Martial Arts News

Those who rendered their foes unconscious were handsomely rewarded on Saturday night.

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Both Ramiz Brahimaj and Jordan Leavitt received $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses for their work at UFC Vegas 107 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Brahimaj used a standing guillotine choke to put Billy Goff to sleep at the 3:16 mark of Round 1 in their featured welterweight clash. It was the New York native’s 11th professional triumph inside of a round.

Earlier on the card, Leavitt made an impact in his first fight since 2023, as he earned a technical submission win against Kurt Holobaugh with an anaconda choke 1:39 into the opening stanza of their preliminary lightweight showdown.

Elsewhere, Alice Ardelean and Rayanne dos Santos secured “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their strawweight slugfest to open the card. While both fighters traded willingly on the feet throughout, it was Ardelean who ultimately got th…

An unexpected last-minute exit from Maycee Barber left the Ultimate Fighting Championship stage to Mateusz Gamrot.

The former two-division KSW titleholder called upon takedowns, ground-and-pound and suffocating top control, as he cruised to a unanimous decision over Ludovit Klein in the makeshift UFC on ESPN 68 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Gamrot (25-3, 8-3 UFC). An undisclosed medical issue involving Barber forced the cancellation of her originally scheduled headliner opposite Erin Blanchfield mere moments before they were set to walk out.

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The news involving Barber cast a pall over the event and overshadowed a near-flawless performance from Gamrot. Outside of a brief surge early in the third round, Klein (23-5-1, 7-3-1 UFC) had no answers for the American Top Team-trained Pole. Gamrot completed takedowns in all three rounds, floated from one position to the next and r…

Sherdog's live UFC Vegas 107 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC on ESPN 68. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: dos Santos (-265), Ardelean (+215)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Oki (-375), Aswell (+300)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BE…

Allan Nascimento shook off the rust and walked out of the cage with his arm raised.

The Chute Boxe standout made his long-awaited return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division and took a unanimous decision from Jafel Filho in their featured UFC on ESPN 68 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three members of the assigned judiciary turned in 29-28 scores for Nascimento (21-6, 3-1 UFC), who suited up for the first time since Jan. 14, 2023.

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Filho (16-4, 2-2 UFC) was his own worst enemy. The former Shooto Brazil champion was dominant in the first round, where he climbed to full mount twice and nearly finished it with a guillotine choke. From there, Filho’s overzealousness played into his opponent’s hands. Nascimento sprang multiple reversals in the second and third rounds, climbed to advantageous positions and bled valuable time off the clock. He tripped Filho to the floor with roughly a minute to go in the match, progr…

The 3rd annual #NocheUFC will now take place at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas on September 13.

The Noche UFC Fight Night card will celebrate and honor the remarkable contributions of Mexican fighters to combat sports and continues UFC’s great tradition of holding an… pic.twitter.com/uhlP9WgMSL

— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2025

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This year’s Noche UFC has a new location and venue.

Due to a delay in the construction of the arena in Guadalajara, Mexico, Noche UFC will be relocated to the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Sept. 13. The news was announced during the UFC Vegas 107 broadcast on Saturday night.

The event was originally expected to be the UFC 320 pay-per-view, but the event is expected to shift to a Fight Night with the change in venue. No bouts have been announced for the card. The plan now is for the Octagon to head to the new arena in Guadalajara in 2026.

Noche UFC is…

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Jon Jones’ (nearly) pristine mixed martial arts record is a prized possession of the UFC heavyweight champion.

“Bones” has only one official loss on his ledger, a disqualification defeat to Matt Hamill at “The Ultimate Fighter 10” finale in December 2009. That setback came as a result of 12-to-6 elbows — which are now legal — and is rarely recognized as a true loss by anyone in the MMA community.

During an interview on DeepCut with VicBlends, Jones discussed how he would view fighting if he wasn’t as successful as he is.

“I don’t think I can ever be a person who loves fighting as a non-winner. I’m so connected to winning, it’s probably not even healthy,” Jones said. “I see fighters that take losses and they smile, and they hug their wives. ‘Hey, better luck next time.’ If I were to ever lose, I would be devastated. I would be angry, I’d be upset and depressed.

“That’s just my winning nature. For me it’s do it with all your heart, do…

Former UFC fighter B.J. Penn is asking a court to recall the bench warrants issued for his arrest, following the athlete’s legal troubles this week. https://t.co/7lQ5TW6kBm

— KHON2 News (@KHONnews) May 31, 2025

Former UFC two-division champion B.J. Penn was arrested for the third time in the past six days on Friday for failing to appear in court, according to online records.

