Martial Arts News

Seasoned middleweights Brad Tavares and Jun Yong Park are slated to trade leather in July.

Tavares (20-9) and Park (17-6) will meet at UFC Fight Night on July 20 at the promotion’s Apex facility in Las Vegas. The matchup was first announced by Park’s representatives, First Round Management Asia, on social media.

Tavares is currently 1-3 in his last four and will enter the Octagon fresh off a technical knockout loss to Gregory Rodrigues in February. Tavares will make his 25th UFC appearance against Park.

Meanwhile, Park is coming off a controversial split-decision loss to Andre Muniz in February that snapped a four-fight winning streak that included three submissions. Prior to that, “The Iron Turtle” suffered a Round 2 knockout loss against the aforementioned Rodrigues in 2021.

There has been some reshuffling among recent bookings in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division.

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As a result of those changes, Alex Perez will now square off against Tatsuro Taira in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card on June 15. Perez was originally scheduled to face Tagir Ulanbekov at the event, while Taira was supposed to face Joshua Van at UFC 302 on June 1. Now, Ulanbekov and Van will lock horns on June 15. Multiple outlets confirmed the new 125-pound pairings following an initial report from Marcel Dorff.

Perez snapped a three-bout skid in his last outing, as he knocked out Matheus Nicolau in the second round of the UFC on ESPN 55 headliner. The former title challenger is 7-4 during his stint with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

The 24-year-old Taira has kicked off his Octagon tenure with five consecutive triumphs to raise his overall professional mark to 15-0. The Okinawa, Japan, native capped off a 3-0 campaign …

A women’s flyweight bout with No. 1 contender implications has been targeted to headline an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on July 13.

Former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is expected to face Maycee Barber in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card in Denver. Multiple outlets confirmed that the bout is in the works following an initial report from Ariel Helwani. A venue for the event has not been announced.

Namajunas is 1-1 since moving to 125 pounds following a successful stint at strawweight that included two title reigns. After dropping a unanimous verdict against Manon Fiorot in her flyweight debut at UFC Fight Night 226, “Thug” Rose rebounded with a five-round decision triumph over Amanda Ribas in her last outing in the UFC on ESPN 53 main event.

Barber, meanwhile, enters the matchup on a six-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 25-year-old Dana White's Contender Series alum earned her most significant victory t…

🚨 We're very excited to announce that one of the most exciting young fighters in the game, #TeamIridium beast @JaySquabbles (8-1), is taking his talents to the @PFLMMA cage ✍🏾 #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/5fuJidi5iZ

— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) May 13, 2024

Cage Fury Fighting Championships featherweight king Jose Perez is taking his talents to Professional Fighters League.

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Perez’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, announced the signing on Monday, and Sherdog.com later confirmed the news with PFL officials. According to the event page of PFL broadcast partner ESPN, Perez is slated to face Tyler Diamond at PFL 6 on June 28.

The 29-year-old Perez has compiled an 8-1 mark as a professional, with all but one of his appearances coming under the CFFC banner. He last appeared at CFFC 123 this past September, when he took a unanimous decision against Chris Vasil. Perez has earned four of his career triumphs via …

Ryan Bader won’t be in action for at least a few more months after joining the cast of "The Smashing Machine.”

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The Bellator MMA heavyweight champion recently announced on social media that he has landed a role in the biopic on UFC and Pride Fighting Championships veteran Mark Kerr, who will be played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

“Putting the MMA game on pause a bit as I head to Vancouver for about three months,” Bader wrote on Instagram. “Excited to be part of an amazing project by [director] Benny Safdie. Giving ode to a couple legends of the sport, Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman. The highs and lows that come with this crazy ass sport.”

Produced by A24, “The Smashing Machine” will also star Emily Blunt and is expected to be released sometime in 2025. It is currently unknown exactly what role Bader will play in the film, which is based on a 2002 documentary of the same name. According to imdb.com, the movie will be “based on the true events su…

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The UFC Apex has been a staple of the Las Vegas-based promotion’s calendar since the COVID-19 pandemic.

While those events were born out of necessity early on, the Apex shows haven’t gone anywhere even with pandemic restrictions being lifted in recent years. The atmosphere at the UFC’s home facility is lacking compared to cards in various cities, which was once again evident during UFC on ESPN 56 in St. Louis on Saturday night.

