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The rematch between former UFC heavyweight champions Junior dos Santos and Fabrício Werdum is attracting the attention of Brazilian fans.

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The bareknuckle MMA fight, which will be the main event of Gamebred Fighting Championship 5, takes place almost 15 years after the first showdown and will be broadcast live on the Combate channel in Brazil on Friday. In the first confrontation, at UFC 90 in October 2008, dos Santos made his debut in the promotion and knocked out the favored Werdum, who was on the last fight of his contract and close to a title shot.

“Since I lost, the UFC made an unreasonable proposal and ended up forcing me to leave the promotion and restart my career at Strikeforce,” Werdum told Sherdog.com.

This first fight and its ensuing consequences ended up forging a great rivalry between Werdum and “Cigano. While dos Santos started a meteoric career in the UFC, earning six more victories that would culiminate in a f…

The fans in Paris made a strong impression at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s second event in France on Saturday.

The Accor Arena was rocking from the card’s opening fight, all the way until Ciryl Gane dispatched Sergey Spivak in the UFC Fight Night 226 heavyweight headliner. The numerous French fighters on the card drew loud ovations and brought a palpable energy to the audience — something that was noticeable to UFC officials.

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“That felt louder than last year,” said UFC senior vice president for international operations and content David Shaw at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“Last year our feeling was it’s first time in market, we worked so hard to get legalization in France. First time effect — great,” he added. “The event was a huge success. Coming here tonight and having the performance all the athletes put on and the performance also of the fans, it kind of validated what the thesis was from the very beginning, which is we make…

After once being one of the most highly-regarded prospects in the heavyweight division, Ciryl Gane ran into more than his fair share of doubters following a quick submission loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285 in March.

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Gane took a step toward restoring his image at UFC Fight Night 226, as he was dominant in a second-round technical knockout victory against Sergey Spivak in Saturday’s headliner at Accor Arena in Paris. “Bon Gamin” admitted that he felt pressure heading into the fight.

“I’m not going to lie. I’ve got the pressure, and I want to do well,” Gane said at the post-fight press conference. “This is not a game of basketball or soccer. That’s different. Just that, you have some emotion that’s really different.Yeah, a little bit afraid, a little bit pressured. You want to do well.”

With that being said, Gane claims that he wasn’t focused on proving the doubters wrong with his performance against Spivak. It was more about correcting mistakes mad…

Dios santo!!! Aviso que son imágenes muy fuertes para los sensibles, Dylan Reischman se ha fracturado la pierna de una forma horrorosa, de las peores lesiones que he visto nunca #CombateGlobal pic.twitter.com/LPijs2vFfO

— Pelunaton (@pelunaton) September 3, 2023

Dylan Reischman suffered a gruesome leg break at a Combate Global event on Saturday.

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Reischman was attempting to defend a takedown from Jamie Mora in the second round of their featherweight bout. When Mora attempts to lift his opponent for a takedown, Reischman’s leg gets caught awkwardly underneath him and snaps, ending the fight immediately at the 1:47 mark of Round 2. It appears that the injury causes Reischman’s bone to protrude from his leg.

The injury can be viewed in the video above, but it is not for the faint of heart.

The 21-year-old Reischman was making his professional MMA debut. Combate Global “Ferreira vs. Morales” was held at Mediapro Studi…

Rose Namajunas was at less than 100% for most of her flyweight debut.

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Namajunas’ manager, Brian Butler-Au of SuckerPunch Entertainment, confirmed on social media that the ex-strawweight queen suffered a broken right hand in the first round of her loss to Manon Fiorot at UFC Fight Night 226 on Saturday in Paris.

“Rose is in good spirits,” Butler-Au wrote. “Broke her right hand early in the first round and couldn’t fully execute because of it.”

