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The Ultimate Fighting Championship has signed its first Macedonian fighter and his name is Alen Amedovski.

Amedovski is still undefeated and is riding an eight-fight winning streak. The 30-years old has fought his last couple of bouts under the Bellator MMA banner, collecting two victories, both by KO. The first victory came by smashing Irishman Will Fleury at Bellator 203; the second by sending to the canvas Ibrahim Mane at Bellator 211 in just 12 seconds.

The American Top Team Rome representative announced the news on his social media accounts.

“This is my journey. I knew that I couldn’t end my days working in a factory. I couldn’t just be satisfied by this life. I wake up every day and my only thought, after my son and wife, is just one: MMA. I’ve slept on the mats; I’ve eaten just with five Euros a day, when I had them. I’ve invested everything on myself; I’ve sacrificed everything. I was always away from my son and wife and I knew that those moments were ne…

In a little over a week, one of these two men will be the new @BellatorMMA World Heavyweight Champion. pic.twitter.com/SiuqwHnAVo

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) January 17, 2019

DAZN is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up for a free trial here.

Bellator MMA is set to bring California a stacked card at the end of January, headlined by the heavyweight tournament finals of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Ryan Bader.

Via press release, the organization announced their full fight card of five bouts on the main card along with 11 preliminary tilts. Bellator 214 "Fedor vs. Bader" will air live on the Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and will be simulcast on DAZN. The preliminary bouts will stream on Bellator.com, the Bellator Mobile App and DAZN, as well.

Headlining the event will be the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix, where former Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight king Emelianenko will me…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight king Jose Aldo plans to hang up his gloves at the end of 2019, ending a hugely successful 15-year career.

Aldo is arguably the greatest-ever featherweight in MMA history defending, having defended the featherweight belt on nine separate occasions -- two in the WEC and seven after the division was absorbed by the UFC. The 32-year-old Brazilian takes on featherweight contender Renato Carneiro in the co-main event of UFC Fortaleza in Brazil on Feb. 2.

Aldo revealed on Wednesday afternoon that he intends to fight the last three bouts on his current contract with the UFC in 2019 and is hopeful all three fights are staged in Brazil before hanging up his gloves for good (via MMA Fighting):

“I want to end my career here in Brazil. That’s what we have planned,” Aldo said. “I want to do these three fights… I’ll fight in Fortaleza now, and I’m already negotiating my next one for May, if I’m n…

A potential all-action lightweight clash between Justin Gaethje and Edson Barboza is currently in the works for UFC on ESPN 2.

Multiple outlets reported the matchup, including ESPN.com. The contest is currently still under discussion and not a done deal. If the pairing is finalized, Gaethje and Barboza would square off at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on March 30. The card will air on ESPN.

Gaethje, the former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion, has gone 2-2 in UFC competition after beginning his professional career with 17 consecutive wins. “The Highlight” has established himself as appointment viewing in each fight whether he wins or losses due to his entertaining style. Gaethje is coming off a first-round knockout of James Vick at UFC Fight Night 135 on Aug. 25.

Barboza has compiled a 14-6 mark in the Octagon since beginning his promotional tenure in 2010. The Brazilian last competed at UFC on Fox 31, where he authored a devastating beatdow…

Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com

A welterweight clash pitting Darren Till against Jorge Masvidal will serve as the headliner for UFC Fight Night 147 in London, while another 170-pound clash between Leon Edwards and Gunnar Nelson is set for the co-main event.

UFC President Dana White confirmed the bouts to ESPN.com on Wednesday. UFC Fight Night 147 – also known as UFC on ESPN+ 5 -- takes place at O2 Arena in London and also includes a light heavyweight clash between Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes. The card will stream on ESPN+.

Till was contemplating a move to middleweight but will put that on hold to face Masvidal. “The Gorilla” was unbeaten in his first six Octagon appearances before suffering a second-round submission loss against Tyron Woodley in a 170-pound title bout at UFC 228 this past September.

