Martial Arts News

It may not be how she envisioned, but Irene Aldana is now facing the opportunity of a lifetime.

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On Tuesday, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White revealed in a Twitter video that bantamweight title challenger Julianna Pena had been forced to withdraw from her rubber match with Amanda Nunes at UFC 289 on June 10, due to broken ribs. White announced that Nunes would instead be defending her title against Irene Aldana, who had previously been scheduled to rematch Raquel Pennington in the main event of UFC Fight Night 224 on May 20.

Breaking news………… pic.twitter.com/pNvr9Qo3I2

— danawhite (@danawhite) May 3, 2023

The Nunes-Pena fight would have settled a series that sat at 1-1. At their first meeting at UFC 269 in December 2021, Pena turned the longtime two-division champ into a one-division champ, snatching Nunes' bantamweight strap by second-round submission in a near-consensus “Upset of the Year,” and one…

A welterweight bout pitting Neil Magny against Philip Rowe has been added to the UFC on ABC 5 lineup.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. UFC on ABC 5 takes place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., on June 24 and is headlined by a featherweight scrap between Josh Emmett and Ilia Topuria.

The 35-year-old Magny began his 2023 campaign with a first-round submission defeat to Gilbert Burns at UFC 283 on Jan. 21. “The Haitian Sensation” has 29 Octagon appearances to his credit, with notable victories over the likes of Geoff Neal, Robbie Lawler, Jingliang Li, Carlos Condit, Johny Hendricks, Hector Lombard and Kelvin Gastelum.

Rowe, meanwhile, has won three straight UFC fights since dropping his debut against Gabriel Green in February 2021. During that stretch, “The Fresh Prince” has finished Niko Price, Jason Witt and Orion Cosce via technical knockout.

#InvictaFC53: DeCoursey vs. Dos Santos Official Weigh-in Results https://t.co/GRYo5IYo5a pic.twitter.com/oa2xbjMfrK

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) May 2, 2023

Jillian DeCoursey will take on the role of the hunted at Invicta FC 53.

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DeCoursey made weight without issue ahead of her first atomweight title defense against Rayanne Amanda dos Santos. DeCoursey tipped the scales at 104.8 pounds, while dos Santos checked in at 104.3 pounds. The rest of the 12 athletes slated to compete on the card also hit their contracted marks.

Invicta FC 53 takes place at Reelworks Denver in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday and airs at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on AXS TV and the Invicta FC Youtube channel and Facebook page in the U.S.

DeCoursey claimed atomweight gold with a first-round submission of Jessica Correa Delboni at Invicta FC 49 this past September. The 38-year-old Queens, N.Y., native has won four of his last five professional appeara…

Few people have more insight than the UFC 288 co-main event than Vicente Luque.

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Not only is Luque a close friend and longtime sparring partner of Gilbert Burns – they’ve trained together since 2014 -- but he’s fought Belal Muhammad on two occasions, winning via first-round knockout at UFC 205 before dropping a five-round verdict to “Remember the Name” in their rematch at UFC on ESPN 34. Luque expects a competitive fight between the two on Saturday but sees Burns as the favorite.

"I fought five rounds with Belal one year ago,” Luque said. “He has definitely evolved from our first fight. Besides throwing fast combinations, he moves well and has a good kick with his left leg, but he fights more to score points. I see a clear advantage for ‘Durinho’ in the grappling aspect. He has much more pressure, mainly on the ground, in addition to amazing cardio. On the striking aspect, I see it being more equal. ‘Durinho’ evolved a lot and has more knockout powe…

An undisclosed injury has forced Bryce Mitchell to withdraw from a featherweight bout against Movsar Evloev at UFC 288.

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As a result, promotional newcomer Diego Lopes will step in on five days’ notice to face Evloev on the UFC 288 pay-per-view draw. ESPN Deportes was first to report the new pairing. Evloev previously agreed to replace Jonathan Pearce and face Mitchell a few weeks prior.

Lopes enters his UFC debut with a 20-5 career mark. He appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 but failed to earn a contract, dropping a technical decision to Joanderson Brito. Lopes is the founder of the Brazilian Warriors team and has held titles in organizations such as Lux Fight League, Xtreme Fighters Latino and Jasaji Fighting League. The 28-year-old Brazilian owns notable triumphs over UFC veterans Masio Fullen, Marco Beltran and Rony Mariano Bezerra.

Evloev is 16-0 as a professional, with six of those victories coming under the UFC banner. Th…

After a proposed main event matchup with Jack Hermansson fell through, Brendan Allen is moving on to a showdown against Bruno Silva at UFC on ABC 5.

Allen confirmed the middleweight booking on social media following an initial report from MMA Mania. UFC on ABC 5 takes place at Vystar Veteran’s Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., on June 24 and is headlined by a featherweight duel pitting Ilia Topuria against Josh Emmett. Allen was supposed to face Hermansson in the UFC on ESPN 45 feature before his opponent withdrew due to an undisclosed injury.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Allen has won four straight contests since falling to Chris Curtis at UFC on ESPN 31 in December 2021. Most recently, “All In” submitted Andre Muniz in the third round of their main event tilt at UFC Fight Night 220.

Silva, meanwhile, halted a two-bout losing streak with a first-round TKO of Brad Tavares at UFC Fight Night 222 on April 22. The former M-1 Glob…

Kamaru Usman is ready to get back to work.

