Martial Arts News

It’s been 20 years since Andrei Arlovski made his Octagon debut against Aaron Brink at UFC 28 “High Stakes” at Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Two decades and 33 UFC appearances later, the 41-year-old Belarusian is still finding ways to win fights. On Saturday, “The Pit Bull” held off surging heavyweight Tanner Boser, who entered the bout on the strength of back-to-back KO finishes, to win a unanimous decision in the UFC on ESPN 17 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

While Arlovski’s output was lacking, when he did connect, he landed with more authority than his 29-year-old opponent, whose primary offense was a steady diet of leg kicks. In a fight where signature moments came at a premium, that was enough for the American Top Team product to earn the nod from the cageside judges. For Arlovski, a man who has competed in four different decades now, a conservative approach can be prudent.

“I can understand understand why commentators and Dana White…

It’s been more than six years since Glover Teixeira last challenged for UFC light heavyweight gold, but the Brazilian veteran is knocking on the door for another title shot in what should be the twilight of his career.

The 41-year-old Teixeira won his fifth straight fight in the UFC on ESPN 17 headliner, submitting Thiago Santos with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Making the victory even more impressive was the fact that Teixeira finished the man who battled pound-for-pound superstar Jon Jones to a split decision at UFC 239 in 2019.

After his victory, Teixeira pleaded for another chance to claim UFC gold.

“I want that belt, man. It’s a dream,” Teixeira said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “I live a simple life. I don’t fight for the money, I fight for the belt. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m disciplined. That’s why I work so hard. That’s my dream.

“I know it’s not an easy task. There’…

IN ONE ROUND.@JaredVanderaa opened the night with RELENTLESS finishing shots

[ Tune in on #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/UCQSGCS7tY

— UFC (@ufc) November 5, 2020 A heavyweight matchup pitting Sergey Spivak against Jared Vanderaa is in the works for UFC 256 on Dec. 12.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the booking. UFC 256 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s featherweight championship clash between Amanda Nunes and Megan Anderson. In the co-main event, Petr Yan will defend the bantamweight crown against Aljamain Sterling.

Spivak, 25, is 2-2 in four Octagon appearances. In his last outing, the Moldovan fighter earned a majority decision against Carlos Felipe at UFC Fight Night 172 on July 18. Spivak is 11-2 as a professional with 10 triumphs coming inside the distance.

Vanderaa, meanwhile, earned a UFC contract thanks to a first-round technical knockout victory over Harry Hunsucker at Dana White…

Raoni Barcelos and Khalid Taha brought the heat for 15 full minutes at UFC on ESPN 17.

The bantamweight competitors were rewarded for their efforts with “Fight of the Night” and $50,000 apiece on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Barcelos set a tremendous pace throughout the bout and appeared to be on the verge of putting his opponent away on a few occasions, but Taha stayed in the fight and made it to the final horn. Still, it was Barcelos who emerged with a well-deserved unanimous decision triumph.

Elsewhere, Giga Chikadze pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for a quick finish of replacement foe James Krause-Simmons in a featured featherweight matchup. After a feeling-out process, Chikadze felled Krause-Simmons with a body kick followed by a head kick. Standing-to-ground punches ended the bout 3:51 into the first frame.

Finally, heavyweight submission artist Alexander Romanov earned the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” c…

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. Glover Teixeira refused to give in. The respected Brazilian veteran on Saturday likely cemented himself as the No. 1 contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight division, as he submitted Thiago Santos with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their UFC on ESPN 17 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. In his first appearance since July 6, 2019, Santos (21-8, 13-7 UFC) capitulated 1:49 into Round 3.

Teixeira (32-7, 15-5 UFC) walked through hellfire to secure one of the most significant victories of his 39-fight career. Hurt on multiple occasions, the former Shooto Brazil champion turned to his takedowns, world-class grappling and destructive ground-and-pound to neutralize another knockout-minded opponent. He dominated Santos in the second round and cinched a rear-naked choke in the closing seconds of …

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 Fight Night 182 coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.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:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Cri…

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 17 coverage will begin Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Welcome to UFC on ESPN 17, also known as UFC Vegas 13. The first fight of the night comes in the bantamweight division, as Lopez (11-5, 0-1 UFC) welcomes Birchak (16-6, 2-2 UFC) back to the cage in the latter’s second stint. Drawing the inaugural assignment this evening is referee Chris Tognoni, and with a touch of gloves, we get down to business. Birchak opens with a calf kick, and Lopez swings his leg away to avoid the brunt of it. When “El Toro” goes after another, Lopez counters him with an overhand right. Birchak leaves his chin exposed with a jump knee and he gets blasted hard with a left hook. Lopez bites down on his mouthpiece and cracks Birchak on the…

#UFCVegas13 is LIVE TONIGHT on @espn at 10pm ET pic.twitter.com/dUbmcIyi6g

— danawhite (@danawhite) November 8, 2020

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.

