Martial Arts News

It’s been more than six years since Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier first squared off in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and much has changed since then.

However, John Kavanagh, McGregor's head trainer, believes that Poirier will nonetheless struggle to erase the memory of a first-round technical knockout loss to McGregor at UFC 178 in September 2014. The two men will have their rematch in the UFC 257 main event in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 23.

“I think you can spend a lifetime going to sports psychologists and talking to this person and that person; that’s not going to have been erased from his mind,” Kavanagh told The Mac Life. “He knows that he is facing somebody who can shut off his lights very, very rapidly and now is a lot more powerful and a lot more experienced than he was even then, so it’s a tough, uphill battle for Dustin.”

Their first meeting occurred at featherweight, and set the stage for a title run for the Irish star. Poirier, meanwhile, moved to 1…

A flyweight showdown pitting ex-Rizin champ Manel Kape against Alexandre Pantoja has been rebooked for a UFC Fight Night card on Feb. 6.

Combate was first to report the news. The event is headlined by a heavyweight scrap between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. A location for the card has not been formally announced. Kape and Pantoja were initially slated to meet at UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19 before Pantoja withdrew from the contest.

Kape claimed the vacant Rizin bantamweight crown with a second-round technical knockout of Kai Asakura last New Year’s Eve. The 26-year-old AKA Thailand representative has won four of his last five professional outings — with each of those victories coming inside the distance. Kape was previously slated to make his promotional debut against Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 252 before his opponent withdrew from the bout due to injury.

Pantoja, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Askar Askarov at UFC Fight Night 17…

Sara McMann and Julianna Pena will square off one week later than originally anticipated.

The bantamweight bout has been moved from UFC on ABC 1 to UFC 257 for undisclosed reasons. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the change. UFC 257 takes place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 23 and is headlined by a lightweight tilt between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

McMann returned after nearly a two-year absence at UFC Fight Night 166 in January, when she halted a two-bout losing streak with a unanimous decision triumph against Lina Lansberg. The Olympic silver medalist challenged for bantamweight gold in her second Octagon appearance, falling to Ronda Rousey via first-round TKO at UFC 170 in February 2014. She is 6-5 during her tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Pena’s lone appearance of 2020 came at UFC on ESPN 16, where she was submitted in the third round by Germaine de Randamie on Oct. 3. “The Ultimate Fighter 18” winner began her UFC career with f…

Lo noquea! @NewMansa94 con otro tremendo KO!!! #UFC255 pic.twitter.com/dZXpe4VmYu

— ufcespanol (@UFCEspanol) November 22, 2020

Two middleweight bouts have been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s UFC Fight Night 184”>Jan. 16 lineup, as Joaquin Buckley will meet Alessio Di Chirico, while Phil Hawes will face Nassourdine Imavov.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report Buckley vs. Di Chirico, while MMA DNA initially brought word of Hawes vs. Imavov. The event takes place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight clash pitting Max Holloway against Calvin Kattar. At least a portion of the event is expected to be broadcast on ABC.

After being stopped by Kevin Holland in his Octagon debut, Buckley emerged as one of 2020’s breakout fighters thanks to back-to-back knockouts of Impa Kasanganay and Jordan Wright. The KO of Kasanganay went viral and will likely end up on many year-end lists when all is said and done. “Ne…

DOMINATED @JasonWittMMA controlled this one from start to finish! #UFCVegas12 pic.twitter.com/YBsGRN8c25

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) October 31, 2020

Jason Witt will lock horns with Matthew Semelsberger at UFC Fight Night on March 13.

Both welterweight fighters recently confirmed the matchup on their respective social media accounts. The event does not currently have a location or headliner.

Witt is 1-1 in two UFC appearances. After suffering a 48-second technical knockout loss to Takashi Sato in his Octagon debut at UFC on ESPN 12, “The Vanilla Gorilla” rebounded to submit Cole Williams in the second round at UFC Fight Night 181 on Oct. 31. The 34-year-old Glory MMA & Fitness member has compiled an 18-6 mark since beginning his MMA career in 2013.

Semelsberger, meanwhile, extended his winning streak to four with a decision triumph over Carlton Minus in his promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 15. The 28-year-old is 7-2 as a professional…

Down goes Sana! #ONECollisionCourse2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/cgCSp75W8M

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 25, 2020

He had to wait until Christmas Day to open it, but Jamal Yusupov may have unwrapped a One Championship muay Thai title shot.

In the main event of the tape-delayed One Championship: Collision Course 2 broadcast on Dec. 25, Yusupov overcame Samy Sana via unanimous decision in a featherweight muay Thai clash. The Russian generally proved to be more precise and effective with his striking. In the second stanza, Yusupov dropped Sana with a perfectly-placed left hand. In the third round, "AK-47" involuntarily hit Yusupov with a low blow, but the Yusupov was able to continue after taking some time to recover from the shot. Considering Yusupov's performance, an assault at current One muay Thai champion Phetmorakot Petchyindee Academy may not be very far away.

