Martial Arts News

JONNY PARSONS WITH SECONDS LEFT IN THE ROUND 😲 #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/DUn027uR21

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 22, 2023

Syndicate MMA product Jonny Parsons outdueled English veteran Danny Roberts during a wild second-round brawl for a technical knockout victory in the featured welterweight prelim at UFC Fight Night 224 in London on Saturday. Parsons brought the show to a close at the 4:57 mark of Round 2 for his sixth straight win. Roberts has lost three straight fights dating back to May 2022.

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Roberts (18-8, 7-7 UFC started well, using his reach and superior boxing to get the better of Parsons (9-3, 1-0 UFC) in the opening stanza. That changed in the second period when Parsons clipped his foe with a clean right to the jaw. From there, Roberts threw caution to the wind — to his detriment. Parsons had Roberts reeling with a series of knees and uppercuts against the fence, forcing “Hot Chocolate” to shoot for a takedown …

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to England is set after the official weigh-ins took place.

All 30 fighters on the UFC Fight Night 224 card successfully made weight, including heavyweight headliners Tom Aspinall and Marcin Tybura. It will be the local combatant that will be the heavier man in the cage on Saturday, as Aspinall checked in 12 pounds higher than Tybura. Both men are signed up for five potential rounds of action.

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This marks the first fight for Aspinall (12-3) since suffering a knee injury just 15 seconds into his encounter with Curtis Blaydes last year. Almost exactly one year later, Aspinall will look to return to the form that had him undefeated inside the Octagon. Prior to the setback, the English heavyweight had wreckedAlexander Volkov, Sergey Spivak and Andrei Arlovski in the span of about 13 months. Aspinall officially weighed 258 pounds, the heaviest in his UFC career to date.

This marks the second …

After weathering an early storm, a comeback late in the round secured the TKO win for Mick Stanton. He retains the CW Middleweight Title 🏆 what an incredible fight by both competitors 👏#CW157 pic.twitter.com/xIqxgm55It

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) July 21, 2023 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship mainstay Mick Stanton now knows the sweet taste of revenge.

For as long as it lasted, the CW 157 headliner was a slugfest starring Stanton (12-7, 9-5 CW) and James Webb (9-5-1, 8-5-1 CW) with the middleweight championship on the line. In their first clash, Webb defeated Stanton by unanimous decision. This time, the match was far, but much was more intense. Webb rocked his adversary right out of the gate with powerful strikes, keeping Stanton guessing until dropping him with a powerful body shot. Stanton recovered quickly enough and fired back with a vengeance. Thanks to a series of quick fists and a well-timed uppercut, Stanton rebounded and dropped…

[embedded content] The Legacy Fighting Alliance returns for its second event of July.

Headlining the nine-fight LFA 163 card is featherweight championship collision for the vacant belt between Elijah Johns and Javier Garcia. Both participants made weight for the five-round bout. However, there were three main card weight misses, as Johnny Hopper, Matheus Pereira and Angel Alvarez all came in heavy for their respective bouts.

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An LFA mainstay, Johns (9-2) bounced back from a 2021 split decision defeat to Bruno Souza by defeating Brandon Phillips and Masuto Kawana both by unanimous decision. Winner of seven of his last eight appearances, the Dallas native stepped on the scale weighing 144.6 pounds.

Meanwhile, Garcia (10-5) has won three of his last four after also losing on the scorecards to the aforementioned Souza. Recent victories over Leandro Gomes and Albert Morales earned "El Mariachi" a shot at championship gold. The 31-year-old officially weig…

[embedded content] A Ultimate Fighting Championship vet has grown his team in Brazil beyond his wildest dreams.

Back in 2009 when he was still on the roster, UFC vet Cristiano Marcello decided he would move on from his original institution of Chute Boxe. Rather than join up with another team – he did train occasionally with Team Alpha Male in California, as coach Urijah Faber was also his trainer on his season of “The Ultimate Fighter” – the Rio de Janeiro native formed his own team and called it CM System. Over the years, it has drawn notable competitors like Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, Matheus Scheffel and Geraldo Coelho de Lima Neto, among others. Speaking with Sherdog on Thursday, Marcello had an announcement to make: his team had purchased the facilities of American Top Team in Curitiba, Brazil, and he claims that he now runs the largest training center in the country.

“I’m so glad I started the team in 2009 when I was still competing in UFC and leading the team,”…

Cory Sandhagen will now fight Rob Font at a catchweight in the main event of UFC Nashville on Aug. 5, sources told ESPN. Five-round fight.

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) July 20, 2023 A few injuries to top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship contenders have resulted in some significant card switches.

Per ESPN on Thursday, Rob Font (20-6) has been tapped as the replacement for the injured Umar Nurmagomedov for UFC Nashville. The Aug. 5 headliner now set as a 140-pound catchweight affair, it will play out between Font and Cory Sandhagen (16-4) over the course of five rounds. Font was initially planning on facing Yadong Song at UFC 292 two weeks later, but an injury to Song allows for Font to take this matchup on short notice.

