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Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC A place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s top 15 at flyweight looms for the victor.

On Thursday, Ag. Fight first broke the news that Casey O'Neill (9-1) will be stepping into the Octagon against Ariane Lipski (16-8) on Dec. 16. The two flyweights will tangle likely on the preliminary portion of UFC 296, which will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This 125-pound affair has been confirmed by both women via their Instagram Stories pages.

Born in Scotland and trained in Australia, O’Neill suffered her first career defeat in March. Her nine-fight win streak, which included four triumphs inside the Octagon, fell by the wayside courtesy of Jennifer Maia. On her way up the 125-pound ladder, O’Neill rapidly ascended when she dispatched Shana Dobson, Lara Procopio and Antonina Shevchenko in the span of less than eight months. A lone 2022 effort against Roxanne Modafferi also went her way by split decisio…

"I think the deal is, when I fight Shavkat, they're going to add on what they owed me for the last fight."@WonderboyMMA explains how the Shavkat Rahkmonov matchup came about and what a win does for him. #UFC296

Full convo w/ @chrisweidman 🔗 https://t.co/beImfQJIXw pic.twitter.com/E9BqEJXcZr

— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) September 25, 2023

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Stephen Thompson was slated to fight Michel Pereira at UFC 291 back in July. However, the match fell through a day before the event as the Brazilian missed the welterweight limit by three pounds. Thompson refused to take the bout at catchweight after weighing in at 170.5.

However, Thompson (17-6) didn’t receive his show money despite having made weight. “Wonderboy” has since remained upbeat that the Ultimate Fighting Championship will do good by him and continues to do so.

Regardless, Thompson believes the perceived debt will be paid along with the payout for his upcomi…

[embedded content] Despite working together in 2017, Ultimate Fighting Championship chief Dana White and Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza are anything but friends.

On Tuesday, following the eighth episode on the 2023 season of Dana White's Contender Series, White conducted a post-fight press conference to discuss various matters from the bouts that night to current events around combat sports. Among the many topics included a rumor that came about on social media regarding Showtime’s future in boxing, specifically that Showtime would be getting out of the boxing business after 2024. White was not surprised.

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“That’s incredibly unfortunate,” White remarked while wearing a wry grin. “Production of that show is fantastic, the guy who runs Showtime Boxing is a great human being…it’s unfortunate to hear this. F--- Espinoza, and it’s about time that sh--ty product is off the air.”

The President of Showtime Sports was not about to let that slide, although his re…

And nowww, introducing, Donovan Lomeli! 9-23-23 😍💙💙💙Best day of my life 🥰.5 hours of active labor, 20 minutes of pushing with zero tearing, and our healthy baby boy was here! We are now resting at home, and loving on our little guy. So in love 🥰💙 pic.twitter.com/ObRQtpECWx

— Carla Esparza (@CarlaEsparza1) September 28, 2023

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight queen Carla Esparza and her husband, Matthew Lomeli, have revealed the birth of their first child on social media.

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Donovan Lomeli, born at 7:20 p.m. local time on Sept. 23, registered a healthy seven pounds and six ounces and entered the world at 19.6 inches.

“Best day of my life,” the 35-year-old said on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter. “Five hours of active labor, 20 minutes of pushing with zero tearing, and our healthy baby boy was here! We are now resting at home and loving on our little guy.”

The Team Oyama expo…

A potential middleweight barnburner has been added to an Ultimate Fighting Championship card set in China this December.

Per Jun Yong Park’s (17-5) management team of First Round Management on Thursday, Park and Andre Muniz (23-6) will collide at the UFC’s return event to Shanghai on Dec. 9. The middleweights will meet, presumably inside of the Mercedes-Benz Arena, in what will be the promotion’s first show in China in four years. The matchup has since been confirmed by other outlets.

Currently the UFC’s 14th-ranked competitor at 185 pounds, Muniz started his career with the organization by amassing a five-fight win streak which included three armbars. However, the Brazilian has since been on a rough patch, suffering a pair of stoppage losses to Brendan Allen and Paul Craig this year. While “Sergipano” maintains a finish rate of 83%, however, he has never heard the final bell in defeat.

South Korea’s Park will look to enter the middleweight rankings by adding to…

An edge-of-your-seat Main Event 🤩

James Hendin 🆚 Tobias Harila at #CW160 live on @UFCFightPass tomorrow night from 9PM! pic.twitter.com/d51TCYkrO2

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 28, 2023 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship returns to Manchester, England, on Friday for CW 160.

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The 10-fight card is headlined by a featherweight bout between James Hendin and Tobias Harila. Both main event fighters successfully made weight, as did the rest of the card, with the exception of Adam Wilson. The would-be bantamweight came in 1.3 pounds over the limit at 137.3 pounds and will be fined a percentage of his purse as a result. Additionally, a fight-week medical issue forced Nathan Fletcher out of the co-main event fight against Thomas Bryan.

