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The best and brightest of the mixed martial arts world will be recognized at the Fighters Only World MMA Awards on Dec. 14.

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The 15th iteration of the event will take place at the SAHARA Las Vegas with a host of fighters, industry executives, personalities and other notables on hand. The World MMA Awards will recognize the achievements and performances of people in the sport during the period beginning July 2022 and ending June 2023.

Categories include Fighter of the Year, Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, Upset of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Submission of the Year, Gym of the Year, Promotion of the Year and many more. Sherdog.com is among the candidates for MMA Media Source of the Year, which is “awarded to the leading source of news, fight reviews and features.”

“This year the awards celebrate a special 15-year anniversary,” said host Rob Hewitt in a release. “The sport has come a long way during that time and this is r…

Islam Makhachev is only one successful title defense from tying the UFC’s all-time record at lightweight.

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The American Kickboxing Academy product authored his second successful defense at UFC 294 with a first-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The lightweight record of three championship defenses is currently held by Khabib Nurmagomedov, B.J. Penn, Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson.

With an upcoming itinerary that likely includes fights against Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, Makhachev could suprass that record as early as 2024 if all goes well.

“He keeps doing what he’s doing, you’ve just got to keep grinding, knocking them down one by one and it will eventually happen,” UFC CEO Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“The truth is when you look at Khabib — and nothing against Khabib, Khabib came in and won the title and defended it — but this kid could go on a defense r…

This bout has been called to a stop.

Victor Henry is unable to continue after an unintentional foul and the fight has been ruled a no contest #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/UWhaeyzMFu

— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2023

While the cageside doctor may have been skeptical, Victor Henry was in agony after absorbing an inadvertent low blow from Javid Basharat at UFC 294.

Ultimately, Henry was unable to continue following the foul, and the bantamweight bout was ruled a no contest 15 seconds into Round 2. Henry, who was reportedly vomiting back stage and went to the hospital after the fight, gave a positive update on his condition via social media on Monday.

“A little update for you guys: doctors said no permanent damage to my pills but I’m gonna walk a little funny for a couple days,” Henry wrote. “Swelling has gone down a significant amount after sleeping with ice on my smooth criminals, which isn’t very easy to do.

“For those of you cal…

Jake Paul won’t be rematching Nate Diaz in the squared circle, but according to his team, the YouTube personality has agreed to face the Stockton, Calif., native under the Professional Fighters League banner.

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Diaz recently hinted that a boxing rematch with Paul was in the works by sharing a fight poster on social media. While Paul recently announced his next fight is set for Dec. 15, an opponent has not been confirmed.

“For the record: Jake Paul will not be boxing Nate Diaz again,” read a statement from Most Valuable Promotions. “Nate Diaz and Jake Paul have received an offer from [the PFL] to rematch in MMA in the SmartCage. Jake Paul has accepted the offer.”

For the record: Jake Paul will not be boxing Nate Diaz again.

Nate Diaz and Jake Paul have received an offer from @PFLMMA to rematch in MMA in the SmartCage. Jake Paul has accepted the offer.

— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) October 23, 2023…

Islam Makhachev was proud to showcase another element to his game in the UFC 294 headliner.

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The reigning lightweight champion retained his title with a first-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in their rematch at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Makhachev hurt his foe with a head kick and finished the job with follow-up punches at the 3:06 mark of Round 1. It was a far cry from their first meeting: a hard-fought unanimous decision win for Makhachev at UFC 294 in February.

“My coaches have told me I have a good head kick. I always try to land the kick when I fight,” Makhachev said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “For an opponent like Volkanovski, who’s a little bit shorter, it’s the best plan to land some kicks. When you have short opponent, it’s easy to land. I show him low kick, body kick and show him head kick. This is the plan.

“(I was) really happy to finish him (in the ) first round,” he added. “If it happened in cha…

Before Kamaru Usman stepped up, the opportunity was supposed to belong to Jared Cannonier.

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In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Cannonier revealed that he was offered the fight against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294, but an injury suffered shortly thereafter prevented him from accepting the bout. Ultimately, Chimaev defeated Usman via majority decision in Saturday’s co-main event in Abu Dhabi.

“I got the call to step in to fight Chimaev,” Cannonier said. “But unfortunately, before I could tell my manager to tell the UFC yes, I had injured myself. So I wasn’t able to take that fight on 10 days. They called me on the 10th. They called me, offered me that fight – before they offered it to Usman, they offered it to me. So it would have been me. It could have easily been me.”

