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Kamaru Usman is by no means leaving the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division for good, even as he steps up for a short-notice middleweight debut.

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Usman will face the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev on nine days’ notice in the co-main event at UFC 294 on Saturday. While “The Nigerian Nightmare” has no doubt that the clash is essentially a title eliminator, he also hasn’t completely taken his eyes off the 170-pound. weight class.

Usman even has a fairytale storyline in his mind for his retirement, which would be a first in the history of the promotion. The 36-year-old is currently on a two-fight slump, losing his title to Leon Edwards in a shock upset before being emphatically beaten in a rematch.

Usman now wants to win the middleweight title before moving back down to welterweight to reclaim his strap and then hang up his gloves for good.

“No, no, absolutely not,” Usman told TMZ Sports when asked if he’s l…

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Alexander Volkanovski plans on knocking Islam Makhachev out in their rematch at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

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The UFC featherweight king suffered his lone promotional loss against Makhachev at UFC 284 in February in a closely contested decision that many believe could have gone either way. After going toe-to-toe against Makhachev for twenty-five minutes, Volkanovksi claims he has been almost impossible to take down or be submitted inside the gym.

The Australian believes he’ll be a tougher puzzle for Makhachev to solve as he steps up for his second double-champ bid on 10 days’ notice. While the fight is on short notice, it came as a sort of relief for Volkanovski, who has already fought twice this year and was getting impatient to get back in the Octagon. Volkanovski is focused on finishing the fight early and doesn’t plan on testing his opponent’s gas tank even though he claims he could.

“I’m gonna be even harder to tak…

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Darren Till has a rather bold prediction for the upcoming clash between Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman.

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Chimaev and Usman are slated to fight in the co-main event at UFC 294 on Oct. 21 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. “The Nigerian Nightmare” stepped up to make his middleweight debut on nine days’ notice after Paulo Costa was forced out of the fight due to staph infection.

Till and Chimaev have been friends for a while now, with “The Gorilla” even briefly moving to Sweden to train at the Allstars Training Center in Stockholm. Till recently gave his prediction for the UFC 294 co-headliner while in attendance for the Misfits boxing card headlined by Tommy Fury and KSI in Manchester this past Saturday.

“I love Khamzat, God bless him, I said. Usman’s got balls but I just think Khamzat’s gonna run over him,” Till said in an interview with The Schmo. “As much as I am his friend, I’m his biggest fan. I th…

Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight standout Muhammad Mokaev believes upcoming opponent Tim Elliott is underestimating him las all his previous opponents have done.

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Currently unbeaten in four Octagon outings, the Dagestan-born British prospect is slated to clash against the battle-tested veteran at UFC 294 on Oct. 21 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Despite his unbeaten record and dominant showings, Mokaev is still in the process of proving himself within the Las Vegas-based promotion. During their back and forth leading up to the booking, Elliott took a dig at Mokaev’s comparatively nascent UFC career.

“The Punisher” believes Elliott will have a different opinion once they start trading leather on fight night. While he has respect for Elliott’s experience, Mokaev is absolutely confident of securing a finish.

“I think he's looked down on me,” Mokaev said in an interview with The National. “He thinks I'm young, overhyped, but my record…

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John Fury admits that the recent boxing clash between his son, Tommy Fury, and YouTube influencer KSI wasn’t a pleasant watch.

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Fury, 24, took on KSI in the main event of Misfits Boxing: The Prime Card at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday. Both fans and pundits slammed lackluster clash, as the fighters kept clinching at every exchange. While Fury walked away with a unanimous decision after five rounds of inaction, KSI called it a robbery in the immediate aftermath of the fight.

Fury’s father was left unimpressed with his son’s performance despite the win. Hailing from a long line of gypsy boxers, John admits that the main event of the night wasn’t proper pugilism.

According to Fury Sr., it was KSI’s style that stifled his son’s game. While they had expected that out of KSI, John would have preferred more intervention from the referee. Fury also stated that he wouldn’t have had an issue with the decision going the other w…

Viviane Araujo entered UFC Fight Night 230 with her back against the wall.

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After consecutive decision losses against Alexa Grasso and Amanda Ribas, the 36-year-old Cerrado MMA product desperately needed a victory to remain relevant in the UFC’s flyweight division. Araujo delivered in that regard, earning a unanimous verdict over former title challenger Jennifer Maia in the co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“It feels amazing,” Araujo said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “The best part is the camp, the strategy, the game plan. The [key] word was patience. It worked perfectly. I followed the game plan to a T. I waited for her to use her boxing, overextend, so I could use my takedowns to keep her on her back. The best thing is when a strategy works, it makes me really happy. For me and my team, I’m really ecstatic.”

