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Ismael Bonfim, Vinc Pichel to Collide at Nov. 4 UFC Sao Paulo Card

One of these two Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights will get back in the win column when the dust settles.

MMAJunkie first broke the news on Thursday that Ismael Bonfim (19-4) and Vinc Pichel (14-3) will be competing in a lightweight matchup at UFC Fight Night 231 on Nov. 4. Bonfim confirmed the pairing on Instagram shortly after its announcement.

Brazil’s Bonfim saw his mighty 13-fight win streak come to a crashing halt when Benoit St. Denis tapped him out with a face crank in July. Before then, “Marreta” rattled off eight stoppages along the way, including his most recent victory with a flying knee knockout of Terrance McKinney in his UFC debut. Bonfim will be competing at this event along with his brother, Gabriel Bonfim, who is slated to take on Nicolas Dalby. Over the years, the two brothers have fought on four events together, and they both picked up wins on all four of those fight cards.

While he did not sport 13 wins in a row leading up to his…

Video: Brazilian Fighter DQ’d for Throwing Referee, Attacking Defeated Opponent

[embedded content] Some fighters just don’t know when to stop.

Brazilian heavyweight Junior Coelho is in hot water after continuing to strike his opponent, MMA debutant Tiago Garcia, even after the referee had stopped their fight. The incident took place during the main event of Sept. 2’s PMW Ultimate Fight card, which occurred in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil. As a result of his actions, Coelho was ultimately disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct, in addition to the illegal punches he threw after the referee had halted the contest.

Just a few seconds into their main attraction, Coelho (1-2) had the upper hand, hurting Garcia with a cross followed by a straight punch. As Garcia (1-0) crumpled to the floor with the cage at his back, Coelho raining down punches all the while, referee Andre Madeira tried to stop the fight right around the 14-second mark.

While Madeira stepped in, Coelho continued to drop down punches on his defeated foe. In a display of recklessness …

Alexa Grasso Presented With Custom Belt Ahead of Noche UFC Title Defense

The unique UFC belt called ‘Tribe Belt #1’ that was presented to Alexa Grasso before her defense against Valentina Shevchenko at #NocheUFC. Do you like the design? pic.twitter.com/ZFz7o33O8c

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) September 14, 2023

Alexa Grasso will put her Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title on the line against Valentina Shevchenko in the Noche UFC main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 16. Grasso became the first-ever female Mexican champion with a massive upset win over “Bullet” in their first clash at UFC 285 earlier this year.

Grasso has now been presented with a custom “Tribe Belt No. 1” in her first title defense on Mexican Independence Day. Custom made by renowned The Taller Jacobo y Maria Angele, the strap is a tribute to women icons who have conquered adversities. The belt incorporates elements of Mixtec/Zapotec societies and the colors utilized highlight the “duality of life.”

A press relea…

Raul Rosas Jr. on Dealing with Detractors after First Professional Loss

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Raul Rosas Jr. is not surprised that some fans turned into critics in the wake of his first career loss; he has seen them turn on their heroes many times.

Rosas Jr. made headlines last September when he earned an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract at the age of 17 with a decision win over Mando Gutierrez on Dana White's Contender Series. “El Nino Problema” quickly justified his signing with a first-round submission win over Jay Perrin in his promotional debut at UFC 282 in December.

Rosas Jr. would subsequently proceed to make a number of lofty claims, including that he could beat then-bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. The prospect was even a sizeable -225 favorite going into his next clash against Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287 this April. However, Rosas Jr. had to face disappointment in his sophomore Octagon outing as Rodriguez put on a technical masterclass en route to an emphatic decision win.

While Rosas …

Combate Global Reveals Mexican Independence Day Card in Miami

Combate Global has announced the lineup for its Sept. 16 card in Miami, which will be broadcasted live on Paramount Plus (9:30 p.m. ET.)

Surging Mexican atomweight prospect Estefania Rodriguez will take on American grappling ace Stephanie Hernandez in a “Mexico vs. USA” main event. Representing Killer Bees Mexico, Rodriguez (23) boasts a perfect 4-0 record. Meanwhile, Hernandez, 30, is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and is on a three-fight win streak of her own.

