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Credit: Mike Fridley/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Fridley/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Fridley/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Fridley/Sherdog.com

One of the UFC’s most exciting young talents has his next fight booked.

During an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Sean O'Malley revealed that he will be facing Jose Alberto Quinonez in a bantamweight bout at UFC 229 in Las Vegas on Oct. 6. UFC 229 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a blockbuster lightweight championship tilt between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.

O'Malley vs. Quinonez is expected to take place on the preliminary card. O'Malley also announced that he has signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC.

O’Malley rose to prominence thanks to a first-round knockout of Alfred Khashakyan on Season 1 of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. Since then, O’Malley has posted decision triumphs over Terrion Ware and Andre Soukhamthath in his first two UFC appearances. T…

.@criscyborg is out at #ChargersCamp today and Mike and @RussellOkung are big, big fans. pic.twitter.com/Ub8Bx9xYA6

— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) August 13, 2018

UFC women’s featherweight champion Cristiane Justino has some fans in the National Football League.

On Monday, “Cyborg” stopped by Los Angeles Chargers camp, where she was greeted by offensive lineman Russell Okung (No. 76) and Mike Pouncey (No. 53). Okung in particular appeared to enjoy the visit, backing up with his hands raised while saying, “No problems. I don’t want no problems.” It’s worth mentioning that Okung checks in at 6-5, 310 pounds while Pouncey is listed at 6-5 and 298 pounds, according to the Chargers roster. The players then posed for a photo with the 33-year-old Brazilian.

The Chute Boxe representative also gave Chargers wide receiver coach Phil McGeohan a quick tutorial:

Coach @PhilMcGeoghan brought me to @Chargers #ChargersCa…

Guess they call him “Killer” for a reason.

Luiz Gustavo Felix dos Santos handled his business by violent means, as the undefeated Brazilian knocked out Yusuke Yachi in the second round of their Rizin Fighting Federation 12 main event on Sunday at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan. The end came 2:32 into Round 2. A protégé of the great Wanderlei Silva, dos Santos improved to 9-0 with nine finishes as a short-notice fill-in for the injured Bruno Santos.

Dos Santos made the most of his opportunity in the second round, where the two lightweights exchanged in the center of the ring. “Killer” fired a left hook, ducked a right from his Japanese counterpart and delivered an on-the-money right hook. The impact was devastating, as Yachi (20-7) hit the deck face first and in no condition to defend himself.

In the co-headliner, two-time Deep champion Yuki Motoya submitted Kazuma Sone with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their bantamweight battle. Motoya (…

New opponent. Same focus. This is gonna be fireworks https://t.co/4EgWFPQWLa

— Patricky Freire (@PatrickyPitbull) August 11, 2018

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Roger Huerta will be filling in for an injured Goiti Yamauchi against Patricky Freire at Bellator 205 on Sept. 21 in Boise, Idaho. ESPN was first to report the pairing.

Huerta (24-10) will get another high-profile fight with Bellator after losing his promotional return in April. In his first Bellator fight after seven years fighting elsewhere, “El Matador” tapped to a guillotine choke in the second round against former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson.

His opponent, “Pitbull,” is currently on a three-fight winning streak after losing to former champion Michael Chandler back in 2016. Knockout victories over Josh Thompson and Derek Campos highlight Freire’s current winning streak.

Yamauchi himself was coming off of a loss to Chandler, but the submission s…

Just added to #UFCMoncton: @TNT83MMA throws down with @SStricklandMMA! pic.twitter.com/S5YZwOO9tn

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 10, 2018

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweights Nordine Taleb and Sean Strickland are set to square off at UFC Fight Night 138 at Moncton Events Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, on Oct. 27, the promotion announced on Saturday.

Taleb (14-5) will look to rebound from an upset submission loss to Claudio Silva in May. Before that, the French-Canadian knocked out Danny Roberts in less than a minute into the first round, while Strickland (19-3) lost his first fight ever by knockout after Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos landed a brutal spinning back kick in the first round at UFC 224. Strickland’s only other losses are to top welterweights Kamaru Usman and Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Volkan Oezdemir faces surging light heavyweight Anthony Smith in the night’s main event, while Misha Cirkunov takes on Patrick Cum…

Damon Jackson had not scored a knockout in five years. That changed on Friday in Dallas.

The 30-year-old Jackson (16-2-1) headlined LFA 47 and exploded with one of the best knockouts of the year in the second round. “The Leech” dominated Nate Jennerman from the start and then closed the show in spectacular fashion to capture the interim Legacy Fighting Alliance featherweight championship at The Bomb Factor.

Jackson nearly took out “Nasty Nate” in the first round with punches to the face but opted to take the Roufusport product to the ground. From there, the Fortis MMA standout mauled his counterpart with elbows from top position while threatening with a key lock, brabo choke and a rear-naked choke. Jennerman survived it all, until a loopy overhand right detonated on his jaw almost as soon as the second round began. The end came 33 seconds into Round 2.

