Martial Arts News

Pools of blood on the Octagon floor provided proof of Joaquin Buckley’s dominance.

“New Mansa” moved ever closer to title contention in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division, as he stopped Colby Covington on a cut in the third round of their UFC on ESPN 63 main event on Saturday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Referee Dan Miragliotta waved it off on the advice of the cageside physician 4:42 into Round 3.

Advertisement

A late replacement for Ian Garry, Covington (17-5, 12-5 UFC) encountered immediate difficulty. Buckley (21-6, 11-4 UFC) hacked open a cut on his right eyelid with a slashing uppercut in the first round and turned up the heat from there. Power punching combinations paired with excellent takedown defense paved the way to the most significant victory of his career. The wound grew in size and depth as the minutes passed, and Covington was warned after the second round that the fight was on the verge of being halted. Buckley continu…

Michael Johnson still has more than enough firepower to make noise in the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division.

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 finalist punched out former Brave Combat Federation champion Ottman Azaitar in the second round of their featured UFC on ESPN 63 prelim on Saturday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. In his first appearance since July 15, 2023, Azaitar (13-3, 2-3 UFC) crashed and burned 2:03 into Round 2.

Advertisement

A tepid and mostly uneventful first five minutes gave way to a highlight-reel finish for one of the UFC’s most seasoned competitors. Azaitar set off a wild exchange in the center of the cage, showing no regard for his own safety. Johnson (23-19, 15-15 UFC) ducked out of danger and cut loose with a crushing right hook on the counter. Azaitar was out before he hit the mat, where he was met with a few more punches before referee Jason Herzog could cordon off the scene.

Meanwhile, Bandog Fight Club star Joel …

Professional Fighters League will conclude its historic year with the PFL Europe 2024 Finals in Lyon, France. Sherdog’s live coverage will kick off with the first bout at 11 a.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:

Advertisement

Round 2 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round: The Official Result PFL Europe Welterweight Showcase Bout:Brice Belghazi (167.5) vs. Eoin Sheridan (170.8) Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Offici…

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 63 coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. The event is also known UFC Tampa. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Knutsson (-230), Rodriguez (+190)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:

Advertisement

Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Taveras (-130), Grant (+110)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian K…

#UFCSaudiArabia is back with a BANG 💥@Stylebender vs @Imavov1 @Shara_Bullet77 vs @MichaelPage247

[ #RiyadhSeason | @RiyadhSeason ] pic.twitter.com/wCKv38qCmg

— UFC (@ufc) December 14, 2024

Advertisement

A middleweight showdown pitting Israel Adesanya against Nassourdine Imavov will serve as the headliner for UFC Saudi Arabia on Feb. 1.

Additionally, Michael Page will square off against Sharabutdin Magomedov in another middleweight clash in the co-main event. UFC CEO Dana White announced the bouts on Saturday. UFC Fight Night 250 takes place at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and also includes a heavyweight tilt between Sergei Pavlovich and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Adesanya will be competing in his first non-title fight since he bested Anderson Silva at UFC 234 on Feb. 9, 2019. “The Last Stylebender” has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances and is coming off a fourth-round submission defeat against Dricus Du Pless…

[embedded content]

Tom Aspinall (15-3) claims he has been guaranteed a fight against Jon Jones (28-1).

Advertisement

Jones was originally scheduled to defend his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023 before being forced out with an injury. Tom Aspinall went on to knock out Sergei Pavlovich in an interim title fight on the same card.

With no timeline in sight for Jones’ return at that point, Aspinall initially called for “Bones” to be stripped off the title. The Brit later changed tune and started calling for a title unifier upon Jones’ return. However, Jones remained adamant on preserving his matchup against Miocic, whom he defeated via third-round stoppage at UFC 309 last month.

Despite Aspinall having even defended his title against Curtis Blaydes in the meantime, Jones is still loathe to fight the interim champ. While Jones was teasing retirement leading up to UFC 309, he is now plotting a mega fight against former champ Alex Pereira . Jon…

Curtis Blaydes (18-5) will welcome debutant Rizvan Kuniev (12-2) to the Octagon at UFC Seattle.

Advertisement

Blaydes and Kuniev will meet in a heavyweight matchup at UFC Fight Night 252 on Feb. 22 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Multiple outlets have confirmed the pairing after the matchup was first reported by Kuniev’s teammate Jairzinho Rozenstruik in an interview with James Lynch.

Blaydes challenged Tom Aspinall for the interim title in a rematch at UFC 304 this past July. “Honey Badger” knocked out Blaydes in just one minute, also avenging his lone UFC loss, where he blew his knee in the opening seconds back in 2022. Meanwhile, “Razor” has now sandwiched a win over Jailton Almedia between losses against Sergei Pavlovich and Aspinall.

