Martial Arts News

If something goes awry with the scheduled UFC 293 headliner, the promotion has a contingency plan in place.

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According to MMAjunkie.com, Jared Cannonier is in Sydney and will weigh in as the backup fighter for Saturday’s middleweight championship clash between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.

Cannonier challenged for middleweight gold at UFC 276 in July 2022, when he dropped a five-round verdict against Adesanya at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He has since rebounded to earn a split-decision triumph over Strickland at UFC Fight Night 216 and a unanimous verdict against Marvin Vettori at UFC on ESPN 47 on June 17. “The Killa Gorilla” has won seven of his last nine Octagon appearances dating back to November 2018.

UFC 293 takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney and will also see Alexander Volkov lock horns with Tai Tuivasa in the evening’s heavyweight co-main event. The main card airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

It wasn’t completely smooth sailing, but all 10 athletes are official for Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Ramon Taveras tipped the scales at 136.25 pounds on his first attempt but was able to check in at 136 when given additional time for his bantamweight bout against Serhiy Sidey (135.5). All other competitors made weight without issue on Monday.

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Dana White’s Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The card is topped by a light heavyweight showdown pitting Bruno Lopes (204) against Brendson Ribeiro (205.5).

Lopes takes a perfect 11-0 career mark into the Contender Series. He last appeared at Legacy Fighting Alliance 143, where he defeated Willyanedson Paiva via second-round TKO last September. He has finished nine of his triumphs inside the distance.

Ribeiro, meanwhile is coming off back-to-back first-round technical knockout victories on the Brazilian …

The home of Ciryl Gane was reportedly robbed while the French heavyweight competed at UFC Fight Night 226.

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According to French outlet Le Parisien, approximately 150,000 euros — more than $160,000 — of valuables were taken from Gane’s residence, including a Rolex and other jewelry. Police arrived at Gane’s home in Nogent-sur-Marne at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time on Sunday to discover the break-in and theft.

An investigation is ongoing, and a source close to the case believes that a member of Gane’s entourage may have informed the burglars of his absence prior to the break-in. No arrests have been made at this time.

It was a successful night for Gane in the Octagon, as he defeated Sergey Spivak via second-round technical knockout in the UFC Fight Night 226 headliner at the Accor Arena in Paris. “Bon Gamin” has won nine of 11 promotional appearances since his UFC debut in 2019.

Retired mixed martial artist Jason Miller continues to run into trouble outside of the cage.

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According to TMZ Sports, the UFC and Strikeforce veteran known as “Mayhem” was arrested for allegedly choking a fan at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood on Aug. 29. According to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department records, Miller was arrested on Aug. 30 at 5 a.m. on a misdemeanor charge before being released on bail at 11:25 a.m.

The incident allegedly began when a fan approached Miller to say hello but a “verbal confrontation” ensued, according to the report. From there, Miller was accused of putting the fan in a chokehold before security intervened to separate the two parties.

Miller reportedly left before law enforcement arrived on the scene, but he returned to the club the next day. The police were called by someone who recognized the former fighter, and Miller was subsequently arrested. The case is still under investigation as detectives …

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The rematch between former UFC heavyweight champions Junior dos Santos and Fabrício Werdum is attracting the attention of Brazilian fans.

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The bareknuckle MMA fight, which will be the main event of Gamebred Fighting Championship 5, takes place almost 15 years after the first showdown and will be broadcast live on the Combate channel in Brazil on Friday. In the first confrontation, at UFC 90 in October 2008, dos Santos made his debut in the promotion and knocked out the favored Werdum, who was on the last fight of his contract and close to a title shot.

“Since I lost, the UFC made an unreasonable proposal and ended up forcing me to leave the promotion and restart my career at Strikeforce,” Werdum told Sherdog.com.

This first fight and its ensuing consequences ended up forging a great rivalry between Werdum and “Cigano. While dos Santos started a meteoric career in the UFC, earning six more victories that would culiminate in a f…

The fans in Paris made a strong impression at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s second event in France on Saturday.

The Accor Arena was rocking from the card’s opening fight, all the way until Ciryl Gane dispatched Sergey Spivak in the UFC Fight Night 226 heavyweight headliner. The numerous French fighters on the card drew loud ovations and brought a palpable energy to the audience — something that was noticeable to UFC officials.

