Martial Arts News

Brian Kelleher will square off against Saidyokub Kakhramonov in a bantamweight scrap at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Jan. 15.

MMA DNA was first to report the booking. The card does not have an official location or headliner at this time.

Kelleher went 1-1 in 2020, dropping a unanimous verdict against Ricky Simon at UFC 258 before outpointing Domingo Pilarte at UFC on ESPN 29. The 35-year-old known as “Boom” is 7-5 during his Octagon tenure and 23-12 as a professional overall.

A former Cage Fury Fighting Championships bantamweight title holder, Kakhramonov submitted Trevin Jones in his promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 29 on Aug. 21. The 25-year-old Team Top Notch product has won four of five professional outings since falling to Umar Nurmagomedov under the Professional Fighters League banner in 2018.

The UFC Fight Night 193 main event was expected to be a barnburner between two Brazilian light heavyweights with a penchant for finishing.

Instead, Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker engaged in a rather forgettable affair, with Santos emerging with a unanimous decision triumph after five lackluster rounds on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Particularly troubling was the lack of output and aggression from Walker, who recently relocated camps to SBG Ireland. All told, Walker landed just 48 significant strikes.

As it turns out, Walker may have been limited early in the fight. The 29-year-old Rio de Janeiro native revealed via his Instagram story that he may have suffered an injury in the bout. He doesn’t make it clear exactly when the injury might have occurred, however

“I think I broke my foot a little bit,” Walker says in the video. “A little fracture. That’s why I stop kicking.”

Johnny Walker believes he broke his foot.#UFCVe…

Over the past couple years, Thiago Santos has endured double knee surgeries and a three-bout losing streak, but the former light heavyweight title challenger believes he can be a contender once again.

“Marreta” took a step toward achieving that goal with a five-round unanimous decision victory against Johnny Walker in the UFC Fight Night 193 headliner at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. It was the 37-year-old Brazilian’s first triumph after falling to Jon Jones, Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic in succession. Even in defeat, Santos argued that he’s always been competitive.

“I went through hard times since when I did my surgery – it’s hard to recover. I stopped [fighting] for a year and a half,” Santos said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I fought against Glover, lost. I took another fight against Rakic, lost. But no one run me over. It’s a tough fight. I fought against them against tough guys. Every single fight I feel better. It’s important to me. I go do…

ESPN+ subscribers will be getting their money’s worth when it comes to Ultimate Fighting Championship coverage this month.

The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed on Saturday that the UFC 267 main card will air free of charge to those who pay the $6.99 monthly subscription fee. Normally, the UFC’s numbered events are only available through ESPN+ via pay-per-view for $69.99.

UFC 267 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 30 and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira. In the co-main event, Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen will vie for the interim bantamweight crown. Four other fights round out the six-bout main card: Islam Makhachev vs. Dan Hooker at lightweight; Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura at heavyweight; Jingliang Li vs. Khamzat Chimaev at welterweight and Magomed Ankalaev vs. Volkan Oezdemir at light heavyweight.

The UFC 267 main card begins at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on ESPN+, while the preli…

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. It may be remembered as memorably unmemorable. American Top Team’s Thiago Santos closed the book on a career-worst three-fight losing streak and recorded his first win since Feb. 23, 2019, as he captured a unanimous decision over Johnny Walker in a shockingly uneventful UFC Fight Night 193 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it 48-47 for Santos (22-9, 14-8 UFC).

Santos lands clean, but Walker

[ #UFCVegas38 | LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/ycK0sBggRc

— UFC (@ufc) October 3, 2021

Walker (18-6, 4-3 UFC) zeroed in on the legs with kicks but lacked the throw-caution-to-the-wind aggression for which he has become known. Santos remained content to throw punches and kicks at a leisurel…

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 193 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 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:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round…

Ambos @JoeSolecki y @JFlashGordonMMA a la ofensiva buscando la victoria #UFCVegas38 pic.twitter.com/MczGHFCOAK

— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) October 2, 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.

Former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Jared Gordon made a triumphant return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division, as he eked out a split decision over Joe Solecki in the featured UFC Fight Night 193 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Derek Cleary for Solecki, Sal D’Amato and Dave Hagen for Gordon. It was his first outing at 155 pounds in nearly two years. Afterward, the Sanford MMA export set his sights on a showdown with top British prospect Paddy Pimblett.

Everything went ac…

Congrats to @BetheCorreia on an amazing career in the UFC #UFCVegas38 pic.twitter.com/QY7aAQ7ouB

— UFC (@ufc) October 2, 2021

UFC Fight Night 193 was expected to be Bethe Correia’s farewell in the Octagon, and the Brazilian bantamweight didn’t alter course following the conclusion of her bout against Karol Rosa.

Correia confirmed her decision following a clear-cut decision loss to Rosa in a preliminary 135-pound contest at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“Very emotional moment for me,” Correia said in a post-fight interview in the cage. “It’s been very emotional for me, a lot of deja vu moments for me. I can only thank the UFC for all the opportunities they gave me.”

Correia, 38, ends her MMA career with an 11-6-1 mark. She began her professional tenure with nine consecutive wins, including triumphs over Julie Kedzie, Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler in UFC competition. The wins over Duke and Baszler — both part of the…

AND NEW! CREASEY HAS DONE IT!

Pure drama.

In his third flyweight title fight, Sam Creasey weathers early adversity and secures the submission finish. #CW129 pic.twitter.com/TJWNWE862J — Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) October 2, 2021

The final installment of the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship trilogy saw more guillotines than the French Revolution.

In the Cage Warriors 129 main event, Sam Creasey (14-3, 9-3 CW) took on former divisional title holder Luke Shanks (8-2, 4-1 CW) for the vacant flyweight championship. Only “Urai” was eligible to win the title since his Shanks missed the championship weight by 2.7 pounds ahead of their clash. Creasey relied on his wrestling and grappling skills early in the bout, forcing “The Apocalypse” to defend himself from a rear-naked choke from his back. Shanks fought his way out of the sticky situation and back to his feet, but the stream cut off shortly thereafter and left viewers wonderin…

Michael Page looks like Bellator MMA’s next No. 1 contender at 170 pounds.

The London Shootfighters star picked his spots and avenged the only defeat on his resume, as he eked out a split decision over three-time welterweight champion Douglas Lima in the Bellator 267 headliner on Friday at The SSE Arena in London. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Ben Cartlidge for Lima, Eric Colon and Douglas Crosby for Page.

Lima (32-10, 14-6 Bellator) controlled a substantial chunk of the rematch with takedowns, topside grappling and ground-and-pound but seemed to get lost in the big moments. Page (20-1, 16-1 Bellator) twice knocked down the off-balance Brazilian with right hands, stealing his thunder and the momentum that accompanied it. Lima executed takedowns in the first and third rounds and remained calm under duress, only to have his inability to find the Brit in the standup exchanges come back to haunt him.

The 34-year-old Page has won six fights in a row and figures…

Aspen Ladd weighs 137. #UFCVegas38 pic.twitter.com/FCOQCMTTjN

— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) October 1, 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. Editor's note: The article has been updated at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday to add information from UFC officials regarding a bout cancelation. There was plenty of drama at the latest Ultimate Fighting Championship weigh-in, as three UFC Fight Night 193 fighters missed weight.

While headliners Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker had no issue making weight, three other bouts were impacted. Bethe Correia missed weight badly for her upcoming retirement bout by coming in 2.5 pounds heavy against Karol Rosa. Short-notice replacement fighter Mike Breeden also missed his weight category's limit by 2.5 pounds, exceeding the lightweight cap ahead of his match with Alexander Hernandez. However, the most concern…