Martial Arts News

Khabib Nurmagomedov has no interest in a reality TV gig opposite Conor McGregor.

The reigning lightweight champion confirmed a recent statement made by his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, that he vetoed the possibility of coaching a season of “The Ultimate Fighter” against the Irish superstar.

"'The Ultimate Fighter' with him is good attention for him," Nurmagomedov told ESPN. "I don't want to give him this. I never give him this. Even if they give me $5 billion -- even if they gave me the UFC -- I never do this. This is good attention for him.

"It's done. Everything is done Oct. 6, 2018. I finish him. I finish everything about him.”

After months of bad blood, Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the fourth round of their 155-pound title bout at UFC 229 on that aforementioned date. After his victory, the Dagestani jumped out of the Octagon to confront McGregor’s corner, prompting a melee that resulted in fines and suspensions for both fighters as well as members o…

Orion Cosce, the card's biggest underdog, got the third-round finish from the crucifix #DWCS pic.twitter.com/xLxvijmznH

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 19, 2020

Dana White’s Contender Series alum Orion Cosce will make his Octagon debut against Nicolas Dalby at UFC 255.

Cosce initially announced the booking via social media. UFC 255 takes place on Nov. 21 and is headlined by a flyweight title clash between Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko defends her 125-pound belt against Jennifer Maia.

Cosce earned a UFC contract by rallying for a third-round TKO victory against Matt Dixon in a Contender Series bout on Aug. 18. The 26-year-old Californian is 7-0 as a professional, with all of his triumphs coming inside the distance.

Dalby, meanwhile, had a five-bout unbeaten streak snapped at UFC on ESPN 14, where he was submitted by Jesse Ronson in the opening stanza on July 25. A former Cage Warriors tit…

It appears that Cory Sandhagen did not emerge unscathed from his highlight-reel victory over Marlon Moraes at UFC Fight Night 179.

The Elevation Fight Team member is facing a potential 180-day medical suspension unless he receives clearance from an ophthalmologist. At a minimum, Sandhagen is suspended 30 days with 21 days no contact. Moraes, who was stopped by a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches in the second round of Saturday’s bantamweight headliner, is suspended 45 days with 21 days of no contact.

The UFC, which acted as its own regulating body for the event, recently released a full list of medical suspensions to mixedmartialarts.com. UFC Fight Night 179 took place at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. Everyone who competed received at least a seven-day mandatory suspension.

Five other fighters from the card are facing potential 180-day sits: Tom Breese, Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira, Impa Kasanganay, Tony Kelley and Omar Morales.

…

A proposed middleweight clash between Joe Schilling and Curtis Millender has been removed from Bellator 249.

Sherdog.com confirmed the news with a promotion official on Monday following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. The bout was canceled after the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulations denied Schilling a license to fight at the event for undisclosed reasons. Millender will not receive a replacement opponent.

As a result, Bellator 249 will proceed with 11 bouts. The event takes place on Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and is headlined by a women’s featherweight title tilt between Cristiane Justino and Arlene Blencowe. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT following prelims on Bellator’s YouTube channel at 7:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. PT.

Millender rejoined Bellator after a 3-2 UFC stint and has kicked off his 2020 campaign with a decision win over Moses Murrietta at Bellator 238 and a decision los…

Initially scheduled for UFC 254 on Oct. 24, the lightweight fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev had to be postponed due to Brazilian testing positive for COVID-19 two weeks before traveling to Abu Dhabi.

Dos Anjos spent his camp for the postponed bout at Nova Uniao, where he wowed the likes of former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and head trainer Andre Pederneiras.

"Unfortunately he was caught by COVID-19. He was in such a great shape. But I can guarantee that as soon as he recovers, the fans will see the best Rafael dos Anjos ever,” Aldo told Sherdog.com backstage at a launch event for Wanderlei Silva’s biography last week.

Aldo revealed that he also participated in the camp with dos Anjos and already has his next opponent decided.

"Unfortunately the UFC did not authorize me to release the name, but we will fight in November,” Aldo said. “By December 2021, I want to be the owner of bantamweight belt.”

Pederneiras…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llz4g9kS95s&w=560&h=315]

While some visual evidence does exist, what exactly happened in the locker room at Pride “Shockwave” on December 31, 2005?

The entire martial arts world has already seen the YouTube video where Charles Bennett and Cristiano Marcello, jiu-jitsu trainer of Chute Boxe team, had a fight in the Pride locker room a few hours before the grudge match between Wanderlei Silva and Ricardo Arona.   

Everything happened shortly after “Krazy Horse” submitted Japanese fighter Ken Kaneko, who also made his camp in Chute Boxe. Marcello, who was in Kaneko’s corner, had a discussion with Bennett, who was sharing a locker room with the Chute Boxe team that night, right after that fight ended. What resulted was a confrontation where Marcello applied a triangle choke that rendered Bennett unconscious, as seen in the video.

However, perhaps the most controversial part of that history occurs when Bennett re…

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s next event will include a pair of champions on the card.

