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A flyweight title fight for the ages! @TheAssassinBaby vs @PantojaMMA is our #UFC290 Fight of the Night 🔥

[ B2YB @ToyoTires ] pic.twitter.com/MLKWJR0x7N

— UFC (@ufc) July 9, 2023

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses following the UFC 290 pay-per-view card.

Newly crowned flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja received more than just a belt for his incredible performance. Both the Brazilian and former champion Brandon Moreno took home an extra $50,000 after securing Fight of the Night honors via their back-and-forth battle. Both men showed heart and a ton of skill over 25 minutes, with Pantoja ultimately getting the better of their grappling and striking exchanges.

Two Performance of the Night bonuses went to fighters that scored impressive TKO finishes. Dricus Du Plessis scored an upset TKO win over former middleweight king Robert Whittaker. The impressive performance secu…

Alexander Volkanovski remains at the peak of his powers.

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The City Kickboxing standout showcased his physicality in the UFC 290 main event, defeating Yair Rodriguez via technical knockout on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Volkanovski ended the bout with a salvo of ground-and-pound at the 4:19 mark of Round 3 to rebound from a narrow loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 this past February.

“You’ve got to expect the unexpected. Everybody that knows this game knows how dangerous he was … This week I flipped the switch,” Volkanovski said. “I’m the champ. I’m the king of this division. No one is ever stopping me.”

While Rodriguez (15-4, 10-3 1 NC UFC) did his best to threaten with his flashy toolbox of kicks, Volkanovski (26-2, 13-1 UFC) gradually broke down is Mexican foe. The Aussie grounded Rodriguez repeatedly in the opening 10 minutes, methodically hammering away with ground-and-pound from above. Rodriguez showed a sense of urgency…

Sherdog's live UFC 290 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Ribovics (-140), Kirk (+120)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Aguilar (-140), Ross (+120)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Saaiman (-520), …

ROBBIE LAWLER GETS THE KO IN 38 SECONDS IN HIS FINAL UFC FIGHT 😳 #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/8ZV3mdUXWD

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 9, 2023

It was a fairy tale conclusion to a legendary career.

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Robbie Lawler ended his mixed martial arts career in vintage form, as he knocked out Niko Price in the opening stanza of their UFC 290 bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The former welterweight champion rendered Price (15-7, 7-7, 2 NC UFC) unconscious 38 seconds into Round 1 — his 22nd overall triumph via KO or TKO. “It was good. It was just the ending of the career,” Lawler said. “I was landing some big shots in good places…It was too much. It was just nice to end my career like this.” With the masses chanting his name from opening bell, Lawler wasted little time imposing his will. The 41-year-old Kill Cliff FC representative punched his way into the clinch, then teed off with close quarters hooks and…

Francesco Nuzzi! ITS ALL OVER! HEAD KICK 🎯

Nuzzi advances to the Playoffs! #PFLBerlin pic.twitter.com/tcfFl9Xl65

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) July 8, 2023

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Francesco Nuzzi is a man on a mission.

In the PFL Europe 2: 2023 Regular Season main event, Nuzzi clobbered Farbod Iran Nezhad to secure a place in the 135-pound semifinals. Nezhad (11-3-1, 0-1 PFL) attempted to move the action to the canvas earlier in the fight, but Nuzzi (10-1, 1 NC; 1-0, 1 NC PFL) was able to deny him and bounce back on the feet. The Italian fighter tested his foe’s reactions for a while before firing a head kick hidden by a left punch. The impact was devastating, and Nezhad collapsed immediately. Referee Rich Mitchell jumped to save Nezhad from Nuzzi’s subsequent punches as the official time indicated the 1:52 mark of Round 1. Nuzzi will now face Bellator MMA alum Frans Mlambo (14-5, 1-0 PFL), who overcame short-notice replacement Rachid El Hazoume…

[embedded content] The UFC 290 pay-per-view card is set with two title fights now official after the weigh-ins took place.

