Martial Arts News

Jorge Masvidal wants to settle his old beef with Leon Edwards inside the Octagon.

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Masvidal and Edwards’ feud dates back to a Ultimate Fighting Championship card in London in 2019. They met backstage after Masvidal knocked out Darren Till and Edwards roped in a split-decision win over Gunnar Nelson. Masvidal was conducting a post-fight interview with ESPN before leaving the set to confront Edwards. The two proceeded to trade blows backstage, and “Gamebred” landed a three-punch combo, which he iconically named “three piece and a soda.”

While this was the perfect setup for a matchup between the two, it never quite came to fruition. According to Masvidal, he had accepted an outing against “Rocky” but the Englishman turned it down.

“I know he wouldn’t fight me. He got offered and turned it down,” Masvidal recently told MMAFighting.com. “He don’t want this. I tried [to fight him]. Leon Edwards don’t want this. He had other options, he went for othe…

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Alex Pereira has a knack for turning former foes into friends.

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Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Pereira recently uploaded footage of his first week of training in Utah, where former kickboxing foe Yousri Belgaroui was in his camp. Belgaroui defeated Pereira via unanimous decision in their first Glory kickboxing matchup, while the Brazilian exacted revenge via knockout the next two times they fought.

However, Belgaroui isn’t the only former foe joining Pereira’s camp leading up to UFC 307. The champ revealed that Sean Strickland, whom he knocked out in 2022, will also be joining him next week. Strickland has openly acknowledged Pereira’s power multiple times since the loss and has also seemingly developed a camaraderie with “Poatan.” Strickland will be joining Pereira’s team, which includes the likes of his sis…

Just caught up with @TheNotoriousMMA here at Wembley for @DAZNBoxing.

We talked about whether he'll fight this year, Chandler taking another fight, and his pending free agency. pic.twitter.com/3Di04yS5X4

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 21, 2024 Conor McGregor is uncertain of his future once he exhausts his current Ultimate Fighting Championship contract.

Arguably the greatest star in the history of the sport, McGregor has now been sidelined for over three years since breaking his leg in a loss against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. McGregor starred opposite Michael Chandler as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 31” last year, with a clash between them scheduled for UFC 303 this past July. However, “Notorious” was forced out due to a broken pinky toe. After waiting for McGregor for almost two years, Chandler has now accepted a clash against Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 on Nov. 16, casting further doubt on the Irishman’s return time…

Umar Nurmagomedov is eager to stay active instead of waiting for a title shot against Merab Dvalishvili.

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Dvalishvili recently won the bantamweight title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Sean O’Malley in the main event at UFC 306 on Sept. 14. Joe Rogan asked Dvalishvili about potentially defending his strap against Nurmagomedov immediately afterwards as the camera focused on the Dagestani, who was attending the event.

While the UFC appears keen on setting up a clash between Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov, the newly-crowned champ has been critical of the undefeated contender for a while now. Dvalishvili has accused Nurmagomedov of being promoted by the UFC due to his relation to his cousin, Khabib Nurmagomedov. “The Machine” also stalled Rogan when asked about a potential Dvalishvili matchup and later went on to call out former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo.

While Dvalishvili’s camp is rallying hard for the champ to call his own …

Jean Silva is rallying for a wild-card entry into the UFC featherweight title picture.

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Silva has called for a clash against undefeated contender Movsar Evloev, who is in search of an opponent after Aljamain Sterling withdrew from their scheduled bout at UFC 307.“Funkmaster” pulled out of the contest last week due to an injury suffered in sparring.

Silva has now called out Evloev, although he won’t be able to replace Sterling at UFC 307. The Brazilian would instead like to fight Evloev at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

"Evloev, I know your fight is off and I will accept to fight you but I cannot fight on [Oct. 5] as the UFC staff and my doctor Daniel didn't allow me to fight, but on [Nov. 16], if you agree on the Jon Jones card, I guarantee you will have a war. Let’s go,” Silva said on Instagram.

Evloev is 8-0 in UFC competition, going the distance in all of his victories. Meanwhile, Silva has finished his firs…

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While Max Holloway is the UFC’s BMF champ, he is strongly against unnecessary violence outside of the Octagon.

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Holloway recently spoke out against gun violence, which has recently been rampant in his home state of Hawaii. When asked about a shooting in West Oahu, the former featherweight champ urged Hawaiians to put down the guns and find other ways to solve their issues.

Holloway noted that settling beefs with fist fights is better than using guns. “Blessed” also suggests people to go to the gym or play shooting games instead of taking up real guns.

“It sucks, man. Put the guns down, boys. Put ‘em down,” Holloway told Hawaiian outlet KHON2. “If you guys got a problem, do it the old-school way. Go to the boxing gym, put on some gloves and punch each other and then shake hands and be on with it. I remember when we was growing up, street fights, I wouldn’t say do it, but shooting someone is something different. At the end of …

Belal Muhammad is getting some well-deserved recognition.

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Muhammad’s hometown of Chicago recently honored him by officially declaring Sept. 20, 2024 “Belal Muhammad Day.” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made the announcement in a ceremony at the Harold Washington Library Center on Friday.

