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New Jersey, stand UP 🙌#UFC288 takes over the @PruCenter May 6th and we're bringing a HUGE lightweight fight with us!@CharlesDoBronxs vs @BeneilDariush 🔥

[ Register your interest here: https://t.co/ZyP75aSn9y ] pic.twitter.com/J8PHzz3xro

— UFC (@ufc) March 7, 2023

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., for its May 6 pay-per-view event.

UFC 288 will mark the promotion’s first event at the venue since UFC on ESPN 5 on Aug. 3, 2019. That card saw Colby Covington take a five-round verdict over Robbie Lawler in the welterweight main event.

“I am thrilled to bring another massive pay-per-view to Newark,” UFC President Dana White said in a release. “UFC has a long history with New Jersey, which has played host to many huge fights in the past. I can’t wait to rock Prudential Center with another world-class UFC event.”

While the promotion did not announce a headliner f…

Bo Nickal entered UFC 285 as one of the most hyped prospects in recent memory.

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The three-time NCAA national champion wrestler from Penn State University largely delivered on that hype, as he submitted Jamie Pickett with an arm-triangle choke 2:54 into Round 1 of their featured middleweight bout. That performance came on the heels of back-to-back first-round finishes on Dana White’s Contender Series, which seems to forecast a bright future for the 27-year-old.

“I had a lot of questions about him and when you saw his opponent, the guy is huge, he’s got like 25 fights, tons of experience. I thought, listen, he’s a human being. I don’t care what level of wrestling he is. This isn’t wrestling,” UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press confernce. “This is a completely different game here. There’s adrenaline dumps, the nervous energy, all the things of performing in the UFC for the first time, and he blew that all out of the water. He …

Rizin Fighting Federation 42 will feature some of the promotion’s top stars as well as some familiar faces from other organizations.

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The Japanese promotion recently announced the lineup for the May 6 card, which will take place at Ariake Arena in Tokyo and is headlined by a bantamweight clash between Kai Asakura and Yuki Motoya.

In other featured bouts, two-time UFC veteran Naoki Inoue will face former Bellator bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta; reigning Rizin lightweight kingpin Roberto Satoshi de Souza will square off against former UFC and Bellator competitor Spike Carlyle; Rizin super atomweight champ Seika Izawa will meet Miyuu Yamamoto and ex-UFC flyweight title challenger John Dodson will lock horns with Tatsuki Saomoto.

As it currently stands, no titles will be on the line at Rizin 42.

Asakura, a former Rizin 135-pound champ, is coming off a loss to Hiromasa Ougikubo in the promotion’s one-night bantamweight tournament in December.…

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Francis Ngannou was an interested observer when Jon Jones made his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane in the UFC 285 main event.

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“The Predator” expected Jones to prevail in the matchup, but he wouldn’t have predicted the bout to end as quickly as it did. After a three-year absence, Jones captured the vacant heavyweight title with a submission of Gane 2:04 into the opening round.

“I knew that if Jon Jones shows up in a good space mentally, not like his last two fights, he’s going to prevail in this fight, but I didn’t see this fight going this short. I think this fight could have been longer,” Ngannou said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “I was surprised, though. I was surprised the way that the fight ended. And I think even seeing Ciryl’s reaction, he was surprised as well because he wasn’t even defending. He wasn’t thinking that a submission could come from where he was.”

Though Ngannou praised Jones for his victo…

Valentina Shevchenko was winning — that is, until she wasn’t.

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The longtime flyweight champion was ahead 29-28 on all three cageside judges’ scorecards heading into Round 4 of her title defense against Alexa Grasso in the UFC 285 co-main event. That all changed when Shevchenko whiffed on a spinning back kick, which ultimately allowed Grasso to take her back and lock in a face crank for a submission victory at the 4:34 mark of the period.

“This is kind of like what happens in mixed martial arts,” Shevchenko said in her post-fight interview in the Octagon. “You’re winning the fight all around, all around, no doubt. And a stupid situation can change the whole game. This is the part of the game. Congratulations to Alexa, and I know that I’m stronger and if not this spinning kick [it] would be a different result.”

Shevchenko may have been on her way to winning that frame as well. According to UFCStats.com, “Bullet” held a 22-to-13 advantage in signi…

Ciryl Gane didn’t give Jon Jones much of a test in his heavyweight debut, and for that, the Frenchman is upset with himself.

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After a brief period on the feet, “Bon Gamin” was taken down and submitted with a guillotine choke 2:04 into Round 1 of the UFC 285 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While Gane’s wrestling was expected to be his weakest area, few anticipated the fight ending that quickly. That included Gane, whose emotions in the aftermath included both disappointment and anger.

“Disappointed, of course. But the biggest feeling is angry about myself. Really angry,” Gane said at the UFC 285 post-fight press conference. “Because yes, we accepted this fight, it was not short-notice, but the time was not too long, but we worked a lot, we spent a lot of time. We trained with my sparring partners, so I’m really angry about myself because I spent a lot of time with my partners, my coaches, my family, and it [didn’t show] during the fight…

Stipe Miocic didn’t seem as impressed with Jon Jones’ heavyweight debut as the rest of the world was after UFC 285.