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According to UFC CEO Dana White, the event gate of $2.47 million was a Fight Night record, surpassing the previous mark set for a card in Austin, Texas, this past December, and those in attendance at the Enterprise Center gave it a big-fight feel — particularly when hometown favorites such as Joaquin Buckley, Sean Woodson and Charles Johnson were in action.

“Even if you were watching on ESPN, I’m sure you guys were getting texts too. They’re like, ‘Jesus Christ, it’s like a pay-per-view there right now.’ And when you think a…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗗𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗧 💰🏆

Get ready for the 2024 #PFLPlayoffs 🔜

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For more information 👇🔗https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/fg4uduzfup — PFL (@PFLMMA) May 13, 2024

The Professional Fighters League playoffs are on the horizon.

The organization on Monday announced the dates and locations for its three postseason events. Heavyweights and women’s flyweights are set for Aug. 2 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee; light heavyweights and lightweights will be in action at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida on Aug. 16 and welterweights and featherweights will take center stage at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 23.

“PFL playoff action is second to none, with the best athletes in the sport vying for a chance to continue their million-dollar championship journeys,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray in a release. “The PFL is excited to bring the 2024 PFL global season playoff…

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Bryce Mitchell and Sean Woodson are seemingly on a collision course to meet in the Octagon.

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Woodson recently put on a striking masterclass to earn a unanimous decision win over featherweight veteran Alex Caceres at UFC on ESPN 56. “The Sniper” subsequently called out Mitchell in his post-fight Octagon interview.

“I just beat a Top 15-ranked guy,” Woodson said. “He wasn’t [Top] 15 right now, but when we signed the fight he was Top 15. I feel like I should be Top 15 next. Next I want Bryce Mitchell. I want No. 10, then I want No. 5 and then I want a title shot.”

Mitchell took almost no time in accepting the challenge in a video uploaded to social media.

“When and where, dude? When and where? I’m sitting here watching this s—t,” Mitchell said. “I’m ready. I need some money. I’m ready to fight you. Tell me where.”

Woodson hasn’t lost in has last six UFC outings since falling to Julian Erosa in 2020. His current winn…

Sharabutdin Magomedov blames Michel Pereira for disrupting his upcoming fight.

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Magomedov was originally scheduled to fight Ihor Potieria at UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22. However, Potieria replaced an injured Makhmud Muradov against Michel Pereira at UFC 301 on May 4. Potieria was submitted by Pereira in under a minute, which also resulted in a medical suspension for the Ukrainian middleweight until August.

The fight was not without controversy, as Pereira came dangerously close to landing an illegal knee against his opponent after he backflipped into top position. After a review, it was determined that Pereira did not commit a foul in that moment. However, “The Duelist” has since protested the outcome.

“Hey everyone… Friends, thank you very much for your support, I appreciate it and am very grateful to you. I’m also very grateful to the haters for not forgetting and supporting me as much as possible, I appreciate that too. It’s a shame that I c…

Dustin Poirier doesn’t miss the opportunity to jump a guillotine, something coach Mike Brown knows all too well.

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Poirier is infamous for attempting the guillotine choke, even though it lands him in a compromised bottom position more often than not. Most recently, “The Diamond” repeatedly jumped the guillotine without any success against Benoit St. Denis at UFC 299 in March, even though his corner advised him against it.

Brown, Poirier’s coach at American Top Team, recently revealed what transpired in their corner in between the rounds during that bout. According to Brown, Poirier blatantly ignored his corner’s advice to avoid the guillotine and went on to attempt another immediately afterward.

“They actually didn’t play it in between the rounds, after the first round I said, ‘No more guillotines,’ and then they switched to the other corner,” Poirier told MMAFighting.com. “But right after I said that, Dustin said, ‘No, but I can hit it! I can h…

A heavyweight clash pitting Andrei Arlovski against Martin Buday will take place two weeks later than originally expected.

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The bout, which was slated for UFC Fight Night on June 15, has been moved to UFC 303 on June 29 for undisclosed reasons. Buday announced the shift on social media, and it has been confirmed by multiple outlets. The heavyweight combatants will now have a considerably larger stage for their bout, as UFC 303 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight scrap between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler.

The matchup with Buday will mark Arlovski’s 42nd Octagon appearance — the second most in UFC history behind Jim Miller. After winning four straight contests from April 2021 to April 2022, the 45-year-old Belarusian has dropped his last three promotional outings. Most recently, “The Pit Bull” suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Fight Night 234 on Jan. 13.

A win…