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HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is banking on middleweights for much of its summer schedule.

The UFC Apex will play host to a number of fight cards over the next few months, including the recently confirmed UFC on ESPN 45 show capped off by Jack Hermansson vs. Brendan Allen in June. In addition to that and Vettori-Cannonier’s UFC on ESPN 46 showcase, the UFC broke the news on Thursday that Sean Strickland (26-5) will claim the top spot on a UFC event on July 1. He will taking on rising contender Abusupiyan Magomedov (25-4-1) at 185 pounds, in the lone bout matched up thus far for this Las Vegas-based UFC on ESPN 47 event.

“Tarzan” Strickland ended a two-fight skid in January when he took home a five-round unanimous verdict over Nassourdine Imavov. That victory put the end …

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship decided that it would rather feature featherweights in its June return to the ABC airwaves.

The UFC announced in a series of headliners that UFC on ABC 5, the fight card that will be posting up inside of the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, will gain a marquee fight previously scheduled elsewhere. The promotion had initially placed Josh Emmett (18-3) vs. Ilia Topuria (13-0) in the main attraction of the UFC show on June 17, one that will play out at the UFC Apex. Instead, the featherweights will battle it out on a major broadcast network on June 24. The only other fights set on the lineup thus far include a flyweight tilt between Amanda Ribas and Maycee Barber and another at 125 pounds between Tatsuro Taira and Kleydson Rodr…

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is turning to two reliable middleweight contenders to draw eyeballs this June.

Via the UFC’s announcement on Thursday, Marvin Vettori (19-6-1) and Jared Cannonier (16-6) will be throwing down on June 17 for a potential crack at the 185-pound throne. This comes even though both fighters are a combined 0-3 against the titleholder, Israel Adesanya. The fight will be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, atop UFC on ESPN 46, on a card that otherwise has few bouts on the billing thus far.

After losing his bid for Adesanya’s belt in June 2021, Vettori has seen an up-and-down schedule. In a bizarre scene that involved an unexpected change in weight class, Vettori bounced back from his loss to “The Last Stylebender” by topping Paulo Costa on the scoreca…

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 The next Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view has just gained a huge addition.

On just two weeks’ notice, Belal Muhammad (22-3, 1 NC) will be setting foot in the Octagon against Gilbert Burns (22-5). Per a UFC announcement on Thursday, the two will be replacing the rescheduled booking of Charles Oliveira-Beneil Dariush for the co-headlining spot on UFC 288. This event on May 6 held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, will see this top welterweight contender tilt play out over the course of five rounds. Although Burns recently claimed he would take no offering but a shot at the belt, he posted about wanting this fight back on Monday.

Burns is fresh off a three-round decision win over Jorge Masvidal on UFC 287 this April. Since a tooth-and-nail scrap with Khamz…

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023 A matchup between top Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight contenders has found itself locked in for June.

In May, former champ Charles Oliveira (33-9, 1 NC) was to battle Beneil Dariush (22-4-1) for a potential crack at the lightweight throne. The bout was set to take place at UFC 288, but a minor injury suffered by the Brazilian forced the fight back. According to the UFC on Thursday night, it will now take place in the co-headlining spot on UFC 289 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Additionally, the UFC announced earlier on Thursday via press release a light heavyweight matchup between Khalil Rountree (11-5, 1 NC) and ex-heavyweight Chris Daukaus (12-6), one that may or may not reach the main card when the promotion reshuffles its bout order.

News of this fight …

2021 Professional Fighters League champ Antonio Carlos Jr. has gone through a great deal in his career, both mentally and physically.

At the age of 33, Brazilian champion Carlos Jr. has competed an entire Ultimate Fighting Championship run – ending it with a record over .500 – and has claimed a million-dollar check in the ranks of the PFL. It has not always been a land of milk and honey for the man known as “Cara de Sapato” or “Shoeface,” who recently revealed he has struggled greatly throughout his life with multiple mental and physical disorders.

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On the recent taping of the 23rd season of “Big Brother Brasil,” Carlos Jr. served as a cast member. The show did not end positively for “Cara de Sapato,” who was expelled from the season along with Guilherme Dantas – also known as MC Guime – for allegations of sexual harassment towards guest member Dania Mendez. During the show’s broadcast, Carlos Jr. shared that he has been dealing with Tourette’s Syndrom…

Count Floyd Mayweather Jr. among those interested in Francis Ngannou’s transition to boxing.

In an interview on Wednesday with BetOnline.ag, Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) discussed a litany of topics including the state of boxing and what advice he would give a younger boxer. The conversation largely began with one about MMA fighters crossing over to the sweet science, whether in the form of exhibitions or even pro matches. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Francis Ngannou’s name was mentioned among those, and Mayweather spoke about him specifically.

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“I would love to work with him, actually,” Mayweather said. “I would love to work with him; I would love to sign him to Mayweather Promotions. Very skilled guy, he was unbelievable from the highlights that I was able to see in MMA. I would like to work with him someday. If he wants to fight one of the top heavyweight guys, he should do it.”

Mayweather, 46, promotes and trains several bo…

[embedded content] The headlining match for the Bellator MMA flyweight title is in jeopardy after the challenger missed weight.

The main event of Bellator 294 will see Liz Carmouche once again face off against DeAnna Bennett. While the champion checked in at 125 pounds on the dot, her opponent could not say the same. Bennett (13-7-1) initially weighed 2.2 pounds over the limit at 127.2 pounds on her first attempt, and took the additional time to come back above the 125-pound championship cap at 126.2 pounds. As a result, should the fight continue, Bennett will be ineligible to win the throne and has been fined 30% of her purse. Per MMA Junkie, Carmouche has decided that should she lose on Friday, she will vacate her title.

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The two first met in 2020, with "Girl-Rilla" securing a rear-naked choke submission in her promotional debut -- in a fight where Bennett also missed weight. Since then, Carmouche (18-7) has remained perfect in Bellator, eventually …

After relinquishing the middleweight belt in a knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287, Alex Pereira has designs on challenging for a title in a new division very soon.

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"We are planning to do one debut fight at light heavyweight as soon as possible and stay ready to be the reserve fighter for Jiri [Prochazka] vs Jamahal [Hill],” Pereira’s coach, Jorge Guimaraes, told Sherdog.com.

Prochazka relinquished the 205-pound title at the end of 2022 due to a serious shoulder injury. No timetable has been set for his return. In the meantime, Hill claimed the vacant strap with a victory over Glover Teixeira at UFC 283. According to Guimaraes, Peireira had been planning on moving up in weight for a some time now.

"Even though he never missed weight, the whole process was stressful and tiring,” Guimaraes “After Jamahal beat Glover, he told me, ‘I can beat this guy.’ He was really excited about that possibility. And you can bet you will see a…

The finish line could be near for one of the greatest fighters of his generation.

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During an appearance on "The MMA Hour,” Demetrious Johnson admitted that his trilogy bout against Adriano Moraes at One on Prime Video 10 could be his last fight.

“It’s definitely possible,” Johnson said “Being 36, I sit down with the wife and kids, even my close friends, my inner circle who they don’t watch mixed martial arts, they don’t train, they all have normal citizen jobs you could say, and sometimes I sit there and think, how much more do I need to do? How much more do I want to do?

“I’ve stated in a couple of interviews, I want to compete in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in IBJJF, because my kids are doing it, too. There comes a point where it’s like how much more do I need to do?”

Johnson is one of the greatest flyweight fighters of all time and one of the top pound-for-pound competitors of his generation. He’s managed to maintain his success since leaving the …

A middleweight showdown pitting Chris Curtis against Nassourdine Imavov is on tap for UFC 289.

The promotion confirmed the booking via social media on Wednesday. UFC 289 takes place at the Rogers Center in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on June 10 and is headlined by championship trilogy between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena.

Curtis is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 287 on April 8. “The Action Man” recently said he would appeal the defeat due to an accidental headbutt that may have altered the course of the bout. A former CES MMA champion, Curtis has compiled a 30-10 mark over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2009. He is 4-2 in UFC competition, with wins over Joaquin Buckley, Rodolfo Vieira, Brendan Allen and Phil Hawes.

Imavov, meanwhile, had a three-bout Octagon winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to Curtis training partner Sean Strickland in the UFC Fight Night 217 main event on Jan…

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UFC and Invicta FC veteran Kay Hansen shares some difficult details from her upbringing in a new documentary.

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On the latest edition of the Invicta “Diary” series, Hansen reveals a sexually abusive relationship with her father, who was also her longtime MMA coach. The approximately 23-minute film was created by Jorge Barbosa, Cynthia Vance and Mark Johnston and released on Tuesday.

“This documentary was a big step for me, not necessarily as a fighter, but as a person,” Hansen wrote on Instagram. “My successes and struggles have all been in the public eye for many years, but everyone has a story behind the scenes. I was raped/SA [sexually assaulted] by my father as a teenager for years. Fighting/training was my escape, and the only form of reality I really had control over.

“I never spoke up about the abuse I endured due to the fear of repercussions that may follow. I tell my story, not to ‘help people get to know me,’ but to …

A rematch between Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana will serve as the main event for UFC Fight Night on May 20.

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The promotion on Tuesday announced the bantamweight pairing — which had initially been rumored for UFC on ESPN 43 in San Antonio. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and the card will air in its entirety on ESPN+. Pennington and Aldana initially squared off at UFC on ESPN 4 in July 2019, with Pennington prevailing via split decision.

Pennington is currently on a five-bout winning streak in UFC competition. The former bantamweight title challenger was successful in her first venture of 2023, as she garnered a split verdict against Ketlen Vieira at UFC Fight Night 217 on Jan. 14. Her current run also includes victories over the likes of Aspen Ladd, Macy Chiasson, Pannie Kianzad and Marion Reneau.

Aldana, meanwhile, has been victorious in four of her last five Octagon appearances. The Lobo Gym MMA representative…

A bantamweight clash pitting Ricky Simon against Yadong Song that was originally slated to be this Saturday’s co-headliner has been shifted one week later to serve as the UFC Fight Night 223 main event.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the change on Monday evening. UFC Fight Night 223 was initially supposed to feature a lightweight clash between Renato Carneiro and Arman Tsarukyan before “Moicano” was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. Tsarukyan will be removed from the event rather than receiving a replacement opponent.

UFC Fight Night 222, which takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, will move forward with 12 fights, including the Sergei Pavlovich-Curtis Blaydes heavyweight headliner. Simon vs. Song will now be contested over five rounds at UFC Fight Night 223, which is also set for the UFC Apex.

Anchored at American Top Team Portland, Simon has been victorious in his last five Octagon appearances. Most r…

Three fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 44 card are facing 60-day medical suspensions following knockout defeats.

Billy Quarantillo, Matheus Nicolau and Ed Herman were all handed two-month terms by the Missouri Office of Athletics. Each of those suspensions also comes with a 45-day period of no contact. Those three were the longest terms from the event, but the exact nature of each’s fighters suspension was not disclosed.

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UFC on ESPN 44 took place at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., and saw Max Holloway defeat Arnold Allen via unanimous decision in the evening’s main event. Both Holloway and Allen received 30-day sits following their bout.

UFC on ESPN 44 Medical Suspensions:

Max Holloway: suspended 30 days

Arnold Allen: suspended 30 days

Billy Quarantillo: suspended 60 days with 45 days no contact

Tanner Boser: suspended 45 days with 30 days no contact

Clay Guida: suspended 45 days with 30 days no contact

Mat…

Charles Oliveira isn’t taking any chances when it comes to his matchup with Beneil Dariush.

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The former lightweight champion revealed in a video on his Instagram stories Monday that a “small injury” kept him from preparing properly for what was originally supposed to be the UFC 288 co-main event on May 6. The bout has since been pulled from the card with plans to reschedule it for a future event.

“I wasn’t able to train, I got injured during wrestling practice,” Oliveira said in Portuguese (translation via MMAFighting.com). “I tried to train, I tried to do everything I could but we couldn’t, so we pulled out of the fight. [Fighting at UFC 288] would be great because I would be fighting on the same night of two teammates, ‘Willycat’ [Daniel Santos] and Rolando [Bedoya], but God knows all things. We’ll continue working and stay focused.”

Oliveira last appeared at UFC 280 in October, when he lost the lightweight belt to Islam Makhachev in a seco…

Here are your Heavyweight standings after the first half of the season #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/aHnGoaHnGn

— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 17, 2023 Heavyweights Denis Goltsov and Bruno Cappelozza, light heavyweights Marthin Hamlet and Joshua Silveira, women’s featherweight Amber Leibrock and welterweights Magomed Magomedkerimov, Magomed Umalatov and Carlos Leal Miranda all banked the maximum six points in the first leg of the Professional Fighters League regular season. All eight have put themselves in prime position for a playoff push and a shot at a $1 million payday in their respective weight classes.

The PFL kicks off the second half of its 2023 campaign on June 8 in Atlanta. Only the Top 4 competitors in each division advance to the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin in September.

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An up-to-the-minute look at the standings at heavyweight, light heavyweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and women’s fe…

[embedded content] Bruno Silva’s five-bout run in the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been something of a Jekyll-and-Hyde experience.

The former M-1 Global champion will attempt to snap a two-fight losing streak when he confronts Brad Tavares in a UFC Fight Night 222 middleweight showcase on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Silva’s recent struggles are made all the more maddening by the fact that he kickstarted his campaign inside the Octagon with consecutive finishes of Wellington Turman, Andrew Sanchez and Jordan Wright, with two of those victories resulting in $50,000 performance bonuses.

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“Those three fights in a row were unforgettable,” he told Sherdog.com. “The bonuses improved and changed my family’s life. I invested the money in our future. It was one of the most incredible periods of my career.”

Prosperity proved fleeting, however. Silva followed a decision defeat to Alex Pereira at UFC Fight Night 203 on March 12, 2022 with a sub…

Former UFC light heavyweight Karl Roberson was arrested in connection with a residential burglary resulting in the theft of more than $200,000 of jewelry and valuables, according to a release from the Howell Township Police Department.

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Roberson was arrested during a motor vehicle stop in Neptune, New Jersey, while driving a vehicle that was connected to the burglary. The vehicle was then searched and found to contain a defaced 9mm handgun with an extended magazine, several packages of suspected “crack cocaine,” marijuana and items related to the burglary. As a result, Roberson was charged with burglary, theft, criminal mischief, possession of controlled dangerous substance and several weapons offenses. MMAFighting.com confirmed Roberson’s identity with Detective Ryan Jackson, who revealed that the fighter was released on bail after being at the county jail for “two to three weeks.”

Roberson and another suspect, Dathan Thompson, were arrested for …

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— ROBERT DRYSDALE (@robertdrysdale) January 13, 2023

Following the success of his first book, “Opening Closed Guard,” multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Robert Drysdale has released its sequel, “The Rise and Evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: From Vale-Tudo to Carlson Gracie to its Democratization.”

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The new book is divided into four parts —or four waves of practitioners (1930-1967; 1967-1993; 1993-2007 and 2007-present) — as these practitioners were exposed to different brands of jiu-jitsu as the art evolved over time, in both cultural and technical terms.

For this, the author takes a dive into the importance of vale-tudo (anglicized into “MMA”) in shaping the Gracie fighting system away from judo and into a more reality-based approach to combat. It also investigates jiu-jitsu’s continuous evolution inside its first federation as well as how the family feud between Helio and Carl…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: M-1

The undefeated Movsar Evloev will step in for the injured Jonathan Pearce and face Bryce Mitchell at UFC 288.

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The new featherweight booking was announced during the UFC on ESPN 44 broadcast on Saturday night. UFC 288 takes place on May 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and is headlined by a bantamweight title tilt pitting Aljamain Sterling against Henry Cejudo.

Evloev has kicked off his professional tenure with 16 consecutive triumphs. He is 6-0 in UFC competition and is coming off a unanimous verdict over Dan Ige at UFC Fight Night 207 on June 4. The former M-1 Global champ also owns wins over the likes of Hakeem Dawodu, Nik Lentz and Enrique Barzola.

Mitchell, meanwhile, suffered the first loss of his career at UFC 282, falling to Ilia Topuria via second-round submission this past December. Prior to that, “Thug Nasty” was victorious in his first six Octagon appear…

For all intents and purposes, Arnold Allen performed well in his first five-round fight.

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It just wasn’t well enough to get the win, as the Englishman dropped a five-round verdict to ex-featherweight champ Max Holloway in the UFC on ESPN 44 headliner at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday night. UFC president Dana White came away impressed with Allen’s performance but would have liked a little more urgency from “Almighty” down the stretch.

“I thought he looked good,” White said. “He kept the pace, kept the distance, controlled the tempo of the fight. I thought that Allen looked incredible. If you think about it, it’s his first big night ever in a main event, the whole crowd’s against him and he came on too late.

“If he’d have fought the way [he fought] in the fifth round [from] the third round on, he would have had a better chance of winning that fight. I’m not a cornerman or a coach, but I think there should have been a s…

It’s unlikely that Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will square off this summer, but the heavyweight title bout could wind up at one of the most historic arenas in all of professional sports.

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Jones teased a potential booking at Madison Square Garden in New York on Twitter, and UFC president Dana White later confirmed that the venue is now the target for the fight.

“As far as I know everything is good and hopefully we have a fight with him and Stipe very soon,” White said at the UFC on ESPN 44 post-fight press conference. “That’s where we’d like to do it.”

Jones captured the vacant heavyweight strap with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March. It was the first Octagon appearance for “Bones” in more than three years. Jones signed an eight-fight UFC deal ahead of the bout, but it’s possible that his fighting career will end much sooner than that.

“How cool would it be to spend my retirement fight dominating the greatest heavyweight…

By halting the momentum of an up-and-coming contender, Max Holloway proved the doubters wrong at UFC on ESPN 44.

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The Hawaiian veteran outstruck Arnold Allen for five rounds at in their featherweight headliner at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City Missouri, on Saturday night to earn a unanimous decision triumph and reaffirm his position as the best featherweight in the UFC not named Alexander Volkanovski. While “Blessed” is 0-3 against the reigning featherweight champion — including a clear-cut decision loss to Volkanovski in his last outing at UFC 276 — he also owns recent wins over featherweight contenders such as Allen, Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez.

“You’re only as good as your last fight and I told you guys I had that [third Alexander Volkanovski] fight, that was the last taste that they had of me. I was here with that Kattar fight, I heard the same thing all over again — that Arnold’s going to be the guy who’s going to break my chin, who’s …