Despite the injury, “Thug” Rose was still competitive against Fiorot in her first 125-pound foray. She outlanded her opponent 60 to 58 in significant strikes and won the third round on two of the three cageside judges’ scorecards. Butler-Au later posted a photo that showed Namajunas’ mangled right pinkie finger once she removed her gloves.

The very first clash in the first round this happened to @rosenamajunas 🤦🏻‍♂️ The mental battle to keep going began right then and varied…

Benoit St. Denis and Thiago Moises received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their entertaining lightweight clash at UFC Fight Night 226.

After a frenetic opening stanza that saw St. Denis open a cut near his foe’s eye with an elbow, the Frenchman delighted the crowd at Accor Arena in Paris by punctuating his victory with a barrage of ground-and-pound for a stoppage at the 4:44 mark of the second frame.

Meanwhile, former interim heavyweight king Ciryl Gane captured a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his technical knockout victory over Sergey Spivak in the main event. “Bon Gamin” kept the fight upright, and battered his foe with strikes to all levels before putting Spivak away with a salvo of punches to the head and body 3:44 into Round 2.

Finally, Morgan Charriere garnered the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his finish of Manolo Zecchini in a featured featherweight affair. A series of kicks to the body sent…

Ciryl Gane operated on an entirely different level from the man on the other side of the cage.

The 33-year-old Frenchman steadied himself among the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight elite, as he tracked down and systematically dismantled Sergey Spivak in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 226 headliner on Saturday at Accor Arena. Spivak (16-4, 7-4 UFC) met his end 3:44 into Round 2, losing for the first time in nearly two years.

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Gane (12-2, 9-2 UFC), in his first appearance since being throttled by Jon Jones in March, was virtually flawless in his execution. He shut down an attempted takedown from Spivak with his sprawl in the first round and never looked back. Gane abused the Moldovan with clubbing shots to the head and body, targeted the legs on occasion and broke him down piece by piece. He pinned Spivak to the fence late in Round 2 and slammed a brutal knee into his guts, setting off the finishing sequence. Standing hammerfist…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 226 coverage will begin Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Cavalcanti (-375), Fairn dos Santos (+295)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Basharat (-325), Rodrigues (+260)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOU…

Taylor Lapilus was not going to let anyone ruin his fairytale return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A crisp jab, clean combinations and stout takedown defense carried the respected French bantamweight to a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Caolan Loughran in the featured UFC Fight Night 226 prelim on Saturday at a raucous Accor Arena in Paris. In his first Octagon appearance since 2016, Lapilus (19-3, 4-1 UFC) carried all three cards with 29-28 scores.

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Loughran (8-1, 0-1 UFC) had considerable difficulty navigating a five-inch reach deficit. The former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder secured takedowns in the first and second rounds, only to see avenues to create offense dry up in a hurry. Lapilus stayed upright enough to handle business, firing away with jabs and surgical left hands to cruise to the checkered flag.

Meanwhile, Kill Cliff Fight Club rep Ange Loosa banked two rounds and held on for a unanimous …

[embedded content] No matter where he competes, Demetrious Johnson always seems to excel.

On Thursday in Las Vegas, the 2023 World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship kicked off, and Johnson was among its numerous competitors. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship great and current One Championship titleholder entered into the featherweight category of 154.6 pounds at the Master 2 division for brown belts. Four brackets needed to be established for the 38 men that took part in this specific tourney, and over the course of the day, Johnson won out to stand atop the pedestal.

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Johnson, who entered as a low 36 seed, started off his branch of the tournament by running the table in the second bracket. His first match came against Lukas Cherep, and the AMC Pankration fighter pulled off the win. A mere 15 minutes later, “Mighty Mouse” faced the overall no. 1 seed, Josue Lopez, and he was not denied the victory. A subsequent armbar over Walter Diaz propelled him…

Bon Gamin looking good on the scale 💪@Ciryl_Gane comes in at 250 pounds to make this #UFCParis main event official!

