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Francis Ngannou emphatically returned to the world of mixed martial arts on Saturday with a first-round technical knockout (3:22) over 2023 Professional Fighters League Tournament winner Renan Ferreira in the “Super Fights: Battle of the Giants” main event at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ngannou showed no rust from his over two-year hiatus from mixed martial arts. After two high-profile boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, many wondered if Ngannou would stand and bang with the 6-foot-8 giant, but the former lineal heavyweight kingpin was too smart. Ngannou took Ferreira down with a smooth double leg and dragged him to the fence where he patiently waited to strike. Ferreira sacrificed his butterfly guard to thro…

Anthony Hernandez weathered an early storm of offense and ultimately cruised to a lopsided fifth-round TKO victory over Michel Pereira on Saturday at UFC Vegas 99 in Las Vegas. The rising middleweight contender finished Pereira with elbows at the 2:22 mark of the fifth round in a fight that could have been stopped much earlier as Pereira ran out of gas after the opening frame.

Seconds into the UFC Vegas 99 main event, Pereira hurt Hernandez with a front kick to the liver and followed up with a series of punches and knees as a wounded Hernandez covered up against the cage. Hernandez recovered and set the tone for the rest of the fight with a takedown into side control and some strong ground strikes. Pereira was poked in the eye early in the second round and he trapped Hernandez in a guillotine choke after action resumed. Hernandez escaped and scored with elbows and punches from the top, then threatened with an arm-triangle choke. Pereira managed to work his way out of Hernan…

Coverage of Saturday’s Professional Fighters League “Battle of the Giants” card will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round: The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Pendleton s…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to its home base of Las Vegas Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with UFC Vegas 99. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 245. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Despaigne (-440), Lane (+340)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Martinez (-135), Ardelean (+114)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:The …

In the end, a matchup between two of the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division’s most grizzled veterans delivered exactly the kind of action fans and matchmakers hoped to see.

At UFC Fight Night 245 on Saturday at the Apex in Las Vegas, 40-year-old Darren Elkins and 39-year-old Daniel Pineda combined to produce a bloody, back-and-forth battle that netted them “Fight of the Night” honors and a bonus of $50,000 each. The fight hinged on the clash of Elkins’ rugged and reliable wrestling against Pineda’s venomous grappling game. Pineda fought through punishment that had his face swollen and bleeding within minutes, and the fight was tied at a round apiece going into the final frame, but Elkins’ legendary durability and pace finally proved to be too much, and “The Damage” won the third round on all three judges’ scorecards. Pineda, who announced his retirement in the Octagon after the decision was read, walks away with a career finish rate of 100% in his 28 care…

Paul Felder will be the third man on the broadcast team for UFC 308 next weekend.

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The retired UFC lightweight steps in for Joe Rogan, who doesn’t travel to cover the promotion’s international pay-per-view events. Felder will join veteran play-by-play man Jon Anik and UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier on the call for UFC 308. Meanwhile, UFC commentator John Gooden will serve as the on-site reporter for the event. MMAFighting.com was first to report the broadcast team duties.UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway Saturday at 2 PM ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

UFC 308 takes place on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway. In the co-main event, Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev will square off in a potential middleweight title eliminator.

The main card is available on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. Meanwhile, the preliminary draw streams on ESPN+ begi…

Max Holloway thinks that Alex Pereira has got the 2024 Fighter of the Year award "in the bag already"

"I don't know if I could [win fighter of the year]. The way Alex took fights, the fastest guy to get three title defenses.

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That's a hard man to beat... I think Alex Pereira got… pic.twitter.com/PHEXHCxlz7 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 18, 2024

Despite having an upcoming title shot, Max Holloway believes Alex Pereira has already beaten him in the race for the UFC “Fighter of the Year.”

Holloway was removed from the featherweight title picture despite having beaten Arnold Allen and Chan Sung Jung in 2023. However, the former featherweight champ abruptly changed his trajectory with an iconic BMF title win over Justin Gaethje at lightweight at UFC 300 this past April. Holloway is now set to challenge Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

If …

Matheus Nicolau is mourning the demise of UFC and Bellator MMA veteran Guilherme Vasconcelos along with the rest of the MMA community.

