Martial Arts Videos

A flyweight clash pitting Steve Erceg against Matt Schnell has been rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 238.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the pairing on Sunday. Erceg and Schnell were initially slated to meet at UFC 295, but Schnell was forced to withdraw from the contest for undisclosed reasons. UFC Fight Night 238 takes place on March 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and includes a heavyweight bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gamziev and a flyweight scrap between Muhammad Mokaev and Alex Perez. A headliner has not been confirmed for the event.

Erceg remained on the UFC 295 card, where he took a unanimous verdict over replacement foe Alessandro Costa. The 28-year-old Aussie has been victorious in 10 straight professional outings, including a three-round verdict against David Dvorak in his Octagon debut at UFC 289.

Schnell, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since December 2022, when he suffered a second-round knockout loss to Matheus Nicolau at…

Randy Brown couldn’t have drawn up a better finish than the one he authored at UFC Fight Night 235.

Advertisement

“Rude Boy” followed a double jab with a picture-perfect right hand, flooring Muslim Salikhov and earning a knockout victory 3:17 into Round 1 of their welterweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“One hitter quitter on a striker like that, it means a lot,” Brown said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “He’s a accomplished so much, and I have so much respect for him, it means a lot. It means a lot to go in and perform and finally show the things I’m capable of.”

While the fight could have easily been halted once Salikhov crashed to the canvas, referee Kerry Hatley hesitated at first. The forced Brown to seal his victory with one mostly unnecessary standing-to-ground punch.

“I didn’t want to hit him again. I really didn’t,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘What is this ref doing?’ The ref was unsure, so I had to do it.”

…

The most dominant champ in KSW history vs. a true combat sports legend! 🤩

𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠🇬🇧 @phildefriesmmavs. @JoshLBarnett 🇺🇸

Advertisement

Celebrating 20 years of KSW!

XTB #KSWEpic | Feb 24 | #Gliwice🎟️ @eBiletPL | 📺 PPV https://t.co/KEwIlAHwkA pic.twitter.com/eFPt52gTZO

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 2, 2024

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight champion Philip De Fries will square off against Josh Barnett in a grappling match on Feb. 24.

The Polish promotion recently announced the booking. KSW "Epic" takes place at PreZero Arena in Gliwice, Poland and is available via pay-per-view.

The 37-year-old De Frieds is on a 12-fight winning streak in MMA that dates back to October 2017. He’s successfully defended the KSW heavyweight strap nine times and is coming off a second-round submission of Szymon Bajor at KSW 84 this past July. Fourteen of his 24 career victories have come by way of submission.

A former UF…

Nassourdine Imavov wants to run it back against Sean Strickland after his majority decision win over Roman Dolidze in the main event at UFC Fight Night 235.

Advertisement

Imavov outstruck Dolidze on the feet for the majority of the bout, but he was consistently slowed down by desperate clinching from the Georgian. The French middleweight was also hurt by a point deduction due to an illegal kick in the fourth round, which led to the final scorecards being closer than expected.

Imavov subsequently thanked his team and called for a rematch against r Strickland, who handed him his last loss in January 2023.

“The fight camp was absolutely good, I want to thank all my coaches, first of all Nicholas Ott, second Ilian [Bouafia] one of my training partners, Issa Samake, the boxing coach and of course my brother [Daguir Imavov], I talked about him the first time I came to the UFC. He’s a phenomenal fighter, his record is 15-3 and I can’t wait for him to fight in th…

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have a new date for their highly-anticipated fight, and pulling out will have massive repercussions for both parties.

Advertisement

Fury and Usyk were originally scheduled to clash in a heavyweight title unifier on Feb. 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, the booking fell through less than two weeks before fight night, as it was announced on Friday that Fury has been forced out due to a severe cut suffered in sparring.

