Month: April 2025

It was a successful trip to Kansas City this past weekend for for Diego Lima.

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The Chute Boxe leader returned to Brazil on Tuesday after cornering Ian Garry to a unanimous decision triumph over Carlos Prates in the UFC on ESPN 66 main event and shared some of the strategy that helped propel “The Future” to victory.

“Prates is such a tough striker,” Lima told Sherdog.com. “Our main goal was to keep moving and avoid his main strikes as well as eliminate his left side. That's why the high kicks were so important to inhibit his straight punches and keep him aware that he could be high kicked. Everything happened as we planned and, in my opinion, he won Rounds 1,2,3 and 4.”

Lima confirmed that Garry emerged from the fight injury free, so he will be ready to be the backup fighter for the welterweight title fight between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 on May 10.

Lima also commented on the controversy that occurred with Fighting …

There’s now some clarity as to why Taila Santos was unable to take part in the 2025 Professional Fighters League World Tournament.

USADA, the PFL’s anti-doping partner, announced on Wednesday that Santos has accepted a six-month suspension after testing positive for oxandrolone and clenbuterol in an out-of-competition sample collected on March 21. Both oxandrolone and clenbuterol are classified as anabolic agents and are prohibited at all times.

Santos’ suspension is retroactive to March 21, so she will be able to return to active competiton on Sept. 21. The 31-year-old Brazilian was removed from a first-round flyweight tournament bout against Juliana Velasquez on April 11 as a result of the anti-doping violation.

A former UFC title challenger, Santos joined the PFL in 2024, where she bested Ilara Joanne, Jena Bishop and Liz Carmouche to reach the 125-pound final. She then suffered a second-round TKO loss to Dakota Ditcheva at the PFL Championships on No…

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The last stage of the Professional Fighters League World Tournament opening round is now official.

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All 18 athletes who weighed in on Wednesday hit their contracted marks without issue, clearing the way for the promotion’s first-round brackets at light heavyweight and heavyweight to move forward.

PFL World Tournament 4 takes place on Thursday at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The main card airs on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims begin on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout pits Phil Davis (206) against Rob Wilkinson (206) at light heavyweight.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament LIVE Thursday, May 1 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

A former Bellator champion, Davis will return to action for the first time since June 2023, when he dropped a split decision to Corey Anderson at Bellator 297. The 40-year-old former Penn State University wrestle…

😬Sean Brady went OFF on Ian Garry for calling for a title shot next:

"You just beat number 13. You don’t deserve anything… He can be a back up fighter all he wants, that don’t mean d*ck."

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🎥 @SteadyPicks ▫️ pic.twitter.com/PRRgycPdrE — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) April 29, 2025

Sean Brady doesn’t consider Ian Garry to be worthy of a title shot.

Garry earned a unanimous decision win over Carlos Prates at UFC Kansas City last weekend. Brady was unimpressed by Garry’s win and accused the Irishman of coasting throughout. Garry also revealed that he is the official backup for Belal Muhammad’s upcoming title defense against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Garry had seemingly asked for the backup spot as part of deal in accepting the Prates matchup. While making the announcement, “The Future” reminded fans that he accepted his last matchup against Shavkat …

Belal Muhammad and Khamzat Chimaev are seemingly teasing a future matchup.

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Muhammad is scheduled to defend his welterweight title in the main event at UFC 315 on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Middleweight contender Chimaev recently took a shot at Muhammad, calling him a “pony.”

“Bullyb170 where are you going, pony,” Chimaev wrote.

bullyb170 куда ты лезешь пони 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/i4HMuSSavJ

— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) April 29, 2025

In response, Muhammad teased a move up to middleweight, which could possibly put them on a collision course.

“Goin to middleweight,” he wrote.

Goin to middleweight https://t.co/u4QzXQb3iP pic.twitter.com/owTlYl8HHH

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) April 29, 2025

While Chimaev used to primarily fight at 170 pounds, the weight cut was too steep for him, which led to him missing weight by a massive 7.5 pounds at UFC 279 in …

Katharina Lehner will lock horns with Olga Rubin in the Invicta FC 62 main event on May 16.

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The all-women’s promotion announced the bantamweight booking on Wednesday. Invicta FC 62 takes place at The Lex at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City and will see DeAnna Bennett face Rayla Nascimento in the evening’s co-headliner. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on Invicta’s YouTube channel and Facebook page at 6:30 p.m./3:30 p.m. PT.

Four other bouts were confirmed for the event: Milana Dudieva vs. Amanda Torres at flyweight; Ashley Yoder vs. Abril Anguiano at strawweight; Ashley Barrett vs. Quinn Williams at flyweight and Charsley Maner vs. Alexandra Lawal at flyweight.

Known as the “German Gypsy,” Lehner has rebounded from a four-bout skid from 2018 to 2022 to win two of her last three professional outings. Most recently, she took a split verdict over Shanna Young at Invicta FC 60 on Feb. 7. Read more

Sedriques Dumas is in trouble with the law again.

