Martial Arts News

UFC on ESPN 24 has taken another hit, as Diego Sanchez is out of a proposed welterweight clash with Donald Cerrone.

A reason for Sanchez’s withdraw is currently unknown. Carlos Contreras Legaspi first brought word of Sanchez’s exit on Twitter. It’s the second significant loss for the card in the span of a couple days: A cut in training forced T.J. Dillashaw to pull out of the main event against Cory Sandhagen. That bout will be rescheduled, and a women’s strawweight clash pitting Michelle Waterson against Marina Rodriguez has been targeted as the new headliner.

Sanchez and Cerrone previously trained at Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, and tensions flared between the two when Sanchez took coach Mike Winkeljohn’s side when “Cowboy” left the gym prior to a bout against Mike Perry. Sanchez is no longer at Jackson-Wink, either.

According to multiple reports, a replacement opponent for Cerrone is being sought.

UFC on ESPN 24 takes place on May 8 at the UFC Apex…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-CGx_3k_Zk&w=560&h=315]

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The stage has been set for Rory MacDonald’s long-awaited Professional Fighters League debut.

The former Bellator welterweight champion tipped the scales at 170.6 pounds for his headlining matchup with Curtis Millender at PFL 2. Millender, who is also making his promotional debut, checked in at 171 pounds.

The PFL’s second regular season event takes place at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., on Thursday and will feature welterweights and light heavyweights. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.

Not everything went as smooth during weigh-ins on Wednesday. Vinny Magalhaes was ruled medically unable to compete, and as a result, Askar Mozharov…

Yair Rodriguez has been out of action since October 2019, but the featherweight contender has targeted some big fights for the second half of 2021.

Since besting Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 6, Rodriguez has been forced to pull out of a proposed August 2020 booking against Zabit Magomedsharipov due to an ankle injury and was then suspended by USADA for a whereabouts violation that sidelined him until March.

The Mexican star told ESPN that he tried to find a silver lining in the extended layoff.

"I've been in contact sports since I was 5 years old," Rodriguez said. "I think at some point, my body was going to go through something like this, injury or something. I've never went through an injury like that before. I think it's been good for me to let my body heal and my mind heal.”

Rodriguez, who is currently training with Donald Cerrone at the BMF Ranch in New Mexico, believes that oft-targeted showdown with Magomedsharipov is inevitable.…

Two more bouts have been added to the UFC Fight Night card on July 24, as Mickey Gall will face Jordan Williams at welterweight, while Adrian Yanez will take on Randy Costa at bantamweight.

MMAFighting.com initially brought word of Gall vs. Williams, while MMAjunkie.com was first to report Yanez vs. Costa. UFC Fight Night doesn’t have an announced location or headliner as of yet.

The 29-year-old Gall has compiled a 6-3 career mark with all but one of his bouts coming under the UFC banner. Most recently, the Miller Brothers MMA member fell to Mike Perry via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 12.

After splitting a pair of appearances on Dana White’s Contender Series, Williams made his promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 16, where he lost a decision against Nassourdine Imavov on Oct. 3. The former Bellator MMA competitor is 9-4 with one no contest as a professional overall.

Yanez earned a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series last August, and since then, he ha…

@FrancisNgannou gets a hero's reception on his return to Cameroon!

The new heavyweight champion put the belt on his mother and toured the streets of Douala!

( @ckomentmagazine & @DidierLefa) pic.twitter.com/Esak79mSE6 — UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) April 28, 2021

Francis Ngannou recently returned to Cameroon for the first time since winning the UFC heavyweight championship, and he was greeted with a hero’s welcome.

“The Predator” arrived in his home country to a rowdy reception as he put the belt on his mother and then drove through the streets of Douala for a championship parade as thousands celebrated his victory.

Ngannou claimed heavyweight gold with a second-round knockout of Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 on March 27. The 34-year-old was in talks to face former 205-pound king Jon Jones for his first title defense, but those negotiations have stalled. Now, a rematch with Derrick Lewis appears to have been targeted for a futur…

There's the tap!

Rodolfo Vieira getting it done in ONE. #UFC248 pic.twitter.com/o2hqnTdRo6

— UFC (@ufc) March 8, 2020 Rodolfo Vieira will attempt to rebound from his first career defeat when he faces Dustin Stoltzfus at a UFC event on July 17.

was first to report the middleweight bout. The card does not have a location or venue and features a showdown between former bantamweight queen Miesha Tate and Marion Reneau.

Vieira kicked off his promotional tenure with submissions of Oskar Piechota and Saparbek Safarov but ran into trouble in his last outing, when he gassed and was tapped out by Anthony Hernandez at UFC 258. The four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion is 7-1 as a pro, with all of his victories coming inside the distance.

Stoltzfus made his Octagon debut at UFC 255, where he dropped a unanimous decision against Kyle Daukaus. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum had a 10-bout winning streak snapped in that defeat.

Darrion Caldwell and Leandro Higo will lock horns for a second time at Bellator 259 on May 21.

