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Corey Anderson made a successful Bellator MMA debut against Melvin Manhoef in the headliner of Bellator 251.

Anderson (14-5) immediately took down Manhoef (32-15-1, 2 NC) and pummeled "No Mercy" with punches on the ground. This cycle was repeated in Round 2, but "Overtime" was able to land several huge elbows that forced the referee to step in at 2:34.

The co-main event saw heavyweights Tyrell Fortune and Said Sowma face off. Fortune (9-1, 1 NC) was able to get back into the win column after suffering his first defeat earlier this year. However, Sowma (6-2) made the bout a competitive one and was the more active fighter later on. After 15 minutes of action, all three judges scored the bout 29-28 Fortune.

Middleweight prospect Austin Vanderford stayed undefeated against Vinicius de Jesus. The one-sided affair lasted a full 15 minutes as Vanderford (10-0) was able to outgrapple de Jesus (9-4). Vanderford took a unanimous decision victory earning scores of 30-26, 30-2…

Brutal!#AndNew - Amin Ayoub conquers Lightweight gold with this nasty knockout of Cleiton ''Predator''!#BRAVECF44 pic.twitter.com/o2BRR5twjH

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) November 5, 2020 A French revolution took place in Bahrain on Nov. 5.

The Brave CF 44 main event featured an intriguing clash as Cleiton Pereira da Silva (15-3) put his lightweight title on the line against Amin Ayoub (15-4). The defending champion imposed his striking skills over Ayoub early on before taking his opponent to the canvas. The French contender looked very comfortable with his back on the canvas and answered with a relentless submission offensive. “Fierceness” attempted multiple armbars, but the champion shrugged them off and kept scoring with strikes on top.

The tide changed by the end of the third round, when Ayoub shook “Predator” with a few shots. Although Silva was saved by the bell, the damage was done. Sensing that his time to shine was near, …

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. Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight Randa Markos will be looking to break her first career losing streak when she steps into a fight on short notice. On Tuesday, The Canadian Press put out a story that Randa Markos (10-9-1) was stepping in for Livinha Souza (14-2) to face Kanako Murata (11-1) at strawweight at UFC Fight Night 182. Confirming the news on Thursday was Combate, while also writing that Souza suffered an injury to her shin that will keep her out of action until January.

Markos returns less than two months removed from a first-round armbar defeat to Mackenzie Dern in September. With 20 career fights under her belt, the setback to Dern follows one from Amanda Ribas in March, setting the Canadian on her first losing skid. On the other hand, Markos has not won consecutive bouts since starting her career off at 3-…

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 title challenger Thiago Santos does not expect his upcoming headliner will last long. Sixteen months after a historic five-round title battle against Jon Jones, Santos is returning to the Octagon to face another Brazilian and former title challenger beaten by Jones. His thriller with Jones earned him surgeries in both knees, and confined “Marreta” to a wheelchair for two months. Despite the long absence, Santos is ready to pick up where he left off.

“Glover is a complete fighter that looks for the knockout or submission all the time,” Teixeira told Sherdog. “I would bet that this fight is not going to reach the 5th round. The only assurance I have is that fans will have a lot of fun in our fight.”

Santos also spoke about this matchup on Tuesday to Brazilian journalist Luis Coutinho, whe…

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 title challenger Thiago Santos does not expect his upcoming headliner will last long. Sixteen months after a historic five-round title battle against Jon Jones, Santos is returning to the Octagon to face another Brazilian and former title challenger beaten by Jones. His thriller with Jones earned him surgeries in both knees, and confined “Marreta” to a wheelchair for two months. Despite the long absence, Santos is ready to pick up where he left off.

“Glover is a complete fighter that looks for the knockout or submission all the time,” Teixeira told Sherdog. “I would bet that this fight is not going to reach the 5th round. The only assurance I have is that fans will have a lot of fun in our fight.”

