Martial Arts News

UFC 281 likely now has a co-main event, as reigning women's strawweight champion Carla Esparza will defend against former division ruler Zhang Weili at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12.

Esparza, 19-6, revealed the pairing on her verified Instagram account Thursday afternoon. The bout has not been confirmed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship as of publication time.

Advertisement

Esparza recently regained the strawweight title for a second time by defeating Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 via split decision, in what was widely considered one of the dullest title fights in mixed martial arts history. Esparza extended her winning streak to six with the crown-clinching performance.

Weili, meanwhile, dispatched of strawweight legend and long-time champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in spectacular fashion at UFC 276 with a spinning back-fist in Round 2. Prior to that, Weili had lost two title fights against Namajunas. Esparza initially announced that she wanted to defend the titl…

Luke Rockhold’s rant regarding fighter pay at the UFC 278 media day certainly seemed to catch Francis Ngannou’s attention.

Advertisement

The reigning UFC heavyweight champion took to Twitter to reveal that he lost $1 million in potential sponsorship money due to the promotion’s existing deal with a cryptocurrency platform. The UFC’s outfitting policy and and sponsorship restrictions prevented Ngannou from cashing in on a lucrative offer.

“Listening to Luke's interview was very pertinent. A lot of things that nobody is talking about it and the company just rolls with it,” Ngannou wrote. “Fighters are ripped off with sponsorship. It’s a huge source of revenue for us but the company keeps exploiting that for their own benefit.

“I understand that the sport needs to look good with uniforms but we should at least have a right for a minimum of [two] approved sponsors for in the octagon,” he added. Last year I lost a deal of over a million dollars from a crypto e…

Dilano Taylor made the most of his short-notice opportunity in the Professional Fighters League playoffs.

Advertisement

With two days to go until last Saturday's PFL 8 card in Cardiff, Wales, the organization announced that Taylor would replace Magomed Umalatov in the semifinals of the welterweight tournament. Despite being called up at the last minute and facing the favored Rory MacDonald, the Jamaican surprised “The Red King” with a first-round knockout.

Taylor told Sherdog.com that he was hoping to get a chance to fill in as a substitute while also helping prepare teammate Jason Jackson for his triumph over Douglas Lima at Bellator 283 on July 27.

“I felt like I was destined to be in this competition,” Taylor said. “I always talk about opportunities and how they present themselves. I'm always training and waiting for a chance, and I was helping my partner Jason and I would be his corner as well. So when they called me, I was ready. I just hadn't studied R…

Wanderlei Silva's biography has just gone international.

Advertisement

The book “Wanderlei Silva: Unleashed” has been translated into English and is available for sale on Amazon. Organized by journalists Thiago Parijiani and Luis Henrique Gurian, translated by Sean White and released by BB Publishing company in the physical version, the book explains how Silva became one of the greatest icons of MMA and reached multiple milestones, including being undefeated for more than five years, setting the record for most Pride Fighting Championships middleweight belt defenses and overall wins in Pride.

In addition, the book reveals Silva’s fear of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), shares details from his most important victories and most difficult defeats and uncovers never-before-disclosed backstage stories such as the time he was knocked out by Charles Bennett backstage just minutes before his rematch with Ricardo Arona.

The e-book version has 283 pages fill…

If Khamzat Chimaev defeats Nate Diaz in the UFC 279 main event next month, a welterweight championship fight could very well be in his future.

Advertisement

UFC president Dana White indicated as much when asked about what could be next for Chimaev with a win on Sept. 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Chimaev has taken the promotion by storm with wins in his first five appearances, including a decision triumph over Gilbert Burns in his last outing at UFC 273.

“It’s fair,” White said at the Contender Series press conference on Tuesday night. “I don’t ever do that s—t, but yeah, it’s fair to say if he wins, that’s the fight to make. [Usman has] already beat everybody twice in the top whatever, so yeah, that makes sense.”

On the other hand, White is not necessarily on board with Usman’s goal of moving up two divisions to challenge for the 205-pound belt, but he won’t stand in the way if “The Nigerian Nightmare” bests Leon Edwards at UFC 278.

“You know wha…

Esteban Ribovics forced the issue, defense be damned.

The undefeated Nova Uniao prospect booked his spot on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, as he punched out Thomas Paull in the first round of their lightweight showcase during Week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Paull (11-4) was cooked just 90 seconds into Round 1.

Advertisement

Ribovics (11-0) waded through considerable fire and walked the Englishman into a devastating right hook. Paull collapsed downward, and he was in no condition to recover before eating a subsequent punching volley that necessitated the stoppage.

The 26-year-old Ribovics was one of five competitors signed by the UFC, along with Claudio Ribeiro, Nazim Sadykhov, Hailey Cowan and Jose Johnson.

