Martial Arts News

"The Strabanimal" won't be competing on the upcoming Bellator 258 card after all.

On Friday afternoon, news broke that James Gallagher has been forced to pull out of his scheduled 135-pound clash against Patrick Mix at Bellator 258. MMA Junkie reported first the news that several media outlets then confirmed. The promotion is looking for a short-notice replacement to keep Mix on the card. In the meantime, the Patricky Freire-Peter Queally lightweight clash has been promoted to the main card.

Gallagher (11-1, 8-1 Bellator) is riding a four-bout winning streak after losing to Ricky Bandejas at Bellator 204 in August 2018. In his latest cage appearance, the 24-year-old SBG Ireland representative submitted Callum Ellenor via rear-naked choke in the opening frame of their Bellator Milan encounter.

Mix (13-1, 2-1 Bellator) fell short of capturing the vacant divisional championship when he met Juan Archuleta at Bellator 246 last September. That night, "Patchy" also s…

The Lioness will make her return to the bantamweight division in August. Per Dana White (@danawhite), Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) will defend her 135-pound title against Julianna Peña (@VenezuelanVixen) at UFC 265. pic.twitter.com/tWLmW2Exmt

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 15, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Callouts will get you far in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the COVID-19 era. Per ESPN on Thursday, Amanda Nunes (21-4) has her next title defense lined up, for her first appearance at 135 pounds since 2019. At bantamweight, she will defend her strap against Julianna Pena (10-4) at UFC 265 on Aug. 7. Pena called out Nunes after Pena’s previously scheduled match with Holly Holm fell through. On a one-fight win streak, Pena will get a crack at gold.

Nunes has looked nothing short of unbeatable on her current, hi…

The Reaper returns!

@RobWhittakerMMA checks in for #UFCVegas24. pic.twitter.com/iVWvCvRk0W

— UFC (@ufc) April 16, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. A middleweight clash with potential title implications is set after the UFC on ESPN 22 weigh-ins took place, but the story coming out of it was Zarah Fairn dos Santos' enormous weight miss.

Saturday’s card is headlined by former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight king Robert Whittaker taking on former top contender Kelvin Gastelum. Both main event fighters had zero issues making weight, although the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the card. Fairn dos Santos didn't even make featherweight for her 139-pound catchweight bout against Josiane Nunes as she came in at 147 pounds, and the bout has been canceled as a result. Tracy Cortez also had weight management iss…

Now that the #LFA104 weigh-in is in the books, which fight are you looking forward to the most?

: https://t.co/LyjI7ilKV8

: https://t.co/uAP3l6qfL2@ShellsDotCom@TheDiceTeam@GLCDirect2000@TeamSmartStop@SheathUnderwear@GrandCasinoOKC@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/Pcp8SmMrpN — LFA (@LFAfighting) April 16, 2021 All fighters successfully made their contracted weights for Friday night's LFA 104 event.

The Legacy Fighting Alliance's latest event will see lightweights Aaron McKenzie and Brandon Phillips atop the card. Both fighters will look to earn a crack at promotional gold or a call from the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a win. In a rarity for the promotion, all 18 fighters on the card made weight without issue.

A familiar face to LFA fans, McKenzie (9-2-1) is undefeated within the promotion. After choking out Glaucio Eliziario in his LFA debut, McKenzie won a decision over Joe Giannetti his next time out. The 32-year-old offic…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bceYCE8Prpc&w=640&h=360] The Bellator MMA light heavyweight championship is on the line in the main event of Bellator 257, the promotion's third event on Showtime in as many weeks.

The title fight is now official as both champion and challenger made weight. This is the first title defense for Vadim Nemkov, who is facing a familiar foe in Phil Davis. The main event is also a light heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal alongside the co-main event of Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov. Unfortunately, not every fighter was able to hit their contracted weights as Jay-Jay Wilson came in heavy.

In his lone fight of 2020, Nemkov (12-2) knocked out Ryan Bader with a devastating head kick. Prior to claiming the belt, the Russian had won six straight fights including a split decision win over Davis. Nemkov officially weighed 204.5 pounds.

Davis is looking to get revenge against Nemkov and become Bellator light heavyweight champion…

Christian Lee RETAINS THE ONE LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD TITLE #ONEonTNT2 pic.twitter.com/loVCcGnun0

— Bleacher Report MMA (@BR_MMA) April 15, 2021

Stock in Christian Lee continues to surge under the One Championship flag.

Lee retained his undisputed lightweight crown in scintillating fashion, as he put away Timofey Nastyukhin with punches a little more than a minute into their One on TNT 2 headliner on Wednesday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Unable to build on back-to-back wins over Eddie Alvarez and Pieter Buist, Nastyukhin (14-5, 7-4 One) crashed and burned 1:13 into Round 1.

