Martial Arts News

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Makhachev will now be facing Moicano for the lightweight title. #UFC311 is LIVE TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus PPV! pic.twitter.com/2JZevvpQP2

— danawhite (@danawhite) January 17, 2025 Editor's note: The article has been updated at 3:45 PM ET on Jan. 17 to add statements from multiple fighters. The first big Ultimate Fighting Championship show of the year has just taken a monumental hit.

During the UFC 311 early weigh-ins on Friday, Sherdog learned from sources close to the situation that headlining lightweight title challenger Arman Tsarukyan suffered a back injury. As a result, he has been forced to withdraw from the main attraction against Islam Makhachev (26-1). The promotion turned to Renato "Money" Moicano (20-5-1), who was set to face off against Beneil Dariush on the main card. Per the UFC on Friday morning, Moicano has agreed to vie for the strap, and the new marquee match is set.

After the news broke, Tsarukyan…

The lightweight champion is on weight 👏@MAKHACHEVMMA comes in at 154.5lbs!

[ #UFC311 | Live TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus PPV | 10pmET ] pic.twitter.com/tIll9zoaEV

— UFC (@ufc) January 17, 2025 After a hectic UFC 311 weigh-ins, it's now official that the Ultimate Fighting Championship's first pay-per-view of the year has a new main event.

Now headlining the 13-fight card is a fight between Islam Makhachev and Renato "Money" Moicano for the lightweight championship. This comes after Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from a championship rematch at the last minute due to a back injury. Meanwhile, the co-main event will see Merab Dvalishvili look to make his first title defense against the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.

Makhachev (26-1) prepared during his camp for Tsarukyan, who he defeated the Octagon in 2019. Since his unanimous decision victory, the Dagestani fighter has claimed the lightweight title from Charles Oliveira and defended it three tim…

At 40 years of age, a Ultimate Fighting Championship great is deciding to hang up his gloves.

During the UFC 311 early weigh-in show on Friday, Chris Weidman (16-8) announced his retirement from the sport. “The All-American” last competed in December, coming up short to Eryk Anders in the second round when the former football player punched him out. While he struggled towards the end of his career, Weidman started strong by amassing a 13-0 record while beating many of the best names ever to compete at 185 pounds in the Octagon.

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“I’ve been holding it in for a while,” Weidman said with mixed emotions on his face. “I got a big fight set up,” he teased to fellow former champ Daniel Cormier. “Listen, since I decided to get into this sport since 2009, the goal was to be a UFC fighter. Then, immediately the goal was to become a UFC world champion. Fourteen years later, I’m here, and I’m here to tell you guys that I’m hanging up the gloves in the UFC, and […

Renato "Money Moicano" Carneiro will take plenty of momentum into his showdown with Beneil Dariush at UFC 311.

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The Brazilian standout has won his last four Octagon appearances and is coming off a second-round stoppage of Benoit St. Denis at UFC Paris this past September. Even though he’s already enjoyed plenty of success, Dariush would be Carneiro’s most significant victory to date.

“St. Denis was also a good grappler, but I believe Dariush is even better, so I believe that fight will go to the ground,” Moicano recently told Sherdog.com while declining to predict a clear method of victory.

“I’ll knock him out, submit him or win via decision. I don’t know. I’m just sure that I´m in a great position, and I´ll leave that Octagon with another win.”

The American Top Team representative also doesn’t have a callout in mind should he get his hand raised on Saturday night at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

“I don’t care about names,” he said. “…

The legal hits keep on coming for Conor McGregor.

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According to a report from Front Office Sports, the former UFC two-division champion is being sued for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at the Kaseya Center in Miami during an NBA Finals game in 2023. The civil lawsuit was filed in Florida federal court on Tuesday by a woman identified as “Jane Doe.” The Miami Heat, which hosted the game, and Basketball Properties LLC, which runs the venue, are also named as defendants in the lawsuit for overserving McGregor.

The Dublin native did not face criminal charges in the case when prosecutors determined there was “insufficient evidence” as well as “contradicting and/or no corroborating witnesses” to prove that McGregor raped a woman in the bathroom during an NBA Finals game between the Heat and Denver Nuggets on June 9, 2023.

The alleged victim is identified as a 49-year-old woman who lives in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and “employed as a Senio…

One of the lasting images from the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first event of 2025 was that of Victoria Dudakova slapping one of her coaches following a loss to Fatima Kline.

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As it turns out, Dudakova has a more personal relationship with the object of her wrath: He’s also her husband. On Tuesday, Dudakova released a statement apologizing for the incident.

“The emotions have calmed down a bit,” Dudakova wrote on Instagram. “First of all, I would like to apologize to my husband and coach. I was upset that at such a difficult moment, he turned away from me and did not want to go into the cage. This is not an excuse and I am not looking for an excuse for myself. I did the wrong thing, I could not control my emotions. I set a bad example for athletes and the younger generation. I also want to apologize to sports fans. Thank you to everyone who stays with me in such a difficult situation.”

