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John Lineker remains your top bantamweight contender with a THUNDEROUS KO of Troy Worthen! @johnlineker @tntdrama @BleacherReport @BR_MMA @brlive #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT3 pic.twitter.com/DDLzTD4oND

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 22, 2021

Troy Worthen woke up looking at the lights, the latest victim of John Lineker’s handiwork under the One Championship banner.

Lineker wiped out the Sanford MMA prospect with punches in the first round of their One on TNT 3 headliner on Wednesday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang Singapore. Worthen (7-2, 3-2 One) bowed out 4:35 into Round 1, as he suffered his second defeat in as many appearances.

A sense of pending doom enveloped the cage once Lineker (34-9, 3-0 One) zeroed in on the American’s body with brick fists and bad intentions. Late in the first round, he denied a takedown from an increasingly desperate Worthen, then leveled him with a crushing right hand as he …

Sherdog's live One on TNT 3 coverage will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result

The welterweight title will be on the line in the UFC 261 main event on Saturday, and Colby Covington figures to be an interested observer when Kamaru Usman defends his belt in a rematch against Jorge Masvidal at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Another rematch could be in store if Usman is victorious. “The Nigerian Nightmare” defeated Covington via fifth-round TKO in the UFC 245 headliner, and UFC president Dana White recently told TSN that a second meeting between the two is likely, provided Usman beats Masvidal.

“He’s at a point in his career now where he’s looking at who’s next again,” White said of Usman. “He’s coming back and going to be facing guys that he already beat. Obviously, Masvidal took that fight on short notice so let’s give him this fight, and we can do away with all the excuses. Then, Colby Covington’s next.

“Who knows. Anything can happen. Guys get injured, things happen, timing. Who knows, especially in this day and …

A middleweight headliner with championship implications brought a decent amount of eyes to ESPN on Saturday.

According to ShowBuzz Daily, UFC on ESPN 22 averaged 935,000 viewers for Saturday’s main card on ESPN. The five-bout offering didn’t offer a lot of depth, but it did feature former middleweight king Robert Whittaker’s entertaining five-round verdict over Kelvin Gastelum. Additionally, longtime heavyweight veteran Andrei Arlovski earned a decision win against Chase Sherman in the co-headliner.

That figure ranks as the top rating for a UFC on ESPN card thus far in 2021. None of the other three cards on the network this year topped 721,000 viewers for the main draw. The card had some stiff competition in the combat sports realm, going head-to-head with Triller Fight Club’s Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren event, which reportedly drew more than 1 million pay-per-view buys.

Meanwhile, the preliminary card averaged 879,000 viewers on ESPN. That featured bout on that …

Championship gold in the strawweight and atomweight divisions will be on the line when Invicta Fighting Championships makes its debut on AXS TV next month.

The promotion announced Wednesday that Invicta on AXS TV will be headlined by a clash between Karina Rodriguez and Daiana Torquato for the vacant 125-pound belt on May 21. In the co-main event, Alesha Zappitella will defend her 105-pound title against Jessica Correa Delboni.

Five other bouts were confirmed for the card: Emily Ducote vs. Liz Tracy at strawweight; Taneisha Tennant vs. Hope Chase at bantamweight; Juliana Miller vs. Claire Guthrie at flyweight; Josee Storts vs. Maria Favela at flyweight and Fatima Kline vs. Ariana Melendez at strawweight.

Mexico’s Rodriguez has compiled a 4-2 mark with Invicta since 2017 and is coming off a decision loss to current Bellator talent Vanessa Porto at Invicta FC 38 in November 2019. She owns notable wins over DeAnna Bennett and Milana Dudieva and is 8-4 as a professi…

Professional Fighters League is expanding its broadcast reach.

The promotion announced on Wednesday deals that will allow it to air in Germany, France and Belgium for the 2021 season. PFL will be broadcast in Germany on BILD, which is that nation’s largest media brand and daily newspaper, and via RMC Sport in France and Belgium.

As part of the agreement, BILD and RMC Sport will be the exclusive providers of PFL content in Germany and France, respectively.

“Our distribution partnerships with BILD in Germany and RMC in France represent the growing demand around the world for the PFL’s 2021 season live events and content,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “Come this Friday, April 23, MMA fans in Europe and throughout 160 countries will experience MMA 2.0, as the PFL is the future of the sport with star athletes, a win and advance season format and our new SmartCage experience.”

The PFL’s 2021 campaign kicks off Friday with a card headlined by a lightweight showdown betwe…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAfYeH_Z8MA&w=560&h=315]

Anthony Pettis will be the most recognizable figure in the Professional Fighters League lightweight field this season.

