Martial Arts News

UFC veteran and former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem has been suspended for one year in relation to his Glory Kickboxing bout against Badr Hari this past October.

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The banned substance for which Overeem tested positive is currently unknown. The 42-year-old Dutchman tested positive on both his A and B samples. In addition to the suspension, Overeem’s victory against Hari has been overturned and he was fined a percentage of his purse. He was also removed from the Glory rankingsVechsportInfo was first to report the sanctions levied against Overeem.

Overeem has not issued a statement regarding the suspension. He will be eligible to return to active competition in October. There were recently rumors that KSW was in talks with Overeem to return to MMA for a clash with heavyweight champion Philip De Fries, but nothing has been confirmed regarding that matchup.

Overeem signed with Glory in 2021 after compiling a 12-8 mark with the UFC from 201…

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While the current narrative from the UFC is that Francis Ngannou ran away from a potential Jon Jones fight, the former heavyweight champion was the person who initially pursued that matchup.

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“Look, I wanted that fight as well. I’m the one that initiated that fight over two years ago,” Ngannou told TMZ Sports. “I wanted that fight, but where was Jon Jones at that time? I don’t know. Nobody seems interested, even Dana White. Nobody seems to be interested. They always find a way to go around it.

“Today, it’s not about that fight, it’s not that they wanted to give me that fight, it’s the price it was going to cost me to get that fight. I chased that fight for as long as I could and, listen, I learned in life that you have to let it go. You have to let things go, otherwise, they’ll cut your hand and take your hand away. I wanted that fight so bad, and I couldn’t have it at any cost. That’s what I will always say.”

When the two si…

Aaron Pico will return to action for the first time since injuring his shoulder this past October when he faces Otto Rodrigues at Bellator 295.

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MMAjunkie.com was first to report the featherweight booking. Additionally, MMFighting.com has confirmed that a 145-pound clash pitting Mads Burnell against Justin Gonzales is also set for the event. Bellator 295 takes place at the Neil S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 22 and is headlined by a bantamweight grand prix final matchup between Raufeon Stots and Patrick Mix.

Pico suffered a first-round TKO loss to Jeremy Kennedy at Bellator 286 due to a shoulder injury suffered in the bout. That snapped a six-bout Bellator winning streak for the 26-year-old Jackson-Wink MMA product.

A 34-year-old native of Rio de Janeiro, Rodrigues has compiled a 13-1 mark since beginning his professional tenure in 2007. Most recently, Rodrigues outpointed Carlos Augusto Santos da Silva at LFA 112 in July …

Final Week of the 2023 PFL Challenger Series is HERE7⃣Weeks of Challenger Series7⃣PFL Contracts Awarded1⃣PFL Contract 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄

Fights are 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 & 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 on @fuboSports

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[ #PFLonFubo | Second Chance Night | Fri, March 17th | 9pm ET] pic.twitter.com/zMOPsSooMA — PFL (@PFLMMA) March 13, 2023

The second season of PFL Challenger Series will conclude with its “Second Chance” event on Friday night.

The promotion on Tuesday announced the full lineup for the card, which features athletes who failed to earn PFL conracts on previous editions of the Challenger Series. PFL Challenger Series “Second Chance” will be headined by a lightweight showdown between Kendly St. Louis and Paulo Henrique Laia. In the co-main event, Jackie Cataline will face Evelyn Martins in a women’s featherweight contest.

Other bouts announced for the card are as follows: Denzel Freeman vs. Raiden Kovacs at heavyweight; Quemuel Ottoni vs…

A flyweight showdown pitting Kai Kara France against Amir Albazi is on tap for an Utimate Fighting Championship event on June 3.

MMAFighting.com confirmed the booking after Albazi announced it on social media. The UFC Fight Night card doesn’t yet have an official location or venue. It is also expected to include a women's bantamweight clash between Miesha Tate and Mayra Bueno Silva.

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.

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Stephen Thompson recently got to spend some time with Conor McGregor in Las Vegas, and it was an interesting experience, to say the least.

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The fighters share the same management, and “Wonderboy” was able to work with the former UFC two-division champion as he prepares to face Michael Chandler after coaching on “The Ultimate Fighter 31.” No date has been set for the fight, but it will be McGregor’s first appearance since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. When it happens, Thompson expects to see some familiar elements return to the Irish star’s game.

“For someone to come off of an injury like that, his mindset is like it didn’t even happen,” Thompson said in an interview with Submission Radio. “He’s getting back to his roots, his karate. He’s never trained in karate, but he’s trained with a lot of karate fighters and that’s where he gets a lot of his movement from. For instance, when he fought Jose Ald…

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While Jon Jones only just made his triumphant return to the Octagon at UFC 285, there’s plenty of mystery surrounding how long the newly-crowned heavyweight king will stick around the sport.

