Author: mmafighting
Koji Tanaka, a.k.a. “Kouzi”, showed off soccer skills in his MMA debut. The son of “King Kazu” Kazuyoshi Miura, a soccer legend from Japan, “Kouzi” dropped previously unbeaten Kota Miura (2-1) with a nasty left elbow from the clinch and landed heavy strikes from top position on the ground before getting back to his feet and landing soccer kicks, forcing the referee to stop the action for the knockout 59 seconds into the second round. “Kouzi” now holds a 1-0 record in MMA after a long career kickboxing, competing for K-1 and going 4-5 in kickboxing matches under the RIZIN…
Igor Tanabe’s ultimate dream was to win the IBJJF World Championship as a black belt, but that changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based in Japan, “Fat Ninja” realized life wouldn’t be the same for a while during the pandemic as it was nearly impossible to leave the country to compete elsewhere. On top of that, his wife becoming pregnant altered his career perspective. “It was insane when COVID hit and I had no reason to keep training anymore, there was no [jiu-jitsu] match for me here, so I decided to fight MMA,” Tanabe said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast.…
John Dodson doesn’t hold grudges, but he definitely keeps receipts. Ahead of his return on New Year’s Eve in Japan, the veteran flyweight found peace with his new fighting home in RIZIN along with becoming champion in BKFC after he was unceremoniously released from the UFC. Of course, Dodson understands that you’re only as good as your last fight when it comes to combat sports, but he felt that his résumé with the UFC should’ve earned him a little bit more consideration. Sadly, after falling to Merab Dvalisivhili in 2020, Dodson was released from the promotion after spending nearly a…
Celebrating the beginning of a new year by watching MMA fights has been a tradition in Japan since Pride FC introduced its first New Year’s Eve event in 2003, and former Pride head Nobuyuki Sakakibara is keeping that tradition alive with RIZIN Fighting Federation. RIZIN closes the year on Dec. 31 with Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto Takahashi for the flyweight title at RIZIN 45, which goes down Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama. Ahead of the event, Sakakibara shared with MMA Fighting his top three favorite New Year’s Eve moments as an MMA executive. The 2003 New…
One-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes on Saturday announced his opponent, Carlos Ulberg, has been ruled out of UFC 297. Reyes put in quotes that Ulberg was injured and added he is “def frustrated but god has a plan,” he wrote on Instagram. A UFC official confirmed to MMA Fighting that the bout is likely to be rescheduled for UFC Atlantic City, which takes place March 30 at Boardwalk Hall. A message to Ulberg wasn’t immediately returned. UFC 297 takes place Jan. 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Reyes vs. Ulberg was expected to open the event’s ESPN+…
When Daniel Cormier called it a career, he already had his future mapped out by joining the UFC broadcast booth as a color commentator. Since the first night he started calling fights, the former UFC two-division champion has advanced to become one of the strongest and most recognized voices in MMA. Cormier now serves as one-third of the primary broadcast team for the biggest UFC cards of the year on pay-per-view, where he’s joined by Joe Rogan and play-by-play man Jon Anik. While the lineup changes occasionally — usually due to Rogan’s busy schedule, where he doesn’t travel outside of…
What would the kookiest year in combat sports be without a little controversy? Around this time last year, I made the argument that MMA judging isn’t as bad as it’s chalked up to be, and I stand by that. However (and this is a big however), we can’t talk about the state of scoring 2023 without mentioning two of the most widely discussed title fight outcomes of the year: the Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko rematch, and Henry Cejudo’s comeback fight against Aljamain Sterling. Both championship contests were standout displays of martial arts that looked to be close matchups on…
Conor McGregor teased on social media that his next UFC fight will be announced Jan. 1, 2024. The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion was originally expected to face Michael Chandler after both athletes coached on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, but it remains to be seen if Chandler will be standing across the octagon after the delay. I will be announcing my fight date and opponent on New Years Day, 2024.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 30, 2023 The Greatest Comeback in Sports History.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 30, 2023 McGregor hasn’t fought since 2021, when he suffered…
Juan Archuleta is no longer the RIZIN bantamweight title after coming in at 140.65 pounds for Sunday’s co-main event bout with Kai Asakura in Saitama, Japan. It’s still unclear if the bout will proceed as a catchweight. RIZIN rules state that an overweight athlete is incapable of winning, as a victory in the ring would be automatically overturned to no-contest. Should both fighters agree to still face off on Dec. 31, Asakura would be the only competing for the now vacant belt since he came in under the 61kg (134.4lbs) limit at 134.2 pounds. Both Kyoji Horiguchi and Makoto Shinryu…
Oktagon MMA’s switch to open scoring didn’t make much of a difference for Samuel Kristofic. A 34-year-old Slovakian middleweight, Kristofic starched UFC veteran Karlos Vemola with a brutal first-round knockout in less than two minutes on Friday at Oktagon 51. Despite coming into the bout as more than a 4-to-1 betting underdog, Kristofic sent Vemola toppling with a picture-perfect two-punch combination, then followed up with one more right hand for good measure as Vemola slowly crashed to the canvas. The stoppage officially came at 1:48 of the opening round. Video of Kristofic’s ferocious fight-ending sequence can be watched below. Kristofic…