Masvidal, meanwhile, was briefly linked to a bout w…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZwfCiPxRB8&w=560&h=315]

While fans have long speculated that Darren Till will eventually outgrow the welterweight division, “The Gorilla” himself finally seems to be plotting a move to 185 pounds -- but not just yet.

Till, a gigantic welterweight who has a history of failed weight cuts at 170 pounds, nonetheless made weight without issue for the biggest fight of his career, when he challenged Tyron Woodley for the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title at UFC 228 last September. However, that night saw Till completely outclassed by the champ, landing zero significant strikes before submitting to a second-round brabo choke.

The 26-year-old Liverpudlian, who teased a move up to middleweight after the fight with Woodley, was interviewed on a recent episode of the “Believe You Me” podcast. Till told host Michael Bisping that the Woodley fight opened his eyes on how to manage his huge weight cut, and maintained he plans t…

Stephen Thompson and Anthony Pettis have verbally agreed to a welterweight bout for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming visit to Nashville on March 23.

Multiple outlets have confirmed the pairing following an initial report from ESPN.com. The event is expected to take place at Bridgestone Arena, with the main card airing on ESPN+. Neither the location of the event nor the bout have been formally announced by the promotion. Thompson vs. Pettis is expected to headline the card.

Thompson, a two-time welterweight title challenger, is coming off a controversial five-round decision loss against Darren Till in the UFC Fight Night 130 main event on May 27. The karate specialist has won just once in his last four outings, a three-round verdict over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 217. “Wonderboy” owns notable wins against Rory MacDonald, Johny Hendricks, Jake Ellenberger, Robert Whittkaer and Patrick Cote during his promotional tenure.

Pettis, meanwhile, will be making hi…

In an ideal world, Ryan Bader would be an active two-division champion if he defeats Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 214.

However, the reigning light heavyweight titlist admits there isn’t yet a plan in place if he does leave The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Jan. 26 with two belts in tow.

“We haven’t really got into it yet,” Bader said during a media call to promote Bellator 214. “I want to defend both belts. We’ll see. I gotta win both belts first. If I do that, then we get with Bellator and get a game plan going — what’s best for us and best for them.

“It’s gotta make sense for me. I’ve got to be incentivized to stay here and fight big old boys all the time.”

Bader punched his ticket to the finals of Bellator’s heavyweight grand prix with a 15-second stoppage of Muhammed Lawal and a dominant decision against Matt Mitrione. Overall, the UFC veteran has won 11 of his last 12 fights. Bader could envision a two-division reign in part because he thinks the 205…

In 2016, when Francis Ngannou was starting to make waves in the UFC, he talked about wanting to help children in his native country of Cameroon by giving them something to dream about (courtesy of MMA Junkie):

“I want to give some opportunity for children like me who dream of this sport and don’t have an opportunity like me,” Ngannou said. “The last time I was in Cameroon, I brought a lot of materials for boxing and MMA to open a gym. Now I just bought a big space to start the gym, as well.

“A lot of children now in Cameroon, because of me, they have a dream,” he added. “They say, ‘I will be a champion in MMA. I will do boxing like Francis,’ because they saw me when I was young. I didn’t have anything. I didn’t have any opportunity. And today, they see me, and they are dreaming. They are thinking that something is possible. Even when they are so poor, something is possible in life. … It’s not easy. It’s so hard, but it’s possible.”

Fast forward to 2019 and th…

It’s no secret that Stipe Miocic desires a heavyweight championship rematch with Daniel Cormier.

Before he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Cormier in the UFC 226 headliner this past July, Miocic set a promotion record with three consecutive heavyweight title defenses. That type of consistency in a tumultuous division — the Ohio firefighter had also won nine of his last 10 overall before running into “DC” — leads Miocic to believe he deserves a return date with the champion.