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So far, “Bones” has said he wants to face former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in a legacy-defining bout, but he hasn’t made his plans known beyond that. Jones vs. Miocic is rumored for UFC 290 on July 8, but the fight has not been made official at this point in time. Still, it seems all but guaranteed the matchup will happen — it’s just a matter of settling on a date and venue.

“Here’s the thing that makes this so awesome, you have the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time facing the greatest heavyweight of all-time,” UFC president Dana White recently told TMZ Sports. “It literally doesn’t get any better than that. These are the kinds of fights you dream about making.”

While it was recently revealed that Jones signed a new eight-f…

Raphael Assuncao was perhaps mere seconds away from winning a decision against Davey Grant at UFC Fight Night 221.

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That all changed when Grant rocked him with a spinning back fist, setting the stage for the Englishman to finish the contest with an inverted triangle at the 4:43 mark of Round 3. Prior to that finish, Assuncao had banked two rounds two of the three cageside judges scorecards. Instead, the Brazilian veteran left his gloves in the cage and announced his retirement following a heartbreaking defeat.

“This sport is so crazy, you know. Anything can turn around in a flick of a second,” Assuncao said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “It feels like it happened to me today. I have never been in that type of situation. Either I lose or win, or I control the fight. It’s a mix of emotions right now. Crazy job.

“I’ve had a great career. I don’t feel super accomplished. You can always do more. I’m very critical of myself. I was able to …

Michael Page made a strong impression at the expense of Goiti Yamauchi at Bellator 292 on Friday night.

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The British striker landed one devastating leg kick that connected directly with his opponent’s knee, ending the welterweight contest just 26 seconds into Round 1. The injury could have long-term ramifications for Yamauchi.

“Based on the x-ray, it’s a patella tendon rupture,” Bellator president Scott Coker said at the Bellator 292 post-fight press conference. “So that sounds very painful.”

It’s the second time that a Page opponent has suffered a serious injury under the Bellator banner: In July 2016, the London Shootfighters star landed a flying knee on Evangelista Santos that cracked the Brazilian’s skull in their Bellator 158 bout. That ultimately led to Santos announcing his retirement.

In the more recent instance, seeing Yamauchi seriously injured muted Page’s celebration.

“I saw him go down and I just thought, I don’t know – ner…

Even after securing the signature victory of his career to date, Merab Dvalishvili made one thing clear: He has no interest in fighting friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling.

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“Whenever [Sterling] decides to go up in weight class … I will fight for the title,” Dvalishvili said in the Octagon following a win over Petr Yan in the UFC Fight Night 221 headliner. “Of course I want to be champion, and now I [proved] it again … I am hungry.”

In most cases, Dvalishvili’s performance against Yan would solidify him as the bantamweight division’s No. 1 contender. However, Sterling still reigns atop the division, though that could change following his scheduled clash with Henry Cejudo in the UFC 288 main event. If Sterling defends the crown, Dvalishvili might have to explore other options.

However, UFC president Dana White doesn’t think it’s in Dvalishvil’s best interest to avoid a fight with Sterling.

“You know, back in the early days, the camps were so …

Alexander Volkov was nearly flawless in the UFC Fight Night 221 co-main event.

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The 6-foot-7 Russian denied multiple takedown attempts from Alexander Romanov before putting his opponent away with ground-and-pound just 2:16 into Round 1 of their heavyweight clash at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas on Saturday night. In addition to failing on all of his takedown tries, Romanov didn’t land a strike in the abbreviated bout. Even then, Volkov thought his win could have arrived earlier than it did.

“You always feel good after the victory, so I feel great that I won. Really what I’d like to say is everything that we’ve worked on in the camp, everything we’ve put so much time into, I really feel that it’s great that it happened the way that it happened,” Volkov said through a translator at the post-fight press conference. “Exactly what we expected him to do, he did in the fight. This is what we worked on.

“So I feel like it wasn’t as fast as …

These two put on a SHOW 👏👏👏@BrunoBuldogUFC and @DaveyGrantMMA securing the bag with their performances tonight at #UFCLasVegas! pic.twitter.com/bkxRfMp6sZ

— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023

The performance bonuses for UFC Fight Night 221 are in and four fighters are heading home $50,000 richer.

Vitor Petrino (8-0) kept his undefeated record intact in a three round slugfest with Anton Turkalj in Las Vegas on Saturday. Petrino traded hard shots with “The Pleasure Man” for 15 minutes but pushed the pace in securing the unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27). Both fighters were awarded $50,000 a piece after receiving the Fight of the Night honors.

Davey Grant and Bruno Silva won $50,000 performance bonuses for their efforts. Grant picked up his second straight win after choking out Raphael Assuncao in the third round with an inverted triangle. Silva notched his third straight win with a rear-naked choke on Tyson Nam.