Martial Arts News

Viacheslav Borshchev made quite an impression.

The Team Alpha Male representative was one of three mixed martial arts hopefuls to earn an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he knocked out the previously unbeaten Chris Duncan in the second round of their lightweight firefight. Duncan (7-1) hit the deck in a semi-conscious state just 28 seconds into Round 2.

Borshchev (4-1) operated behind a punishing jab in the first round, where he had the Scotsman reeling on more than one occasion—first with a multi-punch burst and later with a brutal body kick. Duncan answered with takedowns, positional control and ground-and-pound but failed to turn the corner with his short-lived momentum. Early in the middle stanza, Borshchev stepped out of range from a lunging right hand and clipped his counterpart with an exquisite counter left hook. No follow-up shots were necessary.

In addition to the 29-year-old Borshchev, UFC President Da…

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. Sherdog's live DWCS 2021 Week 7 coverage kicks off Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Silva opens up with a couple low kicks and Paprocki responds by landing a left hook. Paprocki with a body kick which the Brazilian catches and attempts to counter. A straight right connects for Paprocki. Silva goes back to the well with a pair of low kicks. They clinch in the center of the cage and Silva shoves her foe into the fence. Silva maintains heavy pressure, landing occasional knees to the midsection. Paprocki does her best to remain active against the cage, but Silva is tight on the body lock. Silva isn’t doing much more than holding her opponent and Jason Herzog separates the fighters. Silva…

A welterweight clash between Jake Matthews and Jeremiah Wells has been added to the UFC on ESPN 31 lineup.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Tuesday. UFC on ESPN 31 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 4 and is headlined by a bantamweight duel between Jose Aldo and Rob Font.

Matthews had a three-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing, as he was submitted by Sean Brady in the third round at UFC 259 on March 6. Still just 27 years old, Matthews has compiled a 10-5 mark in the Las Vegas-based promotion since his 2014 debut.

A veteran of the CES MMA and Cage Fury Fighting Championships organizations, Wells made a splash in his Octagon debut with a second-round knockout of Warlley Alves at UFC Fight Night 190. The Renzo Gracie Philly representative is 9-2-1 over the course of his pro career.

Colorado will be the second state to have open scoring for combat sports events.

The Colorado State Boxing Commission voted on Tuesday to adopt open scoring for mixed martial arts and boxing bouts, according to a report from ESPN. Colorado joins Kansas as the only states to adopt the measure. The Kansas Athletic Commission implemented open scoring in February 2020, and it has been used consistently at Invicta Fighting Championship events.

Open — or real-time — scoring allows for cageside judges’ scorecards to be public knowledge after each round instead of only at the end of a bout. That information could prove useful for fighters, broadcasters and corners alike — and can help determine an athlete’s approach as a fight progresses.

CSBC director Tony Cummings said that open scoring will be optional for event promoters in Colorado.

"I've been around the industry for a long period of time from a coach's perspective, cornering fighters and stuff like that," Cummin…

Mackenzie Dern and Randy Brown are among the competitors from UFC Fight Night 194 who are facing a potentially lengthy time on the shelf.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to mixedmartialarts.com. UFC Fight Night 194 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this past Saturday and saw Marina Rodriguez take a unanimous decision against Dern in the evening’s strawweight main event.

Dern must have an X-ray on her right thumb and receive doctor clearance or she is suspended until April 8. At a minimum, she is out until Nov. 9 with no contact until Oct. 31. Rodriguez emerged from the event with a clean bill of health.

Meanwhile, Brown admitted to fighting through a dislocated toe in his co-headlining victory against Jared Gooden in the welterweight co-headliner. Brown must have a right toe X-ray and a left knee MRI and receive doctor clearance or he will also be out until April 8. At a minimum, “Rude Boy” is out …

A heavyweight tilt pitting Tai Tuivasa against Augusto Sakai is scheduled to go down at UFC Fight Night 198.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. Tuivasa was originally slated to face Walt Harris at UFC 267, but that pairing was scrapped for undisclosed reasons. UFC Fight Night 198 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight bout between Miesha Tate and Ketlen Vieira. .

Tuivasa is currently on the second three-fight winning streak of his promotional tenure, with a trio of first-round KO/TKO victories against Stefan Struve, Harry Hunsucker and Greg Hardy to his credit. The 28-year-old Aussie began his UFC career with three straight victories before going on a three-bout skid. “Bam Bam” is 12-3 as a professional overall, with 11 triumphs coming via KO or TKO. .

