Martial Arts News

Joe Pyfer will lock horns with Kelvin Gastelum in a middleweight bout at UFC on ESPN 64.

Pyfer recently confirmed the pairing on Instagram following an initial report from MMA Mania. UFC on ESPN 64 is expected to take place at Arena CDMX in Mexico City on March 29, though the venu has not been officially confirmed by the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Pyfer has been victorious in six of his last seven professional outings. After earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in 2022, “Bodybagz” finished his first three Octagon foes before fallling to Jack Hermansson in the UFC Fight Night 236 main event this past February. The 28-year-old Pennsylvania native rebounded in his most recent appearance, when he knocked out Marc-Andre Barriault in the opening stanza of their encounter at UFC 303.

Gastelum will be making his 24th Octagon appearance against Pyfer. “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner has been triumphant in two of his last three in UFC competiti…

A featherweight matchup pitting Youssef Zalal against Calvin Kattar is in the works for UFC Fight Night 251.

Zalal confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Zalal also previously mentioned the bout on the JAXXON Podcast. UFC Fight Night 251 takes place on Feb. 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Gregory Rodrigues and Jared Cannonier.

Zalal, who was named Sherdog’s "Comeback Fighter of the Year" for 2024, has won his last six professional apppearances — including three straight in UFC competition. “The Moroccan Devil” went 3-3-1 during his first UFC stint, exiting the Las Vegas-based promotion on the heels of a four-bout winless streak. He has since turned things around in a big way and is coming off triumphs over Billy Quarantillo, Jarno Errens and Jack Shore in the Octagon.

Kattar, meanwhile, is in the midst of a three-fight skid. In his last outing, “The Boston F…

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After attending Rizin 49 "Decade" as a guest, Sean O'Malley is intrigued about the possibility of competing in Japan — but only under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner.

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“Right now, obviously, I’m with the UFC,” O’Malley said at a post-fight press conference. “I plan to be with the UFC forever, so if the UFC comes here some day, I would love to fight in this arena. There’s a good energy here.”

Rizin 49 served as the Japanese promotion’s traditional year-end event, and as usual, it was quite the spectacle, including a supersized fight card that featured three championship bouts at the top of the bill. O’Malley came away impressed with the proceedings.

“The production of the show was incredible, the energy in the arena was incredible, the ring girls are incredible,” he said. “Overall impression of Japan, this has been the most fun trip I’ve ever been on and I would love to come back.”

However, O’Malley is not as…

✌️ KLEBER IS THE TWO-TIME RIZIN FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION

[ #RIZIN_DECADE | LIVE on https://t.co/LChPUvqSqh ] pic.twitter.com/hA19WeHXjQ

— RIZIN.tv (@RIZINTV_) December 31, 2024 After losing his title on the scale in June 2023, Kleber Koike Erbst regained the Rizin Fighting Federation featherweight championship on Tuesday in the main event of Rizin 49 "Decade" in Saitama, Japan. Koike earned a unanimous decision victory over champion Chihiro Suzuki to reclaim the belt that he was stripped of prior to his first fight against Suzuki at Rizin 43.

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Koike (34-7-1, 1 NC, 9-2, 1 NC Rizin), whose previous win over Suzuki (13-4, 1 NC, 8-2, 1 NC Rizin) was invalidated as a no contest when he failed to make weight, passed all tests, and he left no doubt in the judges’ minds after 15 minutes of combat. Suzuki had a lot of early success with calf kicks that seemed as if they might hinder Koike’s movement, but Koike pulled guard and effo…

UFC light heavyweight Azamat Murzakanov has accepted a six-month suspension for an anti-doping violation that occurred earlier this year.

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Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) announced Monday that Murzakanov tested positive for the “low-level presence” of a metabolite of LGD 4033 — a banned anabolic agent — in an out-of-competition sample collected on Oct. 8. It was determined by the Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) that the failed test resulted from a contaminated supplement, and that the amount of LGD 4033 metaboite contained in Murzakanov’s sample would not “provide any significant performance advantage.”

While such a result would have normally resulted in a 90-day sanction for Murzakanov, he received a 180-day term because it is his second anti-doping violation with the UFC. The 35-year-old Russian’s suspension is retroactive to Nov. 1, which means he will be eligible to return to active competition on May 1, 2025. Murzakano…

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Merab Dvalishvili has been a UFC champion for less than six months, but he’s already experiencing what it feels like to be a marked man at the top of the division.

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“Since I become champion, it became a lot of drama too,” Dvalishvili recently told ESPN. “Lots of talking online. I don’t know, maybe because everybody wanted to see me fight against Umar [Nurmagomedov]. Everybody talking s—t.”

Dvalishvili claimed the bantamweight throne with a lopsided unanimous decision triumph against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 this past September. Nurmagomedov was in attendance for the fight, and the Dagestani immediately became the promotion’s top contender of choice — despite Dvalishvili’s objections. While the 33-year-old Georgian wanted to enjoy his championship achievement, he ultimately agreed to defend his belt against Nurmagomedov in the UFC 311 co-main event on Jan. 18 in Los Angeles.

In the meantime, “The Machine” has felt the backlash …

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The stage is set for Rizin Fighting Federation’s traditional year-end extravaganza.

