Martial Arts News

A scary-fun Ultimate Fighting Championship scrap is on the books for the event on Halloween weekend.

On Friday, Eurosport Spain broke the news that Edson Barboza (22-11) will be throwing down with Ilia Topuria (12-0) at 145 pounds on Oct. 29. The event, which does not yet have a title or official venue, will be a Fight Night offering that could air either on ESPN+ or one of the main networks, depending on scheduling. This potential featherweight thriller has since been confirmed by multiple outlets. This bout is the first to be officially listed on the Oct. 29 show’s lineup, and it is not expected to serve as the headliner.

Barboza will be looking to right the ship after a pair of defeats to Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The dangerous Brazilian striker dropped down to featherweight in 2020, and dropped a contentious split decision to Dan Ige to start things off. A pair of victories over Makwan Amirkhani and Shane Burgos showed the m…

[embedded content] Bellator MMA featherweight king Patricio Freire firmly believes he is the best featherweight on the planet, regardless of organization.

Three months after regaining his belt in a unanimous decision win over AJ McKee, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire does not yet know who will be his next opponent. According to the champion, Adam Borics may vie for the strap before McKee moves forward into the rubber match. “Pitbull” claimed his title back from the man who wrested it from him in McKee in April, making him the first fighter in Bellator history to have four reigns as champion. Freire spoke to Sherdog about that second McKee fight as well as what he thinks will come in his future.

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“What the organization told me is that to make a trilogy, it’s necessary to have some[thing] ‘spicy,’ and they are not sure if it’s occurring now,” the champ explained. “Once Borics defeated Burnell in a title contender fight, he might get the c…

BREAKING: @MatheusBuffa replaces Bruno Cappelozza in the #PFLPlayoffs! Scheffel faces Denis Goltsov in the Heavyweight Semifinals on Saturday, August 13th in Cardiff!

— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 28, 2022 The Professional Fighters League’s card in Wales has just experienced a number of shakeups to its lineup.

The PFL sent out a press release on Thursday announcing or confirming a slew of changes to the PFL 8: 2022 Playoffs. The Aug. 13 card that will take place in the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales, has lost one of its heavyweight semifinalists: 2022 champion Bruno Cappelozza (15-6). Due to injury, he has been forced out of the million-dollar playoffs, and in his stead will be the man who beat him in June in Matheus Scheffel (16-8). Due to playoff tiebreaker rules, Cappelozza advanced despite suffering a head-to-head defeat to Scheffel, but Scheffel will now be the one moving on. “Buffa” will square off with Denis Goltsov (29-7) on the main card …

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Nominees for the fan-selected World MMA Awards have been announced, and your favorite outlet—hopefully—is on the ballot for MMA Media Source of the Year.

Fighters Only Magazine, which has covered mixed martial arts since 2005 and launched its annual awards in 2008, on Wednesday announced the nominees in over 20 categories for the 14th edition of the World MMA Awards. The contest year covers July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. In addition to unveiling the nominees, Fighters Only announced its plan to return to a full in-person awards ceremony in Las Vegas, of the type that had long been a yearly tradition, but was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are back to a full-strength awards show this year, that will be our biggest to date,” Fighters Only CEO Rob Hewitt said in a press release. “Las Vegas will once again be home to the world’s best MMA fighters and celebrity fans who will all come together to celebrate. Growing on previous years, the …

Joseph Pyfer did everything he was supposed to do, and he was rewarded for it.

The former Ring of Combat titleholder nailed down an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he wiped out Osman Diaz with punches in the second round of their featured middleweight pairing on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Diaz (7-2) bowed out 1:39 into Round 2, his five-fight winning streak at an end.

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Pyfer (8-1) seized the reins early in the first round and never truly released them. He struck for a takedown inside 45 seconds, threatened with an arm-triangle choke, advanced to the back and secured his position with a body triangle. Diaz eventually reversed into top position but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Pyfer rattled the reigning Legacy Fighting Alliance champion with a crisp one-two at the start of the middle stanza and reset himself for his next assault. He leveled Diaz with a beautiful left hook,…

Sherdog's live DWCS 2022 Week 1 coverage will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

ODDS: Costa (-265); Luna (+225)Round 1 Flyweight hopefuls Costa and Luna touch gloves and set to work under the watchful eye of referee Chris Tognoni. Costa sets up in orthodox stance; Luna switches between both stances in the early going. Nearly a minute in, Costa lands the first hard shot, an outside kick to Luna’s left calf. Costa lands another. Luna has a huge reach advantage, but hasn’t thrown much so far. Two minutes in, Luna lands a right body kick. Luna switching stances frequently, pawing with a right jab. Luna springs forward with a left, then a right high kick. Luna backs Costa up with a front kick up the middle. With a minute left, neither man has thrown much offense. Costa bounces into range and lands a one-two. Costa with a right body kick. Costa counters a Luna front kick with a pair of punch…

Someone close to the situation confirmed to me that the clash between Manon Fiorot and Katlyn Chookagian scheduled for #UFCParis has been moved to the #UFC280 card on Oct. 22. Story coming to @sherdogdotcom.

