Martial Arts News

It was probably a good thing that Chris Curtis wasn’t allowed to continue in his middleweight clash with Nassourdine Imavov at UFC 289.

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“The Action Man” suffered a significant cut near his right eye following a clash of heads with his opponent in the second round of their preliminary bout in Vancouver on Saturday. After a brief pause, it was determined that Curtis couldn’t continue and the fight was ruled a no contest at the 3:04 mark of Round 2.

Curtis later revealed the extent of his injuries on social media.

“[Ten] stitches and a possible corneal abrasion,” Curtis wrote on Twitter. “In 40 fights I've never not been able to continue. I'm genuinely sorry guys. I really wanted to do something special for Canada. I'll be back guys.”

10 stitches and a possible Corneal Abrasion. In 40 fights I've never not been able to continue. I'm genuinely sorry guys. I really wanted to do something special for Canada. I'll be back guys. …

Viviane Araujo will lock horns with Casey O'Neill in a women’s flyweight bout at UFC 293.

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Multiple outlets recently confirmed the booking and date following an initial report from Meni Mayer on Twitter. UFC 293 takes place on Sept. 9 in Sydney. No other bouts have been announced for the event.

Araujo has lost three of her last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 36-year-old Brazilian suffered a unanimous decision loss to Amanda Ribas at UFC 285 on March 4. Araujo is 5-4 in the Octagon with wins over the likes of Andrea Lee, Roxanne Modafferi and Alexis Daivs.

O’Neill returned after a year-long absence at UFC 286, where she dropped a unanimous verdict to Jennifer Maia on March 18. Prior to that, the 25-year-old Scot was unbeaten in her first nine professional outings — including four bouts within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Featherweight contenders Movlid Khaybulaev and Bubba Jenkins were the top earners from Professional Fighters League 4.

Khaybulaev took home a $100,000 paycheck for his second-round submission of Tyler Diamond ($15,000) in the evening’s co-main event, while Jenkins also garnered $100,000 for a first-round tapout of Sung Bin Jo ($13,000) in another featured bout. The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission released disclosed salaries for the event on Monday.

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PFL 4 took place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta on Thursday and saw Jesus Pinedo ($30,000) upset defending featherweight champion Brendan Loughnane ($50,000) in the evening’s main event.

Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic commissions do not include any performance-based or discretionary bonuses that may be awarded to a fighter by the promotion. Additionally, the reported figures do not reflect any deductions made by the commission for taxes, insurance, etc., and do no…

Irene Aldana looked like a deer in the headlights against Amanda Nunes in the UFC 289 headliner.

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Hesitant to engage from the opening bell, Aldana dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to Nunes in their bantamweight title clash at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Saturday night. Save for a clean right hook in the opening stanza, the Mexican fighter did little to give the champion pause over the course of their 25-minute encounter.

The 35-year-old Lobo Gym MMA representative addressed her performance in a statement on Instagram after the fight.

“It was an honor to face Amanda Nunes,” Aldana wrote. “Incredible athlete and fighter (GOAT).

“I’m sorry to have failed my coaches and all of you. I assure you that this does not stay like this. It was a bad night but the goal is still clear and the objective is still that fourth belt. I promised you and I’m going to fulfill it, whatever the cost.”

All told, Aldana was ou…

Amanda Nunes’ decision to call it a career wasn’t made in the spur of the moment.

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After a dominant victory over Irene Aldana in the UFC 289 headliner, “Lioness” laid her two championship belts and her gloves in the Octagon, signaling the end of a decorated career that established her as arguably the greatest female fighter of all time. It was something she planned prior to the fight, but she didn’t want it to overshadow the task at hand.

“[I knew] when I signed the contract for this fight,” Nunes said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I tried to hide it from you guys the whole week, but you guys were always on top of it. I just didn’t want to focus on that, I wanted to focus on my fight because I didn’t want to talk about the retirement all the time, and I still talked about it. Imagine if I would’ve said I was going to retire, it would’ve been all about that. So yeah, I knew the whole time.”

UFC president Dana White was informed of t…

Charles Oliveira made his future plans abundantly clear following his first-round finish of Beneil Dariush in the UFC 289 co-headliner.

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Oliveira’s target, of course, is a rematch with Islam Makhachev, who defeated “Do Bronx” via second-round submission to capture lightweight gold at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi last October.

“Look, who’s got the belt?” Oliveira said via translator at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “He’s got the belt, and I want to be a champion, so I have to go through him. Of course, I want to fight him.

“But right now, I don’t want to worry about it. I want to go back to my family back home, relax a little bit, and let my team decide that.”

