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A welterweight clash between Jake Matthews and Jeremiah Wells has been added to the UFC on ESPN 31 lineup.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Tuesday. UFC on ESPN 31 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 4 and is headlined by a bantamweight duel between Jose Aldo and Rob Font.

Matthews had a three-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing, as he was submitted by Sean Brady in the third round at UFC 259 on March 6. Still just 27 years old, Matthews has compiled a 10-5 mark in the Las Vegas-based promotion since his 2014 debut.

A veteran of the CES MMA and Cage Fury Fighting Championships organizations, Wells made a splash in his Octagon debut with a second-round knockout of Warlley Alves at UFC Fight Night 190. The Renzo Gracie Philly representative is 9-2-1 over the course of his pro career.

Colorado will be the second state to have open scoring for combat sports events.

The Colorado State Boxing Commission voted on Tuesday to adopt open scoring for mixed martial arts and boxing bouts, according to a report from ESPN. Colorado joins Kansas as the only states to adopt the measure. The Kansas Athletic Commission implemented open scoring in February 2020, and it has been used consistently at Invicta Fighting Championship events.

Open — or real-time — scoring allows for cageside judges’ scorecards to be public knowledge after each round instead of only at the end of a bout. That information could prove useful for fighters, broadcasters and corners alike — and can help determine an athlete’s approach as a fight progresses.

CSBC director Tony Cummings said that open scoring will be optional for event promoters in Colorado.

"I've been around the industry for a long period of time from a coach's perspective, cornering fighters and stuff like that," Cummin…

Mackenzie Dern and Randy Brown are among the competitors from UFC Fight Night 194 who are facing a potentially lengthy time on the shelf.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to mixedmartialarts.com. UFC Fight Night 194 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this past Saturday and saw Marina Rodriguez take a unanimous decision against Dern in the evening’s strawweight main event.

Dern must have an X-ray on her right thumb and receive doctor clearance or she is suspended until April 8. At a minimum, she is out until Nov. 9 with no contact until Oct. 31. Rodriguez emerged from the event with a clean bill of health.

Meanwhile, Brown admitted to fighting through a dislocated toe in his co-headlining victory against Jared Gooden in the welterweight co-headliner. Brown must have a right toe X-ray and a left knee MRI and receive doctor clearance or he will also be out until April 8. At a minimum, “Rude Boy” is out …

A heavyweight tilt pitting Tai Tuivasa against Augusto Sakai is scheduled to go down at UFC Fight Night 198.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. Tuivasa was originally slated to face Walt Harris at UFC 267, but that pairing was scrapped for undisclosed reasons. UFC Fight Night 198 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight bout between Miesha Tate and Ketlen Vieira. .

Tuivasa is currently on the second three-fight winning streak of his promotional tenure, with a trio of first-round KO/TKO victories against Stefan Struve, Harry Hunsucker and Greg Hardy to his credit. The 28-year-old Aussie began his UFC career with three straight victories before going on a three-bout skid. “Bam Bam” is 12-3 as a professional overall, with 11 triumphs coming via KO or TKO. .

Sakai, meanwhile, earned a deal on the Brazilian version of the Contender Series and opened his UFC tenure with four consecutive triumphs …

Sam Alvey keeps getting chances in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Despite holding an 0-6-1 record in his last seven Octagon appearances, Alvey will square off against Ian Heinisch at a UFC event on Feb. 5. MMAFighting.com was first to report the middleweight pairing. The card does not yet have a location or headliner.

Alvey hasn’t tasted victory within the Las Vegas-based promotion since taking a split verdict over Gian Villante at UFC Fight Night 131 in June 2018. Most recently, he dropped a split decision to Wellington Turman at UFC on ESPN 30.

Heinisch has endured his share of struggles in UFC competition, losing four of his last five appearances. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum is coming off a second-round TKO defeat at UFC on ESPN 27 on June 24.

Luke Rockhold’s comeback fight will have to wait.

The former middleweight champion announced Monday on his Instagram story that a herniated disc in his back has forced him to withdraw from a proposed clash against Sean Strickland at UFC 268.

“There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight is off in New York,” Rockhold said. “I ended up herniating a disc in my back. L4, L5. The docs say it’s nothing I can play with. I need to do some treatment and recovery time. Some things just aren’t meant to be. New York, motherf—-ing New York. I’m sorry to the friends and the peeps and everyone, but we’ll be back. Until next time.”

Rockhold hasn’t competed since a second-round knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 239 in July 2019. He was planning to return to 185 pounds for his clash against Strickland at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6. It’s unclear at this time if Strickland will remain on the card against a replacement oppone…

A welterweight showdown between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Geoff Neal is on tap for UFC 269.