Usyk’s camp expressed frustration upon hearing the news, even calling for Fury to be stripped off his WBC title. However, the fight has now been rebooked for May 18 in Saudi Arabia with a significant pullout clause in place. Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment of Saudi Arabia, announced that both Usyk and Fury have agreed to forfeit $10 million from their respective fight purses if they fail to show up on the rebooked date. Alalshikh also plans on having back-up fighters ready for the oth…

Themba Gorimbo is aiming straight for the stars after his first stoppage win in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Advertisement

Gorimbo predicted a first round knockout win going into his third Octagon outing and delivered on it at UFC Fight Night 235. The South African sent Pete Rodriguez crashing to the canvas with a thunderous right hand and finished the bout with follow-up shots on the canvas before referee Herb Dean stepped in to wave off the fight 32 seconds into Round 1.

While he is currently unranked at welterweight, Gorimbo voiced his aspiration to win UFC gold by the end of the year. In addition to reigning champ Leon Edwards, “The Answer” mentioned surging Kazakh contender Shavkat Rakhmonov as potential title fight opponents.

“This is business. Mr. Sean Shelby, I’d like the biggest opportunities,” Gorimbo said in his post-fight interview. “I know that when we get out of here, probably I’m getting the biggest contract but I wanna fight the ba…

It was one of the cleanest victories of Randy Brown’s Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Brown quickly dispatched Muslim Salikhov in their featured welterweight clash at UFC Fight Night 235 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, earning himself a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus in the process. Brown followed a double jab with a perfectly-placed right cross that sent Salikhov crashing to the canvas. Though the contest was all but over, Brown landed one standing-to-ground shot before the bout was waved off at the 3:17 mark of Round 1.

Elsewhere, fan favorite Molly McCann received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a successful strawweight debut against Diana Belbita. In a rematch of a 2019 bout that was contested at 125 pounds, McCann was aggressive on the feet before forcing a tap with an armbar 4:59 into the opening frame. “Meatball” snapped a two-bout skid in victory.

Finally, Charles Johnson and Azat Maksum secured “Fight of…

Nassourdine Imavov took care of business, even if it was messy in practice.

The Frenchman made his pitch as a Top 10 contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division, as he outstruck and outlasted Romand Dolidze to a majority decision in the UFC Fight Night 235 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Judges Derek Cleary and Sal D’Amato saw it 49-44 and 48-46 for Imavov, while Ron McCarthy scored it a 47-47 draw.

Advertisement

Imavov (13-4, 5-2 UFC) was docked a point for an illegal head kick in the fourth round but otherwise controlled the majority of the match with sharp striking. He wobbled Dolidze with a right hand inside the first five minutes, forced him to the canvas with a series of follow-up shots, including a brutal knee strike to the body, and nearly authored a quick finish with ground-and-pound. Perhaps undercut by fatigue, Imavov was hesitant from that point forward yet still managed to extend his lead against a woeful…

Molly McCann put her naysayers in timeout.

The Next Generation MMA mainstay downshifted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division and disposed of Diana Belbita with an armbar in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 235 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Belbita (15-9, 2-5 UFC) conceded defeat 4:59 into Round 1 but not before her limb bent the wrong way.

Advertisement

McCann (14-6, 7-5 UFC), who had beaten the Romanian by unanimous decision back in 2019, was far more decisive in their rematch. She closed the distance without fear and unleashed a variety of weapons, from overhand rights and spinning back kicks to push kicks and her patented spinning back elbow. McCann delivered a late takedown, climbed to full mount and uncorked a series of elbows before she transitioned to the armbar for the finish.

Meanwhile, former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Charles Johnson rallied from an inauspicious start to stun t…

Considered one of the greatest grapplers in history, Marcelo Garcia has emerged from what he called the most difficult fight of his life.

Advertisement

The four-time ADCC champion and five-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion spoke to Sherdog.com after a long battle against esophagus cancer that required eight chemotherapy sessions.

"I moved from New York to Hawaii with my wife and two kids and lived one year totally focused on defeating this cancer,” Garcia said. “And this is the first interview I'm giving after that long battle.”

