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A potential USADA anti-doping violation forced Neil Magny’s withdrawal from the UFC Rochester co-main event.

The veteran welterweight released a statement on his exit via Instagram on Tuesday. Magny was replaced by Derrick Krantz, who will face Vicente Luque on Saturday at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y.

“Throughout my MMA career I have been very transparent. I am not afraid to admit when I am in the wrong,” Magny wrote. “On Saturday, May 11, 2019, I received an email from USADA stating that I have been flagged due to an ‘out of competition drug test.’ The flag was due to a metabolite of the substance ‘Di-Hydroxy-LGD-4033.’ I have fully cooperated with USADA thus far to determine how this substance was found in the sample I provided them on May 5, 2019.

“I have always been an advocate for the strict drug testing in the UFC, even to the extent of opting for my collected samples to be used for research purposes by USADA. I know without a doubt that I have d…

It looks like Derrick Krantz will bypass Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in favor of a short-notice Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

Krantz revealed on social media that he has signed with the Las Vegas-based promotion and will step in to face Vicente Luque in the UFC Rochester co-main event on Saturday. FloCombat.com was first to report the new booking. Neil Magny was originally scheduled to face Luque.

Krantz was invited to compete on the Contender Series this summer by UFC President Dana White after knocking out Justin Patterson in the opening frame of the Legacy Fighting Alliance 63 headliner on March 29. The 31-year-old owns a 22-10 career record and has won five of his last six bouts.

The 27-year-old Luque has won eight of his last nine UFC appearances. All of those victories have occurred inside the distance, including a third-round stoppage of Bryan Barberena in his most recent outing at UFC on ESPN 1.

UFC Fight Night 152 takes plac…

SUPERMAN!!@Superman_Spann silences the Rio crowd and puts Lil Nog away in round 1! #UFC237 pic.twitter.com/KjiqceRpD0

— UFC (@ufc) May 12, 2019

The UFC 237 preliminary card averaged 813,000 viewers on ESPN, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

That figure is the lowest for a pay-per-view preliminary card that has aired on ESPN since the promotion began its partnership with the network. UFC 235 drew the highest ratings for prelims so far on ESPN, with an audience of 1.48 million, while UFC 236 prelims (893,000) were the previous low.

The featured bout of Saturday’s preliminary card saw Ryan Spann defeat Brazilian veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via knockout at the 2:07 mark of the opening stanza. That portion of the event led off with a marquee bout as well, when Clay Guida took a unanimous verdict over former two-division champion B.J. Penn.

Ratings peaked at 1.1 million viewers during the final 15 minutes of the preliminary dra…

Neil Magny has pulled out of his scheduled co-main event clash with Vicente Luque at UFC Rochester, according to a report from MMAjunkie.com.

The Las Vegas-based promotion has not yet formally confirmed Magny’s withdrawal, which occurred due to undisclosed reasons. UFC officials are reportedly seeking a replacement opponent for Luque.

UFC Fight Night 152 takes place at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., on Saturday and is headlined by a welterweight bout pitting Rafael dos Anjos against Kevin Lee. The card will stream in its entirety on ESPN+.

Magny last competed at UFC Fight Night 140 this past November, when he had a two-fight winning streak halted in a four-round knockout loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio. The 31-year-old is 14-6 over the course of his Octagon tenure.

The 27-year-old Luque has won eight of his last nine UFC appearances. All of those victories have occurred inside the distance, including a third-round stoppage of Bryan Barberena in his most …

Frankie Edgar, not Alexander Volkanovski, will receive the next featherweight shot against reigning champion Max Holloway.

Holloway and Edgar have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 240 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on July 27. The promotion is close to finalizing the 145-pound title bout, which will take place on the pay-per-view portion of the card at Rogers Place. ESPN.com was first to report the matchup.

Holloway and Edgar were initially booked at UFC 218 in December 2017, but “The Answer” was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. The bout was rescheduled for UFC 222 in March 2018, but this time Holloway pulled out of the fight. Edgar remained on the card to face Brian Ortega in a title eliminator bout, losing via first-round knockout. According to ESPN, Edgar was rewarded by the promotion for his willingness to face Ortega on short notice after Holloway’s injury.

One of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, Holloway saw a 13-fight winning strea…

Eight-time Rizin Fighting Federation veteran Daron Cruickshank will square off against Tofiq Musayev at the promotion’s upcoming card in Kobe, Japan, on June 2.

The Japanese organization on Monday revealed the finalized card for Rizin 16. Three additional MMA contests were confirmed: Thanongsaklek Chuwattana vs. Yusaku Nakaura; Mamoru Uoi vs. Kana Hyatt and Takaki Soya vs. Namiki Kawahara. Two kickboxing matchups were also announced, as YUYA will take on Yuki Tanaka, while Seiki Ueyama will lock horns with KENGO.

