Martial Arts News

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UFC featherweight standout Bryce Mitchell is a flat earther who spends his time farming when he’s not training or fighting. While he is now building a house, “Thug Nasty” has so far lived in his 30-foot trailer on his 16-acre farm in Arkansas, which he claims will “feed the lord’s army” when the time comes.

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During a recent interview with UFC commentator Brendan Fitzgerald, Mitchell revealed that there has been a significant shift in his spirituality over the course of the past year. The 28-year-old’s belief in God was sealed courtesy of a particular incident which took place around the time of his UFC 272 victory over Edson Barboza.

Mitchell claims to have had an encounter with a possessed person who was ransacking his home as he watched helplessly. It was then that “Thug Nasty” fell back to his religious upbringing and successfully cast out the “demon” by taking the name of Jesus Christ.

“Well, I felt the presence of the H…

A quick update on my brother and Bellator fighter Cris Lencioni 🙏🏾

He had a heart attack, was in a coma, relearned to walk, and now just underwent his second procedure.

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If he returns to mma it’ll be the biggest comeback story ever pic.twitter.com/D12cnxviyX — Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) September 18, 2023

Bellator featherweight Cris Lencioni continues to make positive progress in his recovery from cardiac arrest earlier this year.

Lencioni suffered a cardiac arrest during a jiu-jitsu session on June 8 in Spokane, Wash., while training for a Bellator 298 bout against James Gallagher that was ultimately canceled.

Though he was immediately rushed to a nearby area hospital by paramedics, the heart attack left Lencioni with brain damage. While doctors were initially doubting a complete return to normal, the 28-year-old has since showed significant progress, taking his first steps with support only a month after th…

Belal Muhammad takes on Tarek Suleiman in a No-Gi 3-round grappling fight at #ADXC1 on October 20th in Abu Dhabi. pic.twitter.com/VY8i64Tupo

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) September 18, 2023

Belal Muhammad has been one of the most active among top-tier UFC welterweights in recent times. While Muhammad continues to await his long due title shot, “Remember The Name” has now chosen to stay active by taking up a grappling match.

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The UFC welterweight contender is slated to make his pro grappling debut against Tarek Suleiman at ADXC 1 on Oct. 20. The no-gi, three-round matchup will take place at middleweight and serve as the co-main event of the card, which goes down at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi.

A UAE Warriors standout, Suleiman has scored all of his 12 professional MMA wins inside the distance (including a disqualification victory). The 34-year-old hasn’t competed since March 2022 when he dropped a unanimous deci…

Valentina Shevchenko’s dominant flyweight title run, including seven defenses, came to an end with a huge upset loss against Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 earlier this year. “Bullet” looked to rebuild her legacy by regaining her title in their rematch in the Noche UFC main event this past Saturday.

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However, Grasso would retain her title as the fight ended in a controversial split draw after five rounds. While many observers argue that Shevchenko won the bout, nobody can overlook the 10-8 scorecard for the fifth round, which was doled out by judge Mike Bell in favor of Grasso.

Although Grasso took Shevchenko’s back in the final 90 seconds of the round, “Bullet” had dominated the rest of it with her accurate jab. While Shevchenko still demands an explanation from Bell, she believes the judge will bear the brunt of this controversial scorecard more than her.

The former flyweight champ is also proud of her showing at Noche UFC and expects her legacy t…

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Nova Uniao featherweight prospect Kaue Fernandes hopes to follow in the accomplished footsteps of Nova Uniao stablemate Jose Aldo.

Fernandes recently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship with his debut expected for Nov. 4 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. An opponent has not been confirmed for the bout.

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A former Shooto Brazil featherweight champion who most recently competed under the Legacy Fighting Alliance banner, Fernandes has been tabbed by some as the heir apparent to the retired former UFC featherweight champion. Fernandes is a native of Rio de Janeiro who began practicing muay thai at age 7. Since finishing his studies, he didn't choose the natural path of his classmates. His university has been the gym, where he learns new techniques, hones the old ones and pursues his training as a professional fighter.

The presence of accomplished athletes at Nova Uniao provides motivation for the long journey. Inspiration, seen on television and in the ne…

After reaching the PFL Championships with a pair of first-round knockout victories, Larissa Pacheco is preparing to face Marina Mokhnatkina on Nov. 24 with $1 million on the line.

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Last week Pacheco traveled from Belem, Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro to film countdown videos for the PFL along with other Brazilian finalists Renan Ferreira (heavyweight) and Gabriel Braga (featherweight). Joshua Silveira was also present after arriving with his father, Conan Silveira, to learn more about his Carlson Gracie origins.

