Martial Arts News

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJjLgMwbxDg&w=560&h=315] 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 shift of opponent from a smaller foe to a much larger one has many observers expecting Vitor Belfort will struggle if he does not land an early knockout. In a weekend without a Ultimate Fighting Championship event, there may not be much better for Brazilian fight fans than seeing two legends in action again. It does not matter to them that it’s under boxing rules. The broadcast will air live on Combate in Brazil. The show will feature Belfort in the main event facing the heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield, while Anderson Silva will box Tito Ortiz in the co-headliner. To make it even more interesting for the Brazilian audience, the promoters hired Anitta, a popular young Brazilian singer, who will perform with stars like Snoop Dogg and Lunay.

To discuss the mai…

Unlike past bouts where a different winner was declared, One Championship decided against stripping a victory from Seo Hee Ham.

Ultimate Fighting Championship and Rizin Fighting Federation vet Ham (24-8, 1-0 One) clashed with Denice Zamboanga (8-1, 3-1 One) at One: Empower for a spot in the One atomweight grand prix semifinals. ’The Menace’ appeared to be in control of the fight, but Ham won the contest via decision. After the controversial victory, One Championship founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that the promotion would review the outcome.

After review, the competition committee voted against changing the result, according to an interview conducted by South China Morning Post with the One chairman.

“It’s just one of these things,” the One head stated. “When I look at it objectively, I still believe Denice won, but I respect and can see how the judges scored it for Ham. It went to the committee, and I was obviously wrong relative to the committee.

“…

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. This week has not been great for upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship matchups and the fighters involved. On Tuesday, Makwan Amirkhani (16-6) posted on his Instagram – in a post that has since been deleted – that his opponent Tristan Connelly (14-7) is out of their UFC 267 battle. The two were looking to get down to business at featherweight on Oct. 30 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Connelly’s replacement has not yet been declared, but Amirkhani plans on remaining on the billing.

“Yes [Connelly] is out,” Amirkhani wrote, courtesy of a transcription by MMA Junkie. “It’s a sad story cause it would have been a great matchup between me and Tristan. He said in an interview that he is not expecting that same Makwan what we have been seeing in my last fights. 'We will see a hungry Amirkhani.' Tristan you whe…

Per multiple sources, Jim Lampley has opted out of calling Saturday night’s #HolyfieldBelfort Triller PPV. #boxing

— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) September 9, 2021 Although Florida ultimately said yes to Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort, renowned commentator Jim Lampley said no.

The boxing match between Holyfield (44-10-2, 1 NC, 29 KOs Box) and Belfort (26-14, 1 NC; 1-0 Box) was relocated from Los Angeles to Florida on short notice when the California State Athletic Commission refused to license Holyfield for combat at the age of 58. On Wednesday night, ESPN was the first to break the news that the Florida Athletic Commission had cleared both Holyfield and Belfort for professional competition. The two, who combine for 102 years of age, will compete in an eight-round pro boxing match, which will take place under the Unified Rules of Boxing with two-minute rounds.

Triller announced earlier in the week that the company would be providing an …

Azamat Murzakanov closed the show with a massive right hand #DWCS pic.twitter.com/BMOcWfnpur

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 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. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is eager to plug in Dana White's Contender Series signees as soon as possible. On the second week of DWCS for the 2021 season, the broadcast announced that Week 1 winner Azamat Murzakanov (10-0) already had his promotional debut lined up. On Nov. 20 at an unnumbered UFC Fight Night event, he will take on Marcin Prachnio (15-5) at light heavyweight. The two will likely tangle inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Murzakanov made a statement in the top-billed bout of his DWCS episode, drilling Matheus Scheffel with a solid left and a ruthless right hand to put the Brazilian down for the count. The win propelled “The Professional” to a perfe…

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. When the dust settles at the end of this battle, only one middleweight will likely be ranked. ESPN first brought word of the upcoming matchup between Dricus Du Plessis (16-2) and Andre Muniz (21-4) on Tuesday night. The two 185-pounders will come to blows at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 at an undetermined location. It is unclear if this all-action middleweight scrap will be placed on the main card or the prelims, but the two combine for 34 stoppages in their 37 career wins.

South Africa’s Du Plessis has made a statement since joining the UFC following stoppages of Joilton Lutterbach and Brendan Lesar in KSW and Extreme Fighting Championship, respectively. In his promotional debut, “Stillknocks” became the first man to finish Markus Perez, doing so in a little under three and a half minutes. His sophomore effort was no less impressive, h…

: A lightweight showdown between former champions @BensonHenderson and @brentprimus155 along with @HenryCorrales86 vs. Vladyslav Parubchenko have been added to an already stacked #Bellator268 card on October 16th at the @FootprintCNTR.

