Martial Arts News

The "No Surrender" trilogy is now complete.

The third part of One Championship’s return after the COVID-19 outbreak went down at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 21.

The main event of One Championship: No Surrender 3 featured Kulabdam Sor and Sangmanee Klong SuanPluResort competing for a shot at Nong-O Gaiyanghadao’s title in the second bantamweight semifinal of the One Muay Thai tournament. Kulabdam did not need long to solve the Sangmanee puzzle, as he rendered his opponent unconscious in the opening stanza with a crisp left hook on the chin. Kulabdam advanced to the Grand Prix final, where he will meet Saemapetch Fairtex.

In the co-main event, Mongkolpetch Petchyindee Academy overcame Sok Thy after three rounds of Muay Thai action in the flyweight division. The judges rewarded Mongkolpetch with a unanimous decision victory.

Spin to win! #NoSurrender3 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/RJlF55rTxq

— ONE Champio…

What a way to close the show! Rafal Haratyk earns his sixth victory in a row on #ACA109 main event. pic.twitter.com/HbCnNMc5Ro

— ACAMMA (@ACA_League) August 20, 2020

There is nothing quite like hearing fans cheering after a quick knockout in a main event.

Absolute Championship Akhmat returned with its first event with fans attending live at ACA 109, which went down in Lodz, Poland, on Aug. 20.

In the headliner, Rafal Haratyk (13-3-1) and Piotr Strus (15-6-2) locked horns in the middleweight division. Haratyk started strong and pushed the pace early, landing several clean combinations. One of Haratyk’s hooks shook his opponent and knocked him to the canvas, and once Haratyk smelled blood, he unleashed furious ground-and-pound. Even though Strus seemed to be still defending himself, the referee called a stop to the action at the 2:29 mark in the opening stanza. In his triumph, Haratyk extended his current winning streak to six.

The…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWo3RGJet7Y&w=560&h=315] 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. A Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter is getting a rare opportunity to be double booked at the end of this year. MMA Fighting first reported this story on Thursday, announcing that Gerald Meerschaert has been forced to pull out of his match with Ed Herman (25-14, 1 NC). Meerschaert will be replaced by John Allan Arte (13-5, 1 NC), and the Brazilian finds himself in a unique situation. In addition to his light heavyweight battle with Herman at the UFC Fight Night card on Sept. 12, he has also signed on to a matchup with Roman Dolidze (7-0) at UFC 255. The Sept. 12 show will be held in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, while UFC 255 will take place at an undetermined location on Nov. 21. Arte confirmed his bout with Dolidze on his Instagram, while Herman confirmed the o…

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. Two exciting bantamweights searching for their first win in a long time are on tap for a Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card in October. The report first came out from Mexican outlet Milenio on Wednesday night, claiming that Thomas Almeida (21-3) will be stepping in the Octagon for the first time since early 2018 against Alejandro Perez (21-8-1). The two bantamweights will square off at the UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 10, which is slated to be held on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Almeida’s last appearance came back in January 2018 against Rob Font, where the Massachusetts native scorched Almeida with a head kick and follow-up punches at UFC 220. His losing streak, the first in his career, started in July 2017 when Jimmie Rivera handed the Brazilian his first defeat on the scorecards. A stellar 20-0 inclu…

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. Two exciting bantamweights searching for their first win in a long time are on tap for a Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card in October. The report first came out from Mexican outlet Milenio on Wednesday night, claiming that Thomas Almeida (21-3) will be stepping in the Octagon for the first time since early 2018 against Alejandro Perez (21-8-1). The two bantamweights will square off at the UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 10, which is slated to be held on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Almeida’s last appearance came back in January 2018 against Rob Font, where the Massachusetts native scorched Almeida with a head kick and follow-up punches at UFC 220. His losing streak, the first in his career, started in July 2017 when Jimmie Rivera handed the Brazilian his first defeat on the scorecards. A stellar 20-0 inclu…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGFNQK0TOHI&w=560&h=315] Absolute Championship Akhmat is back on Thursday, only this time, fans will be in attendance.

The first event with fans of ACA will take place on Thursday in Lodz, Poland, in the form of ACA 109. Due to COVID-19 precautions, the arena will be only be filled at half capacity. The promotion was not required by the governing body to test the combatants for COVID-19, but ACA decided it would test fighters before and after the events regardless of the local regulations in place.

ACA President Alexey Yatsenko explained to Sherdog about the organization’s plans, saying, “Poland was by the first country to develop a protocol that allows organizing competitions with fans. Recently in Poland new relaxations of the regime related to COVID-19 came into force.”

Yatsenko continued, “The government of the country has issued a recommendation according to which sports arenas can be filled with spectators by 50 percent. …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_05ogdeMX_o&w=560&h=315] Dazn is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up here and live stream 100+ fight nights a year. Ryan Bader is ready to defend his light heavyweight throne after nearly three years in a higher weight class. Bellator MMA returns this week with Bellator 244. The card is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight as Bader will put one of his two belts on the line against surging challenger Vadim Nemkov.

This marks the first fight of 2020 for Bader (27-5, 1 NC), who is on a historic run that has seen him capture the promotion’s 205-pound and heavyweight championship belts. The last four fights of “Darth” Bader have all been contested at heavyweight, not competing at light heavyweight since finishing Linton Vassell to defend his strap in 2017. His last fight against Cheick Kongo ended in a no contest after an accidental eye poke kept the challenger from continuing. Despite his recent fight…

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.

After a stint at 170 pounds, Rafael dos Anjos will return to the lightweight division to face Islam Makhachev at UFC 254.

BJPenn.com was first to report the pairing. UFC 254 is expected to take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24 and is headlined by a lightweight championship bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje.

A former UFC lightweight champion, dos Anjos went 4-4 at welterweight, earning victories against the likes of Robbie Lawler, Neil Magny, Kevin Lee and Tarec Saffiedine. The Brazilian had struggled recently, though, losing four of five Octagon appearances — including a unanimous decision defeat to Michael Chiesa in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 166.

Makhachev will return to action for the first time since outpointing Davi Ramos at UFC 242 last September. The 28-year-old Dages…