Martial Arts News

Michel Pereira’s weight miss ahead of a proposed clash against Stephen Thompson at UFC 291 has prompted the Brazilian striker to change divisions.

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Pereira will move to 185 pounds for a clash against Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 14. Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Laerte Viana. The card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and includes a featherweight duel between Sodiq Yusuff and Edson Barboza.

Pereira missed weight by three pounds prior to UFC 291, which led to “Wonderboy” turning down the fight. The 29-year-old known as “Demolidor” has been victorious in his last five appearances within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, he took a split verdict over Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Fight Night 206 in May 2022.

Canada’s Barriault has won three of his last four fights under the UFC banner. “Power Bar” is 2-0 thus far in 2023, with victories against Julian Marqu…

Shane Burgos wasn’t supposed to be here.

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He’s well aware of that fact. But now that he is, the UFC veteran plans to make the most of his second chance by defeating Clay Collard in their lightweight semifinal matchup at PFL 9 on Wednesday night in New York.

“This is the fight everybody wanted to see,” Burgos said at a PFL media day. “Before I was in the weight class, it’s a fight I had my eyes on for a while. I’m ready for it. It’s one of those matchups, it can’t be boring. It’s gonna be a firefight from the first bell to the last bell. I’m doing everything in my power to get this finish, my first PFL finish over a guy like Clay is going to mean the world to me.”

After losing his PFL debut to Olivier Aubin-Mercier and then earning a decision against Yamato Nishikawa in his second appearance, Burgos snuck into the postseason under unusual circumstances. Based on points alone, Natan Schulte would have been in the playoffs, but the league ultimatel…

The UFC 293 pay-per-view lineup has taken a significant hit.

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Flyweight contender Kai Kara-France announced on Monday that he has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled clash against Manel Kape after suffering a concussion.

“I just wanted to come on here and give you guys an update,” Kara-France said in a video on Instagram. “Unfortunately, I’ve had to withdraw from my next fight in Sydney, Australia [at] UFC 293. I suffered a concussion over the weekend in training. I’ve been speaking to my coaches, my team, and my family. They all think it’s the right decision to put my health first.

“I just want to say sorry to all the friends and family that bought tickets, flights, accommodation, (and to) all of the fans that were excited to fight live. I’m gutted I won’t be a part of this card. It’s been a tough week with my second son being born as well as me pulling out of this fight. Mixed emotions. Frustrated. But I’ve just got to focus on the posi…

Clay Collard is the featured attraction in his main event matchup with Shane Burgos at PFL 9. Just ask him.

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“The fans are raving about it because of me,” Collard said at a PFL media day ahead of their lightweight semifinal matchup. “They want to see me fight Shane. They don’t want to see Shane fight me. I’m stoked to fight him. They’ve been putting his face all over everything. You log into ESPN and you type in PFL, his face is the first ugly mug you see, and that annoys me. I’m ready to get in there and punch him.”

PFL 9 takes place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. The main card airs ESPN and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Burgos wasn’t initially supposed to make the PFL playoffs, but the situation changed when the league suspended Natan Schulte and Raush Manfio for what was deemed to be a lackluster fight. Without that ruling, Schulte, not Burgos, would be in the …

Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series will feature four bouts after a flyweight clash pitting Luciano Pereira against Felipe dos Santos was scrapped on Monday.

According to the promotion, Pereira was unable to weigh in due to “medical issues,” and as a result, the fight was canceled. Dos Santos, meanwhile, tipped the scales at 124.5 pounds.

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The other eight athletes slated to compete all hit their contracted marks without issue. The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a middleweight showdown between Eli Aronov (185.5) and Zachary Reese (185.5). The card streams on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Israel’s Aronov is undefeated in six professional appearances. He last competed in May 2022, when he defeated Mariusz Ksiakiewicz via second-round submission at Unified MMA 45.

Reese, meanwhile, has compiled a 5-0 mark, with three of those victories coming under the Fury FC banner. Most rece…

A strawweight showdown pitting Mackenzie Dern against Jessica Andrade is on tap for UFC 295.

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The bout was initially announced during the UFC 292 broadcast on Saturday night. UFC 295 takes place on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York and is headlined by a heavyweight championship clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Dern was successful in her first venture of 2023, as she took a five-round verdict over Angela Hill in the UFC Fight Night 223 headliner on May 20. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt is 8-3 during her tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion and owns other notable wins against Tecia Torres, Nina Nunes and Virna Jandiroba.

Andrade has already fought four times in 2023. After besting Lauren Murphy to begin the year at UFC 283, the former strawweight champion has lost successive bouts to Erin Blanchfield, Xionan Yan and Tatiana Suarez.

Aljamain Sterling is willing to give credit where credit is due following his second-round technical knockout loss to Sean O'Malley in the UFC 292 headliner.