Hendin (7-2) has won two of his last three fights, with wins over Araik Margarian and Paull McBain sandwiched between a submission defeat to Jordan Vucenic. "The Honeybadger" offici…

Irene Aldana will fight Karol Rosa at #UFC296 on December 16th. (first rep. @damadeferromma) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/yOAoRHdtze

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) September 27, 2023 After her first bid for Ultimate Fighting Championship ended in misery, Irene Aldana now has a first step back to contention—and it may be in a different division.

Aldana (14-7) will take on up-and-comer Karol Rosa (17-5) at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas. It will be the first Octagon appearance for the 35-year-old Mexican since her unsuccessful challenge of UFC bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes at UFC 289 in June. That fight ended in a five-round drubbing by the champ, to the tune of two 50-44 scorecards and one 50-43. Afterward, Nunes retired as a two-division champion at bantamweight and featherweight.

Aldana had won four of her last five leading up to that title shot, including back-to-back finishes of Yana Santos and Macy Chiasson, …

After multiple delays, there is a tentative timeline in place to begin Cain Velasquez’s trial for attempted murder.

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During a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday at Santa Clara County (Calif.) Hall of Justice, Judge Daniel T. Nishagaya extended the trial setting date to Dec. 6. This was done on the condition that a trial date would be set for sometime in January at the next hearing.

“I am willing to give this another setting date with the understanding that I will be intending to set a trial date in the middle to later part of January on Dec. 6,” Nishagaya told the defense and prosecution.

The trial setting date has been extended multiple times since January. The former UFC heavyweight champion was not in attendance on Wednesday.

Velasquez is facing attempted murder and other charges after allegedy chasing and shooting at Harry Goularte, who has been accused of molesting Velasquez’s young son. During a high-speed chase, Velasquez fired at the…

When the Tony Ferguson-Paddy Pimblett booking was announced, it raised some eyebrows in the mixed martial arts community.

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Ferguson, a former interim lightweight champion, will enter UFC 296 on a six-bout losing streak. That might be construed as favorable matchmaking for Pimblett, a fighter who has received a strong push from the promotion. However, all of Ferguson’s losses — Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush, Michael Chandler, Nate Diaz and Bobby Green — have come against competition that is more proven than Paddy “The Baddy.” That’s why UFC CEO Dana White thinks the fight is compelling.

“I think a lot of people think that Paddy is unproven, and I think a lot of people feel that Tony isn’t in deep water like he’s been in, in his last several fights. I think the matchmaking and the timing on this fight is excellent and couldn’t be more perfect,” White said at the Contender Series post-fight press conference on Tuesday night.

“I…

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Daniel Cormier will be enshrined in another Hall of Fame in the very near future.

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The former UFC two-division champion will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2024, it was recently announced. Cormier, a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, joins notables such as ex-New Orleans Saints star quarterback Drew Brees and Olympic gold medalist and UFC veteran Kevin Jackson in the nine-person class. The inductees were chosen out of 149 nominees by a 40-member Louisiana Sports Writers Association committee. The date for the ceremony will be announced soon.

Cormier and Jackson are the first amateur wrestlers to be inducted in to the LSHOF. Jackson also coached Cormier for Team USA in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.

“DC” made his name on the mats at Lafayette’s Northside High School, where he compiled a 101-9 record and won three straight state titles. He went on to earn All-American honors at Oklaho…

Who DO YOU have claiming the ONE Interim Women's Atomweight MMA World Championship on September 29 at ONE Fight Night 14?#ONEFightNight14 | Friday at 8PM ET🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch live on Prime 👉 https://t.co/Il4tPmkSbR🌍 Live TV broadcast in 190+ countries (check local listings) pic.twitter.com/eZQsZBT5V5

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 27, 2023 Stamp Fairtex will look to make history as a three-sport world champion when she faces Seo Hee Ham for the interim One Championship women’s atomweight title in the ONE on Prime Video 14 main event on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Having already captured gold in muay thai and kickboxing, Fairtex now sets her sights on mixed martial arts.

Fairtex can draw upon past history, as she fell short in her first bid for an MMA championship. The 25-year-old lost to reigning atomweight titleholder Angela Lee in March 2022 but has since improved her all-around game. With back-to-back …

John Lineker will have his third fight for One Championship this year when he faces Stephen Loman on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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"I´m so glad to have the opportunity to fight three times in a year,” Lineker said ahead of his bout at One on Prime Video 14. “That´s something really important for a family man like myself. To tell you the truth, I came almost straight from the camp against Jae Woong Kim on Aug. 4 to that one against Loman and my body reacted in a excellent manner.”

