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Lightweight matchups set for PFL Challenger Series on March 18 https://t.co/Vmw3eaRxnA

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) February 1, 2022

The lightweight matchups have been finalized for the PFL Challenger Series event on March 18.

The promotion on Tuesday the following four pairings: Road FC veteran Bruno Miranda vs. Rose City Fight Club representative Carson Frei; former Valor FC champion Damir Ferhatbegovic vs. City Kickboxing export B.J. Bland; Olivier Aubin-Mercier training partner Michael Dufort vs. Elevation Fight Team member Arut Pogosjan and unbeaten Israeli Yanal Ashmoz vs. Wiggins, Miss., native Dennis Hughes Jr.

One winner from that group will receive a contract to compete in the lightweight division during the 2022 PFL season, or at the very least, a developmental deal that could put them on the track to join the organization for a future season.

The card takes place at Universal Studios and airs on Fubo Sports Network beginn…

If all goes as planned, Paul Daley will be hanging up the four-ounce gloves after one final bout at Bellator London.

Daley revealed during an appearance on "The MMA Hour" Monday that he plans on retiring following the May 13 event. The soon-to-be 39-year-old Englishman doesn’t yet have an opponent for Bellator London, which takes place at the SSE Arena and is headlined by a welterweight title tilt between Yaroslav Amosov and Michael Page.

“May 13 will be last one,” Daley said. “It will be my retirement fight after many years in the game – the hours on the road, the hours in the gym have caught up with me. And now every day, I wake up with a bad back and I’m just tired. Most definitely (I’ll retire). I’ve put a lot of time in the sport, and I’m in a position to retire, fortunately. … I don’t want to be one of those fighters who’s getting knocked out all the time by the younger guys. I want to be the guy that goes out when I want to go out.”

Daley has compet…

Jeremy Stephens wasn’t a free agent for long.

The 34-fight UFC veteran announced during an appearance on “The MMA Hour” that he has signed with Professional Fighters League with the intention to compete at lightweight during the promotion’s 2022 season, which is slated to begin in April. Stephens didn’t rule out competing at other weight classes for future PFL seasons. Last week it was revealed that Stephens elected not to re-sign with the UFC after a lengthy tenure that began in 2007.

“It’s a great organization, the fighters over there, the matchups, the potential,” Stephens said. “They’re gonna pay me a little bit more than the UFC, and I have a chance at a million dollars, which is doable, which I really love. Maybe go in there, win that million dollars, and I like the fact that they fight back to back, month after month. I’m not getting any younger. I love to constantly be fighting. I don’t like sitting and waiting for opponents six months down the road. I…

One Championship will hold a minimum of 24 events in 2022 — with potential for more.

The Singapore-based promotion announced its live-event calendar for the rest of the year on Monday, and it will feature 22 more fight cards in addition to the two that have already taken place in January. One “Heavy Hitters” went down on Jan. 14, while One “Only the Brave” happened on Jan. 28 — both at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“We are thrilled to announce our 2022 live event calendar for One Championship. We have 24 blockbuster events scheduled so far, with more to come,” One Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong stated in a release. “We will continue to showcase the absolute best in World Championship talent, martial arts skill, and entertainment value.”

The promotion’s next event is One “Bad Blood” on Feb. 11 in Singapore. That card is headlined by a featherweight title fight between reigning champion Bibiano Fernandes and UFC veteran John Lineker. Another noteworthy date for 20…

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Already popular in the United States, mixed combat sports events now appear to be gaining a foothold in Brazil.

“Fight Music Show,” an event featuring a mix of professional fighters from various disciplines and celebrities, went down in Brazil on Sunday. The main event featured Brazilian YouTube personality Whindersson Nunes, who has more than 100 million followers on social media, and former four-time world champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas, over eight, two-minute rounds in a boxing match. The event was broadcast by the Combate channel and featured eight fights -- four MMA, one kickboxing and three boxing – in front of a packed arena of 2,000 people at Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina State.

In attendance were notables like Charles Oliveira, Paulo Costa, Wanderlei Silva, Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira as well as many other Brazilian celebrities. The interval between the three boxing main e…

After being finished in two of his last three light heavyweight appearances, Ryan Bader had something to prove at Bellator 273.

The Arizona native delivered in front of the home folks, rallying for a gutsy five-round verdict over Valentin Moldavsky in a heavyweight title unification bout at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Saturday night. It was a much-needed victory for Bader on the heels of a 51-second TKO defeat to Corey Anderson in the semifinals of the light heavyweight grand prix in the same venue this past October, but the former two-division champion believes people were burying him a little too soon.

