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A pivotal bantamweight clash pitting Henry Cejudo against Marlon Vera has been added to the UFC 292 lineup.

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ESPN was first to report the booking. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout, which is expected to be finalized soon. UFC 292 takes place at the TD Garden Arena in Boston on Aug. 19 and is headlined by a bantamweight title tilt between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley.

Cejudo returned from a nearly three-year retirement at UFC 288, where he lost a closely contested split decision to Sterling on May 6. The Olympic gold medalist and former two-division champion had won six consecutive UFC appearances from 2017 to 2020, bestling the likes of Dominick Cruz, Marlon Moraes, T.J. Dillashaw, Demetrious Johnson and Sergio Pettis during that period.

Vera, meanwhile, had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he fell to Cory Sandhagen via split decision in the UFC on ESPN 43 headliner on March 25. “Chito” owns a re…

When it comes to the best light heavyweights in the world, Vadim Nemkov is at or near the top of most lists.

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According to Bellator president Scott Coker, Nemkov solidified his spot as the best 205-pound talent with his dominant title defense against Yoel Romero in the Bellator 297 headliner on Friday night in Chicago.

“Nemkov to me is the best 205-pounder on the planet in any MMA league, including better than the UFC 205-ers,” Coker said at the Bellator 297 post-fight press conference.

“I think what you saw [at Bellator 297] was his speed, agility, his combinations. He can kick, he can punch, he can take you down, he can defend. He can do it all. I think that’s what you saw tonight.”

Romero, a former middleweight title challenger in the UFC, absorbed a lot of damage from Nemkov over the course of the five-round fight. Other than a late takedown and some attempts to lull Nemkov to sleep with a drunken master style, Romero struggled to au…

Sergio Pettis wasn’t exactly the picture of confidence heading into his title defense against Patricio Freire.

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“I thought I was gonna lose this fight. I ain’t gonna lie,” Pettis said at the Bellator 297 post-fight press conference. “I was telling my girl, if I lose to anybody it’s OK to lose to Patricio ‘Pitbull. ‘He’s a legend.”

Pettis then stopped to clarify that statement.

“I didn’t think I was gonna lose. I was just having battles in my mind,” he added. “I was kind of nervous, scared — all of the above. 18 months off of competing. I kind of forgot how all this felt. It’s the opposite of Nate Diaz. I am surprised motherf—ers.”

In his first fight since recovering from knee surgery, Pettis proved the doubters — and himself — wrong in a complete performance, as he confounded Freire with his speed and striking in a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph on Friday night in Chicago. Ultimately, Pettis believes those battles might have helped him …

Shortly after Jared Cannonier outdueled Marvin Vettori in a wildly entertaining slugfest at UFC on ESPN 47, the “The Killa Gorilla” was presented with the prospect of facing Khamzat Chimaev in his next bout.

While Chimaev is one of the promotion’s fastest rising stars, Cannonier is only interested in such a matchup if the terms make sense for his future goals in the UFC’s middleweight division. After all, Chimaev isn’t really established at 185 pounds, but his future could be in the division after missing weight badly ahead of his last appearance at UFC 279.

“Does that fight get me a title shot? You think so? I don’t know. He’s not even ranked at middleweight, is he?” Cannonier said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I know he’s popular. Everybody wants to see him do his thing and stuff like that. If they called me and said, ‘Hey, Khamzat for contender’s match?’ That’s a yes.

“I’m trying to get to the title. I’m not just fighting to entertain you peopl…

Ante Delija and Larissa Pacheco were two of the five athletes from PFL 5 to earn six-figure paychecks.

The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission released salaries from the event to MMAjunkie.com on Sunday. PFL 5 took place on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta and saw Delija ($100,000) take a unanimous decision over Maurice Greene ($21,000) in the main event, while Pacheco ($100,000) scored a 45-second TKO against Amber Leibrock ($11,000) in the evening’s co-headliner.

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Three other winners from PFL also took home $100,000 paydays: Denis Goltsov, Aspen Ladd and Julia Budd.

