Martial Arts News

Renan Ferreira operating at peak performance should strike some fear into all of his peers.

The 6-foot-8 Brazilian dispatched Maurice Greene with first-round punches, as their Professional Fighters League heavyweight semifinal served as the PFL 8 headliner on Friday inside The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Ferreira (11-3, 5-1 PFL) slammed the door 4:46 into Round 1.

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Greene (11-9, 1-3 PFL) tried to keep his counterpart at bay with leg kicks, but with each passing moment, the disparity in talent became more and more evident. Ferreira connected with body-head jabs, crisp low kicks of his own and clean multi-punch combinations. Eventually, he walked Greene into a devastating counter right hand. “The Crochet Boss” folded where he stood and hit the deck, where he was met with a burst of punches that separated him from his senses.

Riding high on the strength of back-to-back victories, Ferreira advances to face Denis Goltsov in the $1,000…

The 2023 Professional Fighters League Playoffs continue Friday in new York City with PFL 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The action airs live on ESPN+ and then continues on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET. Round 1 Tommy Santana is the referee for tonight's first fight. Mazar comes out swinging but comes up short. Neil throws a kick that is caught, and the two clinch against the cage. They separate, with not much happening besides a few knees. Neil lands a nice right hand that rocks Mazar. Neil is staying on the outside and using her range, forcing Mazar to try to swing to close the distance. Neil works the jab, although she's mostly punching air rather than connecting. Mazar lands a leg kick. Neil catches Mazar as she comes in and once again stumbles her opponent. Neil puts together her offense, connecting with a right hand after throwing a left high kick. Mazar clinches against the cage and the round expires after Neil lands a solid knee in the clinch. Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round: 1…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view with UFC 292.

Both title fights are official for the card, including the main event that sees bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O'Malley, as all fighters made weight. The co-main event will see titleholder Weili Zhang look to defend her strawweight strap against the surging Amanda Lemos.

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Sterling (23-3) is riding an impressive nine-fight win streak that dates back to 2018. Since claiming the title via DQ, "Funk Master" has picked up wins over Petr Yan, T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo. The champion weighed 135 pounds on the dot for what will be his fourth attempt at defending the belt.

Looking to make history is O'Malley (16-1, 1 NC). The 28-year-old is coming off a split-decision win over Yan, which cemented him as the number one contender. Prior to a no contest against Pedro Munhoz, O'Malley had strung together three straight TKO wins. "Sugar" officially w…

Peleón para coestelar de #NocheUFC!!! 🇲🇽

💥💥💥 Señor Kevin Holland vs Señor Jack Della Madalena 💥💥💥

Boletos a la venta: https://t.co/qoFbHJ1LKh pic.twitter.com/8llGb2X6Ip

— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) August 18, 2023 On about a month’s notice, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has found a replacement co-headlining match for its Noche UFC event.

Per the organization on social media on Friday, Kevin Holland (25-9, 1 NC) will take on Jack Della Maddalena (15-2) in a potentially thrilling welterweight clash on Sept. 16. The two ranked 170-pounders will duke it out inside of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as part of UFC Fight Night 227, which has also been titled “Noche UFC” to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. This fight replaces a welterweight tilt between Kelvin Gastelum and Shavkat Rakhmonov that fell through due to a compound fracture to Gastelum’s nose suffered during training.

Fan-favorite Holland put himself on a win str…

[embedded content] In 2022, Lorrany Santos captured titles from two organizations in Brazil, which ultimately earned her a place on the Bellator MMA roster.

At 26 years of age, Santos (6-1) recently signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator, according to sources close to the situation. The featherweight is targeting her promotional debut in October or November, but no destination or opponent has been set yet. Winner of six straight, Santos trains both at the Russao Muay Thai gym as well as the renowned Parana Vale Tudo, home of top talents Jessica Andrade, Karol Rosa and others. Additionally, she joins Team D.O.M. for sessions, where she rolls with black belts like Marcelo Maciel Quines Junior as well as Davi Costa.

Before signing with Bellator, Santos rattled off three victories under the Favela Combat and Mr. Cage organizations in Brazil, where she claimed championship belts in both leagues. Earlier into her pro tenure, she picked up a win over current Ultimate Fighti…

A Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter has taken it upon himself to unveil the news of his recent positive drug test.

Late Thursday night, Daniel Rodriguez (17-4) announced on Instagram that he had failed an out-of-competition drug test for ostarine. Due to the active investigation, he will no longer be competing at the upcoming Sept. 16 event, UFC Fight Night 227, also called “Noche UFC,” at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rodriguez claimed that he did not intentionally take the banned substance, and that the low levels of ostarine in his system could be attributed to certain dietary supplements he takes.

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Rodriguez is not currently suspended by USADA or the UFC, but during the course of the review process, he will not be allowed to compete. This specific substance has been linked to multiple “tainted supplement” suspensions handed down by the organization, where the fighter did not intentionally ingest the substance, but it was inadvertently …

[embedded content] Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki returns for its August offering that features two championship fights.

