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Aaaaaand NEWWWWWWW Cage Warriors Middleweight Champion -Mick "The Huyton Hammer" Stanton #CW151 pic.twitter.com/0mYJYH5wQo

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 24, 2023 The fourth Cage Warriors Fighting Championship Unplugged event saw the coronation of Mick Stanton as the new middleweight king.

Stanton’s stalwart defense kept Will Currie at bay in the CW 151 headliner. Currie (9-3, 5-3 CW) relied heavily on takedowns to move the action to his world, where he overwhelmed his opponent from every position and dominated the first two stanzas. While “Drago” accumulated ample control time, Stanton (11-7, 8-5 CW) was the one who accumulated more damage while attacking with occasional submission attempts. In Round 3, “The Huyton Hammer” reversed his opponent in a remarkable keylock attempt. Even though it wasn’t successful, the effort gave Stanton the boost he needed to end the frame on top, pummeling his adversary until the bell rang.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship has just signed the youngest fighter to ever come out of Amazonas, Brazil.

At just 20 years of age, Brazilian prospect Jose Henrique Nascimento de Souza, better known as Jose Henrique Souza (6-1) or just Henrique “Canela,” has signed a contract with the UFC. The 6-foot-3 athlete will likely compete in the welterweight division, although he started his career at 185 pounds. As a result, he becomes the youngest fighter from Amazonas to join the organization, putting him one step closer to the dream he has held since he was eight years old to become a UFC champ. At that time, the promotion had the likes of Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo holding belts.

Considered by some to be the martial arts capital of Brazil, the state of Amazonas is home to many top talents including Bibiano Fernandes, Ketlen Vieira and Adriano Martins, among several others. Born in Manaus, the youngster first started practicing jiu-jitsu when he was eight, but not …

#PFLNewcastle is official! Fighters have weighed in, next stop the final face off at the Vertu Motors Arena 👊

The first ever #PFLEurope event goes down tomorrow night, live on DAZN 📲 pic.twitter.com/Y56zG449Wb

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) March 24, 2023 The Professional Fighters League heads to England to kick off its PFL Europe 2023 regular season.

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Headlining the PFL Europe 1 card is a light heavyweight tournament matchup between Simeon Powell and Mohamed Amine. Besides several light heavyweight fights, the event also features women's flyweights. The lone participant in the season that missed weight was Mafalda Carmona, and her match has been pulled from the card.

Carmona was scheduled to face Griet Eeckhout at flyweight, but came in at 131.2 pounds. Due to being 5.2 pounds overweight, the fight has been canceled. Additionally, Lewis Monarch came in one pound over the 156-pound limit for his lightweight showcase cont…

Your #UFCSanAntonio Main Event is official ✅@ChitoVeraUFC and @CorySandhagen are the first two to the scale ⚖️ pic.twitter.com/bW0VOp6h4j

— UFC (@ufc) March 24, 2023 The UFC on ESPN 43 card is officially set, although it will be continuing with fewer fights than originally scheduled.

Main event fighters Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen had no issue making weight, as did most of the card. However, Manuel Torres was forced off the San Antonio-based event due to "weight management issues" and never even hit the scales. As a result, his lightweight fight against Trey Ogden has been canceled. This follows the Thursday nixing of the women's bantamweight pairing between Hailey Cowan and Tamires Vidal, with Vidal suffering an undisclosed medical issue that forced her out of the event.

This marks the third straight headlining appearance for Vera (20-7-1), who is coming off an impressive head kick knockout of Dominick Cruz. "Chito" has won four str…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship now officially has a headliner on the books for every event until late May.

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Last week, Instagram account MMA Meta first posted that Arman Tsarukyan (19-3) and Renato Carneiro (17-5-1) would toe the line atop the UFC Fight Night event on April 29. The show is expected to be held in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. On Thursday, the lightweight main attraction was confirmed by other outlets.

