Martial Arts News

Luke Rockhold’s return to mixed martial arts proved to be short lived.

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The former UFC and Strikefore middleweight champion announced his retirement following a unanimous decision defeat to Paulo Costa in the UFC 278 co-main event at Vinvint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday night.

“I’ve been through so much the last few years,” Rockhold said in his post-fight interview. “I f—king … thank you, fighting. Thank you, UFC. Thank you, Joe [Rogan]. I f—-king can’t do this s—t any more. I gave it my all. I just didn’t … I’m f—ing old.”

Rockhold was bloodied and battered in his matchup with Costa, and his body language was concerning on multiple occasions. Still, the longtime American Kickboxing Academy product had his moments, as he landed multiple body kicks and tagged Costa with a hard left hand in the third round. He ended the fight by reversing out of a rear-naked choke and rubbing his bloody face all over Costa from top position. It was…

UFC 279 has another marquee matchup, as Tony Ferguson will square off against Jingliang Li on Sept. 10.

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UFC president Dana White confirmed the booking at the UFC 278 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. UFC 279 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a five-round showdown between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz.

The bout will mark Ferguson’s welterweight debut after a lengthy stint at 155 pounds. “El Cucy” is in the midst of a four-bout losing streak in the UFC. He is coming off a brutal front kick knockout loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 274 on May 7.

Li, meanwhile, has alternated wins and losses inh his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Leech” defeated Muslim Salikhov via second-round technical knockout at UFC on ABC 3 on July 16.

Two incredible finishes are sending @Leon_EdwardsMMA & @Vic__Altamirano home with POTN bonuses 💰

[ B2YB @BattleMotors | #UFC278 ] pic.twitter.com/kp81kLXlGx

— UFC (@ufc) August 21, 2022

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On top of winning himself the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title after completing one of the most miraculous comebacks in UFC history, Leon Edwards banked an additional $50,000 for his efforts.

Going into the fifth round, Edwards was losing three rounds to one on all three judges’ score cards before landing a left high-kick to the head of Kamaru Usman, and claiming the title in the final minute of the fight. In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Edwards belted out “look at me now!” in celebration of his first world championship.

A gritty three round contest between middleweights Luke Rockhold and Paulo Costa claimed “Fight of the Night” honors, and they also will take home an extra $50,000. Each man slu…

Sherdog's live UFC 278 “Usman vs. Edwards 2” coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Altamirano (-200), Lacerda (+170)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Noah Gagnon scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Noah Gagnon scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Noah Gagnon scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Aori (-175), Perrin (+130)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Noah Gagnon scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Noah Gagnon scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Sco…

HEAVYWEIGHT SLAM 💥

Stream #UFC278 tonight on @ESPNPlus ➡️ https://t.co/pxRev9nc4A pic.twitter.com/PxvAbhNp7h

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 21, 2022

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Marcin Tybura sent a message to the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division by defeating Alexander Romanov in the featured UFC 278 prelim.

Romanov (16-1) wasted no time clinching with Tybura (23-7) seconds into the fight. Landing damaging knees, Romanov would then slam the 252-pound fighter like it was nothing. Romanov would begin landing stellar punches and elbows that put an exclamation mark on a dominant Round 1. Tybura would fare much better as the fight went on as Romanov slowed down, and even managed to take his opponent's back shortly in the second round. Embarrassingly, Romanov would showboat in Round 3 despite being outstruck.

The judges awarded the fight to Tybura via majority decision as one judge had a 28-28 draw while the other two had it 29-2…

Leon Edwards is the new Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion after upsetting Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 278.

Usman (20-2) would manage to get the fight to the ground early in the first round, although the challenger popped to his feet shortly afterward. Shockingly, Edwards (20-3, 1 NC) would trip the champion and land straight into mount. After taking the back of the "The Nigerian Nightmare," Edwards would begin looking for a rear-naked choke. Usman would survive the rocky round but not without a solid scare by the challenger.

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The champion would come out firing in Round 2, although Edwards stayed composed and was never overwhelmed by the pressure. "Rocky" would slow the pace down, with some help from an eye poke, and then went back-and-forth with Usman in a grappling exchange. Usman would start landing damaging elbows and capped off a solid second frame in his favor with a takedown of his own. Usman would repeat this strate…

The assault was felonious in nature.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison dispatched Martina Jindrova with a first-round arm-triangle choke, as their Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight semifinal headlined PFL 9 on Saturday at Copper Box Arena in London. Jindrova (6-3, 3-1 PFL) capitulated 3:17 into Round 1, the latest victim of the PFL’s runaway freight train.

