Martial Arts News

It had been more than six years since Nick Diaz last set foot in the Octagon, and while he wasn’t able to make a triumphant return against Robbie Lawler on Saturday night, he did provide some entertainment for as long as the fight lasted.

Diaz traded punches with Lawler for two rounds at UFC 266, often showcasing his trademark volume, but he eventually ran out of gas in Round 3. That’s when Lawler landed a right hook that dropped Diaz to a knee before connecting with a left uppercut that sent the Cesar Gracie protege to his back. Moments later, Diaz confirmed to referee Jason Herzog that he didn’t want to continue, ending the bout 44 seconds into the third frame.

All told, Diaz outlanded Lawler by a 150-to-131 count in significant strikes, becoming just the 12th fighter in UFC history to land that many strikes in a loss.

“I’m glad I at least put on a show,” Diaz said during an interview with Daniel Cormier in the Octagon. “I knew I had it coming. Old Rob. I had…

Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega put on a show in the Octagon in the UFC 266 headliner, and both men received a little extra compensation for their efforts at the end of the evening.

Volkanovski and Ortega garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their featherweight championship bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. While Volkanovski ultimately prevailed via unanimous decision behind a relentless pace and volume striking, he endured a few precarious moments in the bout, most notably a pair of tight submission attempts in the third frame. Both men continued to stand in trade until the final horn in a clash that will undoubtely end up on some year-end awards lists.

Elsewhere, Merab Dvalishvili captured a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus by virtue of his come-from-behind triumph against Marlon Moraes in a preliminary bantamweight tilt. After nearly being finished by strikes in Round 1, the Georgian fighter regained h…

Alexander Volkanovski’s great was too good for Brian Ortega.

Volkanovski (23-1, 10-0 UFC) strengthened his grip on the undisputed UFC 266 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it for the Australian: 49-46, 50-45 and 50-44.

The story was told across five grueling rounds. Volkanovski let fly with powerful two- and three-punch combinations, pestered the Californian with his jab and refused to take his foot off the accelerator. Round 3 was sensational. Ortega (15-2, 7-2 UFC) knocked the champion off-balance with a left hand, jumped on a mounted guillotine choke and appeared to be a heartbeat or two away from finishing it. Volkanovski freed himself and moved into top position, only to find himself entangled in a triangle choke—the very maneuver from which the challenger’s nickname originates. Again, the Freestyle Fighting Gym rep managed to escape. Ferocious ground-and-pound followed, and an exhausted Ortega struggled to ge…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 266 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 266 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 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 the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round…

What a comeback victory for @MerabDvalishvil

[ #UFC266 | Live on @ESPNPlus & ESPNews ] pic.twitter.com/tk1wM7wgbi

— UFC (@ufc) September 26, 2021 Merab Dvalishvili now has the world wondering whether or not he is human. The Serra-Longo Fight Team product staged a remarkable comeback and climbed another rung on the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight ladder, as he put away Marlon Moraes with punches in the second round of their featured UFC 266 prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili (14-4, 7-2 UFC) brought it to a close 4:25 into Round 2, extending his current winning streak to seven fights.

Moraes (23-9-1, 5-5 UFC) slammed kicks into the former Ring of Combat champion’s lower leg, ripped combinations to the head and connected with a crippling left hook in the first round. He swooped in for a potential finish on the Georgian but emptied his gas tank and conceded a takedown. The indomitable Dvalishvili cle…

The long-awaited bantamweight championship rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan won’t happen at UFC 267 as originally anticipated.

Sterling has withdrawn from the bout due to lingering issues with his neck. “The Funk Master” underwent surgery in April to repair a herniated disc in his neck that has plagued him for years dating back to his collegiate wrestling career. MMAFighting.com was first to report Sterling’s exit from the card.

Sterling captured bantamweight gold at UFC 259 on March 6, when Yan landed an illegal knee that rendered the Serra-Longo Fight Team member unable to continue. Yan, who had claimed the vacant belt with a stoppage of Jose Aldo, could remain on the UFC 267 card in an interim championship clash against Cory Sandhagen, according to a report from MMAjunkie.com. Bout agreements have not yet been issued to either Yan or Sandhagen, however.

Sterling is on a six-bout Octagon winning streak that also includes triumphs over the lik…

Keeping up with the Joneses is a full-time job, in light of ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Jon Jones’ latest arrest.

