Martial Arts News

Azamat Murzakanov closed the show with a massive right hand #DWCS pic.twitter.com/BMOcWfnpur

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 1, 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 Ultimate Fighting Championship is eager to plug in Dana White's Contender Series signees as soon as possible. On the second week of DWCS for the 2021 season, the broadcast announced that Week 1 winner Azamat Murzakanov (10-0) already had his promotional debut lined up. On Nov. 20 at an unnumbered UFC Fight Night event, he will take on Marcin Prachnio (15-5) at light heavyweight. The two will likely tangle inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Murzakanov made a statement in the top-billed bout of his DWCS episode, drilling Matheus Scheffel with a solid left and a ruthless right hand to put the Brazilian down for the count. The win propelled “The Professional” to a perfe…

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. When the dust settles at the end of this battle, only one middleweight will likely be ranked. ESPN first brought word of the upcoming matchup between Dricus Du Plessis (16-2) and Andre Muniz (21-4) on Tuesday night. The two 185-pounders will come to blows at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 at an undetermined location. It is unclear if this all-action middleweight scrap will be placed on the main card or the prelims, but the two combine for 34 stoppages in their 37 career wins.

South Africa’s Du Plessis has made a statement since joining the UFC following stoppages of Joilton Lutterbach and Brendan Lesar in KSW and Extreme Fighting Championship, respectively. In his promotional debut, “Stillknocks” became the first man to finish Markus Perez, doing so in a little under three and a half minutes. His sophomore effort was no less impressive, h…

: A lightweight showdown between former champions @BensonHenderson and @brentprimus155 along with @HenryCorrales86 vs. Vladyslav Parubchenko have been added to an already stacked #Bellator268 card on October 16th at the @FootprintCNTR.

Full Story: https://t.co/9d4BKLyfFy pic.twitter.com/v3lE6BysuA

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) September 9, 2021 Bellator MMA is looking to put its best foot forward in what could be its last American show for some time. The organization announced via press release on Thursday its full lineup of Bellator 268, which will be held inside the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Oct. 16. While it made official several previously billed matchups including both light heavyweight semifinals of Vadim Nemkov vs. Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader vs. Corey Anderson, it filled out the card to 12 total bouts. Among the newly announced pairings is a lightweight scrap between Benson Henderson (28-10) and Brent Primus (1…

Contract signed fighting September 18th at the SAP Center San Jose CA vs Saul Rogers #Bellator266

— Georgi Karakhanyan (@georgimma) September 7, 2021 A longtime Bellator MMA vet will try to avoid a dubious record in his next appearance.

On Monday, Georgi Karakhanyan (31-11-1, 1 NC) announced that he would joining Bellator 266 as the replacement fighter against Saul Rogers (14-4). Karakhanyan will be replacing an injured Adam Piccolotti. The organization confirmed this new matchup on its official site.

The Russian-born Armenian Karakhanyan relocated to lightweight in early 2020, and it has largely worked in his favor, winning three with a lone defeat a split decision setback against Myles Jury. “Insane Georgi” does hold the second-most defeats in company history with nine, and he and Derek Campos both trail the recordholder of Saad Awad with 10. A win for the 18-fight Bellator vet would lift his record with the company over .500.

Rogers,…

Another BIG debut!@IanGarryMMA steps into the Octagon to face Jordan Williams at #UFC268 pic.twitter.com/mUrmMDPdhD

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 8, 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 Ultimate Fighting Championship is adding one more former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship champ to its ranks. On Wednesday, the UFC revealed that 23-year-old Irish signee Ian Garry (7-0) will lock horns with Jordan Williams (9-5) in a 170-pound affair at UFC 268. “The Future” will join the club of Irish fighters who competed in the UFC, including Conor McGregor, Norman Parke, Joseph Duffy and Tom Egan, among others. The fight will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6.

Dublin’s own Garry made his pro debut with Cage Warriors, and he notched seven straight victories in the promotion, including five finishes. In his lat…

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. Diego Ferreira just can’t catch a break lately. MMA Junkie reported on Wednesday that Ferreira (17-4) has been forced out of his lightweight tilt with Grant Dawson (17-1) because of an injury. The nature of the injury has not yet been disclosed. The promotion is currently searching for a replacement option for Dawson, and it is unclear if it will find someone in time for the Oct. 2 show at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Ferreira has since confirmed his injury ahead of UFC Fight Night 193.

Ferreira was looking to snap a two-fight skid in 2021, where he came up short to Beneil Dariush in a rematch by split decision and then suffered a knockout loss to Gregor Gillespie three months later. This losing streak ended an impressive six-fight run for the Brazilian out of Texas that saw him defeat the likes of Anthony Pettis, Mairbek Taisumov…

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. Even iron can break. On Wednesday, ESPN reported that “The Iron Lady” Germaine de Randamie (10-4) has been forced out of her UFC 268 bantamweight matchup against Irene Aldana (13-6) due to injury. The two were set to square off on Nov. 6 inside of Madison Square Garden in New York. As of now, there is no current replacement opponent, and Aldana has requested a top-ranked adversary that will be able to compete in the de facto title eliminator bout.

