Martial Arts News

KILLER CUB IS BACK @CubSwanson with a beautiful return to the Octagon #UFC256

Order the PPV: https://t.co/05E97eYz38 pic.twitter.com/qrerIMsSaM

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) December 13, 2020 UFC 256 was one of the year’s most entertaining and memorable cards but that wasn’t reflected in the ratings for the preliminary draw.

According to ShowBuzz Daily, the UFC 256 prelims averaged 503,000 viewers for a two and a half hour broadcast on ESPN2. Only the UFC 254 prelims, which averaged 343,000 viewers for a daytime broadcast on ESPN2, attracted a smaller audience.

UFC 256 took place this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view portion of the card was headlined by a flyweight championship clash between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno, which ended up being praised as one of the best fights of 2020. The prelims, meanwhile, saw featherweight veteran Cub Swanson score a second-round knockout of Daniel Pineda in the even…

Muslim Salikhov has withdrawn from a proposed welterweight clash against Santiago Ponzinibbio at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first event of 2021.

Salikohov announced his exit in an Instagram post, citing health issues that arose after contracting COVID-19 in September. UFC Fight Night takes place Jan. 16 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and his headlined by a featherweight bout pitting Max Holloway against Calvin Kattar. It is unclear if the promotion will seek a replacement foe for Ponzinibbio.

Salikov is currently on a four-bout winning streak in UFC competition. He last appeared at UFC 251, where he earned a split-decision triumph over Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos on July 11.

Ponzinibbio hasn’t competed in the Octagon since November 2018, when he knocked out Neil Magny in the fourth round of the UFC Fight Night 140 headliner. The 34-year-old Argentinian is currently on a seven-fight winning streak.

Of all the potential matchups for Yoel Romero in Bellator MMA, a light heavyweight showdown with the also recently-signed Anthony Johnson seems to be the most tantalizing.

Romero has opened as a slight favorite in the pairing of former UFC title challengers, according to BetOnline. Romero opened as a -175 favorite, with Johnson as a slight +150 underdog. As of this writing, Romero is at -155 and Johnson is +135. Romero and Johnson must fight by Aug. 1, 2021 for action to be valid.

Romero was released from his UFC contract following a three-fight skid. He last appeared at UFC 248, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Israel Adesanya in a middleweight championship bout.

Johnson hasn’t competed since April 2017, when he was submitted by Daniel Cormier in the second-round of a 205-pound title tilt at UFC 210.

Anthony Johnson vs. Yoel Romero Odds

Anthony Johnson vs Yoel Romero (opening odds)Anthony Johnson       &nbs…

UFC Fight Night 183 is down to 14 bouts after Belal Muhammad tested positive for COVID-19.

Muhammed announced the news via Twitter on Tuesday. As a result, his welterweight scrap with Dhiego Lima has been canceled. According to MMAFighting.com, the bout is expected to be rescheduled in January.

Woke up yesterday feeling like crap got tested and i was positive for covid sucks but I’ll be back

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) December 15, 2020

UFC Fight Night 183 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight clash pitting Stephen Thompson against Geoff Neal. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+.

Muhammed has won seven of his last eight Octagon appearances and is coming off a three-round verdict against Lyman Good at UFC on ESPN 11 this past June.

Lima has been victorious in his last three promotional outings, including a split-decision triumph over Luke Jumeau at UFC 243.

Blew him a kiss then slapped him!?

@UFCPereira is truly in his element tonight. #UFCVegas9 pic.twitter.com/i80f35cot5

— UFC (@ufc) September 6, 2020 After an impressive performance against Zelim Imdadaev at UFC Fight Night 176 that included a payback slap to the face before his third-round submission victory, Michael Pereira returns to the Octagon on Saturday to face the dangerous Kalinn Williams, who is coming off back-to-back knockout victories.

“Definitely he is a dangerous guy with lots of knock out power who deserves all my respect, but I’m also bringing some surprises to him,” Pereira recently said during a live session on Portal de Vale Tudo. “As always, I´m coming to win, entertaining the fans and, hopefully, getting my fourth UFC bonus.”

When asked about the possibility of repeating his face slap technique against Williams, Pereira promised that is not part of the game plan.

“I have many tools to do my show with…

Tony Ferguson doesn’t seem to be overly discouraged following a lopsided decision loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 256.

“El Cucuy” was dominated on the ground in a unanimous decision defeat to his Brazilian opponent in Saturday’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. When considering that setback comes on the heels of a fifth-round TKO loss against Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 in May, it might be reasonable to think that Ferguson has seen his best days in the Octagon.

“The Ultimate Fighter 13” winner has other ideas, however.

“My search for that epic word called ‘Greatness’ isn’t over,” Ferguson wrote on Instagram. “Understand crew, we are far from being retired.”

Ferguson’s night went south once the action hit the canvas, and had Oliveira secured an armbar a few seconds earlier in the opening stanza, the fight probably wouldn’t have made it to the judges. Instead, Ferguson displayed tremendous toughness in surviving until the Round 1 horn as his arm was…

Max Holloway has largely been quiet since a controversial split-decision defeat to Alexander Volkanovski in their rematch at UFC 251 this past July.

