Martial Arts News

After victories against Amanda Ribas and Michelle Waterson in her last two outings, Marina Rodriguez is confident that a win over Makenzie Dern in the UFC Fight Night 194 main event could be her ticket to a strawweight title shot.

"I have no doubt that an impressive win over Mackenzie via knockout or submission will get me closer to the title,” said Rodriguez, a renowned muay Thai specialist who is also a jiu-jitsu purple belt.

Rodriguez is well aware of the ground credentials of her opponent, a black belt and a multiple time jiu-jitsu world champion. With that in mind, Rodriguez has been training plenty of no-gi jiu-jitsu with black belts Alexandre de Souza and Igor Soares ahead of Saturday’s bout.

"Actually, since I arrived in UFC, they have given me some of the best grapplers of the division. I faced in sequence [Cynthia] Calvillo, [Carla] Esparza and Ribas, so this camp was pretty much the same. A lot of grappling and takedown defense,” Rodriguez said.

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A middleweight rematch between Kevin Holland and Kyle Daukaus has been scheduled for Nov. 13 after their initial meeting resulted in a no contest.

ESPN was first to report the booking. Holland and Daukaus initially squared off at UFC Fight Night 193, when an accidental headbutt altered the course of their bout. Holland was dazed after the collision, which allowed Daukaus to secure a rear-naked choke for the tapout. However, the sequence was reviewed before the final verdict and the fight was ultimately ruled a no contest.

Now, Holland and Daukaus will attempt to find some closure at UFC Fight Night 197, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight duel between Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez.

After a breakout 2020 campaign in which he went 5-0, Holland is winless in his last three Octagon appearances — including the no contest against Daukaus. Prior to that, Holland’s defensive wrestling was exposed in back-to-back decision…

The death of recent Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship opponent Justin Thornton hit Dillon Cleckler hard.

Clecker, who had built a relationship with Thornton over the years after their MMA bout under the Island Fights banner in 2013, released a statement on his Facebook page reacting to his friend’s passing. An “absolutely devastated” Cleckler said that Thornton ultimately died due to pneumonia.

“As a fighter nothing prepares you for the news I received this morning on my way to training. Some of you may not of heard yet but my last opponent Justin Thornton passed away last night due to pneumonia,” Cleckler wrote. “I can’t help but feel absolutely devastated about this because I’ve known Justin for years. Not many people know this but we fought 8 years ago and he told me right away he wanted the rematch. I know that when he got the phone call to finally get that rematch on a bigger stage he saw a huge opportunity and took it. Justin is a warrior. It’s in his blood to …

While the UFC Fight Night 193 main event was short on action, both Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker are facing potentially lengthy medical suspensions following their light heavyweight bout.

Santos defeated Walker via unanimous decision in a lackluster five-round fight this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Santos needs X-rays on his left ring finger, left foot, left knee and left ribs and then must receive medical clearance or he will be sidelined until April 1. At a minimum, “Marreta” is suspended until Nov. 2 with no contact until Oct. 24. Walker, meanwhile, needs an X-ray on his left foot and must receive medical clearance or he is out until April 1. At a minimum, Walker is suspended until Nov. 2 with no contact until Oct. 24.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to mixedmartialarts.com.

Four other athletes from UFC Fight Night 193 are facing potential six-month terms: Niko Price (left kne…

An interesting matchup of lightweight talents is on tap for UFC Fight Night 197, as Thiago Moises will lock horns with Joel Alvarez on Nov. 13.

Alvarez initially revealed the booking on social media, and it was later confirmed by MMAFighting.com. UFC Fight Night 197 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight bout between Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez.

Moises had a three-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he was submitted by Islam Makhachev in the fourth round of the UFC on ESPN 26 headliner on July 17. Prior to that, Moises had bested Michael Johnson, Bobby Green and Alexander Hernandez in succession.

Alvarez has won three consecutive bouts since dropping his Octagon debut to Damir Ismagulov at UFC Fight Night 145. Most recently, the 28-year-old Spaniard known as “El Fenomeno” submitted Alexander Yakovlev in the opening round at UFC 254.

Additional fight announcement for RIZIN.31

Yutaka Saito vs. Juntaro Ushiku#RIZIN #RIZIN31 pic.twitter.com/iUPvFVzPoM

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) October 4, 2021 Featherweight champion Yutaka Saito will defend his crown against Deep title holder Juntaro Ushiku in the Rizin Fighting Federation 31 main event on Oct. 24.

The Japanese promotion announced the booking on Monday. Rizin 31 takes place in Yokohama, Japan, and will also see recent atomweight title challenger Kanna Asakura square off against Saori Oshima in the co-main event.

The rest of the Rizin 31 card was also confirmed: Tsuyoshi Sudario vs Saint Saint; Yusaku Nakamura vs. Yuki Ito; Daisuke Nakamura vs Suguru Nii; Masanori Kanehara vs. Takahiro Ashida; Daichi Abe vs Akira Okada; Rikuto Shirakawa vs Takuya Yamamoto; and Seiichiro Ito vs Kunta Hashimoto.