Headlining the anticipated 14-fight card is a featherweight title unification battle between Alexander Volkanovski and interim champion Yair Rodriguez. Both men successfully made weight, as the Australian weighed 144.5 pounds, and Rodriguez came in at 145 pounds on the dot. Meanwhile, the co-main event is also official as Brandon Moreno looks to defend his flyweight belt against Alexandre Pantoja. Both men weighed exactly 125 pounds. All other fighters on the card made weight except for Jalin Turner (158), who checked in two pounds over the lightweight limit for his fight against Dan Hooker and has been fined 20% of his purse.

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Volkanovski (25-2) is coming off his first defeat since 2013 as he came up a hair short in his bid to become a two-weight champion against lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev. Dropping back to featherweight…

#PFLBerlin’s 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗶𝗻𝘀 brought to you by @ProperWhiskey

(and also #FransMlambo 🇮🇪 @LewisMcGMMA2000 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @CHughesMMA 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @theNukeTuke 🇮🇪 + @John_Kavanagh) pic.twitter.com/6cT1InaeiS

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) July 7, 2023 The PFL Europe 2 card is set after three fighters came in overweight.

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The second Professional Fighters League Europe event in 2023 will be headlined by Francesco Nuzzi and Farbod Iran Nezhad in the bantamweight division. Both men successfully made weight, but not every combatant ahead of the show could say the same. Co-main event competitor Moktar Benkaci was the most high-profile weight miss, as the bantamweight came in half a pound over the limit for his fight against Khurshed Kakhorov. Additionally, lightweight Acoidan Duque (159.1) clocked in 3.1 pounds over the lightweight cap, and Rachid El Hazoume Aamay was .3 pounds over the bantamweight max at 136.3 pounds.

Nuzzi (9-1, 1 NC)…

HERE we GO #UFC295 pic.twitter.com/GXDsNxjSEH

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) July 7, 2023 Heavyweights will take over Madison Square Garden in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s annual return to New York City.

On Friday night, the UFC announced that UFC 295 will be held on Nov. 11 in New York. As part of its yearly card in Madison Square Garden, it is putting its biggest foot forward with a heavyweight championship collision in the main attraction. Heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones (27-1, 1 NC) will put his gold strap up for grabs against ex-champ Stipe Miocic (20-4) in the main attraction, in a battle originally considered for International Fight Week in July. This will be the seventh year in a row the UFC has staged a November-based PPV in The Big Apple, but just the second time a heavyweight title has sat atop the billing.

Jones came back from a three-year self-imposed retirement in March to move up to the largest division with the company.…

🚨 Injury News 🚨

Due to a medical issue with Josiah Harrell, his welterweight bout against Jack Della Maddalena has been canceled from #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/vbupXR7vkj

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 7, 2023 A forced fight withdrawal of a Ultimate Fighting Championship newcomer might have just saved his life.

Last Friday, Jack Della Maddalena (14-2) announced that his welterweight matchup with Sean Brady was no more, due to an illness later determined to be septic bursitis on Brady's elbow. A few days later, the UFC acquired the services of Josiah Harrell (7-0) to step in for his promotional debut, instead of numerous names like Kevin Holland and Joaquin Buckley campaigning for the slot.

Following the UFC 290 weigh-ins on Friday, the results of a pre-fight brain scan came back to determine that, per MMAJunkie, Harrell has been diagnosed with a rare disorder called moyamoya disease and is out of the fight. Harrell will be undergoi…

Ultimate Fighting Championship legend Georges St. Pierre could not avoid scratching his competitive itch forever.

Prior to the UFC 290 press conference on Thursday, the promotion held a special event where they announced that St. Pierre would be fighting again. While not in MMA, he will be grappling for a UFC-helmed event in December. “GSP” will be competing at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 show on Dec. 14 as its headliner, which will likely be at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The opponent has not yet been announced, and the rules will be submission-only with special overtime provisions.

