Martial Arts News

There’s no quit in Tony Ferguson.

“El Cucuy” suffered his third consecutive lopsided defeat at UFC 262, falling to Beneil Dariush via unanimous decision at the Toyota Center in Houston this past Saturday. Ferguson spent much of the fight being outgrappled by his opponent, including a moment in the second round where he was trapped in a tight heel hook. The former interim champion didn’t tap, but he appeared to be in visible pain before eventually escaping.

Though Ferguson didn’t provide an update on his health, he did seem resolute in his intention to continue fighting despite his recent struggles.

“Retire & Give These MF’s A Break!? No, I Don’t Think So. Not On My Watch... Now I’m Pissed,” Ferguson wrote in a statement on his Instagram account.

The loss to Dariush comes on the heels of lopsided defeats against Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje over the course of the past year. After Saturday’s fight, UFC president Dana White speculated that time mig…

The return of @SalahdineP!!! #KSW61 - June 5th - KSWTV https://t.co/Hh2J3S6Xf7

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) May 12, 2021

Salahdine Parnasse will square off against Filip Pejic in the KSW 61 co-main event on June 5.

The Polish promotion recently announced the featherweight pairing. KSW 61 takes place at the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, and marks the organization’s first event with fans in attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold worldwide. The card is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Mariusz Pudzianowski and Lukasz Jurkowsi and is available via KSWTV.com.

Parnasse is coming off the first loss of his professional career, when he relinquished the featherweight crown to Daniel Torres in a first-round knockout defeat at KSW 58. Prior to that, the 23-year-old Frenchman had been victorious in his first five promotional appearances.

Pejic, meanwhile, snapped a two-fight losing streak in his last outing, as he scored an 11-second knocko…

Jon Jones is in no rush to return to the Octagon.

Negotiations with the UFC for a heavyweight title fight seem to have stalled at the moment, and that’s just fine with the former 205-pound champion, who is enjoying his time away from the sport.

“I’m not really sure when I’ll be fighting next, but some downtime after a decade of wins is a nice little change up right now,” Jones wrote on Twitter Monday.

I’m really not sure when I’ll be fighting next, but some downtime after a decade of wins is a nice little change up right now. https://t.co/fi8XSLLidD

— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 17, 2021

The message carries added significance after UFC president Dana White addressed media on Saturday night and touched on the possibility that “Bones” might not compete again. White has been critical of Jones’ desire to get paid more for a move to heavyweight, and has moved on to targeting a rematch between reigning champ Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis i…

There was a party in Sao Paulo to celebrate the return of newly-crowned UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.

“Do Bronx” brought the belt back to his hometown of Guaruja, Sao Paolo on Monday, and he shared the moment with people throughout the area during a raucous fire truck parade throughout the city. Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, captured the joyous occasion in a video on his Instagram account.

How cool is this?!

@wilisgraffitioficial @chris.arts013 @leilagraffiti pic.twitter.com/dT2xyXWG3q

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 17, 2021

In addition to the hero’s welcome, Oliveira also had a mural of his likeness dedicated to him by artist Wilis Cavalcante. Cavalcante told MMAFighting.com that he began the 1,070-square foot mural on Friday and spent approximately 24 hours painting until its completion on Sunday. The artist did his work without knowing the result of the fight.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0QZN1egW…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEs_8LSAWpM&w=560&h=315]

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is already in the process of moving into full-capacity venues, but it might not be back to anything resembling a completely normal schedule until next year.

UFC 262 at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday marked the promotion’s second event in front of fans since the COVID-19 pandemic altered protocol in March 2020. While the organization has pay-per-view events slated for Phoenix in June and Las Vegas in July that are likely to have little or no capacity restrictions, don’t expect to see the UFC’s smaller events following suit anytime soon.

“We’re not even looking at Fight Nights [for fans],” UFC president Dana White said on Saturday. “We didn’t even have gates in our budget until October and November. Right now, to start trying to find places for Fight Nights, it just makes no sense.

“We’ll stay at the cozy [UFC] Apex and do our thing for the rest of the yea…

Edson Barboza and Shane Burgos were involved in one of the most memorable bouts of the evening at UFC 262 on Saturday.

After a back-and-forth standup battle, Burgos was stunned by a Barboza right hand in Round 3, which resulted in a delayed reaction from the Team Tiger Schulmann representative. Burgos kept his footing momentarily but eventually tumbled to the canvas, and Barboza finished off the contest with a couple follow-up strikes 1:16 into the period.

“It was kind of crazy,” Barboza said of the finish. “I honestly didn’t really understand what happened at the time. After the fight was over, I was still moving forward and saw that he was dropping. I saw he couldn’t defend himself, but I didn’t understand what happened. I asked my coaches what had dropped him, because I didn’t see it. I want to rewatch the fight and see what exactly happened.”

Burgos, who appeared to be gaining momentum in the second frame before the stoppage in Round 3, released a statement…

Beneil Dariush was surprised as anyone that Tony Ferguson didn’t succumb to the heel hook he applied in the second round of their co-headlining about at UFC 262.

