Blog

Guido Cannetti will lock horns with Randy Costa in a bantamweight bout at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Oct. 1.

Advertisement

ESPN Deportes was first to report the booking. The card currently doesn’t have a location or headliner.

Cannetti snapped a three-bout skid in his last outing, when he defeated Kris Moutinho via first-round technical knockout at UFC fight Night 203 on March 12. The 42-year-old Argentina native is 3-5 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Costa, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back TKO defeats at the hands of Tony Kelley and Adrian Yanez in the Octagon. Costa entered the UFC after with a 4-0 career mark and has gone 2-3 in the Octagon, with first-round knockouts of Boston Salmon and Journey Newson to his credit.

LFA brings #RiodeJaneiro vs. #SãoPaulo team challenge to Brazil at #LFA136! #LFA136: Rio de Janeiro vs. São PauloFriday, July 15#CIDECasaBranca#Caraguatatuba, #SaoPaulo, #Brazil

: https://t.co/9CSqWrV4C0#MMA#LFANation@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/PjpoJDvasv

— LFA (@LFAfighting) June 22, 2022

Advertisement

Legacy Fighting Alliance’s next trip to Brazil will pit some of the country’s top prospects from Rio Janeiro and Sao Paulo against one another.

The promotion recently announced that LFA 136 “Rio de Janeiro vs. Sao Paulo” will take place on July 15 at CIDE Casa Branca in Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and is headlined by a featherweight clash pitting Italo Gomes against Wellinton Prado. The main card airs on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Four other man card bouts were confirmed for the event: Davi Bittencourt Costa vs. Eduardo Henrique da Silva at flyweight; Alexia Thainara vs. Janaina Silva at strawweight; Jo…

Retired from MMA for 14 months, Ronaldo Souza couldn't stay away from the fighting world for too long.

Advertisement

Earlier this year, Souza teased a foray into professional boxing. While that hasn’t yet come to fruition, “Jacare” is still planning on making his debut in the near future.

"What was breaking my body was the grappling routine. Boxing is something that relaxes my body and mind. I’m really in love with boxing and I’m looking forward to testing myself in a boxing ring,” the two-time world absolute BJJ champion told Sherdog.com.

After hearing that his former UFC opponent, Vitor Belfort, had accepted a challenge from Brazilian boxing legend Acelino "Popo" Freitas, “Jacare” taunted "the Phenom.” Souza and Belfort initially fought at UFC 198, with “Jacare” winning via first-round TKO in their May 2016 bout.

”Come on Belfort, Popo is a small guy. Come to fight someone of your size, maybe in a boxing rematch you can do something,” Souza sa…

Credit: Richard Burmaster/Legacy Fighting Alliance Credit: Richard Burmaster/Legacy Fighting Alliance Credit: Richard Burmaster/Legacy Fighting Alliance Credit: Richard Burmaster/Legacy Fighting Alliance

Friday’s PFL 5 event will have a significantly different look on the preliminary card than originally planned.

Advertisement

The promotion announced five updated pairings on Tuesday for PFL 5, which features heavyweights, featherweights and lightweights at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The original main card remains intact, as all of the new bouts are on the prelims. One notable addition is UFC veteran Juan Adams, who will step in to take on Sam Kei in a heavyweight affair.

The other new pairings are as follows: Ante Delija vs. Shelton Graves at heavyweight; Denis Goltsov vs. Maurice Green at heavyweight; Bubba Jenkins vs. Reinaldo Ekson at featherweight and Brendan Loughnane vs. Ago Huskic at featherweight.

Fighters who are no longer on th…

While Robert Whittaker may have been much more competitive with Israel Adesanya in their rematch earlier this year at UFC 271, it doesn’t seem like a third meeting will be happening anytime soon, if at all.

