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WOOOW!!! Knockout!!! 💣

🇵🇱 @bartos_mma 👑 becomes the new KSW welterweight champion!! XTB #KSW81 pic.twitter.com/wJSYCYxunz

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) April 22, 2023

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The Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki 170-pound division has a new kingpin in Adrian Bartosinski.

The vacant welterweight championship was on the line in the KSW 81 headliner, where Bartosinski (13-0, 5-0 KSW) smote Artur Szczepaniak (9-2, 2-1 KSW) in the opening frame. “Bartos” studied his foe for a few seconds before landing a perfectly-timed takedown, but Szczepaniak rose to his feet quickly and kept grappling for a while against the fence before the pair disengaged. Szczepaniak looked eager to catch Bartosinski, only to be met by a hefty left hook directly on the chin. The strike was effective and dropped Szczepaniak on the canvas instantly, in addition to making his mouthpiece fly across the cage. Bartosinski followed up with a Dan Henderson-esque standing-to-ground p…

😱 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟@iamgirlrilla weathers the storm to submit @DeAnnaDBennett in Round 4️⃣.#Bellator294 | LIVE NOW | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/RbmtEeTskA

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) April 22, 2023

With her back up against the fence, Liz Carmouche proved why she’s still amongst the top female fighters in the world after rallying to defeat DeAnna Bennett in the Bellator 294 main event Friday night at Neil S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.

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Heading into the fourth round down on the scorecards, Carmouche struggled to keep Bennett at bay on the feet. Bennett’s pressure kept Carmouche pinned on her back as she searched for any submission she could find. Keeping Carmouche on the defensive worked well for the Daniel Gracie protégé. Bennett’s commitment to wrestling and outworking the champ led the action until midway into the fourth round.

Sensing that her title was beginning to slip from her grasp, Carmouche caught Bennett in a hal…

😱 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟@iamgirlrilla weathers the storm to submit @DeAnnaDBennett in Round 4️⃣.#Bellator294 | LIVE NOW | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/RbmtEeTskA

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) April 22, 2023

With her back up against the fence, Liz Carmouche proved why she’s still amongst the top female fighters in the world after rallying to defeat DeAnna Bennett in the Bellator 294 main event Friday night at Neil S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.

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Heading into the fourth round down on the scorecards, Carmouche struggled to keep Bennett at bay on the feet. Bennett’s pressure kept Carmouche pinned on her back as she searched for any submission she could find. Keeping Carmouche on the defensive worked well for the Daniel Gracie protégé. Bennett’s commitment to wrestling and outworking the champ led the action until midway into the fourth round.

Sensing that her title was beginning to slip from her grasp, Carmouche caught Bennett in a hal…

Jonathan Haggerty claimed the One Championship bantamweight muay thai world championship in the ONE on Prime Video 9 main event.

Haggerty needed less than a round to dismantle and knock out Nong-O Hama. The British striker would hurt Nong-O badly in the first round as a knockdown would put the former champion in danger. Haggerty took full advantage by rushing his foe, knocking him down again and then scoring a vicious knockout that left Nong-O slumped against the floor. The fight was waved off at 2:40 of the first round.

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The co-main event saw Halil Amir and Maurice Abevi face off in a battle between two undefeated mixed martial artists. It was Amir (9-0) that got off to a quick and aggressive start as he knocked his opponent down several times and went for a guillotine choke. Abevi (6-1) survived the initial onslaught and started to find more success on the feet as the fight continued. However, Amir would get a takedown and finish the fight by takin…

Sherdog's live Bellator 294 coverage will begin Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round: The Official Result Cris Lencioni (152.4: Missed Weight) vs. Blake Smith (146.4: Missed Weight) Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scor…

Sherdog's live ONE on Prime Video 9 coverage kicks off Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1

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Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result

Weighing in at 2️⃣6️⃣2️⃣.5️⃣ 💪@RazorBlaydes265 makes his side official for Saturday night's main event #UFCVegas71 pic.twitter.com/EwhaXnKbny

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 Editor's note: The article has been updated at 3:10 p.m. ET on April 21 to reflect that William Gomis successfully returned to make weight.

The UFC Fight Night 222 card is set after the official weigh-ins took place today.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship's latest UFC Apex offering is headlined by a marquee heavyweight fight between Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes. As expected, neither man had trouble coming in under the 266-pound limit, as "Razor" checked in at 262.5 pounds while the Russian weighed 260.5 pounds.