The win was Jackson’s fifth straight. Jennerman, meanwhile, fell to 12-4.

Featherweight contenders Levi Mow…

Kamaru Usman has been tapped as Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s replacement in case the champ is forced to pull out of his UFC 228 title fight against Darren Till.

With so many last-minute issues affecting UFC main events recently, the promotion has elected to have a backup plan in the event of an unpredictable injury, ESPN reported Thursday. Usman (13-1) is coming off of the biggest win of his MMA career, defeating Demian Maia in May. “The Nigerian Nightmare” is on a 12-fight winning streak and remains undefeated in the UFC.

The UFC most recently dealt with a high-profile main event loss when Tony Ferguson and then initial replacement Max Holloway both were forced out of a UFC 223 lightweight title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Al Iaquinta, who was supposed to fight on the undercard, ultimately stepped up to fight Nurmagomedov, though Iaquinta was ineligible to win the title due to having weighed in at higher than the st…

Kamaru Usman has been tapped as Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s replacement in case the champ is forced to pull out of his UFC 228 title fight against Darren Till.

With so many last-minute issues affecting UFC main events recently, the promotion has elected to have a backup plan in the event of an unpredictable injury, ESPN reported Thursday. Usman (13-1) is coming off of the biggest win of his MMA career, defeating Demian Maia in May. “The Nigerian Nightmare” is on a 12-fight winning streak and remains undefeated in the UFC.

The UFC most recently dealt with a high-profile main event loss when Tony Ferguson and then initial replacement Max Holloway both were forced out of a UFC 223 lightweight title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Al Iaquinta, who was supposed to fight on the undercard, ultimately stepped up to fight Nurmagomedov, though Iaquinta was ineligible to win the title due to having weighed in at higher than the st…

Bellator MMA just added an interesting fight on the Bellator 204 preliminary card, with a middleweight bout between Willie Whitehead and NCAA wrestling standout Romero Cotton. Sources close to the promotion confirmed the news on Friday to Sherdog.com.

Both men were late additions to the card, which takes place next weekend in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Whitehead currently holds a 2-2 professional mixed martial arts record, with Cotton bringing an undefeated 2-0 record himself.

Cotton proved to be an incredible athlete early on, winning 10 state championships while in high school across three sports; four of which for wrestling. He ended up earning a scholarship to Division 1 powerhouse University of Nebraska, where he began his collegiate wrestling career as a freshman in 2009.

However, a 2008 case against Cotton for aggravated battery almost put him behind bars for a 38-month prison sentence. Romero and his younger brother had allegedly attacked a man courting th…

The sole remaining contestant on roster from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” has at least one fight left with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as the promotion announced the longtime UFC veteran Diego Sanchez will be fighting Craig White in a welterweight bout at UFC 228 in Dallas on Sept. 8.

Sanchez (27-11) was one of the two winners of that inaugural season of “TUF” and has gone on to fight 26 times for the promotion, including a challenge for B.J. Penn’s lightweight belt at UFC 107. However, “The Dream” has been brutally knocked out in three of his last four fights, with a lone victory against Marcin Held back in 2016 punctuating losses to Joe Lauzon and Al Iaquinta. He suffered another first-round knockout loss at the elbows of Matt Brown in his last fight.

White (14-8) made his UFC debut against perennial top-10 welterweight Neil Magny in May, losing by first-round knockout. “The Thundercat” will seek his first UFC victory while Sanchez finds h…

Buckle up, Denver!

Colorado's @RockyPMMA faces the returning @IronLadyMMA. #UFCDenver pic.twitter.com/xMLNSvukTK

— UFC (@ufc) August 9, 2018

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 25th Anniversary card in Denver just landed another Colorado native, as Colorado Springs’ Raquel Pennington vs. Germaine de Randamie has been officially announced for the Nov. 10 event.

Beyond a mere nod to the locale, the fight is a matchup of Top-10 women with something to prove. “Rocky” will look to regain momentum and show she is none the worse for wear after a brutal fifth-round TKO loss to bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in May, which snapped a four-fight winning streak. While Pennington was roundly lauded for her heart and grit, the punishment she took was severe enough that her corner as well as referee Marc Goddard received some criticism for not stopping the fight sooner.

The 34-year-old de Randamie, on the other hand, will be fighting for …

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Mark Coleman says he was a victim of a now-deceased Ohio State University team doctor who is accused of sexually abusing over 100 former students, he confirmed in a statement released on Thursday. The physician, Dr. Richard Strauss, has been accused of abusing his position to sexually assault students and university athletes, including multiple members of the wrestling team.