Ribeiro wowed the crowd with a violent knockout of Ivan Valenzuela in the first round of their middleweight confrontation. Valenzuela (8-2) met his end 25 seconds into Round 1, his five-fight…

Sherdog's live DWCS 2022 Week 4 coverage will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

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

Advertisement

ODDS: Sadykhov (-190); Hasanzada (+160)Round 1 Referee Jason Herzog waves the lightweights into action. Hassanzada comes right out and nails Sadykhov with a spinning back body kick that staggers him. Sadykhov recovers, grabs his opponent’s leg and runs him to the ground. Sadykhov postures up and drops punches and elbows, one of which splits Hassanzada open. A minute in, Hassanzada is bleeding heavily, but has Sadykhov in his closed guard, trying to control his posture. Sadykhov is on top, dropping short shots and scooting Hassanzada toward the fence. Halfway through the round, Hassanzada opens his guard, looking perhaps to escape or mount some offense, but Sadykhov is heavy on top. Sadykhov passes and steps into mount, but as he tries to move to Hassanzada’s back, Hassanzada explodes up.…

Santiago Ponzinibbio and Robbie Lawler will clash at UFC 282 on Dec. 10.

Advertisement

Promotion broadcast partner ESPN was first to report that the two welterweights had agreed to the matchup. UFC 282 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and is expected to feature a light heavyweight championship rematch between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira.

After authoring a seven-fight winning streak in the UFC from December 2015 to November 2018, Ponzinibbio has endured some struggles of late. The 35-year-old Argentina native has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a split-decision setback to Michel Pereira in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 206.

A former 170-pound champion, Lawler has also fallen on rough times, losing five of his last six bouts in the promotion dating back to December 2017. “Ruthless” is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Bryan Barberena at UFC 276 on July 2.

Neiman Gracie is one of three fighters from Bellator 284 who is facing a potential indefinite medical suspension following this past Friday’s card.

Gracieo suffered a second-round knockout loss to Goiti Yamauchi in the evening’s welterweight main event at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. As a result, Gracie is suspended indefinitely until he his medically cleared to compete.

Advertisement

Steve Mowry, who was on the wrong end of an accidental eye poke from Valentin Moldavsky in the evening’s heavyweight co-headliner, is also indefinitely suspended until medically cleared to compete. The foul ended the fight just 54 seconds after it began. Tyson Jeffries, who was knocked out by Sullivan Cauley in a preliminary light heavyweight bout, also faces an indefinite term.

The South Dakota Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from Bellator 284. Everyone on the card received at least a mandatory seven-day sit. The exact nature of ea…

After victories in his first two promotional appearances, Caio Borralho will return to the Octagon against Makhmud Muradov at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 22.

Advertisement

So far, the Brazilian middleweight has made a habit of besting Eastern European opponents.

“In my opening fight I gave Russian Gadhzi Omargadhziev his first defeat, and three months later UFC gave me the Armenian Armen Petrosyan, and now, the [Uzbekistan native] Muradov,” Borralho told Sherdog.com. “In the main event Charles [Oliveira] will be facing [Islam] Makhachev. Definitely Russian and Eastern European fans will not be very nice to us in Abu Dhabi. But I'm really not worried about that. I have no doubt me and Charles will have a Brazilian party in Abu Dhabi.”

According to Borralho, the experience of having trained with Demian Maia, Paulo Costa, Sean Strickland and having the experienced Vale Tudo fighter Flávio Alvaro as head coach makes him pretty self confident that he can go far…

Earlier this week, Shane Burgos made a somewhat surprising announcement that he was leaving the UFC to sign with Professional Fighters League.

Advertisement

The move comes on the heels of back-to-back triumphs for the Team Tiger Schulmann representative in UFC competition. However, Burgos said the PFL’s offer far surpassed that of his former promotion.

“Last time it was relatively close, that’s why I was like, ‘It’s not that big of a difference.’ It was a bigger difference [this time],” Burgos said. “It was a six-figure difference back then what I was going to get paid from the PFL and I turned that down to stay with the UFC. Now, it’s obviously bigger than that.”

In an interview with Yahoo Sports, UFC president Dana White made the rare admission that the promotion dropped the ball by not resigning Burgos, who was 8-3 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based organization.

“That’s a good question,” White said when asked why Burgos was not re-signe…

Bantamweights coming to #UFC280 in Abu Dhabi!

@LinaLansberg vs @KarolRosaUFC @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/kFJsr3ygsg

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 16, 2022

Advertisement

A bantamweight clash pitting Karol Rosa against Lina Lansberg has been added to the UFC 280 lineup.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. UFC 280 takes place on Oct. 22 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a lightweight championship showdown between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev.

The 27-year-old Rosa had a six-fight professional winning streak snapped in her last outing, as she dropped a unanimous decision to former title challenger Sara McMann at UFC on ESPN 33 on March 26. She began her promotional tenure with consecutive decision triumphs over Lara Procopio , Vanessa Melo, Joselyne Edwards and Bethe Correia.

Lansberg, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back losses to Pannie …