Martial Arts News

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Kamaru Usman is set on a collision course with Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight king Sean Strickland, provided he can get past his upcoming opponent.

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Former welterweight champ Usman (20-3) has stepped up on nine days’ notice to make his middleweight debut in a title eliminator against Khamzat Chimaev (12-0) at UFC 294 on Oct. 21., and the winner has been promised an immediate title shot. In 2017, Usman notched a unanimous decision win over Strickland, one of the many up-and-comers he left in his wake while rising to the top of the welterweight division. Strickland subsequently moved up to 185 pounds, where he went on a win streak and eventually earned a last-minute title shot against Israel Adesanya when Dricus Du Plessis was forced out due to injury. “Tarzan” shocked the world with an elite defensive display to cruise to a lopsided unanimous decision victory in a major upset. While “The Nigerian Nightmare” admits that …

Islam Makhachev isn’t happy with his standing in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.

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Makhachev, who currently ranks third in the promotion’s poll, took at shot at No. 1 Jon Jones, who regained the top spot when he returned from a three-year hiatus to beat Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. Makhachev will face Alexander Volkanovski on short notice in Saturday’s UFC 294 headliner after original foe Charles Oliveira withdrew from the event last week. Makhachev defeated Volkanovski, the reigning featherweight champion, at UFC 284 in February.

“This is what UFC champions have to do,” Makhachev said on Wednesday at a UFC media event “If you’re a real champion, you have to take fight, doesn’t matter how many days, who it’s going to be. Not like your pound-for-pound champion when they give him Chael Sonnen. If you’re a real champion, you have to fight.

“They put him [Jon Jones] No.1, the No. 1 guy right now, (but) who he beat in his last five fights? We don’t have…

Josh Emmett will face Giga Chikadze in a featherweight contest at UFC 296.

The promotion confirmed the pairing in a release on Wednesday. UFC 296 takes place on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welteweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington.

Emmett began his 2023 campaign with a second-round submission loss to Yair Rodriguez in an interim title bout. He returned to action in the UFC on ABC 5 headliner on June 24, when he dropped a five-round verdict to surging contender Ilia Topuria. The Team Alpha Male product had won five straight bouts prior to his current skid.

Chikadze, meanwhile, has been victorious in eight of his nine promotional outings. After more than a year and a half away, “Ninja” enjoyed a successful return at UFC Fight Night 225, where he outpointed Alex Caceres on Aug. 26.

After 20 bouts inside the Octagon, John Makdessi’s tenure with the Ultimate Fighting Championship has come to an end.

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The UFC recently parted ways with the Canadian lightweight and eight other fighters, including Andre Fialho, Hannah Goldy, J.P. Buys, Carl Deaton, A.J. Fletcher, Kamuela Kirk, Tucker Lutz and Shane Young.

Roster Tracker initially reported the departures on social media, and they were later confirmed by MMAFighting.com. This does not necessarily mean that all of the aforementioned fighters were released by the promotion. In some cases, they simply might not have had their contracts renewed.

Makdessi is the most prominent of the group. The 38-year-old Tristar Gym representative debuted in the Octagon in 2010 and compiled an 11-9 record in UFC competition. He earned notable wins against the likes of Ross Pearson, Daron Cruickshank and Sam Stout, among others. Makdessi lost three of his last four promotional outings, most recentl…

A bantamweight showdown pitting Cody Garbrandt against Brian Kelleher has been added to the UFC 296 lineup.

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Eurosport NL was first to confirm the booking. UFC 296 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 16 and is headlined by a welterweight title bout between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington.

A former 135-pound champion, Garbrandt last appeared at UFC 285, where he earned a unanimous decision triumph over Trevin Jones on March 4. “No Love” was supposed to return against Mario Bautista at UFC 292, but the Team Alpha Male product was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury.

Kelleher will be back in action for the first time since June 2022, when he suffered a first-round submission defeat against Bautista at UFC on ESPN 38. The New York native is coming back after recently undergoing neck surgery, a procedure that put his career in jeopardy.

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Conor McGregor won’t face criminal charges for an alleged sexual assault of a woman in a bathroom during a Miami Heat game earlier this year.

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According to a closeout memo obtained by TMZ Sports, prosecutors determined that there was “insufficient evidence” as well as “contradicting and/or no corroborating witnesses” to prove that McGregor raped a women in the bathroom during an NBA Finals game between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets on June 9.

Prosecutors reportedly reviewed video footage from the Kaseya Center on the night of the incident. Video confirmed that McGregor and the woman entered the men’s restroom together for approximately five minutes, and they were later seen together at a club within the venue. However, when prosecutors interviewed a bathroom attendant, he revealed that he “did not hear any signs of distress or sounds that corroborate that whatever was occurring was not consensual” when McGregor and his accuse…

Alexander Volkanvoski believes his legacy is on the line when he takes on reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 294.