😳👏September 20th is now “Belal Muhammad’s day” in his hometown Chicago.

Via. IG @bullyb170 ▫️ pic.twitter.com/tuR06VJ4ef — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) September 20, 2024

Johnson also wrote on his Instagram Stories about the Bogan High School and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate.

"Proud to congratulate UFC Champion [Belal Muhammad]! First Palestinian-American (and Chicago Public Schools grad) from the South Side of Chicago to win the title,” Johnson wrote.

“Remember the Name” also uploaded an Instagram post regarding the honor, reminding everyone to now “remember the date.”

The honor comes after M…

Raul Rosas Jr. recently elaborated on his UFC 306 bonus request, which faced widespread criticism.

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Rosas took on veteran Qileng Aori in the first preliminary fight at UFC 306 on Sept 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The 19-year-old went on to earn a unanimous decision over Aori in what was seen as a lukewarm affair.

However, fans were surprised to see Rosas ask for a bonus for his performance in his post-fight Octagon interview. “El Nino Problema” has since explained his bizarre call for a bonus at UFC 306. To begin with, Rosas admits that he called for a bonus in heat of the moment out of habit, having earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses for all three of his previous UFC wins.

While Rosas admits that he didn’t deserve a bonus for his win over “Mongolian Murderer,” the Mexican prospect had some reasoning to justify getting one. Rosas takes the credit for attracting fans early on in the card.

“It was just the heat of the moment,” Ro…

إصابة ولا أقوى لعبدالله القحطاني 😳

بث مباشر الآن على قناة إم بي سي أكشن ومنصة شاهد!#نصنع_التاريخ #السعودية pic.twitter.com/1eY6TMgYI2

— PFL MENA (@PFLMENA) September 20, 2024 When it comes to MMA, nothing is ever guaranteed.

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Bantamweights, featherweights, lightweights and welterweights were on display on Friday, along with a few showcase matchups with one featuring a rising amateur prospect. The Professional Fighters League completed its four-division playoffs of its Middle East, North Africa (MENA) series, setting the four finals bouts that had their fair share of intrigue. Both victors in the main and co-headlining spots crashed the party at PFL MENA 3 with upset wins.

The main attraction of the 10-fight show came at 145 pounds, as the favored Abdullah Al-Qahtani (9-2, 4-1 PFL) suffered his first defeat under the PFL banner in arguably the biggest fight of his career. “The Reaper” had the crowd on his side, and the…

حدث الميزان لوزن الفيثرويت لنزالات مرحلة نصف النهائي لبطولة #PFLMENA

عبدالله القحطاني: 145.4 رطلاًعبدالرحمن الحياصات: 145.9 رطلاً

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20 سبتمبر | 📍 بوليفارد سيتي، الرياض | التذاكر متوفرة عبر https://t.co/F2H6Q4rdSt 🔗 | بث مباشر على قنوات SSC وإم بي سي أكشن ومنصة شاهد!… pic.twitter.com/GhcIwPQWHP — PFL MENA (@PFLMENA) September 19, 2024 The Professional Fighters League's Middle East and North Africa series continues this week as the playoff fights are now official.

The PFL MENA 3 main event is a featherweight semifinal match between Abdullah Al-Qahtani and Abdalrahman Alhyasat. It is one of eight playoff fights in the featherweight, welterweight, lightweight and bantamweight divisions. All fighters on the card successfully made weight.

Al-Qahtani (9-1) will look to provide the first loss on the record of Alhyasat (4-0). "The Reaper" is riding a four-fight win streak and previously finished Yazeed Hasanain via TKO. …

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Aljamain Sterling has been forced to pull out of a proposed featherweight booking against Movsar Evloev at UFC 307.

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The ex-bantamweight champion announced the news via YouTube on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, I have to break the news I will not be competing in Salt Lake City at UFC 307,” Sterling said. “In sparring, I had an injury not requiring surgery, but I was advised by the UFC medical staff that I will not be able to properly compete in this short of a turnaround.

“I did the stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I can, as best as I can with the [UFC Performance Institute] team here, and unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now. I apologize to Movsar and his team. We’ve been talking and I was really looking forward to punching this guy in his face.”

While Sterling did not specify the nature of the injury, MMAFighting.com is reporting that an elbow issue caused “Funkmaster” to withdraw from the event. S…

Said Nurmagomedov will square off against Daniel Santos in a bantamweight bout at UFC 308.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Wednesday. UFC 308 takes place on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight championship tilt pitting Ilia Topuria against Max Holloway.

Nurmagomedov has been victorious in five of his last six Octagon appearances dating back to 2020. Most recently, the 32-year-old Dagestani rebounded from a loss to Jonathan Martinez by submitting Muin Gafurov in the opening stanza at UFC 294. Nurmagomedov was slated to face Montel Jackson at UFC Saudi Arabia in June before withdrawing from the contest.

After dropping his promotional debut to Julio Arce, Santos has scored back-to-back triumphs over John Castaneda and Johnny Munoz in UFC competition. The fight vs. Nurmagomedov will mark the Brazilian’s first appearance since June 2023.