Martial Arts News

Shortly after he authored perhaps his best performance since moving to bantamweight in a unanimous decision triumph over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 265, Jose Aldo set his sights on a fellow former champion.

“It would be great for me to fight with [T.J.] Dillashaw,” Aldo said after his UFC 265 win. “Hopefully by December. I think it would be a great fight and that’s what we expect. That’s what I’m expecting right now.”

Dillashaw returned from more than a two-year absence at UFC on ESPN 27, where he captured a contentious split-decision triumph over Cory Sandhagen on July 24. While the ex-bantamweight king is open to a future clash with Aldo, he has some unfinished business he’d like to handle first.

“Yeah, I like the callout,” Dillashaw said in a recent interview with Submission Radio. “I would like to fight Jose Aldo. He’s a legend of our sport, and we can do it after I get my belt back.”

That means Dillashaw will have to wait for the winner of the rematch betwe…

Leah McCourt will lock horns with Jessica Borga in the Bellator 267 co-main event on Oct. 1.

Promotion officials announced the featherweight booking on Wednesday. Bellator 267 takes place at the SSE Arena in London and is headlined by a welterweight rematch between Douglas Lima and Michael Page. The main card airs on Showtime at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, while prelims begin at 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT.

McCourt enters the matchup with Borga on a five-bout winning streak, with four of those victories coming within the California-based promotion. Most recently, the 29-year-old Belfast native submitted Janay Harding in the second round at Bellator 259 on May 21.

Borga, meanwhile, had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to Talita Nogueira at Bellator 256 on April 9. The Champions MMA export began her promotional tenure with a first-round submission win over Amber Leibrock at Bellator 226.

FIGHT CARD for ONE: Revolution! pic.twitter.com/AdUwBiBPne

— Chatri Sityodtong (@yodchatri) August 18, 2021

Three title bouts will top the card for One Championship “Revolution” on Sept. 24, the Singapore -based promotion announced Tuesday.

In the main event, Christian Lee will defend his lightweight (170-pound) crown against Rae Yoon Ok. Additionally, reigning strawweight (125-pound) king Joshua Pacio will meet Yosuke Saruta in a trilogy bout, while bantamweight kickboxing title holder Capitan Petchyindee Academy will lock horns with Mehdi Zatout.

One “Revolution” takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore and airs on the One Super App. Three other contests were confirmed for the evening’s main card: Martin Nguyen vs. Kim Jae Woong at featherweight (155 pounds); Amir Aliakbar vs. Anatoly Malykhin at heavyweight and Victoria Lee vs. Victoria Souza at atomweight (115 pounds).

The 23-year-old Lee is currently on a six-bout wi…

The UFC on ESPN 30 card has lost a few fights after multiple fighters were forced to withdraw from the Aug. 28 event.

The most prominent exit involves Olympic silver medalist and former bantamweight title challenger Sara McMann, who announced that she is pulling out of a proposed matchup with Ketlen Vieira due to injury.

“Ugh, I have crappy news to share. I am out of the August 28 fight because of a reinjury,” McMann wrote. “I’m hoping like hell it’s a quick healing process but I’ll have to wait until I get the final prognosis to know. The worst part is that I was so healthy and having a really great camp.

“I know I’ll keep the gains I’ve made but I was really hoping to get the reward for all of the work I’ve put in the last few months. If [Ketlen Vieira] is able to wait and push our fight date back, I’m happy to do that. I’ll be back to the [UFC] as quickly as possible.”

It’s currently unclear if Vieira will remain on the card against a replacement oppon…

Two days after celebrating the gold-medal winning performance of his student, Herbert Conceicao, following his knockout of Oleksandr Khyzhniak at the Tokyo Olympics, boxing coach Luiz Dorea learned of Anderson Silva’s scheduled booking against Tito Ortiz under the Triller Fight Club banner on Sept. 11.

“I was already in L.A. at Anderson´s gym training my student, (2016 Olympic gold medalist) Robson Conceicao, for his first world title dispute against (WBC super featherweight champion) Oscar Valdez, when Anderson informed me about the fight against Ortiz,” Dorea told Sherdog.com.

“Actually I got really excited when Anderson told me about that fight. It will be a clash of MMA legends, two former champions under boxing rules.”  

Dorea has experience preparing for Ortiz after training Antonio Rogerio Nogueira for his matchup with “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” at UFC 140 nearly a decade ago. Nogueira would win that fight via first-round technical knockout.…

We're very saddened by the tragic news of Saul Soliz's passing. Saul will be remembered fondly as a world-class coach, leader and, more importantly, a world-class man. Sending our sincere condolences to those who had the privilege of knowing Saul. pic.twitter.com/klzvKDGgJE

— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) August 17, 2021

Saul Soliz, the leader of Metro Fight Club in Houston and a prominent coach in the MMA community for years, has died at age 55.