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According to Escambia County (Florida) inmate records, the UFC middleweight was arrested on April 28 on multiple charges, including felony robbery home invasion without a weapon, misdemeanor battery, possession of weapon by a convicted felon and felony drug possession. Dumas is currently in Escambia County Jail with bond set at $558,000. His next court date is scheduled for May 6 with Judge Jennie Kinsey.

Dumas was last arrested in February 2024 on a misdemeanor battery charge for allegedly slapping the mother of his child. That charge was dropped four months later.

Dumas has a lengthy criminal history that was brought to light prior to his UFC debut. This includes allegedly punching a woman during an incident that began at a bar in Pensacola, Florida in August 2022 a few days before Dumas fought on Dana White's Contender Series. According to a police report, the brawl spilled out of the b…

Welterweight veterans Michael Chiesa and Court McGree will square off when the Ultimate Fighting Championship heads to Atlanta.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion on Tuesday confirmed that bout as well as the following additions to the June 14 card: Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Cody Brundage at middleweight; Tereza Bleda vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth at flyweight; Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Andre Petroski at middleweight; Cody Durden vs. Jose Ochoa at flyweight and Alonzo Menifield vs. Oumar Sy at light heavyweight.

UFC Atlanta — also known as UFC on ESPN 69 — takes place at the State Farm Arena and is headlined by a welteweight showdown pitting Joaquin Buckley against Kamaru Usman.

The winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 15,” Chiesa is coming off a 2-0 campaign in 2024. After scoring a first-round submission of Tony Ferguson at UFC on ABC 7 in August, “Maverick” tapped Max Griffin in the third stanza at UFC 310 this past December. Prior to that, the 37-year-old Spokane, …

UFC Des Moines is down a fight following injuries to light heavyweights Junior Tafa and George Tokkos.

The promotion announced the news on Tuesday but did not disclose the nature of the ailments suffered by either athlete. UFC Des Moines — also known as UFC on ESPN 67 — will proceed with 12 bouts. The card takes place at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday and is headlined by a bantamweight scrap pitting Cory Sandhagen against Deiveson Figueiredo.

Tafa, the younger brother of Justin Tafa, is 2-3 thus far during his promotional tenure. He is coming off a second-round technical knockout victory against Sean Sharaf at UFC Fight Night 244 this past October.

England’s Tukkos began his UFC career with back-to-back losses against Oumar Sy and Navajo Stirling. “Tuco” also went 0-2 during a brief Bellator stint from 2019 to 2020.

“𝙎𝙀𝙉𝘿 𝙈𝙀 𝙇𝙊𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉”📍“𝙄 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙀𝘼𝘾𝙃 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝙈𝘼𝙎𝙃 𝙋𝙀𝙊𝙋𝙇𝙀”💥

Khabib Nurmagomedov checks in with Patrice @Evra ahead of the former French football captain’s PFL MMA Debut on Friday 23rd May 👀

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LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN! 🫵… pic.twitter.com/G4xHBOmnvt — PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) April 28, 2025

Patrice Evra has the option to enlist some high-profile coaching for his Professional Fighters League debut.

The retired French soccer star will make his MMA debut at the PFL Europe 2 event scheduled for May 23 in Paris. In a recent phone conversation captured by the promotion, former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov offers his services to Evra as he prepares for his new endeavor.

“I’m here in Dubai. I told you many times, send me location, and I'm going to find you," Nurmagomedov said. "Send location, tell me where are you? When I see you, you have to be ready and that's it. Other things I'm going to take care of. I'm g…

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The first full trailer for “The Smashing Machine,” featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Mark Kerr, is now available for public consumption.

Produced by A24 and directed by Benny Safdie (of “Uncut Gems” fame), the biopic chronicles the mixed martial arts journey of Kerr, who rose to fame while competing in the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships before being derailed by opoid addiction. The film is based on the 2002 documentary of the same name.

“The Smashing Machine” is scheduled for an Oct. 3 release in theaters and stars Emily Blunt as Kerr’s ex-wife, Dawn Staples. Ex-Bellator MMA champion Ryan Bader will play Mark Coleman, who helped Kerr turn his career around, and boxing heavyweight title holder Oleksandr Usyk stars as former Kerr opponent Igor Vovchanchyn. Meanwhile, Bas Rutten will play himself in the film. Other fighters such as Satoshi Ishii, James Moontasri and Roberto Abreu also make cameos in the movie.

After suffering his first defeat in the bantamweight division in his last fight against Petr Yan, former flyweight champion Deiveson "Daico" Figueiredo sought reinforcements from Eastern Europe.

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“A fighter can never be in his comfort zone,” Figueiredo told Sherdog ahead of his headlining bout with Cory Sandhagen at UFC Des Moines on Saturday. “I hired two ‘Russians’ to help me in this camp here at Pitbull Brothers. In fact, these two fighters brought by [Eric] Albarracin here to Natal are even taller than [Sandhagen]. Both are good at both striking and wrestling. These training sessions demanded a lot from me. And leaving my comfort zone made me evolve daily.”

The two fighters to which Figueiredo is referring are the Kazakh brothers, Idris Idrissov and Chingis Idrissov. They are part of the Broadstreet Global Combat Elite Athletes fighter exchange program promoted by Albarracin at Pitbull Brothers in Natal.

Figueiredo came from Belem, Brazil, …