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Marlon Moraes is set to face Brendan Loughnane on April 1. | Photo by Matt Davies/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Marlon Moraes shares some thoughts ahead of his bout against Brendan Loughnane on April 1. Former UFC contender Marlon Moraes feels like he is home again. Once the World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion, the Brazilian has returned to the promotion that now goes by the name of Professional Fighters League last year for a chance to win its one million dollar prize money. Having left the WSOF in 2016 to compete in the UFC, Marlon feels like his career has come full circle now that he is back. Though he did not win his debut, when he lost Sheymon Moraes, ‘Magic’ enjoys the relationship he has with the people at PFL, while claiming he did not feel satisfied anymore with the UFC. “The people here are really cool. I have a great relationship with everyone in the promotion.” Moraes told Combate. “I feel like we started out with them, then they grew and now I see the PFL as one of the biggest promotions in the world,” “I wasn’t pleased with the way my fights were going in the UFC,” Marlon said. “So that was the time to stop, think and make a decision. I felt like I still had a lot to give to the sport and I still have many fights left to give the people,” Now competing at featherweight, Moraes will have his hand full in the first fight of the 2023 season. Paired up against 2022 tournament champion Brendan Loughnane, the Brazilian knows the task ahead is not easy. However, Marlon feels ready to surprise fans and shock the world. “He’s a good guy. He’s fast, he’s a high volume fighter. He box, kick, take you down. He’s well-rounded. Nowadays, especially in the divisions bellow lightweight, everyone is well-rounded. You have to know everything in order to survive. It’s an MMA fight and I believe we’re going touch all areas and it’ll be a great fight. I’m ready to surprise everybody.” Currently on a five-fight losing skid, Moraes (23-11-1) got knocked in all five outings, when he faced Cory Sandhagen, Rob Font, Merab Dvalishivili, Song Yadong and the aforementioned Moraes. The 34-year-old’s last win dates back December 2019, when he defeated Jose Aldo via split decision. Now, Moraes is expected to take on Loughnane at PFL 1’s main event, on April 1, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The night’s co-main event is schedule to feature a bout for the season’s light heavyweight tournament, between fellow UFC veterans Thiago Santos and Rob Wilkinson.

Boss level poster, too. Japan’s hottest combat sports property lines up a lovely set of events, and it all starts here. RIZIN gears up to host a series of events for the next few months, showcasing Japanese and international talent in the usual kickboxing and MMA format. It begins with this card right here, with what is mostly a meat-and-potatoes card with none of the unconventional spectacle bouts they put on from time to time. The headliner is a fun kickboxing bout between Koji Tanaka and Ryusei Ashizawa. You may remember Takanka as the fighter that took on Floyd Mayweather’s bodyguard for some strange reasons we don’t have to get into. Ashizawa has a less-than-stellar record, and that’s fine for an action bout. This is a showcase, plain and simple, there’s no need to delve further into that. Yoshinori Horie (12-3) had a great start to his career in Pancrase, was one and done in the UFC with a loss to Hakeem Dawodu, and now rides a three-fight win streak including this wild knockout against Tetsuya Seki. He meets Azerbaijan’s Vugar Karamov (17-4), a consistent talent that has extraordinary grappling and submission chops. It’s a banger, and one of the best fights of the weekend. Welterweight veterans Kiichi Kunimoto (20-10, 2 draws, 1 no contest) and Keita Nakamura (35-11, 2 draws 1 no contest) are both coming off losses, but still have that veteran savvy and dad strength. It’s an interesting matchup between two crafty, well-rounded combatants, and a great addition to the card. Guam’s Kyle Aguon (14-11) and Kyohei Hagiwara (6-7) are also scheduled for this card. They may not have extraordinary records, but put on some fun bouts from time to time when they fight against type and decide to throw bombs. The real under-the-radar bout here is Sho Patrick Usami (6-1) vs Kyung Pyo Kim (11-4). Usami pulled of a stunner of a knockout against Noah Bey back in December, and against Shinji Sasaki in the fight before that. He meets ROAD, GLADIATOR and Shooto vet Kyung Pyo Kim (11-4), who can finish the fight anywhere and has an aggressive submission game. You can check out the weigh-ins here: Koji Tanaka vs Ryusei Ashizawa - 135lb kickboxing bout Yoshinori Horie vs Vugar Karamov - Featherweight Kiichi Kunimoto vs Keita Nakamura - Welterweight Makoto Takahashi vs Daichi Kitakata - Flyweight Kyohei Hagiwara vs Kyle Aguon - Featherweight Yuto Hokamura vs Koichi Ishizuka - Bantamweight Sho Patrick Usami vs Kyung Pyo Kim - Lightweight Yusaku Nakamura vs Mehman Mamedov - Flyweight Shun Onishi vs Motoki - 134lb kickboxing bout Shingeki no Yuki vs Sota Kimura - 147lb kickboxing bout Asataro vs Shin Sakurai - 127lb kickboxing bout Yuto Miwa vs Daichi Akahira - 127lb kickboxing bout RIZIN 41 takes place Friday night into Saturday morning starting at 2:00am EST for those of us stateside. The event will be available for purchase over at FITE.tv.

