Martial Arts News

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Two weeks ago, Paulo Costa told Sherdog.com in an interview that if the fans wanted it, he’d accept a fight against Luke Rockhold.

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According to Brazilian outlet Combate.com, and confirmed with sources close to the fighters, that bout will happen on Aug. 20. When Rockhold initially floated the idea of a fight with Costa, the Brazilian shot it down on social media, saying he wasn’t interested in facing an unranked opponent. But with much of the rest of the middleweight division being booked for summer matchups, Rockhold may have been one of the last remaining options for Costa.

“Borrachinha” is coming off back-to-back defeats against Marvin Vettori and Israel Adesanya in his last two UFC appearances. The 31-year-old Brazilian began his professional tenure with 13 consecutive triumphs — 11 by KO or TKO — before suffering his first defeat in a middleweight title clash with Adesanya at …

An entertaining welterweight clash is on tap for International Fight Week, as Robbie Lawler will square off against Bryan Barberena at UFC 276.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing after Barberena announced it on his Instagram page. UFC 276 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card is also expected to include a flyweight showdown pitting Miesa Tate against Lauren Murphy.

Lawler snapped a four-bout skid in his last outing, when he defeated Nick Diaz via third-round TKO at UFC 266 this past September. Prior to that, the former welterweight champ had dropped consecutive fights against Neil Magny, Colby Covington, Ben Askren and Rafael dos Anjos.

Barberena, meanwhile, has won three of his last four in the Octagona and is coming off a split-decision triumph against Matt Brown at UFC on ESPN 33 on March 26. Barberena recently signed a new contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion after openly stating that he’d consider retiremen…

Joaquin Buckley will lock horns with Albert Duraev in a middleweight clash at UFC on ESPN 37.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announced the booking. UFC on ESPN 37 takes place at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas on June 18 and is headlined by featherweight duel between Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN2 and ESPN+ beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

Buckley had been previously linked to a matchup with Abusupiyan Magomedov on June 4, but that bout did not come to fruition. The 28-year-old Finney’s Hit Squad representative has won four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, he took a split verdict over Abdul Razak Alhassan at UFC Fight Night 201 on Feb. 19.

The 33-year-old Duraev earned a UFC contract thanks to a first-round submission of Caio Bitencourt on Dana White’s Contender Series last year. In his Octagon debut, “Machete” outpointed…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOF0aWvVtEE&w=560&h=315]

Quemuel Ottoni, the only man to defeat Alex Pereira thus far in his short MMA career, captured the Jungle Fight welterweight crown this past Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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To win the title, Ottoni dominated Jose Diaz on the feet for two rounds before submitting him with a rear-naked choke at the 2:40 mark of Round 3 in the Jungle Fight 107 main event. Ottoni, who owns six career victories under the Jungle Fight baner, responded to what he says was a private message from Pereira in the aftermath of his championship triumph.

 “Alex ‘Poatan’ sent me a private message saying that I would be nothing more than a ‘Jungle fighter.’ Today I am Jungle champion,” Ottoni said. “A title, by the way, that you never conquered. And don't forget that it was in this cage that I submitted you.”

After the event, Ottoni revealed to PVT journalist Leonardo Fabri that his goal is to compete in…

A women’s featherweight showdown pitting Cat Zingano against Pam Sorenson that was originally slated for Bellator 276 is now in the works for Bellator 282.

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Zingano, who pulled out of the original booking due to injury, first mentioned the matchup during an interview with The Schmo. MMAFighting.com has since reported that both fighters have verbally agreed to the pairing.

Additionally, Sabah Homasi has signed a new contract with the promotion and will square off against Maycon Mendonca at Bellator 282. The California-based organization confirmed the bout following an initial report from Cageside Press.

Bellator 282 takes place on June 24 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and is headlined by a middleweight title clash between Gegard Mousasi and Johnny Eblen. The main card airs on Showtime and will also include a pair of semifinals in the bantamweight grand prix, as Magomed Magomedov meets Enrique Barzola, while Leandro Higo takes on D…

Photos submitted by Jorge Masvidal’s attorney, Bradford Cohen, depict the alleged injuries to the face of “C.C.” — his identifier for Covington — as exhibits in a request for the fighter’s medical records.

Story by @MMAFightingSM https://t.co/gJA0Q2hjGQ pic.twitter.com/gpVDzpIhqR

— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) May 3, 2022

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There is now some visual evidence of the damage suffered by Colby Covington in an alleged attack by UFC rival Jorge Masvidal outside a Miami restaurant on March 21.

The images surfaced after Masvidal’s attorneys included them in a motion filed requesting Covington’s medical records. Covington recently modified his complaint, adding that he suffered a brain injury in addition to a fractured tooth, wrist abrasion and damage to his Rolex watch. While Covington’s tooth is clearly broken in the images, Masvidal’s attorney, Bradford Cohen, expressed skepticism in the fighter’s claims regarding the brain i…

Justin Gaethje has been critical of Charles Oliveira in the past, and “The Highlight” isn’t exactly walking back those comments as their lightweight title bout as UFC 274 approaches.

