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The Notorious! McGregor takes the stage at #UFC229 Open Workouts! @TheNotoriousMMA https://t.co/QM6mENtHq9

— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2018

Conor McGregor knows his best path to victory against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 is to put him away early.

During Thursday’s open workouts at Park Theatre in Las Vegas, the “Notorious” predicted a quick start against the reigning lightweight champion.

“It’s good to be back,” McGregor said UFC reporter Megan Olivi following his workout. “I’m going to have a proper fight. I’m going to come out there fast. I don’t give a f--k about anything – any wrestling, any technique – anything. I’m coming for that man’s head from the f---ing bell. Trust me on that.”

Seven of McGregor’s nine UFC victories have come inside two rounds. He went five rounds in a majority decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 202 and outpointed Max Holloway over three frames in an August 2013 contest. Everything else has been a …

Now that he has a new long-term deal with the UFC, Conor McGregor wants big, meaningful fights.

One of the foes he mentioned was former middleweight champion and pound-for-pound great Anderson Silva.

"I would be interested in an Anderson Silva bout,” McGregor recently told ESPN. “I swear to God. Anderson is a legend in the game. What's the difference between him and Georges [St. Pierre]? Same damn thing. I'm going to do fights that interest me or have meaning.”

It appears that Silva has been made aware of McGregor’s comments, and “The Spider” would be interested in pursuing the bout down the road.

“It would be a great honor to test myself for ‘fighting’ with Conor McGregor,” Silva wrote on Instagram. “He is an eclectic fighter, and has already proven that he has to be respected. Let's make this happen!

“The UFC wants super fights, I'm sure fans from all [four] corners of the world want to see this fight. I professionally believe it would be awes…

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

Darren Till entered his title fight against Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 last month full of confidence, and that confidence remains undiminished despite his in-cage setback.

Many fans believed it would be a close fight and that Till offered a legitimate threat to the throne of Woodley. However, it did not play out that way. Woodley produced a flawless performance on the night, not only finishing “The Gorilla” by second-round submission but also completely nullifying Till’s striking game with the 25-year-old landing only one strike on the champion.

Till recently spoke to his sponsors at Paddy Power and despite the one-sided loss, says his confidence has not wavered, as he always expected he’d get beaten at some point in his career.

“My confidence hasn’t changed or taken a knoc…

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The most anticipated press conference of 2018 took place approximately two weeks ago, and it went off without a hitch.

Still, that didn’t stop UFC President Dana White from worrying when Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were on the dais at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sept. 20.

“It’s intense and a lot of people were telling me it’s the first time they’ve seen me look really nervous up there,” White said on “The Jim Rome Show” Tuesday. “I was so nervous that something was gonna explode.”

The last time Nurmagomedov and McGregor were in the same building in New York, things didn’t go as smoothly. Prior to UFC 223 in April, McGregor hurled a dolly through a bus window carrying fighters and employees — including Nurmagomedov. As a result, Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg were injured and had to withdraw from the event. McGregor was arrested and went through the legal process, eventually avoiding jail time with a plea deal.

A…

Alexander Gustafsson is ready to get the ball rolling on his rumored UFC 232 bout with Jon Jones.

The Swedish light heavyweight taunted his rival on Tuesday, posting a picture of Jones’ head on a chicken’s body on the label of a milk carton. Gustafsson then revealed that he has signed his bout agreement to face Jones.

“[Jon Jones] you are pissing me off. I signed my agreement,” Gustafsson wrote. “Where are you?? Are you chickening out?? Stop being a coward!”

Last week, it was reported that a Jones-Gustafsson rematch was being targeted for UFC 232 in Las Vegas on Dec. 29. Jones was recently given a reduced suspension for his second anti-doping violation and will be eligible to return on Oct. 28. Current light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier said he expects to be stripped of the title by the promotion so Gustafsson and Jones can vie for the vacant 205-pound belt.

While White didn’t make mention of a title bout, he did confirm that the UFC is hoping …

Fresh off his triumph at Bellator 206, middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi has called for a rematch against one of Bellator MMA’s newest acquisitions in Lyoto Machida.

Machida signed with Bellator in June after a highly successful eleven-year career under the banner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he captured the light heavyweight title in 2009. Machida and Mousasi met in 2014 at UFC Fight Night 36, with the Brazilian winning via unanimous decision.

“The Dragon” told Fox Sports Brasil he’d be open for a rematch fight with Mousasi but is focusing now on his fight with Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 211 on Dec. 15.

“Let’s make the second fight happen, then,” Machida said. “Mousasi has that loss stuck in his throat. In interview he says he’s upset, that he wants to fight me. It’ll be a pleasure, because my goal is the Bellator belt. I’m not here to play around, to have small fights. I’m here to be the champion. I have a very serious appointment in D…

A rumored featherweight championship clash between Max Holloway and Brian Ortega is official for UFC 231.