Cruickshank had a three-fight winning streak snapped in his most recent outing at Rizin 14, where he suffered a first-round submission defeat at the hands of Damien Brown. “The Detroit Superstar” has compiled a 5-3 mark in Rizin following a 6-6 stint with one no contest in the UFC.

Musayev, who hails from Azerbaijan, scored a second-round TKO of Nobumitsu Osawa in his first promotional foray at Rizin 14. The Ruslan Fight Club representative has won 10 co…

Jessica Andrade defeated Rose Namajunas on Saturday night to become the UFC’s new strawweight champion, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the hard-hitting Brazilian.

Andrade was outstruck by Namajunas for the first round, and worse, the champion successfully defended two attempts by Andrade to elevate her for high-amplitude takedowns. In the second round, however, the Brazilian delivered one of her patented slams, knocking Namajunas out in the process. In the immediate aftermath of the finish, there were concerns that the slam had been illegal due to the way “Thug Rose” landed on her head.

Well-respected veteran MMA referee John McCarthy was queried on Twitter by fans as to why the slam was considered legal, considering the potential injuries Namajunas could have suffered with the way she fell. According to McCarthy, the slam was 100 percent legal due to the way Namajunas defended it.

When Rose goes for the armbar she has a choice …

Aaron Pico will square off against Adam Borics at Bellator 222.

The featherweight pairing was initially confirmed by recently changed camps. Bellator 222 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 14 and is headlined by a light heavyweight clash pitting Chael Sonnen against Lyoto Machida.

The bout will be Pico’s first with Jackson-Wink MMA after the decorated amateur wrestler and boxer recently changed camps. The 22-year-old Californian had a four-fight winning streak snapped at Bellator 214, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Henry Corrales.

Borics, 25, has kicked off his professional tenure with eight consecutive victories. All three of his Bellator MMA triumphs have come inside the distance, including a third-round submission of Josenaldo Silva in his most recent outing at Bellator 205.

For a while inside the Octagon on Saturday, it seemed as if Jessica Andrade was going to be in for a long, punishing night.

Andrade was getting pelted by punches and kicks from defending UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas early and often. Andrade (20-6) was cut around her left eye less than a minute into what was the main event of UFC 237, and Namajunas, to put it bluntly, was busting her up. Namajunas moved well and tagged the Brazilian with her left jab over and over and whenever Andrade would come in too close, “Thug” cracked her with a left hook.

This formula continued throughout the entire opening round and half of the second. Andrade was getting flustered and launching wild, sloppy punches from everywhere, but Namajunas remained calm and picked her apart. It was starting to get ugly and it seemed as though “Bate Estaca” might wind up getting stopped at some point; Namajunas was that precise.

Everything changed, though, when Andrade scooped up the Ameri…

Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade’s strawweight title fight resulted in the two winning the “Fight of the Night” honors at UFC 237.

Namajunas was picking Andrade a part in the first round, but in the second stanza, the Brazilian lifted the champ up and slammed her on her head. The fall resulted in Namajunas being knocked out and a new strawweight champion being crowned.

Meanwhile, for her knockout, Andrade was also awarded a “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Finally, Warlley Alves’ knockout of Sergio Moraes nabbed him the other “Performance of the Night.” Alves was winning the fight through two rounds, and caught Moraes in the third with a knee and punch that knocked him out cold.

As God as my witness, Rose is broken in half! pic.twitter.com/YTuN43lgPF

— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) May 12, 2019

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 237 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Jessica Andrade came up short two years ago when she first challenged for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s strawweight world title and made sure it wouldn’t happen again.

In the main event of UFC 237 on Saturday night at Jeunesse Arena in Rio De Janeiro in Andrade’s home country of Brazil, she finally exorcised the demons. Andrade was having a hard time in dealing with reigning champion Rose Namajunas’ speed and accuracy with her punches, but the Brazilian never became flustered and stuck to here game plan.

Andrade (20-6) slammed “Thug” Rose twice in the first, but she never was able to get any sort of rhythm going on her feet. Namajunas was picking her apart with a slick left …

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 237 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Sherdog's live UFC 237 “Namajunas vs. Andrade” coverage begins Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Cole Shelton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Cole Shelton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Cole Shelton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Cole Shelton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Cole Shelton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Cole Shelton scor…

Dazn is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up here.

Sherdog's live Bellator 221 coverage kicks off Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:…

Stockton, California, on Friday was treated to a fun night of action courtesy of Combate Americas.