“MMA is a weird, fickle sport,” Bader said at the Bellator 273 post-fight press conference. “They can look at your last fight, even though it’s big guys, small gloves, throwing at each other – the best in the world. You take one step back and people write you off. They don’t look at your body of work. It’s, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ I always knew I w…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zumNLGDoNRY&w=560&h=315]

If Ali Abdelaziz gets his way, Kamaru Usman will challenge for UFC middleweight gold at some point in the near future.

The reigning welterweight champion is expected to defend his belt against Leon Edwards next, but if that goes as planned, Usman’s manager envisions a scenario where “The Nigerian Nightmare” moves up a weight class in a bid to become the UFC’s next champ-champ.

“The next victim is Leon Edwards, “Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports. “Great fighter but he will get finished under three rounds. Fact. It’s gonna happen. The welterweight division in the UFC right now is very interesting. Kamaru is gonna beat him. I want him to beat Leon Edwards and then I want him to go fight Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title.”

After a recent interview with GQ where Usman admitted he considered jumping up two divisions last year to avoid a fight against fellow Nigerian Adesanya, such a scenario might seem…

.@RyanBader will face @Kongo4Real on May 6th for a heavyweight championship bout rematch! pic.twitter.com/Dzy6bPA1HH

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) January 30, 2022

Although Fedor Emelianenko wanted to avenge a heavyweight grand prix loss to Ryan Bader in his farewell bout, Bellator president Scott Coker said it was only fair that Cheick Kongo receive the next shot at the promotion’s heavyweight belt.

After Ryan Bader defended the crown with a grueling five-round verdict over interim champ Valentin Moldavsky in the Bellator 273 main event, the promotion announced that the Arizonan’s next title defense would come against Kongo in a rematch in Paris this May. There is unfinished business between the two, as their first meeting in 2019 ended prematurely when Kongo was unable to continue following an accidental eye poke.

“This was a fight that we’d been putting together for a while,” Coker said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “It was…

If it ultimately proves to be his swan song, Benson Henderson authored a vintage performance in the Bellator 273 co-main event on Saturday night.

The MMA Lab stalwart ended Isam Mamedov’s 20-bout unbeaten streak at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., winning a hotly-contested split decision that was a classic Henderson nail-biter. “Smooth” has shown a knack for emerging on the right side of the scorecards in such outings, posting a 6-2 record in Bellator and UFC competition in bouts that end via split decision.

After completing the final fight on his existing contract, it’s unclear how long Henderson will continue to make judges’ lives difficult in Bellator — or anywhere else for that matter.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be doing this for Bellator, so I wanted to soak it all in,” Henderson said at the Bellator 273 post-fight press conference. “I’m not sure if this is going to be my last fight or not, so I wanted to enjoy it, wanted to enjoy the ‘W,’ e…

Credit: Getty/UFC

Chase Hooper will square off against Felipe Dias Colares in a featherweight matchup at UFC Fight Night on May 21.

Hooper announced the booking on social media following an initial report from Combate. It is the first confirmed bout for the event, which doesn’t have an official location or venue.

The 22-year-old Hooper has lost two of his last three Octagon appearances. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum last competed at UFC 263, where he dropped a unanimous decision against Steven Peterson. His 2-2 promotional mark also includes wins over Peter Barrett and Daniel Teymur as well as a defeat at the hands of Alex Caceres.

Colares has also lost two of his last three bouts and is coming off a split-decision setback to Chris Gutierrez at UFC Fight Night 194 last October. The former Jungle Fight competitor is 2-3 within the Las Vegas-based promotion and 10-3 as a professional overall.

Mere moments after a grueling win over Valentin Moldavsky in the Bellator 273 headliner, Ryan Bader already had his next assigment.

The California-based promotion announced on Saturday that Bader’s next heavyweight title defense will come in a rematch against Cheick Kongo at Bellator Paris on May 6. The event will take place at Accor Arena in Paris, France, and the main card will air on Showtime. It is the second Bellator event held in France since MMA was legalized in the country.

"Bringing Bellator to France in 2020 was one of the highlights of my career, and I knew that it was the start of a long run of big events in Paris," Bellator president Scott Coker said. "Here we are ready for our second trip to France and this time we are bringing a heavyweight world title rematch featuring arguably the most recognizable French mixed martial artist in our sports history. It's personally important to me to help grow the sport in France and give these athletes a chance to per…

Sherdog's live Bellator 273 coverage kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the r…