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Amanda Nunes wasn’t expected to have much difficulty against Megan Anderson in the UFC 259 co-main event, and she lived up to those expectations.

About the only suspense in Nunes’ featherweight title defense was how she was going to finish her Australian challenger. The Brazilian two-division champion rocked Anderson with a pair of overhand rights early, and it appeared that a knockdout was inevitable. However, after stuffing a takedown, Nunes ultimately relented on her assault of punches and hammerfists on the canvas to transition to a nifty triangle armbar to elicit the tapout 2:03 into Round 1.

According to Nunes, that was all part of the plan.

“For every opponent, I have a strategy,” Nunes said. “I cannot go in the cage without strategies A, B and C, because you don’t know if something is going to go wrong. You have to be ready, so for Megan I wanted to finish her, I didn’t want to knock her out. I paced myself. I saw she was done already but I wanted to fin…

When he began his Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure with a 2-4 record, Jan Blachowicz was on the verge of losing his spot in the world’s largest mixed martial arts organization.

Even after he righted the ship in the years that followed, it’s been an uphill climb for the Polish standout to receive the proper recognition he deserves. After besting middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the UFC 259 headliner to retain the 205-pound crown at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night, perhaps that can finally change.

“I defended my belt,” Blachowicz said at the post-fight press conference. “Now I prove that I’m a true champion and I think now I’m going to have respect from everybody. In the next fight, I will not be the underdog anymore. But I don’t care anyway.”

Blachowicz has won nine of his last 10 UFC appearances, compiling a resume that includes victories over the likes of Adesanya, Dominick Reyes, Corey Anderson, Ronaldo Souza, Luke Rockhold, Jimi Manuw…

It appears that hopes of a future Jon Jones-Israel Adesanya superfight went up in smoke at UFC 259.

Adesanya’s bid to become a two-division champion failed on Saturday night, as he dropped a unanimous decision to reigning 205-pound king Jan Blachowicz in the evening’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Blachowicz took control of the contest in the championship rounds through takedowns and top control to retain his title and prevail once again despite being the underdog.

Naturally, Jones was an interested observer of the proceedings, and he couldn’t resist taking a few shots at Adesanya on Twitter. The two stars have gone back and forth in the media in recent months regarding a potential fight, and Adesanya defeating Blachowicz would have been the most obvious path to such a matchup.

Now, it appears that the dream is dead.

“Yeah, never mind, that’s not even worth my time,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “If you ever wrote me talking s—t about Izzy, slap yours…

It was pretty clear how Aljamain Sterling felt about winning the bantamweight title via disqualification moments after his UFC 259 bout with Petr Yan reached its unexpected conclusion.

When the final ruling was announced, Sterling quickly removed the belt from his waist and threw it in the Octagon before falling to his knees in disappointment. Though “The Funkmaster” wanted to continue, a cageside doctor determined otherwise after Yan landed a devastating illegal knee 4:29 into Round 4.

“Everything I worked for to this point and to have the fight go like that… I thought the fight was very close, I thought I was down two rounds. That’s not the way I wanted to win,” Sterling said. “That’s not the way I envisioned this. I just took the belt off.

“I was trying to continue even being like that, I was in a bad shape and it would just have been ego taking over and just to get further punishment. The ref told me I was down. I don’t know. I understand that there is some …

IT'S OVER!! Nzechukwu ends it in the second!! #UFC259 pic.twitter.com/OpWyj0HpVQ

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) March 7, 2021

Kennedy Nzechukwu and Carlos Ulberg threw caution to the wind in their matchup at UFC 259, and the light heavyweights were rewarded handsomely for their efforts.

Nzechkwu and Ulberg received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their preliminary clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which proved to be a slugfest from the opening bell. After an opening stanza in which Ulberg had his opponent reeling early, Nzechukwu took control in Round 2, ultimately dropping his adversary with a right hook and sealing his win with standing-to-ground punches at the 3:19 mark of the period.

Elsewhere, Kai Kara France survived some serious adversity to earn a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check in a preliminary flyweight triumph against Rogerio Bontorin. Bontorin spent most of the opening stanza attached to his foe’s back, b…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 259 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Maybe now Jan Blachowicz will get the respect he deserves. The Polish powerhouse tightened his grip on the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title, as he took a unanimous decision from reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the UFC 259 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges scored it for Blachowicz (28-8, 11-5 UFC): 49-46, 49-45 and 49-45. There will be no two-division reign for Adesanya, at least not yet.

