Martial Arts News

Cory Sandhagen (17-4) believes bookmakers did not decide the odds of his upcoming clash against Umar Nurmagomedov (17-0) based on the caliber of the two fighters.

Sandhagen will confront Nurmagomedov in the main event at UFC Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3 in what has been billed as a No. 1 bantamweight contender matchup. Sandhagen is a +215 underdog going into the fight against Nurmagomedov, who is a -265 favorite.

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While Sandhagen doesn’t like the disparity in the odds, he isn’t much bothered by it. “Sandman” believes much of Nurmagomedov’s favorite status has to do with the success of the latter’s teammate, Islam Makhachev, who recently retained his lightweight title with a Round 5 submission over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302.

Sandhagen believes the stellar success of the Dagestani contingent influenced the odds for his upcoming clash against Nurmagomedov. While Sandhagen says the hype behind the Dagestani brigade is justified, he is against building an invincib…

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Taila Santos (20-3) declared that getting a Professional Fighters League championship belt wrapped around her waist would be the epitome of her career.

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A former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title challenger, Santos’ signing with the PFL in March came as a surprise to many. The Brazilian took a huge lead in the race to the PFL 2024 regular season playoffs with a first-round submission win over Ilara Joanne in her SmartCage debut in April.

Santos now takes on undefeated prospect Jena Bishop (7-0) at 2024 PFL 4 Regular Season on June 12 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. A win over Bishop would likely secure a playoff spot for Santos, where a path to the $1 million is laid. Santos claims a PFL championship victory will fulfill a lifetime of hard work and dedication.

“The experience with the PFL has been nothing short of amazing,” Santos said at PFL media day. “The guys up here are great; it’s be…

As far as Liz Carmouche is concerned, she is still the reigning Bellator MMA flyweight champion.

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But with that in mind, making her way through the Professional Fighters League season is currently the top priority.

“I didn’t vacate it,” Carmouche said of her Bellator belt during a recent PFL media call. “I don’t know where the standing is. My understanding is that all the women are given an opportunity to come over to the PFL, and that we chose to have the flyweight weight class added in for PFL. So that inclusion meant that there may not be a [125-pound] weight class in Bellator. I certainly don’t remove the idea that if I had an opportunity to defend my belt in Bellator I would, but right now my main focus is just trying to achieve getting to the finals and a belt for PFL.”

Carmouche will square off against Kana Watanabe at PFL 4 on Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. It’s a rematch of a June 2021 fight, which Carmouche…

Chelsea Hackett is essentially in win-or-go-home mode heading into her PFL 4 co-main event matchup with Dakota Ditcheva.

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However, Hackett is simply thankful to be competing on a regular basis after sitting on the sidelines for nearly three years on the heels of a loss to Victoria Leonardo on Dana White's Contender Series in November 2020. Thursday’s bout will mark Hackett’s third fight in approximately 10 months under the Professional Fighters League banner — a welcome change for the Australian muay thai specialist.

“The PFL has been a huge part of my career,” Hackett said during a recent media call. “I’m still only [24]. I’ve got more learning and growing to do as I get older and as I rack up fights. I’m a female fighter out of Australia. There is such a shallow pool of females — competitive and professional — in my neck of the woods. So I went almost three years without being able to get a matchup after I fought on Dana White’s Contender Serie…

Our new home @CBSSports is the perfect partner for @InvictaFights.

2024 will be a landmark year for us and we are excited to demonstrate why Invicta FC is the leading brand in women's MMA, giving fans around the world a front-row seat to the action on our biggest platform yet. pic.twitter.com/ouKNIz4R7G

— Shannon Knapp (@shanknapp) June 11, 2024

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Invicta Fighting Championships has a new broadcast home.

The all-female promotion announced on Tuesday that it has inked an exclusive U.S. television rights deal with CBS Sports. As a result of the agreement, Invicta will air five events in 2024 on CBS Sports Network. That will begin with Invicta FC 55 on June 28, a card that is headlined by a women’s bantamweight title tilt between Talita Bernardo and Olga Rubin. It is not stated whether the broadcast deal extends beyond 2024.

“CBS Sports is the perfect partner for Invicta FC,” said Invicta FC president Shannon Knapp. “…

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Ali Abdelaziz believes Kayla Harrison is levels above everyone in her division.

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Abdelaziz predicts Harrison will follow the trajectory of former UFC pound-for-pound leaders he has managed like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kamaru Usman and reigning lightwweight king Islam Makhachev. Abdelaziz claims it has been difficult to find opponents for Harrison despite the UFC offering lucrative amounts of money. According to Abdelaziz, opponents ducking a fighter is sure sign of a future pound-for-pound great.

