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Clinging to an armbar has its risks -- a fact to which Kody Nordby can now attest.

Tony Gravely knocked out Nordby with a devastating slam to win the vacant CES MMA bantamweight championship in the first round of their CES MMA 53 headliner on Friday at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Gravely (16-5, 1-0 CES MMA) brought it to a close 36 seconds into Round 1.

Nordby (9-5, 7-3 CES MMA) answered a Gravely takedown with an attempted armbar from the bottom. Gravely hoisted the 25-year-old off the ground and drove him into the mat, knocking him unconscious upon impact. The defenseless Nordby ate a handful of follow-up punches before referee John English could arrive on the scene.

Gravely, 27, has finished all four of his opponents during his current winning streak.

In the flyweight co-main event, BST MMA export Richie Santiago submitted Billy Giovanella with a first-round rear-naked choke. Giovanella (9-8, 3-2 CES MMA) bit the dust 3:13 into Round 1…

Breaking: Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum title fight targeted for UFC 234 on Feb. 9 in Australia. Whittaker will get another chance to defend his title at home, after having to pull out last year. https://t.co/P8BN0gGB7m

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 3, 2018

At long last, Robert Whittaker will defend his middleweight title against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 on Feb. 9 in Melbourne, Australia. The date and venue were first reported by ESPN.

Talking with ESPN, UFC President Dana White said Friday that the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be returning to Australia with the middleweight title on the line. While he did not officially provide a date, additional sources informed ESPN that they were targeting that date for a pay-per-view card in Melbourne. White also mentioned that he was considering booking an alternate on the card in the event that one of the two is forced to withdraw from the bout.

This event would be t…

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Henry Cejudo became only the second man ever to hold the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight belt after beating the record-setting former champ Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227 back in August. Now Cejudo may not get a chance to actually defend the belt, with strong rumors suggesting the UFC will be scrapping the 125-pound division in line with their new ESPN deal.

“The Messenger” has been campaigning for a super fight with the current bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw although with the rumor of Cejudo’s weight class potentially going under, the pair will surely meet in the heavier 135 pound division.

Cejudo appeared on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and spoke about the future of the flyweight division and the possibility of a super fight with Dillashaw.

“I think more likely that T.J. fight might happen,” Cejudo said. “That T.J. fight might happen if the…

Melvin Manhoef is out of #Bellator210 due to injury. @JohnSalter_MMA steps up on short notice to meet @ChidiBangNjoku in the new main event on Nov. 30. pic.twitter.com/SUgIQb8NcU

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) November 1, 2018

An injury to one of the headliners has shaken up the Bellator 210 card on Nov. 30 in Oklahoma, but the promotion quickly found a replacement.

According to Bellator President Scott Coker, middleweight Melvin Manhoef has been forced to withdraw from his main event bout against Chidi Njokuani due to injury. John Salter will step in.

A veteran of almost 50 fights with a knockout rate of 93 percent in his wins, Manhoef was making his return to Bellator after suffering a knockout loss at the hands of then-champ Rafael Carvalho in April 2017.

Salter comes into this bout off of a third-round submission loss a little over a month ago to the undefeated Rafael Lovato Jr. Salter has never gone to the scorecards in any o…

UFC 230 is now available on Amazon Prime.

Derrick Lewis has been winning over more than just fans since he explained why he removed his shorts after winning at UFC 229. Returning to action to face Daniel Cormier a mere four weeks later for the heavyweight belt at UFC 230, “The Black Beast” enters as a sizeable underdog in a title fight he admitted he was not prepared for after his fight in October.

Ever a fan favorite, his fight with Cormier seems to focus on an exchange they had regarding the champ’s handling of Popeye’s Chicken. Back at the UFC 226 pre-fight press conference, when Cormier said he was being sized up by Lewis and asked him why, Lewis’s response was “Because you disrespected that Popeye’s Chicken.”

Popeye’s seems to be all in on Lewis -- according to Lewis’s social media post, if he wins at UFC 230, a Popeye’s location in Cypress, Texas, will let him eat there “free for the rest of his life.”

“If Derrick Lewis wins eat f…

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division added another potential title contender to its roster in undefeated former One Championship and Bellator MMA champion Ben Askren.

While Askren is a relative unknown to some fans, his signing for the UFC is significant given his credentials and the fact he came to the UFC from One Championship in a swap deal with former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson heading the other way.

According to UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, the decorated wrestler will have no issue competing in the UFC and already sounded a warning to prospective opponents about how effective Askren’s wrestling actually is.

