Martial Arts News

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Giga Chikadze sent a clear message to the rest of the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division: Time to pay attention. The Kings MMA export disposed of former Ring of Combat champion Edson Barboza with punches in the third round of their UFC on ESPN 30 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Barboza (22-10, 16-10 UFC) bowed out 1:44 into Round 3, his modest two-fight winning streak at an end.

Chikadze (14-2, 7-0 UFC) was quicker on the draw. He routinely beat Barboza to the punch, withstood the Brazilian’s sustained attack on his body and hit the accelerator as soon as the situation called for it. He followed a knee to Barboza’s chest with a clubbing right hand to the head and gave chase early in the third round. Chikadze staggered the American Top Team ace with a straigh…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 30 ​coverage will begin Saturday at 7 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:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry …

ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT KO FOR @JudoRazak!

Less than 30 seconds in #UFCVegas35 pic.twitter.com/1boiMBLTfB

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 29, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Abdul Razak Alhassan needed no time to warm up.

Now operating out of the Elevation Fight Team camp, Alhassan brought down Alessio Di Chirico with a head kick in the first round of their UFC on ESPN 30 featured prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Di Chirico (13-6, 4-6 UFC) melted 17 seconds into Round 1, the unwitting victim in one of the most memorable finishes of 2021.

Seeking his first victory in nearly three years, Alhassan (11-4, 5-4 UFC) backed the Italian into the fence and caught him ducking. Shin met skull, Di Chirico hit the deck in a semi-conscious state and referee Herb Dean called for the stop…

Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang will square off with strawweight gold on the line for a second time at UFC 268.

The promotion announced the rematch during the UFC on ESPN 30 broadcast on Saturday night. UFC 268 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6. A previously reported welterweight championship rematch was also made official.

Namajunas and Zhang first fought at UFC 261, where “Thug” Rose scored a shocking head-kick KO just 78 seconds into the April 24 bout. It is the second 115-pound championship reign for Namamunas, who initially captured the strap with a first-round TKO of Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217. The 29-year-old 303 Training Center representative has been victorious in five of her last six promotional appearances, with wins over Zhang, Jessica Andrade, Jedrzejczyk (twice) and Michelle Waterson.

Zhang saw a 21-fight professional winning streak come to an end at the hands of Namajunas. The 32-year-old Chinese star began her UFC car…

The UFC 268 lineup continues to grow with the addition of Germaine de Randamie vs. Irene Aldana at bantamweight and Bobby Green vs. Al Iaquinta at lightweight.

The matchups were announced during the UFC on ESPN 30 broadcast on Saturday. UFC 268 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6 and is headlined by a welterweight championship rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. In the co-main event, Rose Namajunas will face Weili Zhang in a strawweight title rematch.

The UFC’s inaugural female featherweight queen, de Randamie has won six of her last seven promotional outings. Most recently, “The Iron Lady” submitted Julianna Pena in the third round at UFC on ESPN 16.

Aldana, meanwhile, rebounded from a lopsided loss to Holly Holm last October to defeat Yana Kunitskaya by first-round technical knockout at UFC 264 on July 10. Aldana has won three of her last four fights, including a first-round KO of Ketlen Vieira at UFC 245.

Green drop…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

UFC Fight Night 191 has a new co-main event.

The promotion confirmed on Saturday night that Sergey Spivak will step in for Sergei Pavlovich and meet Tom Aspinall on Sept. 4 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. According to a report from MMAjunkie.com, Pavlovich was forced out of the card due to visa issues. UFC Fight Night 191 is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Derek Brunson and Darren Till.

Spivak has built some momentum since a loss to Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night 169, as he has won his last three promotional appearances. Most recently, “The Polar Bear” outpointed Alexey Oleynik at UFC on ESPN 25.

Aspinall, meanwhile, is on a six-bout winning streak that includes finishes of Jake Collier, Alan Baudot and Andrei Arlovski in UFC competition.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRvRSXi3s2M&w=560&h=315]

The time has arrived for Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley to settle their beef in the ring.

Both fighters made weight without issue on Saturday ahead of their headlining bout. Paul checked in at 190 pounds, while Woodley tipped the scales at 189.5 for the 190-pound catchweight affair. The fight will take place on Sunday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, and airs on pay-per-view for $59.99 via Showtime at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m PT. The contest is scheduled for eight three-minute rounds.

