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29-28 across all of the scorecards 👏

🇦🇲 @Melsik_The_Gun is back in the win column! #UFCVegas77 pic.twitter.com/dRl6CP3hhf

— UFC (@ufc) July 16, 2023

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Glendale Fighting Club member Melsik Baghdasaryan earned a hard-fought three-round verdict against fellow Contender Series alum Tucker Lutz in the evening’s featured prelim at UFC on ESPN 49 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. All three cageside judges scored the featherweight contest 29-28 in favor of Baghdasaryan (8-2, 3-1 UFC).

Lutz (12-4, 1-3 UFC) got out of the gates quickly, as he walked Baghdasaryan down with body kicks before ending Round 1 with a takedown and more than two minutes of top control. Baghdasaryan began to find a rhythm in the second frame, when a counter combination that included a left uppercut put his opponent on the retreat. Lutz did his best to make it a grind in Round 3, as he landed a takedown and threatened a back take. However, he…

UNSTOPPABLE!! #KSW84 #AndStill

The King 🇬🇧 @phildefriesmma 👑 pic.twitter.com/UaqlQst0fy

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) July 15, 2023

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Philip De Fries keeps making history as the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight champion.

In the KSW 84 headliner, De Fries (24-6, 1 NC; 10-0 KSW) re-asserted that he’s one of the most dangerous heavyweight fighters in any promotion, as he choked out Szymon Bajor on Saturday at Polsat Plus Arena in Gdynia, Poland, for his ninth consecutive title defense. A Professional Fighters League alum, Bajor (24-10, 2-2 KSW) had some success with his strikes at the beginning of the clash, giving the defending champion trouble with his dirty boxing. When De Fries felt his opponent was taking too much liberty with his punches, the Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran shot for a successful takedown and kept Bajor on the canvas for the rest of the round, landing punches and forcing Bajor to carry his weight.

D…

Complete destruction!#ONEFightNight12 video: Superlek Kiatmoo9 def. Tagir Khalilov—TKO (Elbows and Punches) 1:42 R2 pic.twitter.com/wD38gAHVYw

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) July 15, 2023

Superlek Kiatmoo9 made a well-respected opponent look like a rank amateur.

The 27-year-old muay thai star continued his climb on the One Championship ladder and turned away Tagir Khalilov with elbows and punches in the second round of their ONE on Prime Video 12 headliner on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangok, Thailand. Khalilov met his end 1:42 into Round 2.

Superlek administered a sustained beating for nearly five minutes. He tore into the Russian with an overwhelming assortment of weapons, but his ferocious stepping elbows were a sight to behold. They split Khalilov’s defenses repeatedly and drew a considerable amount of blood. Midway through the second round, Superlek put together one final surge of offense and prompted referee Olivier Coste …

Sherdog's live ONE on Prime Video 12 coverage kicks off Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 1 The kickboxing match begins with Rusu landing some solid kicks to the body. Shumarov attempts to fire back with punches but Rusu is able to keep the pressure on. Shumarov lands a head kick, but it is partially blocked. As the round continues, Rusu starts taking over and having more success. Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 RusuBrian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 RusuLev Pisarsky scores the round: 10-9 Rusu

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Round 2 Rusu picks off where he left off and starts power punches. Shumarov isn't backing down and starts landing some punches of his own. An overhand from Shumarov lands and appears to rock Rusu, who is beginning to slow down. Rusu lands a nice knee and throws several punches in combination. Shumarov misses a head kick and eats several punches as a result. The round ends with Shumarov and Rusu trading body kicks and short punches. Sherdog Scores Tyler …

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo is confidently taking the next steps to further his career.

Figueiredo (21-3-1) spoke to Sherdog on Friday about his plans for the future and what will differ following his expected relocation to 135 pounds. The former flyweight king decided that wholesale changes to his life, ranging from getting a new manager to switching camps. “Daico” parted ways with Wallid Ismail in 2022, and his subsequent arrangement with Urijah Faber was not working out the way he expected. According to Figueiredo, the language barrier played a factor.