After three closely contested rounds that saw the two champions trade leg kicks, jabs and occasional power punches, Blachowicz tapped into the City Kickboxing star’s most glaring weakness. He struck for takedowns in Rounds 4 and 5, controlled Adesanya (20-1, 9-1 UFC) from half guard and salted away arguably the most significant victory of his 36-fight career. Blachowicz …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 259 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 259 coverage will begin Saturday at 5:15 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 ro…

They're opening up in the final minutes! #UFC259 pic.twitter.com/aFm08wLFvR

— UFC (@ufc) March 7, 2021

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 259 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Dominick Cruz still has something left to offer.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight titleholder eked out a split decision over Casey Kenney in the featured UFC 259 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Judges Derek Cleary and Sal D’Amato scored it 29-28 and 30-27 for Cruz, while Michael Bell saw it 29-28 for Kenney.

Neither man was willing to budge. Cruz (23-3, 6-2 UFC) darted in and out with his patented unorthodox movements, piled up points with lunging punches to the head and occasionally zeroed in on the body. Kenney counteracted those efforts with repeated kicks to the legs and timely power punches upstairs. Both men were stricken by fatigue in the…

Marcin Tybura has a new date and opponent for his next Octagon appearance.

The Polish heavyweight, who was originally slated to meet Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 260, will now square off against Walt Harris at the promotion’s June 5 event. MMAFighting.com was first to report the new booking. The UFC Fight Night event does not yet have a headliner or location.

Tybura is currently on a four-bout winning streak in UFC competition. Most recently, the 35-year-old scored a second-round technical knockout victory against Greg Hardy at UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19.

After a four-fight unbeaten stretch from June 2018 to July 2019, Harris has suffered back-to-back TKO defeats to Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov in the Octagon. “The Big Ticket” is 6-8 with one no contest over the course of two UFC stints.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h4sjfwwdMA&w=640&h=360] Israel Adesanya weighed in with a box of pizza in hand and still came in well below the light heavyweight limit for his title fight.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is kicking off March with its most stacked pay-per-view offering of 2021 so far. The event, which features three title fights, will be capped off by middleweight champion Israel Adesanya moving up a division to challenge the newly crowned light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz. The 15-fight UFC 259 card also features two additional title fights as Amanda Nunes will put her featherweight title on the line against Megan Anderson, while bantamweight champ Petr Yan will look to stop the surging Aljamain Sterling. None of the fighters in any of these bouts had any issue making weight.

Blachowicz (27-8) has been highly impressive since getting knocked out by Thiago Santos in 2019. Wins over Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza and Corey Anderson l…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jdn_ln8uxw&w=560&h=315] 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 brother of former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Paulo Costa would like to add some details to the story about Costa drinking too much wine before his last fight. Scheduled to face Robert Whittaker on April 17 in Las Vegas, top-ranked middleweight Costa (13-1) brought a big story to MMA world last week. “Borrachinha” declared on his YouTube channel that he fought drunk against Israel Adesanya, in the main event of UFC 253 last September at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

On Wednesday, Costa’s older brother and head coach, Carlos Borracha, confirmed that information in an interview with Sherdog.

“He arrived in Abu Dhabi weighing 211 lbs., and because of that, we needed to train a lot in the [days before] the fight. Due to that, after the …

Kang Ji Won springs a MASSIVE upset, stopping Amir Aliakbari in Round 1! #ONEFistsOfFury2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/zje6KvjwkA

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 5, 2021 In a sharp contrast from the previous event, just one bout on the second, pre-recorded part of One Championship’s “Fists of Fury” series went to the judges.

The main event of One: Fists of Fury 2 saw Ji Won Kang (5-0) taking on decorated Iranian wrestler Amir Aliakbari (10-2) in their heavyweight tilt. The two behemoths took a few seconds to study one other early in the fight, with Aliakbari keeping the center of the cage while Kang was reaching out with a few kicks. After chasing the South Korean fighter for a while, Aliakbari finally reached “Mighty Warrior” with a right hand, followed by another heavy that forced his opponent to retreat. The face of the Kang immediately showed damage from the Iranian fighter’s strikes, as Kang’s left eye started…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ROZZcIBDI?start=887&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 259 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. If the Ultimate Fighting Championship has its way, fans will be back en masse at events in the very near future. At the UFC 259 pre-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White spoke to media about a myriad of topics including some upcoming events. Texas Governor Greg Abbott rescinded the mask mandate for COVID-19 on Monday, while opening up venues to 100-percent capacity. Effective March 10, all Texas businesses will be allowed to re-open to full capacity, and Abbott has stripped the local government from re-imposing a mask mandate. The businesses will be allowed to limit their own capacities based on their own internal policies.

