Martial Arts News

Reigning middleweight champion Mamed Khalidov will lock horns with welterweight king Roberto Soldic in the KSW 65 main event on Dec. 18.

The bout, which KSW is billing as the biggest in promotion history, was announced on Wednesday. KSW 65 takes place at Gliwice Arena in Gliwice, Poland, and will also see Daniel Torres face Salahdine Parnasse in a featherweight championship rematch in the evening’s co-headliner. The event will be available on KSWTV.com.

Khalidov returned from two retirements at KSW 55, where he recaptured the 185-pound belt with a jumping switch kick knockout of Scott Askham in October 2020. That victory halted a three-bout losing streak for the 41-year-old, who is a two-time middleweight champion and former light heavyweight title holder. The Chechen-born Pole owns a 35-7 career mark and is widely regarded as the greatest fighter in KSW history.

Soldic will enter his bid to become a two-division champion on a six-bout winning streak in which h…

Azamat Murzakanov will make his promotional debut against Philipe Lins in a light heavyweight bout at UFC on ESPN 31.

VestnikMMA first brought word of the matchup. UFC on ESPN 31 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 4 and is headlined by a bantamweight tilt between Jose Aldo and Rob Font.

Murzakanov is coming off a contract-winning appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, when he defeated Matheus Scheffel via first-round TKO on Aug. 31. The 35-year-old Russian is 10-0 is a professional, with notable wins over the likes of Guto Inocente and Andre Muniz.

Lins, a former Professional Fighters League heavyweight champion, will be making his 205-pound debut. The 36-year-old went 0-2 in UFC competition in 2020, falling to Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser. Since then, he has had proposed bouts against Ovince St. Preux, Ben Rothwell and Don’Tale Mayes fall through for various reasons.

Well-traveled Irish veteran Paul Redmond has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts following a 24-bout professional tenure.

Redmond initially considered not making an announcement but ultimately elected to reveal his decision on Instagram. The 35-year-old exits the sport with a 15-9 mark over the course of a career that began in 2010.

I was just gonna fade off into the background and not mention it but a lot of people keep asking me, ‘When am I out again next? and I always say ‘ah soon, etc. etc.’ But the truth is you’re probably not going to see me do my thing in an MMA cage again,” Redmond wrote.

“I’ve thought long and hard about this, talked to the big lad [Coach Andy Ryan], my family, etc., and I think now is a good a time as ever to step away from MMA. Twenty-five pro fights, a full amateur career, but the injuries are starting to mount up every fight camp and I haven’t made the last two fights because of them.

“Along with other stuff I hav…

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The UFC 270 card is official with 14 bouts, including two title fights at the top of the bill.

The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed the lineup in a release on Tuesday. UFC 270 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and is headlined by a heavyweight championship unification bout between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane. In the co-main event, Brandon Moreno will square off against Deiveison Figueiredo in a flyweight title trilogy. The main…

Seven athletes from UFC Fight Night 197 are facing potentially lengthy medical suspensions, including co-main event combatants Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Ben Rothwell.

Lima, who defeated Rothwell via technical knockout 32 seconds into their heavyweight clash, must have an X-ray on his right hand and receive doctor clearance or he will be out until May 13. At a minimum, he is suspended until Dec. 14 with no contact until Dec. 5. Rothwell, meanwhile, must have an X-ray on his nose and receive clearance from an ear, nose and throat doctor or he too will be sidelined until May 13. At a minimum, Rothwell is suspended until Dec. 29 with no contact until Dec. 14.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to mixedmartialarts.com. UFC Fight Night 197 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this past Saturday and saw Max Holloway defeat Yair Rodriguez via unanimous decision in the featherweight headliner. Holloway …

Cheyanne Buys will step in for Montserrat Ruiz and face Mallory Martin at UFC on ESPN 31 on Dec. 4.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the new strawweight booking. A reason for Ruiz’s withdrawal is currently unknown. UFC on ESPN 31 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight showdown between Jose Aldo and Rob Font.

After dropping a unanimous verdict to Ruiz in her Octagon debut, Buys secured her first promotional triumph at UFC on ESPN 28, when she stopped Gloria de Paula in 60 seconds on July 31. The former Dana White’s Contender Series and Legacy Fighting Alliance competitor is 6-2 over the course of her professional career.

Martin has lost two of her first three UFC appearances. Most recently, the Elevation Fight Team representative was submitted by Polyana Viana in the opening round at UFC 258 on Feb. 13. Martin’s 7-4 mark includes wins with Invicta FC, the Contender Series and LFA.

New UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira was recently honored with a parade and the key to the city in his adopted hometown.

