Martial Arts News

Congrats to the champ @VadimNemkov 👏@BellatorMMA #Bellator288 pic.twitter.com/AfsDnhF1FB

— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) November 19, 2022 Bellator MMA now has not one but two Russians holding iron grips on its divisions.

Bellator 288 came to a head with the second attempt of the finals of Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament. A rematch seven months in the making, and the conclusion of a tourney that began on April 9, 2021, ended with a 205-pound scrap between Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson. Although much of their first fight took place on the ground, this battle carried on for 25 minutes exclusively on the feet. Russia’s Nemkov never slowed or wavered, and he claimed a hard-fought unanimous decision win with one score of 48-47 and two of 49-46.

Advertisement

The eight-man bracket commenced in 2021 with Ryan Bader, Lyoto Machida, Anderson, Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov, champ Nemkov, Phil Davis, the late Anthony Johnson and Jose Aug…

Sherdog's live Bellator 288 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Advertisement

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Final:Vadim Nemkov (203.8) vs. Corey Anderson (204.2) Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result

2️⃣6️⃣3️⃣ pounds for @TheBeast_UFC ⚖️

[ #UFCVegas65 | TOMORROW | Prelims 1pm ET | Main Card 4pm ET | LIVE on ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/2dgvt0AMbM

— UFC (@ufc) November 18, 2022 Derrick Lewis will be the heavier fighter in the UFC Fight Night 215 main event.

Advertisement

"The Black Beast" officially weighed 263 pounds for his five-round encounter against Sergey Spivak. "The Polar Bear" weighed in at 254 pounds, putting him at a nine-pound deficit to Lewis. All other fighters on the UFC Fight Night 215 billing also made weight for what was a drama-free weigh-in ceremony.

Lewis (26-10, 1 NC) is currently on a two-fight skid, having been knocked out by Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich this year. He'll look to turn the tides against Spivak (15-3), who is looking to recement himself as a contender after taking out Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai in recent bouts. It's a pivotal fight for the 27-year-old, who has won five of his last six ins…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 215 coverage will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Advertisement

BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Silva (-165), Bleda (+140)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Hiestand (-165), Garcia (+140)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores …

pic.twitter.com/MmvPp9uD6M

— Full Metal Dojo (@FullMetalDojo) November 18, 2022 The circus will be in town the week before Christmas, and it will bring with it several presents of violence and comedy.

The Thailand-based fight league Full Metal Dojo will be staging its fifth “Fight Circus” event on Dec. 17 at the Illuzion Nightclub in Phuket. Per the league’s press release, FMD will be putting on the “12 Fights of Christmas,” although not every “fight” may be a combat sports bout. The event follows its recent “Fight Circus Vol. 4” card in November, where the organization suffered a lengthy delay at the beginning of the broadcast when the truck carrying its ring flipped over and the company had to build a new one on fight night. It is unclear at this time if “Fight Circus 5: Hanukkah Gone Wrongukkah, an Homage to Scrooged” will air on Fite.tv or another platform.

Advertisement

“Will be a Christmas Fight Show like none other,” the relea…

The legendary Fedor Emelianenko is getting a chance to go out on top.

On Friday, CBS Sports broke the news that Emelianenko (40-6, 1 NC) would be taking his final fight on Feb. 4. Atop Bellator 290, he will square off against former foe Ryan Bader (30-7, 1 NC) for the latter’s heavyweight title. The fight card will be held at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and it will air on the CBS network. This event will be the first MMA fight card on CBS since Strikeforce: Nashville in 2010, which concluded with a massive post-fight brawl and the prompted the cancelation of Strikeforce's television contract.

Former two-division champ Bader has not tasted defeat as a heavyweight, as he moved up to the division in 2018 and rattled off three wins in under a year over Muhammad Lawal, Matt Mitrione and the aforementioned Emelianenko to claim the strap. While his first defense against Cheick Kongo ended by no contest due to an eye poke, a contentious title unification match against Va…

[embedded content] The Bellator 288 fight card is down to 13 bouts, but every competitor that stepped on the scales did successfully make weight.

Atop Bellator 288 sits two championship tilts, with the marquee matchup for the Bellator MMA light heavyweight strap. Defending champ Vadim Nemkov will run it back with Corey Anderson, and both champion and challenger made weight without issue. The co-headliner will see Patricky Freire (154) and Usman Nurmagomedov (154.8) come to blows with lightweight gold on the line, and the two combatants in that affair also hit their proper marks. While there were no official weight misses, a few late scratches and a no-show at the ceremony cut the lineup down to a baker's dozen.

