Martial Arts News

UFC middleweight Darren Till was arrested in Stockholm on charges of drunk driving last month, according to Swedish news outlet Expressen.

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Till was pulled over on July 31 while driving at high speeds behind the wheel of a silver Audi with English plates. According to police, Till was “noticeably drunk.” The fighter admitted to having “one to two beers” at a restaurant but initially claimed that the woman he was with was driving the vehicle. Till later admitted to driving while intoxicated and according to a police report said the incident would ruin his career.

The Liverpool native ultimately submitted to a breath test for alcohol, which came back three times above the legal limit and accepted a penalty order, the terms of which are currently unknown.

Till has visited Sweden on multiple occasions recently to work out at Allstars Training Center alongside friend and UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev. He was slated to make his first a…

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

A flyweight showdown pitting Alex Perez against Amir Albazi is on tap for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Dec. 17.

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Perez confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. The UFC Fight Night event doesn’t yet have an official location or main event.

After winning six of his first seven Octagon appearances, Perez has dropped back-to-back fights in the Las Vegas-based promotion. The Team Oyama representative was submitted by Deiveson Figueiredo in a flyweight title bout at UFC 255 before tapping to a first-round neck crank from Alexandre Pantoja in his last outing at UFC 277.

Albazi, meanwhile, has emerged as an interesting prospect at 125 pounds after besting Malcolm Gordon, Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Francisco Figueiredo in his first three UFC bouts. The 28-year-old London Shootfighters product owns a 15-1 professional mark overall.

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Irina Alekseeva, a flyweight known as “Russian Ronda,” has signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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Suckerpunch Entertainment, which represents Alekseeva, announced the news on Tuesday. A date for Alekseeva’s promotional debut is currently unknown, but she is not expected to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series before stepping into the Octagon.

Alekseeva previously appeared at Bellator 269, where she defeated Stephanie Ielo Page via unanimous decision in October 2021. She has since been released by the California-based promotion. She owns a 4-1 career mark overall, with two triumphs coming inside the distance.

The 32-year-old has won multiple championships in combat sambo and is a three-time silver medalist at the Russian Judo Championships.

Jake Paul could be in line to face his most difficult test to date.

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The social-media-personality-turned-boxer will reportedly face former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a boxing match on Oct. 29. TMZ Sports was first to report the booking, while NoSmokeBoxing initially brought word of the targeted date. The bout would headlined a Showtime pay-per-view card. A location and venue was not confirmed.

Most Valuable Promotions, which is Paul’s company, teased an announcement over the weekend, claiming Paul would “almost certainly be the underdog” in his next fight.

Next week we will announce JAKE PAUL’s next opponent. @jakepaul will almost certainly be the underdog. He knows that and he wants that.

— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) August 27, 2022

Paul, 25, has compiled a 5-0 mark as a professional boxer, with notable wins over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley (twice) and ex-Bell…

After three years without a major event on Brazilian soil, local fans are eagerly anticipating the UFC 283 card, which is scheduled for Jan. 21 in Rio de Janeiro.

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If former light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos has a say, the show will feature at least one Brazil vs. Brazil confrontation. During an appearance on Fabricio Werdum’s podcast “Nem Me Viu,” Santos criticized Paulo Costa’s attitude regarding weight cutting and challenged “Borrachinha” to a fight at UFC 283.

“There was a situation with ‘Borrachinha’ in which I was cutting weight and he and his team got in and started jumping in the cold bathtub, which was next to the hot one I was in, having a party,” Santos said. “They didn't respect that moment of mine there. He even said later that I'm getting beat up by everyone. Since that's how it is, why doesn't he take advantage of it and come hit me too at UFC Rio de Janeiro?”

Although they currently fight in different divisions —…

The semifinals of the Bellator bantamweight grand prix have a date and venue.

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Promotion officials announced Monday that Bellator 289 will be topped a pair of 135-pound pairings from the bracket, as interim champ Raufeon Stots meets Danny Sabatello, while Patricky Mix takes on Magomed Magomedov. Bellator 289 takes place on Dec. 9 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

A two-time NCAA Division II wrestler from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Stots is 6-0 in Bellator competition. He claimed interim 135-pound gold with a third-round KO of Juan Archuleta in the opening round of the grand prix at Bellator 279.

Sabatello, who wrestled at Purdue University, is 3-0 under the Bellator banner and 13-1 as a professional overall. The former Titan FC title holder punched his ticket to the bantamweight semifinals with a five-round verdict over Leandro Higo at Bellator 282 on June 24.

Mix has los…

A pair of title fights will top the card for Bellator 288 on Nov. 18.

