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All but one athlete slated to compete on Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series made weight without issue on Monday morning.

The lone exception was Manuel Gaxhja, who tipped the scales at 160.5 pounds for a lightweight clash against Chris Duncan (156). Gaxhja will be fined 30 percent of his purse, and the bout will proceed as planned.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a light heavyweight tilt pitting Lukasz Sudolski (205) against Ihor Potieria (203.5).

A native of Szczecin, Poland, Sudolski is undefeated in eight professional appearances. The 28-year-old Berserkers Team representative has finished six of those victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission — including five inside of a round.

Potieria, meanwhile, has been victorious in 18 of 20 bouts over the course of a career that began in 2015. The 25-year-old Ukraine native enters the Cont…

For two rounds, Nick Diaz took everything Robbie Lawler had to offer while returning fire with his trademark volume boxing in their middleweight bout at UFC 266.

It was an especially impressive effort from the Stockton, Calif., native considering that he had been out of action since 2015. By the third round, however, Diaz’s gas tank had waned and he elected not to continue after getting hit by a right hook and left uppercut 44 seconds into the third frame. It was a bizarre ending to an entertaining rematch, but Lawler believes his shots gradually took their toll on the former Strikeforce champion.

“I felt like it was an accumulation,” Lawler said at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference. “But I felt like I caught him with a little check hook and then a little left after that, then when he went down, I hit him with a little uppercut. Then when he went down he wanted me to come down with him and I was like, ‘Let’s continue the fun stuff.’

“He’s a warrior. He wa…

After a stellar performance in a unanimous decision triumph over Brian Ortega in the UFC 266 headliner on Saturday night, Alexander Volkanovski was already looking ahead to what’s next.

While Volkanovski acknowledges that the Nov. 13 main event between Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez could produce his next challenger, the City Kickboxing standout doesn’t want to wait that long for his next Octagon appearance. Prior to UFC 266, Volkanovski hadn’t fought since July 2020.

“You’ve got the Yair-Max fight, so I’m guessing that’s for No. 1 contender. Whoever wins that gets that shot, right? That’s not til November. I want to fight,” Volkanovski said at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference.

In the name of staying active, Volkanovski isn’t opposed to testing his mettle at 155 pounds.

“So, do I move up to lightweight? Do something,” said Volkanovski, who added he is considering a relocation of his camp to avoid COVID-19 restrictions. “Maybe move up to lightweigh…

Valentina Shevchenko made it look easy against Lauren Murphy in the UFC 266 co-main event. But that was always kind of the goal.

The reigning flyweight queen pitched a virtual shutout for three rounds against a gun shy Murphy before pouring it on in Round 4 to earn a stoppage with elbows and punches at the 4:00 mark of the period at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“Lauren, she’s a tough opponent,” Shevchenko said at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference. “She’s physical and very strong, but I wanted to play my game. My ultimate goal as a martial artist is to reach the level when your opponents, when they’re fighting each other, [they appear to be] furious, powerful, very strong. But when they fight me, it’s like, they cannot touch you, but you can finish them. It’s kind of like what I want [to] be as a martial artist: untouchable. This is kind of next level of martial artist.”

Shevchenko has come close to achieving that goal during her 125-…

Rafael dos Anjos recently revealed to Sherdog.com that he underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his knee approximately two weeks ago that may put his UFC 267 bout against Islam Makhachev in jeopardy.

The Nova Uniao-trained fighter says that he is doing everything he can to keep the bout intact. UFC 267 takes place on Oct. 30 in Abu Dhabi.

“I'm already walking without crutches, in 10 days I need to be able to sparring,” dos Anjos said. “I’m a fighter; I always want to fight. We already told the UFC what happened. By the way, the UFC was great at paying for all my surgery expenses. But of course I can't decide alone. I have to hear from my trainer, my doctor and physiotherapist. We must take the final decision in one week.”

If the bout is canceled, it would be the third time that dos Anjos vs. Makhachev has fallen through. A matchup at UFC 254 was scrapped after dos Anjos contracted COVID-19, while a rebooking in at UFC Fight Night 182 November 2020 was nixed due…

It had been more than six years since Nick Diaz last set foot in the Octagon, and while he wasn’t able to make a triumphant return against Robbie Lawler on Saturday night, he did provide some entertainment for as long as the fight lasted.

Diaz traded punches with Lawler for two rounds at UFC 266, often showcasing his trademark volume, but he eventually ran out of gas in Round 3. That’s when Lawler landed a right hook that dropped Diaz to a knee before connecting with a left uppercut that sent the Cesar Gracie protege to his back. Moments later, Diaz confirmed to referee Jason Herzog that he didn’t want to continue, ending the bout 44 seconds into the third frame.