Advertisement

That’s according to the reigning middleweight champion, who dismissed the possibility of a trilogy with Whittaker during a recent UFC press conference. Adesanya is currently slated to defend the 185-pound belt against Jared Cannonier in the UFC 276 headliner on July 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“He’s a great fighter, I’ll give it to him,” Adesanya said of Whittaker. “But I know how that book ends. I’ve read that book twice already. The first time was a quick read. The second time a little bit longer.

“He’s probably gonna be at the top for a while. If we fight again, I know how that book ends. That’s why I’m excited about this next fight, some new blood, someone I’ve never fought before. If [Whittaker] wants to he should go up to 2…

While Alexander Volkanovski is 2-0 against Max Holloway, the close nature of their second meeting has given the rivalry a feel of unfinished business heading into their trilogy at UFC 276.

Advertisement

Volkanovski claimed featherweight gold with a unanimous verdict over Holloway at UFC 245 and edged the Hawaiian via split decision in their rematch at UFC 251. The second meeting was highly disputed in the MMA community, as many observers felt that Holloway deserved the nod. Nonetheless, Volkanvovski is the one entering the third bout with championship gold, a 21-fight winning streak and a lofty pound-for-pound ranking.

The 33-year-old City Kickboxing respresentative doesn’t think he has anything to prove at this point, but he hopes to make a more emphatic statement against “Blessed” the third time around.

“I don’t think I have to do anything, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try,” Volkanovski said at a recent press conference. “I plan on putting a beati…

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

Deron Winn took a beating at the hands of Phil Hawes at UFC on ESPN 37, and he’ll have to undergo surgery to repair some of the damage he absorbed.

Advertisement

The American Kickboxing Academy product revealed that he suffered a broken orbital in the middleweight bout in a recent post on his Instagram account.

“I don’t know what to say except that I got my ass beat tonight,” Winn wrote. “Got rocked early and I couldn’t fully get my legs back. I have a broken orbital bone in my face that I believe came in the first round. Will need surgery.

“I tried so hard in every aspect of preparing for this fight. I had to overcome some serious issues in my life to even be able to come back and step into the cage tonight or ever again for that matter. I’m sad of course. But I will hold my head high on the person I know I am becoming. My support system is out of this planet. The people who have stuck with me through…

Jessica Andrade’s triumphant return to the strawweight division proved to be short lived.

Advertisement

After a first-round submission of Amanda Lemos in her return to 115 pounds at UFC Fight Night 205, the plan was for Andrade to climb the rankings in the weight class until she earned a title shot. Things changed when she was given a short-notice opportunity to face Manon Fiorot in a flyweight bout at UFC Paris on Sept. 3.

"Our focus was 100% on strawweight, but it´s pretty clear that [Carla] Esparza must face [Weili] Zhang and Marina [Rodriguez] must face Rose [Namajunas]. We cannot keep waiting on results,” her coach, Giliard Parana, told Sherdog.com. “The point is that Jessica is one of the best-paid girls in any female division and the reality is that is not easy for the UFC to find opponents for her. Since we moved to the United States and need to pay our bills, she needs to fight and UFC knows that whenever they need, they can count on us.”

&nb…

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

The lineup for UFC 278 appears to be nearly complete, as the Las Vegas-based promotion announced 12 bouts for the Aug. 20 card on Monday.

Advertisement

Among the notable new additions is a heavyweight showdown pitting Alexander Romanov against Marcin Tybura and a flyweight tilt between Amir Albazi and Francisco Figueiredo.

UFC 278 takes place at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah and is headlined by a welterweight title clash between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards. Also confirmed for the event is a bantamweight fight between Jose Aldo and Merab Dvalishvili and a middleweight scrap between Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold.

The following bouts were also announced for UFC 278: Leonardo Santos vs. Jared Gordon at lightweight; Yanan Wu vs. Lucie Pudilova at bantamweight; Tyson Pedro vs. Harry Hunsucker at light heavyweight; Daniel Lacerda vs. Victor Altamirano at flyweight; Qileng Aori vs. Jay Perrin at bantam…

Joaquin Buckley worked diligently on his defensive wrestling during training camp prior to UFC on ESPN 37 — and it paid off in the form of a doctor stoppage victory against Albert Duraev.

