Martial Arts News

Andre Muniz will not remain on the UFC on ESPN 34 card against a replacement opponent.

MMAFighting.com was first to report Muniz’s exit from the card. Promotion officials were reportedly seeking a replacement opponent for the Brazilian after original foe Uriah Hall pulled out of the matchup. While Dricus Du Plessis revealed on “The MMA Hour” that he was among those offered the fight, ultimately no one accepted a short-notice matchup with the Brazilian submission specialist.

UFC on ESPN 34 takes place on April 16 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight showdown between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad. Muniz vs. Hall was slated to be the card’s co-main event.

Muniz, 32, has won his last eight professional bouts. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum has bested his last three UFC opponents — Eryk Anders, Ronaldo Souza and Bartosz Fabinski — via first-round submission. “Sergipano” is 22-4 over the course of a career that began in 2009, wi…

Francis Ngannou is on the road to recovery after recently undergoing knee surgery.

The UFC heavyweight champion shared a video on Instagram of his rehabilitation folllowing the procedure. Ngannou suffered a torn MCL and a damaged ACL in sparring ahead of his unanimous decision victory over interim title holder Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. Ngannou underwent surgery last month and could be sidelined for nine months.

UFC president Dana White admitted that the promotion could create another interim heavyweight title as a result of Ngannou’s absence. “The Predator” fought out his eight-fight deal with the UFC at 270 and hasn’t reached a new agreement with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

The Professional Fighters League has issued a statement pertaining to April 1’s PFL Challenger Series 7 event, which was actually recorded on March 25 in Orlando, Florida.

“Week 7 of the Professional Fighters Leagues' (PFL) 2022 Challenger Series was pre-recorded on Friday, March 25, 2022,” read a statement sent from PFL to Sherdog Tuesday evening. “As such the PFL did not include any betting lines, content, or promotion in connection with the program. Further, PFL did not distribute any betting data, lines, or content to its partners.

“Any sports books that took bets on the prerecorded program did so without the consent or knowledge of the PFL.

“The PFL will further evaluate the matter. The PFL continues to advocate for responsible sports gaming.”

Sherdog staff was able to obtain a recording of April 1’s tape-delayed broadcast and independently verified that PFL gambling personality Ian Parker, who was present for prior editions of the Challenger Series, was n…

Due to conflicting schedules, welterweight contender Vicente Luque was not able to help friend and teammate Gilbert Burns with preparation for his highly-anticipated bout against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273.

"We normally do most of our camps together, but this time was different,” said Luque, who is scheduled to face Belal Muhammad in the UFC on ESPN 34 main event on April 16. “While he stayed in the U.S., I came to Brasilia, but we talked almost every day about our daily routine since I’ll fight Belal seven days after [his bout].”

  Despite not being able to help Burns, Luque has no doubt that his teammate’s strength and cardio will force Chimaev to answer questions that he is not accustomed to answering.

“Chimaev's first round is very strong. On the other hand, ‘Durinho’ is not easy to take down and dominate,” Luque said. “I’ve trained with him for a long time, and it's really impressive the pace he can keep fighting five rounds. In my opini…

Kayla Harrison will begin her bid for a three-peat as Professional Fighters League champion on May 6.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist will face Marina Mokhnatkina in a 155-pound bout that will serve as the PFL 3 main event at the Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas. In the co-headliner, 2021 welterweight champion Ray Cooper III will square off against Magomed Umalatov at 170 pounds. The main card airs on ESPN2 beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.

Two other bouts complete the evening’s main card: Anthony Pettis vs. Myles Price in a rescheduled lightweight bout that was originally supposed to take place at PFL 1, and Rory MacDonald vs. Brett Cooper at welterweight.

Seven bouts were announced for the preliminary draw: Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Joao Zeferino at welterweight; Genah Fabian vs. Julia Budd at lightweight; Sadibiou Sy vs. Nikolai Aleksakhin at welterweight; Larissa Pacheco vs. Zamzagul Fayza…

Kyle Daukaus and Roman Dolidze will try it again on June 18.