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 money that a fighter may acquire for t…

Count Arman Tsarukyan among those who are skeptical that Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor are ever going to square off in the Octagon.

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Tsarukyan called out Chandler following his third-round technical knockout victory against Joaquim Silva in the UFC on ESPN 47 co-main event on Saturday night. The 26-year-old Russian has been victorious in seven of eight UFC appearances since falling to reigning lightweight king Islam Makhachev in his promotional debut.

“If you want to ask me, for sure I want to fight with Michael Chandler,” Tsarukyan said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Because it looks like his fight with Conor McGregor is over. He got to fight with someone, and I am here. I have good win streak and let’s do this fight, because I’m the youngest guy in top 15. He’s the older one. I think for fans it’s good when new generation fights with older generation.”

Hey @MikeChandlerMMA if you think the fight with …

A five round battle between two absolute warriors in tonight's main event 🤜🤛@MarvinVettori & Jared Cannonier take home tonight's FOTN 💰 #UFCVegas75

B2YB @ToyoTires pic.twitter.com/HHlanhXUBC

— UFC (@ufc) June 18, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses following the UFC on ESPN 47 card.

The main event took home fight of the night honors as the middleweight showcase was an early fight of the year contender. Jared Cannonier weathered an early storm to put on an incredible performance against Marvin Vettori, who showed a strong chin and much resilience as the fight continued. Cannonier would ultimately win a unanimous decision win with scores of 49-45, 49-45 and 48-46 in his favor.

Two other fighters earned performance of the night bonuses with impressive knockout wins. First was Alessandro Costa, whose brutal win over Jimmy Flick earned him an extra $50,000. Costa delivered brutal elbo…

Jared Cannonier’s path to the top of the middleweight division just got a little more clear.

The MMA Lab product put forth arguably the finest performance of his career to date, as he battered Marvin Vettori for the better part of five rounds to win a unanimous decision in the UFC on ESPN 47 main event on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges scored the fight for Cannonier: 49-45, 49-45, 48-46. “The Killa Gorilla” has been victorious in four of his last five promotional appearances.

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Initially it appeared as though Vettori (19-7-1, 9-5-1 UFC) would make it a short night at the office when he hurt Cannonier (17-6, 10-6 UFC) with a left hand early in the opening round. While Cannonier recovered from being rocked, Vettori still controlled the stanza behind his boxing. It was all Cannonier from there, however. He took control in Round 2, as he walked “The Italian Dream” down and teed off with numerous powerful right hands. The lop…

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 47 coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Bukauskas (-200), Pauga (+170)Round 1 Welcome to another installment of Dana White’s Saturday Night Contender Series, also known as UFC on ESPN 47 or UFC Vegas 75. This dozen-fight show in the Apex is extremely light on star power, with just three ranked competitors on the whole billing, and two of those are in the main attraction. Starting low in the standings at 205 pounds, either one of these men will reach .500 or pass it with a win today. The latter can be said for Pauga (6-1, 1-1 UFC), while the former is available for Bukauskas (14-5, 2-3 UFC) on his second stint with the promotion. The third man in the cage for the first fight of the night is referee Mark Smith, and the two fighters choose la violencia and proceed without a glove touch. Bukauskas takes the middle of the fence, and Pauga practically runs at his opponent. Swinging his fists wildly, Pauga c…

VICIOUS elbows for the finish for Alessandro Costa 💥 #UFCVegas75 pic.twitter.com/XLksrikZgq

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 18, 2023

Alessandro Costa found a weak point and attacked without remorse.

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The former Lux Fight League champion put together a punishing performance in a technical knockout victory against Jimmy Flick on the UFC on ESPN 47 preliminary card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Costa (13-3, 1-1 UFC) ended the bout with a series of brutal elbows from top position at the 1:03 mark of the second stanza. The Brazilian Warriors export has finished 10 of his 13 professional triumphs inside the distance. Costa laid the foundation for his victory by chopping away at Flick’s left leg, an approach that gradually immobolized the Oklahoman. In between, Costa unloaded with rapid-fire punching volleys to the head and body. Outgunned on the feet, Flick was unable to initiate any takedowns and by the beginni…

Vadim Nemkov added another high-profle name to his resume, as he took a lopsided unanimous verdict against former UFC middleweitht title challenger Yoel Romero in the Bellator 297 main event on Friday night.

