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The 2024 #PFLPlayoffs are set

Welterweights & Featherweights finally book their tickets to Washington DC ✈️

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B2YB @Join_AFReserve | #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/BJoAcFCMcE — PFL (@PFLMMA) June 29, 2024

Shamil Musaev is sitting pretty as he makes his first venture into the Professional Fighters League postseason.

The 30-year-old Russian secured the No. 1 seed at welterweight by virtue of a second-round technical knockout of Murad Ramazanov at PFL 6 on Friday night at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The KSW veteran is now unbeaten in 17 professional outings, but he’ll have to best the same adversary twice in a row if he is to advance in the 170-pound bracket. His matchup for Aug. 23 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. will be a return date with the fourth-seeded Ramazanov, who suffered his first professional defeat on Friday. Meanwhile, No. 2 Magomed Umalatov will square off against No.…

In a sport where the term “sniper” is often thrown around too easily, Alex Pereira wields a once-in-a-lifetime blend of precision and power.

In the main event of UFC 303 on Saturday in Las Vegas, light heavyweight champ Pereira (11-2) met Jiri Prochazka (30-5-1) in a rematch of their title fight seven months ago, which the Brazilian won by second-round knockout after likely losing the first round. In the rematch, the first round was a surprisingly tentative affair, most likely due to both men now being fully cognizant of the other’s power. The champ quickly went to work with the brutal leg kicks that had been effective for him in their first meeting, and which had given Prochazka trouble in his subsequent fight against Aleksandar Rakic as well. Prochazka had some success bouncing into range and landing single punches, but his attempts to bring the fight to the floor went nowhere. Nonetheless, the round was a competitive affair—that is, up to the final seconds, when “Poatan” …

Sherdog's live UFC 303 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Simon (-218), Oliveira (+180)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Tsuruya (-485), Hernandez (+370)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Buday (-258), Arlovski (+210)Round 1 Sherdog…

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Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights take notice: Joe Pyfer is one frightening individual.

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In the featured preliminary bout of UFC 303 on Saturday in Las Vegas, “Bodybagz” came close to living up to his nickname, obliterating Marc-Andre Barriault with a hail of punches against the fence that left “Power Bar” prone and senseless on the cage floor. It was barely a fight, as Pyfer waded forward immediately, backing Barriault up with big haymakers. Once he had corralled the Canadian against the fence, the rest was academic: Pyfer unleashed a series of huge punches, with a right hand sneaking behind Barriault’s raised guard to connect on the ear. Pyfer tacked on a left as his opponent fell, and Barriault wound up facedown with his hands at his sides, completely separated from his wits and referee Herb Dean waved off the fight at 1 minute, 25 seconds. The chilling knockout put Pyfer back on track after his first UFC …

Michelle Waterson-Gomez is calling it a career.

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The 15-time Octagon veteran announced her retirement following a unanimous decision loss to Gillian Robertson in a preliminary strawweight contest at UFC 303 on Saturday night. “The Karate Hottie” broke down in tears in the Octagon as the promotion played a tribute video on the big screen at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The loss to Robertson was her fifth straight defeat.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the UFC and all you fans continuing to push me. Fighting runs through my veins. It’s made me who I am,” Waterson-Gomez said. “When you fight, you chase greatness.”

The 38-year-old Waterson-Gomez compiled an 18-13 mark over the course of a professional MMA career that began in 2007. She captured the Invicta FC atomweight crown in 2013 and defended that title once before relinquishing the belt to Herica Tiburcio in 2014.

The Jackson-Wink MMA product would then win …

Brendan Loughnane is going back to the #PFLPlayoffs seeking his 2nd PFL World Title!#PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/UCEXR0WVeA

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 29, 2024 Brendan Loughnane came into the 2024 PFL Regular Season 6 card having already secured a Professional Fighters League featherweight playoff spot, but that didn't stop him from putting on a show against Justin Gonzales.