Cormier, meanwhile, has stated that he plans on retiring before he turns 40 on March 20. Of course, the American Kickboxing Academy product has been seeking a potentially lucrative matchup with Brock Lesnar ever since the WWE star entered the Octagon to confront Cormier following his victory at UFC 226. However, Cormier has also stated that he would rematch Miocic if the Lesnar bout doesn’t come to fruition.

Miocic recognizes that Cormier’s retirement deadline is drawing near, and on M…

Logan Storley will square off against Ion Pascu at Bellator 216.

Sherdog.com confirmed the welterweight pairing with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 216 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Feb. 16 and is headlined by a welterweight tournament quarterfinal bout between Paul Daley and Michael Page.

Storley, a four-time NCAA All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota, is 9-0 thus far in his professional career. The 26-year-old South Dakota native’s stint includes four triumphs in Bellator, and in his most recent outing, Storley defeated A.J. Matthews via second-round TKO at Bellator 204 on Aug. 17.

The 36-year-old Pascu has lost both of his appearances with the California-based promotion, dropping a unanimous decision to Lorenz Larkin at Bellator 207 and falling to Ed Ruth by decision at Bellator 196. The Romanian fighter owns an 18-9 professional mark that includes nine wins by KO/TKO and…

FullForce pic.twitter.com/5YsiV5Bbb8

— AJ Agazarm (@TheFloridaBoy) October 3, 2018

Grappling standout A.J. Agazarm’s professional mixed martial arts debut will likely come against Jesse Roberts at Bellator 214.

Sherdog.com confirmed with a promotion official that the matchup has been targeted for the Jan. 26 event following an initial report from ESPN. The bout is expected to be contested at a 160-pound catchweight on the preliminary card. Bellator 214 takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and is headlined by the heavyweight grand prix final between Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko.

Agazarm, a Gracie-Barra black belt who is based in Los Angeles, won the IBJJF world no-gi championship in 2014 and finished second at the ADCC that same year. Agazarm also competed as a collegiate wrestler at Ohio State University.

Roberts will also be making his professional debut at Bellator 214.

It appears that Dwight Grant will not replace Randy Brown against Chance Rencountre at UFC Fight Night 143 in Brooklyn, N.Y., this coming Saturday as originally expected.

Grant was reportedly slated to step in against Rencountre on six days notice, but according to ESPN.com, the welterweight was not cleared by the New York State Athletic Commission due to an eye issue. Brown, meanwhile, was pulled from the card for unspecified reasons, although “Rude Boy” did claim to be 100 percent healthy. Kyle Stewart is now currently the leading candidate to face Rencountre, per ESPN.

UFC Fight Night 143 – also known as UFC on ESPN+ 1 – takes place at the Barclays Center and is headlined by a flyweight championship bout between Henry Cejudo and reigning bantamweight king T.J. Dillashaw.

Grant earned a UFC deal with a second-round knockout of Tyler Hill on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series this past June. The 34-year-old New York native came up short in his Octagon d…

B.J. Penn felt great training at Nova Uniao in Brazil prior to his UFC 232 matchup with Ryan Hall, but the end result was not what he had hoped.

“You know I felt like I had one of the greatest training camps in my life for this fight,” Penn said in an interview on BJPenn.com. “Training in Brazil at Nova Uniao was nothing short of amazing. I can’t thank Leo Santos and coach Andre Pederneiras enough for their efforts. We had practiced everything, including leg locks, and I felt great. It just didn’t work out this time around.”

Ultimately, Penn suffered his sixth consecutive Octagon defeat at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Dec. 29, as he tapped to a Ryan Hall heel hook 2:46 into the opening stanza of their lightweight bout. In hindsight, “The Prodigy” couldn’t do much but tip his hat to Hall, a skilled Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

“I was shocked at how deep Ryan was able to sink in the leg lock right off the hop,” Penn said. “The timing was perfect. I tried t…

Randy Brown has been pulled from a proposed welterweight matchup against Chance Rencountre at UFC Fight Night 143 in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Brown announced his exit from the card but did not offer a specific reason for his withdrawal. FloCombat was first to report the news.

