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1️⃣7️⃣1️⃣ for @VicenteLuqueMMA - we have a main event 🍿

[ #UFCVegas51 | TOMORROW | Main Card LIVE on @ESPN | Prelims LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/Xs9oARE99x

— UFC (@ufc) April 15, 2022

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Editor's note: The article has been updated at 2:45 p.m. ET on April 15 to reflect that every fighter has now successfully made weight.

After today's weigh-ins, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is set to return back to ESPN airwaves and the UFC Apex for a 14-fight card.

The UFC on ESPN 34 main event will see welterweight contenders Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad battle for the second time, as the Brazilian knocked out "Remember the Name" in just 79 seconds back in 2016. While both headliners and the majority of the card had no issue making weight, lightweight Drakkar Klose initially weighed in .75 pounds heavy for his bout against Brandon Jenkins. Klose returned nearly an hour later, and he successfully hit the mark of…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkXWycgxQcw&w=640&h=360] Rizin Fighting Federation's third cagefighting event is set, as all 14 mixed martial artists made weight for Rizin Trigger 3rd.

The main event will see a lightweight contest between Luiz Gustavo Felix dos Santos and Yusuke Yachi. The 10-2 Brazilian is looking to rebound after a disappointing TKO loss to Patricky Freire, and is 2-2 inside the Japanese promotion. Meanwhile, Yachi (23-12) most recently lost to Roberto de Souza via triangle armbar, but the Japanese veteran had put together back-to-back wins prior to the setback. Both fighters came in under the 71-kilogram limit.

The previously booked match between "Kintaro" Yuto Hokamura and Kazuma Kuramoto was canceled before the weigh-ins. Hokamura fell ill, and "was in a state where he could not move his body tightly," according to the organizer through a translation by Google.

The event will stream live on Rizin's website on Saturday, April 16, …

Per sources, Cynthia Calvillo vs. Nina Nunes is booked for July 9. It will be at flyweight, a 125-pound debut for Nunes in the UFC. pic.twitter.com/gLvstIOofn

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 14, 2022 A notable Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight is changing her mind on moving back down to strawweight after all.

Per the UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN on Thursday, Nina Nunes (10-7) will be moving up 10 pounds to flyweight, where she will face fellow strawweight ex-pat Cynthia Calvillo (9-4-1). Calvillo was previously booked against Brianna Fortino, but the latter was forced out of their 115-pound affair for undisclosed reasons, stemming from a report by Alex Behunin in March. Instead of remaining on that June 4 card at strawweight, she will stay at flyweight at the UFC Fight Night event on July 9, roughly one month later.

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Nunes has not gotten her hand raised since 2018, when she took home a decision over ex-tit…

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight staple Neil Magny will not turn down any fight, no matter how risky.

MMA Junkie reported on Thursday that Magny (26-8) had accepted a high-stakes welterweight matchup against Shavkat Rakhmonov (15-0) on June 25. The UFC Fight Night card without a designation at this time is also currently without a location, although it might be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas depending on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic. Magny called for this fight nearly two weeks ago at the beginning of April, and he has since posted about this new matchup on his Instagram.

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Magny is currently riding a two-fight win streak, with decision victories over Geoff Neal and Max Griffin to cement his place as a top-15 welterweight. Throughout his last nine appearances since the end of 2017, Magny has pulled off seven wins opposite two defeats, beating the likes of Robbie Lawler, Carlos Condit, the aforementioned Neal and Anthony Rocco M…

#CES68 Main Event News

15-time #UFC vet @TonyRoccoMartin takes on @tvogel47 in the headlining bout of our #Fargo debut May 6, LIVE on @UFCFightPass

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at https://t.co/l9kxAKyGrw pic.twitter.com/VFgmfInyFO — CES MMA (@CESMMA) April 14, 2022 CES MMA has snatched up a noteworthy free agent, who will headline its first jaunt to North Dakota in May.

Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Anthony Rocco Martin parted ways with the promotion at the beginning of January 2021 after ending his contract. He has since signed with CES, and he will make his company debut at CES 68 on May 6. Sherdog was informed of this news from a promotional official on Thursday morning. Martin (17-6) will take on Tyler Vogel (8-5) in the middleweight division as the main event of this fight card in Fargo, N.D.

Martin last competed in June 2020, where he fell short to Neil Magny on the scorecards at UFC 250. While alternating decision wins in his l…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_dG4tJx2Cw&w=640&h=360] Bellator 277 is set after all fighters made weight ahead of its stacked card topped by two title fights.

The main event will be a championship rematch between A.J. McKee and Patricio Freire. McKee (18-0) stayed perfect in his mixed martial arts career by submitting Freire (32-5) in under two minutes to claim the Bellator MMA featherweight title. Now, "Pitbull" will look to reclaim the belt he once held. Both fighters easily made weight, with "Mercenary" weighing 144.4 pounds, while Freire stepped on the scale at 144.6 pounds.

The co-main event is equally important, as Vadim Nemkov will defend his light heavyweight throne against Corey Anderson to conclude the 205-pound tourney. The Russian is 14-2, and has been perfect inside the Bellator cage to date. Anderson (16-5) made his way to the light heavyweight grand prix final to earn a crack at gold, and is coming off a destructive 51-second TKO win over Ry…

The first of four quarterfinals for the Absolute Championship Akhmat lightweight tournament is official.

The promotion announced on Thursday that Davi Ramos (10-4) would be facing Artem Reznikov (22-6) in the first leg of the ACA's lightweight grand prix. The two will throw down in Sochi, Russia, at the Red Arena on June 17, at the event titled ACA 140. Ramos was recently released from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and the 2015 ADCC champion celebrated his new fight on his Instagram immediately after the news broke. The Brazilian spoke to Sherdog about this matchup on Thursday, discussing his improved training camp and how he will ready himself for this kind of challenge.

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“I was prepared since I was nine to test myself against the best, and definitely Artem Reznikov is one of them,” Ramos explained. “I’m already training hard to face him on June 17 in Sochi in my first fight. I evolved a lot during all [the] time I kept training, making myse…

The long win streak of one of these talented Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights will come to an end this June.

On Thursday morning, MMA Fighting first reported that Damir Ismagulov (23-1) would be squaring off with Guram Kutateladze (12-2) on June 18. The two lightweights will toe the line at a UFC Fight Night card on that date, and no location has been made official but it might be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas if there is not another domestic destination on the books. News of this matchup has since been confirmed by Ismagulov on his Instagram stories page.

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Winner of his last 18 bouts, Russia’s Ismagulov has rattled off four straight unanimous decision wins inside the Octagon since debuting with the company in 2018. Long layoffs have slowed what could otherwise be considered an extremely promising career, as he has notched wins over the likes of Joel Alvarez and Thiago Moises working his way through the division. Ismagulov was book…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n2eSpVAaQI&w=560&h=315]

Jungle Fight two-division champion Willian Souza will face Farid Basharat on Dana White’s Contender Series in Las Vegas on June 26.

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The Brazilian known as “Colorado” was champion at 145 and 135 pounds in Jungle Fight, but he has his sights set on UFC gold at bantamweight.

“The bantamweight champion should watch himself, because I'm coming. I’m here to terrorize the division. And I'll tell you how many fights it will take me to become UFC champion: seven fights,” Souza said in an interview with Sherdog.com.

A training partner of Deiveson Figueiredo, the 25-year-old “Colorado” has been victorious in 11 of 12 professional outings, with all of his wins coming inside the distance. Most recently, he knocked out Pacceli Afonso Campos Almeida in the second round at Jungle Fight 106.

“I'm really happy to be able to show Dana how good I am. I have no opponent on my level in Brazil. I hav…

Chris Curtis will square off against Rodolfo Vieira in a middleweight bout at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on June 25.

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Curtis’ management initially announced the booking via Twitter. The card doesn’t have a location or a headliner at this time.