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“He was better than what I thought in his footwork,” Sterling said of O’Malley at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “That was one of the things I tried to get guys to emulate, because I knew that is a hard thing to do. I do it myself when I go side to side, but it’s different when someone else is doing it to you, and I can’t track this motherf—-er down. I tracked him down a couple of times, but then he would spin out at the last second. I think I threw a side kick, and he was able to pivot out beautifully. He did a couple things really, really well.

“I would have liked to get him down to the ground to really see how good he is down there, but the one thing I knew, we were doing a good job throwing that overhand right into the takedown. He threw the front kick, and I was like, ‘All right,…

Sean O'Malley is highly-confident in his skills — and for good reason.

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The counter right hand that dropped Aljamain Sterling in the second round of their title bout at UFC 292 was a thing of beauty, and it set the stage for O’Malley to claim the bantamweight throne on Saturday night at TD Garden in Boston.

“Punching backwards is a skill not a lot of people possess and I can punch going backwards and I knew he was going to be pressuring me and I know he likes to throw to shoot,” O’Malley said at the UFC 292 post-fight press conference. “He likes to throw for me to counter so he can shoot under. So I knew he was going to be lunging in with shots.

“It really wasn’t even a bad punch that he threw, it’s just I’m that f—-ing accurate. I sniped him. I’ve been saying all week, I’m a sniper. I’m going to snipe his chin. I’m going to find it and there we were. That’s definitely a punch I visualized all week.”

Making the victory that much more impressiv…

Weili Zhang was absolutely dominant against Amanda Lemos in the UFC 292 co-main event.

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The Chinese star relied on takedowns, top control and ground-and-pound to cruise to a unanimous verdict over Lemos on Saturday at the TD Garden in Boston. Zhang now has won three straight fights and has four victories in championship bouts to her credit.

“The only challenge or opponent to me is myself,” Zhang said through an interpreter at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “What we’re going to do every day is make (myself) better than who I was yesterday.”

Outside of a pair of brabo choke attempts from her back, Lemos rarely threatened the reigning champion. Zhang was more impressed with the Brazilian’s resolve in the 25-minute affair.

“The submission she had in the first round was not that deep. She didn’t really get my neck, so it’s not that dangerous to me,” Zhang said. “… She’s unbelievably tough. I respect her. There were so many moments in the f…

It was not a triumphant return to the Octagon for Chris Weidman at UFC 292.

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More than two years removed from suffering a gruesome broken leg against Uriah Hall at UFC 261 in April 2021, the former middleweight champion struggled mightily defending low kicks in a unanimous decision loss to Brad Tavares on Saturday night at TD Garden in Boston. Even worse for “The All-American” is that he might have suffered some more serious injuries in the bout.

At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White cited those injuries while urging Weidman to call it a career.

“I love Chris Weidman. I love him. I love his family. I think he should retire,” White said. “We talked to Dr. [Jeff Davidson]. He thinks he blew his ACL, MCL … The guy is just coming back from a gruesome injury and, listen man, Father Time is not our friend at all. But definitely, if you’re a professional athlete. Depending on the damage to the knee, you’re talking anothe…

Hard to find to bigger wins than that!@SugaSeanMMA and @MMAWeili take home your #UFC292 POTN bonuses 🏆💰

[ B2YB @PrimeHydrate ] pic.twitter.com/NgEvA44Or7

— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship gave four fighters performance bonuses following the UFC 292 pay-per-view card.

Fresh off winning the bantamweight championship, Sean O'Malley also received $50,000 for his shocking TKO win over Aljamain Sterling. The main event came to an end less than a minute into the second round after O'Malley landed a perfect counter right hand that dropped Sterling. After following up with pinpoint accurate ground and point, O'Malley claimed his first title win.

UFC women's strawweight champion Weili Zhang was also awarded a $50,000 bonus for her successful title defense. While Zhang didn't get the finish, she completely dominated challenger Amanda Lemos over five rounds. Finally, the fight of the night went to "The Ultimate F…

Sean O’Malley talked the talk for years, and he walked the walk when it mattered most.

The 2017 Dana White’s Contender Series graduate cut down Aljamain Sterling with punches in the second round of their UFC 292 headliner, as he captured the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title on Saturday at the TD Garden in Boston. Sterling (23-4, 15-4 UFC) succumbed to blows 51 seconds into Round 2, suffering his first defeat in almost six years.

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O’Malley (16-2, 8-2 UFC) spent much of an uneventful first round getting reads and utilizing feints. He slipped on a misfired kick early in the second, returned to an upright position and lured in Sterling, who overextended on a straight left. O’Malley countered with a picture-perfect right cross that sent the champion into a nosedive onto all fours. He followed up with standing-to-ground hammerfists and continued to let the punches fly until referee Marc Goddard had seen enough.Zhang Dismantles L…