While the Sept. 16 card will mark Rodriguez’s promotional debut, Hernandez is coming off a decision win against Natalie Schlesinger under the Combate Global banner.

Former Mexican national boxing and kickboxing champion, Ivan Nunez will make his professional mixed martial arts debut at bantamweight against Loxbey Montalvan in the co-main event. While Nunez, 24, has amassed an impressive 5-0 amateur record, his opponent is coming off a second-round technical knockout over Daniel Gonzalez i…

Noche UFC’s Kevin Holland Focused on Matchups From One Rivaled Gym in Particular

Kevin Holland takes on surging Australian prospect Jack Della Maddalena in the Noche UFC co-main event on Saturday, Sept. 16.

Known for being one of the most active fighters on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s roster, “Trailblazer” has already fought twice in 2023, earning a knockout over Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 287 in April, followed by a first-round submission of Michael Chiesa at UFC 291 in July.

“I’m entertaining, they say [Maddalena is] entertaining, and we shall find out. If we’re both entertaining, it should make for a great match that night but, like I said, I’m good with all styles, so I’ll be straight,” Holland told UFC.com’s E. Spencer Kyte.

With famous Queens, New York, rapper 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” as his life mantra, Holland wants to continue staying active by potentially fighting again before the end of the year.

The former middleweight is eyeing opponents specifically from Kill Cliff FC -- formerly Sanfor…

Yaroslav Amosov vs. Jason Jackson, Sergio Pettis vs. Patrick Mix Set for Bellator 301

Two championship bouts will top the lineup for Bellator MMA’s return to the Windy City.

The promotion announced on Wednesday that Bellator 301 will take place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Nov. 17 and features a welterweight championship clash between Yaroslav Amosov and Jason Jackson as well as a bantamweight title unification bout pitting Sergio Pettis against Patrick Mix. The evening’s main card will also include a lightweight grand prix semifinal matchup between Patricky Freire and Alexandr Shabliy and a rematch between Raufeon Stots and Danny Sabatello. The main card will air on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

After going on hiatus to defend his native Ukraine from Russian invasion, Amosov made a triumphant return at Bellator 291, where he took a clear-cut unanimous verdict against Logan Storley on Feb. 25. “Dynamo” owns a perfect 27-0 career mark and has notable wins over the likes of Douglas Lima, Roberto Soldic, Ed Ruth, Erick Silva and …

Kayla Harrison to Face Julia Budd at 2023 PFL Championships on Nov. 24

Professional Fighters League’s biggest star will get to fight before year’s end after all.

Two-time lightweight champion Kayla Harrison will return to action against Julia Budd in a 145-pound showcase bout at the 2023 PFL Championships on Nov. 24. The pairing was announced on Wednesday. The PFL Championship takes place at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., and airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+. The card will feature $1 million championship bouts in six different weight classes. A price point for the pay-per-view was not revealed.

Harrison was originally slated to face Budd at a PFL regular season event in July 2022 before her opponent pulled out of the contest due to an injury. A two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, Harrison owns a 15-1 mark in MMA since making her professional debut in 2018. The American Top Team representative suffered her lone defeat at the 2022 PFL Championships, dropping a five-round verdict to Larissa Pacheco in one of last yea…

Dana White Shoots Down UFC Exec’s Goal of Merging UFC, WWE Fanbases

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment recently completed a merger to come under the banner of a new company, TKO Holdings. UFC parent company Endeavor will hold 51% of shares in the new company while WWE stakeholders will have 49%.

While both promotions will continue to function independently, UFC senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein has a goal of merging the two vastly different fan bases at some point.

“Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan,” Epstein told ESPN.

However, UFC president Dana White couldn’t disagree more with Epstein, labeling the latter’s statement as one of the “dumbest of all time.” White, who was made UFC chief executive officer (CEO) with the merger, noted that the fan bases of pro wrestling and unscripted cage fighting are fundamentally different.

“Lawrence, I love you. One of …

Corinne Laframboise Learned of Pregnancy Days Before Contender Series Bout

Corinne Laframboise: Athlete learns she's three months pregnant days before fighting for UFC contract via @BBCWorld https://t.co/Fagh5OMDTZ pic.twitter.com/yzVAXoNpVp

— BirdOwl (@BirdOwl) September 12, 2023

UAE Warriors women's flyweight champion Corinne Laframboise was scheduled to take on Rainn Guerrero on Dana White’s Contender Series last week. Laframboise thought that her doctor was joking when she received a text informing her of her pregnancy with six days left before the bout.