Promotion officials confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following a report from TSN. MMAjunkie.com initially brought word of the matchup.

UFC 231 takes place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Dec. 8 and also features a women’s flyweight championship tilt between Valentina Shevchenko and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The promotion also announced two other bouts for the event: Jimi Manuwa vs. Thiago Santos at light heavyweight and Elias Theodorou vs. Eryk Anders at middleweight.

Holloway and Ortega were initially slated to meet at UFC 226 on July 7. The bout was scrapped after Holloway began suffering concussion-like symptoms days before the event. Ortega then turned down a short-notice fight in favor of waiting on Holloway to return to full health.

Holloway last appeared at UFC 218, defending his 145-pound title with a third-round TKO of Jos…

Last week, reports surfaced that the UFC was looking to book a rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson at the promotion’s year-end card.

Now it appears that the Las Vegas-based organization wants to have Jones and Gustafsson vie for the vacant light heavyweight crown at UFC 232 on Dec. 29. According to current 205-pound king Daniel Cormier, things are “tense” between him and the UFC because the promotion wants him to relinquish the belt. Cormier revealed the situation during an appearance on "Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” on Monday.

“Everybody knows how I feel about Jon Jones,” Cormier said. “It’s been tense, to say the least, with my interaction with the company if indeed they offer a title fight to him. I have to maintain a sense of professionalism.”

Cormier lost to Jones in a title bout at UFC 214 but was reinstated as light heavyweight champion when “Bones” failed a drug test. Although he was facing as much as a four-year suspension as a repeat o…

Last month, Fabricio Werdum was given a two-year suspension by USADA after testing positive for the anabolic steroid tenbolone and its metabolite epitrenbolone in an out-of-competition screening conducted in April.

“Vai Cavalo” won’t be able to return to action until May 2020, when he is 43 years old. The former heavyweight champion recently told Combate that USADA presented an option during a meeting that could have resulted in a reduced suspension.

“What surprised me the most was at the end of the interview, it was something that I found absurd,” Werdum said (translation via MMAjunkie.com). “They said, ‘Werdum, here’s the thing: If you tell on someone …’ It was what you could call ‘delacao premiada’ [plea bargain]. ‘Werdum, if you tell on someone’ – using the slang, if you’re a snitch – ‘we’ll shorten your suspension. Because you’re going to have to pay something. Even if we find the substance in any of the products we test, even if we find it, you’ll have to p…

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

Sean O’Malley will not be competing at UFC 229 after failing a drug test, the fighter announced Sunday.

In the past, the UFC or USADA would have announced O’Malley’s anti-doping violation, but a recent change in policy means that failed drug tests won’t be revealed until the case is resolved. That revision came about because approximately one third of adjudicated cases were eventually found to be a result of non-intentional use of a banned substance.

O’Malley’s full statement is as follows:

Hey guys, Sugar Show here…I want to be the first to let you know about what’s going on. As many of you may have seen, the UFC announced this weekend that they are no longer announcing potential violations of the USADA program, because of the high number of unintentional use cases under the program, and are instead waiting until the end.

<…

Gegard Mousasi expected to emerge from Bellator Bellator 206 with his hand raised. But he also expected a little bit more resistance from Rory McDonald.

“The Dreamcatcher” dictated the action with his jab throughout before finishing the fight with elbows and punches from full mount 3:23 into round two. Not only was Mousasi dominant, but MacDonald never got untracked before the finish.

“I knew I was faster,” Mousasi said at the post-fight press conference. “The game plan was to throw straight punches, no hooks, and hurt him and make him come and maybe put pressure on him to shoot and take over. Actually, the fight went pretty much the way we planned.

“It surprised me he didn’t do much. He didn’t punch that much. I was the more active fighter. He was the lighter fighter, I thought he would do more.”

Mousasi has now won eight consecutive bouts, establishing himself as one of the top middleweights in the world. That run includes triumphs over MaDonald, Ra…

Cro Cop vs Roque Martinez #RIZIN13 pic.twitter.com/9Adyq2mBqp

— ZombieProphet (@GIFsZP) September 30, 2018

Kyoji Horiguchi came up short in his kickboxing debut on Sunday, as the former UFC flyweight title challenger lost on points to 20-year-old striking phenom Tenshin Nasukawa in the main event of Rizin 13 in Saitama, Japan.

Horiguchi, 27, held his own against fellow Rizin poster boy Nasukawa for the majority of the three-round, 128-pound contest. Through six minutes, the most significant strikes landed were two accidental low blows committed by Nasukawa, the second of which left Horiguchi on the ground in agony.