The Polish promotion announced on Monday that KSW 56 will feature welterweight king Roberto Soldic and light heavyweight title holder Tomasz Narkun on the Nov. 14 bill. Former professional boxer and reality TV star Karolina Owczarz, who is a training partner of Karolina Kowalkiewicz, will also compete at the event. Opponents for the trio have yet to be announced.

Soldic claimed the welterweight crown with a stoppage of Borys Mankowski in his promotional debut at KSW 41. After losing the title to Dricus Du Plessis in his next appearance, “Robocop” regained the crown in a rematch and has since won three more bouts under the KSW banner.

Narkun, meanwhile, has held the KSW light heavyweight crown since 2015 — defending the title four times in the process. “Giraffe” has won eight of his last nine outings, a streak that includes a pair of triumphs over KSW legend Mamed Khalidov. His on…

THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE KO IN UFC HISTORY #UFCFightIsland5 pic.twitter.com/O7BOJg8h9c

— UFC (@ufc) October 10, 2020

It was a surreal moment for Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Night 179 after he authored a finish that figures to top many “Knockout of the Year” lists at the end of 2020.

The aftermath included a conversation with UFC president Dana White, who was seated cageside at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi and was understandably impressed by Buckley’s work.

“The boss just told me that he wants to give me all of the bonuses, so I’m welcome to it, I want all of it. To be honest with you, it’s surreal. A cloud came over my head when he was talking to me, so I couldn’t hear nothing, but once that money came in, once he talked about that, then it cleared up a little bit,” Buckley said. “But it’s awesome, it’s surreal that Dana White came over and talked to me.”

Although he would ultimately receive just one “Performance of the Night” bonus,…

A women’s flyweight tilt pitting Roxanne Modafferi against Viviane Araujo is in the works for a UFC event on Jan. 30.

MyMMANews.com was first to report the matchup. A location and a headliner for the card have yet to be announced.

Modafferi was victorious in two of her three Octagon appearances in 2020. Most recently, “The Happy Warrior” outpointed Andrea Lee in a rematch at UFC Fight Night 177 on Sept. 12. Modafferi also scored a notable triumph over highly-touted prospect Maycee Barber at UFC 246 in January.

Araujo, meanwhile has won three of her first four UFC bouts, with her lone setback coming at the hands of Jessica Eye. In her last outing, the 33-year-old Brazilian earned a unanimous verdict over Montana De La Rosa at UFC Fight Night 176 on Sept. 5.

Otro KO histórico!!!!! Cómo ver viral? @Cors_Life lo sabe! #UFCFightIsland5 pic.twitter.com/SUy0aZMvEl

— ufcespanol (@UFCEspanol) October 11, 2020

Marlon Moraes thought things were going fairly well early on his UFC Fight Night 179 main event showdown with Cory Sandhagen.

That, of course, was before Sandhagen leveled him with a spinning wheel kick early in Round 2. The blow sent Moraes into a backward somersault, and a barrage of follow-up punches from Sandhagen prompted referee Marc Goddard to wave off the bantamweight bout 63 seconds into the period.

Sandhagen landed about four unanswered punches before the stoppage, but Moraes believes he could have been granted a little more time to recover.

“I thought we had a very good first round. But I thought I won the round,” Moraes said during the post-fight show on ESPN+. “And then he started the second and I don’t know, I think he kind of catch me with a kick and bloodied my eye a littl…

Edson Barboza didn’t feel like a man on a three-fight losing streak heading into his matchup with Makwan Amirkhani at UFC Fight Night 179.

However, that’s exactly what the Brazilian’s record showed following a skid that included back-to-back split-decision defeats at the hands of Paul Felder and Dan Ige. So one can’t blame Barboza if he felt a sense of relief after a unanimous decision victory in Saturday’s co-main event at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

“I feel like I take a couple hundred thousand pounds off my shoulder,” Barboza said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “It’s hard. I thought I win my last two fights against Paul and Ige. Thank God I’m back to get my ‘W,’ and I’m very, very happy.”

Barboza was explosive and efficient against Amirkhani, flooring his opponent twice in the second stanza in a convincing performance. Making the performance more impressive was the fact that Barboza had to make some adjustments when Amirkhani replac…

Cory Sandhagen provided the type of finish on Saturday night that gives him serious leverage in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division.

The Elevation Fight Team standout dispatched Marlon Moraes in spectacular fashion, knocking out the former 135-pound title challenger with a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches 63 seconds into Round 2 of their headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 179 in Abu Dhabi.

While it seems inevitable that the Las Vegas-based promotion will eventually book Aljamain Sterling against reigning bantamweight king Petr Yan, there’s always a possibility Sandhagen could skip to the front of the line – even with a first-round submission loss to “The Funkmaster” on his resume. It wouldn’t be the first time merit took a backseat in a sport that places a premium on entertainment.

“I would feel really bad if they did me and Yan, and they did that to Sterling,” Sandhagen said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “That being…