That’s just fine with the Roufusport stalwart, who has grown accustomed to such scrutiny after holding titles with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting over the course of his MMA career.

Pettis will make his PFL debut in Friday’s main event against fellow UFC vet Clay Collard as the promotion kicks off its 2021 campaign. The main card airs on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.

“I was the champion in every organization I fought in, so I always had the target on my back,” Pettis said during a virtual media day to promote PFL’s season opener. “I kind of embraced that role. I know what these guys are looking forward to.

“The scariest thing about this is he (Collard) has nothing to lose. He can go …

Three fighters from this past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 22 card are facing potentially lengthy layoffs.

The Nevada Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from Saturday’s card to mixedmartialarts.com. Chase Sherman (left knee, right foot, right tibia/fibia), Luis Pena (left hand) and Juan Espino (right elbow) all must receive doctor clearance for their respective ailments are they could be sidelined up to six months.

UFC on ESPN 22 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and saw Robert Whittaker earn a five-round verdict against Kelvin Gastelum in the evening’s middleweight headliner. Whittaker is suspended until May 18 with no contact until May 9 due to a hard fight, while Kelvin Gastelum received the same term due to a right eyelid laceration.

UFC on ESPN 22 Medical Suspensions:

Robert Whittaker: suspended until 5/18/21, no contact until 5/9/21 — hard fight

Kelvin Gastelum: suspended until 5/18/21, no contact until 5…

After leaving the UFC, Anderson Silva signed a contract to face Julio Cesar Chávez Jr. in a boxing match on June 19 at a soccer stadium in Jalisco, Guadalajara, México.

Eleven years older than the former world boxing champion, the 46-year-old former UFC middleweight king brought his boxing coach, Luiz Dorea, from Brazil to care of his training.

“We will have 11 weeks until the fight, which will be at a catchweight (182 pounds) in 8 rounds of 3 minutes. If Chavez has the age advantage, Anderson has the size advantage,” Dorea told Sherdog.com.

The boxing coach sees the matchup as a clash of opposite styles.

“What I like about that fight is that it will be a clash of totally different styles,” Dorea said. “Cesar Chavez is a tough guy who likes to close the distance, put his head on his opponent’s chest and use crosses, hooks and uppercuts in the infight, while Anderson has the movement and distance control as his differential, using more jabs and straight pun…

Lorenz Larkin will compete for the first time in more than a year when he meets Costello van Steenis at Bellator 258.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotino official following an initial report from ESPN. Bellator 258 takes place at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut on May 7 and is headlined by a bantamweight title tilt between Juan Archuleta and Sergio Pettis. The main card will air on Showtime.

Larkin last appeared at Bellator 237 in December 2019, when he outpointed Keita Nakamura. The former UFC and Strikeforce competitor is currently on a four-bout winning streak that also includes wins over Andrey Koreshkov, Ion Pascu and Fernando Gonzalez.

A protege of Bellator middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi, Van Steenis scored the biggest win of his career to date in his last outing, when he took a split verdict over Fabian Edwards at Bellator Milan this past September. The 28-year-old Dutchman has been victorious in five of his six promotional appea…

Lance Palmer has established himself as the featherweight to beat in Professional Fighters League, that much is clear.

The Team Alpha Male representative is coming off back-to-back championships at 145 pounds in the PFL in 2018 and 2019. After a season off due to COVID-19 concerns, the 33-year-old Ohioan will return to defend his throne beginning on Friday against Bubba Jenkins. Despite that track record, Palmer doesn’t feel any added pressure heading into his third PFL campaign.

“I feel like the target on my back has been there since I was 10 years old in wrestling,” Palmer said during a PFL virtual media day. “I’m chasing my own goals and everybody just has to catch up to chase me. That’s the mentality that I have.”

The PFL has changed up much of its roster heading into 2021, so Palmer will be looking at a different 145-pound field than in years past. That, along with the ongoing COVID situation, which has created a bubble for PFL fighters, makes for a new s…

A heavyweight clash pitting Jairzinho Rozenstruik against Augusto Sakai has been targeted to headline a UFC Fight Night card on June 5.

Combate was first to report the booking. A venue and location have yet to be announced for the event.

Rozenstruik is coming off an unsuccessful main event appearance at UFC Fight Night 186, where he dropped a lackluster five-round verdict to Ciryl Gane on Feb. 7. The 33-year-old Surinamese heavyweight is 5-2 in UFC competition, with notable KO wins over Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski.

Sakai, meanwhile, had a six-bout winning streak snapped UFC Fight Night 176 last September, when he suffered a fifth-round TKO loss at the hands of Overeem. The former Bellator competitor began his UFC tenure with triumphs over Chase Sherman, Arlovski, Marcin Tybura and Blagoy Ivanov.