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Kleber Koike's strength remains eternal!

[ #RIZIN43 | @FiteTV | PPV link in bio ] pic.twitter.com/5NYGGyx3Hc

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) June 24, 2023

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The latest Rizin Fighting Federation event was a festival of knockouts, submissions and drama.

The Rizin 43 headliner saw Kleber Koike Erbst face Chihiro Suzuki in what should have been Erbst’s first attempt to defend the featherweight championship. Unfortunately, the Brazilian missed weight by .9 pounds the day before and was stripped of the title, making Suzuki the only fighter eligible to win the crown. During the fight, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert Erbst (31-6-1, 1NC; 6-1, 1 NC Rizin) dominated Suzuki (10-3, 1NC; 5-1, 1NC Rizin) from top to bottom. After a minute of striking exchanges on the feet, Erbst dragged his opponent on the mat and quickly gained the mount position. Once there, Erbst landed sporadic punches while threatening his foe with submissio…

The possibility of a repeat remains in play for defending Professional Fighters League lightweight champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier.

Aubin-Mercier waylaid Anthony Romero with a beautiful knee strike in the third round of their PFL 6 headliner on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, where the Tristar Gym standout clinched his spot in the postseason in style. Blindsided by the fight-ending blow, Romero (12-2, 1-1 PFL) checked out 28 seconds into Round 3.

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The 34-year-old Aubin-Mercier (19-5, 8-0 PFL) was calculated and efficient, and a brief brush with adversity—Romero buckled his knees with a first-round front kick—did nothing to knock him off his mark. He routinely cut off the cage against his fellow Canadian, forced him onto the back foot and scored with check right hooks and slicing straight lefts. No one saw the finish coming, least of all Romero. Aubin-Mercier backed him to the fence, caught him ducking and connected with a perfectly timed k…

The 2023 Professional Fighters League Regular Season marches on with 2023 PFL 6 at 6 p.m. ET. The action airs live on ESPN+ and then continues on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round: The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the r…

[embedded content] Editor's note: The article has been updated when one of the previously heavy fighters came back to successfully make weight.

The weigh-ins for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Jacksonville were anything but smooth.

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The 14-fight UFC on ABC 5 card is headlined by Josh Emmett vs. Ilia Topuria. Both featherweights successfully made weight for the five-round contest. However, the same could not be said for the entirety of the undercard.

Loik Radzhabov came in at 157.25 pounds, or 1.25 pounds over the lightweight limit, and has been fined 20% of his purse, which will go to opponent Mateusz Rebecki (155.5). Additionally, Kleydson Rodrigues checked in three pounds overweight for his flyweight pairing against Tatsuro Taira (126), and per ESPN Deportes, the fight has been canceled. Finally, Jamall Emmers initially clocked in one pound over for his featherweight fight against Jack Jenkins (145.5), but he returned having chopp…

Sherdog's live UFC on ABC 5 coverage will begin Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Brundage (-195), Dumas (+165)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Emmers (-200), Jenkins (+170)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Peek (-110), Mariscal (…

Two high-level matchups have been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Singapore in August.

On Friday, Instagram account Freak MMA first broke the story that Taila Santos (19-2) would be battling it out with Erin Blanchfield (11-1) at 125 pounds on Aug. 26. The two flyweights will duke it out at UFC Fight Night 225 inside of the Singapore Indoor Arena in Kallang, Singapore. Blanchfield confirmed this fight on her own Instagram right after the fight news dropped.

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This will be Santos’ first walk to the Octagon since she lost an ultra-close split decision to former champ Valentina Shevchenko in June 2022. While some observers including one judge thought she did enough to dethrone Shevchenko, a clash of heads caused major swelling around Santos’ right eye to potentially compromise her in the later rounds. Before the championship defeat, Santos had strung together four straight wins, including a trio of decisions over Molly McCann, Gil…

What A Fight!!@RoseNamajunas will face @ManonFiorot_MMA at #UFCParis!!

Get your tickets 🎟️ https://t.co/vwLifSPSne pic.twitter.com/0b15gjUB9c

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) June 23, 2023 The former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight queen is taking her trade to a new division.

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According to MMA Junkie on Friday, Rose Namajunas (11-5) will be relocating to 125 pounds on Sept. 2. At that UFC Fight Night 226 event in Paris, she will be meeting top contender Manon Fiorot (10-1). News of this pairing has since been confirmed by the UFC shortly after it broke.

