Martial Arts News

The Ultimate Fighting Championship appears to be taking necessary procedural steps to prevent future betting scandals from unfolding.

In October 2022, the promotion released its first policy about wagering on UFC fights, as it did not have one on the books prior to then. It adapted its UFC Athlete Conduct Policy, to prohibit its fighters from betting on any UFC fight including their own. It also noted – but did not strictly ban – that some U.S. states would apply that policy to immediate local family members, their coaches, managers and trainers, or even individuals that had close ties to a fighter.

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On Thursday, the organization sent out a press release announcing a new set of procedures that will be in place. Teaming up with betting firm U.S. Integrity – the organization initially consulted to review the controversy involving Darrick Minner vs. Nuerdanbieke Shayilan – it tightened up the policy’s language effective immediately. Among the changes we…

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Talita Bernardo forced Taneisha Tennant out of her comfort zone.

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The former UFC competitor landed multiple takedowns, transitioned to dominant positions and threatened with submissions en route to a unanimous decision triumph in the Invicta FC 51 headliner at Reelworks Denver in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday night. All three cageside judges submitted 48-46 tallies in favor of Bernardo (10-4, 3-0 Invicta), who claims the promotion’s bantamweight crown. The final scorecards included a Round 5 point deduction issued to Tennant for a fence grab with her toes early in the period. The fight was tied heading into the final stanza according to open scoring, but Bernardo quickly turned the tide in her favor with an early takedown, and she spent much of the frame on top in north-south position.

Bernardo set the tone early when she caught a Tennant (5-2, 4-1 Invicta) kick, dumped her to the canvas and spent the majority of the opening stanza…

Edson Barboza will lock horns with Billy Quarantillo in a featherweight duel at a UFC event on April 15.

Quarantillo initially announced the pairing on his OnlyFans page. The event does not currently have an official location or headliner. Two other bouts were confirmed for the card on Wednesday. MMAFighting.com brought word of a featherweight tilt between T.J. Brown and Bill Algeo, while MMAjunkie.com first reported a light heavyweight showdown between Dustin Jacoby and Azamat Murzakanov.

Barboza is 2-3 since transitioning to the featherweight division from 155 pounds. The Brazilian is coming off back-to-back losses against Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell in his last two UFC appearances. Barboza also owns wins over Shane Burgos and Makwan Amirkhani at 145 pounds.

Quarantillo, meanwhile, has been victorious in five of his seven UFC bouts. Most recently, the Gracie Tampa South representative defeated Alexander Hernandez via second-round TKO at UFC 282.

Valentina Shevchenko will make her next flyweight title defense against Alexa Grasso at UFC 285.

ESPN Deportes was first to report the booking. UFC 285 takes place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane.

Shevchenko is currently No. 1 in Sherdog’s female pound-for-pound rankings and has rarely been challenged during her reign atop the flyweight divison. However, “Bullet” is coming off arguably the most difficult test of her career in a split-decision triumph over Taila Santos at UFC 275 this past June. Shevchenko has won nine consecutive fights and has seven successful title defenses to her credit.

Grasso, meanwhile, has won four consecutive fights since moving to 125 pounds from strawweight. In her last outing, the Lobo Gym MMA representative earned a unanimous decision triumph against Viviane Araujo in the UFC Fight Night 212 main event on Oct. 15.

A clash between Chelsea Hackett and Desiree Yanez will top the women’s flyweight lineup for PFL Challenger Series on Feb. 24.

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The promotion announced the pairings for the event on Wednesday. The card will mark the debut of the 125-pound division in the PFL and streams exclusively on Fubo Sports. In the co-main event, muay thai stylist Kaytlin Neil will face Belgian fighter Griet Eeckhout.

Two other bouts will round out the card, as Invicta FC veteran Helen Peralta squares off against Team Oyama product Lisa Mauldin, while four-time UFC competitor Shanna Young faces Contender Series alum Sandra Lavado.

“As we approach the kickoff to the 2023 PFL Challenger Series, we are excited to introduce our new women’s flyweight division as a part of this year’s eight-week competition being held live from Universal Studios Florida,”PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo said in a release.

Australia’s Hackett is coming off a second-ro…

Former interim heavyweight champion Valentin Moldavsky will square off against Linton Vassell in a rematch on the Bellator 292 main card.

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Promotion officials announced the pairing on Wednesday. Moldavsky defeated Vassell via unanimous decision in their first meeting at Bellator 218 in March 2019. Additionally, two preliminary bouts were confirmed for the event: James Gallagher vs. Leandro Higo at bantamweight and Keri Melendez vs. Bruna Ellen at flyweight.

