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For the first time since 2006, an Ultimate Fighting Championship legend is no longer part of the roster.

MMA Fighting first broke the news on Thursday that Anderson Silva (34-11, 1 NC) was released by the UFC. Shortly after this story came out, UFC President Dana White disputed the release when speaking to TMZ. A few hours later, White told TMZ that he was mistaken, and that Silva was indeed released from his contract. “The Spider” made his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 5 in 2006.

The all-time great middleweight started off his UFC tenure by rattling off 16 wins, a record that still stands. Capturing the 185-pound throne by smashing Rich Franklin in his sophomore appearance, Silva went on to defend it 10 times. This consecutive title defense streak record was later trumped by Demetrious Johnson, who retained it in 11 bouts. Along the way, Silva went up to light heavyweight a few times, scoring knockouts of James Irvin, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar – all…

*NEWS FLASH * Nevada Athletic Commission has cancelled my fight against Raoni Barcelos for December 5th . They want me to fight only a ranked fighter. I amReady .. Hoping they find me an opponent @UFC pic.twitter.com/J6rx4Au9hl

— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) November 19, 2020 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 hot Ultimate Fighting Championship prospect is not getting an opportunity he hoped for after all. Coach Ray Longo first spoke about the booking between Merab Dvalishvili (12-4) and Raoni Barcelos (16-1) at bantamweight at UFC on ESPN 19. At the time, Barcelos was stepping in for Cody Stamann, who pulled out for COVID-19 related reasons. Dvalishvili posted on Twitter on Thursday that the fight was off, but he claimed it was due to rankings and the commission. MMA Junkie has since clarified that this is no…

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. Three important Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts at lightweight and middleweight are now booked on the promotion’s first pay-per-view in 2021. MMA Junkie was first to report on Thursday that Arman Tsarukyan (15-2) and Nasrat Haqparast (12-3) will compete against one another at lightweight. The two will face off at UFC 257 on Jan. 23 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Tsarukyan has since confirmed the booking on Instagram, while stating that his initial plan was to take on Alexander Hernandez in December.

Haqparast rebounded from his first career knockout loss with a decision over Alex Munoz in August. Prior to facing Munoz, Drew Dober smashed him in 70 seconds at UFC 246. The German-born fighter holds a 75 percent finish rate throughout his career, with his most recent stoppage win due to strikes com…

After defending various submission attacks from Entwistle, Roa was able to get the upper hand, with the fight coming to an ending due to Ian's injury

Dumar Roa, your winner via TKO for BRAVE CF 45! #BRAVECF #BRAVECF45 #KombatKingdom #Bahrain pic.twitter.com/eMfpx3YygW

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) November 19, 2020 An unfortunate injury marred the ending of an otherwise exciting Brave Combat Federation event. The main event of Brave CF 45 was short but intense. The headliner pitted Colombia's Dumar Roa (9-7) against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Ian Entwistle (9-4), with the latter stepping back into the cage for the first time in over four years. The Englishman shot for a leg lock as soon as the match started, and for a time, it looked like he could end the battle emphatically. Roa kept faith to his "Corazon de Leon" nickname and stoically resisted the submission attempt, all while trying to fight his way out of it. …

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. Although already listed on Sherdog Fight Finder, and confirmed several times over by Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, the ink has finally dried for the big fight. On Thursday morning, The Mac Life announced that Conor McGregor (22-4) and Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) have signed their bout agreements to face one another again at UFC 257. The two will square off on Jan. 23 at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. They will meet for the second time, and over six years removed from their first pairing at UFC 178 in 2014, where McGregor won by first-round knockout.

The official signing by both parties puts an end to negotiations that included potentially shifting the contest to headline UFC 256 on Dec. 12. While they had both verbally agreed to the matchup earlier in November, both men…

The lineup for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event on Dec. 19 continues to grow, as a bantamweight scrap pitting Pannie Kianzad against Sijara Eubanks has been added to the bill.

MMA DNA was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweght bout between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Kianzad is on a two-bout winning streak after earning unanimous decisions against Bethe Correia and Jessica Rose-Clark in her last two UFC appearances. The 28-year-old Swede has compiled a 13-5 career mark while also competing in organizations such as Invicta FC and Cage Warriors.

Eubanks, meawhile, had a two-fight winning streak snapped when she dropped a unanimous verdict to Ketlen Vieira at UFC 253 on Sept. 26. “The Ultimate Fighter 26” competitor owns wins over the likes of Julia Avila, Roxanne Modafferi and Lauren Murphy in the Octagon.

Goiti Yamauchi will square off against former CES MMA lightweight champion Nate Andrews in a lightweight bout on the Bellator 254 main card.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 254 takes place on Dec. 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and is headlined by a flyweight championship tilt between Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Juliana Velasquez.

