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A COLOSSAL ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Title fight and the highly anticipated semifinals of the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix headline ONE: NEXTGEN on 29 October! @PhogatRitu @_itsuki_h_ #ONENextGen #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/7zEU8f2MUA

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 7, 2021 With COVID-19 resurgent in Singapore, One Championship has decided to go back to closed-door, tape-delayed events.

Via press release on Thursday, One sent out the lineup for the first of a trio of events in the “Nextgen” series. The first, a live show, will take place on Oct. 29 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, and it will feature six bouts including two kickboxing contests. The subsequent fight cards of Nextgen II and Nextgen III will air via tape delay on Nov. 12 and Nov. 26, respectively.

The live show of One: Nextgen will be capped off by a light heavyweight kickboxing title fight betwee…

Two weeks after a difficult weight cut led to the cancellation of her bantamweight bout against Macy Chiasson, Aspen Ladd will move up a weight class to replace the injured Holly Holm at UFC Fight Night 195.

Ladd will face Norma Dumont in a five-round, 145-pound bout on Oct. 16 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. ESPN was first to report the new matchup is close to being finalized. Ariel Helwani initially brought word that Holm had withdrawn from the UFC Fight Night 195 main event due to a knee injury.

The 26-year-old Ladd has not competed since December 2019, when she defeated Yana Kunitskaya via third-round TKO at UFC on ESPN 7. Since then, Ladd has had multiple fights fall through, including bookings against Julianna Pena, Sara McMann and Chiasson. Ladd did not fight at all in 2020 due to a torn ACL.

Dumont earned the biggest win of her career to date at UFC Fight Night 188, where she garnered a split decision over former UFC title challenger and Invicta FC cham…

A lightweight matchup pitting Jim Miller against Erick Gonzalez has been targeted for UFC Fight Night 195 on Oct. 16.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report that the bout was in the works. UFC Fight Night 195 takes place at the UFC Apex and is headlined by a featherweight duel between Holly Holm and Norma Dumont.

Miller is coming off back-to-back decision losses to Vinc Pichel and Joe Soleck in his last two Octagon appearances. The New Jersey native will be competing for the 38th time within the Las Vegas-based promotion when he faces Gonzalez. His last victory came at UFC on ESPN 11, a first-round submission of Roosevelt Roberts in June 2020.

Gonzalez enters his UFC debut having won four of his last five promotional outings. The 29-year-old known as “The Ghost Pepper” notably has an 8-4 mark while competing under the Combate Americas banner and is 14-5 as a professional overall.

Shortly after Bellator president Scott Coker announced that Patricio Freire had vacated the lightweight title, which in turned elevated his brother’s rematch with Peter Queally to a 155-pound championship bout, Sherdog.com spoke with Patricio to get a better understanding of his decision.

“There were some things bothering me,” Patricio said. “My brother was the No. 1 challenger. If he keeps winning, he will have to fight for the belt, and it doesn't make sense for me to fight for the belt if that happens. We know that if I weren't the champion, he would have already fought for the title. Then he had to fight Queally to continue his career since I was the champion.”

Patricio also revealed that his loss to A.J. McKee in a featherweight title bout this past July played an important role in his decision.

“Being beaten in the featherweight division and holding the lightweight belt doesn't make sense to me,” he said. “I have no ego to hold this status. It doesn't…

Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane are expected to square off in a heavyweight championship unification bout at UFC 270.

Multiple outlets confirmed that verbal agreements are in place for both fighters following an initial report from French outlet La Sueur. UFC 270 does not yet have an official location, but the card is also expected to include a key middleweight showdown pitting Derek Brunson against Jared Cannonier.

After failing in his first bid for heavyweight gold, Ngannou claimed the title with a second-round knockout of Stipe Miocic in the UFC 260 headliner. “The Predator” is currently on a five-fight winning streak in which he has finished all five of his opponents by KO/TKO inside of two rounds.

Gane, meanwhile, is undefeated in 10 professional appearances — including seven in the UFC. “Bon Gamin” claimed the interim championship with a third-round TKO of Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 on Aug. 7.

Five-round fights are no longer just for title bouts in Bellator MMA.

Bellator president Scott Coker revealed during "The MMA Hour." on Wednesday that the California-based promotion will transition to five rounds for all main-event fights beginning in 2022. The remaining non-title headliners in 2021 will remain three rounds, however.

“This is something that a lot of fans feel this happened in the last two or three months because of the way the chips fell in some of these fights, but really we’ve been talking about this for the last six to eight months,” Coker said. “We decided that starting Jan. 1 that all the main events fights will be five rounds.”

Recently, UFC signee Yoel Romero expressed confusion following the end of his Bellator 266 headlining bout against Phil Davis, which he lost after three rounds via split decision. Romero apparently thought the contest was set for five rounds. Another fight that could have warranted two more frames was the Bellator 2…

The stakes have been raised for the Peter Queally-Patricky Freire rematch at Bellator 270.

