Martial Arts News

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship star Chael Sonnen has reached a plea deal after being accused of attacking multiple people at a Las Vegas hotel in December 2021.

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Sonnen pleaded no contest on Wednesday to a charge of misdemeanor breach of the peace in Las Vegas Justice Court and was fined $750, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a result of the plea deal, four previous misdemeanor battery charges were dismissed by judge Ann Zimmerman. Two misdemeanor charges were also dismissed last September. Sonnen did not appear in court, and the case is now closed without further conditions or jail time.

The former UFC title challenger initially faced multiple misdemeanor battery charges — including felony battery by strangulation — for an alleged incident that occurred on Dec. 18, 2021. The felony battery charge was dropped in March 2022, and five other misdemeanors were dismissed by the court without prejudice. Sonnen was accu…

OFFICIAL: 𝗪𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗼 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲. 2023 #PFLPlayoffs New York cards are now set! ✅

August 18th: Heavyweights & Women's FeatherweightsAugust 23rd: Welterweights & Lightweights

For more information and tickets 👇https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/CMwOs5CcmY — PFL (@PFLMMA) July 12, 2023

The lineups are set for the final two Professional Fighters League playoff events.

The first card takes place on Aug. 18 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and features heavyweights and women’s featherweights. The heavyweight semifinals have undergone one significant change, as Maurice Greene will replace the inured Marcelo Nunes and lock horns with Renan Ferreira on side of the bracket. That matchup will serve as the featured bout of the evening, while the other semifinal will pit Denis Goltsov against Jordan Heiderman. The main card will also feature a pair of women’s 145-pound semifinals: Larissa Pacheco vs. Olena Kolesnyk a…

Walt Harris’ return to mixed martial arts will have to wait for another day.

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The heavyweight bout between Harris and Josh Parisian has been pulled from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 49 event. MMAFighting.com was first to report the cancellation. UFC on ESPN 49 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight clash between Holly Holm and Mayra Bueno Silva. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Harris vs. Parisian was slated for the six-bout main draw.

Harris was recently seen training with Jon Jones ahead of “Bones’” heavyweight championship victory over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. “The Big Ticket” last appeared at UFC Fight Night 189 on June 5, 2021, when he suffered a third-round technical knockout defeat to Marcin Tybura — his third consecutive setback within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Harris enjoyed his greatest success i…

UFC 290 is in the running for the best event of 2023, but one of the most memorable moments didn’t happen inside the cage.

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Gilbert Burns’ celebration when countryman Alexandre Pantoja captured the flyweight championship caught the attention of the MMA community. The emotional reaction might have been unusual to an outsider, considering that Burns trains at Kill Cliff FC, a natural rival of Pantoja’s training home at American Top Team.

“One day a friend in common, Tiago, said ‘I must introduce you to Pantoja, you guys are soul brothers’ and that's exactly what happened,” Burns said. “After we got to know each other, we became really close, our wives started to be close friends, our two sons, about the same age, started to be best friends. My emotion came not only from being close, but from knowing exactly all the hard times he and Gabriela passed through. Actually, we both live our lives for the same dream and seeing a close friend achieving his g…

After a rash of drug test failures during the first portion of its regular season, Professional Fighters League has partnered with USADA to run its anti-doping program.

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ESPN obtained an email from PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo to fighters and their teams formally announcing the program.

“The program will begin immediately with initial educational sessions being scheduled with USADA this week for participants in the upcoming Playoffs,” the email states. “Educational sessions to explain the program will be scheduled with other fighters thereafter. It is strongly recommended that each fighter have their coach, manager, or other key support person join the educational sessions.”

Additionally, the PFL anti-doping program will be similar to that of the UFC’s, which also has a partnership with USADA. However, there will be “minor distinctions to account for the PFL’s sport season format.”

USADA confirmed the partnership in a s…

Kevin Lee has decided to hang up the four-ounce gloves at 30 years old.

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The former UFC interim lightweight title challenger announced his decision in an Instagram video on Tuesday. Lee’s decision comes on the heels of a 55-second submission loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov at UFC on ESPN 48 on July 1.

“To make a long story short, I’m deciding to retire from MMA and the UFC. It’s been 12 years, 12 long years of me being the best fighter I can be, and a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication to trying to be the best fighter in the world. When I look back on it, I had a hell of a career, I fought a lot of tough guys, some of the toughest guys in the world, I always put up a fight, I never backed down, and always challenged myself to do things that I didn’t think I was capable of doing. The last three years have been rough, especially on my body. It’s been a lot of injuries and honestly, that’s one of the main factors of me making this decision,” Lee said. Read more

Jimmy Crute is taking what might be considered an indefinite leave of absence from mixed martial arts, but retirement is not in his plans.