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Penn’s no-show was a violation of his previous bail agreement, which stems from him being arrested twice for abuse of a family or household member this past week. As a result, “The Prodigy” received two bail violations, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. He was ultimately released on $2,000 bond.

Additionally, MMAFighting.com is reporting that a judge denied Penn’s request for a restraining order against his mother, Lorraine Shin, because his allegations “do not establish a basis for relief.” It’s the second failed request for Penn, who…

Arman taps Pitbull with a RNC in Moscow pic.twitter.com/HH7apvCefr

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 31, 2025

Arman Tsarukyan hasn’t fought mixed martial arts in more than a year, but he’s doing his best to stay busy in the meantime.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight contender submitted ex-Bellator MMA champ Patricky Freire with a rear-naked choke in the final round of their grappling match at ADXC 10 in Moscow on Saturday. It’s the second triumph in a grappling match for Tsarukyan since his last Octagon appearance, as he also defeated Makkasharip Zaynukov via unanimous decision at Karate Combat 54 on May 2.

Tsarukyan defeated Charles Oliveira via split decision in a title eliminator bout at UFC 300 in April 2024. However, a back injury forced him out of a scheduled title shot against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 in January, and the Russian is not expected to receive a title shot in his next promotional appearance. Read more

🚨 WARNING EXPLICIT LANGUAGE🚨 pic.twitter.com/gfOf4XBFbd

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) May 31, 2025

The future of the heavyweight division remains murky at best, but one thing is crystal clear: Jon Jones is enjoying himself.

The UFC heavyweight champion took to social media on Saturday to troll Tom Aspinall following a seminar in Thailand, where “Bones” claimed a large percentage of those in attendance came from the U.K. Jones jokingly gave credit to Aspinall, a native of Lancashire, England, for the boost.

“Just wrapped up the biggest seminar in Phuket history,” Jones wrote. “Half the crowd flew in from the UK—how wild is that?! Massive shoutout to my guy Tom for all the free promo… couldn’t have done it without you.

“Seriously though, I’m beyond grateful for this brand new UK following. You guys showed up with so much love and energy, and I felt every bit of it.”

Just wrapped up the biggest seminar in Phuket…

"Khaos" Williams (15-4) has a new opponent with a little more than a week to go before UFC 316. 

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Williams was originally scheduled to fight Uros Medic in a welterweight matchup at UFC 316 on June 7 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. However, Medic announced via Instagram he has been forced to pull out of the fight due to a sinus illness that eventually required antibiotics.

“Hey everyone I wanted to share that my team and I had to make the tough decision to withdraw from my upcoming fight due to some health issues I've been dealing with behind the scenes,” Medic wrote. “I've been battling a stubborn sinus infection that affected my training, breathing and recovery, that eventually had to be treated with antibiotics. It wasn't an easy call to make, but out of respect for the sport, my team, and you guys, I know this is the right move. I'll be back as soon as I'm fully healthy.”

Williams was then briefly matched with replaceme…

🇧🇷THE CHAMPION HAS A NAME

AND HIS NAME IS ROBERTO SATOSHI SOUZA 🙌

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⏱️ANOTHER WIN IN UNDER A MINUTE

[ LIVE on https://t.co/SJYljaZ7L1 ] pic.twitter.com/LDRbyeBDw3

— RIZIN.tv (@RIZINTV_) May 31, 2025 Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza extended his streak of stoppage victories to four with a quick destruction of “Road to UFC” veteran Won Bin Ki in the main event of Rizin “World Series in Korea” in Incheon, South Korea on Saturday. De Souza blitzed Ki with punches and choked him out just 50 seconds into their non-title main event bout.

De Souza (19-3, 12-2 Rizin) chose to stand with Ki (18-10, 0-1 Rizin) and that decision paid off when he landed a lunging right hook that dropped the South Korean early in the fight. De Souza followed up with more punches on the ground before he took Ki’s back and locked on a rear-naked choke. Within seconds, Ki was rendered unconscious and the brief…

Boom!

Another antitrust class action drops against the UFC

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By Phil Davis.

Alleging fighters not under contract with them are harmed by their monopoly stranglehold.

Change is coming. pic.twitter.com/zY02uq4KM1 — Erik Magraken (@erikmagraken) May 30, 2025 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going to have to start paying its attorneys overtime at this rate.

On Friday, news broke that Phil Davis, on behalf of himself and other fighters in his class, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the UFC in the U.S. District Court in Nevada. Davis is represented by the law firm of Berger Montague, which recently settled one antitrust case with the promotion for $375 million, with those funds paid to the fighters. It also represents the suit helmed by Kajan Johnson, repping another class of fighters similar to the settled case involving Cung Le.

While those class action suits sought monetary damages, the goals of Davis e…