In December, Tsarukyan rebounded from a decision loss to Mateusz Gamrot by outpointing Damir Ismagulov. Prior to the Gamrot defeat in mid-2022, Tsarukyan strung together five straight wins in the Octagon, with notable performances over names like Joel Alvarez, Matt Frevola and Olivier Aubin-Mercier. The Russian debuted with the promotion on short notice, and dropped a hard-fought decision to current champ Islam Makhachev.

“Moicano” also bounced from a 2022 setback by beating a tough opponent towards the end of last year. In the…

[embedded content] Bellator MMA has picked up one more extremely talented wrestler to bolster its ranks.

Per a press release issued on Thursday, the promotion has announced that it has signed Kadi Magomedov, also known as Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau or Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov. Magomedov earned the Olympic silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympics at 74 kg (162.8 pounds), beating the likes of America’s Kyle Dake and Italian wrestler Frank Chamizo to take second. Magomedov fell short against Russia’s Zaurbek Sidakov in the gold-medal match, with Sidakov representing the “Russian Olympic Committee” due to state-sanctioned doping violations.

The silver medalist will be competing at the featherweight division in the Bellator ranks, and he will be skipping the amateur circuit entirely to make his first MMA fight a professional one. The 28-year-old, who is an International Master of Sports in freestyle wrestling as well, will be training under the …

The slow-rolling of Ultimate Fighting Championship prospect Ian Garry is over.

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According to ESPN Deportes on Thursday, unbeaten welterweight up-and-comer Garry (11-0) will be colliding with Daniel Rodriguez (17-3) on May 13. The UFC Fight Night event does not have a number yet due to unreleased broadcasting schedules, and it similarly has no venue or location publicly available. Rodriguez posted about the fight on his Instagram Stories to confirm it after the ESPN Deportes announcement.

“D-Rod” was set to compete at UFC 286 in March against Gunnar Nelson, but he was forced out for undisclosed reasons and replaced by Bryan Barberena. Rodriguez is looking to get back on track after suffering his first stoppage loss, when Neil Magny landed a brabo choke on him late into their November 2022 matchup. That loss put an end to a four-fight win streak that included victories over the likes of Jingliang Li, Kevin Lee and Mike Perry to earn a place in the 17…

Two grapplers in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division will have 25 minutes to make their mark in June.

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Per the UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN on Thursday, Jack Hermansson (23-8) and Brendan Allen (21-5) will be squaring off in the main event of an upcoming UFC Fight Night event on June 3. The event, which may or may not be airing on the main ESPN airwaves, does not currently have a venue or location on the books. Hermansson was quick to post about the news on his Instagram Stories shortly after it broke.

Sweden’s Hermansson has alternated wins and losses in his last eight outings dating back to 2019, with victories over names like Ronaldo Souza and Kelvin Gastelum interspersed by defeats against Marvin Vettori and Roman Dolidze. In his last time out, Dolidze trapped him with an unorthodox leglock and pounded him out, but before then, he snagged a unanimous decision over Chris Curtis. “The Joker” has seen 74% of his career wins…

Paulo Costa has come to terms on a new contract with the UFC, clearing the way for the former middleweight title challenger to compete sometime in 2023.

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After a contract dispute led to a potential booking against Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 falling through, Costa revealed to Sherdog.com on Wednesday that he has reached an agreement with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I finally came to an agreement with the UFC,” Costa said. “The contract was not signed yet, but we finally agreed about values.”

According to Costa, he has been offered potential fights against Sean Strickland in May and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21. Nothing is finalized at this time, but Costa is interested in facing both opponents if possible.

The 31-year-old Brazilian last appeared at UFC 278 last August, where he ended a two-bout skid with a unanimous verdict over Luke Rockhold. He is 6-2 in UFC competition, with other notable triumphs against th…

It was a short stint in the Professional Fighters League for Fabricio Werdum.

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The former UFC heavyweight champion announced during an interview with Canal Encarada that he has fulfilled the terms of his contract with the organization and is free to pursue other offers.

“My contract with PFL is over,” Werdum said (translation via MMAFighting.com). “I did that fight and had all that problem, and stayed out for two years. Not because of that [loss], but I’ve been doing this for 25 years. I needed this time off, and the contract ended.”

