Martial Arts News

Tom Aspinall’s climb in the heavyweight division continued on Saturday, and it also included a $50,000 bonus for his efforts.

Aspinall earned a “Performance of the Night” check thanks to his first-round stoppage of Sergey Spivak in the UFC Fight Night 191 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. An elbow from the Team Kaobon product sent Spivak to the canvas, and Aspinall sealed his victory with follow-up punches 2:30 into Round 1.

Elsewhere, former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship title holder Paddy Pimblett enjoyed a memorable Octagon debut, earning a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award by virtue of a technical knockout win over Luigi Vendramini at lightweight. After being rocked and taken down early in the bout, Pimblett recovered and swarmed with a barrage of punches on the feet to force a stoppage at the 4:25 mark of Round 1.

Finally, Molly McCann and Ji Yeon Kim shared “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their preliminary flyweig…

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 191 coverage will begin Saturday at 1:30 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:Ben Duffy scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:…

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. Derek Brunson made another would-be contender look like a pretender. The Sanford MMA standout moved one step closer to his desired goal, as he submitted Darren Till with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 191 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Brunson (23-7, 14-5 UFC) drew the curtain 2:13 into Round 3, then set his sights on reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya.

Till (18-4-1, 6-4-1 UFC) was once again betrayed by his takedown defense. Brunson put him on his back less than 90 seconds into the first round and unleashed a hellacious barrage of ground-and-pound that resulted in significant damage to the Brit’s right eye. He minimized Till’s gains on the feet with another takedown mi…

THE GREATEST COMEBACK OF ALL-TIME! @arekwrzosek throws a Hail Mary and KNOCKS OUT Badr Hari! pic.twitter.com/kXkxPIizt0

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) September 4, 2021

Glory 78 marked the promotion’s return to action and every fight on the card delivered, including an all-time stunner in the headline fight.

The heavyweight main event between Badr Hari and Arkadiusz Wrzosek was insanity. Hari made his return to the ring and looked to put his name in the sweepstakes after a couple of crushing losses to Rico Verhoeven and Benjamin Adegbuyi. Hari opened up patient and landed some good shots to the body. Eventually. Wrzosek fell to the body shots not once, but twice in the first. He survived the round and in the second, Wrzosek was knocked down again. As Badr Hari was hunting the finish, Wrzosek throws a Hail Mary that catches Hari perfectly with a left high kick. Hari goes to the mat bloody and cannot beat the ten count. Wrzosek jumped in his c…

Glory 78 “Badr vs. Wrzosek” is exclusively available on pay-per-view and can only be purchased online at www.gloryfights.com. You can purchase and stream the pay-per-view for €19.99, £17.99 or US$24.99 from anywhere in the world.

Glory 78 coverage begins with a free live stream of Saturday's Glory 78 “SuperFight Series” in the player below at 11 a.m. ET. The main card kicks off at 2 p.m. ET and is headlined by Badr Hari and Arkadiusz Wrzosek. Sherdog live play-by-play will begin with the main card.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F303fPQUCQ&w=560&h=315]

Check out the Sherdog Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Mohamed Mezouari vs. Vedat Hoduk Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Nordine Mahieddine vs. Raul Catinas Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Luis Tavares vs. Felipe Micheletti Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Levi Rigters vs. Tomas Mozny Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Resu…

Left it all in the cage! #UFCVegas36 pic.twitter.com/871bzw2xfi

— UFC (@ufc) September 4, 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.

Next Generation MMA rep Molly McCann recorded her first win in nearly two years, as she took a unanimous decision from former Jewels champion Ji Yeon Kim in the featured UFC Fight Night 191 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges struck 29-28 scorecards for McCann (11-4, 4-3 UFC), who closed the book on a two-fight losing streak.

Kim (9-4-2, 3-4 UFC) excelled in open space, where she could cut angles and maximize her boxing skills. However, McCann rarely allowed her to breathe. The onetime Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder crowded her in all three rounds, shoved her backward, bullied her with fo…

Middleweight contender @DerekBrunson stepped on the scale at 186 pounds to make the #UFCVegas36 main event official pic.twitter.com/ll9u9kM0pD

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 3, 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 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 3 to reflect the news that one match has been canceled. For the fifth Ultimate Fighting Championship event in a row, a fighter has missed weight ahead of their bout.

