Martial Arts News

Our #CW155 San Diego main event is 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟! ⚖️

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) June 1, 2023 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship makes its return to San Diego, where 21 of the 22 athletes successfully made weight.

Headlining CW 155 is a lightweight fight between James Lynch and Kyle Driscoll. Ever the professionals, both men hit their proper marks. As for the rest of the card, one preliminary headlining participant was the lone competitor to miss on the scales. Ahead of his bantamweight clash with James Settle (135.6), Frans Linsol Sormin (136.4) checked in .4 pounds over the limit, and he has been fined a percentage of his purse.

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Lynch (6-3) recently rebounded from a knockout loss to Erick Sanchez by winning a decision over Georgii Eivas. "Jamey" has won three out of his last four and is 3-2 inside the promotion overall. Lynch weighed 155.9 for the main event.

Meanwhile, Driscoll had an eight-fight win streak snapp…

𝐒𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐎! 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 🗓️

Featherweights and Light Heavyweights fight to punch their ticket to the 2023 PFL World Championships LIVE from the @BoeingCenterSA on Friday, August 4th!

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For more information 👇https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/oXWl90jdSY — PFL (@PFLMMA) June 1, 2023 Texas will play host to the first leg of the Professional Fighters League’s 2023 playoffs.

The promotion announced in a press release on Thursday that its first playoff event in 2023 would take place on Aug. 4. The card will be held at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas. This particular event will include the commencement of the featherweight and light heavyweight brackets, along with other various matchups as the organization determines. It is unclear at the time if the PFL will remain in Texas for the other two playoff shows, or if it will travel elsewhere for them.

PFL CEO Peter Murray included a statement about th…

The card for UFC 291 continues to take shape, as the promotion announced two new matchups for the July 29 event.

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Matthew Semelsberger will face Yohan Lainesse at welterweight, while Roman Kopylov will meet Claudio Ribeiro at middleweight on the preliminary draw. UFC 291 takes place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is headlined by a lightweight rematch pitting Dustin Poirier against Justin Gaethje for the BMF title.

Semelsberger is 5-3 since beginning his promotional tenure in 2020. Most recently, “Semi the Jedi” dropped a split decision to Jeremiah Wells at UFC Fight Night 222 on April 22.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Lainesse has lost two of his first three Octagon appearances. In his last outing, the Canadian known as “White Lion” was submitted by Mike Malott in the opening stanza at UFC Fight Night 220 on Feb. 25.

After losing his first two promotional appearances, Kopylov has rebounded to sc…

After nearly four years away from the Octagon, Kron Gracie disappointed his fans with the worst performance of his career at UFC 288.

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Gracie was unable to get opponent Charles Jourdain to the canvas and on the feet, his output was almost nonexistent in a unanimous decision defeat. That showing drew criticism from UFC president Dana White in the aftermath.

"He came really limited tonight, fighting like he just left a time capsule from 1995,” White said at the UFC 288 post-fight press conference.

One week after the fight, Kron released a statement where he blamed “bad advice” and a desire to please the jiu-jitsu community for the defeat.

“In a lifetime of fighting, it’s always been a fight to the death,” the son of Rickson Gracie wrote. “Understand the situation and willing to limit myself, even that being said I threw no punches because of bad advice and tried to please the jiu-jitsu community two days before my fight. First fight in my life I…

Merab Dvalishvili won’t be back in the Octagon until later this year.

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The UFC bantamweight contender recently underwent surgery on his right hand and is expected to spend approximately six to eight weeks in a splint. His return to full contact, including punching, isn’t expected to occur until 10 to 12 weeks after the procedure. Dvalishvili’s manager, Oren Hodak, initially confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com.

Dvalishvili has won his last nine bouts in UFC competition. Most recently, “The Machine” earned an impressive five-round verdict over ex-champ Petr Yan in the UFC Fight Night 221 headliner on March 11. He also owns notable wins over the likes of Jose Aldo, Marlon Moraes, Cody Stamann and John Dodson.

While Dvallishvili is currently a title contender at 135 pounds, he has stated on multiple occasions that he won’t challenge for the belt as long as Serra-Longo Fight Team stablemate Aljamain Sterling is champion. Sterling is currently sc…

The 2023 Professional Fighters League campaign will have to move on without defending light heavyweight champion Rob Wilkinson.

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Wilkinson has failed a drug test following his victory over Thiago Santos at PFL 1 and has been pulled from a scheduled clash against Ty Flores at PFL 4 on June 8. Wilkinson will also miss the rest of the PFL season due to a pending suspension. MMA Mania was first to report Wilkinson’s failed drug test. The substance for which Wilkinson tested positive has not been revealed.

As a result, Flores will now face Dan Spohn at PFL 4, which takes place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. Wilkinson vs. Flores was slated to be the card’s co-main event.

Wilkinson is just the latest — and perhaps most prominent — PFL athlete to fail a drug test following the league’s first three events. Nine fighters, including Santos, have either been fined and suspended or are facing sanctions from the Nevada Athletic Commission after testi…

Aaron Pico will lock horns with Pedro Carvalho in a featherweight duel at Bellator 299.

