Martial Arts News

Sherdog's live Bellator 296 coverage will begin Saturday at 11:55 a.m. ET. Round 1 Vive la France! For the third year since 2020, Bellator has posted up in Paris for a show to titillate those inside of the Accor Arena. French fans will be treated to 14 bouts of various intrigue, and the show will end with a pair of five-rounders but no belt on the line in either. The proceedings commence in the light heavyweight division between a pair of titanic finishers, as Augusto (7-4, 1 NC; 1-2 BMMA) battles Biyong (9-2, 2-1 BMMA) in a fight that might not last long. Referee Jacob Montalvo is ready and awaiting the violence that is set to begin in front of his eyes, but before that happens, the event begins with the two fighters sharing a sporting glove touch. Biyong leads off with a jab and a body kick, with his significant reach on display immediately. “Gugu” replies with a chopping low kick, and Biyong says two can play that game and gives him two back. Augusto recoils his limb on t…

The journey to million dollars and a PFL World Championship goes through 𝗔𝗧𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗔 with playoff spots on the line!

LIVE from @OvertimeElite Arena

Advertisement

For more information and tickets 👇https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/ZWb2ruJAZb — PFL (@PFLMMA) May 12, 2023

The Professional Fighters League on Friday unveiled matchups for the second half of its 2023 PFL Regular Season, which resumes on June 8 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta.

News broke earlier this week -- originally reported by MMAFighting -- that nine fighters had tested positive for undisclosed banned substances after their bouts in the PFL heavyweight, light heavyweight and featherweight brackets. The list includes heavyweights Bruno Cappelozza, Cezar Ferreira and Rizvan Kuniev, light heavyweights Thiago Santos, Krzysztof Jotko, Will Fleury and Mohammad Fakhreddine, as well as featherweights Daniel Torres and Alejandro Flores. The fighters have been tempora…

Bigi Boy lives up to his name 💪@JairRozenstruik in at the 265lb heavyweight limit for our #UFCCharlotte main event! pic.twitter.com/0jJBPg99v5

— UFC (@ufc) May 12, 2023 An interesting heavyweight clash will headline UFC on ABC 4, which is now set after the official weigh-ins.

Headlining the 12-fight card is Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Jailton Almeida. "Bigi Boy" will be the larger fighter as he weighed 265 pounds. That is 34 pounds heavier than Almeida (18-2), who came in at 231 pounds.

Advertisement

There were some issues on the scale, though, as two fighters initially missed weight and a fight was canceled. Bryan Battle came in 2 pounds over the welterweight limit for his fight against Gabriel Green. Meanwhile, Daniel Rodriguez came in half a pound over at 171.5 pounds for a welterweight bout against Ian Garry, although he was able to weigh 170 after weighing in a second time. Finally, Pete Rodriguez had to withdraw from his lightwe…

Watch the #KSW82 Ceremonial Weigh-Ins! Live on YouTube & Facebook! ⚖️

Today at 6pm CEST | 5pm BST | 12pm ET pic.twitter.com/RTn2zCiCF9

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) May 12, 2023 The KSW 82 card is is officially set for Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's May offering after all fighters successfully made weight.

The seven-fight mixed martial arts card is headlined by a welterweight clash between Brian Hooi and Andrzej Grzebyk. Hooi (19-10, 1 NC) is 3-1 in his last four fights and is coming off a TKO win over Jivko Stoimenov. Meanwhile, Grzebyk (19-6) recently rebounded from a two-fight skid by knocking out Oton Jasse. Both men weighed 171 pounds.

KSW 82 will stream live on the promotion's website. The card begins at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Saturday for $9.99.

KSW 82 Weigh-in Results: Brian Hooi (171) vs. Andrzej Grzebyk (171)Filip Macek (136) vs. Sebastian Przybysz (136)Bogdan Gnidko (205) vs. Rafal Kijanczuk (205)Donovan Desmae (156) vs. Raul Tu…

[embedded content] Bellator MMA is set to make its return to Paris, with the card official following the Bellator 296 weigh-ins.

Middleweight headliners Gegard Mousasi and Fabian Edwards both had no trouble making weight. However, two preliminary contests were marred by participants missing weight, with one of the fights being canceled. The most notable miss was Steven Hill coming in 3.8 pounds over the welterweight limit for his fight against Nicolo Solli, and the fight has been axed as a result. Additionally, Romain Debienne has been fined a percentage of his purse for coming in at 172.4 pounds for his welterweight bout against Bourama Camara. Finally, Piotr Niedzielski hit the scales .2 pounds over the featherweight cap, and it is unclear if his match with Yves Landu has been shifted to a catchweight or if Niedzielski received a fine.

Advertisement

The 37-year-old known as "Dreamcatcher" returns to the Bellator cage for the first time since dropping the title t…

The winner of this upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight tilt could crack the top 10 with a solid performance.

