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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧 👑🇬🇧 @phildefriesmma

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 👊🇺🇸 @ToddDuffee #KSW79 | KSWTV | @ViaplaySportsUK pic.twitter.com/9pwnGyEERC

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 23, 2023 Leading Polish mixed martial arts organization Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's second card of 2023 will feature an eagerly anticipated heavyweight title fight.

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The KSW 79 main event will see heavyweight champion Philip De Fries looking to get revenge against Todd Duffee. Back in 2012, Duffee (9-3, 1 NC) knocked out De Fries (22-6, 1 NC) in just over two minutes. More than a decade later, the two will square off once again, with De Fries holding a 25-pound weight advantage as the English fighter weighed 265 pounds while Duffee came in at 240 pounds. All other fighters on the card also made weight.

This will mark Duffee's first fight since 2019, where his comeback bout against Jeff Hughes ended by no contest after an accidental eye poke. De Fries has been much more a…

It’s time to crown an 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙙 champion! 👊@YaroslavAmosov and @storleystorm clash for the Welterweight gold! Who wins? #Bellator291 | Tomorrow, 4pm EST / 9pm GMT | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/heTMW7zLzp

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) February 24, 2023 Bellator MMA returns to Dublin for its second event of February.

Topping the Bellator 291 card is a welterweight title unification fight as the undefeated Yaroslav Amosov returns to face interim titleholder Logan Storley. Both champions had no issue making championship weight, as each came in at exactly 169.4 pounds. The only fighter to miss weight was Leonardo Sinis, who checked in at 148.8 pounds for his 147.5-pound catchweight fight against Ciaran Clarke. The fight will still continue, with Sinis being fined a percentage of his purse.

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Undefeated in mixed martial arts, Amosov (26-0) will fight for the first time since claiming the throne from Douglas Lima in June 2021. H…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Ronda Rousey is getting involved in the fight game again, but in a very different manner than before.

In the California State Assembly, a proposed bill is coming together to help former fighters. Per ESPN on Thursday, the charge is being led by Assemblyman Matt Haney from San Francisco. It was introduced on Feb. 15, and as it is being discussed and formulated, it could reach the Assembly for a vote or further debate by March 18 at the soonest. The plan is to create a pension fund for ex-MMA fighters, similar to the California fund for former boxers.

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The proposal will pay retired MMA fighters that have competed a certain number of times within the state’s borders. If the language remains intact after discussion, the bill would take $1 from every ticket sold at an MMA event in California and place it in the fund. The pension would pay retired fighters at 50 years of age or older, who competed in around 13 fi…

The latest Professional Fighters League Challenger Series event will feature eight fighters in the women's flyweight division, although only seven made weight.

All PFL Challenger Series Week 5 fighters made weight except for Sandra Lavado, who came in at 127.6 pounds. Her fight against Shanna Young is now a 128-pound catchweight fight, and Lavado will be fined a percentage of her purse.

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Headlining the four-fight card will be Kaytlin Neil vs. Katherine Corogenes. Neil (6-4) weighed in at 125.6 pounds and is looking to extend her win streak to three. After starting her career with just one victory opposite three defeats, "Katniss" has shown plenty of improvement. Meanwhile, Corogenes (3-1) is looking to bounce back from her first professional loss, suffering a knockout at the hands of Dakota Ditcheva in her only PFL fight to date. "The Animal" officially weighed 125 pounds on the dot.

PFL Challenger Series Week 5: Women's Flyweights will air live o…

Marina Rodriguez will lock horns with Virna Jandiroba in a strawweight bout at UFC 288.

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Jandiroba confirmed the booking following an initial report from MMA Melotto on Twitter. UFC 288 takes place on May 6 and is headlined by a bantamweight championship clash between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo. A location and venue for the event has not been announced.

Rodriguez had a four-bout winning streak snapped in her last outing, as she suffered a third-round technical knockout loss to Amanda Lemos at UFC Fight Night 214 on Nov. 5. The 35-year-old Thai Brasil export owns notable wins over the likes of Xiaonan Yan, Mackenzie Dern, Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Amanda Ribas and Tecia Torres.

Jandiroba has won two of her last three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the former Invicta FC champion outpointed Angela Hill at UFC on ESPN 36 last May. Jandiroba is 4-3 during her UFC tenure after beginning her MMA career with 14 straight victories.

🚨 Breaking!! 🚨 #KSW79

New assignment for 🇨🇿 Dominik Humburger as he now faces 🇧🇷 Jorge Bueno this Saturday! @viaplaypl | @novasport_cz | @combate pic.twitter.com/ul7WYnJ05w

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 21, 2023

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After fighting three times in four months on the European regional circuit at the end of 2022, Jorge Luiz Bueno Jr. was enjoying some time off during the Carnival Holiday in Rio de Janeiro when a phone call brought an abrupt change of focus.

"My training partner Joilton ‘Peregrino’ called last Saturday in the middle of Carnival offering a fight (at KSW 79) the following Saturday against Dominik Humburger, a local undefeated fighter from Czech Republic. Since I’m always ready, I immediately accepted,” Bueno told Sherdog upon arriving at the fighter hotel on Wednesday.