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After a second-round submisson loss to Alonzo Menifield at UFC 290 this past Saturday, a dejected Crute laid his gloves down in the Octagon, which normally signifies the decision to call it a career. After taking some more time to think, the Aussie light heavyweight has instead decided to step away from what he calls his “unhealthy obsession.”

“I’ve had a bit to process. That reaction after the fight just shows how unhealthy my relationship has gotten with this sport,” Crute wrote on Instagram. “I have been obsessed with being in the UFC since I was 12 years old and it has been my entire identity since I made the decision to chase this dream. I have a lot to address before I think about stepping back in there. Truth is, I don’t even know who I am without all of this. I am going to take the time to find myself, d…

Never doubt a man with hope and faith.#FuryNgannou | 10.28.2023 | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/44pfCQgGgq

— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) July 11, 2023

It appears that things are unfolding exactly how Francis Ngannou planned.

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The former UFC heavyweight king will square off against undefeated boxing champion Tyson Fury in a boxing match on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. ESPN was first to report the date and location of the bout. It is currently unclear if the fight will be for Fury’s WBC heavyweight crown or if it will be an exhibition. The number of rounds is also unknown.

One of the main points of contention between Ngannou and the UFC was the promotion’s unwillingness to let its heavyweight champion pursue fights in the boxing realm. That ultimately led to “The Predator” becoming a free agent and signing with the Professional Fighters League, where his contract allowed him to pursue his dreams of competing …

pic.twitter.com/EvJDS8N0Ur

— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) July 11, 2023

It wasn’t the performance Robert Whittaker had hoped for at UFC 290.

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The former middleweight champion started well but ultimately fell to Dricus Du Plessis via second-round technical knockout this past Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As a result, Du Plessis, not Whittaker, is in line to be the next challenger for Israel Adesanya’s middleweight championship.

Whittaker recently reacted to the defeat in a video post on social media.

“Congratulations to Dricus. He showed up to fight, and I didn’t,” Whittaker said. “But that’s the nature of the beast. You can’t have a day off. It is what it is. But I will say that I do believe that challenges and hardships and obstacles that get presented to you that you overcome, make you stronger. Build character, make you a better man and by fact a better athlete, and I will come back strong…

Jack Della Maddalena has a fight — it’s just a week later than originally expected.

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The surging welterweight prospect will square off against Bassil Hafez at UFC on ESPN 49 on Saturday. Ariel Helwani initially reported the 170-pound booking via Twitter, and it was subsequently confirmed by Hafez via social media.

Maddalena had two opponents fall through at UFC 290. First, Sean Brady withdrew from the fight due to septic bursitis in his elbow. Then, short-notice replacement Josiah Harrell was pulled from the card after weigh-ins after being diagnosed with moyamoya disease, a rare brain disorder. The 26-year-old Maddalena has won 14 consecutive outings, including four straight first-round finishes in UFC competition. Most recently, he submitted Randy Brown in the opening stanza at UFC 284 on Feb. 11.

Hafez, 31, has won four of his last five professional appearances. He is coming off a third-round knockout of Evan Cutts at Fury FC 75 to claim …

After a 28-day drought that coincided with Amanda Nunes’ retirement, Alexandre Pantoja brought a UFC title back to Brazil with his thrilling victory over Brandon Moreno on Saturday night.

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The official verdict was one of the UFC 290 co-main event’s most tense moments, with the scoring of a couple closely-contested rounds up for debate. In the end, Pantoja became the promotion’s fifth flyweight champion with a split-decision triumph. The scorecards, however, remained a subject of controversy, particularly the one submitted by judge Ben Cartlidge. While Derek Cleary and Junichiro Kamijo submitted identical 48-47 tallies in favor of Pantoja, Cartlidge saw it 49-46 for Moreno — giving the final four frames to the Mexican flyweight.

Respected Brazilian judge Guilherme Bravo discussed the scoring on his show “Momento Bravo” after the bout.

"That really scared me. In that fifth round Pantoja was superior, even in striking aspects in the first two minut…

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It took a little longer than he expected, but Stipe Miocic is excited to have a date and venue for his highly-anticipated showdown against Jon Jones.

Jones will defend his heavyweight title against Miocic in the UFC 295 headliner at Madison Square Garden in November, the promotion announced last week.

“I thought it was gonna be July, but it didn’t happen that way,” Miocic said during a backstage interview with ESPN at UFC 290. “It’s Nov. 11. I’ve been waiting for this day. It’s the fight I want. It’s the fight he wants. Nothing better.”

Jones returned from a three-year layoff to claim the vacant crown with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March. Miocic, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since relinquishing the belt in a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 on March 27, 2021. The Ohio-based firefighter claims that the main benefit of his extended layoff was recovery.

“I think just letting my body rest. I’m getting older…