Cannonier has won four of his last five UFC appearances, a run that includes a split-decision triumph over current middleweight champion Sean Strickland. That would have m…

Well, it looks like @SStricklandMMA is ready for a matchup with Khamzat! #UFC294

Didn’t hold back and we wouldn’t expect him to. #ExtraRounds from the @PBR Teams Championship. pic.twitter.com/uuQPRVkOzD

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) October 22, 2023

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As one might expect, Sean Strickland is quite outspoken on the subject of the UFC middleweight division’s new No. 1 contender.

Khamzat Chimaev made his 185-pound debut at UFC 294, where he defeated ex-welterweight king Kamaru Usman in Saturday’s co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Even though he hasn’t beaten anyone in the middleweight rankings, the victory was presumably enough to assure Chimaev of a title shot. At least, that’s what UFC CEO Dana White promised ahead of the fight.

In an interview on the UFC Fight Pass “Extra Rounds” show, Strickland questioned Chimaev’s credentials as a No. 1 contender in his new weight class. Of course, that doesn’t mean…

This bout has been called to a stop.

Victor Henry is unable to continue after an unintentional foul and the fight has been ruled a no contest #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/UWhaeyzMFu

— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2023

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Javid Basharat does not agree with his UFC 294 outing against Victor Henry being ruled a no contest.

On a night that had its fair share of odd outcomes, the bantamweight matchup between Basharat and Henry was the first match to end abruptly.

While Round 1 was quite competitive, Basharat seemed to edge it out in terms of volume and significant strikes landed. As the second round began, Basharat threw an inside leg kick that seemingly landed on Henry's groin, which sent the American crashing to the canvas in agony.

While referee Lukasz Boscacki gave the veteran the entire five minutes to recover, the agony Henry was in rendered him unable to continue. Ultimately, the referee declared the fight a no-contest 15 s…

Khamzat Chimaev might not have been at 100% for the majority of his fight against Kamaru Usman in the UFC 294 co-main event.

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After a dominant opening stanza, Chimaev held on for a hard-fought majority decision triumph over the former welterweight champion at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. After the victory, “Borz” told ESPN that he believes he broke his hand in the opening frame.

"First round, I think I broke my hand and finger," Chimaev said. "I couldn't punch hard with right hand. My right hand is a big weapon. When you can't use it, it's hard to work.”

Chimaev, who was making his 185-pound debut, is expected to receive a title shot against Sean Strickland by virtue of his win over Usman. First, the undefeated fighter will have to make sure his hand is good to go.

"I will check my hand," Chimaev said. "If it's good, I'm gonna try to lift the weights and be ready for the next one."

The bout between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker has been called a no contest after Walker was deemed unable to continue due to an illegal knee from Ankalaev. #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/Mvy6NwaDso

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 21, 2023

Johnny Walker and Magomed Ankalaev didn’t really have a chance to get going at UFC 294.

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The light heavyweight bout ended in a no contest at the 3:13 mark of Round 1 when the cageside physician determined Walker couldn’t continue after absorbing an illegal knee from his opponent. It was a controversial decision, especially because it seemed like Walker was ready to continue. However, the Brazilian apparently didn’t respond adequately to the doctor’s verbal examination.

“The guy’s inexperienced,” UFC CEO Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I think there’s a lot of things that probably happened. I guess he asked him ‘where are you right now?’ and his response was ‘I…

Dillon Danis is officially a free agent.

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The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has been released from his Bellator MMA contract. Multiple outlets confirmed the news following an initial report from Ariel Helwani.

The 30-year-old competed under the Bellator banner just twice, earning first-round submission victories on both occasions. He last competed on June 14, 2019, when he tapped out Max Humphrey with an armbar at Bellator 222. Injuries prevented Danis from fighting again within the California-based promotion.

More recently, “El Jefe” faced Logan Paul at a Misfits Boxing event on Oct. 6. Danis was disqualified at the 2:55 mark of Round 6 when he attempted a takedown and guillotine choke on his opponent.

Danis received plenty of attention at the beginning of his foray into MMA thanks in large part to his outspoken persona and his association with former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor. Now Danis hopes to join the Irish star in …

Kamaru Usman believes he could have done more in his short-notice middleweight fight against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

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Usman put on a gritty performance against Chimaev in the three-round co-main event headlined by a championship rematch between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. However, Chimaev's dominant wrestling and control in Round 1 seemed to have set Usman back on the scorecards from the very start.

The remaining rounds were extremely close. While Usman seemed to have the striking advantage, Chimaev managed to display his effective grappling skills throughout the bout. In the end, "Borz" improved his impressive mixed martial arts record to 13-0 with a majority decision victory against the former welterweight champion.

Reflecting on his performance during the post-fight interview with Megan Olivi, Usman was quick to criticize his inability to start the fight strong.

“If anything that I can say I take away from tonight …