Martial Arts News

It appears that an immediate rematch with Valentina Shevchenko will be next for newly-crowned flyweight champion Alexa Grasso.

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Dana White indicated as much during the UFC Fight Night 223 post-fight press conference on Saturday. He did not reveal a potential date or event for the bout, however. “We’re working on that, too,” White said regarding the rematch. “That’s one of the fights we’re definitely working on right now.”

Grasso authored one of 2023’s biggest upsets when she submitted Shevchenko with a fourth-round face crank in the UFC 285 co-main event on March 4. That ended a streak of seven consecutive successful title defenses for Shevchenko, who had established herself as one of the top female pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

The 29-year-old Grasso has won five consecutive fights since moving up to 125 pounds from strawweight. Had the UFC elected to avoid an immediate rematch, Grasso had a number of interesting options for her firs…

A welterweight showdown pitting Logan Storley against Brennan Ward will serve as the main event for Bellator 298 on Aug. 11.

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Promotion officials announced the booking on Monday. Bellator 298 takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., and will see Valentin Moldavsky square off against Steve Mowry in the evening’s heavyweight co-headliner. The main card, which airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, will also include a middleweight clash between Dalton Rosta and Aaron Jeffrey and a lightweight tilt between Sidney Outlaw and Islam Mamedov.

Meanwhile, Lucas Brennan will lock horns with Weber Almeida on the preliminary draw, which airs at the Bellator YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.

A former interim champion, Storley had a three-bout winning streak snapped in a five-round decision loss to Yaroslav Amosov in a title unification bout at Bellator 291 on Feb. 25. Storley …

Fight news!

Here we go, I’m back 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/lz1PUNxZNo

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) May 22, 2023

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Terrance McKinney will lock horns with Nazim Sadykhov in a lightweight bout at UFC on ESPN 49 on July 15.

McKinney announced the pairing in a cowboy-themed video on social media. UFC on ESPN 49 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight duel pitting Holly Holm against Mayra Bueno Silva.

After beginning his Octagon tenure with back-to-back first-round finishes, McKinney has lost two of his last three UFC bouts. Most recently, the 28-year-old Spokane, Wash., native suffered a second-round KO defeat to Ismael Bonfim at UFC 283 on Jan. 21.

Sadykhov scored a third-round KO of Ahmad Sohail Hassanzada on Dana White’s Contender Series last August before defeating Evan Elder via technical knockout in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 219 on Feb. 18. The Long an…

Anthony Hernandez is quietly building an impressive resume in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.

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The former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor earned his fourth straight victory at UFC Fight Night 223, pulling away for a third-round technical knockout victory over once highly-touted prospect Edmen Shahbazyan in the evening’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Fluffy” endured a strong start from his opponent before overwhelming him with takedowns, submission attempts and ground-and-pound.

In the aftermath, Hernandez found plenty of room for improvement.

“I got hit, so obviously I’ve got to work on head movement,” he said at the post-fight press conference. “My coaches told me I was making a couple mistakes when I was moving backward. Just back to the drawing board. We just come back and we try to perform better next time.”

Hernandez was confident that he would eventually be able to impose his will on S…

The countdown to #TUF31 begins!!! ⏱

[ #TUF31 Premieres Tue. May 30 on @ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/QpdIYGMySZ

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) April 30, 2023

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As Conor McGregor continues to delay his entry into the USADA drug testing pool, there has been some concern in recent weeks that his matchup with Michael Chandler won’t actually happen.

According to UFC president Dana White, a fight announcement will occur during the airing of “The Ultimate Fighter 31,” which features McGregor and Chandler as opposing coaches and premieres on May 30.

“That’s correct,” White said at the UFC Fight Night 223 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. “There’s a fight. He [McGregor] has to get into the USADA pool first. He’s filling out the paperwork. I don’t know how soon that will be done or what’s going on, but that’s his business, that he’s handling with USADA. But it’s all in motion.”

USADA normally requires…

Rose Namajunas has been off the grid since relinquishing the strawweight crown to Carla Esparza in a forgettable rematch at UFC 274, but the ex-champ remains one of the biggest names in the strawweight division.

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Mackenzie Dern set her sights on “Thug” Rose following a dominant victory over Angela Hill in the UFC Fight Night 223 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Namajunas hasn’t fought MMA since May 2022, but Dern is aware that she has been honing her grappling skills in recent months.

“I follow her on social media and stuff, and I saw her do an ADCC regional or something like that,” Dern said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I’m a former ADCC champion, so I’m always happy when I see the MMA girls doing jiu-jitsu. But, for sure, fighting Rose is a priority of mine right now at this moment.”