Yamauchi enters the matchup with Andrews having won six of his last seven promotional appearances. Most recently, the 27-year-old Japan native choked out Daron Cruickshank at Bellator 237 last December. Yamauchi is 11-3 over the course of his Bellator tenure.

Andrews, 36, won nine consecutive fights with CES MMA before a recent 1-2 stint with Professional Fighters League. Andrews concluded his 2019 PFL season with a majority decision loss to Chris Wade in the playoffs last year. “The Snake” is 16-3 as a professional, with all but on…

A light heavyweight clash pitting Misha Cirkunov against Ryan Spann has been added to the lineup for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event on Dec. 19.

MMA DNA was first to report the book. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight tilt between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Cirkunov will compete for the first time in 2020 after going 1-1 in the Octagon last year. Cirkunov rebounded from a 38-second TKO loss to Johnny Walker at UFC 235 with a first-round submission of Jimmy Crute at UFC Fight Night 158 in September 2019. The 33-year-old Latvian is 6-3 during his UFC tenure and 15-5 as a professional overall.

After earning a UFC contract on Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Spann was victorious in his first four Octagon appearances. That streak came to an end at UFC Fight Night 178 in September, when he was knocked out in the first round by Walker. The 29-year-old Fortis MMA product owns an 18-6 ca…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW5Pl7vzFnw&w=560&h=315]

Donald Cerrone knows that his mixed martial arts career is coming to a close, but “Cowboy” would prefer to go out on his terms.

The 36-time Octagon veteran is winless in his last five UFC appearances. After his last bout, a majority draw with Niko Price at UFC Fight Night 178 on Sept. 19, Dana White suggested it was time to have a conversation with Cerrone about retirement.

“For him tonight, the win for him tonight, he was on his way out in the first 30 seconds of the first round,” White said at the card’s post-fight press conference. “He fought back, he’s tough, he’s durable. I love ‘Cowboy,’ and I know this is going to f—ing crush him and break his heart, but it’s time to have a conversation with him.”

Cerrone dismissed the notion at the time but more recently, the BMF Ranch founder acknowledged that his career does have a shelf life.

“This is the last run,” Cerrone said in a video posted …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZZYaULbC2U&w=560&h=315]

Darrion Caldwell and A.J. McKee are ready to vie for a berth in the championship round of Bellator MMA’s featherweight grand prix.

Both Caldwell and McKee made weight without issue on Wednesday ahead of their headlining clash at Bellator 253. Caldwell tipped the scales at 144.7 pounds for the five-round bout, while McKee checked in at 144.8. The Caldwell-McKee winner will eventually square off against the winner of the Patricio Freire-Emmanuel Sanchez bout in the finals of the tournament with 145-pound gold on the line.

Bellator 253 takes place on Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and will also see Benson Henderson (170) make his return to welterweight against Jason Jackson (170) in the co-main event. The main card airs 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 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT.

Caldwell,…

It appears that Jesse Ronson could be spending a significant amount of time on the sideline after failing a USADA drug test.

The UFC welterweight announced the news in a post on his Facebook page. Ronson says he tested positive for the anabolic steroid Metandienone, which is also known as Dianabol.

“It is with great surprise, and sadness that I have to inform you that I have received a suspension from USADA for the detection of a banned substance in my sample provided to them during an out of competition test,” Ronson wrote. “This has turned my world upside down as it’s a 20-month suspension. I haven’t slept much and have been sick to my stomach as I would never knowingly or purposely take a banned substance.”

Ronson added that he spent $1,000 to have a supplement sent to a testing facility, but it came back clean. The fighter added that he was unable to provide USADA with any of his other supplements that might have been tainted.

“USADA has been working w…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 255 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. J.P. Buys, Gloria de Paula, Tucker Lutz and Victoria Leonardo punched their tickets to the Ultimate Fighting Championship during the Season 4 finale of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The season concludes with 37 new UFC recruits, some of whom have already touched down inside the Octagon. Buys (9-2) joined his wife Cheyanne on the UFC roster with his controversial technical submission of Jacob Silva in the first round of their flyweight showcase. With Silva stuck in a guillotine choke near the base of the fence, referee Marc Goddard intervened 4:54 into Round 1 despite the fact that there was neither a tapout nor concrete proof that the former Fury Fighting Championship titleholder had lost consciousness. Nevertheless, the stoppage was called, with Silva (6-4) immediately leaping to his feet …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 255 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live DWCS 2020 Week 10 coverage kicks off Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result

Paul Felder is facing a potentially lengthy layoff following his loss to Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC Fight Night 182 headliner.

mixedmartialarts.com obtained a full list of medical suspensions from the event, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. Felder must have an X-ray or MRI on his right elbow and doctor clearance or he will be sidelined until May 14. At a minimum, “The Irish Dragon” is suspended until Jan. 14 with no contact until Dec. 30.

