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Fans were left stunned and disappointed last April when former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title contender Anthony Johnson announced his retirement from the sport after a second loss to 205-pound champion Daniel Cormier.

The 34 year-old had been arguably the most feared man in the division; his losses to Cormier had been the only blemishes on a run that saw him knock out a string of Top-10 contenders including Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and current Bellator MMA light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader.

“Rumble” appears to have been enjoying retirement, posting images of himself getting into bodybuilding at his gym and looking even bigger than he was last year. His manager, Ali Abdelaziz, was a recent guest on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show and said while his client is loving retirement he is keen to make a return to the Octagon.

“I talked to Rumble last week, right? And he said if Jon Jones fought ‘DC’ as a heavyweight, and if J…

Ben Askren’s Octagon debut is nearly finalized, as the promotion is targeting a matchup with Robbie Lawler at UFC 233.

ESPN was first to report the welterweight booking. Contracts have not yet been signed, according to the report, but that appears to be a formality at this point. Askren himself appeared to confirm the matchup on Twitter. The UFC has not formally announced the bout.

Lots of welterweights breathing easy right about now. Don’t worry your times will come! https://t.co/8xDJwIC7VZ

— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) November 6, 2018

UFC 233 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Jan. 26. The card will be the Las Vegas-based promotion’s first pay-per-view of 2019.

Askren came to the UFC as part of a trade with Singapore-based organization One Championship. “Funky” was released from his contract and allowed to sign with the UFC, while Demetrious Johnson was released from his deal to join One. Askren, a former titli…

It didn’t take too long for Conor McGregor to react the announcement of Floyd Mayweather’s next combat sports endeavor.

On Sunday, Rizin Fighting Federation revealed that Mayweather would face undefeated kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in Saitama, Japan, on Dec. 31. Rules and weight class for the bout have not been decided.

Mayweather retired after defeating McGregor via 10th round technical knockout in a boxing match in August 2017. That victory raised “Money’s” career mark to 50-0 in the Sweet Science.

McGregor taunted Mayweather in a profane Instagram post on Monday, while not appearing to recognize Nasukawa.

“Is that a tracksuit or a sauna suit Floyd haha wtf,” McGregor wrote. “Is it hot in Tokyo or what’s the story here? That climate change is no joke f—k me hahah. What in the f—k is going on here? Who’s this little prick next to you ? That’s mad s—t. Like something out of [Rush Hour] 5 or something. Chris Tucker and Jackie f—king Chan back in this b—…

Reigning One Championship atomweight titlist Angela Lee will have to put her dreams of being a two-division queen on hold.

One CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced via Facebook on Monday that Lee has withdrawn from a scheduled clash against strawweight champion Jingnan Xiong at the promotion’s ”Heart of the Lion” event on Friday. A back injury forced Lee out of the event.

“I am bummed to announce that our medical team has deemed One Atomweight world champion Angela Lee unfit to compete in One ‘Heart Of The Lion’ this Friday, November 9,” Sityodtong wrote. “As such, I have made the decision to pull Angela off the card, despite her adamance to compete still in the world title fight against One strawweight world champion Jingnan Xiong.

“We all know that Angela is a warrior with an unbreakable spirit. However, she suffered a serious back injury in training last week and badly herniated a spinal disc; she was unable to walk just a few days ago,” he continued. “Doctor…

Floyd Mayweather will return from a short-lived retirement to face Tenshin Nasukawa under the Rizin Fighting Federation banner on New Year’s Eve.

The matchup was announced during a press conference on Sunday evening. The rules of the bout were not initially clear, however. Both Mayweather and Nasukawa appeared at the press conference, and Rizin chairman Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that the rule set and weight have yet to be determined.

"First we had to convince Mr. Mayweather to come to the ring on the Rizin ring on Dec. 31. As you know Mr. Mayweather is undefeated. But all his fights have been in the U.S. He has had a wish to fight outside the U.S….” Sakakibara said. "We're happy we've convinced him to come to Japan for this history making event. In the second phase once we knew Mr. Mayweather would be in the Rizin ring on New Year’s Eve, we thought of the appropriate opponent and there was only one: Tenshin [Nasukawa].

“Regarding rules and weight we hav…

A few years back, it seemed laughable that UFC President Dana White would have any interest in signing Ben Askren.

White said as much after Askren parted ways with Bellator MMA in 2013.

“[We have] no interest. I’m sure [World Series of Fighting] will pick him up. They [Bellator] don’t want him. It’s their champion, and they don’t want him. What does that say?” White said then.