Advertisement

“I knew this fight was gonna be exactly what it was. I knew exactly what he was capable of. He had one thing that he was good at: holding people down,” Buckley said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I made sure this whole camp I practiced if I got taken down, I was getting back up. We were working a lot of scenarios on the ground, just being patient, working my hips to the cage, getting back up and throwing them hands.”

Duraev was successful on just two of his nine takedown attempts in the middleweight bout and often absorbed heavy left-hand counters when he did attempt to shoot. That damage accumulated and over time, Duraev’s left eye closed completely. The contest was waved off before the start of the third round, though there was initially some confu…

Two-division champion Reinier de Ridder will defend his middleweight (205-pound) crown against Vitaly Bigdash in the One Championship 159 main event on July 22.

Advertisement

Promotion officials recently announced the full lineup for the card. One Championship 159 takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, and will see Janet Todd square off against Lara Fernandez for the interim atomweight muay Thai title in the co-main event.

De Ridder is undefeated in 15 professional appearances — including six victories under the One banner. In his last outing, the 31-year-old Netherlands native defended the middleweight belt with a third-round submission of Kiamrian Abbasov at One “Full Circle” on Feb. 25. “The Dutch Knight” initially captured middleweight gold with a first-round submission of Aung La N Sang in October 2020. De Ridder also vanquished Sang via unanimous decision for the light heavyweight title at One on TNT 4 in April 2021.

Bigdash ent…

There are always two sides to the story when a fight ends in a split decision.

Advertisement

Such was the case at UFC on ESPN 37, where Josh Emmett captured a contentious split verdict against Calvin Kattar in the evening’s featherweight main event at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night. For his part, Emmett was in disbelief that the fight was as close as it was, but he was nonetheless thrilled to be on the right side of the scorecards.

Kattar, meanwhile, is left to lament what might have been. “The Boston Finisher” worked behind a technical jab all night and actually outlanded his opponent in significant strikes, but it seems as though the judges valued Emmett’s more impactful offense at the end of the bout.

“I just thought I was going to get my hand raised at the end of it,” Kattar said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “I didn’t care, we give a s—t if it’s unanimous or a split. I thought I did enough to win the fight. Josh is a class act, a …

In Josh Emmett’s mind, the UFC on ESPN 37 headliner wasn’t a particularly difficult fight to call.

Advertisement

The 37-year-old Team Alpha Male product emerged from his five-round clash against Calvin Kattar with a split-decision triumph at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, but he thought his performance warranted a more definitive result.

“I thought I was going to get screwed,” Emmett said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I thought I won four [rounds] to one. I had four to one. At least three to two and when they went split, I was like, ‘Come on.’ But it worked out in my favor.”

While Kattar held a 130-to-107 edge in significant strikes, Emmett appeared to land with more impact throughout the fight. Emmett says a lesser fighter wouldn’t have been able to absorb some of the blows the way Kattar did.

“Calvin Kattar is a dog,” Emmett said. “Like I told you guys, I was ready for a 25-minute war. He’s tough as hell. Usually when I hit people with…

A previously reported bantameight headliner between Dominick Cruz and Marlon Vera now has an official location.

Advertisement

Cruz and Vera will square off in a five-round main event at a UFC Fight Night event in San Diego on Aug. 13, the promotion announced Saturday. A venue for the card was not revealed, however. The fight will be something of a home game for Cruz, who is anchored at the San Diego-based camp Alliance MMA.

Cruz, a former 135-pound champion, is coming off a 2-0 2021. The Alliance MMA standout garnered a split verdict over Casey Kenney at UFC 259 before defeating Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision in his most recent appearance at UFC 269 this past December.