Full Story: https://t.co/9d4BKLyfFy pic.twitter.com/v3lE6BysuA

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) September 9, 2021 Bellator MMA is looking to put its best foot forward in what could be its last American show for some time. The organization announced via press release on Thursday its full lineup of Bellator 268, which will be held inside the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Oct. 16. While it made official several previously billed matchups including both light heavyweight semifinals of Vadim Nemkov vs. Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader vs. Corey Anderson, it filled out the card to 12 total bouts. Among the newly announced pairings is a lightweight scrap between Benson Henderson (28-10) and Brent Primus (1…

Contract signed fighting September 18th at the SAP Center San Jose CA vs Saul Rogers #Bellator266

— Georgi Karakhanyan (@georgimma) September 7, 2021 A longtime Bellator MMA vet will try to avoid a dubious record in his next appearance.

On Monday, Georgi Karakhanyan (31-11-1, 1 NC) announced that he would joining Bellator 266 as the replacement fighter against Saul Rogers (14-4). Karakhanyan will be replacing an injured Adam Piccolotti. The organization confirmed this new matchup on its official site.

The Russian-born Armenian Karakhanyan relocated to lightweight in early 2020, and it has largely worked in his favor, winning three with a lone defeat a split decision setback against Myles Jury. “Insane Georgi” does hold the second-most defeats in company history with nine, and he and Derek Campos both trail the recordholder of Saad Awad with 10. A win for the 18-fight Bellator vet would lift his record with the company over .500.

Rogers,…

Another BIG debut!@IanGarryMMA steps into the Octagon to face Jordan Williams at #UFC268 pic.twitter.com/mUrmMDPdhD

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 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 Ultimate Fighting Championship is adding one more former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship champ to its ranks. On Wednesday, the UFC revealed that 23-year-old Irish signee Ian Garry (7-0) will lock horns with Jordan Williams (9-5) in a 170-pound affair at UFC 268. “The Future” will join the club of Irish fighters who competed in the UFC, including Conor McGregor, Norman Parke, Joseph Duffy and Tom Egan, among others. The fight will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6.

Dublin’s own Garry made his pro debut with Cage Warriors, and he notched seven straight victories in the promotion, including five finishes. In his lat…

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. Diego Ferreira just can’t catch a break lately. MMA Junkie reported on Wednesday that Ferreira (17-4) has been forced out of his lightweight tilt with Grant Dawson (17-1) because of an injury. The nature of the injury has not yet been disclosed. The promotion is currently searching for a replacement option for Dawson, and it is unclear if it will find someone in time for the Oct. 2 show at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Ferreira has since confirmed his injury ahead of UFC Fight Night 193.

Ferreira was looking to snap a two-fight skid in 2021, where he came up short to Beneil Dariush in a rematch by split decision and then suffered a knockout loss to Gregor Gillespie three months later. This losing streak ended an impressive six-fight run for the Brazilian out of Texas that saw him defeat the likes of Anthony Pettis, Mairbek Taisumov…

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. Even iron can break. On Wednesday, ESPN reported that “The Iron Lady” Germaine de Randamie (10-4) has been forced out of her UFC 268 bantamweight matchup against Irene Aldana (13-6) due to injury. The two were set to square off on Nov. 6 inside of Madison Square Garden in New York. As of now, there is no current replacement opponent, and Aldana has requested a top-ranked adversary that will be able to compete in the de facto title eliminator bout.

De Randamie rebounded from a one-sided decision loss to champ Amanda Nunes at the end of 2019 with a 2020 submission of Julianna Pena to put her right back in contention. The Dutchwoman put Pena to sleep with a guillotine choke to record her first career submission victory, and her first stoppage beyond 7:02 of a fight. Before meeting Nunes, the former featherweight champ racked up a f…

“The Polar Bear” will be hibernating for a while after his defeat on Saturday.

UFC Fight Night 191 is in the books. The main event featured a 185-pound pivotal clash between Derek Brunson and Darren Till (18-4-1, 6-4-1 UFC) and ended with Brunson (23-7, 14-5 UFC) easily submitting “The Gorilla” with a rear-naked choke in the third frame. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (via mixedmartialarts.com) has now announced the official suspensions, revealing that the Team Kaobon export is facing a 30-day suspension and must have a facial CT scan that, if positive, must have ENT clearance. Brunson, on the other hand, has to stay off the fighting canvas for 21 days.

The co-main event saw up-and-coming English heavyweight contender Tom Aspinall (11-2, 4-0 UFC) stopping Sergey Spivak (13-3, 4-3 UFC) with punches early in Round 1. Somewhere during the clash, Spivak suffered an eyebrow laceration that would prevent him from getting clearance to compete for a while. The M…