After revisiting the most important moments of his brilliant career, such as his historic match against Ricco Rodriguez in the 2005 ADCC absolute division and wins over jiu-jitsu legends such as Andre Galvao, Demian Maia, Renzo Gracie and Robert Drysdale, Garcia revealed an interesting episode that made him change his opinion about grappling star Gordon Ryan.

"In the past I didn't like his attitude,” Garcia said. “When I arrived to a j…

Geoff Neal is determined to not let his upcoming UFC 298 meeting with Ian Garry go the distance.

Advertisement

Garry and Neal were initially slated to compete at UFC 292 in August. However, Neal was forced to pull out of the bout due to undisclosed reasons and was eventually replaced by Neil Magny.

Garry then went on to record a unanimous decision win against Magny in a dominant showing and has now been rebooked to face Neal at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 after being forced out of his UFC 296 clash with Vicente Luque due to a severe case of pneumonia during fight week.

Infamous for his trash talk and antics, the undefeated Garry has grabbed any and every opportunity available to belittle and intimidate his opponent, including selling T-shirts with Neal’s mugshot on them.

Neal doesn't seem to be perturbed by Garry’s actions outside the Octagon and is looking forward to capitalizing on all the attention on “The Future” by finishing the Irishman before the final hor…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A flyweight clash pitting Brazil’s Alessandro Costa against Peru’s Kevin Borjas has been added to the UFC 301 pay-per-view scheduled to take place on May 4 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Advertisement

The booking was first reported by ESPN Deportes’ Carlos Contreras Legaspi.

Costa (13-4) will enter the Octagon on the heels of a unanimous decision loss to Steve Erceg at UFC 295 in November. Prior to that, “Nono” secured a technical knockout victory in the second frame against Jimmy Flick in June, bouncing back from a Round 3 knockout loss in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at the hands Amir Albazi.

Meanwhile, Borjas (9-2) is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Myanmar’s Joshua Van in h…

A heavyweight clash between two former Dana White’s Contender Series competitors has been added to a UFC Fight Night event scheduled for April 27.

Advertisement

Brazil’s Jhonata Diniz is set to make his first walk to the Octagon against Florida native Austen Lane. The news was first announced by Diniz’s management company, All In Sports, on social media.

Undefeated in his professional mixed martial arts career, Diniz (6-0) is a former professional kickboxer who transitioned to the sport of MMA in May 2022. Over the course of his MMA journey, the Brazilian has displayed an incredible affinity for finishing fights early, recording six first-round finishes in as many outings. The 32-year-old most recently recorded a Round 1 technical knockout victory against Eduardo Neves in an appearance on the Contender Series in September to earn himself a UFC contract.

Meanwhile, Lane (12-4) is coming off a Round 1 KO loss to Justin Tafa at UFC 293 in a matchup that had…

The #UFCVegas85 main event is LOCKED IN 🔒@Imavov1 is on weight at 185 lbs 👊 pic.twitter.com/94TFwlgVan

— UFC (@ufc) February 2, 2024 The UFC Fight Night 235 weigh-ins took place, and now the 13-fight card is now official.

The main event will be an intriguing middleweight fight between Ultimate Fighting Championship contenders Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov. Both men successfully made weight for the five-round fight. All fighters made weight with the exception of Luana Carolina, who came in at 129 pounds for her flyweight fight against Julija Stoliarenko. Carolina will be fined a percentage of her purse for coming in 3 pounds overweight.

Advertisement

The pride of Georgia, Dolidze (12-2) is coming off a disappointing setback to Marvin Vettori. Prior to the decision defeat, "The Caucasian" had won four straight fights inside the promotion. This includes knockout wins over Jack Hermansson and Phil Hawes. Dolidze officially weigh…

Kayla Harrison understands that meeting the 136-pound limit for her promotional debut against former champion Holly Holm at UFC 300 will be a challenge, but it’s one she’s willing to embrace.

Harrison (16-1) has mostly competed in the lightweight division throughout the course of her mixed martial arts career, leading to questions regarding her ability to safely make the cut to bantamweight and remain effective inside the cage.

