Martial Arts News

Nachin Sat never bought into the hype.

The Mongolian brute dazzled in his first One Championship assignment, as he put away previously unbeaten Lakay MMA prospect Carlos Neyheban Alvarez with punches in the third round of their ONE Friday Fights 43 featherweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Undone by an accumulation of damage and visible fatigue, Alvarez (3-1, 3-1 ONE) checked out 4:27 into Round 3.

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Sat (5-2, 1-0 ONE) had a little more grit in an action-packed, back-and-forth battle that saw both men in considerable peril. Alvarez floored his adversary with a booming right hand in the first round, then opened a cut near his left eye with topside elbow strikes before nearly drawing the curtain with a rear-naked choke in the second. Sat withstood those considerable efforts, made his way back to an upright position and cut loose with punches, elbows and knees, many of them from close range. Alvarez ultimately wilte…

PFL 🤝 @espn

ESPN will be the home of the Professional Fighters League 🏆💰 pic.twitter.com/s9BVv0l3PT

— PFL (@PFLMMA) November 30, 2023

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Two weeks removed from their acquisition of Bellator MMA, Professional Fighters League has signed a new multi-year United States media rights deal with broadcast partner ESPN.

As per the agreement, the PFL regular season, playoffs and championships will be available on ESPN+ and ESPN linear networks. The deal also entails pre- and post-fight coverage of events, as well as shoulder programming.

Additionally, ESPN will also serve as a pay-per-view distributor for the PFL's Super Fight division, which is expected to launch in 2024.

“We’ve had five successful seasons on ESPN and we’re excited for the next phase of growth for MMA and the Professional Fighters League with this agreement,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “Our innovative sport-season format, elite roster of athletes, an…

IT'S ON 😤 Japanese legend Shinya Aoki faces off with American superstar Sage Northcutt on January 28 in Tokyo! 👊💥 @a_ok_i @sagenorthcutt #ONE165 | January 28 at 6PM JST🎟️ Tickets 👉 https://t.co/9BTfk5i7f8🌍 Global broadcast details coming soon pic.twitter.com/l71TsJVwRn

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 30, 2023

Sage Northcutt is gearing up to do battle with Japanese legend Shinya Aoki next year.

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Northcutt (12-3) and Aoki (47-11) will meet in a lightweight clash at ONE 165 on Jan. 28 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, which also marks the promotion’s return to Japan. The card will be headlined by ONE 135-pound muay thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Japanese kickboxing star Takeru Segawa.

Northcutt parted ways with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2018 for ONE Championship, where his debut was spoiled by kickboxing veteran Cosmo Alexandre via a 29-second knockout. “Super” then went on a three-y…

Colby Covington has brushed several people the wrong way over the years, including lightweight contender Dustin Poirier.

A perennial welterweight contender, Covington (17-3) has also assumed a heel persona by crossing boundaries with his trash talk on several occasions.

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“Chaos” was allegedly sucker punched by former friend and teammate Jorge Masvidal outside a Miami restaurant hardly two weeks removed from his lopsided decision win over “Gamebred” at UFC 272.

However, Masvidal apparently isn’t the only fighter who had a problem with Covington at American Top Team in Florida. A part of ATT since 2011, Covington parted ways with the gym in 2020 over growing tensions with Masvidal, Dustin Poirier and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Covington even issued an uncharacteristic public apology to Poirier (29-8) prior to his exit from ATT after coach Dan Lambert imposed a no-trash talk rule. However, “Chaos” has since gone back and forth with Poirier on multiple occ…

Brandon Moreno is tired of waiting for his next Octagon assignment and wants to return to action as soon as possible.

Moreno injured his hand in his split-decision title loss to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290 in July. The defeat marked Moreno’s second career loss at the hands of “The Cannibal.”

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However, while Moreno has fully recovered from the injury, there has been almost no talk of his next booking.

Moreno claims the Ultimate Fighting Championship had reached out to him about a fight against surging contender Amir Albazi (17-1) in December but nothing concrete was laid out.

“They told me, Amir. They told me about December, but nothing was real, nothing was official. So right now, I’m waiting for a specific name to make it official. I know Amir is there. I think it’s the most logical fight in line for me with Amir. The winner can fight for the title in the next one. I know Amir is there,” Moreno told MMA Junkie.

“The Assassin Baby” admits tha…

Dana White: “Every time he’s [Dillon Danis] around, sh*t’s going down.” 🗣️

🎥 @fullsendpodcast

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White doesn’t sound too keen on bringing Danis to the UFC.

pic.twitter.com/n3bRkwgrft

— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) November 28, 2023 Dillon Danis’ antics outside of actual competition might be the biggest detriment to his aspirations of becoming an Ultimate Fighting Championship athlete.

Having initially gained attention as Conor McGregor's training partner, Danis has managed to stay relevant ever since by getting involved in several feuds with influencers and fighters. The biggest highlight of Danis’ career is arguably his involvement in the infamous UFC 229 brawl between the camps of McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Danis also recently threw a microphone at Logan Paul, cutting open “The Maverick” ahead of their boxing clash. While they went ahead with the fight, Danis lost via disqualification after starting a braw…

Lupita Godinez will square off against Virna Jandiroba in a matchup of strawweight contenders at UFC Fight Night on March 30.

