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For a few fleeting moments, it appeared as though Michael Chandler was on his way to adding an Ultimate Fighting Championship belt to his trophy case.

On two separate occasions, the former University of Missouri wrestling standout rocked Charles Oliveira with punches in the opening round of their UFC 262 headlining bout at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night. In both instances, the Brazilian managed to survive, which ultimately set the stage for “Do Bronx” to claim the vacant 155-pound belt with a second-round technical knockout.

“He showed that he had the gall to get through that,” Chandler said at the UFC 262 post-fight press conference. “He got dropped, got hurt. I was on top of him. He’s really long and he did a really good job of tying me up so I couldn’t rain down too hard of punches or elbows. He definitely got through some adversity tonight.

“He showed tonight that he is tougher than a lot of us thought he was. Hats off to him. He is our cham…

Edson Barboza and Shane Burgos delivered as advertised, and the featherweights were compensated handsomely for their efforts.

Barboza and Burgos received “Fight of the Night” honors and $75,000 apiece for their main card bout at UFC 262 at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night. In an entertaining back-and-forth striking battle, Barboza hurt Burgos with a right hand in Round 3, a blow that sent his foe staggering backward to the mat following a delayed reaction. The Brazilian sealed his win with a few follow-up blows on the ground 1:16 into the period.

Elsewhere, newly-crowned lightweight champion Charles Oliveira captured a $75,000 “Performance of the Night” check for his comeback win over Michael Chandler in the main event. After being on his heels on more than one occasion in Round 1, “Do Bronx” dropped Chandler with a left hook, then overwhelmed his foe with punches to secure the finish 19 seconds into the second frame.

Finally, Christos Giagos garn…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 262 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. After 28 Octagon appearances, Charles Oliveira can finally call himself an Ultimate Fighting Championship title holder. “Do Bronx” survived some early adversity, then rallied to knock out former Bellator MMA king Michael Chandler 19 seconds into Round 2 of their UFC 262 headlining encounter at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night. With the win, Oliveira becomes the promotion’s 11th lightweight champion and claims the title vacated by Khabib Nurmagomedov earlier this year.

“Michael, you’re a great champion, but today is my day,” a jubilant Oliveira said following his ninth consecutive UFC victory.

It looked as though Oliveira (31-8, 19-8, 1 NC UFC) wouldn’t last long against his heavy-handed foe. Chandler (22-6, 1-1 UFC) landed a solid left early, forcing the Brazilian to shoot for a takedown. Chandler responded w…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 262 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 262 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 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:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield …

HE BROKE HIS ARM@AndreMunizUFC submits Jacare Souza in Round 1!! #UFC262 pic.twitter.com/dH6tn41xhZ

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) May 16, 2021

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 262 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Andre Muniz won’t soon forget his third Ultimate Fighting Championship triumph.

The Dana White’s Contender Series alum scored the most significant victory of his career to date at UFC 262, submitting eight-time world jiu-jitsu champion Ronaldo Souza in the opening round of their middleweight clash at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night. Muniz (21-4, 3-0 UFC) locked in an armbar 3:59 into Round 1, with an audible snap bringing an immediate end to the contest. Muniz has won his last seven professional bouts.

Souza, who is mired in a four-fight losing streak, was submitted for the first time in his 37-bout professional tenure.

“I’m a fan…

One Championship has crowned its second ever heavyweight king.

The main event of the tape-delayed event One Championship “Dangal” saw former Ultimate Fighting Championship 205-pound and heavyweight contender Brandon Vera (16-9 1NC) put his title on the line against fellow UFC vet Arjan Singh Bhullar (11-1). “The Truth” approached the battle with a cautious gameplan as he kept scoring with his jab and switching stances, as to not to offer any window for Bhullar to showcase his wrestling skills. The Canadian fighter was satisfied with keeping the center of the cage and throwing his jab early. Shortly after the midpoint of the first frame, Bhullar faked a punch before duping his opponent into a successful takedown that led to the Canadian fighter keeping the top position for the rest of the frame, completely unconcerned and unthreatened by Vera’s kimura attempts from the bottom.

The defending champion looked quite fatigued entering into the second stanza. Bhullar made the…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilD7VdIGNl8&w=640&h=360] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 262 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. A new Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion will be crowned after the unstoppable Khabib Nurmagomedov stepped away from the sport last year. Headlining UFC 262 is a vacant 155-pound title fight between the streaking Charles Oliveira and former Bellator MMA king Michael Chandler. The UFC's latest pay-per-view card is now official after the weigh-ins took place. All but one fighter made weight, although the "hoop" to cover fighters was needed multiple times.