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The California-based promotion announced Monday that a light heavyweight championship rematch between Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson will headline the card, while a previously reported lightweight title tilt pitting Patricky Freire against Usman Nurmagomedov will serve as the co-main event. Bellator 288 takes place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, and the main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Nemkov and Anderson initially squared off in the finals of the 205-pound grand prix at Bellator 277, but the bout was declared a no contest due to an accidental clash of heads 4:55 into Round 3. Prior to the foul, Anderson appeared to be imposing his will through wrestling in Rounds 2 and 3 after a solid opening stanza from Nemkov.

Prior to facing Anderson, Nemkov authored a nine-bout winning streak that included seven triumphs in Bellator MMA. The Fedorteam representative…

All 10 athletes slated to compete on Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series made weight without issue on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday night and airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. The evening’s featured bout is a welterweight clash pitting Yusaku Kinoshita (171) against Jose Henrique Souza (171).

A native of Osaka, Japan, Kinoshita has been victorious in five of his first six professional outings — with his lone defeat coming as a result of disqualification due to fence grabbing. He has finished all of his opposition inside of a round while competing in the Deep and Pancrase promotions.

Brazil’s Souza is 5-0 thus far in his burgeoning MMA career. The Nova Uniao MPBJJ product last competed at LFA 132, where he defeated Pedro Oliveira via split decision on May 13. His other four triumphs have come via knockout or technical knockout.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Yusaku Kinoshita (171) vs. Jose Henrique Souza (171)Mat…

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Robert Whittaker has significant business ahead of him at UFC Fight Night 209, when he is scheduled to meet Marvin Vettori in the middleweight co-main event in Paris.

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While the former champion remains one of the top fighters in the division, he admits to pondering a future at light heavyweight. If Whittaker does make the move, he would want to make sure it’s done the right way.

“I’ve been thinking about 205 a fair bit,” Whittaker said in a recent interview with Submission Radio. “The problem is, I wouldn’t go to 205 to come back down to 185, just because I don’t want to go to 205 as a fat 185, right? You see a lot of guys try that and they just get starched. And then they come back down. It doesn’t make sense.”

Whittaker began his UFC tenure as a welterweight before moving to 185 pounds, where he enjoyed his greatest success. “The Reaper” has won 11 of 13 Octagon appearances at middleweight, capturing championship gold alon…

Clay Guida will square off against Scott Holtzman in a lightweight bout at a UFC Fight Night event on Dec. 3.

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Holtzman initially announced the pairing on social media and it was later confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. The UFC Fight Night card will reportedly be held in Orlando and also includes a middleweight showdown between Jack Hermansson and Derek Brunson.

Barring injury or cancellation, Guida will make his 60th professional appearance against Holtzman. “The Carpenter” is 2-2 in his last four promotional outings and is coming off a first-round submission loss to Claudio Puelles at UFC Fight Night 205.

Holtzman, meanwhile, is looking to snap a two-bout skid after suffering back-to-back knockout losses at the hands of Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot. The 38-year-old known as “Hot Sauce” will be competing for the first time in 2022.

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It’s been well over two years since Quinton Jackson last competed in mixed martial arts, but the former UFC light heavyweight champion isn’t quite ready to call it quits just yet.

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In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, “Rampage” confirmed his plans to fight again, expressing interest in both boxing and MMA. Jackson last appeared at Bellator 237, where he suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Fedor Emelianenko on Dec. 29, 2019. Since then, a boxing match with Shannon Briggs has been rumored but has yet to come to fruition.

“No, man. I ain’t done. I’m not happy with my performance in my last fight. I can’t leave MMA fans like that,” Jackson said. “Yeah, I want to leave this sport a little better.

“I’m in talks with fighting Shannon, finally. That fight has been almost a year in the making. I want to do some boxing before I retire. … I might do MMA, but I want to do boxing. I’m getting up there. I’m 44, man. I’m get…

Vitor Belfort will make another venture into the Sweet Science when he faces Hasim Rahman in a boxing match in Sheffield, England, on Oct. 15.

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The bout was announced during on Saturday during an event that featured YouTube personality KSI. Belfort vs. Rahman Jr. is expected to serve as one half of a double main event for a card entitled DAZN X Series 002, with the other featured bout to be announced at a later date.

Belfort’s first boxing outing occurred when he defeated 58-year-old former champion Evander Holyfield via technical knockout 1:49 into Round 1 of their clash at a Triller Fight Club-promoted event in September 2021. Though initially marketed as Belfort’s professional debut, the fight was counted as an exhibition by the Florida State Boxing Commission. Belfort was previously slated to face Oscar De La Hoya before De La Hoya withdrew after contracting COVID-19. The former UFC champion has a 1-0 mark in professional boxing thanks to a kno…