Screengrab, YouTube/Adam Wardzinski Breaking down Adam Wardzinski’s championship run at the 2023 IBJJF Pan Championships. The classics never go out of style. Whether it be the vintage rock t-shirts, Metallica blasting in his reels, or the exquisite butterfly system he has perfected, Adam Wardzinski is the epitome of old school. Perhaps that is why at an age where many of the game’s best grapplers ascend to the Master’s division, Wardzinski has experienced his greatest success. The greatest Polish grappler to ever grace the mats, Wardzinski made his name as a color belt dominating the European circuit. Picking up championships at the European Open in gi and no-gi, Wardzinski was widely considered Europe’s best grappler, yet would come up short against the very best. This however, did not stop Wardzinski from amassing a legion of fans that rivals the size of the sport’s most iconic grapplers. His name became synonymous with the butterfly guard, joining the legendary company of Leo Santos and the inimitable Marcelo Garcia. pic.twitter.com/uVqtme35zu— Leo Santos Stan (@gioiaplata) March 28, 2023 It was only a short time ago that butterfly guard was considered to be somewhat dated, especially in the gi, mostly due to the modern passing metagame favoring standing passing. Yet, Wardzinski has consistently used it to baffle black belt after black belt. Wardzinki’s use of old school jiu jitsu does not just stop with the butterfly. Wardzinski employs shin to shin, single leg X, and sometimes a combination of both if an opponent was too focused on stopping his butterfly. JitsWeb 2019 IBJJF Pans Coverage: Beautiful Half Guard Butterfly Sweep with the far side lapel by Adam Wardzinski #bjj #jiujitsu pic.twitter.com/Ud0eQaWJJF— jitsweb (@JitsWeb) March 25, 2019 While Wardzinski is primarily known for his guardplay, partially due to the legendary BJJ Scout guard study, his passing has been the catalyst for his most iconic victories. In the semi-finals of the 2019 edition of the Pan American Championships, Wardzinski faced off against Leandro Lo. At this point in time Lo was the seven time World Champion with a mountain of other accolades whereas Wardzinski had come up just short time and time again with placed finishes at the AJP Grand Slam, AGP World Pro, and the IBJJF European Championships. An afterthought going into the match, Wardzinski managed to sweep one of the best passers of his generations, knee slice into mount, and take his back culminating in an epic upset. Pans is Adam Wardzinski's event. pic.twitter.com/X8j34XyGXo— Leo Santos Stan (@gioiaplata) March 27, 2023 With this victory, Wardzinski had announced himself as a serious contender at every major, yet despite making incremental progress, he would continue to fall agonizingly short. While Felipe Pena and Xande Ribeiro prevented Wardzinski from seeing great success in his early career, Kaynan Duarte was now the man preventing “Megatron” from ascending into immortality. Time after time, Duarte not only defeated the Polish sensation but often submitted him on the sport’s biggest stages, whether it be by armbar at the IBJJF World Championships or by a vicious kneebar at the AGP World Pro Finals in under two minutes. pic.twitter.com/y5P1znYAj8— Leo Santos Stan (@gioiaplata) March 28, 2023 With the pandemic in full effect at the tail end of what should have been Adam Wardzinski’s prime, many assumed that Wardzinski’s legacy was sealed, a bridesmaid but never a bride, a highly entertaining and instructive grappler that stood out but one who was never able to obtain that signature title. Yet coming out of the pandemic, something changed. Wardzinski claimed victory at the 2021 Abu Dhabi World Pro, before finally capturing his elusive IBJJF European