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Coming into the 2024 Professional Fighters League Global Season, Dakota Ditcheva was a name many had heard about, but she still was improving and came in ready to capitalize on the opportunity. The 2023 PFL Europe champ has made a statement in her first year on the PFL’s Global roster and led the charge as the top seed in the 2024 women’s flyweight season.

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Leading the way with two first-round finishes and a total of 12 points in the regular season, Ditcheva handled business while becoming appointment-viewing television. Heading into the 2024 Playoffs, Ditcheva will take on Jena Bishop and believes her experience in PFL Europe has made her ready for the moment.

Talking with the media ahead of PFL 7: 2024 Playoffs in Nashville, Tennessee, Ditcheva told Sherdog that she believes her experience in PFL Europe back in 2023 has helped her prepare for the rigorous 2024 Global season.

“Definitely, I think it prepared me. As well, …

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Abu Dhabi for its latest card, which is headlined by an intriguing bantamweight clash.

The main event of UFC on ABC 7 will see Cory Sandhagen take on the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. Both men successfully made weight for the five-round fight, and the rest of the 13-fight card did as well.

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Sandhagen (17-4) is on a three-fight winning streak since back-to-back defeats to Petr Yan and T.J. Dillashaw. The 32-year-old's current run has seen a TKO win over Yadong Song and decisions over Rob Font and Marlon Vera. "Sandman" officially stepped on the scale at 136 pounds, taking full advantage of the one-pound allowance.

A perfect 17-0 as a professional, Nurmagomedov has looked great inside the Octagon so far. This marks a big step up, though, as previous wins came over the likes of Raoni Barcelos and Brian Kelleher. The 28-year-old will look to prove he's a contender and weighed 135 pounds o…

A new Ultimate Fighting Championship mom will have her last dance in October.

Both Carla Esparza (19-7) and Tecia Pennington (13-7) have agreed to compete on Oct. 5 at UFC 307, according to MMA Junkie on Thursday. The strawweights have not signed bout agreements but the pairing should be complete within a few days. This will not be their first meeting, as they ran into one another on Season 20 of "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2014, with Esparza getting the upper hand after their two-round exhibition. The bout has since been confirmed by Esparza on Instagram on Friday, who explained that this would serve as her retirement fight.

Former two-time strawweight queen Esparza will be looking to go out with a win after a suffocating second-round submission loss to Weili Zhang in 2022. That defeat surrendered her title, one she claimed earlier that year courtesy of a tepid split decision over Rose Namajunas. “Cookie Monster” had amassed a five-fight win streak, including two spli…

[embedded content] The Professional Fighters League playoffs kick off with heavyweight and women's flyweight fights.

Heavyweight headliners Denis Goltsov and Tim Johnson both successfully made weight for their three-round main event, where Johnson will be the bigger man by over 18 pounds. However, the biggest news from the PFL 7 weigh-ins was that Liz Carmouche missed weight for the first time in her career. The 40-year-old came in at 127 pounds for her fight against Taila Santos. The "Girl-Rilla" will be deducted one point during the bout itself and fined 20% of her purse as a result. All other semifinalists successfully made weight.

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Goltsov (34-8) enters the main attraction on a two-fight win streak after knocking out Linton Vassell and Thiago Santos. He came up short at the 2023 championships against Renan Ferreira and will look to keep his title hopes alive this year. Meanwhile, Johnson (18-9) has won three straight, including a quick first-roun…

The eighth non-title Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight headliner will play out in October.

At the UFC 304 weigh-in show last Friday, the promotion let slip during the broadcast that Brandon Royval (16-7) and Tatsuro Taira (16-0) were going to collide in the future. On Thursday, both Royval and MMA Junkie confirmed that this contest would serve as the main event for the UFC Fight Night card on Oct. 12. The flyweights will come to blows at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with Royval expecting the fight to be “most likely a title eliminator,” while remarking that he had planned on facing Amir Albazi instead.

Royval bounced back from a championship defeat to Alexandre Pantoja in December by outhustling Brandon Moreno in February. Royval picked up a close split decision, avenging a contentious last-second knockout loss to the former champ in 2020. Before falling short to Pantoja, Royval rattled off a decision over Rogerio Bontorin followed by first-round finishes over …

A Ultimate Fighting Championship scrap once expected to go down in February will now play out this October.

At UFC Fight Night 236 in February, Lerone Murphy (14-0-1) was booked against Dan Ige (18-8) in a high-stakes featherweight showdown. Murphy ultimately suffered an injury and was replaced by Andre Fili. After both men faced other opponents this year, the company has decided to put this bout back together. Per MMA Fighting on Thursday, Murphy and Ige will square off at UFC 308. The two will handle their business on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and their collision has been confirmed by other outlets.

Britain’s Murphy has yet to taste defeat as a professional, and currently brings a six-fight win streak’s worth of momentum into this clash. In May, Murphy staged a breakout performance by outworking Edson Barboza across five rounds in their UFC Fight Night 241 headliner. Before then, Murphy had gradually worked his way up the lead…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is not messing around with its return to Salt Lake City.