The 45-year-old Brazilian competed just once under the PFL banner. It was a controversial bout, as “Vai Cavalo” initially suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Renan Ferreira on May 6, 2021, but the result was overturned to a no contest because Ferreira appeared to tap to a triangle choke from Werdum moments earlier. Referee Keith Peterson did not see the initial tap, however.

Werdum later wit…

Holly Holm’s tenure with the Ultimate Fighting Championship isn’t ending anytime soon.

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The 41-year-old former bantamweight champion signed a new six-fight contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion ahead of her showdown with Yana Santos (formerly Yana Kunitskaya) at UFC on ESPN 43 on Saturday. Holm’s longtime representative, Lenny Fresquez, confirmed the news to the Albuquerque Journal on Tuesday. The deal was reportedly completed in December but wasn’t announced until recently.

“[The UFC] knew Holly had lots of options out there,” Fresquez told the Journal. “She was very sought after and probably could have earned more money elsewhere.

“They love Holly,” he added, “they know she’s one of the faces of the UFC and they wanted her to stay.”

Holm is coming off a controversial split-decision loss to Ketlen Vieira in the UFC Fight Night 206 main event last May. Prior to that, “The Preacher’s Daughter” earned back-to-back decision triumphs …

Junior dos Santos knows Stipe Miocic well after having fought the former heavyweight king twice under the UFC banner.

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With that in mind, “Cigano” expects Miocic to present a far more formidable threat to newly-crowned heavyweight champ Jon Jones than did previous opponent Ciryl Gane.

“I was pretty sure he would impose his game against Gane or [Francis] Ngannou, but against Miocic the challenges will be different,” dos Santos told Sherdog.com. “Actually I see Stipe as the challenge to Jon Jones.”

The Brazilian believes Miocic’s wrestling ability will force Jones to take more risks.

“If he insists on taking Miocic down, he must use a lot of strength,” dos Santos said. “Now, as a heavyweight that may take its toll in the later rounds. But I do believe Jones is the favorite, I would say 60-40. I’m really excited to see that one.”

Dos Santos also says that Jones hasn’t faced an opponent who possesses knockout power comparable to Miocic’s. Wh…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

UFC bantamweight Kyler Phillips has been temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after testing positive for ostarine in an out-of-competition drug test.

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The sanction was announced during an NSAC meeting on Tuesday. Dana White’s Contender Series competitor Darrius Flowers was also temporarily suspended for a positive ostarine test. Further sanctions will be announced at a future disciplinary hearing. Phillips was recently removed from a proposed matchup with Raphael Assuncao at UFC Fight Night 221 on March 11, while Flowers was supposed to make his promotional debut against Erick Gonzalez at UFC Fight Night 220 on Feb. 25 before being pulled from the card.

Ostarine is a Selective Androgen Receptor Module (SARM) that is banned at all times according to the WADA prohibited list. Ostarine is categorized as an anabolic agent and can aid in areas of athletic performance such as muscle growth, fat…

Arnold Allen has gradually worked his way up the featherweight ladder during his tenure with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, compiling a 10-bout winning streak as quietly as one possibly can.

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The 29-year-old Englishman will be impossible to ignore if he wins his next matchup, a main event clash with former featherweight champ Max Holloway at UFC on ESPN 44 on April 15.

“Mentally I feel fantastic. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Allen recently told assembled media at UFC 286. “It’s a very dangerous guy who’s beat a lot of top contenders, and he’s beaten them very well. He’s been a world champion, he’s been pound-for-pound No. 1. He’s stepped up to lightweight and had wars with people like Dustin Poirier. I’m very excited for the opportunity to challenge someone like that and show what I’m able to do.”

Holloway is regarded as one of the sport’s top 145-pound talents of all time. The Hawaiian known as “Blessed” was an established commodit…

Marvin Vettori returned to the win column at UFC 286, relying on his kickboxing to capture a unanimous decision triumph over Roman Dolidze in a featured middleweight bout at the O2 Arena in London this past Saturday.

