Martial Arts News

Hittin' the scales at 145 @EdsonBarbozaJr makes your main event official for #UFCVegas35!

[ #UFCVegas35 | Tomorrow | Live on @ESPN & @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/v8rgIfPkxy

— UFC (@ufc) August 27, 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 UFC on ESPN 30 weigh-ins were largely devoid of drama, although Leomana Martinez blew weight by four pounds.

The 12-fight Ultimate Fighting Championship card is headlined by a featherweight bout pitting Edson Barboza against Giga Chikadze. The card also features two "The Ultimate Fighter 29" finals as Bryan Battle faces Gilbert Urbina at middleweight, and Brady Hiestand goes up against Ricky Turcios in the bantamweight finals.

Going into his third UFC main event, Barboza (22-9) is riding a two-fight win streak. The Brazilian most recently knocked out Shane Burgos and won a decis…

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. Two fringe top-10 Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweights looking to climb back up the division will be meeting in a few months. Late Thursday night, MMA Junkie broke the news that Jessica Eye (15-10, 1 NC) would be taking on Andrea Lee (12-5) at flyweight on Nov. 13. The UFC Fight Night card on that date should go on inside the UFC Apex. The pairing has been confirmed by other outlets since its announcement.

Eye’s UFC career has been anything but consistent, recording just a single victory in her first seven tries inside the Octagon. A drop down to flyweight in 2018 prompted a three-fight win streak that culminated in a title shot against Valentina Shevchenko, but that was not meant to be when Shevchenko leveled her early into the second round in 2019. “Evil Eye” has struggled of late, missing weight on multiple occasions wh…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAJ7h4pRvbg&w=567&h=319] The Legacy Fighting Alliance is back for its only card in August, and all 26 fighters made weight for LFA 114, which is headlined by two title bouts.

The main event features a featherweight title bout that will see Bruno Souza and Javier Garcia battling for the vacant belt. Souza (9-1) has been perfect since dropping his first professional fight, and most recently picked up a split decision over Elijah Johns. Meanwhile, Garcia (7-3) has won three straight, while submitting Timothy Teves in his last outing. Souza weighed in at 145 pounds on the dot, while Garcia came in at a lean 144.4 pounds.

The co-main event draws an interim championship affair as Charles Johnson looks to defend his interim strap against Joao Antonio Camilo Neto. Johnson (9-2) won the interim belt with a split decision over Yuma Horiuchi in July, and has won two straight bouts. Neto (7-4) is 2-2 in his last four, and is coming off of a …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVDRMjkSYc8&w=640&h=360] After today's weigh-ins, the featherweight and light heavyweight semifinals are now set for the Professional Fighters League's third season. The 10-fight card features four semifinal bouts in the two divisions with Brendan Loughnane vs. Movlid Khaybulaev atop the card. While all semifinalists made weight for PFL 9, Bobby Moffett missed weight by 2.2 pounds for his featherweight bout against Jason Knight.

Loughnane has been perfect inside the PFL having won four straight bouts and picking up an impressive knockout win over Sheymon Moraes. Meanwhile, the undefeated Khaybulaev (17-0-1, 1 NC) is coming off a decision win over former PFL champion Lance Palmer. The other featherweight semifinal sees two veterans battle as Chris Wade (19-6) takes on Bubba Jenkins (16-4). On the light heavyweight side, submission specialist Antonio Carlos Jr. (11-5, 2 NC) will face off against Emiliano Sordi (23-8-1), and Cezar Ferr…

Updated fight card for Bellator 266: Davis vs. Romero - Saturday, Sept. 18 - @SAPCenter in San Jose. pic.twitter.com/uFXOfVc1H5

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) August 26, 2021 The next Bellator MMA event in September is beginning to shape up nicely.

Per MMA Fighting on Thursday, the promotion has added several matches to its upcoming Bellator 266 show. The event, which will take place inside the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., has gained Neiman Gracie (10-2) vs. Mark Lemminger (12-3) at welterweight as its co-headliner. A Bellator official has since confirmed this booking and a few others to Sherdog.

Gracie will be looking to rebound from a contentious decision loss to Jason Jackson in April, which marked the first non-title tilt he had ever lost. The Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu prodigy has largely excelled in the Bellator cage, racking up seven submissions in eight victories, including tapouts of Ed Ruth and Jon Fitch over the years…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQdhYLH4nA0&w=640&h=360] A duo of title fights are now official as Invicta Fighting Championships returns to pay-per-view with Invicta FC 44: A New Era.

A duo of title fights for vacant championships headline the card. The bantamweight title bout will main event as Emily Ducote faces Danielle Taylor, while the co-main event sees strawweight Lisa Verzosa square off against Taneisha Tennant. All fighters made weight except for Liz Tracy, who was 1.2 pounds over the strawweight limit for her bout against Jodie Esquibel. She's been fined 25 percent of her purse as a result.