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“I’m very happy about this win,” Nemkov said at the Bellator 297 post-fight press conference. “It was very important to me. He’s a great fighter. He’s a legend. He’s an Olympian, so to win over somebody like him who was fighting with a lot of great fighters, top fighters, it means a lot to me.”

Romero absorbed copious amounts of punishment in the bout, but his durability carried him through to the final horn. “The Soldier of God” had his best moment in Round 5, when he was able to take Nemkov down, but other than that the most entertaining portions of the contest occurred when the Cuban feigned being stunned by stumbling around the cage.

Nemkov came away impressed by his opponent’s toughness.

“I was surprised about his head. It’s r…

We told you that tonight could get interesting 👀

The faceoff that you all were waiting for #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/lLonBECFUY

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 17, 2023

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It’s probably the closest Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou will get to a confrontation for the foreseeable future.

The heavyweight stars came face-to-face on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. Jones was at the venue to corner training partner Maurice Greene, who lost a decision to Ante Delija in the PFL 5 main event. Ngannou, meanwhile, was on hand after recently signing with PFL as a highly-coveted free agent.

During the interaction, Jones can be heard telling Ngannou, “You don’t want no smoke” but the conversation appeared to be mostly cordial, and the fighters shook hands multiple times. Ngannou parted ways with the UFC earlier this year when he was unable to come to terms with the promotion for a new contract after his existing deal expired. …

Ante Delija made sure someone would be there to keep him company on the outside looking in when the Professional Fighters League playoffs start in August.

The Mirko Filipovic protégé bounced back from a tepid start to outstrike and outgrapple Maurice Greene to a unanimous decision across three rounds in the PFL 5 headliner on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28 for Delija (24-5, 8-2 PFL).

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Greene (11-8, 1-2 UFC) did his best work in Round 1, where he stalled the Croatian in the clinch, kneed the legs and secured a takedown. Momentum, as it often does, proved fleeting. Delija found his rhythm in the middle stanza, where he engaged his 36-year-old counterpart at close range, fed him a steady diet of power punches and applied merciless pressure. Greene failed to alter the narrative down the stretch. Delija executed a takedown midway through the third round and dialed up just enough ground-and-pound to av…

The best of the best! 🔥

Another phenomenal victory for Vadim Nemkov. Can anyone stop the light-heavyweight king here in Bellator? 🤔#Bellator297 pic.twitter.com/warQbO5UEu

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 17, 2023

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Yoel Romero hoped to turn back the clock and win his first world title, but Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov was having none of it.

The defending champion picked, prodded and peppered Romero with shots for 25 minutes, cruising to another successful title defense (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) in the Bellator 297 main event Friday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Nemkov quickly gained control of the circle and took advantage of Romero’s notorious workrate. At age 46, Romero’s reliance on explosive blitzes and heavy-handed shots failed him early. Nemkov’s (17-2) jab and discipline on the outside carried the champ throughout the fight and routinely opened up Romero’s guard. In round three, Romer…

The 2023 Professional Fighters League Regular Season marches on with 2023 PFL 5 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The action airs live on ESPN+ and then continues on ESPN at 10 p.m. ET. Round 1 The PFL continues its second stage of the regular season in Atlanta, this week with the heavyweight and women’s featherweight divisions on full display – plus one amateur fight tossed in. The action for the day begins in a non-tournament matchup between two younger heavyweights, relatively speaking. At 28, the South Carolina native Pinson (2-0, 1-0 PFL) will look to claim his third pro win, while local Georgia fighter Freeman (4-0, 1-0 PFL) wants to secure his fourth knockout in what would be his fifth victory. When the dust settles, one man will lose their shiny 0, and referee Blake Grice will be among the first to know. The big men, who combine for a bit over 510 pounds, come together and tap their fingers to start off the night. Freeman is immediately ready to begin slugging, and he gets in Pinson…