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Multiple outlets — along with Jandiroba herself — confirmed the pairing following an initial report from MMA Melotto. The UFC card doesn’t have an official location or headliner at this time.

Godinez enjoyed an active 2023 campaign, as she was victorious in all four of her Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Loopy” garnered a split-decision triumph against Tabatha Ricci at UFC 295 on Nov. 11. Her year also included wins over Elise Reed, Emily Ducote and Cynthia Calvillo.

Jandiroba, meanwhile, has won three of her last four within the Las Vegas-based promotion. In her last outing, the former Invicta FC champ outpointed Marina Rodriguez at UFC 288 on May 6.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier had previously hinted that he would be taking a hiatus from mixed martial arts following the conclusion of the 2023 Professional Fighters League season.

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Now his absence will likely be much longer than that.

Aubin-Mercier officially announced his retirement on Wednesday in a post on his Instagram account.

“Feeling incredibly grateful today as I hang up my gloves, I must give a massive shout out to [the PFL],” he wrote. “PFL believed in me. They recognized a fighter in a kid from Quebec who just wouldn’t quit. It has been an honor to step into the cage under their banner.

“As I move on from competition, I hope that the path I've trodden serves as an invitation to other Quebecois fighters. May you find in the PFL the same support, the same faith, and the same opportunities to showcase our Québécois tenacity.

“To everyone behind the scenes who has been part of this journey—merci from the bottom of my heart. I had so mu…

A middleweight clash pitting Roman Dolidze against Nassourdine Imavov will serve as the headliner for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 3.

The booking was initially reported by MMA TIME. Dolidze also recently confirmed the bout on social media. The UFC Fight Night card does not yet have an official location or venue. According to MMAjunkie.com, Dolidze vs. Imavov was initially slated to take place at UFC Fight Night 233 on Dec. 9.

Dolidze had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to former title challenger Marvin Vettori at UFC 286 on March 18. “The Caucasian” is 6-2 in UFC competition, with four KO/TKO victories to his credit.

Imavov, meanwhile, is coming off a bout against Chris Curtis at UFC 289 that ended 3:04 into Round 2 due to an accidental clash of heads. Prior to that, the Frenchman dropped a five-round verdict against current middleweight king Sean Strickland in the UFC Fi…

Professional Fighters League founder Donn Davis recently said that Bellator featherweight champion Cristiane Justino will face 2023 PFL 145-pound champ Larissa Pacheco in her next bout.

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Carlos Barreto has other ideas. The UFC Fight Pass Brazil commentator declared on his "Papo de Luta" podcast that he believes Kayla Harrison should be the next opponent for “Cyborg.”

"We know that the idea is to pit champion versus champion, but just like [Francis] Ngannou vs. [Bellator heavyweight champ] Ryan Bader should take place instead of Bader vs. Renan Ferreira, because that would be a more entertaining fight for the audience, I believe Mr. Davis should use the same thought process to put Kayla and Cyborg first,” he said.

According to Barreto, the reason is not just fan interest but the possibility of “Cyborg” losing to Pacheco.

"Brazilian fans would probably rather see Cris vs Larissa, but we are talking about world marketing,” he said. “Kayla…

Marlon Vera is confident that he’ll take the fight out of Sean O’Malley in their upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title clash.

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Vera (23-8) will meet O’Malley (17-1) in a rematch in the main event at UFC 299 with O’Malley's bantamweight title on the line. “Chito” handed “Sugar” his lone pro defeat in 2020 by damaging his foe’s peroneal nerve with leg kicks before subsequently securing the finish with an onslaught of strikes at the 4:40 mark of the opening frame.

Vera believes he will put a lopsided beating on the champ in their rematch. While “Chito” acknowledges O’Malley’s athleticism and knockout power, he believes the fight will go out of “Sugar” when he gets into a “hard fight.”

“I beat the f-k out of him and walk away with a bag of cash and the belt. I really believe I’m going to make him quit. I really believe I’m going to make him just be a shell of himself and just kick his ass, almost like beg me to stop kind of th…

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Brendan Allen claims to have witnessed Ian Garry being knocked out cold during a sparring session at Kill Cliff FC.

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As a result, Allen also believes Ian Garry knows exactly which names he shouldn’t mention to avoid having that footage become public. Garry has been in the headlines in recent times, although not necessarily for the right reasons. “The Future” recently claimed to have been barred from Leon Edwards’ Team Renegade over the champ’s "insecurities." However, Edwards’ teammate Veronica Hardy subsequently revealed that Garry has been banned from several gyms in the U.K. Additionally, Liverpudlian star Paddy Pimblett claimed to have heard reports of Edwards knocking Garry out in training.

According to Allen, Garry has also been knocked out during training at his other haunt, Kill Cliff FC in Florida. Referring to a video of Shavkat Rakhmonov wrestling Bellator champ Jason Jackson, Allen also hinted that he is not a big fan …