Martial Arts News

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpSuH6_ntc0&w=560&h=315]

Khabib Nurmagomedov seems to have a different interpretation of his recent meeting with Dana White than the UFC president did.

In a recent interview with Russian outlet Sport24, Nurmagomedov didn’t show much interest in the outcome of the top two fights on Saturday’s UFC 257 card. White, after talking with the lightweight champ last week, suggested that if something spectacular happened in Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier or Michael Chandler vs. Dan Hooker, Nurmagomedov could be lured back into the Octagon for one more fight.

“There must be some motivation, some hunger,” Nurmagomedov said via translated text on the video. “If you’re not hungry, you know, I’ve been in sports for so many years. I’ve been doing it all my life. I have achieved almost everything in this sport, and there isn’t someone who I would like to fight now.

“I know that there are many fighters who would like to earn money, who…

Moments after Michael Chiesa completed a dominant performance against Neil Magny in the UFC on ESPN 20 headliner, he turned his attention to perhaps the welterweight division’s most reviled star.

“The election is over,” Chiesa said in his post-fight interview. “Colby Covington, your schtick is done. I want you next, boy.”

That Wednesday happened to be the end of Donald Trump’s term in the White House and the official inauguration of new U.S. President Joe Biden made the timing that much more perfect, especially considering that Covington has been an avid Trump supporter the past few years.

For Chiesa, the callout was more about achieving his goals in 2021 than it was about one-upping Covington. He believes that a matchup with the controversial former interim champion could propel him closer to the top of the 170-pound division.

“I want two more fights this year, I want to end this year as the No. 1 contender,” Chiesa said. “I want fights in the Top 5. I th…

Warlley Alves returned to the win column in emphatic fashion at UFC on ESPN 20.

Alves’ assault of prospect Mounir Lazzez in the evening’s welterweight co-main event earned him a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award. The Brazilian veteran was aggressive from the outset before flooring his foe with a series of kicks to the body. From there, Alves sealed the victory with ground-and-pound at the 2:35 mark of Round 1.

Elsewhere, Mike Davis and Mason Jones shared “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their preliminary lightweight scrap. The two combatants combined to land 225 significant strikes, but it was Davis who connected with more authority throughout the contest to secure a unanimous decision triumph.

Earlier, Umar Nurmagomedov delivered in his Octagon debut, receiving the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check thanks to a submission of Sergey Morozov in a preliminary bantamweight clash. After displaying a well-rounded standup at…

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. Michael Chiesa imposes his will as well as anyone in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 15 winner rode repeated takedowns, smooth positional advances and crushing top control to a unanimous decision over Neil Magny in the UFC on ESPN 20 headliner on Wednesday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three judges scored it 49-46 for Chiesa (18-4, 11-4 UFC), who improved to 4-0 since relocating to the welterweight division.

Called out!@MikeMav22 had only one name in mind after that!

[ #UFCFightIsland8 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/dXBQcdShL8

— UFC (@ufc) January 20, 2021 Magny (24-8, 17-7 UFC) looked hapless at times, frustrated at others. Chiesa did just enough on the feet to give the Elevation Fight Team mainstay pause, pursued h…

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. Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 20 coverage will begin Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:John Brann…

Tapped!@RickySimonUFC gets the job done in RD

[ #UFCFightIsland8 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/lqHZbiGzuQ

— UFC (@ufc) January 20, 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. Former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Ricky Simon submitted Belgian newcomer Gaetano Pirrello with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their featured bantamweight prelim on Wednesday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Simon (17-3, 5-2 UFC) drew the curtain 4:00 into Round 2, scoring his first submission in nearly three years.

Pirrello (15-6-1, 0-1 UFC) did not enjoy his first UFC experience. Simon closed the distance, delivered repeated takedowns and methodically wore down the Osman Gym representative. He struck for his final takedown late in the second round, advanced immediately to full mount and framed the c…

In Matt Schnell’s mind, his split-decision victory over Tyson Nam at UFC on ESPN 20 wasn’t even that close.

“I felt like I was in control,” Schnell said. “It would have hurt my feelings if they named Tyson the winner. This game is like that sometimes. It would have hurt, but I would have been OK. I won that fight, though.”

Schnell rebounded from a knockout loss to Alexandre Pantoja in December 2019 thanks to crisp striking and movement. He knew that Nam, who was coming off back-to-back KO/TKO victories, would be headhunting throughout their flyweight bout. To his credit, Schnell was able to avoid any devastating blows from his opponent.

