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BUCKLEY HAMMERS HIS WAY TO A BIG WIN 🔨 #UFCAtlanticCity pic.twitter.com/wt09AB2Wiz

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 31, 2024

It was a strange sight to see Vicente Luque pull guard during his co-main event showdown with Joaquin Buckley at UFC on ESPN 54 on Saturday night.

After all, Luque is well-known for his finishing ability, as he ranks second all-time in the UFC’s welterweight division in that category with 13 career victories inside the distance. However, with Buckley getting the better of their clash at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, “The Assassin” opted for a different route, one which ultimately led to his demise. Once Luque pulled guard, Buckley unloaded with a salvo of ground-and-pound that led to the bout being halted at the 3:17 mark of Round 2.

“I laughed actually. I chuckled when he pulled guard,” Buckley said at the post-fight press conference. “This whole time I was thinking about Vicente. We all know he’s a tale…

Nate Landwehr is establishing himself as must-see TV in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The former M-1 Global champion garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his knockout of Jamall Emmers in a preliminary featherweight bout at UFC on ESPN 54 in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday night. Landwehr survived behing hurt early, rallying to put his adversary away with a massive uppercut and follow-up punches at the 4:43 mark of Round 1.

Elsewhere, Dennis Buzukja received the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for his stoppage of Connor Matthews in a preliminary featherweight affair. Buzukja dropped his foe with a right cross-left hook combination, then swarmed with hammerfists for the finish 22 seconds into the third stanza.

Finally, Ibo Aslan and Anton Turkalj earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 for their spirited rematch at light heavyweight. While both men had their moments over the first 10 minutes, A…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship women's flyweight division has a new top contender as Manon Fiorot impressed against Erin Blanchfield in the UFC on ESPN 54 main event.

The five-round fight began with Blanchfield (12-2) threatening with a guillotine choke as a counter to a takedown by Fiorot (12-1). The French fighter would survive the submission scare and find her rhythm on the feet. Using a steady jab and leg kicks, Fiorot kept Blanchfield at range and picked apart her foe. "Cold Blooded" lived up to her nickname as she adjusted and started throwing more recklessly in the fourth and fifth rounds. However, it wound up being too little too late for the American as she lost a unanimous decision with three scorecards of 50-45 for Fiorot.

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"The Beast" is now 6-0 inside the Octagon. Buckley Powers Past Luque The co-main event saw Joaquin Buckley cement himself as a welterweight contender against Vicente Luque. The first round was a more tepid affair, …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Atlantic City, New Jersey, this weekend for UFC on ESPN 54. The event, which is set to unfold on Saturday at Boardwalk Hall, boasts an exciting mix of established names and emerging prospects. Experience the intensity of the event first-hand with Sherdog’s live play-by-play coverage, capturing every moment as it unfolds inside the cage starting at 7 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Loughran (-355), Pacheco (+280)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Malkoun (-205), Petroski (+170)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores t…

NATE THE TRAIN PULLS OUT OF THE STATION 🚂💨@NateTheTrain gets the FIRST ROUND KO at #UFCAtlanticCity pic.twitter.com/tDLbOVlj6w

— UFC (@ufc) March 31, 2024

Nate Landwehr made a statement at the expense of Jamall Emmers in the UFC on ESPN 54 featured prelim.

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The three-round featherweight fight saw Emmers (20-8) take control early, as his sharp punches cut Landwehr (18-5) above his left eye. However, "The Train" was as hard-hitting as his nickname and delivered a perfectly-timed uppercut that knocked out Emmers. Landwehr followed his foe to the floor with some punches and the fight was stopped at 4:43 of Round 1.

The 35-year-old has now won four of his last five fights, with the lone defeat coming to Dan Ige.

Jandiroba Edges Godinez Women's strawweight contender Virna Jandiroba passed a tough test by edging out Lupita Godinez over 15 minutes.

Jandiroba (20-3) finished a back-and-forth opening round strong by taki…

UFC 302 is official for Newark, New Jersey, and the June 1 card has a few new matchups, as well.

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The promotion announced the following bouts during the UFC on ESPN 54 broadcast on Saturday night: Ailin Perez vs. Joselyne Edwards at bantamweight; Phil Rowe vs. Jake Matthews at Jake Matthews at welterweight and Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez at welterweight.

UFC 302 takes place at the Prudential Center and will also see Roman Dolidze face Anthony Hernandez at middleweight, while Grant Dawson will take on Joe Solecki at lightweight.

Perez has won two straight in the Octagon, including a unanimous verdict over Lucie Pudilova in her last outing at UFC Fight Night 232. Edwards, meanwhile, had a three-fight winning streak snapped in her last appearance when she fell to Nora Cornolle via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 226.