Combate Americas “Stockton” was main evented by an exciting lightweight bout between Erick Sanchez and Alex Velasco at Stockton Arena. Sanchez (9-4) showed an edge in striking early on and maintained the pressure for the rest of the first round. The second frame saw the Team Alpha Male product take down Velasco (7-4) and control the action. Despite being behind and suffering a busted nose, Velasco never gave up and managed to employ some effective dirty boxing inside the clinch. That was not enough to win a decision, however, as the judges awarded the unanimous verdict to Sanchez with tallies of 30-27 and 29-28 (twice).

The co-main event was a spirited flyweight bout between Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Hector Sandoval and Jorge Calvo Martin. The Team Alpha Male product took control early, as he took down Martin (10-5) and controlled the first round with superior g…

Gogoplata set up from mount. Andrew Tenneson submits Westin Wilson in R1. Shouts to Shinya. #LFA66 pic.twitter.com/gOqMTIgYxj

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 11, 2019 Tyler Diamond refused to blink.

"The Ultimate Fighter 27" alum made a successful Legacy Fighting Alliance debut and did so while under heavy fire, as he walked away from his LFA 66 headliner against Jon Neal with a unanimous decision on Friday at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26, all for Diamond (10-1, 1-0 LFA), who rebounded from his July 6 setback to Bryce Mitchell under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner.

Neal (9-1, 0-1 LFA) likely raised his stock in defeat. He sat down Diamond with a left hook early in the first round, countered takedowns with elbows to the side of the head and made the Team Alpha Male product work for every inch of ground he gained. Still, his efforts fell short. Diamond floored him with a…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEno0aG4VRY&w=560&h=315]

Dazn is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up here.

Bellator 221 is official, with a superfight between two divisional kingpins as well as one of the semifinals of the welterweight Grand Prix taking place at this event.

The card is headlined by a champ vs. champ fight as lightweight champion Michael Chandler (154.8) puts his belt on the line when he takes on featherweight king Patricio Freire (154.7). "Pitbull" is looking to become just the second simultaneous two-division champion in Bellator history. In the co-main event, the welterweight Grand Prix continues as former titleholder Douglas Lima (169.5) meets the unblemished Michael "Venom" Page (169.9), with the winner advancing to the finals.

Bellator 221 "Chandler vs. Pitbull" takes place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, airing on DAZN this Saturday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The event also features the undefe…

One of mixed martial arts' brightest young prospects remained unbeaten as Kayla Harrison dominated Larissa Pacheco in the main event of the first Professional Fighters League card of the 2019 season at NYCB Live at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, did virtually whatever she wanted against Pacheco (11-3) and rag-dolled her for three rounds. Pacheco never gave up, though, and hung tough for 15 grueling minutes, but she was never able to get anything going offensively against Harrison, who was much stronger in the contest.

Harrison (4-0) wasn't able to finish off her Brazilian counterpart and had to settle for a lopsided unanimous decision victory instead. Two cageside judges favored Harrison 30-27 while the third official had it 30-25 for the Ohioan, who picked up three points in the PFL women's lightweight regular season, capping off a solid night of MMA on ESPN2.

Reigning PFL welterweight monarch Magomed Magomed…

Official Weigh-in | Peso OficialAlex Velasco (155 lbs)Erick Sánchez (155.9 lbs)#CombateStockton pic.twitter.com/Ef8Km5pPpk

— Combate Americas (@combateamericas) May 10, 2019

Combate Americas makes its promotional debut in Stockton, California, for Combate Americas 36, and the main event is set.

In the Combate Americas 36 main event, Erick Sanchez (155.9) is set to take on Alex Velasco (155) in a lightweight scrap. Co-headlining will be a flyweight battle between Jorge Calvo Martin (125.7) against former Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Hector Sandoval (125.9).

Combate Americas 36 "Sanchez vs. Velasco," which airs live on DAZN at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, also features a featherweight fight between two relative newcomers Tino Gilaranz (145.2) and Jordan Mapa (*146.8). Meanwhile, Charisa Sigala (107) will put her undefeated record on the line when she scraps with Spain's Irene Cabello Rivera (107) in a 107-pound catchweight…

The Fall calendar for Cage Warriors has today seen two new additions with UK dates announced for both Liverpool and Birmingham. CW 107 will hit Liverpool on September 28, while CW 109 will arrive at Birmingham's door on October 26.

"2019 is turning into a massive year for us," says Cage Warriors president Graham Boylan. "We planned to deliver 12 events for the fans this year, and we're well on our way to delivering the goods. Our mission is to bring elite-level European MMA to European fans, and give our fighters a consistent platform to perform."