This will be the first time that St. Pierre has engaged in any pro combat sport since his 2017 retirement after UFC 217, when he choked out Michael Bisping to become a two-division champ. That concluded an outstanding MMA career, hanging up his gloves a second time while riding a 13-fight win streak over some of the most notable names in the sport. The Sherdog staff recently cast bal…

[embedded content] One of the all-time greatest Ultimate Fighting Championship champions will have his time in the spotlight again soon.

On Thursday night, Anderson Silva had his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame. Shortly after that took place, Paramount+ released the first trailer for the series called “Anderson Spider Silva.” This series, which started filming last year, focuses entirely on the life and times of the longtime UFC middleweight champion.

In those first images shown on the trailer, Silva is portrayed in his youth by Bruno Vinicius, in a dramatic conversation with his uncle Benedito. The latter is played by Seu Jorge, a renowned Brazilian singer who previously played the character of Knockout Ned in the highly acclaimed “City of God” film from 2002. After Silva engaged into a street fight, his uncle demanded he fix bent nails, while delivering a powerful speech about discipline. The production is helmed by Paramount Television International Studios, in…

🚨 #TeamIridium News 🚨

Our man @chitoveraUFC goes for his 15th @ufc victory vs. Pedro Munhoz on Aug. 19 ✍️🏼 #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/OvbKaFrYhI

— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) July 7, 2023 About a month and change away from its Boston card, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been given lemons and made lemonade.

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Last week, ex-champ Henry Cejudo announced that he had suffered a shoulder injury and had been forced to withdraw from UFC 292 on Aug. 19. On Friday, the management team of Marlon Vera (20-8-1) – who was to be Cejudo’s opponent – broke the news that Vera would remain on the billing. Now, he will square off against Pedro Munhoz (20-7, 2 NC) in what remains a top-10 tilt at 135 pounds.

Vera will still be looking to bounce back from a tough decision defeat to Cory Sandhagen in March, where one judge authored a 50-45 scorecard for Sandhagen while another believed Vera had prevailed via a 48-47 tall…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Luis Pena is no longer facing charges related to an alleged battery.

Back in October 2021, Pena was arrested and charged with two counts of battery involving domestic violence. This second arrest for the Arkansas native resulted in his UFC release. Shortly after that news broke, TMZ release a 911 call by Pena’s girlfriend regarding the allegations. It was claimed that Pena struck his closed fist, knocking her down and continuing to strike her. The reported injuries included damage to her wrist and a bite mark as well. According to Pena on Friday on Instagram and confirmed by the Broward County, Florida, clerk office, these charges have been dismissed.

“Best birthday present I ever got,” Pena wrote, “July 5th 2023 2 years later the charges don’t get nolle pros [where a prosecutor abandons a case] they’re completely dismissed it’s unfortunate I lost so much time over this injustice but it is what it is at this point, but…

🇫🇷. 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬

OFFICIAL: @CedricDoumbe makes his long awaited PFL debut at PFL Paris

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𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: September 30th.𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: @Zenith_Paris. Paris, France.

For more information and tickets 👇🎟️ https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/hO2pM7cMHU

— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 6, 2023 The Professional Fighters League is sending a popular fighter home for his promotional debut.

Via the promotion on Thursday, Cedric Doumbe (4-0) will serve in the main attraction of PFL Europe Playoffs, where he will compete in a non-tournament welterweight contest against a currently unnamed foe. Doumbe was initially slated to face Jarrah Al-Silawi as a late entrant into the 2023 Regular Season, but an injury ejected him from that June pairing and he was replaced by Solomon Renfro. The former kickboxer’s new PFL at this Sept. 30 event will take place in his home country of France, at Zenith Paris la Villette in Paris.

In what some may cons…

If it seems like Aljamain Sterling is making a relatively quick turnaround in comparison to some of the other UFC champions, well, “The Funkmaster” agrees with that sentiment.

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After defending his bantamweight title in a five-round bout against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 on May 6, Sterling will return to action on Aug. 19 in the UFC 292 main event against Sean O'Malley.