It was gruesome enough to inspire widespread dry heaves.

Former Tachi Palace Fights champion Max Griffin prompted an injury stoppage against Ramiz Brahimaj in the third round of their UFC on ESPN 17 welterweight prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, as he nearly took off the Fortis MMA rep’s left ear with a well-placed elbow strike. Brahimaj (8-3, 0-1 UFC) was declared unfit to continue 2:03 into Round 3, then likely sought out the nearest plastic surgeon.

Griffin (16-8, 4-6 UFC) spent most of the first two rounds burying jabs into his opponent’s face, opening multiple cuts and leaving visible damage to both of his eyes. Midway through the third, he dazed Brah…

Bryan Barberena will not face Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night 182 as expected after undergoing emergency surgery.

According to an announcement on his Instagram page, Barberena had an “emergency exploratory laparotomy due to internal bleeding from a couple ruptured arteries in his omentum.” It is currently unclear if a replacement opponent will be found for Rodriguez.

The full statement regarding Barberena is as follows:

Bryan had an emergency exploratory laparotomy due to internal bleeding from a couple ruptured arteries in his omentum. He had 1.5 liters of blood in his abdomen. Bryan’s surgery was successful. He is having pain, which is expected, but he is doing good. The doctor said because he is young and healthy he will have a quick recovery. Unfortunately, due to the surgery, Bryan will not be fighting on November 14th. He is extremely disappointed, and was ready to put on a show, but he will be back ASAP (once he’s healed). He apologizes to his oppone…

UFC on ESPN 17 is now down to 10 bouts after a positive COVID-19 test “involving” Ian Heinisch ahead of his middleweight showdown with Brendan Allen.

As a result, the contest has been canceled, and a featherweight clash between Giga Chikadze and James Krause-Simmons has been promoted to the main card. The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the news in a statement on Saturday.

UFC on ESPN 17 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt pitting Thiago Santos against Glover Teixeira. The main cad airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.

Heinisch and Allen were previously slated to meet at UFC on ESPN 12 on June 27 before Heinisch withdrew from the bout due to injury. The 32-year-old Heinisch snapped a two-fight skid with a first-round stoppage of Gerald Meerschaert in his most recent outing at UFC 250 on June 6.

Allen has kicked off his prom…

Antonio Silva wants to share his side of the story.

After leaving the main event of Taura MMA 11 in Florida last Friday due to problems with the organization, Silva (19-12-1) already agreed to fight against American Chris Barnett (21-6). The two heavyweights are set to come to blows in France on Dec. 12 in fledgling organization Arena Fight Championship. On Wednesday, “Bigfoot” spoke to Sherdog, where he explained the whole situation involving Taura MMA.

“It was absurd,” Silva said flatly. “They [Taura MMA] promised to pay me some advanced money in August in order to help my camp expenses and never deposited. In the week of the fight, they found out that one exam I sent in October needed to be made again, and they guaranteed there was no time left for that, which is not true. Unfortunately, the event was not professional with me. Actually, they were doing two events at the same time, one week in Brazil and the next one in USA, and didn’t have enough people to take c…

Respect after all! pic.twitter.com/X8dqV4saVA

— ACAMMA (@ACA_League) November 6, 2020 Azamat Kerefov remains on the Absolute Championship Akhmat flyweight throne after ACA 113.

In the main event, Kerefov (14-0) and Kurban Gadzhiev (16-3) clashed once again, this time for the 125-pound championship. In their first contest, Kerefov took a unanimous verdict over Gadzhiev after a three-round clash. Running it back two years later, the result was much the same after five rounds. The challenger started strong, inflicting visible damage to the body of the champion in the opening round. In the second stanza, Kerefov showed off some of his grappling skills as he dominated his opponent on the ground for most of the round. The third round was fairly even, with both contenders exchanging shots and attempting to impose their will on one other.

In the first championship round, Kerefov looked to be the fresher man as he outgrappled his seemingly fatigued…