“How do you not tap to that heel hook? His knee popped, and it popped loud,” Dariush said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I saw his face change for a second, and then he went back to normal, and he started kicking me in the body. That upkick he hit me with? That was pretty good.”

While Ferguson did grimace briefly, he continued to fight until the final horn of the third round. His movement did appear to be compromised in the final five minutes, which hindered his ability to produce any type of rally after falling behind on the scorecards.

“I hope nothing happened to his knee because that’s where your ACL goes,” Dariush said. “When you go for a heel hook, and it pops like that, your ACL can be gone. I know he’s a super human, and we’ve heard it over and over again, but I don’t want that on a…

If Dana White truly is “Lookin’ for a Fight,” he surely found some on Sunday at Fury FC 46. The Ultimate Fighting Championship head man and his partners in scouting, Din Thomas and Matt Serra, witnessed a card topped by three Fury Fighting Championship title fights and stacked with UFC and Dana White's Contender Series veterans getting a second look, as well as a hearty helping of rising local prospects.

In the main event, Nikolay Veretennikov (9-3) needed less than a round to put away Anthony Ivy and capture the Fury welterweight title. Veretennikov, a Kazakhstani by birth but longtime Texas resident, fought off Ivy’s attempts to bring the fight to the floor and punished him with knees in the clinch. The beginning of the end came when Veretennikov shucked off a double-leg attempt, then landed a knee to the ribs that doubled “Aquaman” over. Sensing his foe was hurt, Veretennikov followed Ivy to the ground, but landed only a punch or two before referee Jacob Montalvo…

It doesn’t appear that the UFC is going to give in to Jon Jones demands for a higher payday to accompany his move to heavyweight.

Recently, UFC president Dana White proposed a matchup between Jones and ex-champ Stipe Miocic while Francis Ngannou defends his crown in a rematch against Derrick Lewis later this summer. Jones balked at that option in a series of tweets he later deleted.

At Saturday’s UFC 262 post-fight press conference, White claimed that Jones’ Octagon return is based primarily on the Jackson-Wink MMA representative’s desire to compete. If Jones doesn’t agree to the UFC’s terms, White made it sound like he’s at peace with the former light heavyweight champ never returning to the Octagon.

“Listen, that’s up to Jon Jones, whether he wants to fight or not,”White said. “There’s fights available. They’re here. I’m gonna keep making fights every weekend, doing fights.

“If Jon Jones wants to fight, he can. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t have to. Nobody’s gonna …

WOW @andremunizufc is able to earn a submission against Jacare at #UFC262 pic.twitter.com/45NMJCn4TF

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 16, 2021

Ronaldo Souza will underdo surgery after having his arm broken in a submission loss to Andre Muniz at UFC 262 on Saturday night.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, “Jacare” suffered a fractured right humerus in the middleweight bout due to a Muniz armbar. That bout ended at the 3:59 mark of Round 1, as the decorated grappler’s upper arm audibly snapped.

Souza’s doctor, Rickson Moraes, described it as an “urgent procedure” while adding: “But in general he’s fine, despite the fracture.”

Souza will have surgery on Monday in the United States, per an ESPN report. The former Strikeforce champion is in good spirits after the injury.

“The UFC is giving me all the support,” he told ESPN. “When the world stopped, the UFC was moving and taking care of all the athletes.”

Souza has lost fo…

It feels as though Charles Oliveira has been around forever in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

He debuted with the Las Vegas-based organization in 2010 and experienced an up-and-down tenure as a featherweight in which he flashed dynamic finishing ability but did not appear to be a serious contender. The narrative began to shift following his transition to 155 pounds in 2017, and that culminated in a title-clinching victory over Michael Chandler in the UFC 262 headliner at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night.

It only took 28 Octagon appearances, a nine-bout winning streak and one of the sport’s best ever to vacate the lightweight throne for Oliveira to finally reach the summit.

“When I got into the UFC, a lot of people said I was crazy and I said I wanted to be the best in the world and I wanted to break records,” Oliveira said. “Now I’m the biggest finisher, I’m the second in post-fight bonuses, I’m making history today becoming the lightweight c…

At UFC 262, Tony Ferguson looked to be far removed from the 12-bout winning streak he authored from 2013 to 2019.

“El Cucuy” was outgrappled and largely dominated over the course of three rounds in Saturday’s co-main event at the Toyota Center in Houston, as Beneil Dariush rolled to a unanimous decision triumph in their lightweight bout. That makes three straight defeats for “The Ultimate Fighter 13” winner, who also has fallen to Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira in lopsided fashion over the course of the past year.

Ferguson took a tremendous amount of damage in the interim lightweight title against Gaethje at UFC 249 in May 2020 and he hasn’t been the same since. The Team Death Clutch representative is also 37 years old, which is an time when many high-level athletes begin to experience a decline. According to UFC president Dana White, both factors could have contributed to Ferguson’s recent woes.

“It could be (the Gaethje fight), it could be, just, time ge…