This will be Vera’s second consecutive headlining engagement after he took a five-round verdict over Rob Font at UFC on ESPN 35 on April 30. “Chito” has been victorious in four of his last five Octagon appearances, with other wins coming against the likes of Frankie Edgar, Davey Grant …

Eddie Wineland is calling it a career after 41 professional bouts.

The former World Extreme Cagefighting champion announced his retirement on Instagram following a first-round technical knockout loss to Cody Stamann in a preliminary bantamweight bout at UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night.

Advertisement

“I didn’t get an opportunity to leave my gloves in the cage but as Jim Morrison once sang. ‘this is the end,’” Wineland wrote. “The road I’ve traveled over the past almost 20 years has seen many highs and lows, it’s been a fun ride but this train has reached its final destination!

“I am forever grateful and extremely thankful for the opportunities given by the UFC, Dana White and Sean Shelby, everything you guys and the company have done for and given to me I am forever grateful! Thank you and thank you to the fans who’ve always stood in my corner, officially retired. Thank you for the memories, time to turn the page, and on to the next chapter in l…

It was a banner night for finishes at UFC on ESPN 37, and those responsible for the violence in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night were rewarded for their efforts.

Of the 13 fights on the card, nine ended inside the distance. That included eight fights with knockout or technical knockout victories — tying a record for a single UFC event. As a result, all athletes who finished a fight received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Those winners were as follows: Kevin Holland, Joaquin Buckley, Gregory Rodrigues, Adrian Yanez, Jeremiah Wells, Ricardo Ramos, Cody Stamann, Phil Hawes and Roman Dolidze.

Meanwhile, Josh Emmett and Calvin Kattar garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their competitive featherweight duel in the evening’s headliner. In a closely-contested bout, Emmett emerged with a split decision triumph.

Josh Emmett’s first venture into the championship rounds proved to be a successful one.

In a closely-contested bout that played out primarily as a boxing match, Emmett (18-2, 9-2 UFC) captured a split-decision triumph against Calvin Kattar (23-6, 7-4 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN 37 main event at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night. Judges Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee submitted 48-47 scorecards in favor of Emmett, while Douglas Crosby saw it 48-47 in favor of Kattar. Emmett’s five-bout winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest in the featherweight division.

Advertisement

Emmett’s aggressive forays into the pocket proved to be some of the most decisive moments of the fight. The Team Alpha Male product landed with more impact than Kattar, and several of his heavy right hands moved his opponent backwards momentarily. Kattar, meanwhile, was effective with his jab throughout the 25-minute affair, opening a cut above Emmett’s left eye in Round 1 and gradual…

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 37 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Advertisement

BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Daukaus (-240), Dolidze (+195)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Hawes (-260), Winn (+210)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy…

THAT'S how you make your UFC debut! 👏 Amazing performance by Natalia Silva! 💥 #UFCAustin pic.twitter.com/CGGc1pGact

— UFC (@ufc) June 18, 2022

Former Jungle Fight champion Natalia Cristina da Silva enjoyed a promotional debut to remember, taking a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph against Jasmine Jasudavicius in a female flyweight clash at UFC on ESPN 37 on Saturday at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. All three cageside judges submitted tallies in favor of Silva: 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27.

Advertisement

Silva (13-5-1, 1-0 UFC) outclassed her opponent in every aspect of the fight. The Brazilian battered Jasudavicius (7-2, 1-1 UFC) with rapid-fire punching combinations and kicks to all levels while forcing the Canadian to chase her all over the Octagon. When Jasudavicius attempted to initiate takedowns, Silva was able to either remain upright or reverse into top position — including one occasion in which she dropped a series of elb…

Marian Ziolkowski continued his lightweight championship reign with a unanimous verdict against Sebastian Rajewski in the main event of an action-packed KSW 71 card at the Arena Torun in Torun, Poland, on Saturday.