One undercard fighter officially missed weight: Priscila Cachoeira, who came in four pounds over the flyweight limit at 130 pounds. As a result, her fight against Karine Silva has been canceled. Additionally, William Gomis initially came in a poun…

Put another one together last night!!! @robwhittakermma @dricusduplessis #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/bczWzJo4b6

— danawhite (@danawhite) April 21, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going for broke with its yearly fight card at the end of International Fight Week.

The UFC announced on Friday a trio of matchups that will be taking place at UFC 290 on July 8. The promotion annually stages its International Fight Week in Las Vegas with fan events and various other competitions, with the pay-per-view on that Saturday. Thus far, two title fights are booked on the billing, and the main event is still not official. The promotion stated that on the card, Robert Whittaker (24-6) would be taking on Dricus Du Plessis (19-2) in a middleweight title eliminator, with the victor expected to face Israel Adesanya later that year in Sydney, Australia.

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“Bobby Knuckles” has been on an absolutely stellar run since his move to 185 pounds…

#Bellator295 update:

Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ray Borg has been scrapped, Yancy Medeiros vs. Charlie Leary will now take place on the main card.

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) April 21, 2023 Editor's note: The article has been updated at 5:10 p.m. ET on April 21 to add a statement from Borg's former management as well as a comment from Bellator head Scott Coker.

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Scheduling Ray Borg for a flyweight fight did not work out for Bellator MMA.

The promotion broke the news on Friday prior to the weigh-in ceremony that the 125-pound main card tilt between Borg (16-5) and Kyoji Horiguchi (31-5) was no longer happening at Bellator 295. Shortly after this came to light, MMA Fighting revealed that a Bellator official informed them it was due to “weight management issues” for Borg. As the fighters were set to hit the scale, an additional fight was canceled, per MMA Junkie, with Keoni Diggs (10-2) vs. Weber Almeida (7-1) fall…

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Juan Espino is deciding to hang up his gloves.

On Friday, Espino (10-2) announced on Instagram that he was retiring from active competition. The 42-year-old heavyweight from the Canary Islands of Spain will be leaving the promotion with three appearances inside the Octagon. Of note, he conquered the tournament from the 28th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2018, eventually submitting Justin Frazier in the first round to secure the six-figure contract and trophy.

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“Well up to here. I RETIRE!!!,” Espino wrote on Instagram (via Google Translate). “An incredible journey to get to be among the best fighters in the world and I did it, maybe it wasn’t the way I wanted but the injuries left me no other option. I want to thank all the people who supported me in this adventure, UFC for giving me the opportunity and for all the sponsors who helped me, the coaches, training partners, teams, etc. I truly have a spec…

THE MATCHUPS ARE SET!

The regular season concludes with bantamweights and lightweights live from Verti Music Hall in Berlin on July 8. Live on DAZN.

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Get your tickets here: https://t.co/SZ7bSjdOqj pic.twitter.com/H7KJwINNDJ — PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) April 21, 2023 Berlin will receive a rare event from a major organization, as a branch of the Professional Fighters League will be stopping off there this July.

Per a press release provided from the organization on Friday, PFL Europe’s second event in 2023 has received a large portion of its lineup. The prelims have not been added, but the eight-fight main card sees a slate composed half with bantamweights and the other half in the lightweight division. PFL Europe 2 will take place at the Verti Music Hall in Berlin on July 8. The four victors of each weight category will advance in the tournament playoffs that will take place in Paris this September. The headlining attracti…

[embedded content] While there was plenty of drama ahead of weigh-ins, Bellator MMA had a relatively smooth ceremony as every fighter that hit the scales made weight ahead of Bellator 295.

The second of the promotion's Hawaiian mixed martial arts two cards this weekend will see interim titleholder Raufeon Stots take on Patrick Mix in the bantamweight grand prix final. Both men made weight and are eligible to win both the championship and the million-dollar prize. Two fights were pulled during the morning (Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ray Borg and Weber Almeida vs. Keoni Diggs), although all other fighters made weight.

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Stots (19-1) is on the best stretch of his career, still undefeated as a Bellator fighter with wins in his last 11 fights. Most recently, "Supa" defeated Danny Sabatello via split decision to retain the interim belt that he claimed by knocking out Juan Archuleta. Now he'll look to win the grand prix and look to unify with Sergio Pettis down the …