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Piera Rodriguez believes Ariane Carnelossi was looking for a way out in their strawweight fight at UFC Fight Night 241.

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After rocking Carnelossi with a front kick and ending up in top position, Rodriguez landed what appeared to be an accidental headbutt. However, the Venezuelan fighter repeated the maneuver following a warning from referee Mark Smith, which resulted in a disqualification loss at the 3:16 mark of Round 2. Carnelossi took as long as she could to recover following the fouls, but it was ultimately determined that the Brazilian could not continue.

After the loss, Rodriguez’s questioned her opponent’s motives in a post on social media.

“I rather lose a fight because of a mistake I did, than go home calling myself a ‘winner’ knowing I am a coward,” Rodriguez wrote on Instagram. “I made a big mistake, maybe because of adrenaline.

“But you have to go to sleep with that lie in your head your entire life [Ariane Carnelossi]. And you cal…

It was a statement-making performance for Lerone Murphy at UFC Fight Night 241.

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The unbeaten Brit battered veteran foe Edson Barboza for the better part of five rounds, earning a lopsided unanimous decision triumph in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. About the only scare that Murphy had occurred at the end of Round 1, when his Brazilian opponent rocked him with an upkick. Fortunately for Murphy, the blow landed at the horn, and he was able to regain his bearings in the corner.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know what he hit me with,” Murphy said at the post-fight press conference. “I looked up at the screen during the round and he caught me with a good upkick. I think that is what busted my nose, along with a hundred million jabs. But yeah, good fight.”

When all was said and done, Murphy held a 220-to-79 advantage in significant strikes. It was the third largest striking differential for a featherweight fight in UFC history, and…

Adrian Yanez was genuinely concerned for Vinicius Salvador after securing a technical knockout victory over the Brazilian at UFC Fight Night 241.

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Yanez sat Salvador down with a massive right hand midway through the opening round and followed it up with vicious ground-and-pound to secure the finish. The amount of strikes that referee Chris Tognoni allowed Salvador to absorb before stepping in became a topic of debate among observers after the fight.

While some commended Tognoni for giving “Fenomeno” a chance to recover, others believed the referee could have stopped some of the devastating shots from Yanez by stepping in a little earlier. Yanez also admits that Salvador was making enough defensive moments initially for Tognoni to let the fight go on.

“Honestly, I don’t know. Because he was moving, he was doing all the right things,” Yanez said during the post-fight press conference. “I think when he pulled my base down from my hip, he did caus…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

After missing weight on his first attempt, Oumar Sy was able to cut the 1.5 pounds necessary the second time around to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut official.

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Sy initially weighed in at 207 pounds for his light heavyweight matchup against George Tokkos at UFC Fight Night 241. However, the undefeated French prospect was able to make the non-title limit of 206 pounds on his second attempt after stripping down and weighing in behind a towel. Sy revealed that a major chunk of the 1.5 pounds that he lost was his watch.

“Actually, that was a mistake,” he said during a post-fight media scrum. “Because when I got weighed in yesterday, I had my watch on, and my watch weighs 700 [grams]. So that was part of the difference.”

Sy was originally scheduled to make his debut against Rodolfo Bellato, who was forced out of the event due to an injury. Bellato was then replaced by Antonio Tro…

Tom Nolan revealed that his UFC Fight Night 241 win over Victor Martinez was a really crucial one.

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Nolan earned his UFC contract with a knockout win over Bodgan Grad on Dana White's Contender Series last year — his sixth straight victory. The then undefeated prospect was massive favorite going into his UFC debut against Nikolas Motta this past February. However, “Big Train” went on to suffer his first career loss via first-round TKO.

Nolan admits that he had let some of the hype around him get to his head going into his UFC debut, and he felt pressure to make quick work of his opponent in dominant fashion.

“Different pressure to last time,” Nolan said in a post-fight media scrum. “Last time the pressure was, ‘Oh you’ve gotta finish this guy in 10 seconds, you’re so much better, so much better.’ And to be honest, I’ve never been dropped, I’ve never been knocked out, I’ve never even really been hurt, I’ve never been cut, nothing. So at my own…

Melissa Gatto wants to move back down to flyweight after a successful bantamweight debut at UFC Fight Night 241.

