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Even with money tight internationally, the Professional Fighters League has added a significant investment to its already sizeable war chest.

On Thursday, the promotion sent out a press release announcing that a new investment from Ares Capital, Elysian Park Ventures and Knighthead Capital totaling $65 has been added to the PFL’s budget. This addition to the PFL’s funding that already combined for $110 million now totals a whopping $175 million. Per broadcast partner ESPN, a significant amount of this figure will be spent on free agent acquisitions.

The tournament-centric league, which took off the whole of 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic, has bolstered its ranks in its extended offseason. In addition to retaining the services of its previous champions like Lance Palmer, Ray Cooper III and Kayla Harrison, it has al…

Anthony Hernandez soumet l’invaincu (7-0 en MMA jusque là, 100% de finish) quadruple champion du monde de JJB, champion de l’ADCC en 2015, Rodolfo Vieira #UFC258pic.twitter.com/TT7gWaJoX3

— La Sueur (@lasueur_off) February 14, 2021

The UFC 258 preliminary card attracted 794,000 viewers to ESPN on Saturday night, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

The two-hour prelims aired on ESPN from 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET and saw Anthony Hernandez submit Rodolfo Vieira in the featured matchup on that portion of the card. The prelims also aired on ESPN+, but viewership figures aren’t available for the streaming platform.

UFC 258 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and saw Kamaru Usman retain his welterweight crown with a third-round stoppage of Gilbert Burns in the evening’s headliner. Outside of the main event, the card didn’t have the usual star power of a pay-per-view offering.

As expected, the ratings for the UFC 258 prelims came in below thos…

Dana White’s recent revelation that Jon Jones would get to face the winner of the Stipe Miocic-Francis Ngannou bout didn’t come as a surprise to Curtis Blaydes.

Miocic and Ngannou will square off in the UFC 260 headliner on March 27, and if all goes as planned Jones will get a chance to vie for heavyweight gold against the winner sometime in the summer. That leaves a contender like Blaydes, who will be gunning for his fifth consecutive triumph in the UFC Fight Night 185 main event agianst Derrick Lewis, on the outside looking in.

“I expected it. It’s Jon Jones. He's a money fight," Blaydes told ESPN. "If he wants to fight for the belt, yeah, he gets to fight for the belt. I'm not shocked. Do I think it's the most fair thing? No, but that's not what this business is about. It’s not about fair and who’s earned what.”

Jones, who is widely regarded as the greatest light heavyweight of all-time, vacated his belt last year in anticipation of a move to heavyweight. I…

A pivotal women’s flyweight showdown between Katlyn Chookagian and Viviane Araujo is in the works for a UFC event on May 15.

ESPN was first to report the matchup, which is close to being finalized by the Las Vegas-based promotion. A location and headliner for the card have not been confirmed.

A former title challenger at 125 pounds, Chookagian has been victorious in four of six Octagon appearances since 2019. Most recently, “Blonde Fighter” outpointed Cynthia Calvillo at UFC 255 on Nov. 21. The Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu representative’s resume also features wins over the likes of Jennifer Maia, Joanne Calderwood, Irene Aldana and Lauren Murphy.

Araujo, meanwhile, has earned victories in four of five promotional outings. The 34-year-old Brazilian enters the matchup with Chookagian on the strength of back-to-back decision triumphs over Montana De La Rosa and Roxanne Modafferi. Her lone defeat in the Octagon came against Jessica Eye at UFC 245.

UFC veteran Bryan Caraway is facing multiple charges after allegedly stealing an ATV from ex-girlfriend Miesha Tate and filing fraudulent insurance claims on the vehicle.

According to a report from the Tri-Cities Herald, Caraway is expected to enter a plea on March 11 forgery, making a false statement on a vehicle application certificate of title, false claims of proof in excess of $1,500 and first-degree attempted theft.

Caraway allegedly forged the title for a 2015 Polaris RZR and reported the vehicle stolen from his home in December 2018. Per court documents, Caraway bought the insurance policy just days before filing the claim. In the claim, Caraway valued the vehicle and its contents at $18,500.

