Blog

It's official!!! PUDZIAN IS BACK!!!

Mariusz Pudzianowski returns at #KSW59 and @AntunRacic will defend his bantamweight title!!! pic.twitter.com/imAu7Bg6rd

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 30, 2021 Former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski will make his return to Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki cage on March 20.

The Polish promotion announced over the weekend that Pudzianowski will headlined KSW 59 “Fight Code.” His opponent and the event’s location were not revealed.

The popular heavyweight hasn’t competed since November 2019, when he defeated Erko Jun by second-round technical knockout at KSW 51. The 43-year-old made his MMA debut in 2009 and has compiled a 13-7 record with one no contest. All but one of his professional appearances have come under the KSW banner. He has bested the likes of Rolles Gracie, Bob Sapp, Oli Thompson, Sean McCorkle and Jay Silva over the course of his tenure.

Also slated to compete at the event against an…

Andre Fialho. Just beautiful. Watch this. #XMMA pic.twitter.com/vysz81frka— ShayMyName (@ImShannonTho) January 31, 2021

James Vick saw the return of Xtreme MMA as a launching point for his own career comeback, but Andre Fialho had something to say about it.

The promotion, which put on seven events in Canada between 2007 and 2009, returned after more a decade on Saturday at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. For its first-ever event in the United States, XMMA brought a card jam-packed with familiar names from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA and other top-tier promotions, none more familiar than Vick, a former UFC lightweight contender.

In the welterweight main event of XMMA 8, Vick took on Bellator and Professional Fighters League veteran Andre Fialho. The matchup represented a chance at redemption for both men, as “The Texecutioner” had been inactive since exiting the UFC on a four-fight losing streak in late 2019, while…

Daniel Torres shocks the world with this knockout over Saladhine Parnasse!!! #KSW58 pic.twitter.com/cOpPUvOOjd

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 30, 2021

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s first event of the year ended with a bizarre knockout shot that resulted in a title change.

The KSW 588 main event saw Salahdine Parnasse (14-1-1) put his featherweight championship on the line against Daniel Torres (12-4). After studying each other for a while, the contenders exchanged a few shots to test each other’s chin. Torres showed his long jab, to which the defending champion retaliated with a head kick that partially landed. After a wide swing from both contenders, Parnasse clipped the challenger with a kick to the body. “Tucanao” seemed comfortable on his feet as he counterpunched when the French fighter rushed forward.

After a minute and a half, Torres threw an inventive shot with his triceps that perfectly landed on the side of Parnasse’s head. The French fi…

Ladies and gentlemen, my fight against Ciryl Gane got rescheduled for February 27! 5x5 minutes main card. Spread the word! @ufc @michaelbabb01 #MMA #BigiBoy #Suriname pic.twitter.com/vBL8Tea9F5

— Jairzinho 'BIGI BOY' Rozenstruik (@JairRozenstruik) January 30, 2021

It appears that Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane will now serve as the new UFC Fight Night 186 main event.

Rozenstruik recently announced on social media that the bout had been moved from UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13 to Feb. 27. Shortly thereafter, Jiri Prochazka revealed that his proposed clash against Dominick Reyes, which was originally set to top UFC Fight Night 186, has been postponed for undisclosed reasons. The Las Vegas-based promotion has not officially announced an update to the card. It is also currently unclear when Reyes vs. Prochazka might be rescheduled.

The fight has been postponed from February 27th, but I’m looking forward to fighti…

Martin Day will replace Julio Arce and square off against Timur Valiev at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6.

The matchup was first reported by Rob Demello. UFC Fight Night 184 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Feb. 6 and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov.

Day is looking for his first promotional triumph after falling to Pingyuan Liu, Davey Grant and Anderson dos Santos in his first three appearances. The 32-year-old Hawaiian owns an 8-5 professional mark overall.