😳Victoria Dudakova slapped one …

You only get 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗧.☝️

64 Fighters. Single elimination tournament 💰🏆

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One Shot to WIN. One Shot to ADVANCE. One Shot at a WORLD TITLE#PFLWorldTournament pic.twitter.com/7YlTLgKPAB — PFL (@PFLMMA) January 15, 2025

As expected, Professional Fighters League is doing away with its season format in favor of grand-prix style tournaments in each weight class.

The promotion announced on Wednesday that it will be launching what is called its 2025 World Tournament beginning this April. The single-elimination brackets will feature eight fighters from eight different weight classes — heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and women’s flyweight. Winners will receive a $500,000 bonus, and according to a release, the PFL World Tournament will “pay out over $20 million in prize money” overall.

The first round of the tournament will begin in April, followed by semifin…

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Arman Tsarukyan has high praise for Adriano Martins, the only man to beat Islam Makhachev.

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Tsarukyan challenges Makhachev for the lightweight title in the main event at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Las Vegas. In preparation, Tsarukyan is training with Martins, who dealt Makhachev his lone career loss in 2015.

Makhachev faced Martins in his sophomore Ultimate Fighting Championship outing in 2015, when he suffered a first-round knockout loss. With Makhachev having since taken over the lightweight division, many attribute that loss to a lucky shot from Martins. However, Tsarukyan doesn’t think so after sparring with the Brazilian veteran. According to “Ahalkalakets,” Martins holds natural power in his hands, which left him bleeding for two weeks after getting hit in sparring.

“I’ll tell you straight, his punch is insane,” Tsarukyan told Ushatayka (h/t Home of Fight). “It’s not just a lucky punch, as people say. He…

Nate Diaz and Team Makhachev threw water bottles at each other backstage 😳 #UFC310 pic.twitter.com/gr3TDd5abt

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 7, 2024

Nate Diaz claims he doesn’t remember meeting Islam Makhachev in an elevator.

Makhachev’s and Diaz’s teams recently got into a near-brawl over unclear reasons. Makhachev defends his title against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The lightweight champ was in Las Vegas for a presser this past December when he came across Diaz, who was cornering teammate Kron Gracie against Bryce Mitchell at UFC 310.

Both teams hurled water bottles at each other and have later accused the other side of starting the altercation. Makhachev believes Diaz hurled the first water bottle, mistaking one of his teammates to be Khabib Nurmagomedov. Makhachev also recently said that Diaz was respectful towards him when they allegedly met in an elevator a few months ago.

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Aljamain Sterling thinks Merab Dvalishvili will retain his bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov.

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Dvalishvili will defend his strap against Nurmagomedov in the co-main event at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Many expect Nurmagomedov to pose the biggest threat to Dvalishvili so far with his strong wrestling base and well-rounded skillset. However, Sterling believes fans are overestimating the level of competition from Nurmagomedov, at least in terms of the wrestling.

Nurmagomedov’s most high-caliber win so far came against Cory Sandhagen, who was able to defend the Dagestani’s takedown attempts multiple times. Based on that fight, Sterling doesn’t see Nurmagomedov posing a threat to Dvalishvili, who also comes from a grappling background.

“I mean if Cory Sandhagen could get ready, a guy who’s not coming from a grappling background at all – what do you think Merab is gonna do?” Sterling said on h…

One of Professional Fighters League’s most vocal critics is now a free agent.

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PFL chairman and founder Donn Davis announced via social media on Tuesday that Patricio Freire has been released from the promotion, and Sherdog.com subsequently confirmed the news with a promotion official. In recent months, Freire had been critical of both his contract and lack of activity since PFL purchased Bellator in late 2023.

“[The PFL] is all about opportunity,” Davis wrote. “I founded this company to create new great opportunities for top fighters. PFL has and will continue to do that for all top fighters who want to be here.”

We are releasing @PatricioPitbull @PFLMMA is all about opportunity

I founded this company to create new great opportunities for top fighters

PFL has and will continue to do that for all top fighters who want to be here #PFLMMA

— Donn Davis (@DonnDavisPFL) January 14, 2025

One of the top feat…

ALL fighters now integrated and connected in one powerful roster

One Brand 👊@PFLMMA 👊One Roster

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Professional Fighters League #PFLMMA pic.twitter.com/JcylkqFQSA — Donn Davis (@DonnDavisPFL) January 14, 2025

The Bellator MMA brand is officially a thing of the past.

Professional Fighters League chairman and founder Donn Davis released a statement clarifying Bellator’s status on Tuesday, announcing that “all fighters [are] now integrated and connected in one powerful roster.” In short, that means the Bellator name will not be associated with any fighters or events under the PFL umbrella.

The full statement posted by Davis on social media is as follows:

Professional Fighters League acquired Bellator MMA one year ago primarily for its great fighter roster. The PFL brand has become synonymous with the “win and advance” format and product innovation. PFL has established itself as a premium brand doing things diffe…