After missing a Feb. 4 court hearing, Caraway appeared on the Washington state Officer of the Insurance Commissioner’s “Most Wanted” list. Caraway was removed from the list when he contacted the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office to schedule a new arraignment date on his c…

The last time Curtis Blaydes was in the Octagon, he landed a whopping 14 takedowns en route to a five-round verdict over Alexander Volkov in the UFC on ESPN 11 headliner this past June.

Considering Volkov’s most recent performance against Alistair Overeem, the victory looks even more impressive in hindsight. However, UFC president Dana White didn't seem to appreciate the means by which Blaydes had his hand raised, especially since the heavyweight contender fatigued somewhat down the stretch.

“He won. He talked a lot of s—t coming in this week,” White said at the post-fight press conference. “I don’t think you can talk the s—t that he talked this week and come in and perform like that. Talking about ragdolling people and not getting paid. Yada yada. He should be getting a title shot. He gassed out at the end of the third round, made it to the fifth and won the fight. Yeah, he won.”

As he heads into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 185 main event against Derrick Lewis…

A light heavyweight showdown pitting Ion Cutelaba against Devin Clark is set for UFC Fight Night on May 1.

MMA DNA was first to report the booking. The card takes place at an as yet to be determined location and is headlined by a 205-pound tilt between Dominick Reyes and Jiri Prochazka.

Cutelaba is looking to bounce back from consecutive first-round KO/TKO defeats at the hands of Magomed Ankalaev in 2020. The 27-year-old Moldovan is 4-5 during his promotional tenure and 15-6 with one no contest as a professional overall. He’s finished 12 of his wins by knockout or technical knockout.

Clark, meanwhile, had a two-bout winning streak snapped in a first-round submission loss against Anthony Smith in his most recent outing at UFC on ESPN 18 this past November. “Brown Bear” is 6-5 within the Las Vegas-based promotion and 12-5 over the course of his MMA career.

Kamaru Usman could be looking at six months on the sidelines following his latest title defense at UFC 258.

“The Nigerian Nightmare” must have his right foot X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or he will be suspended until Aug. 13. At a minimum, Usman is suspended until March 16 with no contact until March 7. A full list of medical suspensions from this past Saturday’s event were released to mixedmartialarts.com.

UFC 258 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and saw Usman retain his welterweight crown with a third-round technical knockout of Gilbert Burns in the evening’s headliner. Burns is suspended until March 31 due to lacerations on his right eyebrow and left orbital.

Seven other fighters from UFC 258 are facing possible six-month sits pending doctor clearance: Alexa Grasso (right knee), Maycee Barber (right shoulder), Anthony Hernandez (right hand), Dhiego Lima (nose), Mallory Martin (right elbow), Chris Gutierrez (nose) and Phil Rowe (left knee).

UFC 258 Me…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny2y8YmJsYw&w=560&h=315]

Khamzat Chimaev will continue his battle against the lingering health issues from COVID-19 in the United States.

According to a report from ESPN, the UFC is flying the welterweight prospect into Las Vegas to receive additional medical care. Chimaev was forced to withdraw from a March 13 headlining clash with Leon Edwards due to onging symptoms from the coronavirus. The goal is for Chimaev to fight in June, but his longterm health will be the primary concern.

Last week, in a video released on Frontkick.online's YouTube channel, manager Majdi Shammas revealed that Chimaev “thought he was going to die” after one recent training session.

“He was really bad. He didn’t even do two rounds straight. He did one round and then rested,” Shammas said. “He started coughing, started feeling ill again, and we had to cancel the training. He even went in an ambulance to the hospital.”

Chimaev was a breakout s…

A potential welterweight slugfest between Mike Perry and Daniel Rodriguez is in the works for UFC Fight Night on April 10.

The matchup was initially reported by Fighter Path. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Darren Till and Marvin Vettori.

Perry split a pair of bouts in 2020, outpointing Mickey Gall at UFC on ESPN 12 before dropping a unanimous verdict against Tim Means at UFC 256. “Platinum” is 7-7 over the course of his promotional tenure and owns other notable wins against the likes of Paul Felder, Alex Oliveira and Jake Ellenberger.

