Martial Arts News

1️⃣3️⃣5️⃣.5️⃣ for @SongYadongLFG - your #UFCVegas60 main event is official 👏 pic.twitter.com/elPAeVTAOj

— UFC (@ufc) September 16, 2022 After a hectic pay-per-view offering, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to relative normalcy with UFC Fight Night 210.

The now 13-fight card is headlined by a bantamweight contest between contenders Cory Sandhagen and Yadong Song. Both main event fighters successfully made their contracted weights, which was a stark contrast to the drama last week. All fighters made weight except for Aspen Ladd (138), who weighed in two pounds heavy for her bantamweight fight against Sara McMann, and middleweight Alen Amedovski (186.5), who initially clocked in half a pound over for his 185-pound scrap with Joseph Pyfer. Ladd vs. McMann has since been canceled by the UFC, while Amedovski came back to weigh 185.5 pounds.

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While a title shot seemed inevitable after back-to-back stunning knockou…

Once again, a fighter’s retirement came to an end just a few months after saying goodbye to the sport.

On Thursday night, ESPN announced that Marlon Moraes (23-10-1) has come out retirement to sign with the Professional Fighters League. The report mentioned, that per Moraes’ manager Ali Abdelaziz, the contract was not finalized but was expected to come together shortly. Minutes later, Moraes publicized his return to the organization, and he will be competing at 145 pounds when he does come back. There is no currently announced event or opponent for his first fight back, although PFL recently picked up fellow ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Shane Burgos as well.

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Moraes initially wrote a thorough retirement message in April, when he stated that he was going to hang up his gloves.

“I want to thank everyone – Sean Shelby, Dana White and the UFC for giving me so many opportunities,” Moraes wrote. “I want to thank my family, my coaches, my manager…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC One of these two Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweights’ undefeated records will come to an end soon.

The news broke on Thursday from Fight Bananas that Bryce Mitchell (15-0) is now booked against fellow unbeaten 145-pounder Movsar Evloev (16-0) on Nov. 5. The two will battle it out on UFC Fight Night 214, which does not currently have a headliner and is not expect to be capped off by this matchup. Mitchell spoke of his fight news on his social media shortly before the report came out, and other outlets have also confirmed this pairing.

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“Thug Nasty” Mitchell has rattled off five straight wins since prevailing in the 27th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” where he beat Tyler Diamond by majority verdict to earn the fabled “six-figure contract.” Mitchell started off his career with nine straight wins, with his first eight coming by submission within two rounds. Since then, he has gone the dis…

A featherweight showdown pitting Arnold Allen against Calvin Kattar is in the works to headline the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Oct. 29 card.

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UFC president Dana White revealed to promotion broadcast partner ESPN on Wednesday that the bout has nearly been finalized. The UFC Fight Night 213 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and also is expected to include a 145-pound co-main event between Edson Barboza and Ilia Topuria.

The 28-year-old Allen has lost just once in 19 professional outings. The Englishman is 9-0 in the Las Vegas-based promotion and is coming off a first-round technical knockout victory against Dan Hooker at UFC Fight Night 204 on March 19. His record includes other notable wins against the likes of Sodiq Yusuff, Gilbert Melendez, Nik Lentz and Mads Burnell. This will be Allen’s first five-round main event in the UFC.

Kattar, meanwhile, has been in four consecutive headlining bouts — all of which have gone the full fi…

Sodiq Yusuff will not remain on this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 210 card following the withdrawal of co-main event opponent Giga Chikadze.

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Instead, Yusuff will relocated to UFC Fight Night 211 two weeks later, where he will welcome newcomer Don Shainis to the Octagon in a featherweight bout. The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announced the update. UFC Fight Night 211 takes place on Oct. 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a strawweight scrap between Mackenzie Dern and Xiaonan Yan.

The 29-year-old Yusuff has been victorious in five of his first six promotional appearances — with his lone setback coming to ranked featherweight Arnold Allen. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum is coming off a three-round verdict over Alex Caceres at UFC Fight Night 203 on March 12.

A native of Stoughton, Mass., Shainis will take a five-fight winning streak into his Octagon debut. Shainis is a Cage Titans featherweight champion and has earn…

After a controversial ending to their first meeting, Liz Carmouche and Juliana Velasquez are going to run it back at Bellator 289.

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The California-based promotion confirmed the booking on Wednesday following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. Bellator 289 takes place on Dec. 9 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and the evening’s main card airs on Showtime. The card will feature the bantamweight grand prix semifinals, as Raufeon Stots meets Danny Sabatello, while Magomed Magomedov takes on Patrick Mix.

Carmouche took the flyweight crown from Velasquez in their first bout at Bellator 278 this past April. Velasquez appeared to be well on her way to a decision triumph when Carmouche trapped in her in a mounted crucifix and landed a series of elbows to earn a technical knockout victory 4:48 into the fourth round of their clash at Neil S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Velasquez protested the stoppage and ultimately filed an appeal, …

OFFICIAL: @BiaggioAli1234, Muhammad Ali's grandson, Signs Contract with the Professional Fighters League! pic.twitter.com/UUQB6EpXO1

— PFL (@PFLMMA) September 14, 2022

Professional Fighters League is hoping to tap into a legendary legacy with its latest addition.