Valiev suffered a second-round KO loss to Trevin Jones in his Octagon debut at UFC on ESPN 15, but the result was overturned to a no contest after Jones tested positive for marijuana. The Dagestani had been victorious in his previous six pro outings, including wins in Professional Fighters League and World Series of Fighting.

DON'T BLINK

@KaiKaraFrance is bringing the flyweight fireworks to #UFC259 and takes on @RogerioBontorin! pic.twitter.com/wsesZeX9dR

— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) January 28, 2021 Kai Kara France will meet Rogerio Bontorin in a flyweight contest at UFC 259.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announced the pairing. UFC 259 takes place on March 6 in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya.

Kara-France went 1-1 in UFC competition in 2020, outpointing Tyson Nam at UFC Fight Night 168 before being submitted by Brandon Royval at UFC 253. The City Kickboxing member is 4-2 in the Octagon and 21-9 over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2010.

Bontorin, meanwhile, earned triumphs against Magomed Bibulatov and Raulian Paiva in his first two promotional appearances before falling to Ray Borg via unanimous decision in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Nig…

A heavyweight clash between Chase Sherman and Parker Porter is set for the UFC’s April 17 card.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the matchup. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight showdown pitting Robert Whittaker against Paulo Costa. A location for the event has not been formally announced.

After a previous 2-5 stint in the Las Vegas-based promotion, Sherman returned with a second-round TKO of Isaac Villanueva at UFC Fight Night 171 last May. “The Vanilla” Gorilla” entered the matchup with Villanueva on the strength of a three-bout winning streak under the Island Fights banner.

After suffering a first-round TKO defeat to Chris Daukaus in his Octagon debut at UFC 252, Porter rebounded to outpoint Josh Parisian at UFC on ESPN 18 on Nov. 28. The former Bellator and CES MMA competitor has notable losses to Jon Jones and Gabriel Gonzaga on the regional circuit earlier in his career.

Goodnight! Josh Fremd showing off the power! #LFA98 pic.twitter.com/YwcOUtabHJ

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) January 30, 2021 One half of the Legacy Fighting Alliance middleweight tournament final is set as Josh Fremd earned a shot at the vacant title in the LFA 98 main event.

Fremd (7-1) immediately showed a strength advantage against Bruno Oliveira as he took his foe down early in Round 1. The Brazilian would work his way to the feet, which wound up being his undoing as a huge left hook from Fremd would knockout Oliveira (8-3) at the 2:37 mark. He'll now face the winner of Anthony Adams vs. Gregory Rodrigues at LFA 100 for the belt.

The night's co-main event was in the lightweight division as J.J. Okanovich faced off against Lucas Clay. It wound up being a showcase bout for Clay (7-1), who had a clear grappling advantage over "The Bosnian Bomber." While he was never able to tap Okanovich (7-2), "Cassius" impressed and picked up a una…

Chris Weidman vs. Uriah Hall is being moved. The fight, which was scheduled for UFC 258 on Feb. 13, has been canceled, sources say, after Weidman tested positive for COVID-19 recently. The current plan is for the fight to be moved to UFC 261 on April 24, according to sources.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 29, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The co-main event of UFC 258 just fell off the card thanks to the coronavirus. ESPN announced on Friday that Chris Weidman (15-5) vs. Uriah Hall (16-9) 2, a rematch booked for UFC 258, will no longer be happening on that card. Testing positive for COVID-19, Weidman has been removed from the Feb. 13 event and he will not be replaced.

The promotion is currently targeting UFC 261 on April 24 for the relisting of the middleweight match, but the fighters have not signed yet. That card…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Two heavy-hitting heavyweights will join an impressive upcoming UFC Fight Night card in March. First reported by Combate on Friday, Ben Rothwell (38-13) will come to blows with Philipe Lins (14-5) at UFC Fight Night 187. The two heavyweights will meet inside the Octagon on March 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Rothwell hinted at his upcoming matchup announcement on Wednesday, but he did not go so far as to confirm his opponent or its date.

