Martial Arts News

[embedded content] Leading Polish mixed martial arts promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki returns for its April offering with KSW 81.

The 10-fight card is headlined by a vacant welterweight title fight between the undefeated Adrian Bartosinski and Artur Szczepaniak. The two main event fighters had no trouble hitting their marks, as both weighed 170 pounds on the dot. The rest of the card also successfully made weight, so fans will get a full evening of entertainment.

Looking to take over the spot of Roberto Soldic, who vacated the belt to sign with One Championship, Bartosinski is a perfect 12-0 in his career. The last four of those victories have come in KSW with impressive finishes over Krystian Kaszubowski and Andrzej Grzebyk earning him this title shot. Looking to derail the hype train is the 26-year-old Szczepaniak (9-1), who is riding a five-fight win streak. A head kick over Brian Hooi vaulted the Team Mixfighter Genk fighter into his first KSW main event.

Read more

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is banking on middleweights for much of its summer schedule.

The UFC Apex will play host to a number of fight cards over the next few months, including the recently confirmed UFC on ESPN 45 show capped off by Jack Hermansson vs. Brendan Allen in June. In addition to that and Vettori-Cannonier’s UFC on ESPN 46 showcase, the UFC broke the news on Thursday that Sean Strickland (26-5) will claim the top spot on a UFC event on July 1. He will taking on rising contender Abusupiyan Magomedov (25-4-1) at 185 pounds, in the lone bout matched up thus far for this Las Vegas-based UFC on ESPN 47 event.

“Tarzan” Strickland ended a two-fight skid in January when he took home a five-round unanimous verdict over Nassourdine Imavov. That victory put the end …

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship decided that it would rather feature featherweights in its June return to the ABC airwaves.

The UFC announced in a series of headliners that UFC on ABC 5, the fight card that will be posting up inside of the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, will gain a marquee fight previously scheduled elsewhere. The promotion had initially placed Josh Emmett (18-3) vs. Ilia Topuria (13-0) in the main attraction of the UFC show on June 17, one that will play out at the UFC Apex. Instead, the featherweights will battle it out on a major broadcast network on June 24. The only other fights set on the lineup thus far include a flyweight tilt between Amanda Ribas and Maycee Barber and another at 125 pounds between Tatsuro Taira and Kleydson Rodr…

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is turning to two reliable middleweight contenders to draw eyeballs this June.

Via the UFC’s announcement on Thursday, Marvin Vettori (19-6-1) and Jared Cannonier (16-6) will be throwing down on June 17 for a potential crack at the 185-pound throne. This comes even though both fighters are a combined 0-3 against the titleholder, Israel Adesanya. The fight will be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, atop UFC on ESPN 46, on a card that otherwise has few bouts on the billing thus far.

After losing his bid for Adesanya’s belt in June 2021, Vettori has seen an up-and-down schedule. In a bizarre scene that involved an unexpected change in weight class, Vettori bounced back from his loss to “The Last Stylebender” by topping Paulo Costa on the scoreca…

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 The next Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view has just gained a huge addition.

On just two weeks’ notice, Belal Muhammad (22-3, 1 NC) will be setting foot in the Octagon against Gilbert Burns (22-5). Per a UFC announcement on Thursday, the two will be replacing the rescheduled booking of Charles Oliveira-Beneil Dariush for the co-headlining spot on UFC 288. This event on May 6 held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, will see this top welterweight contender tilt play out over the course of five rounds. Although Burns recently claimed he would take no offering but a shot at the belt, he posted about wanting this fight back on Monday.

Burns is fresh off a three-round decision win over Jorge Masvidal on UFC 287 this April. Since a tooth-and-nail scrap with Khamz…

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 A matchup between top Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight contenders has found itself locked in for June.

In May, former champ Charles Oliveira (33-9, 1 NC) was to battle Beneil Dariush (22-4-1) for a potential crack at the lightweight throne. The bout was set to take place at UFC 288, but a minor injury suffered by the Brazilian forced the fight back. According to the UFC on Thursday night, it will now take place in the co-headlining spot on UFC 289 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Additionally, the UFC announced earlier on Thursday via press release a light heavyweight matchup between Khalil Rountree (11-5, 1 NC) and ex-heavyweight Chris Daukaus (12-6), one that may or may not reach the main card when the promotion reshuffles its bout order.

News of this fight …

2021 Professional Fighters League champ Antonio Carlos Jr. has gone through a great deal in his career, both mentally and physically.

At the age of 33, Brazilian champion Carlos Jr. has competed an entire Ultimate Fighting Championship run – ending it with a record over .500 – and has claimed a million-dollar check in the ranks of the PFL. It has not always been a land of milk and honey for the man known as “Cara de Sapato” or “Shoeface,” who recently revealed he has struggled greatly throughout his life with multiple mental and physical disorders.