All told, Diaz outlanded Lawler by a 150-to-131 count in significant strikes, becoming just the 12th fighter in UFC history to land that many strikes in a loss.

“I’m glad I at least put on a show,” Diaz said during an interview with Daniel Cormier in the Octagon. “I knew I had it coming. Old Rob. I had…

Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega put on a show in the Octagon in the UFC 266 headliner, and both men received a little extra compensation for their efforts at the end of the evening.

Volkanovski and Ortega garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their featherweight championship bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. While Volkanovski ultimately prevailed via unanimous decision behind a relentless pace and volume striking, he endured a few precarious moments in the bout, most notably a pair of tight submission attempts in the third frame. Both men continued to stand in trade until the final horn in a clash that will undoubtely end up on some year-end awards lists.

Elsewhere, Merab Dvalishvili captured a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus by virtue of his come-from-behind triumph against Marlon Moraes in a preliminary bantamweight tilt. After nearly being finished by strikes in Round 1, the Georgian fighter regained h…

Alexander Volkanovski’s great was too good for Brian Ortega.

Volkanovski (23-1, 10-0 UFC) strengthened his grip on the undisputed UFC 266 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it for the Australian: 49-46, 50-45 and 50-44.

The story was told across five grueling rounds. Volkanovski let fly with powerful two- and three-punch combinations, pestered the Californian with his jab and refused to take his foot off the accelerator. Round 3 was sensational. Ortega (15-2, 7-2 UFC) knocked the champion off-balance with a left hand, jumped on a mounted guillotine choke and appeared to be a heartbeat or two away from finishing it. Volkanovski freed himself and moved into top position, only to find himself entangled in a triangle choke—the very maneuver from which the challenger’s nickname originates. Again, the Freestyle Fighting Gym rep managed to escape. Ferocious ground-and-pound followed, and an exhausted Ortega struggled to ge…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 266 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 266 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round…

What a comeback victory for @MerabDvalishvil

[ #UFC266 | Live on @ESPNPlus & ESPNews ] pic.twitter.com/tk1wM7wgbi

— UFC (@ufc) September 26, 2021 Merab Dvalishvili now has the world wondering whether or not he is human. The Serra-Longo Fight Team product staged a remarkable comeback and climbed another rung on the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight ladder, as he put away Marlon Moraes with punches in the second round of their featured UFC 266 prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili (14-4, 7-2 UFC) brought it to a close 4:25 into Round 2, extending his current winning streak to seven fights.

Moraes (23-9-1, 5-5 UFC) slammed kicks into the former Ring of Combat champion’s lower leg, ripped combinations to the head and connected with a crippling left hook in the first round. He swooped in for a potential finish on the Georgian but emptied his gas tank and conceded a takedown. The indomitable Dvalishvili cle…

The long-awaited bantamweight championship rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan won’t happen at UFC 267 as originally anticipated.

Sterling has withdrawn from the bout due to lingering issues with his neck. “The Funk Master” underwent surgery in April to repair a herniated disc in his neck that has plagued him for years dating back to his collegiate wrestling career. MMAFighting.com was first to report Sterling’s exit from the card.

Sterling captured bantamweight gold at UFC 259 on March 6, when Yan landed an illegal knee that rendered the Serra-Longo Fight Team member unable to continue. Yan, who had claimed the vacant belt with a stoppage of Jose Aldo, could remain on the UFC 267 card in an interim championship clash against Cory Sandhagen, according to a report from MMAjunkie.com. Bout agreements have not yet been issued to either Yan or Sandhagen, however.

Sterling is on a six-bout Octagon winning streak that also includes triumphs over the lik…

Keeping up with the Joneses is a full-time job, in light of ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Jon Jones’ latest arrest.

ESPN broke the news on Friday that Jones had been arrested in Las Vegas on Friday morning for battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle to cause damage of greater than $5,000. Jones came to Las Vegas for his induction to the UFC Hall of Fame on Thursday night, for his 2013 title tilt against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165. “Bones” is still in custody, according to Clark County court records, and he is awaiting a probable cause DNA review for drug or alcohol intoxication. Jones' bail is currently set at $8,000, and he will be brought into court on Saturday.