Both title fights are now official, including the featherweight headliner that will see titleholder Salahdine Parnasse take on interim champion Robert Ruchala, as both men weighed in at 145 pounds. The co-main event puts the spotlight on light heavyweight champion Ibragim Chuzhigaev, who goes up against Bogdan Gnidko. Two undercard fighters missed weight, though. Sandra Succar came in .5 kg over the flyweight limit and was fined 20% of her purse. Meanwhile, Lukasz Rajewski was fined 40% of his purse for missing a catchweight limit by 1.9 kg.

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Parnasse (17-1) enters the title defense on a four-fight win streak. Since being knocked out by Daniel Torres, the French fighter has gotten revenge via unanimous decision and submitted three other fighters via rear-naked choke. Looking to claim the belt is the undefeated Ruchala (9-0). The Polish fi…

[embedded content] The weigh-ins ahead of Professional Fighters League's heavyweight and women's featherweight semifinals were far from drama-free.

The PFL 8 main event will see Renan Ferreira battle Maurice Greene at heavyweight. The lone semifinalist to miss weight was Olena Kolesnyk (147.8), who checked in 1.8 pounds over the featherweight limit. She will be fined 20% of her purse and docked a point for her trilogy match against Larissa Pacheco (146). As for the rest of the card, preliminary heavyweight Daiqwon Buckley (272.4) came in 6.4 pounds over the 266-pound cap, changing his matchup with Louie Sutherland (250.6) to a super heavyweight fight and earning Buckley at 20% fine. Additionally, a 155-pound pairing between Chris Mixan and Eddy George fell through when Mixan reportedly failed to attend the weigh-ins.

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Ferreira (10-3, 3 NC) is coming off a knockout win over Matheus Scheffel that came just 50 seconds into the fight. The towering 6-foot…

Bantamweight prospect Raul Rosas Jr. will attempt to bounce back from the first loss of his professional tenure when he faces Terrence Mitchell at UFC Fight Night 227.

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The 135-pound booking was first reported by ESPN Deportes. UFC Fight Night 227 takes place on Sept. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a flyweight title rematch between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko.

Rosas Jr. generated a great deal of buzz when he earned a UFC contract at 17 years old after besting Mando Gutierrez on Dana White’s Contender Series last year. He submitted Jay Perrin in the opening round of his Octagon debut at UFC 282, but dropped a three-round verdict to Christian Rodriguez in his last outing at UFC 287.

Mitchell, meanwhile, had an 11-bout winning streak snapped in his promotional debut, when he suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Cameron Saaiman at UFC 290.

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Rivals for over three decades — even considering themselves to be fierce enemies — Hugo Duarte and Renzo Gracie are now partners at a gym in the United States.

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The duo has rented a spot in downtown Houston, where Duarte will be the head instructor. It’s one of 12 gyms owned by Gracie. The new partners spent six days together last week.

Renzo and Hugo were on opposite sides in three highly significant clashes of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu vs. Luta Livre rivalry. Renzo stood with the Gracie side in the conflicts between Hugo and Rickson: one at Pepê Beach, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, and another one a week later when Hugo sought a rematch and gathered over 50 students to invade the Gracie academy. At Pentagon Combat in 1997, Renzo faced Eugênio Tadeu and Hugo was in the Luta Livre representative’s corner. The event ended in a brawl that led to the banning of MMA in Rio de Janeiro.

After many, many years of rivalry, a friends…

Larissa Pacheco proved the doubters wrong in 2022 when she upset Kayla Harrison to win the Professional Fighters League lightweight crown.

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Now she’s the odds-on favorite to become a two-division champion heading into a featherweight semifinal matchup against Olena Kolesnyk at PFL 8 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday night. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

“Winning the belt and championship last year was my way of proving that I was right, that I should not have given up on my dream. I’m so happy I didn’t,” Pacheco said during a PFL media day. “This is the continuation of me building a legacy, me writing my name in the MMA history books.”

The first task at hand is to improve to 3-0 against Kolesnyk, whom Pacheco has already defeated twice via first-round stoppage. While some might want to draw parallels to Pacheco’s breakthrough against Harrison in their trilogy last year…

Jordan Heiderman might be most unknown commodity among the PFL heavyweight semifinalists.

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The former college football player fought just once during the PFL regular season, earning a spot in the playoffs thanks to a first-round finish of Patrick Brady on June 16. That has earned him a showdown with Denis Goltsov — perhaps the favorite in the field — on Friday at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT following prelims on ESPN+ 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

“I love being the new guy, the darkhorse,” Heiderman said during a PFL media day. “It’s a perfect fight. I love being the no-name. I’m gonna come in and turn some heads with my performance.”

Some might remember Heiderman from “The Ultimate Fighter 30,” where he fell to Zac Pauga in the semifinals of the reality show. The 31-year-old says he’s “evolved tremendously” since then.

“I definitely think I’m light years better …