Santos also spoke about this matchup on Tuesday to Brazilian journalist Luis Coutinho, whe…

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 Ultimate Fighting Championship beefed up its ranks by signing four competitors -- heavyweight Jared Vanderaa, featherweight Luis Saldana, welterweight Ignacio Bahamondes and light heavyweight Carlos Ulberg -- from Week 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Wednesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Perhaps the most intriguing talent to land a contract, Ulberg blew away American Top Team’s Bruno Oliveira with punches in the first round of their encounter at 205 pounds. Oliveira (8-2) bowed out 2:02 into Round 1, losing for the first time in more than four years.

Operating out of the City Kickboxing camp in New Zealand, Ulberg (3-0) measured distance with leg kicks and waited for an opportune time to strike. The Israel Adesanya stablemate countered a lazy jab from Oliveira with a ferocious multi-punch burst -- right and left ho…

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Round 1

(+ Enlarge) | Photo: Getty/UFC

Vanderaa trapped Hunsucker and unloaded with leather.

Hunsucker throws a big overhand and Vanderaa ties him up and backs him into the fence, where he lands several knees to the body. They separate and Hunsucker rushes forward swinging wild, heavy punches. Vanderaa survives the onslaught and they return to the center of the cage. Hunsucker counters a kick with a left hook that lands and he unloads again with a heavy flurry of punches. Vanderaa lands an inside leg kick, but Hunsucker is the aggressor early, throwing everything behind his punches so far. Hunsucker loads up on a huge overhand right but Vanderaa eats it. Hunsucker wades forward but Vanderaa eludes a punch and secures a rear body lock. Moments later, Vanderaa dumps his man on the canvas. With Hunsucker on all fours, Vanderaa begins lan…

If Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya does come to fruition, it won’t be until March at the earliest.

That’s when Blachowicz told ESPN he’d be ready to make his first title defense. The newly-crowned light heavyweight champion is expecting his first child with his wife in December, and his native Poland is still struggling to combat COVID-19. Blachowicz defeated Dominick Reyes to claim the vacant belt at UFC 253 on Sept. 26, and UFC president Dana White recently revealed that reigning middleweight champ Israel Adesanya will be next to challenge Blachowicz.

"I can fight in March with anybody," Blachowicz said. "It's no problem for me. But I cannot fight any earlier than March. If Israel wants to wait, no problem.

"In Poland right now, the situation is not so good, and we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Right now we train normally, but nobody knows what our government is preparing for. We'll see what's going to happen later.”<…

A welterweight clash pitting Stephen Thompson against Geoff Neal is in the works for a UFC event on Dec. 19.

ESPN was first to report the bout. The event takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight tilt between Leon Edwards and Khamzhat Chimaev. Thompson vs. Neal has not been officially announced, but the promotion is close to finalizing the fight.

Thompson will be making his first Octagon appearance of 2020. The former title challenger halted a two-bout skid in his last outing when he took a unanimous decision over Vicente Luque at UFC 244 in November 2019. “Wonderboy” owns other notable wins against the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Rory MacDonald, Robert Whittaker, Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger.

Neal has won his first five UFC bouts to emerge as a new contender in the welterweight division. The Contender Series veteran was supposed to face Neil Magny in August but was forced to withdraw from the contest for health reasons. N…

Former UFC middleweight No. 1 contender Paulo Costa recently did a live session on his YouTube channel in which he revealed a desire to face Robert Whittaker for the interim 185-pound belt.

“Whitaker is No. 1 in the rankings, I’m No. 2,” Costa said. “Once [Israel] Adesanya goes up to light heavyweight, it makes sense to have an interim title fight. I’ve already talked to [UFC president Dana White] and he said he would love to see that fight.”

There is recent precedent for such a move in the middleweight division: When Whittaker, who was the reigning champion at the time, was unable to compete at UFC 236 because he was recovering from hernia surgery, the promotion booked an interim title clash between Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum. With Adesanya expected to move to 205 pounds to challenge reigning light heavyweight king Jan Blachowicz, it’s unclear how long it will be until “The Last Stylebender” makes another title defense at 185 pounds.