Liverpool and Birmingham will receive Cage Warriors for the second time in less than a year. Both 2018 shows were deemed "successful" by Cage Warriors standards, but it was the stop in Birmingham that served as the platform on which Scotland's Ross "The Hitman" Houston was crowned welterweight champion.

CW107 will take place at Liverpool's Exhibition Centre on September 28, and CW109 will hold court at Birmingham's Resor…

Combate Americas announced today that it will hold its "first-ever, world featherweight championship" in New Mexico on June 28. The main event will feature 2018 Copa Combate tournament winner Andres "The Bullet" Quintana (18-2) facing off against Bruno "Aquiles" Cannetti (8-6) in a much-anticipated rematch.

"Andres Quintana's victory of last year's Copa Combate was nothing short of brilliant, but his fight with Bruno Cannetti during the tournament left some unfinished business on the table," said Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren. "There isn't a better way to settle this rivalry than a rematch with the Combate Americas world title at stake."

Quintana, 27, calls New Mexico home. Originally from Roswell, Quintana now fights out of Albuquerque. His Dec. 7 championship victory in the Copa Combate tournament left Quintana the recipient of three single-night wins plus a $100,000 grand prize. The most notable of those three victories came in the semifinals against Argentin…

The Professional Fighters League is back for a second season, and its first event takes place Thursday at NYCB Live at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.

The card will be headlined by a women’s lightweight bout between two-time Olympic gold medalist, Kayla Harrison taking on Larissa Pacheco. Harrison hit the scales at 155.6 as she prepares to take on Pacheco (155.6) who is stepping in on short notice.

Meanwhile, Ray Cooper III (170.2) is back in PFL looking to capture the welterweight title when he takes on his cousin Zane Kamaka (172.8)* who missed weight. Cooper III has decided to take the fight, and the scrap will go on.

The event also features the return of welterweight champion, Magomed Magomedkerimov (170.4) taking on John Howard (170.8). Meanwhile, former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight and former Invicta Fighting Championships bantamweight champion, Sarah Kaufman (153.6) will make her lightweight debut against Morgan Frier (151.6).

The…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztlJtA6fnDg&w=560&h=315]

For the second time, Talita Bernardo has a new foe at UFC 237.

Viviane Araujo will step for Melissa Gatto and face Bernardo on Saturday at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Multiple outlets confirmed the change following an initial report from AG Fight. Bernardo was initially scheduled to fight Jessica-Rose Clark at UFC 237, but Clark withdrew from the contest due to injury.

UFC 237 is headlined by a strawweight title tilt between Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade. The main card airs via pay-per-view on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+ and ESPN.

Araujo, 32, is 6-1 in her professional career, with all of her victories coming inside the distance. She last fought under the Pancrase banner in August 2018, earning a doctor stoppage win over Japanese veteran Emi Fujino.

After falling to Marion Reneau and Irene Aldana in her first two appearances, Bernardo garnered her first promotional triump…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv6w64artGc?start=7920&w=560&h=315]

Between Rory MacDonald’s majority draw against Jon Fitch in their Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix quarterfinal and his surprising post-fight statements, the reigning Bellator MMA has had to do quite a bit of explaining in order to convince the world his heart is still in the sport.

While the razor-close draw was enough to allow “The Red King” to retain his title as well as to advance to the semifinals, where he will meet Neiman Gracie in June, he told commentator John McCarthy after the fight that he wasn’t sure if he still liked to “hurt people” anymore. Many observers took this as the 29-year-old’s way of indicating an early retirement, with several fellow fighters offering to take his place in the grand prix. Days after those comments, however, the Canadian confirmed his continued desire to compete and claimed to be looking forward to facing Gracie in the next round.

MacDonald was a …

Highly-touted Bellator prospect Aaron Pico has relocated to the Land of Enchantment, where he will train at Jackson-Wink MMA for his next camp.

Sherdog.com confirmed the move with gym general manager Michael Lyubimov following a report from ESPN.com. Jackson-Wink striking coach Brandon Gibson also recently posted a picture with Pico following a workout at the Albuquerque, N.M.-based gym.

Solid work tonight with @AaronPicoUSA at @JacksonWinkMMA. pic.twitter.com/Nc9w2EfYtS

— Brandon Gibson (@SixGunGibson) May 1, 2019

Pico has reportedly been targeted to appear at Bellator 222 in New York on June 14, although an opponent has not been named. However, a promotion official was unable to confirm that Pico’s next bout will take place at the Madison Square Garden event.

Pico entered his MMA career as one of the most hyped prospects the sport has seen in recent years. An Olympic hopeful who nearly qualified for the 2016 Games as a …