Martial Arts News

🚨 BREAKING: Brave CF alum Anton Turkalj is set to face Acacio dos Santos at the upcoming DWCS event on July 26. The pair will collide at light heavyweight. 🚨

— Tudor Leonte (@MrTudorLeonte) May 27, 2022 An exciting light heavyweight affair has been added to Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series on July 26, as Anton Turkalj takes on Acacio dos Santos. A source close to the situation relayed the information to Sherdog.com, though the promotion has not yet officially announced it.

A Brave Combat Federation alum, Turkalj (7-0) is one of the hottest prospects fighting out of the Scandinavian area at the moment. The 25-year-old fighter scored the fastest knockout BCF history when he demolished Konstantin Soldatov with a spinning backfist in just 13 seconds in April. “The Pleasure Man” has finished all seven of his opponents inside two rounds.

Dos Santos (14-4) introduces himself to the United States audience after an April 30 victory over M…

Paddy Pimblett is back!@TheUFCBaddy vs @Jojo_MonkeyKing is signed for #UFCLondon 🇬🇧

🎟️ Tickets on general sale tomorrow at 10am BST pic.twitter.com/oNLEYFkUJA

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 27, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Friday announced that Paddy Pimblett will face Jordan Leavitt in a lightweight clash as part of a UFC Fight Night event on July 23 in London. Pimblett received one of the biggest pops during the UFC’s latest foray into England, and the Nevada-based promotion undoubtedly wants to strike while the iron remains hot.

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A former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder, Pimblett (18-3, 2-0 UFC) made a successful promotional debut by stopping Luigi Vendramini with punches in the opening stanza of their lightweight affair at UFC Fight Night 191. Subsequently, he forced Rodrigo Vargas to tap to a rear-naked choke in the opening period of their UFC Fight Night 204 encounter in March. The Ne…

There was some drama ahead of the second half of Cage Warriors Fighting Championship’s latest duology.

The CW 138 main event on Saturday in Colchester, England, will feature a 185-pound tilt between former divisional titleholder James Webb and Italy’s Leon Aliu. Webb (8-3-1, 7-3-1 CW) looks to score a victory following his second-round defeat at the hands of Matthew Bonner in March 2021. The Team KF Martial Arts representative captured the championship after submitting Thomas Robertsen at CW 102, then lost it to Nathias Frederick in November 2019. The Colchester-born fighter weighed in at 184.7 pounds.

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Brave Combat Federation vet Aliu (9-1, 0-0) is also eying the divisional championship. In his latest appearance, the Iron Team Reggio Emilia standout scored a technical knockout over Esteban Mendoza. It was Aliu’s first appearance following a three-year hiatus. On the scales, Aliu checked in at 185.9 pounds.

Meanwhile, the event lost the scheduled f…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV-vqM_ZN14&w=640&h=360] Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's lone May mixed martial arts card is upon us as heavyweights Mariusz Pudzianowski and Michal Materla will meet in the KSW 70 main event.

All fighters successfully made weight for the nine-fight card. Polish strongman legend Pudzianowski (16-7, 1 NC) came in at 256 pounds for his main event clash, while Materla (31-8) will be the smaller man on Saturday weighing 222 pounds.

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"Pudzian" is currently riding a four fight win streak. His most recent outing saw the Polish fighter finish Serigne Ousmane Dia in just 18 seconds with a knockout punch. All four of his wins have come via TKO and Pudzianowski hasn't suffered defeat since May 2019. The Pudzian Team fighter will look to claim the longest win streak of his career by defeating Materla.

Meanwhile, "Magic" is coming off two victories, having won a decision over Moise Rimbon and finishing Jason Radcliffe with pu…

Hold on to your seats, folks 🎢 We've got a 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑫 one headlining in Long Island! @BrianTCity vs @PanteraUFC

[ #UFCLongIsland | Sat. July 16 | 📍 @UBSArena ] pic.twitter.com/9Y5aBqo5Ch

— UFC (@ufc) May 26, 2022

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A featherweight affair will headline the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to New York. On Thursday, UFC officials confirmed that former 145-pound title challenger Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez would collide in the main event of an upcoming UFC Fight Night event on July 16. The news also implied that the Nevada-based promotion would soon leave the UFC Apex for its Fight Night series as the upcoming event will go down at the UBS Arena in Long Island.

Ortega (15-2, 1 NC; 7-2, 1 NC UFC) is looking to bounce back after dropping a decision to Alexander Volkanovski in their championship affair at UFC 266. It was the second time “T-City” lost a title fight after suffering a fourth-round stoppage at the hands of …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e5L1ChoHaI&w=560&h=315]

Former Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder Nick Diaz might compete before the end of the year. Diaz (26-10, 2 NC; 7-7, 1 NC UFC) is preparing for his Ultimate Fighting Championship return and aims to compete in 2022. While an official opponent and date have yet to be revealed, the UFC superstar is undoubtedly willing to don the four-ounce gloves one more time. In a recent interview, Diaz claimed that he would like to face the current 170-pound kingpin, Kamaru Usman, if his return materializes.