In the same live session,…

UPSET CITY

@KevinCroom_MMA, welcome to the Octagon!

[ #UFCVegas10 - LIVE now on #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/mPG9x6PL6e — UFC (@ufc) September 12, 2020

UFC lightweight Kevin Croom and Dana White’s Contender Series alum Jose Flores each received four-and-a-half month suspensions from the Nevada Athletic Commission after testing positive for marijuana in relation to recent bouts.

The NAC issued the sanctions during a teleconference on Wednesday. Additionally, Contender Series heavyweight Chad Johnson received a nine-month term for testing positive for a banned amphetamine, while UFC welterweight Niko Price had a temporary suspension extended after testing positive for the prohibited cannabinoid carboxy THC in relation to his bout at UFC Fight Night 178 on Sept. 19.

Croom scored a major upset in his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 177, where he submitted Roosevelt Roberts with a guillotine choke 31 seconds into Round 1. Croom te…

Tito Ortiz can now add elected official to his list of achievements.

The UFC Hall of Famer won a seat on the Huntington Beach city council on Tuesday night. There were three seats open for four-year terms, and Ortiz finished first among 15 potential candidates. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” received 34,901 (14.3 percent) of 244,792 votes to join Dan Kalmick (11 percent) and Natalie Moser (10.9 percent) in earning a seat.

Ortiz identifies as a Republican conservative and has ties to President Donald Trump dating back to his appearance on the reality show “The Celebrity Apprentice.” Ortiz has continued to be a vocal Trump supporter since his election in 2016.

According to his campaign website, Ortiz’s platform is focused on supporting law enforcement, promoting a healthy business community, legal immigration, school choice and addressing the homeless problem in the community, among other things.

“I am committed to representing Huntington Beach with honor a…

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

Corey Anderson’s Bellator MMA debut is now official, as both he and Melvin Manhoef made weight on Wednesday ahead of their light heavyweight showdown.

Anderson tipped the scales at 205 pounds, while Manhoef weight 204.2 for their bout, which will top the Bellator 251 card at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on Thursday. The evening’s main card will be televised on CBS Sports Network and Dazn at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream on Bellator’s YouTube channel and Dazn at 4:45 p.m. ET/1:45 p.m. PT.

A winner on Season 19 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Anderson makes his first promotional foray following a 15-bout stint in the UFC. The 31-year-old known as “Overtime” was on the verge of a light heavyweight title shot following a four-bout winning streak before a first-round KO loss to Jan Blachowicz ended those dreams at UFC Fight Night 167 this past February. Anderson signed with Bellato…

Anthony Birchak will make his first Octagon appearance since 2016 when he steps in on short notice to face Gustavo Lopez at UFC on ESPN 17.

Birchak is a replacement for Felipe Colares, who recently tested positive for COVID-19. Fansided was first to report the new bantamweight bout. UFC on ESPN 17 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight clash pitting Thiago Santos against Glover Teixeira.

Birchak enters the matchup with Lopez on a three-fight winning streak, with each of those victories coming inside of a round. In his last outing, the 34-year-old Arizonan scored a first-round submission of Erik Radleim at Combate Americas “Tucson” in October 2019. Birchak went 2-2 during a brief UFC stint from 2014 to 2016 before transitioning to Rizin, where he went 0-3 in the Japanese organization in three 2017 appearances.

A nine-time Combate Americas veteran, Lopez had a three-fight winning streak snapped in his debut wi…

Nick Browne by sub #LFA76 pic.twitter.com/CVu7cBz68R

— ShayMyName (@ImShannonTho) September 14, 2019

The event schedule for Legacy Fighting Alliance continues to roll on, as the promotion announced that its Phase 4 slate of events will kick off later this month.

While Phase 3 concluded with LFA 94 on Oct. 30, Phase 4 will begin with LFA 95 at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas on Nov. 20. LFA 95 will be headlined by a lightweight championship clash between Nick Browne and Arthur Estrazulas.

