Martial Arts News

An injury to Tom Aspinall derailed the UFC Fight Night 208 main event against Curtis Blaydes.

The fight was extremely brief, lasting only 15 seconds. Blaydes (17-3, 1 NC) opened the fight well landing several punches. After Aspinall (12-3) countered with a leg kick, he then recoiled to the floor. On the step back, the British fighter appeared to have hurt his right knee, clutching it, and the fight ended. Doctors attended to Aspinall, who was able to get up and be assisted to the back after several minutes on the ground.

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With the TKO victory, Blaydes has now won three straight.Hermansson Schools Curtis The co-main event saw middleweight contenders Jack Hermansson and Chris Curtis clash for three rounds. "The Joker" controlled the fight early by landing kicks from a distance and some solid right hands. Curtis (29-9) failed to adjust between rounds, which allowed Hermansson (23-7) to really amp up his offense and land slashing standing elbows. Despite…

Fight announcements for RIZIN 37 from 2pm JST! Live translation thread will be provided here on our official English Twitter account!

Stay tuned for some great matchups! https://t.co/zTXgTaVeB9

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) July 7, 2022 Rizin Fighting Federation has made the lineup for its 2022 return to the Saitama Super Arena one to remember.

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The organization sent out its press release on Thursday morning confirming the 15-bout listing for Rizin 37. This July 31 fight card will post up inside the iconic Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and it will feature the opening round of its first women’s atomweight tournament since 2017. A few matchups have been added, including Marcos Yoshio Souza vs. Daichi Abe at a 176-pound catchweight, while Sora Yamamoto will also be joining the event against Vugar Karamov by replacing Rikuto Shirakawa.

While much of the event had already been put together earlier in July, th…

[embedded content] If the Professional Fighters League’s Larissa Pacheco is accurate in her assessment, a million-dollar prize may be within her grasp.

In 2019, Pacheco joined the PFL and entered into its inaugural women’s lightweight bracket. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight had moved up 10 pounds in her lone regional bout after leaving the UFC, beating future UFC talent Karol Rosa at featherweight. Over one year later, she stepped into the PFL cage at lightweight, and she drew the 3-0 Harrison only to drop a decision. The Brazilian bounced back with a quick armbar over Bobbi Jo Dalziel to reach the playoffs, and a decision win over Sarah Kaufman slotted her into the finals, in a rematch against Harrison.

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This time, it took Harrison the full five rounds to get the win, but the two-time Olympic gold medalist cleanly swept every round and even earned a 50-43 score on one judge’s card. After those losses, Pacheco totally changed he…

While Professional Fighters League will hold a pair of playoff events in the United Kingdom this year, it will be going international in a much bigger fashion in 2023.

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The organization announced on Thursday the launch of PFL Europe, which will debut next year. According to a release, all events will be held and broadcast in primetime in Europe, with cards featuring top emerging fighters from the region. PFL Europe is expected to provide an avenue for the best fighters from the league to make it to the “PFL global talent roster.”

“I am pleased to announce the PFL will launch PFL Europe in 2023 to further advance the sport of MMA and fuel PFL’s next phase of global expansion starting in Europe, the number one international MMA growth region,“ said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “Europe is rich with top fighters who are ready to compete in the PFL’s season format on a major stage and passionate MMA fans throughout the region will now have access to premium ev…

The UFC 277 card has undergone some shuffling, as both Diego Ferreira and Mariya Agapova have been forced to withdraw from their respective bouts.

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Ferreira has pulled out of a proposed lightweight clash against Drakkar Klose due to an undisclosed injury. The promotion is currently seeking a replacement opponent for Klose. BJPenn.com was first to report Ferreira’s exit.

Ferreira went 0-3 in 2021, falling to ranked lightweights Beneil Dariush, Gregor Gillespie and Mateusz Gamrot in succession. Prior to that skid, the Fortis MMA product own six consecutive bouts in UFC competition from 2016 to 2020.

Klose has won four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 34-year-old Fight Ready representative scored a second-round TKO of Brandon Jenkins at UFC on ESPN 34.

Elsewhere on the UFC 277 bill, Joselyne Edwards will replace Agapova and lock horns with Ji Yeon Kim in a women’s flyweight bout. MMAFighting.com reported the news, adding…

Nate Diaz hasn’t been shy about voicing his displeasure with the UFC in recent months.

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The popular Stockton, Calif., native discussed his difficulties dealing with the promotion during an appearance on "The MMA Hour," sounding like a fighter who was ready to fulfill his obligations to the UFC and move on to other endeavors.

“I was trying to get this s—t on the road, but they don’t want me out of contract and they’re keeping me in there and they’re holding me hostage,” Diaz said. “And I want out. That’s my main objective here.”

Diaz last competed at UFC 263, where he suffered suffered a unanimous decision loss to current welterweight No. 1 contender Leon Edwards in June 2021. Since then, he claims the UFC hasn’t come through with a concrete offer for a fight, despite plenty of suggestions from his side.

“They haven’t offered me anybody,” Diaz said. “I’ve been asking for fights since whenever. I asked for a lot of fights. I asked for [Vicente] …

If Rafael Fiziev is going to fight again in 2022, it won’t be until the end of the year.

