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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…

The Professional Fighters League heavyweight division just got a lot more interesting.

The organization announced on Monday that it has signed former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum, who will make his debut during the 2021 season. The 43-year-old Brazilian has competed for the UFC, Strikeforce and Pride Fighting Championships over the course of a 34-bout professional tenure that began in 2002.

Werdum joins a PFL heavyweight division that includes 2019 champion Ali Isaev, Denis Goltsov, Justin Willis and Mohammed Usman, to name a few.

“I am excited to announce Fabricio Werdum, the Tom Brady of MMA, has signed with the Professional Fighters League,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said in a release. “Fabricio is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time and knows when he steps into the PFL cage this coming season, it is more than a fight. The PFL sport season format provides an opportunity to control his destiny, like all PFL fighters, with a transparent shot to earn another…

Bellator 253 has lost a pair of matchups just three days out from Thursday’s card.

Two lightweight bouts -- Shane Kruchten vs. Lance Gibson Jr. and Marcus Surin vs. Ricardo Seixas – have been canceled, Sherdog.com confirmed with a promotion official on Monday. MMyMMANews first reported that Kruchten vs. Gibson Jr. was scrapped due to a positive COVID-19 test involving Kruchten’s team.

Meanwhile, Mark Glover is out of a proposed featherweight bout with Jason Markland and has been replaced by Sullivan Cauley. The other two updates were initially confirmed by MMAjunkie.com.

Bellator 253 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and is headlined by a featherweight grand prix semifinal pitting Darrion Caldwell against A.J. McKee. The main card airs on CBS Sports and Dazn at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream on Bellator’s YouTube channel and Dazn beginning at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT.

The final installment of Season 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series is now official, as all 10 athletes slated for competition hit their contracted marks on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The card is headlined by a flyweight showdown pitting J.P. Buys against Jacob Silva. Buys tipped the scales at 125.5 pounds for the bout, while Silva checked in a 125 pounds.

Buys has won four consecutive outings since falling to Joby Sanchez on Season 1 of the Contender Series in August 2017. Most recently, the 24-year-old Fortis MMA product scored a 73-second TKO of Cristian Rodriguez at LFA 78 in November 2019.

Silva, meanwhile, will be competing on his second Contender Series show of 2020 after dropping a unanimous verdict against Jeff Molina on Aug. 25. That setback snapped a six-bout winning streak for the former Fury Fighting Championship title holder.

Dana White’s Con…

KHAOS WILLIAMS ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?? @KhaosOXWilliams in 30 SECONDS!! #UFCVegas14 pic.twitter.com/YmWLw7P2VU

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) November 15, 2020

Kalinn Williams’ 30-second knockout of Abdul Razak Alhassan at UFC Fight Night 182 was one for the highlights, a finish so memorable it led SportsCenter’s Top 10 on Saturday night.

More importantly, it allowed Williams to further establish a foothold in the Las Vegas-based promotion. After debuting in the Octagon with a 27-second KO of Alex Morono at UFC 247 in February, “Khaos the Ox Fighter” wanted to prove he was no flash in the pan.

“This feels amazing. This is more important than that first one for me,” he said. “I came in with a splash, let the division know, let the world know I was here and this one just let everybody know it wasn’t no fluke. This is more important than my debut. That’s why I took the time to just dedicate all my time to it. I put a lot of stuff on hold, muted my lif…

Paul Felder received near universal praise for stepping up on less than one week’s notice to save the UFC Fight Night 182 headliner, but for Rafael dos Anjos, the change in opponent was something of a game-planning nightmare.

Despite spending the entirety of his camp preparing for a hard-nosed grappler in Islam Makhachev, dos Anjos was able to make the necessary changeskl to earn a split-decision triumph over Felder on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

“We had to make some adjustments with the change in opponents. I was training to defend takedowns against a southpaw and in five days, I had to fight an orthodox striker,” dos Anjos said. “I was kind of thrown off in the first rounds, trying to find the distance and get closer to him because he is a right-handed guy, so I had to change my game plan and try to grapple, take him to the ground. In just five days I had to do everything I didn't train to do. But we managed to adjust and adapt there and get the win.” Read more about Rafael Dos Anjos Felt Stronger in Lightweight Return: I Did What Guys Were Doing to Me

DROPPED him!!

That's wins in weeks for Sean Strickland! #UFCVegas14 pic.twitter.com/glOHhkUosF

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) November 15, 2020 After injuries from a motorcyle accident sidelined him for two years, it’s been a memorable couple of weeks for Sean Strickland.

Strickland earned his second triumph in 14 days at UFC Fight Night 182 when he defeated Brendan Allen by technical knockout 1:32 into the second round of their 195-pound catchweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. That victory comes on the heels of a unanimous decision victory over Jack Marshman at UFC Fight Night 181 on Oct. 31.

“2020 has been a hell of a year,” Strickland said. “I just love being a UFC fighter in the end of the day. After the action and everything, being a UFC fighter, I’m a fan boy. I’m just happy to be able to get in there, win, step in the Octagon and get people to like me and watch me, get fans... The whole year has been great for me.…

After some soul searching earlier this year, Paul Felder isn’t contemplating retirement following his latest defeat.

When Islam Makhachev was forced to withdraw from the UFC Fight Night 182 headliner, “The Irish Dragon” stepped in on less than one week’s notice to square off against Rafael dos Anjos on Saturday night. Although he lost a split decision, Felder exited the bout in a totally different mindset than he did following a February loss to Dan Hooker. After that setback, Felder openly considered calling it a career before ultimately reconsidering.

“I can tell you guys with certainty: I’m not going anywhere right now,” Felder said during his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “I lost my passion for this sport pretty bad. I can tell you I’m not done. I might lose my ranking a little bit, but what I’ve learned in this sport is none of that matters. What matters is going out there, showing up, showing who you are inside and what determination you have.”

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Rafael dos Anjos and Paul Felder battled for five hard rounds at UFC Fight Night 182, and their bank accounts will benefit with a little extra cash.

Dos Anjos and Felder received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their headlining lightweight scrap at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. Though Felder was quite game in accepting the bout on extremely short notice, Dos Anjos was able to impose his will through takedowns and grappling to earn a split-decision triumph in what was the Brazilian’s first lightweight bout since 2016.

Meanwhile, Kalinn Williams garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” paycheck for a spectacular first-round KO of Abdul Razak Alhassan in the evening’s welterweight co-main event. Williams countered a low kick from his opponent with a right hand that knocked Alhassan unconscious and sent his head bouncing off the canvas 30 seconds into the opening period, giving him two first-round knockout victories in as many Octagon app…

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. Part surgical tactician, part bloodthirsty warrior, Rafael dos Anjos in his natural habitat was a sight to behold. Dos Anjos closed the book on his eight-fight odyssey at 170 pounds and returned to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division for the first time in more than four years, as he banked a split decision over Paul Felder in the UFC Fight Night 182 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Judges Derek Cleary and Sal D’Amato scored it 50-45 for dos Anjos, while Chris Lee saw it differently at 48-47 for Felder.

A short-notice substitution for the injured Islam Makhachev, Felder (17-6, 9-6 UFC) enjoyed success in open space whenever he managed to hold the center of the cage. There, he cut loose with multi-punch volleys, sneaky elbows and intermittent leg kicks. Dos Anjos (30-13, 19-11 UFC) responde…