ESPN was first to report that the promotion is on the verge of finalizing the bout. UFC 269 is expected to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a lightweight championship matchup between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.

Ponzinibbio returned for the first time since November 2018 at UFC on ABC 1, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Jingliang Li on Jan. 16. The Argentina native bounced back in his most recent outing, taking a three-round verdict over Miguel Baeza at UFC Fight Night 189 on June 5. Ponzinibbio has won eight of nine Octagon appearances dating back to December 2015.

Neal began his promotional tenure with five consecutive triumphs to emerge as one of the hottest prospects in the UFC’s welterweight divison. The Fortis MMA product came back to reality in his last two outings, however, falling to Stephen Thompson and Ne…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

More details have emerged regarding the the latest arrest of UFC talent Luis Pena.

Pena was arrested this past Saturday in Deerfield Beach, Fla. on charges of domestic violence and battery. According to a probable cause affadavit obtained by ESPN, Pena is accused of hitting his girlfirend with a closed fist “multiple times.” Pena allegedly continued to strike his girlfriend while she was on the ground, and the woman also suffered abrasions on her left wrist and a bite mark near her left knee.

According to the affadavit, another woman who witnessed the alleged assault attempted to stop Pena, and the fighter struck the woman in the eye with a closed fist. That resulted in the woman falling to the ground, and she was left with a purple contusion to her eye as well as a laceration on her right elbow due to the fall.

Both women provided sworn statements regarding the incident. Police initially responded to a domestic disturbance …

UFC 270 just gained a little more firepower, as a flyweight championship trilogy between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo is expected to move to the Jan. 22 card.

The bout was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 269 on Dec. 12 but was moved after that event added a welterweight fight pitting Leon Edwards against Jorge Masvidal. Ariel Helwani was first to report the new date for Moreno vs. Figueiredo. UFC 270 is headlined by a heavyweight championship unification bout between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane. A location for the event has not been announced.

After battling Figueiredo to a majority draw at UFC 256, Moreno claimed flyweight gold with a third-round submission of the Brazilian at UFC 263 in June. The promotion’s first Mexican-born champion is unbeaten in his last seven professional outings.

Figueiredo won five consecutive UFC appearances from July 2019 to November 2020, claiming the title with a first-round submission of Joseph Benavidez at …

Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal will get a chance to settle a feud that began more than two years ago when they square off at UFC 269.

The pairing was initially reported by Ariel Helwani and later confirmed by promotion broadcast partner ESPN. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout, but contracts have not yet been signed. Edwards vs. Masvidal will be a three-round affair.

Edwards and Masvidal famously crossed paths at UFC Fight Night 147 in London on March 16, 2019. Masvidal defeated Darren Till via second-round KO and Edwards took a split verdict over Gunnar Nelson at the event, but it was what happened backstage that really made headlines. Masvidal was giving an interview when he began exchanging words with Edwards, who was nearby. “Gamebred” then left the interview set to confront the Englishman, and shortly thereafter the fighters engaged in a brief altercation before being separated. That incident led to Masvidal’s famous “three-piece with a soda” line,…

Hakeem Dawodu will lock horns with Michael Trizano at a UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 5.

MMA DNA was first to report the featherweight tilt. The card does not yet have an official location or headliner.

Dawodu had a five-bout winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to Movsar Evloev at UFC 263 this past June. The 30-year-old Canadian enjoyed a 7-0-1 tenure with World Series of Fighting before signing with the UFC.

The winner of Season 27 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Trizano is 3-1 thus far in UFC competition. Most recently, the Team Tiger Schulmann representative outpointed Ludovit Klein at UFC on ESPN 24 on May 8.

There were some difficulties on the scales ahead of Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Two fighters slated to compete on Tuesday’s card missed weight, including Christian Rodriguez, who is scheduled to meet Reyes Cortez Jr. in the evening’s featured bout at bantamweight. Rodriguez initally weighed 138 pounds, while Cortez Jr. tipped the scales at 135.5 pounds. Rodriguez was unable to hit his contracted mark after taking an extra hour to cut weight, as he was only able to get down to 137.25 pounds.

Meanwhile, Jake Hadley initially checked in at 127.25 pounds for a flyweight showdown against Mitch Raposo (126). After being given an additional hour to cut weight, Hadley came still came in heavy at 127 pounds.

The Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Anchored at the MMA Lab, Cortez Jr. has been victorious in five of his first six professional appearances. Most recently, he outpointed Axel…

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell was arrested early Monday morning in Los Angeles after an alleged domestic violence incident.

