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Bellator MMA has just seen its big event shaken up on fight day.

First reported by MMA Fighting on Thursday, two bouts have been scratched from Bellator 250. Both Veta Arteaga and Nick Newell have tested positive for COVID-19, and they have been pulled from their respective pairings against Desiree Yanez and Zach Zane. The news has since been confirmed by ESPN, and Yanez has since posted about the scrapped Oct. 29 fight on her Instagram.

Yanez, who was aiming to make her promotional debut, wrote the following:

“*sigh* well guys…my fight is unfortunately canceled tonight due to my opponent getting tested positive for COVID. I really don’t know what to say other than I was more than ready to battle and still am. Bellator MMA is going to get this matchup back as soon as they possibly can. I am beyond devastated, but everything happens for a reason. More time to prepare. I love you all and the sup…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeZLF0O9m0&w=560&h=315]

With legendary middleweight Anderson Silva potentially having his last UFC bout on Saturday, Gegard Mousasi was asked to reflect on the decorated career of “The Spider.”

“He had a great career. I think in his prime he looked unbeateable,” Mousasi said during a virtual media day for Bellator 250. “He provided a lot of memorable fights. He’s definitely a legend in the sport. Maybe continued a little bit longer than he should, tarnished his legacy just at the end. In his prime — that’s what people are going to remember him as — definitely one of the greatest.”

While Silva, who is currently 45 years old, has indicated that UFC Fight Night 181 might not be the end of the line if he gets his way, the 35-year-old Mousasi doesn’t plan on following in the Brazilian’s footsteps in terms of longevity.

“At this moment I feel great. To be honest, in training I was better than ever,” said Mousasi, who will face…

An undisclosed injury has forced Robbie Lawler to pull out of a welterweight clash with Mike Perry at UFC 255.

Perry initially revealed Lawler’s exit on Twitter, and it has since been confirmed by multiple outets. Perry wants to remain on the card and requested a matchup with surging prospect Khamzat Chimaev, but Chimaev is currently slated to face Leon Edwards in the UFC Fight Night headliner on Dec. 19.

So @Ruthless_RL pulled out due to an injury. Looking for a replacement I asked for @KChimaev and we can do it at middleweight @ufc @FirstRoundMgmt

— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) October 28, 2020

UFC 255 takes place on Nov. 21 and is headlined by flyweight title tilt between Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko will defend her 125-pound belt against Jennifer Maia.

Lawler is currently on a four-bout skid in UFC competition. The former 170-pound king last appeared at UFC Fight Night 17…

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane will put her flyweight belt on the line against Juliana Velasquez in the headliner of a Bellator MMA event on Dec. 10.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official following an initial report from ESPN. The card is expected to take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and air on CBS Sports Network.

Unbeaten in 11 professional appearances – all but one of which have occurred under the Bellator banner – Macfarlane will be making her fifth 125-pound title defense. After claiming the inaugural crown with a fifth-round submission of Emily Ducote at Bellator 186, “The Ilimanator” has vanquished Alejandra Lara, Valerie Letourneau, Veta Arteaga and Kate Jackson in succession. Only Jackson made it to the final horn against the 30-year-old Team Hurricane Awesome representative.

Velasquez has been victorious in her first 10 professional outings. Five of those wins have come in Bellator competition, including a three…

A showdown between two-time title challenger Dominick Reyes and ex-Rizin champ Jiri Prochazka is expected to headline an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 27.

UFC president Dana White initially confirmed the light heavyweight booking to ESPN. A location and venue for the card has yet to be announced.

Reyes is coming off back-to-back losses in 205-pound title bouts. After dropping a narrow five-round verdict to Jon Jones at UFC 247 — a contest many thought he deserved to win — “The Devastator” suffered a second-round TKO loss to Jan Blachowicz in a clash for the vacant belt at UFC 253 on Sept. 26. Reyes began his professional tenure with 12 consecutive triumphs, six of which have come in UFC competition.

