Blog

Former UFC competitor Bobby Nash has signed an exclusive, multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA.

Advertisement

The California-based promotion confirmed the news following a report from MMAFighting.com on Tuesday. Nash will reportedly make his Bellator debut late this year or in the first quarter of 2023.

Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+

The 32-year-old Nash won eight of his first nine professional outings before hitting a speed bump in the Octagon. The East Lansing, Mich., native went 0-3 in the UFC in 2017, suffering a trio of KO/TKO losses at the hands of Jingliang Li, Danny Roberts and Kenan Song.

Nash returned to action in 2019 and has since scored four consecutive first-round finishes on the regional scene to run his career mark to 12-4.

Vegas hating . 209 !!!! Let’s get this money . Stockton slap #UFC279 pic.twitter.com/F6IQruT4Tj

— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) September 8, 2022

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has updated its code of conduct to prohibit its athletes from betting on fights within the promotion.

Advertisement

UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell wrote in a memo initially obtained by Yahoo Sports that fighters, members of their teams and “certain others” are no longer allowed to wager on Octagon bouts.

“In light of clear direction that we have received from regulators responsible for the regulated sports betting industry in the United States, we are compelled at this time to recognize in the UFC Athlete Conduct Policy certain restrictions relating to wagering by our athletes, members of their teams and certain others,” Campbell wrote.

“As you may already be aware, most states in which regulated sports betting is conducted prohibit athle…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty Images/Zuffa

Karol Rosa will open the show against Lina Lansberg at Saturday’s highly-anticipated UFC 280 card.

Advertisement

The Brazilian is confident she can rebound from a loss to Sara McMann in her last outing to continue her rise in the bantamweight division.

“I had four straight wins until my last fight,” Rosa told Sherdog.com. “I know Lina likes to fight on her feet and so do I. She is coming off two straight defeats, I am coming off one, but I don't feel pressure. I'm really hungry to get back in the win column.”

Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+ If she is victorious against Lansberg, Rosa already has her next potential opponent in mind.

“I really wanted to fight Raquel Pennington. She's fifth in the [UFC] rankings and it would be a good fight for me because her fighting style fits well with mine. But she already has a fight scheduled [against Ket…

Former lightweight contender Paul Felder will step in for Joe Rogan as part of the broadcast team at UFC 280.

Advertisement

Felder will join play-by-play veteran Jon Anik and analyst Daniel Cormier on the call for the card at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. MMAFighting.com recently confirmed the lineup with UFC officials.

Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+

Rogan no longer serves as a commentator for the at the Las Vegas-based promotion’s international pay-per-view events. At UFC 275 in Singapore, for example, Michael Bisping stepped in for the popular podcast host.

UFC 280 is headlined by a lightweight championship clash between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev, while Aljamain Sterling will defend his bantamweight crown against T.J. Dillashaw in the co-main event. The main card airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10 a.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Raphael Assuncao was realistic heading into his fight with Victor Henry at UFC Fight Night 212.

Advertisement

A loss would be his fifth straight within the Las Vegas-based promotion, and with it would have come with some tough decisions. Instead, Assuncao blended savvy counterstriking with takedowns and top control to earn a unanimous decision triumph.

In the aftermath of his first victory since July 2018, Assuncao admitted that retirement would have been on the table if he had come up short, or at the very least, a change in weight class.

“To be honest, probably …I’m not being proud about it,” he said after the fight. “I would have probably made the switch to featherweight, but I’m not positive if I still would’ve been in the UFC. Five losses (in a row) is probably not a good number to be in the UFC. If I decided not to retire if I had lost today, I would probably move up in weight class just because I feel I was losing muscle. Just [contemplating] all t…

Alexa Grasso passed the first five-round test of her professional career on Saturday night.

Advertisement

The Mexican standout outdueled Viviane Araujo for a unanimous decision triumph in the UFC Fight Night 212 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and she was quite pleased with the end result.

“This was my first time fighting five rounds,” Grasso said at the post-fight press conference. “The training was super hard. The fight was hard too. She’s a tough warrior. I think we did a great job. I did everything I trained for.”

Grasso was able to outland her opponent in significant strikes, but perhaps even more impressively, she stuffed the majority of Araujo’s takedown attempts. And when she was taken down, she was able to return to her feet in relatively swift fashion.

“I’m super proud. She’s a Brazilian (jiu-jitsu) black belt,” Grasso said. “She’s the toughest opponent I’ve faced. I had two fights with two amazing wrestlers. Every fight that is hard for…

Jonathan Martinez has won five of his last six UFC appearances, but even he has to admit that the latest victory was a little more special.