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The promotion announced Wednesday that it has signed Biaggio Ali Walsh, the grandson of boxing great Muhammad Ali. Walsh is currently an amateur MMA fighter and is expected to compete on the undercard of the PFL Championships on Nov. 25 against an as yet to be announced opponent. He is expected to eventually make his professional debut under the PFL banner, as well.

“The Professional Fighters League is committed to growing the league and the sport of MMA, it is incumbent upon us to look for the future stars of our sport, we have found one of those stars in Biaggio” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “We are excited to watch Biaggio’s journey from amateur to professiona…

Ikram Aliskerov waltzed into the Ultimate Fighting Championship and nearly took someone else’s limb with him.

One of five prospective mixed martial artists signed by the UFC on Week 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series, the Eagle Fighting Championship alum submitted Mario Filipe de Sousa with a kimura in the first round of their middleweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Filipe de Sousa (15-3, 1-2 DWCS) raised the white flag 2:09 into Round 1 but not before suffering some apparent damage to his left shoulder.

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The 29-year-old Aliskerov (13-1, 1-0 DWCS) waded through considerable fire from the lanky Brazilian, attacked the hips and secured a takedown. The onetime victim of Khamzat Chimaev landed in side control, isolated the arm and torqued it behind Filipe de Sousa’s back for the tapout. Aliskerov has rattled off five consecutive victories and will be joined on the UFC roster by Farid Basharat, Trevor Peek, Bruna Emanuele Brasil …

A matchup of between middleweight contenders Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland has been rebooked for UFC Fight Night on Dec. 17.

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Strickland initially revealed the news in an interview with MMA journalist Helen Yee. Cannonier and Strickland were initially slated to meet at UFC Fight Night 212 before Strickland was forced to withdraw due to a finger infection. A venue for the event has not been made official.

Cannonier is coming off a failed attempt at middleweight gold at UFC 276, where he dropped a five-round verdict to Israel Adesanya on July 2. Prior to that, “The Killa Gorilla” had been victorious in five of six promotional appearances, earning wins over the likes of Derek Brunson, Kelvin Gastelum, Jack Hermansson and Anderson Silva.

Strickland had a bid for title contention shot down at UFC 276, as he suffered a first-round KO defeat to former Glory Kickboxing champ Alex Pereira in his most recent Octagon appearance. That defeat snappe…

Nova Uniao coach Andre Pederneiras recently expressed confidence that Jose Aldo would not retire following his loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278. However, he was not able to confirm that Aldo would compete at UFC 283 in Rio De Janeiro in January.

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Three weeks have passed since that fight and Aldo’s next move remains uncertain. In an interview on the YouTube talk show "Cara a Tapa," Aldo told journalist Rica Perroni that he still hasn’t decided on his next step. The former featherweight champion revealed that he has been approached by the UFC to fight in Rio de Janeiro, but he hasn’t given the promotion an answer because he hasn’t yet decided if he is going to retire.

During the interview Aldo was also asked about who he considers to be the greatest Brazilian fighter of all time, and he didn't think twice in his response.

“That´s easy, myself,” he said. “I won the title twice, dropped my weight, and I could very well get an opportunity to fi…

Norma Dumont! pic.twitter.com/xdVRfg6D6P

— Alex Davis (@Alexdavismma) September 11, 2022

The real cause of the backstage melee that forced Dana White to cancel the UFC 279 pre-fight press conference last week may have come from an unlikely source.

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According to long-tenured manager Alex Davis, a discussion between Darren Till and another Englishman triggered the incident.

“I was informed backstage that what started the fight was a discussion about the death of Queen Elizabeth between Darren Till and another British guy,” Davis told Sherdog.com. “As you know, some people in England support the Royal Family and others hate them and that was the cause. Till and this other British guy started the fight and eventually it spread.”

Davis was in Las Vegas with Norma Dumont, who earned a dominant unanimous victory against Danyelle Wolf in a featherweight bout at UFC 279. Thanks to that triumph, the manager believes Dumont cou…

While Khamzat Chimaev didn’t show any ill effects from a failed weight cut during his victory over Kevin Holland at UFC 279, coach Andreas Michael saw enough behind the scenes to follow the doctor’s recommendation to quit cutting weight one day prior.

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“We took the first [eight pounds] quite easy, and then it’s like, ‘We’re going to take the rest in the morning. So we had about [five to six pounds] left. But then some complications started happening during the night,” Michael told ESPN. “[Chimaev] started getting cramps, started throwing up, he started being dizzy. His body was seizing up, and we called the UFC. We called the physician and we wanted the advice from them, because I’m not a doctor. I don’t know what’s safe and not safe, and I always take the safe route. We’re playing with people’s lives here – it’s not a joke.

“Actually, he had about six pounds to lose, but we drank before because he needed to hydrate a little bit before we weighed in…