The rest of the LFA 95 main card is as follows: Myron Dennis vs. Dylan Potter at light heavyweight; Alexsandro Pereira vs. Thomas Powell at middleweight; Victor Altamirano vs. Lloyd McKinney at flyweight; Natan Levy vs. Bruno Assis de Souza Filho at featherweight; Michael Stack vs. Jordan Mapa at featherweight and Tabatha Ricci vs. Flore Hani at strawweight.

The second and final event of Phase 4 will be LFA 96 on Dec. 4. That card will feature a …

Saturday will be an evening of strong emotions for former UFC heavyweight contender Pedro Rizzo.

In addition to cornering Raoni Barcelos in his fifith Octagon appearance against Khalid Taha in a featured bantamweight bout at UFC on ESPN 17, he will also witness a fight between two of his very close friends in the main event when Glover Teixeira squares off against Thiago Santos in a battle of light heavyweight contenders.

“Glover Teixeira is like a brother to me. When he came to Brazil in 2008, we trained together every day for almost five years. We even lived together for almost one year in Florida,” Rizzo told Sherdog.com. “‘Marreta’ is a student who trained with me for four years. Actually, when UFC announced they would fight, I promised that I would go to my farm where my telephone and TV don’t work. That was my plan until UFC invited Raoni to the same card.”

Even though he doesn’t enjoy watching two friends fight, Rizzo recognizes the logic behind the matc…

One fighter missed weight on Tuesday for the latest edition of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Edson Gomez tipped the scales at 174 pounds for his welterweight clash against Ignacio Bahamondes (168.5). The fight will go forward as planned, but Gomez has been fined 20 percent of his purse. Meanwhile, all of the other six competitors slated to compete hit their contracted marks.

There were other issues with Wednesday’s card: A strawweight clash between Pauline Macias and Gloria de Paula has been postponed to a Contender Series event on Nov. 17 after de Paula tested positive for COVID-19. De Paula revealed the news on social media.

Dana White’s Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Wednesday and airs on UFC Fight Pass at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between Bruno Oliveira (203) and Carlos Ulberg (202).

Oliveira, 36, has won eight of his first nine professional outings. He last appeared at Titan FC…

Ex-Rizin Fighting Fighting Federation champ Manel Kape is expected to finally make his Octagon debut against Alexandre Pantoja at a UFC Fight Night event on Dec. 19.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bantamweight booking. The card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and will likely be headlined by a welterweight showdown between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Kape claimed the vacant Rizin bantamweight crown with a second-round technical knockout of Kai Asakura on Dec. 31. The 26-year-old AKA Thailand representative has won four of his last five professional outings — with each of those victories coming inside the distance. Kape was previously slated to make his promotional debut against Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 252 before his opponent withdrew from the bout due to injury.

Pantoja, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Askar Askarov at UFC Fight Night 172 on July 18. Prior to that defeat, “The Cannibal” had been victorious in four of h…

Both Uriah Hall and Anderson Silva are facing potential six-month layoffs following their headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 181.

Mixedmartialarts.com recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event. UFC Fight Night 181 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this past Saturday and saw Hall defeat Silva via technical knockout at the 1:24 mark of Round 4 in their middleweight clash. The bout was expected to be the last in UFC competition for “The Spider.”

Hall is suspended for 180 days unless both hands and his right foot receive doctor clearance. At a minimum, “Primetime” is not allowed contact until Dec. 1. Silva, meanwhile, is also facing a 180-day sit unless his broken nose is cleared by a doctor. At a minimum he is suspended for 60 days with 45 days no contact due to a left upper eyelid laceration.

Three other fighters from UFC Fight Night 181 are looking at potential six-month terms: Bryce Mitchell (left hand), Bobby Green (left eye) a…

Credit: One Championship Credit: One Championship Credit: One Championship

Kyrgyzstan native Kiamrian Abbasov will defend his welterweight title for the first time against American James Nakashima at One Championship “Inside the Matrix 2” on Nov. 6 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Prime Fight Management, which represents Abbasov, first brought word of the matchup. Abbasov's title defense against Nakashima was scheduled for April, but it was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2016, Abbasov became the champion of the Prime Selection Grand Prix and also won the MixFace/Tech-Krep FC Grand Prix belt, scoring three victories in one evening. In February 2018, the athlete signed a One Championship contract and three weeks later had a 10-bout winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to Luis Santos.