ESPN broke the news on Friday that Jones had been arrested in Las Vegas on Friday morning for battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle to cause damage of greater than $5,000. Jones came to Las Vegas for his induction to the UFC Hall of Fame on Thursday night, for his 2013 title tilt against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165. “Bones” is still in custody, according to Clark County court records, and he is awaiting a probable cause DNA review for drug or alcohol intoxication. Jones' bail is currently set at $8,000, and he will be brought into court on Saturday.

In an interview before his Hall of Fame induction, Jones joked with media that at heavyweight he needed to “do more legally controversial s---” to stay relevant. This incident is one in a long chain of arrests throughout his career for various offenses. In 2020, he was …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STVsX7_ayL8&w=640&h=360] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view with a duo of title fights and the return of Nick Diaz.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 266 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

UFC 266 is headlined by two title fights as featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski faces Brian Ortega and flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko looks to add Lauren Murphy to her lengthy highlight reel. All fighters on the card made weight for the event, including Dan Hooker and Nasrat Haqparast, who both arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Topping the card is the second title defense for Volkanovski (22-1). The Australian is undefeated inside the Octagon and hasn't lost a fight since 2013. "The Great" will go up against Ortega (15-1, 1 NC), who returned to fighting after a two-year layoff by defeating Chan Sung Jung via a dominant decision. T…

Silveira's headkick KO #LFA115 pic.twitter.com/9y3MsahdvP

— Hands like Ngannou (@likengannou) September 25, 2021 Joshua Silveira is the new Legacy Fighting Alliance light heavyweight champion.

Silveira (6-0) showed why he's an impressive prospect worth watching in the LFA 115 main event against Tee Cummins. The American Top Team product landed a beautiful head kick knockout just 49 seconds into Round 1 to claim his first championship. This also marks the first defeat for Cummins, whose record now sits at 4-1.

In the co-main event, Chad Johnson landed a gorgeous soccer kick knockout against Jordan Heiderman, which was also blatantly illegal. The stoppage came after just 25 seconds of action and since Heiderman (5-0) couldn't continue it was ruled a disqualification win for the Nebraskan. "Big Rig" falls to 6-3 with the failure to follow the rules.

Lucas Clay picked up his eighth professional win in impressive fashion over Jake Kozorosk…

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. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Deiveson Figueiredo has finally locked down his next training camp. After having the door closed by Team Alpha Male, as team staple Cody Garbrandt decided to move down to 125 pounds, Figueiredo decided to make his next camp in Arizona with wrestling coach Eric Albarracin. Figueiredo will be facing Brandon Moreno for the third time in a row in December at UFC 269. The ex-champ’s manager, Wallid Ismail, spoke to Sherdog on Friday about his camp change. “Daico” was originally planning on staying in his home country of Brazil, but he elected to come to the U.S. for two months of his training.

“We are traveling on Oct. 9,” said Ismail. “He will train for almost two months in there. Albarracin has [Henry] Cejudo and his brother there, and a nice group of sparring. Deiveson is also bringing hi…

The result of the latest One Championship headliner is already under protest by the losing party.

In the One: Revolution headliner on Friday morning, Christian Lee (15-4, 15-4 One) was dethroned by Rae Yoon Ok (16-3, 3-0 One), the only ranked opponent “The Warrior” had yet to face. The fight took a while before taking off, as both fighters respected each other’s power in the opening frames. Lee attempted several takedowns in the early going, pushing his opponent against the fence and dragging him on the canvas on multiple occasions. Ok strenuously resisted, never laying with his back flat on the mat, and he was to get back to his feet each time. When he did, he displayed sharp muay Thai skills with effective knees every time he bounced back. Lee did have Ok in a spot of danger in Round 2, when he snared the South Korean with a rear-naked choke, but he could not elicit a tap.

ROCKET RIGHT-HAND from Christian Lee! @ChristianLeeMMA #ONERevolution …

Kleydson Rodrigues earns the UD win following an impressive striking performance

[ #DWCS live on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/SQ5uxPoL01

— UFC (@ufc) September 22, 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 sky is the limit for Kleydson Rodrigues, according to friend and mentor Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Growing up in the slums of the Amazon region in the Brazilian state of Amapa, Rodrigues had a very tough childhood, living in a house on stilts raised over a river. When he was 14 years old, he would to sell bread as soon as the sun was up in order to help his family, before going to school. In the afternoon, after returning from school, he sold homemade ice cream. Passionate about fighting, “K.R.” saved every cent his parents gave him to buy Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships DVDs.

Inspired b…