Teixeira became the oldest first-time champion in promotion history at age 42 when he submitted Jan Blachowicz in the second round of the UFC 267 headliner in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 30. The Brazilian is a longtime resident of Danbury, Conn., where he runs Teixeira MMA and Fitness.

Teixeira has won six straight fights dating back to January 2019, a stretch that includes finishes of Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Blachowicz. His championship victory came more than seven years after his first title opportunity, a loss to Jon Jones at UFC 172 in April 2014.

Watch video of Teixeira’s acceptance speech below:

After hearing rumors that Jorge Masvidal wasn’t seriously training for their announced clash at UFC 269, Leon Edwards wasn’t surprised when “Gamebred pulled out of their welterweight fight last week.

"I knew he was going to," Edwards told ESPN. "I heard some news coming back that he was looking a bit fat, he was looking chubby still. I didn't think he was training for it to be honest. I always knew he was going to run away. It's been three years since the incident in London and he's been dodging me ever since.”

Interest in a grudge match between Edwards and Masvidal began after UFC Fight Night 147 in London, when the two men had an altercation backstage following the event. Masvidal went viral after hitting Edwards with a “three-piece and a soda” combination during that scuffle, which helped raise his profile significantly. It’s been more than two years since then, and Masvidal has enjoyed the spoils of stardom with a headlining bout at Madison Square Garden and a pa…

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A light heavyweight showdown between Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev is in the works to serve as the main event for an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on March 12.

ESPN was first to report the booking, which is in the process of being finalized. The event does not yet have a location.

A former light heavyweight title challenger, Santos halted a three-bout skid in his last outing, when he took a five-round verdict against Johnny Walker in the UFC Fight Night 193 main event on Oct. 2. After a lengthy stint at middleweight, “Marreta” earned a title shot following finishes of Eryk Anders, Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz at 205 pounds. The 37-year-old Brazilian gave then champ Jon Jones a difficult test, falling to “Bones” via split decision at UFC 239.

Ankalaev, 29, is one of the fastest-rising talents in the light heavyweight division. The Dagestani has won seven consecutive contests …

Streaming now: Suspect allegedly stabbed doctor in the neck with a bone https://t.co/TbmUSH5ssd

— KUAM News (@kuamnews) November 10, 2021

Professional mixed martial artist Akmal Khozhiev was arrested in Guam after an argument over the COVID-19 vaccination turned deadly.

According to multiple reports, 27-year-old Khozhiev was charged with first-degree felony aggravated murder with a deadly weapon and second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the stabbing of Dr. Miran Ribati on Nov. 7 at the Poinciana Apartments in Tamuning, Guam. Bail has been set at $1 million.

“Sir it’s me, I killed him,” Khozhiev allegedly told police prior to his arrest. Ribati was declared dead at the scene.

According to the Guam Daily Post, Khoziev and Ribati, 42, knew each other from a local gym and reportedly returned to Khozhiev’s residence to have dinner after spending the day at the beach. A witness said that the two men bega…

Khama Worthy’s Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure got off to a spectacular start, but he was unable to maintain that momentum.

The lightweight competitor recently announced that he was released from the Las Vegas-based promotion in a post on his Instagram account. The 35-year-old known as “The Deathstar” went 2-3 in UFC competition.

“I just got word from my management team that I’ve been cut by the UFC,” Worthy wrote.

“…One door closes and another one opens, this lion still has the hunger in him, back on the hunt we go.”

Worthy’s Octagon debut came on less than a week’s notice, when he stopped Devonte Smith via technical knockout in the opening round at UFC 241. The Pittsburgh native followed that victory with a third-round submission of Luis Pena at UFC on ESPN 12. Since then, Worthy has suffered three consecutive first-round TKO defeats, falling to Ottman Azaitar, Jamie Mullarkey and Jai Herbert in succession.

Worthy is 16-9 over the course of a profes…

Max Holloway further strengthened his case for a trilogy bout against reigning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski with a memorable performance in the UFC Fight Night 197 headliner on Saturday night.

Holloway emerged with a hard-fought five-round verdict over the returning Yair Rodriguez on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for his second consecutive triumph. The Hawaiian standout shook off a strong start from Rodriguez — including numerous damaging low kicks — to gradually impose his will through multi-punch combinations, takedowns and clinch work. Rodriguez gave one final push in the fifth round, but it wasn’t enough to sway the scorecards in his favor.

“It’s one of the best fights I’ve ever seen,” UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “The fact that Yair was off for two years and comes in and puts on a performance like this, unheard of. It’s incredible.

“Then Max, I didn’t think he was going to make it out of the s…