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“That felt louder than last year,” said UFC senior vice president for international operations and content David Shaw at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“Last year our feeling was it’s first time in market, we worked so hard to get legalization in France. First time effect — great,” he added. “The event was a huge success. Coming here tonight and having the performance all the athletes put on and the performance also of the fans, it kind of validated what the thesis was from the very beginning, which is we make…

After once being one of the most highly-regarded prospects in the heavyweight division, Ciryl Gane ran into more than his fair share of doubters following a quick submission loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285 in March.

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Gane took a step toward restoring his image at UFC Fight Night 226, as he was dominant in a second-round technical knockout victory against Sergey Spivak in Saturday’s headliner at Accor Arena in Paris. “Bon Gamin” admitted that he felt pressure heading into the fight.

“I’m not going to lie. I’ve got the pressure, and I want to do well,” Gane said at the post-fight press conference. “This is not a game of basketball or soccer. That’s different. Just that, you have some emotion that’s really different.Yeah, a little bit afraid, a little bit pressured. You want to do well.”

With that being said, Gane claims that he wasn’t focused on proving the doubters wrong with his performance against Spivak. It was more about correcting mistakes mad…

Dios santo!!! Aviso que son imágenes muy fuertes para los sensibles, Dylan Reischman se ha fracturado la pierna de una forma horrorosa, de las peores lesiones que he visto nunca #CombateGlobal pic.twitter.com/LPijs2vFfO

— Pelunaton (@pelunaton) September 3, 2023

Dylan Reischman suffered a gruesome leg break at a Combate Global event on Saturday.

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Reischman was attempting to defend a takedown from Jamie Mora in the second round of their featherweight bout. When Mora attempts to lift his opponent for a takedown, Reischman’s leg gets caught awkwardly underneath him and snaps, ending the fight immediately at the 1:47 mark of Round 2. It appears that the injury causes Reischman’s bone to protrude from his leg.

The injury can be viewed in the video above, but it is not for the faint of heart.

The 21-year-old Reischman was making his professional MMA debut. Combate Global “Ferreira vs. Morales” was held at Mediapro Studi…

Rose Namajunas was at less than 100% for most of her flyweight debut.

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Namajunas’ manager, Brian Butler-Au of SuckerPunch Entertainment, confirmed on social media that the ex-strawweight queen suffered a broken right hand in the first round of her loss to Manon Fiorot at UFC Fight Night 226 on Saturday in Paris.

“Rose is in good spirits,” Butler-Au wrote. “Broke her right hand early in the first round and couldn’t fully execute because of it.”

Despite the injury, “Thug” Rose was still competitive against Fiorot in her first 125-pound foray. She outlanded her opponent 60 to 58 in significant strikes and won the third round on two of the three cageside judges’ scorecards. Butler-Au later posted a photo that showed Namajunas’ mangled right pinkie finger once she removed her gloves.

The very first clash in the first round this happened to @rosenamajunas 🤦🏻‍♂️ The mental battle to keep going began right then and varied…

Benoit St. Denis and Thiago Moises received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their entertaining lightweight clash at UFC Fight Night 226.

After a frenetic opening stanza that saw St. Denis open a cut near his foe’s eye with an elbow, the Frenchman delighted the crowd at Accor Arena in Paris by punctuating his victory with a barrage of ground-and-pound for a stoppage at the 4:44 mark of the second frame.

Meanwhile, former interim heavyweight king Ciryl Gane captured a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his technical knockout victory over Sergey Spivak in the main event. “Bon Gamin” kept the fight upright, and battered his foe with strikes to all levels before putting Spivak away with a salvo of punches to the head and body 3:44 into Round 2.

Finally, Morgan Charriere garnered the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his finish of Manolo Zecchini in a featured featherweight affair. A series of kicks to the body sent…

Ciryl Gane operated on an entirely different level from the man on the other side of the cage.

The 33-year-old Frenchman steadied himself among the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight elite, as he tracked down and systematically dismantled Sergey Spivak in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 226 headliner on Saturday at Accor Arena. Spivak (16-4, 7-4 UFC) met his end 3:44 into Round 2, losing for the first time in nearly two years.

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Gane (12-2, 9-2 UFC), in his first appearance since being throttled by Jon Jones in March, was virtually flawless in his execution. He shut down an attempted takedown from Spivak with his sprawl in the first round and never looked back. Gane abused the Moldovan with clubbing shots to the head and body, targeted the legs on occasion and broke him down piece by piece. He pinned Spivak to the fence late in Round 2 and slammed a brutal knee into his guts, setting off the finishing sequence. Standing hammerfist…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 226 coverage will begin Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Cavalcanti (-375), Fairn dos Santos (+295)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Basharat (-325), Rodrigues (+260)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOU…