Martial Arts News

Cory Sandhagen will now fight Rob Font at a catchweight in the main event of UFC Nashville on Aug. 5, sources told ESPN. Five-round fight.

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) July 20, 2023 A few injuries to top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship contenders have resulted in some significant card switches.

Per ESPN on Thursday, Rob Font (20-6) has been tapped as the replacement for the injured Umar Nurmagomedov for UFC Nashville. The Aug. 5 headliner now set as a 140-pound catchweight affair, it will play out between Font and Cory Sandhagen (16-4) over the course of five rounds. Font was initially planning on facing Yadong Song at UFC 292 two weeks later, but an injury to Song allows for Font to take this matchup on short notice.

In April, Font bounced back from a two-decision skid to Jose Aldo and Marlon Vera by clocking Adrian Yanez in the first round at UFC 287. Prior to the pair of five-round defeats to Aldo and Vera, the Boston native …

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 1:55 to reflect a dispute about the veracity of the fighter's confirmation of the grappling match.

One of the greatest fighters of all time is going to change disciplines to take on one of the best grapplers to ever compete in MMA.

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According to FloGrappling on Thursday, former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champion Georges St. Pierre has an opponent for his grappling debut in December. At Fight Pass Invitation 6, which will likely be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, St. Pierre will ply his trade against Brazilian submission icon Demian Maia. The rules will likely be submission-only, with special overtime provisions that will be announced at a later date. News of this pairing, one that will headline the Dec. 14 event airing on UFC Fight Pass, was confirmed by Maia on social media.

Every now and then, something comes up that still does really motivate you.Grappling @…

[embedded content] One Championship is planning on ramping up its stateside presence next year in a big way.

The Singapore-based organization announced on Thursday that it planned on running four fight cards in the U.S. in 2024. Putting on bouts across multiple different disciplines, the league was able to travel to Colorado this past May with its various rule sets and weigh-in procedures approved by the Colorado Combative Sports Commission. No date or locations have been provided, other than that the events will air on Amazon Prime.

One head Chatri Sityodtong included a statement in the release, saying, “I am thrilled to announced that One Championship is coming back to the U.S. with four massive events in 2024. When we made our historic U.S. debut with One Fight Night 10 on Prime Video, I was blown away by the support we received from our fans in the U.S.”

This follows the April agreement One made with Amazon Prime to extend their broadcasting contract for sev…

The Rematch is 🔛

📺 Watch Mick Stanton 🆚 James Webb 𝗜𝗜 headline #CW157 tomorrow night on @UFCFightPass! pic.twitter.com/wzMjXu2yUB

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) July 20, 2023 Both Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be putting on 15-fight showcases in London this weekend.

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The Cage Warriors middleweight championship will be on the line in the CW 157 main event. Reigning titleholder Mick Stanton will put his belt up for grabs against challenger James Webb in a highly anticipated rematch. Both men made weight, as did the rest of the card, with the exception of Tom Mearns (150.4). The would-be featherweight came in 4.4 pounds heavy for his fight against Bailey Gilbert, and has been fined a hefty 50% of his purse.

Stanton (11-7) claimed the title in his last fight, a unanimous decision win over Will Currie. The Liverpool native has won five of his last six fights, with the lon…

Abu Dhabi we're back and we're bringing a STACKED card with us!!@DanaWhite just announced the first three fights for #UFC294 in October 🔥

[ Tickets on sales this week | @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/9mgcbIwbB8

— UFC (@ufc) July 20, 2023

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Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira are going to run it back after all.

UFC president Dana White announced on Wednesday evening that a lightweight championship rematch between Makhachev and Oliveira will headline UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21. Additionally, Paulo Costa will meet Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight, while Nassourdine Imavov will face Ikram Aliskerov in another 185-pound bout. Costa and Alikerov were initially slated to face each other at UFC 291 before the new fights were revealed.

Makhachev and Oliveira first squared off at UFC 280, with the Dagestani claiming the vacant 155-pound belt with a second-round submission triumph. Makhache…

Umar Nurmagomedov has withdrawn from the UFC Nashville main event on Aug. 5 for undisclosed reasons.

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Multiple outlets confirmed Nurmagomedov’s exit on Wednesday following an initial report from The Schmozone. The Las Vegas-based promotion is reportedly seeking a replacement opponent for Cory Sandhagen. UFC on ESPN 50 takes place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennesee, and is also expected to include a strawweight clash pitting Tatiana Suarez against Jessica Andrade.

The 27-year-old Nurmagomedov is undefeated in 16 professional outings. He has kicked off his UFC tenure with four consecutive victories, including three inside the distance. Most recently, the Eagles MMA product knocked out Raoni Barcelos in the opening stanza of their UFC Fight Night 217 encounter on Jan. 14.

A former interim bantamweight title challenger, Sandhagen is coming off back-to-back triumphs against Marlon Vera and Yadong Song in main event bouts. The Elevation Fi…

OFFICIAL: Updated 2023 #PFLPlayoffs San Antonio Card

Movlid Khaybulaev is out. @CWadeMMA steps in and will now face @Gabrielbragab.