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In an interview with ESPN, the former welterweight champion revealed that he is ready to fight again — and one opponent in particular has his interest.

"A fight with myself and Khamzat [Chimaev]? Boom," Usman said. "I'm kind of in a place now where I'm having fun with it, and what's the biggest, funnest, most intense fight that really makes me feel something? That's a fight right there. That could headline a pay-per-view.”

Chimaev hasn’t competed since last September, when he submitted Kevin Holland in the opening round of a 180-pound catchweight clash at UFC 279. He has been linked to a fight with Paulo Costa, but his next Octagon appearance hasn’t been booked. It’s also unclear if Chimaev will fight at welterweight or middleweight going forward. Usman told ESPN that he would “potentially” be willing to face Chimaev at 185 pounds.

"He's a fighter and I'm a fighter at the end of the day," Usma…

UFC vet Felipe "Cabocão" Colares passed away at 29 years old. Just communicated with teammate Kleydson Rodrigues. He confirmed that Colares was struck by a bus earlier today, May 1st. @sherdogdotcom #cabocao #felipecabocao #felipecolares https://t.co/FEKZFj0cui

— Christian Stein (@CopperHeartCT) May 1, 2023

Six-time UFC veteran Felipe Colares has died at 29 years old after being struck by a bus on Monday.

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Sherdog.com contributor Christian Stein confirmed news of Colares’ death with teammate Kleydson Rodrigues. Colares was hit on his way home from training in Rio de Janeiro and died on his way to Hospital Rocha Faria in Campo Grande, according to Combate.

Colares last fought on Feb. 17, when he submitted Alioune Nahaye at Ares FC 12. Prior to that, the Team Nogueira representative went 2-4 during six-bout UFC stint from 2019 to 2022. He earned wins over Luke Sanders and Domingo Pilarte during his tenure with the Las …

A flyweight showdown pitting Kai Kara France against Amir Albazi has been promoted to the UFC on ESPN 45 headliner.

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Kara France announced the move on the "Who the Fook Are These Guys?” podcast, and it was later confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. UFC on ESPN 45 needed a new main event after Jack Hermansson withdrew from a proposed middleweight clash against Brendan Allen. Now Kara France and Albazi will have five rounds with which to work.

Kara France last appeared at UFC 277, where he suffered a third-round technical knockout loss to current flyweight king Brandon Moreno last July. He was supposed to face Alex Perez at UFC 284 but was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury.

Albazi, meanwhile, has lost just once in 17 professional outings. The Baghdad, Iraq, native has kicked off his promotional tenure with four straight triumphs, including a third-round KO of Alessandro Costa in his most recent appearance at UFC Fight Night 216.

Though it seems farfetched that Conor McGregor ever competes for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the former UFC two-division champion isn’t ruling out the possibility.

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McGregor attended BKFC 41 on Saturday, which was one of the promotion’s biggest events to date, and faced off with Mike Perry in the ring after “Platinum” bested Luke Rockhold in the evening’s main event. McGregor reflected on that appearance in a post on social media.

“Call me ‘slicey’ bare paw,” McGregor wrote. “Styles make fights. As well as rulesets. As well as everything. If you are scared go to church. I was called into the bare-knuckle ring last night. I fear nothing. No man that breathes air. I only fear God and abide by God and if God guides me to a professional bare-knuckle fight in my time for my new world title, I do.”

“Great night last night. It’s real interesting out there for sure. Congrats to the fighters. Two of my old foes [Eddie Alvarez and Chad Mendes] com…

One Championship has withdrawn from the Francis Ngannou sweepstakes.

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CEO Chatri Sityodtong revealed to the South China Morning Post that the Singapore-based promotion has elected not to submit a final offer to the ex-UFC heavyweight champion after meeting with Ngannou in Los Angeles over the weekend.

“I met with Francis yesterday for almost 3 hours,” Sityodtong said. “ONE has decided to withdraw from the process of bidding for Francis Ngannou’s services.

“After careful reflection, we decided not to submit our final offer. Francis is a good guy and a good champion. I wish him continued success and happiness. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel Francis and I were fully aligned on non-financial matters. It is nothing personal. It is just a lack of alignment.”

Ngannou became a free agent in January after his UFC contract expired. The Cameroonian-born Frenchman indicated that he was in talks with both One and Professional Fighters League, …

C'est parti !!! @KSW_MMA 🔥🔥😤merci à ceux qui me soutiennent depuis le début pic.twitter.com/6T38Uh8yCK

— Salahdine Parnasse (@SalahdineP) April 27, 2023

Polish promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki has bolstered the lineup for its upcoming stadium show with three championship fights.

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In the KSW 83 “Colosseum 2” co-main event, reigning lightweight champion Marian Ziolkowski will face interim title holder Salahdine Parnasse in a bout that was originally scheduled for KSW 76. Ziolkowski has won four straight contests under the KSW banner since falling to current UFC talent Mateusz Gamrot in August 2020. Parnasse has been victorious in 17 of his 18 professional outings and is in the midst of a four-bout winning streak of his own.

Meanwhile, Pawel Pawlak and Tomasz Romanowski will square off for the vacant middleweight crown. Pawlak has won six straight fights dating back to June 2020, a run that includes a trio of victories in…