Advertisement

The Factory X member spoiled Cub Swanson’s bantamweight debut in the UFC Fight Night 212 co-main event, winning via technical knockout 4:19 into the second round at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“All this week I wasn’t thinking about who I was fighting,” Martinez said at the post-fight press conference. “After I got the win, I was like, ‘I just beat Cub Swanson,’ so I’m really excited.”

Swanson is the biggest name on Martinez’s resume to date, and the 28-year-old Plainview, Texas, native admitted to feeling a little bit overlooked by his opponent heading into the fight. The reason for that sentiment was Swanson’s bizarre media day, where he had a teammate answer questions for him while he sat in silence.

“It felt kind of disrespectful when he was interviewing, he didn’t say anything,”…

Jonathan Martinez received a little extra compensation for his wicked striking display in the UFC Fight Night 212 co-headliner.

Advertisement

The Factory X standout garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his second-round technical knockout victory over Cub Swanson in the bantamweight bout on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Martinez battered Swanson with kicks to the body, knees and elbows, but it was a series of vicious leg kicks that led to stoppage at the 4:19 mark of Round 2. It was the 14th stoppage stemming from leg kicks in promotion history.

Meanwhile, Dusko Todorovic and Jordan Wright earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their back-and-forth middleweight scrap. Wright controlled the action in Round 1 with takedowns, submission defense and ground-and-pound, but momentum shifted considerably in the second stanza, when Todorovic swarmed his fatigued foe, powered into mount and finished the fight with elbows and …

Alexa Grasso just took another significant step toward contention in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division.

The Lobo Gym MMA took a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Viviane Araujo in the UFC Fight Night 212 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. All three judges saw the fight in favor of Grasso: 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46. Grasso has won four straight bouts since moving up from 115 pounds.

Advertisement

In most instances, Grasso (15-3, 7-3 UFC) was quicker to the punch than her Brazilian opponent, as she countered effectively and connected with crisp punching combinations to the head while mixing in kicks and the occasional body attack. Araujo (11-4, 5-3 UFC) kept the pressure on and enjoyed some success of her own on the feet, but she couldn’t match Grasso’s overall volume and accuracy. The 35-year-old Brazilian was also unable to ground her opponent for any significant period of time, and when she did land a takedown, …

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 212 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: Rodriguez (-730), Jackson (+530)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Taira (-240), Vergara (+200)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry s…

In a competitive bout, explosive bursts proved to be the key for Leomana Martinez.

The Glory MMA & Fitness representative garnered a split-decision triumph against Brandon Davis in the featured UFC Fight Night 212 prelim at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Michael Bell and Tony Weeks scored the bantamweight bout 29-28 in favor of Martinez (10-3, 2-1 UFC), while Junichiro Kamijo submitted a 29-28 tally for Davis (14-10, 2-7 UFC).

Advertisement

Martinez likely swung the fight in his favor in a couple of key moments. The first came in Round 1, when he clipped Davis with a left hook in what was otherwise a closely-contest frame. A more emphatic statement occurred toward the end of the second period, as the former Fury FC title holder wobbled his foe with a spinning backfist, dislodged hs mouthguard and dropped Davis with a subsequent flurry of punches. Davis survived the salvo and made it to Round 3, where he enjoyed success with rangy right hands, a t…

First to the scale, @AlexaGrasso is in at 125.5 pounds 💪

[ #UFCVegas62 | TOMORROW | Prelims 4pm ET | Main Card 7pm ET | LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/mkRB2w1YxI

— UFC (@ufc) October 14, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns with a card that has lost one of its most intriguing fights.

Advertisement

Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+ While UFC Fight Night 212's top two bouts are intact, the flyweight contest between Askar Askarov and Brandon Royval will no longer proceed. The issue was that Askarov was unable to make weight, and he reportedly declined the match at a catchweight. Headliners Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo were on target, along with all fighters on the card except for C.J. Vergara, who came in three pounds over the flyweight limit to receive a 30% purse fine. "Before I started the weight cut I heard my opponent [is] not going to make weight," Royval explained on Twitter. "They t…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Charles Oliveira has touched down in the Middle East and received a hero’s welcome.

In order to get adapted to Abu Dhabi’s hot climate and recover from any jet lag, Oliveira arrived to the United Arab Emirates with 10 team members, 10 days before his UFC 280 collision with Islam Makhachev. Fighting for his old title, Oliveira made sure to leave enough time in his schedule to get acclimated with the environment, in a locale of Abu Dhabi in which he has never competed. Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, spoke to Sherdog on Friday about how “Do Bronx” is handling the final stage of his training camp.

Advertisement

“We did the best we could to get Charles 100% adapted to the time zone and climate,” Lima explained. “Since we arrived, we are doing [one] training [session] in the morning and another at night, just like we do in Brazil.”

