Martial Arts News

UFC middleweight Oskar Piechota has accepted a 22-month suspension from USADA after an anti-doping violation.

USADA announced the sanction in a statement on Wednesday:

Piechota, 31, tested positive for growth hormone releasing peptide 2 (GHRP-2 or pralmorelin) and GHRP-2 (1-3) free acid, a metabolite of GHRP-2, as the result of a urine sample collected on September 25, 2020. GHRP-2 is a Specified Substance in the class of Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors, Related Substances and Mimetics and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.

Piechota received a reduction to the default two-year sanction based on his Full and Complete Cooperation. His 22-month period of ineligibility began on September 25, 2020, the date his positive sample was collected.

Piechota won’t be eligible to return to active competition until July 2022. The 31-year-old Pole is winless in his last four UFC appearances. Most recently, a technical kno…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXjA2Gyq4vQ&w=560&h=315]

Diego Sanchez is worried that his willingness to air grievances with the UFC could come back to haunt him.

“The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner was supposed to face Donald Cerrone in the UFC on ESPN 24 co-main event, but was released from the promotion last week after trainer and manager Joshua Fabia requested Sanchez’s medical records, which led to concern from the organization regarding the fighter’s health.

Sanchez later posted a few videos on his Instagram account showing Fabia involved in arguments with the UFC commentary team, with the coach accusing the broadcast booth of casting Sanchez in an unfavorable light.

Sanchez gave a lenghty interview on Sirius XM’s “MMA Today” in which he expressed concern about how the UFC might react to his comments regarding how the Las Vegas-based promotion treats fighters upon being released.

“I’m going to tell you guys frankly, right now, I’m fearful for my…

A women’s bantamweight clash pitting Irene Aldana against Yana Kunitskaya has been added to the UFC 264 lineup.

ESPN Deportes was first to report the booking. UFC 264 takes place on July 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

Aldana last appeared at UFC on ESPN 16, where she suffered a five-round decision loss to Holly Holm in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 3. Prior to that defeat, the Lobo Gym MMA product had been victorious in five of her previous six Octagon appearances.

Kunitskaya enters the matchup have won four of her last five outings within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, the 31-year-old Russian outpointed Ketlen Vieira at UFC Fight Night 185 on Feb. 20.

Right move by FL Commission. They took a close look at the science behind THC excretion and saw it has little to no correlation to being impaired. Hopefully other commissions will follow FL’s lead and the recommendation of ABC Medical Committee. https://t.co/TKneEfN9Rt

— Jeff Novitzky (@JeffNovitzkyUFC) May 4, 2021

Combat sports athletes competing in Florida will no longer be tested for marijuana.

At a meeting on Tuesday, the Florida Boxing Commission voted to remove marijuana from its prohibited substance list. In the past, the commission adopted a zero-tolerance policy on cannabis, and fighters who tested positive would be fined, suspended and have victories overturned.

The update in policy was based on a recommendation from the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) medical advisory committee as well as a change in stance on marijuana by USADA to the UFC’s anti-doping policy. The commission will only take action in the instance that an…

Two bouts have been announced for an upcoming UFC card on June 5, as Tom Breese will face Antonio Arroyo at middleweight, while Makwan Amirkhani will meet Nate Landwehr at featherweight.

The promotion confirmed the pairings via social media on Tuesday. The event is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Augusto Sakai, but a location has not been revealed.

Breese has alternated wins and losses in his last six Octagon appearances and is coming off a submission defeat at the hands of Omari Akhmedov at UFC on ESPN 20 on Jan. 20. After a pair of victories on Dana White’s Contender Series, Arroyo has dropped back-to-back decisions to Andre Muniz and Deron Winn in his first two promotional outings.

Amirkhani has lost two of his last three bouts, including a unanimous decision defeat against Edson Barboza in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 179 this past October. Landwehr, a former M-1 Global champion, is 1-2 in his first two UFC appearances…

A previously rumored flyweight clash between Michelle Waterson and Marina Rodriguez is now official as the main event for UFC on ESPN 24.

The Las Vegas-based promotion formally announced the bout on Tuesday. The fight will be five rounds like a normal UFC main event, but both Waterson and Rodriguez will be competing a division above their normal weight class. The card lost its originally scheduled headliner between T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen when Dillashaw was forced to pull out of the contest after suffering a cut in training.

UFC on ESPN 24 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and will see Donald Cerrone square off against Alex Morono in the evening’s co-headliner. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT following prelims on ESPN+ at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

Waterson is coming off a previous appearance in which her fight was elevated to main-event status on short notice. In that bout, “The Karate Hottie” halted a two-bou…

Damn 2 seconds left #Bellator255 pic.twitter.com/Zk1NBRPwkQ

— Pucc0 (@ppucc0) April 2, 2021

Three weeks after submitting Jonathan Wilson in his Bellator debut, Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros agreed to replace Yoel Romero in the first round of the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix.

