethroned four-time ADCC Super Fight champ Andre Galvao in 2022 along with winning the 99kg division. Ryan now has two unique proposals for ADCC to further cement his legacy, which already in…

Aljamain Sterling believes he isn’t getting an immediate rematch against Sean O'Malley, but he thinks O'Malley may not hold the title for long anyway.

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The former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight king lost his strap to O’Malley by second-round TKO in an upset at UFC 292 in August. Since then, Sterling has since been calling for either an immediate rematch or for his close friend and teammate Merab Dvalishvili to get his own his long overdue title shot. However, O’Malley is plotting his first title defense against Marlon Vera, who handed “Sugar” his lone professional loss back in 2020 and rumors have recently surfaced of a potential booking between O’Malley and “Chito” for UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto.

In a live stream on his YouTube page on Monday, Sterling revealed that he is almost sure of a rematch snub against O’Malley. The 34-year-old “Funkmaster” also believes Vera will pull off an upset against O’Malley, whose knockout power he c…

Ramon Taveras stood toe to toe and fought fire with fire when the stakes were highest.

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The Bulldog Boxing export was one of five hopefuls to nail down an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he buried Cortavious Romious with first-round punches on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Taveras (9-2, 1-1 DWCS) sank the St. Charles MMA rep 29 seconds into Round 1.

Romious (5-2, 0-1 DWCS) went out on his shield. He cut loose with power punches and body kicks, but left too many defensive holes for his opponent to exploit. Taveras dropped him twice in the middle of violent exchanges, then connected with a devastating left hook that sent him crashing to the canvas in a dazed and confused state. More punches followed, prompting referee Herb Dean to call for the stoppage.

Flyweight Andre Lima, featherweight Connor Matthews, lightweight Marquel Mederos and bantamweight Lucas Rocha are set to join…

Sherdog’s coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 10 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 The 2023 season closer opens up with a bantamweight clash between Bittencourt and Rocha, whose five-pound weight miss last week forced the postponement and weight class change here. The referee is Mike Beltran. Bittencourt launches himself across the cage immediately with a flying front kick that comes up short. Bittencourt chases down Rocha, who circles out and tags him with a hard jab. Bittencourt shoots a takedown from far outside and Rocha sprawls well, but Bittencourt turns the corner and takes his back. Rocha gets up and Bittencourt launches him with a belly-to-back slam. Rocha makes his way back up and Bittencourt repeats the high-amplitude slam. Two minutes down and Bittencourt is still stuck to Rocha’s back. Rocha finally spins away and disengages, and Bittencourt catches him with a spinning back kick. Bittencourt changes levels and drives Rocha into the fence. Rocha does a good job of…