Higo confirmed the bantamweight pairing on social media following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. Bellator 259 takes place at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and is headlined by a featherweight championship bout pitting Cristiane Justino against Leslie Smith. The card will air on Showtime.

Caldwell and Higo initially met in a bantamweight title clash at Bellator 195, where Caldwell defended his crown with a first-round submission in March 2018. More recently, Caldwell competed in the Bellator featherweight grand prix, where he bested Henry Corrales and Adam Borics before falling to A.J. McKee in the semifinals.

A former Legacy Fighting Alliance title holder, Higo is coming off back-to-back submissions of Shawn Bunch and Ricky Bandejas under the Bellator banner. He is 3-3 overall within the California-based promotion.

Originally booked against Alexey Kunchenko for his Professional Fighters League debut, Gleison Tibau will now face countryman Joao Zeferino on Thursday at the promotion’s second regular season event at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.

Zeferino was supposed to face Magomed Magomedkerivmov at PFL 2, but his opponent withdrew from the card as well.

“My opponent had visa problems, while Zeferino’s had issues with medical exams, so the organization decided to put me against João,” Tibau told Sherdog.com.

According to Tibau, he and Zeferino were using the same backstage area of the venue for their sparring when the organization announced the new matchup on Sunday.

“Of course we would rather fight Russians, but we are professionals. That´s our job,” said the 37-year-old Tibau.

Tibau will make his PFL debut at welterweight after competing for years at 155 pounds.

“I´m feeling much better in that division. God knows how hard it was for me to r…

T.J. Dillashaw’s long-awaited Octagon will have to wait, as a cut suffered in training has forced him to withdraw from a UFC on ESPN 24 headlining bout against Cory Sandhagen.

Dillashaw confirmed his exit on social media following an intial report on Twitter from C. Contreras Legaspi. Dillashaw vs. Sandhagen is expected to be booked at a later date.

“I’m sad to say that I have to be pulled from my fight on May 8 due to a cut received from a headbutt while drilling,” Dillashaw wrote. “Rescheduling the fight as soon as possible.”

According to a report from ESPN, the promotion is targeting a strawweight clash between Michelle Waterson and Marina Rodriguez for the new UFC on ESPN 24 headliner. That booking has not been finalized, however.

Dillashaw has been sidelined since January 2019 after serving a two-year USADA suspension for a positive EPO test. The former bantamweight champion last appeared at UFC Fight Night 143, where his bid to capture flyweight g…

Regardless of what the future holds for his combat sports career, Conor McGregor is doing quite well financially.

McGregor and his partners, agent Audie Attar and Ken Austin, recently sold their majority share in Proper No. Twelve whiskey to Proximo Spirits for $600 million. Proximo Spirits, which owns Jose Cuervo and other alcohol brands, previously owned a 49 percent stake in the company. Shanken News Daily first reported the sale.

All three founders — McGregor, Attar and Austin — will still have an interest in the brand and will maintain active roles within the company. The reported $600 million figure includes $250 million already earned during Proper No. Twelve’s first two years in business with Proximo. Last year, Proximo increased its stake from 20 percent to the aforementioned 49 percent. The company’s new stake in the brand was not revealed. Proper No. Twelve was founded in 2018 and has since been heavily promoted by McGregor.

“Since introducing this b…

Rachael Ostovich is the latest former UFC talent to sign with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

The promotion announced the signing on Tuesday. According to a release, Ostovich is expected to make her BKFC debut in July. MMAFighting.com is reporting that Paige VanZant has been targeted as her opponent.

"We always are looking to sign fighters that can move the needle and fight, and that is exactly what Rachael brings to the table,” BKFC president Dave Feldman said. “I am looking forward to her debut in July. I know she is training hard and working on her boxing every day and we expect very big things from Rachael.”

Ostovich, 30, went 3-2 with Invicta FC before appearing on Season 26 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” She defeated Karine Gevorgyan in her Octagon debut at the “TUF 26” finale before dropping her next three promotional appearances — including a submission loss to VanZant in January 2019. Ostovich parted ways with the UFC after a knockout loss to Gina Ma…

HE ONLY NEEDED ONE ARM @TouchNgo_

Stream #UFC261 on ESPN+ https://t.co/11j8ptNbRf pic.twitter.com/azQV4WvYwo

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 25, 2021 The preliminary card for UFC 261 attracted an average audience of 951,000 to ESPN this past Saturday, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

That ranks as the third-best figure for a pay-per-view preliminary card in 2021 behind UFC 259 (1.208 million) and UFC 257 (1.433 million). The UFC 261 prelims were also No. 1 on cable in the 18-to-49 demographic with a 0.36 share.

The four-bout card aired on ESPN from 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET and served as a lead-in for the UFC 261 pay-per-view, which was highlighted by a trio of title fights at the top of the card – including a rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. The evening’s featured prelim saw Randy Brown submit Alex Oliveira with a rear-naked choke 2:50 into the opening round of their welterweight clash.

Meanwhile, the early prelims drew…