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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has signed with Bellator MMA after fighting out his UFC contract at UFC 224 last month, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reports.

Machida ended his UFC tenure with an emphatic front-kick knockout over fellow Brazilian MMA legend Vitor Belfort, which likely helped his bargaining power as he negotiated with both the UFC and Bellator. Machida was reportedly fielding offers from both promotions after becoming a free agent following his knockout of Belfort, but ultimately decided to try his luck outside of the promotion he’s fought for since 2007.

The 40 year-old karateka already holds wins over two titleholders in his new promotion: a knockout victory over Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader as well as a decision victory over newly-crowned middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi.

“The Dragon” is part of a general exodus of…

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Donald Cerrone has been cleared for his first fight in Singapore against British fighter Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night 132.

One of mixed martial arts’ most active fighters, Cerrone tipped the scales Friday at 171 pounds, clearing the way for his much-awaited clash against Edwards, who hit 170 and is looking forward to the biggest fight of his career.

The event will also feature Ovince St. Preux (206), who will be facing Australia’s Tyson Pedro (205) in the co-main event.

UFC Fight Night 132 “Cerrone vs. Edwards” will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The main card will air live on UFC Fight Pass on Saturday at 8 a.m. ET. The Fight Pass prelims will stream live at 4:30 a.m. ET.

UFC Fight Night 132 Weigh-in Results: Donald Cerrone (171) vs. Leon Edwards (170)Ovince St. Preux (206) vs. Tyson Pedro (205)Jessica-Rose Clark (126) vs. Jessica Eye (126)Daichi Abe …

She wasn’t in the main event, but in her much-anticipated MMA debut, two-time Olympic judo champion Kayla Harrison was positively golden.

Thursday night at Professional Fight League 2 inside the Chicago Theatre, Harrison (1-0 MMA, 1-0 PFL) ran roughshod over Brittney Elkin (3-5 MMA, 0-1 PFL) in their lightweight contest, locking up a fight-ending armbar at 3:18 to elicit the tap and gain her first career win in the cage.

The 27-year-old Harrison, who took Olympic gold at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro games at 172 pounds, immediately rushed Elkin into the fence, hit an inside trip and began delivering powerful punches before moving to mount. The Middleton, Ohio, native, who has taken up training with American Top Team in Florida, then switched from a rear-naked choke to an over-the-top armbar, broke Elkin’s grip and forced her to concede.

"The waiting before the fight is the hardest part. You go through a million scenarios in your head but once I got here…

When Jake Ellenberger first appeared in the Ultimate Fighting Championship back in 2009, the then-newcomer nearly took out established welterweight Carlos Condit in his Octagon debut.

“The Juggernaut” was a kind of new breed at the time, a competent if not dangerous striker with a proficient wrestling base. And Ellenberger was knocking people out, cold.

Those days seem firmly in the rearview mirror at this point, with Ellenberger going an uninspired 2-7 in his last nine fights. Mind you, many of those losses were to highly-ranked welterweights, however they were brutal defeats, with Ellenberger being violently knocked out in his last three fights.

But the UFC veteran isn’t ready to hang up the gloves just yet, despite dropping another loss recently, this time by first round TKO against Ben Saunders at UFC Fight Night 131 in Upstate New York on June 1 (via MMAJunkie.com):

“In my 12 years of fighting, that was the best preparation leading up to a fight camp that …

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Tyron Woodley packs some serious power, having put away the likes of Robbie Lawler, Josh Koscheck and Jay Hieron with punches during his mixed martial arts career.

Woodley sees a pattern of the type of pressuring fighters he knocks out, compared to more subtle and elusive opponents like Steven Thompson, who usually take the champ the distance. As for newly-minted interim welterweight champion Colby Covington, Woodley sees “Chaos” as more of the former kind of opponent (from the UFC Unfiltered Podcast:)

“Fighters that press me like that have been the ones that get knocked out. Koscheck was one and got knocked out. Robbie (Lawler) is a pressure fighter. He got knocked out. I’ve fought a guy like him before. These are people I call The Walking Dead. They know they have to get a takedown.”

“His ground is terrible. When you think about all those attributes, I’ve said this before, put your chin on the treadmill. Show me …

PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League Former Bellator MMA lightweight champion Will Brooks is primed to resurrect his career in the Professional Fighters League, and his path starts on Thursday in Chicago against Luiz Firmino at PFL 2.

PFL 2 will take place at the Chicago Theather on Thursday and has have a seasonal format in which fighters will compete for a $1 million prize and a championship.

Brooks, also an Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, tipped the scales today at 156 pounds, clearing…

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When Georges St. Pierre was in his heyday, maintaining a high level of intensity during training sessions sometimes required some creativity.

