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Comparisons between Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya have been common in fan middleweight GOAT debates in recent years.

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Those discussions intensified after Adesanya defeated “The Spider” via unanimous decision at UFC 234 in February 2019 and then captured the middleweight belt later that year — this despite Silva having twice as many title defenses as his counterpart overall. On Saturday, after Sean Strickland defeated “The Last Stylebender” to claim the belt in a massive upset at UFC 293, Silva sent a strong message regarding the GOAT debate to his 4.9 million Instagram followers.

“I'm the one in charge of this s—t here, and you're not going to open your mouth again to compare yourself to me in this s—t,” Silva wrote in a message that has since been deleted. “Do you understand? I'm the one in charge of this s—t here.”

Shortly after posting, “The Spider” changed the caption to some skull and hawk emojis and shared a video from one of his fa…

City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman sounded just as surprised as the rest of the MMA world by Sean Strickland’s upset victory over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

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“The universe does things. I think Sean is a great fighter and I never thought that Sean wasn’t capable of beating Israel, but I thought if Israel performed to the fullest of his capabilities, that it would be hard for Sean,” said Bareman, who fielded questions from the media after UFC 293 in place of Adesanya, who only made a brief statement before leaving the podium.

“There was an alternate kind of universe where Israel performs his poorest or poorly where Sean could win, and I’m sitting in that universe right now. Training camp was great. I’m not going to make any excuses in regard to that,” Bareman continued. “Leading up to the fight was great, sparring partners, everything. All the technical things that have to do with the camp were perfect. No excuses there. He came in, he had an off n…

Jack Jenkins dislocated his elbow during a technical knockout loss to Jose Mariscal at UFC 293.

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The Melbourne, Australia, native suffered the injury while defending a takedown from his opponent in their preliminary featherweight bout at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Jenkins’ arm bent gruesomely when he attempted to post on the mat, ending the contest at the 3:19 mark of Round 2.

Jenkins provided an update on his status in a video post on social media. While Jenkins avoided any fractures, he did confirm the dislocation. It is currently unclear whether he’ll need surgery.

“Dislocated my elbow yesterday, went straight to the hospital,” Jenkins said. “No fractures or anything like that, but I’m going to need an MRI. They’re a little bit worried about some of the ligaments having ruptured. So, best case scenario, none of them are ruptured, and I can get back pretty soon. Worst case scenario, I’m going to need surgery but not much we can do about tha…

It’s all systems go for Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as all 10 athletes hit their contracted marks at Monday’s weigh-ins.

The Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a lightweight clash pitting James Llontop (156) against Malik Lewis (156).

Llontop takes an 11-fight winning streak into his matchup with Lewis. He is the reigning welterweight champion in the Peru-based Fusion Fighting Championship, where he has earned 10 of his last 11 victories.

Lewis, meanwhile, will be making his second appearance on the Contender Series after suffering a second-round TKO loss to Trevor Peek in September 2022. He returned to the win column with a third-round stoppage of Paulo Silva at Peak Fighting 26 this past February.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:James Llontop (156) vs. Malik Lewis (156)Eduardo Jose Neves (263.5) vs. Jhonata Diniz (254)A.J. Cunn…

Carlos Ulberg has emerged as an intriguing talent in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight division.

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The 32-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native earned his fifth consecutive triumph at UFC 293, as he submitted Da Woon Jung 4:49 into Round 3 of their featured bout at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday night. The fight initially made it to the final horn, but after a video review, it was determined that Jung tapped to a rear-naked choke in the waning seconds.

“I felt the tap,” Ulberg said in an interview with the UFC. “I knew he tapped somehow. I heard my coaches yell out that he was tapping. I thought that he went out, but he continued to fight. I’m glad that the fight ended so quickly, and the way that it did was amazing.”

After defeating his previous three opponents by knockout or technical knockout, Ulberg was able to earn his first career submission victory against a veteran opponent.

“I’ve seen how he takes down his…

Joaquin Buckley will lock horns with Alex Morono in a welterweight tilt at UFC Fight Night 229 on Oct. 7.

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MMAjunkie.com was first to confirm the pairing after the bout appeared on the event page for promotion broadcast partner ESPN. UFC Fight Night 229 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a lightweight showdown pitting Grant Dawson against Bobby Green.

Buckley snapped a two-bout skid in his first outing of 2023, as he scored a second-round technical knockout victory against Andre Fialho at UFC Fight Night 223 on May 23. “New Mansa” is 6-4 during his tenure with the promotion and 16-6 as a professional overall, with 12 of those wins coming via KO or TKO.

