Martial Arts News

Professional Fighters League’s biggest star will get to fight before year’s end after all.

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Two-time lightweight champion Kayla Harrison will return to action against Julia Budd in a 145-pound showcase bout at the 2023 PFL Championships on Nov. 24. The pairing was announced on Wednesday. The PFL Championship takes place at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., and airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+. The card will feature $1 million championship bouts in six different weight classes. A price point for the pay-per-view was not revealed.

Harrison was originally slated to face Budd at a PFL regular season event in July 2022 before her opponent pulled out of the contest due to an injury. A two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, Harrison owns a 15-1 mark in MMA since making her professional debut in 2018. The American Top Team representative suffered her lone defeat at the 2022 PFL Championships, dropping a five-round verdict to Larissa Pacheco in one of last yea…

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment recently completed a merger to come under the banner of a new company, TKO Holdings. UFC parent company Endeavor will hold 51% of shares in the new company while WWE stakeholders will have 49%.

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While both promotions will continue to function independently, UFC senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein has a goal of merging the two vastly different fan bases at some point.

“Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan,” Epstein told ESPN.

However, UFC president Dana White couldn’t disagree more with Epstein, labeling the latter’s statement as one of the “dumbest of all time.” White, who was made UFC chief executive officer (CEO) with the merger, noted that the fan bases of pro wrestling and unscripted cage fighting are fundamentally different.

“Lawrence, I love you. One of …

Corinne Laframboise: Athlete learns she's three months pregnant days before fighting for UFC contract via @BBCWorld https://t.co/Fagh5OMDTZ pic.twitter.com/yzVAXoNpVp

— BirdOwl (@BirdOwl) September 12, 2023

UAE Warriors women's flyweight champion Corinne Laframboise was scheduled to take on Rainn Guerrero on Dana White’s Contender Series last week. Laframboise thought that her doctor was joking when she received a text informing her of her pregnancy with six days left before the bout.

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While the doctor had initially expected twins, Laframboise is happy to now know that it’s a healthy girl.

“I was in the car waiting for my fiancé and it was like the entire world stopped — we didn't expect it,” the Canadian flyweight told BBC. “The day after we did the scan to see if there was a baby or a mistake [by the doctor], and there was one baby. We heard the heartbeat, we saw the two arms, two feet. And [now] we know it's a girl. A…

Sean Strickland is one of the most polarizing fighters on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, as he is known for going on unhinged rants on a variety of sensitive topics.

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However, even Strickland’s detractors couldn’t take away anything from his dominant title victory over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Raised in an abusive home, “Tarzan” has been vocal about his inability to socialize and form trusting relationships with others. However, mixed martial arts seems to have altered his view on life and people in general.

The Xtreme Couture representative seemed uncharacteristically collected as he fought his way to victory against one of the best strikers of all time over 25 minutes.

While the win is a source of great pride for "Tarzan" and his team, for Strickland’s head coach, Eric Nicksick, the human aspect of the win is of special significance after having successfully channeled his fighter’s energy.

“Sean the fighter is one thing,…

Jhonata Diniz can be described in one word at this stage of his career: upside.

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The Santa Fe Team export was one of five competitors to book spots on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster during Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he buried Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Eduardo Jose Neves with punches in the first round of their heavyweight showcase. Neves (7-2, 0-2 DWCS) succumbed to blows 3:15 into Round 2, his path to the UFC cut off for a second time.

The 32-year-old Diniz (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) weathered some early adversity, as he met with jabs, front kicks to the body and a few combinations from his aggressive countryman. He eventually pushed Neves to the fence before uncorking a right hook and a plunging right cross upstairs. It proved to be the beginning of the end. Neves marched forward and walked into a searing one-two that leveled him where he stood in the center of the cage. No follow-up shots were required.

Diniz has …

A historic day. The most exciting time in our industry that I’ve ever been a part of.

…Are you ready? @TKOGrp @ufc pic.twitter.com/OaVukRSuOb

— Triple H (@TripleH) September 12, 2023

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The UFC-WWE merger could have an impact on the careers of some mixed martial artists.

The two companies, which now operate under the umbrella of TKO Holdings, will remain largely separate when it comes to day-to-day operations. However, WWE president Nick Khan acknowledged the possibility that UFC athletes might have options in sports entertainment as their fighting careers draw to a close.