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“…I don’t speak English, [and] I was having a hard time communicating with Urijah Faber, so I decided to start to work with Alex Davis,” Figueiredo told Sherdog. “Urijah Faber is a great person and friend, and he totally understood my point.”

Figueiredo was recently expected to face Manel Kape at flyweight, but when that fell through, the 35-year-old co…

A pivotal Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight contest is the first official fight booked for the Abu Dhabi card in October.

The promotion intends on returning to the Etihad Arena on Yas Island at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 21. No fight had been booked for the show in a little over three months until Friday, when Eurosport NL reported that Tim Elliott (19-12-1) would be battling it out with Muhammad Mokaev (10-0, 1 NC) on the billing. The Missouri-based flyweight confirmed the pairing on Instagram along with other outlets shortly after its announcement.

Triumphant in his last two, Elliott is currently riding the longest win streak of his two UFC stints. On two previous occasions, Elliott had strung a pair of victories together, but he had never been able to amass a third. In 2022, he upset Tagir Ulanbekov to remain a ranked contender. In June, the former Glory MMA & Fitness staple picked up a hard-fought decision over Victor Altamirano. Elliott h…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to ESPN airwaves with an intriguing women's bantamweight main event.

The five-round headliner of UFC on ESPN 49 will see former women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm go up against Mayra Bueno Silva. Both main eventers successfully made weight, and so did all the other fighters on the 13-fight card. Initially, Bassil Hafez came in at 171.5 pounds, which was half a pound over the limit for his co-main event against Jack Della Maddalena, but he came back and hit 171 pounds.

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"The Preacher's Daughter" is looking to keep her momentum going after defeating Yana Santos in her last outing. Despite being 41, Holm (15-6) has won three of her last four fights, with the lone defeat being a split decision to Ketlen Vieira. The boxing standout stepped on the scale at 135.5 pounds.

Silva (10-2-1) enters her first UFC main event on a three-fight win streak. The submission artist is coming off impress…

[embedded content] Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight kingpin Philip De Fries will have nearly 30 pounds on his opponent in his headlining affair.

July's offering from KSW of KSW 84 will be headlined by a heavyweight championship fight between titleholder De Fries and Szymon Bajor. The English heavyweight weighed in considerably heavier than his foe, and he will be attempting to extend his record among all major promotions for the most defenses at that weight class. All fighters made weight for the show in Gdynia, Poland.

Ahead of the title tilt, the champion weighed 265 pounds. De Fries (23-6, 1 NC) is on an impressive 11-fight win streak that dates back to 2017 and spans his entire KSW tenure. He most recently defeated Todd Duffee in under a round via TKO. Meanwhile, Bajor came in at 238 pounds, and is riding a four-fight win streak that includes victories over Ronny Markes and Bartosz Szewczyk.

KSW 84 will air live on the promotion's website on Saturday, be…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 205-pound throne is once again vacant.

Early Friday morning, UFC light heavyweight champ Jamahal Hill (12-1, 1 NC) posted a video on YouTube channel announcing that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon. Due to the lengthy layoff for surgery and rehabilitation, he has elected to surrender his belt and not keep the division in limbo. In his emotional video statement, Hill explained that the UFC informed him that he would be able to fight for the strap after he completes his recovery, but the timetable for his return is currently unknown other than “as soon as possible…within reason.” MMA Fighting subsequently reported that Hill suffered the injury during the basketball game between MMA fighters prior to UFC 290.

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“I’m here with some news,” a crestfallen Hill said. “I’mma be real, right off the bat, it’s not the good news that we would hope like…everyone knows I’ve been waiting for months now to face …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship was quick to keep its upcoming pay-per-view lineup to a lucky 13 fights.

According to her Instagram on Thursday, Joanne Wood has been forced out of her flyweight fight at UFC 291 against Priscila Cachoeira (12-4). In her place, as first reported by MMA Fighting, is Miranda Maverick (11-5). Maverick confirmed this news of this July 29 pairing shortly after it broke on Thursday, and she will be taking this bout on a little over two weeks’ notice.

