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In the immediate aftermath of his controversial victory over Henry Cejudo in the UFC Seattle headliner, Yadong Song seemed more than willing to run it back against the Olympic gold medalist.

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It might not matter.

Song defeated Cejudo via technical decision when an inadvertent eye poke rendered “Triple C” unable to continue after three rounds. While the “Kung Fu Kid” appeared to be on his way to victory, Cejudo had been competitive enough up to that point to where the championship rounds might have been interesting had they occurred.

However, UFC CEO Dana White doesn’t appear interested in seeing a rematch between Song and Cejudo at a future event.

“Not at all,” White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Not even a little bit. I just don’t want to see it again.”

After Song committed the inadvertent foul in the third round, Cejudo took the full five minutes given to him by referee Jason Herzog to recover. When the round resumed…

🤝Paddy Pimblett squashes his beef with Dustin Poirier:

"I don’t feel disrespected. I understand what he’s saying… 'legends only.' I’m not a legend.

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Why retire after one fight? Stop being a b*tch arse. Fight a contract out."

🎥 @PaddyTheBaddy ▫️ pic.twitter.com/AgEabNtISb

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) February 22, 2025 Dustin Poirier believes Michael Chandler will end Paddy Pimblett’s winning streak at UFC 314.

Chandler will look to return to the win column in a lightweight clash against Pimblett at UFC 314 on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Both Chandler and Pimblett have opened at nearly even odds on most sportsbooks. And Poirier advises bettors to wager heavy on former opponent Chandler for easy money.

“Even though he's a bitch, Chandler all day go heavy on the money,” Poirier wrote on X.

Even though he's a bitch, Chandler all day go heavy on the money https://t…

Alex Pereira responds to DC pic.twitter.com/QTMvuK5ae0

— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) February 22, 2025

Alex Pereira recently alleviated Daniel Cormier’s concerns about his upcoming fight.

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Pereira will puts his light heavyweight title on the line against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event at UFC 313 on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Cormier recently expressed some concern about Pereira’s preparation for the upcoming fight based on his recent activity.

Pereira was spotted in Sydney, Australia, earlier this month when the promotion returned to the country for UFC 312. “Poatan” was also seen meeting and greeting rapper Drake during his concert in Sydney.

Cormier is worried about Pereira catching the infamous “Drake curse” if the musician bets on him. A betting enthusiast, Drake putting his money on an athlete or team is believed to be bad luck for them, often leading to loss. Fighters like Conor McGregor, Mike T…

Belal Muhammad believes he’s “better everywhere” compared to Jack Della Maddalena

“I think they just underestimate my hands and my striking…

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I think I’m gonna go in there and walk through [Jack].”

🎥 @remembertheshow #UFC315pic.twitter.com/UBOh6lG7xf

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 21, 2025 Belal Muhammad (24-3) thinks he is better than Jack Della Maddalena (17-2) in every aspect.

Della Maddalena challenges Muhammad for the welterweight title in the main event at UFC 315 on May 10 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Shavkat Rakhmonov, who was originally expected to fight Muhammad, was offered the shot but missed out due to injury.

While Muhammad is one of the best grapplers on the entire UFC roster, Della Maddalena possesses devastating knockout power in his hands. While the Australian is expected to have an advantage over Muhammad on the feet, the champ disagrees. “Remember the Name” …

If Diego Lopes is to be believed, the era of two-division champions is over in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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While some fighters have won belts in two weight classes, only a few have enjoyed the privilege of holding two belts simultaneously, such as Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes. However, Lopes claims that will no longer be the case.

Featherweight champ Ilia Topuria recently vacated his belt to move up to lightweight, setting the stage for Lopes to face Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant 145-pound title at UFC 314. UFC CEO Dana White announced that Topuria felt he had accomplished enough at 145 pounds and has difficulty making the weight now.

However, Lopes claims Topuria was forced to vacate his belt in order to move up to lightweight.

“They were very clear to us that they said that they are no longer giving [fighters the] chance to jump from one weight class to another,” Lopes told ESPN. “If you want to move up, y…

Michael Chandler predicts an early KO in his fight against Paddy Pimblett 👀

“It’s a bad matchup stylistically for [Paddy]… I’m gonna land a right hand or a left hook and put his lights out within the first couple rounds.”

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🎥 @espnmma #UFC314pic.twitter.com/XoQZoHXEUx — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 21, 2025

Michael Chandler (23-9) vows to derail Paddy Pimblett’s (22-3) hype train at UFC 314.

Chandler and Pimblett will meet in lightweight matchup at UFC 314 on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Chandler intends to make Pimblett feel from the very first exchange that he’s fighting at a different level.

While Chandler admits that Pimblett is on a streak now, he intends to end it in Miami. “Iron” believes the Liverpudlian will fold under his pressure and go on the backfoot. Chandler will then look for the knockout blow to end the night early.