Dos Anjos, who defeated Felder by split decision in his lightweight return, is suspended until Dec. 15 with no contact until Dec. 6.

Three other fighters from UFC Fight Night 182 are facing potential six-month suspensions: Cory McKenna (left ankle sprain), Alex Morono (right knee) and Roque Martinez (left knee).

UFC Fight Night 182 Medical Suspensions:

Rafael dos Anjos: suspended until 12/15/20 ;No contact until 12/06/20 for hard fight

Paul Felder: must have X-Ray or MRI of rig…

A flyweight bout pitting Maycee Barber against Alexa Grasso has been confirmed for UFC 258.

The promotion announced the matchup on Tuesday. UFC 258 takes place on Feb. 13 and is also expected to include a middleweight rematch between Chris Weidman and Uriah Hall. A location for the event was not revealed.

Barber hasn’t competed since UFC 246 in January, when she injured her knee in a unanimous decision loss to Roxanne Modafferi on Jan. 18. Prior to that, the Dana White’s Contender Series alum began her promotional tenure with TKO triumphs against Hannah Cifers, J.J. Aldricha and Gillian Robertson.

Grasso, meanwhile, made a successful 125-pound debut at UFC Fight Night 175, where she took a unanimous decision over Ji Yeon Kim at UFC Fight Night 175 on Aug. 29. The 27-year-old Lobo Gym MMA representative went 3-3 as a strawweight, earning notable wins against the likes of Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Randa Markos.

An intriguing featherweight clash will serve as the main event for UFC Fight Night on Jan. 16 when ex-champ Max Holloway locks horns with Calvin Kattar.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. A location for the event was not revealed.

Holloway is coming off back-to-back five-round losses to current 145-pound champ Alexander Volkanovski. The second of those, a split-decision setback at UFC 251, was a controversial verdict in the eyes of more than a few observers. The 28-year-old Hawaiian went undefeated in 13 UFC appearances from 2014 to 2018, a run that included a reign as the organization’s featherweight champion. “Blessed” successfully defended the crown three times before relinquishing it to Volkanovski at UFC 245.

Kattar has been trending upward with victories in four of his last five Octagon appearances. The 32-year-old known as “The Boston Finisher” went 2-0 in 2020, knocking out Jeremy Stephens at UFC 249 before outpointing Dan Ig…

Considered by some as the best featherweight fighter in mixed martial arts today, Patricio Freire had no trouble getting past Pedro Carvalho in the quarterfinals of the 145-pound grand prix at Bellator 252 last Thursday.

After yet another impressive performance, which ended via knockout in the first round, the Brazilian champion advanced to the semifinals of the bracket. In addition to claiming the featherweight belt, the eventual winner of the tournament will emerge with a $1 million prize.

“I have told him, in our first face off in March, that I would need two minutes to beat him. Once the fight lasted two minutes and 10 seconds, I have to admit that I failed,” said Freire, who is also the promotion’s lightweight champion. “Jokes aside, Pedro is definitely a tough fighter. I was prepared for a war, but everything ended up pretty much how my team planned.”

In the semifinals of the grand prix, Freire will rematch Emmanuel Sanchez. In their first encounter two ye…

More than a decade after their first meeting, Chris Weidman and Uriah Hall are going to run it back.

According to ESPN, Weidman and Hall have verbally agreed to square off at UFC 258 on Feb. 13. The Las Vegas-based promotion has not formally announced the bout or a location for the event.

Weidman defeated Hall by technical knockout in the first round at Ring of Combat 31 on Sept. 24, 2010, part of a 13-bout unbeaten streak by “The All-American” to begin his professional MMA career. The 36-year-old Serra-Longo Fight Team representative returned to action after nearly a year away at UFC Fight Night 174, where he captured a unanimous decision triumph against Omari Akhmedov on Aug. 8. Prior to that, the former middleweight champion had lost five of his previous six Octagon appearances — all by knockout or technical knockout.

Hall, meanwhile, is riding the momentum of the second three-fight winning streak of his UFC tenure. The Fortis MMA product is coming off a four…

Bellator MMA has signed undefeated Tajikistan native Khurshed Kakhorov to an exclusive, multi-fight deal.

The California-based promotion confirmed the signing following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. Kakhorov is expected to compete in Bellator’s bantamweight division, but a date for his debut is not known.

