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Our man @chitoveraUFC goes for his 15th @ufc victory vs. Pedro Munhoz on Aug. 19 ✍️🏼 #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/OvbKaFrYhI

— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) July 7, 2023 About a month and change away from its Boston card, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been given lemons and made lemonade.

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Last week, ex-champ Henry Cejudo announced that he had suffered a shoulder injury and had been forced to withdraw from UFC 292 on Aug. 19. On Friday, the management team of Marlon Vera (20-8-1) – who was to be Cejudo’s opponent – broke the news that Vera would remain on the billing. Now, he will square off against Pedro Munhoz (20-7, 2 NC) in what remains a top-10 tilt at 135 pounds.

Vera will still be looking to bounce back from a tough decision defeat to Cory Sandhagen in March, where one judge authored a 50-45 scorecard for Sandhagen while another believed Vera had prevailed via a 48-47 tall…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Luis Pena is no longer facing charges related to an alleged battery.

Back in October 2021, Pena was arrested and charged with two counts of battery involving domestic violence. This second arrest for the Arkansas native resulted in his UFC release. Shortly after that news broke, TMZ release a 911 call by Pena’s girlfriend regarding the allegations. It was claimed that Pena struck his closed fist, knocking her down and continuing to strike her. The reported injuries included damage to her wrist and a bite mark as well. According to Pena on Friday on Instagram and confirmed by the Broward County, Florida, clerk office, these charges have been dismissed.

“Best birthday present I ever got,” Pena wrote, “July 5th 2023 2 years later the charges don’t get nolle pros [where a prosecutor abandons a case] they’re completely dismissed it’s unfortunate I lost so much time over this injustice but it is what it is at this point, but…

🇫🇷. 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬

OFFICIAL: @CedricDoumbe makes his long awaited PFL debut at PFL Paris

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𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: September 30th.𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: @Zenith_Paris. Paris, France.

For more information and tickets 👇🎟️ https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/hO2pM7cMHU

— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 6, 2023 The Professional Fighters League is sending a popular fighter home for his promotional debut.

Via the promotion on Thursday, Cedric Doumbe (4-0) will serve in the main attraction of PFL Europe Playoffs, where he will compete in a non-tournament welterweight contest against a currently unnamed foe. Doumbe was initially slated to face Jarrah Al-Silawi as a late entrant into the 2023 Regular Season, but an injury ejected him from that June pairing and he was replaced by Solomon Renfro. The former kickboxer’s new PFL at this Sept. 30 event will take place in his home country of France, at Zenith Paris la Villette in Paris.

In what some may cons…

If it seems like Aljamain Sterling is making a relatively quick turnaround in comparison to some of the other UFC champions, well, “The Funkmaster” agrees with that sentiment.

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After defending his bantamweight title in a five-round bout against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 on May 6, Sterling will return to action on Aug. 19 in the UFC 292 main event against Sean O'Malley.

“People don’t understand how much time I actually put into this sport,” Sterling said on his podcast (transcription via MMAjunkie.com). “Sometimes you could get a little burned out. Sometimes that can take a lot out of you mentally. That’s why, after this fight, I had so much things with Henry, so many things planned out, that I just wanted to decompress and stop thinking about fighting for once because I do so much to get to the fight and prep myself to mentally get ready for battle.

“I had that just kind of ripped from underneath my legs. Now I’m like, ‘OK, this time you mother…

Things hit a boiling point between the coaches tonight on #TUF31 🤬

[ Watch new episodes every Tuesday on ESPN & ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/yyz5iE7ft1

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) July 5, 2023

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Things got testy between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler on the lastest episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 31.”

After Lee Hammond lost to Kurt Holobaugh to drop Team McGregor to 0-6, the two coaches entered the cage for a heated confrontation where McGregor shoved Chandler in the face. That prompted UFC president Dana White to rush into the cage to separate the two coaches.

McGregor uploaded a voice message to Twitter mocking Chandler’s remarks in the cage shortly after Tuesday’s episode aired.

“‘Oh, we’re gonna do this,’” McGregor said. “‘We’re gonna fight right now? We’re gonna fight right now? We’re gonna do this? We’re gonna fight right now?’”

pic.twitter.com/cWeDQMMIbI Read more

Until recently, the last time no Brazilian fighter possessed a UFC title was July 2016, after Rafael dos Anjos relinquised the lightweight crown to Eddie Alvarez.

Brazil was left without a UFC belt when Amanda Nunes retired last month, but Rio de Janeiro native Alexandre Pantoja can end the current drought when he faces Brandon Moreno in the UFC 290 co-main event. Pantoja’s coach at American Top Team, Conan Silveira, is confident his charge can get the job done.

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“Sometimes you get your best opportunities at the wrong time. That’s definitely not the case with Alexandre. Pantoja is in the [prime] of his career, totally obsessed with winning that belt,” Silveira said. “This is his time. I believe 150% he will win.”