“Kayla will be the biggest female star in history, I’m telling you… It’s just a matter of time, like it’s happened to Khabib, nobody wanna fight him, happened to Islam Makhachev and now they’ve become the pound-for-pound king,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “You have to understand, the last three guys who’s the pound-for-pound no. 1 — Kamaru Usman, we picking fights in hotel lobbies to get him fights. He become the pound-for-pound No. 1. …

Dustin Poirier is one of the few Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes thus far who has positive things to say about the promotion’s new gloves.

The UFC introduced the new gloves starting with UFC 302 on June 1. Along with several other issues, the gloves were designed to mitigate the eye pokes that have been rampant in the sport.

Poirier liked the new gloves, as he felt that they helped keep his fist closed better than the previous ones. However, Poirier noted that the gloves had thinner padding, as he showed off severely bruised knuckles even nine days after his fight against Islam Makhachev. Poirier further recalled that despite landing 178 significant strikes in his 2019 interim lightweight title win over Max Holloway, his knuckles weren’t as bruised as in his fight against Makhachev, where he landed only 74. Poirier shared his thoughts on the new golves during an appearance on "The MMA Hour.”

“I like them, I like them. My hands kind of got a littl…

Sean Strickland and Mike Perry recently engaged in a dispute regarding fighter pay in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

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Strickland was asked about a potential career in the BKFC leading up to his UFC 302 clash against Paulo Costa on June 1. Strickland completely dismissed the idea.

“Oh f—k, how much will I fight f—ing bareknuckle for? Nothing they would pay me…They’re paying their guys shit… Breaking their hands, breaking their orbitals, they’re making a couple thousand bucks,” Strickland said.

Perry, who lost $50,000 by betting on Costa, later took a shot at the former UFC middleweight champ. Perry believes Strickland shouldn’t be talking about fighter pay, as he is probably making much less in the UFC than “Platinum” is in BKFC.

“Sean Strickland, he’s fighting for the UFC for pesos and I’m getting paid over here,” Perry said on the Overdogs podcast. “He’s always posting videos on Instagram where he walks outside of his garage or hi…

Alex Pereira is somewhat bewildered by Jamahal Hill’s delayed reaction to their UFC 300 fight.

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Pereira starched Hill in the opening frame of the UFC 300 headliner in April to defend his light heavyweight title. “Poatan” did the famous "Khaby Lame" reaction pointing towards a folded Hill.

Nearly two months after UFC 300, Hill has expressed his displeasure with Pereira’s post-fight celebration, which “Sweet Dreams” found to be disrespectful. Hill noted that he had nothing but respect for Pereira’s teammate, Glover Teixeira, after dethroning him at UFC 283 in January 2023.

Pereira knocked out Hill moments after brushing off an accidental low blow and stopping referee Herb Dean from intervening. Hill further claimed that the unusual sequence helped Pereira set up his knockout blow. Hill promised to exact revenge in a post on his Instagram account.

“Now I haven’t really spoke on this but I went to Brazil and DOGG WALKED your guy in one of th…

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The moment Zachary Reese earned his first Ultimate Fighting Championship victory on Saturday, he remembered his late brother Austin, who had pushed him toward this journey.

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Having grown up watching the UFC, Reese has been dreaming of being a fighter since high school. “Savage” started his pro career with six consecutive first round finishes — including one on Dana White's Contender Series last year to earn his UFC contract. However, Reese’s hype train was derailed in his promotional debut by a first-round knockout loss against Cody Brundage at UFC Austin in December 2023.

Reese returned to the win column on Saturday with a 20-second knockout of Julian Marquez at UFC on ESPN 57.

“I feel like a million bucks man,” Reese said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “I’m just like all you fans, when I was in high school I used to beg my parents for pay-per-view money or we’d go to Buffalo Wild Wings when we couldn’t scrounge up the bucks. And ye…

Sean O'Malley doubts Umar Nurmagomedov will show up for his upcoming clash against Cory Sandhagen.

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Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov are scheduled to headline UFC on ABC 7 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3. O’Malley will keep an eye on what has been billed as a title eliminator matchup if it does come to fruition.

O’Malley took a dig at Nurmagomedov, accusing the Dagestani of pulling out of fights habitually. Nurmagomedov was previously scheduled to fight Sandhagen at UFC Nashville in August 2023 but a shoulder injury forced him out of the event.

O’Malley is also surprised at underdog status of Sandhagen, whom “Sugar” considers to be one of the most skilled fighters on the entire UFC roster. The bantamweight champ believes Sandhagen is better than Nurmagomedov and replied in affirmative when asked if he is picking “Sandman” in the upcoming UFC Abu Dhabi headliner.

“Yeah, I mean I’ll tune it if it happens,” O’Malley told MMAFighting.c…