Martial Arts News

Cody Garbrandt, if nothing else, kept his foot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship door.

The Xtreme Couture export outstruck and outmaneuvered a painfully inactive Trevin Jones to a unanimous decision in their featured UFC 285 bantamweight prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three members of the cageside judiciary struck 29-28 scorecards.

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Garbrandt (13-5, 8-5 UFC) picked his spots through the first 10 minutes, steered clear of danger and kept his feet moving. He delivered a pair of takedowns in the second round and moved to the back before briefly threatening with a rear-naked choke. Jones (13-10, 1-4 UFC) finally got in gear in Round 3, where he connected with a few powerful left hands and climbed into top position. However, the finish he needed failed to materialize. In the penultimate prelim, former KSW champion Dricus Du Plessis wiped out Derek Brunson with punches in the second round of their middleweight clash. Du Plessis…

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Former EliteXC titleholder Wilson Reis continued his late-career resurgence in Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, as he took care of Johnny Campbell with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their CW 149 headliner on Friday at the Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego. Reis (27-12, 4-0 CW) closed out the bantamweight affair 2:20 into Round 3.

Campbell (22-15, 0-1 CW) started strong and pushed the pace in the first part of the opening frame, where he secured a takedown and improved his position through ground-and-pound. Reis bounced back in the second part of the frame and wound up in top position after a wild scramble. The Brazilian came close to finishing Campbell twice in Round 2 with deep neck crank and arm-triangle attempts, but “Cupcakes” managed to survive. Reis looked for a successful takedown early in the third round, perhaps sensing his grappling skills were superior to his opponent’s defense. Once on the mat, the Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran worked …

[embedded content] Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ Jon Jones came in just slightly heavier than Ciryl Gane.

As expected, both heavyweights had no issue making weight for their vacant title fight ahead of UFC 285. Jones (26-1, 1 NC) officially weighed 248 pounds, and he'll be the heftier man in the cage by a whisker as Gane (11-1) weighed 247.5 pounds. The co-main event is also a title fight, and will see Valentina Shevchenko defend her flyweight belt against challenger Alexa Grasso. Both women weighed 124.5 pounds.

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As for the rest of the card, both Geoff Neal and Leomana Martinez came in overweight and received 30% fines of their purses. Neal weighed in at 175 pounds, four over the welterweight limit, ahead of his match with Shavkat Rakhmonov. Meanwhile, Martinez came in at 137 pounds for his bantamweight contest against Cameron Saaiman.

This marks the first fight since 2020 for "Bones." The Jackson-Wink MMA product ha…

Unbeaten Xtreme Couture representative Brahyan Zurcher locked down a Professional Fighters League contract during Week 6 of the PFL Challenger Series, as he took care of David Evans with a neck crank in the second round of their featherweight showcase on Friday at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Evans (5-2, 0-1 PFL) bowed out 1:37 into Round 2, suffering the first submission defeat of his career.

Zurcher (5-0, 3-0 PFL) tore into his counterpart’s body and lead leg with kicks, flurried with power punches and struck for a takedown late in the first round. He transitioned from half guard to side control and eventually advanced to the back, securing his position with a body triangle just as time expired. Zurcher landed another takedown early in the middle stanza, climbed to the back and snaked his arms into position for the fight-ending crank.

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The 26-year-old Zurcher has finished three of his five opponents by submission. Meanwhile, SBG Ireland e…

Sherdog's live PFL Challenger Series 6 coverage kicks off Friday at 9 p.m. ET. The action will be broadcast live and free on fuboTV. Round 1 Josh Rutgers is your referee for the first fight of the night. Gonzalez opens up with leg kicks to start the fight. Ruhil is trying to close the space but Gonzalez is able to stay at range with repeated kicks. Gonzalez rushes in with a series of punches but then gets hit with a right hand by Ruhil. Gonzalez shells up against the cage and then Ruhil goes for a takedown but can't get him down. Gonzalez breaks free and throws a few punches of his own then clinches against the cage. They separate and Ruhil is able to land a right hand. Ruhil gets wild with his punches and is dropped by a swinging right hand by Gonzalez, who gets straight into mount position. Gonzalez postures up and rains down punches with 90 seconds left. Ruhil holds on, looking to survive the round. Gonzalez breaks free and begins landing several hard shots and the refer…

The coach of Bellator MMA great Patricio Freire expects that it is only a matter of time until his fighter is a triple champ.

At Fight Ready in Arizona, Eric Albarracin coaches a solid roster of fighters including former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Henry Cejudo, ex-title challenger Paulo Costa and both of the “Pitbull” brothers Patricio and Patricky Freire. With the top echelon of his squad all holding sky-high aspirations, news broke recently that Patricio was planning on moving to 135 pounds to earn a title in that weight class as well. Albarracin spoke to Sherdog about two of the aforementioned competitors, including Patricio’s plans and Costa’s possible next fight, on Thursday.