“I believe he’ll know within his very first exchange h…

There were not many bonuses handed out at UFC Seattle despite being a finish-heavy card.

Also known as UFC Fight Night 252, the bill went down at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. While none of the seven fights on the prelims card went the distance there were only two Performance of the Night bonuses doled out.

Bantamweight veteran Ricky Simon (21-6) was the only prelims fighter to earn an extra $50k bonus for his knockout win over Javid Basharat (14-2). While Simon had difficulty implementing his signature wrestling, he landed a perfect right hand to send Basharat to the shadow realm in the very first round. The win saw the 32-year-old rebound from a three fight skid.

Meanwhile, Jean Silva (15-2) received the second performance bonus of the night for the only stoppage on the main card. “Lord” was thoroughly entertaining right from his walkout, even engaging in a slap-fest with Melsik Baghdasaryan (8-3) before dropping the Armenian. Silva even waited for the ref…

Yadong Song took another step forward in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division—albeit an anticlimactic one—and settled for a technical unanimous decision over Henry Cejudo in the UFC Fight Night 252 headliner on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. All three members of the cageside judiciary scored it for Song (22-8-1, 11-3-1 UFC): 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.

An inadvertent eye poke left Cejudo (16-5, 12-5 UFC) unable to continue after the third round. Fans in attendance lustily booed the outcome.

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Song seemed to be in control up until the finish. The Team Alpha Male standout tore into Cejudo’s lead leg with damaging kicks, often forcing him to switch stances to shield the appendage from further exposure. Song countered effectively throughout, used occasional level changes to keep the onetime Olympic gold medalist honest and leaned into potent jabs. Cejudo was effective in spurts but seemed to be trending downward at the time th…

Sherdog's live UFC Seattle coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 252. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay P…

Ion Cutelaba excels in chaos.

“The Hulk” continued to reassert himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division, as he dismissed Ibo Aslan with an arm-triangle choke in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 252 prelim on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Cutelaba (19-10-1, 8-9-1 UFC) slammed the door 2:51 into Round 1, nailing down his first submission win since April 4, 2015.

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They traded barbs throughout their brief but eventful encounter. Cutelba sat down the Gym 23 product with an overhand right and later delivered a double-leg takedown. He laced the legs, climbed toward mount and scrambled into position for the arm-triangle. It soon became clear that there was no escape for Aslan (14-2, 2-1 UFC), who tapped with resignation.

Meanwhile, onetime Predador Fighting Championship titleholder Melquizael Costa turned away Andre Fili with a guillotine choke in the first round of their featherweight confron…

One Shot to WIN. One Shot to ADVANCE. One Shot at a WORLD TITLE 🏆

Get to know the Bantamweights(135lbs) set to compete in the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ #PFLWorldTournament

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[ Friday , April 11th | 📺 11:30 PM EST | ESPN 2 | B2YB @Cloudbet ] pic.twitter.com/Ky2dBRg666 — PFL (@PFLMMA) February 21, 2025 Fighters from a total of eight weight classes will vie for the top prize in Professional Fighters League’s 2025 tournament.

In previous years, the PFL ran its tournaments with six divisions up for grabs. A new development for 2025, the promotion announced on Friday that the bantamweight division would officially be opened, setting the stage for eight weight categories in this season of the tourney. Eight participants, several of whom pulled over from the Bellator MMA-PFL merger, will be part of the 135-pound bracket. A few notable names are absent, including champion Patchy Mix and former beltholders Raufeon Stots, Sergio Pettis and Kyo…

Main event READY 🔒@HenryCejudo weighs-in at 135lbs!

[ #UFCSeattle | TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus | 9pmET ] pic.twitter.com/MLdYfIlZVU

— UFC (@ufc) February 21, 2025 The Ultimate Fighting Championship's final card of February is now official after the UFC Seattle weigh-ins finalized 12 fights.

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The main event will see former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo look to continue his comeback against Yadong Song. Both men came in under the 136-pound limit for the five-round headlining fight. All of the rest of the fighters made weight, as well, making it an entirely professional weigh-in.

Cejudo (16-4) is 0-2 since returning from retirement. However, the losses were a close split decision defeat to then-champ Aljamain Sterling and current titleholder Merab Dvalishvili. "The Messenger" will look to show that he still has another run left in him at 38 and stepped on the scale weighing 135 pounds on the dot.

Mea…

A key top-10 contest in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division is booked for its May return to Canada.

In January, Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight reported that Gilbert Burns (22-8) would square off with Michael Morales (17-0) in Miami on April 12. The promotion changed course for this 170-pound pairing, shifting it one pay-per-view later to UFC 315 on May 10. The two will collide inside of the Bell Centre in Montreal, likely as part of the main card. The pairing was confirmed on Thursday by the promotion.