Silveira was in Pantoja’s corner at UFC Fight Night 129 in Chile, when “The Cannibal” defeated the current flyweight champion via unanimous decision. Pantoja also defeated Moreno via submission on “The Ultimate Fighter 24,” but that bout is…

Deiveson Figueiredo might have a high-profile fight lined up for his bantamweight debut.

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On the same week that longtime rival Brandon Moreno will defend his flyweight crown against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290, the former title holder reaffirmed his plans to compete at 135 pounds in an interview with Canal do Marinho. He also indicated that his first bantamweight foray could come against an ex-champion.

“By all indications, I may fight Dominick Cruz in September,” Figueirdo said. “I'm really moving up to the division where I'm going to get healthier. Fighting at flyweight was very complicated. I sacrificed a lot to make weight.

“I only met Dominick once in an elevator, and I could see that he is a very tall guy, bigger than me, but when it comes to the fight, everyone is the same height.”

Figueiredo claimed the vacant flyweight strap with a first-round submission of Joseph Benavidez at UFC Fight Night 172 before defending the title with…

It appears that Alistair Overeem is stepping away from combat sports for good.

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The mixed martial arts and kickboxing star announced his retirement during a recent interview with Lovin Dubai, where he also discussed his diet and the drastic changes to his physique that came to light when a photo of him alongside Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara surfaced on social media.

“This actually ties into what I want to do, because I actually just decided to stop fighting,” Overeem said (transcription via Bloody Elbow). “This is not my thing anymore.”

“It’s been 25 years, right? We’re going to do other cool stuff now.”

Overeem was known for his hulking physique during much of his combat sports career, but after working with a nutritionist, the Dutchman has changed his diet significantly.

“I’ve been doing a lot of new things for health,” Overeem said. “This is my next chapter, promoting health.

かねはら整骨院にアリスターオ…

Bo Nickal has received a last-minute opponent change ahead of his sophomore Octagon appearance at UFC 290.

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The highly-touted middleweight prospect will face Valentine Woodburn on Saturday after Tresean Gore, Nickal’s original opponent, announced on his Instagram stories that a torn ligament in his wrist forced him out of the middleweight bout. Eurosport was first to report the new booking.

“Unfortunately, I am out of my fight for this weekend and I’m extremely sad about it, but the truth is I’m not healthy and I may have to get surgery that will have me out six months to a year,” Gore wrote. “Torn scafoid ligament in one of my wrists. I feel extremely bummed but I will still be champion and I will still prove I’m better than this dude and I’m an elite fighter, but I have to get healthy before anything.

“As of now, I’m avoiding the surgery but I have rounds of stem cell treatment I have to do until I heal up.”

Woodburn was expected to co…

Some unfortunate circumstances forced Sean Brady to withdraw from a proposed bout against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 290.

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The Philadelphia-based welterweight recently revealed on Instagram that septic bursitis was the cause of his exit from Saturday’s card.

“Hey guys, as most of you know, I recently had to withdraw from my fight next weekend. I noticed a small blister on my left elbow after training on Monday night and woke up with pretty bad swelling and pain. As most of you know, I had a pretty serious staph infection in 2021, which resulted in surgery and [four] weeks of IV antibiotics through a picc line,” Brady wrote. “My wife, being a nurse, took a look at my arm on Tuesday morning and told me it would be the best idea to go to the hospital (for what we thought would be 1 dose of iv antibiotics) and get discharged and go about the rest of my camp and head to Vegas.

“Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. My arm continued to swell and wasn…

Josiah Harrell sends his opponent out of the cage with a takedown. Can’t say I have seen this happen before in the octagon #LFA160 pic.twitter.com/K7z4xgumzt

— Pierce (@bigbird_ph) June 17, 2023

Undefeated Ohio-based welterweight Josiah Harrell has agreed to replace the injured Sean Brady and meet Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 290.

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UFC fighter Matt Brown first brought word of the new booking and it was subsequently confirmed by multiple outlets, including BJPenn.com. UFC 290 takes place on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash pitting Alexander Volkanovski against Yair Rodriguez.

Harrell, 24, has compiled a 7-0 record since making his professional debut in March 2020. Most recently, Harrell went viral for driving opponent Michael Roberts through the cage door while completing a takedown at LFA 160 on June 16. “The Muscle Hamster” won that lightweight bout via…

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According to Glover Teixeira, former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira made the right decision to move to 205 pounds.

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“I was like, ‘I love it that you’re going to light heavyweight,’ because I don’t want to see him cutting that much weight,” Teixeira said at a post-fight press conference following his victory over Anthony Smith in a grappling match at the UFC Fight Pass 4 Invitational. “You don’t know how much that guy cut. He’s 230 pounds right now, and he’s lean, he’s probably like eight percent body fat. For him to drop to 185 is crazy … As you get older it gets harder and harder. Eventually it gets bad for your health.

Pereira, who trains at Teixeira MMA & Fitness, will make his light heavyweight debut against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 on July 29 in Salt Lake City. “Poatan” is coming off a second-round KO loss to Israel Adesanya in a rematch at UFC 281 this past April.

“I think it’s a great matchup for Alex,” Te…