Advertisement

The main event will see Nemkov (14-2, 1 NC) will look to settle the score with Anderson (16-5, 1 NC) after their last bout ended as a no contest due to an accidental clash of heads. "Overtime" had mostly been in control during the fight, so An…

A place in the top five of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division almost certainly hinges on this bout’s outcome.

Per MMA Junkie on Wednesday evening, Kai Kara France (24-10, 1 NC) will battle it out with Alex Perez (24-7) in a pivotal 125-pound tilt on Feb. 11. The two flyweights will compete in Perth, Australia, at UFC 284, and it is unclear if this contest will serve on the main card or if it will bolster the prelims. The bout has since been confirmed on Thursday by Perez’ management team of the Iridium Sports Agency.

Kara France last competed in July, where he succumbed to strikes from Brandon Moreno in their interim title fight. Before then, the Aussie had rattled off three wins over Rogerio Bontorin, Cody Garbrandt and Askar Askarov – knocking out the first two in the opening round. Since joining the roster in 2018, the only men to beat Kara France are named Brandon: Moreno, and Brandon Royval. The five post-fight bonuses picked up by “Don’t Bl…

Valesca Machado stuck to the game plan, and it paid off in the form of some championship hardware.

Machado (12-3, 1 NC , 3-0 Invicta) completed her run through the one-night strawweight tournament with a unanimous decision triumph over Karolina Wojcik in the Invicta FC 50 headliner at Reelworks Denver, in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday night. All three judges scored the contest for Machado: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. With the victory, the 26-year-old Brazilian claims the promotion’s vacant 115-pound belt.

Advertisement

After fighting three rounds earlier in the evening, Machado adopted a measured approach in the tournament final. She controlled the distance, utilized intelligent movement and landed nearly all the strikes of consequence, countering effectively when her opponent moved forward. After struggling to impose her will early, Wojcik (10-3, 1-1 Invicta) was able to get inside and force several clinches in the third frame, but she was still unable to put Machado in se…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 12:45 p.m. ET on Nov. 17 to reflect additional booked matchups.

Advertisement

Several bouts have been added to the Rizin 40 card scheduled for New Year’s Eve, including UFC veteran Rogerio Bontorin vs. Yuki Motoya.

Three other contests were also recently confirmed for the card: Seika Izawa vs. Si Woo Park in a non-title affair at super atomweight; Tsuyoshi Kamiyama vs. Junior Tafa at heavyweight and Naoki Inoue vs. Kenta Takizawa at bantamweight.

Rizin 40 takes place on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and will feature five Bellator vs. Rizin matchups on the evening’s main card. The headliner will see former Bellator featherweight king A.J. McKee face Rizin lightweight champion Roberto de Souza in a 155-pound clash.

Bontorin enters his Rizin debut on a four-bout winless streak in UFC competition. The Gile Ribeiro T…

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was arrested and detained for possession of brass knuckles on Wednesday afternoon at JFK Airport in New York.

Advertisement

According to an initial report from TMZ Sports, Adesanya was arrested by the Port Authority Police Department after going through security with the weapons near the TSA screening area at approximately 1:57 p.m. local time. While brass knuckles are a class A misdemeanor in New York and can be punished with up to a year in prison plus fines, it appears that the situation was a misunderstanding. Adesanya’s manager, Tim Simpson, released a statement regarding the situation.

“Israel was handed a gift by a fan, which he put in his luggage. When flagged at the airport, Israel quickly disposed of the item, and cooperated with authorities,” Simpson said in the statement. “He has complied accordingly, with that the matter was dismissed and he is on his way home.”

Adesanya relinquished his middle…

Ilir Latifi could serve as the poster child for fighters who fail to disclose injuries or illness prior to their fights.

Advertisement

Latifi was suspended three months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Wednesday for failing to disclose that he had a staph infection ahead of a UFC Fight Night 211 bout against Alexey Oleynik on Oct. 1. Latifi revealed the illness in a post-fight interview following a unanimous decision triumph over Oleynik.

“Even this week, my leg is swollen. I didn’t even tell my coaches, but I got a staph infection two days ago," Latifi said in the cage. "As you can see, my leg is all swollen. It’s an amazing sport, but the margins are so small. You put in so much work, and this thing happens the last day. Today, actually when I woke up, my leg was swollen. I was like, ‘I can’t cancel again.’ So I had to fight like this with a fever and a staph infection. That’s part of being a fighter.”

The NSAC stated that the ruling will set a…