Prochazka made his Octagon debut in spectacular fashion, as he knocked out former No. 1 contender Volkan Oezdemir 49 seconds into Round 2 of their UFC 251 matchup on July 11. The 28-year-old Czech Republic native is on an 11-bout winning streak that i…

Junior dos Santos will square off against Ciryl Gane in a heavyweight bout at UFC 256.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the pairing. UFC 256 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 12 and features a women’s featherweight title tilt pitting Amanda Nunes against Megan Anderson.

A former heavyweight champion, dos Santos has fallen on hard times of late. “Cigano” is currently on a three-fight losing streak in which he has been finished in succession by Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Prior to that skid, the 36-year-old Brazilian had been victorious in four of his last five Octagon appearances.

After taking a three-round verdict over Tanner Boser at UFC Fight Night 165, Gane has had four fights fall through for various reasons. Most recently, a prosposed clash with Ante Delija was at UFC Fight Night 180 was scrapped due to contract issues for Gane’s opponent. The 30-year-old Frenchman is 6-0 as a professional — including three …

Three new bouts have been added to the lineup for Invicta Fighting Championships 43.

The all-female promotion announced the following contests on Wednesday: Stephanie Geltmacher vs. Trisha Cicero at flyweight; Juliana Miller vs. Kendal Holowell at strawweight and Courtney King vs. TBA at featherweight.

Invicta FC 43 takes place in Kansas City on Nov. 20 and is headlined by a championship doubleheader, as Pearl Gonzalez square off against Erin Blanchfield for flyweight gold, while Emily Ducote meets Montserrat Ruiz for the strawweight crown.

Invicta FC 43 takes place behind closed doors and airs on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The event will utilize open scoring.

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Gegard Mousasi and Douglas Lima are official for their middleweight championship matchup at Bellator 250.

Mousasi tipped the scales at 184.9 pounds at weigh-ins on Wednesday, while Lima also checked in at 184.9 pounds. Bellator 250 takes place at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut on Thursday. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network and Dazn at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream immediately prior on Bellator’s YouTube channel and Dazn at 5:15 p.m. ET/2:15 p.m. PT.

Elsewhere, a 137-pound catchweight showdown between Toby Misech and Jared Scoggins was canceled after Misech weighed 142.4 pounds. Scoggins made weight without issue at 136.6 pounds and is expected to be paid his show purse. Meanwhile, Veta Arteaga (126.2) missed her mark by 0.2 pounds for a flyweight clash with Desiree Yanez (125) on the main card.

Mousasi will look to reclaim the 185-pound throne after losing the belt t…

Felipe Froes will defend his featherweight crown against Magomedrasul Khasbulaev in the Absolute Championship Akhmat 113 headliner.

The ACA 113 event, scheduled for November 6 in Moscow at the VTB Arena, will be held without spectators. ACA president Alexey Yatsenko confirmed the news to Sherdog.com.

“In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we decided to organize the Moscow ACA 113 tournament only in a TV format. The broadcast will be available on our mobile application and our website in pay-per-view format,” Yatsenko said.

A veteran of M-1 and Bellator, “Frodo” Khasbulaev is a student of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and a relative of Khabib Nurmagomedov. One of the most famous Russian featherweight fighters, he has compiled a 32-8 record over the course of his career. In ACA competition, he has defeated Muhammad Kokov, Levan Makashvili and Alexander Bezerra. Khasbulaev has won 10 of his last 12 bouts, with his only two defeats during that time coming at the han…

Raoni Barcelos will step in for Jack Shore and lock horns with Khalid Taha at UFC on ESPN 17 on Nov. 7.

Multiple outlets confirmed the change after Taha announced the new bout on his Instagram account. Shore was forced to withdraw from the contest due to visa issues. UFC on ESPN 17 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight clash between Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira.

A former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion, Barcelos has kicked off his promotional tenure with four consecutive triumphs. Most recently, the 33-year-old Brazilian outpointed Said Nurmagomedov at UFC Fight Night 165 on Dec. 21.