“Everybody’s in trouble,” Rogan said on his podcast regarding the UFC’s signing of Askren. “There’s a lot of mother**kers in trouble if Ben Askren gets a hold of you. You’re like ‘why can’t I get up?’”

Fans of Rogan‘s podcast know he’s be…

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

A flyweight bout between Eric Shelton and Joseph Morales will complete the UFC Fight Night 139 lineup, promotion officials announced Wednesday.

UFC Fight Night 139 takes place at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Nov. 10 and is headlined by a featherweight clash pitting Chan Sung Jung against Yair Rodriguez. The card will air on Fox Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Shelton has struggled in UFC competition, losing three of his four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Showtime” dropped a unanimous verdict to Alex Perez at UFC on Fox 28. Shelton’s lone victory came one bout prior against Jenel Lausa at UFC Fight Night 121.

Morales suffered his first career defeat at UFC Fight Night 125 in February, when he fell to Deiveson Figueiredo via second-round TKO. “Bopo” began his career with nine straight triumphs, including a…

A bantamweight clash pitting Douglas Silva de Andrade against Petr Yan has been rebooked for UFC 232.

Andrade and Yan were initially scheduled to square off at UFC Fight Night Moscow in September, but the Brazilian fighter was forced off the card due to injury. ESPN first reported the bout. UFC 232 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 29 and is headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.

Andrade has won three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 33-year-old took a unanimous verdict over Marlon Vera at UFC Fight Night 125 on Feb. 3. Andrade is 25-2 with one no contest as a professional.

Yan, meanwhile, has kicked off his promotional tenure with wins over Jin Soo Son and Teruto Ishihara. The 25-year-old Russian owns a 10-1 career mark, with five of those triumphs coming inside the distance.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov just beat the biggest star in mixed martial arts, and now, it appears as though he wants to be compensated accordingly.

While Tony Ferguson would seem to be the most logical next opponent for “The Eagle,” it has been rumored that Nurmagomedov is chasing a lucrative superfight, with rumored opponents ranging from Georges St. Pierre to even Floyd Mayweather. In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, manager Ali Abdelaziz threw out some eye-popping figures when discussing the UFC lightweight champion’s next payday.

“Ben Askren, Woodley, none of these guys can touch Khabib,” Abdelaziz said. “Especially if they’re scared to get tired and these guys, they get tired. Now, I’m not even worried about Tyron or Ben Askren, I’m worrying about somebody bringing $50 million to $100 million to the table and none of these guys can bring $200,000 to the table.”

Nurmagomedov earned a disclosed …

The Bellator 210 lineup continues to grow, as kickboxing standout Joe Schilling will return to the MMA realm to face Jose Alfredo Leija at middleweight, while Kristina Williams will meet Bruna Ellen at flyweight.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report Schilling vs. Leija, while the promotion recently announced Williams vs. Ellen. Bellator 210 takes place at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla., and is headlined by a showdown between Melvin Manhoef and Chidi Njokuani.

Schilling hasn’t competed in MMA since June 2015, when he suffered a second-round knockout loss to Hisaki Kato to fall to 2-5 in his pro tenure. A native of Irving, Texas, Leija owns a 5-2 career mark on the regional circuit, with all of his triumphs coming via KO/TKO.

Williams began her Bellator tenure with consecutive wins over Heather Hardy and Emily Ducote before falling to Valerie Letourneau in her most recent outing. Ellen has scored back-to-back wins over Veta Arteaga and Ca…

Both the UFC and Bellator MMA will be in the Golden State on Jan. 26.

UFC President Dana White told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that UFC 233 will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on that date. No bouts were revealed for the event. An unnamed promotion official told the Times that it was assumed that a bantamweight title clash between reigning champ T.J. Dillashaw and flyweight king Henry Cejudo was in the works for the event. However, White said that rumor was “not true.”

The Las Vegas-based promotion last visited the Honda Center in July 2017 for UFC 214 with a lineup that featured a trio of title fights, including a rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.

This time around, the UFC will go head-to-head with Bellator, which has scheduled the finals of its heavyweight grand prix at the Forum in Los Angeles on Jan. 26. There, Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko will square off for the vacant heavyweight strap.

The poster you've been waiting for!@JonnyBones vs. @AlexTheMauler II

@CrisCyborg vs. @Amanda_Leoa #UFC232 pic.twitter.com/d08xd1JqYf

— UFC (@ufc) October 30, 2018

UFC 232 is shaping up to be one of the year’s most anticipated cards, with two title fights at the top of the bill.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently released a poster for the Dec. 29 event, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view.