[ Saturday | 3pmET / 12pmPT Main Card | Live on ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/F5EX60L59F

— UFC (@ufc) September 1, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Paris with an intriguing heavyweight headliner.

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The UFC Fight Night 226 main event will see former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane return to the Octagon against Segey Spivak. Spivak will be the heavier fighter by six pounds. No fighters missed weight for the 11-fight card.

Gane (11-2) is looking to rebound from a one-sided defeat against Jon Jones that saw "Bon Gamin" submitted in just 2:04. The dangerous striker weighed 250 pounds. Meanwhile, Spivak (16-3) is on a three-fight win streak that saw him most recently submit Derrick Lewis with an arm-triangle choke. The Moldovan fighter weighed 256 pounds.

UFC Fight Night 226 will air …

When it comes to main events involving Jon Jones, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is leaving nothing to chance.

Prior to UFC 285 this past March, the promotion made certain it had a top contender available to make weight and compete should Jones or Ciryl Gane fall out of their main attraction. That fighter was Sergei Pavlovich, and he hit his proper marks and ended up watching from the stands the next day. First reported by Igor Lazorin, the organization is doing this for Jones’ next title tilt atop UFC 295, and Pavlovich (18-1) is once again the man on standby. This news has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

Russia’s Pavlovich last competed in April, where he decimated Curtis Blaydes in just over three minutes to put himself in the top echelon of the heavyweight division. Pavlovich’s lone career defeat came in his UFC debut to Alistair Overeem back in 2018. Since then, Pavlovich has crushed the competition, stringing together six consecutive first-round …

Dropping a quick excerpt from Monday’s @MMAOnSiriusXM podcast to give everyone an update on my 🦵.

If you want the full story (and all the 🫖), hit that link below and check out the full episode on @SiriusXM!🎧 https://t.co/OuEwonYM3z pic.twitter.com/TsBqm3tEfK

— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) August 30, 2023

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Chris Weidman didn’t emerge unscathed from his first mixed martial arts bout in more than two years — but it’s not as bad as initially expected.

The former middleweight champion revealed on his Sirius XM show that he suffered a fracture in his left leg during a unanimous decision loss to Brad Tavares at UFC 292 on Aug. 19. That comes on the heels a gruesomely broken right leg in a loss to Uriah Hall at UFC 261 in April 2021.

“I got MRIs done on my tibia and fibula on both legs, got MRIs on both of my knees, X-rays, and I’ve been waiting for a result – and I got the results back. There was no ligament tears at all…

After facing adaptation problems in Abu Dhabi for his fight against Israel Adesanya in September 2020, Paulo Costa has a different schedule for his upcoming bout against Khamzat Chimaev in the same city at UFC 294 on Oct. 21.

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In an interview on the Thunder Voice podcast, the Brazilian fighter stated that he intends to arrive in the United Arab Emirates almost two months prior to the fight for acclimatization and adjustment.

"We want to go to Abu Dhabi at the end of August or the beginning of September, nearly 50 days before the event. We'll be there with everything we need," said Costa, who in 2020 famously resorted to wine to help him sleep before the fight against Adesanya at UFC 253.

Always active on social media, “Borrachinha” fired back at Gilbert "Durinho" Burns, who had expressed doubts in an interview about whether his fellow Brazilian had signed an unprecedented million-dollar contract with the UFC.

"Durinho is limited! He doe…

Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 lineup has undergone some shuffling.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Wednesday that Muin Gafurov has withdrawn from a proposed clash with Taylor Lapilus due to visa issues, while Lucas Almeida has pulled out of a bout against William Gomis due to a “medical issue.”

As a result, Lapilus will now face Caolan Loughran at bantamweight, and Gomis will lock horns with Yanis Ghemmouri at featherweight. Loughran and Ghemmouri will originally slated to meet at 135 pounds at UFC Paris.

Lapilus, who previously won three of four Octagon appearances from 2015 to 2016, returns to the UFC riding the momentum of a five-bout winning streak. A four-time Cage Warriors veteran, Loughran enteres his first promotional foray with an 8-0 mark.