Having won eight straight fights, Oliveira (30-8, 1 NC) is finally living up to his potential. "Do Bronx" most recently bested Tony Ferguson via decision, but had finished all seven of his prior opponents. Along the way, he tapped out names like Kevin Lee, Jim Miller and Clay Guida. The 31-year-old…

.@TheJawaiian vs. @DanielSwainMMA is now up next in the main event of #LFA107!@ShellsDotCom@Drink9mm@KoiCBD@GLCDirect2000@SanfordPentagon@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/0hqkflHfj6

— LFA (@LFAfighting) May 15, 2021 Lightweights Kamuela Kirk and Daniel Swain went to battle in the LFA 107 main event, but only one of them wanted to go three rounds inside the Legacy Fighting Alliance Octagon.

A wild first round saw Kirk (11-4) hurt Swain (20-11-1) with punches and land some damaging knees. Swain would lock in an armbar, but Kirk would slam his way out of the submission. The second round saw Swain once again look for an armbar but a few slams forced the grappler to let go, and "The Jawaiian" ended the frame in mount. In between rounds, Swain decided not to continue and said that he's retired giving Kirk a TKO victory via retirement. After the bout, Kirk expressed a desire to go to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Ricardo Dias scored a knockou…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. For one Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contender, a four-fight win streak is about to come to an end. Per ESPN on Friday, the promotion is putting together a 185-pound scrap between Uriah Hall (17-9) and Sean Strickland (23-3) for UFC 265. The event, which does not currently have a venue set although it may be held in an arena and not the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, will go down on Aug. 7.

Hall is currently riding his longest win streak since beginning his career at 4-0, with knockouts of Bevon Lewis and Anderson Silva along the way. In his last time out, Hall rematched Chris Weidman in April. In just 17 seconds, Hall checked a leg kick that broke Weidman’s leg, thereby awarding Hall the TKO win without ever throwing a single strike. Hall’s career finish rate sits at 82 percent after this run.

Strickland also finds h…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8JqREYwK2g&w=640&h=360] Two fighters failed to make weight for the Legacy Fighting Alliance's first card of May.

Headlining LFA 107 is a lightweight bout between Kamuela Kirk and Daniel Swain. The main eventers had no trouble making weight, showing their professionalism on the scales. However, Samarbek Sabyrzhan and L.J. Smith Portee both failed to make their contracted weights. Despite each coming in 1.6 pounds heavy, their respective fights are still on.

An LFA mainstay, Kirk (10-4) is coming off an impressive TKO victory over Guilherme Santos. This was a bounce-back win for "The Jawaiian," who dropped a decision to Bruno Souza in his last bout and lost via TKO to Billy Quarantillo prior to that. Kirk stepped on the scale at 155.8 pounds.

Despite having 31 professional fights, this is the first time that Swain (20-10-1) has stepped into the LFA cage. "Agent Orange" is coming off a loss to T.J. Laramie, but had won four of hi…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Julio Arce is hoping that a move down to 135 pounds will provide the spark he needs to move up the ranks. At an unnamed UFC Fight Night card on July 24, Arce (16-4) is planning on dropping to bantamweight to take on Andre Ewell (17-7). The news was first reported by MMA Fighting on Thursday. Arce later confirmed the pairing on his Instagram.

Arce surged into the UFC with a drubbing of Peter Petties on the first season of Dana White's Contender Series, and the New Yorker amassed a win streak of seven before meeting Sheymon Moraes in 2018. At UFC 230, Arce suffered a split decision loss, although he rebounded by head kicking Julian Erosa seven months later. Another split decision setback, this time to Hakeem Dawodu in November 2019, left him at a crossroads. A February matchup with T…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Two Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight grapplers with equal 92 percent finish rates will toe the line in June. Seventeen years will separate Alexey Oleynik (59-15-1) and Sergey Spivak (12-2) when they meet at UFC on ESPN 25 on June 19, per a report from Russian outlet Vetnik MMA on Thursday. Spivak has since confirmed the heavyweight pairing on his Instagram, with the two meeting at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The 43-year-old Oleynik is currently on a two-fight knockout loss skid, with Derrick Lewis and Chris Daukaus both putting him away with punches. Against Lewis, Oleynik very nearly had “The Black Beast” finished with a scarf hold, but Lewis survived and blasted him in the next round. The Russian submission magician sports an incredible 46 wins by submission over the years, as one of the very few MMA fighters in histor…