“People don’t understand how much time I actually put into this sport,” Sterling said on his podcast (transcription via MMAjunkie.com). “Sometimes you could get a little burned out. Sometimes that can take a lot out of you mentally. That’s why, after this fight, I had so much things with Henry, so many things planned out, that I just wanted to decompress and stop thinking about fighting for once because I do so much to get to the fight and prep myself to mentally get ready for battle.

“I had that just kind of ripped from underneath my legs. Now I’m like, ‘OK, this time you mother…

Things hit a boiling point between the coaches tonight on #TUF31 🤬

[ Watch new episodes every Tuesday on ESPN & ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/yyz5iE7ft1

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) July 5, 2023

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Things got testy between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler on the lastest episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 31.”

After Lee Hammond lost to Kurt Holobaugh to drop Team McGregor to 0-6, the two coaches entered the cage for a heated confrontation where McGregor shoved Chandler in the face. That prompted UFC president Dana White to rush into the cage to separate the two coaches.

McGregor uploaded a voice message to Twitter mocking Chandler’s remarks in the cage shortly after Tuesday’s episode aired.

“‘Oh, we’re gonna do this,’” McGregor said. “‘We’re gonna fight right now? We’re gonna fight right now? We’re gonna do this? We’re gonna fight right now?’”

pic.twitter.com/cWeDQMMIbI Read more about Video: Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler Scuffle on ‘The Ultimate Fighter 31’

Until recently, the last time no Brazilian fighter possessed a UFC title was July 2016, after Rafael dos Anjos relinquised the lightweight crown to Eddie Alvarez.

Brazil was left without a UFC belt when Amanda Nunes retired last month, but Rio de Janeiro native Alexandre Pantoja can end the current drought when he faces Brandon Moreno in the UFC 290 co-main event. Pantoja’s coach at American Top Team, Conan Silveira, is confident his charge can get the job done.

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“Sometimes you get your best opportunities at the wrong time. That’s definitely not the case with Alexandre. Pantoja is in the [prime] of his career, totally obsessed with winning that belt,” Silveira said. “This is his time. I believe 150% he will win.”

Silveira was in Pantoja’s corner at UFC Fight Night 129 in Chile, when “The Cannibal” defeated the current flyweight champion via unanimous decision. Pantoja also defeated Moreno via submission on “The Ultimate Fighter 24,” but that bout is…

Deiveson Figueiredo might have a high-profile fight lined up for his bantamweight debut.

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On the same week that longtime rival Brandon Moreno will defend his flyweight crown against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290, the former title holder reaffirmed his plans to compete at 135 pounds in an interview with Canal do Marinho. He also indicated that his first bantamweight foray could come against an ex-champion.

“By all indications, I may fight Dominick Cruz in September,” Figueirdo said. “I'm really moving up to the division where I'm going to get healthier. Fighting at flyweight was very complicated. I sacrificed a lot to make weight.

“I only met Dominick once in an elevator, and I could see that he is a very tall guy, bigger than me, but when it comes to the fight, everyone is the same height.”

Figueiredo claimed the vacant flyweight strap with a first-round submission of Joseph Benavidez at UFC Fight Night 172 before defending the title with…

It appears that Alistair Overeem is stepping away from combat sports for good.

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The mixed martial arts and kickboxing star announced his retirement during a recent interview with Lovin Dubai, where he also discussed his diet and the drastic changes to his physique that came to light when a photo of him alongside Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara surfaced on social media.

“This actually ties into what I want to do, because I actually just decided to stop fighting,” Overeem said (transcription via Bloody Elbow). “This is not my thing anymore.”

“It’s been 25 years, right? We’re going to do other cool stuff now.”

Overeem was known for his hulking physique during much of his combat sports career, but after working with a nutritionist, the Dutchman has changed his diet significantly.

“I’ve been doing a lot of new things for health,” Overeem said. “This is my next chapter, promoting health.

かねはら整骨院にアリスターオ…

Bo Nickal has received a last-minute opponent change ahead of his sophomore Octagon appearance at UFC 290.

