Martial Arts News

Takashi Sato has agreed to step in and replace the injured Claudio Silva and face Gunnar Nelson at UFC London.

ESPN was first to report the new welterweight booking. UFC Fight Night 204 takes place at the O2 Arena in London is currently scheduled to be headlined by a heavyweight clash between Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov.

A veteran of the Pancrase and Deep organizations, Sato is 2-2 in UFC competition. The 31-year-old Tokyo native will compete for the first time since November 2020, when he suffered a second-round submission defeat to Miguel Baeza at UFC on ESPN 18.

Nelson will be making his first appearance since September 2019, when he fell to Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 160. The 33-year-old Iceland native has lost three of four promotion appearances after beginning his UFC tenure with a 7-2 mark.

The MW division just got put on NOTICE

[ #UFC268 | Prelims are LIVE on ESPNews & ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/wZbuaYuLal

— UFC (@ufc) November 7, 2021 Glover Teixeira will take a break from preparation for his title defense against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275 to travel to Las Vegas to attend UFC Fight Night 203.

Not because the winner of the main event between Magomed Ankalaev and Thiago Santos might be his next opponent, but because his No. 1 training partner, Alex Pereira, will be facing Bruno Silva on the evening’s main card.

"I dont like to see Brazilians getting in the way of each other's dreams. But at least they are in the most important MMA promotion in the world,” Teixeira told Sherdog.com. “No doubt ‘Blindado’ will be the toughest challenge of [Pereira’s] career. Besides being an M-1 champion, the guy is coming off three impressive knockout victories. But ‘Poatan’ is a different animal, and I see Silva’s aggressiveness p…

Cain Velasquez was denied bail at a hearing on Monday as he awaits trial on attempted murder charges stemming from a shooting incident on Feb. 28.

Judge Shelya Brown issued the ruling during an arraignment at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose, Calif., after listening to arguments from Velasquez attorney Mark Geragos and deputy district attorney Aaron French. Brown said the “risk is too great” to release Vealsquez on bail. The former UFC heavyweight champion is due back in court on April 12.

“It is clear to this court that there is clear and convincing evidence that there is a substantial likelihood that release would result in great bodily injury, not just to the named complaining witnesses in this case but to Santa Clara residents at large,” Judge Brown said (transcription via MMAFighting.com). “This case involves allegations of extreme recklessness to human life.

“Ramming a vehicle in the middle of the day where are citizens are out driving, …

A pair of welterweight bouts have been added to the UFC 274 lineup, as Randy Brown will square off against Kalinn Williams, while Danny Roberts will lock horns with Francisco Trinaldo.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announced both matchups. UFC 274 takes place on May 7 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., and is headlined by a lightweight title tilt between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje.

Brown has been victorious in four of his last five Octagon appearances, including a unanimous verdict over Jared Gooden in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 194 on Oct. 9.

Williams, meanwhile, is 4-1 to begin his promotional tenure. Most recently, “Khaos” defeated Miguel Baeza via third-round technical knockout at UFC Fight Night 197 this past November.

England’s Roberts is coming off back-to-back victories in UFC competition. After a second-round knockout win over Zelim Imadaev at UFC Fight Night 163, “Hot Chocolate” returned to action this pas…

After a brief stint at 125 pounds, Cynthia Calvillo will return to the strawweight division for a clash with Brianna Fortino (formerly Brianna Van Buren) at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on June 4.

Cageside Press was first to report the pairing, while MMAFighting.com confirmed the date for the bout. The card is expected to include a featherweight showdown between Dan Ige and Movsar Evloev.

Calvillo’s last attempt at strawweight came in December 2019, when she missed weight by more than four pounds for a matchup with Marina Rodriguez at UFC on ESPN 7 before battling the Brazilian to a majority draw. Calvillo then moved to flyweight where she debuted with a victory over Jessica Eye at UFC on ESPN 10 before falling to Katlyn Chookagian, Jessica Andrade and Andrea Lee in her last three promotional appearances.

Fortino, meanwhile, will return to action for the first time since June 2020, when she dropped a unanimous decision to Tecia Torres at UFC on ESPN…

Colby Covington settled the score with former American Top Team training partner Jorge Masvidal in the best way possible, winning a dominant unanimous decision in the UFC 272 headliner on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

After the victory, Covington reflected on the grudge match and what it was like to square off against someone he once considered a close friend.

“Just a lot of emotions going into it,” Covington said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “That was a real friend of mine at one point in my career, and he’s such a backstabbing thief, and he talks so reckless. He tried to make some false narratives to the media and lies like he does – he’s a liar. He’s a thief. So I let the emotions get the best of me, but it was still dominant.