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Gatto earned a third-round TKO win over fellow Brazilian Tamires Vidal on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Gatto now wants to return to action in August — preferably at 125 pounds.

“I want to fight in August in flyweight division,” Gatto said in a post-fight scrum. “But if the UFC want me in bantamweight division, I’m here to fight. I want to fight. I was born to fight.”

While she feels like a natural flyweight, Gatto also emphasizes that she has no problem competing at 135 pounds if the promotion wants her to. Gatto explained why flyweight is her preferred division.

“Because I think I am a flyweight, my body [likes the] flyweight division,” she said. “And I think I am flyweight, my team said it to me too. Of course but bantamweight no problem.”

Gatto’s win over Vidal came via a punch to the chest that drew a delayed re…

Lerone Murphy is on the cusp of stardom and could find himself ranked in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's featherweight division after dismantling the always-dangerous Edson Barboza on Saturday at the UFC Apex. Murphy dominated one of the the promotion's all-time best strikers from bell to bell en route to a unanimous decision win (49-46, 50-45, 50-45) over the 38-year-old Brazillian in the UFC Fight Night 241 main event.

Murphy (14-0-1) peppered Barboza with the jab and outstruck him despite eating bone-crunching leg kicks. He had Barboza staggered multiple times throughout the fight but cautiously stuck to the game plan and punished his foe in the clinch when the moment presented itself. Barboza never stopped looking for a knockout but Murphy refused to give him an opening. The Manchester Top Team product’s lateral movement and piston-like jab had Barboza eating leather all evening. With the win, Murphy picked up the biggest victory of his career and could see himse…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to its home base of the Apex in Las Vegas Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with UFC Fight Night 241, which is headlined by an electric featherweight tilt. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Ducote (-340), Demopoulos (+270)Round 1 It’s Saturday again, and for MMA fans, that means it’s UFC day. While next weekend will be off from UFC coverage thanks to Memorial Day in the U.S., a dozen more fights in a major organization send fans off into that brief break. There may be no ranked fighters on the billing, but rankings don’t make fights, and plenty of action is sure to come over the next six hours. A few victors could get numbers next to their names should they prevail, while others will be staving off a looming pink slip with the next Dana White’s Contender Series season right around the corner. The fights begin in the lightest division the company offers: women’s strawweight. The roster slots of both Demopoulos (10-5, 4-2 UFC) and Ducote…

Nice knee to the body from Tom Nolan #UFCVegas92 pic.twitter.com/NpshMdOM2U

— TakeruCigarra (@TakeruCigarra) May 18, 2024

A bloodied Tom Nolan (7-1) closed out the UFC Fight Night 241 prelims in violent fashion with a first-round TKO win (3:50) over Victor Martinez (13-6). Coming in with 13 knockouts between them, the lightweights did not disappoint. Martinez dropped Nolan with a clean left hook and almost found the finish before Nolan ultimately closed the show with a debilitating knee to the body. It only took a few shots for good mesure for referee Mark Smith to intervene.

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Two UFC newcomers shared the Octagon for the first time as undefeated French light heavyweight Oumar Sy (10-0) matched up against Bellator MMA veteran George Tokkos (10-4). After escaping from a few of Sy’s sprawls, Tokkos decided to tease the Frenchman. Tokkos’ constant reminders of “you’re heavier than me” didn’t faze Sy at all and ultimately b…

Lerone Murphy called for a bonus in his post-fight interview, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship delivered on that request.

Murphy and Edson Barboza received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their five-round clash in the UFC Fight Night 241 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. While Murphy landed more than 200 significant strikes to keep his unbeaten record intact, Barboza had moments of brilliance — most notably an upkick that rocked his English opponent at the end of Round 1. Ultimately, Murphy kept the pressure on for 25 minutes to earn a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph over the Brazilian veteran.

Elsewhere, Kalinn Williams garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check by virtue of a resounding knockout of Carlston Harris in a featured welterweight contest. A massive right hand landed clean and sent Harris crashing to the canvas, effectively ending the fight at the 1:30 mark of Round 1.

