Martial Arts News

Since Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Tracy Cortez last fought, her upcoming opponent has competed three times.

Per MMA Junkie on Thursday, Cortez (10-1) will return to the cage to take on fellow 125er Jasmine Jasudavicius (9-2) at UFC Fight Night 227. This event, a Fight Night card playing out at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, will be a rare show to feature a championship bout without a pay-per-view attached. News of this ranked flyweight pairing has since been confirmed by Cortez on her social media.

This will be Cortez’ first jaunt to the Octagon since May 2022, where she picked up a unanimous decision over Melissa Gatto. Since dropping her professional debut back in 2017, Cortez has not lost. Victor of 10 straight outings, including four in the UFC – one per year since joining the league in 2019 – Cortez has reached the rankings courtesy of four decisions wins over the likes of Gatto, Justine Kish and Stephane Egger. Each of the last six appearances fo…

Some important news...

Unfortunately, I won't be able to compete on Aug 19 at UFC 292. I have a tear in my right shoulder that requires rehab.

I wish I could've got in there w/ Chito, but I won't be able to make a full recovery in time.@jimmybars

📽️: https://t.co/Ar7JQbsQPL pic.twitter.com/06ZEoKE7b4

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) June 29, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return show in Boston has taken a big hit on the main card.

On Thursday, Henry Cejudo announced that a shoulder injury will be keeping him from competing at UFC 292. The ex-two division champ stated that he will require around six to eight weeks for recovery, and does not plan on getting surgery if he can help it. The promotion has not currently indicated if a replacement will be sought to face Marlon Vera on that Aug. 19 show at the TD Garden in Boston.

“August 19th is the 15-year anniversary when ‘Triple C’ won his Olympic gold medal,” Cejudo noted,…

OFFICIAL: PFL San Antonio card is set as Featherweights and Light Heavyweights look to book their ticket to the 2023 #PFLWorldChampionship 🏆💰

[Fri, August 4th |#PFLPlayoffs | 🎟️https://t.co/FD4ZBDPl3o] pic.twitter.com/GeZw1elvmX

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 29, 2023 The first of the three Professional Fighters League playoffs events is now on the books.

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Per a release from the promotion on Thursday, it has populated its Aug. 4 billing at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas. Featherweights and light heavyweight semifinal matches are slated atop the PFL 7: 2023 Playoffs event, along with six additional “showcase” bouts to prepare for future tournaments or even potential Challenger Series slots. The company will then switch gears after this playoff card for two shows in New York later in the month.

Headlining the ESPN-based evening will be a 145-pound semifinal between top seeded Bubba Jenkins (21-6) and no. 4 s…

[embedded content] Heightened stakes stare right back at Luana Carolina when she looks in the mirror every day.

The 30-year-old Brazilian flyweight could be battling for her spot on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster when she toes the line against undefeated promotional newcomer Ivana Siric Petrovic as part of the UFC on ESPN 48 undercard this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Carolina’s immediate concerns are clear.

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“My goal is to win, renew my contract and fight on the Sao Paulo card in Brazil in November,” she told Sherdog.com. “With each camp, my main objective is to improve upon my previous performance, both physically and technically. It won’t be any different this time. As an MMA fighter, I train to be prepared for any situation that may arise in the Octagon.”

Recent history has not been kind to Carolina. She has suffered back-to-back setbacks, including a vicious spinning back elbow knockout defeat to onetime Cage Warriors Fig…

Rising welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov will welcome Kelvin Gastelum back to 170 pounds in the co-main event of a UFC Fight Night card on Sept. 16.

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UFC president Dana White announced the booking on Wednesday evening. The UFC Fight Night event is being held in honor of Mexican Independence Day and is headlined by a flyweight championship rematch between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. The card takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will air on ESPN+.

Undefeated in 17 professional appearances, Rakhmonov is a rising star in the UFC’s welterweight division. The 28-year-old Kazakhstan native is coming off a third-round submission of Geoff Neal in his last outing at UFC 285 this past March. The former M-1 Global title holder also owns wins over Neil Magny, Carlston Harris, Michel Prazeres and Alex Oliveira in the Octagon.

Gastelum has endured his share of struggles in recent years, going 2-5 in UFC competition since 2019. Mos…

Cris Lencioni is out of the intensive care unit after going into cardiac arrest during training earlier this month, but plenty of uncertainty remains regarding the Bellator fighter’s recovery.

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Lencioni’s wife, Marca, revealed to MMAFighting.com that her husband suffered a heart attack during a jiu-jitsu exercise on June 8. An MRI later revealed that Lencioni suffered also brain damage as a result of the heart attack.

