Martial Arts News

Troubled former fighter Jason Miller is facing a pair of felony charges for a bar fight that occurred in September, according to a report from TMZ Sports.

The UFC and Strikeforce veteran is facing charges of assault and battery after allegedly breaking a man’s ribs outside a San Fernando, Calif., bar last month. The man Miller injured initially elected not to file charges but later changed his mind after a hospital visit. That resulted in police charging Miller with felony battery and felony assault.

The news comes on the heels of “Mayhem” being arrested for felony domestic violence in Los Angeles on September 10. The 40-year-old was held on bail of $1.385 million after a women called 911 screaming for help and police arrived at the scene to find her with marks on her face and neck. Miller initially resisted being taken into custody and was tased and cuffed as a result.

The former “Bully Beatdown” host has a lengthy history of running afoul of the law. Less th…

The knee that opened the cut!

VODs available herehttps://t.co/Md8kjceRGe#RIZIN #MMA #RIZINFF #RIZIN31 pic.twitter.com/0BhoaQ3ASs

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) October 24, 2021 Deep champion Juntaro Ushiku now has another piece of championship hardware to add to his trophy case.

Ushiku defeated Yutaka Saito via technical knockout in the Rizin Fighting Federation 31 headliner to capture the promotion’s featherweight crown on Sunday in Yokohama, Japan. A flying knee from Ushiku opened a gash on Saito’s head and forced doctors to call the contest at the 4:26 mark of Round 2.

Ushiku has won eight of his last nine professional appearances dating back to November 2018, while Saito sees a four-bout winning streak snapped in defeat.

Huge upkicks by Saori Oshima (@cb_saori)

VODs available herehttps://t.co/Md8kjceRGe#RIZIN #MMA #RIZINFF #RIZIN31 pic.twitter.com/N6HO4ciZ4N

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin…

What a historic night for Fedor Emelianenko and #Bellator in #Moscow!

This was the 's th pro win.#MMA #Bellator269 pic.twitter.com/llxTdLvpm0

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 23, 2021 Fedor Emelianenko was in top form in his victory over Timothy Johnson at Bellator 269.

After a few tense exchanges in the early going, “The Last Emperor” dropped Johnson with a three-punch combination as his opponent rushed forward. Once Emelianenko landed, Johnson crashed to the canvas and the fight was immediately stopped at the 1:40 mark of Round 1. Considering that Johnson was coming off a loss to Valentin Moldavsky in an interim heavyweight title bout, it might be the most impressive victory of Emelianenko’s Bellator tenure.

“I think maybe this is one of the most important wins in my career, taking into consideration the location, the country, the age,” Emelianenko said during Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Taking into consideratio…

UNDISPUTED @ricoverhoeven #COLLISION3 pic.twitter.com/Kuh4Y4J0r3

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) October 23, 2021

Rico Verhoeven reminded everyone why he is nicknamed the "King of Kickboxing.”

The headliner featured a heavyweight clash between defending champion Rico Verhoeven (59-10) and former two-time rival Jamal Ben Saddik (35-8). The challenger was supposed to be combat sports legend Alistair Overeem, but an injury forced "The Demolition Man" out of the fight. Verhoeven moved around his opponent for most of the time in the opening round, studying his reactions, before Ben Saddik almost knocked him down right before the end of the stanza. Ben Saddik pushed on the accelerator early in Round 2, dropping Verheoven and opening a cut under his right eye.

Verhoeven fought through adversity and made some adjustments after the second stanza as his eye kept swelling. In Round 3, the Dutchman retaliated with several knees, showcased better foo…

UNDISPUTED @ricoverhoeven #COLLISION3 pic.twitter.com/Kuh4Y4J0r3

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) October 23, 2021

Rico Verhoeven reminded everyone why he is nicknamed the "King of Kickboxing.”

The headliner featured a heavyweight clash between defending champion Rico Verhoeven (59-10) and former two-time rival Jamal Ben Saddik (35-8). The challenger was supposed to be combat sports legend Alistair Overeem, but an injury forced "The Demolition Man" out of the fight. Verhoeven moved around his opponent for most of the time in the opening round, studying his reactions, before Ben Saddik almost knocked him down right before the end of the stanza. Ben Saddik pushed on the accelerator early in Round 2, dropping Verheoven and opening a cut under his right eye.

Verhoeven fought through adversity and made some adjustments after the second stanza as his eye kept swelling. In Round 3, the Dutchman retaliated with several knees, showcased better foo…

Credit: Joao Baptista Credit: Joao Baptista Credit: Joao Baptista

Once it became clear that he wasn’t going to make the middleweight limit, Paulo Costa did everything he could to tilt the odds in his favor heading into the UFC Fight Night 196 main event.

Even though he convinced opponent Marvin Vettori to agree to fight at 205 pounds and he was clearly the larger athlete in the Octagon on Saturday, Costa still dropped a unanimous decision to “The Italian Dream.” As result, UFC president Dana White was singing Vettori’s praises at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“We were trying to keep this fight alive and make sure that it happened, and we couldn’t have done it without a guy like Vettori,” White said. “Vettori acted like an absolute professional, stud, a guy that’s incredible to work with. That’s why this fight happened.”

