Martial Arts News

Thankfully, no one was injured in this sudden attack on Wednesday night.

Per The Mirror on Thursday, the Black Forge Inn in Dublin – known as the marquee pub owned by Ultimate Fighting Championship start Conor McGregor – was bombed by Molotov cocktails on Wednesday evening. McGregor was not in the building at the time, and no damage was reported as a result.

According to witnesses, two men riding scooters rode by the pub, allegedly hurling the described “petrol bombs” at the closed establishment. They were then chased away by a few people who came out of the building. In addition to the two thrown Molotov cocktails, two more were subsequently found nearby. A spokesperson of the Black Forge Inn released a statement that read the following:

“After hours last night it appears that criminals made an unprovoked effort to inflict damage to the Black Forge Inn. There was no damage done to any patrons, employees or the Forge and Mr. McGregor was not on the premises at the time…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8_ZgncfA4o?start=5&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. A recently reviled Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter finds herself not only still on the roster, but in a fight next month. On Thursday, multiple changes were announced from various sources to the UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 26. The first comes in the form of a flyweight tilt first reported by John Hyon Ko between Ji Yeon Kim (9-4-2) and Priscila Cachoeira (10-4), which has since been confirmed by other outlets. The pairing may come as a surprise, with Cachoeira stepping up on relatively short notice even though many expected she would be cut from the roster following multiple eye gouges in her last outing.

Kim was initially slated to take on Poliana Botelho at UFC 270, only for Botelho to withdraw and scuttle the pairing. Kim recent posted on her I…

A middleweight scrap pitting Kelvin Gastelum against Nassourdine Imavov is nearly finalized for UFC 273.

Gastelum announced via social media that he has signed a contract for the bout, and ESPN later confirmed that Imavov has agreed to the pairing, as well. UFC 273 takes place on April 9 at an as yet to be determined location and is headlined by a featherweight title clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung.

Gastelum has struggled in recent years, posting a 1-5 record inside the Octagon since 2019. However, “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner has faced only top competition during that time, falling to the likes of Israel Adesanya, Darren Till, Jack Hermansson, Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier. His lone victory in that stretch came via unanimous decision against Ian Heinisch at UFC 258.

A native of Paris, France, Imavov is a rising talent at 185 pounds with a 3-1 record within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The MMA Factory representative rebounded…

Revenge was sweet for Jessica Correa Delboni.

A multi-pronged standup attack and stellar takedown defense carried the Parana Vale Tudo standout to a unanimous decision over Alesha Zappitella, as she captured the Invicta Fighting Championships atomweight crown in the Invicta 45 headliner on Wednesday at the Police Athletic League in Kansas City, Kansas. Scores from the assembled judiciary were 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.

Zappitella (9-3, 6-2 Invicta) was woefully ineffective with her approach and wound up trapped on the feet with a superior striker. After two somewhat competitive rounds, Delboni seized the reins in the third. There, she bottled up Zappitella along the fence and unleashed knee and elbow strikes from close range, moved back into open space and sprawled on an attempted takedown before battering the champion with rapid-fire hammerfists to the side of the head. Not much changed across the final 10 minutes. Delboni (12-3, 4-2 Invicta) continued to pile up points …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first card of 2022 continues to undergo multiple changes as Saturday approaches.

According to an initial report from MyMMANews.com, Saidyokub Kakhramanov is out of his bantamweight clash with Brian Kelleher at UFC on ESPN 32. Instead, MMAFighting.com has confirmed that Kelleher will remain on the card and face Kevin Croom at 145 pounds.

Meanwhile, Vanessa Demopoulos announced via Instagram stories that her strawweight matchup with Silvana Gomez Juarez has been moved from UFC on ESPN 32 to UFC 270 on Jan. 22.

UFC on ESPN 32 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight clash between Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

I’m this case, X does mark the spot perfectly. Everyone has been waiting for this ONE. #WeAreONE pic.twitter.com/Ce6CmYRYpa

— Victor Cui (@victorcui) January 12, 2022

One Championship will return to full capacity crowds with a bang in March.

During an appearance on "The MMA Hour,” One CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that the previously postponed One “X” card will now take place on March 26 in Singapore with a special rules fight between Demetrious Johnson and muay Thai standout Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a featured bout. The card will also see Angela Lee defend her atomweight belt against Nong Stamp in the official main event, while Adriano Moraes will put his flyweight belt on the line against Yuya Wakamatsu.

Additionally, Eddie Alvarez, Shinya Aoki and Sage Northcutt are also expect to compete at the event, according to Sityodtong. Their bouts will be finalized in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Sityodtong also revealed that Bibiano Fer…

Tecia Torres will square off against Mackenzie Dern in a matchup of ranked strawweights at UFC 273.