Finally, Angela Hil…

UFC 303 is in need of a new co-headliner after Khalil Rountree admitted to taking a banned substance ahead of the June 29 event.

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In a statement on social media, the light heavyweight revealed that he inadvertently took a “blended supplement” that contained dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an endogenous steroid hormone precursor. Rountree was scheduled to face former UFC champ Jamahal Hill at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It is currently unknown if Hill will remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

“I’m gutted to deliver this news to you all, but I will not be fighting at UFC 303 due to consuming a banned substance. I did not do this intentionally, and I am doing everything I can to get this situation taken care of,” Rountree wrote on Instagram.

“I was using a personalized tailored supplement service from a company that I trusted who understood my limitations in what I can and cannot take. They accidentally sent a blended supplement t…

Charles Jourdain is set to take on Jean Silva in a featherweight bout at UFC 303.

The promotion announced the pairing on Friday via social media. UFC 303 takes place on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight clash between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler. In the co-main event, former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hll takes on Khalil Rountree.

Jourdain (15-7), a mainstay in the 145-pound division since 2019, will enter the matchup coming off a split-decision loss at the hands of Sean Woodson at UFC 297 in January. The loss to Woodson snapped a two-fight winning streak for the Canadian that included victories over Kron Gracie and Ricardo Ramos.

Meanwhile Silva (12-2), a Dana White’s Contender Series graduate, recently made his promotional debut against Westin Wilson in January and walked off with a Round 1 technical knockout victory. “Lord” has only suffered two defeats throughout his professional career and …

A featherweight bout pitting China’s Nuerdanbieke Shayilan against former Legacy Fighting Alliance competitor Melquizael Costa has been added to UFC on ESPN 58 on June 15 at the Apex in Las Vegas.

The news was first reported by Eurosport Nl’s Marcel Dorff on X (formerly known as Twitter) and also confirmed by Costa on his social media handles. The card will be headlined by a flyweight meeting between Alex Perez and Tatsuro Taira.

Shayilan (39-11) will be aiming to return to winning ways following a Round 2 knockout loss at the hands of Steve Garcia at UFC 287 in April last year. Prior to that, the Chinese national was on a three-fight winning streak in the promotion, with wins over T.J. Brown, Darrick Minner and Sean Soriano.

As for Costa (20-7), the Brazilian is also coming off a Round 2 knockout loss against Garcia in December of last year. He currently sports a 1-2 Ultimate Fighting Championship record.

A matchup between two promising flyweights has been added to a UFC Fight Night event set to go down at the Apex in Las Vegas on July 20.

Cody Durden (16-5) will take on Bruno Silva (13-5) in what will mark the Covington, Georgia, native's 10th appearance inside the Octagon. The news was first revealed by Durden in an appearance on the KrazyKevMMA podcast and later confirmed by Silva on social media.

Durden will enter the Octagon on the heels of a Round 2 submission loss at the hands of Tagir Ulanbekov in December. That defeat snapped a four-fight winning streak which included wins over the likes of J.P. Buys, Jake Hadley, Carlos Mota and Charles Johnson.

Meanwhile, Silva is currently on a three-fight winning streak, most recently submitting Tyson Nam in the second frame of their UFC Fight Night 221 clash in March.

Patrick “Patchy” Mix’s claim as the best bantamweight in the world was tested on Friday after the Bellator MMA bantamweight champion was put through hell over five rounds against former foe Magomed Magomedov in the Bellator Champions Series Paris main event at Accor Arena.

Despite taking Magomedov out in two rounds in their first fight, the Russian challenger adapted to Mix’s length and hurt the champion multiple times with overhand shots. Mix showed the heart of a champion and kept Magomedov on the backfoot despite being on wobbly legs and took the fight to the scorecards. After a long deliberation, Mix was awarded the split decision win (46-49, 48-47, 48-47) much to the ire of the Paris crowd.

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Magomedov made wonderful adjustments from the first fight and consistently caught Mix coming in. Unfortunately for the challenger, his lack of pace allowed Mix to control the action and keep him at bay.