This new development has the UFC head chomping at the bit to put on fight cards in front of large audiences again. White…

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. Two Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights looking for their first win inside the Octagon will clash in June. The news first came from MMA DNA, Josh Parisian (13-4) will try once more to win one in the UFC against fellow struggling heavyweight Roque Martinez (15-7-2) on June 19. This UFC Fight Night event does not yet have a location set, although it likely will take place either in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Parisian confirmed the news of this pairing on his Instagram.

Parisian, the first heavyweight to ever record a spinning back fist knockout in combined Zuffa history, did so on his first trip to Dana White's Contender Series in 2018. The stellar finish did not earn him a place on the roster, and instead a slot on Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Unsuccessful in…

BREAKING NEWS

UFC debut for Nikolas Motta against Damir Hadzovic is set to take place on May 8th.#UFC #MMA #UFCESPN https://t.co/H25UgcWDas pic.twitter.com/PdywHhJfFz

— MMA DNA (@MMADNANL) March 4, 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. A promising Dana White's Contender Series signee has his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut set for May.

First reported by MMA DNA on Thursday, Nikolas Motta (12-3) will be squaring off against Damir Hadzovic (13-6) at lightweight on the May 8 UFC Fight Night card. The event, which is currently tabbed to take place in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, does not yet have a headliner booked. The match was confirmed later by multiple outlets.

Motta prevailed on the ninth week of the 2020 season of DWCS, where he captured a decision over Joseph Lowry to earn a contract. The ex-Cage Fury Fighti…

We have a home for the 2021 PFL Regular Season! @TheOceanAC will host all 6 regular-season events in a bubble environment.

— PFL MMA (@ProFightLeague) March 4, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the PFL live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The Professional Fighters League has its home for its upcoming tournament season. Via press release from the organization on Thursday, each of the six fight cards of the PFL regular season will be held at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The league has erected a “state-of-the-art” bubble environment, which will require fighters to check in 17 days before their bouts to quarantine. The PFL will be running heightened COVID-19 protocols in order to preserve all of the tournament matchups. It is unclear how the promotion will handle short-notice replacement fights in the event of a fighter's withdrawal, or if any competitor falls …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is parting ways with longtime heavyweight standouts Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report Overeem’s release, while dos Santos initially brought word of his departure via social media. Multiple outlets have since confirmed the cuts. According to a report from ESPN, Overeem had two bouts remaining on his UFC contract, while dos Santos had five.

Overeem recently competed at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6, when he had a two-bout winning streak snapped in a second-round technical knockout loss against Alexander Volkov. A former Strikeforce, K-1 and Dream champion, Overeem made his Octagon debut with a first-round stoppage of Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 and proceeded to compile a 12-8 mark within the Las Vegas-based promotion. “The Demolition Man” challenged for heavyweight gold at UFC 203, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Stipe Miocic in September 2016.

The 40-year-old Dutchman owns a…

Cub Swanson will attempt to hand Giga Chikadze his first Ultimate Fighting Championship defeat when the featherweights lock horns on May 1.

Multiple outlets confirmed the bout following an initial report from Adjarasport. UFC Fight Night takes place at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a light heavyweight clash between Dominick Reyes and Jiri Prochazka.

After enduring a four-bout skid from December 2017 to May 2019, Swanson has scored consecutive victories against Kron Gracie and Daniel Pineda in his last two Octagon appearances. The World Extreme Cagefighting veteran notably authored a six-fight winning streak early in his UFC tenure that included wins over Jeremy Stephens, Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira but has never fought for a title in the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Chikadze will bring a seven-bout winning streak into the matchup with Swanson. The 32-year-old Georgian is 5-0 in the UFC and was very active in 2020, posting triumphs…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvm62DKK2iY&w=560&h=315]

Joseph Benavidez did some soul searching after his loss to Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC Fight Night 172 headliner this past July.

It was his fourth loss in a UFC flyweight title bout since 2012, and the division’s perpetual top contender had to make peace with the notion that his days of challenging for championship gold were over. It took some time, but Benavidez finally found the impetus he needed with a matchup against the unbeaten Askar Askarov at UFC 259 on Saturday.