TMZ Sports was first to report Liddell’s arrest. The 51-year-old former light heavyweight champion was booked for misdemeanor domestic battery at the Lost Hills Sheriff Station after an alleged incident between Liddell and his wife in Hidden Hills, Calif.

Lost Hills police were called to respond to a family disturbance at the 24000 block of Jim Bridger Road at approximately midnight local time. It was then determined that a verbal argument became physical. Liddell is married to Heidi Northcott, and the couple have two children together. Northcott did not require medical attention, according to the report.

Liddell’s bail has been set at $20,000, and he is set to appear in Van Nuys Court in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Liddell is listed at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds on his booking sheet.

Known as “The Iceman,” Liddell was one of the UFC’s …

A bantamweight clash pitting Douglas Silva de Andrade against Sergey Morozov has been added to the UFC 271 lineup.

Combate was first to report the booking. UFC 271 takes place on Feb. 12 at an as yet to be determined location. The event does not yet have a headliner.

Silva de Andrade fought twice in 2021, splitting a pair of bouts. After dropping a unanimous verdict to Lerone Murphy in a featherweight affair at UFC on ESPN 20, the 36-year-old Brazilian returned to 135 pounds and scored a first-round KO of Gaetano Pirrello at UFC Fight Night 193 on Oct. 2. He is 5-4 over the course of a promotional tenure that began in 2014.

Morozov also went 1-1 in the Octagon in 2021. He suffered a submission loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in his debut at UFC on ESPN 20, but rebounded to outpoint Khalid Taha at UFC on ESPN 26. The former M-1 Global champion has won six of his last seven professional outings.

It was not a night to remember for Melvin Guillard at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s event in Billings, Mont., on Saturday.

In addition to suffering a 59-second knockout loss to Joe Riggs in the BKFC Fight Night headliner, Guillard exited the bout with multiple orbital fractures that required surgery on Sunday. “The Young Assassin” brought word of his injuries in an Instagram post on Sunday morning.

“Just found out at 3:15 a.m. I have five fractures in my orbital so I will be having surgery today,” Guillard wrote. “Just wanted to get my fans, friends and family the news. I'll be okay, just keep me in your prayers. I'll be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared right now. We'll see what happens.”

Guillard posted an update later on Sunday that showed him leaving leaving the emergency room, with his left eye still completely swollen shut.

The 38-year-old Guillard fell to 0-4 under the BKFC banner in defeat. A veteran of the UFC and Bellator MMA, Gui…

Mackenzie Dern came up short on the biggest stage of her mixed martial arts career to date, but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt is planning on using the experience to become a better fighter in the long run.

Dern dropped a unanimous decision to Marina Rodriguez in the UFC Fight Night 194 main event at the UFC Apex on Saturday night, ending her four-bout Octagon winning streak. Dern had Rodriguez in trouble after dragging her to the mat in Round 2, as she threatened with a leg lock, landed ground-and-pound from the reverse crucifix position and took her opponent’s back. Rodriguez was able to survive, however, and spent the majority of the contest outclassing Dern on the feet.

“Yesterday wasn’t the result I was training for, but this fight is the biggest learning experience for me,” Dern wrote on Instagram. “Now I have a lot to look back on and fix to become a better fighter! For sure a submission would have been great but to have these rounds for me to work on is su…

Viewers on UFC broacasts are often given an inside look at the coaching in fighters’ corners between rounds. In some instances, the advice given by the corners can be misleading — often because the coaches and trainers are viewing the bout from a different perspective.

After UFC Fight Night 194, James Krause, Tim Elliott’s coach at Glory MMA & Fitness, admitted that his instructions ended up being to the detriment of his athlete. Elliott fell to Matheus Nicolau via unanimous decision, with all three judges submitting 29-28 scorecards in favor of the Brazilian.

Krause, meanwhile, saw a different fight from his cageside seat, and he’s accepting some of the blame for Elliott’s defeat.

“I made a huge coaching error tonight that I’m sure is going to haunt me for some time to come,” Krause wrote on Instagram. “Going into the [third] round I thought for 100% sure we took 1 and 2. Regardless of if that was true or not I should have pushed Tim to work up in the 3rd… …

Not only did Randy Brown have to deal with a game opponent at UFC Fight Night 194, but he also had to battle through a mangled toe for much of Saturday’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

“It just snapped out of place,” Brown said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “The big toe snapped out of place at the joint high up on the foot there. But it kept going back in. I kept putting it back in. Interesting experience.”