Advertisement

However, Harrison, a former Olympic gold medalist in judo and a two-time Professional Fighters League tournament winner, argues that she never cut a lot of weight while competing in the PFL to begin with but is willing to do so considering the platform the Ultimate Fighting Championship provides.

“There’s a misperception out there that I walk around at like 180 pounds or something,” Harrison told Kevin Iole. “I have walked around most of my MMA career at 165, 160, because I don’t like cutting weight. I don’t believe in cutt…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC A clash between two promising bantamweight prospects has been added to March 23’s UFC on ESPN 53, which is set to go down at the Apex in Las Vegas.

Payton Talbott (7-0) is gearing up to face South Africa’s Cameron Saaiman (9-1) for his sophomore appearance in the Las Vegas-based promotion. The news was first reported by MMA Fighting.

Undefeated as a professional, Talbott earned his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract thanks to a unanimous decision victory against Reyes Cortez Jr. in an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2023. The 25-year-old will enter the Octagon against Saaiman on the back of a Round 3 submission victory against Nick Aguirre in his promotional debut back in November…

[embedded content]

Dominick Reyes considers himself extremely lucky to be alive after surviving a life-threatening medical condition.

Advertisement

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title challenger was slated to face City Kickboxing product Carlos Ulberg on March 30 but later withdrew from the matchup.

Reyes (12-4) has now revealed that a massage session to reduce pain in his calf led to the revelation that he was suffering from deep-vein thrombosis blood clots in his leg.

“God puts us through some trials, and I’m having another hard go right now,” Reyes told MiddleEasy. “Me and Carlos were slated to fight Jan. 20. He pulled out, I don’t know why. It’s an injury, obviously, but he’s not going to say what his injury is. And then a week later, I ended up getting blood clots. Deep vein thrombosis. So yeah, I’m out for a minute.”

The California native has been prescribed blood thinners and a break from all strenuous activity …

Forgive Carlo Bumina-ang if he gives off runaway freight train vibes in the ONE Championship bantamweight division.

The 29-year-old unbeaten Team Lakay MMA prospect on Friday choked Zhipeng Xie unconscious with an arm-triangle in the first round of their ONE Friday Fights 50 showcase at historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Xie (3-1, 0-1 ONE) lost his grip on reality 1:29 into Round 1.

Advertisement

Bumina-ang (4-0, 4-0 ONE) was off to the proverbial races after he decked the Sunkin International Fight Club rep with a counter right hand inside the first 10 seconds. Xie staggered back to a standing position after being threatened with a guillotine, only to be dropped a second time with a clean left hook. Bumina-ang took top position with heavy ground-and-pound—elbows, knees and standing-to-ground punches worked together in perfect harmony—and framed the fight-ending choke. Squeeze and technique did the rest.

Meanwhile, Raqobat prospect Avazbek Kh…

20-year-old fighter from Nurmagomedov MMA School was shot dead on Wednesday night in Dagestan’s capital city of Makhachkala. Magomedrasul Mutaev made his debut in professional MMA last November and was scheduled to have his second fight in February. According to media reports… pic.twitter.com/Stq2J6eKHv

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) February 1, 2024

A tragic incident in Russia has shocked the world of combat sports.

Twenty-one-year-old professional mixed martial arts fighter Magomedrasul Mutaev was reportedly shot dead in Makhachkala, the capital city of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Disturbing video of the shooting was caught on camera and published by redcorner.mma on social media.

As per media reports, an arrest warrant has been issued for a 19-year-old Dagestan native in relation to the incident.

Mutaev picked up a unanimous decision win over Elgun Yusibov in his professional mixed martial arts debut this past No…

It’s finally going to happen! Rampage vs Shannon Briggs in Qatar this summer 🥊 my 1st boxing match don’t miss it pic.twitter.com/kh8zTEiJfK

— Rampage Jackson (@Rampage4real) January 31, 2024

Quinton Jackson is ready to return to action, this time inside the boxing ring.