Bellator president Scott Coker announced during "The MMA Hour." on Wednesday that Patricio Freire has vacated the lightweight belt, which he has not defended since stopping Michael Chandler in 61 seconds at Bellator 221 in May 2019. As a result, Queally vs. Freire will be for the vacant 155-pound championship.

Patricio Freire addressed the situation shortly thereafter on Twitter. The younger “Pitbull” brother was a two-division champion before losing his featherweight crown to A.J. McKee at Bellator 263 this past July. For now, his focus is on regaining that title, while allowing his brother to have his own golden opportunity.

“Honor and family come first,” he wrote. “When I first won the LW belt it was just about revenge. It was still an honor, but with the loss at 145 I’m starting over. It’s time for the LW division to move on and for [Patricky Freire] to have his shot.…

Cristiane Justino will make her next featherweight championship defense against Sinead Kavanagh at Bellator 271.

The bout will headline the Nov. 12 event, which is slated for the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. The card will air on Showtime. Bellator president Scott Coker revealed the booking on "The MMA Hour."

Justino claimed the 145-pound belt with a fourth-round TKO of Julia Budd at Bellator 238 in January 2020. Since then, “Cyborg” has defended the crown with a second-round submission of Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 249 and a five-round TKO of Leslie Smith at Bellator 259. The 36-year-old Brazilian has lost just twice in 27 professional outings.

Ireland’s Kavanagh is currently on a two-fight winning streak within the California-based promotion. After stopping Olga Rubin in the second round at Bellator 234, she outpointed Katharina Lehner in her most recent appearance at Bellator Milan in October 2020. Kavanagh is just 4-4 under the Bell…

Alistair Overeem has been forced to pull out of his heavyweight title fight with Rico Verhoeven at Glory: Collision 3 due to injury. Glory announced on Wednesday that the heavyweight superfight will not go down at the Oct. 23 event.

Rico Verhoeven will still remain on the card, according to the promotion, and a replacement for Overeem will be revealed in the near future. Overeem released a statement regarding his withdrawal via Instagram.

“I deeply regret that I have to pull out of the fight against Rico Verhoeven Oct. 23. I’ve never pulled out a fight before and trust me, this decision was hard to make. I’ve been dealing with the injury for over a month,” Overeem wrote. “Two days before the press conference, a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t even able to walk straight.

“After some treatment I felt much better. And since I’ve never been a quitter, I wasn’t going to quit now. I went back in camp. But… the injury got worse again and I could not even fulfill a comple…

Mike Malott needed less than a minute to handle his business.

The Team Alpha Male rep was one of four competitors to earn an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he submitted the previously unbeaten Shimon Smotritsky with a guillotine choke in the first round of their welterweight feature on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Malott (7-1-1) sealed the deal 39 seconds into Round 1.

Smotritsky (7-1) took the bait, moved in for a potential takedown and immediately found himself entangled in the guillotine. His situation went from bad to worse to downright dire as Malott improved his positioning and tightened his squeeze on the choke. Smotritsky waved the white flag soon after.

In addition to Malott, UFC President Dana White awarded contracts former Hoosier Fight Club champion Carlos Hernandez, Fortis MMA standout Fernando Garcia and undefeated Entram Gym prospect Genaro Valdez.

Hernandez outstruck and outpaced …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live DWCS 2021 Week 6 coverage kicks off Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 White rushes out of his corner and the lightweights trade a flurry of punches before Valdez shoots for a takedown. He takes White down near the fence, but his opponent quickly hustles back to his feet. Valdez continues to maintain a body lock as he presses White into the cage. Valdez lands a short elbow on the break. Valdez lands a leg kick, then a two-punch combination before changing levels. He gets White down, but it’s only momentary. White is back on his feet, defending against Valdez’s level change. Valdez gets White down and jumps on his foe’s back, but it’s not a great angle to complete the sub…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A middleweight bout between Jamie Pickett and Laureano Staropoli that was slated for UFC Fight Night 194 has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.

Pickett confirmed that one of his coaches tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, the contest will be rescheduled for the UFC’s Oct. 23 event. AgFight first brought word of Pickett’s withdrawal.

“Fight has been canceled and I’m stuck in Vegas,” Pickett wrote on his Instagram story. One of my coaches test positive for COVID and now we have to stay here for 10 days. I’m pissed the f—-k off but everything is everything. I’ll get through this somehow.”

UFC Fight Night 194 currently has 10 bouts, including a strawweight headliner pitting Marina Rodriguez against Mackenzie Dern. The card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+.

A two-time competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Pickett is still looking for his first Octagon triumph after falling to Ta…