Taha’s most recent victory over Bruno Silva was overturned to a no contest when Taha tested positive for a diuretic. Taha’s one-year suspension ended in October. Prior to that, the Dortmund, Germany, native lost a decision to Nad Narimani in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 134 before knocking out Boston Salmon in 25 s…

.@ThugnastyMMA FINALLY got his camo shorts. He’ll be fighting in them this Saturday on @espn+ pic.twitter.com/8AlMqYVdsk

— danawhite (@danawhite) October 27, 2020

Bryce Mitchell will finally get to don the fight shorts he has long requested on Saturday night.

UFC president Dana White posted a photo of the camouflage shorts Mitchell will be allowed to wear as part of his Reebok fight kit for his bout against Andre Fili at UFC Fight Night 181.

“Thug Nasty” has been lobbying for his own trademark brand of shorts for a while now. When Mitchell used the rarely-seen Twister to dispatch Matt Sayles at UFC on ESPN 7 last December, his biggest concern was some specialized apparel.

“Reebok, y’all are gonna have to kill me or make some camo shorts ‘cause I ain’t shuttin’ up ‘til then!” he said.

Mitchell, who competed on Season 27 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” is undefeated thus far in 13 professional appearances. That includes victories over…

Bellator MMA appears to be in the process of trimming its roster considerably.

Roy Nelson, Frank Mir and Joe Warren are among 31 fighters that are not currently under contract with the California-based promotion. It is currently unclear which of those fighters have been released by Bellator and which simply haven’t had their contracts renewed. Three athletes — Rafael Lovato Jr., Jon Fitch and Pat Curran — informed the organization that they have retired.

MMA journalist Jason Floyd was first to report the news, and it has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

Nelson signed with Bellator in 2017 and after defeating Javy Ayala in his promotional debut, lost his next five bouts with the promotion. The 44-year-old known as “Big Country” last appeared at Bellator 244 on Aug. 21, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to Valentin Moldavsky.

Mir, a former UFC heavyweight champion, went 1-2 in Bellator competition and is coming off a triumph over Nelson in his la…

BAM BAM BEATS THE BUZZER!! @bambamtuivasa with a HUGE KO at the end of RD 1!!#UFC254 #InAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/BAlo70TjqD

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) October 24, 2020

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje may have been trending as the biggest pay-per-view ever, but that wasn’t reflected in the ratings for the UFC 254 preliminary card.

According to ShowBuzz Daily, the UFC 254 prelims averaged 343,000 viewers on ESPN2 for a broadcast that ran from 12 p.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET.

That figure is the lowest for a pay-per-view preliminary card this year. The previous low, the UFC 253 prelims, averaged 523,000 views on ESPN2. Saturday’s offering was bumped off of ESPN due to daytime college football coverage. All the other pay-per-view prelims of 2020 aired on ESPN and had evening start times.

The UFC 254 prelims featured a heavyweight clash between Tai Tuivasa and Stefan Struve. Tuivasa won that fight by knockout at the 4:59 mark …

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Douglas Lima will have the opportunity to become a two-division champion when he meets Gegard Mousasi for the vacant middleweight crown in the Bellator 250 headliner on Thursday evening.

Regardless of what happens in that bout, the promotion’s reigning 170-pound champion has no plans to permanently exit the division in which he made his name with Bellator.

“I’m not leaving the welterweight division. That’s my weight class. I think there’s a lot more fights for me to do there,” Lima said during a virtual media day for Bellator 250. “But let’s see how I feel Thursday night. Right now everything feels great, but I’m still the same weight that I am when I fight at 170. I usually walk around at 200 pounds … I want to fight in both divisions. My goal is to win this fight and defend both belts.”

Lima expects to have a better result than Rory MacDonald, who was throttled by Mousasi via second-round TKO in…

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s request has been granted.

As he announced his retirement in the Octagon following a second-round submission of Justin Gaethje in the UFC 254 headliner this past Saturday, Nurmagomedov asked that he be granted the No. 1 spot in the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings. At the time, he was second behind Jon Jones.

“I know only one thing I want from UFC, you guys have to be me on No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, because I deserve this,” Nurmagomedov said after vanquishing Gaethje. “UFC undisputed, undefeated lightweight champion, 13-0 in UFC, [29-0] in all pro MMA career. I think I deserve it.”