However, while Holloway is well-known for accepting defeat with grace, he points to the majority opinion regarding that result. Of the 27 media scorecards tracked by MMADecisions.com, 18 rewarded the fight to Holloway.

“Me personally, I don’t really think that it matters if I won the fight,” Holloway told ESPN. “What matters to me is what most people think…It doesn’t matter what I think. But the UFC, you guys, the world — they can see. 80 to 90 percent of the world thinks I won. That’s what matters to them and that’s what matters to me.”

Holloway also points out that many prominent members of the MMA community thought he defeated Volkanovski in their rematch.

"They were sticking their necks out for me," Holloway said. "And these aren't fans, they're fighters. Jorge [Masvidal], Nate [Diaz], Dustin [Poirier], …

After what transpired at UFC 256, it’s hard to imagine that the flyweight division was once on life support in the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno put on a show for 25 minutes in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex, battling to a majority draw that was hailed as the greatest fight in the history of the flyweight division. Making it even more impressive was the fact that both Figueiredo and Moreno were competing just 21 days after earning victories at UFC 255.

“I didn’t know, you don’t know [how it’s gonna turn out],” UFC president Dana White said at the event’s post-fight press conference. “Then you start wondering, ‘Well, we’re gonna find out when this thing gets into the fourth and fifth round’ and things like that. Seriously, we throw the word around a lot, but these two are seriously f—-ing savages. Both of these guys are absolute savages.”

Ironically, it was a pair of flyweights who stepped up to save an event that had los…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztl8PLyqpYE&w=560&h=315]

Let the anticipation begin.

Over the weekend, the first official trailer for the Conor McGregor-Dustin Poirier rematch at UFC 257 was released by the Las Vegas-based promotion. McGregor and Poirier will square off in the evening’s headliner on Jan. 23 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

The two rivals initially met in a featherweight bout at UFC 178 on Sept. 27, 2014 in Las Vegas. McGregor defeated Poirier via first-round TKO, cementing himself as a star to watch in the division and putting himself on a championship path.

Plenty has changed since then. McGregor has gone on to become a simultaneous two-division champion and also earned a lucrative payday for a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. Undoubtedly the biggest star in the promotion, the “Notorious” Irishman returned to the Octagon following more than a year absence at UFC 246 in January, when he stopped Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds on Jan. 18.…

A flyweight clash between Matt Schnell and Tyson Nam has been rescheduled for a third time, landing on the UFC’s Jan. 20 event.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news. Schnell and Nam were initially slated to meet on Sept. 12, but the bout was canceled when Schnell experienced health issues due to his weight cut. The matchup was rebooked for UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19 but was scrapped for undisclosed reasons.

The UFC Fight Night event is expected to take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and could reportedly be headlined by a welterweight tilt between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Schnell will be making his first appearance since December 2019, when he had a four-bout winning streak snapped by Alexandre Pantoja in a first-round knockout loss at UFC Fight Night 165. The 30-year-old American Top Team representative is 4-3 during his Octagon tenure and 14-5 as a professional overall.

A 32-fight veteran, Nam is riding the momentum of back-to-back f…

It appears that Yoel Romero will be a Bellator MMA athlete very soon.

The former UFC middleweight title challenger is expected to sign with the California-based promotion and make his debut at 205 pounds in 2021. Though Romero has not officially signed a contract, both sides have agreed to terms. ESPN was first to report the news.

Early reports indicated that Bellator was not interested in signing Romero, who will turn 44 years old in April. However, Bellator and “The Soldier of God” were ultimately able to reach an agreement for a multi-fight deal as Romero’s period of free agency lasted less than two weeks. Romero’s imminent signing comes on the heels of the addition of Anthony Johnson, setting up a potentially tantalizing matchup at light heavyweight in Bellator.

Romero, who suffered a KO loss to Rafael Cavalcante in a 205-pound bout under the Strikeforce banner before moving to middleweight upon signing with the UFC, is 13-5 over the course of a professional…

A light heavyweight showdown pitting Khalil Rountree against Marcin Prachnio has been added to the UFC 257 lineup.

Promotion officials announced the pairing during the UFC 256 broadcast this past Saturday. UFC 257 takes place on Jan. 23 in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a lightweight showdown between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

After recently considering retirement, Rountree re-signed with the Las Vegas-based promotion earlier this year. Rountree last appeared at UFC Fight Night 160, where he suffered a first-round TKO defeat at the hands of Ion Cutelaba in September 2019. The 30-year-old Tiger Muay Thai representative is 4-4 with one no contest during his promotional tenure.

Prachnio, meanwhile, enters the matchup with Rountree on a three-bout losing streak in the Octagon. Most recently, the Tatsujin Dojo product suffered a first-round KO loss to Mike Rodriguez at UFC on ESPN 15. The One Championship veteran has been finished in each of his three UFC ap…