Martial Arts News

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship has built an entire pay-per-view main card without revealing its location.

On Friday, UFC President Dana White – who was caught on video slapping his wife on Dec. 31, 2022 – announced on multiple platforms the main card lineup of UFC 287. The event will go down on April 8, and there is still no official destination on the books although an international UFC social media page wrote Miami, Florida. The main attraction will see Alex Pereira (7-1) put his middleweight belt on the line against ex-champ Israel Adesanya (23-2) in a rematch of their shocking UFC 281 battle.

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“Poatan” has been a man possessed since breaking into the UFC in late 2021. It took the Brazilian a mere three wins to get a crack at gold, although it came against former kickboxing rival Adesanya, where Pereira held two victories. In the fifth round, Pereira struck and put Adesanya away, scoring the first stoppage of “The Last Style…

I’ll be a guest Celebrity Judge on the @PFLMMA Challenger Series this Friday night. Tune in on @fuboSports Network at 9pm ET and help me decide which fighter deserves a PFL contract #PFLonFuboTV pic.twitter.com/52klQjnBb3

— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) January 24, 2023 Week 7 of Professional Fighters League’s 2023 season of the Challenger Series has found its eight participants.

A PFL press release on Thursday announced the four matches that will held on the seventh week of PFL Challenger Series. The 205ers will battle it out in the Universal Studios of Orlando, Florida, on March 10. The event will air on Fubo TV, and according to an organizational official, it will be free to watch like every other CS cards this season. The main event sees ex- Ultimate Fighting Championship talent Impa Kasanganay (10-3) move up to 205 pounds to take on Brave Combat Federation vet Osama ElSeady (8-2).

The other three bouts on the lineup for the seventh 202…

Fight Card Update: Mostafa Nada will not weigh in. Kendly St. Louis, who was on site to corner Thad Jean, steps up and will replace Nada against Nick Alley in a 175 lb catchweight bout.

⚖️ 174.4 lbs.

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St. Louis vs Alley is official#PFLonFubo pic.twitter.com/Elv3wrJ7tk — PFL (@PFLMMA) January 26, 2023 The stage is set for the Professional Fighters League's first event of 2023, which is a Challenger Series show focused on welterweight hopefuls.

Main event fighters Lucas Barbosa and Itso Babulaidze had no issue making weight, with Babulaidze (2-0) looking to stay undefeated against the 2-1 jiu-jitsu specialist. However, there was one last-minute change to the four-fight card, as Mostafa Rashed Neda was replaced by Kendly St. Louis. Due to the late-notice swap, St. Louis vs. Nick Alley transformed into a 175-pound catchweight contest rather than at welterweight as previously booked.

PFL Challenger Series Week 1: Wel…

Conor McGregor’s UFC return could potentially be tied to “The Ultimate Fighter.”

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In an Instagram post on Wednesday, the former UFC two-division champion said that he has been offered a chance to coach on the reality show for a second time. McGregor previously was a coach on “TUF 22” opposite Urijah Faber in 2015.

“This is a snap from the original ‘Ultimate Fighter’ house where I coached vs Urijah Faber,” McGregor wrote. “This photo was just before the show [though]. It was right before I won my first world title, beating Urijah teammate Chad Mendes … I then went on to coach the famous fight show straight after the fight. With a big black eye and a gash, my tricolor, and my new and first ever UFC gold belt, I waltzed into the notorious fight gym in Las Vegas. The slickest suits and shouts the show had ever seen before. On top of the silverware. And I coached my team to victory. Crazy. Some journey.

“I have just been offered to coach this role …

As a reserve fighter for the UFC 283 co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja was one of the first people to congratulate Brandon Moreno backstage after the Mexican fighter regained the flyweight title in Rio de Janeiro last weekend with a victory over Deiveson Figueiredo.

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The tone of that interaction quickly changed, however, when Moreno claimed at the post-fight press conference that Pantoja became aggressive in demanding to know a potential date for his own championship opportunity. With a pair of victories over Moreno to his credit (one was an exhibition on “The Ultimate Fighter 24”), Pantoja seems to be the next logical No. 1 contender at 125 pounds.

“There is no other fight that makes sense now. In addition to being the more highly-ranked guy, I beat the champion clearly twice,” Pantoja told Sherdog.com. “Even Moreno recognized that at the press conference, but when I met him after the fight he was standing up celebrating and after I talked to him, …

🚨 IT. IS. OFFICIAL!!! 🚨

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 🤩 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵🏆 KSW Heavyweight Title Fight 🏆👑 Phil De Fries vs. Todd Duffee 🇺🇸#KSW79 | February 25 | Liberec 🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/F7iSRrxSX4

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 25, 2023

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The stakes will be high for Todd Duffee’s first mixed martial arts appearance in more than three years.

The UFC veteran has signed with Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki and will challenge Philip De Fries for heavyweight gold at KSW 79 on Feb. 25. The Polish promotion announced the booking on Wednesday. KSW 79 takes place at the Home Credit Arena in Liberec, Czech Republic, marking the organization’s first foray into the country. Duffee and De Fries squared off at UFC 155, with the American winning via first-round technical knockout.