Someone was listening, because as of Tuesday, “The Eagle” has surpassed Jones in the UFC’s latest pound-for-pound poll. The update didn’t escape Nurmagomedov, who reflected on the news in an Instagram post.

“It was work of my life, I never got anything easy, and nothing was given to me because I’m nice guy,” he wrote. “Hard work, hope f…

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Though nothing is official, the UFC is targeting March for a heavyweight championship clash between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.

UFC president Dana White revealed the promotion’s plans for the bout during a recent interview with TMZ Sports.

“That fight won’t be ready till March,” White said. “It could [happen in March] yeah, that’s the goal. We’ll see what happens.”

Miocic recently concluded a trilogy with Daniel Cormier with a five-round decision triumph in the UFC 252 headliner on Aug. 15. The Ohio-based firefighter is tied with Randy Couture for the most victories in UFC heavyweight title fights with six, and that includes a dominant decision over Ngannou at UFC 220 in January 2018.

Ngannou has rebounded from back-to-back losses to Miocic and Derrick Lewis to author a four-bout finishing streak where all of his victories ended in 71 seconds or less. He last appeared at UFC 249, where …

Khabib posted an X-ray of his broken toe from Oct. 7, two weeks before he would compete at #UFC254

(via @TeamKhabib) pic.twitter.com/k3FAPeHRVz

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 27, 2020 In addition to the emotional anguish of losing his father earlier this year, Khabib Nurmagomedov dealt with some physical hardships heading into UFC 254.

The lightweight champion shared on social media an X-ray of a broke toe suffered on Oct. 7, a little more than two weeks before his headlining showdown with Justin Gaethje in Abu Dhabi. Despite that injury, Nurmagomedov was his usual dominant self in submitting Gaethje with a triangle choke 1:34 into Round 2 of their 155-pound title bout.

“What this guy has been through, we’re all lucky that we got to see him fight tonight,” UFC president Dana White said at the post-fight press conference. “Apparently he was in the hospital, he broke his foot. Three weeks ago. So he has two broken toes and a bone in hi…

Jared Cannonier could be sidelined for up to six months following his loss to Robert Whittaker in the UFC 254 co-main event.

Cannonier is suspended for 180 days unless he is cleared by a negative x-ray on his left wrist. At a minimum, he is suspended for 30 days with 21 days no contact. The UFC, which served as its own regulating body, released a full list of medical suspensions from UFC 254 to mixedmartialarts.com.

UFC 254 took place this past Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi and saw Khabib Nurmagomedov defeat Justin Gaethje via second-round submission to defend his lightweight title in the main event. Everyone on the card, including both headliners, received at least a mandatory seven-day suspension.

Two other fighters from UFC 254 are facing potential 180-day terms pending doctor clearance: Nathaniel Wood (right hand) and Liana Jojua (needs ENT clearance).

UFC 254 Medical Suspensions:

Jared Cannonier: 180 days unless cleared by negative …

Jon Jones still isn’t buying the “Greatest of All Time” discussion that has surrounded Khabib Nurmagomedov since his retirement bout at UFC 254 on Saturday.

Nurmagomedov submitted Justin Gaethje with a triangle choke at the 1:34 mark of Round 2 in Abu Dhabi to run his career record to 29-0. Citing a promise he made to his mother beforehand, “The Eagle” laid his gloves down in the Octagon after the victory. Nurmagomedov’s record includes 13 UFC triumphs and four victories in title fights, the latter of which ties him with B.J. Penn and Benson Henderson for the most in the history of the lightweight division. Perhaps even more impressively, Nurmagomedov has rarely lost a round during his UFC tenure.

Still, Jones believes his 15 title fight victories (one of those was eventually changed to a no contest) trump Nurmagomedov — by a significant margin.

“I’m talking to all you Khabib fans out there,” Jones said in a video on his Instagram account. “Fifteen world titl…

The Bellator 251 main card continues to take shape.