The card is headlined by a clash between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson for the vacant light heavyweight crown. Jones took a hard-fought five-round verdict over “The Mauler” in their first meeting at UFC 165 in September 2013. In the co-main event, Cristiane Justino will defend the featherweight strap against reigning bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes.

Curtis Millender will lock horns with Siyar Bahadurzada at UFC 232.

Millender confirmed the welterweight pairing on social media following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. The promotion has yet to formally announce the bout. UFC 232 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 29 and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson. In the co-main event, Cristiane Justino will defend her featherweight crown against 135-pound queen Amanda Nunes.

A four-time Bellator MMA competitor, Millender has won his last eight fights. That streak includes triumphs over Max Griffin and Thiago Alves in the Octagon earlier this year. The 30-year-old Californian is 16-3 as a pro, with six wins via knockout or technical knockout.

Bahadurzada, meanwhile, has won his last three in the Octagon, earning one triumph apiece from 2016 to 2018. Most recently, the 34-year-old Afghanistan native knocked out Luan Chagas in the …

Marco Polo Reyes has accepted a six-month suspension for an anti-doping violation, USADA announced Monday.

The UFC lightweight tested positive for the banned substance ostarine in an out-of-competition drug test conducted on March 8. It was determined that Reyes’ failed drug test resulted from a contaminated supplement, which resulted in a reduced sanction from the maximum of two years.

Since Reyes’ suspension began on March 15, he was eligible to return to UFC competition on Sept. 15. “El Toro” has been victorious in four of his five Octagon appearances, most recently scoring a 60-second knockout of Matt Frevola at UFC Fight Night 124 on Jan. 14.

The full USADA statement is as follows:

USADA announced today that Marco Leopoldo Reyes, known professionally as Polo Reyes, of Nayarit, Mexico, has accepted a six-month sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for a prohibited substance from a contaminated supplement. R…

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It sounds as though Ben Askren will be thrown directly into the fire when he makes his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

Dana White recently weighed in on the historic trade that brought Askren to the UFC from One Championship in exchange for Demetrious Johnson in a brief interview with TMZ Sports.

“We’re still working on [an opponent for Askren’s UFC debut]. Obviously he’s going to come into the welterweight division,” White said. “He’s undefeated, he’s their champion. We’re excited about it. He’s definitely going to fight somebody in the top 5.”

Askren retired from MMA following a 57-second stoppage of Shinya Aoki this past November, but left the door open for a return with the right offer. A former One and Bellator MMA titlist, “Funky” is 18-0 as a professional with wins over the likes of Douglas Lima, Andrey Koreshkov, Jay Hieron and Lyman Good.

Meanwhile, the UFC will be losing …

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

It’s been quite some time since Marvin Vettori has stepped into the Octagon, and there is a reason for that.

The Italian middleweight announced Sunday on social media that he has failed his most recent drug test conducted by USADA. The out-of-competition drug screening took place on Aug. 6 This was the seventh test for Vettori since the beginning of his career in the UFC.

The 25-year-old fighter stated his non-awareness and declared his maximum availability towards the investigations conducted by USADA. According to Vettori, the amount of the banned substance detected is 0.1 nanograms per milliliter. He did not specify the substance, though.

“Since the beginning of my career I have always been a clean fighter,” Vettori wrote on social media. “I have never intentionally assumed anything that could favor my performances inside the ca…

A heavyweight tilt pitting Andrei Arlovski against Walt Harris has been added to the UFC 232 lineup.

Promotion officials recently confirmed the pairing. UFC 232 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 29 and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.

Arlovski enters the matchup on a two-bout skid after dropping decisions against Shamil Abdurakhimov and Tai Tuivasa. “The Pit Bull” has won just twice in his last nine Octagon appearances since 2016.

Harris stopped a two-fight losing streak in his most recent outing, as he knocked out Daniel Spitz in the second round at UFC Fight Night 131. “The Big Ticket” is 4-6 in UFC competition and 11-7 as a professional overall.

Michael Johnson’s gamble paid off, as he was able to earn a win against Conor McGregor training partner Artem Lobov in the UFC Fight Night 138 co-main event on Saturday in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Johnson garnered a unanimous decision win after agreeing to take the fight on only two weeks’ notice. “The Menace” replaced Zubaira Tukhugov, who was pulled from the bout due to his involvement in the brawl following the UFC 229 main event.

Although Lobov acted surprised when the decision was announced, Johnson believes the right decision was made.

