Martial Arts News

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 255 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Brandon Moreno removed the last remaining obstacle standing between him and a shot at the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight crown.

Moreno was awarded a technical knockout over Brandon Royval in the first round of their featured UFC 255 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Royval (12-5, 2-1 UFC) appeared to suffer a dislocated shoulder during an intense ground exchange and could not physically defend himself, resulting in the stoppage 4:59 into Round 1.

Both men had their moments in a brief but frenetic confrontation. Royval connected with a few standing knee strikes and a spinning back elbow but conceded a takedown that seemed to alter the direction of the fight. Moreno (18-5-1, 6-2-1 UFC) eventually jumped to his back and threatened with a rear-naked choke, his efforts giving way to the…

Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz will lock horns for a second time at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Jan. 30.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the pairing. A location for the card has not been announced. The UFC Fight Night event will also include a middleweight matchup pitting Kelvin Gastelum against Ian Heinisch.

Rivera and Munhoz initially squared off more than five years ago at UFC Fight Night 77, with Rivera claiming a split-decision triumph. That was part of a 20-bout professional winning streak for Rivera, who is just 2-3 in the Octagon since 2018. Most recently, “El Terror” snapped a two-bout skid with a three-roud verdict against Cody Stamann at UFC on ESPN 13 on July 15.

Munhoz, meanwhile, is coming off a narrow split-decision defeat to Frankie Edgar at UFC on ESPN 15. Prior to that, “The Young Punisher” had a three-bout winning streak snapped in a decision loss to current No. 1 contender Aljamain Sterling at UFC 238.

A lightweight bout between Renato Carneiro and Rafael Fiziev that was originally scheduled for UFC on ESPN 18 on Nov. 28 has been moved to UFC 256.

The change cames as a result of “Moicano” testing positive for COVID-19. The news was first reported by Punchline MMA in an interview with Carneiro. UFC 256 takes place on Dec. 12 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a bantamweight championship tilt between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling.

After a successful stint at featherweight, “Moicano” made his 155-pound debut at UFC Fight Night 170, where he submitted Damir Hadzovic in just 44 seconds on March 14. He was scheduled to face Magomed Mustafaev on Oct. 17 but withdrew from that contest.

After dropping his Octagon debut, Fiziev has scored back-to-back decision triumphs against Alex White at UFC Fight Night 162 and against Marc Diakiese at UFC Fight Night 172. The 27-year-old Kyrgyzstan native is 8-1 as a professional, with six triumphs coming inside the distance.

KHAOS WILLIAMS ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?? @KhaosOXWilliams in 30 SECONDS!! #UFCVegas14 pic.twitter.com/YmWLw7P2VU

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) November 15, 2020

Michel Pereira and Kalinn Williams will square off in a potentially entertaining welterweight clash at UFC Fight Night 184 on Dec. 19.

ESPN was first to report the matchup. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight scrap between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Pereira halted a two-bout skid at UFC Fight Night 176, when he submitted Zelim Imadaev in the third round of their Sept. 5 encounter. Known as on of the promotion’s flashiest performers, “Demolidor” is 2-2 in UFC competition, with his other triumph coming via first-round KO against Danny Roberts.

The 26-year-old Williams has made a splash in the beginning of his promotional tenure. After knocking out Alex Morono in 27 seconds in his Octagon debut at UFC 247, “Khaos the Oxfighte…

A pivotal lightweight clash is in the works for UFC 256, as Tony Ferguson and Charles Oliveira are expected to square off on Dec. 12.

UFC president Dana White informed ESPN that the bout is nearly finalized. UFC 256 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight championship tilt pitting Petr Yan against Aljamain Sterling.

Prior to the announcement of this bout, Ferguson campaigned for a showdown with Michael Chandler at UFC 256 before the ex-Bellator champ revealed that he was not available for the fight. “El Cucuy” is coming off a fifth-round technical knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in an interim 155-pound title tilt at UFC 249. Prior to that, Ferguson had won 12 consecutive Octagon appearances, besting the likes of Edson Barboza, Rafael dos Anjos, Kevin Lee, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone in the process.

The UFC’s all-time submission leader, Oliveira enters the matchup with Ferguson on a seven-fight winning streak in which he…

Kayla Harrison just beat Courtney King into a bloody mess. Opened up a nasty cut on the bridge of her nose midway through the first and the mauling just continued. pic.twitter.com/3J7Cmhui7o

— Will (@ChillemDafoe) November 21, 2020

It was a mismatch on paper, and it was a mismatch in practice.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison put forth a near-flawless performance in her Invicta Fighting Championships debut, as she dismissed Courtney King with punches in the second round of their gory Invicta 43 headliner on Friday in Kansas City, Kansas. King (4-2, 1-2 Invicta) packed her bags 4:48 into Round 2, closing the book on her three-fight winning streak.

Harrison (8-0, 1-0 Invicta) brutalized the Fury Fighting Championship titleholder throughout the first round, turning their showcase into a bloodbath. The American Top Team export executed a takedown, settled in full guard and slashed open long vertical gash between King’s eyes w…

HOLY _____! Pereira's power is unreal!!! #LFA95 pic.twitter.com/0EAoY6z4fA

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 21, 2020 Two-division Glory kickboxing world champion Alexsandro Pereira made a successful Legacy Fighting Alliance debut in the main event of LFA 95 main event.