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While Dolidze spent the majority of the bout headhunting, “The Italian Dream” was more well-rounded, and he racked up points behind low kicks and punching combinations to the head. Vettori knew Dolidze, who had finished his last three opponents, was a dangerous adversary, but he was also confident that he was superior in all aspects.

“I feel like I picked him apart with low kicks and the hands. From the corner they told me don’t go toward the big overhand because that was his biggest weapon,” Vettori said during a media scrum after the bout. “He kind of got me a little bit in the first round, but you know I ain’t gonna go anywhere. You’re not gonna get me out of there. By now, people probably know that.

“I knew I was the better fig…

Millions and millions and millions of ppv buys. https://t.co/Klmi7dNLcK

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 20, 2023

Conor McGregor is expected to return to UFC competition for the first time since breaking his leg in July 2021, but exactly when that will happen remains unclear.

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The Irish star coached opposite Michael Chandler on “The Ultimate Fighter 31,” which will set the stage for their matchup — presumably sometime in 2023. According to UFC president Dana White, “TUF 31” was motivating for McGregor.

“He’s ready to go. He could probably fight tomorrow if he wanted to,” White said at the UFC 286 post-fight press conference. “Conor coming back and coaching ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ was like a [big step] toward coming back. He was telling me Monday that it felt good to be there again – felt good to be in the gym with other guys, felt good to train, felt good to be in Vegas – all that stuff. I don’t know if Conor’s r…

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There seems to be a disconnect between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev regarding a rumored fight between the two that never came to fruition.

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Covington was in attendance at UFC 286, and his visit with media included a brief rant on Chimaev. The former interim welteweight champion criticized Chimaev for missing weight ahead of a scheduled fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 279 last year. That mishap eventually led to the card being reshuffled, and Chimaev ultimately submitted Kevin Holland in the opening stanza of a 180-pound catchweight bout.

“He’s been saying I want for the title at 170, I want to fight Colby, this and that. The guy quit to the common cold. The guy quit on a weight cut when he had the best professionals that the UFC PI could offer,” Covington told assembled media. “Millions of dollars put into this guy in marketing and he had the easiest fight in the division, the soy boy Nate Diaz, and he still couldn’t make weight…

One Championship lightweight contender Iuri Lapicus died on Monday in Milan, Italy, from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

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According to Italian newspaper Il Giorno, a 27-year-old man lost control of his motorbike and collided with a car around noon on Friday, March 17, in Pogliano Milanese, a small community outside Milan. The cyclist in question was confirmed by members of his team to be Lapicus, in response to an inquiry by Sherdog. The driver of the vehicle, a 69-year-old woman, received medical assistance at the scene, but was not reported to have suffered any serious injury. Lapicus’ injuries were severe and he was immediately taken by helicopter to a hospital in Milan, where he fell into a coma. He never regained consciousness and died three days later.

World champion kickboxer Giorgio Petrosyan, a longtime friend and teammate, paid tribute to Lapicus on Instagram with a post captioned, “I want to remember you like that. R.I.P.” Read more about One Championship Fighter Iuri Lapicus Dead at Age 27 after Motorcycle Crash

Kamaru Usman believes he’ll see Leon Edwards in the Octagon again before all is said and done.

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The former welterweight champion indicated as much when speaking to Daniel Cormier in the Octagon following a majority decision loss to Edwards in the UFC 286 headliner at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday. Edwards has won two of the three meetings with Usman in a rivalry that dates back to 2015.

“I think I did enough to win the fight, but I knew it was a close fight,” Usman said “Great game plan. Great game plan. You know, I’ve always said it from the start: I knew I’d see Leon again, and we did it. I’m not done. I’ll see him again, but he put on a hell of a game plan. I’ve always given him props for everything he’s been able to accomplish. He’s a brother, like myself. Much respect. London, you’ve got yourself a hell of a guy, a great champion.”

Not so fast, says Edwards.

“Probably not. Probably not,” Edwards said at the UFC post-fight press confe…

Justin Gaethje has a well-earned reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC.