Rodriguez kicked off his UFC career with wins over Means, Gabriel Green and Dwight Grant before losing a unanimous decision to Nicolas Dalby in his fourth Octagon appearance of 2020. The 34-year-old owns a 13-2 career mark, with 11 of his victories coming inside the distance.

Kamaru Usman is a sizeable favorite to best Jorge Masvidal for a second time should the two welterweights square off again in the near future.

According to oddsmaker BetOnline, Usman opened as a -300 favorite, while Masvidal was listed at +250. As of this writing, Usman was listed at -310 and Masvidal at +260. The rematch must happen sometime in 2021 for any betting action to be valid.

Those odds are comparable to those released prior to UFC 251, when Usman opened as a -313 favorite and Masvidal was a +263 underdog. After original foe Gilbert Burns tested positive for COVID-19, Masvidal stepped in on less than one week’s notice and lost a five-round verdict to the reigning welterweight king on July 11. The card, which featured two other title bouts, drew an estimated 1.3 million pay-per-view buys.

After besting Burns at UFC 258 this past weekend, Usman turned his attention to a return date with Masvidal.

“Like I said, you’ve got this fake Jesus wannabe r…

The UFC is hoping the third time will be the charm for Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz.

The promotion has rescheduled the bantamweight clash for UFC Fight Night 186 on Feb. 27 after two previous cancellations. Munhoz and Rivera were initially slated to meet at UFC on ESPN 20 on Jan. 20 before being relocated to UFC 258 on Feb. 13 for undisclosed reasons. However, that second booking fell through due to a positive COVID-19 test related to the bout. MMAjunkie.com confirmed the new date after it was initially mentioned by MMAFighting.com.

UFC Fight Night 186 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight duel between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Ciryl Gane. The card is expected to stream in its entirety on ESPN+.

Rivera and Munhoz initially squared off more than five years ago at UFC Fight Night 77, with Rivera claiming a split-decision triumph. That was part of a 20-bout professional winning streak for Rivera, who is just 2-3 in the Oct…

Leon Edwards still needs an opponent if he is to remain on the UFC Fight Night 187 card, but it doesn’t appear that Colby Covington is a willing dance partner.

Last week, UFC president Dana White revealed that the promotion was working on booking a title eliminator between Covington and Edwards, potentially as early as March 13. Edwards was supposed to face Khamzat Chimaev at the event before Chimaev withdrew to ongoing COVID-19 issues.

In an interview with Submission Radio, Covington rejected the possibility of a matchup with Edwards.

“‘Leon Scott’ hasn’t earned anything,” Covington said. “I’m in the Colby Covington Incorporated championship business. I’m not in the Leon Scott charity business. This isn’t charity hour, man. I’m fighting at the top of the mountain. I’m fighting the best in the world …

“I’m not doing charity business no more. It’s not my fault this kid hasn’t fought in two years. It’s not my fault this kid – there’s people from England fi…

Former UFC competitor Paul Kelly is calling it a career at age 36.

The Englishman announced his decision via social media on Monday. Kelly last competed in March 2020, earning a technical knockout victory against Simone Bottino at a regional event in his home country. It was his first fight since 2013 after serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking.

“I had my time! and I would never change my path,” Kelly wrote. “MMA give me a life I would never have dreamed of, met people I would never have met. No drug can compare to the feeling of getting your hand raised after walking out for a straighter with 20k watching.

“At some point we have to let go, I was full committed to trying one more time with the gaffer @teamkaobon to win a British title. Covid has taken another year so am calling it a day.

“My life is on a different path now, one that means I can’t commit my life to fighting anymore like my opponent will be. Winning is winning and for me now winnin…

Ayaka Hamasaki will face Kanna Asakura for a second time with the atomweight championship on the line at Rizin Fighting Federation 27.

The Japanese promotion recently announced the pairing, which will headline its first event of 2021. Rizin 27 takes place on March 21 at Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan. According to a release, 5,000 spectators will be allowed to attend.

