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A.J. McKee will face Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight king Roberto de Souza in the main event of Bellator vs. Rizin-themed offering on New Year’s Eve.

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Four of the five main-card matchups for the event were announced during a press conference on Wednesday. In the co-headliner, reigning Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire will lock horns with Rizin 145-pound title holder Kleber Koike Erbst. Additionally, former Bellator bantamweight king Juan Archuleta will lock horns with two-division Road FC kingpin Soo Chul Kim, while Kyoji Horiguchi returns to the flyweight division to take on Rizin grand prix winner Hiromasa Ougikubo. A fifth main-card pairing will be announced at a later date.

The event is officially entitled Rizin 40 and takes place on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The fights will be contested in a ring under Rizin rules, which allow soccer kicks and knees to a grounded opponent. Rizin 40 will be broadcast …

After an impressive win over Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night 209 on Sept. 3, Robert Whittaker returned to Australia feeling confident that a trilogy with Israel Adesanya was on the horizon.

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At least that was what his head coach, Alex Prates, told Sherdog.com when asked about the alternate possibility of having “Bobby Knuckles” face Paulo Costa at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro.

“That fight would make no sense to Robert,” Prates said then. “To tell you the truth, the UFC is planning a pay-per-view event in Perth, Australia, in February, and we’re almost positive the UFC will make the trilogy with Adesanya there.”

But after the UFC announced Adesanya’s next title defense would come against Alex Pereira in the UFC 281 main event, the team’s plans had to be recalculated.

“We had to face two possibilities,” Prates said. “If ‘Poatan’ beats Adesanya, it would make sense for the UFC to give [Adesanya] an immediate rematch, and that would put us in total…

At least for now, it appears that the UFC is moving forward with the Jiri Prochazka-Glover Teixeira rematch as the headliner for its final pay-per-view event of 2022.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced in a release on Tuesday that Prochazka vs. Teixeira will serve as the main event for UFC 282 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 10. The timing is interesting considering earlier in the day former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones tweeted that he is preparing as if he will face Stipe Miocic at UFC 282.

Prochazka and Teixeira initially squared off at UFC 275, with Prochazka claiming the 205-pound belt with a rear-naked choke at the 4:32 mark of Round 5. Had Teixeira survived until the final horn, he likely would have won a unanimous decision. The UFC is currently promoting a potential light heavyweight title eliminator between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev as the evening’s co-main event.

Several other undercard bouts were …

If it’s up to Jon Jones, the former light heavyweight champ will make his highly-anticipated Octagon return before the end of the year.

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Jones revealed Tuesday via Twitter that he is training to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 282 on Dec. 10. “Bones” also indicated that any potential holdup isn’t coming from his side.

“I’m preparing to fight Stipe December 10 in Las Vegas,” Jones wrote. “Not really sure what’s going on between Stipe and the UFC but I’m ready to compete! I’m going to control what I can and stay in shape.”

I’m preparing to fight Stipe December 10 in Las Vegas. Not really sure what’s going on between Stipe and the UFC but I’m ready to compete! I’m going to control what I can and stay in shape. https://t.co/3Ouu9Xk8Ns

— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 25, 2022

Jones hasn’t fought since defending his 205-pound belt with a five-round verdict over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020. The now 35-year-old engage…

Despite an eight-fight winning streak, Beneil Dariush still feels overlooked when it comes to the lightweight title picture.

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The Kings MMA product earned a significant triumph at UFC 280 over the weekend, taking a hard-fought unanimous decision over Mateusz Gamrot, a former KSW champion who entered the matchup on a four-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Even with the latest addition to his growing resume, it appears the UFC is leaning toward booking a lightweight championship clash between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.

“Remember when I told you I still don’t think people are going to take me serious after this? We’re still exactly where we were before, nothing’s changed,” Dariush told Submission Radio. “Does it sound like I’m getting a title shot? I don’t think so.

“Maybe I’m getting some extra credit here and there from people. I think still no title shot. If anything, people are probably like, ‘Maybe Gamr…

Brandon Royval will square off against Amir Albazi at UFC Fight Night 216.

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Eurosport was first to report the flyweight pairing. UFC Fight Night 216 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 17 and is headlined by a middleweight tilt pitting Jared Cannonier against Sean Strickland.

Royval was recently scheduled to face Askar Askarov at UFC Fight Night 212 on Oct. 16, but the bout was canceled after his opponent experienced issues with his weight cut. The former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion is 2-0 in the Octagon this year, with victories over Rogerio Bontorin and Matt Schnell to his credit.

Sweden’s Albazi has won 15 of 16 professional outings and is 3-0 in UFC competition. Most recently, “The Prince” choked out Franciso Figueiredo in the opening stanza of their clash at UFC 278. Albazi was initially slated to meet Alex Perez at UFC Fight Night 216 before Perez withdrew for unknown reasons.