A clear striking advantage was on display from the very beginning as Loughnane (28-5) was able to find his distance and regularly clip Gonzales (14-5). In clear control, Gonzales would get a nasty cut on his forehead in the second round from a knee to the head. After the doctor looked at the laceration, the fight was called off at 3:34 of Round 2.

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Loughnane will be the No. 1 seed in the featherweight playoffs and will face Kai Kamaka.

The Welterweight Semifinals are OFFICIAL for Washington D.C.#PFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/D…

The Professional Fighters League’s regular season marches on with 2024 PFL 6 Regular Season at 6:30 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round: The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog …

CHAMA 🗿@AlexPereiraUFC is locked in at 204lbs

[ Live on @ESPNPlus PPV | TOM | 10pmET/7pmPT | #UFC303 ] pic.twitter.com/TCPImZQPZi

— UFC (@ufc) June 28, 2024 While it's not the Conor McGregor return that was originally planned, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made the most of a bad situation.

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The replacement UFC 303 main event is a good one as Alex Pereira will put his belt on the line against former titleholder Jiri Prochazka. Both men successfully made weight for the rematch of their highly entertaining 2023 fight, which saw the Brazilian claim his second UFC belt. As for the rest of the card, all fighters made weight with the exception of Jean Silva, who came in 1.5 pounds over the featherweight limit for his fight against Charles Jourdain. As a result, Silva will be fined 20% of his purse.

Pereira (10-2) has become a fan-favorite for his vicious knockouts and willingness to fight anyone. Since moving to light …

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Benoit St. Denis would like nothing more than to go three for three when stopping off in Paris.

At the UFC Fight Night event on Sept. 28 in Paris, St. Denis (13-2, 1 NC) is expected to appear in front of home fans. He will take on resurgent 155-pounder Renato Carneiro (19-5-1), according to an initial report from Ag. Fight. The lightweight stylistic clash has been verbally agreed to by both competitors, but the contracts have not yet been signed. This news has since been confirmed by multiple outlets. The only other fight official for the lineup is Joanderson Brito vs. William Gomis at 145 pounds, although Ciryl Gane is rumored to be appearing and possibly headlining this event in the Accor Arena.

Bayonne, France, native St. Denis appeared at both of the previous UFC cards held in the City of Light, finishing Gabriel Miranda in 2022 and Thiago Moises in 2023. Most recently, “God of War” succumbed to strikes from Dustin Poiri…

🚨🚨対戦カード変更🚨🚨#Yogibo presents #超RIZIN3

RIZINスタンディングバウト特別ルール 69.0kg

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🟥#マニーパッキャオ@MannyPacquiaoボクシング世界6階級王者ーーー🆚ーーー🟦#安保瑠輝也 @anpo_rukiya第4代K-1ｽｰﾊﾟｰﾗｲﾄ級王者

※鈴木千裕が怪我でドクターストップのため欠場… pic.twitter.com/oE4gjS8RYm

— RIZIN FF OFFICIAL (@rizin_PR) June 28, 2024 Rizin Fighting Federation will keep Manny Pacquiao on its upcoming blockbuster show no matter what.

The promotion sent out a press release on Thursday night announcing that Pacquiao would no longer be facing Chihiro Suzuki at Super Rizin 3 on July 28. “PacMan” was expecting to take on Suzuki in a three-round “standing rules” match which consisted of boxing plus spinning strikes. Due to an injury sustained in his exhibition bout against Takanori Gomi in June, Suzuki has been forced out of the matchup. In his stead will be kickboxer Rukiya Anpo, who has already engaged in a similar type of fight ag…

ONE Championship fan-favorite “Reug Reug” will still be vying for the heavyweight title in November.