Morono, an 18-time Octagon veteran, has been victorious in five of his last six UFC appearances. Most recently, the Fortis MMA product submitted Tim Means in the second round of their encounter UFC on ABC 4 on May 13.

Controversial persona aside, Sean Strickland reminded everyone that he’s also a high-level fighter with his upset of Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

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Still, even Strickland himself was a little bit suprised by his performance against an opponent who was regarded as one of the greatest middleweights of all-time.

“F—k, I think I proved myself wrong,” Strickland said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “F—k, you watch Izzy go and f—k everybody up and you walk through him pretty easily, it’s kinda weird. Kinda weird. Just a weird day, guys, a weird f—-ing day. Weird day. Here we are.”

In addition to becoming the first foe to score a knockdown of Adesanya, Strickland largely outworked the City Kickboxing stalwart on the feet over the course of the 25-minute affair. That wasn’t necessarily the game plan heading into the fight.

“The game plan was to wrestle, you guys. We wrestled all camp,” Strickland said. “But when you’re a little autistic…

Israel Adesanya kept it brief after being on the wrong end of one of the biggest upsets in Ultimate Fighting Championship history.

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Few expected Adesanya to have much trouble with Sean Strickland in the UFC 293 main event, but after five rounds, it was Strickland who walked away with the middleweight belt in tow following a unanimous decision victory at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday night.

Adesanya, who is generally one of the more thoughtful athletes on the UFC roster when it comes to interviews, made only a brief statement at the post-fight press conference before deferring to City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman.

“I had a different plan for this but again life throws curveballs at you,” Adesanya said. “Win or lose, I wasn’t going to say much anyway but right now, I lost tonight to the better man on the night. I just want to go and be with people who care about me — my team and they’re waiting for me so I’m going to do that.

“B…

If Israel Adesanya had an off night at UFC 293, he may very well get a chance to right that wrong in short order.

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“The Last Stylebender” relinquished the middleweight strap to Sean Strickland via unanimous decision in Saturday’s headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. It’s a result that will likely go down as one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.

“Israel looked like he was in slow motion,” UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “He looked like he couldn’t get off. He looked like he was really stiff tonight. He looked very slow.

“There are a million things that could go wrong. Some days you wake up and you’re just not there, man. It’s just not there. He looked bone-dry tonight, standing up really tall. He looked very slow. He looked like he couldn’t get off at all. Even in the fifth round when everybody knew he needed a knockout to win the fight, there was no sense of urgency to try to finish the…

How good did it feel to get your first UFC victory?pic.twitter.com/2de7nAfLRU

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) September 10, 2023

Charlie Radtke was a relative unknown heading into UFC 293, but that likely changed following his post-fight interview.

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After relying on cage control to outpoint local favorite Mike Mathetha in a largely forgettable welterweight bout at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday night, Radtke used a homophobic slur to address those in attendance while speaking with UFC commentator Daniel Cormier.

“It felt great. So f—k all you f--gots in the fu--ing crowd,” Radtke said. “Come down and get some you pu--y ass b—ches.”

That led to Radtke getting much more attention than he otherwise would have for a fight that wasn’t especially memorable. The 33-year-old known as “Chuck Buffalo” would later apologize for his remarks in a statement on social media.

My sincere apologies to …

One of the biggest upsets in Ultimate Fighting Championship history was quite profitable for Sean Strickland.

In addition to some championship hardware, Strickland received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his shocking unanimous decision triumph over Israel Adesanya in the UFC 293 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday night. A significant underdog heading into the fight, Strickland outlanded Adesanya over the course of five rounds to become the 13th middleweight title holder in promotion history.

Elsewhere, Manel Kape and Felipe dos Santos garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their spirited flyweight scrap. Kape, who was originally supposed to face Kai Kara-France, got all he could handle from dos Santos. Ultimately, the ex-Rizin Fighting Federation champion landed with superior power and accuracy to get the nod on the scorecards.

Finally, Justin Tafa captured the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night…

Sean Strickland set a pace an all-time great could not match and authored one of the biggest upsets in Ultimate Fighting Championship history.

The Xtreme Couture export outboxed and outwitted Israel Adesanya to a stunning unanimous decision, as he captured the undisputed middleweight crown in the UFC 293 headliner on Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Strickland (28-5, 15-5 UFC) swept the scorecards with 49-46 marks from all three members of the cageside judiciary.

