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Making MMA History | XTB #KSW89

👑 Champ vs. Double Champ 👑👑🇵🇱 @bartos_mma vs. @SalahdineP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/ayMS5zkRPw

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) October 2, 2023

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Salahdine Parnasse will attempt to become a three-division champion when he challenges welterweight title holder Adrian Bartosinski in the KSW 89 main event.

The Polish promotion recently announced the booking. KSW 89 takes place on Dec. 16 at PreZero Arena Gliwice in Gliwice, Poland, and airs via pay-per-view in the United States.

Parnasse is KSW’s reigning featherweight and lighweight champion and has lost just once in 19 professional appearances. The 25-year-old Frenchman has won five straight contests since falling to Daniel Torres at KSW 58, including a fourth-round knockout of Robert Ruchala in a 145-pound title bout at KSW 85 on Aug. 19.

Bartosinski, meanwhile, owns a 13-0 mark since beginning his professional tenure in 2018. The 28-year-old Pole is …

Chris Gutierrez has a new opponent and fight date following the withdrawal of UFC Fight Night 229 foe Montel Jackson.

The 32-year-old Factory X standout will now face Heili Alateng at UFC Fight Night 230 on Oct. 14. The new pairing was confirmed by multiple outlets following an initial report from Eurosport. A reason for Jackson’s exit is currently unknown. UFC Fight Night 230 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight tilt between Sodiq Yusuff and Montel Jackson.

Gutierrez is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Pedro Munhoz at UFC on ESPN 44 on April 15. Prior to that defeat,” El Guapo” had gone 7-0-1 in his previous eight promotional appearances dating back to March 2019.

A native of Beijing, China, Alateng enjoyed a 2-0 campaign in 2022 in which he earned victories over Chad Anheliger and Kevin Croom in UFC competition. The Road FC veteran is 4-1-1 during his Octagon tenure overall.

Biggest fight in PFL history 👀📞@CedricDoumbe @PFLMMA pic.twitter.com/5PRHyh2VVn

— Anthony Pettis (@Showtimepettis) October 2, 2023

Cedric Doumbe already has a potential matchup at hand less than a week after his Professional Fighters League debut.

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A multi-time Glory Kickboxing champ, Doumbe made headlines when he was booked to make his UFC debut on the promotion’s first-ever card in Paris last September. However, the French commission ruled that Doumbe’s gap in professional MMA experience compared to opponent Darian Weeks was too great, and the fight was canceled.

Doumbe was then signed by the PFL, where he made his debut at the promotion’s event in Paris on Sept 30. “The Best” walked out with a mattress with opponent Jordan Zebo’s name on it and lived up to his walkout by knocking his opponent out in nine seconds.

During an appearance on "The MMA Hour,” Doumbe subsequently called out MMA megastars like Jorge Masv…

Islam Makhachev believes Charles Oliveira’s issues with the location of their upcoming title fight are baseless.

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UFC 294 on Oct. 21 marks the second time that “do Bronx” will travel to Abu Dhabi for a lightweight title clash. While Oliveira is the challenger this time, he was essentially the uncrowned champ when he was submitted by Makhachev at the same venue at UFC 280 last year.

While he understands his position well, the Brazilian recently noted that it isn’t “necessarily fair” that he travels to enemy territory a second time. Makhachev has since responded to Oliveira’s comments, citing the example of his own title defense in the challenger’s territory at UFC 284 against Alexander Volkanovski. The Dagestani claims to have little agency in determining the location of a fight, just like any other UFC athlete.

“Charles, I asked to fight in US in the summer, but UFC has other plans,” Makhachev wrote on social media. “I am a UFC fighter like …

Tony Ferguson was widely believed to the biggest potential threat to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s lightweight title reign at one point in time.

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Ferguson, who won 12 consecutive UFC bouts from 2013 to 2019, was booked to fight Nurmagomedov five times — but each time the matchup fell through due to various unfortunate circumstances. The potential fight was shelved for good when Nurmagomedov retired from the sport in 2020 shortly after the death of his father.

Meanwhile, Ferguson went on a six-fight skid that began with a brutal beatdown against Justin Gaethje at UFC 249. Scheduled to fight English prospect Paddy Pimblett at UFC 296 on Dec. 16, Ferguson recently admitted during an interview on "The MMA Hour” that a part of him was forever gone with Nurmagomedov’s retirement.

“I know when Khabib left, a little part of me left with that,” Ferguson said. “It kind of sucked a little bit because we’ve always had that, I don’t want to say negative energy, bu…

French combat sports standout Cedric Doumbe doesn’t mince any words while voicing his sentiments about MMA Factory head coach Fernand Lopez.