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The California-based promotion announced the bout on Tuesday. Bellator 299 takes place at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Sept. 23 and is headlined by a middleweight championship showdown between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards.

After a shoulder injury led to a technical knockout loss against Jeremy Kennedy at Bellator 286 in October, Pico returned to the win column at Bellator 295, taking a clear-cut unanimous verdict against James Gonzalez on April 22. The 26-year-old Jackson-Wink MMA product has won seven of his last eight contests under the Bellator banner.

According to a release, Carvalho recently signed a new Bellator deal. The SBG Ireland export is 2-2 in his last four outings ? including a decision defeat to Kennedy in his most recent appearance at Bellator 291. The Portugal native owns notable wins over the likes of Mads Burnell, Daniel Weichel, Sam…

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With the premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter 31” on Tuesday night, the countdown for Conor McGregor’s Octagon return begins in earnest.

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“It’s time for me to immerse myself back in the game,” McGregor said in an interview on the UFC’s YouTube channel. “I’m excited to get back. I couldn’t turn down the offer.”

The former UFC two-division champion said that coaching on the long-running reality show was beneficial to his own development. McGregor previously served as a coach against Urijah Faber on “TUF 22” in 2015.

“I enjoyed myself the last time,” McGregor said. “For me when I start teaching, and I used to coach a boxing class [for John Kavangh] many years ago before I got into the UFC…me committing to coaching a class and coaching a couple of people, it almost forced me to dial in a bit more. I had to think about the technique. I had to think about the way I was gonna teach, why I was teaching. It just allowed me to actually get …

Amanda Nunes’ loss to Julianna Pena at UFC 269 was one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history, and it took a mental toll on the Brazilian in the immediate aftermath.

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In fact, Nunes considered calling it a career following the second-round submission defeat at UFC 269.

“I was very confused. Losing my belt was crazy,” Nunes said in a recent interview with ESPN. “But at the same time, I know I was sad. Something was wrong. Something wasn’t right. And that’s why it looked, like, not real for me. And then when actually I saw [coach Din Thomas], right in the arena outside, and I gave him a hug, I looked at him and I said, ‘I think I’m done.’ And we looked at each other, and he looked [at me]: ‘Are you sure? OK, call me later. Talk to me later.’”

Ultimately, Nunes had a change of heart, which would set the stage for a rematch with Pena in 2022.

“I drove back home, and I was putting my thoughts together. Everything. What I went through, going t…

Joanne Wood will square off against Priscila Cachoeira in a flyweight bout at UFC 291.

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Cachoeira confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from The Mirror. UFC 291 takes place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 29 and is headlined by a lightweight scrap pitting Dustin Poirier against Justin Gaethje.

Wood halted a three-bout losing streak in her first outing of 2023, as she garnered a split-decision triumph against Luana Carolina at UFC 286 on March 18. The Invicta FC veteran is 8-7 during her UFC tenure, with wins over the likes of Jessica Eye, Andrea Lee, Valerie Letourneau and Seo Hee Ham.

Cachoeira, meanwhile, has been victorious in four of her last five Octagon appearances. “Zombie Girl” went 2-0 in 2022, defeating Ji Yeon Kim via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 202 before earning a TKO triumph against Ariane Lipski at UFC on ESPN 41.

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Muhammadjon Naimov will make his Octagon debut on less than a week’s notice.

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The former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor will replace Guram Kutateladze and meet Jamie Mullarkey in a featherweight bout at UFC on ESPN 46. MMA Mania was first to report the new booking. Visa issues reportedly forced Kutatelade to withdraw from the bout. UFC on ESPN 46 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a flyweight tilt pitting Kai Kara France against Amir Albazi.

Naimov will enter the matchup with Mullarkey on a three-bout winning streak. He appeared on the Contender Series in September 2020, losing a unanimous decision to Collin Anglin. “Hillman” is 8-2 as a professional, which includes a 5-1 mark within the Titan FC organization.

Mullarkey has been victorious in four of his last five UFC appearances. Most recently, the 28-year-old Australian outpointed Francisco Prado at UFC 284 on Feb. 11.

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira put their rivalry on hold to share a few laughs when they recently crossed paths at the airport.

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Both fighters were in Melbourne, Australia this past week. Adesanya trained with the New Zealand Warriors rugby team, while Pereira visited the Melbourne Storm. Adesanya and Pereira were also in attendance for the boxing match between Joseph Parker and Faiga Opelu.

Though they didn’t meet during that time, they did end up at the airport at the same time. In Pereira’s video, Adesanya jokingly hides his face when the camera finds him, while Pereira flexes in the distance in the version filmed by the “The Last Stylebender.”

Guess who I met at the airport ? 👀 pic.twitter.com/c2xr4MAVUs

— Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) May 29, 2023

💘💘💘❤️‍🔥My life is a video game 🎮 pic.twitter.com/MoIdUniTJv

— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) May 29, 2023

Adesanya and Perei…