A former Shooto featherweight champion, Saito has won eight of his last nine professional outings. That stret…

Count Patricio Freire among those who didn’t agree with the final verdict in the Bellator 267 headliner.

Michael Page defeated ex-welterweight champion Douglas Lima via split decision on Friday in London, but many observers thought Lima did enough to get the nod. Freire is in that camp, and he believes the result would be different if a third meeting was booked.

"The fight was pretty even,” the Bellator lightweight champion told Sherdog.com. “But I disagree with the result, I would give the win to Douglas. And if they make a trilogy, like MVP suggested, I will bet again on Douglas again.”

Meanwhile, it’s been more than two months since Freire relinquished his featherweight crown to A.J. McKee in the Bellator 263 main event. “Pitbull” revealed that he has made a somewhat unconventional proposal to the promotion.

"My desire is to have a title unification bout at a catchweight [of 150 pounds],” Freire said. “The winner gets both belts, but Bellator has not an…

Crazy 1 punch knockout BKFC 20 #BKFC20 pic.twitter.com/1ypGt3qdQi

— SEATTLE MIKE (@fightswfriends) August 21, 2021

Justin Thornton, a veteran of 24 professional mixed martial arts bouts, has reportedly died due to injuries sustained in a knockout loss under the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship banner this past August.

My MMA News was first to report Thornton’s death. Thornton fell face first to the canvas after absorbing a right hand from Dillon Cleckler at BKFC in Biloxi, Miss., on Aug. 20. Thornton was taken out of the ring on the stretcher. He remained hospitalized since the bout and was also on a ventilator, according to various reports. Thornton was 38 years old.

“This morning we were very saddened to be notified of the passing of one of our fighters, Justin Thornton, who competed at BKFC-20 on August 20, 2021,” BKFC president Dave Feldman said in a statement released to MMAjunkie.com. “We join the rest of the combat sports commun…

There was one mishap on the scales during Monday’s weigh-ins for Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Joshua Weems tipped the scales at 139 pounds for his bantamweight clash against Fernando Garcia. As a result, Weems has been fined 20 percent of his purse. All of the nine other athletes slated for action — including Garcia (136 pounds) — hit their contracted marks without issue.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The featured bout of the evenign is a welterweight clash pitting Shimon Smotritsky (170.5) against Mike Malott (170.5).

Israel’s Smotritsky is just 21 years old but has compiled a 7-0 record since turning pro in 2016. Most recently, “Assassin” took a split decision over Sergey Yaskovets at Russian Cagefighting Championship 8 in December 2020. He also owns a pair of victories under the Bellator MMA banner.

Malott, who is anchored at Team Alpha Male, has been victorious i…

The long-anticipated lightweight championship showdown between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier is a done deal.

Poirier’s representatives confirmed to promotional broadcast partner ESPN on Sunday night that the Louisiana native has agreed to challenge Oliveira for lightweight gold at UFC 269 on Dec. 11. Poirier added his own note of confirmation via Twitter: “Signed, sealed and delivered.” MMAFighting.com was first to report the Oliveira-Poirier matchup last month.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered.

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) October 4, 2021

UFC 269 doesn’t have an official location but will likely take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card is also expected to include a women’s bantamweight title tilt beetween reigning champ Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena.

Oliveira claimed the 155-pound throne vacated by Khabib Nurmagomedov on May 15, when he defeat Michael Chandler via second-round TKO in the UFC 262 headliner. “Do Bro…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Tanner Boser will lock horns with Sergei Pavlovich in a heavyweight matchup at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Dec. 4.

Pavlovich confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from TSN. The UFC Fight Night card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is topped by a bantamweight clash between Jose Aldo and Rob Font.

Boser snapped a two-bout skid in his last outing, when he knocked out Ovince St. Preux in the second-round at UFC Fight Night 190. The 30-year-old Canadian is 4-3 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion and 20-8-1 as a professional overall.

Pavlovich will look to return to action after having a 2020 booking against Ciryl Gane fall through due to injury and a September matchup with Tom Aspinall canceled as a result of visa issues. The Eagles MMA representative suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Alistair Overeem in his Octagon debut but has since reboun…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A lightweight bout pitting Jai Herbert against Khama Worthy has been added to the UFC Fight Night 196 lineup.

MMA DNA was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night 196 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Oct. 23 and is headlined by a middleweight tilt between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori.

A former Cage Warriors 155-pound champion, Herbert entered his promotional debut on a six-fight winning streak but has since been finished by Francisco Trinaldo and Renato Carneiro in his first two UFC appearances. The 33-year-old Renegade Jiu-Jitsu product is 10-3 as a professional with eight of those triumphs coming via KO or TKO.

Worthy, meanwhile, made a splash in his first promotional foray, as he stopped Devonte Smith in the opening stanza at UFC 241. “The Deathstar” then submitted Luis Pena in his sophomore outing at UFC on ESPN 12 but has since suffered consecutive knockout losses at the hands of Ottman Azaitar and Jam…