“When you reach a certain level, like Cejudo and Patricio, more important than the belt itself is to make history,” the acclaimed coach remarked. “Patricio has already beaten all the records and conquered belts in two weight divisions, now he will get [to] bantamweight and write his…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Thiago Santos believes his former foe will win this weekend.

After nearly 10 years with the UFC, including 24 appearances against some of the greatest fighters to grace the Octagon, Santos is now on the outside looking in. The man known as “Marreta” successfully requested his release from the organization to go fight for greener pastures in the form of the Professional Fighters League. Despite leaving the UFC roster, Santos is still paying close attention to his former company and past opponents, especially ones that invoke his name. Ahead of the UFC 285 clash between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane, Jones suggested that Santos was a more difficult opponent than Gane and a better overall striker. The Brazilian briefly spoke to Sherdog about Jones’ comments and his upcoming match in the new promotion this week.

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“A real warrior recognizes the other,” Santos said graciously. “I couldn’t expect anything diff…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight titleholder Jessica Andrade is returning to her old stomping ground in May.

According to Eurosport NL on Friday, Andrade (24-10) will be moving back to strawweight to take on Xiaonan Yan (16-3, 1 NC) on May 6. The two top-ranked 115ers will be squaring off on UFC 288 inside of the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The fight was later confirmed by Andrade on her Instagram Stories.

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“Bate Estaca” saw her three-fight win streak across two divisions come to a crushing halt in February, when she stepped up on short notice to battle Erin Blanchfield atop UFC Fight Night 219. The Brazilian flyweight succumbed to a rear-naked choke in Round 2, suffering her first non-championship defeat at 125 pounds. Andrade last competed at strawweight on April 2022, where she snared Amanda Lemos with a standing arm-triangle choke in a one-off at the division she left in 2020. Andrade has since claimed she is willing …

⚖️Main event is official! Brahyan Zurcher and David Evans both make weight for their featherweight bout!

Fights are 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 & 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 on @fuboSports

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[ #PFLonFubo | Featherweights | Fri, March 3rd | 9pm ET] pic.twitter.com/K2Q72Rzm3V — PFL (@PFLMMA) March 2, 2023 The latest Professional Fighters League Challenger Series event will feature eight fighters in the featherweight division.

All PFL Challenger Series Week 6 fighters made weight for the four-fight card. Headlining the card will be a fight between the undefeated Brahyan Zurcher and David Evans.

Perfect at 4-0 as a professional, Zurcher won his first PFL fight last year by defeating Ricardo Jimenez via unanimous decision. He'll get a tougher opponent in the 5-1 Evans, who rebounded from his lone career defeat by beating Gary Konkol via decision. Zurcher weighed 146 pounds, while Evans came in at 145.4 pounds.

PFL Challenger Series Week 6: Featherweig…

Seems like you’ve got the Bellator fans excited, @that_dude_JO 👊😎 pic.twitter.com/fYdO7qlwRp

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) March 1, 2023

Bellator MMA has added another decorated wrestler to its roster.

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The California-based promotion announced Wednesday that it has signed Jordan Oliver, a two-time NCAA national champion at Oklahoma State University, to an exclusive, multi-fight deal. Oliver will compete at featherweight and is expected to make his debut in 2023.

“It’s an honor to sign with Bellator MMA. I’m grateful for the opportunity to represent an amazing company, showcase my skills, and make my climb to the top to become a world champion fighter as a dedicated competitor,” Oliver said in a release, “I have always accepted and loved to take on new challenges. The 'tough love' sport of wrestling has molded and prepared me for this opportunity for the past 29 years. The vision remains the same… I'm coming to win, and w…

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Those who have followed the UFC career of Jon Jones since the beginning know that his lone career loss comes with an asterisk.

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In Jones’ fourth Octagon appearance, he suffered a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill at “The Ultimate Fighter 10” finale after landing a series of illegal 12-to-6 elbows on his opponent. Steve Mazzagatti was the referee in the fight, and it’s a ruling that still irks UFC president Dana White to this day.

“I mean realistically — if you look at all the people that he’s fought, he’s never lost a fight. It kills me that, that one [loss] is on his record. 26-1,” White said on the Jim Rome Show.

“You have to understand for the people that don’t know, this was during a time when the Nevada State Athletic Commission was very weak and there was a referee in there that stopped the fight and called Jones the loser in that fight. A fight he was dominating and should have been finished. Instead of disqualifyin…