Sherdog's live Bellator 297 coverage will begin Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Round 1 Featherweights Chavez and Law get things started off from Chicago, with set to referee the opening bout of the evening. Chavez is southpaw, Law orthodox as they exchange pawing jabs. Law catches a Chavez kick and counters with a punch upstairs. Chavez is sliding laterally around the outside of the cage as Law gives chase. Law backs Chavez up into the fence and tries to tee off with punches, but Chavez slips most of them and gets out of danger. Law's right cross has landed enough, halfway through the round, that Chavez's face is visibly marked up. Law changes levels for an easy takedown and settles in his opponent's guard near the base of the fence. Law slides around to the back and tries to get a hook in. Chavez fights Law's hands and does a good job of denying hooks. Law is still on Chavez's back with under a minute left. Chavez gets back to his feet, but Law drags him back down and punishes him wi…

One half our main event is OFFICIAL 👏

Jared Cannonier in at 185.5 for #UFCVegas75!

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Tomorrow | Main Card 10pmET on @ESPN pic.twitter.com/pXu44cBH1Z — UFC (@ufc) June 16, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to ESPN airwaves this Saturday for UFC on ESPN 47, and all 24 fighters hit their proper marks.

The 12-fight card is headlined by a middleweight bout between contenders Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier. Both headliners successfully made weight, as did the other 22 competitors ahead of the event.

"The Italian Dream" bounced back by defeating Roman Dolidze in his last outing. That made Vettori (19-6-1) 2-2 in his last four fights, with a victory over Paulo Costa coming sandwiched between losses to Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya. Vettori will look to show that he still has upward trajectory, and officially weighed in at 185.5 pounds.

This marks the fifth UFC main event for Cannonier (16-…

🚨BREAKING NEWS 🚨

The Boss just announced main events for:🇺🇸 #UFCNashville - August 5🇸🇬 #UFCSingapore - August 26🇫🇷 #UFCParis - September 2 pic.twitter.com/MueA05dT71

— UFC (@ufc) June 15, 2023 A potential top contender at the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division may emerge at night’s end.

Via the UFC on Thursday, its comeback to Paris on Sept. 2 has been made official. There is currently one fight scheduled for this UFC Fight Night card's lineup, which was just announced between Ciryl Gane (11-2) and Sergey Spivak (16-3). The two heavyweights will battle it out for upwards of five rounds in front of fans at the Accor Arena. This will be the second jaunt for the UFC to France, as it first made the trip with a Gane-featured show on September 2022.

In March, Gane vied for the newly vacated heavyweight throne, and he faced off against former light heavyweight king Jon Jones. After about two minutes, Jones throttled Ga…

🚨BREAKING NEWS 🚨

The Boss just announced main events for:🇺🇸 #UFCNashville - August 5🇸🇬 #UFCSingapore - August 26🇫🇷 #UFCParis - September 2 pic.twitter.com/MueA05dT71

— UFC (@ufc) June 15, 2023 An all-action Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight scrap will treat fans atop the August event in Singapore.

On Thursday, the UFC announced the main attraction of its next show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Aug. 26. While only one other fight is currently on the books for the UFC Fight Night event on that date – a bantamweight matchup between Rinya Nakamura and Fernando Garcia – the marquee fight will come at featherweight between former champ Max Holloway (24-7) and perennial contender Chan Sung Jung (17-7). Additionally, the company stated that the Road to UFC semifinals events would be going down on Aug. 27 in the same building, to set the stage for the finals of that contract-earning tourney.

Other than to cha…

Dana White with some BIG fight announcements...

Aug 5: #UFCNashville – Cory Sandhagen vs Umar NurmagomedovAug 26: #UFCSingapore – Max Holloway vs Korean ZombieSept 2: #UFCParis – Ciryl Gane vs Sergei Spivak pic.twitter.com/JOEVBX5aIB

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) June 15, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship has formalized its return to Music City on the first weekend of August.

