Martial Arts News

Chael Sonnen received some good news on Wednesday regarding the charges he faces for his role in an alleged attack at a Las Vegas hotel this past December.

According to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, prosecutors dropped a felony battery charge against the UFC veteran, who is accused of assaulting multiple people a Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas on Dec. 18. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure allowed the prosecution to file an amended criminal complaint against Sonnen, which reduced his charges to six misdemeanors. Sonnen initially faced 11 charges – including one for felony battery by strangulation – when the prosecution filed charges earlier this month.

Last week, Christopher and Julie Stellpflug filed a lawsuit against Sonnen, claiming that the ex-fighter attacked them in the hallway of the Four Seasons “without provocation.” Sonnen initially faced five misdemeanor battery charges for altercations with five different people, but those wer…

Curtis Blaydes is one of four athletes facing an indefinite layoff following UFC on ESPN 33.

Blaydes, who defeated Chris Daukaus via second-round technical knockout in this past Saturday’s main event at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, is suspended indefinitely until he receives othropedic clearance on his right foot. Daukaus, meanwhile, is suspended 30 days to recover from a TKO defeat.

The Ohio Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to MMAjunkie.com. While a vast majority of fighters on the card — 18 in total — didn’t receive a layoff of any kind, three others are also facing indefinite terms pending doctor clearance: Marc Diakiese (right hand, right foot), Viacheslav Borshchev (right wrist, right foot) and Batgerel Danaa (needs ophthalmologist clearance).

UFC on ESPN 33 Medical Suspensions:

Curtis Blaydes: Suspended indefinitely until right foot is cleared by orthopedic doctor

Chris Daukaus…

Curtis Blaydes had a short night at the office at UFC on ESPN 33, but he was nonetheless the event’s highest-paid athlete.

Blaydes took home $262,000 for his second-round technical knockout of Chris Daukaus ($80,000) in Saturday’s heavyweight headliner at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio Athletic Commission released a full list of salaries from the event to MMAFighting.com.

Elsewhere, longtime Octagon veteran Neil Magny pocketed $230,000 for a split-decision triumph against Max Griffin ($53,000) in a featured welterweight encounter. Three other fighters from UFC on ESPN 33 took home disclosed six-figure paychecks: Kai Kara France ($102,000), Bryan Barberena ($122,000) and Matt Brown ($105,000).

Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic commissions do not include any performance-based or discretionary bonuses that may be awarded to a fighter by the promotion. Additionally, the reported figures do not reflect any deductions made by the co…

It seemed that a fourth meeting between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno was a virtual certainty until the Brazilian flyweight champion recently used Instagram to challenge Kai Kara France for his next title defense.

"I was informed through international media that my next fight would be against Moreno, but I never accepted that,” Figueiredo told Sherdog.com. “My manager, Wallid, called me last week saying that the UFC wanted the [Moreno] fight and I told him that, as a champion, I should have the right to choose a challenger that motivates me. I fought this guy three times in 13 months. There are a lot of great talents in the division and the weight class must move forward. Moreno lost to [Alexandre] Pantoja twice. if he beats him, we can talk about a fourth fight, but not now.”

Figueiredo also admitted that what he claims have been racist attacks from Moreno’s team, which he mentioned on Instagram, motivated his decision to pursue a fight against Kara France.<…

A previously reported middleweight championship clash between Gegard Mousasi and Johnny Eblen has an official date and event.

The California-based promotion announced Tuesday that Mousasi will defend his 185-pound belt against Eblen in the Bellator 282 headliner on June 24 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card will air on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on the Bellator MMA YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.

Additionally, two bantamweight grand prix quarterfinals will take place at Bellator 282. Magomed Magomedov will face the Enrique Barzola-Josh Hill winner, while Leandro Higo will square off against the Jornel Lugo-Danny Sabatello winner. A preliminary clash pitting Alejandra Lara against Ilara Joanne was also confirmed for the card.

Mousasi last appeared at Bellator 275 on Feb. 25, when he made short work of the previously undefeated Austin Vanderford in a first-ro…

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

@DricusDuPlessis putting South Africa on the map! #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/kinqJld3o9

— UFC (@ufc) July 11, 2021 Kelvin Gastelum will remain on the UFC 273 card after all, as Dricus Du Plessis has agreed to step in and face “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner on April 9.

Gastelum was originally slated to meet Nassourdine Imavov before the bout was canceled due to visa issues for his opponent. ESPN was first to report the new middleweight booking. Du Plessis was scheduled to fight Anthony Hernandez at UFC 273, but according to MMAFighting.com, Hernandez will remain on the bill and lock horns with promotional newcomer Josh Fremd.

