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Lerone Murphy claims the “vibe was a bit dead” for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Manchester this past July.

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UFC 304 marked the promotion’s return to Manchester for the first time since 2016. However, the card was scheduled for the usual timie for U.S. viewers, which meant the main card started around 3 a.m. local time in Manchester.

While Murphy would have loved to fight on home soil as well, the Stockport, England, native was put off by the timing. While in attendance, “The Iceman” was dozing off and could sense a dead vibe at the Co-op Live Arena overall. According to Murphy, the crowd livened up briefly for appearances of stars like Paddy Pimblett, Tom Aspinall and Leon Edwards but was mellow overall. Murphy suggests the promotion instead organize UFC Fight Nights, which can be scheduled as per local time but also understands that people want big pay-per-views featuring championship bouts.

“It was good, …

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Caio Borralho believes former training partner Khamzat Chimaev beats Robert Whittaker in their upcoming matchup.

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Chimaev is scheduled to trade leather against Whittaker at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Borralho was Chimaev’s main sparring partner for a scheduled matchup against Nate Diaz in September 2022, a fight which never came to fruition. “The Natural” believes Chimaev’s opponents can’t gauge the true extent of “Borz’s” wrestling prowess until they are sharing the Octagon with him. Borralho notes that Chimaev is coming off a majority decision win over former champ Kamaru Usman, who has left behind ace grapplers like Demian Maia, Rafael dos Anjos and Gilbert Burns in his wake. While the Brazilian expects Chimaev to beat Whittaker, he isn’t completely counting “Bobby Knuckles” out given his championship history.

“I already training with him, spent some time in Sweden with him for his training camp against…

Belal Muhammad (24-3) recently dismissed Shavkat Rakhmonov’s (18-0) claims that he isn’t keeping his promise of being an active champion.

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Muhammad won the welterweight title with a unanimous decision win over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 this past July. Rakhmonov claims he has since received an offer to challenge “Remember the Name,” which he accepted. However, “Nomad” accuses Muhammad of turning down the booking, which was supposedly offered for UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah. According to Rakhmonov, Muhammad rejected the offer due to the timeline. The undefeated Kazakh also accuses Muhammad of not being an active champion.

“Actually I’ve already been offered to fight Belal and I accepted the fight against Belal,” Rakhmomov told MMAFighting.com. “But unfortunately he declined to fight me due to timing issues. He wasn’t ready to defend is belt on that time. So we’ll see what’s gonna happen and when he’s gonna be ready. So I’ll be able to figh…

UFL 5: PHOENIX vs VEGAS is set for AUG 30 👊

Witness Phoenix coach Henry Cejudo and Vegas coach Frank Mir lead top-level talent in a battle for state supremacy 🏆

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🎟 - https://t.co/PprrSI1czQ | 📍 CHANDLER AZ | 🏟 Wild Horse Pass Casino pic.twitter.com/b0jhcwDpdb — United Fight League (@UnitedMMALeague) July 26, 2024 A year and a half after its first event, the United Fight League has ushered a new era in mixed martial arts. As the only MMA promotion to provide health insurance, life insurance and shares in the company to all of its signed fighters, the UFL vows to set the new standard for the fight business.

“We are the first combat sports league to offer health insurance and shares in the company to show that hey, if you help us build this idea, we’ll all win, we’ll all eat together,” UFL CEO Harrison Rogers told Sherdog.com. “It had only been a crazy idea. It’s been like twisting arms to get people to take a chance with…

Bellator MMA’s upcoming card in San Diego is down two fights.

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The promotion recently announced that Raufeon Stots vs. Marcos Breno and Grant Neal vs. Khalid Murtazaliev are now off the Sept. 7 card. As a result, a women’s flyweight clash pitting Sumiko Inaba against Mackenzie Stiller has been elevated to the main draw. A reason for the cancellations was not revealed.

Bellator Champions Series San Diego takes place at Pechanga Arena and is headlined by a lightweight championship clash between Usman Nurmagomedov and Alexandr Shabliy. The event will air in its entirety on Max beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Stots is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Danny Sabatello at Bellator 301 and is 8-1 since joining the promotion in 2019. Breno, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since April 2023, when he suffered a second-round submission defeat to Sabatello at Bellator 294.

Neal had a three-bout winning streak snapped on March 22, when he dro…

The PFL MENA semifinals have been finalized for Sept. 20 in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia.

After regular season events on May 10 and July 12, the brackets at featherweight, welterweight, lightweight and bantamweight remain largely intact with the exception of one 155-pound matchup. According to a release from the PFL, Abdullah Saleem has failed an in-competition drug test and has been removed from his semifinal bout against Omar Reguigui. As a result, Georges Eid will step in and face Reguigui.