"Last Friday we woke up at 3 a.m. to do filming at Botafogo beach while the sun rose. I also renewed my visa and did a couple (social media posts),” Pacheco told Sherdog.com.

In regards to her opponent in the featherweight final, Pacheco did not express much concern.

"Her fights are pretty much the same. I predicted how she would win. Actually, she has a pretty similar game to Kayla [Harrison], but on another level. She will try to ta…

Jack Della Maddalena couldn’t resist engaging in a little back-and-forth with the notoriously chatty Kevin Holland in the Noche UFC co-main event.

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“I didn’t want to get involved, but it’s hard not to,” Maddalena said at the post-fight press conference. “I’ve never fought someone that does that sort of thing before, so it’s interesting.”

That friendly banter didn’t aversely affect the result in the Octagon for Maddalena, who emerged with a split-decision triumph over Holland in their welterweight bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Of course, there was that little bit of doubt that crept in when the Aussie heard that at least one scorecard was in favor of his opponent.

“I thought I was winning,” Maddalena said. “I feel like I was pushing the pace, landing the heavier shots. As soon as I heard the split decision, you never know. You never know with the judges.”

While Holland outlanded Maddalena by a 127-to-105 count in s…

Ovince St. Preux, a veteran of 26 Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances, has accepted a six-month USADA suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

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USADA announced the sanctions in a statement on Monday. In his most recent violation, St. Preux tested positive for 3α-hydroxy-5α-androst-1-en-17-one — a long-term metabolite of 1-Androstenedione and/or 1-Testosterone — in out-of-competition samples collected on June 17 and July 11. Because St. Preux was not informed of the first positive test when the second sample was collected, the results were merged into one violation per the UFC’s anti-doping policy.

It was determined that St. Preux’s positive test resulted from a contaminated supplement, which according to USADA resulted in a reduced suspension. However, the former University of Tennessee football player also received a three-month sanction for using a contaminated supplement in October 2019. That resulted in St. Preux receivi…

Former flyweight champion Juliana Velasquez will return to action for the first time in nearly a year when she meets Paula Cristina dos Santos Silva on the Bellator 301 preliminary draw.

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Promotion officials announced the bout on Monday. Three other prelims were also confirmed for the event: Keri Melendez vs. Sabriye Sengul at flyweight; Archie Colgan vs. Pieter Buist at lightweight and Matheus Mattos vs. Richard Palencia at bantamweight.

Bellator 301 takes place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Nov. 17 and is headlined by a welterweight title tilt pitting Yaroslav Amosov against Jason Jackson. In the co-main event, Sergio Pettis will square off with Patrick Mix in a bantamweight championship unification bout. The main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims stream at the Bellator MMA YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

Velasquez, who will turn 37 in October, …

Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series is official, as all 10 athletes slated to compete made weight without issue on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a heavyweight clash between Shamil Gaziev (259.5) and Greg Velasco (263.5). The card airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Gaziev is undefeated in 10 professional appearances, with all but one of those triumphs coming inside the distance. Most recently, he scored a first-round stoppage of UFC veteran Darko Stosic at Brave CF 69 on Feb. 18.

Velasco, meanwhile, has compiled a 6-0 mark while competing exclusively under the Cage Fury Fighting Championships banner. In his last outing, “The Viking King” defeated Ronald Coleman via second-round TKO at CFFC 117 on March 31.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Shamil Gaziev (259.5) vs. Greg Velasco (263.5)Jacobi Jones (156) vs. Daniel James Allen (156)Stephanie Luciano (115.5) vs. Talita Alencar (115)…

Leon Edwards last defended his welterweight title in a trilogy clash against Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 in March.

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UFC president Dana White subsequently insisted on Colby Covington being next in line for the title shot, drawing protests from other elite welterweights like Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad.

While White has stood firm on his stance, there has since been a lull in fight talks, which has raised some concerns among fans. Fabian Edwards, who makes his own bid for gold at Bellator 299 at the 3Arena in Dublin on Sept. 23, recently addressed fans’ concerns about the delay in the UFC champ’s next title defense.

According to the champion’s younger brother, the delay is mainly due to negotiations, as “Rocky” is training and ready to go.

“Fans keep asking but he's ready to go, he's ready to get in there it's just about the negotiations,” Fabian told The Daily Star . “It’s about location and so many things. At the moment the focus is on…