Martial Arts News

[embedded content] Editor's note: The article has been updated at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday to add additional information.

Khamzat Chimaev has fumbled the biggest opportunity of his career.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship was slated to return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a highly anticipated welterweight clash between Chimaev and Nate Diaz, but that has now changed. Weight concerns plagued many competitors ahead of UFC 279, and even though only three officially missed weight, one of the most important players tipped the scales way over the limit. As a result, the final three bouts of the evening have changed, with new matchups in each. Now, Diaz will fight in the five-round main event against Tony Ferguson.

Despite losing his last two fights, and with his last win coming in 2019, Diaz (20-13) finds himself in another pay-per-view main event. The fan-favorite fighter from Stockton, Calif., is on the last fight of his UFC contract and will…

[embedded content] The Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight championship will be on the line at KSW 74.

Philip De Fries is looking to make his seventh straight defense of the KSW heavyweight title. In his way is Ricardo Prasel, who has put together back-to-back wins in the promotion. Both heavyweights had no trouble making weight, although two fighters down the card missed weight. Pawel Politylo came in heavy for his bantamweight bout against Werlleson Martins Ribeiro and has been fined 40 percent of his purse, plus Anita Bekus has been fined 30 percent of her purse for coming in heavy for her strawweight bout against Sofiia Bagishvili.

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Having not lost since 2017, De Fries (21-6, 1 NC) is currently on a roll with a nine-fight win streak. The champion will be the larger man by 26 pounds after weighing in at 264 pounds. Meanwhile, Prasel (13-3) is coming off a TKO win over Michal Kita and an ankle lock submission victory against Daniel Omielanczuk. The…

The 𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 rematch in UAE Warriors history is official!! 🤩

UAEW Featherweight Title 🏆🇨🇦 @bigcatsreal vs. AlQaisi 🇯🇴

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Sept 17 | @etihadarena_ae | @UFCFightPass #UAEWarriors33 #UAEW33 #UAEWarriors pic.twitter.com/2lMyL7mt5S — UAE Warriors (@uae_warriors) August 11, 2022

Jesse Arnett will defend his featherweight championship against Ali AlQaisi when their rematch headlines UAE Warriors 33 on Sept. 17 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Tahir Abdullaev risks his welterweight crown against Josh Togo in the co-main event.

Arnett heads in to show on a two-fight winning streak. The 38-year-old Canadian has not competed since he prompted what some viewed as a controversial doctor stoppage against AlQaisi in the second round of their UAE Warriors 30 pairing on July 2. Arnett has delivered 15 of his 20 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. AlQaisi, meanwhile, has ra…

[embedded content] Chaos ensued ahead of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s latest pay-per-view press conference.

On Thursday night, the UFC staged its regular press conference for fans and media ahead of its marquee show. UFC 279 will go down on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and as is tradition two days before the fights, the promotion brought all the fighters together to place on stage and take questions, followed by a staredown, for the last gathering before the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday. Things did not go according to plan, as the UFC’s streamed press conference cut in unexpectedly, with president Dana White trying to keep things together. On the stage with him were only main card combatants Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez.

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“Absolute s---show back there,” an exasperated White remarked when asked about what just happened. “Ask them [Holland and Rodriguez] questions.”

After a brief topic for Holland – who was allegedly inv…

The Professional Fighters League has scooped a big name for next year’s tournament season.

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, ESPN broke the news that former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Thiago Santos (22-11) is no longer under contract with the UFC. He has signed with the PFL, where he plans on competing in its 205-pound division starting in 2023. Per ESPN, in interviews with PFL president Ray Sefo and Santos’ manager Alex Davis, Santos’ contract had not ended, but the UFC allowed for his release. The organization celebrated his signing on social media shortly after the story came out.

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“It was an amicable separation with the UFC,” Davis explained to ESPN. “Thiago is very grateful for everything the UFC did for him, and he’s very grateful toward the PFL for signing with him. He’s looking forward to winning a million dollars.”

The Rio de Janeiro native has struggled as of late, falling short by razor-close split decision to c…

The UFC Fight Night 210 card has taken a hit, as Giga Chikadze has withdrawn from a proposed co-main event clash against Sodiq Yusuff on Sept. 17.

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MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news. A reason for Chikadze’s exit is currently unclear. The promotion is reportedly seeking a replacement opponent for Yusuff. UFC Fight Night 210 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight scrap between Cory Sandhagen and Yadong Song.

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Chikadze had an eight-fight professional winning streak halted in his last outing, when he dropped a five-round verdict against Calvin Kattar in the UFC on ESPN 32 headliner on Jan. 15. The 34-year-old Georgian earned notable wins over Cub Swanson and Edson Barboza before falling to Kattar.

Yusuff has been victorious in five of six promotional appearances. Most recently, the 29-year-old Team Lloyd Irvin export outpointed Alex Caceres …

The vídeo of the altercation between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev posted on Costa´s YouTube channel earlier this week led to mixed reactions in the MMA community.