Gomis has won 10 straight outings, kicking off his UFC tenure with back-to-back triumphs against Jarno Errens and Francis Marshall. Ghemmouri, a veteran of the Brave Combat Fede…

A lightweight clash pitting Mansour Barnaoui against Jay-Jay Wilson is among six new additions to the Bellator 299 lineup.

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The California-based promotion announced the finalized card — up to a whopping 21 fights — on Wednesday. Bellator 299 takes place on Sept. 23 at the 3Arena in Dublin and is headlined by a middleweight championship tilt between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards. The main card airs in the United States on Showtime at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on the Bellator YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 11 a.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.

The other five newly-announced bouts are as follows: Luca Poclit vs. Roman Faraldo at welterweight; Asael Adjoudj vs. Ibrahim Al-Faqih Hassan at featherweight; Khasan Magomedsharipov vs. Martin McDonough; Davy Gallon vs. Attila Korkmaz at lightweight and Sergei Bilostennyi vs. Kasim Aras at heavyweight.

A former lightweight champion in BAMMA, M-1 Global and Road FC, Barnaoui is 1-1 under the Bellator b…

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 ⬆️🌎

𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 about the game changing deal between the PFL and @srjsports 👇 pic.twitter.com/P2osh5SFl7

— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 30, 2023

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Professional Fighters League has partnered with SRJ Sports Investments for an investment agreement that will assist with the organization’s goals of global expansion.

According to a release, SRJ has acquired a minority stake in PFL and will become an investor in a new regional league set to launch in 2024 — called PFL MENA (Middle East and North Africa). SRJ will also support the PFL’s expansion in the Middle East and collaborate with the league to host PFL pay-per-view events in Saudi Arabia.

“PFL’s mission is to become the global co-leader in MMA with our fighter-first mission and disruptive sport-season format,” said PFL Founder and Chairman Donn Davis. “This investment by SRJ continues the monumental growth that PFL has experienced t…

【DAZN × K-1】

K-1とQUINTETがスポーツ・チャンネル「DAZN」において、世界200以上の国と地域でライブ配信決定！配信第1弾は9.10『ReBOOT』

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世界を見据え動き出した、K-1の熱い戦いをぜひ『DAZN』でお楽しみください！

詳細▷https://t.co/m80GhCnJWNチケット▷https://t.co/oS4stLWkIp#k1wgp pic.twitter.com/6iaO17Ibs6

— K-1【Official Account】 (@k1wgp_pr) August 30, 2023 A joint event launched by fight promotion K-1 and grappling organization Quintet will stream via DAZN on Sept. 10.

According to a release: “M-1 Sports Media K.K. and Rabarland, Inc., the companies that respectively organize the striking martial arts event K-1 and the grappling tournament QUINTET, recently signed a capital and business alliance aimed at global expansion. As the first step in this ambitious initiative, the two companies have agreed to align with DAZN, the world's largest sports streaming service. With the strong backing of DAZN as a media partner, they ai…

Strawweight champion Weili Zhang was dominant at UFC 292, and she was also the event’s top earner.

Zhang took home a disclosed $520,000 for her unanimous decision over Amanda Lemos ($250,000) in the co-main event at the TD Garden in Boston on Aug. 19. Salary figures for the event were initially released through the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Licensure to MMAFighting.com.

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Sean O’Malley defeated Aljamain Sterling via first-round technical knockout to claim the bantamweight crown in the evening’s headliner. Both O'Malley and Sterling earned $500,000 apiece for the bout — second highest on the card behind Zhang.

Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic commissions do not include any performance-based or discretionary bonuses that may be awarded to a fighter by the promotion. Additionally, the reported figures do not reflect any deductions made by the commission for taxes, insurance, etc., and do not include any sponsorship mone…

Jon Jones believes the masses are underestimating Stipe Miocic heading into their heavyweight title bout at UFC 295.

