Martial Arts News

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship sees the return of its biggest star this weekend.

Conor McGregor successfully made weight at the UFC 329 weigh-ins. A rematch 13 years in the making against Max Holloway is now set. All other fighters on the 13-fight card successfully made weight, as well.

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This is the first fight for McGregor (22-6) since 2021, which saw "Notorious" lose two fights to Dustin Poirier. Questions abound if he'll be the same fighter after a nasty leg break and five controversial years away from the sport. The electric Irish striker's last win came against Donald Cerrone in 2020, which took only 40 seconds. The 37-year-old Irish fighter weighed 170.5 pounds for his anticipated return.

Holloway (27-9) looks to get revenge on his fellow mixed martial arts icon after losing a clear-cut decision back in 2013. Since then, "Blessed" has held the featherweight title and scored one of the most legendary knockouts ever over …

Ultimate Fighting Championship great Alex Pereira is the type of guy to give someone else a present on his birthday.

Two weeks before her title defense at Karate Combat 62—scheduled for July 24 in Miami against Juliana Velasquez—Aline Pereira was surprised by her brother, “Poatan,” with one of the biggest gifts she has ever received. On his birthday of July 7, per sources close to the situation, the current UFC heavyweight gave his younger sister a house in Connecticut, near their training camp of Teixeira MMA & Fitness.

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Gifts that change a life On a since-deleted Instagram Stories post, the Karate Combat champ wrote, “There are gifts that change a life. Today, you gave me one of them. Thank you, little brother, for so much love and generosity. May God repay you twofold for everything you do for me. Happy birthday! I love you.”

The 35-year-old flyweight has bounced back and forth between kickboxing, Karate Combat and MMA since debuting in the LF…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight king Israel Adesanya is going in a new direction.

Posting a video on his personal YouTube channel on Thursday titled “I’m Leaving CKB,” Adesanya explained that he was doing just that: departing the confines of Auckland, New Zealand-based camp City Kickboxing. The 36-year-old ex-kickboxer has fallen on hard times as of late, dropping four straight, although two of his last four outings were for his old middleweight title.

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The split came effective May 20, per “The Last Stylebender,” who does so a little under two months after losing to Joe Pyfer by knockout in the UFC Seattle headliner. Per the fighter, he needed a fresh start, and most importantly, personalized training instead of being in a room full of top-ranked athletes who all vie for attention from the coaches. Adesanya claimed it had been brewing for a while, and that he still mourns the absence of the team as a main part of his life.I am not c…

Hattan Alsaif (left, 109.2) and Dania Ouhachi (right, 109.8). | 📷: PFL MMA

Professional Fighters League MENA is set to return to action for the first time since May, with the featherweight and welterweight tournaments taking center stage.

Also returning to the PFL MENA spotlight is Hattan Alsaif, who will be making her professional debut in a catchweight bout in the main event.

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This will be the first round of action for the PFL MENA’s welterweight and featherweight tournaments. Outside of the catchweight main event, all fighters made their respective weights and were on point for the 10-bout event taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.PFL MENA 10 weigh-in results: Hattan Alsaif (109.2) vs. Dania Ouhachi (109.8)Hassan Shaaban (170) vs. Hazem Kayyali (170.6)Malik Basahel (125.6) vs. Imad El Azami (125.8)Badreddine Diani (169.6) vs. Yousef Adel (170.2)Wissame Akhmouch (170) vs. Abdelkrim Zouad (170.4)Shadi Kabbani (145.8) vs. Ahmed Tarek …

We now have a date for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s next Noche UFC show.

Per MMA Junkie on Tuesday, the organization is putting together a top-10 heavyweight contest pitting Waldo Cortes-Acosta (17-3) against Curtis Blaydes (19-6, 1 NC). The two will tangle at Noche UFC 4, possibly also UFC 331, on Sept. 19 at a destination still to be determined. This pairing has since been confirmed by other outlets.

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Details still loom regarding UFC 331, Noche UFC dates and locations There remains ample confusion as to the scheduling of this Noche UFC 4 card, as the date of Sept. 19 is also reported to be UFC 331. It is possible that fights on this billing and/or the Sept. 12 show slated for Arizona could shift around depending on the nature of the Noche UFC 4 celebration. Early reports indicated this event could be held at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, but that has yet to be confirmed. Only one other bout is set for this billing, a bantamweigh…

Sherdog.com betting analyst Sean Sheehan has released his best bets for the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

UFC 329, headlined by the long-awaited return of Conor McGregor in a rematch against Max Holloway, features several pivotal matchups across multiple divisions, including Benoit St. Denis vs. Paddy Pimblett in the co-headliner, Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista and Brandon Royval vs. Lone’er Kavanagh.

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McGregor returns, but this analyst is picking Holloway to finish him With UFC 329 fast approaching, there are multiple bouts to look forward to, including the headliner, McGregor vs. Holloway 2. Sheehan is backing Holloway to win inside the distance (+107), believing the former featherweight champion can overwhelm McGregor, who returns to the Octagon after a five-year hiatus.