Oliveira made short work of Dariush, who entered UFC 289 on an eight-bout winning streak and would have established himself as the next No. 1 contender with a victory. Instead, Oliveira held his own with Dariush on the canvas before rocking him on the feet with a head kick and punches. …

Railing collapses #UFC289 pic.twitter.com/ffFaHdomfY

— Taner (@TanerFrank) June 11, 2023

Disaster was narrowly averted during the UFC 289 main card.

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As Mike Malott was walking to the arena for his bout with Adam Fugitt, fans fell to the floor near the Canadian fighter in a potentially scary moment. Video of the railing collapsing was captured at a number of angles, but it was revealed during the broadcast that no one was hurt during the accident. Rogers Arena, the venue for the card, released a statement on the incident shortly thereafter.

“The safety of our fans is our No. 1 priority at Rogers Arena. At tonight’s UFC event, as fans leaned over to greet the fighters, a railing fell down,” the statement read. “Our arena staff worked quickly to relocate fans in the affected area and no serious injuries were reported. Venue security and staff remained on-site throughout the rest of the evening to ensure everyone’s safety.…

Amanda Nunes is retiring from mixed martial arts, and it appears there’s a good chance she’s taking the UFC women’s featherweight division with her.

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UFC president Dana White briefly addressed the future of the weight class at the UFC 289 post-fight press conference, indicating that the Las Vegas-based promotion wouldn’t go forward with women’s 145-pound fights in the wake of Nunes’ retirement. Though nothing is set in stone, White has previously hinted that the division would likely dissolve when Nunes left the UFC.

“The answer is probably yes,” White said on whether the division would be closed. “I mean, I don’t make these decisions the night of the fight. She told me when she walked over to the side of the cage that she was retiring. Yeah, I don’t know. But it makes sense.”

The inaugural women’s featherweight title was contested at UFC 208 in February 2017, with Germaine de Randamie defeating Holly Holm to claim the belt. De Randamie would …

In a night filled with exhilarating matchups and a not-so-surprising farewell, several fighters emerged as top performers at UFC 289, held at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The promotion awarded $50,000 bonuses to the deserving recipients, recognizing their exceptional performances inside the Octagon.

Fight of the Night honors went to middleweights Marc-Andre Barriault and Eryk Anders. The two warriors engaged in an decent scrap, captivating the audience with their grit. Barriault showcased his resilience, ultimately securing a hard-fought victory over Anders.

Charles Oliveira, a fan favorite known for his brilliant finishing skills, walked away with another Performance of the Night bonus. In a lightweight clash against Beneil Dariush, Oliveira showcased his striking, stopping his opponent with a first-round flurry of violence at the 4:10 mark.

Another Performance of the Night bonus was awarded to Mike Malott, who delivered an impressive submission victory over Adam …

The Lioness’ hunt comes to an end.

Amanda Nunes capped off her hall-of-fame career by masterfully defending her Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight title Saturday night, cruising to a unanimous decision victory (50-44, 50-44, 50-43) over Irene Aldana in the UFC 289 main event at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

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Nunes easily picked apart Aldana on the feet and took advantage of the challengers’ slow pace. Nunes (23-5) landed hard jabs, right hands, leg kicks and basically anything she wanted as Aldana refused to open up. Nunes tripled Aldana’s output and barely broke a sweat. Aldana’s corner begged for the Guadalajara, Mexico, native to go for broke, but Aldana was helpless to Nunes’ control on the feet and ground.

At age 35, many wondered what would come next for the champion. Archrival and former bantamweight champion Julianna Pena was in attendance. Pena was slated to face Nunes in a trilogy bout before pulling out due to injury. Nunes …

Sherdog's live UFC 289 coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Belbita (-115), Oliveira (-105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Dvorak (-260), Erceg (+220)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Bilder (-240), Nelson (+200)Round 1 …

Our Featured Prelim's over early.

It will be ruled a no contest due to an accidental clash of heads #UFC289 pic.twitter.com/YOyydQ0lGw

— UFC (@ufc) June 11, 2023

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No. 14 Chris Curtis and No. 12 Nassourdine Imavov, came in looking to get back into the win column but neither fighter left the Octagon satisfied after the bout was called by referee Jason Herzog in Round 2 thanks to an accidental headbutt in the featured UFC 289 preliminary match.

Imavov started the fight strong and kept Curtis guessing by mixing clinical muay thai with crafty wrestling. Staying on the outside, Imavov picked apart Curtis’ leg with hard calf kicks before stepping off line and taking The Action Man’s back. Imavov proved that his slick takedown wasn’t a fluke after catching Curtis with the same trap only minutes later. This time however, Imavov nearly ended the fight with a rear-naked choke but Curtis managed to survive till the bell.

Imav…