On Thursday, MMA Junkie first broke the news that Damir Ismagulov (24-2) and Grant Dawson (19-1-1) would be meeting at UFC on ESPN 48 on July 1. The event will take place inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and the lightweight duel is expected to be placed on the main card. Both fighters confirmed the pairing shortly after its announcement.

Advertisement

Ismagulov was excited about the fight, stating on his Instagram, “Back to UFC Fight Night – July 1, 2023. Top 15 opponent. Another challenge. All or nothing, as we say, debts must be repaid. Fighting for my future. All or nothing! Chance to prove what I can do to wrestlers when I’m 100% Let’s go!”

The Orenburg, Russia, native suffered his first loss since 2015 when he came up short against Arman Tsarukyan at the final UFC card of 2022. That unanimous decision loss snapped a 19-fight …

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com Credit: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com…

Tom Aspinall’s return from a horrific knee injury is set to take place in the same venue where it was inflicted last year.

Advertisement

On Wednesday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced that Aspinall (12-3, 5-1 UFC) will headline UFC on ESPN 49 on July 22 in London against Marcin Tybura. Aspinall was vocal about his intentions to return in July after a year on the sidelines as he called out Tybura during the UFC 286 fight week in March. The Nevada-based promotion granted his wish, offering Aspinall his third main event booking, all of which have taken place in his native U.K.

BREAKING: Your #UFCLondon heavyweight main event is signed!!

@AspinallMMA vs @MarcinTybura

Get your tickets EARLY https://t.co/slZM2gosSA pic.twitter.com/6uFPMHzW8D

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 10, 2023

Aspinall’s last outing ended in misery, as he suffered a freak knee injury 15 seconds into his clash with Curtis Blaydes in the UFC Fig…

- 2x Glory Kickboxing Welterweight Champion- 2016 A1 WGP Final Tournament Champion- World Kickboxing Association World Champion

"The Best" 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗗. Welcome to the Professional Fighters League @CedricDoumbe pic.twitter.com/MuStGGGyNR

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 10, 2023

Advertisement

Newly-signed Cedric Doumbe will make his Professional Fighters League debut this summer.

On Wednesday, the PFL announced Doumbe as the latest addition to its 170-pound division. The fighter took to his social accounts to unveil he would fight for the first time under the PFL banner in Atlanta on June 23.

“Cedric Doumbe is one of the greatest athletes in the world and a tremendous addition to the Professional Fighters League global roster,” said PFL President of Fighter Operations Ray Sefo in a press release. “Cedric dominated the sport of kickboxing and is poised to do the same in MMA. He is one of the most talented fighters in the world and will mak…

Our #UFC290 main event is OFFICIAL!

Dana White just dropped the entire main card for International Fight Week and it's HUGE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aoNWRRiJvb

— UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2023

Advertisement

The featherweight division will have an undisputed champion again as Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez have been booked to headline UFC 290.

The main attraction of the upcoming pay-per-view event in Las Vegas is the unification bout between 145-pound linear champion Volkanovski and interim titleholder Rodriguez. In the UFC 290 co-headliner, Brandon Moreno will face Alexandre Pantoja. “International Fight Week” will also feature the induction of former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Robbie Lawler’s UFC 189 clash with Rory MacDonald in the Hall of Fame, with “Ruthless” then set to compete against Niko Price in a bout that has been promoted as Lawler’s final contest.

Volkanovski (25-2, 12-1 UFC) is looking to bo…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming visit to the UK has gained an important women’s bantamweight clash.

Advertisement

Ketlen Vieira and Pannie Kianzad will attempt to climb the 135-pound rankings when they meet at UFC on ESPN 49 in July in London. The news was first reported by MaximumSports and was confirmed by the UFC on Tuesday.

Bantamweights on deck!

🇧🇷 @KetlenVieiraUFC vs @PannieKianzad 🇸🇪 is official for #UFCLondon

🎟️ https://t.co/wg9VkLrok2 pic.twitter.com/EYlQx8iHcU

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 9, 2023

Vieira (13-3, 7-3 UFC) is looking to get back on track after finding herself on the wrong side of a split decision in her UFC Fight Night 217 affair with Raquel Pennington. Prior to that, “Fenomeno” overcame former divisional queens Miesha Tate and Holly Holm at UFC Fight Night 198 and UFC Fight Night 206, respectively. The Nova Uniao representative is looking for her first UFC title shot, and a victo…

Professional Fighters League’s 2023 season appears in danger of losing several of its top contenders and biggest names.

Advertisement

On Tuesday, MMA Fighting reported that Thiago Santos, Krzysztof Jotko, Bruno Cappelozza and Rizvan Kuniev had tested positive for undisclosed banned substances after their fights in the PFL light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. The fighters have been temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission pending full hearings in the next few days.

The The promotion addressed the situation in a statement that acknowledged the suspensions and announced significant changes to the 2023 Regular Season without mentioning names.

“PFL has been notified by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that several fighters who competed in two PFL 2023 Regular Season events this past April have been temporarily suspended until further review by the Commission. The PFL has a zero-tolerance policy related to the usage of banned su…