Advertisement

On the recent taping of the 23rd season of “Big Brother Brasil,” Carlos Jr. served as a cast member. The show did not end positively for “Cara de Sapato,” who was expelled from the season along with Guilherme Dantas – also known as MC Guime – for allegations of sexual harassment towards guest member Dania Mendez. During the show’s broadcast, Carlos Jr. shared that he has been dealing with Tourette’s Syndrom…

Count Floyd Mayweather Jr. among those interested in Francis Ngannou’s transition to boxing.

In an interview on Wednesday with BetOnline.ag, Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) discussed a litany of topics including the state of boxing and what advice he would give a younger boxer. The conversation largely began with one about MMA fighters crossing over to the sweet science, whether in the form of exhibitions or even pro matches. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Francis Ngannou’s name was mentioned among those, and Mayweather spoke about him specifically.

Advertisement

“I would love to work with him, actually,” Mayweather said. “I would love to work with him; I would love to sign him to Mayweather Promotions. Very skilled guy, he was unbelievable from the highlights that I was able to see in MMA. I would like to work with him someday. If he wants to fight one of the top heavyweight guys, he should do it.”

Mayweather, 46, promotes and trains several bo…

[embedded content] The headlining match for the Bellator MMA flyweight title is in jeopardy after the challenger missed weight.

The main event of Bellator 294 will see Liz Carmouche once again face off against DeAnna Bennett. While the champion checked in at 125 pounds on the dot, her opponent could not say the same. Bennett (13-7-1) initially weighed 2.2 pounds over the limit at 127.2 pounds on her first attempt, and took the additional time to come back above the 125-pound championship cap at 126.2 pounds. As a result, should the fight continue, Bennett will be ineligible to win the throne and has been fined 30% of her purse. Per MMA Junkie, Carmouche has decided that should she lose on Friday, she will vacate her title.

Advertisement

The two first met in 2020, with "Girl-Rilla" securing a rear-naked choke submission in her promotional debut -- in a fight where Bennett also missed weight. Since then, Carmouche (18-7) has remained perfect in Bellator, eventually …

After relinquishing the middleweight belt in a knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287, Alex Pereira has designs on challenging for a title in a new division very soon.

Advertisement

"We are planning to do one debut fight at light heavyweight as soon as possible and stay ready to be the reserve fighter for Jiri [Prochazka] vs Jamahal [Hill],” Pereira’s coach, Jorge Guimaraes, told Sherdog.com.

Prochazka relinquished the 205-pound title at the end of 2022 due to a serious shoulder injury. No timetable has been set for his return. In the meantime, Hill claimed the vacant strap with a victory over Glover Teixeira at UFC 283. According to Guimaraes, Peireira had been planning on moving up in weight for a some time now.

"Even though he never missed weight, the whole process was stressful and tiring,” Guimaraes “After Jamahal beat Glover, he told me, ‘I can beat this guy.’ He was really excited about that possibility. And you can bet you will see a…

The finish line could be near for one of the greatest fighters of his generation.

Advertisement

During an appearance on "The MMA Hour,” Demetrious Johnson admitted that his trilogy bout against Adriano Moraes at One on Prime Video 10 could be his last fight.

“It’s definitely possible,” Johnson said “Being 36, I sit down with the wife and kids, even my close friends, my inner circle who they don’t watch mixed martial arts, they don’t train, they all have normal citizen jobs you could say, and sometimes I sit there and think, how much more do I need to do? How much more do I want to do?

“I’ve stated in a couple of interviews, I want to compete in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in IBJJF, because my kids are doing it, too. There comes a point where it’s like how much more do I need to do?”

Johnson is one of the greatest flyweight fighters of all time and one of the top pound-for-pound competitors of his generation. He’s managed to maintain his success since leaving the …

A middleweight showdown pitting Chris Curtis against Nassourdine Imavov is on tap for UFC 289.

The promotion confirmed the booking via social media on Wednesday. UFC 289 takes place at the Rogers Center in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on June 10 and is headlined by championship trilogy between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena.

Curtis is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 287 on April 8. “The Action Man” recently said he would appeal the defeat due to an accidental headbutt that may have altered the course of the bout. A former CES MMA champion, Curtis has compiled a 30-10 mark over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2009. He is 4-2 in UFC competition, with wins over Joaquin Buckley, Rodolfo Vieira, Brendan Allen and Phil Hawes.

Imavov, meanwhile, had a three-bout Octagon winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to Curtis training partner Sean Strickland in the UFC Fight Night 217 main event on Jan…