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“I’m working on the end of the year,” Diaz said to TMZ Sports. “I’m working on it. I’d rather fight for a title. If I’m gonna fight, I want to fight for a title. That’s the thing, and they want to say if I want to fight a bunch of guys and stuff like that, but I’m like, you know what, it’s a bigger fight if you just skip all the mess. I don’t want to go in there and get my as…

The first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Paris has just gained an interesting tilt as Katlyn Chookagian will take on Manon Fiorot in a women’s flyweight clash. A source has confirmed the matchup with Sherdog, which was first reported by Boxe Mag. The winner of the bout will potentially challenge divisional and pound-for-pound queen Valentina Shevchenko.

Chookagian (18-4, 11-4 UFC) is currently riding a four-bout winning streak. All four of the fights have went the distance, including wins over Cynthia Calvillo and Viviane Araujo. Recently, she took home a narrow split-decision victory after edging Amanda Ribas at UFC on ESPN 36.

Fiorot (9-1, 4-0 UFC) hasn’t lost in her latest nine outings, including four UFC fights. The Boxing Squad representative has picked up decision victories after upending Mayra Bueno Silva and Jennifer Maia at UFC Fight Night 195 and UFC on ESPN 33, respectively.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC Fi…

The latest Cage Warriors Fighting Championship event will go down at Charter Hall in Colchester, England.

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In the CW 137 headliner, former 185-pound titleholder Matthew Bonner (11-7-1, 8-5-1 CW) will attempt to add another victory to his record. “The Beast” is 5-1 in his latest outings, which includes victories over former divisional champions Nathias Frederick and James Webb. Bonner looked good on the scales as he recorded 175.3lbs, below the limit of the 177-pound contracted catchweight.

Atch Academy standout Joel Kouadja (7-7, 0-0 CW) will make his promotional debut while riding an impressive six-bout win streak. The Frenchman finished all his latest opponents inside the distance. Kouadja hit the scales at 176.9 pounds.

In the co-main event, two promotional newcomers will collide to impress U.K. fans as Bogdan Barbu locks horns with Daan Duijs. Barbu (17-12, 0-0 CW) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Cipian Maris at RXF 40, …

OFFICIAL: #2022PFL5 Matchups are SET! @ESPNPlus | @espnmma pic.twitter.com/kkEBMWpzyD

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 26, 2022

Defending heavyweight champion Bruno Henrique Cappelozza will continue his bid to repeat against Matheus Scheffel in the PFL 5 main event on June 24.

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The promotion announced the pairings for the regular season card, which is mostly comprised of heavyweight and featherweight bouts. The exception is a lightweight clash between Anthony Pettis and Steven Ray, which will serve as the evening’s co-main event. Rounding out the main draw is a featherweight tilt between Chris Wade and Kyle Bochniak and a heavyweight scrap pitting Renan Ferreira against Klidson Abreu.

PFL 5 takes place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta Georgia. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, whle prelims stream on ESPN+ beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then strea…

According to Michel Pereira, Santiago Ponzinibbio was the toughest challenge of his career to date.

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Pereira defeated Ponzinibbio via split decision in the UFC Fight Night 206 co-main event last Saturday to make his debut in the promotion’s welterweight rankings.

  “Many factors made that the toughest challenge of my life. Besides Ponzinibbio being so tough, I fought at most at 50% of my potential,” he told Sherdog.com.

”When I arrived in Brazil, some of my trainers and sparring partners were not available. My camp was basically three days of CrossFit and boxing and two days of muay Thai. That´s why when I took Ponzinibbio´s back I released [the position], because I knew I could get tired in the grappling game.”

Pereira added that he faced visa issues in Brazil that made it a struggle to return to the United States in time for the fight.

“I traveled all over Brazil to get that visa done: Belem, Sao Paulo, Brasilia and I just arrived…

There’s a method to the madness for Andre Pederneiras.

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The Nova Uniao leader explained his motivational message to Ketlen Vieira prior to the fifth round of her UFC Fight Night 206 headlining bout against Holly Holm this past weekend. Vieira would go on to win a highly controversial split decision.

"When the corner is not sure if his fighter is winning clearly, he must tell her that she is losing in order to make his fighter attack, and that's what I did between Rounds 4 and 5 when I told Ketlen that she was losing three rounds to one and she needed a knockout or submission to get the win,” Pederneiras told Sherdog.com. “I’ve been cornering my athletes for 30 years, and countless times I was sure we were winning and we lost, so now I have changed [my approach]. But when I got home and saw the fight again, I have no doubt Ketlen won Rounds 2,3 and 4.”

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC Fight Night 207 "Volkov vs.…

A lightweight tilt between Arman Tsarukyan and Mateusz Gamrot will serve as the headliner for UFC Fight Night on June 25.

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Eurosport was first to report that the matchup had received main event status. Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot was initially reported earlier this month, but at the time it was unclear where the bout would fall on the card. Now the rising lightweight contenders will get a full five rounds in a pairing that should have serious rankings implications.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC Fight Night 207 "Volkov vs. Rozenstruik" live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

After dropping a decision to top 155-pound contender Islam Makhachev in his Octagon debut, Tsarukyan has won five consecutive bouts within the Las Vegas-based promotion. That stretch includes back-to-back TKO victories over Christos Giagos and Joel Alvarez in his last two UFC appearances. The 25-year-old Am…