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Jones captured the vacant heavyweight strap with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in Saturday’s main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. The victory sets up a showdown with Miocic at a future event. The target date for that bout is rumored to be UFC 290 on July 8, but nothing is currently set in stone.

“Honestly, I thought it was going to a decision,” Miocic said during the UFC 285 post-fight show on ESPN+. “I didn’t know how Jon was, he took three years off but hats off to him. You see some things, I’ll keep them to myself but I definitely see some things [I can use].

“It’s a fight, he won, good for him. Hats off, but unfortunately he’s got to fight me in July.”

While much was made of the size Jones added to make the transition to heavyweight, Miocic pointed out that everyone in the division is pretty bi…

Defending lightweight champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier will welcome free-agent signee Shane Burgos to the Professional Fighters League cage on April 14.

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The promotion on Monday announced the lineup for PFL 3, which will feature lightweights and welterweights at the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. PFL begins with prelims at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+ and continues with the main card on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. In the evening’s co-headliner, 2022 welterweight champ Sadibou Sy will lock horns with Jarrah Al-Silawi.

Other bouts slated for the main draw are as follows: Natan Schulte vs. Steven Ray; Raush Manfio vs. Alex Martinez; Shane Mitchell vs. TBA and Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov vs. Ahmed Amir.

Meanwhile, the ESPN2 prelims will feature the following four contests: Clay Collard vs. Yamato Nishikawa; Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Don Madge; Carlos Leal Miranda vs. David Zawada; and Magomed Umalatov vs. Dilano Taylor.

Aubin-Me…

Alexa Grasso dealt with the weight of expectations years before she authored a career-defining upset against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285.

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Dana White once called Grasso the potential “Ronda Rousey of Mexico,” a label the Lobo Gym MMA export struggled to meet to during the ups and downs of her early career. After going 3-3 in her first six Octagon appearances, Grasso has hit her stride with a five-bout UFC winning streak that culminated in her claiming flyweight gold in Saturday’s co-main event.

“Imagine that. I won the most important fight of my life,” Grasso said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I did everything I had to do to get my hand raised, and I knew that I had to finish the fight no matter what.”

Grasso was a considerable underdog against Shevchenko, who is widely regarded as one of the top two or three female pound-for-pound talents in the sport. She never appeared out of her depth against “Bullet,” however, and that eve…

Jon Jones essentially called his shot during fight week, and he delivered on that promise in the UFC 285 headliner.

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As he promised, “Bones” made it look easy against Ciryl Gane, winning via guillotine choke just 2:04 into the opening round of their heavyweight title bout on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. And just like that, Jones picked up where he left off three years ago, as one of the sport’s all-time best pound-for-pound fighters.

“We were really well rehearsed,” Jones said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “I believe that I’m a product of my team. We take studying very seriously. I’m not sure if Ciryl Gane landed a clean strike on me or not, but we were ready defensively for every one of his strikes. It just felt so amazing.”

In truth, Gane wasn’t given much of a chance to unveil his highly-touted kickboxing arsenal. Jones took him down quickly and locked in the sneaky guillotine before the Frenchman could even find his bearing…

Ready to ride May 30th 🤠#TUF31 filming has officially begun! pic.twitter.com/1GZr81K7uN

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) February 24, 2023

The cast for “The Ultimate Fighter 31” will feature a number of familiar faces.

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The promotion on Saturday announced the lightweight and bantamweight lineup for the reality show, which is currently taping and features Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler as opposing coaches.

Notable names for the “TUF 31” cast at 155 pounds include Octagon veterans such as Jason Knight, Kurt Holobaugh, Roosevelt Roberts and Austin Hubbard. Meanwhile, bantamweight features former UFC competitors such as Timur Valiev, Brad Katona, Hunter Azure and Cody Gibson.

“TUF 31” will premiere May 30 on ESPN at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and each episode will also be available via ESPN+ at 11 p.m. ET following their network debut. McGregor and Chandler will square off at an as yet to be determined UFC even…

It was at night to remember at UFC 285, and that was due in large part to the efforts of Jon Jones and Alexa Grasso.

After a three-year absence, Jones returned in style with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane to claim the vacant heavyweight title in Saturday’s headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. That work earned Jones a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check, which he pledged to donate to his Albuquerque-based charity on the ESPN+ post-fight show.

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Meanwhile, Grasso is the leader for “Upset of the Year” after shocking Valentina Shevchenko with a fourth-round face crank in the UFC 285 co-main event. Not only did Grasso become the third Mexican-born champion in promotion history, but she pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award as a result.

Also receiving a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus was Octagon newcomer Bo Nickal, who tapped Jamie Pickett with an arm-triangle choke 2:54 into the opening stanza of their middlewe…