The co-main event featured an MMA catch…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3bbmAd2O1k&w=560&h=315] Count current Bellator MMA commentator John McCarthy among those that took issue with Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White’s recent video release.

On his podcast “Weighing In” on Thursday, McCarthy and fellow Bellator commentator Josh Thomson weighed in on the video released by Dana White on Monday. In White’s Dec. 21 video, the UFC head lashed out at MMA media, claiming that the media was trying to shut the promotion down in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The video, which showed several longstanding media members in a harshly negative light, pulled clips and articles from March to May about how the promotion should continue. At that time, the UFC did not release public details of its coronavirus protocols, leaving the media critical of the procedures while asking what was going on.

Among White’s many complaints in what several in the media space have considered a “victory lap” f…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5LP1MJRnvw&w=560&h=315] Bellator MMA has added another solid name to its growing light heavyweight division.

On Thursday, MMA Junkie reported that Stephan Puetz (20-4), a light heavyweight out of Germany, has been signed by Bellator. A Bellator official has since confirmed Puetz’ signing to Sherdog.

The 6-foot-6 light heavyweight joins a roster recently bolstered by signings of names like Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson. A former M-1 Challenge champion, Puetz left the league in 2018 after a pair of stoppage losses in Round 3. Since then, Puetz has rattled off five wins in the German MMA Championship and Fair Fighting Championship promotions in Germany, winning belts in both and finishing four of five foes.

Throughout his career, “T-800” briefly dabbled at heavyweight after defending his 205-pound throne a few times. His move to heavyweight matched him against current Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight contender M…

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. The new year has not yet begun and the Ultimate Fighting Championship is already changing up events in 2021. Makhmud Muradov (24-6) announced on his Instagram on Thursday that he would be competing at UFC 257 in place of Andre Muniz at middleweight. Muradov will be facing Andrew Sanchez (12-5) on the card that will go down on Jan. 23 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Muniz was forced to withdraw for currently undisclosed reasons. Muradov attempted to compete through 2020 on four separate occasions, and all four were scuttled for various reasons.

“My next fight will take place on January 23rd against Andrew Sanchez,” Muradov wrote on his Instagram via Google Translate. “In Sha Allah ovsem soon I will please you with another victory! Thank you all very much for your support.”

“Mach” is currently ridi…

IT’S SHOWTIME!

Welcome to the PFL, @Showtimepettis! pic.twitter.com/FwPDt3ozhF

— PFL MMA (@ProFightLeague) December 23, 2020 It didn’t take long for Anthony Pettis to find a new promotional home.

One day after announcing he was parting ways with the UFC to become a free agent, “Showtime” has signed a contract with Professional Fighters League. ESPN was first to report the news, and the PFL confirmed the signing shortly thereafter.

Pettis will compete in the promotion’s lightweight division as part of the 2021 season. The PFL canceled its 2020 campaign due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic but will return beginning in April of next year. PFL’s most recent 155-pound champion was Natan Schulte, who outpointed Loik Radzhabov in the organization’s final event of 2019. Schulte was also the PFL lightweight champion in 2018. The PFL awards its champions in each weight class with a $1 million payout at the end of the season.

I…

.@LFAfighting kicks off the 2021 @UFCFightPass schedule with the #Lightweight Championship at #LFA97! @NyquilNickvs.@AEstrazulasMMA

: https://t.co/YvHX113INK

Friday, January 15@HartmanArena#ParkCity, #Kansas#MMA#LFANation@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/nSmcJK0qUv — LFA (@LFAfighting) December 23, 2020

Legacy Fighting Alliance will begin its 2021 schedule with a lightweight championship bout on Jan. 15.

The promotion announced this week that Nick Browne will square off against Arthur Estrazulas for the 155-pound belt in the main event of LFA 97 at the Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas. Browne and Estrazulas were originally supposed to meet at LFA 95 but the bout was postponed due to coronavirus testing protocols. LFA 97 will stream on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Browne has been victorious in 10 of his 11 professional outings, including two fights under the LFA banner. Most recently, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black bel…

Devonte Smith (10-1) runs roughshod over Dong Hyun Ma, mowing down the "Maestro" in round one! "King Kage" rides a six-fight tear. The Contender Series grad has stopped all of his wins, nine by knockout, and seven in the first round. #UFC234 pic.twitter.com/6156Y4zjRO

— Bulgogi Jones (@Hamderlei) February 10, 2019

Devonte Smith will lock horns with Alex da Silva Coelho at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 6.

MMA journalist James Lynch first brought word of the matchup. The card does not yet have an official location but is expected to feature a heavyweight clash between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov.

A competitor on Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Smith kicked off his promotional tenure with KO/TKO triumphs against Julian Erosa and Dong Hyun Ma before being stopped in the opening stanza by Khama Worthy in his most recent outing at UFC 241 in August 2019. An Achilles injury has sidelined “King Kage” since …