This is the third different opponent for Du Plessis at UFC 273. Before being booked against Hernandez, he was supposed to square off against Chris Curtis, who pulled out due to a wrist injury. The former KSW and EFC champion has won four straight fights, including back-to-back knockouts of Trevi…

The first ever UFC PPV in South East Asia is coming, and it is STACKED

Register your interest now - https://t.co/6O0EJtkELc 🔗

[ #UFC275 | @VisitSingapore | #UFCSingapore | #PassionMadePossible | #SingapoReimagine ] pic.twitter.com/JytxBSv2tc — UFC (@ufc) March 29, 2022

Singapore will host an Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view event for the first time ever on June 11.

The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed on Tuesday that UFC 275 will be held at Singapore Indoor Stadium and is headlined by a light heavyweight title tilt between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka. The card will also see women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko defend her belt against Taila Santos, while ex-middleweight champion Robert Whittaker takes on Marvin Vettori in a pivotal middleweight clash.

Two other bouts were also announced for UFC 275: Brendan Allen vs. Jacob Malkoun at middleweight and Kyung Ho Kang vs. Saimon Oliveira at feath…

A matchup between 2021 heavyweight champion Bruno Henrique Cappelozza and Englishman Stuart Austin will serve as the headliner for Professional Fighters League’s second regular season card on April 28.

PFL 2 will be held at Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas, and features a lineup of heavyweights and featherweights. The main card airs on ESPN2 and ESPN+ 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. In the co-main event, Dana White’s Contender Series alum and Cage Warriors veteran Brendan Loughnane will square off against Japanese prospect Ryoji Kudo at 145 pounds.

Two other heavyweight pairings round out the main draw, as Ante Delija meets Matheus Scheffel while Renan Ferreira takes on Jamelle Jones.

The evening begins with the following six bouts on the preliminary card: Lance Palmer vs. Chris Wade at featherweight; Bubba Jenkins vs. Sung Bin Jo at featherweight; Denis Goltsov vs. Sam Kei at heavyweight; Ali Isae…

Emily Ducote will welcome Alesha Zappitella to the strawweight division in a title fight at Invicta FC 47 on May 11.

The all-female promotion announced the headlining bout on Tuesday. A location and broadcast details for the card will be announced in the coming weeks. Recent Invicta events have aired on the organization’s YouTube channel.

Five other bouts were also confirmed for Invicta FC 47: Courtney King vs. Chelsea Chandler at featherweight; Lindsey VanZandt vs. Jillian DeCoursey at atomweight; Lisa Verzosa vs. Serena DeJesus at bantamweight; Janaisa Morandin vs. Liana Pirosin at flyweight and Jennifer Chieng vs. Alyssa Linduska at strawweight.

Ducote claimed the 115-pound strap with a head kick knockout of Daniell Taylor at Invicta FC 44 this past August. The Bellator MMA veteran has been victorious in four of her last five professonal outings. Ducote is 10-6 over the course of a tenure that began in 2015.

Zappitella will be making her strawweight deb…

UFC 273 has undergone a couple changes with less than two weeks remaining before the pay-per-view event.

A welterweight showdown between Kelvin Gastelum against Nassourdine Imavov has been canceled due to visa issues for Imavov. Gastelum will not be given a replacement opponent. It is unclear if the matchup will be rescheduled, but Gastelum posted on Twitter that “we’re trying to figure out other options.”

Unfortunately my opponent was unable to obtain a visa.Hopefully that gets worked out ASAP.We’re trying to figure out other options.So stay tuned…..#UFC273

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) March 28, 2022

Meanwhile, a heavyweight tilt pitting Ilir Latifi against Alexey Oleynik has been added to the UFC 273 bill. Latifi vs. Oleynik was originally slated for UFC on ESPN 33 before Latifi pulled out hours before the card due to illness.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the updates on Monday. UFC 273 takes place at Vystar Vete…

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https://t.co/TrFZh8ylKA @BellatorMMA @arielhelwani

— Vechtsport Info (@vechtsport_Info) March 28, 2022

Melvin Manhoef reportedly made a trio of would-be burglars regret targeting his residence.

Manhoef revealed to Dutch outlet Vechtsport Info that he chased down three men who tried to break into his house near Landsmeer, Netherlands, on Monday. The fighter then reportedly ran the burglars’ vehicle off the road and smashed one of the car windows with his bare fist.

Manhoef said he then made the three men wait on their knees until police arrived. The burglars were allegedly seen around Manhoef’s home will he was doing a promotional visit to Paris for Bellator MMA before making their robbery attempt the second time around.

Manhoef is slated to return to action against former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero in a light heavyweigh bout at Bellator 280 on May 6 in Paris. It will be his first fight since suffering a second-round TKO defea…