Pereira (3-1) immediately hurt opponent Thomas Powell with a leg kick and started landing huge knees early in Round 1. Powell (4-5) unsuccessfully tried to grapple with the kickboxing great but got demolished with a huge left hook at 4:04 of Round 1.

The co-main event saw Myron Dennis face Dylan Potter, who missed the light heavyweight limit by over six pounds. Dennis (18-7) was able to outwork Potter (8-5) in a tight contest that went the full 15 minutes. While one judge saw the fight 29-28 in Potter's favor, "The Future" took the other two 29-28 scorecards to win a split decision. After the victory, Dennis said he's still improving at 31-years-old and wants a tit…

NO DOUBT

@Daico_Deiveson locks in our main event.

[ Get the #ESPNPlus PPV: https://t.co/246VA65KPH ] pic.twitter.com/596E3v7Ngt — UFC (@ufc) November 20, 2020 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 255 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s second-to-last pay-per-view of 2020 will take place this Saturday.

Headlining UFC 255 are two flyweight title fights as Deiveson Figueiredo and Valentina Shevchenko look to defend their respective titles. All 12 fights on the card are now official after the weigh-ins took place, although Mike Perry missed weight by 4.5 pounds.

This will mark the first title defense for Figueiredo (19-1), who had to defeat Joseph Benavidez twice in a row to capture the belt that Henry Cejudo left vacant. Making weight has previously been an issue for the champ, whose only career loss was to Jussier Formiga, but …

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. Nova Uniao head coach Andre Pederneiras believes Brazilian greats Rafael dos Anjos, Jose Aldo and Patricio Freire will cement their statuses as all-time greats soon. Right after return from Las Vegas with dos Anjos, “Dede” Pederneiras spoke with Sherdog about his first experience in the corner of the former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion. Aware that dos Anjos was now the #6 ranked lightweight according to the UFC rankings, Pederneiras did not like the idea of dos Anjos as an alternate for the recently formalized Conor McGregor-Dustin Poirier rematch.

“If UFC offers that, [dos Anjos] is the one who should choose, but I don’t think that would be a nice idea. I have no doubt that Rafael is coming to fight for the belt, so he doesn't need to hurry for that”, said Pederneiras, before recalling everything the athl…

Now that the #LFA95 weigh-in is in the books, which fight are you looking forward to the most tonight?

: https://t.co/eJrC4qcSiH

: https://t.co/aiIgZVyko3@ShellsDotCom@FredLoyaIns@USENDmoney@Krushmatized@PsoRite@GLCDirect2000@AthleticCBD@IncaKolaUSA@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/d5omcI0Fcd — LFA (@LFAfighting) November 20, 2020 The Legacy Fighting Alliance will still make it to fight day after multiple fights fell off the card.

LFA 95 is now going to be headlined by Alexsandro Pereira (185.8) vs. Thomas Powell (182) at middleweight after several major shakeups to the event. The original marquee matchup featured a title fight between Nick Browne and Arthur Estrazulas, but it and two other bouts have been scuttled from the event lineup due to COVID-19 protocols.

Glory kickboxing middleweight and interim light heavyweight champ Pereira may be a relative MMA neophyte, but he sports an impressive kickboxing resume that has seem him scor…

#InvictaFC43: King vs. Harrison Official Weigh-in Results https://t.co/nyxH3JlsCh

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) November 20, 2020 Invicta Fighting Championships lost its title fight shortly after weigh-ins, and it will carry on with five fights.

Invicta FC 43 will now be capped off by the promotional debut of unbeaten Professional Fighters League lightweight champion Kayla Harrison, who made featherweight for the first time at 145.9 pounds. Harrison will face former Legacy Fighting Alliance and Fury Fighting Championship competitor Courtney King, who sports a 75 percent career finish rate. King hit the scales at 145.2 pounds to make their upgraded match official.

Originally the top billing, Emily Ducote (114.5) and Montserrat Ruiz (113.3) were set to square off for the vacant strawweight title. The promotion announced shortly after the weigh-ins that the match has been scratched due to “enhanced COVID-19 safety protocols.”

One fighter…

A jednak ‼️ Już 26 listopada w walce wieczoru gali ACA 114 w Łodzi Daniel Omielańczuk (24-9-1) powalczy z Tony "The Hulk" Johnson Jr. (13-5-1) o mistrzowski pas ACA w wadze ciężkiej! Czy Polscy kibice doczekają się pierwszego Polskiego mistrza w lidze ACA!? pic.twitter.com/JcMz0YJe5A

— ACAMMA (@ACA_League) October 19, 2020 On Nov. 26, top-ranked Absolute Championship Akhmat heavyweights Daniel Omielanczuk and Tony Johnson will fight for the vacant ACA heavyweight title.

According to ACA President Alexey Yatsenko, ACA 114 in Lodz, Poland, will go on without spectators, taking into account the local COVID-19 restrictions in place. The event, which will be available for purchase on pay-per-view through the ACA website, will otherwise be unaffected.

“It will be a real five-round battle of the titans,” Yatsenko exclaimed to Sherdog. “The title became vacant after its owner Mukhomad Vakhaev finished his contract with our organization, and it w…