Martial Arts News

After arriving in Abu Dhabi just a week ahead of his UFC 253 title fight against Israel Adesanya, Paulo Costa won’t make the same mistake as he prepares to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

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Renzo Gracie revealed to Sherdog.com that Costa arrived in Abu Dhabi the first week of September, even though his middleweight bout vs. Chimaev isn’t until Oct. 21.

"I was in Abu Dhabi, and I met ‘Borrachinha’ in there with his team split up in four rooms of a local hotel. I told him to stay in my apartment with his staff,” Gracie said in an interview from his academy in New York.

According to Gracie, Costa had the support of two wrestlers from Azerbaijan, coach Eric Albarracin and other three teammates who were helping him with sparring.

"He is having excellent sparring and all the structure necessary. My apartment is above the Cobra MMA Academy, and there is a supermarket very close. So he has all the structure there,” Gracie said. “That’s somethin…

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Danny Barlow shined bright in the spotlight.

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The undefeated Law School MMA export was one of six hopefuls to punch a ticket to the Ultimate Fi…

Sherdog’s coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 8 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 Mark Smith will oversee this bantamweight clash to begin the evening. Oliveira targets the leg of Madrigal early. Madrigal walks forward, but he’s already absorbing heavy kicks to the legs and body. Madrigal shoots but Oliveira shucks him off and fires a straight right. Oliveira ducks under an overhand and connects with a big counter uppercut. Madrigal is undaunted, and he’s still moving forward. A head kick just misses for Madrigal. Oliveira backs his man up with a two-punch combination. Left hands are starting to get through for the Brazilian. A straight right by Oliveira makes Madrigal stumble back to the fence and “Lok Dog” follows up with a flying knee. It doesn’t land clean, but the Brazilian is still chopping away at his foe’s lead leg. Madrigal keeps on moving forward. Oliveira misses a right hand during an exchange in the pocket, but an ensuing left look lands clean to the chin. The bl…

It appears that Mark Hunt’s long legal battle against the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White and Brock Lesnar has reached its conclusion.

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U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey dismissed Hunt’s lawsuit on Tuesday when she determined that the former UFC heavyweight failed to prove the promotion and White booked him against Lesnar while knowing that his opponent was using performance enhancing drugs. Conduct Detrimental writer Jason Morrin first brought word of the dismissal on social media.

Hunt initially filed a civil lawsuit against the trio in 2017. The case was initially dismissed in 2019 but found new life in appeals court in 2021. Dorsey concluded that Hunt did not meet the evidentiary burden on his remaining claims of fraud, battery, aiding-and-abetting battery and civil conspiracy.

“In sum, each of Hunt’s fraud theories requires far too many inferential leaps and ignores too much contrary evidence for a jury to reasonably find…

Julia Polastri is intent on making her mark in the mixed martial arts world.

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Hailing from the Gramacho neighborhood in the municipality of Duque de Caxias, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Polastri has not only captured titles in significant national events but has also become the latest signing for the UFC through Dana White's Contender Series, fulfilling a dream that has been rooted in her heart since the beginning of her career.

Polastri's journey is marked by determination, sacrifice and a passion for MMA. She started her career in muay thai and quickly transitioned to MMA with a clear goal: to fight in the UFC, the largest MMA organization in the world. Over the years, Polastri worked tirelessly to achieve her dream.

Today, Polastri boasts an impressive record of 12-3 in her MMA career. One of those losses occurred in her first appearance on the Contender Series, but she didn't let it deter her. Polastri continued to train diligently, and a…

As many observers feared, Rafael Fiziev suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his UFC Fight Night 228 loss to Mateusz Gamrot.

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The lightweight contender confirmed the injury in a video on social media. Fiziev will likely be out for up to a year during the rehabiliation process.

“I will be back,” Fiziev said. “I’m just sad because I had a very great camp, and I was ready to show my best skills. And I’m sad because it happened only in the second round.

“I can get ready for a loss like that but I’m more than happy, 100 times more happy if it happens in the last round. But I believe I could show in this fight very nice skills. We have plans, but God has different plans. His plan is always the best.”

After a tactical opening round where Fiziev appeared to have gained a slight advantage thanks to his striking and takedown defense, the bout ended at the 2:03 mark of Round 2 when his left knee buckled while throwing a body kick. Th…

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Sean Strickland pulled off a massive upset win over Israel Adesanya to be crowned the new middleweight champ at UFC 293 in Sydney earlier this month.

Despite Adesanya’s stellar reign atop the middleweight division, the lopsided nature of his title loss led to some questions about the Nigerian-born Kiwi’s potential claim to an immediate rematch.