Nasukawa’s best moment came in the final frame, when he put Horiguchi on wobbly legs with a spinning heel kick. Horiguchi slowed the assault by instinctively double-legging Nasukawa to the canvas, but the American Top Team product appeared unable to fully clear the cobwebs. The judges sided unanimously with Nasukawa (30-28, …

Reigning Bellator MMA middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi utterly dominated Rory MacDonald in the superfight main event of Bellator 206 on Saturday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

MacDonald, the current promotional welterweight titlist, could not get past the Dutchman’s reach and never found any rhythm to his offense. “The Dreamcatcher” peppered the Canadian with stiff jabs and leg kicks, but when MacDonald (20-5) missed a rolling leg lock attempt in the second round, he was doomed. Mousasi (45-6-2) wound up on top, moved to full mount and unloaded a thunderstorm of elbows. “The Red King” could not defend himself, and after about a dozen or so elbows connected, referee Herb Dean had to halt the mugging.

The end came at 3:23 of the second, allowing Mousasi to retain his title.

Quinton Jackson evened the score with archnemesis Wanderlei Silva (35-14-1), as he stopped his rival in the co-main event.

Fighting at heavyweight and well past their primes…

Sherdog's live Bellator 206 coverage begins Saturday at approximately 7 p.m. ET.

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 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 Offic…

The Welsh revolution is taking Cage Warriors by storm.

In the main event of Cage Warriors 97, Welshman Jack Shore won easily in a risky fight against Weslley Maia at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff, Wales, on Saturday. Maia, a native of Brazil, flew to Cardiff on short notice after Shore’s originally scheduled opponent, Omer Cankardesler, was removed from the card due to a failed medical examination. The bout was contested at featherweight in instead of bantamweight, Shore’s normal weight clash.

This is not the first time Shore had an opponent changed at the very last minute. This evening, as usual, the Welsh prospect maintained his calm and earned a technical knockout victory with a barrage of elbows and punches from mount at the 2:51 mark of round one. Now, Shore, whose record improved to 9-0 , wants the vacant Cage Warriors bantamweight title.

Jack Shore was on FIRE

He wastes no time #CW97

First round TKO pic.twitter.com/6D2EF29…

Andres Quintana made his intentions known loud and clear: He plans to win the Copa Combate featherweight tournament on Dec. 7.

The Luttrell-Yee MMA standout punched his ticket to the eight-man competition, as he submitted Erick Gonzalez with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their qualifying bout at Combate Americas “Road to Copa Combate” on Friday at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California. Gonzalez (7-3) bowed out 2:41 into Round 1.

Quintana (15-2) -- who will represent the United States in the Copa Combate -- countered the Fight Science rep at every turn, executed a body-lock takedown and moved to an advantageous position. From there, he snaked his arms around Gonzalez’s neck, tightened his squeeze and waited for the tapout.

Alejandro Flores also advanced to the eight-man Copa Combate featherweight tournament with a unanimous decision over Pablo Sabori in their one-round qualifying bout. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 10-9 for Flores …

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UFC 229 is now available on Amazon Prime.

Sherdog contributors writers Ant Walker and Jason Burgos want to talk things over and answer your questions during a live video chat series titled “The Trenches,” airing Friday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. They also want your thoughts on a poll, with today's question asking who will win at Bellator 206: Gegard Mousasi or Rory MacDonald?

Walker holds over 15 years of martial arts experience, training in multiple styles and has also coached amateur mixed martial arts fighters. A former Sherdog Radio Network personality and current contributor to Sherdog.com, this self-described “gym rat” seeks to impart his knowledge and discuss all things MMA with his fellow community members. Ant will be in Las Vegas next week for all of the UFC 229 festivities with fellow Sherdog contributor Mike Sloan.

A journalist and podcaster by trade, Burgos has hosted multiple diffe…

#LFA51 gets a new main event as Jaimee Nievera withdraws from her title fight against champion @SabinaMazo.

New Main Event!

4x #UFC Vet@TheRenegade559vs.Top Brazilian Prospect#GustavoErak#Bantamweight Showdown

Friday, Sept. 28

TICKETS: https://t.co/adTN0xikoq pic.twitter.com/loVi98uZF8

— LFA (@LFAfighting) September 27, 2018

Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight champion Sabina Mazo has been pulled her main event bout at LFA 51 this weekend after her opponent Jaimee Nievera announced she was injured on Thursday.