Soliz’s friend, John Gomez, revealed in a Facebook post that the cause of death was COVID-19. Soliz’s passing has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

“He fought a long hard fight, anyone that knew JR knows he was a UFC trainer, he loved training his fighters and showing them how to become winners, not only in fighting but also how to live life -- he mentor so many , I’ll never know how many , I know it’s a long list,” Gomez wrote. “He really loved training his fighters- they all have…

Fifteen-time Octagon veteran Yancy Medeiros is no longer on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster.

MMAFighting.com reported on Tuesday that Medeiros and Justin Jaynes have been released by the Las Vegas-based promotion. It is unclear if Medeiros and Jaynes were cut with existing fights on their deals or if their contracts were simply not renewed.

Medeiros has been with the UFC since 2013, compiling a 6-8 record with one no contest over the course of his tenure. He earned notable wins over the likes of Alex Oliveira, Erick Silva and John Makdessi. Medeiros exits the organization on a four-bout skid, including a decision loss to Damir Hadzovic in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 190 on June 26. The Strikeforce veteran earned five performance bonuses during his time with the UFC.

Jaynes exits the UFC on a four-bout skid after scoring a 41-second technical knockout win over Frank Camacho in his debut in June 2020. In his last outing, Jaynes dropped a s…

Credit: Pro Fight League

Saidyokub Kakhramonov will replace Leomana Martinez and lock horns with Trevin Jones at UFC on ESPN 29.

MMA Island was first to report the new bantamweight bout. UFC on ESPN 29 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight bout between Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT following prelims at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

The 25-year-old Kakhramonov enters his Octagon debut on a two-bout winning streak after back-to-back knockout victories on the regional scene. Most recently, he stopped Tycen Lynn 45 seconds into the second round at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 92 on March 11. He also notably fought once under the Professional Fighters League banner, falling to Umar Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision in 2018. The Team Top Notch representative is 8-2 over the course of a career that began in 2017.

Jones last appeared at UFC 259, where he scor…

Misha Cirkunov will drop to 185 pounds for a matchup against Krzysztof Jotko at a UFC event on Oct. 2.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the pairing on Tuesday. The card is headlined by a light heavyweight duel between Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker and will likely be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Cirkunov will make his middleweight debut after compiling a 6-4 mark in the Octagon at 205 pounds. The 34-year-old Latvian began his UFC tenure with four consecutive triumphs but has fallen on hard times lately with losses in four of his last six outings. Most recently, Cirkunov suffered a 71-second TKO defeat to Ryan Spann at UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13.

Jotko, meanwhile, had a three-bout winning streak snapped in a decision loss to Sean Strickland at UFC on ESPN 23 on May 1. The American Top Team product is 9-5 in the UFC and 22-5 as a professional overall.

After a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Holly Holm was inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame on Monday night.

Holm, a former UFC bantamweight champion who is from Albuquerque, N.M., was part of the 2019 class that was supposed to be enshrined one year earlier. Holm posted photos of the ceremony, which she attended with her family, longtime coach Mike Winkeljohn and manager Lenny Fresquez.

“Tonight I was inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. I am honored and humbled,” Holm wrote on Instagram. “I truly appreciate everyone who has supported me in my journey thus far. My family, friends, coaches, manager, teammates and of course all of my fans. Thank you for believing in me in this journey and taking this ride with me. I am only more motivated to keep pushing to succeed and strive for greatness. I want to continue to make you all proud of me. It is impossible to put in words how much love I feel everyday. Here’s to aiming high. I am still striv…

Due to an accidental eye poke in the second round, Mason Jones vs. Alan Patrick ends in a no contest.#UFCVegas28 pic.twitter.com/SwYAqCgoDl

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) June 5, 2021

A lightweight rematch pitting Mason Jones against Alan Patrick is on tap for an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on Oct. 23.

Both fighters confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from Combate. The card is expected to be headlined by a middleweight showdown between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. A location has not been formally announced.

Jones was performing well agianst Patrick in their first meeting at UFC Fight Night 189 in June before an accidental eye poke from the former Cage Warriors two-division champion resulted in their bout being ruled a no contest at the 2:14 mark of Round 2. The 26-year-old Welshman is still looking for his first promotional triumph after dropping a unanimous verdict against Mike Davis in his debut…

You can forgive Kayla Harrison if she intially comes off as dismissive of some of her opponents. It’s simply the product of a supremely confident nature one might expect from a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Harrison has taken a similar approach to PFL playoff opponent Genah Fabian, who she will face in a 155-pound semifinal matchup at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., on Thursday. Harrison took a moment to clarify some comments she made regarding her matchup with Fabian during a media call on Monday.

“It’s nothing personal to Genah at all,” Harrison said. “I respect her as a fighter. I respect her as a person. I think in a different lifetime maybe we would’ve been friends. But I have one job to do. I have to go out and win fights. I have to destroy. I have a goal, I have a dream.

“It’s nothing personal, it’s just business. I think people misconstrue that as arrogance or cockiness. It has nothing to do with Genah. It’s how much I believe i…