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“Gutted to find out that I won’t be fighting July 29th,” Wood wrote on her Instagram page. “It is what it is and I’m going to try not dwell on this as it was out of my control. I invested and done everything I could and was ready for what was maybe going to be my last fight. I loved the extra altitude training that I went all in on to make sure I was best prepared and was feeling great with no injuries. If only fight camps went on your record (and you got paid for them) …

.@BellatorMMA is proud to announce that No. 4-ranked men's pound-for-pound Bantamweight World Champion @sergiopettis and Interim Bantamweight Champion @TeamMixMMA have been re-signed to multi-fight contract extensions. https://t.co/VS8xshuZrd pic.twitter.com/T1UZqwbpWu

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) July 13, 2023 Bellator MMA is making sure that the top of its bantamweight division is sticking around for the foreseeable future.

Per a press release on Thursday from the promotion, Bellator has signed bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis (23-5) and interim titleholder Patrick Mix (18-1) to extended multi-fight deals. The league has done so prior to their 135-pound unification match, which is set to go down at an undisclosed date. The terms of the contracts are not being made public, nor how many fights either man has agreed to with Bellator. The fighters will remain exclusive to the organization.

In June, Pettis staved off Bellator…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship star Chael Sonnen has reached a plea deal after being accused of attacking multiple people at a Las Vegas hotel in December 2021.

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Sonnen pleaded no contest on Wednesday to a charge of misdemeanor breach of the peace in Las Vegas Justice Court and was fined $750, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a result of the plea deal, four previous misdemeanor battery charges were dismissed by judge Ann Zimmerman. Two misdemeanor charges were also dismissed last September. Sonnen did not appear in court, and the case is now closed without further conditions or jail time.

The former UFC title challenger initially faced multiple misdemeanor battery charges — including felony battery by strangulation — for an alleged incident that occurred on Dec. 18, 2021. The felony battery charge was dropped in March 2022, and five other misdemeanors were dismissed by the court without prejudice. Sonnen was accu…

OFFICIAL: 𝗪𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗼 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲. 2023 #PFLPlayoffs New York cards are now set! ✅

August 18th: Heavyweights & Women's FeatherweightsAugust 23rd: Welterweights & Lightweights

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For more information and tickets 👇https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/CMwOs5CcmY — PFL (@PFLMMA) July 12, 2023

The lineups are set for the final two Professional Fighters League playoff events.

The first card takes place on Aug. 18 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and features heavyweights and women’s featherweights. The heavyweight semifinals have undergone one significant change, as Maurice Greene will replace the inured Marcelo Nunes and lock horns with Renan Ferreira on side of the bracket. That matchup will serve as the featured bout of the evening, while the other semifinal will pit Denis Goltsov against Jordan Heiderman. The main card will also feature a pair of women’s 145-pound semifinals: Larissa Pacheco vs…

Walt Harris’ return to mixed martial arts will have to wait for another day.

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The heavyweight bout between Harris and Josh Parisian has been pulled from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 49 event. MMAFighting.com was first to report the cancellation. UFC on ESPN 49 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight clash between Holly Holm and Mayra Bueno Silva. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Harris vs. Parisian was slated for the six-bout main draw.

Harris was recently seen training with Jon Jones ahead of “Bones’” heavyweight championship victory over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. “The Big Ticket” last appeared at UFC Fight Night 189 on June 5, 2021, when he suffered a third-round technical knockout defeat to Marcin Tybura — his third consecutive setback within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Harris enjoyed his greatest success i…

UFC 290 is in the running for the best event of 2023, but one of the most memorable moments didn’t happen inside the cage.

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Gilbert Burns’ celebration when countryman Alexandre Pantoja captured the flyweight championship caught the attention of the MMA community. The emotional reaction might have been unusual to an outsider, considering that Burns trains at Kill Cliff FC, a natural rival of Pantoja’s training home at American Top Team.