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He once again delivered in that regard in the UFC 286 co-main event, earning a $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus check for his majority decision triumph over Rafael Fiziev at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday. While the fight featured plenty of entertaining striking exchanges, it wasn’t necessarily the all-out slugfest that Gaethje has occasionally been involved with throughout his professional tenure. For that, “The Highlight” is grateful.

“I look pretty good, so I did a good job,” Gaethe said at the UFC 286 post-fight press conference. “The key is not to get hit, and I did a good job at that. I took a couple of shots. I say two or three to the head. I asked and prayed that neither of us sustained chronic injury.”

During his post-fight interview in the Octagon, Gaethje hinted that his time in the sport might be limited. While he hasn’t set an expirat…

Leon Edwards didn’t have long to enjoy his second victory over Kamaru Usman before his next assignment became apparent.

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Dana White announced during the UFC 286 post-fight press conference that Colby Covington will receive the next welterweight title shot. Covington was in London to weigh-in as a back-up fighter for the main event and was very animated from his cageside seat in the aftermath of Edwards’ majority decision victory over Usman.

“I don’t know when we’ll do it but that’s the fight that makes sense and Colby came here and cut weight and did everything to be here for this fight,” White said. “He deserves the fight. Not to mention that he’s the second- or third-best guy in the world.”

Covington hasn’t competed since March 2022, when he defeated Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision in the UFC 272 headliner. Covington, a former interim title holder, twice came up short in title bouts against Usman. Edwards was less than thrilled to lear…

Cementing a legacy as one of the best to ever do it! 🕷️

Congratulate @SpiderAnderson as he becomes the newest addition to the UFC Hall of Fame 🙌

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[ B2YB @ToyoTires ] pic.twitter.com/0KyXQBsN0C — UFC (@ufc) March 18, 2023

Anderson Silva, regarded by many as the greatest middleweight in the history of the sport, will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.

“The Spider” will be inducted into the Hall of Fame’s “Pioneer Era Wing” during a ceremony this July as part of UFC International Fight Week in Las Vegas. The Pioneer Wing includes fighters who turned professional before Nov. 17, 2000, are at least 35 years old and have been retired for a minimum of a year.

“Anderson Silva is one of the greatest athletes of all time,” UFC president Dana White said. “Anderson’s 16-fight winning streak in the UFC, 10 successful title defenses and almost seven years as middleweight champion were one of the most re…

Leon Edwards still occupies the throne.

Kicks to the body, head and legs, extraordinary takedown defense and stellar counterstriking carried the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight titleholder to a majority decision over Kamaru Usman in the emotionally charged UFC 286 headliner on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London. Scores were 48-46, 48-46 and 47-47.

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Edwards (21-3, 13-2 UFC) completes his trilogy against “The Nigerian Nightmare” with a 2-1 advantage and now holds sway over the 170-pound weight class.

Usman (20-3, 15-2 UFC) struggled and ultimately failed to pry the champion away from his gameplan. Edwards zeroed in on the body and legs with repeated kicks, staggered the Onx Sports representative with a knee strike off the break in the second round and managed to minimize his rival’s gains in the grappling exchanges. Usman appeared to turn the corner in Round 3, where he also benefitted from a point deduction due to a pair of fe…

Sherdog's live UFC 286 coverage will begin Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Veronica Macedo (125.5) vs. Juliana Miller (125.5) BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Miller (-435), Macedo (+350)Round 1 The UFC will tie its record for the most bouts at a single event at night’s end, unless something unfortunate happens on fight day. An overwhelming 15 matches will play out in front of ravenous British fans, culminating with a home country fighter trying to land his first defense while doing so on home soil. Before then, there is plenty to get through, starting in the women’s divisions. The first of three 125-pound fights between women opens up this card, as “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 30 victor Miller (3-1, 1-0 UFC) welcomes the recently married Hardy (6-4-1, 1-4 UFC) – formerly known as Veronica Macedo – back to the Octagon after over three years off. The ladies will be joined in the cage by referee Lukasz Bosacki to get things going, and they commence the festivities with a …