Duffee hasn’t competed since UFC Fight Night 158 in September 2019, when an accidental eye poke resulted in his bout against Jeff Hughes being declared a no contest. Duffee went 3-2 du…

A potential all-action lightweight bout is on tap for UFC 285, as Dan Hooker and Jalin Turner will lock horns on March in Las Vegas.

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Hooker first announced the booking during an interview with The Mac Life, and it was later confirmed by Turner on social media. UFC 285 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight championship clash pitting Jon Jones against Ciryl Gane.

After losing four of five fights from June 2020 to March 2022, Hooker rebounded at UFC 281, where he finished Claudio Puelles with a body kick 4:06 into the second round of their encounter at Madison Square Garden last November. The 32-year-old City Kickboxing representative owns notable wins over the likes of Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta, Gilbert Burns and Jim Miller during his UFC tenure.

Turner enters the matchup with Hooker on a five-bout finishing streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, “The Tarantula” submitted Brad Ridde…

Brunno Ferreira pulled off an upset at UFC 283, stepping in as a replacement against Gregory Rodrigues and knocking out his fellow Brazilian in the first round.

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The Evolucao Thai product, who is a black belt in both judo and jiu-jitsu, is now unbeaten in 10 professional appearances.“Hulk” looks forward to showcasing his other skills in future UFC bouts.

“Today I was just able to show my knockout power, but I’m anxious to show my grappling game,” Ferreira said after the bout. “I'm bringing a different mix of porrada (brawling), judo and jiu-jitsu that will scare the other guys in the division. If you look at my [record], you will see my fights never go to a judges’ decision. I have seven knockouts and three submissions in my 10 MMA fights.”

According to his trainer, former Pride competitor and Chute Boxe member Daniel Acacio, Ferreira has the ability to be a major factor in the UFC’s middleweight division.

“Judo gave him the discipl…

A heavyweight showdown pitting Alexander Volkov against Alexander Romanov has been added to the UFC Fight Night 221 lineup.

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Eurosport was first to report the pairing. UFC Fight Night 221 takes place at the The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas on March 11 and is headlined by a bantamweight clash between Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan.

Volkov is coming off a 1-1 campaign in 2022 in which he suffered a first-round submission loss to Tom Aspinall at UFC Fight Night 204 before scoring a first-round technical knockout of Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC Fight Night 207. The former Bellator and M-1 Global champion owns wins over the likes of Fabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson, Stefan Struve, Alistair Overeem, Tim Johnson and Marcin Tybura.

Romanov began his professional tenure with 16 consecutive triumphs before dropping a majority decision to Tybura in his last outing at UFC 278. The Moldovan known as “King Kong” has finished all but one of his victori…

Chris Curtis will lock horns with Kelvin Gastelum in a middleweight scrap at UFC 287.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from MMA Mania. UFC 287 takes place on April 8, with a headliner yet to be confirmed. While a venue has yet to be announced, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., is rumored to be a likely destination for the event.

The 35-year-old Curtis is 4-1 in the Las Vegas-based promotion, with his lone setback coming against Jack Hermansson at UFC Fight Night 208 this past July. The former CES MMA champion last appeared at UFC 282, where he defeated Joaquin Buckley via second-round KO on Dec. 10.

Gastelum, meanwhile, was supposed to face Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night 217 on Jan. 14, but a mouth injury forced him to withdraw on the week of the fight. “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner has struggled of late, losing five of his last six Octagon appearances – including a unanimous decision defeat t…

Conor McGregor has been accused of attacking a woman on his yacht in Ibiza, Spain, last July.

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According to a report from Spanish outlet Ultima Hora, a 42-year-old woman was partying at the Ocean Club in Ibiza on July 16 with mutual friends when she was invited back to McGregor’s yacht. The alleged victim said she knew McGregor because they’re from the same neighborhood in Dublin.

The alleged incident occurred the following morning when the woman claimed that McGregor began to insult her appearance and then kicked her in the midsection, punched her and threatened to drown her. The woman told Irish police that she “feared for her life,” and she jumped in the water to flee from the attack, where she was eventually rescued by a Red Cross boat.

“His whole behavior changed and he became very aggressive,” the woman told police.

According to the report, the alleged victim did not initially indentify McGregor as her attacker to Spain’s Civil Gu…

A featherweight bout between Jack Shore and Makwan Amirkhani has been added to the UFC 286 lineup.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Tuesday. UFC 286 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on March 18 and is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.

Shore suffered his first loss in 17 professional appearances at UFC on ABC 3, where he suffered a second-round submission loss to Ricky Simon this past July. The former Cage Warriors champion began his Octagon tenure with five consecutive triumphs prior to that defeat.

Amirkhani has struggled recently, with losses in four of his last five UFC bouts. In his last outing, “Mr. Finland” suffered a second-round TKO loss to Jonathan Pearce at UFC Fight Night 208 on July 23. Amirkhani began his promotional tenure with victories in five of his first six appearances but is just 2-5 in UFC competition since November 2019.