This is the second vacant title fight for Ducote (9-6), who rebounded from a split decision loss to Kanako Murata by winning a decision against Juliana Lima. Taylor (11-5) hasn't shown much "Dynamite" as late, as her last eight bouts have all gone to the scorecards. She has won two of her last three since being cut by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Both made…

2nd fight contract signed in less than a week. Anyone anywhere anytime.pic.twitter.com/tU8eig2vIa

— Jack 'Tank' Shore (@jackshoremma) August 25, 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. A competitor on the most recent season of “The Ultimate Fighter” will be getting a shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on short notice. MMA DNA and MMA Fighting were the first to report the news that Zviad Lazishvili has suffered an ankle injury and has been forced out of his bantamweight match against Jack Shore (14-0). In his stead at UFC Fight Night 191 will be Liudvik Sholinian (9-1-1), who is in turn the second replacement for Said Nurmagomedov. The portion of the report that claimed that Lazishvili has been released from the promotion altogether has been disputed, while the news of this booking itself has been subsequently confirmed by the …

Stipe Miocic is a little bit upset that he wasn’t part of the conversation when the UFC decided to book an interim heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Derrick Lewis earlier this month.

After all, Miocic is the owner of the longest heavyweight championship reign in promotion history and is coming off a loss to Francis Ngannou in a title bout at UFC 260 on March 27.

"It does bother me, because I just wish they would have at least came to me," Miocic told ESPN. "Even if I wasn't able do it, I would have just loved to be given the opportunity. I think I deserved it. But I'm not gonna bitch and moan about it.”

Miocic’s next move is to fly to Las Vegas for a meeting with UFC president Dana White, where he will express his disappointment at being excluded from the heavyweight title picture.

"I just have to sit down and have a conversation with him," Miocic said. "And everything will fall into place.”

Gane defeated Lewis via third-round technical…

Two of the big winners from UFC on ESPN 29 could be facing potentially lenghty medical suspensions.

Jared Cannonier, who captured a unanimous decision win over Kelvin Gastelum in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, must have a right foot X-ray after his latest middleweight triumph. If the result is positive, he needs orthopedic clearance or he will be sidelined until Feb. 18. Gastelum, meanwhile, is suspended until Sept. 21 with no contact until Sept. 12.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Pantoja is also facing a six-month term following a submission victory over Brandon Royval in a battle of flyweight contenders. Pantoja must have a left knee MRI and receive doctor clearance or he too will be out of action until Feb. 18. At a minimum, the Brazilian is sidelined until Sept. 21. Royval is also facing a six-month suspension pending the result of an orbital catscan and doctor clearance.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medica…

After an exciting back and forth first round, Mohamad Said Maalem lands a beautiful counter follow up with devastating GnP to finish Fakhreddine and become the BRAVE CF Light Heavyweight World Championship pic.twitter.com/iUBK05hV0b

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) August 1, 2021

Brave Combat Federation’s first foray into Italy wasn’t without controversy.

In the Brave CF 52 headliner, Mohamed Said Maalem locked horns with Mohammad Fakhreddine with the vacant 205-pound championship on the line. The clash ended after “L’Ambiance” stopped Fakhreddine with ground-and-pound punches in the opening stanza. However, the Algerian fighter landed multiple punches behind his Lebanese opponent’s head, changing the fate of the fight. Considering that referee Declan Larkin didn’t warn Maalem nor interrupted the action, Fakhreddine filed a formal complaint to the Italian Federation of Grappling and Mixed Martial Arts (Federazione Italiana Gr…

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!

What a debut from Terrance McKinney! #UFC263 pic.twitter.com/dJrXCD8pCg

— UFC (@ufc) June 12, 2021 Terrance McKinney will face Fares Ziam in a lightweight contest at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Nov. 20.

Both fighters confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from MMA DNA. The event does not yet have an official location or headliner.

McKinney is coming off a spectacular Octagon debut, where he knocked out Matt Frevola in seven seconds at UFC 263 on June 12. The Sikjitsu representative is currently on a four-fight winning streak in which he has finished all four of his opponents by knockout or technical knockout inside of a round.

After falling to Don Madge in his Octagon debut, Ziam has rebounded to post consecutive decision victories over Jamie Mullarkey and Luigi Vendramini. The 24-year-old Frenchman has won seven of his last eight professional outings.

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

A potential all-action welterweight scrap between Niko Price and Alex Oliveira will go down at UFC Fight Night 193.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the fight. UFC Fight Night 192 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Oct. 2 and is headlined by a light heavyweight bout pitting Thiago Santos against Johnny Walker.

Price will attempt to halt a three-bout winless streak when he steps into the Octagon with Oliveira. In his last appearance, “The Hybrid” dropped a three-round verdict to Michel Pereira at UFC 264 on July 10. Price is 6-5 with two no contests during his promotional tenure and has earned finishes over the likes of James Vick, Tim Means, Randy Brown, George Sullivan, Alan Jouban and Brandon Thatch.

Oliveira has struggled of late as well, losing five of his last seven UFC fights — including back-to-back submission losses …