Former title challenger Burns has struggled as of late, recording his last win in April 2023 when he outworked Jorge Masvidal. Since then, Burns fell short to future champ Belal Muhammad, got knocked out by Jack Della Maddalena and dropped a decision to Sean Brady. Despite the recent setbacks, the Brazilian finisher can still hang his hat on wins over names like Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson over the years, and he had then-champ Kam…

Just a day on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, and Patricio Freire is already calling his shots.

After months of mystery, Freire was announced on Wednesday by Dana White as a new UFC featherweight. The former Bellator MMA great will make his new promotional debut at UFC 314 in Miami on April 12, where he will come to blows with former interim beltholder Yair Rodriguez. Full of vim and vigor, “Pitbull” talked to multiple Brazilian YouTube channels on Thursday, revealing details about the negotiation process and where he sees himself in the landscape.

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“This [matchmaker] thought I was old, but my manager was able to convince him on the contrary by recalling that I was born in the same, day, month and year as [Alex Pereira],” Freire explained to “Sexto Round.”

The fighter believed that he was being held out of the UFC because one of the matchmakers did not want him on the roster. When that concern fell away, Freire wanted to hit the ground …

Bantamweights will be on the marquee for the UFC’s first trip to Iowa since 2000.

Brazilian journalist Leo Guimaraes first broke the news on Thursday that Cory Sandhagen (17-5) and Deiveson Figueiredo (24-4-1) would be throwing down on May 3. The two 135ers will serve as the main attraction to UFC Des Moines, which will take place in the Wells Fargo Arena in Iowa’s capital city. The pairing has since been confirmed by other outlets.

Both fighters are coming off five-round decision losses to top contenders. In August 2024, Sandhagen came back after a year layoff to face Umar Nurmagomedov, falling short to the Russian in a bout closer than the scorecards of 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 indicated. That defeat halted a three-fight victorious stretch for the Colorado native, who had forced the doctors to intervene in his 25-minute match against Yadong Song before claiming decision verdicts over Marlon Vera and Rob Font.

Former flyweight king also saw a three-fight win st…

Two championship bouts will get featured billing at UFC 315.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced on Wednesday night that the May 10 card will be headlined by a welterweight championship tilt between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight strap against Manon Fiorot. UFC 315 takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

While Shavkat Rakhmonov was expected to be the next title challenger at 170 pounds, White revealed that the Kazakhstan native suffered an injury and was unable to compete. That led to Della Maddalena being pulled from his original booking: the UFC London headliner against Leon Edwards on March 22.

Muhammad will return to action for the first time since capturing the welterweight crown with a five-round verdict against Edwards in the UFC 304 main event this past July. “Remember the Name” is in the midst of an 11-fight unbeaten streak in the Octagon that…

Ilia Topuria’s reign at 145 pounds will be short lived.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday night that Topuria will vacate the featherweight title as he transitions to 155 pounds. As a result, Alexander Volkanovski will face Diego Lopes for the vacant 145-pound belt in the UFC 314 main event. Topuria captured the belt with a second-round knockout of Volkanovski at UFC 298 and defended the title with a third-round stoppage of Max Holloway at UFC 308 this past October. UFC 314 takes place on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

According to White, a fight for Topuria will be announced soon.

Volkanovski has not competed since the aforementioned loss to Topuria. Prior to that, the 36-year-old Aussie had an impressive run at 145 pounds, accumulating 12 consecutive victories and five successful title defenses along the way. However, he did suffer a pair of losses against Islam Makhachev at lightweight in a bid to become a two-division champ…

Sean Brady will fill the spot vacated by Jack Della Maddalena when he meets Leon Edwards in the UFC London headliner.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the new welterweight bout on Wednesday night. Maddalena was tabbed to challenge Belal Muhammad for the welterweight crown at UFC 315, clearing the way for Brady to step in against Edwards. UFC London — also known as UFC Fight Night 255 — takes place at the O2 Arena and also includes a light heavyweight showdown between Jan Blachowicz and Carlos Ulberg.

Brady has been victorious in seven of his eight Octagon appearances, with his lone setback coming at the hands of Muhammad in October 2022. The Renzo Gracie Philly product has since rebounded to post back-to-back triumphs against Kelvin Gastelum and Gilbert Burns.

Edwards will return to action for the first time since relinquishing the 170-pound strap to Muhammad in a unanimous decision defeat at UFC 304 this past July. Prior to that, “Rocky” had gone u…

The UFC 314 card will have plenty of depth.