Daukaus revealed via social media that a middleweight clash with Dolidze has been rescheduled for UFC Fight Night on June 18. Daukaus vs. Dolidze was initially slated for November, but the bout was scrapped due to COVID-19 protocols.

Daukaus rebounded from a no contest against Kevin Holland at UFC 193 in his most recent outing, as he used a brabo choke to tap Jamie Pickett in the opening stanza at UFC Fight Night 201 on Feb. 19.

Dolidze has kicked off his promotional tenure with victories in three of his first four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 33-year-old Georgian outpointed Laureano Staropoli at UFC Fight Night 189 on June 5.

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A heavyweight duel pitting Josh Parisian againt Alan Baudot is on tap for a UFC Fight Night card on June 25.

Both fighters announced the bout via social media. The event is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and also includes a flyweight clash between Tim Elliott and Amir Albazi. A headliner for the card has not been confirmed.

A two-time winner on Dana White’s Contender Series, Parisian has come up short in two of three UFC appearances thus far. Most recently, the 32-year-old Scorpion Fighting System product suffered a third-round TKO loss to Don’Tale Mayes at UFC Fight Night 199 this past December.

France’s Baudot is still looking for his first Octagon triumph after a pair of losses and a no contest in his initial three promotional outings. Baudot is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Parker Porter at UFC Fight Night 201 on Feb. 19.

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A middleweight matchup pitting Joaquin Buckley against Abusupiyan Magomedov has been targeted for the UFC’s June 4 offering.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. The event doesn’t have an official location at this time but is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card is also expected to include a featherweight clash between Dan Ige and Movsar Evloev.

Buckley, who gained fame for…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEE0BfgPQUM&w=560&h=315]

Aljamain Sterling has heard all the naysayers over the past year.

Sterling’s championship victory over Petr Yan at UFC 259 in March 2021 has come with an asterisk for many in the MMA community due to the nature of the “The Funk Master’s” victory, which came when he was rendered unable to continue due to an illegal knee in the fourth round. As a result, Sterling was able to take the 135-pound belt home thanks to a disqualification victory. Yan was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage.

The rematch between the two bantamweights has been delayed as Sterling recovered from neck surgery, a procedure that helped to alleviate an issue that has plagued him for years. Sterling was sidelined longer than originally anticipated, which of course subjected him to more negative comments.

Sterling will finally get the chance to settle the score when he faces Yan for a second tim…

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Andre Fili will lock horns with Joanderson Brito in a featherweight scrap at UFC on ESPN 35.

Brito announced the pairing via Instagram and it was later confirmed by MMAFighting.com. UFC on ESPN 35 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on April 30 and is headlined by a bantamweight showdown pitting Rob Font against Marlon Vera.

Anchored at Team Alpha Male, Fili will return for the first time since UFC Fight Night 190, when his clash with Daniel Pineda ended 46 seconds into Round 2 due to an accidental eye poke. Fili has been up-and-down during his promotional tenure, compiling a 9-7 mark while never winning more than two straight fights in UFC competition.

Brito earned a UFC deal with a technical decision triumph over Diego Lopes on Dana White’s Contender Series this past August. The Brazilian saw a 10-bout winning streak snapped in his Octagon debut, when he fell to Bill Algeo via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 32.

Christian Leroy Duncan with the flying Knee KO! 🔥Incredible scenes at #CW136, a new middleweight champ is crowned!!#AndNew pic.twitter.com/I0DtGxIPUl

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) April 2, 2022

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship put on a serious Event of the Year candidate for its latest card at BEC Arena in Manchester, England, concluding with all 13 bouts ending before the final horn.

The main attraction at CW 136 was a middleweight championship affair between defending titleholder Djati Melan and Christian Leroy Duncan. Things appeared to be going the champion’s way as Melan (8-1, 2-1 CW) secured an excellent takedown early in the first frame and kept the challenger on the ground for almost the whole round before Duncan made his way up on the feet. The situation changed in the following stanza as Duncan pushed forward right out of the gate. The Englishman looked more at ease in hitting his adversary with a variety of punches and ki…