Once the decision to step in and face Anthony Johnson at Bellator 258 was finalized, Azevedo found immediate support from master and teammate Patricio Freire.

“We see ‘Gugu’ as a better striker than Anthony Johnson,” said the Bellator two-division champion. “Johnson is a very experienced and dangerous fighter but is coming from four years of inactivity. ‘Gugu’ is in a great place, that's why, even being aware that it's a huge challenge to our athlete, we accepted that fight right away.”

Azevedo, meanwhile, was thrilled to get the opportunity to face an opponent he has admired.

“Three years ago, I was dreaming of being hired by a great organizati…

Dominick Reyes has broken his silence following a knockout loss to Jiri Prochazka in the UFC on ESPN 23 headliner.

The former light heavyweight title challenger suffered his third consecutive defeat on Saturday night, falling victim to a spinning back elbow from Prochazka 4:29 into Round 2 of their clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this past Saturday. “The Devastator” released a statement regarding the bout via Instagram late Monday evening.

“Finally home and surrounded by those I love, I’d like to say, I went out there and fought with all my heart,” Reyes wrote. “I put it all out there and I’m glad it was entertaining for most of you. I’m happy and upset as you can imagine as I didn’t get the desired outcome. But I went out and fought and for that I can say I’m proud.

“I love this game and at times it does not love me back but that’s what we have all signed up for. I want to say I’m doing good healing up I’ll be OK. And congrats to [Prochazka]. Hell of a fight…

ITS FINALLY HERE!

Volume 2 of the @ufcpi journal can be downloaded here:

https://ufc-pi.we https://t.co/qWXsLXC13t

Link in bio https://t.co/tsQdu33dQl

— UFC PI (@UFCPI) May 4, 2021

The UFC Performance Institute has taken a deep dive into mixed martial arts with a 484-page study of the sport.

The digital journal, which is entitled, "A Cross-Sectional Performance Analysis and Projection of the UFC Athlete,” is the second volume of its kind and includes data and insights collected by the UFC PI over the course of the last four years of working with hundreds of fighters. The journal is designed as a resource to help athletes “in all aspects of their health, well-being, and performance.”

The journal is “part analytics and part educational” and is divided into the following five sections, per a release:

PART I - Strategy & Goal Setting-Contains comprehensive data from competition analysis; injury audit data; performan…

A featherweight matchup with title implications has been added to the Rizin Fighting Federation 28 lineup.

The Japanese promotion recently announced that Mikuru Asakura will square off against Kleber Koike Erbst on June 13. Rizin 28 takes place on June 13 at the Tokyo Dome and also features four bouts from the bantamweight grand prix.

During a press conference, Rizin CEO Nobyuki Sakakibara dispelled rumors that Kyoji Horiguchi would return to compete at the event.

“MMA will be making a return to the Tokyo Dome after 18 years so we won't hold back on our cards,” he said. “Horiguchi won't be able to make it so it's natural to bring in our best cards that we can put together at the moment.”

Asakura has been victorious in eight of his nine appearances under the Rizin banner, with his lone defeat coming against Yutaka Saito in a bout for the vacant featherweight crown last April. The 28-year-old Triforce Akasaka representative rebounded with a first-round knock…

A high-profile bout originally slated for UFC 262 will take place about a month later than originally anticipated.

According to a report from Yahoo Sports, Nate Diaz has suffered a minor injury that has resulted in the postponement of his welterweight clash against Leon Edwards. The five-round, non-title contest has been moved from UFC 262 on May 15 to UFC 263 on June 12.

UFC 263 takes place at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., and is headlined by a middleweight championship tilt between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori. In the co-main event, Deiveson Figueiredo will face Brandon Morena in a flyweight title rematch.

Diaz will compete for the first time since losing to Jorge Masvidal via third-round doctor stoppage for the “BMF” title at UFC 244 in November 2019. The Stockton, Calif., native has competed infrequently in recent years, splitting a pair of bouts with Conor McGregor in 2016 and besting Anthony Pettis at UFC 241 in August 2019 before the aforeme…

Not only did Dominick Reyes lose his third consecutive fight at UFC on ESPN 23, but he could be out for a lengthy period of time as well.

Reyes suffered a second-round knockout loss to Jiri Prochazka in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. As a result of that defeat, the former title challenger must receive doctor clearance for nasal and orbital fractures or he will be sidelined for six months. At a minimum, he is suspended until July 1 with no contact until June 16. Despite absorbing some solid shots over the course of the bout, Prochazka emerged with a clean bill of health following his spinning elbow KO victory.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission released a list of medical suspensions to mixedmartialarts.com.

Three other fighters from UFC on ESPN 23 are also facing potential six-month terms pending doctor clearance: Ion Cutelaba (nose), Luana Pinheiro (finger) and Andreas Michailidis (left hand).

UFC on ESPN 23 Medical Suspensions:

…