Martial Arts News

Tom Aspinall is drawing from traditional gypsy fighting to prepare for his upcoming title defense.

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Aspinall puts his interim heavyweight title on the line against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 on July 27 in front of a home crowd at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. Aspinall claims to have some gypsy roots, which he is resorting to in preparation for UFC 304.

“Honey Badger” picked up a few tricks shown by Irish traveling bare knuckle boxing legend Big Joe Joyce in the 2011 documentary “Knuckle,” which is about the secretive world of Irish traveling bare knuckle boxing shot over a period of 12 years.

Drawing from that, Aspinall now shadowboxes early in the morning with rings of hay bales wrapped around his hands. Aspinall also dips his knuckles in petrol for twenty minutes as the sun is coming up, which allegedly makes them rock hard.

“Have you ever seen the documentary Knuckle? It’s a documentary about traveling communities in the…

Former UFC flyweight title challenger Jennifer Maia will move up to 135 pounds for a showdown against Mayra Cantuaria at Invicta FC 56 on Aug. 9.

The all-women’s promotion announced the headlining bout on Tuesday. Invicta FC 56 takes place at the Stockyards Event Center in Denver and will also see former strawweight title holder Valesca Machado face Yulia Ostroverkhova in the co-main event. The Invicta FC 56 main card will air on CBS Sports Network at 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. MT, while prelims stream on the Invicta Facebook page and YouTube channel at 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT.

Five other bouts were confirmed for the card: Riley Martinez vs. Kelly Jennifer Ottoni at featherweight; Kate Bacik vs. Paula Cristina dos Santos Silva at flyweight; Flor Hernandez vs. Ana Palacios at atomweight; Ailed Zubieta vs. Giulliany Perea at atomweight and Ali Pellegrini vs. Marissa Ellis at featherweight.

A former Invicta flyweight queen, Maia returns to the organization following a 6…

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While it’s an amibitious endeavor overall, Noche UFC will likely have less fights than the promotion’s typical pay-per-view offerings.

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During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show’ on Monday, UFC CEO Dana White provided additional details regarding the organization’s highly-anticipated event at The Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept. 14. That included the number of fights for the card.

“We’re going to do 10 (fights),” White said. “There will be a main, co-main, and obviously this card will be very Mexican-heavy.”

As it stands, six fights have been reported for UFC 306, but a headliner has not been announced. According to a report from Ariel Helwani, the plan is for a bantamweight title clash between Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili to serve as the main event, while Alexa Grasso will defend her strawweight belt in the co-headliner, potentially against “TUF 32” opposing coach Valentina Shevchenko in a trilogy. However, nothing is of…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship star Nate Diaz is feeling a little light in the wallet following his recent boxing match against Jorge Masvidal.

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According to a report from TMZ Sports, Diaz has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Miami alleging that Fanmio CEO and founder Solomon Engel is unwilling to pay the full $10 million that was agreed upon prior to the July 6 bout. Diaz has claimed that Engel has only paid $1 million of that purse. The Stockton, California, native was expected to receive the remainder of the sum, which he was told was being held in a collection account, from Fanmmio after the fight.

“Diaz and his representatives were skeptical that Fanmio and Engel had the financial resources to fund the payments, but they were assured repeatedly that Fanmio and Engel had the financial resources to pay Diaz and that any payments owed to Diaz for participating in the boxing event would be fully guaranteed,” read a copy of the laws…

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is facing two misdemeanor charges stemming from a confrontation with a drug-testing agent at his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home earlier this year.

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According to online records from Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, Jones has been charged with assault and interference with communications. He is scheduled for a virtual bond hearing at 9:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday, where he will enter a plea and be given conditions for his release. The case will then be set for a bench trial (trial by judge) in 30 to 45 days. Jones could face less than one year in jail as well as a $500 fine for the assault charge and a $1,000 fine for the interference with communications charge. MMAFighting.com was first to report the news.

The case stems from an incident between Jones and agents from Drug Free Sport International (DFSI), the UFC’s new anti-doping partner. According to a police report, the drug-testing agent, who was identi…

Arman Tsarukyan will be on the set of Hype Reality 3 with Khamzat Chimaev, and says he'll ask Khamzat to help him prepare for Islam Makhachev 👀

"To be honest, [Khamzat] is there [on the set] and if there is an opportunity to train with him, it would be good. Since he is tall… pic.twitter.com/gQxWa28vPP

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 14, 2024

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Arman Tsarukyan welcomes an opportunity to train with Khamzat Chimaev to prepare for a potential clash against Islam Makhachev.

Tsarukyan earned his ninth win in 11 promotional outings with a split decision over Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 this past April to earn a title shot against Makhachev. However, Tsarukyan, who dropped a unanimous decision against Makhachev in his UFC debut in 2019, turned down a rematch at UFC 302 last month due to the quick turnaround from his win over Oliveira.

