Martial Arts News

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 UFC Fight Night 194 coverage will begin Saturday at 2 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:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores t…

Brutal ground and pound gets Alexandr Romanov the W

[ #UFCVegas39 | Prelims LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/lm6KCi7EVT

— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021 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. Alexander Romanov moved another step closer to relevance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division, as he disposed of Team Quest’s Jared Vanderaa with punches in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 194 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The undefeated Romanov (15-0, 4-0 UFC) drew the curtain 4:43 into Round 2.

Vanderaa (12-6, 1-2 UFC) never moved out of his defensive posture. Romanov chipped away at the Team Quest product with takedowns in a largely one-sided first round, then turned up the heat in the second. The Moldovan tripped his …

CONFIRMED: Should any fighter miss weight or be forced to withdraw from a 2021 #PFLChampionship title match, these fighters will be ready to step in as the alternate for their weight division. pic.twitter.com/w0RADQeVbG

— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 8, 2021

When there’s $1 million on the line, it’s always good to have a backup plan.

With that in mind, Professional Fighters League recently revealed the six alternates who will be on standby in case any of the athletes who are participating in championship bouts on Oct. 27 are forced to withdraw or miss weight.

The six replacement fighters are as follows: Genah Fabian (women’s lightweight), Brendan Loughnane (featherweight), Clay Collard (lightweight), Sadibou Sy (welterweight), Emiliano Sordi (light heavyweight) and Denis Goltsov (heavyweight).

The PFL championship takes place at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., and is headlined by a women’s lightweight final between …

Hittin' the scales at 114.5

@MackenzieDern is main event ready!

[ #UFCVegas39 | Tomorrow | | Live on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/xVfXkDliiD — UFC (@ufc) October 8, 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 UFC Fight Night 194 main event between Marina Rodriguez and Mackenzie Dern and eight other bouts are now official after the weigh-ins took place.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship's latest event is on the shorter side, going on with just nine bouts. Seventeen of 18 fighters managed to make weight, with Jared Gooden missing the welterweight limit by three pounds. Additionally, a bout between Phil Hawes and short-notice replacement Chris Curtis was scrapped after Hawes turned down the opponent change. Although James Krause attempted to step in and face Curtis, the commission did not license or clear Krause to compete on a…

Per sources, Alexa Grasso is out of her flyweight fight against Joanne Calderwood on Nov. 20. Calderwood (@DRkneevil) will now face Taila Santos instead. They are the UFC's Nos. 6 and 9 ranked flyweights, respectively.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 8, 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. Strictly from a rankings perspective, this change in opponent at the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division is actually an improvement. The UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN announced on Friday that Alexa Grasso will not longer be competing UFC Fight Night 198 for undisclosed reasons. In her stead will be Taila Santos (18-1), who will come to blows with Joanne Calderwood (15-6) at 125 pounds on Nov. 20. While Grasso is the #10 ranked flyweight according to the promotion, Santos is at the #9 spot to Calderwood as the sixth-ranked w…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAlDHb0IK84&w=560&h=315] Longtime Bellator MMA staple Patricky Freire wants to keep the lightweight title in his family.

On Monday, former two-division champ Patricio Freire announced that he was relinquishing his lightweight belt, after losing the featherweight title to A.J. McKee in July. Patricio did not want to interfere in veteran lightweight Patricky’s title run, explaining that he would not face his brother for a championship. Bellator head Scott Coker hen announced that the vacant 155-pound throne would be up for grabs in a rematch between Patricky and Peter Queally in Dublin at Bellator 270. Many were surprised by this news, including Coker, the fans, media, and even Patricio’s own brother. Patricky spoke to Sherdog about this new sudden development on Thursday.

“My brother told me something about that last week and I told him not to do so, believing I had changed his mind,” Freire explained. “But he communicated about …

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. Just like he did in 2021, Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Calvin Kattar will headline the first show of 2022. On Friday, MMA Junkie announced that Kattar (22-5) and Giga Chikadze (14-2) is the current planned headliner for the UFC Fight Night event on Jan. 15. This unnumbered event is expected to be held inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and this featherweight marquee matchup has been agreed to but the contracts have not been signed. Kattar’s manager, Tyson Chartier, confirmed in an interview with MyMMANews on Friday that Kattar had accepted a main event match in January.