According to White, Costa entered the cage at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night at 220 pounds, while Vettori weighed 208. De…

Marvin Vettori accepted the challenge of moving up a weight class to fight Paulo Costa at UFC Fight Night 196, and it paid off handsomely for “The Italian Dream.”

Vettori received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a unanimous decision victory over Costa in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The bout was originally scheduled to be contested at 185 pounds until Costa revealed that he wouldn’t be able to make weight, so it was then changed to a 205-pound bout. Vettori took the change in stride, as he set a light heayweight record with 190 significant strikes landed in the five-round affair.

Elsewhere, Alex Caceres pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for a first-round submission of Seung Woo Choi in a featured featherweight scrap. After a difficult opening round in which he was rocked by a right hand and an illegal knee, Caceres rebounded to submit Choi with a rear-naked choke at the 3:31 mark of Round 2.

Finally, Gregor…

Let's see that in slow-mo!

Fedor Emelianenko remains undefeated at home.#Bellator269 pic.twitter.com/vOaZOSuMCS

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 23, 2021 If it truly is goodbye, then Fedor Emelianenko gave the Russian fans a memorable farewell.

“The Last Emperor” made short work of recent interim title challenger Timothy Johnson in the Bellator 269 headliner, winning via knockout 3:08 into Round 1 of their heavyweight clash at VTB Arena in Moscow on Saturday. It was the California-based promotion’s first-ever event in Russia and Emelianenko’s first fight in his home country since a controversial majority decision win against Fabio Maldonado at a Fight Nights Global event on June 17, 2016.

The 45-year-old former Pride Fighting Championships title holder demonstrated why he remains dangerous even in the twilight of his professional MMA career. In a bout that was fraught with tension, both heavyweights ventured into the pocket to tr…

Marvin Vettori cut through all the noise, focused on the task at hand and made sure he was the man who got his hand raised when the dust settled.

The Kings MMA rep stayed relevant in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division and rode a high-pressure, high-volume attack to a unanimous decision over Paulo Costa in the UFC Fight Night 196 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it 48-46 for Vettori (18-5-1, 8-3-1 UFC), who accepted the bout at 205 pounds due to the Brazilian’s inability to meet their originally contracted weight requirements.

Costa (13-2, 5-2 UFC) fought well despite the extra baggage and seemed to relish his role as the villain. He rattled Vettori with multiple head kicks and zeroed in on the body with brutal kicks and hooks from both hands. Still, Costa had no real answer for the Italian’s relentless output and also had to deal with being deducted a point for a second-round eye poke. Vettori co…

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Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 196 coverage will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 A UFC fight card that may have otherwise been forgotten has suddenly drawn a great deal of attention thanks to the antics of the headliners. Nonsense and shenanigans, drama and genuine anger appears to have reared its ugly head, but it will make the show more interesting. We begin this 14-fight marathon offering that is currently being counterprogrammed by Bellator, KSW and Glory Kickboxing at the same time with a bantamweight bout. “The Dragon” Martinez (13-4, 4-3 UFC) will welcome Georgian newcomer Lazishvili (8-0, 0-0 UFC) to the organization. There is some dispute about Lazishvil…

Sherdog's live Bellator 269 coverage kicks off at 12:30 p.m. ET.

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

The bout has been canceled after Gadzhi Rabadanov missed weight. Round 1 Bellator 269 kicks off in my hometown of Moscow at CSKA Arena, the same venue where the UFC helds its own historic event in late 2019. Kicking off the event, young featherweight prospects clash, as Englishman Aiden Lee (9-5) makes the trip into hostile territory to take on Russian Alexender Osetrov (8-2). Referee Kevin McCarthy will start the evening in Moscow. Osetrov starts the fight with a solid leg kick. Lee is firing technical front kicks, but the Russian avoids them. Lee tests him with a head kick, but Osetrov blocks and tries to counter with a punch, which is blocked. Both men are searching for the range, Lee more with kicks and Osetrov more with punches. Osetrov scores on a body punch and soon after may have hurt Lee with a short hook …

WHAT. A. FIGHT.

[ #UFCVegas41 live on #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/URRFmKPLvI

— UFC (@ufc) October 23, 2021 Gregory Rodrigues strengthened his foothold in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, as he struck down Jun Young Park in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 196 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Park (13-5, 3-2 UFC) bowed out 3:13 into Round 2.

Rodrigues (11-3, 2-0 UFC) dictated the terms of their ground exchanges—he advanced to the back with body triangles on multiple occasions—but flirted with disaster on the feet. Park pinned the former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion to the fence in the second round and let punches fly from both hands. Rodrigues seemed to be wilting but answered with a series of precise right hands, pushed the Korean Top Team standout across the Octagon, flurried along the fence and connected with an uppercut that had him out on his feet. It was enough to p…