Advertisement

Ziolkowski (25-8-1 1 NC, 6-2 KSW) showcased his usual coolness as he studied his opponent in the bout’s early moments before coming up with the right strategy to achieve victory. In turn, Rajewski (12-7, 4-2 KSW) maintained the center of the cage and landed offense from afar, disrupting Ziolkowski’s timing on several occasions. Rajewski had a successful second round, scoring with quick body kicks and dropping his foe with a well-timed overhand. Ziolkowski weathered the storm and recomposed himself, keeping Rajewski at bay with his educated jab. Ziolkowski found his pace and range in the championship rounds and kept scoring precious points thanks to his punches. Ultimately, the battle went to the scorecards, and the judges submitted 48-4…

For the second time in as many months, a lightweight scrap between Joe Lauzon and Donald Cerrone has been canceled on the day they were scheduled to fight.

Advertisement

The promotion announced on Saturday that Lauzon was removed from the UFC on ESPN 37 bout due to a “non-weight related medical issue.” Last month, Cerrone became ill on the day of their proposed UFC 274 clash and the fight was nixed. Lauzon revealed in a video on Instagram that a last-minute knee issue forced him off the card.

“So I’m not fighting Cowboy Cerrone tonight,” Lauzon said. “The freakiest weirdest thing ever: I weigh-in officially, I got sit down, and I got to put my socks on, I turn my knee out, and my knee locks out.

“I’ve dealt with meniscus injuries on both knees, but this knee in particular, had it cleaned out a bunch of times, but when it does lock up, I can usually straighten out, it unlocks, totally fine, 100 percent, immediately. This time, I’m now surrounded by all the…

Professional Fighters League's fourth event of the 2022 regular season featured its lightweight and light heavyweight divisions prior to the upcoming playoffs. Atop the PFL 4 card was a lightweight showdown between Clay Collard and Alex Martinez, which wound up being an entertaining three-round affair worthy of top billing.

Showing off his boxing skills early, Collard (21-10, 1 NC) confidently advanced forward while throwing punches. Unable to initially deal with the pressure, Martinez (10-2, 1 NC) became susceptible to takedowns. "Cassius" Clay would drop Martinez with a well-timed hook early in Round 2 and would follow his opponent to the floor. This would wind up being a mistake as the Paraguayan fighter would take the back of Collard and threaten with a rear-naked choke. The third frame would see Collard finding success on the feet before being taken down by Martinez, who wasn't able to do much but ended the fight in top position.

Advertisement

After 15 minut…

Sign up for ESPN+ and watch PFL 4

Advertisement

The 2022 Professional Fighters League Season continues Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 The PFL is back for three weeks in a row in Hotlanta to wrap up its regular season, and the first of three comes with a card for lightweight and light heavyweights. Only two 155ers thus far celebrate more than three points, so it’s still anyone’s game in the lightweight range. Meanwhile, four of the five 205-pound victors thus far pocketed at least five points, and every single light heavyweight winner from a few weeks ago takes on someone else with zero points. There are, however, no tournament implications for this first fight, as it is instead a “showcase” match between two PFL debutants and LFA vets Childers (9-2, 0-0 PFL) and Jennerman (15-5, 0-0 PFL) to start the show. Both looking to punch their ticket either to next year’s tourney or to…

🚨Got told the UFC is working on a bantamweight fight between Cory Sandhagen and Song Yadong. The fight is targeted to headline the FN event on September 17th.🚨 pic.twitter.com/hAxDjUFwNI

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) June 16, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship can seemingly do no wrong when it comes to matchmaking the top echelon of its bantamweight division.

On Thursday night, Eurosport first broke the news that the promotion was considering Cory Sandhagen (14-4) vs. Yadong Song (19-6-1, 1 NC) to headline its upcoming Sept. 17 UFC Fight Night event. The UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN confirmed the pairing on Friday, while stating that the contracts have not yet been signed but both sides have agreed to it.

Sandhagen will come into this 135-pound headliner on a two-fight skid. In July 2021, he fell short to T.J. Dillashaw by contentious split decision, with the sizable majority of media members scoring it for Sandhagen. Look…