Martial Arts News

Arman Tsarukyan has finally received his next Ultimate Fighting Championship assignment.

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Tsarukyan (19-3, 6-2 UFC) had been attached to a bout with Renato Carneiro scheduled for the UFC on ESPN 45 card on April 29 before “Moicano” pulled out due to injury. A replacement opponent did not materialize in time for that event, but on Tuesday, ESPN reported Tsarukyan and Joaquim Silva would collide in a lightweight clash at UFC on ESPN 47 on June 17. The matchup was then confirmed by Silva’s team on their social media accounts.

The surging Tsarukyan appeared most recently in December, a dominant unanimous decision victory over Damir Ismagulov which allowed him to bounce back from a loss at the hands of former KSW two-division champion Mateusz Gamrot in the UFC on ESPN 38 headliner. Prior, “Ahalkalakets” went on a five-bout winning streak with victories over Joel Alvarez and Matt Frevola, among others. Tsarukyan's only other loss under the UFC banner cam…

Photo: Getty Images/UFC

A white belt enrolled as “Mark Elliot” in the Featherweight Master 1 category stole the show last week in a Silicon Valley BJJ event. When “Mr. Elliot” stepped onto the tatame for his first match, the audience found out his surname: Zuckerberg.

The creator of Facebook competed a total of three times in the event: two with gi and one without. In the no-gi competition he won his lone bout, netting the gold medal, while in the gi he won his first match before losing in the final via Ezekiel choke, earning silver. Zuckerberg, who made MMA headlines in October by attending a closed to the public UFC Fight Night 211 at the Apex in Las Vegas, had already declared his passion for jiu-jitsu on Ep. 267 of the Lex Fridman podcast, saying, “In my first class, in the first five minutes I thought: Where has this been, my whole life? Definitely jiu-jitsu is the best sport.” What most couldn't imagine is that he would show up in a competition.

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It wasn’t the night Gilbert Burns was hoping for at UFC 288, who suffered an injury in addition to losing his fight.

Last Saturday, Burns (22-6, 15-6 UFC) dropped a unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad in the UFC 288 co-headliner while fighting with a left shoulder injury that prevented him from fully expressing his fighting skills. On Monday, the New Jersey Athletic Control Board suspended “Durinho” indefinitely, pending clearance from an orthopedist after getting an X-ray of his left shoulder. Thanks to his victory, Muhammad has been promised a matchup with the Leon Edwards-Colby Covington welterweight championship clash winner.

Joseph Holmes and Kalinn Williams have also been suspended indefinitely pending the doctor’s clearance to fight again. Overall, 14 fighters received medical suspensions, including former two-division titleholder Henry Cejudo, who appeared opposite Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 288 headliner.

UFC 288 Medical Suspensions: Henry Cejudo: suspen…

The upcoming UFC Fight Night 223 has an interesting women’s strawweight clash as its new main event.

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Mackenzie Dern and Angela Hill will now collide one week later than initially scheduled. The pair was supposed to fight on the UFC on ABC 4 main card this weekend, but the Ultimate Fighting Championship has opted to promote the matchup as the new UFC Fight Night 224 headliner on May 20. The Nevada-based promotion had to deal with several last-minute changes as the initially targeted main event between Irene Aldana vs. Raquel Pennington was canceled after Aldana agreed to replace the injured Julianna Pena against two-division titleholder Amanda Nunes for the women’s 135-pound gold at UFC 289 next month. The change was first reported by MMA Fighting and has already been confirmed by Hill on her social accounts.

Hill (15-12, 9-10 UFC) is riding a two-bout winning streak after overcoming Lupita Godinez and Emily Ducote via unanimous decision at UFC on …

The rumors of Henry Cejudo’s second retirement were apparently premature, according to the man himself.

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This s*** is far from over! @danawhite I want @MerabDvalishvil head on a plate! #ufcboston pic.twitter.com/ME9ygzPaJG

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 8, 2023 Things didn’t go according to plan for former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champ Cejudo (16-3, 10-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 288 headliner as “The Messenger” dropped a narrow split decision to bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling. In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Cejudo removed his gloves in the cage and teased that he might be done with MMA once again. A few hours later, however, Cejudo announced via Twitter that he wanted to don the four-ounce gloves at least once more, against Sterling’s teammate and good friend Merab Dvalishvili.

“This s—t is far from over,” Cejudo wrote. “Dana White, I want [Dvalishvili’s] head on a plate.”

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Ultimate Fighting Championship star Tony Ferguson is lucky he emerged uninjured.

According to TMZ on Sunday morning, Ferguson allegedly crashed his truck into a pair of parked cars in Hollywood, California. The lightweight was picked up around 2 a.m. local time for a misdemeanor charge of DUI, and according to the arrest record from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, his bail has been set at $30,000. TMZ subsequently stated that for refusing the field sobriety test, he might have his driver’s license suspended.