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All three title fights are official for Rizin 49 "Decade" following weigh-ins on Monday. The card is headlined by a featherweight championship tilt between Chihiro Suzuki and Kleber Koike Erbst. Both Suzuki and Erbst tipped the scales at 145.5 pounds.

Rizin 49 takes place on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and features three championship fights at the top of the card. In addition to Suzuki vs. Erbst, Kyoji Horiguchi (125.5) will face Nkazimulo Zulu (125.5) for flyweight gold, while Roberto Satoshi de Souza (156.3) meets Vugar Karamov (155.7) for the lightweight title.

The card is divided into two parts, with Rizin Bangaichi beginning the festivities before Rizin 49: Decade concludes the action. The event can be purchased via pay-per-view via Rizin.TV.

Rizin 49 “Decade” Weigh-in Results: Chihiro Suzuki (145.5) vs. Kleber…

イゴール・タナベに関するお知らせ

RIZINファイターの #イゴールタナベ/@fatninjabjj は、12月はじめに病院にてMRIを撮ったところ、「もやもや病」との診断を受けました。… pic.twitter.com/fP4qr1QrfX

— RIZIN FF OFFICIAL (@rizin_PR) December 28, 2024

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Rizin Fighting Federation prospect Igor Tanabe will be stepping away from mixed martial arts indefinitely after being diagnosed with moyamoya disease.

The Japanese promotion recently revealed that Tanabe received an MRI in early December and was diagnosed with the condition. It is unclear when — or if — the 24-year-old Tanabe will return to fighting.

“Due to the diagnosis that MMA, any sport involving blows to the head, and the extreme dehydration that comes with weight loss are extremely dangerous, Igor has had to step back from competitive martial arts for a while,” read a statement from Rizin in a release. (via Google Translate).

According to the National Institute of N…

A lightweight showdown between Esteban Ribovics and Nasrat Haqparast has been added to the UFC Vegas 103 lineup.

Ribovics confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from Marcel Dorff. UFC Vegas 103 — also known as UFC Fight Night 253 — takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on March 1 and is headlined by a flyweight tilt pitting Brandon Royval against Manel Kape.

Ribovics is coming off a “Fight of the Year” contender at UFC 306, where he edged Daniel Zellhuber via split decision in an entertaining slugfest. The 28-year-old Argentina native has won three straight Octagon appearances since dropping his debut to Loik Radhzhabov at UFC 285. The Kill Cliff FC representative has been victorious in 14 of his 15 professional appearances overall — with 12 of those triumphs coming inside the distance.

Haqparast, meanwhile, will take a four-bout winning streak into the matchup with Ribovics. In his lone appearance of 2024, the Moroccan defea…

The wheels are in motion for Donald Cerrone’s Ultimate Fighting Championship return.

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During a recent appearance on The Pacman Jones Show, “Cowboy” revealed that he has re-entered the drug testing pool in homes of making a comeback to the Octagon by next summer. The UFC Hall of Famer initially announced his retirement following a second-round submission loss to Jim Miller at UFC 276 in July 2022. The Combat Sports Anti-Doping website shows that Cerrone has submitted to one test session thus far in 2024.

“I just re-entered the testing pool,” Cerrone said on the show. “I have to be six months clean. Probably June, July we will make the comeback. Coming back for two more. Just two more. I want 50 fights in the UFC [under the Zuffa umbrella]. I promised the wife no matter what happens, no matter the outcomes – two more and that’s it.”

While Cerrone has previously competed at lightweight and welterweight during his UFC tenure, he expects to fight i…

[embedded content] According to a coach in the know, the month-long observation of Ramadan should not necessarily preclude a challenger from vying for a Ultimate Fighting Championship belt.

With the main events of the first two UFC pay-per-view offerings of 2025 already on the books—UFC 311 will feature Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan with a co-main of Merab Dvalishvili against Umar Nurmagomedov, while UFC 312 sees Dricus Du Plessis defending his throne against Sean Strickland while the co-headliner comes between Weili Zhang and Tatiana Suarez—speculation quickly turned to its upcoming March card. On March 8, the UFC’s regular stomping ground of the T-Mobile Arena will play host to UFC 313, and no marquee bouts have been announced yet.

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Light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira recently stated that he was planning to return in March or April, and his expected opponent would be Magomed Ankalaev. Some put the pieces together, questioning how the UFC wo…

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Great things have been expected of Tatiana Suarez since early in her Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

She’ll get a chance to deliver on that promise when she meets Weili Zhang in a strawweight title bout at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 8. The situation is a little unusual since Suarez hasn’t competed since submitting Jessica Andrade at UFC on ESPN 50 in August 2023. However, the 34-year-old Californian isn’t altering her mindset heading into the biggest fight of her career to date.

“I don’t feel any different,” Suarez recently said on UFC Unfiltered. “I just feel like it’s another fight. It’s another challenge for me. I’m really excited because I’ve never had a five-round fight. But if anybody can do it, it’s me.”

Suarez is no stranger to lengthy layoffs. Injuries sidelined her for more than three years after a victory over Nina Nunes at UFC 238 in June 2019, but she returned to the Octagon in 2023 to post back-to-back victories…