“One day a friend in common, Tiago, said ‘I must introduce you to Pantoja, you guys are soul brothers’ and that's exactly what happened,” Burns said. “After we got to know each other, we became really close, our wives started to be close friends, our two sons, about the same age, started to be best friends. My emotion came not only from being close, but from knowing exactly all the hard times he and Gabriela passed through. Actually, we both live our lives for the same dream and seeing a close friend achieving his g…

After a rash of drug test failures during the first portion of its regular season, Professional Fighters League has partnered with USADA to run its anti-doping program.

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ESPN obtained an email from PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo to fighters and their teams formally announcing the program.

“The program will begin immediately with initial educational sessions being scheduled with USADA this week for participants in the upcoming Playoffs,” the email states. “Educational sessions to explain the program will be scheduled with other fighters thereafter. It is strongly recommended that each fighter have their coach, manager, or other key support person join the educational sessions.”

Additionally, the PFL anti-doping program will be similar to that of the UFC’s, which also has a partnership with USADA. However, there will be “minor distinctions to account for the PFL’s sport season format.”

USADA confirmed the partnership in a s…

Kevin Lee has decided to hang up the four-ounce gloves at 30 years old.

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The former UFC interim lightweight title challenger announced his decision in an Instagram video on Tuesday. Lee’s decision comes on the heels of a 55-second submission loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov at UFC on ESPN 48 on July 1.

“To make a long story short, I’m deciding to retire from MMA and the UFC. It’s been 12 years, 12 long years of me being the best fighter I can be, and a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication to trying to be the best fighter in the world. When I look back on it, I had a hell of a career, I fought a lot of tough guys, some of the toughest guys in the world, I always put up a fight, I never backed down, and always challenged myself to do things that I didn’t think I was capable of doing. The last three years have been rough, especially on my body. It’s been a lot of injuries and honestly, that’s one of the main factors of me making this decision,” Lee said. Read more about Ex-UFC Title Challenger Kevin Lee Announces Retirement at 30

Jimmy Crute is taking what might be considered an indefinite leave of absence from mixed martial arts, but retirement is not in his plans.

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After a second-round submisson loss to Alonzo Menifield at UFC 290 this past Saturday, a dejected Crute laid his gloves down in the Octagon, which normally signifies the decision to call it a career. After taking some more time to think, the Aussie light heavyweight has instead decided to step away from what he calls his “unhealthy obsession.”

“I’ve had a bit to process. That reaction after the fight just shows how unhealthy my relationship has gotten with this sport,” Crute wrote on Instagram. “I have been obsessed with being in the UFC since I was 12 years old and it has been my entire identity since I made the decision to chase this dream. I have a lot to address before I think about stepping back in there. Truth is, I don’t even know who I am without all of this. I am going to take the time to find myself, d…

Never doubt a man with hope and faith.#FuryNgannou | 10.28.2023 | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/44pfCQgGgq

— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) July 11, 2023

It appears that things are unfolding exactly how Francis Ngannou planned.

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The former UFC heavyweight king will square off against undefeated boxing champion Tyson Fury in a boxing match on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. ESPN was first to report the date and location of the bout. It is currently unclear if the fight will be for Fury’s WBC heavyweight crown or if it will be an exhibition. The number of rounds is also unknown.

One of the main points of contention between Ngannou and the UFC was the promotion’s unwillingness to let its heavyweight champion pursue fights in the boxing realm. That ultimately led to “The Predator” becoming a free agent and signing with the Professional Fighters League, where his contract allowed him to pursue his dreams of competing …

pic.twitter.com/EvJDS8N0Ur

— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) July 11, 2023

It wasn’t the performance Robert Whittaker had hoped for at UFC 290.

The former middleweight champion started well but ultimately fell to Dricus Du Plessis via second-round technical knockout this past Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As a result, Du Plessis, not Whittaker, is in line to be the next challenger for Israel Adesanya’s middleweight championship.

