Martial Arts News

A member of Jeremiah Wells’ team tested positive for COVID-19 just hours before his sophomore Octagon appearance, resulting in the cancellation of his UFC on ESPN 31 matchup with Jake Matthews.

Wells revealed the news in a post on his Instagram account. It’s currently unclear if the welterweight bout will be rescheduled for a future event, or if Wells and Matthews will be booked against different opponents.

“Sorry everyone, I just found out that my fight is canceled due to exposure of Covid,” Wells wrote. “My test result came back negative, but one of my corner men had a result of positive. Thank you to everyone who supported me, helped me with this fight camp and cheer me on.”

UFC on ESPN 31 will proceed with 13 fights. The card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight clash between Jose Aldo and Rob Font. The prelims begin on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while the main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m…

.@sergiopettis OUTTA NOWHERE!

What a way to end the 2021 Bellator MMA season LIVE on @SHOsports. #Bellator272 pic.twitter.com/g8Kstu4E3v

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) December 4, 2021 The situation looked bleak for Sergio Pettis. Then lightning struck.

The Roufusport mainstay retained the undisputed Bellator MMA bantamweight championship, as he knocked out Kyoji Horiguchi with a spinning backfist in the fourth round of their Bellator 272 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Pettis (22-5, 4-0 Bellator) brought it to a shocking conclusion 3:24 into Round 4.

Horiguchi (29-4, 1-1 Bellator) had command of all of his pitches and kept the Milwaukee native off-balance with darting lateral movements. The Japanese star battered Pettis’ lead leg with kicks, punctuated his combinations with powerful overhand rights, mixed in a handful of spinning back kicks to the body and incorporated strategic takedowns i…

Sherdog's live Bellator 272 coverage kicks off at 7 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 Welcome one and all to Sherdog's coverage of the final Bellator event of the year, headlined by a sensational world title match between Sergio Pettis and Kyoji Horiguchi. It's a very solid, deep card before then, including the prelims, which can be seen in the very first fight of the night, as Oliver Enkamp (10-2), a UFC veteran ranked #10 in Bellator's weltereight division, faces tough Kyle Crutchmer (7-1), a very decent 3-1 in Bellator. Referee John English gets the first assigment of the night. Enkamp jumps across the cage to begin, but Crutchmer gets out of the way. Enkmap then fires a nice side kick to the face and partially connects. Enkamp goes for a roundhouse to the head that is blocked, and Crutchmer counters with an overhand right that almost lands. Crutchmer decides to change levels and gets the doub…

for the legend @JoseAldoJunior. Tomorrow's main event is

[ #UFCVegas44 | Tomorrow | | Live on @ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/C9AUYnOR4k

— UFC (@ufc) December 3, 2021 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. The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns after a rare week off for its first of three December cards.

All fighters made weight for UFC on ESPN 31, including headliners Rob Font and Jose Aldo in a pivotal bantamweight bout. However, Jared Vanderaa wasn't medically cleared for his bout against Azamat Murzakanov, and the fight was canceled as a result.

After dropping three straight fights to top competition in Alexander Volkanovski, Marlon Moraes and Petr Yan, Aldo (30-7) has finally found his footing at bantamweight. "Junior" has won two straight decisions over Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz. The former featherweight king will look…

The Bantamweight World Grand Prix is official!

Coming in 2022, the #BellatorBWGP will feature @SergioPettis, @Kyoji1012, @LeandroHigoMMA, @TeamMixMMA, @JArchMMA, Magomed Magomedov, @StrabanimalMMA and @RaufeonStots.#Bellator272 pic.twitter.com/1koQ0yvMeu

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) December 4, 2021 Bellator MMA made sure to leave fans wanting more at its year-end show, announcing a stacked eight-man tourney for next year.

During the Bellator 272 main card broadcast, the organization announced its next tournament in the form of a 135-pound grand prix. Eight fighters in the division, the top seven in its rankings plus the title challenger later that night, will participate in the brackets that will be set at a later date. No events have been confirmed for 2022, and no date has been given on when the tourney will launch.

The top two fighters at the tournament are competing in the main event of Bellator 272, as Sergio Pettis looks to…

The final live One Championship card of the year turned out to be a blast.

In the One: “Winter Warriors” headliner, Regian Eersel put his kickboxing lightweight championship on the line against Islam Murtazaev. The two were originally slated to fight in February, but Murtazaev pulled out and was replaced by Mustapha Haida. In this 170-pound encounter, Eersel adopted a cautious approach in the first couple of rounds, while his Russian opponent took the initiative and landed the most impactful shots. Murtazaev scored with his jab and then moved away, frustrating the Surinamese champion who struggled to implement his game.

