Martial Arts News

𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

It's a battle of light-heavyweight contenders in Chicago, as #1 @CoreyA_MMA faces #2 @PhilMrWonderful! 🔥

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📆 #Bellator297, Friday, June 16th at the @WintrustArena 👉 https://t.co/It64IcVbE1 pic.twitter.com/uAhNEA3Nat — Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) March 30, 2023 Arguably the biggest non-title light heavyweight bout for Bellator MMA is on the books for June.

On Thursday, the organization announced that Corey Anderson (16-6, 1 NC) and Phil Davis (24-6, 1 NC) will square off at Bellator 297 on June 16. The top-ranked light heavyweights will meet on the main card that will be held inside the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. While the two 205ers formerly swam in the same pond in the Ultimate Fighting Championship from 2014 to early 2015, they never ended up meeting.

“Overtime” Anderson came up short in his rematch with Vadim Nemkov in November 2022 for the light heavyweight strap. The title challenger compe…

A torch may be passed atop the Ultimate Fighting Championship event in mid-June.

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On Wednesday, KOlmenero first reported on Twitter that Josh Emmett (18-3) vs. Ilia Topuria (13-0) would headline the UFC Fight Night event on June 17. The news of this featherweight main attraction has been subsequently confirmed by other outlets on Thursday, but the location and venue have not yet been made public. The only two other bouts on the billing thus far come at flyweight, when Alessandro Costa faces Jimmy Flick and Tereza Bleda takes on Gabriella Fernandes.

Emmett found his five-fight win streak come to a crashing halt in February when he vied for an interim featherweight strap against Yair Rodriguez. After getting battered on the feet for the good part of two rounds, Emmett succumbed to a triangle choke from the Mexican competitor to suffer his first career submission defeat. That loss for the 38-year-old followed wins over the likes of Calvin Kattar, Dan…

Japanese flyweight prospect Tatsuro Taira will return to action against Kleydson Rodrigues at UFC Fight Night on June 17.

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Both fighters recently announced the booking via social media. The UFC Fight Night event doesn’t currently have a location or headliner.

The 23-year-old Taira is undefeated in 13 professional appearances, with three of those triumphs coming within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, he submitted Jesus Santos Aguilar in the opening round of their encounter at UFC Fight Night 218 on Feb. 4.

Rodrigues, meanwhile, has split a pair of UFC bouts after appearing on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021. The Team Nogueira representative is coming off a 59-second stoppage of Shannon Ross at UFC 284 on Feb. 11.

Josh Emmett vs Ilia Topuria

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Beginning the week debating controversial referee and judging outcomes is common practice for MMA fans.

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What isn’t as common is having two situations as controversial as those that occurred in the main events of two different organizations, as was the case last weekend at Fury Fighting Championship 76 on Friday and UFC on ESPN 43 on Saturday.

At Fury FC 76, referee Frank Collazo failed to recognize that Gianni Di Chiara Vazquez had been rendered unconscious by a triangle choke from opponent Edgar Chairez. That led to Vazquez waking up and tapping out when Chairez transitioned to an armbar in a potentially dangerous sequence.

One day later, judge Joel Ojeda inexplicably submitted a 48-47 scorecard for Marlon Vera at UFC on ESPN 43 in a bout that was clearly won by Cory Sandhagen. It was a tally that drew criticism from throughout the MMA community.

Former Brazilian MMA Commission (CABMMA) judge Guilherme Bravo expressed indignation over both…

Two more bouts have been added to UFC Fight Night on May 13, as Tim Means will square off against Alex Morono at welterweight, while Carlos Ulberg will face Ihor Potieria at light heavyweight.

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Means vs. Morono was initially reported by MMAjunkie.com, while MMA Mania first brought word of Ulberg vs. Potieira. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt pitting Anthony Smith against Johnny Walker. The card doesn’t yet have an official location or venue.

A 26-time Octagon veteran, Means is coming off an 0-2 campaign in 2022. “The Dirty Bird” suffered a second-round submission defeat to Kevin Holland at UFC on ESPN 37 before dropping a split verdict against Max Griffin at UFC Fight Night 213 this past October.

Morono, meanwhile, had a four-bout winnings streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a third-round TKO loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 282 on Dec. 10. Prior to that, the Fortis MMA product had bested Donald Cer…

Atomweight queen Jillian DeCoursey will defend her belt against Rayanne Amanda dos Santos in the Invicta FC 53 headliner on May 3.