Ferguson was allegedly driving his truck by a Hollywood nightclub, where he struck the cars including one reported to be owned by rapper Cash Gotti. The truck flipped on its side and stopped moving. Remarkably, no persons were injured during the incident, including Ferguson himself, per TMZ. A law enforcement officer told TMZ that Ferguson “reeked of alcohol” while sporting “bloodshot eyes.”

A local news outlet of KTLA disputed the TMZ report o…

Diego Lopes gave Movsar Evloev a tougher test than anyone could have imagined, and both fighter’s bank accounts benefitted as a result.

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Evloev and Lopes garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their entertaining featherweight feature bout at UFC 288 on Saturday night. Lopes, who accepted the bout on less than a week’s notice, rocked his foe with a right hand early and threatened with multiple submission attempts throughout the fight. Ultimately, Evloev prevailed via unanimous decision behind superior striking, pressure and wrestling.

Elsewhere, Xiaonan Yan earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for her first-round knockout of Jessica Andrade in a strawweight clash on the main card. Yan capitalized on her opponent’s reckless aggression, as she dropped Andrade with a counter right hand and finished the bout with follow-up punches on the canvas at the 2:20 mark of the period.

Finally, Matt Frevola received the even…

Aljamain Sterling remains the gold standard in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division.

Sterling (23-3, 15-3 UFC) retained his 135-pound belt with a hard-fought split-decision triumph over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo (16-3, 10-3 UFC) in the UFC 288 main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday night. Judges Derek Cleary and Eric Colon both submitted 48-47 tallies in favor of “The Funk Master,” while Michael Bell saw it 48-47 for Cejudo. It was the first bout for the Olympic gold medalist since he retired following a victory against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020.

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Sterling utilized his reach advantage, working behind unorthodox movement, stance switches and a toolbox of kicks — with calf kicks being an especially effective weapon. The Serra-Longo Fight Team member set the tone in the opening stanza, when he landed some knees to the body in close quarters and secured a late takedown, working his …

Sherdog's live UFC 288 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Ribeiro (-175), Holmes (+150)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Aliskerov (-210), Hawes (+180)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BET…

STEAMROLLA DID THAT 👊 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/isFkRr6lqe

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 7, 2023

Matt Frevola went toe-to-toe with Drew Dober and got the best of the encounter.

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The Dana White’s Contender Series alum added to his highlight reel with an explosive technical knockout victory against Dober in the UFC 288 featured prelim at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday night. Frevola (11-3-1, 5-3-1 UFC) dropped his adversary with a counter right hand to the chin and then sealed the victory by swarming with ground-and-pound 4:08 into Round 1. Frevola has finished three straight fights in UFC competition. Frevola enjoyed success early behind a steady diet of straight right hands and kicks to the body. Dober took a little longer to find his range, but he was beginning to land more impactful offense before the fight-ending exchange occurred. When Dober attacked the body with a left, Frevola capitalized with a dev…

LOUGHRAN SILENCES THE CROWD!!!#CW154 pic.twitter.com/2CE7r8eJz3

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) May 6, 2023

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship crowned a new 135-pound kingpin in its second event in Rome, Italy, but it wasn’t the one for which Italian fans had hoped.

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In the Cage Warriors 154 headliner, Italy’s own Dylan Hazan took on Caolan Loughran for the vacant bantamweight championship. Hazan (9-1, 4-1 CW) looked faster with his punches while demonstrating intelligent in-and-out movement in the openzing stanza. Still, Loughran (8-0, 4-0 CW) kept his composure and retaliated with heavier shots. By the end of Round 1, “The Don” had already marked Hazan’s face with his haymakers. Things took an ugly turn for Hazan in the second frame, when Loughran pushed the pace and tested his adversary’s chin. A right hook-left uppercut combination shook Hazan before Loughran followed up with a couple more hooks and uppercuts that d…

A big knee to the body gets Kai Asakura the finish, and he will meet Juan Archuleta for the vacant Bantamweight title!

[ #RIZIN42 | @FiteTV | Link in bio ] pic.twitter.com/ShUh2NjRWI

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) May 6, 2023

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Kai Asakura and Juan Archuleta are expected to square off for the vacant Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight crown after earning key victories on Saturday.

Asakura (20-4, 12-3 Rizin) made a statement with a third-round stoppage of Yuki Motoya in the Rizin 42 headliner at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. The Tri-Force Akasaka representative put his foe on the defensive with a knee in the clinch while the combatants were engaged near the ropes. Asakura stalked his reeling opponent and threw a couple punches before stepping in with a left knee that folded Motoya (33-10 1 NC, 10-6 Rizin) to the canvas, bringing an end to the contest at the 2:25 mark of Round 3.

Asakura has won four of his last five …