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[Fri, August 4th |#PFLPlayoffs | 🎟️ https://t.co/FD4ZBDPl3o] pic.twitter.com/ibwdkISqVU — PFL (@PFLMMA) July 19, 2023 Movlid Khaybulaev’s 2023 Professional Fighters League campaign has reached a premature end.

The organization announced on Wednesday that Khaybulaev is out of his featherweight semifinal matchup against Gabriel Braga. As a result, Chris Wade will get a spot in the postseason and square off against Braga on Aug. 4.

A reason for Khaybulaev’s exit was not given. A PFL champion in 2021, Khaybulaev rolled through the 2023 regular season with victories over Ryoji Kudo and Tyler Diamond. The 32-year-old Dagestani is unbeaten in 23 professional outings and has won seven straight bouts since a no contest against Daniel Pineda in 2019.

Wade has made the PFL playoffs on four…

It's getting heated!@TheProspectMMA and @LeroneMurphy just bumped into each other at the #UFCLondon hotel... 👀 pic.twitter.com/0RsFWQa9qG

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 19, 2023

There appears to be some lingering animosity between Lerone Murphy and Nathaniel Wood.

The featherweight competitors recently crossed paths at the UFC London fighter hotel, where Murphy took issue with some comments Wood made about putting on a “masterclass” ahead of their proposed matchup at UFC 286. Wood was forced to withdraw from the contest due to a “freak accident” in training.

“You pulled out bro,” Murphy says to Wood during the encounter, which never got physical.

Both athletes now have other, more pressing matters at hand. Murphy is booked against Joshua Culibao at UFC Fight Night 224 on Saturday at the O2 in London, while Wood will lock horns with Andre Fili on the same card.

H E A T E D 🔥 #TUF31 pic.twitter.com/dfc89L3gfm

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) July 5, 2023

While many fans believe the fight between “The Ultimate Fighter 31” coaches Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler will be postponed until 2024, Gilbert Burns has heard otherwise.

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In a recent interview with Sherdog.com, Burns claims that Chandler, a training partner at Kill Cliff FC, told him the bout will happen in December.

"He was already relaxed when he met [UFC president Dana White] backstage at UFC 290 and Dana told him to be ready, that it will happen by the end of the year,” Burns said. “The following day Chandler posted a Christmas tree [on Twitter]. So I think it's on and will happen in December.”

Burns does not believe that the current version of McGregor matches up well with Chandler.

"If we were talking about the prime Conor, who beat [Jose] Aldo and [Eddie] Alvarez, that guy was really a badass and I …

Super Rizin 2 has a new matchup for promotion’s vacant bantamweight championship.

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Hiromasa Ougikubo will replace the injured Kai Asakura and square off against Juan Archuleta for the 135-pound belt on July 30 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The promotion announced the new bout after Asakura recently revealed he would have to withdraw from the event.

A former Bellator bantamweight king, Archuleta has won his last three outings — two of which occurred under the Rizin banner. “The Spaniard” last appeared at Rizin 42, where he outpointed Naoki Inoue on May 6. He also owns victories over Soo Chul Kim and Enrique Barzola during his current streak.

Ougikubo, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back defeats against Kyoji Horguchi and Soo Chul Kim in 2022. Prior to that, the 36-year-old Paraestra Matsudo representative won five consecutive bouts under the Rizin banner, including a decision against Asakura, the man he replaced.

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Two-time NCAA national wrestling champion Jordan Oliver will make his professional MMA debut against Andrew Triolo in a featherweight fight on the preliminary card at Bellator 298.

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The promotion on Tuesday announced the finalized lineup for the card, which also includes a new bantamweight matchup pitting Josh Hill against Kasum Kasumov. Bellator 298 takes place at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., and is headlined by a welterweight clash between Logan Storley and Brennan Ward. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT and features a newly-elevated featherweight tilt between James Gallagher and James Gonzalez.

Oliver, who twice won national titles at Oklahoma State University, signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator earlier this year. He was 89-6 over the course of his collegiate career, with the two aforementioned national titles in folkstyle wrestling. He was also a 2019 U.S. national champion in freestyle wrestling.<…

An interim atomweight (115-pound) title bout pitting Stamp Fairtex against Seo Hee Ham will be one of the featured contests at One on Prime Video 14.

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The Singapore-based organization announced that the card will put the spotlight on women of the promotion, with four female bouts atop the card. This includes three title fights across three different disciplines as well as a special rules bout.

In addition to Fairtex vs. Ham, One Fight Night 14 will also feature a women’s strawweight muay thai title bout between Smilia Sundell and Jackie Buntan; a showdown for the inaugural women’s atomweight grappling championship between Danielle Kelly and Jessa Khan and a special rules striking bout pitting Xiong Jing Nan against Wondergirl. In that last contest, combatants will wear four-ounce gloves while being allowed to throw punches only — kicks, knees and elbows are prohibited — and judging and scoring will adhere to One’s protocols for kickboxing and muay t…