According to the Chute Boxe head, what impressed him the most about the area is the positive…

The hometown hero does it!! 🙌

Young 🇵🇱 @robert_ruchala wins in his first KSW main event!! 🤩 #KSW75 pic.twitter.com/6BnjrM7TLb

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) October 14, 2022 Luck was on the side of a few KSW fighters on Friday.

Advertisement

The KSW 75 main event saw Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Damian Stasiak taking on Robert Ruchala in a featherweight clash. The initial headliner was supposed to come as a 205-pound championship collision, but Stasiak-Ruchala was elevated following its cancelation. In their three-round encounter, Stasiak (13-9, 2-3 KSW) kept his opponent guessing early with punches and takedown attempts. Ruchala did not allow himself to be grounded so easily, sweeping “Webster” on a pair of occasions, but he conceded his back to his foe before the end of the frame. Ruchala (8-0, 5-0 KSW) implemented a more successful strategy in Round 2, winning all the wrestling exchanges and landing the most impactful shots. Both contest…

History will be made!

Tomorrow night, #LFA144 is set to be UFC’s first live Combat Sports event in @Meta’s Horizon Worlds 🌎

— UFC (@ufc) October 13, 2022 It appears the unorthodox meeting between Meta executives including Mark Zuckerberg and Ultimate Fighting Championship brass bore some fruit.

Advertisement

The UFC announced on Thursday that it has entered into a partnership with Meta to run events on its Horizon World service. Live MMA events from UFC Fight Pass will air on VR, and they will be viewable through Meta Quest VR headsets. The system will run through VR180, which is a format that gives fans a 180-degree view of the arena. The first fight card from the partnership will be LFA 144, which takes place on Oct. 14 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

“We are excited to offer an unprecedented level of engagement for Fight Pass subscribers and MMA fans around the world by producing a live MMA event in virtual reality…

🚨 JUST IN: I'm told Movsar Evloev got injured while training. 😶

Let's see what's going to happen in Mitchell vs Evloev fight which is about to be held on November 5th. 🔎

— Giorgi Kokiashvili 🇬🇪 ✊ 🇺🇦 (@iHeartGeorgius1) October 4, 2022 A thrilling battle of Ultimate Fighting Championship unbeatens will have to wait.

Advertisement

In September, the organization scheduled Bryce Mitchell (15-0) against Movsar Evloev (16-0) for what turned out to be the main event of UFC Fight Night 214. The featherweight main attraction was only together for about three weeks before a story broke from Setanta Sports on Oct. 4 that Evloev suffered an injury in training. Over a week later, the UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN Deportes confirmed on Friday that the injury forced Evloev out of the match, and there is currently no replacement on the books.

It is unclear if “Thug Nasty” will remain as the star attraction of this fight card, as Mitchell reported…

A battle between top-five Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweights will go down on its first fight card of 2023.

MMA Fighting first reported the news on Thursday that Ketlen Vieira (13-2) will be squaring off with Raquel Pennington (14-8) at the UFC Fight Night event on Jan. 14. The 135-pound contenders will be facing one another inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on that date, likely placed high on the main card. Vieira has since confirmed this booking on her Instagram Stories shortly after its announcement.

Advertisement

Vieira bounced back from the first decision loss of her career – a three-round setback to Yana Kunitskaya in February 2021 – by overcoming ex-champs Miesha Tate and Holly Holm in five-round headliners over the last year. The finish rate of the Brazilian has diminished significant since joining the roster in 2016, as she has only won once by stoppage while recording six other victories on the scorecards. Beyond Kunitskaya, her only other s…

[embedded content] Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki returns for its monthly mixed martial arts offering with an intriguing featherweight clash headlining KSW 75. All fighters successfully made weight for the card, including headliners Damian Stasiak and Robert Ruchala.

A former veteran of the Octagon, Stasiak (13-8) has won two of his last three fights inside KSW. After putting together back-to-back wins against Patryk Surdyn and Andrey Lezhnev, "Webster" fell short against Lom-Ali Eskiev. He'll look to bounce back by upsetting the undefeated Ruchala (7-0), who is 4-0 inside the promotion and is coming off decision wins over Patryk Kaczmarczyk and Michele Baiano.

KSW 75 will stream on the promotion's official website on Friday at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Order UFC 280 “Oliveira vs. Makhachev” exclusively on ESPN+

KSW 75 Weigh-in Results: Damian Stasiak (145) vs. Robert Ruchala (146)Michal Martinek (242) vs. Daniel Omielanczuk (260)Henrique da Silva (202) vs. Tomasz Narkun…

It appears that Lance Palmer’s time with Professional Fighters League has run its course.

Advertisement

During an interview on "The MMA Hour,” Palmer revealed that he is a free agent and is able to sign with whatever organization he chooses. He also indicated that it’s unlikely that he and the PFL will come to terms on a new contract.

