Martial Arts News

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzcq7qhWDKo&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Gunnar Nelson was hoping to get back in action later this month, but he might have to wait a little bit longer. According to MMA Fighting on Friday, Claudio Silva (14-3) has suffered a knee injury and has been forced to withdraw from UFC Fight Night 204. The March 19 UFC London card, one that may be substantially affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine as it pertains to the travel status of the Russians on the card, is down this welterweight matchup for the time being. It is unclear if the promotion will be able to find a replacement for Nelson (17-5-1) or if the matchup will be preserved and moved to a later date. News of Silva’s injury has since been confirmed by other outlets.

Both Nelson and his former prospective oppone…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8ipSfPEAWA&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Terrance McKinney is rocketing up the division with a matchup that might put him among the top 15 should he win. On Friday morning, Ricky Glenn announced on the KJ MMA Show that he would no longer be competing at UFC Fight Night 203 against Drew Dober (23-11, 1 NC) due to a groin injury. In his stead will be the recently victorious Terrance McKinney (12-3), with the news of this first coming from the UFC itself. The two lightweights will battle it out inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on March 12.

“A matchup I’ve been preparing a long time, really hard, feeling really good, and unfortunately [I] got injured,” Glenn explained. “I thought maybe I’d be able to work around it, but unfortunately I gotta pull out – and this is m…

In this era of boxing vs. MMA, new matchups never thought imaginable are coming to fruition.

At the end of January, boxer Acelino “Popo” Freitas faced off against YouTuber Whindersson Nunes in the boxing ring. They fought to a draw after 16 minutes of action, and the results proved to be smash hit for the ratings, drawing millions upon millions of viewers on Brazilian television. After the fight, the 46-year-old “Popo” called out former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight champion Jose Aldo, and many other fighters including Patricio Freire and Bibiano Fernandes unsuccessfully asked for the opportunity when Aldo declined due to his UFC contract.

Freitas then extended his challenge to names like Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort, despite the massive size discrepancy between Freitas who typically competed below 135 pounds and those much larger men. Once Belfort heard about the challenge upon speaking to Sherdog, however, he grew quite interested in the matchup and…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqpaUKFafdU&w=560&h=315] Rizin Fighting Federation’s next numbered event may seem light on star power, but it is chock full of excitement potential.

Per a press release by the organization on Friday morning, the Rizin 34 card on March 20 is now complete. The event will be held inside the Maruzen Intec Arena in Osaka, Japan, and a whopping 17 fights will be staged throughout the night. Nine of those contests will take place under MMA rules, and the remaining bouts will be kickboxing. The bout order may not be official, as the organization has listed its kickboxing matches first and then the MMA fights.

A welterweight clash has been added to the billing, as ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors Kiichi Kunimoto (20-8-2, 1 NC) and Daichi Abe (9-5) throw down. “Strasser” has not tasted a defeat in the Rizin ring, and those three victories have accounted for his lone wins since leaving the UFC in 2017. His opponent Abe made hi…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBdVrJNGnnM&w=640&h=360] The weigh-in ceremony was nothing more than a formality on Friday as every fighter made weight.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view with a rare non-championship main event as UFC 272 is headlined by a welterweight grudge match between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. Before their five-round battle, both multiple-time title challengers successfully made weight. There was no issue with any competitor on the card, as the remaining 24 fighters hit their proper marks to make this 13-fight event official.

Just like his opponent, Covington (16-3) is coming off a loss to Kamaru Usman. However, Covington fared better, dropping a decision rather than suffering a brutal knockout. Prior to the setback, "Chaos" had defeated ex-champTyron Woodley. Beyond the two losses to the current welterweight champ, Covington hasn't lost since 2015. The Oregon native officially weighed 170.5 pounds for th…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. A pair of Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights with a combined 30 fights of Octagon experience will square off at the end of April. Per MMA Junkie on Thursday, Gerald Meerschaert (34-14) will come to blows with Krzysztof Jotko (23-5) in the 185-pound division on April 30. The middleweights will throw down on UFC on ESPN 35, which is slated to take place inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The matchup has since been confirmed by both fighters on their Instagram pages.

Coming into this battle that may bring with it rankings implications is Meerschaert, who is riding a three-fight submission streak over Bartosz Fabinski, Makhmud Muradov and Dustin Stoltzfus. Since joining the roster in 2016, “GM3” has never won by any way other than stoppage, with eight subm…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaAN97tX_dM&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. American Top Team head coach “Conan” Marcus Silveira is not used to seeing his fighters as betting underdogs on big Ultimate Fighting Championship cards. On March 5, UFC 272 will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main event will see a grudge match between former ATT teammates Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, and the remainder of the main card is equally littered by ATT standouts like Renato Carneiro and Edson Barboza. Ahead of the event, Sherdog spoke to the chief coach of the renowned fight camp, Silveira, who did not seem overly concerned that Masvidal (+270), Carneiro (+150) and Barboza (+145) are all coming in as betting underdogs.

