Martial Arts News

The Ultimate Fighting Championship appears to have listened to the fans.

On Thursday night, Sports Illustrated first broke the news that Marlon Vera (20-7-1) vs. Cory Sandhagen (15-4) will no longer be taking place atop UFC Fight Night 219. That event booked at the UFC Apex will not keep Vera-Sandhagen on its billing anymore, as the five-round bantamweight bonanza has been moved to UFC on ESPN 43. This March 25 fight card will go down at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, rather than the confines of the Apex. It has not yet been determined which bout will serve as the headliner of the Feb. 18 show, but news of this shift has been confirmed by multiple outlets.

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After Vera vs. Sandhagen was announced, fan and media sentiment reflected that a large audience should be treated to the potential violence that is their five-rounder. The specific reason for its relocation was not announced, but neither fighter appear to have suffered an injury that would …

Ryan Bader admittedly wasn’t initially excited about the prospects of a rematch with Fedor Emelianenko.

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It didn’t take him too long to come around.

“At first I kind of felt that way, and then I started thinking about it,” Bader said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Being on CBS was a big factor. Anytime you’re in a Fedor fight it’s a huge fight. I’m proud to be a part of his legacy and for him to be a part of mine.

“It’s hard to turn down a Fedor fight. I didn’t necessarily know it was going to be his last one. It’s one of those things where I got more excited about it and when I finally put pen to paper, I was all in.”

Bader initially faced Emelianenko in the finals of the heavyweight grand prix at Bellator 214, where he claimed the belt with a 35-second technical knockout victory. The Power MMA Team stalwart isn’t taking away much from that first meeting — in large part because of the abbreviated nature of the fight. He expects the rema…

It’ll be hard for Johnny Eblen to top the fight that earned him the Bellator MMA middleweight championship.

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The American Top Team product claimed 185-pound gold with a five-round verdict over Gegard Mousasi in the Bellator 282 main event last June. After vanquishing one of the sport’s all-time great middleweights, Eblen will face a lesser known commodity in his first title defense when he locks horns with Anatoly Tokov in the Bellator 290 co-main event. While Tokov isn’t a household name, his seven-fight winning streak in Bellator and gaudy 31-2 overall mark made him an attractive opponent to Eblen.

“It’s just another challenge, another step in the right direction,” Eblen said at a press conference on Wednesday. “It’s the reason I called him out in the first place. I knew about his record. I knew he was 7-0 in Bellator. And I know he’s really good. So I want to take him out and put on a show in front of all these fans and on CBS.”

While the …

A number of mixed martial arts luminaries will be in attendance for Fedor Emelianenko’s swan song at Bellator 290.

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During an appearance on ”The MMA Hour,” Bellator president Scott Coker revealed a star-studded guest list that includes former opponents such as Mark Coleman, Dan Henderson, Quinton Jackson and Chael Sonnen. Other notables expected to be in attendance include Randy Couture, Renzo Gracie, Royce Gracie, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell and Frank Shamrock.

According to Coker, many of the aforementioned legends reached out to him about attending Bellator 290 on their own.

“It’s something that’s really special and means a lot to me because I look at this from a martial arts perspective,” Coker said. “These are the greatest martial artists of their time and their era and they really built what MMA is today and they really built the evolution of what mixed martial arts is today. They deserve to be in the cage with Fedor. It’s going to be a …

The decision by the UFC not to renew its broadcast deal with Rede Globo after a partnership that spanned more than 10 years has made a significant impact on the combat sports market in Brazil.

After the world’s largest MMA promotion decided to invest in its own streaming platform (UFC Fight Pass) with TV Bandeirantes as a partner, many fans of the sport thought that Combate, the only cable channel dedicated 24 hours a day to martial arts, would would be finished. After all, it would make no sense for more than 300,000 subscribers to keep paying a monthly fee of RS 49.90 ($9) without having access to the UFC as part of the subscription.

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Instead, the approach of having “everything but UFC” at a more affordable price for the subscriber was put into practice. After signing deals with One Championship, Glory, Rizin, Jungle Fight, Top Rank and Karate Combat, Combate is expected to announce the addition of Bellator and PFL to its broadcast roster in the ne…

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🎟チケット一般発売 2.19(日)~※ファンクラブ/RIZIN 100 CLUB先行 2.6(月)~ pic.twitter.com/pyxhbcqDo6 — RIZIN FF OFFICIAL (@rizin_PR) February 1, 2023

Rizin Fighting Federation’s schedule for the first half of 2023 is beginning to take shape.

The Japanese promotion recently announced the locations and venues for its next three events. The first of those is Rizin 41, which takes place on April 1 at Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan. Meanwhile, Rizin Landmark, Vol. 5 is set for April 30 at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, and Rizin 42 will take place on May 6 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

Four MMA bouts were confirmed for Rizin 41: Makoto Takahashi vs. Daichi Kitakata at flyweight; Vugar Karamov vs. Yoshinori Horie at featherweight; Yuto Hokamura vs. Koichi Ishizuka at bantamweight an…

Brazilian Vale Tudo icon Wilson “Passarito” Oliveira died on Sunday at the age of 94.