Araujo admitted that she felt pressure to get a win, but she was able to turn that into a posi…

Jon Jones is fully aware of the benefits one can enjoy by taking an extended break from mixed martial arts.

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Perhaps that’s why “Bones” offered praise for ex-UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who recently revealed that he’s "not going to fight for a long time” after losing his belt to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 this past September. It was Adesanya’s fourth bout in an approximately 14-month span.

“Hey [Stylebender], I just want to let you know I support your decision to take a break from fighting,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “Taking those last three years off was one of the best decisions I’ve made. Always put YOU first brother. Protect your heart, protect your mind [and] spirit. Proud of you champ.”

Hey @stylebender I just want to let you know I support your decision to take a break from fighting. Taking those last three years off was one of the best decisions I’ve made. Always put YOU first brother. Protect your he…

Jonathan Martinez has some of the most dangerous leg kicks in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and he proved it again on Saturday night.

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The Factory X representative joined Edson Barboza as the only two fighters in promotion history to earn two finishes via leg kicks with his second-round stoppage of Adrian Yanez in a featured bantamweight bout at UFC Fight Night 230 in Las Vegas. “Dragon” hobbled his adversary with repeated leg kicks until Yanez could no longer stand, ending the contest at the 2:26 mark of Round 2. Martinez has won six consecutive UFC appearances, including five in a row at 135 pounds.

“When I said I wanted a second round finish and it happened, I was really excited about that —just all the hard work we put in there,” Martinez said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “He’s a really good boxer so we had to take his legs out, and after that, his hands wouldn’t be dangerous as much.

“To me, if you check the kick, I’m sti…

A matchup of flyweights has been added to the first Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view card of 2024.

Malcolm Gordon (14-7) is set to trade hands against Jimmy Flick (16-7) at UFC Fight Night 297, which will go down on Jan. 20. in Toronto. Flick broke the news while cutting a promo during an MMA event in Oklahoma.

Flick made his UFC debut in December 2020, pulling off a first-round submission win over Cody Durden. “The Brick” announced his retirement from the sport just four months later, only to return to the United States Anti-Doping Agency testing pool the following year. Flick commenced his second Octagon stint earlier this year, suffering a first-round technical knockout loss against Charles Johnson in January. The Oklahoma native went on to record another stoppage loss against Alessandro Costa in June and will be looking to get back in the win column against Gordon.

Meanwhile, Gordon has gone back and forth in his UFC career, starting his jou…

Edson Barboza and Sodiq Yusuff were an easy choice for “Fight of the Night” on Saturday.

The featherweights received $50,000 apiece for their back-and-forth, five-round battle in the UFC Fight Night 230 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Yusuff had Barboza reeling early in Round 1, but the Brazilian veteran displayed tremendous resilience in a remarkable comeback performance. He dropped Yusuff with a spinning wheel kick in the third frame and relied on consistent body work to earn a hard-fought unanimous decision triumph.

Elsewhere, Jonathan Martinez utilized punishing leg kicks to earn a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus in a victory over Adrian Yanez in a featured bantamweight affair. Martinez hobbled his foe over the course of the bout, ultimately forcing a stoppage due to the barrage of kicks at the 2:26 mark of Round 2.

Finally, Michel Pereira garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a successful UFC middleweight debut. “Demolidor…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 230 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Ducote (-340), Yoder (+270)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Gutierrez (-250), Alateng (+200)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:The Official Re…

Edson Barboza has electrified Ultimate Fighting Championship fans for over 14 years and shows no sign of slowing down after pulling off one of the biggest comebacks of the year in the in the UFC Fight Night 230 main event Saturday at the UFC Apex.

Barboza was done. Or so we thought. Sodiq Yusuff was putting a beating on the Brazilian legend in the first round of their featherweight clash and referee Herb Dean could’ve stepped in at any time.

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Dean however continued to let Barboza compete and fight fans around the world are thankful as Barboza recollected himself and put on a masterful performance over the next four rounds to snatch away the unanimous decision victory (48-46, 49-46, 48-46).

Yusuff couldn’t believe his eyes. After bulldozing Barboza in the first, Barboza responded with his textbook body attack in the second before dropping Yusuff with his trademark spinning wheel kick in the third.

At this point Barboza had all the momentum as Yu…