Martial Arts News

American Top Team training partners Antonio Carlos Jr. and Bo Nickal have taken advantage of the close proximity of their upcoming fights to help each other in sparring during their respective camps.

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Carlos Jr., a jiu-jitsu world champion, will face Karl Moore in a first-round light heavyweight bout at PFL World Tournament 4 at Universal Studios in Orlando on Thursday. Nickal, meanwhile, will square off against Reinier de Ridder at UFC Des Moines two days later. The 2021 PFL champion told Sherdog that Nickal continues to adapt well to MMA and expects the three-time NCAA national champion wrestler to perform well against de Ridder.

“Nickal has been improving a lot in terms of striking and, to be honest, his jiu-jitsu surprised me a lot,” Carlos Jr. said. “He brought a body awareness from wrestling that is very important to MMA. He gets into good positions and doesn’t lose. I think he has everything to surprise de Ridder.”

Fighters only get…

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Andy Aspinall, the father of UFC interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall, is frustrated with his son’s lack of activity.

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Jon Jones was scheduled to defend his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023 before being forced out at the last minute with an injury. Aspinall went on to knock out Sergei Pavlovich in a short-notice interim title fight at the same event.

Aspinall has since been rallying for a title unifier with Jones. Aspinall even defended his interim title against Curtis Blaydes in July 2024. Meanwhile, Jones went on to defend his title against Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024.

UFC CEO Dana White has promised that Jones’ next fight will be against Aspinall, although “Bones” seemingly hasn’t received a lucrative enough offer yet. Andy, who has dedicated his entire life to his son’s MMA career, is frustrated with the wait. Andy wants his son to stay active in his prime years. However, the UF…

Anthony Smith should have fought this dude in the crowd before retiring #UFCKansasCitypic.twitter.com/oyM4cyWMka

— Delinquent MMA (@DelinquentMMA) April 27, 2025

Apparently not everyone in attendance at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City was there to pay tribute to Anthony Smith as he officially called it a career on Saturday night.

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Shortly after the former light heavyweight title challenger suffered a bloody technical knockout loss to Mingyang Zhang in the UFC Kansas City co-main event, “Lionheart” walked to one side of the Octagon, where he appeared to yell and flip the bird to someone in the crowd.

As it turns out, the fan in question had been taunting Smith even before the fight began.

“There was a guy in a Nebraska shirt and he was like booing me and flipping me off and kind of talking trash before the fight,” Smith said on ESPN+ post-fight show. “But I was really focused on what I had to do. Then after the …

If anything goes awry with the UFC 315 headliner, Ian Garry will be on hand to step in.

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Shortly after he defeated Carlos Prates via unanimous decision in the UFC Kansas City headliner, “The Future” announced his plans to travel to Montreal for the welterweight title fight between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena on May 10.

“Twenty-one days’ notice against Shavkat [Rakhmonov]. 25 days’ notice against this man tonight. He’s a beast. Well, in two weeks’ time, I’m flying to Canada,” Garry said during his post-fight interview. “I’m the official backup for the world title fight, and I’m next in line for that world title.”

Shortly after that statement, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that Garry would indeed be the championship alternate for the upcoming 170-pound title clash.

“Credit to Ian, [he] takes these fights on short notice,” White said at the UFC Kansas City post-fight press conference. “He’ll fight anybody. He looked good tonight.…

Max Holloway recently expressed gratitude to Chan Sung Jung for being an important part of his career.

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Two of the biggest fan favorites in the sport, Holloway and “The Korean Zombie” were extremely respectful toward each other even before sharing the Octagon. And they have since developed a friendship, which was on display during Holloway’s recent visit to South Korea.

Holloway was seen sparring with a teammate of Jung at the Korean Zombie gym, where they re-enacted his iconic slugfest with Justin Gaethje. “Blessed” then shared his respect for former rival Jung, whom he idolized growing up. Holloway also urged fans to lookout for his YouTube videos featuring him and his wife Alessa proving swimming lessons to Jung.

“I looked up to this man. When I was in high school I watched him fight many times,” Holloway said. “This guy’s an inspiration, without a ‘Korean Zombie’ there wouldn’t be a Max Holloway. So at the end of the day I’m super grateful…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Malcolm Wellmaker followed his spectacular Dana White's Contender Series win with a similar effort in his Octagon debut.

Wellmaker earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his knockout of Cameron Saaiman in a preliminary bantamweight clash at UFC Kansas City on Saturday night. The Augusta, Georgia, native sent his foe crashing to the floor with a counter right hook, abruptly ending their bout at the 1:59 mark of Round 1. Wellmaker earned a UFC deal with a first-round KO of Adam Bramhald on the Contender Series this past August.