Curtis will return to action following a breakout 2021 that saw him post a 6-0 record. “The Action Man” closed out that memorable campaign in style with back-to-back stoppage victories over Phil Hawes and Brendan Allen in UFC competition. Curtis was forced to withdraw from a proposed booking against Dricus Du Plessis on April 9.

Vieira, meanwhile, was recently cleared to return to competition following a health scare. The decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner is 8-1 thus far during his MMA tenure. “The Black Belt Hunter” has been victorious in three of his four Octagon appearances and is coming off a third-round submission win over Dustin Stoltzfus at UFC on ESPN 26.

Professional Fighters League was at the forefront of some controversy last week when it came to light that its PFL Challenger Series event on April 1 was pre-recorded..

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As a result, the event was flagged for suspicious activity by U.S. Integrity, a company that monitors betting markets, when odds moved significantly in favor of the winning fighters ahead of that Friday’s broadcast on FuboTV. There was some confusion regarding the event, as all prior PFL Challenger Series events aired live, and numerous sportsbooks received action on the event. That ultimately resulted in some unsettled bets in relation to the event, as well as an ongoing investigation by U.S. Integrity.

The PFL confirmed that the event was indeed taped, however, promotion gambling personality Ian Parker was not present on the broadcast nor were betting lines listed or discussed during the card.

PFL CEO Peter Murray appeared on "The MMA Hour” to further address the controversy…

Marlon Moraes is hanging up the four-ounce gloves following a difficult stretch in which he lost his last four fights by knockout or technical knockout.

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The former World Series of Fighting champion and UFC title challenger announced his retirement through a statement released by his manager, Ali Abdelaziz.

“I want to thank everyone – Sean Shelby, Dana White and the UFC for giving me so many opportunities,” Moraes wrote. “I want to thank my family, my coaches, my manager, everybody who has been around and been part of my career. I’m still gonna be around the sport helping young guys and helping my friends. I also want to say thank you to Mark Henry, Ricardo Almeida, Frankie Edgar and Anderson França.”

Moraes last appeared at UFC Fight Night 203, where he suffered a first-round KO defeat to Yadong Song on March 12. Prior to that, the 33-year-old American Top Team representative had suffered successive TKO losses at the hands of Merab Dvalishvil…

Although Chan Sung Jung took a horrific beating in a fourth-round technical knockout loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 273, “The Korean Zombie” will only be sidelined for a minimal period of time.

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Jung received a 14-day medical suspension – as did Volkanovski – for their featherweight championship headliner, which took place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., this past Saturday. Fighters who suffer a KO/TKO defeat or take part in a difficult fight typically receive at least a 30- or 60-day term from other athletic commissions.

The Florida State Boxing Commission released a full list of medical suspensions from the event on Tuesday. The nature of each suspension was not disclosed.

No fighter on the UFC 273 bill received longer than a 45-day suspension with the exception of Tecia Torres, who received an indefinite layoff from the FSBC. Torres lost a closely-contested split decision to Mackenzie Dern in a strawweight bout…

A flyweight clash pitting Erin Blanchfield against J.J. Aldrich has been targeted for a UFC Fight Night event on June 4.

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MMAFighting.com was first to report the bout. The UFC Fight Night card does not yet have an official location or venue but is expected to include a featherweight tilt between Dan Ige and Movsar Evloev.

Blanchfield has been victorious in her last five professional outings, including two in UFC competition. The Invicta FC veteran debuted in the Octagon with a unanimous decision over Sarah Alpar at UFC Fight Night 192 before outpointing Miranda Maverick in her second bout at UFC 269.

Aldrich has won three straight within the Las Vegas-based promotion, besting Cortney Casey, Vanessa Demopoulos and Gilian Robertson in succession. The Colorado native is 7-3 during her UFC tenure and 11-4 as a professional overall.

Cain Velasquez has broken his silence the first time since being charged with attempted murder, releasing a statement on social media urging the “true victims” in the case to “come forward.”

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Velasquez is facing attempted murder and multiple other charges after firing shots at a man accused of molesting a younger relative of the fighter’s on multiple occasions. Velasquez was denied bail at an arraignment after it was determined too great a risk to release the former UFC heavyweight champion.

