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Dylan Hazan 🆚 @DonCaolan135 for the VACANT bantamweight title!

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📺 Watch #CW154 on @UFCFightPass from 9PM CEST tomorrow night pic.twitter.com/qOgoqTVsaS — Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) May 5, 2023 Dylan Hazan and Caolan Loughran have acquired their target: the vacant Cage Warriors Fighting Championship bantamweight title.

The unbeaten Hazan checked in at 135 pounds ahead of his high-stakes showdown with the undefeated Loughran (135) in the CW 154 main event on Saturday at the Fiera Roma in Rome. Meanwhile, Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Lean Aliu (186) and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Darren Stewart (185.4) also met their contracted weight requirements without issue at Friday’s official weigh-in.

Cage Warriors 154 streams live to UFC Fight Pass at 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT.

CAGE WARRIORS 154 WEIGH-IN RESULTS: Caolan Loughran (135) vs. Dylan Hazan (135)Darren Stewart (185.…

ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship ONE Fight Night 10 Weigh-insCredit: One Championship [embedded content]

Demetrious John…

#AndStill pic.twitter.com/rwGFJLdQIf

— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) May 4, 2023 Bellator MMA is holding on tight to its dominant women’s 145 champ.

The organization announced on Thursday that it had come to terms with champion Cristiane Justino (26-2, 1 NC), whose contract had concluded after her most recent defense in April 2022. After a pair of boxing matches for the Brazilian powerhouse, “Cris Cyborg” signed a new, exclusive deal with Bellator. The specifics have not been stated, other than that it was a multi-fight contract.

Justino was elated in her new arrangement with the promotion, saying in the press release, “After receiving multiple offers from several promotions I’m very happy that I was able to come to terms with Bellator and remain the face of their women’s featherweight division. Scott Coker is a promoter that I’ve worked with and respected for many years. He’s done so much to further women’s MMA and give us a platform to…

Rayanne Amanda dos Santos took her game to another level.

The Marajo Brothers product walked away with the undisputed Invicta Fighting Championships bantamweight title, as she cruised to a unanimous decision over Jillian DeCoursey in the five-round Invicta 53 headliner on Wednesday at ReelWorks in Denver. Scores were 50-45, 50-45 and 48-47—all for dos Santos (14-6, 2-0 Invicta). That the fight never felt particularly competitive was a testament to the Brazilian’s considerable efforts.

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Moments of success were few and far between for DeCoursey (6-4, 5-3 Invicta), who struggled and ultimately failed to match her challenger’s output, consistency and speed. Dos Santos tore into her with blinding combinations, incorporated leg kicks when the situation called for it and ran circles around her in the grappling exchanges. DeCoursey was left with significant damage to her left eye, multiple facial cuts and a ruptured cauliflower ear.

Meanwhile, Great Britai…

Conor McGregor has been in the public eye quite a bit recently, but so far there has been nothing to indicate that a date has been set for his fight with Michael Chandler.

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“The Ultimate Fighter 31” is set to air this month, and viewers will be able to see how McGregor and Chandler interact as opposing coaches on the long-running reality show. The two are then expected to square off in the Octagon some time after the season concludes in August. Exactly when that is remains unknown. In the meantime, McGregor was seen facing off against Mike Perry at the conclusion of the BKFC 41 main event this past weekend. He was also in attendance for the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia boxing match one week prior.

While McGregor seems to be enjoying life, that has led to speculation that he won’t make it to his proposed bout with Chandler. The former Bellator lightweight champion discussed that possiblity during a recent interview with ESPN.

“I think he’s coming…

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It turns out that Jon Jones’ recent tweet about retirement had more truth to it than some might have initially thought.

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The UFC is targeting a heavyweight title bout between Jones and Stipe Miocic for Madison Square Garden later this year after “Bones” captured the belt with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. In an interview with Fox Sports Australia, Jones said that Miocic is likely his last fight unless circumstances change with former UFC champ Francis Ngannou.

“I feel like the Stipe fight will be plenty for me,” Jones said. “I really don’t feel like I have much to prove after beating Stipe Miocic. I’ve been in the game a long time, and in fighter years, I’m an old guy.

“I’ve got some small injuries and I just really want to be around — I want to be around for my family, I want to be around for my kids, I want to be able to play with my kids and have a good head on my shoulders, and joints that work. So y…

Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan

The card for Bellator 297 is now complete with the addition of seven new bouts.