In April, Font bounced back from a two-decision skid to Jose Aldo and Marlon Vera by clocking Adrian Yanez in the first round at UFC 287. Prior to the pair of five-round defeats to Aldo and Vera, the Boston native …

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 1:55 to reflect a dispute about the veracity of the fighter's confirmation of the grappling match.

One of the greatest fighters of all time is going to change disciplines to take on one of the best grapplers to ever compete in MMA.

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According to FloGrappling on Thursday, former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champion Georges St. Pierre has an opponent for his grappling debut in December. At Fight Pass Invitation 6, which will likely be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, St. Pierre will ply his trade against Brazilian submission icon Demian Maia. The rules will likely be submission-only, with special overtime provisions that will be announced at a later date. News of this pairing, one that will headline the Dec. 14 event airing on UFC Fight Pass, was confirmed by Maia on social media.

Every now and then, something comes up that still does really motivate you.Grappling @…

[embedded content] One Championship is planning on ramping up its stateside presence next year in a big way.

The Singapore-based organization announced on Thursday that it planned on running four fight cards in the U.S. in 2024. Putting on bouts across multiple different disciplines, the league was able to travel to Colorado this past May with its various rule sets and weigh-in procedures approved by the Colorado Combative Sports Commission. No date or locations have been provided, other than that the events will air on Amazon Prime.

One head Chatri Sityodtong included a statement in the release, saying, “I am thrilled to announced that One Championship is coming back to the U.S. with four massive events in 2024. When we made our historic U.S. debut with One Fight Night 10 on Prime Video, I was blown away by the support we received from our fans in the U.S.”

This follows the April agreement One made with Amazon Prime to extend their broadcasting contract for sev…

The Rematch is 🔛

📺 Watch Mick Stanton 🆚 James Webb 𝗜𝗜 headline #CW157 tomorrow night on @UFCFightPass! pic.twitter.com/wzMjXu2yUB

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) July 20, 2023 Both Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be putting on 15-fight showcases in London this weekend.

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The Cage Warriors middleweight championship will be on the line in the CW 157 main event. Reigning titleholder Mick Stanton will put his belt up for grabs against challenger James Webb in a highly anticipated rematch. Both men made weight, as did the rest of the card, with the exception of Tom Mearns (150.4). The would-be featherweight came in 4.4 pounds heavy for his fight against Bailey Gilbert, and has been fined a hefty 50% of his purse.

Stanton (11-7) claimed the title in his last fight, a unanimous decision win over Will Currie. The Liverpool native has won five of his last six fights, with the lon…

Abu Dhabi we're back and we're bringing a STACKED card with us!!@DanaWhite just announced the first three fights for #UFC294 in October 🔥

[ Tickets on sales this week | @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/9mgcbIwbB8

— UFC (@ufc) July 20, 2023

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Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira are going to run it back after all.

UFC president Dana White announced on Wednesday evening that a lightweight championship rematch between Makhachev and Oliveira will headline UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21. Additionally, Paulo Costa will meet Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight, while Nassourdine Imavov will face Ikram Aliskerov in another 185-pound bout. Costa and Alikerov were initially slated to face each other at UFC 291 before the new fights were revealed.

Makhachev and Oliveira first squared off at UFC 280, with the Dagestani claiming the vacant 155-pound belt with a second-round submission triumph. Makhache…

Umar Nurmagomedov has withdrawn from the UFC Nashville main event on Aug. 5 for undisclosed reasons.

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Multiple outlets confirmed Nurmagomedov’s exit on Wednesday following an initial report from The Schmozone. The Las Vegas-based promotion is reportedly seeking a replacement opponent for Cory Sandhagen. UFC on ESPN 50 takes place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennesee, and is also expected to include a strawweight clash pitting Tatiana Suarez against Jessica Andrade.

The 27-year-old Nurmagomedov is undefeated in 16 professional outings. He has kicked off his UFC tenure with four consecutive victories, including three inside the distance. Most recently, the Eagles MMA product knocked out Raoni Barcelos in the opening stanza of their UFC Fight Night 217 encounter on Jan. 14.

A former interim bantamweight title challenger, Sandhagen is coming off back-to-back triumphs against Marlon Vera and Yadong Song in main event bouts. The Elevation Fi…

OFFICIAL: Updated 2023 #PFLPlayoffs San Antonio Card

Movlid Khaybulaev is out. @CWadeMMA steps in and will now face @Gabrielbragab.

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[Fri, August 4th |#PFLPlayoffs | 🎟️ https://t.co/FD4ZBDPl3o] pic.twitter.com/ibwdkISqVU — PFL (@PFLMMA) July 19, 2023 Movlid Khaybulaev’s 2023 Professional Fighters League campaign has reached a premature end.

The organization announced on Wednesday that Khaybulaev is out of his featherweight semifinal matchup against Gabriel Braga. As a result, Chris Wade will get a spot in the postseason and square off against Braga on Aug. 4.

A reason for Khaybulaev’s exit was not given. A PFL champion in 2021, Khaybulaev rolled through the 2023 regular season with victories over Ryoji Kudo and Tyler Diamond. The 32-year-old Dagestani is unbeaten in 23 professional outings and has won seven straight bouts since a no contest against Daniel Pineda in 2019.

Wade has made the PFL playoffs on four…