Martial Arts News

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Juan Espino is deciding to hang up his gloves.

On Friday, Espino (10-2) announced on Instagram that he was retiring from active competition. The 42-year-old heavyweight from the Canary Islands of Spain will be leaving the promotion with three appearances inside the Octagon. Of note, he conquered the tournament from the 28th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2018, eventually submitting Justin Frazier in the first round to secure the six-figure contract and trophy.

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“Well up to here. I RETIRE!!!,” Espino wrote on Instagram (via Google Translate). “An incredible journey to get to be among the best fighters in the world and I did it, maybe it wasn’t the way I wanted but the injuries left me no other option. I want to thank all the people who supported me in this adventure, UFC for giving me the opportunity and for all the sponsors who helped me, the coaches, training partners, teams, etc. I truly have a spec…

THE MATCHUPS ARE SET!

The regular season concludes with bantamweights and lightweights live from Verti Music Hall in Berlin on July 8. Live on DAZN.

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Get your tickets here: https://t.co/SZ7bSjdOqj pic.twitter.com/H7KJwINNDJ — PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) April 21, 2023 Berlin will receive a rare event from a major organization, as a branch of the Professional Fighters League will be stopping off there this July.

Per a press release provided from the organization on Friday, PFL Europe’s second event in 2023 has received a large portion of its lineup. The prelims have not been added, but the eight-fight main card sees a slate composed half with bantamweights and the other half in the lightweight division. PFL Europe 2 will take place at the Verti Music Hall in Berlin on July 8. The four victors of each weight category will advance in the tournament playoffs that will take place in Paris this September. The headlining attracti…

[embedded content] While there was plenty of drama ahead of weigh-ins, Bellator MMA had a relatively smooth ceremony as every fighter that hit the scales made weight ahead of Bellator 295.

The second of the promotion's Hawaiian mixed martial arts two cards this weekend will see interim titleholder Raufeon Stots take on Patrick Mix in the bantamweight grand prix final. Both men made weight and are eligible to win both the championship and the million-dollar prize. Two fights were pulled during the morning (Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ray Borg and Weber Almeida vs. Keoni Diggs), although all other fighters made weight.

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Stots (19-1) is on the best stretch of his career, still undefeated as a Bellator fighter with wins in his last 11 fights. Most recently, "Supa" defeated Danny Sabatello via split decision to retain the interim belt that he claimed by knocking out Juan Archuleta. Now he'll look to win the grand prix and look to unify with Sergio Pettis down the …

[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.

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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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 …