Martial Arts News

Despite being the higher seed in his featherweight semifinal matchup with Bubba Jenkins, Chris Wade enters the Professional Fighters League playoffs as an underdog, both according to oddsmakers and popular opinion.

“I can’t lie. I’m extremely motivated by the fact that people find him to be a clear-cut, in their mind, favorite in this bout,” Wade said during a virtual media day. “I think that at best, if you really know what you’re talking about in fighting, you could give him a coin flip situation…But to be calling him a clear-cut favorite is absurd.

“He doesn’t really do anything that stylistically poses a huge threat to people other than hold on to them in wrestling situations, which I’m very familiar with being a wrestler myself. I’m struggling to see where the real threat is in this bout, let alone how he’s gonna survive it.”

Wade, a veteran with two PFL playoff appearances already under his belt, went 2-0 during the 2021 season with victories over Anthony …

Credit: Getty/UFC

Kris Moutinho will get a second opportunity in the UFC after giving a valiant short-notice effort in his Octagon debut.

Moutinho will meet Aaron Phillips in a bantamweight contest at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 23. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. The card is headlined by a middleweight tilt pitting Paulo Costa against Marvin Vettori.

Moutinho stepped up to face Sean O’Malley at UFC 264, losing via third-round TKO in what will likely end up as a “Beatdown of the Year” candidate. Still, Moutinho absorbed most of what O’Malley had to offer right up until the stoppage near the end of the fight. The CES MMA veteran is 9-5 over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2016.

Phillips, meanwhile, had a five-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he was submitted by Jack Shore in the second round at UFC on ESPN 13. The Louisiana native is still looking for his first Octagon triumph after going 0-2 in UFC competition d…

Once upon a time, Antonio Carlos Jr. put together a five-bout winning streak in the UFC’s middleweight division.

Despite that success, he didn’t feel like he was close to a title shot, and he wasn’t quite sure what it would take him to get to that point. There is no such confusion for Carlos Jr. in Professional Fighters League. Carlos Jr. will meet Emiliano Sordi in the a light heavyweight semifinal bout in the PFL playoffs on Friday at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Should he win, Carlos Jr. will get a shot to compete for a 205-pound championship and a $1 million prize.

That clarity has definitely made a different in Carlos Jr.’s mindset.

“When you feel you’re close to the belt, you feel more motivated. You’re always thinking about the title,” Carlos Jr. said during a PFL virtual media day. “That’s what I want to reach in my career.

“I never could fight for the belt in the UFC. They see things a little different. Some time ago, I w…

It appears that the Ultimate Fighting Championship is parting ways with Demian Maia and Jimmie Rivera.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, Maia, Rivera and Christian Aguilera are no longer under contract with the UFC. While Maia fought the last fight on his existing deal, it is unclear if Rivera and Aguilera completed their contracts or were released.

A title challenger at both middleweight and welterweight, Maia exits the organization on a two-bout losing streak. In his last outing, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace dropped a three-round verdict to Belal Muhammad at UFC 263. Maia went 22-11 during his UFC tenure, falling to Anderson Silva in a middleweight title bid at UFC 112 in April 2010 and losing to Tyron Woodley in a welterweight title bout at UFC 214 in July 2017. After his latest defeat, UFC president Dana White said that Maia had probably competed in the Octagon for the last time.

Rivera, meanwhile, leaves the UFC having lost four of his last six a…

A strawweight bout pitting Cheyanne Buys against Konklak Suphisara is in the works for a Nov. 20 Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

MMA journalist John Hyon Ko first brought word of the fight on Twitter. The UFC event doesn’t yet have an official location or headliner but is expected to include a flyweight showdown between Joanne Calderwood and Alexa Grasso.

Buys earned her first promotional triumph at UFC on ESPN 28, when she defeated Gloria de Paula via first-round technical knockout. In her Octagon debut, the Dana White’s Contender Series alum was outpointed by Montserrat Ruiz at UFC on ESPN 21.

Suphisara, who is more commonly known as “Loma Lookboonmee,” has been victorious in three of her first four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the Tiger Muay Thai product captured a unanimous verdict over Sam Hughes at UFC on ESPN 23. She also owns wins over Jinh Yu Frey and Aleksandra Albu in UFC competition.

Peter Queally will square off against Patricky Freire in a lightweight rematch at Bellator 270.

The promotion announced the booking on Monday while also confirming a previously reported bantamweight headliner pitting James Gallagher against Patrick Mix. Bellator 270 takes place at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Nov. 5. The main card airs on Showtime in the United States at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on the Bellator MMA YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT.

Queally and Freire initially fought at Bellator 258 on May 7. Queally opened a cut on his opponent’s head with a slashing elbow from the bottom position, which prompted the cageside physician to wave off the bout prior to Round 3. Anchored at SBG Ireland, the 32-year-old Queally has been victorious in three of his last four professional outings.