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According to the promotion on Thursday, the UFC will be returning to Tennessee on Aug. 5. The fight card, currently an unnumbered Fight Night show due to the uncertainty of its broadcasting destination, will be headlined by a bantamweight barnburner between Cory Sandhagen (16-4) and Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0). This will be the UFC’s first event in Nashville since UFC Fight Night 148 in March 2019, which saw Anthony Pettis take on Stephen Thompson. It will be held inside of the Bridgestone Arena.

Sandhagen is currently riding high after two vic…

This haircut is 2-0 in ufc even without appearing in the octagon. Another opponent doesn’t want to take his chance and pulled out 🤦🏻‍♂️ 😡 pic.twitter.com/kwvoFIsx2i

— Zhalgas Zhumagulov (@ZhakoZhumagulov) June 15, 2023 Editor's note: The article has been updated on 6:15 p.m. ET to reflect the change in event for Zhumagulov.

The latest Ultimate Fighting Championship card has just experienced a few shake-ups the day before weigh-ins.

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On Thursday, a pair of matchups at UFC on ESPN 47 – the fight card that will take place inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on June 17 – changed. The first, the news came courtesy of the promotion itself, which announced that Miles Johns suffered an injury and is out of his bantamweight battle with Raoni Barcelos. The fight has subsequently been pulled from the lineup.

Johns, who declared he suffered an injury on Wednesday night during training, posted on social media shortly after word sp…

⚖️Heavyweight Main Event bout is official!Ante Delija: 251 lbsMaurice Greene: 255.4 lbs

[Fri, June 16th | 6:30ET on ESPN+ | 10pm ET on ESPN | #PFLRegularSeason] pic.twitter.com/rYv8rsHQDQ

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 15, 2023 The heavyweight and women's featherweight divisions will get the spotlight at PFL 5.

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A heavyweight clash between Ante Delija and Maurice Greene will headline the latest Professional Fighters League event. All fighters on the card made weight except for Evelyn Martins, who came in at 147 pounds. As a result, she'll be deducted a point in the playoff standings and will forfeit 20% of her purse to opponent Marina Mokhnatkina.

Delija weighed 251 pounds and enters the main event contest at 23-5. The Croatian is on a four-fight win streak and defeated Matheus Scheffel in the 2022 PFL Championships. Meanwhile, Greene (11-7) weighed 255.4 pounds and is 1-1 inside the promotion. After losing to Denis Goltsov in…

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 2:40 p.m. ET to add a statement from the UFC. It was edited again at 3:10 p.m. ET to reflect a statement from the Miami Heat.

Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor and his team have denied the allegations.

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According to TMZ on Thursday, a woman represented by attorney Ariel Mitchell penned demand letters claiming that she was raped by McGregor on June 9. McGregor was present at the fourth game of the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat, and he was involved in a halftime skit that sent the Heat’s mascot to the hospital when it went awry. After the game ended, per the letters, a member of McGregor's security team forced the woman into a stadium restroom, and McGregor allegedly assaulted her in it.

TMZ relayed that the letters wrote, “security refused to let [the woman] exit or allow anyone else, including her friend, inside the bathroom.” They then stated that McGregor came o…

𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗖𝗬 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 🔥

An explosive night at the @WintrustArena sees BW champ @SergioPettis defend gold against #P4P No.1️⃣ @PatricioPitbull. Who wins? 👊#Bellator297 LIVE FRIDAY:🇺🇸 @SHOsports at 9pm ET/6PM PT🌍 Find out how to watch ▶️ https://t.co/jPjMHzLhCd pic.twitter.com/ffP1jtUzZF

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 15, 2023 Patricio Freire is officially a bantamweight, and he will try to make MMA history on Friday.

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Headlining the 15-fight Bellator 297 card is a light heavyweight title fight where champion Vadim Nemkov will take on Yoel Romero. Meanwhile, the co-main event will see Patricio Freire attempt to earn a belt in his third weight class as he takes on bantamweight titleholder Sergio Pettis. All four men in championship matchups made weight, as did the rest of the card.

Nemkov (15-2, 1 NC) is coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over Corey Anderson in their rematch. The light heavyweight champion w…