Wisconsin native Rothwell has fallen on hard times the last few years, with only two wins amidst four decision defeats along with a lengthy suspension from a failed drug test. In his last time out in October, Rothwell dropped a decision to Marcin Tybura to snap a two-fight win streak. Those victories included a foul-marred knockout of Stefan Struve, along with a close split decision over ex-l…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Stop us if you’ve heard this one: Ricky Simon is going to face Brian Kelleher soon. On Thursday, Bloody Canvas first reported that Simon (17-3) and Kelleher (22-11) have been matched up against one another again for an upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship event. Barring another intervening issue, the two bantamweights will finally square off at UFC 258, which is set to go down on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas at the UFC Apex. While taunting his opponent, Simon confirmed the pairing on his Instagram shortly after the report came out.

The two were originally slated to lock horns at UFC Fight Night 176 in September 2020, but the match fell through when one of Simon’s cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. The second attempt to put this fight together came for UFC on ABC 1 in January, but Kelleher himself tested positive for COVID-19…

Mauro Cerilli MASHES the “Dagestan Machine” in Round 2 of our main-event clash! #ONEUnbreakable2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/UNOuN3aBl7

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 29, 2021 If you wanted violence, the pre-recorded second-part of the One Championship: Unbreakable series delivered in spades.

The One: Unbreakable 2 main event saw former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Mauro Cerilli welcome promotional newcomer Abdulbasir Vagabov in a heavyweight clash. The Italian fighter took his time in the early stage, waiting for Vagabov to rush forward carelessly. Vagabov attempted to drag the action on the canvas, but the Italian had no problems stopping his opponent’s attempts. After a brief pause due to an eye-poke from the Russian, Cerilli caught the “Dagestan Machine” with a knee from the clinch before ending the first stanza with a series of punches. At the waning seconds, Cerilli sprang back to his f…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQkJ--X-4Wk&w=640&h=360] Top Polish mixed martial arts promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki will put on its first card of 2021 this Saturday. Sitting atop KSW 58 is a featherweight title clash between champion Salahdine Parnasse and challenger Daniel Torres. Also of note is a light heavyweight bout between Olympic gold medalist weightlifter Poland Szymon Kolecki, who will take on German MMA veteran Martin Zawada. The eight-fight card is now official after the weigh-ins took place and all 16 fighters managed to make weight.

Looking to defend his belt is the undefeated Parnasse (14-0-1). The Frenchmen knocked out Roman Szymanski in April 2019 to claim the promotion's interim belt and was promoted to full champion once Mateusz Gamrot signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Not competing in 2020, Parnasse took a unanimous decision over Ivan Buchinger in his latest bout in December 2019. The titleholder had no issue making weight a…

Now that the #LFA98 weigh-in is in the books, which fight are you looking forward to the most tomorrow?

: https://t.co/Ssea6rbRua

: https://t.co/tseNkk5ywl@ShellsDotCom@USENDmoney@PsoRite@GLCDirect2000@AthleticCBD@IncaKolaUSA@HartmanArena@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/CFxEm4bwVj — LFA (@LFAfighting) January 29, 2021 The first match of the Legacy Fighting Alliance middleweight semifinals is now official.

The LFA returns on Friday for its second card of 2021, and brings with it an event in LFA 98 that commences the middleweight tournament. The headliner is that tourney match, as Josh Fremd takes on Bruno Oliveira to advance. The winner will take on the victor of the Anthony Adams-Gregory Rodrigues semifinal that is set to take place at LFA 100 next month.

Undefeated within the LFA is Fremd (6-1). The 27-year-old is on a four-fight win streak and has notched two first-round knockouts over Antonio Jones and Lamar Gosey. Fremd will look…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Chalk up one more opponent change for Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Seung Woo Choi. On Wednesday night, MMA DNA first reported that Collin Anglin (8-1) had been forced to withdraw from his prospective debut against Choi (8-3). In his stead will be a man matched against him in 2020, with Youssef Zalal (10-3) stepping up on short notice. The two were originally scheduled to face off at UFC Fight Night 179, but Choi was forced out for undisclosed reasons. Zalal and Choi will be squaring off at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6, which will take place in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Zalal confirmed that he was stepping in on his Instagram late Wednesday.