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The California-based promotion announced the fights — highlighted by a preliminary clash between Austin Vanderford and Imamshafi Aliev — via release on Wednesday. The other newly-added matchups are as follows: Jordan Newman vs. Matthew Perry at middleweight; Mike Hamel vs. Shamil Nikaev at lightweight; Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov at bantamweight; Cody Law vs. Edwin Chavez at featherwei…

It may not be how she envisioned, but Irene Aldana is now facing the opportunity of a lifetime.

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On Tuesday, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White revealed in a Twitter video that bantamweight title challenger Julianna Pena had been forced to withdraw from her rubber match with Amanda Nunes at UFC 289 on June 10, due to broken ribs. White announced that Nunes would instead be defending her title against Irene Aldana, who had previously been scheduled to rematch Raquel Pennington in the main event of UFC Fight Night 224 on May 20.

Breaking news………… pic.twitter.com/pNvr9Qo3I2

— danawhite (@danawhite) May 3, 2023

The Nunes-Pena fight would have settled a series that sat at 1-1. At their first meeting at UFC 269 in December 2021, Pena turned the longtime two-division champ into a one-division champ, snatching Nunes' bantamweight strap by second-round submission in a near-consensus “Upset of the Year,” and one…

A welterweight bout pitting Neil Magny against Philip Rowe has been added to the UFC on ABC 5 lineup.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. UFC on ABC 5 takes place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., on June 24 and is headlined by a featherweight scrap between Josh Emmett and Ilia Topuria.

The 35-year-old Magny began his 2023 campaign with a first-round submission defeat to Gilbert Burns at UFC 283 on Jan. 21. “The Haitian Sensation” has 29 Octagon appearances to his credit, with notable victories over the likes of Geoff Neal, Robbie Lawler, Jingliang Li, Carlos Condit, Johny Hendricks, Hector Lombard and Kelvin Gastelum.

Rowe, meanwhile, has won three straight UFC fights since dropping his debut against Gabriel Green in February 2021. During that stretch, “The Fresh Prince” has finished Niko Price, Jason Witt and Orion Cosce via technical knockout.

#InvictaFC53: DeCoursey vs. Dos Santos Official Weigh-in Results https://t.co/GRYo5IYo5a pic.twitter.com/oa2xbjMfrK

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) May 2, 2023

Jillian DeCoursey will take on the role of the hunted at Invicta FC 53.

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DeCoursey made weight without issue ahead of her first atomweight title defense against Rayanne Amanda dos Santos. DeCoursey tipped the scales at 104.8 pounds, while dos Santos checked in at 104.3 pounds. The rest of the 12 athletes slated to compete on the card also hit their contracted marks.

Invicta FC 53 takes place at Reelworks Denver in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday and airs at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on AXS TV and the Invicta FC Youtube channel and Facebook page in the U.S.

DeCoursey claimed atomweight gold with a first-round submission of Jessica Correa Delboni at Invicta FC 49 this past September. The 38-year-old Queens, N.Y., native has won four of his last five professional appeara…

Few people have more insight than the UFC 288 co-main event than Vicente Luque.

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Not only is Luque a close friend and longtime sparring partner of Gilbert Burns – they’ve trained together since 2014 -- but he’s fought Belal Muhammad on two occasions, winning via first-round knockout at UFC 205 before dropping a five-round verdict to “Remember the Name” in their rematch at UFC on ESPN 34. Luque expects a competitive fight between the two on Saturday but sees Burns as the favorite.

"I fought five rounds with Belal one year ago,” Luque said. “He has definitely evolved from our first fight. Besides throwing fast combinations, he moves well and has a good kick with his left leg, but he fights more to score points. I see a clear advantage for ‘Durinho’ in the grappling aspect. He has much more pressure, mainly on the ground, in addition to amazing cardio. On the striking aspect, I see it being more equal. ‘Durinho’ evolved a lot and has more knockout powe…

An undisclosed injury has forced Bryce Mitchell to withdraw from a featherweight bout against Movsar Evloev at UFC 288.

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As a result, promotional newcomer Diego Lopes will step in on five days’ notice to face Evloev on the UFC 288 pay-per-view draw. ESPN Deportes was first to report the new pairing. Evloev previously agreed to replace Jonathan Pearce and face Mitchell a few weeks prior.

Lopes enters his UFC debut with a 20-5 career mark. He appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 but failed to earn a contract, dropping a technical decision to Joanderson Brito. Lopes is the founder of the Brazilian Warriors team and has held titles in organizations such as Lux Fight League, Xtreme Fighters Latino and Jasaji Fighting League. The 28-year-old Brazilian owns notable triumphs over UFC veterans Masio Fullen, Marco Beltran and Rony Mariano Bezerra.

Evloev is 16-0 as a professional, with six of those victories coming under the UFC banner. Th…