In the third frame, Eersel started settling in, and his strategy of chipping at Murtazaev’s leading leg began paying off. In the championship rounds, Eersel landed multiple knees and kicks to the body as his opponent struggled as his cardio started to fade, forcing the challenger to clinch up repeatedly. The excessive clinching from Murtazaev earned him …

Fight news we’re back in Vegas pic.twitter.com/hYzziXhGpF

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) December 3, 2021 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. Although rising Ultimate Fighting Championship talent Terrance McKinney couldn’t aim for five knockouts in 2021, he will get a chance to start 2022 off right in February. On Friday, McKinney’s (11-3) management team of Iridium Sports Agency posted on Twitter of the rescheduled matchup between McKinney and Fares Ziam (12-3) on Feb. 26. Minutes later, McKinney confirmed this by reposting it on his own Twitter page. The two lightweights are now set to square off at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on a currently unnumbered UFC Fight Night card at the end of February. They were originally planning on meeting at UFC Fight Night 198 in November, but a member of McKinney’s corner tested positive for COVID-19…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICefRJtygBQ&w=560&h=315] Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Raulian Paiva does not just think he will win next week, but he expects he will get a finish within two rounds.

On a three-fight win streak, Paiva (21-3) is scheduled to face Sean O'Malley (14-1) on the main card of UFC 269. Brazil’s Paiva spoke to Sherdog last Friday talking about his upcoming challenge.

“After three straight wins, I thought UFC would give me a ranked guy,” Paiva admitted, “but after all the hype over O’Malley, I think a clear win over him will take me to the rankings anyway.”

Training at Team Alpha Male in California for the last two months, Paiva believes the support of high-level sparring partners will give him an edge in the fight.

"Unlike O’Malley, I love to train hard and be pressured,” Paiva explained. “Here in Alpha Male, I can count on some of the best lightweights in the world. There are no easy days.”

Paiva continued, “…

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. Two top-10 Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights will have 25 minutes to handle their business in February. The promotion’s broadcast partner of ESPN announced the headliner of the UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 5 on Friday. Across five rounds at 185 pounds, Jack Hermansson (22-6) and Sean Strickland (24-3) will toe the line in search of a top-five spot in the division. The fight is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, although that has not yet been officially confirmed.

Sweden’s Hermansson has alternated wins and losses in his last five, with victories over Ronaldo Souza, Kelvin Gastelum and Edmen Shahbazyan interspersed by defeats to Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori. Leading up to his meeting with Cannonier, Hermansson had strung together four victories in a row, beating names like Ronaldo Souza and Gerald…

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. The winner of this upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight matchup will either cement one’s place or enter another into the top 10. On Thursday, MMA Junkie first reported that Jessica Eye (15-10, 1 NC) would be taking on Manon Fiorot (8-1) at an upcoming UFC Fight Night card on March 5. The two 125-pounders are expected to fight inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, although that venue has not yet been made official. Both Fiorot and Eye confirmed the pairing on their respective social media pages.

Dating back to a 2020 meeting with Cynthia Calvillo, Eye has struggled inside the Octagon, dropping a trio of decisions to Calvillo, Joanne Wood and Jennifer Maia. The former title challenger last prevailed in 2019, snagging a unanimous verdict over Viviane Araujo. “Evil Eye” earned a crack at the belt by stringing three wins …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyemGfbA0hI&w=560&h=315] There were no issues during the weigh-in ceremony ahead of Senshi 10.

On Saturday, Kyokushin karate organization Senshi will hold its tenth event. The card is headlined by a non-title 176-pound clash between WAKO PRO K1 World titleholder Sergej Braun and Assane Bafeta. The 30-year-old Braun is pursuing his fifth victory under the Senshi banner, and is now facing a new opponent that stepped in during fight week. The German had no issues in hitting the mark as he weighed in at 175 pounds.

A short-notice substitute for Nikola Todorovic, European ISKA K1 champion Bafeta is ready to surprise the masses on Saturday. The Bulgarian organization will promote this contest under the KWU Full Contact rules, which prohibit elbow strikes and throws, but allow the fighters to box, kick, sweep and knee. The late replacement Bafeta looked good on the scales as he hit the 174-pound mark.

The co-main event is a heavyweight…

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Geoff Neal will have to answer some important questions before his next fight in a little over a week.

On Thursday, courtesy of a document from the Collin County Sheriff’s Office received by MMA Junkie, Neal was arrested on Nov. 25 for driving while intoxicated and the unlicensed carrying of a weapon. Both charges misdemeanors, Neal was picked up at 3:47 a.m. local time and remained in jail that day. He was released that night at 8:08 p.m., and bonds were set at $1,000 for each charge.

The remaining details of his arrest, or even the identification of the specific weapon found on Neal, have not been made publicly available. Neal’s status on the main card of UFC 269 is not currently known, regarding his matchup with Santiago Ponzinibbio.

“Handz of Steel” is hoping to rebound from the first losing stretch of his career at UFC 269, as he dropped a pair of decisions within the year to Stephen Thompson and Neil Magny. The d…