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Adesanya (24-3, 13-3 UFC) never established a rhythm. Strickland leveled him with a clean one-two at the end of an otherwise-uneventful first round, swarmed for a potential finish and then settled in for the long haul. The Californian’s standup defense was virtually bulletproof, limiting Adesanya to one shot at a time in the vast majority of their exchanges. Strickland moved forward the entire fight, wore down the champion with pressure and kept him on his back foot. When the final …

Sherdog's live UFC 293 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Jousset (-155), Crosbie (+130)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Young (-166), Miranda (+140)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Radtke (-310), Mathetha (+250…

Carlos Ulberg looks the part of an emerging threat in the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division.

The City Kickboxing representative put a fifth consecutive victory in the books, as he disposed of Da Woon Jung with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their featured UFC 293 prelim on Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Jung (15-5-1, 4-3-1 UFC) conceded defeat 4:49 into Round 3.

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Ulberg (9-1, 5-1 UFC) controlled much of the first 10 minutes with superior distance management and accurate power punches. He decked Jung with a stiff right hand in the first round and opened a cut under his right eye with a consistent jab in the second. The Korean Top Team upped his pace down the stretch, but Ulberg was up to the challenge. He struck for a takedown late in Round 3, climbed to full mount and unleashed his ground-and-pound before cinching the choke.

Meanwhile, Elevation Fight Team standout Jose Mariscal slammed onetime Eternal M…

Sergio Batarelli, the creator of International Vale Tudo (IVC), is back on the mixed martial arts scene with a new promotion called MMA Fight Sport.

"It will be a cage-style event, with weekly editions starting from November 2023 and a pay-per-view event every three months,” Batarelli said in August.

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Batarelli on Friday announced the first 20 names slated to fight in MMA Fight Sport’s 32-man, single-elimination tournament. The winner of the bracket will receive a $1 million prize.

“We already selected 20 names but still have 12 spots, so every fighter weighing more than (176 pounds) and interested in participating is welcome to send his (credentials) to my email: [email protected],” Batarelli said.

According to Batarelli, he first edition will be held at the Katara Amphitheatre in Doha, Qatar on Nov. 23.

MMA Fight Sport Tournament Participants

Rodrigo Carlos De Lima Santos (Argentina)Artur Ribas (Brazil)Carlos Alberto da Silva…

The final faceoff is upon us 🤬🏆@Stylebender vs @SStricklandMMA #UFC293 | Tomorrow | Live on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/X3HkEdBjIb pic.twitter.com/Bz9Oc2lrOg

— UFC (@ufc) September 8, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title will be on the line in the main event of UFC 293.

Champion Israel Adesanya and challenger Sean Strickland both made weight for the event tomorrow, which marks the UFC's return to Australia. All fighters on the card made weight, with the exception of prelim fighter Shane Young. The fight against Gabriel Miranda will move forward, although Young has been fined 30 percent of his purse for coming in 3.75 pounds over the featherweight limit at 149.75 pounds.

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This marks the first middleweight title defense for Adesanya (24-2) since reclaiming the title by knocking out Alex Pereira. Prior to the setback to "Poatan," Adesanya had won three straight fights and had made five title defenses. "T…

Georges St. Pierre is about to become the first mixed martial artist ever inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

On Thursday, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame announced that St. Pierre (26-2) would be a part of the 2023 membership class. The legendary mixed martial arts fighter, who is also a member of the UFC Hall of Fame, will be one of 11 individuals to receive this Canadian honor on Oct. 19. Among the hundreds inducted in the athlete or “builders of the sport” categories, “GSP” joins an impressive list of names including hockey greats Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux and Guy Lafleur, basketball star Steve Nash and fellow 2023 classmate 9th dan judoka Hiroshi Nakamura.

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In addition to his Hall of Fame induction, he will be receiving the Order of Sport award, which is “Canada’s highest sporting honor that…recognizes Canadians who have achieved the highest level of sporting accomplishment and who have the purpose and passion for going beyond t…

Lineal boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former Ultimate Fighting Championship king Francis Ngannou will throw hands in the ring on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The pair stood face-to-face on Thursday in London to raise awareness of October’s card, and the buzz is starting to gain momentum. Please tell us in the poll above who you think will come out on top as the two heavyweight rulers engage in battle under Marquess of Queensberry rules: Will it be the “Gypsy King,” or Professional Fighters League’s prized signing?