St. Pierre established himself as one of the UFC’s biggest stars during a lengthy reign as welterweight champion, and as a result, training partners in the gym would often be reticent to go hard against him during sparring. Tristar Gym trainer Firas Zahabi explained the situation during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s JRE MMA Show podcast.

“We reach those high intensity levels periodically through the year, and we have to do it a certain way so that it’s fun. Georges was on your show, and he was saying I was trying to kill him in the practice room. He’s right, but I do it so rarely,” Zahabi said. “I do it so periodically. I make it a joke. I brought the guys in a room, and I was watching them spar with Georges, and they don’t want to touch his face. This is when…

Yusuke Yachi, Hatsu Hioki, Kaitlin Young will be among those competing at Rizin 12 on Aug. 12.

The Japanese promotion announced several matchups for the card during a recent press conference. Rizin 12 takes place in Nagoya, Japan and is headlined by a lightweight showdown between Yachi and Bruno Carvalho.

The 26-year-old Yachi has reeled off a six-bout winning streak that includes triumphs over the likes of Diego Nunes, Takanori Gomi and Daron Cruickshank. The 36-year-old Carvalho owns a 10-5 career record but hasn’t competed since October 2016.

Meanwhile, Hioki will square off against Mikuru Asakura in a featured featherweight duel. An eight-time UFC veteran, Hioki is coming off back-to-back losses under the Pancrase banner in 2017.

“I debated about returning to the ring, but this is a big event in my home town against a young up and coming opponent,” Hioki said. “At the end of the day, there was no reason for me to turn down the fight.”

Elsewh…

Alliance MMA's Matt "Robo" Sayles makes it five finishes in five fights here at #DWTNCS, dropping Yazan Hajeh with a straight right and stopping him from the mount. He moves to 7-1 with six KOs. pic.twitter.com/alIe7PhGZ6

— Kyle Johnson (@Maldobabo) June 20, 2018

Anthony Hernandez could not have done more to impress the powers that be with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The undefeated MMA Gold Fight Team middleweight obliterated Jordan Wright with first-round punches on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas. Hernandez (7-0) brought it to a close 40 seconds into Round 1.

Wright (9-1) was in over his head. Hernandez cracked “The Beverly Hills Ninja” with a thudding right, then flurried and separated. A left hook sent a dazed Wright to the mat and left him vulnerable to the attack that followed. Hernandez capitalized on the opening, a burst of right hands knocking his adversary unconsci…

Sherdog's live Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series play-by-play kicks off at 8 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result

Angela Hill will square off against Alexa Grasso in a strawweight contest at UFC Fight Night 135 on Aug. 25.

The promotion confirmed the pairing on Tuesday evening. UFC Fight Night 135 takes place at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb., and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Justin Gaethje and Al Iaquinta.

Hill, the former Invicta FC 115-pound queen, has alternated wins and losses in her last four Octagon appearances. “The Ultimate Fighter 20” cast member last appeared at UFC on Fox 28, where she captured a unanimous decision victory against Maryna Moroz on Feb. 24.

A native of Guadalajara, Mexico, Grasso is 2-2 thus far during her promotional tenure. Most recently, the 24-year-old was submitted 2:44 into the opening stanza by Tatiana Suarez at UFC Fight Night 129 on May 19.

Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t yet have a date or foe for his first UFC lightweight title defense, but signs are pointing toward Conor McGregor being his next dance partner in the Octagon.

"I do not know yet who will be my opponent. The battle is likely to take place in Las Vegas,” Nurmagomedov told Russian outlet Sport24. “I want to fight McGregor, the fans are also waiting for this fight. I hope that Conor wants this fight. He talked a lot, but for some reason, as soon as it came to real negotiations about the fight, he fell silent.”

McGregor’s silence has occurred in part due to legal issues stemming from his attack on a charter bus prior to UFC 223 in April. The Irishman was charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after throwing a dolly through a bus window and injuring fighters Ray Borg and Michael Chiesa. His team is currently working on a plea deal, and the “Notorious” is due back in court on July 26.

Meanwhile, McGregor …

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

The UFC Fight Night 133 lineup will apparently expand to 14 bouts, as Niko Price will square off against Randy Brown in a welterweight clash on July 14.

Price recently revealed the pairing in the comments section of an Instagram post. The matchup has not yet been formally announced by the promotion. UFC Fight Night 133 takes place at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho and is headlined by a heavyweight scrap between Junior dos Santos and Blagoy Ivanov.

The 28-year-old Price has lost just once in 13 professional outings, a second-round submission defeat at the hands of Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night 119 last October. “The Hybrid” has since rebounded, tapping out George Sullivan with a rear-naked choke in the second stanza at UFC on Fox 27.