Tsarukyan was also fined $25,000 and issued a nine-month suspension for throwing a p…

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Beneil Dariush believes “energy conservation” is going to be the differentiator in a potential clash between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan.

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Tsarukyan earned a title shot against Makhachev with a split-decision victory in a title eliminator against Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 in April. However, Tsarukyan turned down a title shot for UFC 302 last month, citing the quick turnaround. Makhachev, who was insistent on defending his lightweight title in the summer, went on to submit Dustin Poirier in the fifth round of the UFC 302 main event.

Meanwhile, Tsarukyan was fined $25,000 and suspended for nine months for throwing a punch at a fan during his UFC 300 walkout. However, Tsarukyan’s ban will be reduced to six months if he issues a commission-approved anti-bullying public service announcement, making him eligible to compete by Oct. 12. With Makhachev highly likely to be part of UFC 308 on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi, Tsarukyan is expec…

Curtis Blaydes is the latest to voice his issues with the odd start time for UFC 304.

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Blaydes challenges interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in the co-main event at UFC 304, which goes down on July 27 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. While it marks the promotion’s return to the city after nearly eight years, the card has been scheduled for U.S. primetime. The UFC 304 early prelims kick off at 11 p.m. British Summer Time (BST) and the main card starts at 3 a.m. BST.

Blaydes claims the odd timing of the card makes it feel like a less of a title fight for him. “Razor” notes that it’s unlikely that a superstar like Conor McGregor would be fighting for the title in the wee hours of the morning, regardless of where the card is.

“The money is title fight money, that’s all that matters to me,” Blaydes told media during a scrum at UFC Denver. “Everything else is going to be five rounds. I’ve had multiple five rounders. Biggest diffe…

Charles Johnson claims he had a lot more than five minutes left in him when he turned the switch for a third-round comeback win over Joshua Van at UFC Denver.

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Johnson took on Van in the featured preliminary bout at UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver on Saturday. The visuals weren’t looking good for Johnson early on in fight that was otherwise even on the judges’ scorecards. However, “InnerG” came out with guns blazing in the final round, knocking Van out just twenty seconds into the period to score a come-from-behind win.

While Johnson believes he was never quite out of the fight, he credits his coach for flipping a switch in his mind going into the third frame. When Justin Hardy asked him to go all in for five minutes, the former Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight champ knew he was capable of that and more. Johnson also hailed himself as the best five-round flyweight fighter in the world, though he hasn’t had the chance to show it yet.

“I was never g…

A fight that began with promise quickly turned to disappointment for Abdul Razak Alhassan.

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The 38-year-old Elevation Fight Team product had opponent Cody Brundage reeling as he landed elbows after stuffing a takedown early on during their middleweight contest at UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver on Saturday night. Alhassan was warned by referee Dan Miragliotta for landing elbows to the back of Brundage’s head during the salvo, and the fight was halted when “Judo Thunder” continued to land what the veteran official perceived to be illegal blows.

It was ultimately determined that a dazed Brundage would not be able to continue, and the bout was ruled a no contest. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Alhassan, who might have been on the verge of a stoppage even without the fouls. Alhassan reacted to the ruling on his Instagram Stories.

“Sorry to all my fans, all my people. I wanted this bad. I wanted this win. I wanted this fight so bad,” he said. “I have…

Rose Namajunas is gradually getting more comfortable as a flyweight.

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The former strawweight champion earned her second victory at 125 pounds, as she captured a unanimous decision triumph against Tracy Cortez in the UFC on ESPN 59 headliner at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday night. Namajunas dropped Cortez in the opening stanza and then cruised from there, blending striking and takedowns to keep her short-notice opponent off balance.

“Absolutely I’m happy with it. I’m happy with one, having very little injury, two, being able to win and three, I feel like it was a pretty exciting fight,” Namajunas said at the post-fight press conference. “I wanted a finish, of course. It’s been a while since I have finished somebody. It’s been since what like, 2020, [2021] or something? I felt like I was pretty close at least and dropped her at first. Overall, very happy.”

Cortez, who stepped in for Maycee Barber, was a resilient adversary who had some of her b…

Jean Silva’s stoppage win over Drew Dober at UFC Denver took a toll on Brazilian.

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Silva stepped up on short notice and moved up a weight class to replace Mike Davis in a lightweight bout against Dober at UFC on ESPN 59 in Denveron Saturday. This also marked a two-week turnaround from Silva’s brutal knockout win over Charles Jourdain at UFC 303.

Silva was faster and cleaner on the feet, opening Dober up above the right eye in the opening round, eventually leading to the finish. Silva continued landing more damage and despite an immense display of grit from Dober, his cut kept worsening, forcing referee Herb Dean to call in the cageside doctors in the third round. Dober was deemed unfit to continue and Silva earned a stoppage win in what was also awarded the “Fight of the Night.”

Silva had missed weight by 1.5 pounds for his featherweight win over Jourdain, which made him ineligible for a bonus. However, the Brazilian has no plans of permanently …