De Randamie rebounded from a one-sided decision loss to champ Amanda Nunes at the end of 2019 with a 2020 submission of Julianna Pena to put her right back in contention. The Dutchwoman put Pena to sleep with a guillotine choke to record her first career submission victory, and her first stoppage beyond 7:02 of a fight. Before meeting Nunes, the former featherweight champ racked up a f…

“The Polar Bear” will be hibernating for a while after his defeat on Saturday.

UFC Fight Night 191 is in the books. The main event featured a 185-pound pivotal clash between Derek Brunson and Darren Till (18-4-1, 6-4-1 UFC) and ended with Brunson (23-7, 14-5 UFC) easily submitting “The Gorilla” with a rear-naked choke in the third frame. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (via mixedmartialarts.com) has now announced the official suspensions, revealing that the Team Kaobon export is facing a 30-day suspension and must have a facial CT scan that, if positive, must have ENT clearance. Brunson, on the other hand, has to stay off the fighting canvas for 21 days.

The co-main event saw up-and-coming English heavyweight contender Tom Aspinall (11-2, 4-0 UFC) stopping Sergey Spivak (13-3, 4-3 UFC) with punches early in Round 1. Somewhere during the clash, Spivak suffered an eyebrow laceration that would prevent him from getting clearance to compete for a while. The M…

This Saturday. Included with your @triller #TrillerFightClub PPV purchase

No Holds Barred Alternative Commentary from #DonaldTrump and @DonaldJTrumpJr.

Live In-Person from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, #Florida

[ Sept. 11 | https://t.co/Qts9ZGywTR ] pic.twitter.com/Eq32d7JsRA

— FITE (@FiteTV) September 8, 2021

Fight fans will hear from the former President of the United States this weekend.

The upcoming boxing Triller card that features the clash between former Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Vitor Belfort and former cruiserweight and undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield will have a special guest as commentator. On Wednesday morning, Fite confirmed that the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, would do live commentary on the much-anticipated boxing debut of “The Phenom.”

“I love great fighters and great fights. I look forward to seeing both this Saturday night …

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT @bensaddikjamal returns to the GLORY ring and will face @AdegBenny during GLORY COLLISION 3, Gelredome Arnhem The Netherlands.

Tickets go on sale on the 14th of September. Buy your tickets at https://t.co/MuEo6F8v8i pic.twitter.com/U6PHnT17vm

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) September 8, 2021 Glory “Collision 3” has found its co-main event as Benjamin Adegbuyi and Jamal Ben Saddik are set to fight on Oct. 23. The fight, which is a rematch, will serve as primer for the upcoming mega fight between Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven as he takes on Alistair Overeem in the Reem’s return to kickboxing after a decade-plus stint in mixed martial arts.

The first fight between Saddik and Adegbuyi was Saddik’s last fight, which was in 2018. Saddik, who was the heavyweight champion at the time, knocked out Adegbuyi in 1:54.

While Saddik hasn’t fought since then, Adegbuyi has stayed relatively busy. Having not lost since,…

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace will finally make his long-awaited mixed martial arts debut.

It appears that 13-time world jiu-jitsu champion Marcus Almeida has a new opponent for his One Championship debut. A few days ago, the Singapore-based promotion announced that ‘Buchecha' was scheduled to face Thomas Narmo. Now, MMA Fighting first reported that the Norwegian fighter is out of the clash and Almeida will lock horns with Glory alum Anderson Silva at “One: Revolution” in Singapore on Sept. 24. Sherdog’s own sources confirmed the news. The reason Narmo pulled out of the fight is currently undisclosed.

Two-time ADCC gold medalist Almeida (0-0, 0-0 One) has long made preparations for his MMA debut. In April, the 31-year-old Brazilian was attached to face Oumar Kane at One on TNT 1 before One paired him with Ji Won Kang. In August, the American Top Team representative was scheduled to collide with Narmo. Now, ‘Buchecha’ got a fourth matchup for his MMA crossover.

Sil…

Carlos Vergara made the most of his moment in the spotlight.

The Fury Fighting Championship titleholder on Tuesday was one of five competitors to earn an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he cut down Bruno Mesquita with a knee strike to the body in the first round of their flyweight showcase at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Mesquita (12-4-1) bowed out 41 seconds into Round 1, suffering his first defeat in nearly four years.

Vergara (9-2-1) flew out of the gate and never looked back. He sat down “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” Season 4 semifinalist with a right hook, snatched a front headlock and connected with a few knees to the head before he disengaged. As Vergara separated, he delivered a devastating knee to the liver that shut down Mesquita and prompted referee Herb Dean to intervene.

In addition to Vergara, UFC President Dana White elected to sign Josh Quinlan, Chidi Njokuani, Saimon Oliveira and Chad Anheliger. Read more