Each round could’ve been a toss-up as both men made th…

Sherdog's live Bellator Champions Series Paris coverage will begin Friday at 12 p.m. ET. Round 1 Featherweights kick off festivities in France, where the unbeaten Fontes (7-0, 0-0 Bellator) awaits the once-beaten Adjoudj (7-1, 5-1 Bellator) at 145 pounds. Christophe Chapuis serves as the third man in the cage. Fontes marches forward with heavy pressure, eats a glancing spinning backfist and wanders into the clinch. Adjoudj works behind him and hammers his legs with knees, then drags him to a kneeling position along the fence. Fontes stays calm. Adjoudj hooks the outside leg to maintain control, flirts with a guillotine and resumes his striking efforts with short punches and knees. With the round half over, Fontes continues to struggle to find some answers. Adjoudj racks up points with his counterpart trying to free himself. Ninety seconds to go in what has been a tactical rout thus far. At this point, Fontes might be better served bailing on the round and preserving his ener…

𝘽𝙊𝙉𝙅𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙇𝙔𝙊𝙉! 🇫🇷

The PFL Europe Championship comes to the @LDLC_Arena in Lyon-Decines on Saturday 14th December as FOUR European champions will be crowned 👑

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Enjoy a stacked night of mixed martial arts in December! Stay tuned for further announcements and ticketing… pic.twitter.com/zo9UgLdg38 — PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) May 17, 2024 The French city of Lyon will be getting its first major MMA fight card when Professional Fighters League comes to town at the end of the year.

The organization announced on Friday via press release that the 2024 PFL Europe Finals will be taking place on Dec. 14. The venue of the LDLC Arena in Decines, Lyon, France, will play host to the championships of their $100,000 spinoff tourney. The arena finished construction in November 2023, and the WWE has put on a pair of shows in the building in May.

The PFL Europe season of 2024 will conclude on this date, wrapping up its four brackets in th…

Britain’s David Cooke prepared a delightful breakfast of violence in a hurry on Friday morning.

The latest offering of One Championship’s Friday Fights series staged one single MMA bout on the lineup. This curtain-jerker saw Cooke (2-0, 1-0 ONE) put on a quick and exhilarating performance against Kohei Takegami (3-4, 1 NC; 0-1 ONE) in his promotional debut. The 21-year-old Cooke claimed a knockout victory in 87 seconds to open up ONE Friday Fights 63.

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Right from the opening bell, Cooke treated fans in the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium to action. Cooke was quick to pressure his foe, backing him up with jabs and a stiff right hand. Once he had Takegami against the ropes, the Englishman unleashed slicing elbows and knees before tying his man up to control the action. After the two disengaged, Takegami attempted to turn things around by getting his offense going.

Starting FAST ⚡️ David Cooke debuts with a first-round TKO!

#ONEFrid…

The #UFCVegas92 main event is OFFICIAL 🔒@EdsonBarbozaJR hits the scale at 145.5lbs!

[ TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus | 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/bjf8q3HKnB

— UFC (@ufc) May 17, 2024 After back-to-back events with raucous crowds, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UFC Apex for UFC Fight Night 241.

Headlining the 12-fight event are featherweight contenders Edson Barboza and Lerone Murphy. Both main event fighters came in under the 146-pound limit, and the five-round fight is now official. All other fighters also successfully made weight, keeping the card intact.

This marks the fifth main event for Barboza (24-11), who has gone 1-3 in prior outings. However, the Brazilian is on a winning streak after knocking out Billy Quarantillo with a devastating knee and winning a clear decision over Sodiq Yusuff. The 38-year-old looks to go on one final run and came in at 145.5 pounds.

Meanwhile, this is the first headlining fig…

Is costa out? pic.twitter.com/ImSS63WcGj

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) May 15, 2024 Several UFC fighters have expressed concern about “announced” matchups lately.

In April, the promotion announced at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference that the co-main attraction for the June 1 show in Newark, New Jersey, would be a five-rounder between middleweights Sean Strickland (28-6) and Paulo Costa (14-3). Strickland posted on social media on Wednesday expressing his concerns that the fight at UFC 302 might be in jeopardy, or perhaps was never signed in the first place.