First reported by @RMCsport pic.twitter.com/R3M7Jcd8Qj

— Tudor Leonte (@MrTudorLeonte) July 26, 2022

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Fans attending the upcoming UFC Fight Night 209 at Accor Arena in Paris, France, won’t see Manon Fiorot competing on the card. French media outlet RMC Sport reported that the fighter wouldn’t be taking on Katlyn Chookagian as initially scheduled after Fiorot injured her knee. Instead, their 125-pound clash has been moved to UFC 280, which will go down in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 22. Sherdog confirmed the news through a source close to the situation.

Fiorot, a former UAE Warriors titleholder (9-1, 4-0 UFC), is currently pursuing a run at Valentina Shevchenko’s flyweight crown. “The Beast” is riding an impressive nine-…

[embedded content] Someone should have told Willian Souza Guadalupe that his fight was scheduled at bantamweight, not featherweight.

Four fights remain on the first jaunt of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022. The event, titled DWCS 2022: Week 1, held its weigh-ins on Monday with one surprising result. While nine fighters hit their proper marks, and a light heavyweight came in at 201 pounds, Souza tipped the scales at 146 pounds for his bantamweight bout with Farid Basharat (136). The official 10-pound weight miss stands as the highest in the short history of DWCS, surpassing Victor Reyna's seven-pound blunder during the 2019 season. As a result, the Nevada Athletic Commission has scratched that fight from the event’s lineup.

The featured bout of the evening will still remain as a middleweight clash between Osman Diaz (7-1) and Joseph Pyfer (8-2). Weighing 186 pounds, Diaz comes into this main event pairing on a five-fight finish streak mostly under the Bellator M…

Seven months after the loss to Julianna Pena that cost her the bantamweight belt and, for many, put in doubt her status as the greatest female fighter in MMA history, Amanda Nunes returns to the Octagon next Saturday in Dallas, Texas, for a long-awaited rematch with the American in the main event of UFC 277. Last week the “Lioness” received Brazilian journalist Evelyn Rodrigues from Rede Globo for an exclusive interview at her new gym in Sunrise, Florida. The six-minute report was shown last Sunday on Esporte Espetacular, the most watched sports program by the largest Brazilian broadcaster.

In addition to introducing her new coaches and her new gym to Brazilian fans, Nunes claimed that she is much better prepared than in her first fight. “In the first fight I had Covid and soon after I recovered I jumped into the camp with all my energy. I ended up injuring my knee which prevented me from making a correct camp. I trained one day and rested two days because the knee co…

Hey Jimi,I thought you were still asleep?#UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/ebdKQv4QQm

— AleksandarRakic (@rakic_ufc) July 24, 2022

Apparently, there was some backstage beef at the recent UFC Fight Night 208. Shortly after “UFC London” ended, current Ultimate Fighting Championship 205-pounder Aleksandar Rakic and former light heavyweight contender Jimi Manuwa had an alleged altercation when Manuwa attempted to assault his onetime rival, after which security personnel quickly intervened. Rakic took to Twitter to share a video in which he told about what had happened, stating that he was “sucker punched” by Manuwa.

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“Jimi Manuwa, you piece of s**t. You son of a b**ch. What a p**sy move you did last night on me. Guys, I’ll just let you know that after the event at UFC London, the security was escorting me to the transfer to the hotel, and ‘Mr. Still Sleep’ was sitting in my row at the end of the row, so I needed to pass him by. And…

🚨 BREAKING: Per source, former two-time Glory welterweight champion is set to make his UFC debut as he takes on Darian Weeks in a 170-pound contest at #UFCParis on Sept. 3. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/cKpvK4jD86

— Tudor Leonte (@MrTudorLeonte) July 23, 2022

One of the best kickboxers ever will soon make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut. According to a source close to the situation, two-time Glory kickboxing welterweight titleholder Cedric Doumbe is facing Darian Weeks at UFC Fight Night 209, a.k.a. “UFC Paris,” which will go down in Paris, France, on Sept. 3. The source asked to stay anonymous since the promotion hasn’t officially announced the matchup yet.

Doumbe is walking out to the Octagon for the first time bearing a record of two wins and no defeats. The French fighter fought for a long time under the Glory banner, where he won the 170-pound championship on two occasions. After piling up a 75-7-1 record, he transitioned to mixed marti…

Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann both delivered in a big way at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s second London event of 2022.

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Pimblett received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award after surviving a rough opening stanza to submit Jordan Leavitt in a featured lightweight clash at UFC Fight Night 208 on Saturday at the O2 Arena. The former Cage Warriors champion hurt his foe with a knee to the head before taking Leavitt’s back and trapping one arm in a body triangle. Shortly thereafter, “The Baddy” forced a tapout with a rear-naked choke 2:46 into the second stanza.

Meanwhile, McCann captured a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check thanks to a technical knockout victory against Hannah Goldy in their flyweight bout. “Meatball” rattled her foe with an overhand right and spinning back elbow before swarming with punches to get the stoppage at the 3:52 mark of Round 1.

Elsewhere, Nikita Krylov earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night”…