News

UFC to help combat knife crime in UK with new partnership

Published

3 years ago

May 25, 2021

Cauley Quilty

The worlds leading mixed martial arts promotion, the UFC, has today announced its partnership with UK based charity OnSide and Legacy Youth Zone in a bid to tackle the knife crime epidemic in the UK. The partnership will be led by UK athletes Leon Edwards, Darren Till and Jimi Manuwa who will lead an MMA-focused mentoring program at OnSide in Croydon, Wolverhampton & the Wirral.

Knife crime has been a constant and ongoing problem in recent years, with a shocking 46,265 incidents recorded in England & Wales last year. Speaking earlier this year, Leon Edwards spoke to media how a phone call between himself, Jimi Manuwa and Darren Till led to the movement being launched after a surge of knife crime in their hometowns:

“Jimi and I spoke and we came from similar backgrounds. In the U.K., there’s a big knife pandemic, basically – loads of kids getting stabbed. And I came from the same background and he came to me and said we should do something. I said, yeah perfect. I was thinking of doing it anyway. So me, Jimi, Darren had a phone call. We said where can we take it, would the UFC be willing to do it? We spoke to the UFC, they said yes – 100 percent, they want to be involved.”

Jimi Manuwa has also spoken about the partnership and how he hopes his own life experiences will resonate with the kids that will participate in the programme:

“Knife crime is out of control now, I don’t know if there’s just more social media and media to cover it but I feel we can do something because we are these kids and we come from the same places they are growing up in. Before I started fighting I had my fair bit of trouble; I’ve been to prison four times so I’ve come from these same circumstances. I would have wanted someone to do something for me when I was 17 or 18, I needed that same guidance.”

Liverpool’s own Darren Till is also no stranger to knife crime, being stabbed himself eight years ago with the weapon missing his major artery by only a millimetre:

“Knife crime will probably always exist but there are so many mindless crimes being committed by youngsters, some as young as 13. Their family is distraught because they’re going to jail for life and the other family is even more distraught because their family member has been taken from them, sometimes for the stupidest of arguments.”

The partnership will be aimed at 12-16 year olds and also to those on probation for knife possession and assault and also gang and drug-related crimes. The programme will consist of weekly classes over a six-to-eight week period at selected OnSide centres.

Related Topics:Knife Crime OnSide UFC UK MMA

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CW 171: Final Card & Broadcast Details

Published

18 hours ago

April 15, 2024

VM Staff

It’s fight week for Glasgow! Cage Warriors – Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation – heads to Scotland for the first time since 2013 with the stacked CW 171 card pitting the nation’s finest against elite opposition from the UK, Europe and beyond!

With the home nation represented in all six of the main card bouts, the atmosphere is set to be electric in the Braehead Arena as CW presents one of its biggest fight nights of all time.

In the main event, blistering KO artist Dumitru Girlean returns to face home favourite Chris ‘The Bad Guy’ Bungard in what is sure to be an electrifying lightweight contest.

Also featuring in high-stakes bouts are title hopefuls Reece McEwan and Aidan Stephen, who face UFC veteran Cameron Else and Italy’s Gianluca Scottoli respectively.

Elsewhere on the card, former title challenger Scott Malone is back in the famous yellow gloves, as he takes on surging contender Nicolas Leblond, while hot prospect Sean Clancy Jr looks to keep his unbeaten run alive against Lucas Rodriguez.

The final CW 171 card is as follows…

Cage Warriors 171: Glasgow | LIVE on UFC Fight Pass

Main Card – 12:30 (PT) | 15:30 (ET) | 20:30 (BST) | 21:30 (CEST)

Lightweight: Dumitru Girlean vs Chris Bungard
Bantamweight: Cameron Else vs Reece McEwan
Welterweight: Lucas Rodrigues vs Sean Clancy Jr
Bantamweight: Gianluca Scottoli vs Aidan Stephen
Flyweight: Nicolas Leblond vs Scott Malone
Bantamweight: Kaique Modesto vs Keir Harvie

Prelims – 08:30 (PT) | 11:30 (ET) | 16:30 (BST) | 17:30 (CEST)

Lightweight: Konstantinos Ntelis vs Jan Quaeyhaegens
Featherweight: Alberth Dias vs Paul McBain
Bantamweight: Jack Eglin vs Daan Duijs
Lightweight: Jordan Little vs Jordan Stronge
Welterweight: Wallison Henrique vs Carlo Pedersoli Jr
Light Heavyweight: Nell Ariano vs Jamie Macdonald
Catchweight (167lbs): Diego Dikson vs Ieuan Davies
Lightweight: Dec Dean vs Michael Blair
Flyweight: Ronal Siahaan vs Igor Wojtas
Featherweight: TBC vs Damon Donald
Bantamweight: Pav Sahota vs Iain Postlethwaite
Welterweight: Mush Aslani vs Khadim Dia
Featherweight: Cornellius Aritonang vs Thomas Hepburn

Cage Warriors 171: Glasgow will air live on UFC Fight Pass and international broadcast partners.