Coleman wrestled for Ohio State in 1988 as a senior transfer, winning a national championship in his only year with the school, then took a position as an assistant wrestling coach there. While coaching for Ohio State, he continued to wrestle as an amateur, winning a gold medal in the 1991 Pan American Games and coming in 7th at the 1992 Olympics, before pursuing a career in mixed martial arts.

Coleman stated that he wants to cooperate with investigators. He also denied previous statements that he believed former assistant coach Jim J…

#TUF Season 1, then and now 14 years later. Crazy. What a journey! @UFC @DanaWhite pic.twitter.com/BbXolbAydL

— Mike Swick (@officialswick) August 9, 2018

The cast of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 may have mostly retired or moved on from MMA, but the majority of cast members assembled for a 14-year reunion this week, and took a photograph to celebrate the occasion.

The majority of the cast, including coaches Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture and contestants such as Mike Swick, Chris Leben and Diego Sanchez attended the reunion, while castmates Bobby Southworth, Jason Thacker and Josh Koscheck were not able to make it. The attendees recreated a memorable group photo, 14 years removed from a pivotal moment in Ultimate Fighting Championship and mixed martial arts history.

Nearly a decade and a half later, Sanchez still competes in the promotion, while Koscheck signed with Bellator MMA after a losing streak forced him out of the UFC. Leb…

Current Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight interim champion Colby Covington has been uncharacteristically quiet since the UFC announced that he would not be fighting champion Tyron Woodley next month at UFC 228, and that Woodley would instead be fighting Liverpool’s Darren Till.

“Chaos” was originally offered the fight to unify the belts but told the UFC that he was unavailable to fight in September due to the fact he had just undergone nasal surgery. While the decision to deny Covington first crack at the champion may seem harsh, the UFC chose not to hold up the division any longer, with Woodley’s last fight coming over a year ago in July last year against Demian Maia.

Covington told MMAJunkie.com that he felt that the UFC were rushing him to accept the fight rather than promoting it to drive interest given the pair’s history.

“Why are they trying to rush a camp?” Covington said. “This fight needs a build-up, man. It needs a 12-week promotional bu…

Better than my English. Im looking for fight on semptember on #UFCMoscow but if you're afraid to come, then we can fight in your backyard. It doesn't matter to warrior

— Alexander Volkov (@AlexDragoVolkov) July 28, 2018 Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Alexander Volkov have verbally agreed to fight in to co-main event of UFC 229 in a pivotal matchup for the division, ESPN reported on Wednesday.

Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor was just announced as the main event for UFC 229, and the card is already shaping up to be one of the biggest UFC events of the year. Volkov (30-6) is coming off of a fourth-round knockout over former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum back in March and is undefeated in the UFC, having won six fights in a row since his last loss in Bellator MMA back in 2015.

The former Bellator heavyweight title holder will take on “The Black Beast,” who is currently on a two-f…

Rustam Khabilov vs Kajan Johnson Rebooked For UFC Moscow - https://t.co/WvXDdrx2gr pic.twitter.com/Hdiq997lmu

— MMASucka (@MMASucka) August 8, 2018

Kajan Johnson will be making a quick turnaround as he prepares to take on Rustam Khabilov at UFC Moscow in September after submitting to an armbar by Islam Makhachev on July 28, according to a report by MMASucka.

Johnson (23-13-1) was originally scheduled to fight Khabilov back in March, but an injury forced the Dagestani out of the bout at the last minute. Johnson went on to defeat Stevie Ray instead, who filled in on short notice.

Prior to the submission loss to Makhachev, “Ragin’” Kajan was on an impressive four-fight winning streak, punctuated by a massive knockout victory over Adriano Martins last year.

Meanwhile, Khabilov (22-3) has won five fights in a row himself, but hasn’t fought since September 2017, making the fight with Johnson almost a year to the day since his last fi…

Mark Burnett, Kevin Hart, Tony Robbins Invest in MMA Startup Professional Fighters League https://t.co/gYvSfLxtKM

— Variety (@Variety) August 8, 2018

The Professional Fighters League’s pockets just got a lot deeper after several high profile investors, including the likes of comedian Kevin Hart and life coach Tony Robbins, announced a $28 million investment in the playoffs-based mixed martial arts outfit.

PFL, which changed its name from World Series of Fighting last year, has differentiated itself from the likes of Bellator MMA and the Ultimate Fighting Championship by holding point-based regular seasons with a $1 million grand prize for each divisional finalist. The league has a television deal with NBC Sports and has steadily gained the attention of more casual MMA fans over the last few months.

With that added attention comes more willing investors; Hart and Robbins are joined by fellow PFL investors Mark Burnett, Chairman of Wor…

Welp, Greg Hardy (2-0) looked frightening tonight. The rightly-maligned former NFL star obliterates Tebaris Gordon in 17 seconds. #DWTNCS pic.twitter.com/p5IFtBd5AP

— Tanuki Usman (@Hamderlei) August 8, 2018

Greg Hardy can sling some leather.