After failing to secure a takedown, Lee (15-3, 15-3 One) clipped the Russian with a left hook, pushed him to the canvas and unloaded with a barrage of punches. Nastyukhin failed to intelligently defend himself from the assault, prompting referee Mohamad Sulaiman to intervene.

The 22-year-old Lee has won six fights in a row, four of them inside …

Sherdog's live One on TNT 2 coverage will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result

Eddie Alvarez could move on from a disappointing disqualification loss under the One Championship banner to a potentially lucrative bout against a boxing legend.

During a recent interview with ESPN, Alvarez revealed that he has been in talks to face Oscar De La Hoya in a boxing match this summer. De La Hoya recently confirmed that he will come out of a 13-year retirement to compete on a Triller Fight Club card on July 3.

“Recently we’ve been hearing from Oscar De La Hoya’s guys,” Alvarez said. “Look, I’m fixated on the ONE Championship belt. I’m laser, laser focused on making history and getting my world title, but I feel like there’s gonna be a lull. The champion is gonna sit for a bit—I think he’s having a baby. If that happens, Oscar De La Hoya and them guys have been reaching out and, hell, I’d love to get in there and mix it up with him. That’d be a hell of a fight and I’ve got everyone here in Philadelphia backing me, and the whole Philadelphia boxing [communit…

When Dustin Poirier publicly shamed Conor McGregor for not following through on his promised $500,000 donation to his charity, The Good Fight Foundation, it sparked some bitter back-and-forth between the two lightweight stars.

It escalated so much that McGregor claimed to be seeking a new opponent for his next Octagon appearance. However, it appears the trilogy bout will move forward, as Dana White officially announced that UFC 264 will take place in front of a capacity crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by Poirier and McGregor.

Shortly after that announcement, Poirier released a statement in which he expressed regret for calling out McGregor over the donation, which the Irish star promised to make after their bout at UFC 257 in January.

“I am very passionate about my charity as you all know,” Poirier wrote on Twitter. “I jumped the gun and took my private matters between Conor and my foundation public. My mistake, we live, we learn.…

Credit: Pro Fight League Credit: Pro Fight League Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Two-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion boxer Claressa Shields has an opponent for her first mixed martial arts bout.

Professional Fighters League announced Wednesday that Shields will meet Brittney Elkin at a regular season event on June 10 in Atlantic City, N.J. Shields will compete in one-off bouts during the 2021 campaign before participating in the PFL season format in earnest in 2022. Shields is expected to continue her boxing career while she competes in MMA. She has been training at Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, N.M., of late alongside the likes of Holly Holm and Jon Jones.

“I am very excited to cement my legacy as the ‘Greatest Woman of All Time,’” said Shields. “I cannot wait to step into the PFL cage for the first time on June 10 and show the world that I never back down from a challenge. I have shown I am the best boxer in the worl…

Jan Blachowicz will make his second light heavyweight championship defense against Glover Teixeira at UFC 266 on Sept. 4.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout to broadcast partner ESPN on Wednesday. A location and venue for event has not been revealed. It's also unclear if Blachowicz vs. Teixeira will headline the card.

Blachowicz defended the crown for the first time with a five-round verdict over reigning 185-pound king Israel Adesanya at UFC 259. The 38-year-old WCA Fight Team representative claimed the vacant light heavyweight strap with a second-round technical knockout of Dominick Reyes at UFC 253 in September 2020. Blachowicz has won nine of his last 10 Octagon appearances dating back to October 2017.

This will be Teixeira’s second bid for light heavyweight gold after losing a five-round verdict to then champ Jon Jones at UFC 172 in April 2014. The 41-year-old Brazilian has been resurgent of late, compiling a five-bout winning streak dating back t…

TrillerNet Acquires Premier Live Event and PPV, SVOD, AVOD, and Streaming Platform FITE, Taking Major Next Step in Building Global Content Ecosystem.

Will Use FITE's Platform to Expand Triller Fight Club and Develop Premium Four-Quadrant Entertainment and Lifestyle Content pic.twitter.com/FRoPrcQk3t

— FITE (@FiteTV) April 14, 2021 TrillerNet, the parent company of social app Triller, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired combat-sports and entertainment streaming platform Fite.TV.

The news comes in advance of Saturday’s boxing match between former Bellator champion Ben Askren and social media star Jake Paul, which is available on Fite for $49.99. The pay-per-view draw begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and also includes a boxing bout pitting ex-UFC heavyweight king Frank Mir against Steve Cunningham.

The fight card is promoted by Triller Fight Club. According to a release, the acquisition ” gives Triller a major foothold in the live-e…