Author Vela
The latest coverage from across combat sports.
MMAUFC Shanghai wrap: Song knocks Umar Nurmagomedov out cold, and Chinese MMA gets the homecoming it waited a decade for
The uppercut was timed to the level change, the favourite was unconscious before he landed, and 16,188 people made the type of noise a market makes when its patience pays off.
WrestlingDanis out of the Perry fight on 48 hours’ notice, stitches on display, and a wrestling title match now under a bandaged arm
Perry announced the withdrawal himself at the press conference and did not pretend to be surprised. An hour later, Danis posted the wound: a deep arm laceration being sutured, origin unexplained. The fight is dead, the replacement is on a plane, and the October date with Tsarukyan just acquired an asterisk.
MMAUsman puts a number on the standoff: he turned down $2 million from the PFL, and his ask was higher
The champion himself broke the silence in a Russian-language interview, revealing the price the promotion offered and the fact that his camp wanted more. Sixty-three days remain on the exclusive window, the promotion’s next offer is still being assembled, and the most consequential free agency in the sport finally has a public floor.
MMAUFC Shanghai preview: Umar Nurmagomedov’s title case meets Song Yadong’s home crowd.
While one Nurmagomedov’s free agency dominates the sport’s business pages, his brother spends Saturday morning trying to force his way back to a title shot, against a Chinese striker fighting the biggest fight of his life in front of his own people. Set the alarm: the main card starts at 6 a.m. ET.
MMABKB 58’s seismic rewrite: Terrill flies in on three days’ notice to challenge Trujillo for the heavyweight title
Terrill was booked to sit cageside with a headset. Then the visa news broke, the former champion demanded his way into the main event, and the promotion said yes.
MMADWCS wrap: Apodaca authors the biggest upset in the show’s history, and five fighters leave with contracts
Alex Apodaca took the fight a month after her last one, walked in as high as +1500 against the most heavily favoured prospect the series has ever staged, and out-fought the NCAA champion for fifteen minutes. The broadcast called it the biggest upset the show has ever aired.
MMACyborg wins No. 30 in her billed farewell, keeps the belt, and declines to say goodbye: ‘I’m ready for anybody. Any time, any weight.’
The legend outworked Ketlen Vieira over five hard rounds in Tampa, closed the three-fight farewell she announced two years ago, and then spent her retirement speech calling out a boxing world champion. The greatest résumé in women’s MMA history added a round number on Saturday. It did not add an ending.
Cejudo pins Dvalishvili in 36 seconds at RAF 12, takes the belt, and calls his next shot: ‘Cody Garbrandt, you’re next’
UFC Sacramento wrap: Rodrigues spoils the homecoming and banks the card’s biggest check, while De Ridder announces himself at 205
Volkanovski’s coach says the hole in Ruffy’s game is closed before UFC 331: ‘Arman’s in for a fight’
UFC Sacramento preview: Hernandez gets his home game, with the champion who beat him now in his corner
UFC BJJ 10 wrap: Tackett cranks his way to a record fourth defence, Ste-Marie takes the featherweight crown in her debut