Per sources close to the situation, Oumar Kane (6-1 MMA, 0-0 KB) will be adding another matchup to his calendar this year. At ONE Fight Night 23 on July 5, “Reug Reug” will be battling Senegalese influence Boucher Ketchup under kickboxing rules. The two big men, who share a history with one another as popular laamb wrestlers, will duke it out for three three-minute rounds at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok. As first reported by Sportskeeda, the heavyweights challenged one another on a live broadcast of 221 Live on Tuesday, a show about laamb wrestling.

This will be the kickboxing debut for the 32-year-old training out of 971 MMA. “Reug Reug” entered into MMA in 2019, where he crushed Sofiane Boukichou early into the second round. This lone win propelled him into the roster of ONE Championship, where he went on to crush Alain Ngalani and Patrick Schmid in 2021 to put himsel…

Kohei Wakabayashi prescribed a death-by-a-thousand-cuts treatment for Gexi Sanlang.

The Japanese judoka enjoyed a successful ONE Championship debut, as repeated takedowns and a crushing top game carried him to a split decision over Sanlang in their three-round ONE Friday Fights 68 strawweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Two of the three ringside judges gave the nod to Wakabayashi (8-1-1, 1-0 ONE), who was reduced to tears when the verdict was read.

Sanlang (14-3, 0-2 ONE) was far too content to play defense from the bottom. Wakabayashi tripped him to the canvas in all three rounds, set up shop in half guard, applied some mild ground-and-pound and flirted with a few arm-triangles. Sanlang answered with slashing elbow strikes from his back but not enough of them to make a real difference. He staged a late rally in Round 3, where he caught a Wakabayashi kick and dumped him to the floor before connecting with elbows to the head and …

⚖️Featherweight Main Event Bout is official!

Brendan Loughnane: 146 lbsJustin Gonzales: 145.6 lbs

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[#PFLRegularSeason | Fri, Jun 28th | 6:30pm ET on ESPN+ | 10pm ET on ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/fusmTAqyMh — PFL (@PFLMMA) June 27, 2024

The stage is set for the final Professional Fighters League event of the 2024 regular season.

Brendan Loughnane and Justin Gonzales hit their contracted marks for the PFL 6 headliner during Thursday’s weigh-ins. Loughnane tipped the scales at 146 pounds, while Gonzales weighed 145.6.

PFL 6 takes place on Friday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and features regular season bouts at featherweight and welterweight. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Loughnane, who won the 2022 PFL title at 145 pounds, kicked off his current campaign with a first-round tech…

Charles Oliveira shuts down recent fight rumours ❌#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/KaQPd4LdFz

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 27, 2024

Charles Oliveira dismissed Dan Hooker’s claims of a potential UFC 305 matchup between the pair.

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Hooker (34-10) recently claimed that he is gearing up for a return at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. While Hooker was initially hesitant to name his opponent, he later hinted that it could potentially be Oliveira (23-12). While Hooker is “100%” ready to fight Oliveira, he clarified that “do Bronx” is yet to sign the contract.

“My body’s a 100 percent,” Hooker said on the Mainevent YouTube channel. “Everything’s all cleared. I’m training, I’m training hard, I’m training 100 percent, I’m in camp. Getting ready for Perth; not sure if I can really say [who I’m fighting]. Nothing’s official. But obviously I’m 100 percent in. And the old Charlie Olives, I think that’s a fight that the fa…

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Payton Talbott is oozing a different level of confidence going into his upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship outing.

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Talbott (8-0) will take on French prospect Yanis Ghemmouri (12-2) at UFC 303 on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Always portraying an aura of extremely stoic confidence, Talbott is no different going into Saturday. However, this time Talbott went as far as to actually lay down a gameplan for Ghemmouri to beat him.

Talbott advised Ghemmouri to chop his base with leg kicks and throw in volume to be able to land. Talbott also warned “The Desert Warrior” against making it a slow-paced affair.