Lineker spent the last portion of his current camp in Phuket, Thailand. It’s something he plans on making a regular occurence.

"This time I came 15 days before the fight to train here in Thailand and adapt myself better to the time zone. From now on I´ll always do that before my fights in Asia,” Lineker said.

Loman enters the matchup on an 11-fight winning streak. Lineker is expecting a difficult test from his Filipino opponent.

"Loman is a very tough op…

Charles Oliveira’s 11-fight win streak came to end with a lopsided title loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 last year.

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Oliveira looked completely outclassed by the Dagestani and even admitted to refusing an immediate rematch. Having since bounced back with a technical knockout win over Beneil Dariush, “Do Bronx” will look to reclaim his title exactly a year later in the rematch against Makhachev at UFC 294.

Makhachev’s long-time training partner, Usman Nurmagomedov, believes the UFC 294 lightweight title rematch will play out exactly like the first outing. While he does acknowledge the unpredictable nature of the sport, Nurmagomedov doubts Oliveira has anything new to offer to his teammate.

“I think it’s going to be the same thing,” Nurmagomedov recently told ESPN. “Of course,Charles Oliveira – maybe he’s going to fix some mistakes. This is a fight. Something can happen. But I know Islam is training very hard. He’s very smart. He can wrestle…

Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland in a massive upset in the main event at UFC 293 earlier this month.“The Last Stylebender” subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of drunk driving from an incident dating back to Aug. 19.

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The former middleweight champ was returning home with friends after dinner when they encountered a “Random Breath Testing Unit.” Adesanya was 37 milligrams over the legal limit of 50 milligrams and has issued an apology for his misconduct. 

Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White was recently asked to weigh in on Adesanya’s DUI charge and whether it had any role to play in his title loss. White summed it up crisply calling it a “bad decision” while also advising people to use cabs or drivers when drunk, especially if they can afford it easily.

“Bad decisions, man. No matter how many drinks you’ve had – if you drink, don’t drive,” White said at the Contender Series post-fight press co…

After arriving in Abu Dhabi just a week ahead of his UFC 253 title fight against Israel Adesanya, Paulo Costa won’t make the same mistake as he prepares to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

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Renzo Gracie revealed to Sherdog.com that Costa arrived in Abu Dhabi the first week of September, even though his middleweight bout vs. Chimaev isn’t until Oct. 21.

"I was in Abu Dhabi, and I met ‘Borrachinha’ in there with his team split up in four rooms of a local hotel. I told him to stay in my apartment with his staff,” Gracie said in an interview from his academy in New York.

According to Gracie, Costa had the support of two wrestlers from Azerbaijan, coach Eric Albarracin and other three teammates who were helping him with sparring.

"He is having excellent sparring and all the structure necessary. My apartment is above the Cobra MMA Academy, and there is a supermarket very close. So he has all the structure there,” Gracie said. “That’s somethin…

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Danny Barlow shined bright in the spotlight.

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The undefeated Law School MMA export was one of six hopefuls to punch a ticket to the Ultimate Fi…

It appears that Mark Hunt’s long legal battle against the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White and Brock Lesnar has reached its conclusion.

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U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey dismissed Hunt’s lawsuit on Tuesday when she determined that the former UFC heavyweight failed to prove the promotion and White booked him against Lesnar while knowing that his opponent was using performance enhancing drugs. Conduct Detrimental writer Jason Morrin first brought word of the dismissal on social media.

Hunt initially filed a civil lawsuit against the trio in 2017. The case was initially dismissed in 2019 but found new life in appeals court in 2021. Dorsey concluded that Hunt did not meet the evidentiary burden on his remaining claims of fraud, battery, aiding-and-abetting battery and civil conspiracy.

“In sum, each of Hunt’s fraud theories requires far too many inferential leaps and ignores too much contrary evidence for a jury to reasonably find…

Julia Polastri is intent on making her mark in the mixed martial arts world.

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Hailing from the Gramacho neighborhood in the municipality of Duque de Caxias, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Polastri has not only captured titles in significant national events but has also become the latest signing for the UFC through Dana White's Contender Series, fulfilling a dream that has been rooted in her heart since the beginning of her career.

Polastri's journey is marked by determination, sacrifice and a passion for MMA. She started her career in muay thai and quickly transitioned to MMA with a clear goal: to fight in the UFC, the largest MMA organization in the world. Over the years, Polastri worked tirelessly to achieve her dream.

Today, Polastri boasts an impressive record of 12-3 in her MMA career. One of those losses occurred in her first appearance on the Contender Series, but she didn't let it deter her. Polastri continued to train diligently, and a…

As many observers feared, Rafael Fiziev suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his UFC Fight Night 228 loss to Mateusz Gamrot.