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Having been born and raised in Belo Horizonte just like Vasconcelos, Nicolau was deeply affected by the death of “Bomba.”

Nicolau takes on upcoming flyweight prospect Asu Almabaev at UFC Vegas 99 at the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. The Brazilian plans to get his hand raised and dedicate his victory to Vasconcelos.

“He’s not someone I talked to regularly every day or every week, but I liked him very much,” Nicolau told MMAFighting.com. “He’s a bit older than me and got his [jiu-jitsu] black belt before I did, but we had our roads in MMA at the same time. He was always so nice to me. We have so many friends in common — everybody knows each other in the jiu-jitsu community in Belo Horizonte, and I saw him a month ago at the Worlds Master.

“The news hit me and I was crushed, man. I liked him very much, you kno…

⚖️Battle Of The Giants Official Weigh In Results

PFL Super Fights Heavyweight World Title Bout

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Francis Ngannou: 256.8 lbsRenan Ferreira: 261.5 lbs

Buy Battle Of The Giants now on https://t.co/2BtPH3wso4

[ #PFLSuperFights | #BraceForImpact | Sat, Oct 19th | 4PM ET | BUY… pic.twitter.com/NHxU1MBVEY — PFL (@PFLMMA) October 18, 2024 The Professional Fighters League's return to Saudi Arabia is now set following the PFL "Battle of the Giants" weigh-ins.

The pay-per-view card is stacked with three superfight championship bouts, with the mixed martial arts return of Francis Ngannou headlining the event. Renan Ferreira will look to ruin the superstar's PFL debut, and both men came in under the 265-pound limit. All fighters on the card made weight, including the four other title fight participants as Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco will square off for featherweight gold, while Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards clash for m…

185.5lbs for @UFCPereira ✅

Our #UFCVegas99 main event is now official!

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[ 📺 TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus at 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/Jcojw3CHDa — UFC (@ufc) October 18, 2024 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UFC Apex for an intriguing Fight Night card with middleweight contenders atop the card.

Headlining UFC Fight Night 245 is a main event between the surging Anthony Hernandez and the always entertaining Michel Pereira. Both men successfully made weight and came in under the 186-pound limit. All other fighters made weight with one notable exception as Joselyne Edwards came in three pounds overweight for her fight against Tamires Vidal. She'll be fined a percentage of her purse as a result. It's the third time Edwards has missed weight inside the UFC.

This marks the first UFC main event for Hernandez (12-2, 1 NC). "Fluffy" has put together an impressive five-fight win streak that includes finishes…

If all goes as planned, Diego Lopes won’t be needed on Oct. 26.

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However, it’s always good to have a contingency in place, which is why Lopes will serve as the backup fighter for the UFC 308 featherweight title clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway. Lopes announced the role late last month, which means he will weigh in ahead of the event along with Topuria and Holloway.

Lopes does have an opponent preference if he were called upon to step in for the UFC 308 main event.

“I definitely would rather fight with Ilia for the undisputed title. That would be amazing. We’ve also really analyzed everything. We’ve sat down to analyze both fighters. People might take this the wrong way and say, ‘No, I don’t believe him,’ but I think for me, a fight against Topuria would be a better matchup for my style,” Lopes recently told MMAjunkie.com.

UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway Saturday at 2 PM ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

“It’s a fight that suits me. Agains…

Say g'day to summer down under ☀️🇦🇺#UFC312 is coming to @Sydney_Sider!#FeelNewSydney | Feb 09 | Details at https://t.co/A5j1LxWSHS pic.twitter.com/CU46DNUloL

— UFC (@ufc) October 16, 2024

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to Australia for a pay-per-view event in early 2025.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Wednesday that UFC 312 will take place on Feb. 8 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. No bouts were revealed for the card.

UFC 312 is the second event of a four-year, multi-event agreement as part of the promotion’s partnership with the New South Wales Government. The Octagon last touched down in Sydney in September 2023 for UFC 293, which memorably saw Sean Strickland claim middleweight gold with an upset victory over Israel Adesanya in the evening’s main event.

More recently, the company went Down Under for UFC 305 at RAC Arena in Perth on Aug. 17. In the evening’s main event, Dricus Du Pless…