Meanwhile, Strickland has his own priorities when it comes to his first title defense. The newly-crowned champ recently revealed that he is open to fighting anyone who promises a big payday.

“My thing is, dude, when it comes to that next fight, everybody’s like, ‘Who do you want to fight?’ I don’t give a f—k, dude. I want to make f—-ing money,” Strickland said on “The Man Dance” podcast. “I get those pay-per-view buys. Give me somebody who’s going to make f—-ing money. I don’t want to fight anybody boring. I want to fight, you know, give me someone who’s making money.”

Strickland also acknowl…

Su Mudaerji will take on Allan Nascimento in a flyweight clash at a UFC event on Dec. 9.

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AgFight was first to report the matchup, which was subsequently confirmed by Nascimento on social media. The UFC Fight Night card is expected to take place in China and also includes a light heavyweight clash between newcomers Zhang Mingyang and Brendson Ribeiro.

Nicknamed “The Tibetan Eagle”, Mudaerji will be in front of his home fans as the UFC makes its return to China after four years. The 27-year-old Chinese prospect is coming off a submission loss against Matt Schnell that also snapped a three-fight win streak.

Meanwhile, Nascimento came up on the short side of a split decision against Raulian Paiva at the Contender Series in 2018. “Puro Osso” would finally get his UFC call in 2021, when he ended up dropping another spilt decision against Tagir Ulanbekov. A longtime training partner of former UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira, Nascimento has si…

Lightweights Joe Solecki and Drakkar Klose are slated to trade leather at a UFC Fight Night event on Dec. 2.

Klose confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from Eurosport. The card doesn’t yet have a determined location but is also expected to include a middleweight bout between Jared Cannonier and Roman Dolidze.

After starting his UFC journey with a three consecutive victories, Solecki suffered his first promotional defeat in a closely-contested split-decision against Jared Gordon in 2021. The 30-year-old bounced back with a majority decision win over Alex da Silva before submitting Carl Deaton earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Klose went on a two-year hiatus following a TKO loss to Beneil Dariush at UFC 248. Klose returned to action last year with a bonus-winning knockout of Brandon Jenkins and followed it up with a decision victory over Rafa Garcia.

A promising lightweight clash between Nazim Sadykhov and Viacheslav Borshchev has been added to the upcoming UFC 295 card.

Sadykhov announced the pairing on social media. UFC 295 is set to go down at the Madison Square Garden on Nov. 11 and will be headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Sadykhov is currently riding a nine-fight winning streak with his lone professional loss dating back to his debut in 2018. The Azerbaijani-American made his UFC debut back in February, earning a third-round stoppage win over Evan Elder. “Black Wolf” subsequently sealed his status as a prospect with a second-round submission win over Terrance McKinney in July.

After a highlight-reel liver shot stoppage win over Dakota Bush in his UFC debut last year, Borshchev went on to drop consecutive decisions against Marc Diakiese and Mike Davis. However, the Russian has since bounced back with a bonus-winning knockout win over Maheshate Hayisaer earl…

Jacob Malkoun faced Cody Brundage in a middleweight clash on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 228 this past Saturday.

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The Australian looked impressive in his return to the Octagon, as he took Brundage down in the opening seconds. Malkoun went on to lay some heavy ground-and-pound, prompting referee Mark Smith to ask for some action from Brundage. “Mamba” then attempted a rear-naked choke before landing an elbow that was deemed illegal by the referee, leading to a pause in action. Brundage said he was unable to continue and was declared the winner via disqualification after review of the footage.

Malkoun has now weighed in on the loss, voicing his disagreement with the decision. The Australian claims the elbow was completely unintentional and not exactly to the back of the head.

“I’ve had some time to think. I just want to make it clear that the shot was UNINTENTIONAL, as I was throwing the elbow to the side of his head he turned his b…

Tabatha Ricci will square off against Lupita Godinez in a strawweight pairing at UFC 295.

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ESPN Deportes was first to report the bout. UFC 295 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 11 and is headlined by a heavyweight championship showdown between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Ricci has won four straight promotional appearances since dropping her debut to Manon Fiorot in a flyweight contest at UFC Fight Night 189 in June 2021. “Baby Shark” is 2-0 thus far in 2023, with victories against Jessica Penne and Gillian Robertson to her credit.

Godinez is 3-0 thus far this year and has been victorious in five of her last six UFC bouts. Most recently, “Loopy” submitted Elise Reed in the second round of their encounter at UFC Fight Night 227.