While the doctor had initially expected twins, Laframboise is happy to now know that it’s a healthy girl.

“I was in the car waiting for my fiancé and it was like the entire world stopped — we didn't expect it,” the Canadian flyweight told BBC. “The day after we did the scan to see if there was a baby or a mistake [by the doctor], and there was one baby. We heard the heartbeat, we saw the two arms, two feet. And [now] we know it's a girl. A…

Eric Nicksick Details Pre-Fight Pep Talk with ‘Unsure’ Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland is one of the most polarizing fighters on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, as he is known for going on unhinged rants on a variety of sensitive topics.

However, even Strickland’s detractors couldn’t take away anything from his dominant title victory over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Raised in an abusive home, “Tarzan” has been vocal about his inability to socialize and form trusting relationships with others. However, mixed martial arts seems to have altered his view on life and people in general.

The Xtreme Couture representative seemed uncharacteristically collected as he fought his way to victory against one of the best strikers of all time over 25 minutes.

While the win is a source of great pride for "Tarzan" and his team, for Strickland’s head coach, Eric Nicksick, the human aspect of the win is of special significance after having successfully channeled his fighter’s energy.

“Sean the fighter is one thing,…

Unbeaten Jhonata Diniz Among Five UFC Recruits Signed on Week 6 of DWCS

Jhonata Diniz can be described in one word at this stage of his career: upside.

The Santa Fe Team export was one of five competitors to book spots on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster during Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he buried Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Eduardo Jose Neves with punches in the first round of their heavyweight showcase. Neves (7-2, 0-2 DWCS) succumbed to blows 3:15 into Round 2, his path to the UFC cut off for a second time.

The 32-year-old Diniz (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) weathered some early adversity, as he met with jabs, front kicks to the body and a few combinations from his aggressive countryman. He eventually pushed Neves to the fence before uncorking a right hook and a plunging right cross upstairs. It proved to be the beginning of the end. Neves marched forward and walked into a searing one-two that leveled him where he stood in the center of the cage. No follow-up shots were required.

Diniz has …

WWE President: With Merger, UFC Fighters Could Extend Career in Sports Entertainment

A historic day. The most exciting time in our industry that I’ve ever been a part of.

…Are you ready? @TKOGrp @ufc pic.twitter.com/OaVukRSuOb

— Triple H (@TripleH) September 12, 2023

The UFC-WWE merger could have an impact on the careers of some mixed martial artists.

The two companies, which now operate under the umbrella of TKO Holdings, will remain largely separate when it comes to day-to-day operations. However, WWE president Nick Khan acknowledged the possibility that UFC athletes might have options in sports entertainment as their fighting careers draw to a close.

“UFC fighters are going to stay focused on the UFC, and WWE superstars obviously do something different in our ring,” Khan told ESPN. “… But you also see in the UFC people with big personalities who, once their UFC run is done, once the UFC and the fighter says, ‘Hey, maybe now’s the time to call it a day,’ could those people have a longer life at…

UFC, WWE Officially Merge Under Parent Company TKO Group Holdings

— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) September 12, 2023

The merger between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment is now official.

TKO Group Holdings debuted on Tuesday as a publicly traded company at the New York Stock Exchange. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel rang the bell to open trading for the day, and he was accompanied by UFC president Dana White, WWE executive chairman Vince McMahon, WWE executive Paul Levesque and ex-UFC two division champ Daniel Cormier – among others -- during the proceedings.

Endeavor Group Holdings has a 51% controlling interest in the company, while WWE shareholders have a 49% stake. Emanuel will be chief executive of TKO, while McMahon will serve as executive chairman – his same role with WWE. …

Danni McCormack to Defend Strawweight Title vs. Karolina Wojcik at Invicta FC 54

Danni McCormack will put her strawweight belt on the line against Karolina Wojcik when Invicta Fighting Championships makes its first-ever trip to Boston on Oct. 27.