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In the evening’s co-headliner, Michael Chandler will lock horns with Paddy Pimblett in a five-round, non-title affair. Meanwhile, former Bellator featherweight champ Patricio Freire will make his promotional debut against Yair Rodriguez in another featured clash. UFC CEO Dana White announced the pairings on Wednesday night. UFC 314 takes place at the Kaseya Center in Miami on April 12 and is headlined by a showdown for the vacant featherweight title between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.

Multiple other bouts, some previously reported, were also confirmed for UFC 314: Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates at welterweight; Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes at light heavyweight; Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson at featherweight; Xiaonan Yan vs. Virna Jandiroba at strawweight; Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper at lightweight; Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa at featherweight; Sedriques Dumas vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk at middlewe…

Dricus du Plessis reacts to Belal Muhammad saying he sucks:

“Has he ever finished anyone?… the UFC doesn’t even like Belal Muhammad…

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He’s definitely better on Twitter than he is in fights.” 👀🍿

🎥 @arielhelwani #UFC #MMA

pic.twitter.com/klzBNQYrG9 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 18, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis is downplaying a potential clash against Belal Muhammad.

Muhammad recently teased a move up to middleweight to challenge Du Plessis for the title. “Remember the Name” also slammed the entire division —with the exception of Khamzat Chimaev — citing Du Plessis’ title defence against Sean Strickland at UFC 312 earlier this month.

Responding to Muhammad’s comments, Du Plessis brought up the lack of finishes on the welterweight champ’s record. The South African also noted that Muhammad has yet to defend his title since winning it against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July 2024. Du Plessis is confiden…

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While Dan Hooker would have liked to fight on the same card as his City Kickboxing teammates, he won’t mind sitting cageside for their return.

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Alexander Volkanovski is expected to challenge Ilia Topuria in a featherweight title rematch at UFC 314 on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Hooker believes their teammate, Kai Kara-France, is also likely to be on the same card. The Topuria-Volkanovski rematch has not been confirmed by the promotion.

Meanwhile, “The Hangman” will take on Justin Gaethje in fan favorite matchup at UFC 313 on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While the Kiwi would have liked to fight on the same card as his teammates, he doesn’t mind getting done with his assignment earlier.

“I'm pretty sure Alex and Kai will be on the same card,” Hooker told ESPN Australia. “I would've liked for all the three of us to be fighting in April together, but I got chucked on a little earlier. But hey,…

Eric Nicksick is owning up to his mistake.

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Nicksick recently admitted that criticizing friend and pupil Strickland in public was the wrong decision. Strickland received a lot of criticism in general for his lopsided unanimous decision title loss against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312 earlier this month. Nicksick later called Strickland’s effort uninspiring after failing to motivate the former champ to push harder until the end of the fight.

However, UFC veterans like Daniel Cormier and Matt Brown didn’t approve of Nicksick publicly denouncing Strickland. While recently commenting on the issue, Brown noted that there might be a lot more to the whole thing than is visible to the public eye. Regardless, Brown thinks the relationship between a coach and fighter is too personal for their differences to be publicly exposed.

Responding to Brown’s comments, Nicksick admitted to having a made a mistake. While the Xtreme Couture head coach says his real …

Alexa Grasso will be back in action for the first time since losing the flyweight crown when she meets Natalia Silva at UFC 315.

The promotion confirmed the 125-pound pairing on Tuesday. UFC 315 takes place on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A headliner has not been announced for the card.

Grasso is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Valentina Shevchenko in a flyweight championship trilogy bout at UFC 306 this past September. The Lobo Gym MMA standout claimed 125-pound gold with an upset victory over Shevchenko at UFC 285 in March 2023 and retained the strap following a controversial split draw against her rival at UFC Fight Night 227 in September 2023. This will be the first non-Shevchenko opponent for Grasso since she defeated Viviane Araujo in the UFC Fight Night 212 main event in October 2022.

Silva, meanwhile, is a rising star in the division who enters the matchup with Grasso on a six-bout winning streak in UFC competiti…

One Shot to WIN. One Shot to ADVANCE. One Shot at a WORLD TITLE 🏆

Get to know the Women’s Flyweights set to compete in the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ #PFLWorldTournament

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[ Friday , April 11th | 📺 11:30 PM EST | ESPN 2 | B2YB @Cloudbet ] pic.twitter.com/yJ92NHxYJT — PFL (@PFLMMA) February 18, 2025

The field is set for Professional Fighters League’s upcoming women’s flyweight tournament — but one notable name is missing from the lineup.

The promotion announced the eight-woman roster for the 2025 World Flyweight Tournament on Tuesday, and it includes quite a few familiar faces. However, 2024 flyweight champion Dakota Ditcheva will not be part of the bracket. That likely means that Ditcheva, who is one of the PFL’s top stars, will be part of one of the promotion’s high-profile events in the coming months.

The tournament roster will include six fighters who competed in the PFL season format last year (Taila Santos, Liz Carmouche, …