“I was doing subtle things to keep him from lining me up and squaring me up with a good one. Most of the ones that hit me didn’t land clean,” Schnell said. “Most of them were skimming off me. He wasn’t quite able to line me up, but the young man’s got some thump—no doubt about it. You can’t take it away from him. He was definite…

The squeeze of @Omari_Akhmedov forces Tom Breese to tap #UFCFightIsland8 pic.twitter.com/GDcScdehik

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 20, 2021

It’s been a long time since Omari Akhmedov finished an opponent in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

That changed at UFC on ESPN 20, when he tapped out Tom Breese with an arm-triangle 1:41 into the second round of of their middleweight clash at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. The fight-ending maneuver didn’t come by chance, either.

“I was working on that submission the whole camp,” Akhmedov said. “My coach told me I have to finish the fight with this submission when I get mount. I have to work ground-and-pound first and then go for it when he raises his hands. I did it probably 1,000 times in this camp, so it came naturally.”

The 33-year-old American Top Team representative followed his coaches’ instructions perfectly. Prior to the submission. Akhmedov battered his opponent with purpos…

Count Conor McGregor among those who were impressed by Max Holloway’s record-breaking offensive performance against Calvin Kattar at UFC on ABC 1 last weekend.

McGregor and Holloway initially squared off early in their respective promotional tenures at UFC Fight Night 26, with the Irish star winning a unanimous decision at featherweight in August 2013 despite tearing his ACL in the fight. McGregor recently said he might be interested in a rematch with Holloway in the future.

“I thought it was a solid performance,” McGregor told The Mac Life. “He fought an up-and-comer; he done well … He’s obviously hanging around, and fair play to him. He’s definitely in the pipeline for a bout against me. I would happily rematch Max, and after a performance like that, he’s put himself right up there.”

McGregor is set for another rematch on Saturday, when he meets Dustin Poirier in the lightweight main event at UFC 257. Like Holloway, Poirier fell to the “Notorious” in a feath…

OH BOY!!

@GutoInocente Michal Andryszak is official for #KSW58 on January 30th!!

Brace yourselves for impact!! pic.twitter.com/TUJjGRmGVA — KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 19, 2021

Well-traveled Brazilian veteran Guto Inocente will debut for a new promotion when he faces Michal Andryszak at KSW 58 on Jan. 30.

The Polish promotion announced the heavyweight bout on Wednesday. KSW 58 takes place at Wytwornia Club in Lodz, Poland, and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt between Salahdine Parnasse and Daniel Torres. The card can be viewed via pay-per-view on KSWTV.com.

A former title challenger in Glory Kickboxing, the 34-year-old Inocente has compiled an 8-5 record over the course of an MMA career that began in 2005. That tenure includes a victory over Virgil Zwicker in Strikeforce and losses to Anthony Perosh and Derrick Lewis in the UFC. Inocente is coming off a first-round KO of Flavio Rodrigo Magon on the regional circuit this p…

UFC bantamweight Andre Ewell has received a public warning from USADA after testing positive for ostarine in an out-of-competition urine sample collected on Oct. 15.

After the anti-doping violation, Ewell provided a sealed container of a supplement he was using prior to the positive test, and analysis of the product revealed a “low level” of ostarine. USADA then determined that the level of ostarine in the supplement was not enough to have given Ewell any performance enhancing benefits.

Ewell, 32, is coming off a 20202 campaign in which he earned a pair of split-decision victories over Irwin Rivera and Jonathan Martinez. The 32-year-old Apex MMA product is 4-2 during his promotional tenure and 17-6 as a professional overall.

The full USADA statement regarding Ewell’s case is as follows:

USADA announced today that Andre Ewell, of Perris, Calif., has received a public warning for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy.

Ewell, 32, tested positive fo…

A woman has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Conor McGregor for alleged personal injury, according to a report from ESPN.

Dave Coleman, the woman’s attorney, revealed to ESPN that the lawsuit is over events that allegedly took place in 2018 and was filed in the High Court in Dublin, Ireland, on Monday. The woman’s mother has also filed a suit against McGregor. The news was first reported by the Independent, which also revealed that an associate of McGregor’s was named as a co-defendant. The nature of the case against McGregor is currently unknown.

The matter was initially investigated by An Garda Síochána, the Irish national police, but no charges were brought against McGregor. The former UFC two-division champion denied any wrongdoing through a representative.

"After an exhaustive investigation conducted by the Gardaí which, in addition to interviews of the plaintiff, included interviewing numerous sources, obtaining witnesses' statements, examining clos…