Bueno will face Humburger in the KSW 79 co-main event on Saturday at the Home Credit Arena in Liberec, Czech Republic. The card is headlined by …

Curtis Blaydes and Sergei Pavlovich have agreed to a five-round heavyweight bout to headline UFC Fight Night on April 22.

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ESPN was first to report the pairing. UFC Fight Night does not yet have an official location or venue. The card is also expected to include a bantamweight scrap between Yadong Song and Ricky Simon, a lightweight tilt between Bobby Green and Jared Gordon and a featherweight showdown between Norma Dumon and Karol Rosa.

Blaydes has lost just once in his last eight appearances – a second-round KO defeat to Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 185 in February 2021. His last bout ended prematurely when Tom Aspinall suffered a knee injury 15 seconds into their encounter at UFC Fight Night 208 this past July. The Elevation Fight Team representative’s resume includes wins over the likes of Chris Daukaus, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt.

Pavlovich has been victorious in five st…

A strawweight showdown pitting Karolina Kowalkiewicz against Vanessa Demopoulos is on tap for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on May 20.

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MMA Ideas was first to report the booking, and it was later announced by Demopoulos’ management, Iridium Sports Agency. UFC Fight Night doesn’t have a main event or confirmed location at this point in time.

A former KSW champion and UFC title challenger, Kowalkiewicz is coming off back-to-back victories against Felice Herrig and Silvana Gomez Juarez. Prior to that, the 37-year-old Pole suffered through the worst slump of her professional career, losing five consecutive bouts from September 2018 to August 2021.

Demopoulos, meanwhile, has won three straight Octagon appearances since dropping a decision to J.J. Aldrich in her promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 30. Most recently, “Lil Monster” outpointed Maria Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 215 on Nov. 19.

Former UFC flyweight title challenger Ray Borg has signed an exclusive contract with Bellator MMA.

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The promotion announced the addition of Borg to the roster on Tuesday. Borg is expected to make his Bellator debut this year, though a date and opponent are currently unknown. It appears that the New Mexico native will compete at 135 pounds in the California-based organziation.

“I am beyond excited and very happy to have signed with Bellator MMA,” Borg said. “I feel like they have the best 135ers in the world and I am very excited to get in there and mix it up with all of them on one of the very biggest stages in the sport.”

The 29-year-old Borg will enter Bellator on a three-bout winning streak. He last appeared at Eagle FC 46, where he captured a split verdict against Bellator vet Ricky Bandejas in March 2022. “The Tazmexican Devil” went 7-5 during a UFC stint where he competed at flyweight and bantamweight. He notably challenged for 125-pound…

Mackenzie Dern will square off against Angela Hill at a UFC Fight Night event on May 13.

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MMAjunkie.com was first to report the strawweight bout. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a light heavyweight duel pitting Anthony Smith against Johnny Walker. A location and venue have not been announced for the card.

Dern is coming off a 1-1 campaign in 2022. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt earned a split decision over Tecia Torres at UFC 273 before suffering a majority decision defeat to Xioanan Yan in the UFC Fight Night 211 headliner. Dern has won five of her last seven Octagon appearances dating back to 2020.

After losing five of six promotional outings from May 2020 to May 2022, Hill has bounced back to post consecutive decision triumphs over Lupita Godinez and Emily Ducote in her last two UFC bouts. The former Invicta FC title holder is 10-12 over the course of two separate UFC stints.

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Yaroslav Amosov will step into the cage for the first time since June 2021 when he meets Logan Storley in a welterweight title unification bout in the Bellator 291 headliner on Saturday.

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Amosov had good reason to be on hiatus, as he stepped away from MMA to help defend his native Ukraine against Russian invasion early in 2022. That led to him withdrawing from a scheduled championship defense against Michael Page at Bellator 281 last May.

In a powerful feature that will air during the Bellator 291 broadcast, Amosov recounts the hardships of war that he witnessed firsthand and how he recovered his championship belt in the wreckage of his family barn. Now Amosov hopes to inspire his country with a championship victory on Saturday in Dublin.

Bellator 291 takes place at the 3Arena in Dublin and is headlined by the championship clash between Amosov and Storley. The main card airs on Showtime at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

A lightweight contender’s bout pitting Charles Oliveira against Beneil Dariush is on tap for UFC 288 on May 6.

Oliveira recently announced the pairing on Instagram, and multiple outlets have confirmed the fight. Club De Las MMA was first to bring word of Oliveira vs. Dariush earlier this year. UFC 288 is headlined by a bantamweight title clash between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo. The event does not currently have a location or venue.

Oliveira will be competing for the first time since falling to Islam Makhachev via second-round submission in a lightweight title bout at UFC 280 this past October. Prior to that, “Do Bronx” compiled an 11-fight winning streak in the Octagon, with 10 victories coming inside the distance. Notable triumphs during that stretch include Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson, Kevin Lee, Jim Miller and Clay Guida.

Dariush, meanwhile, has emerged as a top contender at 155 pounds thanks to an eight-bout…