“The key to success for Yanis Ghemmouri, if you're listening: the way for you to beat me is to take my legs away,” Talbott said on his YouTube channel. “Just kick me as much as you can. It will serve you well. Please throw more than two strikes at a time. Nobody likes watching a slow-paced fight. The counter will…

𝗪𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗥 𝗚𝗢 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘

There is no time to waste inside the SmartCage as @Gabrielbragab and @BubbaJenkinsMMA fight to keep their 2024 Million Dollar Dreams alive in Sioux Falls 💰🏆

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[#PFLRegularSeason | Fri, Jun 28th | 6:30pm ET on ESPN+ | 10pm ET on ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/5FMEkHy9FQ — PFL (@PFLMMA) June 26, 2024

Bubba Jenkins (21-8) is eyeing a first-round finish to make it to the 2024 Professional Fighters League Playoffs.

Jenkins is slated to face Brazilian prospect Gabriel Braga (13-1) in a featherweight clash at 2024 PFL 6 Regular Season on Friday, June 28 at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Jenkins started his 2024 campaign with a unanimous decision loss against Kai Kamaka III this past April, a first for the PFL veteran in four years. Meanwhile, his opponent had an excellent start to the season, knocking out Justin Gonzales in a first-round buzzer-beater on the same card to secure six points.

…

Don Madge doesn’t dread fight week anymore.

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When he began his career as a lightweight, that wasn’t necessarily the case for the South Africa native, who will face Neiman Gracie at PFL 6 in a regular season bout at welterweight on Friday night. After scoring a first-round submission of Brennan Ward on April 19, Madge sits atop the 170-pound standings heading into the second regular season event.

“Ah man, the weight cuts to the lightweight were like savage,” Madge said during a PFL media day. “I've kind of spoken about it now that I've made the move up, but I would do maybe [26 to 28 pounds] in a week, you know, like, stupid amounts… But yeah man, the move up to welterweight [was] something that I've been like juggling with for a long time. I just never felt like I needed to do it because I was still winning at lightweight.

“Especially for this the season format, we fight so often that doing those gigantic weight cuts just don't make any sense. …

Flowing into the zone with music is the motto for @da_MONSOON 🎵🎵🎵

B2YB @Bose

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[#PFLRegularSeason | Fri, Jun 28th | 6:30pm ET on ESPN+ | 10pm ET on ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/KNcFHu5ItI — PFL (@PFLMMA) June 26, 2024

Lorenz Larkin has been here before.

“Monsoon” was building a name under the Strikeforce banner when Zuffa purchased the promotion and folded it into the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2013. So seeing Bellator MMA where Larkin has been since 2017, merge with Professional Fighters League isn’t exactly a novel experience for the 37-year-old veteran.

“I guess [it’s] kind of bittersweet, you know — the whole merger and things like that,” Larkin said during a PFL media day. “Unfortunately, it's not my first rodeo in this whole thing. So, you know, I was with Strikeforce when Zuffa bought them, so it was kind of familiar.

“But it's been good so far. Other than the no elbows, but you know, what can you do…

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Dricus Du Plessis vows to put the middleweight division on notice with his upcoming title defense against Israel Adesanya.

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“Stillknocks” will look to defend his strap for the first time against Adesanya in the main event at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. Adesanya has always been the benchmark of success for Du Plessis, who plans to put himself in middleweight GOAT conversations by besting “The Last Stylebender.”

“I’ve always looked at Israel Adesanya as the benchmark,” Du Plessis told Fox West Texas. “Now Izzy became a champion a long time ago and I’ve looked at him and always knew, ‘This is where I need to be if I ever wanna be the best in the world.’… He is one of the greatest to ever do it. And this fight for me is gonna put me in that position. This is where I take over as one of the greatest to ever do it.”

In addition to beating Adesanya, Du Plessis vows to do it in a manner which will have other middleweight …

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Alex Pereira seemingly hasn’t lost his touch when it comes to changing tires.