Abbasov rebounded to finish Agilan Thani and Yushin Okami under the One banner before claiming the title with a five-round verdict over Zebaztian …

An intriguing strawweight showdown between Michelle Waterson and Amanda Ribas is on tap for UFC 257 on Jan. 23.

ESPN was first to report the booking. UFC 257 does not yet have a location or venue but will reportedly be headlined by a lightweight tilt between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. That contest has not been finalized, however.

Waterson is coming off her third headlining appearance in the Las Vegas-based promotion, as she edged Angela Hill via split decision in the UFC Fight Night 177 main event on Sept. 12. That snapped a two-bout skid for “The Karate Hottie," who had previously dropped back-to-back bouts against Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

The 27-year-old Ribas has emerged as an interesting prospect at 115 pounds following victories in her first four Octagon appearances. The Brazilian last competed at UFC 251, where she submitted Paige VanZant in the opening stanza at UFC 251 on July 11.

A flyweight bout pitting Katlyn Chookagian against Cynthia Calvillo has been targeted for UFC 255.

ESPN was first to report the pairing. Contracts have not been signed, but the Las Vegas-based promotion is close to finalizing the matchup. UFC 255 takes place on Nov. 21 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a men’s flyweight title fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez, while Valentina Shevchenko puts her 125-pound strap on the line against Jennifer Maia in the co-main event.

UFC 255 will mark Chookagian’s fourth Octagon appearance of 2020. She suffered a third-round TKO loss to Shevchenko in a title bout at UFC 247 before outpointing the champion’s sister, Antonina Shevchenko, at UFC on ESPN 9. Most recently, “Blonde Fighter” fell to Jessica Andrade via first-round KO at UFC Fight Night 180.

Calvillo, meanwhile, made a successful foray to flyweight with a five-round verdict over former No. 1 contender Jessica Eye at UFC on ESPN 10 on June …

A positive COVID-19 test has knocked Pearl Gonzalez out of a matchup with Erin Blanchfield for the vacant flyweight crown at Invicta FC 43 on Nov. 20.

Gonzalez announced the news in a tearful video on her Instagram account Monday.

“I’m really sorry, but I’m not fighting on Nov. 20,” Gonzalez said in a video. “I got COVID and I’m really sick these last couple of days. My camp, [Invicta FC President] Shannon [Knapp], myself, just decided it would be best and that if I hold out. One, I might not be cleared of the COVID test anymore and two, I’m really f—-ing sick. This is really f—-ing brutal.

“I just wanted to tell you guys that I’m really sorry. I’m heartbroken. But I’m gonna focus on getting stronger.”

A promotion official confirmed to MMAFighting.com that Gonzalez vs. Blanchfield will be postponed until a later event. Meanwhile, a strawweight championship showdown between Emily Ducote and Montserrat Ruiz will serve as the new Invicta FC 43 main event.

I…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uux1xueBB-o&w=560&h=315]

The COVID-19 virus has caused a couple changes to Thursday’s Bellator 251 lineup.

Both Chris Curtis and Nainoa Dung have withdrawn from the event due to positive COVID-19 tests. Curtis was slated to face Austin Vanderford, while Dung was scheduled to meet Piankhi Zimmerman. As a result, Vanderford will square off against current CES MMA champ Vinicius de Jesus in a main card affair at middleweight, while Zimmerman will lock horns with Ali Zebian on the preliminary draw at lightweight.

Meanwhile, a preliminary light heavyweight clash pitting Terrance Jean-Jacques against Gustavo Trujillo has been canceled for unknown reasons.

Sherdog.com confirmed the updates to the card with a promotion official on Monday following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. MyMMANews first brought word of Curtis’ positive COVID-19 test.

Bellator 251 takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticu…