Martial Arts News

Heavy-handed Ultimate Fighting Championship 185er Bruno Silva believes the worst is behind him now.

Due to his strong mind, tough chin and aggressive style, Silva earned the nickname of “Blindado,” or “armored,” by his teammates many years ago. In the sport of MMA, there are limits to how far one’s toughness can go, and even the stoutest competitor can reach a breaking point. Brazil’s Silva, who raced through a torrid schedule with the promotion with five appearances in less than 14 months, started to slow down. After his most recent outing, a deflating submission loss to Gerald Meerschaert, Silva suffered a serious accident that put him on the shelf for some time. The subsequent injury may have been a blessing in disguise for Silva, who spoke to Sherdog on Thursday about his last performance and the accident.

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“I don’t want to say how was the accident now, but it caused me a very serious injury that demanded an immediate surgery,” Silva explained. “It…

[embedded content] Even with little left to prove at this stage of his remarkable career, current Bellator MMA featherweight champion Patricio Freire still finds ways to keep himself motivated.

“Pitbull” will face reigning Rizin Fighting Federation champion Kleber Koike Erbst when the companies they represent link arms to co-promote Rizin 40 on Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Only bragging rights and company pride are on the line in the co-main event.

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“The belts are not at stake,” Freire told Sherdog.com. “This is organization versus organization and champion versus champion.”

Erbst, 33, marches into the three-round confrontation at 145 pounds on the strength of a seven-fight winning streak. The Bonsai Jiu-Jitsu representative last competed at Rizin 39, where he dispatched Juntaro Ushiku with a triangle choke in the second round of their Oct. 23 pairing. Erbst prefers to do his business on the canvas.

“Kleber is a tough …

[embedded content] Two of the world's top mixed martial arts promotions will clash at Bellator MMA vs. Rizin.

The card will feature five key cross-promotional fights, with Rizin lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza facing off against A.J. McKee in the main event. Also notable is the co-main event, which will see Bellator MMA featherweight titleholder Patricio Freire take on Rizin featherweight king Kleber Koike Erbst. No belts are on the line in any of the five matches on this section of the card, while the weigh-in information of the additional participants at Rizin 40 has not yet been disclosed.

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De Souza (14-1) is currently on a five-fight win streak since losing via TKO to Johnny Case in 2019. The Brazilian captured the throne in 2021 by submitting Tofiq Musayev, then defended it against Yusuke Yachi before getting revenge against Case in April. De Souza weighed 156 pounds on the dot.

Meanwhile, McKee (19-1) made his lightweight debut i…

2023 PFL Challenger Series returns to Universal Studios in Orlando, FL!

The Heavyweights are set to throw down in Week 3⃣

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[ #PFLonFuboTV | Heavyweights | Fri, Feb 10th | 9pm ET] pic.twitter.com/NrlomaeWqX — PFL (@PFLMMA) December 29, 2022 The Professional Fighters League is bring the boom with eight up-and-coming heavyweights vying for a contract.

On Thursday, the PFL sent out via press release the four heavyweight matchups that will be airing on the PFL Challenger Series show on Feb. 10. The all-heavyweight event, which will air on Fubo TV at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, will include eight competitors that have only gone to six combined decisions. The marquee attraction will see unbeaten Brazilian Giacomo Lemos (8-0) throw hands with fellow countryman and ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Danilo Marques (12-4).

The remainder of the heavyweight affairs for the third week of the Challenger Series are as follows:…

The first Ultimate Fighting Championship show of the new year has taken a big hit.

According to reporter Igor Lazorin on Thursday morning, Geoff Neal (15-4) has suffered an injury and has been forced out of his pairing with Shavkat Rakhmonov (16-0) at UFC Fight Night 217. The two welterweights were set to toe the line in the co-headliner of the UFC Vegas-based event on Jan. 14. Per Lazorin, the promotion is looking to find a new opponent for the top-10 170-pounder Rakhmonov. Neal, however, confirmed this news, while stating that he seeks keeping the fight together and pushing it to a later date.

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“Fights [sic] off people…looking to rebook Shavkat later. Nobody’s scared,” Neal wrote on Facebook shortly after the news broke.

Neal was aiming to lift a two-fight win streak to three straight, as he had previously topped Santiago Ponzinibbio at the end of 2021 and came back in mid-2022 to knock Vicente Luque out. “Handz of Steel” was intent on derailing…

[embedded content] Flexibility was always one of Roberto Satoshi de Souza’s strong suits.

A world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu player by all viable measures, he initially made the decision to test the waters in mixed martial arts as a means to improve his skills as a grappler. De Souza fought only once in 2013, 2014 and 2015. However, the results were impossible to ignore, even for him.

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“I was looking to gain experience and be a better instructor for my students,” de Souza told Sherdog.com. “MMA was the best way to gain experience, even though my biggest passion was still jiu-jitsu.” The situation—most notably the size of his paychecks—evolved during the ensuing years, and the Rizin Fighting Federation brought him aboard in 2019. He was 7-0 with seven first-round finishes at the time. “That’s when things totally changed,” de Souza said. “It’s when I started dedicating myself 100% to MMA.”