Sherdog.com confirmed with a promotion official on Monday that a heavyweight clash pitting Tyrell Fortune against Said Sowman and welterweight bout between Derek Anderson against Killys Mota have been booked for the Nov. 4 lineup. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the matchups.

Bellator 251 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and is headlined by a light heavyweight duel between Corey Anderson and Melvin Manhoef. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

After suffering the first loss of his pro career to Timothy Johnson at Bellator 239, Fortune’s return against Jack May ended prematurely when he landed an accidental knee to the groin at Bellator 245 on Sept. 11. Fortune began his promotional tenure with eight consecutive triumphs.

Sowma, meanwhile captured Titan FC’s heavyweight belt in his last outing with a stoppage of Bobby Brents on Sept. 25. The Ameri…

This is actually happening

#KSW56 Main EventMichal Materla vs. @Soldic_MMA

You do not want to miss this!! November 14th!! Live around the world on KSWTV and via the KSW App available on iOS & Android! pic.twitter.com/zsCiHniQWm — KSW (@KSW_MMA) October 26, 2020

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki welterweight champion Roberto Soldic will move up to 185 pounds to face Michal Materla in the KSW 56 main event on Nov. 14.

The Polish promotion announced the matchup on Monday. KSW 56 takes place behind closed doors in Lodz, Poland and streams via online pay-per-view at KSWTV.com.

Soldic enters the matchup on a four-bout winning streak that began with him reclaiming the welterweight crown with a third-round KO of current UFC talent Dricus Du Plessis at KSW 45. Most recently, he outpointed Michael Peitzak in a catchweight affair at KSW 50 in September 2019.

Materla, who reigned as KSW’s middleweight champ from May 2012 to November 2015…

Austin Vanderford will square off against Chris Curtis in a middleweight bout on the Bellator 251 main card.

Sherdog.com confirmed the pairing with a promotion official following an initial report from ESPN. UFC 251 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Nov. 4 and is headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between Corey Anderson and Melvin Manhoef. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Vanderford, the husband of former UFC star Paige VanZant, was supposed to face Daniel Madrid at Bellator 246 on Sept. 12 before a positive COVID-19 test forced him off the card. The Gracie Barra Portland representative is 9-0 as a professional and 3-0 in Bellator. He also earned a victory over Angelo Trevino on Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

After losing three consecutive bouts under the Professional Fighters League banner to close out 2019, Curtis returned to the win column with a stoppage of Darren Smith Jr. in …

Undefeated for almost eight years in MMA, former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Paulo Filho in 2007 was labeled by Anderson Silva as the best middleweight fighter in the world.

Known for his effective grappling game, the Carlson Gracie blackbelt, who has been retired since 2014, recently discussed Khabib Nurmagomedov’s win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 with Sherdog.com. Filho offered a definitive take on the retired lightweight champion’s place among the sport’s all-time greats.

"Khabib´s win was a lesson to make all MMA fighters recall the origin of our sport which is martial arts, respect to the master, respect to your origins,” Filho said. “He showed to the world of MMA that it´s not necessary to trash talk or disrespect opponents to be a champion and be popular among fans.

“The numbers never lie -- 29-0. In my opinion, after what he did Saturday, Khabib is the best of all time.”

Filho also revealed that Khabib´s homage to his late father, Abdulma…

The Dream is alive and well! @Chase_Hooper with a successful R1 victory at #UFC245!

 Watch LIVE on @UFCFightPass NOW! pic.twitter.com/C3ck3Fc1mn

— UFC (@ufc) December 15, 2019 A featherweight scrap pitting Chase Hooper against Peter Barrett has been added to the UFC 256 lineup.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the booking. UFC 256 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 12 and features a women’s featherweight title clash between Amanda Nunes and Megan Anderson. That card will also see Petr Yan defend the bantamweight crown against Aljamain Sterling.

Hooper is coming off his first professional defeat in 11 outings, as he was completely outclassed by Alex Caceres over three rounds at UFC 250 on June 6. The 21-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series alum debuted in the Octagon with a first-round TKO of Daniel Teymur at UFC 245.

Also a former Contender Series competitor, Barrett dropped a unanimous verdict to Youss…