Martial Arts News

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…

As her mixed martial arts career has progressed, Holly Holm has proven herself to be far more than a one-dimensional striker.

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When she entered the UFC, Holm was celebrated as a boxing world champion who also had a background in kickboxing, and that was reflected in her career-defining moment: a headkick knockout of Ronda Rousey to claim the bantamweight throne at UFC 193. Over time, however, the Jackson-Wink MMA standout has gotten much better at imposing her will in the clinch and on the mat.

That was quite evident in the UFC on ESPN 43 co-main event, where “The Preacher’s Daughter” overwhelmed Yana Santos with clinchwork, takedowns and ground-and-pound in a lopsided unanimous decision triumph. While one aspect of MMA will always be her favorite, Holm admits gaining appreciation for other elements of the sport over the years.

“I think my love will always be striking. I do have a newfound love for kind of just the grind and the wrestling aspect…

The UFC on ESPN 43 main event was largely devoid of drama — at least until the final scorecards were announced.

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Cory Sandhagen authored one of the most complete performances of his career to date, using movement, clever striking and timely takedowns to confound Marlon Vera for the better part of 25 minutes at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Saturday night. While the vast majority of observers thought the Elevation Fight Team export won four or five rounds, cageside judge Joel Ojeda submitted a dissenting 48-47 tally in favor of Vera. That led to a little bit more tension than expected during the final verdict.

“I think I do a pretty good job of sometimes keeping real good track of the volume, the damage, and the takedowns — and I thought that I was doing that almost the entire fight,” Sandhagen said during Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“I thought that I was winning most of those rounds. Maybe the third, I was like, ‘Eh, you know…

According to Alex Perez, his weight cut had nothing to do with the last-minute cancellation of his flwyeight bout against Manel Kape at UFC on ESPN 43.

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The former title challenger released a statement on social media revealing that he suffered a seizure backstage at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Saturday. That led to the promotion announcing that Perez vs. Kape had been pulled from the card during the UFC on ESPN 43 broadcast, though specific reasons for Perez’s withdrawal were not given at that time.

“First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for all the support and concerns,” Perez wrote. “I was doing my pre-fight warm up and had a seizure. I immediately received medical attention. My hydration, electrolytes, etc were all more than adequate. This has nothing to do with weight cut. It was one of the easiest cuts of my career.

“I will be undergoing further testing in the upcoming weeks to determine the cause. I would appreciate priva…

Thanks to their barnburner in the second fight on the card at UFC on ESPN 43, C.J. Vergara and Daniel da Silva set a tone that nobody else could match.

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As a result of their efforts, Vergara and da Silva received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece. Da Silva got off to a fast start in the opening stanza, when he dropped Vergara twice and had his opponent on the retreat for much of the frame. The tables turned in Round 2, as Vergara put away a fast-fading Da Silva with a barrage of ground-and-pound at the 4:04 mark of the period.

Meanwhile, Nate Landwehr earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his submission triumph over Austin Lingo in a featured featherweight contest. Landwehr dislodged his foe’s mouthguard with a punch from back control to create an opening for a fight-ending rear-naked choke 4:11 into the second stanza.

Finally, Daniel Pineda secured the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check thank…

Cory Sandhagen flexed the kind of all-terrain game that leads some to view him as a future titleholder in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division.

The Elevation Fight Team star outclassed Marlon Vera for the better part of 25 minutes, as he claimed a split decision in the UFC on ESPN 43 headliner on Saturday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Judges Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee saw it 50-45 and 49-46 for Sandhagen, while Joel Ojeda cast a puzzling 48-47 scorecard for Vera.

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Sandhagen (16-4, 9-3 UFC) flummoxed “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” semifinalist with fluid stance switches and constant lateral movement. He outstruck Vera across wide swaths of the match—his right uppercut was particularly effective—and completed takedowns in the first, second and fifth rounds, consolidating them with positional control and ground-and-pound. Vera (20-8-1, 14-7 UFC) failed to get fully in gear until the waning moments of Round 5, where h…

Arm triangle finish at the buzzer by @SMOOTH_MMA 😲#PFLNewcastle pic.twitter.com/WQz8M07OMx

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) March 25, 2023

The first installment of the Professional Fighters League European Season showcased Simeon Powell’s potential in the light heavyweight division.

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In the PFL Europe 1 headliner, Powell imposed his will over Mohamed Amine in a 205-pound clash. “Smooth” moved the action to the canvas as soon as possible, making the most of his overwhelming physique. Powell scored with solid punches from the full mount as his foe failed to get back to his feet. While the strikes didn’t do much damage, they impacted the fighting spirit of Amine. In the second frame, the contestants spent a couple of minutes trading blows before Powell took his opponent down, where he immediately jumped back in the full-mount position. The British athlete unloaded punches before moving to an arm-triangle choke. The submission at…