Latest news with #WorldTournament
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC Fight Night coming to Nashville in July
The UFC makes its return to Nashville this summer, with two heavyweights leading the bill. Fan-favorite Derrick Lewis is expected to headline a UFC Fight Night from Bridgestone Arena on July 12 against Tallison Teixeira, per a report from MMA Junkie. Advertisement Nashville last hosted Dana White and the UFC in August 2023 at Bridgestone Arena, when Cory Sandhagen defeated Rob Font in the main event of UFC on ESPN 50. The UFC joins rival combat sports organization PFL in Music City this summer, with the latter hosting its World Tournament semifinals on June 12 at the Municipal Auditorium. Lewis (28-12 MMA, 19-10 UFC), perhaps best known for his post-fight antics, returns to the octagon for his first fight since May 2024, when he scored a third-round TKO against Rodrigo Nascimento before mooning the crowd. Lewis was previously slated to return last November on UFC Fight Night 246 before medical issues forced him to withdraw. The 6-foot-7 Teixeira (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) made his debut at UFC 312 in February, continuing his 100% finishing rate with a TKO win over Justin Tafa 35 seconds into the fight. Harrison Campbell covers combat sports for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@ and follow him on Twitter @hccamp. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dana White, UFC Fight Night coming to Nashville in July
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Main event announced for PFL World Tournament in Nashville
MMA returns to Nashville this summer as PFL hosts its World Tournament semifinals on June 12 at Municipal Auditorium. Headlining this summer's card is former Bellator world champion Jason Jackson (18-5) taking on the unbeaten Thad Jean (9-0) in a welterweight semifinal, PFL confirmed on Wednesday. Jackson, who was formerly featured on The Ultimate Fighter, won the Bellator welterweight world championship in 2023 and joined the PFL Welterweight World Tournament earlier this year, picking up a second-round technical submission win over Andrey Koreshkov on April 3. Jean also picked up a victory on the same card, knocking out Mukhamed Berkhamov in the first round. More: Next Caleb Plant fight on same card as Jermall Charlo in May | Report The co-main event will see a rubber match between Peru's Jesus Pinedo (24-6), the 2023 PFL featherweight champion, and Gabriel Braga (16-2) in a featherweight semifinal. Pinedo made his PFL debut against Braga in 2023, suffering a split decision loss, before rematching him later that year in the PFL Featherweight Championship and scoring a third-round stoppage to win the belt. The remainder of the card sees former Bellator champion Logan Storley (17-3) in a welterweight semifinal bout against Masayuki Kikuiri (11-2-1) of Japan, as well as unbeaten 2021 PFL Featherweight Champion Movlid Khaybulaev (22-0-1) returning to face Taekyun Kim (11-1). Tickets for the 2025 PFL World Tournament 5: Semifinals in Nashville begin at $35 are available through Ticketmaster. The PFL World Tournament will stream live on ESPN platforms in the United States. This summer's fight card comes after Nashville previously hosted PFL 7 last August, with the success of the event leading the organization to return to Music City. The PFL World Tournament is an annual single-elimination tournament held across seven weight classes: heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight. The tournament spans over five months with fighters looking to win three straight fights to become PFL Tournament Champion. Each winner will receive a $500,000 bonus while a total of $20 million will be paid out during the tournament. Ahead of Nashville's semifinals, PFL will host three first-round events at Universal Studios in Orlando. Harrison Campbell covers combat sports for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@ and follow him on Twitter @hccamp. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: PFL World Tournament main event announced for Nashville fight card
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Next Caleb Plant fight on same card as Jermall Charlo in May
Caleb Plant is reportedly set to return to the ring in May, keeping one eye on a highly anticipated showdown against former middleweight champion Jermall Charlo. Plant (23-2) will face Jose Armando Resendiz (15-2) in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card from Las Vegas on May 31, The Ring's Mike Coppinger reported on Tuesday. The co-feature will see Charlo (33-0) fight Thomas LaManna (39-5-1), with the aim being to match Plant and Charlo against each other if both prevail in May, per the report. Plant, a former super middleweight champion and Ashland City native, last fought in September on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga when he picked up a ninth-round stoppage against the previously unbeaten Trevor McCumby. More: MMA returns to Nashville this summer as PFL hosts its World Tournament semifinals It was Plant's first fight in 18 months following a decision defeat to David Benavidez. With the win he claimed the interim WBA super middleweight title, taking a step closer to his goal of becoming a two-time world champion. Plant and Charlo have been linked to a fight ever since an incident backstage during Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence fight week in 2023, where Plant slapped Charlo after he touched the Tennessee native's beard while exchanging words. "Obviously, that's something I want," Plant told The Tennessean last year, in regard to facing Charlo. "That's something I want to do and I think it'd be a big fight for boxing. Obviously, anyone who follows boxing is asking for that fight, for good reason ..." Charlo has fought just once since 2021 and will end an 18-month layoff when he faces LaManna. He last fought in November 2023, earning a convincing unanimous decision victory over Jose Benavidez Jr., after missing weight by over three pounds. More: Why boxer Caleb Plant's love of muscle cars came from growing up in Ashland City LaManna enters the bout on a nine-fight win streak since being knocked out by current middleweight champion Erislandy Lara. Plant's opponent Resendiz has already picked up a knockout win this year against a non-descript opponent in his native Mexico. That fight ended a 17-month layoff for Resendiz after he was stopped in the eighth round by Phoenix native Elijah Garcia in 2023. The event will be a non-PPV broadcast on Prime Video, per The Ring's report, with further details on the undercard to come. Harrison Campbell covers boxing for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@ and follow him on Twitter @hccamp. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Caleb Plant's next fight on Jermall Charlo card in May | Report
