Martial Arts News

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Brendan Allen is hopeful of a middleweight title shot if he gets past his next opponent.

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Allen will go to enemy territory to co-headline UFC Fight Night 243 against French contender Nassourdine Imavov at the Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday. While Allen acknowledged Imavov’s striking speed, “All in” believes he is a better fighter overall.

“One attribute that definitely stands out for him is, he’s fast. I just think I’m better,” Allen recently told TMZ Sports. “I’m sure he probably thinks he’s better than me. I just think I’m better than him everywhere. I don’t think he’s fought anyone like me that possesses the skills that I possess and the athletic abilities that I have, the experience. I don’t think he’s fought anyone with all those things lumped in one. I know he’s probably thinking he’s gonna come out here and run through me and beat me up or whatever, that’s fine. Lot of people have thought that before and lot of people hav…

Renato Carneiro believes Paddy Pimblett is deserving of at least “some respect.”

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Carneiro is slated to headline UFC Fight Night 243 against Frenchman Benoit St. Denis at the Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday. The Brazilian recently revealed that the two most prominent potential opponents in his mind going forward are Pimblett and Dan Hooker.

Pimblett has consistently expressed interest in fighting “Moicano,” regardless of the outcome the latter’s clash against St. Denis. Meanwhile, Carneiro first called out Hooker after “The Hangman” and Israel Adesanya picked Jalin Turner to beat “Moicano” at UFC 300. Carneiro made “The Tarantula” pay for a failed walk-off KO attempt, coming from behind to submit him in the second stanza.

While Hooker had agreed to fight Carneiro, the Kiwi ended up fighting Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 this past August, earning an upset split-decision win. However, Carneiro didn’t see Hooker winning that fight. “Moicano” is mor…

Diego Lopes recently laid down his immediate career plans.

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Lopes is coming off a unanimous decision win over Brian Ortega at UFC 306 that saw the Brazilian enter the featherweight title picture. It was Lopes’ fifth consecutive win — including three finishes — after coming up on the short side of a unanimous decision against Movsar Evloev in his UFC debut.

Meanwhile, Evloev has offered Lopes a rematch after originally scheduled opponent Aljamain Sterling pulled out of their UFC 307 matchup set for Oct. 5. However, having fought Evloev on short notice once, Lopes is unwilling to do it again unless the UFC guarantees Lopes a title shot with a potential win over the undefeated Russian.

“The only possibility this fight happens is if the UFC really says, ‘OK, you fight him and win, and you’re next for the belt,’” Lopes recently told MMAFighting.com. “That’s the only way this fight happens at the moment, and I want a full camp. It’s very easy for h…

Danylo Voievodkin laughed in the face of the oddsmakers.

The 6-foot-3, 263-pound Ukrainian—a prohibitive 8-to-1 underdog on some books—was one of five hopefuls to nail down an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he turned away the heavily favored Bailey Schoenfelder with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their heavyweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Schoenfelder (5-1, 0-1 DWCS) raised the white flag 73 seconds into Round 1.

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Voievodkin walked the former University of Minnesota linebacker backward and leveled him with a sweeping left hook. A dazed-and-confused Schoenfelder was powerless to defend against the follow-up attack. Voievodkin (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) wheeled to the back, cinched the choke and elicited the tapout. Featherweight Kevin Vallejos, welterweight Daniel Frunza, light heavyweight Kevin Christian and women’s strawweight Alexia Thainara are set to join Voie…

Sherdog’s live coverage of DWCS 2024: Week 7 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 Herb Dean will ref the evening’s first bout. Thainara lands a low kick to begin the action. Another low kick lands for Thainara, and this one has more impact. Thainara punches into the clinch and easily trips Conceicao to the mat. Thainara lands in half gaurd. Conceicao creates some space and is able to scramble up when her opponent stands. They’re back in the clinch, and Thainara shoves her foe into the fence. They separate and move back to distance. Conceicao just misses a knee in close quarters. Thainara again lands a low kick. Thainara times a takedown nicely and plants Conceicao on her back. Conceicao lands a couple elbows from her back. Thainara is in full guard. She makes Conceicao uncomfortable with a can opener before standing and letting her foe back to her feet. Conceicao lands a straight right. Thainara continues to chop away at the lead leg of Conceicao. More low kicks leand fo…

Former One Championship two-division title holder Reinier de Ridder has signed a contract to compete for the UFC.

Multiple outlets confirmed the news after UFC Roster Tracker brought word of the signing via X. De Ridder, who held titles at 205 pounds and 225 pounds in ONE, is expected to compete at middleweight within the Las Vegas-based promotion. A date for his debut has not been confirmed.

De Ridder began his professional career with 17 consecutive triumphs, a run that included a 7-0 start to his ONE tenure. He bested Aung La N Sang on two different occasions to become a two-division champion but would lose both belts to Anatoliy Malykhin in technical knockout defeats.

