Sports

Rider Samelo do Amaral, known as Rider Zuchi, accepted a three-year ineligibility period after an in-competition test at the IBJJF World Championship on May 31. The sample showed drostanolone and a metabolite of nandrolone or related steroids, according to BJJEE and FloGrappling's Portuguese report on the USADA announcement. The IBJJF is not a World Anti-Doping Code signatory, but it contracted USADA to run testing at the event. Zuchi admitted the violation within 20 days, which cut the otherwise four-year ban by one year. The ban began July 1, 2026 and runs to July 2029. He lost his 2026 heavyweight gold and every result since August 23, 2024. The IBJJF has reshuffled the podium and promoted the runner-up from the final. BJJEE noted that testing covers only part of the field.

SECAUCUS, N.J. — At the IBJJF Pan No-Gi Championship, held October 2-4 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, Pawel Jaworski of Academia Gorila and Sarah Galvão of Atos each won two black-belt golds. The IBJJF's recap said Jaworski, ranked No. 1 in men's no-gi, won the open class by referee decision over heavyweight champion Wallisson Oliveira. Alexandre 'Lele' Manara won ultra-heavy with a heel hook over Sean Goolsby. Natã Tenca won super-heavy in a closeout with Andre Galvão, and Pierre-Olivier Leclerc took lightweight. In the women's black-belt divisions, Maia Matalon won heavy by arm-triangle and Sabrina Gondim took featherweight. Galvão, 20, had lost the ADCC -65 kg final to Ana Carolina Vieira in double overtime in September. Next up are the IBJJF European No-Gi from October 28, and The Crown on November 8, streaming on FloGrappling.

EDMONTON — Dana White was asked after Saturday's card why the UFC did not re-sign Farid Basharat, a 29-year-old bantamweight who is 16-0 overall and 7-0 in the promotion. White named no specific cause. He said fighters are sometimes let go when they are hard to deal with, when matchmakers do not want to work with them, or when they turn down fights. He then said an unbeaten fighter with seven UFC wins who is not re-signed has a reason. Basharat, who had reached No. 8 in the media bantamweight rankings, said in a recent statement that the promotion is not what it once was. Cageside Press reads that as a nod to his decision-heavy record. Six of his seven UFC wins came by decision, according to NY Fights. White's remarks did not establish that Basharat refused any bout. Basharat is now a free agent.

CHICAGO — Jena Bishop beat Liz Carmouche by unanimous decision, 48-47 on all three scorecards, to win the PFL women's flyweight world championship on Friday at Wintrust Arena. Bishop was ranked No. 4 going in. Bleacher Report's live blog says she was hurt early, while Carmouche fended off her submission attempts. In the co-main event, featherweight Timur Khizriev improved to 19-0 with a split decision over Gabriel Braga, 29-28 twice and 28-29 once. Bleacher Report called the result dubious, saying Khizriev was badly hurt in the first two rounds and landed none of his takedown attempts. Eliezer Kubanza knocked out Trey Waters in 1:36 of the first round and then called out welterweight champion Thad Jean, South Africa's IOL reported. Bantamweight Sarvarjon Khamidov also knocked out Rafael do Nascimento in the first round.