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Some fans thought it was theater created by both teams in order to make a potential matchup for UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, while others thought the conflict was real since it would make no sense for Chimaev to fight Costa in Brazil when he’s already so close to the welterweight title.

Chimaev’s coach, Alan “Finfou” Nascimento, told Sherdog.com that the altercation was real. The black belt added that the bad blood began when Costa published a video on social media cheering on Nate Diaz while badmouthing Chimaev.

"Khamzat didn’t like the things he said about him and when we arrived at [the UFC Performance Institute], ‘Borrachinha’ was there working with Diaz’s coach, Jake Shields, in the same area,” Nascimento said. “Khamzat immediately wanted to go there to talk to him, but I told …

Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo will now have five rounds in which to settle their differences.

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The flyweight bout will now serve as the main event for UFC Fight Night 212 on Oct. 15, the promotion announced Wednesday. UFC Fight Night 212 was originally expected to be headlined by a middleweight clash pitting Jared Cannonier against Sean Strickland, but that bout was canceled when Strickland was forced to withdraw due to an infected finger.

Order UFC 279 "Chimaev vs. Diaz" exclusively on ESPN+

Grasso and Araujo were scheduled to meet at UFC on ESPN 41 on Aug. 13 but was removed due to visa issues for Grasso. Prior to that, an Araujo injury nixed a proposed bout between the two at UFC 270.

Grasso has won three straight fights since moving up to 125 pounds, including a first-round submission triumph against Joanne Wood in her last outing at UFC on ESPN 33 on March 26.

Araujo, meanwhile, has been victorious in three of her last fou…

Kamaru Usman didn’t leave UFC 278 with the welterweight belt, but he did take home the highest disclosed payday of anyone on the card.

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“The Nigerian Nightmare” earned $500,000 for his fifth-round knockout loss to Leon Edwards in the main event of the Aug. 20 card, which took place at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. Edwards, the newly crowned champion, garnered $350,000 in victory. The Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission recently released a full list of salaries from the event.

Elsewhere, ex-featherweight king Jose Aldo earned $400,000 in a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili ($198,000) in a 135-pound matchup on the evening’s main card. All told, seven fighters secured six-figure salaries, including Paulo Costa ($130,000), Luke Rockhold ($200,000) and Marcin Tybura ($240,000).

Order UFC 279 "Chimaev vs. Diaz" exclusively on ESPN+ Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic commissions do not include any performance-based or di…

A previously rumored lightweight clash between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler now has a date and venue.

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UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell informed promotion broadcast partner ESPN on Wednesday that the fight will take place at UFC 281 on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York. In addition to that news, Chandler has signed a new, multi-fight deal with the UFC. Poirier vs. Chandler will be contested over three rounds, although Poirier reportedly wanted it to be a five-round bout. Chandler, meanwhile, initially hoped for the matchup to take place in December.

Order UFC 279 "Chimaev vs. Diaz" exclusively on ESPN+

Tensions are already high between the two lightweights. Poirier and Chandler were involved in a brief confrontation while attending UFC 276 at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas on July 2. While it’s unclear what started the altercation, both men had to be separated by security while they yelled obscenities and threats at…

One on Prime Video 3 will feature a pair of title fights at the top of the bill.

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Reinier de Ridder will defend his middleweight (205-pound) strap against Shamil Abdulaev in the headliner, while John Lineker will put his bantamweight (145-pound) belt on the line against Fabricio Andrade in the co-main event. The Singapore-based promotion confirmed the bookings following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

One on Prime Video 3 takes place at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Oct. 21, and the card airs live in the United States on Amazon Prime Video beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

A title holder at both light heavyweight and middleweight in One, de Ridder is 16-0 as a professional. In his most recent outing, “The Dutch Knight” submitted Vitaly Bigdash in the opening round of their bout at One Championship 159 to defend his middleweight crown.

Dagestan’s Abdulaev will make enter his One debut with a 13-1 career mark. The CSKA…

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

Darren Till and Dricus Du Plessis have agreed to a middleweight bout at UFC 282.

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ESPN was first to bring word of the pairing, which is close to being finalized. UFC 282 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 10 and is expected to feature a light heavyweight championship rematch between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira.

Order UFC 279 "Chimaev vs. Diaz" exclusively on ESPN+

Till has yet to compete in 2022 after being forced to withdraw from a proposed matchup against Jack Hermansson in July due to injury. The former welterweight title challenger has lost four of his last five Octagon appearances and is coming off a third-round submission defeat to Derek Brunson at UFC Fight Night 191 in September 2021.

A former KSW champion, Du Plessis is 3-0 thus far in UFC competition. Most recently, the South African defeated Brad Tavares via uanimous decision at UFC 276 to ru…