“I think after my last title fight I came to the acceptance that was probably my last title fight,” Benavidez said during a virtual media day. “That’s kind of what I put in my mind. I had some fight offers earlier, and I wasn’t loving it.

“Then when I finally decided this was a good timeframe I want to fight in, and take a good break and fall back in love with training and the sport …. What’s the next best thing? I’m still wanti…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iT_vg9TYBc&w=560&h=315]

Had one scorecard gone his way at UFC Fight Night 165, Aleksandar Rakic could have been on the precipice of really big things in the light heavyweight division right now.

Instead, Rakic dropped a split decision to Volkan Oezdemir in December 2019, his only loss in six UFC appearances thus far. The verdict was contentious, with seven of eight media scorers awarded the decision to Rakic. Despite being outlanded by a 75-to-63 count in significant strikes, Oezdemir made a lasting impression on the judges with his low kicks, which led to some grotesque swelling on the leg of his opponent.

On the brink of a showdown with Thiago Santos at UFC 259, Rakic seems to have moved past the ruling, but he hasn’t changed his mind about who won.

“It doesn’t matter. On this decision, I felt like a winner. Everybody who understands MMA and who saw that fight know that I am a winner,” Rakic said during a virtual media …

For the third time, Bellator MMA will attempt to make a fight happen between Paul Daley and Sabah Homasi.

The welterweights have been booked to square off at Bellator 257 on April 16. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bout. Bellator 257 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and features light heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal matchups between Vadim Nemkov and Phil Davis as well as Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero.

Daley and Homasi were initially slated to meet at Bellator 232 in October 2019, but Homasi withdrew after suffering an injury. The two combatants were then booked for Bellator 241 in March 2020, but that event was scrapped due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

After losing a five-round verdict to Michael Page in the promotion’s welterweight grand prix, Daley has rebounded with a decision triumph over Erick Silva at Bellator 223 and a technical knockout of Saad Awad at Bellator 232. “Semtex” has compiled an 8-4 mark…

Jim Miller will square off against Joe Solecki at UFC Fight Night on April 10.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the lightweight pairing. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight duel betwee Darren Till and Marvin Vettori. The card does not yet have an official location.

The 37-year-old Miller has won three of his last five promotional outings. Most recently, he lost a unanimous decision against Vinc Pichel at UFC 252 this past August. His matchup with Solecki will mark his 37th Octagon appearance, a UFC record. Miller was supposed to face Bobby Green at UFC 258 but the bout was scrapped after Green endured a difficult weight cut.

Solecki earned a UFC contract with a first-round submission of James Wallace on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series. Since then, the 27-year-old has posted a decision win over Matt Wiman at UFC on ESPN 7 and a submission victory against Austin Hubbard at UFC on ESPN 15. Solecki has won his last five professional fights.

Roxanne Modafferi is slated to meet Taila Santos in a flyweight matchup at UFC Fight Night on May 8.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Combate. UFC Fight Night takes place at an as yet to be announced location and also features a women’s bantamweight tilt pitting Holly Holm against Julianna Pena.

Modafferi came up short in her first appearance of 2021, falling to Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 20 on Jan. 20. “The Happy Warrior” is 4-6 in UFC competition with wins over the likes of Andrea Lee, Maycee Barber and Antonina Shevchenko.

Santos, meanwhile, has scored back-to-back decision triumphs against Molly McCann and Gillian Robertson in her last two UFC appearances. The 27-year-old Astra Fight Team product has been victorious in 17 of 18 pro outings, with her lone defeat coming against Mara Romero Borella in her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 144.

Although Israel Adesanya is moving up a division at UFC 259, not much will change from his usual middleweight routine.

‘I’m gonna keep the same energy during my fight week,” Adesanya told ESPN. “I’m not gonna go crazy and f—-ing order Uber Eats and cakes and whatever. I’m just gonna keep the same energy.”

The reigning 185-pound king will attempt to become a two-division champion when he faces reigning light heavyweight title holder Jan Blachowicz Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Despite facing an opponent who has competed at 205 pounds for years, Adesanya didn’t adopt a plan to pack on extra weight.

“Put it this way,” Adesanya said. “I could still make 185 if I have to.”

That said, “The Last Stylebender” expects to weight below 200 pounds when he hits the scales and when he stands across the Octagon from Blachowicz.

“Don’t be surprised if I weigh in at like 193,” he said. “Don’t be surprised.”

For Adesanya, maintaining a routi…