“Thank you to all my friends family and the fans attending the UFC Brooklyn event,” Brown wrote on Twitter. “I am 100 percent healthy and ready to fight. My team and I tried our best to keep the fight on. Unfortunately, the decision wasn’t up to us. I’m excited to be back in action as soon as possible.”

Thank you to all my friends family and the fans attending the UFC Brooklyn event. I am 100% healthy and ready to fight. My team and i tried our best to keep the fight on. Unfortunately the decision wasn’t up to us. Im excited to be back in action as soon as possible #UFCBrooklyn

— Randy Brown (@TouchNgo_) January 13, 2019

Brown is 4-3 during his promotional tenure and 10-3 a…

Mario Bautista will replace the injured John Lineker on short notice and face Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night 143.

FloCombat first brought word of the new bout. UFC Fight Night 143, which marks the promotion’s debut on ESPN+, takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Jan. 19 and is headlined by a flyweight title tilt between Henry Cejudo and T.J. Dillashaw.

A product of the MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz., Bautista has kicked off his professional tenure with six consecutive wins. Most recently, the 25-year-old outpointed Juan Pablo Gonzalez at Combate Americas “Mexico vs. USA” on Oct. 13. All but one of Bautista’s triumphs have come inside the distance.

Sandhagen is currently on a four-bout winning streak that includes technical knockout stoppages of Iuri Alcantara and Austin Arnett in the UFC.

Daniel Teymur will square off against Chris Fishgold in a featherweight duel at UFC Fight Night 145 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Promotion officials recently announced the booking. UFC Prague — also known as UFC on ESPN+ 3 — takes place at the O2 Arena and features a light heavyweight scrap between Jan Blachowicz and Thiago Santos. The card will air on ESPN+.

Teymur is still searching for his first Octagon triumph after falling to Julio Arce and Danny Henry in his initial two UFC appearances. The Stockholm native began his professional career with six straight victories on the regional circuit.

Fishgold, a former Cage Warriors champion, suffered a first-round technical knockout loss against Calvin Kattar in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 138. That halted an eight-fight unbeaten streak for the Liverpool native, who is 17-2-1 in his professional tenure.

Cutelaba

Roberson@GloverTeixeira faces @KarlBabyK at #UFCBrooklyn on @ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/yzQxpfEUfr

— UFC (@ufc) January 12, 2019 You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ 1 live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first event with new broadcast partner ESPN+ has been plagued with injuries, but one fight at least will go on with a late replacement.

On Thursday, it was reported that Ion Cutelaba had withdrawn from his light heavyweight main card bout with Glover Teixeira at UFC on ESPN+ 1 due to an undisclosed injury. Only nine days out from the event, that left the bout in some jeopardy, but the UFC announced on Friday that Karl Roberson had agreed to step in on short notice and fight Teixeira.

The 29-year old “Baby K” came to the UFC through a brutal 15-second knockout win on Dana White's Tuesday …

Anthony Smith may be a huge underdog going into his title shot against Jon Jones in March, but there’s at least one fellow contender out there who thinks “Lionheart” may have more of a chance than he’s being given.

Jones recaptured the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight belt last month in the main event at UFC 232 with his emphatic third round submission victory over Alexander Gustafsson in their rematch bout. He was returning to the Octagon after a 15-month suspension handed down to him from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for testing positive for the drug turinabol.

After Jones’ victory, fans were calling for a trilogy fight with Cormier or for the champion to move up a weight division to test himself against the bigger fighters at heavyweight. Instead, the 205 pound king decided to take a fight against the red-hot Smith who is in the best form of his career after registering three straight victories in 2018 over Rashad Evans, Maurcio Rua a…

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Daniel Cormier has made no secret that he intends to hang up his gloves by the end of March, before his 40th birthday.