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The highly-touted middleweight prospect will face Valentine Woodburn on Saturday after Tresean Gore, Nickal’s original opponent, announced on his Instagram stories that a torn ligament in his wrist forced him out of the middleweight bout. Eurosport was first to report the new booking.

“Unfortunately, I am out of my fight for this weekend and I’m extremely sad about it, but the truth is I’m not healthy and I may have to get surgery that will have me out six months to a year,” Gore wrote. “Torn scafoid ligament in one of my wrists. I feel extremely bummed but I will still be champion and I will still prove I’m better than this dude and I’m an elite fighter, but I have to get healthy before anything.

“As of now, I’m avoiding the surgery but I have rounds of stem cell treatment I have to do until I heal up.”

Woodburn was expected to co…

Some unfortunate circumstances forced Sean Brady to withdraw from a proposed bout against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 290.

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The Philadelphia-based welterweight recently revealed on Instagram that septic bursitis was the cause of his exit from Saturday’s card.

“Hey guys, as most of you know, I recently had to withdraw from my fight next weekend. I noticed a small blister on my left elbow after training on Monday night and woke up with pretty bad swelling and pain. As most of you know, I had a pretty serious staph infection in 2021, which resulted in surgery and [four] weeks of IV antibiotics through a picc line,” Brady wrote. “My wife, being a nurse, took a look at my arm on Tuesday morning and told me it would be the best idea to go to the hospital (for what we thought would be 1 dose of iv antibiotics) and get discharged and go about the rest of my camp and head to Vegas.

“Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. My arm continued to swell and wasn…

Josiah Harrell sends his opponent out of the cage with a takedown. Can’t say I have seen this happen before in the octagon #LFA160 pic.twitter.com/K7z4xgumzt

— Pierce (@bigbird_ph) June 17, 2023

Undefeated Ohio-based welterweight Josiah Harrell has agreed to replace the injured Sean Brady and meet Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 290.

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UFC fighter Matt Brown first brought word of the new booking and it was subsequently confirmed by multiple outlets, including BJPenn.com. UFC 290 takes place on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash pitting Alexander Volkanovski against Yair Rodriguez.

Harrell, 24, has compiled a 7-0 record since making his professional debut in March 2020. Most recently, Harrell went viral for driving opponent Michael Roberts through the cage door while completing a takedown at LFA 160 on June 16. “The Muscle Hamster” won that lightweight bout via…

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According to Glover Teixeira, former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira made the right decision to move to 205 pounds.

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“I was like, ‘I love it that you’re going to light heavyweight,’ because I don’t want to see him cutting that much weight,” Teixeira said at a post-fight press conference following his victory over Anthony Smith in a grappling match at the UFC Fight Pass 4 Invitational. “You don’t know how much that guy cut. He’s 230 pounds right now, and he’s lean, he’s probably like eight percent body fat. For him to drop to 185 is crazy … As you get older it gets harder and harder. Eventually it gets bad for your health.

Pereira, who trains at Teixeira MMA & Fitness, will make his light heavyweight debut against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 on July 29 in Salt Lake City. “Poatan” is coming off a second-round KO loss to Israel Adesanya in a rematch at UFC 281 this past April.

“I think it’s a great matchup for Alex,” Te…

In the aftermath of his dominant win over Damir Ismagulov in the UFC on ESPN 48 co-main event, Grant Dawson found it difficult to find fault with his performance.

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“I am my harshest critic, but you can’t be upset with a win against a guy like Damir,” Dawson said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “It wasn’t about the performance. If you can get over a guy like Damir, that’s something to be proud of. That guy is not ranked No. 12 in the world. He’s so much better than that. They just put him at 12 for some weird reason. I’m very, very happy with the 30-27, 30-27, 30-26. I’m happy with it.”

The American Top Team product attached himself to Ismagulov’s back in each frame, hunting for chokes and landing ground-and-pound when the opportunity presented itself. About the only thing he didn’t do was secure a finish. That’s easier said than done against an opponent like Ismagulov, who once compiled a streak of 19 consecutive victories.

“I was ex…