South Korea’s Choi rebounded from a pair of loses to Movsar Evloev and Gavin Tucker to win a decision against Suman Mokhtarian at the end of 2019. Choi scored three knoc…

Here’s the facts. Please read. pic.twitter.com/XYmSOJ4Zs6

— Raquel Pennington (@RockyPMMA) January 28, 2021 Editor's note: This article has been updated at 3 p.m. ET on Jan. 28 to add the official sanction from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Raquel Pennington did not want the story coming from anyone but her first.

On Thursday, Pennington announced on social media that she has inadvertently violated anti-doping policy from prescribed medicines to recover from a medical condition. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency subsequently released information regarding her violation, writing that two substances of 7-keto-DHEA and AOD-9064 -- both banned anabolic agents -- were reported by her. First announced by ESPN shortly after she released her statement, Pennington h…

Justin Gaethje finds it ridiculous that Conor McGregor and his team are pushing for a trilogy title bout with Dustin Poirier just after UFC 257.

McGregor did well enough in the opening stanza, but Poirier’s leg kicks took a toll before “The Diamond” won via second-round knockout. McGregor remains a massive draw, but Gaethje doesn’t belive the promotion should cater to the Irish star after they did enough of that leading up to UFC 257.

"For them to come out and say he wants a title shot next, rematch with Poirier, they're f---ing idiots," Gaethje told ESPN. "He's been treated special over and over and he didn't capitalize on this opportunity. That event was for him, it was for him to win. He wants to be ‘Mr. Humble’ now, but you know he would have been an asshole had he won that fight.”

Gaethje himself challenged for lightweight gold at UFC 254 against Khabib Nurmagomedov, losing by second-round triangle choke in the second round in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24. The fo…

While waiting for his next fight after beating Paul Felder in his return to lightweight this past November, former champion Rafael dos Anjos shared his opinion regarding the future of the division following the main bouts of UFC 257.

"Hooker didnt show up to fight, I have no doubt Chandler is a tough guy, but I agree with Poirier when he said he wouldn't fight him for the belt,” dos Anjos told Sherdog.com. “There are a lot of top guys in this division like [Charles Oliveira]and [Justin Gaethje] who worked hard, and had a lot of tough fights to reach the top of the rankings. He should, at least, face one more challenge before fighting for the gold.”

However, dos Anjos would be more than willing to step in if the UFC offered him a matchup against Chandler — or any other top contender with some momentum.

"I´m game all the time. If UFC invites me to face Chandler, I´m ready to go,” he said. “I’d rather face someone coming from a win like Poirier, Chandler or ‘D…

HUGE NEWS"ONE on TNT" kicks off on April 7 with four weeks of STACKED events featuring Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez vs. Iuri Lapicus, Christian Lee vs. Timofey Nastyukhin, Aung La N Sang vs. Vitaly Bigdash III, and more! #ONEonTNT #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/XexgKuEkLR

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 27, 2021

One Championship is expanding its relationship with TNT.

The Singapore-based promotion announced on Wednesday that it will hold a "One on TNT" series for four straight weeks beginning with a previously reported card headlined by a flyweight championship tilt between Adriano Moraes and Demetrious Johnson.

Each week from April 7 to April 28, One Championship will air three main card fights on TNT in the United States at 10 p.m. ET. The preliminary draw can be streamed on the Bleacher Report App and B/R Live from 9 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET.

“We are absolutely thrilled to kick off 2021 with…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjye2zwpr8&w=560&h=315]

Javier Mendez, who helps to coach Khabib Nurmagomedov at American Kickboxing Academy, believes it would be an ugly night for Conor McGregor if he was granted a rematch with the Dagestani champion.

