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“Golden Boy” throwing #InsideTheMatrix4 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship

How to watch ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX IV https://t.co/XVUI9f1Syb pic.twitter.com/bCO7gwSRkx

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 20, 2020 One Championship aired the fourth part of its pre-recorded “Inside the Matrix” series. One: Inside the Matrix 4 was headlined by a kickboxing clash between Aslanbek Zikreev and Wang Junguang. The contenders engaged in a back-and-forth battle that saw exciting moments from both sides. As the fight wore on, the Russian fighter appeared sharper than “Golden Boy,” and two of the three judges rewarded him with the split decision victory. Zikreev’s triumph over the former title contender led him to eye a future championship challenge.

In the co-main event, Joseph Lasiri took home a hard-fought split decision over Rocky Ogden in a muay Thai clash. The pace of “The Hurricane” kept Ogden guessing for the majority of the bout, and the …

What a statement! @ajmckee101 captures career win No. by submitting Darrion Caldwell.

McKee now moves to the #BellatorFWGP finals to face Pitbull/Sanchez. #Bellator253 pic.twitter.com/VyGaXpgYk5

— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) November 20, 2020 Thanks to Bellator 253's main event, we now know one finalist for Bellator MMA's featherweight grand prix. Darrion Caldwell was thought to be a major challenge for A.J. McKee, but the former Bellator bantamweight champion was unable to mount much offense. McKee (17-0) was able to latch in a neck crank after a successful takedown by Caldwell (15-4) that forced the former champ to submit at 1:11 of Round 1. McKee will now face the winner of Patricio Freire and Emmanuel Sanchez for the featherweight championship.

The welterweight co-main event saw former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion Benson Henderson face off against former Legacy Fighting Alliance welterweight king Jas…

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. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going out with a bang for its year-end card, with a bantamweight thriller added to an already stacked lineup. According to a report from BJPenn.com on Thursday, Jose Aldo (28-7) will be taking on Marlon Vera (16-6-1) at the UFC Fight Night event on Dec. 19. Aldo and Vera were originally considered to square off at UFC 255, but the matchup fizzled before coming to fruition.

Aldo is in the midst of a three-fight losing streak, the longest of his career. The longtime featherweight king dropped down to bantamweight in December 2019 to take on Marlon Moraes, and he lost a close split decision. With Moraes unable to compete several months later, Aldo stepped over him to face Petr Yan for the 135-pound throne. Aldo reigned over the UFC’s featherweight division for several years after bringing his …

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. A big women’s bantamweight contest is coming to the first Ultimate Fighting Championship card of 2021. Sara McMann (12-5) first posted to her Instagram on Wednesday that she would be taking on Julianna Pena (9-4) at the UFC card on Jan. 16. Pena posted news of the matchup shortly thereafter on her own Instagram. The matchup was once considered for the Dec. 19 Fight Night event, per a matchmaking video posted by the UFC, but it has since been moved to the new year for undisclosed reasons.

McMann ended a two-fight submission loss skid to Ketlen Vieira and Marion Reneau by earning a decision win over Lina Lansberg in January. McMann was on the shelf for nearly two years from 2018 to 2020 after having a child, and then suffering an injury to eject her from a bout with Nicco Montano. Pena replaced her in that matchup.

“The Vene…

For the first time since 2006, an Ultimate Fighting Championship legend is no longer part of the roster.

MMA Fighting first broke the news on Thursday that Anderson Silva (34-11, 1 NC) was released by the UFC. Shortly after this story came out, UFC President Dana White disputed the release when speaking to TMZ. A few hours later, White told TMZ that he was mistaken, and that Silva was indeed released from his contract. “The Spider” made his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 5 in 2006.

The all-time great middleweight started off his UFC tenure by rattling off 16 wins, a record that still stands. Capturing the 185-pound throne by smashing Rich Franklin in his sophomore appearance, Silva went on to defend it 10 times. This consecutive title defense streak record was later trumped by Demetrious Johnson, who retained it in 11 bouts. Along the way, Silva went up to light heavyweight a few times, scoring knockouts of James Irvin, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar – all…

*NEWS FLASH * Nevada Athletic Commission has cancelled my fight against Raoni Barcelos for December 5th . They want me to fight only a ranked fighter. I amReady .. Hoping they find me an opponent @UFC pic.twitter.com/J6rx4Au9hl

— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) November 19, 2020 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. A hot Ultimate Fighting Championship prospect is not getting an opportunity he hoped for after all. Coach Ray Longo first spoke about the booking between Merab Dvalishvili (12-4) and Raoni Barcelos (16-1) at bantamweight at UFC on ESPN 19. At the time, Barcelos was stepping in for Cody Stamann, who pulled out for COVID-19 related reasons. Dvalishvili posted on Twitter on Thursday that the fight was off, but he claimed it was due to rankings and the commission. MMA Junkie has since clarified that this is no…

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. Three important Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts at lightweight and middleweight are now booked on the promotion’s first pay-per-view in 2021. MMA Junkie was first to report on Thursday that Arman Tsarukyan (15-2) and Nasrat Haqparast (12-3) will compete against one another at lightweight. The two will face off at UFC 257 on Jan. 23 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Tsarukyan has since confirmed the booking on Instagram, while stating that his initial plan was to take on Alexander Hernandez in December.

