Martial Arts News

Upper Deck and the Professional Fighters League announced today a multi-year deal for licensed collectibles and memorabilia products and exclusive for trading cards. Collectors will be able to buy, open, collect, and trade their first PFL card beginning on June 18, 2021.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 16, 2021

It appears that fans will be able to collect their favorite Professional Fighters League fighters.

On Wednesday morning, PFL announced that it had signed a multi-year deal with Upper Deck for memorabilia products for its athletes and licensed collectibles, including trading cards. It will be Upper Deck’s first foray into professional fighting trading cards. The partnership will include collectibles that feature autographs and trading cards available in both physical and digital forms.

“Professional Fighters League is excited to partner with Upper Deck to provide MMA fans with unique collectibles of their favorite fighters as…

BREAKING

Unfinished business in the Octagon will be settled on September 18th. Ion Cutelaba vs. Devin Clark is rescheduled for that date in the Light-Heavyweight division. Location TBA.

The fight was originally supposed to happen earlier this year on May 1st. pic.twitter.com/A4315GhELp — MMA DNA (@MMADNANL) June 16, 2021

A light heavyweight clash has been added to the upcoming Sept. 18 UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas.

Ultimate Fighting Championship 205-pound contenders Ion Cutelaba and Devin Clark will lock horns in the Octagon on Sept. 18, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Sherdog. MMA DNA reported was the first to report the pairing. “The Hulk” and Clark should have clashed at UFC on ESPN 23, but Clark pulled out of the contest due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Dustin Jacoby.

Unfortunately for Cutelaba (15-6-1 1NC, 4-5-1 UFC), his clash with Jacoby ended in a split draw. That night, “Th…

Tim Means and Nicolas Dalby will square off at UFC Fight Night 190 after both men lost previously scheduled opponents.

The promotion announced the new welterweight bout on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night 190 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on June 26 and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov.

Means was originally slated to meet Danny Roberts at UFC on ESPN 25 this Saturday, but Roberts had to exit the card due to COVID-19 protocols. Meanwhile, Sergey Khandozhko, Dalby’s original foe, suffered an injury and had to withdraw from UFC Fight Night 190.

Means has been victorious in three of his last four promotional appearances. “The Dirty Bird” is coming off a unanimous decision triumph over Mike Perry at UFC 255 this past November. The 37-year-old FIT-NHB stalwart is 31-12-1 over the course of a pro career that began in 2004.

Dalby is unbeaten in his last seven professional outings. He is 2-0 with one no contest during …

A pivotal welterweight bout between Michael Chiesa and Vicente Luque is on tap for UFC 265.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Cageside Press. UFC 265 takes place on Aug. 7 at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight title tilt pitting Amanda Nunes against Julianna Pena.

Chiesa is 4-0 since moving to 170 pounds from lightweight in 2018. The 33-year-old Sikjitsu representative kicked off his 2021 campaign with a lopsided five-round verdict over Neil Magny in the UFC on ESPN 20 headliner on Jan. 20. “Maverick” also owns welterweight triumphs against Rafael dos Anjos, Diego Sanchez and Carlos Condit.

Luque has won nine of 10 Octagon appearances dating back to October 2017, with his only defeat during that time coming at the hands of Stephen Thompson. Luque’s current three-bout winning streak features finishes of Niko Price, Randy Brown and Tyron Woodley.

I could fight this Moron if he show to fight like that. pic.twitter.com/xQnS3rcqaN

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) June 14, 2021

Paulo Costa has responded to Marvin Vettori’s challenge.

“The Italian Dream” called out the Brazilian middleweight shortly after his loss to Israel Adesanya in the UFC 263 headliner.

“To be honest, I’d like to really destroy this drunk guy that can’t even stay off drinking,” Vettori said of Costa. “It’s ‘Borrachinha’ … I’d definitely like to smack this guy.”

Costa replied in turn, accepting Vettori’s callout while mockingly posting a photo of Vettori from a Venum photo session.

“I can fight this moron if he shows up like that,” Costa wrote.

Costa has not stepped into the Octagon since September, when he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Adesanya in a title bout at UFC 253. Since then, “Borrachina” has been involved in a public dispute with the promotion regardin…

I will not be fighting the 19th. New fight news on the way.

— tim means (@MeansTim) June 15, 2021

A welterweight clash pitting Tim Means against Danny Roberts has been removed from UFC on ESPN 25.

MMAFighting.com initially confirmed that cancellation following a post from Means on social media. UFC on ESPN 25 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday and is headlined by a featherweight tilt between Chan Sung Jung and Dan Ige.

Means has been victorious in three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Dirty Bird” outpointed Mike Perry at UFC 255 on Nov. 21.

Roberts, meanwhile, halted a two-bout skid with a second-round knockout of Zelim Imadaev in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 163 on Nov. 9.