The former middleweight champ said, “Well, g-- d--- Costa, I’ve heard you have yet to sign that contract, and I’ll tell you what man, I didn’t f---ing believe it. I did not think you’d be acting like a coward. I thought you would man up, sack up, but instead, you're acting like you got f---ing ovaries.”

The antagonistic Strickland continued, “So I went onto Google, I did…

Having learned from two straight Ultimate Fighting Championship losses, Adrian Yanez believes he will walk away with a resounding win this weekend.

Yanez (16-5) kicked off his UFC journey with five consecutive wins, including four finishes, before suffering a first-round knockout loss to perennial contender Rob Font at UFC 287. Yanez went on to drop his next outing to Jonathan Martinez, succumbing to leg kicks at the midpoint of the second round. A torn meniscus following that bout sidelined him to his upcoming May appearance.

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Looking back on his first career slump, Yanez revealed that the Font loss was still on his mind going into his clash against Martinez. While he initially thought he could get past that defeat, the first few leg kicks from Martinez sent him spiraling.

“Honestly, I had changed up my whole stance, almost like my whole style for that fight and I had to stay what’s true to me,” Yanez said during the UFC Fight Night 241 media day.…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship run for Themba Gorimbo has been an emotional rollercoaster.

Gorimbo (12-4) is scheduled to fight Ramiz Brahimaj (10-4) at UFC Fight Night 241 this weekend at the promotion’s Apex in Las Vegas. The Zimbabwean welterweight revealed that his wrestling coach from South Africa has been helping him with his training camp in the U.S. for the past eight weeks, despite the latter’s mother suffering from cancer. Shortly before UFC Fight Night 241 media day on Wednesday, his coach’s mother died.

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Vowing to win for his coach, the 33-year-old said, “All I know is I’m going to win in spectacular fashion for my coach whose mother just died like two hours ago. He’s been here with me for eight weeks. He tells me his mother is sick with cancer. He never told me it was that bad. I just say to him, ‘Okay, after the fight, we go back to South Africa together.’ I didn’t have a plan to go out there, but I was gonna go with him to see his m…

Carlos Ulberg is hoping for a quick turnaround after his knockout victory over Alonzo Menifield last weekend.

Ulberg (10-1) took just 12 seconds to starch Menifield (15-4) with a brutal volley at UFC St. Louis on May 11, snapping the American’s five-fight undefeated streak while earning himself a performance bonus. The previously unranked standout also landed himself the 14th spot on Sherdog’s Official Rankings at light heavyweight with the victory.

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Coming out of the fight relatively unscathed, Ulberg is eyeing a quick return to action, perhaps as soon as next month.

Former light heavyweight champ Jamahal Hill (12-2) will take on streaking contender Khalil Rountree (13-5) at UFC 303 on June 29, on a card that will also feature Conor McGregor's Octagon return against Michael Chandler. Looking for a leap up the rankings, Ulberg is ready to serve as a replacement for Hill vs. Rountree if either man cannot compete on fight night. If not, he is gunnin…

After all the callouts, Bobby Green has earned the chance at derailing burgeoning Ultimate Fighting Championship star Paddy Pimblett.

According to the UFC’s announcement on Thursday, Green (32-15-1, 1 NC) vs. Pimblett (21-3) will be taking place on UFC 304, likely as part of the main card. The two athletes will get their wish, after plenty of trash talk from both sides. The lightweight pairing will join confirmed matchups of Muhammed Mokaev-Manel Kape and Arnold Allen-Giga Chikadze high up on the billing. The fights will go down in Manchester, England, inside of the newly constructed Co-op Live.

Dating back the last year, Green has won three of four, with a technical submission of Tony Ferguson and a quick drubbing of Grant Dawson on his ledger. Jalin Turner knocked him out in December, and “King” bounced back in April to outpoint Jim Miller in a bloody one-sided affair. The recent positive run for Green has put him back over the .500 mark in the Octagon, which had p…