In an interview before his Hall of Fame induction, Jones joked with media that at heavyweight he needed to “do more legally controversial s---” to stay relevant. This incident is one in a long chain of arrests throughout his career for various offenses. In 2020, he was …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STVsX7_ayL8&w=640&h=360] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view with a duo of title fights and the return of Nick Diaz.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 266 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

UFC 266 is headlined by two title fights as featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski faces Brian Ortega and flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko looks to add Lauren Murphy to her lengthy highlight reel. All fighters on the card made weight for the event, including Dan Hooker and Nasrat Haqparast, who both arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Topping the card is the second title defense for Volkanovski (22-1). The Australian is undefeated inside the Octagon and hasn't lost a fight since 2013. "The Great" will go up against Ortega (15-1, 1 NC), who returned to fighting after a two-year layoff by defeating Chan Sung Jung via a dominant decision. T…

Silveira's headkick KO #LFA115 pic.twitter.com/9y3MsahdvP

— Hands like Ngannou (@likengannou) September 25, 2021 Joshua Silveira is the new Legacy Fighting Alliance light heavyweight champion.

Silveira (6-0) showed why he's an impressive prospect worth watching in the LFA 115 main event against Tee Cummins. The American Top Team product landed a beautiful head kick knockout just 49 seconds into Round 1 to claim his first championship. This also marks the first defeat for Cummins, whose record now sits at 4-1.

In the co-main event, Chad Johnson landed a gorgeous soccer kick knockout against Jordan Heiderman, which was also blatantly illegal. The stoppage came after just 25 seconds of action and since Heiderman (5-0) couldn't continue it was ruled a disqualification win for the Nebraskan. "Big Rig" falls to 6-3 with the failure to follow the rules.

Lucas Clay picked up his eighth professional win in impressive fashion over Jake Kozorosk…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Deiveson Figueiredo has finally locked down his next training camp. After having the door closed by Team Alpha Male, as team staple Cody Garbrandt decided to move down to 125 pounds, Figueiredo decided to make his next camp in Arizona with wrestling coach Eric Albarracin. Figueiredo will be facing Brandon Moreno for the third time in a row in December at UFC 269. The ex-champ’s manager, Wallid Ismail, spoke to Sherdog on Friday about his camp change. “Daico” was originally planning on staying in his home country of Brazil, but he elected to come to the U.S. for two months of his training.

“We are traveling on Oct. 9,” said Ismail. “He will train for almost two months in there. Albarracin has [Henry] Cejudo and his brother there, and a nice group of sparring. Deiveson is also bringing hi…

The result of the latest One Championship headliner is already under protest by the losing party.

In the One: Revolution headliner on Friday morning, Christian Lee (15-4, 15-4 One) was dethroned by Rae Yoon Ok (16-3, 3-0 One), the only ranked opponent “The Warrior” had yet to face. The fight took a while before taking off, as both fighters respected each other’s power in the opening frames. Lee attempted several takedowns in the early going, pushing his opponent against the fence and dragging him on the canvas on multiple occasions. Ok strenuously resisted, never laying with his back flat on the mat, and he was to get back to his feet each time. When he did, he displayed sharp muay Thai skills with effective knees every time he bounced back. Lee did have Ok in a spot of danger in Round 2, when he snared the South Korean with a rear-naked choke, but he could not elicit a tap.

ROCKET RIGHT-HAND from Christian Lee! @ChristianLeeMMA #ONERevolution …

Kleydson Rodrigues earns the UD win following an impressive striking performance

[ #DWCS live on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/SQ5uxPoL01

— UFC (@ufc) September 22, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The sky is the limit for Kleydson Rodrigues, according to friend and mentor Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Growing up in the slums of the Amazon region in the Brazilian state of Amapa, Rodrigues had a very tough childhood, living in a house on stilts raised over a river. When he was 14 years old, he would to sell bread as soon as the sun was up in order to help his family, before going to school. In the afternoon, after returning from school, he sold homemade ice cream. Passionate about fighting, “K.R.” saved every cent his parents gave him to buy Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships DVDs.

Inspired b…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. An all-action five-round featherweight frenzy is now officially capping off an upcoming November Ultimate Fighting Championship show. In August, UFC President Dana White expected that the UFC Fight Night event on Nov. 13 – an event currently unnumbered – would likely receive a headliner of Max Holloway (22-6) vs. Yair Rodriguez (13-2, 1 NC). The two were previously booked at UFC on ESPN 26, but Holloway suffered an injury and the pairing was bumped. The organization’s broadcast partner of ESPN has confirmed on Friday that this matchup will serve as the marquee billing of this Fight Night card.

Former champ Holloway bounced back from a pair of close decision losses to Alexander Volkanovski by battering Calvin Kattar for five rounds and setting several records in the process. Those records include the most significant strikes lan…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NnqaR9I7bM&w=640&h=360] Outside of the top bouts, not much professionalism was on display during the LFA 115 weigh-ins.