The all-female promotion announced the bout, which will serve as the headliner for Invicta FC 54, on Tuesday. Invicta FC 54 takes place at the Citizens House of Blues and will also see former 115-pound champ Valesca Machado face Isis Verbeek in the evening’s co-main event. The card will air at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on the Invicta FC YouTube channel, the Invicta FC Facebook page and AXS TV.

McCormack captured strawweight gold with a five-round verdict over Machado at Invicta FC 52 on March 15. The SBG Ireland representative owns a 7-2 career record that includes a 4-1 mark under the Bellator MMA banner.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Wojcik has been victorious in two of her first three Invicta FC appearances. Most recently, the 28-year-old Pole garnered a spli…

Alex Pereira Refuses to Take Credit for Strickland’s Victory Over Adesanya at UFC 293

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Sean Strickland was on a six-fight winning streak and on the cusp of title contention when he was brutally knocked out by a surging Alex Pereira at UFC 276 in June 2022. The dominant nature of the KO was enough to earn Pereira a title shot against Israel Adesanya.

Subsequently, “Poatan” went on to win the belt against “The Last Stylebender” at UFC 281 before losing the immediate rematch at UFC 287.

Meanwhile, Strickland suffered a split decision loss against Jared Cannonier in December 2022, only to bounce back and register back-to-back wins and earn a shot at the belt, albeit due to a stroke of luck.

Interestingly, instead of being negatively affected by his loss against Pereira, “Tarzan” was game enough to train with the Brazilian in the subsequent months.

Following Strickland’s upset win over Adesanya at UFC 293, some fans believe his training sessions with Pereira must have played a vital role in his impressive performance. How…

Terrance McKinney to Face Chris Duncan at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 14

Terrance McKinney will make a quick return to the Octagon this October after securing a highlight-reel knockout over Mike Breeden in August.

McKinney will take on surging Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6 graduate Chris Duncan at the UFC Fight Night on Oct. 14. McKinney announced the pairing via Instagram. The card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight clash between Sodiq Yusuff and Edson Barboza.

Renowned for his exciting fighting style, McKinney has never gone the distance in his entire professional career. Going into his fourth outing of the year, the 28-year-old will look to build a solid win streak which has eluded him since a KO loss to Drew Dober in March 2022.

Meanwhile, Chris Duncan made his first Contender Series appearance in October 2021, where his undefeated record was marred by a brutal KO loss to Viacheslav Borshchev. However, “The Problem” returned to the show the next year and secu…

Eric Nicksick Defends Israel Adesanya’s Coach Amid Fan Backlash

Israel Adesanya was a massive -600 favorite going into his UFC 293 title defense against Sean Strickland on Sept. 9.

Mixed martial arts fans watched in awe as the odds steadily changed after every round with Strickland emphatically outclassing the Nigerian-born Kiwi to the point where the challenger was a -125 favorite going into the final frame.

Adesanya looked out of his wits, especially after getting dropped in the first round of the bout, en route to a lopsided unanimous decision loss in one of the greatest title fight upsets in the history of the sport.

Adesanya’s head coach at City Kickboxing in Auckland, Eugene Bareman, has come under somewhat undue criticism in the aftermath of the championship loss for "The Last Stylebender" against Strickland.

While Bareman is credited with forming an elite MMA hub in that part of the world, honing the likes of Alexander Volkanovski and Kai Kara-France, one upset loss was seemingly enough to earn hi…

Dana White’s Contender Series 2023 Week 6 Play-by-Play and Results

Sherdog’s coverage of DWCS 2023, Week 6 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Brian Knapp scores the round: Edwin Ayala scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Brian Knapp scores the round: Edwin Ayala scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Brian Knapp scores the round: Edwin Ayala scores the round: The Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Brian Knapp scores the round: Edwin Ayala scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Brian Knapp scores the round: Edwin Ayala scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Brian Knapp scores the round: Edwin Ayala scores the round: The Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Brian Knapp scores the round: Edwin Ayala scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield …

Khusein Askhabov Pulled from UFC Fight Night 229 After Arrest in Thailand

Khusein Askhabov’s sophomore Octagon appearance has been scrapped after the Russian was arrested in connection with a home invasion and robbery in Phuket, Thailand, earlier this month.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced Askhabov’s removal from his UFC Fight Night 229 bout against Daniel Pineda on Monday evening.