Lencioni has made some physical progress, including smiling and removing his hand from a bag of ice, but he remains in a “state of disordered consciousness” due to the traumatic brain injury. At this point, doctors are unable to give a clear prognosis on his recovery.

“The neurologists were basically like, ‘We have to wait to see what he can do and what he shows us,’” Marca told MMAFighting. “Because he was so, so healthy when this happened and is young and an athlete, they’re not really sure what’s gonna happen.

“The brai…

After more than a year on the sidelines, Michel Pereira will return to the Octagon against Stephen Thompson at UFC 291 on July 29.

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The Brazilian is not accustomed to such a lenghty layoff.

"Since I entered in UFC I´m used to fighting three times a year,” he told Sherdog.com. “Man, I’m living in Las Vegas with a high [cost of living]. I cannot go 15 months without fighting. But finally the UFC found a ranked oponent with the balls to face me.”

Pereira, who did part of his camp at Xtreme Couture, is especially excited at the stylistic matchup with “Wonderboy.”

"I love to entertain the fans and when I face grapplers, they want to avoid my stand up game,” Pereira said. “I cannot show my new skills, [but] that will not happen with Stephen ‘Wonderboy.’ He is a karate black belt just like myself.”

Pereira is confident that their similar backgrounds will work in his favor.

"As a karate fighter, I know exactly what a karate fighter doesn’…

Both Ilia Topuria and Josh Emmett have been suspended indefinitely following their featherweight headliner at UFC on ABC 5 this past Saturday.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation released a full list of medical suspensions from the event, which took place at Vystar Veteran’s Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Topuria was impressive in taking a dominant unanimous verdict over Emmett in the evening’s featured bout. The FDBPR does not disclose the exact nature of each fighter’s medical suspension, but indefinite terms can typically be shortened with doctor clearance.

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Four other fighters from UFC on ABC 5 are also facing indefinite terms: Amanda Ribas, Wellington Turman, Mateusz Rebecki and Loik Radzhaboz.

UFC on ABC 5 Medical Suspensions:

Ilia Topuria: Suspended indefinitely

Josh Emmett: Suspended indefinitely

Amanda Ribas: Suspended indefinitely

Justin Tafa: Suspended indefinitely

Gabriel Santo…

Cub Swanson will return to the featherweight division for a clash with Hakeem Dawodu at UFC on ESPN 51.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking after Swanson initially announced the bout via Instagram. UFC on ESPN 51 takes place on Aug. 12 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight duel pitting Vicente Luque against Rafael dos Anjos.

Swanson is coming off a bantamweight appearance at UFC Fight Night 212, where he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Johathan Martinez this past October. Prior to that, the World Extreme Cagefighting veteran had won three of his last four Octagon appearances dating back to October 2019.

Dawodu has lost two of his last three under the UFC banner. Most recently, the 31-year-old Canadian dropped a three-round verdict to Julian Erosa at UFC 279 last September.

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One-time UFC heavyweight competitor Braxton Smith has accepted a two-year USADA suspension after multiple failed drug tests.  

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Smith tested positive for exogenous administration of testosterone and/or its precursors in out-of-competition samples on April 19 and May 4 and in-competition on May 6. According to USADA, Smith’s three positive tests were combined into one violation because he was not notified of his first positive test when he second and third samples were collected.

“Smith’s urine sample was analyzed using a specialized test, known as Carbon Isotope Ratio (CIR) testing, that differentiates between anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) naturally produced by the body and prohibited anabolic agents of external origin,” the USADA statement read. “The CIR test confirmed the presence of testosterone and/or its metabolites of external origin in Smith’s urine sample. A…

It was an afternoon to forget for Justin Tafa.

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The Australian’s heavyweight clash with Austen Lane ended just 29 seconds into Round 1 of their UFC on ABC 5 clash when Tafa was rendered unable to continue after being poked in the eye. As a result, the bout was ruled a no contest.

It was one of the more gruesome eye pokes in recent memory, and Tafa later expressed his frustration on Twitter. “I deserve my win bonus. That’s a DQ, man,” he wrote. Meanwhile, Lane apologized shortly thereafter.

Fortunately, it appears that Tafa won’t suffer any permanent damage as a result of the foul. “Bad Man” recently offered a relatively positive update on his condition via social media.

“Cleared of any major damage to both eyes but both eyes did suffer some damage,” Tafa wrote. “Right eye still in some pain, sensitive to light and blurred vision on the [left] but I thank God nothing that was going to end my career or cause serious damage to my eye. Than…