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Miocic has not fought since March 2021, when he relinquished the heavyweight crown to Francis Ngannou in a second-round knockout loss at UFC 260. That layoff, along with Miocic’s age — he recently turned 41 — make him the underdog against Jones, who claimed the vacant strap with a quick submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.

“Stipe has balls. He has courage,” Jones said on the OverDogs podcast podcast. “He’s not the youngest fighter, but that is a man. That is a man. I’m not the youngest either. In sports’ years, I’m over the hill, that’s for sure. Especially in combat sports. Stipe, he’s an honorable dude, and I know that he’s a man at the end of the day, and I know that he wants this fight. Everyone else thinks that his back’s against the wall and this is a David and Goliath situation for him. I disagree.

“I think Stipe is a ve…

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Francis Ngannou has been thinking about a potential fight against boxing champion Tyson Fury for quite some time now.

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“I’ve been studying him for the past three years,” Ngannou said in a recent interview with TMZ Sports. “I’ve been to some of his fights.”

The former UFC champion will get to test his skills against Fury when they square off in a boxing match on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. Ngannou has notably been working with Mike Tyson in preparation for the bout.

“I think my feet [are] the most [improved],” Ngannou said. “All the footwork, that power transition. I think that’s been very amazing.”

Fury was dismissive of that relationship in a post on social media.

“It’s good to see you’re training hard [Francis Ngannou], and you’re going to need to,” Fury wrote. “It doesn’t matter if you’re being trained by the great Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali or Bruce Lee. You’re going to get KO’d in the Kingdom.”

Ngannou is…

Newly UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley has been called out by another recently-crowned champion in the promotion.

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In a post on Instagram, UFC flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja asked his followers who should be his next opponent. One of the suggested names was O’Malley, who captured the 135-pound belt with a first-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 on Aug. 19. Pantoja agreed that a champion vs. champion clash would be interesting while implying that he got the better of “Sugar” during a past training session.”

"There's something I really want: to fight this guy (O'Malley). I desire to move up one weight class to fight Sugar Sean O'Malley. He talks too much, talks a lot of trash,” Pantoja said. “I trained with him once, he recorded the sparring, but he never sent me the video. You know why.”

It didn’t take long for O’Malley to respond via social media.

"It's definitely not cool to call out people below you in weight,” O’…

A middleweight showdown pitting Brendan Allen against Paul Craig will serve as the main event for an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on Nov. 18.

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The promotion announced the pairing on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and also includes a strawweight clash between Amanda Ribas and Luana Pinheiro.

Allen has gone 10-2 within the Las Vegas-based organization since appearing on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019. He enters the matchup with Craig on a five-bout winning streak, with back-to-back submission wins over Andre Muniz and Bruno Silva thus far in 2023. The former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion is 22-5 as a professional and has finished 18 of his victories inside the distance.

Craig, meanwhile, made a successful 185-pound debut on July 22, when he defeated Muniz via second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 224. Prior to that, the 35-year-old Scot went 8-6-1 at light heavyweight in the Octagon, earning not…

Carlos Prates could not have envisioned a cleaner performance.

The Phuket Top Team product was one of three hopefuls to nail down an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he punched out Mitch Ramirez in the second round of their welterweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Prates (17-6, 1-0 DWCS) slammed the door 74 seconds into Round 2.

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Ramirez (7-1, 0-1 DWCS) was simply out of his depth and enjoyed little success outside of a first-round takedown. Prates picked apart the Syndicate MMA export with surgical combinations, utilizing everything from leg kicks and body kicks to close-range knees and devastating straight-line punches. He continued to wear out Ramirez in the middle stanza and eventually stepped into a searing left hand that sat him down and led referee Jason Herzog to call for the stoppage.

Lightweight Bolaji Oki and heavyweight Thomas Petersen joined Prates to comp…