Velasquez’s full statement is as follows:

“To everyone that has expressed your support, my family and I will never be able to thank you enough. From the bottom of our hearts and the depths of our souls, we are forever grateful for your love. Your selfless gestures and kind words have given me strength in my darkest times. This story is complex and slowly unraveling as we speak. To the true victims of this case, may God give you the strength to come forward…

Dana White’s Contender Series alum Ange Loosa will step in on short notice to face Mounir Lazzez at UFC on ESPN 34 this Saturday.

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Loosa is a replacement for Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, who withdrew from the event for personal reasons. The Wrestling Observer was first to report the new welterweight booking. UFC on ESPN 34 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a 170-pound showdown pitting Vicente Luque against Belal Muhammad.

Loosa came up short on the Contender Series, dropping a unanimous verdict to Jack Della Maddalena this past September. The 28-year-old Fight Move Academy representative rebounded to take a unanimous decision win against UFC veteran John Howard at XMMA 4 on April 2 to run his professional mark to 8-2.

Lazzez will return to action for the first time since UFC on ESPN 20, where he suffered a first-round TKO loss to Warlley Alves in January 2021. “Sniper” debuted in the Octagon with a decision win agains…

Israel Adesanya might be a little bit biased, but he believes Alexander Volkanovski has reached a historic level among featherweights in mixed martial arts.

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Volkanovski earned his 21st consecutive professional triumph at UFC 273 this past Saturday, dominating Chan Sung Jung en route to a fourth-round stoppage at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The 33-year-old Aussie is 11-0 in UFC competition, with four victories in title bouts to his credit, and his resume includes triumphs over the likes of Jung, Brian Ortega, Max Holloway (twice), Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes.

“Standout fight [at UFC 273], Volkanovski, of course,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “The G.O.A.T. The featherweight G.O.A.T. Yeah, I’m hyped right now. I haven’t even had breakfast, I couldn’t eat because my adrenaline’s been running. Volkanovski, I said it was going to be bad. It was bad.”

Adesanya and Volkanovski, of course, both have ties to City Kickbox…

Your official #InvictaFC47: @ducote_brunette vs @aleshazapp poster has just dropped!

Current strawweight champion Emily Ducote meets her first challenger in Alesha Zappitella LIVE on Wednesday, May 11th! Witness the event streaming exclusively on @youtube at 8/7c! pic.twitter.com/OHNzpg4DXG

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) April 12, 2022

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There have been some changes to the Invicta Fighting Championships 47 card.

According to a release from the all-female promotion, former bantamweight title challenger Lisa Verzosa has been forced to withdraw from a proposed clash with Serena DeJesus. As a result, Brittney Cloud will replace Verzosa and lock horns with DeJesus in a new 135-pound pairing.

Meanwhile, a strawweight bout pitting Fatima Kline against Sidney Trillo has been added to the bill, expanding the Invicta FC 47 lineup to seven bouts in total.

Invicta FC 47 takes place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan., …

@ajmckee101 already has his eyes on @PatrickyPitbull and the Lightweight gold but @PatricioPitbull says not to underestimate the fight in front of him #Bellator277@SHOsports | @SAPCenter | Friday, April 15th pic.twitter.com/h4ovOLpGOa

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) April 11, 2022

Although A.J. McKee and Patricio Freire won’t ever be the best of friends, McKee believes he owes it to his rival to give him a rematch given the Brazilian’s credentials in Bellator MMA.

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“I would say it’s a respect thing,” McKee said at a press conference to promote his rematch with Freire at Bellator 27. “He’s been the reigning champ for a long time. For me, I’d honor him with that rematch at any point.

“The goals I’ve set for myself, I want to be champ-champ. The [Team Body Shop] saying is to be a champion, you’ve got to beat the champion. I still see him as the [lightweight] champ.”

While the animosity didn’t reach the level it did ahead …

After a career filled with ups and downs, Corey Anderson is on the verge of taking home some championship hardware if he can defeat Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 277 on Friday night.