Bellator 292 takes place at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on March 10 and is headlined by a lightweight grand prix quarterfinal matchup pitting Usman Nurmagomedov against Benson Henderson. Another 155-pound quarterfinal between Tofiq Musayev and Alexandr Shabliy is also set for the card. The Bellator 292 main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on the Bellator MMA YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

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A pivotal bantamweight matchup is in the works for UFC Fight Night 221, as Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili are expected to meet on March 11.

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The Las Vegas Review-Journal was first to report the bout. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the pairing. UFC Fight Night 221 takes place at the The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

Yan, a former 135-pound champ, has lost three of his last four promotional appearances. Most recently, “No Mercy” suffered a controversial split-decision loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 280 this past October. Yan’s resume includes triumphs over the likes of Cory Sandhagen, Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson.

Dvalishvili, a training partner of reigning bantamweight champ and two-time Yan opponent Aljamain Sterling, enters the matchup on an eight-fight UFC winning streak. In his lone appearance of 2022, “The Machine” outpointed Aldo at UFC 278.

After three years away from the UFC, Jon Jones isn’t looking too far ahead — but he does have a plan in place for his short-term future.

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Jones will return to the Octagon to face Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight championship at UFC 285 on March 4. After a lengthy reign at 205 pounds, Jones admits that he feels newly motivated competing in a new division.

“I’m excited. I’m grateful. I feel humble. I feel appreciated by the company I work for. I feel like I’m in a really good place,” Jones said in an interview with MMA Underground. “MMA feels fun to me again. Obviously, with being out for three years and in a new division, there’s a lot of questions that cause me to stay up long nights, but it keeps me sharp. It’s something that I feel like I didn’t have at light heavyweight towards the end. Towards the end it just felt like another day at the office. This doesn’t feel like another day at the office. This feels very different. The nerves, the an…

A championship doubleheader is now official for Invicta FC 51.

Taneisha Tennant tipped the scales at 134.4 pounds for her bantamweight title defense against Talita Bernardo (135), while both Kristina Williams (124.3) and Ketlen Souza (123.6) hit their contracted marks without issue in their matchup for the vacant flyweight crown.

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It wasn’t all smooth sailing at Tuesday’s weigh-ins. Serena DeJesus (137.3) missed weight by 1.3 pounds for her bantamweight clash against Olga Rubin (136) and has been fined 25 percent of her purse. Meanwhile, Tanya Niijar (118.1) was 2.1 pounds heavy for a strawweight showdown with Sayury Canon (113.1) and as a result, the bout has been removed from the card.

Invicta FC 51 takes place at Reelworks Denver in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday night and airs on the Invicta FC YouTube channel and AXS TV in the United States beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tennant has been victorious in five of her six professional outings. …

For Francis Ngannou, it was about more than just money.

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During an appearance on "The MMA Hour" on Tuesday, Ngannou broke his silence on why contract negotiations fell apart with the UFC, which led to him relinquishing the heavyweight title and entering free agency. According to “The Predator,” he asked for several stipulations that proved to be a sticking point for the Las Vegas-based promotion. This included the ability to negotiate with outside sponsors, health insurance and having a fighter advocate during negotiations with the UFC.

“What I’ve learned is you don’t go to the table of negotiation expecting to have everything that you want. But at least you want your partner, the other side, to show your willingness or to at least try,” said Ngannou, who also revealed that he was offered in the neighborhood of $8 million to fight Jon Jones at UFC 285.

“I asked for a lot of things, which doesn’t mean I was expecting all those things,” he continu…

UFC flyweight Jeff Molina had his suspension extended on Tuesday for what was categorized as “substantial involvement” in the promotion’s ongoing betting scandal.

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Molina was temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission last month. That term was extended during a commission meeting after Nevada deputy attorney general Joel Bekker revealed that the Glory MMA & Fitness member “was involved in some substantial way in the gaming scheme currently under ongoing investigation related to James Krause.” Molina’s suspension will continue until those investigations have concluded.

No further details regarding Molina’s involvement were revealed during Tuesday’s meeting. However, screenshots recently captured by ESPN showed Molina advocating for Krause’s private Discord server that offered betting tips. Krause was recently revealed to be an agent for an offshore sportsbook who allegedly engaged in “insider trading.” U.S. residents who act …

Karol Rosa will move to 145 pounds for a matchup with Norma Dumont at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on April 22.

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Ag.Fight was first to report the bout. Neither a location nor a headliner have been announced for the card.

Rosa has won five of her six UFC bouts and is ranked No. 10 in Sherdog’s bantamweight poll. After suffering a unanimous decision loss to Sara McMann at UFC on ESPN 33, Rosa rebounded by taking a majority decision over Lina Lansberg at UFC 280 this past October.

Dumont, meanwhile, has been victorious in four of her last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 32-year-old outpointed Danyelle Wolf at UFC 279 this past September. Dumont owns other notable wins against the likes of Aspen Ladd and Felicia Spencer.