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The surging lightweight suffered a broken nose in his fifth-round knockout victory against Rafael dos Anjos this past Saturday and will require surgery. “Ataman” is expected to undergo the procedure on Wednesday and is targeting a return by November or December. Ariel Helwani was first to report Fiziev’s injury.

Fiziev referenced a possible injury following his win over dos Anjos at the UFC on ESPN 39 post-fight press conference on Saturday night.

“This is first time in 20 years of fighting and he broke my nose,” Fiziev said then. “I can't breathe now. I think I might need to go to hospital and need surgery.”

Fiziev also called for a fight with two-time title challenger Justin Gaethje. If that comes to fruition, it won’t be until the end of 2022 at the earliest. Fiziev has won six consecutive fights in UFC competition, currently the fourth-longest …

Kayla Harrison will begin her run for a third consecutive Professional Fighters League lightweight championships in earnest on Aug. 20.

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The card for the PFL playoff event at the Copperbox Arena in London has been finalized, and Harrison will square off against Czech kickboxer Martina Jindrova in the evening’s featured bout. On the other side of the women’s 155-pound bracket, top seed Larissa Pacheco will face Helena Kolesnyk.

PFL 9 will also include the men’s featherweight semifinals, as Chris Wade takes on Brendan Loughnane, and Ryoji Kudo meets Bubba Jenkins. The main draw airs at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT on ESPN and ESPN+.

“Heading to London is huge for the expansion of the League,” said PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo. “We are bringing our brand of MMA to the UK and I’m sure they are going to be as excited as I am to see elite fighters like Kayla Harrison, Chris Wade and Brendan Loughnane compete with so much on the line.”

On…

A proposed welterweight clash pitting Abubakar Nurmagomedov against Philip Rowe will not happen this Saturday on UFC on ABC 3 as originally planned.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced that troubles for both fighters resulted in the cancellation of the bout. Visa issues forced Nurmagomedov out of the fight, while an injury led to Rowe’s withdrawal.

As a result, UFC on ABC 3 will proceed with 12 fights. The event takes place at the UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., and is headlined by a featherweight duel between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez. The main card airs on ABC and ESPN+ at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, while prelims are broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+ at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT.

The 32-year-old Nurmagomedov is 1-1 in UFC competition. He debuted in the Octagon with a first-round submission loss to David Zawada at UFC Fight Night 163 in November 2019 before outpointing Jared Gooden at UFC 260 in March 2021. The Dagestani has compiled a 16-3-1 career …

The mixed martial arts world is eagerly awaiting the date and opponent for Charles Oliveira in a fight for the vacant UFC lightweight title.

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Chute Boxe coach Diego Lima recently made it clear that Oliveira had his preferences, which included Conor McGregor in Brazil at the top of the wish list. The backup plan was Islam Makhachev in Brazil, while the least desirable option was to face Makhachev in Abu Dhabi. However, Lima added that the UFC had the last word.

Last Friday in Las Vegas, Oliveira told Combate TV that if the UFC met his payment demands, he would accept a fight with Makhachev in Abu Dhabi.

“It would be great to fight in Brazil against Conor. Everybody knows I’m interested in that fight because of the money and business,” he said. “But if UFC really wants that fight with Makhachev, just put [enough] money in my bank account so that I´ll fight no matter the location. I´m professional, I´m the champion, I’ll fight.”    …

After winning the Legacy Fighting Alliance grand prix in Brazil in 2021, Carlos Leal Miranda made his way to the Professional Fighters League, where he has gone farther than expected in a short period of time.

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Miranda earned a spot on the PFL roster with a pair of victories on the Challenger Series before upsetting two-time champion Ray Cooper III on May 6. Now he finds himself in the PFL playoffs and one fight away from competing for a $1 million prize. In an ideal world, the Brazilian would square off against Rory MacDonald in the PFL finals. Miranda faces Sadibou Sy in one welterweight semifinal, while MacDonald meets Magomed Umalatov in the other half of the bracket on Aug. 13.

“I would like to face MacDonald because he was a guy I always watched fighting,” Miranda told Sherdog.com. “I can say I'm a fan. I always watched his fights, and beating a guy I saw on TV would be a great achievement.”

But the welterweight knows that he will h…

Ich habe so vielen Menschen zu danken. Sie wissen, wer das bist du.

Auf zur nächsten Reise 👮♀️ #Rentner #offiziell #mma #wmma #danke #zumateam #ufc #strikeforce #pflmma #invictafc pic.twitter.com/gKEL2tQU42

— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) 30. Juni 2022 Nach vielen anstrengenden Jahren im Sport, ehemaliger Invicta Fighting Championships und Strikeforce Champion Sarah Kaufmanns hat beschlossen, es Karriere zu nennen.

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Auf sozial Medium am Donnerstag, Kaufman gab ihren Rücktritt von MMA bekannt, abschluss ihrer Zeit im Sport, die 2006 professionell begann. Der WMMA-Pionier, der für die meisten großen MMA-Turniere angetreten ist beförderungen, die ihre Abteilung hielten, werden nach dem Setzen weitergehen zusammen ein Rekord von 22 Siegen, zwei Niederlagen und einem Nein Wettbewerb. Bemerkenswert, Sie behauptete, die ersten Strikeforce-Frauen Bantamgewichtsgürtel, der erste große 135-Pfund-Titel für Frauen in Nordamerika Ameri…