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The bout will serve as the finals of the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix, and Anderson has been impressive thus far, earning TKO wins over Ryan Bader and Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov to make his way through the bracket. The man known as “Overtime” has enjoyed a resurgence in Bellator after suffering a first-round knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz in his last UFC appearance, a defeat that removed him from consideration for a potential title shot in the Las Vegas-based promotion.

It’s not the first time Anderson has bounced back. He also lost three of four UFC bouts from from 2016 to 2017 — including two via KO. This time around, Anderson says a new mindset accompanied the move to a new organization.

“It came full circle. I started off in this game young. A lot of pe…

The Bellator bantamweight grand prix has undergone yet another change, as Nikita Mikhailov will step in for Josh Hill against Enrique Barzola in the wild card round.

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The promotion announced the new pairing, which is slated for Bellator 278, on Monday. Reasons for Hill’s withdrawal have not been disclosed. The Mikhailov-Barzola winner will advance to face Magomed Magomedov in the 135-pound semifinals at Bellator 282 on June 24.

Bellator 278 takes place on April 22 at Neil S. Blasdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is headlined by a women’s flyweight championship tilt between Juliana Velasquez and Liz Carmouche.

A 23-year-old Fedorteam export, Mikhailov has been victorious in eight of his nine professional outings thus far. The Fight Nights Global veteran kicked off his promotional tenure with a decision win over Brian Moore at Bellator 269 and a third-round TKO of Blaine Shutt at Bellator 273.

After a 6-3-1 stint in the UFC, Barzola ma…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is parting ways with longtime veteran Alex Oliveira.

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The promotion elected not to re-sign the 22-time Octagon competitor after Oliveira completed his current contract in a second-round TKO defeat to Kevin Holland at UFC 272 on March 5. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news.

Oliveira exits the Las Vegas-based organization on a four-bout skid, falling to Holland, Niko Price, Randy Brown and Shavkat Rakhmonov in his last four outings. The 34-year-old Brazilian known as “Cowboy” went 11-10 with one no contest over the course of a UFC tenure that began in March 2015.

The Rio de Janeiro native enjoyed his greatest run of success in the promotion from May 2015 to September 2018, when he was victorious in nine of his 12 UFC appearances while establishing himself as a reliable action fighter. Oliveira’s resume includes notable wins over the likes of Carlos Condit, Tim Means, Max Griffin, Will Brooks and K.J. No…

Legend LegendPudzian Materla

This. Is. Happening #KSW70 pic.twitter.com/zULEU4Kuqv

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) April 11, 2022

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A heavyweight superfight between five-time “World’s Strongest Man” Mariusz Pudzianowski and ex-middleweight champion Michal Materla will headline KSW 70 on May 28.

The Polish promotion announced the booking Monday. KSW 70 takes place at Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland, and is available via pay-per-view at KSWTV.com. Pudzianowski and Materla are two of the most popular athletes in KSW history and according to a release, “both men are credited with having a major impact on the growth of KSW and are sporting icons in their native Poland.”

Pudzianowski, 45, is in the midst of a four-bout winning streak in which he has finished all of his opponents by knockout or technical knockout. Most recently, the WCA Fight Team member knocked out Serigne Ousmane Dia, also known as “Bombardier,” in 18 seconds at KSW 64 th…

Khamzat Chimaev is one of the most heavily-hyped talents to compete in the UFC in recent memory, but until Saturday night, he hadn’t truly been tested in the Octagon.

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Chimaev rolled through his first four UFC opponents, with his most notable victory coming in the form of a first-round submission against Jingliang Li this past October. While Li was on the fringe of the welterweight rankings, stepping up to face Gilbert Burns was another matter entirely. The Brazilian known as “Durinho” entered Saturday night as a former title challenger with wins over the likes of Stephen Thompson, Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and Gunnar Nelson at 170 pounds.

Heading into UFC 273, Chimaev vs. Burns was arguably the most anticipated fight on the card – including the two title bouts – and it delivered beyond any reasonable expectation. Most importantly for Chimaev, he survived his first real adversity to capture a unanimous decision triumph against one of the top welte…