“He hit me what, three times, maybe?” Johnson said. “I think the damage I have on my face was from a headbutt. He hit me with a few kicks, but that was pretty much it. I was in and out, and he really couldn’t touch me that much, and I did a lot of damage. I don’t see how he would have thought he would have won the fight at all.”

Following the win, Johnson has plans to continue climbing up the ranks of the f…

Anthony Smith is putting people away at light heavyweight and padding his bank account in the process.

Smith received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his third-round submission of Volkan Oezdemir in the UFC Fight Night 138 headliner in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, on Saturday night. “Lionheart” survived some rough patches early to tap out the former title challenger with a rear-naked choke 4:26 into the third frame. Smith has finished all three of his wins since moving to light heavyweight.

Elsewhere, Nasrat Haqparast and Thibault Gouti received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their three-round lightweight battle. Haqparast rocked Gouti repeatedly with heavy punches and a kick to the body, but the Frenchman managed to survive the assault to make it to the final bell. Still, Haqparast’s barrage was enough to earn a unanimous decision on the scorecards.

Finally, South African newcomer Don Madge pocketed the evening’s other…

Sherdog's UFC Fight Night 138 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.

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All business tonight for Sean Strickland, as he gets the TKO victory. pic.twitter.com/TBN2rihAKF

— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) October 28, 2018

Welterweight contender Sean Strickland ventured all the up to the Great White North and came out on top in the UFC Fight Night 138 prelims headliner as he stopped quasi-local fighter Nordine Taleb in the second frame.

Strickland (20-3) dropped Taleb with a powerful right to the head in the second, but couldn’t put him away with his initial follow-up flurry. However, moments after Taleb (14-6) sprung back up to his feet, “Tarzan” drilled him with another right to the face. Taleb fell again and tried to recover his guard, but the Californian rained down a storm of punches until referee Eric Nevitt had to pull him off.

The end came officially at 3:10 of the second.

Haqparast Bests Gouti In a pairing of European lightweights, it was Afghanistan native Nasrat Haqparast who had his hand raised…

David Rickels will face Guilherme Vasconcelos in the Bellator 210 co-main event, the promotion recently announced.

Bellator 210 takes place on Nov. 30 at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla., and is headlined by middleweight clash pitting Melvin Manhoef against Chidi Njokuani. The card airs on Paramount Network and streams on DAZN.

The 29-year-old Rickels had a two-bout winning streak snapped at Bellator 200, where he suffered a second-round TKO defeat against Michael Page. “The Caveman” is 13-5 with two no contests over the course of a promotional tenure that began in 2011.

Vasconcelos has won three of his last four bouts under the Bellator banner. Most recently, the 32-year-old “Bomba” tapped out Ivan Castillo in the opening stanza at Bellator 192.

Breaking: Frankie Edgar out of UFC Fight Night on Nov. 10 in Denver against Korean Zombie ... Yair Rodriguez in, on short notice, per Dana White. Full story coming to ESPN shortly.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 27, 2018

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has pulled out of his highly-anticipated featherweight showdown with Chan Sung Jung due to an injury, ESPN reported late Friday.

The consolation prize for fight fans is Yair Rodriguez stepping in to face “Korean Zombie” instead in the main event of UFC Fight Night 139 in Denver next month.

Rodriguez (10-2) will finally return to action following a TKO loss to Edgar back at UFC 211 last year. Contract issues with UFC brass nearly caused “El Pantera” to leave the promotion entirely before the two sides were able to negotiate a new contract.

Meanwhile, fan-favorite “Korean Zombie” (14-4) hasn’t fought since a first-round knockout ove…

Florida-based MMA promotion Combat Night found itself smack dab in the middle of Friday’s media frenzy regarding the arrest of Cesar Sayoc, the man police say is responsible for mailing bombs to media figures and politicians over the last several days.

Combat Night’s logo, as well as two stickers bearing the logo of Florida MMA mainstay American Top Team, was plastered on Sayoc’s van, which police impounded shortly after his arrest on Friday. The van was also adorned with pro-Donald Trump stickers and a slew of far-right rhetoric.

Combat Night, which was formerly owned in part by the late Ultimate Fighting Championship and “The Ultimate Fighter” veteran Josh Samman, denied any kind of affiliation with the 56-year-old Sayoc in a statement sent to MMA Fighting.

Combat Night is not in any way affiliated with the individual arrested today in connection with this week’s terrorist acts. Combat Night absolutely disavows any political violence or threats of violence. We …