“I just showed how good I was, that I am the No. 1 fighter in the world for a reason, and it wasn’t even competitive tonight.”

Covington is ready to close that book on the Masvidal rivalry follow…

For the most part, Jorge Masvidal was fighting an uphill battle against the relentless grappling and wrestling of Colby Covington in the UFC 272 headliner.

That changed briefly in Round 4, when “Gamebred” buckled his rival with a right hand late in the period. Instead of pressuring and pursuing a finish, Masvidal backed off, which allowed Covington to eventually force his way into the clinch and stall the action. In hindsight, Masvidal regrets not doing more in that instance, especially after Covington concluded the bout with a dominant fifth round.

“I didn’t pounce on him after I dropped him. I wasn’t surprised that he bounced up. I was just surprised that I didn’t take his head off,” Masvidal said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I thought he was going to shoot immediately, so I was just thinking of wrong s—t instead of going to take his head off. I was tired. He was tired and hurt.

“That was my chance right there. That was my window of like five o…

A REPLAY OF THAT RIGHT HAND@chihiro19990514 lands clean

Purchase the VODs, link in bio!#RIZIN #MMA #RIZINFF pic.twitter.com/GRd1sZ2wkW

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) March 6, 2022 Chihiro Suzuki won for the fifth time in six appearances, taking a unanimous decision against Ren Hiramoto at Rizin ‘Landmark Vol. 2’ in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday.

The former Pancrase competitor set the tone in an opening frame in which he outlanded Hiramoto (0-2, 0-2 Rizin) by a 40-to-23 count in total strikes, according to statistics provided by the promotion. While the striking gap narrowed over the final two frames, Suzuki (7-3, 2-1 Rizin)) also landed the fight’s only three takedowns and secured 2:51 of control time against his opponent.

Clean Technique.@chihiro19990514 with the textbook throw

Purchase the VODs, link in bio!#RIZIN #MMA #RIZINFF pic.twitter.com/xOGrl6PJuo

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) March 6, 2…

What. A. Fight 🔥🔥🔥

Who you got? #UFC272 pic.twitter.com/yfKv8kPO4K

— UFC (@ufc) March 6, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses after the UFC 272 pay-per-view card.

It was main eventers Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal that took home fight of the night honors, with each pocketing an extra $50,000. The five-round bout went the full 25 minutes with "Chaos" never slowing down and always pressuring a very game Masvidal, who badly hurt his opponent in Round 4 yet never capitalized on the moment. Ultimately, Covington took a clear-cut unanimous decision win.

Kevin Holland's welterweight debut is off to a good start as "Trailblazer" took home a performance bonus after defeating Alex Oliveira. Holland went back-and-forth with "Cowboy" over the opening frame, but then went into another gear after Round 2 began. A barrage of vicious elbows ended the night for the Brazilian as Holland improved to…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. After plenty of verbal blows from both parties in the months leading up to their bout, Colby Covington settled the score with Jorge Masvidal where it mattered most. Covington relied on his relentless grappling to capture a unanimous decision triumph over Masvidal in the UFC 272 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Covington (17-3, 12-3 UFC) earned scorecards of 49-46, 50-44 and 50-45 from the cageside judges in the welterweight clash to bring an emphatic close to the rivalry with his former American Top Team training partner.

There was no secret to Covington’s game plan, as the former NCAA All-American wrestler grounded Masvidal (35-16, 12-9 UFC) on multiple occasions while threatening with chokes against the fence and landing ground-and-pou…

The Eagle has landed in the UFC Hall of Fame 🦅

Congratulations @TeamKhabib on becoming the first inductee to the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2022 🏆

[ #UFCHOF | Hall of Fame Presented by @ToyoTires ] pic.twitter.com/tJHCCLq6RR — UFC (@ufc) March 6, 2022

It didn’t take long for Khabib Nurmagomedov to dominate mixed martial arts’ lightweight division and that dominance led immortality.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced Saturday that Nurmagomedov, one of the sport’s all-time greats, will be inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame in its “Modern Wing” this summer.

“Khabib is one of the greatest athletes to ever compete in professional sports,” UFC President Dana White said in a statement. “No one dominated their opponents the way Khabib did, and to retire undefeated, as lightweight champion and the No.1 pound-for-pound athlete in the world is an incredible accomplishment. It will be an honor to induct him into the UF…

strong>Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 272 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 272 “Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2” coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Be…