With just over two months to go before that date, fans are eager to see what fights are left for the former dual divisional champ with UFC President Dana White stating that he hopes Cormier reconsiders his decision as there a number of very interesting potential fights in the future for Cormier.

Cormier is currently eyeing a huge payday heavyweight bout against World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Brock Lesnar and has stated if that fight doesn’t go ahead, he wants a rematch against former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, whom Cormier knocked out in 2018 to claim the belt.

“DC” is adamant he is a man of his word and will retire in March. He recently appeared on the “Jim Rome Podcast” and revealed what he’ll miss the most when he finally does retire (transcribed by MMA News):

“The walk, th…

You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ 1 live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is not even into its first event of 2019, and it has already lost multiple major fights from its debut on an ESPN network, now losing Ion Cutelaba against Glover Teixeira due to injury.

Both John Lineker and Ion Cutelaba are out of their respective fights next weekend versus Cory Sandhagen and Glover Teixeira in Brooklyn, sources say. UFC looking for replacements but obviously time is of the essence with the card nine days away.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 10, 2019

According to a report by ESPN on Thursday night, light heavyweight Cutelaba has been forced to withdraw from his bout at UFC on ESPN+ 1 on Jan. 19 due to an undisclosed injury. The promotion is actively seeking replacements for Cutelaba as well as for John L…

Erick Silva will face undefeated Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 216 https://t.co/hWW4jKyEqz

— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) January 10, 2019

DAZN is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up for a free trial here.

Bellator MMA is stacking the deck at Bellator 216 in February, as the promotion has set an exciting welterweight contest between Erick Silva and Yaroslav Amosov.

On Thursday, MMA Fighting first announced that Bellator would be matching up Silva (20-9-1) against the undefeated Amosov (20-0). Silva was signed by Bellator in 2018 and was originally slated to make his debut at Bellator 207 against Lorenz Larkin, but suffered an injury.

The eternally youthful Silva made his post-UFC appearance a memorable one, tapping Nick Barnes in the main event of LFA 45 in July 2018. Before appearing in the Legacy Fighting Alliance, Silva celebrated a 15-fight UFC career spanning over six years, earning seven post-fight bon…

You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ 1 live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is not off to an auspicious start in 2019, losing a major fight just over a week out from their debut event on an ESPN network as John Lineker has withdrawn from his battle with Cory Sandhagen due to injury.

According to a report from Brazilian news outlet AgFight Thursday, bantamweight Lineker has been forced to withdraw from his bout at UFC Fight Night 143 on Jan. 19 due to a rib injury. The promotion has not yet announced whether he will be replaced or if Sandhagen will stay on the card.

Lineker was originally scheduled to face Dominick Cruz at UFC 233; however, Cruz tore multiple ligaments in his shoulder which may sideline the former champ for the next year. Lineker was then added to the UFC’s 2019 trip to Brooklyn, where he was set to face Sandhagen. Linek…

Despite her recent struggles on the scales, Mackenzie Dern will continue to compete at 115 pounds in the UFC for the time being.

The decorated grappler’s team confirmed the news to ESPN on Wednesday. Prior to her most recent fight against Amanda Bobby Cooper at UFC 224 this past May, Dern tipped the scales seven pounds over the strawweight limit. Dern would go on to defeat Cooper via rear-naked choke 2:27 into the opening round.

Dern has missed weight for three of her seven professional bouts overall. After UFC 224, Dern said she planned to work with the UFC Performance Institute to help with her weight-cutting issues. According to the ESPN report, Dern made her decision based on a consultation with doctors.

Dern debuted in the Octagon with a split-decision win over Ashley Yoder at UFC 222. The 25-year-old has finished four of her seven victories via submission while competing for organizations such as Invicta and Legacy Fighting Alliance to begin her tenure. She…