After a streak of events on ESPN airwaves, the UFC returns to ESPN+ for UFC Fight Night 191. The 10-fight card is headlined by a bout between middleweight contenders Derek Brunson and Darren Till. The weigh-ins went swimmingly with the first 19 competitors, but the last one to hit the scales, Jonathan Martinez, surpassed the bantamweight limit by two pounds. Per ESPN on Friday night, his bo…

Every MMA match went the distance on One Championship’s first all-female card.

"The Panda" puts Michelle Nicolini DOWN in Round 1! #ONEEmpower #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/c2YyVgRC4c

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 3, 2021 In the main event, One strawweight (125 pounds) titleholder Jingnan Xiong locked horns with Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom Michelle Nicolini (6-3, 4-2 One). The 39-year-old challenger rushed in for a takedown in the early moments of the fight, but Xiong stuffed her with ease. Aware of her opponent’s grappling prowess, “The Panda” kept her distance with calf kicks and overhand rights. Xiong moved in and out with her strikes, landing practically at will on the Evolve MMA representative. Midway through the first round, the champ dropped Nicolini with a vicious right hand, but failed to finish the job as the Brazilian recovered and landed a takedown. Rounds 2 and 3 followed a similar script, as Nicolini …

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 appears to be doing everything in its power to make its next Madison Square Garden card one to remember. This Friday, MMA DNA first reported that Shane Burgos (13-3) will toe the line with Billy Quarantillo (16-3) in the featherweight division at UFC 268. The New York-targeted event is set to go down on Nov. 6, and this thrilling encounter will be relegated to the prelims because of its practical embarrassment of riches higher up the billing. The matchup has since been confirmed by Quarantillo on his Instagram.

Burgos, the recipient of four “Fight of the Night” bonuses in his UFC tenure including one in his last two, finds himself on the first losing streak of his career. “Hurricane” had a three-fight win streak halted on the scorecards thanks to Josh Emmett, and a bounceback performance cam…

HOLY _____! Pereira's power is unreal!!! #LFA95 pic.twitter.com/0EAoY6z4fA

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 21, 2020 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 Glory kickboxing two-division champion Alexsandro Pereira is fighting out of his contract on Saturday and already has his sights set on the Ultimate Fighting Championship. On Saturday, the Glory light heavyweight champ Pereira (33-6 KB, 3-1 MMA) is planning on defending that belt against Artem Vakhitov, the man he won it from in January. Once a two-division champ at middleweight and light heavyweight, Pereira relinquished the former in pursue of the latter’s throne. Win or lose, “Poatan” is expected to sign with the UFC, as first reported by BJPenn.com, and he already has an opponent and date booked for his debut: Andreas Michailidis (13-4) at middleweight on UFC 268. …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgM72B2u13g&w=560&h=315] Tempers flared at the weigh-ins, with Badr Hari and his opponent Arkadiusz Wrzosek nearly coming to blows at the official staredown after Hari shoved Wrzosek across the stage.

Glory Kickboxing returns for its second event of 2021 with a light heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Artem Vakhitov, and the main event will see the return of “Bad Boy” Hari.

Despite being a kickboxing legend, Hari (106-15) is still looking for his first win as Glory fighter. The former K-1 heavyweight champion is winless in his last four bouts, losing to Benjamin Adegbuyi and Rico Verhoeven two times via injury. A decision victory in that stretch over Hesdy Gerges was later overturned to a no contest after both fighters tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. No official weight was listed or announced by the promotion, but with no cap to heavyweight, there was no limit the Dutchman could have exceeded.

Much…

Oscar De La Hoya has tested positive for COVID-19 and will NOT be fighting Vitor Belfort on September 11 ... and Evander Holyfield will be taking his spot. https://t.co/r2ejzw5nOc

— TMZ (@TMZ) September 3, 2021 Editor's note: The article has been updated at 6 p.m. ET on Sept. 3 to reflect a new location and venue for the match.

If you had Vitor Belfort vs. Evander Holyfield on your 2021 betting slip, cash that ticket now.

Ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Belfort (26-14, 1 NC; 1-0 Box) was slated to take on Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs Box) on Sept. 11. The two were planning to square off inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles in an eight-round, 185-pound professional affair. Per TMZ on Friday, that fight is off as De La Hoya tested positive for COVID-19. In his stead will be long-retired heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield (44-10-2, 1 NC, 29 KOs Box). The dramatic change has since been confirmed by ESPN.

Holyfield, age 58, wil…