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the news on Wednesday evening. UFC Fight Night is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Yusuff has been victorious in six of seven UFC bouts. The 30-year-old Team Lloyd Irvin product is coming off a 2-0 2022 in which he submitted Don Shainis at UFC Fight Night 211 and outpointed Alex Caceres at UFC Fight Night 203.

Barboza, meanwhile, snapped a two-fight skid with a first-round KO of Billy Quarantillo at UFC on ESPN 44 on April 15. The 37-year-old Brazilian is 3-3 since moving to 145 pounds from lightweight, with wins over Quarantillo, Shane Burgos and Makwan Amirkhani.

Grant Dawson will make his first main-event appearance when he faces Bobby Green at UFC Fight Night 229 on Oct. 7.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the lightweight booking following an initial report from Fight Bananas. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and also includes a bantamweight showdown pitting Chris Gutierrez against Montel Jackson.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Dawson is unbeaten in eight promotion appearances — with a draw against Ricky Glenn the only blemish on his ledger. Most recently, the 29-year-old American Top Team representative took a unanimous decision over Damir Ismagulov at UFC on ESPN 48 on July 1.

Green, meanwhile, ended a three-bout winless streak with a third-round submission of Tony Ferguson at UFC 291 on July 29. The well-traveled “King” is 11-9-1 during his UFC tenure with wins over the likes of Al Iaquinta, Clay Guida and Josh Thomson.

https://t.co/ugzMj38HIV

— UFC News (@UFCNews) September 6, 2023

The UFC is taking further steps to prevent those associated with the promotion from betting on its fights.

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The Las Vegas-based organization announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with ProhiBet, a program launched earlier this year that monitors prohibited bettor activity. According to a release, ProhiBet’s utilizes an advanced notification platform that is “designed to safeguard sports integrity and ensure adherence to state-specific regulations.” In this case, the program will monitor “UFC athletes, coaches, employees and officials who are prohibited from placing bets on UFC events.”

ProhiBet is able to monitor compliance using “an encrypted decentralized cross-monitoring and notification platform.”

“We are thrilled to partner with UFC -- the combination of ProhiBet's state-of-the-art encrypted data transfer system and UFC’s dedication to upholdin…

Two more fights are official for UFC 295, as Derek Brunson will face Roman Dolidze at middleweight, while Matt Schnell will take on Steve Erceg in a flyweight tilt.

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The promotion confirmed the bouts in a release on Wednesday. UFC 295 takes place on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Brunson has lost his last two Octagon appearances, suffering KO/TKO defeats at the hands of Jared Cannonier and Dricus Du Plessis. Prior to that, the North Carolina native won five straight bouts from May 2019 to September 2021.

Dolidze saw a four-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing, as he dropped a unanimous verdict against Marvin Vettori at UFC 286 in March. “The Caucasian” is 6-2 during his UFC tenure.

Schnell has won just once in his last four bouts, a second-round submission of Su Mudaerji at UFC on ABC 3 in July 2022. Most recently, “Danger” suffered …

Earlier this week, Sean Strickland claimed to have punched a trash-talking Israel Adesanya fan.

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“Boom, right in the guts,” Strickland told Fox Sports Australia. “I’d only been in Australia a day and already I’d committed an assault. Initially, I thought the guy was coming up for a photo. Because anybody who wants a photo, man, I love the fans. But if you wanna come up to me and run your f—-ing mouth, I’ll smack you like I smack anybody else.

“Uppercut to his stomach. Then I walked away. But if I see the guy again, man, no problems. ... I’ll thank him for not pressing charges.”

Strickland, who will face Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title in the UFC 293 headliner, is known for making outlandish statements to garner attention. In this case, the “punching” was more in jest, according to UFC president Dana White.

“Do you know where the news came from that he punched a fan?” White said at the post-fight press conference for the Conte…

Dricus Du Plessis is far from certain to receive the next UFC middleweight title shot.

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After Du Plessis handily defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 291 and subsequently engaged in a heated confrontation with Israel Adesanya in the Octagon, it looked like the promotion had a ready-made storyline at the top of the division. However, it appears that some parties — namely, Dana White and Adesanya — involved have cooled on the possibility of Du Plessis as the No. 1 contender after the South African balked at facing “The Last Stylebender” at UFC 293 due to lingering injuries.

Now, Adesanya will defend his crown against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 on Saturday night in Sydney. While the reigning champion is heavily favored to dispatch his opponent, it’s not a given that Du Plessis will be next in line.

“You know how much I love when guys turn down fights,” White said at the post-fight press conference for the Contender Series on Tuesday night. “I don’t kno…