PFL MENA 3 takes place at the promotion’s studio in Boulevard City and is headlined by a featherweight semifinal clash between Abdullah Al-Qahtani and Abdalrahman Alhyasat. In the co-main event, Jarrah Al-Silawi will lock horns with Omar El Dafrawy in a welterweight semifinal. Winners of the semifinal bouts will advance to a PFL MENA championship event later this year.

“We’re very excited to be heading into the playoffs of the inaugural PFL MENA season. Fighters in the ba…

Norma Dumont recently went off on Julianna Pena, who will receive the next UFC women’s bantamweight title shot.

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Pena is set to challenge Raquel Pennington for the bantamweight title in the co-main event at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. According to Dumont, Pena getting the next title shot is a slap in the face of the rest of the division. Dumont believes “The Venezuelan Vixen” has done nothing of significance to warrant a title shot.

Pena’s biggest claim to fame is a submission win over Amanda Nunes to win the bantamweight title at UFC 269 in 2021 in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. Dumont claims Pena’s win over Nunes came on a night when the “Lioness” just wasn’t herself. Dumont also recalled Pena’s lopsided beatdown on the way to a unanimous decision loss against “The Lioness” in their rematch at UFC 277 in July 2022. Dumont believes it is really unfair that the upcoming title shot goes to P…

Getting lectured by a guy who drinks blood and wears a purse.. Dawg you had a mid life crisis and tattooed your entire body. The "the x community of intolerance" yall I'd hang out with you toxic trolls any day over this cunt... Go back to cutting yourself you fucking weirdo https://t.co/4CY2L7gypT

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) August 27, 2024

Sean Strickland has a developing beef with rapper/musician Colson Baker, who is professionally known as Machine Gun Kelly.

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It all started with Strickland running into MGK at a Power Slap event back in February. The former UFC middleweight champ asked the rapper to dress like a man, also questioning actress Megan Fox’s rationale in choosing him as a partner.

“You guys what the f— is going on.......... Transformers Megan Fox is with that thing..... what the actual fuck has happened to the world?! What did I miss? Is she OK? Is this man the devil? [Megan Fox] are you ok? Do you …

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Shavkat Rakhmonov considers himself the clear No. 1 contender for the next UFC welterweight title shot and believes Kamaru Usman should be ashamed to even compete in that race.

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The welterweight title recently changed hands with Belal Muhammad dethroning Leon Edwards via unanimous decision at UFC 304 in Manchester in July. Rakhmonov, Usman, Jack Della Maddalena and Edwards appear to be among the leading contender for the next shot at Muhammad.

However, Rakhmonov believes that while others are close, he is clearly the most deserving candidate with all 18 of his career wins coming via stoppage — six of them in the UFC.

“UFC thinks that I’m the No.1 contender and I should be next,” Rakhmonov told Submission Radio. “Because there’s no [other] clear contender anyway. I got 100% finishes, all wins on the UFC. So I rightfully should be next. Everyone else [is] also very close but I think they need couple of wins to get this title sho…

Miranda Maverick has issued a warning to Tracy Cortez ahead of their upcoming fight.

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Maverick and Cortez will trade leather in a flyweight matchup on Dec. 14 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida at UFC on ESPN 63, which also marks the promotion’s return to the city for the first time since 2019. The matchup was first announced by Maverick and confirmed by multiple outlets.

While announcing the fight, Maverick also issued her opponent a warning about fake eyelashes. Cortez is coming off a unanimous decision loss against former strawweight champ Rose Namajunas at UFC Denver this past July. The fight also saw Namajunas send one of Cortez’s fake eyelashes flying with a punch, a moment which was meme fodder for weeks after the bout. On Tuesday, Maverick cautioned her opponent against putting on fake eyelashes at UFC Tampa.

“[Rose Namajunas] got it last time; now it’s my turn,” Maverick wrote on Instagram. “I have a long time until the fight which…

Malcolm Wellmaker dropped the hammer.

The Faglier’s MMA rep was one of four hopefuls to nail down an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he punched out Adam Bramhald in the first round of their bantamweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Bramhald (13-3, 0-1 DWCS) crashed and burned 2:29 into Round 1, his 11-fight winning streak having run its course.

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Wellmaker (8-0, 1-0 DWCS) operated behind a punishing jab, absorbed a few leg kicks and waited for an opportunity to present itself. The Augusta, Georgia, native countered a jab from Bramhald with a crushing counter right hook and dropped the Asylum Vale Tudo where he stood. No follow-up shots were necessary.

Middleweight Marco Tulio will join Wellmaker on the UFC roster, along with featherweight Bogdan Grad and middleweight Andrey Pulyaev.

Chute Boxe’s Tulio buried Hexagone MMA champion Matthieu Letho Duclos with a spinnin…

Sherdog's coverage of Dana White's Contender Series Week 3 begins Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Result