News

UFC 300 – Live Results | Pereira vs Hill

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2024

Jake Davis

It’s fight day! The milestone event UFC 300 is finally upon us, bringing with it one of the strongest cards ever put together. In the main event, Alex Pereira will defend his light heavyweight belt against former titleholder Jamahal Hill.

For the full results as they happen, look no further!

Note: any point deductions will be denoted with an asterisk and explained at the bottom of the page.

***

Main card (3am GMT+1 – TNT Sports)

(#1) Charles Oliveira vs (#4) Arman Tsarukyan – lightweight title eliminator

Bo Nickal vs Cody Brundage – middleweight bout

Prelims (1am GMT+1 – TNT Sports/UFC Fight Pass)

(#2) Jiri Procházka vs (#5) Aleksandar Rakic – light heavyweight bout

(#7) Calvin Kattar vs (#1 – BW) Aljamain Sterling – featherweight bout

(#5) Holly Holm vs Kayla Harrison – bantamweight bout

(#13) Sodiq Yusuff vs Diego Lopes – featherweight bout

Early prelims (11pm GMT+1 – UFC Fight Pass)

(#10) Jalin Turner vs (#13) Renato Moicano – lightweight bout

(#4) Jessica Andrade vs (#6) Marina Rodriguez – strawweight bout

(#14) Bobby Green vs Jim Miller – lightweight bout

(#8) Deiveson Figueiredo vs Cody Garbrandt – bantamweight bout

***

For more UFC 300 content, stay tuned to Violent Money TV.

News

ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova Full Card Announced

Published

3 days ago

April 13, 2024

VM Staff

A plethora of combat sports action will take over Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium once again when ONE Championship returns to the fabled striking venue with ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova next month.

The thrilling event will take place live in U.S. primetime on Saturday, 4th May, and feature four fighting disciplines across the star-studded card.

ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Smilla Sundell will make the second defense of her crown when she takes on dangerous contender Natalia Diachkova in the headlining bout.

The Swedish teen has been unstoppable so far in her ONE tenure, piecing up every opponent to amass a perfect 4-0 run that includes winning the inaugural women’s strawweight Muay Thai strap against Jackie Buntan in April 2022.

Sundell was arguably at her best last time out when she put down the challenge of ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues at ONE Fight Night 14 last September.

The 19-year-old used her sheer size and striking abilities to repeatedly hurt Rodrigues before she ended proceedings with a monumental finish in the third round.

At ONE Fight Night 22, Sundell will face a foe with as much finishing threat as she has, meaning fans are in for a firefight. Diachkova has scored three knockouts in her first four promotional bouts, with her latest coming just last month at ONE Friday Fights 55.

The Russian wrecker has impressed again and again, and she’ll be coming for gold on 4th May.

The event will also see the return of former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Hiroki Akimoto, who is set to battle hot new arrival Wei Rui elsewhere on the card.

The Japanese star will hope to get right back into the World Title conversation in his first appearance since parting with the gold in 2022. But Wei knows he’ll have a perfect opportunity to announce himself in style in ONE’s stacked bantamweight kickboxing ranks against Akimoto, and his astonishing 20-fight winning streak already identifies him as no slouch.

ONE Fight Night 22 Full Card:

(c) Smilla Sundell vs. Natalia Diachkova (ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Championship)
Akbar Abdullaev vs. Halil Amir (MMA – featherweight)
Sinsamut Klinmee vs. Dmitry Menshikov (Muay Thai – lightweight)
Hiroki Akimoto vs. Wei Rui (kickboxing – bantamweight)
Maurice Abevi vs. Zhang Lipeng (MMA – lightweight)
Reece McLaren vs. Hu Yong (MMA – flyweight)
Rungrawee Sitsongpeenong vs. Bogdan Shumarov (kickboxing – lightweight)
Chihiro Sawada vs. Noelle Grandjean (MMA – atomweight)
Thongpoon PK Saenchai vs. Zakaria El Jamari (Muay Thai – strawweight)
Nanami Ichikawa vs. Bianca Basilio (submission grappling – 132-pound catchweight)
Sean Climaco vs. Josue Cruz (Muay Thai – flyweight)