Kattar has not fought since taking a hellacious beating at UFC on ABC 1 that remains a top contender for Sherdog’s 2021 “Beatdown of the Year” award, absorbing an unprecedented 445 significant strikes from Max Holloway. Before the one-sided loss, “T…

Bellator MMA is not going to make it easy on Pam Sorenson in November.

MMA Fighting first reported on Friday that Sorenson (9-3) would be making her second promotional appearance against multiple-time featherweight title challenger Arlene Blencowe (14-8) at Bellator 271. The two 145-pound women with sights set on gold in the future will square off inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. News of this booking has since been confirmed by the organization.

Sorenson made her successful debut with Bellator in August, capturing a split decision over ex-Professional Fighters League lightweight Roberta Samad. The departing Invicta Fighting Championships featherweight queen took over two years away from the sport after claiming the belt from Kaitlin Young in August 2019. Before winning the vacant strap against Young, she fell short to Felicia Spencer to suffer her first stoppage loss in 2018.

Australia’s Blencowe bounced back from a humbling submi…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8gq2Gu0dZk&w=560&h=315] Glory Kickboxing did not have to look far for a replacement to Alistair Overeem for the heavyweight title fight this month.

Overeem suffered an injury and was forced out of his fight with heavyweight kingpin Rico Verhoeven on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Beyond Kickboxing was the first to report that Glory will be bringing one of its main card fighters in against Verhoeven, as Jamal Ben Saddik will face Verhoeven for the third time on Oct. 23. Saddik was set to take on Benjamin Adegbuyi in a rematch that night, and Adebguyi will now be facing Antonio Plazibat instead. Sherdog has since confirmed the news with promotion officials.

Saddik fought Verhoeven in 2017 at Glory 49, and the fight was close early on before Verhoeven knocked Saddik out in Round 5 with a head kick. Their first meeting came in 2011, and “Goliath” forced Verhoeven’s corner to stop the fight a minute into the second round. Now at 1-1…

On 23 October I will make my comeback at @GLORY_WS

You guys wanted it, now you got it. I’m looking forward to see all my supporters at #COLLISION3 Let’s make new memories together. The show must go on

Great work by Glory and my management for making this happen. pic.twitter.com/i0Z1VYJsTS — Gökhan Saki (@gokhantherebel) October 8, 2021 Editor's note: The article has been updated at 2:15 p.m. on Oct. 8 to reflect the news of Saki's first opponent.

Vaunted kickboxer Gokhan Saki is returning to the sport after over six years away and a two-fight stint in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The kickboxing legend known as “The Rebel” announced early on Friday morning that he has signed with Glory Kickboxing again. Saki (81-16, 1 NC; 58 KOs) will be competing on Oct. 23 at Glory: Collision 3, and per Beyond Kickboxing and a poster from the organization, he will be taking on James McSweeney (46-7, 31 KOs) in the co-headlining bout. Saki c…

LAST MINUTE CHANGE

Chris Curtis finally get's the UFC call!! He takes on Phil Hawes tomorrow on the #UFCVegas39 card. Curtis replacing Deron Winn. pic.twitter.com/00P6KETUmk

— MMA DNA (@MMADNANL) October 8, 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. At long last, Chris Curtis has joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship ranks.

On Friday morning, MMA DNA first broke the news that Curtis (26-8) has been signed by the promotion to step in on extremely short notice and face Phil Hawes (11-2) at middleweight. Hawes was originally booked against Deron Winn, but Winn was forced out of the match for non-COVID, non-weight related, undisclosed reasons. The signing was confirmed by multiple outlets, and then cemented when Curtis hit the scales on Friday to make weight at 184.5 pounds.

Shortly after Curtis successfully made weight, MM…

A pivotal Bellator MMA heavyweight clash is on the books for November.

On Thursday, MMA Junkie first broke the news that Tyrel Fortune (11-1) would be squaring off with Linton Vassell (20-8) at the heavyweight division on Bellator 271. The two big men will toe the line at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., on Nov. 12. The organization has since confirmed the pairing to Sherdog.

Fortune was originally slated to compete at Bellator 269 against Vitaly Minakov, but he was forced out for undisclosed reasons and will be competing less than three weeks later in Florida instead of Russia. At the beginning of 2020, Fortune suffered his first career defeat at the hands of future title challenger Timothy Johnson. Since then, Fortune faced Jack May twice, winning the rematch after the first ended due to an accidental groin strike. In July, Fortune made Matt Mitrione tap to strikes in 105 seconds, improving his record for the most knockouts in Bellator hea…