One of the biggest fights in Bellator MMA history now has a date.

On Thursday night, MMA Fighting reported that the featherweight grand prix final will take place on July 31. At the event expected to be named Bellator 263, Patricio Freire (32-4) will come to blows with A.J. McKee (17-0) with the 145-pound throne, the million-dollar prize and significant pound-for-pound consideration on the line. Sherdog.com has since confirmed the date of the event with a source close to the situation.

Current two-division champ Freire – “Pitbull” is the featherweight and lightweight champ concurrently – will put his title up for grabs at 145 pounds and look to extend his promotional record for the most consecutive defenses in one reign. Since suffering a broken leg against Benson Henderson in 2016, Freire has looked nigh-unbeatable as he racked up wins over the likes of Michael Chandler, Daniel Straus and Emmanuel Sanchez twice. “Pitbull” holds or is in contention for most of the to…

A heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik has been targeted for UFC 266.

MMAFighting.com was first to report that both parties have verbally agreed to the booking. UFC 266 takes place at an as yet to be announced location and features a light heavyweight championship tilt between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira. A location for the event has not been revealed. MMAFighting.com also reported that the date for UFC 266 has been moved from Sept. 4 to Sept. 25.

Blaydes had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a second-round KO defeat to Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 185 on Feb. 20. Prior to that, the man known as “Razor” had earned successive triumphs over Alexander Volkov, Junior dos Santos, Shamil Abdurakhimov and Justin Willis.

Rozenstruik is 2-2 in his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Bigi Boy” defeated Augusto Sakai via technical knockout 4:59 into Round 1 of their headlining bout…

A light heavyweight main event clash between Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker has been moved back one week.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, the Santos vs. Walker will now take place at a UFC card on Oct. 2. The bout was originally slated for Sept. 25, which is now reportedly the date for the UFC 266 pay-per-view card.

Santos will look to end a three-bout losing streak when he squares off against Walker. After fallling to then champion Jon Jones in a competitive split decision at UFC 239, “Marreta” returned from multiple knee surgeries to drop back-to-back fights against Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. The 37-year-old Brazilian was victorious in eight of nine Octagon appearances from February 2017 to February 2019.

Walker, meanwhile, snapped a two-fight skid with a first-round knockout of Ryan Spann at UFC Fight Night 178 in September 2020. The former Brazilian Contender Series competitor began his promotional tenure with three straight first ro…

A bantamweight showdown pitting Marlon Moraes against Merab Dvalishvili has been targeted for UFC 266.

Dvalishvili’s coach, Ray Longo, first brought word of the matchup on the Anik and Florian podcast. UFC 266 takes place on Sept. 25 at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.

A former 135-pound title challenger, Moraes has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the former WSOF champion suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Rob Font at UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19.

Dvalishvili has been on a roll, winning six consecutive UFC outings dating back to September 2018. “The Machine” is coming off a three-round verdict against Cody Stamann at UFC on ESPN 23 on May 1.

https://t.co/u7LZPJGvJ2 pic.twitter.com/HGFx17Aa69

— Anik & Florian Podcast (@AnikFlorianPod) June 15, 2021

What a fight!

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Brad Riddell does enough to score a unanimous decision victory at #UFC263 pic.twitter.com/sNgxQEU1d6 — UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) June 13, 2021

Brad Riddell showcased his mettle at UFC 263.

After nearly being knocked out by Drew Dober in the first round of their lightweight bout, the City Kickboxing representative took control over the final 10 minutes, repeatedly landing a solid right hand while also forcing his opponent to defend against multiple takedown attempts. The end result was a unanimous decision triumph, Riddell’s fourth consecutive victory within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I had to mix up that stand-and-brawl style between the stick and move. I think that’s what won it for me and those random shots and takedowns,” Riddell said. “I think the striking was making him like not too tired. It was the wrestling that made him a little more tired maybe.

“I could feel and hear him …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAldssU886g&w=560&h=315]

If he gets his way, Deiveson Figueiredo will have a third meeting with Brandon Moreno in the near future.

Shortly after his submission loss to Moreno in the UFC 263 co-main event, the former flyweight champion spoke to UFC Brasil.

“I had a terrible time in the weight cut process,” he said. “I was really slow in the fight, but I don’t want to make excuses. Tonight was Moreno´s night. He fought a great fight and deserved the belt. All I want is toreturn home, sit down with my team, correct my mistakes and fight the trilogy with Moreno.”

Figueiredo’s manager, Wallid Ismail, was upset that the translator didn’t pass along Figueiredo’s request for “four months to train to have an immediate rematch with Moreno” during his in-cage interview following the bout. Still, Ismail also gave Moreno his due.

“That´s what fight business is about. Deiveson just didn’t show up Saturday and Moreno had a great fi…