Martial Arts News

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Had one scorecard gone his way at UFC Fight Night 165, Aleksandar Rakic could have been on the precipice of really big things in the light heavyweight division right now.

Instead, Rakic dropped a split decision to Volkan Oezdemir in December 2019, his only loss in six UFC appearances thus far. The verdict was contentious, with seven of eight media scorers awarded the decision to Rakic. Despite being outlanded by a 75-to-63 count in significant strikes, Oezdemir made a lasting impression on the judges with his low kicks, which led to some grotesque swelling on the leg of his opponent.

On the brink of a showdown with Thiago Santos at UFC 259, Rakic seems to have moved past the ruling, but he hasn’t changed his mind about who won.

“It doesn’t matter. On this decision, I felt like a winner. Everybody who understands MMA and who saw that fight know that I am a winner,” Rakic said during a virtual media …

For the third time, Bellator MMA will attempt to make a fight happen between Paul Daley and Sabah Homasi.

The welterweights have been booked to square off at Bellator 257 on April 16. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bout. Bellator 257 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and features light heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal matchups between Vadim Nemkov and Phil Davis as well as Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero.

Daley and Homasi were initially slated to meet at Bellator 232 in October 2019, but Homasi withdrew after suffering an injury. The two combatants were then booked for Bellator 241 in March 2020, but that event was scrapped due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

After losing a five-round verdict to Michael Page in the promotion’s welterweight grand prix, Daley has rebounded with a decision triumph over Erick Silva at Bellator 223 and a technical knockout of Saad Awad at Bellator 232. “Semtex” has compiled an 8-4 mark…

Jim Miller will square off against Joe Solecki at UFC Fight Night on April 10.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the lightweight pairing. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight duel betwee Darren Till and Marvin Vettori. The card does not yet have an official location.

The 37-year-old Miller has won three of his last five promotional outings. Most recently, he lost a unanimous decision against Vinc Pichel at UFC 252 this past August. His matchup with Solecki will mark his 37th Octagon appearance, a UFC record. Miller was supposed to face Bobby Green at UFC 258 but the bout was scrapped after Green endured a difficult weight cut.

Solecki earned a UFC contract with a first-round submission of James Wallace on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series. Since then, the 27-year-old has posted a decision win over Matt Wiman at UFC on ESPN 7 and a submission victory against Austin Hubbard at UFC on ESPN 15. Solecki has won his last five professional fights.

Roxanne Modafferi is slated to meet Taila Santos in a flyweight matchup at UFC Fight Night on May 8.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Combate. UFC Fight Night takes place at an as yet to be announced location and also features a women’s bantamweight tilt pitting Holly Holm against Julianna Pena.

Modafferi came up short in her first appearance of 2021, falling to Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 20 on Jan. 20. “The Happy Warrior” is 4-6 in UFC competition with wins over the likes of Andrea Lee, Maycee Barber and Antonina Shevchenko.

Santos, meanwhile, has scored back-to-back decision triumphs against Molly McCann and Gillian Robertson in her last two UFC appearances. The 27-year-old Astra Fight Team product has been victorious in 17 of 18 pro outings, with her lone defeat coming against Mara Romero Borella in her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 144.

Although Israel Adesanya is moving up a division at UFC 259, not much will change from his usual middleweight routine.

‘I’m gonna keep the same energy during my fight week,” Adesanya told ESPN. “I’m not gonna go crazy and f—-ing order Uber Eats and cakes and whatever. I’m just gonna keep the same energy.”

The reigning 185-pound king will attempt to become a two-division champion when he faces reigning light heavyweight title holder Jan Blachowicz Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Despite facing an opponent who has competed at 205 pounds for years, Adesanya didn’t adopt a plan to pack on extra weight.

“Put it this way,” Adesanya said. “I could still make 185 if I have to.”

That said, “The Last Stylebender” expects to weight below 200 pounds when he hits the scales and when he stands across the Octagon from Blachowicz.

“Don’t be surprised if I weigh in at like 193,” he said. “Don’t be surprised.”

For Adesanya, maintaining a routi…

JIMMY THE BRICK!!

First round sub to open his UFC career! What a performance #UFCVegas17 pic.twitter.com/iiWqtYC9D2

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) December 19, 2020 A flyweight clash between Jimmy Flick and Francisco Figueiredo has been booked for the UFC's May 8 offering.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing after Flick announced it on The Corner and The Casual podcast podcast. The event is expected to include a women’s bantamweight bout between Holly Holm and Julianna Pena as well as a welterweight tilt pitting Donald Cerrone against Diego Sanchez. A location has not been formally announced.

Flick turned heads in his Octagon debut when he submitted Cody Durden with a flying triangle 3:18 into the opening round of their encounter at UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19. The 30-year-old Oklahoma native has won four straight fights overall, including appearances with Dana White’s Contender Series and Legacy Fighting Alliance.

Figueiredo is …

Edson Barboza will make his third featherweight appearance when he takes on Shane Burgos at UFC 262.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Combate. UFC 262 takes place on May 15 at an as yet to be announced location and also includes a flyweight scrap between Alex Perez and Matt Schnell.