“The Dutch Knight” fought outside the ONE banner for the first time since 2018 on July 27, when he defeated Magomedmurad Khasaev via first-round TKO at UAE Warriors 51.

A heavyweight rematch between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov will no longer take place at UFC 308 as originally anticipated.

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Volkov recently announced that he suffered a knee injury, which forced him to withdraw from the event. La Sueur was first to report that the fight was off the UFC 308 bill. While the French outlet revealed that the heavyweight bout was postponed to UFC 310, that has not been finalized, according to MMAFighting.com. UFC 308 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26 and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.

“I have to inform you that my fight on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi is canceled due to my knee injury,” Volkov wrote on Instagram. “I will try to return to the gym and fight as soon as possible.”

Gane and Volkov initially squared off in the main event of UFC Fight Night 190 in June 2021, with the Frenchman winning a five-round unanimous decision.

A former int…

😅Renato Moicano tells the story of how he got his name 'Moicano':

"I used to use the mohawk and Moicano means mohawk so when I started to train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, they used to give nicknames to everybody, and then they started to call me Moicano because of the hair"… pic.twitter.com/HuVXJ9KEHD

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) September 23, 2024

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Renato Carneiro recently revealed how he got his nickname.

Carneiro says “Moicano” is not his real name, although that is a popular misconception in the mixed martial arts world. According to the Brazilian, “Moicano” translates to mohawk, the hairstyle he was sporting when he started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a kid. Since it was tradition to give everyone nicknames in BJJ, Carneiro got “Moicano” based on his hairdo. And it has stuck with him to the point where his father also refers to him by the same moniker.

“Everybody thinks [it’s my real name]. But this is…

Belal Muhammad is confident he can beat Darren Till on the feet.

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Muhammad dethroned Till’s fellow countryman, Leon Edwards, via a dominant unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 304 in Manchester this past July. From his experience fighting “Rocky,” Muhammad has arrived at the conclusion that Englishmen aren’t good at striking.

This led him to challenge Till, who is primarily a striker, to a stand-up sparring match. Ready to put his money where his mouth his, “Remember the Name” offered a wager of $100,000 for the potential spar, which would be live streamed. Muhammad even more boldly offered to go southpaw against “The Gorilla” for five rounds.

“I realized after going with Leon that people in the U.K. don’t have striking, you guys aren’t good at it,” Muhammad said on X Spaces. “I’ll put $100,000 that I’ll beat you in a five-round sparring match. We’ll just do stand up sparring; we’ll go live stream it… I won’t even wrestle and I will go…

Jamahal Hill tells the story of how Weili Zhang thought he was Khalil Rountree😭😭

🎥 YT / @funkmasterMMA #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/xK2fn9HEyp

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 23, 2024

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Jamahal Hill recently recalled a hilarious interaction with Weili Zhang.

Hill was recently in attendance for Dana White's Contender Series, where he came across the women’s strawweight champ. Currently recovering from a knee injury, “Sweet Dreams” was surprised when Zhang wished him luck for an apparent fight next month. When Zhang specified that it was a title fight, Hill realized that she had mistaken him for Khali Rountree Jr. Rountree challenges Alex Pereira for light heavyweight gold in the main event at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Hill was surprised by “Magnum’s” confusion, as Rountree is considerably shorter and also has facial hair. However, the former light heavyweight champ knows…

Aljamain Sterling has his eyes on surging contender Diego Lopes if a potential clash against Movsar Evloev falls through.

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Sterling was originally scheduled to fight Evloev at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. However, “Funkmaster” was forced out due to an injury suffered in training camp. Sterling would prefer rebooking his matchup with Evloev, who will reportedly not remain on the UFC 307 card, at a later date.

If Evloev doesn’t wait for him, Sterling wants to face Lopes. The former bantamweight champ has commended Lopes’ quick rise to stardom within the span of a year. While Sterling perceived Lopes as a nice, polite guy while training together in the past, he can now sense the tension that’s common for two potential opponents when they now come across each other.

Sterling had always eyed Brian Ortega as the matchup that could catapult him into title contention. However, Lopes beat Ortega via unanimous decision …

Week 7 of Dana White's Contender Series Series is now official, as all 10 athletes slated to compete on the card hit their contracted marks on the scale Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a heavyweight clash between Danylo Voievodkin (263) and Bailey Schoenfelder (231). The card airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Ukraine’s Voievodkin has kicked off his pro career with six consecutive triumphs. He has finished all of his opponents inside of a round.

Schoenfelder, meanwhile, is undefeated in five professional outings. He has competed for Cage Fury Fighting Championships, Legacy Fighting Alliance and Bellator MMA since making his debut in 2021. He is coming off a second-round TKO of former Contender Series competitor Greg Velasco this past April at CFFC 131.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results: Danylo Voievodkin (263) vs. Bailey Schoenfelder (231)Daniel Frunza (170) vs. Vadim Kutsyj (171)Kevi…