Unrestricted,” Palmer said. “Honestly, I don’t think they (the PFL) have interest in re-signing me. That gives me the freedom to kind of do what I want to do. Obviously, I have interest in going other places. There’s a lot of fights that I would like to get involved in hopefully to push myself over this next run of wherever it is. The Bellator featherweight division is stacked, the UFC featherweight division is stacked.”

Palmer was a former World Series of Fighting featherweight champion before the promotion rebranded as the PFL. He went on to win 11 consecutive fights in PFL competition, capturing back-to-back championships …

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

The lineup for UFC on ESPN 42 appears to be nearly complete.

Advertisement

The Las Vegas-based promotion officially announced 12 bouts for the Dec. 3 card, including the previously reported welterweight headliner between Stephen Thompson and Kevin Holland as well as a heavyweight co-main event pitting Tai Tuivasa against Sergei Pavlovich. The event will also include a middleweight showdown between Derek Brunson and Jack Hermansson and a flyweight scrap between Matt Schnell and Matheus Nicolau.

A handful of other fights were also officially confirmed: Eryk Anders vs. Kyle Daukaus at middleweight; Natan Levy vs. Genaro Valdez at lightweight; Angela Hill vs. Emily Ducote at strawweight; Darren Elkins vs. Jonathan Pearce at featherweight and Marcleo Rojo vs. Francis Marshall at featherweight.

Read more about Multiple Bouts Official for UFC on ESPN 42 in Orlando

According to Nova Uniao leader Andre Pederneiras, Jose Aldo has received plenty of interest from all corners of the combat sports world since his retirement announcement.

Advertisement

“Not only people interested in helping him to fight boxing but also from MMA promoters willing to sign him,” Pederneiras told Sherdog.com.

Pederneiras makes it clear, however, that leaving the UFC for another MMA organization never crossed Aldo’s mind.

“Aldo had one fight on his contract with the biggest promotion in the world, where he built all his history. No matter the financial proposal, it wouldn't make any sense for him,” Pederneiras said. “Especially since Aldo is already financially comfortable for the rest of his life. He never considered returning in another MMA promotion.”

When it comes to boxing, however, Aldo’s perspective is entirely different.

“I have no doubt that boxing and muay thai bring much more pleasure to Aldo in his daily routine,” Pederneiras …

Aspen Ladd will face an accomplished opponent in her Professional Fighters League debut.

Advertisement

The recently released UFC bantamweight contender will square off against ex-Bellator featherweight queen Julia Budd at the PFL Championships on Nov. 25. MMA Mania was first to report the booking. Ladd vs. Budd is expected to be contested at 145 pounds. The PFL thus far has only had a women’s lightweight division for its season format.

The PFL Championships take place at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York and feature six title bouts with $1 million at stake. The main card airs on pay-per-view and is headlined by a women's lightweight championship clash between Kayla Harrison and Lena Pacheco.

Ladd and the UFC parted ways following a seven-bout stint after the fighter endured multiple issues making weight ahead of her bouts. The 27-year-old Californian lost three of her last four Octagon appearances, including a decision defeat to Raquel Pen…

A potential light heavyweight title eliminator between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev will go down at UFC 282.

Advertisement

Promotion broadcast partner ESPN reported that the contest is set for the UFC’s final pay-per-view event of 2022. UFC 282 takes place on Dec. 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is expected to include a 205-pound championship tilt pitting Jiri Prochazka against Glover Teixeira, though that bout has not been made official.

A former light heavyweight champion, Blachowicz returned to the win column in his last outing at UFC on ESPN 36, when he defeated Aleksandar Rakic via third-round TKO when his opponent suffered a leg injury. The WCA Fight Team product won nine of 10 promotional appearances from October 2017 to March 2021, a stretch that saw the Pole claim 205-pound gold with a second-round TKO of Dominick Reyes and defend the crown with a five-round verdict against reigning middleweight king Israel Adesanya. He relinquished t…

Niko Price will return to action following more than a year away when he meets Philip Rowe at UFC on ESPN 42 in Orlando, Fla.

Advertisement

UFE Media was first to report the welterweight bout. UFC on ESPN 42 takes place at the Amway Center on Dec. 3 and is headlined by a 170-pound clash pitting Stephen Thompson against Kevin Holland.

Price last appeared at UFC Fight Night 193 in October 2021, when he garnered a unanimous verdict over Alex Oliveira. That ended a three-bout winless streak for “The Hybrid,” who is 7-5 with a pair of no contests over the course of his promotional tenure.

A former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor, Row is 2-1 in UFC competition thus far. After falling to Gabriel Green in his Octagon debut, “The Fresh Prince” has rebounded with back-to-back TKO triumphs against Orion Cosce and Jason Whitt in his last two outings.