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A pair of up-and-coming featherweights who recently had opponents fall through have been targeted to meet at UFC 282.

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According to multiple reports, Bryce Mitchell and Ilia Topuria have agreed to square off at the promotion’s final pay-per-view event of 2022. Fight Bananas was first to bring word of the booking. UFC 282 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 10 and features a light heavyweight title tilt between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira.

Mitchell was originally scheduled to lock horns with Movsar Evloev at UFC Fight Night 214 on Nov. 5 before Evloev pulled out of the event due to injury. Topuria, meanwhile, was paired with Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 213 on Oct. 29, but his foe also withdrew due to injury.

Mitchell has kicked off his professional tenure with 15 consecutive wins. He is 6-0 in UFC competition, including a three-round verdict over Barboza in…

A welterweight matchup pitting Magomed Magomedkerimov against Gleison Tibau is set for the PFL Championships on Nov. 25.

The promotion confirmed the pairing to Sherdog.com on Monday. The PFL Championships take place at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York and feature fighters in six weight classes competing for a $1 million prize. The evening’s main card is headlined by a women’s lighweight title fight between Kayla Harrison and Larissa Pachecho and air on pay-per-view at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The prelims, which include Magomedkerimov vs. Tibau as a showcase fight, will be broadcast on ESPN+ beginning at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.

Magomedkerimov has been victorious in 14 of his last 15 professional outings, a stretch that includes a PFL championship in 2018. He also appeared in the PFL finals in October 2021, when he fell to Ray Cooper via third-round KO — his first defeat since 2015. The 32-year-old Dagestani last appeared at PFL 6, where he earned a sec…

The UFC Fight Night 213 card is undergoing some changes with less than a week to go before the event.

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According to MMAFighting.com, Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight champion Carlos Mota will step in on short notice to face Cody Durden on Saturday’s card. Mota is a replacement for Kleydson Rodrigues. It is unclear why Rodrigues was removed from the event.

The 27-year-old Mota has compiled an 8-1 career mark with stints in both LFA and Shooto Brazil. Most recently, “Tizil” knocked out Rizvan Abuev in the opening round at LFA 140 to claim the promotion’s 125-pound belt.

Durden is 1-1 in the Las Vegas-based promotion thus far in 2022. He suffered a 58-second submission loss to Muhammad Mokaev at UFC Fight Night 204 before rebounding to defeat J.P. Buys via TKO in the first round of their encounter at UFC on ESPN 38 on June 25.

Meanwhile, Garrett Armfield announced Monday on social media that a staph infection has forced him to withdraw from a…

.@BellatorMMA vs. @rizin_PR

History will be made on New Year's Eve in Japan. pic.twitter.com/z9QdafBdWJ

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) October 24, 2022

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Bellator MMA and Rizin Fighting Federation will go head-to-head this New Year’s Eve.

The California-based promotion announced on Monday that five Bellator athletes will square off against five Rizin competitors on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The five-bout main card will be contested inside the Rizin ring. The card will air in the United States on Showtime beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

While Bellator and Rizin have engaged in cross-promotional events in the past, this will mark the first time that fighters from the organizations have faced each other over the course of an entire card. Four of the five fighters that will represent Bellator were announced in a release: reigning featherweight champion Patricio Freire, former 145-pound champ A.J. McKee, …

Aljamain Sterling wasn’t a fan of T.J. Dillashaw’s attempt to take some of the shine from his second bantamweight title defense at UFC 280.

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After Sterling’s second-round technical knockout win in the evening’s co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, Dillashaw revealed that he suffered a shoulder injury earlier this year and that it popped out at least 20 times during that process of training camp.

“For him to go out and do that, I think it just kind of shows his personality,” Sterling said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “And I said it before, for a guy who needs to do PEDs, they have a chink in the armor for this guy to lose and the first thing he went for was that. I’m like dude, you’re just gonna make it seem like your shoulder just came out by itself, brother? I like to think I had something to do with that.”

The fight itself was never competitive. Sterling took Dillashaw down early, and the former title holder was seen grima…

While the end result was controversial, Sean O'Malley took a massive step forward in his evolution on Saturday night.

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The Dana White’s Contender Series alum defeated former bantamweight champion Petr Yan via split decision in a featured bout at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. The victory could potentially set O’Malley up for a title shot against reigning champion Aljamain Sterling. At the time, however, another fight was the furthest thing from O’Malley’s mind.

“It’s hard to make fights right after. I’m sore, I have a headache, I’m tired. I don’t want to fight anyone. I want to go home and see my princess,” O’Malley said at the UFC 280 post-fight press conference.

He then acknowledged that his time at the top of the bantamweight division is on the horizon.

“It’s inevitable,” he said. “I turn 28 [on Sunday], and I’m going to be in this sport for a long time. People want me to be champ, so it’s going to happen sooner than later.”

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