Brown has won three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a three-round verdict over…

A welterweight tilt pitting Sage Northcutt against Zak Ottow has been officially added to the UFC Fight Night 133 lineup.

The matchup was announced by the Las Vegas-based promotion on Monday. UFC Fight Night 133 takes place at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho, on July 14 and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Junior dos Santos and Blagoy Ivanov.

Northcutt is coming off back-to-back decision victories over Thibault Gouti and Michel Quinones in his last two Octagon appearances. The 22-year-old Team Alpha Male product is 5-2 during his promotional tenure and 10-2 as a professional overall.

Ottow, meanwhile, last appeared at UFC 222, where he sent Mike Pyle into retirement with a first-round technical knockout. The 31-year-old known as “The Barbarian” is 3-2 in the Octagon and 16-5 since beginning his MMA career in 2012. Ten of Ottow’s triumphs have come by way of submission.

Leon Tabbs, who worked as the lone cutman at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural event, died on Friday in Atlanta at 86 years old.

His son, Bruce, confirmed his death to multiple outlets over the weekend. Tabbs worked with the UFC as a cutman for 19 years before retiring in 2012 at the age of 80. His final event with the Las Vegas-based promotion was UFC on FX at Revel Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., on June 22, 2012.

“Our father is our hero,” Bruce said in a statement given to MMAjunkie.com. “He lived a simple life enjoying it to the fullest and deserved all he earned, and more, and earned all he received. Family, boxing, and friends and laughter were his life.”

Tabbs was also well known for his work in boxing, serving as a cutman for some of the sport’s biggest events, including multiple fights involving Bernard Hopkins. According to mixedmartialarts.com, Tabbs had professional boxing aspirations of his own before he was drafted for the Korean War. Dur…

A pair of bouts have been added to the UFC Fight Night 133 lineup, as Raoni Barcelos will face Kurt Holobaugh at featherweight and Mark Delarosa will square off against Elias Garcia at bantamweight.

The matchups were recently announced by CenturyLink Arena, the venue for the event. UFC Fight Night 133 takes place in Boise, Idaho on July 14 and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown pitting Junior dos Santos against Blagoy Ivanov.

A former Resurrection Fighting Alliance title holder, Barcelos hasn’t competed since October 2016, when he scored a second-round knockout of Dan Moret at RFA 45 to improve to improve to 11-1 in his professional career. Holobaugh, a former Titan FC champion, appeared on Season 1 of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, where he garnered a first-round stoppage of Matt Bessette; Holobaugh’s victory was later changed to a no contest due to his failure to disclose use of an IV before the fight.

Delarosa suffered his first pro def…

Dinis Paiva vs Andre Ewell #CES50 pic.twitter.com/0nys1suaM8

— ZombieProphet (@GIFsByZP) June 16, 2018

Andre Ewell made the most of the narrowest of openings.

The Apex MMA representative countered a takedown attempt with a tight brabo choke and submitted hometown favorite Dinis Paiva to capture the vacant CES MMA bantamweight championship in the third round of their CES 50 headliner on Friday at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Ewell (13-4, 1-0 CES MMA) brought it to a close 36 seconds into Round 3.

Paiva (11-7, 11-7 CES MMA) staggered the King of the Cage veteran with a left cross and kept him off-balance with repeated takedowns in the first round. That set the stage for the remarkable second. Ewell rattled the Team Sityodtong standout with a multi-punch burst and opened a cut near his right eye, as he appeared to seize momentum. However, Paiva bounced back late in the frame and nearly submitted the Californian with a rea…

Jorge Masvidal is having trouble getting a fight, and now “Gamebred” is targeting every Top 5 welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in order to get one.

Masvidal continued his campaign in eviscerating the entire welterweight division, taking aim at Kamaru Usman and Neil Magny in particular, all in an effort to finally get another fight.

“I’m going to get somebody at some point or another, whether it be a top-10 guy or not. Somebody’s face is going to get dismantled.”

Gamebred hasn’t fought once yet this year after ending 2017 on a disappointing two-fight losing streak. However, one of those losses was a split decision defeat to perennial top five welterweight Demain Maia and the other was a decision loss to Stephen Thompson. Prior to those losses, Masvidal earned perhaps the biggest victory of his entire mixed martial arts career after stopping Donald Cerrone, snapping his four-fight winning streak and becoming the first man to beat him at 170 pounds.…

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Bellator MMA welterweight Michael Page had his second professional boxing match in his native London on Friday, and once again scored a knockout victory.

“Venom,” who made his successful boxing debut last October, took on woefully overmatched Michal Ciach in a light heavyweight contest. Page (13-0 MMA) took Ciach out just 18 seconds into the second round to advance his boxing record to 2-0. The bout was promoted by British boxing legend and former two-time world champion David Haye.