The National
14-03-2025
- Sport
- The National
'Ready for anyone': Ali Taleb steps up to PFL World Tournament to face Zebenzui Ruiz
Ali Taleb said he is ready to take on all comers after being promoted to the PFL's World Tournament. The Iraqi-born Swede won the promotion's Mena bantamweight title last November by knocking out Moroccan Rachid Haz in the first round in Riyadh. Taleb's performance did not go unnoticed, and the 27-year-old will make the step up in grade at the 2025 PFL World Tournament starting in April, where he is slated to meet Spaniard Zebenzui Ruiz in the newly introduced 135lb weight division. 'I can't wait for this day. I'm super excited. I have been training and preparing for this event ever since the PFL confirmed my spot in the World Tournament,' Taleb, 27, told The National in a Zoom interview. 'Yeah, that's what I have been doing all the time; training and preparing until the day of the fight. I plan to fly to the US for a camp ahead of the fight as soon as I receive my visa." Taleb has only one defeat in his 13-fight pro career while Ruiz also has 12 wins against three losses. 'I don't know much about this Spanish guy but I'm ready to take on anyone the promotion puts in front of me because if you want to be a world champ, you should be able to take on anyone to be the best,' Taleb said. The 2025 PFL World Tournament kicks off in April, with four weekly opening round events taking place on April 3, 11, 18 and May 1 at the Universal Studios Florida in Orlando. Taleb has won four of his five PFL fights with his solitary loss coming against Khurshed Kakhorov of Tajikistan in September 2023. His best win so far has been in UAE Warriors when he dethroned bantamweight champion Vinicius Oliveira – now in the UFC – in a third-round TKO. With that win under his belt, as well as crossing over to PFL and winning the Mena bantamweight crown in the inaugural season, Taleb has proven to be one of the top fighters in the region. 'To win the bantamweight belt was fantastic and now to step up to the world stage I believe was a natural process,' he said. 'I have gone though a lot in life. It has been a very hard and long journey for me. I'm glad about what I have achieved and where I have reached right now. But I want to go further.' Taleb has shown high-level skills and ability, including excellent boxing skills and crunching power punches. He began his professional career with two wins in the Fight Club Rush in Sweden – the first by TKO stoppage and the next by submission arm triangle choke. He went undefeated in the UAE Warriors, reeling off three wins in the Abu Dhabi promotion's Arabia event and two in the international event that culminated with the bantamweight title triumph over Oliveira in July 2022. 'Vinicius was 17-2 and I was 6-0 when I stopped him in the third round. Now he is in UFC and I signed for PFL, which was a big break for me,' Taleb said. 'I was undefeated in five UAE Warriors appearances and ended up with the bantamweight belt. I enjoyed my time with the Abu Dhabi promotion but I had to move on when the opportunities opened up.' Taleb moved with his family to Sweden in 2009 where he joined a martial arts school. He won five of his eight amateur MMA fights and turned pro in 2018. 'That has been my life ever since,' he added. 'I spend much of my time in training and when I'm at home I spend time with my family and play around with my two huskies. 'As a child, I played football and tried out a few other sports but it was MMA that I was attracted to and continued to pursue full-time. I think I have done pretty well so far in my chosen profession and obviously looking ahead for bigger goals. 'I want to put up a show on my first appearance on the world stage. I want to tell my friends and fans around the world to keep supporting me and I'll give them a good show every time I enter the arena.'
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
PFL Announces Light Heavyweight World Tournament Roster
The PFL has been announcing the rosters for their upcoming World Tournaments over the past few weeks. This week, we are going to learn of the final two weight classes and they wasted no time kicking things off this week. The promotion took to social media this morning and announced the field for the light heavyweight division. One Shot to WIN. One Shot to ADVANCE. One Shot at a WORLD TITLE 🏆Get to know the Light Heavyweights set to compete in the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ #PFLWorldTournament [ #PFLWorldTournament | Thursday , May 1st | 📺 10PM EST | ESPN 2 | B2YB @Valrenergy ] — PFL (@PFLMMA) March 4, 2025 The light heavyweights will kick things off on May 1st from Orlando, Florida. The full list of PFL light heavyweight contenders can be viewed below. Phil Davis (24-7) Karl Albrektsson (14-6) Karl Moore (12-3) Antonio Carlos Junior (16-6) Marcelo Nunes (11-2) Sullivan Cauley (6-1) Simeon Powell (10-1) Rob Wilkinson (19-3) The first name on the list that stands out is Phil Davis. The former Bellator light heavyweight champion will be making his promotional debut. He hasn't fought since 2023 but he was supposed to fight in last year's regular season before suffering an injury. He was set to face former PFL champ Rob Wilkinson who is competing in the World Tournament. Two notable names not on the list is Bellator champ Corey Anderson (18-6) and last year's champion Dovlet Yagshimuradov (25-7-1). I reached out to promotional officials regarding the two but I couldn't get a confirmation on the plans for them. The assumption for me is that these two will have a rematch over the summer in the Champions Series. Anderson and Yagshimuradov fought in the Bellator Grand Prix with Anderson getting the win. Welterweight Featherweight Women's Flyweight Bantamweight Middleweight Lightweight More must-reads: Tom Aspinall willing to fight anyone for the undisputed UFC heavyweight title After falling short at UFC Vegas 103, what's next for Asu Almabayev?