Whittaker recently reacted to the defeat in a video post on social media.

“Congratulations to Dricus. He showed up to fight, and I didn’t,” Whittaker said. “But that’s the nature of the beast. You can’t have a day off. It is what it is. But I will say that I do believe that challenges and hardships and obstacles that get presented to you that you overcome, make you stronger. Build character, make you a better man and by fact a better athlete, and I will come back stronger from this.”…

Jack Della Maddalena has a fight — it’s just a week later than originally expected.

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The surging welterweight prospect will square off against Bassil Hafez at UFC on ESPN 49 on Saturday. Ariel Helwani initially reported the 170-pound booking via Twitter, and it was subsequently confirmed by Hafez via social media.

Maddalena had two opponents fall through at UFC 290. First, Sean Brady withdrew from the fight due to septic bursitis in his elbow. Then, short-notice replacement Josiah Harrell was pulled from the card after weigh-ins after being diagnosed with moyamoya disease, a rare brain disorder. The 26-year-old Maddalena has won 14 consecutive outings, including four straight first-round finishes in UFC competition. Most recently, he submitted Randy Brown in the opening stanza at UFC 284 on Feb. 11.

Hafez, 31, has won four of his last five professional appearances. He is coming off a third-round knockout of Evan Cutts at Fury FC 75 to claim …

After a 28-day drought that coincided with Amanda Nunes’ retirement, Alexandre Pantoja brought a UFC title back to Brazil with his thrilling victory over Brandon Moreno on Saturday night.

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The official verdict was one of the UFC 290 co-main event’s most tense moments, with the scoring of a couple closely-contested rounds up for debate. In the end, Pantoja became the promotion’s fifth flyweight champion with a split-decision triumph. The scorecards, however, remained a subject of controversy, particularly the one submitted by judge Ben Cartlidge. While Derek Cleary and Junichiro Kamijo submitted identical 48-47 tallies in favor of Pantoja, Cartlidge saw it 49-46 for Moreno — giving the final four frames to the Mexican flyweight.

Respected Brazilian judge Guilherme Bravo discussed the scoring on his show “Momento Bravo” after the bout.

"That really scared me. In that fifth round Pantoja was superior, even in striking aspects in the first two minut…

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It took a little longer than he expected, but Stipe Miocic is excited to have a date and venue for his highly-anticipated showdown against Jon Jones.

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Jones will defend his heavyweight title against Miocic in the UFC 295 headliner at Madison Square Garden in November, the promotion announced last week.

“I thought it was gonna be July, but it didn’t happen that way,” Miocic said during a backstage interview with ESPN at UFC 290. “It’s Nov. 11. I’ve been waiting for this day. It’s the fight I want. It’s the fight he wants. Nothing better.”

Jones returned from a three-year layoff to claim the vacant crown with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March. Miocic, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since relinquishing the belt in a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 on March 27, 2021. The Ohio-based firefighter claims that the main benefit of his extended layoff was recovery.

“I think just letting my body rest. I’m…

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Dana White’s Contender Series will kick off its seventh season on Aug. 8 with a card headlined by middleweights Cesar Almeida and Lucas Fernando.

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The full lineup for the five-bout card was announced over the weekend. The other bouts are as follows: Tom Nolan vs. Bogdan Grad at lightweight; Kevin Szaflarski vs. Caio Machado at heavyweight; Payton Talbott vs. Reyes Cortez Jr. at bantamweight and Rickson Thai Zenidim Bueno vs. Kevin Borjas at flyweight.

The Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs Tuesday nights on ESPN beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The current season will run through Oct. 10 and awards UFC contracts to prospects who catch the eye of UFC president Dana White and matchmakers during their bouts. Fighters who have appeared on the Series include Jamahal Hill, Sean O'Malley, Ryan Spann, Maycee Barber, Johnny Walker, Marina Rodriguez, Alex Perez, Taila Santos and Bo Nickal, to name a few.

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