“Most important than odds is the hard work,” Silveira mentioned. “And I’m sure Barboza, Masvidal and Moicano a…

🇵🇹 Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs Martina Jindrova 🇨🇿

Our Week 3 Main Event! 🔥🔥#PFLonFuboTV pic.twitter.com/CzdpcmmRKS

— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 3, 2022 The Professional Fighters League's Challenger Series continues this week with its third installment, with women's lightweights vying for a contract with the promotion. PFL Challenger Series 3 focuses on the women's lightweight division, and is headlined by Martina Jindrova vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti. All eight women on the card successfully made weight, and Shaquita Woods also weighed in as an alternate.

Jindrova sports a 3-1 record, and is looking to bounce back from her first career defeat. Prior to losing to Tamires Vidal, the Czech Republic fighter won three straight, with her last two wins being finishes. Meanwhile, Cavalcanti is undefeated at 2-0, and most recently won a decision over Nora Cornolle. The Brazilian weighed in at 155 pounds on the dot, while Jindrova stepped on the scale at 155…

💪 The fighters are all weighed in for our first event of the year, #CW133!

🙌We kick off our 2022 schedule from 5:30pm PT tomorrow night, live on @UFCFightPass! https://t.co/jUwv4ySEKO pic.twitter.com/KPczjmarWA

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 3, 2022 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship returns to the United States for Cage Warriors 133, which its first event of 2022. The weigh-ins were devoid of drama, as all 24 fighters for the San Diego event made weight. Headliners Joshua Jones and Kyle Driscoll both made lightweight for their three-round main event, with Driscoll weighing 155.6 pounds for the bout, while Jones came in at 155.4 pounds.

Driscoll (12-3) is riding a seven-fight win streak, and hasn't lost since 2017. Meanwhile, Jones (11-5) is coming off back-to-back wins over Brandon Bender and Johnny Cisneros. This is both fighters' Cage Warriors debut.

Cage Warriors 133 begins on Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT on UFC…

For a brief period, it appeared that Islam Makhachev would be the one to step in against Rafael dos Anjos on short notice at UFC 272.

According to UFC president Dana White, a deal was almost done for the bout before Makhachev ultimately elected to turn it down.

“Pretty close – I thought we had it done,” White told Barstool Sports in a recent interview. “When I went to bed one of the nights, I thought it was done. Woke up the next morning and found out they turned it down. Islam [turned it down]. No clue [why].”

Instead, former featherweight contender Renato Moicano agreed to face dos Anjos in a five-round, co-main event bout on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“The best fight that we could possibly make would have been him and Islam. RDA and Islam,” White said. “Islam turns down the fight. What’s the [next] best fight you can make? [Renato] Moicano.”

Makhachev is coming off a first-round TKO of Bobby Green at UFC Fight Night 202 last wee…

Cain Velasquez has been formally charged with attempted murder, premeditated murder and other related charges after firing shots at a vehicle containing three people in Morgan Hill, Calif.

The ex-UFC heavyweight champion is facing additional charges of shooting at a motor vehicle or aircraft, assault with a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon. According to a statement from the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office, the 39-year-old Velasquez fired a .40 handgun “multiple times” into a truck carrying Harry Goularte and two of Goularte’s older male relatives and “rammed” the vehicle with his truck. Goularte’s relative, who is 63 years old, was struck once by the shots but is expected to survive.

Velasquez, who was driving a Ford Truck, began shooting at the vehicle at Cochran Road and Butterfield Boulevard in Morgan Hill at approximately 3 p.m. local time Monday. What ensued was an 11-mile chase through “busy streets” in San Jose between Velasquez and a Che…

A middleweight matchup pitting Lorenz Larkin against Khalid Murtazaliev has been added to the lineup for Bellator Paris.

A promotion official confirmed the booking to Sherdog.com following an initial report from mixedmartialarts.com. Bellator Paris takes place on May 6 at Accor Arena and is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo.

Larkin will take a five-bout promotional winning streak into the matchup with Murtazaliev. The former Strikeforce and UFC talent returned following a year-and-a-half hiatus at Bellator 258 last May, when he defeated ex-champ Rafael Carvalho via split decision.

Dagestan’s Murtazaliev had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his most recent outing, as he fell to Anthony Adams via unanimous decision at Bellator 266 last September. The 28-year-old has compiled a 15-3 career mark while competing for Fight Nights Global, the UFC and M-1 Global.