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The UFC light heavyweight champion, who once used to work at a tire repair shop, just recently changed a flat tire with ease. Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka in the main event at UFC 303 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Pereira got to test his tire-changing skills while on his way to the airport to fly to Vegas. The taxi carrying Pereira’s kids, which got a flat tire, didn’t have a jack. While the driver also appeared slightly clueless, “Poatan” took the jack from the car he was traveling in and got the job done.

“It’s just like riding a bicycle: Once you know, you know. Because I thought I didn’t know no more how to do it,” Pereira told ESPN through an interpreter. “But we were on the way to the airport, Melvin, my kids were [in] the other car. And then we saw the other car stopped, they had a flat …

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Leon Edwards believes the highly-anticipated clash between Ian Garry and Michael Page could turn out to be lackluster affair.

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Garry and Page are slated to clash at UFC 303 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While Garry is known for his clean and precise striking, “MVP” has built a career off of highlight-reel knockouts in Bellator MMA.

However, Edwards wonders if Garry vs. Page might play out to be a lukewarm contest due to a clash of similar styles. Having sparred both Garry and Page, “Rocky” believes the lengthy strikers might just be hesitant to commit first and end up spending most of their time in finding the range.

“It’s interesting all right bcause I feel like it might be like a little fencing fight where they’re both like trying to find range… So don’t know whether or not to run a boring fight, so they’re both trying to find range and nobody wants to commit first,” Edwards told Red Corner MMA. “Or a nice…

Sean Strickland believes he has earned his stripes for the next title fight at middleweight.

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Dricus Du Plessis will put his middleweight title on the line against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. The winner of that match is expected to face either Strickland or Robert Whittaker, who are both coming off massive victories.

Strickland made his case for a title shot with a split decision win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 on June 1. Meanwhile, Whittaker scored a first-round knockout win over unranked prospect Ikram Aliskerov, who replaced Khamzat Chimaev on short notice at UFC on ABC 6 last weekend. Many believe a fight between Strickland and Whittaker is the best way to decide the next rightful title contender.

However, Strickland believes he has already done enough to deserve the next middleweight title shot over Whittaker. Strickland argued that he already beat Adesanya and was robbed of a win against du Plessis. Meanwhil…

Jiri Prochazka has hurled a rather fascinating accusation at Alex Pereira.

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Prochazka and Pereira agreed to a short notice title rematch in the main event at UFC 303 on Saturday after Conor McGregor pulled out of his scheduled matchup against Michael Chandler due to a toe injury.

The two initially traded leather at UFC 295 in November 2023, when Pereira scored a second-round knockout over Prochazka, which could have been considered an early stoppage. Pereira has since defended strap with a brutal-first round KO win over Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 this past April. However, this stoppage was also marred with controversy due a unique sequence leading up to the finish. Pereira brushed off an accidental low blow from Hill and stopped referee Herb Dean from pausing the action moments before putting “Sweet Dreams” to sleep. Hill accused Pereira of capitalizing on the awkward sequence to set up his victory.

Judging by what Prochazka has seen of Pereira a…

UFC on ESPN 59 has a new main event.

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Maycee Barber has been forced out of a proposed flyweight clash against Rose Namajunas for undisclosed reasons. As a result, Tracy Cortez will face Namajunas in the card’s new main event. MMA Mania was first to report Barber’s withdrawal, and MMAFighting.com brought word of the new booking. UFC on ESPN 59 takes place on July 13 at Ball Arena in Denver.

Cortez was scheduled to face Miranda Maverick at on UFC on ESPN 60 on July 20, but will now fight one week earlier than expected. Maverick will reportedly remain on the July 20 card against a replacement opponent.

Cortez has won 11 consecutive professional outings — including her first five UFC bouts. Most recently, the Fight Ready product defeated Jasmine Jasudavicius via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 227 this past September.

A former strawweight champion, Namajunas will be making her third 125-pound appearance. After dropping a three-round ve…