Given the way things played out at UFC 257, where McGregor suffered a second-round KO defeat to Dustin Poirier in the evening’s main event, it’s not exactly the hottest of takes. However, Mendez has been on record as saying McGregor was . Now, he believes the Irish star has regressed considerably and a second bout with “The Eagle” would not be competitive. Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor via fourth-round submission in their first meeting at UFC 229 in October 2018.

“[McGregor] would’ve got smashed,” Mendez said in an interview with Submission Radio. “Khabib’s gotten better. He would’ve gotten smashed. He would have gotten smashed, straight up. Khabib’s better. He’s better than he was when they fought two years a…

"I tried to push forward the whole fight so I feel so excited about the results."-Joselyne Edwards (@JoselyneMMA29) talks about her victory at #UFCFightIsland7 after taking the fight on short notice.#InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/FUvbLdjn9w

— UFC News (@UFCNews) January 16, 2021

Joselyne Edwards will make a quick turnaround for her sophomore Octagon appearance.

Edwards will step in for Nicco Montano and face Karol Rosa in a bantamweight scrap at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6. Milenio was first to report the new booking. A reason for Montano’s withdrawal was not disclosed. UFC Fight Night 184 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. The card will stream in its entirety on ESPN+.

Edwards made her first promotional foray at UFC on ABC 1 on Jan. 16, when she outpointed Yanan Wu in a preliminary matchup. The 25-year-old Panamanian has been…

Se acaba!!!! @VenezuelanVixen somete a Sara McMann en round 3! #UFC257 #InAbuDhabi @visitabudhabi #UFCEnVivo pic.twitter.com/lrEGlvSE1u

— ufcespanol (@UFCEspanol) January 24, 2021

Julianna Pena was quite proud of her ability to battle through adversity against Sara McMann at UFC 257.

“The Venezuelan Vixen” spent the majority of the first round on her back and was taken down again in Round 2, but Pena was able to stay active from her back with submissions before returning to her feet, where she attacked the Olympic silver medalist with knees and punches. That momentum carried into the final stanza, as Pena landed a takedown of her own, transitioned to McMann’s back and secured a rear-naked choke submission at the 3:39 mark.

“The most important thing is to keep moving and keep the fight going no matter what. Never be in a stalemate position, never be flat on your back,” Pena said. “Always keep the fight going and focus in every position …

Bellator two-division champion Patricio Freire believes that former foe Michael Chandler will capture the UFC lightweight crown.

Shortly after Chandler’s impressive Octagon debut against Dan Hooker at UFC 257, Dana White stated that the ex-Bellator title holder could be in line for a shot at the vacant 155-pound belt against Dustin Poirier. Freire, who stopped Chandler in 61 seconds at Bellator 221 in May 2019 to claim lightweight gold, shared his impressions of Chandler vs. Hooker.

"Hooker did everything wrong,” Freire told Sherdog.com. “Chandler is a very explosive fighter. If you walk backwards like [Hooker] did, you will allow him to land his heavy hands. Chandler feinted a jab and caught him with a cross — something he has done his entire career.”

Freire is confident that Chandler will fare quite well against Poirier if the two lightweights square off in the Octagon.

"Poirier proved in that second fight against [Conor] McGregor that besides evolving h…

Conor McGregor’s return to action brought yet another pay-per-view bonanza for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, UFC 257 sold 1.2 million pay-per-view buys in the United States and another 400,000 internationally. The UFC does not officially release pay-per-view buy rates.

UFC 257 took place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 23 and saw Dustin Poirier knock out McGregor in the second-round of the evening’s lightweight main event. It was a rematch of a 2014 bout won by McGregor via first-round TKO. The pay-per-view aired via ESPN+ in the United States. ESPN will reportedly issue partial refunds to those who experienced streaming problems after purchasing the event.

When final figures are compiled, UFC 257 could end up as the promotion’s No. 2 selling event of all time. McGregor’s fourth-round submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomeodv, which drew a reported 2.4 million buys in October 2018, is No. 1, whil…