Martial Arts News

Kang Ji Won springs a MASSIVE upset, stopping Amir Aliakbari in Round 1! #ONEFistsOfFury2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/zje6KvjwkA

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 5, 2021 In a sharp contrast from the previous event, just one bout on the second, pre-recorded part of One Championship’s “Fists of Fury” series went to the judges.

The main event of One: Fists of Fury 2 saw Ji Won Kang (5-0) taking on decorated Iranian wrestler Amir Aliakbari (10-2) in their heavyweight tilt. The two behemoths took a few seconds to study one other early in the fight, with Aliakbari keeping the center of the cage while Kang was reaching out with a few kicks. After chasing the South Korean fighter for a while, Aliakbari finally reached “Mighty Warrior” with a right hand, followed by another heavy that forced his opponent to retreat. The face of the Kang immediately showed damage from the Iranian fighter’s strikes, as Kang’s left eye started…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ROZZcIBDI?start=887&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 259 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. If the Ultimate Fighting Championship has its way, fans will be back en masse at events in the very near future. At the UFC 259 pre-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White spoke to media about a myriad of topics including some upcoming events. Texas Governor Greg Abbott rescinded the mask mandate for COVID-19 on Monday, while opening up venues to 100-percent capacity. Effective March 10, all Texas businesses will be allowed to re-open to full capacity, and Abbott has stripped the local government from re-imposing a mask mandate. The businesses will be allowed to limit their own capacities based on their own internal policies.

This new development has the UFC head chomping at the bit to put on fight cards in front of large audiences again. White…

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. Two Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights looking for their first win inside the Octagon will clash in June. The news first came from MMA DNA, Josh Parisian (13-4) will try once more to win one in the UFC against fellow struggling heavyweight Roque Martinez (15-7-2) on June 19. This UFC Fight Night event does not yet have a location set, although it likely will take place either in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Parisian confirmed the news of this pairing on his Instagram.

Parisian, the first heavyweight to ever record a spinning back fist knockout in combined Zuffa history, did so on his first trip to Dana White's Contender Series in 2018. The stellar finish did not earn him a place on the roster, and instead a slot on Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Unsuccessful in…

BREAKING NEWS

UFC debut for Nikolas Motta against Damir Hadzovic is set to take place on May 8th.#UFC #MMA #UFCESPN https://t.co/H25UgcWDas pic.twitter.com/PdywHhJfFz

— MMA DNA (@MMADNANL) March 4, 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 promising Dana White's Contender Series signee has his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut set for May.

First reported by MMA DNA on Thursday, Nikolas Motta (12-3) will be squaring off against Damir Hadzovic (13-6) at lightweight on the May 8 UFC Fight Night card. The event, which is currently tabbed to take place in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, does not yet have a headliner booked. The match was confirmed later by multiple outlets.

Motta prevailed on the ninth week of the 2020 season of DWCS, where he captured a decision over Joseph Lowry to earn a contract. The ex-Cage Fury Fighti…

We have a home for the 2021 PFL Regular Season! @TheOceanAC will host all 6 regular-season events in a bubble environment.

— PFL MMA (@ProFightLeague) March 4, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the PFL live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The Professional Fighters League has its home for its upcoming tournament season. Via press release from the organization on Thursday, each of the six fight cards of the PFL regular season will be held at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The league has erected a “state-of-the-art” bubble environment, which will require fighters to check in 17 days before their bouts to quarantine. The PFL will be running heightened COVID-19 protocols in order to preserve all of the tournament matchups. It is unclear how the promotion will handle short-notice replacement fights in the event of a fighter's withdrawal, or if any competitor falls …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is parting ways with longtime heavyweight standouts Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report Overeem’s release, while dos Santos initially brought word of his departure via social media. Multiple outlets have since confirmed the cuts. According to a report from ESPN, Overeem had two bouts remaining on his UFC contract, while dos Santos had five.

Overeem recently competed at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6, when he had a two-bout winning streak snapped in a second-round technical knockout loss against Alexander Volkov. A former Strikeforce, K-1 and Dream champion, Overeem made his Octagon debut with a first-round stoppage of Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 and proceeded to compile a 12-8 mark within the Las Vegas-based promotion. “The Demolition Man” challenged for heavyweight gold at UFC 203, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Stipe Miocic in September 2016.

The 40-year-old Dutchman owns a…

Cub Swanson will attempt to hand Giga Chikadze his first Ultimate Fighting Championship defeat when the featherweights lock horns on May 1.

Multiple outlets confirmed the bout following an initial report from Adjarasport. UFC Fight Night takes place at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a light heavyweight clash between Dominick Reyes and Jiri Prochazka.

After enduring a four-bout skid from December 2017 to May 2019, Swanson has scored consecutive victories against Kron Gracie and Daniel Pineda in his last two Octagon appearances. The World Extreme Cagefighting veteran notably authored a six-fight winning streak early in his UFC tenure that included wins over Jeremy Stephens, Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira but has never fought for a title in the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Chikadze will bring a seven-bout winning streak into the matchup with Swanson. The 32-year-old Georgian is 5-0 in the UFC and was very active in 2020, posting triumphs…

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Joseph Benavidez did some soul searching after his loss to Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC Fight Night 172 headliner this past July.

It was his fourth loss in a UFC flyweight title bout since 2012, and the division’s perpetual top contender had to make peace with the notion that his days of challenging for championship gold were over. It took some time, but Benavidez finally found the impetus he needed with a matchup against the unbeaten Askar Askarov at UFC 259 on Saturday.

“I think after my last title fight I came to the acceptance that was probably my last title fight,” Benavidez said during a virtual media day. “That’s kind of what I put in my mind. I had some fight offers earlier, and I wasn’t loving it.

“Then when I finally decided this was a good timeframe I want to fight in, and take a good break and fall back in love with training and the sport …. What’s the next best thing? I’m still wanti…

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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.