Elsewhere, Mingyang Zhang received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for spoiling Anthony Smith’s retirement bout in the evening’s light heavyweight co-main event. Zhang busted his opponent open with an elbow early and went to work from there, ultimately finishing “Lionheart” with a barrage of elbows on the canvas 4:03 into the opening stanza.

Finally, Rand…

Ian Garry had just enough in the tank to avoid disaster in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division.

The former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder quelled a late rally and held on for a unanimous decision over Carlos Prates in the UFC on ESPN 66 main event on Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Garry (16-1, 9-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 marks from the judges.

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Prates (21-7, 4-1 UFC), who entered the cage on an 11-fight winning streak, was slow out of the gate. Garry called upon kicks to the legs, body and head, leaned heavily on his jab and kept the Brazilian off-balance with level changes and deft footwork. Later, he fired off accurate punches in combination and secured multiple takedowns. The Irishman entered back half of the fight in front by a significant margin. Prates, however, turned up the heat, forced him onto his back foot and started to connect with increasing i…

Sherdog's live UFC Kansas City coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC on ESPN 66. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Edwards (-298), Chandler (+240)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Romero (-115), Cuamba (-105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:The Official Result BET…

Matt Schnell willed his way to the winner’s circle and reasserted himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.

Sound submission defense, unshakable resolve and damaging ground-and-pound carried the Fortis MMA rep to a unanimous decision over former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Jimmy Flick in the featured UFC on ESPN 66 prelim on Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. All three judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Schnell (17-9, 7-7 UFC), who closed the book on a three-fight losing streak.

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Flick (17-9, 2-4 UFC) completed multiple takedowns and moved to advantageous positions on more than one occasion but always seemed to leave his opponent an escape route. Schnell slowly but surely seized the reins—he opened a cut on Flick’s hairline with an elbow strike in the second round—and forced his counterpart to play defense as they drifted into deeper water. He threatened with a guillotine late in the third, rolle…

🚨Dricus Du Plessis’s coach confirms he’ll fight Khamzat Chimaev next — just NOT at International Fight Week on June 29th:

"[UFC] plans something else for [International Fight Week]. But we’re fighting Khamzat… It’s a done deal… We are waiting for the contract."

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🎥… pic.twitter.com/lBWYstsj3W — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) April 24, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis coach Morne Visser says they’re waiting on a contract for a title defense against Khamzat Chimaev.

While Chimaev getting the next middleweight title shot has long been expected, the matchup hasn’t been finalized yet. There were rumors of a Du Plessis injury causing a delay in the booking, which were recently dismissed by Visser.

The matchup was originally being considered for UFC 317, which goes down on June 28 during the International Fight Week. However, Visser confirmed that while Chimaev is undoubtedly getting the next gold bid, it won’t be at UFC 317.

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Homecoming at #UFCBaku 🇦🇿@RafaelFiziev takes on @JaulaBahamondes in the co-main event! pic.twitter.com/GYtzB96FkA

— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2025

A matchup of lightweight strikers has been added to UFC Baku.

Rafael Fiziev (12-4) and Ignacio Bahamondes (17-5) are set to trade leather at UFC on ABC 8 on June 21 at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. The promotion announced the pairing on Friday.

After suffering his first career loss in his UFC debut in 2019, Fiziev went on a six-fight winning streak with victories over the likes of Bobby Green, Renato Carneiro and Rafael dos Anjos. However, “Ataman” is now on a three-fight skid, which includes two decision losses against Justin Gaethje.

Meanwhile, Bahamondes earned his UFC contract with a spectacular finish over Edson Gomez on Dana White's Contender Series in 2020. “La Jaula” has since gone 6-2 in the UFC with five finishes and is currently riding a three-fight winning str…

🚨𝘽𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 🚨

From the Pitch to the SmartCage ⚽️👊

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Former Manchester United and Les Bleus star @Evra makes his PFL MMA DEBUT at PFL Paris on Friday 23rd May#PFLParis | Friday 23rd May🎟️ On Sale NOW | LIVE on DAZN pic.twitter.com/2iCufpIFVy — PFL (@PFLMMA) April 25, 2025 With a full football career behind him, Patrice Evra is going to test the waters of combat sports with the Professional Fighters League.

Per a release by the tournament-based league on Friday, Evra, 43, will be making his professional MMA debut at PFL Europe 2 in Paris on May 23. His match will not be part of any tourney, and his opponent and weight category have not yet been determined. The soccer star suggested on social media that he would like to take on Luiz Suarez in his first outing, a Uruguayan soccer talent infamous for flopping, biting and stomping on opponents.

Senegal-born Frenchman Evra bounced around a number of teams over the ye…