Martial Arts News

The long win streak of one of these talented Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights will come to an end this June.

On Thursday morning, MMA Fighting first reported that Damir Ismagulov (23-1) would be squaring off with Guram Kutateladze (12-2) on June 18. The two lightweights will toe the line at a UFC Fight Night card on that date, and no location has been made official but it might be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas if there is not another domestic destination on the books. News of this matchup has since been confirmed by Ismagulov on his Instagram stories page.

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Winner of his last 18 bouts, Russia’s Ismagulov has rattled off four straight unanimous decision wins inside the Octagon since debuting with the company in 2018. Long layoffs have slowed what could otherwise be considered an extremely promising career, as he has notched wins over the likes of Joel Alvarez and Thiago Moises working his way through the division. Ismagulov was book…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n2eSpVAaQI&w=560&h=315]

Jungle Fight two-division champion Willian Souza will face Farid Basharat on Dana White’s Contender Series in Las Vegas on June 26.

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The Brazilian known as “Colorado” was champion at 145 and 135 pounds in Jungle Fight, but he has his sights set on UFC gold at bantamweight.

“The bantamweight champion should watch himself, because I'm coming. I’m here to terrorize the division. And I'll tell you how many fights it will take me to become UFC champion: seven fights,” Souza said in an interview with Sherdog.com.

  A training partner of Deiveson Figueiredo, the 25-year-old “Colorado” has been victorious in 11 of 12 professional outings, with all of his victories coming inside the distance. Most recently, he knockout out Pacceli Afonso Campos Almeida in the second round at Jungle Fight 106.

  “I´m really happy to be able to show Dana how good I am. I have no opponent on my le…

Chris Curtis will square off against Rodolfo Vieira in a middleweight bout at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on June 25.

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Curtis’ management initially announced the booking via Twitter. The card doesn’t have a location or a headliner at this time.

Curtis will return to action following a breakout 2021 that saw him post a 6-0 record. “The Action Man” closed out that memorable campaign in style with back-to-back stoppage victories over Phil Hawes and Brendan Allen in UFC competition. Curtis was forced to withdraw from a proposed booking against Dricus Du Plessis on April 9.

Vieira, meanwhile, was recently cleared to return to competition following a health scare. The decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner is 8-1 thus far during his MMA tenure. “The Black Belt Hunter” has been victorious in three of his four Octagon appearances and is coming off a third-round submission win over Dustin Stoltzfus at UFC on ESPN 26.

Professional Fighters League was at the forefront of some controversy last week when it came to light that its PFL Challenger Series event on April 1 was pre-recorded..

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As a result, the event was flagged for suspicious activity by U.S. Integrity, a company that monitors betting markets, when odds moved significantly in favor of the winning fighters ahead of that Friday’s broadcast on FuboTV. There was some confusion regarding the event, as all prior PFL Challenger Series events aired live, and numerous sportsbooks received action on the event. That ultimately resulted in some unsettled bets in relation to the event, as well as an ongoing investigation by U.S. Integrity.

The PFL confirmed that the event was indeed taped, however, promotion gambling personality Ian Parker was not present on the broadcast nor were betting lines listed or discussed during the card.

PFL CEO Peter Murray appeared on "The MMA Hour” to further address the controversy…

Marlon Moraes is hanging up the four-ounce gloves following a difficult stretch in which he lost his last four fights by knockout or technical knockout.

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The former World Series of Fighting champion and UFC title challenger announced his retirement through a statement released by his manager, Ali Abdelaziz.

“I want to thank everyone – Sean Shelby, Dana White and the UFC for giving me so many opportunities,” Moraes wrote. “I want to thank my family, my coaches, my manager, everybody who has been around and been part of my career. I’m still gonna be around the sport helping young guys and helping my friends. I also want to say thank you to Mark Henry, Ricardo Almeida, Frankie Edgar and Anderson França.”

Moraes last appeared at UFC Fight Night 203, where he suffered a first-round KO defeat to Yadong Song on March 12. Prior to that, the 33-year-old American Top Team representative had suffered successive TKO losses at the hands of Merab Dvalishvil…

Although Chan Sung Jung took a horrific beating in a fourth-round technical knockout loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 273, “The Korean Zombie” will only be sidelined for a minimal period of time.

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Jung received a 14-day medical suspension – as did Volkanovski – for their featherweight championship headliner, which took place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., this past Saturday. Fighters who suffer a KO/TKO defeat or take part in a difficult fight typically receive at least a 30- or 60-day term from other athletic commissions.

The Florida State Boxing Commission released a full list of medical suspensions from the event on Tuesday. The nature of each suspension was not disclosed.

No fighter on the UFC 273 bill received longer than a 45-day suspension with the exception of Tecia Torres, who received an indefinite layoff from the FSBC. Torres lost a closely-contested split decision to Mackenzie Dern in a strawweight bout…

A flyweight clash pitting Erin Blanchfield against J.J. Aldrich has been targeted for a UFC Fight Night event on June 4.