Kuniev earned his UFC contract with a first round technical knockout win over Hugo -Cunha-52825">Hugo -Cunha-227763">Hugo Cunha on the Dana White's Contender Series this past August. While Kuniev entered D…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship completes its 2024 schedule this weekend with UFC on ESPN 63, which is now official after the weigh-ins took place.

All 26 fighters made weight for the promotion's final card of the year. Headlining the card is a fight between welterweight contenders Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley. Both men came in weighing 171 pounds for the five-round main event. In total, the card will feature 13 fights.

Advertisement

Covington (17-4) will look to bounce back into the win column after coming up short in a title fight against Leon Edwards. "Chaos" has now lost two of his last three fights, with a win against Jorge Masvidal coming in between decision losses to Edwards and Kamaru Usman. The 36-year-old's best days are likely behind him, but we'll see how much he has in the tank in his lone fight of 2024.

Meanwhile, this marks the biggest fight in the career of Buckley (20-6). "New Mansa" is riding an impressive five-fig…

[embedded content]

A busy year for the Professional Fighters League wraps up on Saturday as the PFL Europe 4: 2024 Finals will take place.

Advertisement

The event features four championship fights in the welterweight, lightweight, bantamweight and women's flyweight divisions. However, the card will be headlined by a welterweight showcase fight between Laureano Staropoli and Abdoul Abdouraguimov. All fighters successfully made weight, so the card will move forward with 12 fights.

Staropoli (13-6) enters the fight looking to rebound from a loss to Murad Ramazanov. Prior to the setback, "Pepi" had put together four straight wins. Meanwhile, Abdouraguimov (18-1, 1 NC) is riding eight straight victories into the main event. "The Lazy King" most recently won a split decision over Jack Grant. Staropoli came in at 170.8 pounds, while Abdouraguimov came in at 170.6 pounds.

PFL Europe 4: 2024 Finals will air live on Dazn starting at noon ET/9 a.m. PT.

PFL Europ…

I will not leave the title vacant. The decision to move up to the next category is entirely mine. I haven't had any conversations with the UFC yet, so everything is still to be decided. Stop celebrating because I’m not going anywhere. I have conquered my division and I will do…

— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) December 12, 2024

Ilia Topuria is being cryptic about his plans to move up to lightweight.

Advertisement

The Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight king recently revealed that we might have seen the last of him at 145 due to a lack of fresh challengers. Topuria (16-0) said he plans to move up to lightweight and face Charles Oliveira, eventually win the title and retire before he turns 30. “El Matador” attracted the attention of lightweights like Dustin Poirier, Paddy Pimblett and Renato “Money” Moicano by announcing his plans to move up to 155. Meanwhile, Diego Lopes, who was originally rallying for a featherweight title sh…

💥💥💥 ANNOUNCEMENT 💥💥💥10th Anniversary ⚡️ #RIZIN_DECADE🥊 Announcement: Joint Public Training Session 🥊

📆 Date: Saturday, December 14th, starting at 10:00 PM CT📍 Location: Somewhere in Tokyo

Advertisement

✅ Participating Fighters:👑 Chihiro / 👑Satoshi / Motoya / Akimoto… pic.twitter.com/b2Cyvk2uhN — RIZIN.tv (@RIZINTV_) December 11, 2024

Rizin Fighting Federation has put together an interesting card for New Year’s Eve.

Rizin 49 “Decade” goes down at Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo on Dec. 31. The card will be headlined by lightweight champ Roberto Satoshi de Souza (17-3) putting his belt on the line against former featherweight champ Vugar Karamov (20-5).

Souza is coming off back-to-back first round knockout wins and is 3-2 in his last five with both losses coming in promotional crossovers with Bellator stars A.J. McKee and Patricky Freire. Meanwhile, Karamov lost his featherweight title via a knockout against Chihiro Suzuki at …

🚨 Deiveson Figueiredo says he's willing to go back down to flyweight and fight Alexandre Pantoja for the belt 👀

"Since [Pantoja] is looking for someone, I think I'm the best option. I'm available man...

Advertisement

In my entire career in the UFC, I only missed weight once... If I have… pic.twitter.com/SUJW8gJH2l — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 11, 2024

Alexandre Pantoja and Deiveson Figueiredo are teasing an Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight rematch.

Pantoja (29-5) has defended his flyweight strap thrice since winning it against Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 last year. “The Cannibal” most recently choked out two-time Rizin Fighting Federation champ Kai Asakura who received an immediate shot at UFC 310 earlier this month after signing with the UFC. This is mostly due to a lack of flyweight challenges for Pantoja, apart from running it back with Moreno or Royval.

However, a new contender has seemingly entered …