Kakhorov is based in Germany and also trains with the SBG Ireland camp. He has compiled a 6-0 record as a professional, with all but one of his triumphs coming under the German MMA Championship banner. Kakhorov has finished five of his six wins by knockout or technical knockout.

Brutal KO by Khurshed Kakhorov. Downward elbow followed by an uppercut. Kakhorov improves his record to 5-0. #GMC18 pic.twitter.com/asU71bhlWM

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) February 2, 2019

Most recently, Kakhorov defeated Patryk Chrobak by second-round TKO at European Fight Masters 4 to capture the organization’s bantamweight crown.

Considered one of the biggest legends of jiu-jitsu in UFC history, Demian Maia has just inaugurated a new academy in Sao Paulo, where, besides learning new techniques, students will be able to study the whole history of the sport, from the founders through the great competitors that marked jiu-jitsu history in Brazil.

In the following video, Maia delivers an exclusive presentation of the new space to Sherdog.com, showing the museum area and introducing the three dojos named after three icons of the sport: Hélio e Carlos Gracie (dojo 1), Carlson Gracie (dojo 2) and Fábio Gurgel (dojo 3).

According to Maia, who has 32 fights in 12 years in UFC, the main focus of the new school will not be to produce MMA champions.

“We will have one Octagon where jiu-jitsu classes and MMA will take place, but our main focus is to give the best structure to the public who wants to learn jiu-jitsu to have a quality of life,” Maia said. “We will have kid’s and women’s only classes a…

A bantamweight showdown pitting Louis Smolka against Jose Alberto Quinonez has been rebooked for UFC on ESPN 19.

Milenio was first to report the bout. Smolka and Quinonez were originally slated to meet at UFC Fight Night 182 on Nov. 14, but the bout was called off when Smolka was deemed medically unfit to compete after weighing in at 139 pounds one day prior.

UFC on ESPN 19 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight tilt between Jack Hermansson and Kevin Holland.

Smolka will be competing for the second time in 2020 after losing to Casey Kenney via first-round submission at UFC on ESPN 9 on May 30. The 29-year-old Hawaiian is 2-2 during his second promotional stint, earning victories over Ryan MacDonald and Su Madaerji.

Quinonez last appeared at UFC 248, where he suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Sean O’Malley on March 7. Prior to that defeat, the 30-year-old Mexican had been victorious in five of his previ…

Dhiego Lima will replace Sean Brady and lock horns with Belal Muhammad in a welterweight bout the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Dec. 19 event.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the new matchup. Brady was forced to withdraw from the card due to an indisclosed issue. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a 170-pound scrap between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.

Lima is currently on a three-bout winning streak after earning victories over Chad Laprise, Court McGee and Luke Jumeau in his last three promotional appearances. “The Ultimate Fighter 19” finalist is 4-5 over the course of two separate UFC stints.

Muhammad is also on a three-bout winning streak, including a unanimous verdict over Lyman Good in his last outing at UFC on ESPN 11 on June 20. Dating back to 2017, “Remember the Name” has been victorious in eight of nine UFC bouts, with his only defeat coming at the hands of Geoff Neal.

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

A bantamweight clash pitting Ketlen Vieira against Yana Kunitskaya has been rebooked for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 20.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing after Kunitskaya announced the bout on social media. The bantamweights were supposed to square off at UFC Fight Night 173 on Aug. 1 before being postponed to UFC Fight Night 174 the following week. The bout was then scrapped due to visa issues for Vieira.

A location and headliner for the Feb. 20 event has yet to be announced.

Kunitskaya remained on the UFC Fight Night 174 card, where she outpointed Julija Stoliarenko. The former Invicta FC title holder has been victorious in three of her last four promotional appearances, also earning victories against Marion Reneau and Lina Lansberg during that stretch.

Vieira, meanwhile, made her lone appearance of 2020 at UFC 253, earning a three-ro…

After three impressive title defenses, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will put her belt on the line for the fourth time Saturday against Brazilian Jennifer Maia in the co-main event of UFC 255.

Maia, a former Invicta champion, isn’t fazed by being a huge underdog against the champion.

“For everything she has done in the sport that's totally natural. But that challenge just motivates me to show the fans how much I evolved,” Maia recently told Sherdog.com.

Maia revealed that she received some valuable advice from UFC two-division champion Amanda Nunes, who owns a pair of victories against Shevchenko in the Octagon.

“We have a friend in common and I asked him if he could talk to Amanda. She was so nice and sent a very long message to me. It was funny that at the end she apologized for the long message. So cute,” Maia said.

“Basically she told me to not let Valentina be comfortable leading the fight and impose my rhythm. She is very intelligent and rea…