Torres announced the matchup Wednesday on social media. UFC 273 takes place at an as yet to be announced venue and is headlined by a featherweight title clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung. In the co-main event, Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan will lock horns in a bantamweight championship rematch.

After struggling through a four-fight losing streak from 2018 to 2019, Torres has righted the ship the past two years. “The Tiny Tornado” is in the midst of a three-fight winning streak that includes decision wins over Brianna Van Buren and Angela Hill as well as a stoppage of Sam Hughes. The Invicta FC veteran was victorious in six of her first seven UFC appearances before the aforementioned skid, earning wins over the likes of Michelle Waterson, Bec Rawlings and Hill.

Dern, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision defeat against strawweight cont…

Charles Rosa will replace Gabriel Benitez and lock horns with T.J. Brown at UFC on ESPN 32 this Saturday.

The new bout was confirmed by multiple outlets following an initial report from Ariel Helwani. While the original matchup was to be contested at 145 pounds before Benitez withdrew due to health reasons, Rosa vs. Brown will take place at lightweight. Rosa has also reportedly received a new four-fight contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Rosa compiled a 1-2 mark in the Octagon during his 2021 campaign, taking a split verdict over Justin Jaymes while dropping unanimous verdicts against Darrick Minner and Damon Jackson. The CES MMA veteran known as “Boston Strong” is still looking for his first winning streak in the promotion after alternating losses and wins for the duration of his 11-fight tenure.

Brown halted a two-bout skid in his lone appearance of 2021, as he garnered a split-decision triumph against Kai Kamaki III at UFC on ESPN 23 last May.

A women’s flyweight clash pitting Alexa Grasso against Joanne Wood is one of multiple additions to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming event in Columbus, Ohio, on March 26.

Promotion officials on Wednesday announced Grasso vs. Wood along with the following bouts: Sara McMann vs. Karol Rosa at bantamweight; Matheus Nicolau vs. David Dvorak at flyweight; Lerone Murphy vs. Nate Landwehr at featherweight and Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov at middleweight.

UFC Fight Night takes place at Nationwide Arena and is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic. According to a release, the entire card will air on ESPN and ESPN+, with prelims beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT and the main draw starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Grasso and Wood were initially scheduled to meet on Nov. 20, but Grasso withdrew from the contest for undisclosed reasons. The Lobo Gym MMA representative is currently on a two-bout winning str…

A matchup between middleweight knockout artists Joaquin Buckley and Abdul Razak Alhassan has been rebooked for UFC Fight Night on Feb. 19.

The bout was initially announced by Buckley on his Instagram account. Buckley and Alhassan were scheduled to lock horns at UFC on ESPN 32 before Alhassan pulled out for undisclosed reasons. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev.

Alhassan snapped a three-fight losing streak in his last outing, as he knocked out Alessio Di Chirico with a head kick 17 seconds into their encounter at UFC on ESPN 30 on Aug. 28. The Fortis MMA product has finished all 11 of his professional victories via knockout or technical knockout, including five triumphs in UFC competition.

Buckley, meanwhile, is best known for his viral knockout of Impa Kasanganay at UFC Fight Night 197 in 2020, which ranked No. 1 on many year-end lists. Most recently, B…

UFC 273 will feature a championship doubleheader at the top of the card.

Alexander Volkanovski will defend his featherweight crown against Chan Sung Jung, while Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan will meet in a bantamweight title rematch on April 9 at an as yet to be determined location. Ariel Helwani was first to report the UFC 273 title bouts.

Volkanovski was initially slated to face Max Holloway in a trilogy bout at UFC 272 on March 5, but the Hawaiian was forced to pull out of the fight with an undisclosed injury. Sterling vs. Yan was also scheduled for UFC 272, but their bout was postponed for one month, which “The Funkmaster” claimed was due to his opponent.

The 33-year-old Volkanovski claimed the featherweight crown with a unanimous decision triumph over Holloway at UFC 245 before winning a highly-contentious split verdict in their rematch at UFC 251. Most recently, he defended the strap with a decision win over Brian Ortega in a “Fight of the Year” candidat…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has been forced to call an audible for its March 5 pay-per-view event.

UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell confirmed to promotion broadcast partner ESPN that a five-round non-title bout between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal will headline UFC 272 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card was originally supposed to feature two title bouts — Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway and Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan — but Holloway withdrew from the featherweight title trilogy and the Sterling-Yan bantamweight championship rematch was postponed.

Covington and Masvidal have history as former American Top Team training partners, but what was once a friendship has devolved into a bitter rivalry in recent years. Covington has since relocated to MMA Masters, while Masvidal remains at ATT.

Covington last appeared at UFC 268, where he dropped a competitive five-round verdict to Kamaru Usman in a welterweight title bout on Nov. 6…