The MVP KO pic.twitter.com/s2V1dsUoYz

— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) June 15, 2018

“MVP’s” latest victim sports a dismal 1-6 boxing record, which mirrors the criticism Page has faced since beginning his professional combat sports career. Throughout Page’s nine fights in Bellator, only recently has he taken on opponents that wouldn’t be described as “journeymen.” Bellator has been criticize…

In this story from Wednesday, the @ufc disputed our reported PPV buys for UFC 225. Here’s the update: McGregor due in New York court Thursday for bus-attack hearing https://t.co/PcC5wOhqNG

— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) June 14, 2018

UFC 225 featured two title fights and several big names, but initial reports regarding its pay-per-view buy rate were still alarmingly low.

Despite an interim welterweight and middleweight championship bouts, UFC 225 reportedly did less than 150,000 PPV buys, however now the Ultimate Fighting Championship is claiming otherwise.

While it’s no secret that recent UFC’s PPVs have taken a huge hit in viewership over the last few years, less than 150,000 buys is still a remarkably low and disappointing figure for the world’s leading MMA promotion. The only other PPVs that do those kind of numbers are reportedly headlined by 125-pound champion and pound-for-pound king Demetrious Johnson, but that’s a convers…

The lightweight title fight between Damir Ismagulov and Artem Damkovsky has ended prematurely, as Damkovsky broke his forearm on the champion's head. The first-round stoppage means Ismagulov now rides an 11-fight winning streak with three successful title defenses. #M1Challenge94 pic.twitter.com/WMaDcGlfRi

— Kyle Johnson (@Maldobabo) June 15, 2018

European mixed martial arts promotion M-1 Global hosted M-1 Challenge 94 Friday in Orenburg, Russia, and had an unusual end to proceedings in the main event.

In a lightweight title fight between king Damir Ismagulov and former ace Artem Damkovsky, the champion successfully defended his title when the fight was stopped by the referee due to an injured arm.

With approximately one minute remaining in the opening period, the fighters separated and Damkovsky threw an overhead left hook that broke his forearm. The fighter felt the injury immediately and waved for the referee to stop the fight. Read more about M-1 Challenge 94 Video: Artem Damkovsky Breaks Arm in Failed Title Bid

Now that Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight king Robert Whittaker has defeated Yoel Romero for the second time at UFC 225, the remaining Top-5 middleweights are jockeying for position to secure the next title shot.

Two of those top middleweights have been trading shots back and forth on social media, each making a case for his own shot at UFC gold while diminishing the other’s accomplishments. Former divisional champ Chris Weidman and Kelvin Gastelum were friendly and polite leading into their fight at UFC on Fox 25 last July, but that good will has been tossed out of the window now that the stakes are higher.

Gastelum began the heated exchange on Wednesday, calling Weidman “Chrispy” and challenging his claim to the next title shot on Twitter:

Chrispy??? Now it’s personal...my argument is simple. I am ranked ahead of YOU and I finished YOU in my last fight. https://t.co/EaqAPvdINm

— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) June 14, 2018

…

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Former WWE superstar and professional wrestler CM Punk had his second mixed martial arts fight over the weekend at UFC 225, and once again fell short against Mike Jackson.

Punk and Jackson both entered the bout sporting an 0-1 professional MMA record, with each losing to Mickey Gall by first-round submission beforehand. “The Truth” was essentially the only fighter with comparable experience to Punk, and so expectations were a bit higher this time around for the former wrestler.

However, Jackson pieced him up for three rounds, winning all of the judges’ scorecards 30-26.

Punk’s Jiu-Jitsu coach Daniel Wanderley has worked with the former WWE star for years now, and after Saturday night’s loss, is advising Punk to consider other options outside of mixed martial arts -- namely competitive Jiu-Jitsu:

“I hope he continues training and maybe enters a jiu-jitsu competition, something he has alwa…

Eight bouts complete this stacked #InvictaFC30 fight card! Which bout do you think will earn FOTN honors? pic.twitter.com/SQBNN1snq0

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) June 14, 2018

Invicta Fighting Championships has released the eight-bout fight card for its upcoming event, Invicta FC 30 in Kansas City.

In the main event, the vacant Invicta FC atomweight title will be on the line when Jinh Yu Frey meets Finnish contender Minna Grusander. The 105-pound title was vacated by Ayaka Hamasaki, who is currently competing for Rizin Fighting Federation.

Competing at strawweight as well as atomweight, Frey is 4-2 under the Invicta FC banner, including a decision triumph over Ashley Cummins in her last fight in 2017. The red-hot Grusander will look to build on her streak of four straight stoppage wins over the likes of Fernanda Priscila Barros Pinheiro and Elena Belaya.

Founded in 2012, Invicta FC is the world’s largest all-female mixed marti…