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Gaethje has previously accused Oliviera of quitting in fights. In a recent interview with ESPN, Gaethje explained his reasoning.

“Something about me, I say what I think,” Gaethje said. “I wasn’t being overly critical, he wasn’t a bad champion. I was saying in the times that he’s lost, he didn’t even get knocked out — he quit sometimes. The choice to quit is something that one makes, and once you make it you can make it again, because you know that it’s there. I don’t believe I’ve ever made that choice.

“I believe that he has. That’s all I was saying is that I believe deep down he knows his way out and that’s to quit when he gets hit too many times, too hard.”

Oliveira was up-and-down early in his UFC tenure, but the reigning 155-pound king is in the midst of a 1…

Dan Hooker began his career at featherweight, but after an unsuccessful return to 145 pounds in March, it sounds like he’ll be competing at lightweight for the foreseeable future.

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Hooker is coming off a first-round technical knockout loss to Arnold Allen in a featherweight bout at UFC Fight Night 204 in London on March 19. That move came on the heels of a stretch in which he lost three of four lightweight appearances. Ultimately, Hooker decided the effort needed to make 145 pounds wasn’t worth it.

“I felt like I could’ve stayed at 145, but obviously a lot of sacrifice goes into that,” Hooker said on Submission Radio. “But off of the result of the last fight, and then I feel like I’m in the exact same position at both weight classes – so why not? Why would I make the extra sacrifice? The extra sacrifice was to get me back in the same position that I was in. You know what I mean? But if I’m in the exact same position, I’d rather be in the exact same …

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

The physical transformation was evident on the scales, but the results remained the same for Alexander Romanov at UFC on ESPN 35.

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The biggest favorite on Saturday’s card, Romanov rolled through Chase Sherman for a submission win 2:11 into Round 1 of their preliminary heavyweight bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The more svelte Romanov revealed that he underwent something a physical transformation while speaking to assembled media after the fight.

“My body has changed a lot,” Romanov said. “We a lot worked with my coach and trainer on cardio, on our footwork. My coach made for me a special diet. I lost around 45 pounds in the last three months. I feel that I’m in the best shape of my career now. But we just started this.”

The 31-year-old Moldovan wasted little time taking his opponent down, moving to mount and unloading ground-and-pound before securing a keylock to elicit a tap from She…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

The physical transformation was evident on the scales, but the results remained the same for Alexander Romanov at UFC on ESPN 35.

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The biggest favorite on Saturday’s card, Romanov rolled through Chase Sherman for a submission win 2:11 into Round 1 of their preliminary heavyweight bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The more svelte Romanov revealed that he underwent something a physical transformation while speaking to assembled media after the fight.

“My body has changed a lot,” Romanov said. “We a lot worked with my coach and trainer on cardio, on our footwork. My coach made for me a special diet. I lost around 45 pounds in the last three months. I feel that I’m in the best shape of my career now. But we just started this.”

The 31-year-old Moldovan wasted little time taking his opponent down, moving to mount and unloading ground-and-pound before securing a keylock to elicit a tap from She…

A middleweight showdown pitting Darren Till against Jack Hermansson has been targeted for UFC Fight Night in London on July 23.

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MMANytt.se was first to report the booking. UFC London takes place at the O2 Arena and features a heavyweight tilt between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall.

A former welterweight title challenger, Till has lost four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Gorilla” was submitted by Derek Brunson in the third-round of their main event bout at UFC Fight Night 191 last September. Till’s lone victory during this recent rough stretch was a split-decision triumph against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244.

Hermansson, meanwhile, has alternated wins and losses in his last six UFC bouts. “The Joker” is coming of a split-decision setback to Sean Strickland in the UFC Fight Night 200 headliner on Feb. 5. Prior to that, he outpointed Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Fight Night 188 in his lone outing of 2021.

The first time Marlon Vera and Jose Aldo squared off, it didn’t go Vera’s way.

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Aldo defeated Vera via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 183 in December 2020. While Vera enjoyed success with leg kicks and knees in close quarters, Aldo punctuated his victory with a takedown and back control in the third round. With three straight victories under his belt since then, Vera wouldn’t mind crossing paths with Aldo in the Octagon again.

“I would love to fight Aldo again, especially in a five-rounder especially since he declined a five-rounder when we fought last December (2020),” Vera said on Saturday. “I would love to kick his ass. If we get to match again I would finish him, I can guarantee you that.”

Vera held up well in a five-round affair at UFC on ESPN 35, where he scored three knockdowns en route to a unanimous decision triumph over Rob Font in Saturday night’s bantamweight headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

“I feel good in there. I j…