The 35-year-old Barboza has lost five of his last seven UFC bouts but is 1-1 at 145 pounds. After dropping a narrow split decision against Dan Ige in his featherweight debut at UFC on ESPN 8, Barboza rebounded to outpoint Makwan Amirkhani in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 179 on Oct. 10.

Burgos began his tenure in the Las Vegas-based promotion with victories in six of his first seven appearances. The 29-year-old Team Tiger Schulmann representative came up short in his last bout, losing a unanimous decision to Josh Emmett at UFC on ESPN 11 on June 20.

Three fighters who competed at UFC Fight Night 186 are facing potential six-month layoffs after their bouts.

Thiago Moises, who took a three-round verdict against Alexander Hernandez in a lightweight contest, must have his right foot X-rayed and if positive, needs to be cleared by a doctor or he will be sidelined until Aug. 27. At a minimum he is suspended until March 30 with no contact until March 21.

After a decision loss to Alexis Davis at bantamweight, Sabina Mazo needs a left leg X-ray. If positive, she’ll need doctor clearance to avoid a being suspended until Aug. 27. At a minimum, Mazo is suspended until March 30 with no contact until March 21.

Finally, Ronnie Lawrence must have his left foot and left ribs X-rayed and receive cleareance or he will be out until Aug. 27. His minimum suspension is the same as Moises and Mazo. Lawrence defeated Vince Cachero via third-round technincal knockout in a preliminary bantamweight scrap.

A full list of medical…

A lightweight showdown pitting Scott Holtzman against Mateusz Gamrot has been booked for UFC Fight Night on April 10.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report by Kuba Voranek on Twitter. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight tilt between Darren Till and Marvin Vettori. A location for the card has not been formally announced.

Holtzman last competed at UFC Fight Night 174, where he suffered a spinning backfist KO defeat at the hands of Beneil Dariush this past August. Heading into the matchup the man known as “Hot Sauce” had been victorious in five of his previous six promotional appearances.

A former two-division champion with KSW, Gamrot is looking for his first UFC triumph. In his Octagon debut, the 30-year-old Poland native dropped a split verdict against Guram Kutateladze at UFC Fight Night 180 on Oct. 17. Prior to that defeat, “Gamer” had been unbeaten in his first 18 professional appearances, with a no contest against Nor…

Matt Brown will meet Dhiego Lima at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on June 19.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the pairing. The UFC Fight Night event doesn’t have an official location or headliner at this time.

The 40-year-old Brown has lost five of his last seven promotional appearances. Most recently, “The Immortal” dropped a three-round verdict against Carlos Condit at UFC on ABC 1 on Jan. 16. Brown has earned wins over the likes of Stephen Thompson, Mike Swick, Mike Pyle, Tim Means, Diego Sanchez and Ben Saunders during a lengthy UFC tenure.

Lima, meanwhile, is coming off a clear-cut decision loss to Belal Muhammad at UFC 258 on Feb 13. Prior to that defeat, “The Ultimate Fighter 19” finalist had won three straight Octagon appearances, besting Chad Laprise, Court McGee and Luke Jumeau in succession.

Rory MacDonald will finally make his highly-anticipated Professional Fighters League debut in the main event of the promotion’s April 29 event against David Michaud.

The PFL announced the bout, along with the full card for its second 2021 regular season event, on Tuesday. The lineup will feature welterweights and light heavyweights, with the main card airing on ESPN2 and the prelims streaming via ESPN+.

The rest of the main card lineup is as follows: Ray Cooper III vs. Jason Ponet at welterweight; Jordan Johnson vs. Tom Lawlor at light heavyweight; and Emiliano Sordi vs. Chris Camozzi at light heavyweight.

Meanwile, the preliminary draw will feature a total of six contests: Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Joao Zeferino at welterweight; Smealinho Rama vs. Jordan Young at light heavyweight; Cezar Ferreira vs. Nick Roehrick at light heavyweight; Gleison Tibau vs. Alexey Kunchenko at welterweight; Sadibou Sy vs. Nikolay Aleksakhin at welterweight; and Dan Spohn vs. Marth…

Lingering effects from COVID-19 continue to take their toll on Khamzat Chimaev.

The UFC welterweight prospect seemingly announced his retirement in a cryptic statement on Instagram Monday evening.

“I want to say thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport,” Chimaev wrote (translation via Google). “I think I’m done, yes I know I didn’t take the belt but it’s not the most important victory in his life. It may upset you but my heart and body tell me everything. I want to say a big thank you to my team [Allstars Training Center]. I want to say a big thank you to UFC.”

Additionally, Chimaev posted photos on Instagram Stories of what appeared to be blood in a sink. Chimaev was recently flown to Las Vegas by the UFC to receive additional medical care after he withdrew from UFC Fight Night 187 due to lingering symptoms from the virus. It was the second time he was forced to pull out of a fight vs. Leon Edwards due to COVID-19 issues after cont…