The Bonsai Jiu-Jitsu representative eventually upped his record…

A middleweight showdown between Dricus Du Plessis and Derek Brunson has been added to the UFC 285 lineup.

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ESPN reported that the bout is in the works for the March 4 event. UFC 285 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. A headliner has not been announced for the card.

A former KSW and EFC title holder, Du Plessis has won his last six professional outings — including four under the UFC banner. The South African earnd his biggest win to date at UFC 282, as he submitted former welterweight title challenger Darren Till in the third round of their Dec. 10 encounter.

Brunson competed just once in 2022, falling to Jared Cannonier via second-round knockout in a title eliminator bout at UFC 271 on Feb. 12. Prior to that, the 38-year-old North Carolina native had compiled a five-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire can look back on 2022 as a year to remember.

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After regaining the 145-pound belt in a rematch against A.J. McKee at Bellator 277 in April, Freire successfully defended the crown against Hungarian contender Adam Borics at Belaltor 286 this past October. He’ll conclude his campaign with a cross-promotional matchup against Rizin Fighting Federation champion Kleber Koike Erbst on New Year’s Eve.

"I screamed so loud about the importance of having cross promotion challenges that someone on the other side of the world heard,” Freire told Sherdog.com. “I truly hope this show promoted by Bellator and Rizin is the first of many and serves as an example for other organizations.”

Freire is well aware of the challenges his opponent presents. Erbst has won his last seven bouts and sports a career mark of 31-5-1 — with 27 triumphs coming by way of submission.

“Koike is very dangerous. Everybody who underestimat…

Three fights, including the return of Doo Ho Choi, were recently announced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship for its Feb. 4 event.

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Choi will lock horns with Kyle Nelson at featherweight; Tatsuro Taira will face Jesus Santos Aguilar at flyweight and Jun Yong Park will meet Denis Tiuliulin at middleweight at UFC Fight Night 218. The event takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight duel between Derrick Lewis and Sergey Spivak.

Choi will see action for the first time since December 2019, when he suffered a second-round TKO defeat to Charles Jourdain – his third consecutive loss in the Octagon. “The Korean Superboy” was slated to face Danny Chavez in July 2021 but withdrew from the contest due to injury.

Canada’s Nelson has lost four of his five promotional appearances. Most recently, he was outpointed by Jai Herbert at UFC Fight Night 208 on July 23.

Undefeated in 12 professional outings, Taira has emerged as …

Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Antonio Silva is retiring from mixed martial arts following a 34-fight professional career that began in 2005.

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The Brazilian known as “Bigfoot” announced his decision in an interview with Canal Encarada. Silva, who turned 43 this past September, exits the sport with a 19-14-1 career mark. He lost his last seven MMA appearances dating back to 2015 — with all but one of those defeats coming via knockout or technical knockout. His most recent bout came this past June, when he suffered a second-round KO defeat to Oleg Popov at an event in Russia. That proved to be the last straw for Silva.

“I fought the best, I beat the best and also lost to the best,” Silva said (translation via MMAFighting.com). “There’s a time in life when you can’t… I fought in Russia, back-to-back fights basically, and I’m not taking anything away from my MMA opponent, but I never saw myself losing to this guy three or four years ago. This …

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Sara McMann has signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA.

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The promotion announced the news on Tuesday. The former Olympic silver medalist will move up a division in Bellator to compete at 145 pounds, where Cristiane Justino is the reigning champion.

"I am thrilled to have joined Bellator. Bellator has the deepest roster at women’s featherweight, and I look forward to tough scraps with these ladies,” McMann said in a release. “I want to thank the Bellator team, especially Mike Kogan and Scott Coker, for putting together such an outstanding offer, and I’d like to thank many Bellator fighters, including Cris Cyborg, for their collective support and encouragement. Everything about this feels right, and I am grateful and looking forward to 2023!”

McMann challenged for bantamweight gold in just her second Octagon appearance, falling to Ronda Rousey via first-round technical knockout at UFC 170 on Feb.…

Photo courtesy of JMOC

Since its inception in 2017, the Japan MMA Officials Committee has worked to standardize rules and regulations and to develop the next group of officials in Japan to oversee MMA’s growth in the future. Much like its North American counterpart, the Association of Boxing Commissions, did previously, JMOC set out to create a more unified experience for fighters, referees and judges alike.

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Led by veteran MMA officials Masato Fukuda, Minoru Toyonaga, Tomoki Matsumiya and Naoya Uematsu, JMOC is preparing to oversee one of Japan’s biggest MMA events of the past decade, Rizin 40: Bellator MMA vs. Rizin, on New Year’s Eve in Saitama. The group spoke with Sherdog.com ahead of the event to discuss JMOC’s goals, working with North American officials and the continued evolution of MMA regulation in Japan.

Sherdog: First of all, I would like to ask you to describe what kind of organization JMOC is, starting with the character…