Sakai, meanwhile, earned a deal on the Brazilian version of the Contender Series and opened his UFC tenure with four consecutive triumphs …

Sam Alvey keeps getting chances in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Despite holding an 0-6-1 record in his last seven Octagon appearances, Alvey will square off against Ian Heinisch at a UFC event on Feb. 5. MMAFighting.com was first to report the middleweight pairing. The card does not yet have a location or headliner.

Alvey hasn’t tasted victory within the Las Vegas-based promotion since taking a split verdict over Gian Villante at UFC Fight Night 131 in June 2018. Most recently, he dropped a split decision to Wellington Turman at UFC on ESPN 30.

Heinisch has endured his share of struggles in UFC competition, losing four of his last five appearances. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum is coming off a second-round TKO defeat at UFC on ESPN 27 on June 24.

Luke Rockhold’s comeback fight will have to wait.

The former middleweight champion announced Monday on his Instagram story that a herniated disc in his back has forced him to withdraw from a proposed clash against Sean Strickland at UFC 268.

“There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight is off in New York,” Rockhold said. “I ended up herniating a disc in my back. L4, L5. The docs say it’s nothing I can play with. I need to do some treatment and recovery time. Some things just aren’t meant to be. New York, motherf—-ing New York. I’m sorry to the friends and the peeps and everyone, but we’ll be back. Until next time.”

Rockhold hasn’t competed since a second-round knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 239 in July 2019. He was planning to return to 185 pounds for his clash against Strickland at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6. It’s unclear at this time if Strickland will remain on the card against a replacement oppone…

A welterweight showdown between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Geoff Neal is on tap for UFC 269.

ESPN was first to report that the promotion is on the verge of finalizing the bout. UFC 269 is expected to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a lightweight championship matchup between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.

Ponzinibbio returned for the first time since November 2018 at UFC on ABC 1, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Jingliang Li on Jan. 16. The Argentina native bounced back in his most recent outing, taking a three-round verdict over Miguel Baeza at UFC Fight Night 189 on June 5. Ponzinibbio has won eight of nine Octagon appearances dating back to December 2015.

Neal began his promotional tenure with five consecutive triumphs to emerge as one of the hottest prospects in the UFC’s welterweight divison. The Fortis MMA product came back to reality in his last two outings, however, falling to Stephen Thompson and Ne…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

More details have emerged regarding the the latest arrest of UFC talent Luis Pena.

Pena was arrested this past Saturday in Deerfield Beach, Fla. on charges of domestic violence and battery. According to a probable cause affadavit obtained by ESPN, Pena is accused of hitting his girlfirend with a closed fist “multiple times.” Pena allegedly continued to strike his girlfriend while she was on the ground, and the woman also suffered abrasions on her left wrist and a bite mark near her left knee.

According to the affadavit, another woman who witnessed the alleged assault attempted to stop Pena, and the fighter struck the woman in the eye with a closed fist. That resulted in the woman falling to the ground, and she was left with a purple contusion to her eye as well as a laceration on her right elbow due to the fall.

Both women provided sworn statements regarding the incident. Police initially responded to a domestic disturbance …

UFC 270 just gained a little more firepower, as a flyweight championship trilogy between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo is expected to move to the Jan. 22 card.

The bout was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 269 on Dec. 12 but was moved after that event added a welterweight fight pitting Leon Edwards against Jorge Masvidal. Ariel Helwani was first to report the new date for Moreno vs. Figueiredo. UFC 270 is headlined by a heavyweight championship unification bout between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane. A location for the event has not been announced.

After battling Figueiredo to a majority draw at UFC 256, Moreno claimed flyweight gold with a third-round submission of the Brazilian at UFC 263 in June. The promotion’s first Mexican-born champion is unbeaten in his last seven professional outings.

Figueiredo won five consecutive UFC appearances from July 2019 to November 2020, claiming the title with a first-round submission of Joseph Benavidez at …

Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal will get a chance to settle a feud that began more than two years ago when they square off at UFC 269.

The pairing was initially reported by Ariel Helwani and later confirmed by promotion broadcast partner ESPN. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout, but contracts have not yet been signed. Edwards vs. Masvidal will be a three-round affair.

Edwards and Masvidal famously crossed paths at UFC Fight Night 147 in London on March 16, 2019. Masvidal defeated Darren Till via second-round KO and Edwards took a split verdict over Gunnar Nelson at the event, but it was what happened backstage that really made headlines. Masvidal was giving an interview when he began exchanging words with Edwards, who was nearby. “Gamebred” then left the interview set to confront the Englishman, and shortly thereafter the fighters engaged in a brief altercation before being separated. That incident led to Masvidal’s famous “three-piece with a soda” line,…