Nine other bouts were also confirmed for the event: Roberto de Souza vs. Kazuki Tokudome at lightweight; Tsuyoshi Sudario vs. Kazushi Miyamoto at heavyweight; Kleber Koike Erbst vs. Kazumasa Majima at featherweight; Koji Takeda vs. Takasuke Kume at lightweight; Tetsuya Seki vs. Yoshinori Horie at featherweight; Shooto Watanabe vs. Takumi Tamaru at bantamweight; Kazuma Sone vs. Hiroki Yamashita at bantamweight; Yutaro Muramoto vs. Seigo Yamamoto at flyweight and Kohei Sugiyama vs. Yuki Ito at flyweight.

Hamasaki and Asakura initially squared off for the vacant atomweight belt at Rizin 14, with …

After one of the saddest nights of his life at UFC 258, the first thing Gilbert Burns did when he woke up on Sunday was text Dana White asking to return as soon as possible.

Burns shared the story with Brazilian journalist Renato Rebello on his Youtube channel, Sexto Round, while waiting for his return flight from Las Vegas to Florida. Burns lost to Kamaru Usman via third-round technical knockout in the UFC 258 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday.

"That´s fighter life. Winning and losing is part of the game. Of course, the fact that I had such a good first round and seeing the belt so close made me feel the weight of defeat even more. But I cried a lot, had a long talk with Vitor Belfort, Ronaldo [Souza] and my older brother and somehow it helped me to wake up really motivated, texting Dana to get me back as soon as possible,” Burns said. "I just want to spend two or three weeks 100 percent with my wife and kids and return 100 percen…

WHAT A RIGHT HAND! HUGE Win for @RaulianPaivaMMA!#UFCRioRancho pic.twitter.com/NvhiuG5kJ2

— UFC (@ufc) February 15, 2020

A matchup of surging flyweights is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s May 22 event when David Dvorak locks horns with Raulian Paiva.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Ag Fight. UFC Fight Night does not have an official location or headliner as of this writing.

A 28-year-old native of the Czech Republic, Dvorak is currently on a 15-bout professional winning streak. The All Sports Academy product began his promotional tenure with back-to-back decision triumphs against Bruno Silva and Jordan Espinosa in 2020. Dvorak is 19-4 over the course of his career, with 15 victories coming inside the distance.

Paiva is 2-2 in the UFC after competing on the Brazilian edition of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018. After falling to Kai Kara France and Rogerio Bontorin in his fi…

Georges St. Pierre remains the gold standard by which all welterweights are compared in mixed martial arts.

So when Kamaru Usman surpassed the former champion’s record for most consecutive wins at 170 pounds on Saturday not, it was only natural that talk turned to how the current title holder might fare against the division’s GOAT. Usman, for one, said he would welcome the challenge.

“Of course, I would like Georges. But I don’t want Georges because of money or anything like that. Like I said, I’m a competitor. I want Georges because Georges left on top. Georges can still do it. I see him training. Georges, I’m watching you. I see you training. Georges can still do it.

“So, if there’s potential for that big fight and Georges wants to come back, then of course, Georges can cut the line, absolutely.”

However, St. Pierre’s interest in such a pairing doesn’t seem to be high at the moment. The Canadian discussed the possibility during an appearance on SN590’s "…

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

Polish strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski will square off against Senegalese heavyweight wrestling champion Serigne Ousmane Dia in the KSW 59 main event.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Monday. KSW 59 takes place on March 20 and will also see bantamweight champion Antun Racic face an as yet to be determined opponent. The event can be viewed on pay-per-view via KSWTV.com.

The 44-year-old Pudzianowski hasn’t competed since November 2019, when he defeated Erko Jun by second-round technical knockout at KSW 51. The 43-year-old made his MMA debut in 2009 and has compiled a 13-7 record with one no contest. All but one of his professional appearances have come under the KSW banner. He has bested the likes of Rolles Gracie, Bob Sapp, Oli Thompson, Sean McCorkle and Jay Silva over the course of his tenure.