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The lightweight contender confirmed the injury in a video on social media. Fiziev will likely be out for up to a year during the rehabiliation process.

“I will be back,” Fiziev said. “I’m just sad because I had a very great camp, and I was ready to show my best skills. And I’m sad because it happened only in the second round.

“I can get ready for a loss like that but I’m more than happy, 100 times more happy if it happens in the last round. But I believe I could show in this fight very nice skills. We have plans, but God has different plans. His plan is always the best.”

After a tactical opening round where Fiziev appeared to have gained a slight advantage thanks to his striking and takedown defense, the bout ended at the 2:03 mark of Round 2 when his left knee buckled while throwing a body kick. Th…

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Sean Strickland pulled off a massive upset win over Israel Adesanya to be crowned the new middleweight champ at UFC 293 in Sydney earlier this month.

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Despite Adesanya’s stellar reign atop the middleweight division, the lopsided nature of his title loss led to some questions about the Nigerian-born Kiwi’s potential claim to an immediate rematch.

Meanwhile, Strickland has his own priorities when it comes to his first title defense. The newly-crowned champ recently revealed that he is open to fighting anyone who promises a big payday.

“My thing is, dude, when it comes to that next fight, everybody’s like, ‘Who do you want to fight?’ I don’t give a f—k, dude. I want to make f—-ing money,” Strickland said on “The Man Dance” podcast. “I get those pay-per-view buys. Give me somebody who’s going to make f—-ing money. I don’t want to fight anybody boring. I want to fight, you know, give me someone who’s making money.”

Stricklan…

Su Mudaerji will take on Allan Nascimento in a flyweight clash at a UFC event on Dec. 9.

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AgFight was first to report the matchup, which was subsequently confirmed by Nascimento on social media. The UFC Fight Night card is expected to take place in China and also includes a light heavyweight clash between newcomers Zhang Mingyang and Brendson Ribeiro.

Nicknamed “The Tibetan Eagle”, Mudaerji will be in front of his home fans as the UFC makes its return to China after four years. The 27-year-old Chinese prospect is coming off a submission loss against Matt Schnell that also snapped a three-fight win streak.

Meanwhile, Nascimento came up on the short side of a split decision against Raulian Paiva at the Contender Series in 2018. “Puro Osso” would finally get his UFC call in 2021, when he ended up dropping another spilt decision against Tagir Ulanbekov. A longtime training partner of former UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira, Nascimento has si…

Lightweights Joe Solecki and Drakkar Klose are slated to trade leather at a UFC Fight Night event on Dec. 2.

Klose confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from Eurosport. The card doesn’t yet have a determined location but is also expected to include a middleweight bout between Jared Cannonier and Roman Dolidze.

After starting his UFC journey with a three consecutive victories, Solecki suffered his first promotional defeat in a closely-contested split-decision against Jared Gordon in 2021. The 30-year-old bounced back with a majority decision win over Alex da Silva before submitting Carl Deaton earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Klose went on a two-year hiatus following a TKO loss to Beneil Dariush at UFC 248. Klose returned to action last year with a bonus-winning knockout of Brandon Jenkins and followed it up with a decision victory over Rafa Garcia.

A promising lightweight clash between Nazim Sadykhov and Viacheslav Borshchev has been added to the upcoming UFC 295 card.

Sadykhov announced the pairing on social media. UFC 295 is set to go down at the Madison Square Garden on Nov. 11 and will be headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Sadykhov is currently riding a nine-fight winning streak with his lone professional loss dating back to his debut in 2018. The Azerbaijani-American made his UFC debut back in February, earning a third-round stoppage win over Evan Elder. “Black Wolf” subsequently sealed his status as a prospect with a second-round submission win over Terrance McKinney in July.

After a highlight-reel liver shot stoppage win over Dakota Bush in his UFC debut last year, Borshchev went on to drop consecutive decisions against Marc Diakiese and Mike Davis. However, the Russian has since bounced back with a bonus-winning knockout win over Maheshate Hayisaer earl…

Jacob Malkoun faced Cody Brundage in a middleweight clash on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 228 this past Saturday.

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The Australian looked impressive in his return to the Octagon, as he took Brundage down in the opening seconds. Malkoun went on to lay some heavy ground-and-pound, prompting referee Mark Smith to ask for some action from Brundage. “Mamba” then attempted a rear-naked choke before landing an elbow that was deemed illegal by the referee, leading to a pause in action. Brundage said he was unable to continue and was declared the winner via disqualification after review of the footage.

Malkoun has now weighed in on the loss, voicing his disagreement with the decision. The Australian claims the elbow was completely unintentional and not exactly to the back of the head.

“I’ve had some time to think. I just want to make it clear that the shot was UNINTENTIONAL, as I was throwing the elbow to the side of his head he turned his b…