The Legacy Fighting Alliance's latest event will be headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Joshua Silveira and Tee Cummins, who both made weight. Both fighters vying for the belt are undefeated. Silveira sports a 5-0 record, and most recently choked out Rafael Viana and Matthew Paul. Cummins is 4-0 and has finished all four of his past opponents. Neither man had trouble making weight, as Silveira tipped the scale at 204 pounds, and "The Experiment" weighed 203.8 pounds.

However, five fighters on the card missed weight and caused a slew of changes to the card. This includes Bryan Bautista withdrawing from his bantamweight bout against Mando Gutierrez due to issues cutting weight. Other fighters that missed weight include Hilarie Rose, James Roland Waller, Reshal Malik and Anteze Howard. All their re…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Ever the optimist, Nova Uniao founder Andre Pederneiras had plenty to say about his students, namely one former champion who has been with him for many years. With many fighters scheduled at upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship fight cards, the leader of Nova Uniao gave an exclusive interview to Sherdog on Wednesday. Like always, “Dede” was happy to talk openly about all subjects ranging from his team to his involvement with the Shooto Brazil promotion.

He first wanted to lead off with his star pupil, Jose Aldo, who has big things in mind for the bantamweight division. Former featherweight champion Aldo turned 35 earlier in the month, and he is riding a two-fight win streak over Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz. Aldo is currently the #7 bantamweight on the Sherdog Official Rankings, and both he and his coach had no shortage of na…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. At 41 years of age with a career often derailed by injury, Leonardo Santos once more has to withdraw from an upcoming appearance. On Monday, Santos (18-4-1) posted on Instagram that his fight would likely be postponed for undetermined reasons. Sherdog has learned from sources close to the situation on Thursday that Santos has been forced out of the matchup against Alexander Hernandez (12-4) due to a calf injury. Per a subsequent promotional release, it does not appear that Hernandez will receive a new opponent at UFC Fight Night 193 on Oct. 2, and it is unclear if the matchup will be preserved for a later date. The two lightweights were booked against one another at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Santos was aiming to bounce back from his first knockout defeat in nearly 15 years when he succumbed to a literal last-second knockout …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. It appears that Francisco Trinaldo is staying at welterweight for the foreseeable future. According to MMA DNA on Thursday, Trinaldo (26-8) will be stepping in for Gabriel Green at UFC Fight Night 196. At welterweight, “Massaranduba” will face Dwight Grant (11-3) on the card staged at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Oct. 23. Trinaldo has since confirmed this pairing on Instagram.

Trinaldo made his 170-pound debut in June when he took on Muslim Salikhov at UFC Fight Night 189. The decision loss to Salikhov ended a three-fight win streak for the Brazilian, who beat Bobby Green and John Makdessi on the scorecards before knocking Jai Herbert out in July 2020. A longtime UFC vet that made his organizational debut in 2012 after the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil,” the 43-year-old has competed at middleweight and lightwe…

And we are in with a shot....they have granted me an appointment Monday. All goes well and I get my passport back, I can jump on the only flight out of NZ Thursday night.

Arrive in Vegas Thursday night, weigh in Friday morning, fight Saturday.#MMATwitter pic.twitter.com/37l4Ajfba7

— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) September 17, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 266 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. It may be a photo finish, but both Dan Hooker and Nasrat Haqparast are en route to Las Vegas as of Thursday afternoon.

New Zealand’s Hooker (20-10) expressed his concerns a week ago on social media for getting a visa in time to compete at UFC 266. After contacting his appropriate consulate, Hooker was given his passport to travel on Thursday, where he flew out of his home country.

Passport and visa picked up Las Vegas we’re coming !…

At the age of 40, James McSweeney has hung up one set of gloves and is already lacing up another.

McSweeney announced on social media on Wednesday evening that he has signed with Glory Kickboxing. With his last MMA appearance in June 2019, and on a five-fight skid, “The Hammer” has also decided to stop competing in MMA. career was finished. Although McSweeney began his MMA in 2007 and made his way to the 10th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” a few years later, he began kickboxing a few years before that.

As McSweeney started training with Rashad Evans, he switched gears from K-1 competition to full-time MMA. The 33-fight MMA vet, who may have retired with a record below .500, faced a litany of tough names including Travis Browne, Tai Tuivasa, Thiago Silva and more as he toured the Ultimate Fighting Championship, One Championship and KSW.

On his social media, McSweeney wrote:

“Ok guys here it is.....I have signed with the biggest Organization in Kickboxing (k1…