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MMAFighting.com was first to report the bout. The UFC Fight Night card does not yet have an official location or venue but is expected to include a featherweight tilt between Dan Ige and Movsar Evloev.

Blanchfield has been victorious in her last five professional outings, including two in UFC competition. The Invicta FC veteran debuted in the Octagon with a unanimous decision over Sarah Alpar at UFC Fight Night 192 before outpointing Miranda Maverick in her second bout at UFC 269.

Aldrich has won three straight within the Las Vegas-based promotion, besting Cortney Casey, Vanessa Demopoulos and Gilian Robertson in succession. The Colorado native is 7-3 during her UFC tenure and 11-4 as a professional overall.

Cain Velasquez has broken his silence the first time since being charged with attempted murder, releasing a statement on social media urging the “true victims” in the case to “come forward.”

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Velasquez is facing attempted murder and multiple other charges after firing shots at a man accused of molesting a younger relative of the fighter’s on multiple occasions. Velasquez was denied bail at an arraignment after it was determined too great a risk to release the former UFC heavyweight champion.

Velasquez’s full statement is as follows:

“To everyone that has expressed your support, my family and I will never be able to thank you enough. From the bottom of our hearts and the depths of our souls, we are forever grateful for your love. Your selfless gestures and kind words have given me strength in my darkest times. This story is complex and slowly unraveling as we speak. To the true victims of this case, may God give you the strength to come forward…

Dana White’s Contender Series alum Ange Loosa will step in on short notice to face Mounir Lazzez at UFC on ESPN 34 this Saturday.

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Loosa is a replacement for Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, who withdrew from the event for personal reasons. The Wrestling Observer was first to report the new welterweight booking. UFC on ESPN 34 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a 170-pound showdown pitting Vicente Luque against Belal Muhammad.

Loosa came up short on the Contender Series, dropping a unanimous verdict to Jack Della Maddalena this past September. The 28-year-old Fight Move Academy representative rebounded to take a unanimous decision win against UFC veteran John Howard at XMMA 4 on April 2 to run his professional mark to 8-2.

Lazzez will return to action for the first time since UFC on ESPN 20, where he suffered a first-round TKO loss to Warlley Alves in January 2021. “Sniper” debuted in the Octagon with a decision win agains…

Israel Adesanya might be a little bit biased, but he believes Alexander Volkanovski has reached a historic level among featherweights in mixed martial arts.

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Volkanovski earned his 21st consecutive professional triumph at UFC 273 this past Saturday, dominating Chan Sung Jung en route to a fourth-round stoppage at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The 33-year-old Aussie is 11-0 in UFC competition, with four victories in title bouts to his credit, and his resume includes triumphs over the likes of Jung, Brian Ortega, Max Holloway (twice), Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes.

“Standout fight [at UFC 273], Volkanovski, of course,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “The G.O.A.T. The featherweight G.O.A.T. Yeah, I’m hyped right now. I haven’t even had breakfast, I couldn’t eat because my adrenaline’s been running. Volkanovski, I said it was going to be bad. It was bad.”

Adesanya and Volkanovski, of course, both have ties to City Kickbox…

Your official #InvictaFC47: @ducote_brunette vs @aleshazapp poster has just dropped!

Current strawweight champion Emily Ducote meets her first challenger in Alesha Zappitella LIVE on Wednesday, May 11th! Witness the event streaming exclusively on @youtube at 8/7c! pic.twitter.com/OHNzpg4DXG

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) April 12, 2022

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There have been some changes to the Invicta Fighting Championships 47 card.

According to a release from the all-female promotion, former bantamweight title challenger Lisa Verzosa has been forced to withdraw from a proposed clash with Serena DeJesus. As a result, Brittney Cloud will replace Verzosa and lock horns with DeJesus in a new 135-pound pairing.

Meanwhile, a strawweight bout pitting Fatima Kline against Sidney Trillo has been added to the bill, expanding the Invicta FC 47 lineup to seven bouts in total.

Invicta FC 47 takes place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan., …

@ajmckee101 already has his eyes on @PatrickyPitbull and the Lightweight gold but @PatricioPitbull says not to underestimate the fight in front of him #Bellator277@SHOsports | @SAPCenter | Friday, April 15th pic.twitter.com/h4ovOLpGOa

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) April 11, 2022

Although A.J. McKee and Patricio Freire won’t ever be the best of friends, McKee believes he owes it to his rival to give him a rematch given the Brazilian’s credentials in Bellator MMA.

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“I would say it’s a respect thing,” McKee said at a press conference to promote his rematch with Freire at Bellator 27. “He’s been the reigning champ for a long time. For me, I’d honor him with that rematch at any point.

“The goals I’ve set for myself, I want to be champ-champ. The [Team Body Shop] saying is to be a champion, you’ve got to beat the champion. I still see him as the [lightweight] champ.”

While the animosity didn’t reach the level it did ahead …