Haqparast rebounded from his first career knockout loss with a decision over Alex Munoz in August. Prior to facing Munoz, Drew Dober smashed him in 70 seconds at UFC 246. The German-born fighter holds a 75 percent finish rate throughout his career, with his most recent stoppage win due to strikes com…

After defending various submission attacks from Entwistle, Roa was able to get the upper hand, with the fight coming to an ending due to Ian's injury

Dumar Roa, your winner via TKO for BRAVE CF 45! #BRAVECF #BRAVECF45 #KombatKingdom #Bahrain pic.twitter.com/eMfpx3YygW

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) November 19, 2020 An unfortunate injury marred the ending of an otherwise exciting Brave Combat Federation event. The main event of Brave CF 45 was short but intense. The headliner pitted Colombia's Dumar Roa (9-7) against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Ian Entwistle (9-4), with the latter stepping back into the cage for the first time in over four years. The Englishman shot for a leg lock as soon as the match started, and for a time, it looked like he could end the battle emphatically. Roa kept faith to his "Corazon de Leon" nickname and stoically resisted the submission attempt, all while trying to fight his way out of it. …

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. Although already listed on Sherdog Fight Finder, and confirmed several times over by Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, the ink has finally dried for the big fight. On Thursday morning, The Mac Life announced that Conor McGregor (22-4) and Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) have signed their bout agreements to face one another again at UFC 257. The two will square off on Jan. 23 at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. They will meet for the second time, and over six years removed from their first pairing at UFC 178 in 2014, where McGregor won by first-round knockout.

The official signing by both parties puts an end to negotiations that included potentially shifting the contest to headline UFC 256 on Dec. 12. While they had both verbally agreed to the matchup earlier in November, both men…

The lineup for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event on Dec. 19 continues to grow, as a bantamweight scrap pitting Pannie Kianzad against Sijara Eubanks has been added to the bill.

MMA DNA was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweght bout between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Kianzad is on a two-bout winning streak after earning unanimous decisions against Bethe Correia and Jessica Rose-Clark in her last two UFC appearances. The 28-year-old Swede has compiled a 13-5 career mark while also competing in organizations such as Invicta FC and Cage Warriors.

Eubanks, meawhile, had a two-fight winning streak snapped when she dropped a unanimous verdict to Ketlen Vieira at UFC 253 on Sept. 26. “The Ultimate Fighter 26” competitor owns wins over the likes of Julia Avila, Roxanne Modafferi and Lauren Murphy in the Octagon.

Goiti Yamauchi will square off against former CES MMA lightweight champion Nate Andrews in a lightweight bout on the Bellator 254 main card.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 254 takes place on Dec. 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and is headlined by a flyweight championship tilt between Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Juliana Velasquez.

Yamauchi enters the matchup with Andrews having won six of his last seven promotional appearances. Most recently, the 27-year-old Japan native choked out Daron Cruickshank at Bellator 237 last December. Yamauchi is 11-3 over the course of his Bellator tenure.

Andrews, 36, won nine consecutive fights with CES MMA before a recent 1-2 stint with Professional Fighters League. Andrews concluded his 2019 PFL season with a majority decision loss to Chris Wade in the playoffs last year. “The Snake” is 16-3 as a professional, with all but on…

A light heavyweight clash pitting Misha Cirkunov against Ryan Spann has been added to the lineup for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event on Dec. 19.

MMA DNA was first to report the book. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight tilt between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Cirkunov will compete for the first time in 2020 after going 1-1 in the Octagon last year. Cirkunov rebounded from a 38-second TKO loss to Johnny Walker at UFC 235 with a first-round submission of Jimmy Crute at UFC Fight Night 158 in September 2019. The 33-year-old Latvian is 6-3 during his UFC tenure and 15-5 as a professional overall.

After earning a UFC contract on Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Spann was victorious in his first four Octagon appearances. That streak came to an end at UFC Fight Night 178 in September, when he was knocked out in the first round by Walker. The 29-year-old Fortis MMA product owns an 18-6 ca…