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The all-female promotion announced the pairing on Tuesday. Invicta FC 53 takes place at Reelworks Denver in Denver, Colorado, and airs on AXS TV and the Invicta YouTube channel and Facebook page in the U.S. at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Seven other bouts were announced for the event: Olga Rubin vs. Claire Guthrie at bantamweight; Jessica Correa Delboni vs. Danielle Taylor at atomweight; Monique Adriane vs. Nicole Geraldo at atomweight; Liana Pirosin vs. Elise Pone at flyweight; Elisandra Ferreria vs. Flor Hernandez at atomweight; Natalie Salcedo vs. Dayane Cristine at atomweight and Ky Bennett vs. TBD at flyweight.

DeCoursey has been victorious in four of her last five professional outings. She claimed atomweight gold with a surprising first-round submission of Delboni at Invicta FC 49 last September.

A former co…

Coach Eric Albarracin recently revealed that Patricio Freire was targeting a move to bantamweight to become the only triple champion in MMA history.

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“When you reach a certain level, like [Henry] Cejudo and Patricio, more important than the belt itself is to make history,” the coach said in that interview. “Patricio has already beaten all the records and conquered belts in two weight divisions, now he will get [to] bantamweight and write his name in history as the only triple [champion] in Bellator history. Two belts [are] normal in our team, now we are going after the third one.”

On Monday, that move became official when it was announced that Freire will face reigning 135-pound champ Sergio Pettis in the Bellator 297 co-main event on June 16. “Pitbull” revealed to Sherdog how negotiations for that fight went down.

“I've been talking to Bellator for a long time that I was interested in challenging for the bantamweight title,” he said. “They tho…

Jingliang Li has been forced to withdraw from UFC 287 after suffering a back injury.

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“The Leech” initially announced the news on Chinese social media platform Douyin, and it was subsequently confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. Li was supposed to face Michael Chiesa in a welterweight bout on the April 8 card in Miami. It is currently unclear if Chiesa will remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

Li fought twice in 2022, earning a second-round technical knockout victory against Muslim Salikhov at UFC on ABC 3 before dropping a split decision to Daniel Rodriguez in his most recent appearance at UFC 279 this past September. “The Leech” is 11-6 over the course of a promotional tenure that began in 2014.

Chiesa didn’t compete at all last year after ending his 2021 campaign with consecutive losses to Vicente Luque and Sean Brady. “The Ultimate Fighter 15” winner is 11-6 in the Octagon since joining the UFC in 2012.

UFC 287 takes place at …

Mexico may have its strongest championship representation in the UFC to date, but that doesn’t mean the promotion will be heading South of the Border this year.

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With Brandon Moreno (flyweight), Alexa Grasso (women’s flyweight) and Yair Rodriguez (interim featherweight) currently holding titles, it would seem to make sense to stage a big pay-per-view in Mexico in the near future. According to Dana White, it isn’t likely to happen in 2023.

“We would obviously love to get back to Mexico and do that, but I don’t know if it’s in the plans right now,” he said at the UFC on ESPN 43 post-fight press conference. “We’re building a [Performance Institute] down there right now, and wait until you guys see that. I can’t wait to share that with you, actually. The renderings for the UFC PI in Mexico. It’s going to be badass.

“You’re not wrong. We got three Mexican champions. We probably should be heading to Mexico, or at least doing a Cinco De Mayo [card], …

A pair of title fights will serve as featured attractions when Bellator 297 heads to Chicago this June.

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Vadim Nemkov will defend his light heavyweight crown against Yoel Romero in the evening’s main event, while Sergio Pettis will lock horns with Patricio Freire in a bantamweight title tilt, the California-based promotion announced Monday. Bellator 297 takes place on June 16 at the Wintrust Arena, and the main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Nemkov is unbeaten in his last 11 professional appearances. The 30-year-old Fedorteam representative is coming off a five-round verdict over Corey Anderson in the finals of the 205-pound grand prix at Bellator 288 this past November. His resume includes wins over the likes of Phil Davis (twice), Ryan Bader, Liam McGeary and Philipe Lins.

A former middleweight title challenger in the UFC, Romero has been victorious in two of his first three promotional outings. After dropping a split verdict …

Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza will be taking some time away to start a family.

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Esparza revealed on social media over the weekend that she is 14 weeks pregnant and expects to give birth to her first child in September. That means “Cookie Monster” won’t be back in the Octagon until next year at the earliest.

“So we’ve been keeping a secret the last 14 weeks… we’re expecting!” Esparza wrote. “Baby Cookie Monster grand entrance September 2023.

“Excited for this next chapter and hoping to make my return early to mid 2024.”

Esparza is a two-time UFC title holder. She became the promotion’s inaugural strawweight queen with a submission win over Rose Namajunas at “The Ultimate Fighter 20” finale in December 2014 before dropping the belt to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her next outing at UFC 185. The Team Oyama product recaptured the crown with a split-decision triumph against Namajunas at UFC 274, but lost the title to Weili Zhang vi…