He also believes there’s a good chance Benoit Saint-Denis (-122) defeats Paddy Pimblett. Sheehan picks Bautista (+125) to pull off an upset against Sandhagen…

Conor Benn has taken a shot at Ryan Garcia ahead of their proposed showdown in September.

Benn further escalated his war of words with Garcia via a taunt about his 2023 knockout loss to Gervonta Davis. The back-and-forth between the two continues to grow as rumors of a confirmed bout gather steam.

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Conor Benn, Ryan Garcia continue feud ahead of September fight Benn mocked Garcia by reminding him of one of the most painful moments of the latter’s career. The Brit posted a photo of Garcia’s knockout loss to Davis, in which he can be seen kneeling on one knee after a body shot from “Tank.”

Alongside the photo from Garcia's loss to Davis, Benn wrote on X, “One on One… you quit! I stand and fight, proven! Hope you’re ready to dig in deep kid.” This came in response to Garcia’s earlier X post targeting Benn, where he wrote, “Boxing is one-on-one, the reason I started boxing, no one to lean on. I’m ending you.”

The start of the pair’s online feud stem…

Ketlen Vieira (right) will toe the line with Cris Cyborg in the PFL. | 📷: Getty/UFC

Ketlen Vieira’s head coach, Andre Pederneiras, believes that she is up for one of the toughest tests of her career and is confident his pupil is preparing the right way.

Vieira faces Cris Cyborg on Aug. 22 in the Professional Fighters League. This fight serves as a retirement bout for the 40-year-old Cyborg. However, Pederneiras isn’t overlooking the former Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder and mixed martial arts legend.

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Andre Pederneiras previews Ketlen Vieira vs Cris Cyborg matchup Pederneiras spoke to Sherdog's Marcelo Alonso ahead of the August 22 clash between Vieira and Cyborg.

“It will be a very tough fight for both; Cris' history speaks for itself -- she is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time,” he said, before disclosing details of Vieira’s training camp. “I've had Ketlen training with some highly skilled talents from the gy…

Merab Dvalishvili has shared his predictions for the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card.

The former bantamweight champion weighed in on the upcoming fights in a recent clip posted on X, giving his picks for four of the five UFC 329 main card bouts, including the main event between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway and the co-main event between Benoit St. Denis and Paddy Pimblett.

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In a recent video posted by UFC on Paramount+ on X, Dvalishvili made predictions for several key matchups at UFC 329.

Picking between flyweights Brandon Royval and Lone’er Kavanagh, Dvalishvili sided with Royval. For Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista, the former champion said, “It’s gonna be a great fight between Cory Sandhagen and Mario Bautista, but I have to go with Cory Sandhagen.” For the co-main event, the Georgian picked St. Denis to beat Pimblett.

“The Machine” was then asked about McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon, which will be a …

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson will make his Octagon debut at UFC 329. | 📷: Getty/UFC

Ahead of his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, Gable Steveson has claimed that he can be the best at any sport he plays.

The Olympic gold medalist and former NCAA wrestling champion, who will face Elisha Ellison at UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, has opened up about what it feels like to be the “next big thing” in the sport.

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Gable Steveson explains confidence ahead of UFC 329 debut Steveson believes he could dominate any sport he undertakes. Already 3-0 in MMA, he is high in confidence heading into his UFC debut, which is reflected in his recent comments.

“I think it’s a huge way to go out there and have people say, ‘Man, he could be the next big thing,’” Steveson said in a recent interview. “But I think when you believe that you can be the next big thing, that is a different story. Because other people say, ‘You can b…

Ian Garry has been training with Georgian wrestlers ahead of UFC 330. | 📷: Getty/UFC

Ian Garry is pulling out all the stops in preparation for his maiden title bid in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The Irish welterweight recently revealed that he trained with elite Georgian wrestlers to better prepare for reigning champion Islam Makhachev's world-class grappling prowess. Garry and Makhachev are set to lock horns in the main event of UFC 330 on Aug. 15 in Philadelphia.

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Ian Garry explains wrestling preparation for Islam Makhachev at UFC 330 Garry has worked on bridging the skill gap between himself and Makhachev on the mat ahead of their bout. “The Future” even traveled to Georgia back in February to improve his wrestling skills.

“It was to feel elite, high-level wrestling, to feel a wrestling that Ireland does not have, that England does not have. That a lot of Europe does not have,” Garry told The Irish Sun when asked why he mad…

Eric Nicksick (pictured) discussed his public altercation with Ali Abdelaziz. | 📷: Getty/UFC

Eric Nicksick claims his brief feud with Ali Abdelaziz has been settled.

Abdelaziz and Nicksick reportedly got into an altercation shortly after Manel Kape’s win over Kyoji Horiguchi last month. Abdelaziz allegedly even threw a punch at Nicksick before being escorted out of the venue by security.

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Eric Nicksick explains his Ali Abdelaziz incident and apology Nicksick recently addressed the incident without divulging too many details. He claims that while he gets into a lot of arguments with Abdelaziz, the latest one came to the limelight since it happened in public.

“I told him Argentina was gonna beat Egypt. We’re brothers, man. You get arguing with your wife, it happens in the house. This happened more in front of people, so it became more out in public,” Nicksick told Ariel Helwani. “But we’ve been friends for 15 years. We argue, we fight, w…