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Ever since Volkanovski stepped up on 12 days' notice to replace Charles Oliveira in the main event for UFC 294, there has been talk of Volkanovski not having much to lose considering the last-minute nature of the booking.

While "The Great" isn't putting too much pressure on himself going into the last-minute rematch with Makhachev, the Aussie is aware of the impact of another" loss against the Dagestan native.

“This whole 'nothing to lose' type thing is silly,” Volkanovski said during a recent media scrum in Abu Dhabi. “Don’t get me wrong, there's still a lot of pressure on Islam and I understand that, but I mean I have to take this rematch that I want so bad, this lightweight title, you know. We talk about legacy, if I was to lose my legacy takes a big hit, I don't get another sho…

Puja Tomar has made history by becoming the first-ever Indian-born female fighter to earn an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract.

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Tomar announced the signing on Instagram and it was confirmed by her management firm, First Round Management.

“The Cyclone” isn’t new to the global stage, as she competed in One Championship from 2017 to 2020, where she picked up one victory in four mixed martial arts bouts and one muay thai outing. She then went on to rack up a four-fight win streak including three finishes in Indian mixed martial arts promotion Matrix Fight Night.

In her most recent bout, Tomar defeated Anastasia Feofanova of Russia via fourth-round stoppage at MFN 12 in July to be crowned the inaugural MFN strawweight champ.

Tomar reps the Soma Fight Club in Bali, the same gym as Anshul Jubli, who won last year's “Road to UFC” in the lightweight bracket and is set to make his promotional debut against Mike Breeden at UFC 294 in Abu Dha…

One of the greatest performances in Professional Boxing this was. I landed more shots on Floyd than Canelo.I’d love another go. https://t.co/Abfx7Pcpze

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 17, 2023

It seems that former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship king Conor McGregor is fired up over boxing super middleweight ace Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s (60-2) recent comments.

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The beef initially started when McGregor shared footage on social media of Alvarez’s 2013 clash against boxing icon Floyd Mayweather (50-0), when he was outpointed by “Money” en route to a majority decision. Labeling it as one of the greatest performances in pro boxing, McGregor also claimed to have landed more shots on Mayweather during their blockbuster outing in 2017.

“One of the greatest performances in professional boxing this was,” McGregor (22-6) wrote. “I landed more shots on Floyd than Canelo [did.] I'd love another go.”

Alvar…

HyunSungPark will fight ShannonRoss at #UFCShanghai on December 9th. (first rep. @mmaecosystem) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/JwWyChJfHN

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 17, 2023

A matchup of flyweights with starkly contrasting momentum has been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming return to China.

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Undefeated South Korean prospect Hyun Sung Park (8-0) will take on Australia’s Shannon Ross (12-8) in the 125-pound weight class on Dec. 9 in Shanghai. The matchup was first reported Tuesday by MMA Ecosystem followed by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport. Park was crowned the flyweight winner of last year’s “Road to UFC,” the promotion’s venture for scouting Asian talent. “Peace of Mind” has not had a fight go the distance since his professional debut in 2018, where he earned a unanimous decision win over Min Soo Kwon. The 27-year-old defeated Seung Guk Choi via third-round submission in t…

"Every year I try and find new things in the offseason to get better at..

I did three rounds of sparring with SeanStrickland and we beat the s*** out of each other" ~ @CrosbyMaxx #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Zr40tEMEqI

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 17, 2023

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National Football League defensive end Maxx Crosby recently got to spar with Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight king Sean Strickland (28-5) for three rounds.

Crosby is a longtime fight fan and as a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders, enjoys the proximity to the UFC’s home base, where is one of the more regular celebrity faces in attendance for pay-per-view cards. When the NFL wanted to film some footage of him sparring, Crosby decided to call up his friend and newly crowned middleweight champion Strickland, who is notorious for happily sparring with partners of any size or experience level. According to Crosby, who shared his e…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight ace Jiri Prochazka has issued some harsh critique based on his perception of upcoming opponent Alex Pereira’s abilities as a mixed martial artist.

Prochazka (29-3) will take on Pereira (8-2) for the vacant light heavyweight title in the UFC 295 co-main event on Nov. 11. The bout will mark Pereira’s second Octagon title bid -- in a new weight class -- all within the span of a year. While Prochazka acknowledges Pereira’s elite striking, “BJP” believes the former Glory Kickboxing champ is lacking in the grappling aspect of combat.

“I have to say, Alex, he’s not a good martial artist like on the ground on the wrestling but one thing he can do and knows what to do is his striking,” Prochazka told CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri. “It will be a pleasure to compete with him in the stand-up. He’s good in stand-up but not good in wrestling and all these things. He’s too much focused on striking. He’s very good at that but on …