Dern has won two of her last three Octagon appearances dating back to 2022 and demonstrated considerable improvement in…

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Paul Craig will move to 185 pounds and face Andre Muniz at UFC Fight Night 224.

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Super Lutas was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night 224 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on July 22 and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Tom Aspinall and M…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is bestowing a newly announced event with a pair of light heavyweight collisions and one top contender match at 115 pounds.

On Thursday, MMA Junkie first announced that the UFC would be staging a Fight Night card on Aug. 5. The destination is currently unknown, but it is but rumored to be taking place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. On that lineup, two 205-pound affairs have been booked plus one outside that weight class. The first, likely on the main card, comes between Dustin Jacoby (18-7-1) and Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-3). The second, also courtesy of MMA Junkie, which has no distinction as to its placement, features Tanner Boser (20-10-1) against the returning Aleksa Camur (6-2). Jacoby later announced his bout on social media, while Iridium Sports Management confirmed Camur vs. Boser.

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Additionally, a pivotal 115-pound affair is on the books for this fight card, as Virna Jandiroba (19-3) is expec…

Mackenzie Dern is still rounding out her mixed martial arts skill set. That could be a scary prospect for the rest of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s strawweight division.

Dern dominated Angela Hill on the feet and on the canvas en route to a lopsided unanimous decision triumph in the UFC Fight Night 223 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Cageside judges scored the strawweight bout 49-43, 49-44 and 49-44 in favor of Dern, who rebounded from a decision loss to Xiaonan Yan in her most recent outing this past October.

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Dern (13-3, 8-3 UFC) came out with aggressive striking, sitting Hill down near the fence with a right hand in the opening stanza. From there, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt nearly secured an armbar before the horn sounded. Survival would be the prevalent theme for Hill, who had her most success when she slowed down the pace and pressed her opponent into the fence for much of Round 2.

That would be the la…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 223 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Sato (-110), Gorimbo (-110)Round 1 The last UFC card before a much-needed weekend off is upon us, and it will be in the form of a dozen-fight showcase at the UFC Apex. There are two ranked fighters on the entire billing, both coming in the main attraction, but with any luck, those numbers will not matter when the cage doors close and the competitors all get after it. The first match of the evening comes in the welterweight division between two men who would very much like a win. With three losses in his last three appearances, Sato (15-6, 2-4 UFC) may need to get his hand raised to stay on the roster. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Gorimbo (10-4, 0-1 UFC) is hoping to have a second chance to make a first impression. This classic Japan vs. South Africa (or Zimbabwe, if you prefer birth nation) battle will be overseen by referee Chris Tognoni and his sweet mustach…

“Slava Claus” delivered an emphatic technical knockout victory to the UFC Apex on Saturday evening.

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Viacheslav Borshchev snapped at two-bout skid at UFC Fight Night 223, as he defeated Maheshate Hayisaer via technical knockout in their preliminary lightweight showdown. Borschev (7-3, 2-2 UFC) dropped Hayisaer (9-3, 1-2 UFC) with a clean right hook to the chin and sealed the victory with about six standing-to-ground strikes at the 2:37 mark of Round 2. Borschev flashed his power on multiple occasions. After a competitive striking battle for the majority of the opening frame, the Team Alpha Male product dropped Hayisaer with a short right near the end of the period. The show continued in the second frame. Borschev sat his Chinese foe down with another right early in the period before putting Hayisaer away with the finishing sequence moments later. Borschev has finished six of his seven professional triumphs via KO or TKO. Kowalkiewicz Stymies Demopo…

Jacobi Jones spilled blood and a lot of it.

The Factory X rep laid claim to the vacant Legacy Fighting Alliance lightweight championship, as he dispatched Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani with punches and elbows in the second round of their LFA 158 headliner on Friday at Gila River Resorts and Casinos’ Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona. Jones (6-1, 6-1 LFA) brought it to a close 2:18 into Round 2.

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Lebosnoyani (5-2, 4-1 LFA) applied maximum pressure but could not force his counterpart to break. Jones dodged a bullet in the first round, escaped an armbar from the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and tore open multiple cuts with elbow-laced ground-and-pound. Lebosnoyani pressed forward in Round 2, where he was met with a picture-perfect knee strike that appeared to lengthen one of the lacerations. Blood poured from the wound, covered both participants and painted various parts of the canvas. Jones moved into top position near the base of the fence, uncorking pun…