Mazo (5-0) was initially set to defend her flyweight title against Nievera (7-4) on Friday night, but an undisclosed injury forced the challenger out of the fight. The undefeated champion praised LFA for working tirelessly for a replacement opponent, but they were unable to do so in such a short amount of time:

My opponent unfortunately got injured in fight week. @lfafighting did an …

lm gonna put up a million cash of my own money up for the Winner of the Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix. #Dazn #Bellator #lecheminduroi pic.twitter.com/Xzkn5sYOzM

— 50cent (@50cent) September 27, 2018

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Bellator MMA have signed a deal that will see the rapper pay out $1 million to the welterweight Grand Prix winner as well as licensing and promotional deals with the rapper’s champagne brand and apparel company, the promotion announced on Thursday via press release.

“I am excited to partner with the Bellator Viacom franchise,” said Jackson. “Mixed martial arts yields some of the most action-packed events in the world. I’m excited for people to see how I plan to shake up MMA with the integration of my 'Get The Strap' trademark as well as my luxury champagne Le Chemin du Roi.”

Jackson and Bellator President Scott Coker were spotted on social media dining together recently, causing widespread speculation…

HBO says it’s no longer in the boxing business after 45 years of promoting some of the biggest fights in the sport’s history, the network announced on Thursday.

Having put on over 1,000 fights, beginning with George Foreman’s knockout of Joe Frazier in 1973, the network will discontinue its boxing promotion at the end of 2018. HBO has one final boxing broadcast scheduled for Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden, which will feature a middleweight title fight.

In a statement sent to Sherdog, HBO detailed the difficult decision to sever ties with the Sweet Science:

“Boxing has been part of our heritage for decades. During that time, the sport has undergone a transformation. It is now widely available on a host of networks and streaming services. There is more boxing than ever being televised and distributed. In some cases, this programming is very good. But from an entertainment point of view, it's not unique.

Going forward in 2019, we will be pivoting away from pr…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWUbREy5ja0&w=560&h=315]

On Oct. 6, the Ultimate Fighting Championshipwill host what may be its biggest-ever fight, between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor.

The tension between the pair is palpable. It escalated after Nurmagomedov physically confronted McGregor’s teammate and friend Artem Lobov in the hotel lobby in the lead-up to UFC 223 in April, which prompted the infamous retaliation by the Irishman when he attacked the bus the lightweight champion was on days later.

McGregor seemed worked up at last week’s UFC 229 press conference, the first time the pair came face-to-face.

According to coach Owen Roddy, however, McGregor doesn’t harbor any ill will towards his opponent and after the fight regardless of the outcome will shake his hand and show him the respect he deserves.

“I think maybe the situation just got out of hand or something like that,” Roddy said in…

Apparently Michael Chandler signed the contract.

According to multiple reports, Chandler will attempt to regain the lightweight championship he lost in a rematch with Brent Primus at a Bellator event on Dec. 10. Fansided initially reported the bout, and ESPN.com confirmed the date on Tuesday.

Bellator has not officially announced the bout, and a venue and location for the event have not been confirmed. Assuming the date holds up, the card will take place one day prior to Bellator’s Hawaiian debut, which is headlined by a women’s flyweight championship bout between Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Brent Primus.

Primus claimed lightweight gold in surprising fashion at Bellator 180 in June 2017, when Chandler suffered a left ankle injury and was ruled unable to continue 2:22 into the opening stanza. The two fighters were booked for a rematch at Bellator 197 in April, but Primus had to withdraw due to a knee injury. Earlier this month, Primus delivered a message to Cha…

Bellator MMA continues to take steps to expand its reach further into Europe, as it announced Wednesday that it has hired former British Association of Mixed Martial Arts matchmaker Jude Samuel.

The move coincides with the California-based organization’s plans to launch a western Europe based fight series. Samuel will head Bellator’s “European fighter relations, talent development and matchmaking efforts,” according to a release.

Bellator has co-promoted several European cards with BAMMA in the past. Samuel will be based in London, where he has worked for more than 15 years. Prior to his work with BAMMA, Samuel owned European Fight Network Sports, a site that covered MMA and grappling in the U.K.

“Sometimes you have to follow what you are genuinely passionate about and let that guide you to your deserving destination,” Samuel said in a release. “Bellator is extremely passionate about the grass roots development of our beloved sport. My appointment as a U.K. and We…

I hear UFC is searching for a main event when they have one already. It's me vs Nate. 165 pound title. A main event for the people. Stop searching, Dana. We got this. Let's go.

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) September 25, 2018

The Ultimate Fighting Championship still doesn’t have a main event announced for their New York event in November at UFC 230, but it isn’t for lack of vocal volunteers.

Rumors were circulating that former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones could potentially feature in that main event slot given that he is a New York native and had just been declared eligible to fight shortly before the event date. Jones was finally handed his sentence for testing positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The suspension started from his retroactive date of July 28 of last year, which makes Jones eligible to fight again on Oct. 28, 2018. However, talk of Jones fighting at UFC 230 w…