Known as “Bombardier,” Dia is listed at 6-foot-3, 330 pounds and is a two-time “King of the Ar…

Despite a 17-fight winning streak that includes 13 triumphs in the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion, Kamaru Usman was feeling a little bit overlooked after UFC 258.

After defeating former teammate Gilbert Burns by third-round technical knockout in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, “The Nigerian Nightmare” issued a demand for respect that he feels he hasn’t received as of yet in his career. In particular, Usman pointed to pound-for-pound rankings, where he feels he has been slighted.

“That pound-for-pound list is not a popularity contest, you know? I haven’t really lost rounds in here – I control what goes on inside the cage,” he said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Just because I’m not the loudest guy in the room, I’m not the most braggadocious, I don’t get in trouble outside [the cage], I’m not in headlines all the time.

“Let’s be honest, they kind of disrespect me in a sense. That pound-for-pound list is not a popularit…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Maycee Barber emerged from a contract-winning performance on Dana White’s Contender Series with big ambitions for her Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Ahead of her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 139 in November 2018, Barber announced her plans to break Jon Jones’ record by becoming the youngest champion in promotion history.

“I’ve always said it: I’m going to be the youngest UFC champion,” Barber said prior to the event. “But it’s better to just let your actions speak and talk a little less. We’re going to say less, do more. And, yeah, you guys know. You’ll see where I go.”

The hype began to build in earnest as Barber dispatched Hannah Cifers, J.J. Aldrich and Gillian Robertson via technical knockout in her first three promotional appearances. She hit a speed bump at UFC 246, however, suffering a torn ACL in an upset loss to Roxanne Modafferi in January 2020. After more than a year on the sidelines, “The Future” retu…

Stefan Struve announced his retirement on Monday after a 42-fight professional career that began in 2005.

The 7-foot Dutchman revealed his decision on social media, citing an ear condition that worsened when he was hit during a recent UFC bout. Struve has dealt with vertigo, hearing loss and a ringing noise in his ear as a result of the condition, which is permanent but doesn’t affect his day-to-day life when he’s not training for a fight. Struve said he elected to call it a career after the UFC recently reached out to offer him a fight.

“I was able to take my space and time the last couple of months to overthink this, so this time it really is for good,” Struve said. “I’ve had an inner ear issue I’ve been battling since May last year. I caught a viral infection that has damaged my vestibular system and the hearing nerve in my right ear. After new tests done recently we learned that the vestibular system is not working properly, the first conclusion in May was that it…

Former Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Rodolfo Vieira was one of the biggest favorites at UFC 258.

In the early moments of his bout with Anthony Hernandez, it looked like all would go as planned, as he took his foe down and hunted for submissions. Once Hernandez escaped, it was an entirely different matter. Vieira quickly fatigued, and Hernandez capitalized with a barrage of power punches.

Vieira made it to Round 2, but Hernandez remained on the offensive, rocking his foe with a head kick and a pair of standing elbows. With Vieira fading fast, Hernandez added a shocking punctuation to his victory by tapping the five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion with an arm-in guillotine choke at the 1:53 mark of the period.

“That was one of the fights that we picked to be a great fight and it was,” UFC president Dana White said at the post-fight press conference. “Even the commentators were talking about, nobody wants to …

Sorry y’all. No performance of the night for me on Feb 27th @Cagesidepress @ufc pic.twitter.com/8giaZg4gy3

— Sam Hughes (@samhughesmma) February 14, 2021

UFC Fight Night 186 has lost a strawweight clash between Sam Hughes and Emily Whitmire.

Hughes confirmed the cancellation on social media following an initial report from Cageside Press. The bout was reportedly scrapped because Whitmire was forced off the card for undisclosed reasons.

It’s currently unknown if the bout will be rebooked for a future event or if Hughes will receive a replacement foe. UFC Fight Night 186 takes place on Feb. 27 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt pitting Jairzinho Rozenstruik against Ciryl Gane.

A three-time Legacy Fighting Alliance veteran, Hughes is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Tecia Torres in her promotional debut at UFC 256. Whitmire, meanwhile, is 2-3 in the Octagon and is coming off back-to-back submission…