Freire has now lost two straight fights including a decision defeat to Tofiq Musayev in the…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A light heavyweight showdown pitting Volkan Oezdemir against Magomed Ankalaev is on tap for UFC 267.

MMA DNA was first to report the bout, which was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night 191 on Sept. 4. UFC 267 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 30 and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship scrap between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.

A former light heavyweight title challenger, Oezdemir is coming off a second-round KO loss to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 251 last July. Prior to that, “No Time” scored back-to-back triumphs over Ilir Latifi and Aleksandar Rakic in the Octagon.

Ankaleav, 29, is currently riding the momentum of a six-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. That stretch includes a pair of stoppage wins over Ion Cutelaba as well as a three-round verdict against Nikita Krylov in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 186 on Feb. 27.

With Cory McKenna out, Hannah Goldy will step in and lock horns with Emily Whitmire at UFC Fight Night 192.

The new bout was initially reported by David Van Auken. The matchup, which was originally scheduled for strawweight, will now be contested at 125 pounds. UFC Fight Night 192 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 18 and features a light heavyweight duel between Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann.

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm speculation about my scheduled fight on Sept. 18,” McKenna wote on Instagram. “I have been dealing with some health issues over the past 5-6 weeks that have not allowed me to train at a standard required to compete/at all and I have to prioritise health. I want to thank the [UFC Performance Institute] for all their continued help, as well as my sponsors and team for their constant support; I hope to return to the octagon soon. Just another bump in the road.”

After appearing on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Seri…

Friday’s Invicta FC 44 card has undergone a couple of changes following the withdrawal of Mara Romero Borella and Monique Adriane from their respective bouts.

The promotion announced Monday that both Borella and Adriane were forced out of the event due to “travel restrictions and visa issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” More specific details regarding each fighter were not given.

As a result, Brogan Walker-Sanchez will step in for Borella and face Emilee King at flyweight, while Marisa Messer-Belenchia replaces Adriane and meets Katie Saull at atomweight. Walker-Sanchez vs. King is slated for the main card, while Saull vs. Messer-Belenchia will take place on the preliminary draw.

Invicta FC 44 takes place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan., and is headlined by a strawweight title tilt between Emily Ducote and Danielle Taylor. In the co-main event, Lisa Verzosa will lock horns with Taneisa Tennant for bantamweight gold. The main card airs at 10 p.m. ET/7…

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Alistair Overeem will make a big splash in his Glory Kickboxing debut.

The promotion announced Monday that Overeem and Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven will lock horns on Oct. 23 in the Netherlands as part of the Glory “Collision 3” card. Sherdog.com previously reported that Glory will return to the GelreDome with a large-scale event that just gained some additional star power.

Known as “The Prince of Kickboxing,” Verhoeven has been near perfect in Glory with a 23-1 mark. His resume includes victories over the likes of Badr Hari, Jamal Ben Saddik, Antonio Silva, Anderson “Braddock” Silva, Benjamin Adegbuyi, Gokhan Saki and many, many more. Most recently, Verhoeven scored dominant wins over Hesdy Gerges and Tarik Khbabez to win the Glory 77 four-man heavyweight tournament in January.

Overeem recently signed with Glory after being released by the UFC. The former Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1…

MMA veteran Anthony Taylor has found himself a lucrative gig training with social-medi- personality-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

The 32-year-old Alameda, Calif., native has compiled a 7-5 record in the cage while competing for organizations such as Bellator MMA, Combate Americas and the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. His last bout came in January 2020, when he captured a majority decision against Chris Avila at Bellator 238. Since then, however, “Pretty Boy” turned down a chance to fight in order to train with Paul.

"I had the opportunity to fight in Cage Warriors but I couldn't pass up the money Jake was offering,” Taylor told Betway Insider US. “I’m getting paid more money as Jake's training partner in two months than I made in my whole entire MMA career in six years. I swear to God, I made more money with Jake in two months than my whole MMA career.

“That’s disturbing when you think about it, because I fought for Bellator. I’ve fought two top five con…

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Legacy Fighting Alliance bantamweight champ Zviad Lazishvili will get his chance to make a mark in the UFC.

Lazishvili will replace Said Nurmagomedov and square off against Jack Shore in a 135-pound contest at UFC Fight Night 191. Adjara Sport was first to report the new booking. UFC Fight Night 191 takes place on Sept. 4 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Darren Till and Derek Brunson.

Lazishvili claimed bantamweight gold with a first-round submission of Ricky Steele at LFA 90 in September 2020. The 29-year-old Republic of Georgia native is 8-0 as a professional, a run that includes two victories in LFA and five triumphs via tapout.

A former Cage Warriors bantamweight king, Shore has kicked off his promotional tenure with wins against Nohelin Hernandez, Aaron Phillips and Hunter Azure. The 26-year-old Welshman is 14-0 since beginning his pro career in…