A pair of major fights at 135 pounds will play out at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5—the venue is still not confirmed by the promotion—as announced on Friday. The first comes between former featherweight king Jose Aldo (32-8) and Mario Bautista (14-2), first reported by Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight. The second brings top contender Kayla Harrison (17-1) into a likely title eliminator against Ketlen Vieira (14-3), and Super Lutas broke the news on that pairing. Both UFC 307 bouts have since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

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Aldo hung up his gloves in 2022 following a loss to Merab Dvalishvili, and briefly tested the waters in boxing in 2023. Over in the sweet science, Aldo fought to a draw with former MMA foe Jeremy Stephens, and he captured a six-round decision over Esteban Gabriel Espindola before coming back to the cage. His return, which he st…

A former beltholder wants to take advantage of the historically quicker path of fighting for another Ultimate Fighting Championship crown.

Riding a two-fight win streak in his new division of bantamweight, former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo plans on fighting for a title sooner than later. On the main card of UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday, Figueiredo (23-3-1) will come to blows with Marlon Vera (23-9-1) in a high-stakes 135-pound affair. The two will tangle inside of the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Speaking with Sherdog on fight week, Figueiredo discussed his plans to beat the top-ranked Vera and what could come after.

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“I totally left my comfort zone in this camp,” the Brazilian explained. “I spent almost three months in Natal doing my camp with Patricio [Freire] and Patricky [Freire] ‘Pitbull,’ who helped me build my strategy for this fight and also improving my kickboxing skills to surprise ‘Chito.’ He has never been knoc…

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Sharabutdin Magomedov, also known as “Shara Bullet,” doesn’t like the fact that his upcoming opponent has wins over his fellow countrymen.

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Magomedov (13-0) will face Michal Oleksiejczuk (19-8) in a short notice co-main event matchup at UFC on ABC 7 on Aug. 3, after the originally scheduled co-headliner between Nick Diaz and Vicente Luque fell through. As Magomedov was already seeking an experienced opponent, the Polish veteran is an ideal matchup. However, “Bullet” doesn’t like that those fights include first-round KO wins over his fellow countryman Gadzhimurad Antigulov (2019) and Shamil Gamzatov (2021). Magomedov vows to avenge the Russian losses against Oleksiejczuk at UFC Abu Dhabi.

“Frankly speaking, I wanted to fight such an experienced fighter who has 8-10 fights [in the UFC],” Magomedov told a group of reporters in Abu Dhabi. “And he, as far as I know, has around 12-13 UFC fights and also beat two Russian fighters or eve…

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Mayra Bueno Silva (10-4) faces a potential fine for jumping the cage at UFC 303.

Silva suffered a second-round stoppage loss against Macy Chiasson at UFC 303 in June after the cageside doctor deemed her unable to continue due to a gruesome cut. “Sheetara” immediately jumped over the Octagon to show her cut to Dana White, who gave her permission to do so.

In a monthly meeting on Tuesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed that it temporarily withheld $2,500 from Silva’s total purse of $100,000 for jumping the Octagon despite explicit instructions to not do so. The commission is expected to reach a final resolution in their next monthly meeting, scheduled for Aug. 27.

Featherweight star Diego Lopes was also fined $2,500 plus attorney fees for the same offense after his win over Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 300 this past April. White, who had also permitted Lopes to jump the fence, had then agreed to bear the fine imposed by the athletic …

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Fabian Edwards is not a fan of Johnny Eblen’s antics.

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Edwards (13-3) will challenge Eblen (15-0) in a middleweight title rematch at Bellator Champions Series London on Sept. 14. Eblen successfully defended his Bellator MMA 185-pound title with a third-round TKO in the pair’s initial meeting at Bellator 299 in September 2023. “Pressure” immediately started trash-talking a fallen Edwards, whose brother Leon Edwards entered the fray, leading to a heated exchange that needed security intervention.

Edwards then made headlines by going on a $85,000 shopping spree with his then-rumoured girlfriend, OnlyFans model Jessenia Rebecca, days prior to his title fight against Impa Kasanganay at Bellator vs. PFL Champions this past February. While Rebecca had threatened to dump Eblen if he lost, the champ went on to defend his strap with a narrow split decision.

Going by Eblen’s antics outside of fighting and a few interactions out of the…

Colby Covington revisited the onset of his beef with Dustin Poirier that caused him “pain and suffering.”

Covington (17-4) and Poirier (30-9) were former teammates at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where “The Diamond” continues to train. However, a part of ATT since 2011, Covington parted ways with the gym over feuds with Poirier, Jorge Masvidal and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

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Covington claims Poirier used to initially utilize him as a wrestling partner, where he allegedly toyed around with the Louisiana native. According to Covington, Poirier started becoming egotistic once his UFC stardom started growing. While Covington wasn’t quite there yet, he claims to have stood his ground against Poirier.

“When we were training together, he was using me everyday just for wrestling. Never wanted to do anything else but just wrestle with me. I was giving him knowledge, giving him information, obviously toying with him like he was an amateur,” Covington…