“I feel sorry for the kids that fight there. I do. I truly feel sorry for the kids that have to be stuck in that s–thole. The fact you would just give away a guy that has gone undefeated for you, it just shows what kind of people you are, what kind of business you do. And as far as the level he’s on, he barely beat Jay Hieron. He’s got some work to do. He can fight in another organization and work his way up here some day.”

Some day has arrived. Askren was recently released from his One Championship contract so he could join the Las Vegas-based promotion. In turn, the UFC releas…

UFC 230 had its share of issues leading up to Saturday’s event at Madison Square Garden, including the promotion’s well-documented struggles to find a suitable headliner.

The card was on the brink of having disaster strike again after Daniel Cormier threw out his back while sneezing hours before his heavyweight title defense against Derrick Lewis.

“I hurt myself this morning bad,” Cormier said at the UFC 230 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. “Sometimes I go into the Octagon, and I hear in the build-up, ‘When is this guy going to get old?’ It could happen overnight. I thought it happened this morning when I sneezed, and I slipped my back out. I was hurting bad. Like seriously. We got some pictures that we may release later in the week. I sneezed, and because I sneezed my back slipped out. I tried to do my morning run, and it wasn’t happening.”

Cormier, who turns 40 in March, said he received treatment from UFC Performance Institute staff after t…

The new era begins Jan. 19. @ESPN, you ready?! pic.twitter.com/joKTwLvO6Z

— UFC (@ufc) November 4, 2018

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s schedule for the first quarter of 2019 is set and will include multiple events marking the beginning of the promotion’s partnership with ESPN.

The schedule will kick off on Jan. 19 with an event entitled UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night, which will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. No bouts were announced for the card, but a welterweight clash between Stephen Thompson and Robbie Lawler has been rumored for the event.

The length of the debut ESPN+ card doesn’t appear to differ much from past Fox Sports 1 offerings. According to a release, UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night will begin at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT and end at approximately 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT.

The UFC will make its official ESPN Network debut on Sunday, Feb. 17 with a Fight Night card from Talking Stick Resort in Phoenix. No bouts have be…

Middleweights owned the post-fight bonuses at UFC 230, as Ronaldo Souza, Chris Weidman, Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier all received $50,000 for their work at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

“Jacare” and Weidman” received “Fight of the Night” honors for their slugfest in the evening’s co-headliner. The two middleweight contenders went toe-to-toe throughout the contest before Souza ended the bout with a right hand to the temple and a few follow-up blows at the 2:46 mark of round three.

Elsewhere, Adesanya announced his presence as a 185-pound contender with a lopsided victory over Derek Brunson to earn a “Peformance of the Night” award in a featured bout. “The Last Stylebender” floored his opponent three times en route to a stoppage with nine seconds remaining in the opening stanza for his fourth consecutive UFC triumph.

Finally, Cannonier, a former heavyweight and light heavyweight competitor, looked like a new man at 185 pounds, as he finished…

UFC 230 is now available on Amazon Prime.

Sherdog's live UFC 230 coverage kicks off Saturday at 6:15 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 Roun…

UFC 230 has lost a bout just before the promotion’s third event at Madison Square Garden was scheduled to begin.

The UFC announced Saturday that Brian Kelleher has withdrawn from his proposed bantamweight clash against Montel Jackson due to illness. Kelleher missed weight by one pound on Friday, but his illness is believed to be due to food poisoning and unrelated to his weight cut, according to multiple reports.

UFC 230 will move forward with 12 bouts. Kelleher vs. Jackson had been part of the UFC Fight Pass portion of the preliminary card.

Kelleher last appeared at UFC 224 on May 12, when he had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a third-round knockout loss to John Lineker. Jackson, a product of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, was coming off a decision loss against Ricky Simon in his Octagon debut at UFC 227.

UFC 230 has lost a bout just before the promotion’s third event at Madison Square Garden was scheduled to begin.

The UFC announced Saturday that Brian Kelleher has withdrawn from his proposed bantamweight clash against Montel Jackson due to illness. Kelleher missed weight by one pound on Friday, but his illness is believed to be due to food poisoning and unrelated to his weight cut, according to multiple reports.

UFC 230 will move forward with 12 bouts. Kelleher vs. Jackson had been part of the UFC Fight Pass portion of the preliminary card.

Kelleher last appeared at UFC 224 on May 12, when he had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a third-round knockout loss to John Lineker. Jackson, a product of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, was coming off a decision loss against Ricky Simon in his Octagon debut at UFC 227.

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…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO-jiCZWfEw?start=5148&w=560&h=315]

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…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSHvuRz6iPc&w=560&h=315]

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.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rj1vTT_-vE&w=560&h=315]

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.