This will be the former 115-pound titleholder’s first trip back to flyweight since she was an amateur, all the way back in 2011. “Thug Rose” surrendered her throne to Carla Esparza a second time in May 2022, dropping a razor-close split decision to her nemesis. That defeat snapped an impressive three-fight win streak, with a revenge decision over Jessica …

#RIZIN43 北海道大会💥計量結果💥

⚔️第13試合⚔️メインイベントRIZIN MMAルール 66.0kg

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🟥クレベル・コイケ【66.40kg】🧍‍♂️178cm💪ﾘｰﾁ183cm@KoikeKleberーーー🆚ーーー🟦鈴木千裕【65.95kg】🧍‍♂️173cm💪ﾘｰﾁ177cm@Chihiro__0514

📅6/24(土)12:30~📡全試合無料配信https://t.co/FdfbqVl0kD pic.twitter.com/bW39wWe6fB

— RIZIN FF OFFICIAL (@rizin_PR) June 23, 2023 Rizin Fighting Federation has stripped Kleber Koike Erbst of the featherweight championship. Rizin Fighting Federation returns for its first event of the summer with Rizin 43.Taking place in Hokkaido, Japan, the event features 12 mixed martial arts fights. Headlining the card is what was supposed to be a featherweight title fight between Erbst and Chihiro Suzuki. However, Erbst failed to make weight, exceeding the championship limit by coming in at 146.3 pounds. As a result, he's been stripped of his title, penalized with a yellow card costing him 20% of his purse, and only Suzuki will be…

El evento del 16 de septiembre me confirman será en el T-Mobile Arena y la idea es que se llegue a un acuerdo y una de las peleas por título sería la revancha entre Alexa Grasso 🇲🇽 vs Valentina Shevchenko 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/5p8AhOIUFq

— MMA Latinoamérica (@ClubDeLasMMA) June 8, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is running back the biggest upset of the year thus far in September.

Earlier in June, MMA Latinoamerica reported that the UFC was putting together the rematch between flyweight champ Alexa Grasso (16-3) and former queen Valentina Shevchenko (23-4). The report stated that the fight would be held on Sept. 16 in Las Vegas, and further reports have noted that it will likely be taking place in the T-Mobile Arena. UFC head Dana White informed Yahoo! Sports on Thursday that the fight would indeed go down on this date in Las Vegas, while not confirming the venue itself.

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With the UFC still traveling to Sydney on Sep…

[embedded content] Pride Fighting Championships pioneer Rickson Gracie has revealed that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

Considered to be one of the more revered names in the vaunted Gracie family, Brazilian jiu-jitsu coral belt Rickson Gracie revealed during Kyra Gracie’s podcast on Wednesday that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease two years ago. Now 63 years of age, the son of Helio Gracie said the disease, a chronic degenerative disorder, affected his motor system, causing tremors in his hands and decreasing his ability to move. Despite this, Rickson made it clear that the diagnosis “wasn't traumatic.”

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“Two years ago, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” Rickson explained. “So, a lot of things that I would like to do physically, I’m decreasing. For me, [the diagnosis] was nothing dramatic. I’m ready for anything in my life. I accept my mistakes and my victories. I accept my life well, so I’m happy today. But this neurological d…

🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 🚨

Sioux Falls, we're coming in hot on Friday, August 11th!

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✅ Nikita Mikhailov vs. Leandro Higo✅ Diana Avsaragova vs. Justine Kish#Bellator298 tickets on sale NOW 👉🎟 https://t.co/A0jjLIKwTw pic.twitter.com/Ouf0bsUjzn — Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 22, 2023 Bellator MMA has added a slew of new fights to its August card, including a rescheduled bantamweight battle.

Per Bellator on Thursday via press release, five new fights have been added to the Bellator 298 lineup. This event on Aug. 11 will be held at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and its headliner of Logan Storley vs. Brennan Ward is still on track. The league also announced that the start time would be pushed to 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT instead of 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, and the prelims are slated to kick off at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT earlier that day. Of those five matchups, three contain combatants placed on the Bellator rankings.…

⚖️Lightweight Main Event Bout is official!Olivier Aubin Mercier: 155.6 lbsAnthony Romero: 155.4 lbs

[Fri, June 23rd | 6pm ET on ESPN+ | 9pm ET on ESPN | #PFLRegularSeason] pic.twitter.com/D8z5rHCkhC

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 22, 2023 One Professional Fighters League finalist from last year's tournament failed to make weight ahead of Friday's show.

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The lightweight and welterweight divisions will be on display for PFL 6, the final event of the regular season, with a 155-pound "win or go home" matchup between Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Anthony Romero atop the card. While both headliners made weight, a pair of undercard fighters did not. 2022 welterweight finalist Dilano Taylor was penalized one point in the standings after coming in at 171.2 pounds, and he will also forfeit 20% of his show purse to opponent Carlos Leal Miranda. Additionally, featherweight Brahyan Zurcher missed weight, hitting the scales at 146.8 pounds for hi…