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Doumbe made his Professional Fighters League debut last weekend against Jordan Zebo, scoring a nine-second highlight-reel knockout win. Doumbe subsequently called out Lopez in front of French fans, accusing the coach of domestic violence with an ex-wife.

Lopez has since addressed the allegations, admitting to being sentenced for four months due to an incident of domestic violence in 2018. Lopez claims to have slapped his ex-wife before turning himself in to the police and also called his actions “inexcusable.”

Doumbe addressed his post-fight victory speech, further detailing his issues with Lopez during an appearance on "The MMA Hour.”

“In France, I’m a big part of associations fighting against domestic violence,” Doumbe said. “So it’s not a secret that I don’t like Fernand Lopez, people know that.…

Sherdog’s coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 9 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:The Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:The Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian…

While it appears December isn’t in the cards for Sean O'Malley, the newly-crowned bantamweight king is likely to be the featured attraction for his next Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance.

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After he defeated Aljamain Sterling to claim bantamweight gold at UFC 292, O’Malley called for a rematch against Marlon Vera at the end of the year. The Las Vegas-based promotion had other ideas, as it announced that Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington would headline UFC 296 on Dec. 16.

Instead, O’Malley revealed during a recent appearance on the JRE MMA Show Show that he will likely return for a UFC main event in early 2024.

“I really, really did truly want to fight in December,” O’Malley said. “I called out ‘Chito’ for December, but then I talked to the UFC and … they were trying to get Colby and Leon together. I asked them, and they want me to main event my own show, which I think is f—ing dope. I’m down with that.”

Vera, who handed O’Malley his lon…

Cain Velasquez will be in the corner of American Kickboxing Academy teammate Usman Nurmagomedov at Bellator 300 on Saturday.

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Velasquez, who is expected to go on trial for attempted murder in January, received permission to work the event through a court order, which was initially confirmed by California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster to MMAFighting.com on Monday. While Velasquez has traveled for sponsorship duties and to appear on a professional wrestling card, this will be his first time cornering a fight since his arrest in February 2022.

Velasquez is facing attempted murder and other charges after allegedy chasing and shooting at Harry Goularte, who has been accused of molesting Velasquez’s young son. During a high-speed chase, Velasquez fired at the vehicle containing Goularte and allegedly hit and injured his stepfather, Paul Bender. Velasquez has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If found guilty, he faces 20 year…

Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series will proceed with four bouts after Lucas Rocha came in heavy for a proposed flyweight clash against Davi Costa.

Rocha tipped the scales at 131 pounds, and as a result his fight with Costa was canceled. Costa made weight without issue, checking in at 125 pounds on Monday.

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The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a light heavyweight pairing pitting Rodolfo Bellato (205) against Murtaza Talha Ali (203.5).

After falling to Vitor Petrino on the Contender Series in September 2022, Bellator has rebounded to earned back-to-back victories under the Legacy Fighting Alliance banner. Most recently, he claimed the promotion’s 205-pound belt with a decision win over Acacio dos Santos at LFA 159 on May 27.

Ali will take a 6-0 mark into his matchup with Bellato. The Bahrain native is coming off a 2-0…

Bellator 300 is down one title fight.

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A heavyweight championship clash pitting Ryan Bader against Linton Vassell has been scratched after Vassell was forced to withdraw from the event due to illness. Sherdog confirmed the news with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bader vs. Vassell was previously announced as the Bellator 300 headliner, but Saturday’s card still features three title bouts on the main card.

Bellator 300 takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, and will proceed with a three-fight main card, per promotion officials. That includes the following: a women’s featherweight title tilt between Cristiane Justino and Cat Zingano; a women’s flyweight championship matchup between Liz Carmouche and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and a lightweight grand prix showdown between reigning 155-pound champ Usman Nurmagomedov and Brent Primus. The main draw airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Bader and…

Sean Strickland challenged Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title at UFC 293 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney last month, claiming the belt in one of the year’s biggest upsets.

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As member of the City Kickboxing Gym in New Zealand and training partner of Australian stars like Alexander Volkanovski, it was general perception that Adesanya was the home fighter. However, Strickland started showering praise on Australia from the moment he landed in Sydney. He went on to further connect with the audience during the presser and had them rallying behind him on fight night.

Former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, who lost his strap to Adesanya in front of his home crowd in Australia at UFC 243 in 2019, believes he knows why the crowd rallied behind Strickland. While the newly-crowned middleweight champ is known for his polarizing opinions, Whittaker believes Australians don’t get offended easily. “The Reaper” also noted that Adesanya just tends to r…