Open Title over Dominique Bell. However this tear did not continue stateside as he was quickly eliminated at the 2022 Pan American championship both in his division and absolute. The Lo victory remained Wardzinski’s greatest moment, bittersweet in the fact that he was quickly dispatched in the finals of that tournament. The 2023 Pan American Championships looked to follow the same course as most of Wardzinski’s major runs over the past few years. He started with an impressive run, submitting both Roberto Jimenez and Felipe Pimental before defeating Dimitrius Souza to move on to the finals. Awaiting Wardzinski was the four time Pan American Champion in Felipe Andrew, who had dominantly defeated Wardzinski at the European Open this year. The match started and it looked like the status quo would remain the same as Wardzinski quickly went down nine points and was mounted, defeat was inevitable. Many a grappler would have given up in this scenario, yet Wardzinski persevered and went back to the move that had served him so well, the butterfly. Yet Andrew was aware of the threat and extended his base, forcing Wardzinski to switch to his secondary sweep, the John Wayne. Adam Wardzinski John Wayne. pic.twitter.com/uU7NjIZbCR— Leo Santos Stan (@gioiaplata) March 28, 2023 Ending in a knee cut position, Wardzinski still needed seven points in the final minute to get to a referee’s decision. Read the rest over at the Bloody Elbow Substack page for FREE.

Marcelo Golm is set to face Daniel James at Bellator 293. | Photo by Matt Davies/PX Images/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Marcelo Golm will look for the finish against Daniel James at Bellator 293. Bellator 293 headliner Marcelo Golm is ready to make up for the time lost. Paired up against Daniel James for Friday night’s event, the Brazilian wants to put on an impressive striking performance and hopefully emerge from it unscathed. In an interview with Combate, Golm felt at ease enough to share his gameplan, which may come as no surprise. A knockout artist, Marcelo intends to keep the fight on the feet and score a stoppage. Though the Brazilian knows his opponent also has heavy hands, he believes has the technical edge over James on the feet. “He’ a big guy. Big and strong. He likes to box, he can grapple. He’s a brawler, he’s going to try to make it a brawl, but I’m not afraid. I have my weapons to beat him on the feet. I like striking and and that’s how I intend to fight him. He’s a dangerous guy, I respect his hands. Technically, though, I’m much better than him. The fight is staying on the feet,” Having fought twice in 2022 and once in 2021, Golm intends to be a more active athlete this year. Since Marcelo is not injured and has no weight cutting issues, the Brazilian wants to seize this positive moment in his career and fight as frequently as possible from now on. “If I can have three or four fights this year, it will be wonderful for me. I haven’t been able to fight a lot lately. I was healthy, I wasn’t injured or anything. I’ll be on their back this year though. I want to fight three or four times a year. I’m doing well, I have no weight issues, which is something different. If I’m healthy, I can fight every month.” Currently on a four-fight winning streak, Golm (10-3) scored wins over DJ Linderman, Brandon Hebert, Billy Swanson and Davion Franklin, all stoppages. The 30-year-old’s most recent loss happened in the last fight of his UFC stint, when he got knocked out by Sergei Pavlovich, in April 2019. Now, Golm is expected to take on James at Bellator 293’s main event, on March 31, in Temecula, California. The co-main event is scheduled to be headlined by a women’s featherweight bout between UFC veteran Cat Zingano and Leah McCourt.