“UFC is aware of the recent arrest and allegations regarding Khusein Askhabov,” the statement read. “The organization will continue to gather additional details regarding the incident. UFC will allow the legal process to play out before making any additional statements, however, his scheduled fight on October 7 has been canceled.”

According to a report from the Phuket News, Asksabov and his twin brother, Khasan, were arrrested in connection with three Kazakh nationals forcing their way into an Italian man’s villa at a Thailand resort, where the man was bound, gagged, beaten and eventually robbed. According to a police report, As…

Anderson Silva Posts, Deletes Instagram Message Seemingly Directed at Israel Adesanya

Comparisons between Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya have been common in fan middleweight GOAT debates in recent years.

Those discussions intensified after Adesanya defeated “The Spider” via unanimous decision at UFC 234 in February 2019 and then captured the middleweight belt later that year — this despite Silva having twice as many title defenses as his counterpart overall. On Saturday, after Sean Strickland defeated “The Last Stylebender” to claim the belt in a massive upset at UFC 293, Silva sent a strong message regarding the GOAT debate to his 4.9 million Instagram followers.

“I'm the one in charge of this s—t here, and you're not going to open your mouth again to compare yourself to me in this s—t,” Silva wrote in a message that has since been deleted. “Do you understand? I'm the one in charge of this s—t here.”

Shortly after posting, “The Spider” changed the caption to some skull and hawk emojis and shared a video from one of his fa…

Coach: Adesanya Can Win Rematch vs. Strickland ‘With Some Minor Adjustments’

City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman sounded just as surprised as the rest of the MMA world by Sean Strickland’s upset victory over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

“The universe does things. I think Sean is a great fighter and I never thought that Sean wasn’t capable of beating Israel, but I thought if Israel performed to the fullest of his capabilities, that it would be hard for Sean,” said Bareman, who fielded questions from the media after UFC 293 in place of Adesanya, who only made a brief statement before leaving the podium.

“There was an alternate kind of universe where Israel performs his poorest or poorly where Sean could win, and I’m sitting in that universe right now. Training camp was great. I’m not going to make any excuses in regard to that,” Bareman continued. “Leading up to the fight was great, sparring partners, everything. All the technical things that have to do with the camp were perfect. No excuses there. He came in, he had an off n…

Jack Jenkins Gives Update on Elbow Injury Suffered at UFC 293

Jack Jenkins dislocated his elbow during a technical knockout loss to Jose Mariscal at UFC 293.

The Melbourne, Australia, native suffered the injury while defending a takedown from his opponent in their preliminary featherweight bout at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Jenkins’ arm bent gruesomely when he attempted to post on the mat, ending the contest at the 3:19 mark of Round 2.

Jenkins provided an update on his status in a video post on social media. While Jenkins avoided any fractures, he did confirm the dislocation. It is currently unclear whether he’ll need surgery.

“Dislocated my elbow yesterday, went straight to the hospital,” Jenkins said. “No fractures or anything like that, but I’m going to need an MRI. They’re a little bit worried about some of the ligaments having ruptured. So, best case scenario, none of them are ruptured, and I can get back pretty soon. Worst case scenario, I’m going to need surgery but not much we can do about tha…

Contender Series Weigh-in Results: All Five Bouts Official for Week 6

It’s all systems go for Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as all 10 athletes hit their contracted marks at Monday’s weigh-ins.

The Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a lightweight clash pitting James Llontop (156) against Malik Lewis (156).

Llontop takes an 11-fight winning streak into his matchup with Lewis. He is the reigning welterweight champion in the Peru-based Fusion Fighting Championship, where he has earned 10 of his last 11 victories.

Lewis, meanwhile, will be making his second appearance on the Contender Series after suffering a second-round TKO loss to Trevor Peek in September 2022. He returned to the win column with a third-round stoppage of Paulo Silva at Peak Fighting 26 this past February.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:James Llontop (156) vs. Malik Lewis (156)Eduardo Jose Neves (263.5) vs. Jhonata Diniz (254)A.J. Cunn…

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