The broadcast team pointed out that Brown’s foot appeared to be compromised after landing a front kick to Jared Gooden’s chin early in the fight, but it was unclear how much it would negatively affect the welterweight known as “Rude Boy.” In the moment, Brown just relied on instinct to treat the injury as best he knew how so he could continue competing.

“I put it back in,” Brown said. “It came out and I looked at it. I was like, ‘All right.’ It’s crazy the thought and the instinct just kicks in. [It’s like], ‘Let me just step on tha…

Marina Rodriguez has some history with Carla Esparza in the Octagon, but she also has respect for the UFC’s inaugural strawweight champion.

Rodriguez earned her third consecutive triumph in the UFC Fight Night 194 main event on Saturday, as she put on a striking clinic to earn a unanimous decision against grappling ace Mackenzie Dern at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The Brazilian muay Thai specialist is closing in on a title shot, but she believes that Esparza — the only woman to defeat her in UFC competition — should have received the next opportunity. Instead it went to Weili Zhang, who was granted an immediate rematch against Rose Namajunas at UFC 268.

That said, if the promotion comes calling after UFC 268, Rodriguez won’t pass up a chance to compete for championship gold.

“I’ll never deny a chance to fight for the title, but for me, Carla should be next and not Weili,” Rodriguez said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “But since the rematch is booked …

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

For the second time in the past few months, UFC fighter Luis Pena has been arrested.

Pena was arrested Saturday on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and battery, according to Broward County (Fla.) Jail records. The battery charge comes with a $1,000 bond, while the domestic violence charge does not have an amount listed because a bond hearing is required. Pena was arrested in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office released the following statement to MMAjunkie.com:

At approximately 12:34 a.m., Broward Sheriff’s Office Deerfield Beach deputies responded to a domestic disturbance call near the 200 block of Southeast 12th Avenue in Deerfield Beach. On scene, deputies made contact with multiple subjects, and Luis Antonio Peña was later detained and taken into custody. Peña was transported to BSO Main Jail and faces one count simple battery and one count domestic violence battery (both misdemeanor). The investig…

It was ladies’ night when it came to post-fight bonuses at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday, as Marina Rodriguez, Mackenzie Dern, Mariya Agapova and Lupita Godinez each took home $50,000 checks.

Rodriguez and Dern earned “Fight of the Night” honors for their five-round strawweight headliner at UFC Fight Night 194. Rodriguez utilized a multi-faceted striking arsenal to control the action on the feet, but she had to survive a couple scary moments on the mat against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Ultimately, Rodriguez was able to avoid serious danger and emerged with a unanimous decision triumph.

Elsewhere, Agapova received a “Performance of the Night” award on the strength of a submission win against Sabina Mazo at flyweight. Agapova controlled the range with her striking throughout the fight before dropping her adversary with a crushing right hand to the jaw in the third round. From there, Agapova wasted little time jumping on Mazo’s back and locking in a re…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Marina Rodriguez has begun to make serious headway in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division. The Brazilian muay Thai practitioner outstruck Mackenzie Dern and withstood a few harrowing ground exchanges with the jiu-jitsu ace, as she took a unanimous decision from the 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist in the UFC Fight Night 194 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges saw it the same: 49-46 for Rodriguez (15-1-2, 5-1-2 UFC).

Dern (11-2, 6-2 UFC) had her chances. The Checkmat RVCA rep dragged Rodriguez to the canvas in the second round, threatened with a leg lock and moved into side control. From there she applied her ground-and-pound from a reverse crucifix p…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 194 coverage will begin Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 This afternoon card all on ESPN+ is a shorter one, with just nine fights remaining on the billing. Short fight nights call for short introductions, and the show begins with a tilt between lightweights in Garcia (11-4, 0-1 UFC) and Ontiveros (11-7, 0-1 UFC) that are both looking for their first win in a new division. While Garcia is moving up from featherweight, Ontiveros is shifting down from middleweight to 155 pounds, and they meet literally and figuratively in the middle but do not touch gloves in front of referee Chris Tognoni. Ontiveros starts off wit ha solid right hand, and he…

Brutal ground and pound gets Alexandr Romanov the W

[ #UFCVegas39 | Prelims LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/lm6KCi7EVT

— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Alexander Romanov moved another step closer to relevance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division, as he disposed of Team Quest’s Jared Vanderaa with punches in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 194 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The undefeated Romanov (15-0, 4-0 UFC) drew the curtain 4:43 into Round 2.

Vanderaa (12-6, 1-2 UFC) never moved out of his defensive posture. Romanov chipped away at the Team Quest product with takedowns in a largely one-sided first round, then turned up the heat in the second. The Moldovan tripped his …