The disgraced former NFL all-pro destroyed Tebaris Gordon in the first round of their heavyweight feature on Season 2, Week 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas. Gordon (3-1) succumbed to punches 17 seconds into Round 1.

Hardy (2-0) showed no regard for his adversary’s skills. He marched across the Octagon and let his hands go. Gordon did what he could to answer back, but the difference in speed, power and athleticism between the two heavyweights was massive. Hardy connected with a right hand as he flurried, dropped the North Carolinian and closed it out.

The 30-year-old Hardy will remain on a developmental deal with the Ultimate Fighting Ch…

BREAKING: @MishaC911 battles @OfficialDurkin at #UFCMoncton! pic.twitter.com/zbYHyd9irg

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 7, 2018

Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweights Misha Cirkunov and Patrick Cummins have just been added to UFC Fight Night 138 in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, on Oct. 27.

Cirkunov was a blue chip prospect with title shot aspirations before two knockout losses to Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira set him back. Meanwhile, “Durkin” recently ended a two-fight winning streak with a loss to Corey Anderson in April.

The UFC also announced a lightweight bout between Thibault Gouti and Nasrat Haqparast, as well as a light heavyweight matchup between Gian Villante and Ed Herman for the card, which will be the first UFC event ever hosted in the Canadian city.

Cirkunov is currently ranked as the No. 10 light heavyweight while Cummins comes in at No. 13.

Sherdog's live Tuesday's Contender Series kicks off Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Greg Hardy headlines tonight's event, which is the final edition of Season 2.

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

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result

Bellator MMA officially announced the first round of its welterweight tournament, with a Douglas Lima vs. Andrey Koreshkov trilogy fight and a Paul Daley vs. Michael Page grudge match highlighting the the announcement.

Former Bellator welterweight champions Lima (29-7) and Koreshkov will open the tournament in September and are currently 1-1 against each other, with Lima brutally knocking Koreshkov (21-1) out in their 2016 rematch. “The Spartan” has since scored two first round knockouts, while Lima has since gone on to lose the title to current divisional champion Rory MacDonald.

As for MacDonald, after he challenges Gegard Mousasi for the promotion's 185-pound crown at Bellator 206, he will defend his 170-pound title against former Ultimate Fighting Championship standout Jon Fitch, while “Semtex” and MVP will finally settle their grudge match at a date yet to be determined.

Undefeated welterweight prospects Ed Ruth and Neiman Gracie will fight as a part of the f…

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

Former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship king Georges St. Pierre isn’t necessarily a gambling man, but he knows who he has his money on for the newly-announced Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov lightweight title fight at UFC 229 in October.

GSP said the safe bet is Nurmagomedov when asked on Submission Radio this past week. However, at the same time, the former welterweight and middleweight champion didn’t discount a McGregor victory.

“If I had to bet, if I had to put my house on it -- (laughs) the biggest one -- I would have to choose Khabib over Conor. Khabib never lost, he never lost, and Conor has lost before. He’s lost on the ground. He has a few losses and he lost on the ground. That’s where Khabib is good, that’s where Khabib is more competent.

“However, Khabib is sometimes a slow starter and he gets punched a lot. Yes, he didn’t look good in the beginning of that (Michael J…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RiZKE1nKSE&w=560&h=315]

The term “superfight,” once understood to mean a matchup between the champions of two weight divisions -- the most recent example being Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier facing off against heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic -- has been thrown around a lot recently. UFC President Dana White says the term is being “completely overused.”

Over the weekend at UFC 227 in Los Angeles, the flyweight division crowned a new champion when former Olympic wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo dethroned Demetrious Johnson via split decision. At the end of the fight, Cejudo requested to fight the winner of the main event bantamweight championship bout between T.J. Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt. Dillashaw won the fight and accepted the offer to fight Cejudo when asked during his post-fight interview with color commentator Joe Rogan.

While Cejudo’s challenge and Dillashaw’s ready…

Kevin Holland was a winner on Dana White’s Contender Series earlier this year, but he didn’t initially win over the man for whom the event is named.

“He’s a talented guy and he won his fight, but he wouldn’t shut up. The entire fight he was talking to me – the whole fight,” White said at the UFC 227 post-fight press conference… This guy comes in and is talking s—t the entire fight. So I said, ‘I’m not signing this guy. I don’t want him; I’m not interested.’”

Holland defeated Will Santiago Jr. via unanimous decision at the UFC Training Center on June 12 for his fourth consecutive win, but the UFC president was true to his word. The 25-year-old known as “Trailblazer” did not initially receive a deal with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Things changed a few weeks later, when veteran knockout artist Thiago Santos was in need of an opponent at UFC 227. While the identity of the Brazilian’s original foe was unclear, only Holland was willing to step in on short not…