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Stream #UFC278 tonight on @ESPNPlus ➡️ https://t.co/pxRev9nc4A pic.twitter.com/PxvAbhNp7h

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 21, 2022

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Marcin Tybura sent a message to the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division by defeating Alexander Romanov in the featured UFC 278 prelim.

Romanov (16-1) wasted no time clinching with Tybura (23-7) seconds into the fight. Landing damaging knees, Romanov would then slam the 252-pound fighter like it was nothing. Romanov would begin landing stellar punches and elbows that put an exclamation mark on a dominant Round 1. Tybura would fare much better as the fight went on as Romanov slowed down, and even managed to take his opponent's back shortly in the second round. Embarrassingly, Romanov would showboat in Round 3 despite being outstruck.

The judges awarded the fight to Tybura via majority decision as one judge had a 28-28 draw while the other two had it 29-2…

Leon Edwards is the new Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion after upsetting Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 278.

Usman (20-2) would manage to get the fight to the ground early in the first round, although the challenger popped to his feet shortly afterward. Shockingly, Edwards (20-3, 1 NC) would trip the champion and land straight into mount. After taking the back of the "The Nigerian Nightmare," Edwards would begin looking for a rear-naked choke. Usman would survive the rocky round but not without a solid scare by the challenger.

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The champion would come out firing in Round 2, although Edwards stayed composed and was never overwhelmed by the pressure. "Rocky" would slow the pace down, with some help from an eye poke, and then went back-and-forth with Usman in a grappling exchange. Usman would start landing damaging elbows and capped off a solid second frame in his favor with a takedown of his own. Usman would repeat this strate…

The assault was felonious in nature.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison dispatched Martina Jindrova with a first-round arm-triangle choke, as their Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight semifinal headlined PFL 9 on Saturday at Copper Box Arena in London. Jindrova (6-3, 3-1 PFL) capitulated 3:17 into Round 1, the latest victim of the PFL’s runaway freight train.

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Harrison (15-0, 14-0 PFL) caught a kick from the Czech, dumped her to the mat and immediately transitioned to side control. She softened Jindrova with ground-and-pound, climbed to full mount and pounded away with punches. Harrison fished briefly for an armbar, then clamped down on the arm-triangle and elicited the tapout. It was a flawless performance.

The win pushed Harrison into the 2022 lightweight final, where she will seek her third consecutive league championship and another $1 million payday against Larissa Pacheco on Nov. 25. Pacheco (18-4, 7-2 PFL) buried Hel…

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s return to Warsaw will be remembered for its nail-biting main event.

In the KSW 73 headliner, Glory kickboxing veteran Arkadiusz Wrzosek made his mixed martial arts debut as he locked horns with Tomasz Sarara in a heavyweight clash. Sarara (1-1, 1-1 KSW) dropped Wrzosek in the opening round, and dominated on the canvas for the duration but failed to deliver a finish. Wrzosek (1-0, 1-0 KSW) retaliated in the second frame, catching Sarara with a head kick followed by a flying knee. The kickboxer hit the gas pedal and threw punches, knees and kicks at Sarara until his fatigued foe collapsed on the floor. “Hightower” kept striking fast and hard, but Sarara showed heart and survived to see the third frame. In Round 3, Wrzosek controlled his adversary from afar while scoring with punches and kicks. When it appeared that the fight would go the distance, Wrzosek hit his mark with a sharp knee and follow-up punches. Referee Lukasz Bosacki stopped the contes…

The 2022 Professional Fighters League Playoffs continue Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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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 2023 PFL Europe Qualifiers:Ali Taleb (135) vs. Darius Mafi (134) 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

All #PFLPlayoffs London fighters are on weight! pic.twitter.com/hx8ZAijUE4

— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 19, 2022 PFL 9 will feature the last four semifinals for the Professional Fighters League 2022 playoffs.

All four semifinalists made weight for the card, which is headlined by the women's lightweight semifinal between Kayla Harrison and Martina Jindrova. The winner of that bout will face whoever is victorious between Larissa Pacheco and Helena Kolesnyk. Meanwhile, the two featherweight semifinals will pit Chris Wade vs. Brendan Loughnane and Ryoji Kudo vs. Bubba Jenkins.

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A perfect 14-0 in her mixed martial arts career, Harrison will look to add another PFL championship to add to her impressive win streak. This season has seen Harrison win a decision over Marina Mokhnatkina and finish Kaitlin Young in just 2:35 of the first round. The Judo specialist weighed in at 155 pounds.

Jindrova (6-2) started her career just 3-2 bu…

[embedded content] Kamaru Usman will put his Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title on the line as he rematches Leon Edwards at UFC 278.

The 12-fight card is now official, although that is one bout fewer than initially planned. This is due to Shanna Young being hospitalized and her fight against Miranda Maverick being canceled as a result. However, all pay-per-view fighters successfully made weight and the card is moving forward largely intact.