Rowe is coming off a split-decision defeat to Neil Magny at UFC on ABC 5, a loss that snapped a three-bout winning str…

Top 15 heavyweights will duke it out in St. Louis 👊@TheBeast_UFC vs @ZeColmeiiia is your #UFCStLouis main event! pic.twitter.com/NCIWb21V2b

— UFC (@ufc) March 30, 2024

A heavyweight clash pitting Derrick Lewis against Rodrigo Nascimento will headline UFC on ESPN 56.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Saturday. UFC on ESPN 56 takes place at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on May 11. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

Lewis, the UFC’s all-time leader in knockout victories with 14, has lost four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Black Beast” suffered a five-round unanimous decision loss to Jailton Almeida at UFC Fight Night 231 last November. Lewis’ lone victory during his current slump came when he stopped Marcos Rogerio de Lima in 33 seconds at UFC 291.

Nascimento is 4-1 with one no …

The lineup for Bellator Champions Series Dublin continues to grow, as a lightweight showdown pitting Yancy Medeiros against Peter Queally has been added to the June 22 card.

Bellator Champions Series Dublin takes place at the 3Arena and is headlined by a welterweight title tilt between reigning champion Jason Jackson and Ramazan Kuramagomedov. The card will air on Max in the United States.

A 15-time UFC veteran, Medeiros will be making his third appearance under the Bellator MMAbanner. After debuting with a unanimous decision win over Emmanuel Sanchez at Bellator 279, the Hawaiian’s most recent outing against Charlie Leary at Bellator 295 — initially a submission victory — was overturned to a no contest.

Queally, meanwhile, is winless in his last four outings. Most recently, the Irishman’s clash against Daniele Miceli at Bellator 299 ended in just 26 seconds when his opponent landed an illegal soccer kick.

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com

A bantamweight clash pitting Cody Stamann against former Ares Fighting Championship bantamweight champion Taylor Lapilus has been added to the UFC Fight Night event set to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on June 8.

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The bout was first announced by Stamann's management, Iridium Sports Agency, on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Stamann (21-6), will enter the Octagon on the heels of a unanimous decision loss to Douglas Silva de Andrade in May last year. The loss snap…

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Despite all the noise surrounding his next booking, Steve Erceg is laser-focused on his upcoming flyweight title meeting with Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301 and is hoping to walk away with a statement win over the Brazilian in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

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Much has been made of Erceg (12-1) receiving a title shot just three wins and 11 months into his Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure. And while the Australian admittedly got the opportunity perhaps because he was “at the right place at the right time,” that won’t deter him from attempting to walk away with a decisive win over “The Cannibal.”

While “Astro Boy” sees Pantoja as a class act with superior grappling, the 28-year-old also sees himself soundly defeating the Brazilian, “especially on the feet.”

“Well, I like the way he carries himself; he carries himself respectfully. He has a great heart, super tough, obviously great grappling, he looks very strong. I just think there'…

If the skills explained by her coach come to fruition, Manon Fiorot is going to give Erin Blanchfield fits on Saturday.

Undefeated in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and riding a six-fight win streak in the organization itself, French striking ace Fiorot hired an important reinforcement for the camp to face Blanchfield on Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey: Brazilian luta-livre and jiu-jitsu black belt Flavio “Peroba” Santiago. Living in France since 2002, Santiago joined up with the burgeoning flyweight in December. He spoke to Sherdog ahead of her headlining appearance at UFC on ESPN 54, where he explained how training has fared thus far.

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“I’m really impressed by her work ethic,” Santiago gushed. “Every time I taught her some new technique, she repeated [it] until [getting] it done perfectly, and every new sparring, she came with some notes to ask me.”

The coach revealed that he was not just teaching her instructions from afar. Roughly …

A slow start did nothing to slow down Seiya Matsuda in his ONE Championship debut.

Multiple takedowns, ground-and-pound and a near submission carried the unbeaten Blue Dog Gym export to a split decision over Mikhail Gritsanenko in a ONE Friday Fights 57 catchweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Two of the ringside judges struck scorecards for Matsuda (4-0, 1-0 ONE), who was overcome by emotion following the three-round battle at 163 pounds.

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Gritsanenko (3-2, 0-1 ONE) leaned on deft footwork and sharp counterattacks throughout much of the first round, where he let fly with two- and three-punch combinations, occasionally punctuating them with thudding kicks to the body. It was not enough to throw Matsuda off the scent. The 28-year-old organizational newcomer took down Gritsanenko in Round 2, moved to the north-south position and locked in a kimura. Pain contorted the Russian’s face, as he tried and failed to free …