Advertisement

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he’ll be making his boxing debut this year.

Jackson, 45, will take on former heavyweight boxing champion Shannon Briggs (60-6-1), in Qatar on June 1.

“I finally got the contract. It’s been over two years in the making of me hearing Mr. Shannon Briggs’ mouth. I get to shut him up once and for all in Qatar, on June 1. I got to sign this contract,” Jackson said in the announcement video.

“Shannon, you’re going to regret even calling me out all those years ago and you’ve been posting just ungodly videos of me, tagging me in ungodly…

It wasn’t easy for Raquel Pennington to share the UFC 297 fight card with Sean Strickland.

UFC 297 featured former middleweight champ Strickland against Dricus Du Plessis in the main event, while Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva co-headlined the card with the vacant women’s bantamweight title on the line. Known for voicing his unfiltered opinions on controversial topics, Strickland was true to brand in the leadup to the card in Toronto.

Advertisement

“Tarzan” showed up to media day wearing a T-shirt that read “A woman in every kitchen, a gun in every hand” and went on a rant when a reporter asked him if he still stood by his previous comments on LGBTQ+ topics. Pennington, who is gay and has a daughter with fellow UFC fighter Tecia Torres, certainly didn’t agree with Strickland but tried her best to stay focused on her fight.

“At the end of the day, people are going to talk,” Pennington said on The MMA Hour. “They’re always going to have their own opinions. You’r…

I’m coming out of retirement. I’ll fight MMA again. Idk when, where, or who yet but I’m dropping weight and getting into shape now.

— Kevin Lee MTP (@MoTownPhenom) January 31, 2024

Mixed martial arts veteran Kevin Lee misses the sport and is officially coming out of retirement.

Advertisement

Lee took to social media on Wednesday to announce that he’ll be returning to competition, likely at a lower weight class with no specific timeline in mind.

“I’m coming out of retirement. I’ll fight MMA again. [I don’t know] when, where or who yet but I’m dropping weight and getting into shape now,” Lee wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter.)

“The Motown Phenom” retired in July of last year after being submitted by Rinat Fakhretdinov in under a minute. The fight marked his return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship after being released from the promotion in 2021. It remains unclear if Lee will still be under UFC contract when he…

The rivalry between former UFC heavyweight champions Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum was once considered one of the sport’s fiercest.

Advertisement

After spending 15 years taking shots at each other through the media, dos Santos and Werdum buried the hatchet over three rounds at Gamebred Fighting Championship 5 this past September. Despite losing a spllit decision, Werdum was moved by dos Santos’ respectful post-fight speech and decided to end the rivalry by inviting “Cigano to participate on his “Dos Nossos” podcast.

“Last year I recorded 65 editions in Florianopolis, where I live, but it was difficult to bring guests from Rio and Sao Paulo,” Werdum told Sherdog.com. “Now I’m starting a new phase recording in a studio in Sao Paulo, and ‘Cigano ‘was the first one I invited. Even though he’s in the middle of a camp to face Alan Belcher for the Gamebred heavyweight title, ‘Cigano’ immediately accepted my invitation. It's going to be historical. Me and Ci…

A proposed headling bout between Sean Brady and Vicente Luque won’t happen at UFC Atlantic City as originally announced.

Advertisement

Multiple outlets on Wednesday confirmed the cancellation following an initial report from Harry Mac. According to MMAjunkie.com, Brady was battling injury issues and never signed an official bout agreement. It is currently unclear if Luque will remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

UFC on ESPN 54 takes place on March 23 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and also includes a pivotal women’s flyweight showdown pitting Erin Blanchfield against Manon Fiorot.

Brady was victorious in his first 16 professional outings – including five in UFC competition – before falling to Belal Muhammad via second-round TKO at UFC 280. The Philadelphia native rebounded in his most recent Octagon appearance, submitting Kelvin Gastelum in the third round of their matchup at UFC on ESPN 52 this past December.

Luque, meanwhile, sna…