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"The Nigerian Nightmare" previously defeated Edwards via unanimous decision back in 2015. Both fighters have improved considerably since then with Usman (20-1) becoming an all-time great and champion in the process. The Floridian looks to make his sixth UFC title defense and make it clear that he's a top pound-for-pound fighter as well. Usman officially weighed 170 pounds on the dot.

Edwards (19-3, 1 NC) hasn't tasted defeat since losing to Usman. "Rocky" has won nine fights since then, including …

Join us for the #KSW73 ceremonial weigh-ins❗️

🕰️ 6pm CEST | 5pm BST | 12pm ET🖥️ Live on Facebook & YouTube

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The fighters come face to face 😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/V3h4ZvYW0o — KSW (@KSW_MMA) August 19, 2022

Headlining KSW 73 is a mixed martial arts bout between Polish kickboxer Arkadiusz Wrzosek , who is making his MMA debut, and Tomasz Sarara. It will be Wrzosek that is the larger man inside the cage as he weighed 8 pounds heavier than Sarara at 243 pounds. All fighters on the card successfully made weight.

Wrzosek holds a professional kickboxing record of 13-5, 1 NC. His most famous victory was a head kick knockout over Badr Hari in 2021. A rematch put on earlier this year was stopped after a riot occurred in the audience. Meanwhile, Sarara is 1-0 inside the KSW cage, having defeated Filip Bradaric last year via TKO. Sarara also has a striking background, having competed in kickboxing as well.

KSW 73 will…

UFC 281 likely now has a co-main event, as reigning women's strawweight champion Carla Esparza will defend against former division ruler Zhang Weili at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12.

Esparza, 19-6, revealed the pairing on her verified Instagram account Thursday afternoon. The bout has not been confirmed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship as of publication time.

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Esparza recently regained the strawweight title for a second time by defeating Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 via split decision, in what was widely considered one of the dullest title fights in mixed martial arts history. Esparza extended her winning streak to six with the crown-clinching performance.

Weili, meanwhile, dispatched of strawweight legend and long-time champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in spectacular fashion at UFC 276 with a spinning back-fist in Round 2. Prior to that, Weili had lost two title fights against Namajunas. Esparza initially announced that she wanted to defend the titl…

Luke Rockhold’s rant regarding fighter pay at the UFC 278 media day certainly seemed to catch Francis Ngannou’s attention.

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The reigning UFC heavyweight champion took to Twitter to reveal that he lost $1 million in potential sponsorship money due to the promotion’s existing deal with a cryptocurrency platform. The UFC’s outfitting policy and and sponsorship restrictions prevented Ngannou from cashing in on a lucrative offer.

“Listening to Luke's interview was very pertinent. A lot of things that nobody is talking about it and the company just rolls with it,” Ngannou wrote. “Fighters are ripped off with sponsorship. It’s a huge source of revenue for us but the company keeps exploiting that for their own benefit.

“I understand that the sport needs to look good with uniforms but we should at least have a right for a minimum of [two] approved sponsors for in the octagon,” he added. Last year I lost a deal of over a million dollars from a crypto e…

Dilano Taylor made the most of his short-notice opportunity in the Professional Fighters League playoffs.

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With two days to go until last Saturday's PFL 8 card in Cardiff, Wales, the organization announced that Taylor would replace Magomed Umalatov in the semifinals of the welterweight tournament. Despite being called up at the last minute and facing the favored Rory MacDonald, the Jamaican surprised “The Red King” with a first-round knockout.

Taylor told Sherdog.com that he was hoping to get a chance to fill in as a substitute while also helping prepare teammate Jason Jackson for his triumph over Douglas Lima at Bellator 283 on July 27.

“I felt like I was destined to be in this competition,” Taylor said. “I always talk about opportunities and how they present themselves. I'm always training and waiting for a chance, and I was helping my partner Jason and I would be his corner as well. So when they called me, I was ready. I just hadn't studied R…

Wanderlei Silva's biography has just gone international.

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The book “Wanderlei Silva: Unleashed” has been translated into English and is available for sale on Amazon. Organized by journalists Thiago Parijiani and Luis Henrique Gurian, translated by Sean White and released by BB Publishing company in the physical version, the book explains how Silva became one of the greatest icons of MMA and reached multiple milestones, including being undefeated for more than five years, setting the record for most Pride Fighting Championships middleweight belt defenses and overall wins in Pride.

In addition, the book reveals Silva’s fear of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), shares details from his most important victories and most difficult defeats and uncovers never-before-disclosed backstage stories such as the time he was knocked out by Charles Bennett backstage just minutes before his rematch with Ricardo Arona.

The e-book version has 283 pages fill…