“UFC fighters are going to stay focused on the UFC, and WWE superstars obviously do something different in our ring,” Khan told ESPN. “… But you also see in the UFC people with big personalities who, once their UFC run is done, once the UFC and the fighter says, ‘Hey, maybe now’s the time to call it a day,’ could those people have a longer life at…

Sherdog’s coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 6 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 Mark Smith will referee the evening’s first bout. Tanner jabs the body and Matsumoto answers with a low kick. Matsumoto continues to drill his opponent with low kicks early, while Tanner pumps his jab in his opponent’s face. Tanner pressures behind a couple right hands and a knee to the midsection before backing off. Matsumoto moves in with a 1-2 followed by a low kick. Tanner puncutates a four punch combination with a low kick, but Matsumoto continues to land snapping low kicks of his own. Tanner lands a right then angles out, but another low kick follows a Matsumoto combination. A high kick gets through for Matsumoto, who is mixing up his attacks now. Matsumoto moves in behind a combination, then backs off when Tanner returns fire. Tanner ducks under a bunch and forces the clinch, turning his man into the fence. Tanner looks for a short elbow, and then the bantamweights trade knees in close. M…

The NYSE welcomes TKO Group Holdings Inc. in celebration of its listing! 🔔 $TKO @TKOGrp | @ufc | @WWE | @Endeavor | @danawhite | @TripleH | @BiancaBelairWWE | @dc_mma pic.twitter.com/55SSVlQpdw

— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) September 12, 2023

The merger between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment is now official.

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TKO Group Holdings debuted on Tuesday as a publicly traded company at the New York Stock Exchange. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel rang the bell to open trading for the day, and he was accompanied by UFC president Dana White, WWE executive chairman Vince McMahon, WWE executive Paul Levesque and ex-UFC two division champ Daniel Cormier – among others -- during the proceedings.

Endeavor Group Holdings has a 51% controlling interest in the company, while WWE shareholders have a 49% stake. Emanuel will be chief executive of TKO, while McMahon will serve as executive chairman – his same role with WWE. …

Danni McCormack will put her strawweight belt on the line against Karolina Wojcik when Invicta Fighting Championships makes its first-ever trip to Boston on Oct. 27.

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The all-female promotion announced the bout, which will serve as the headliner for Invicta FC 54, on Tuesday. Invicta FC 54 takes place at the Citizens House of Blues and will also see former 115-pound champ Valesca Machado face Isis Verbeek in the evening’s co-main event. The card will air at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on the Invicta FC YouTube channel, the Invicta FC Facebook page and AXS TV.

McCormack captured strawweight gold with a five-round verdict over Machado at Invicta FC 52 on March 15. The SBG Ireland representative owns a 7-2 career record that includes a 4-1 mark under the Bellator MMA banner.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Wojcik has been victorious in two of her first three Invicta FC appearances. Most recently, the 28-year-old Pole garnered a spli…

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Sean Strickland was on a six-fight winning streak and on the cusp of title contention when he was brutally knocked out by a surging Alex Pereira at UFC 276 in June 2022. The dominant nature of the KO was enough to earn Pereira a title shot against Israel Adesanya.

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Subsequently, “Poatan” went on to win the belt against “The Last Stylebender” at UFC 281 before losing the immediate rematch at UFC 287.

Meanwhile, Strickland suffered a split decision loss against Jared Cannonier in December 2022, only to bounce back and register back-to-back wins and earn a shot at the belt, albeit due to a stroke of luck.

Interestingly, instead of being negatively affected by his loss against Pereira, “Tarzan” was game enough to train with the Brazilian in the subsequent months.

Following Strickland’s upset win over Adesanya at UFC 293, some fans believe his training sessions with Pereira must have played a vital role in his impressive pe…

Terrance McKinney will make a quick return to the Octagon this October after securing a highlight-reel knockout over Mike Breeden in August.

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McKinney will take on surging Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6 graduate Chris Duncan at the UFC Fight Night on Oct. 14. McKinney announced the pairing via Instagram. The card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight clash between Sodiq Yusuff and Edson Barboza.

Renowned for his exciting fighting style, McKinney has never gone the distance in his entire professional career. Going into his fourth outing of the year, the 28-year-old will look to build a solid win streak which has eluded him since a KO loss to Drew Dober in March 2022.

Meanwhile, Chris Duncan made his first Contender Series appearance in October 2021, where his undefeated record was marred by a brutal KO loss to Viacheslav Borshchev. However, “The Problem” returned to the show the next year and secu…

Israel Adesanya was a massive -600 favorite going into his UFC 293 title defense against Sean Strickland on Sept. 9.

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Mixed martial arts fans watched in awe as the odds steadily changed after every round with Strickland emphatically outclassing the Nigerian-born Kiwi to the point where the challenger was a -125 favorite going into the final frame.

Adesanya looked out of his wits, especially after getting dropped in the first round of the bout, en route to a lopsided unanimous decision loss in one of the greatest title fight upsets in the history of the sport.

Adesanya’s head coach at City Kickboxing in Auckland, Eugene Bareman, has come under somewhat undue criticism in the aftermath of the championship loss for "The Last Stylebender" against Strickland.

While Bareman is credited with forming an elite MMA hub in that part of the world, honing the likes of Alexander Volkanovski and Kai Kara-France, one upset loss was seemingly enough to earn hi…