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A Brazilian judo champion in the 1950s and a former marine, Wilson de Oliveira became known as “El Passarito” when he represented Brazil in judo at the Pan American Games in Buenos Aires in 1951.

A great friend and training partner of Waldemar Santana, “Passarito” was a student of Augusto Cordeiro in judo and Euclydes Hatem in Luta Livre, coming from the same lineage of capoeira and Luta Livre fighters who came together to face the Gracie hegemony. “Passarito” faced Carlson Gracie three times at Vale Tudo events. The first was at the legendary Maracanã Stadium in 1953, three years before the historic fight in which Carlson avenged his uncle, Hélio Gracie, against Waldemar Santana.

Carlson began fighting while wearing the gi, but after being taken down many times, Helio Gracie convinced him to take the gi off during the course of the match. Despite “Passari…

A featherweight showdown pitting ex-champ Max Holloway against Arnold Allen is in the works to headline a UFC Fight Night event on April 15.

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Promotion broadcast partner ESPN was first to report the booking. The UFC Fight Night card does not yet have an official location or venue. The card is also expected to include a featherweight clash between Edson Barboza and Billy Quarantillo and a bantamweight tilt between Chris Gutierrez and Pedro Munhoz.

Holloway is coming off an unsuccessful bid to regain featherweight gold, as he dropped a five-round verdict to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 276 this past July. The Hawaiian known as “Blessed” is now 0-3 against the reigning champion, which means his road back to the title will be difficult for as long as Volkanovski holds the belt. Prior to that defeat, Holloway secured back-to-back decision triumphs against Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez in 2021.

Allen is undefeated in 10 UFC appearances and has l…

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Laura Sanko is set to become the first female commentator on a UFC broadcast during the Zuffa era when she joins the booth on Saturday night.

The promotion announced Monday that Sanko will be on the call for UFC Fight Night 218 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Sanko has previously worked as a reporter and analyst for the UFC while also doing commentary for Dana White’s Contender Series. She previously did broadcast work for Invicta FC.

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“Taking the next step to join the UFC commentary team has been a goal of mine since I began my broadcast career,” Sanko said in a release. “It is an honor to walk in the footprint of Kathy Long 30 years after her appearance on UFC 1. I consider it a true privilege to be part of the team that is a voice to our incredible fans, communicating the fighting art of each man and woman who steps inside the UFC Octagon.”

The aforementioned Long, a former kickboxing champion, called the UFC’s first-ever ev…

A knee injury has forced Julio Arce to pull out of his UFC 285 bout against Cody Garbrandt.

Multiple outlets confirmed Arce’s exit following an initial report from Eurosport. Arce is expected to require surgery after injuring the ACL and other ligaments in his knee. It is currently unknown if Garbrandt will remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

A competitor on Season 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Arce has compiled a 5-4 mark in UFC competition. The Team Tiger Schulmann representative has lost two of his last three Octagon appearances and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Montel Jackson at UFC 281.

UFC 285 takes place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane. Arce vs. Garbrandt was slated for the preliminary card, which airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

A rematch between Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana is expected to serve as the main event for UFC on ESPN 43.

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The bantamweight bout, which is expected to be finalized soon, was recently confirmed by ESPN Deportes following an initial report from MMA journalist James Lynch on YouTube. UFC on ESPN 43 takes place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on March 25 and also includes a 135-pound showdown between Holly Holm and Yana Kunitskaya. Pennington and Aldana initially squared off at UFC on ESPN 4 in July 2019, with Pennington prevailing via split decision.

Pennington is currently on a five-bout winning streak in UFC competition. The former bantamweight title challenger was successful in her first venture of 2023, as she garnered a split verdict against Ketlen Vieira at UFC Fight Night 217 on Jan. 14. Her current run also includes victories over the likes of Aspen Ladd, Macy Chiasson, Pannie Kianzad and Marion Reneau.

Aldana, meanwh…

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It appears that preliminary discussions are underway regarding a potential boxing match between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury.

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In an interview with TMZ Sports, the former UFC heavyweight champion revealed that he has engaged in talks with Fury’s representatives regarding a future fight.

“I have talked to somebody, some of his advisors,” Ngannou said. “They are working on a fight with [Oleksandr] Usyk on April. So, until then, he will not be free. But I’m just trying to see if we can have an agreement before that fight.

“That will also give me some time to get prepared for a boxing fight. So I have no problem with the timeline that I’m expecting, that I hope will be sometime in June, July, which is doable. So let’s see. I think it’s too early to make a conclusion. It’s too early to say anything about it but it’s definitely something that we’re looking into.”

Ngannou was released from his UFC contract earlier this year …