Paul, who recently inked a multi-fight deal with Showtime, is coming off a first-round knockout off former Bellator and One Championship title holder Ben Askren in April. Woodley was in Askren’s corner for that bout. After rising to prominence as a YouTube personality, Paul has gone 3-0 as a professional boxer, including a KO of NBA veteran Nate Robinson.

on weight pic.twitter.com/nzfZafvxYO<…

Movlid Khaybulaev remains an unsolved mystery.

Repeated takedowns and suffocating control carried the Dagestani grappler in the 2021 Professional Fighters League featherweight semifinals, as he took a split decision from Brendan Loughnane in the PFL 9 main event on Friday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Judges John Rupert and Eliseo Rodriguez cast 30-27 and 29-28 scorecards for Khaybulaev, while Daniel Torres saw it 29-28 for Loughnane.

With few exceptions, the unbeaten Khaybulaev (18-0-1, 4-0-1 PFL) was the dominant participant. He executed a takedown inside the first 20 seconds, corralled Loughnane on the canvas and applied his ground-and-pound. Khaybulaev was at peak strength in the middle stanza, where he dragged the Dana White’s Contender Series alum back to the mat, handcuffed his arm behind his back and unleashed a volley of punches to his exposed face. Loughnane (21-4, 4-1 PFL) managed to bloody his counterpart’s nose with an …

The main event is in the judges hands! #LFA114 pic.twitter.com/4dQ1alpJNZ

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) August 28, 2021 The main event of LFA 114 saw a new Legacy Fighting Alliance featherweight champion crowned.

Javier Garcia made the most of his shot at the vacant title out the gate as he was able to damage Bruno Souza on the feet and look for submissions on the ground. However, Souza (10-1) started to find momentum on the feet in Round 2 and was able to control the action standing. Souza continued to land the harder shots in the final three rounds, while Garcia (7-4) was able to land several takedowns. In the end, the judges preferred Souza's work on the feet and awarded him a unanimous decision with score of 49-46, 49-46 and 49-46.

The co-main event saw interim flyweight champion Charles Johnson defend his belt against Joao Antonio Camilo Neto. Johnson (10-2) repeatedly hurt Neto (7-5) on the feet while the Brazilian repeatedly loo…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live PFL 2021 9 coverage will begin at 6:50 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Opening the card, Brandon "The Human Highlight Reel" Jenkins (13-6) faces very recent UFC veteran Jacob Kilburn (8-4), who fought in that organization in January of this year. Keeping a close eye on them will be referee Gary Copeland. Jenkins starts the fight with a leg kick, and Kilburn returns one, only harder. Kilburn lands a sneaky left hook soon after. They get into a clinch, and the longer Jenkins gets a Thai clinch, partially landing a few knees. Eventually, Kilburn gets out of it and pushes Kilburn into the fance, with Kilburn holding an underhook. They jockey for position, and eventually Jenkins gets away, landing a nice knee to the…

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. An all-action Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight brawl is on the slate for Madison Square Garden. Per the promotion’s broadcast partner of ESPN on Friday, Frankie Edgar (24-9-1) will be returning to competition after a nine-month layoff to take on Marlon Vera (17-7-1) at bantamweight on UFC 268. The two will throw down inside of Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6 for the organization's first New York-based event since 2019. The bout is not yet official, per ESPN, but both have agreed to face one another.

Edgar has dropped three of four dating back the last three years, but a pair of setbacks to Max Holloway and Chan Sung Jung led to “The Answer” searching for the answer at bantamweight. His debut at 135 pounds came against Pedro Munhoz, in a five-round thriller where the two pocketed “Fight of the Night” honors, …

Dumped #ONEBattleground3 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/OKQi8SgRzg

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) August 27, 2021 The pre-recorded third part of the “One: Battleground” series featured some entertaining striking clashes that took place nearly a month ago.

The One: Battleground 3 main event saw former Lumpinee Stadium champ and Glory kickboxing champion Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong edging Tawanchai P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym in a One featherweight muay Thai clash. Sitthichai pushed forward in the first exchanges, but it was the 22-year-old Tawanchai who landed the more precise shots in the opening stanza. In the second frame, Tawanchai landed a well-executed roundhouse kick on his opponent, and proceeded to sting him with kicks for much of the next few minutes. “Killer Kid” turned to his boxing combinations, while mixing in elbows as he kept advancing and scoring with his hands. It all came down to Round 3, where Sitthichai bloc…