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Harrison (15-0, 14-0 PFL) caught a kick from the Czech, dumped her to the mat and immediately transitioned to side control. She softened Jindrova with ground-and-pound, climbed to full mount and pounded away with punches. Harrison fished briefly for an armbar, then clamped down on the arm-triangle and elicited the tapout. It was a flawless performance.

The win pushed Harrison into the 2022 lightweight final, where she will seek her third consecutive league championship and another $1 million payday against Larissa Pacheco on Nov. 25. Pacheco (18-4, 7-2 PFL) buried Hel…

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s return to Warsaw will be remembered for its nail-biting main event.

In the KSW 73 headliner, Glory kickboxing veteran Arkadiusz Wrzosek made his mixed martial arts debut as he locked horns with Tomasz Sarara in a heavyweight clash. Sarara (1-1, 1-1 KSW) dropped Wrzosek in the opening round, and dominated on the canvas for the duration but failed to deliver a finish. Wrzosek (1-0, 1-0 KSW) retaliated in the second frame, catching Sarara with a head kick followed by a flying knee. The kickboxer hit the gas pedal and threw punches, knees and kicks at Sarara until his fatigued foe collapsed on the floor. “Hightower” kept striking fast and hard, but Sarara showed heart and survived to see the third frame. In Round 3, Wrzosek controlled his adversary from afar while scoring with punches and kicks. When it appeared that the fight would go the distance, Wrzosek hit his mark with a sharp knee and follow-up punches. Referee Lukasz Bosacki stopped the contes…

The 2022 Professional Fighters League Playoffs continue Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result 2023 PFL Europe Qualifiers:Ali Taleb (135) vs. Darius Mafi (134) Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result

All #PFLPlayoffs London fighters are on weight! pic.twitter.com/hx8ZAijUE4

— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 19, 2022 PFL 9 will feature the last four semifinals for the Professional Fighters League 2022 playoffs.

All four semifinalists made weight for the card, which is headlined by the women's lightweight semifinal between Kayla Harrison and Martina Jindrova. The winner of that bout will face whoever is victorious between Larissa Pacheco and Helena Kolesnyk. Meanwhile, the two featherweight semifinals will pit Chris Wade vs. Brendan Loughnane and Ryoji Kudo vs. Bubba Jenkins.

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A perfect 14-0 in her mixed martial arts career, Harrison will look to add another PFL championship to add to her impressive win streak. This season has seen Harrison win a decision over Marina Mokhnatkina and finish Kaitlin Young in just 2:35 of the first round. The Judo specialist weighed in at 155 pounds.

Jindrova (6-2) started her career just 3-2 bu…

[embedded content] Kamaru Usman will put his Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title on the line as he rematches Leon Edwards at UFC 278.

The 12-fight card is now official, although that is one bout fewer than initially planned. This is due to Shanna Young being hospitalized and her fight against Miranda Maverick being canceled as a result. However, all pay-per-view fighters successfully made weight and the card is moving forward largely intact.

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"The Nigerian Nightmare" previously defeated Edwards via unanimous decision back in 2015. Both fighters have improved considerably since then with Usman (20-1) becoming an all-time great and champion in the process. The Floridian looks to make his sixth UFC title defense and make it clear that he's a top pound-for-pound fighter as well. Usman officially weighed 170 pounds on the dot.

Edwards (19-3, 1 NC) hasn't tasted defeat since losing to Usman. "Rocky" has won nine fights since then, including …

Join us for the #KSW73 ceremonial weigh-ins❗️

🕰️ 6pm CEST | 5pm BST | 12pm ET🖥️ Live on Facebook & YouTube

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The fighters come face to face 😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/V3h4ZvYW0o — KSW (@KSW_MMA) August 19, 2022

Headlining KSW 73 is a mixed martial arts bout between Polish kickboxer Arkadiusz Wrzosek , who is making his MMA debut, and Tomasz Sarara. It will be Wrzosek that is the larger man inside the cage as he weighed 8 pounds heavier than Sarara at 243 pounds. All fighters on the card successfully made weight.

Wrzosek holds a professional kickboxing record of 13-5, 1 NC. His most famous victory was a head kick knockout over Badr Hari in 2021. A rematch put on earlier this year was stopped after a riot occurred in the audience. Meanwhile, Sarara is 1-0 inside the KSW cage, having defeated Filip Bradaric last year via TKO. Sarara also has a striking background, having competed in kickboxing as well.

KSW 73 will…