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Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira put their rivalry on hold to share a few laughs when they recently crossed paths at the airport.

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Both fighters were in Melbourne, Australia this past week. Adesanya trained with the New Zealand Warriors rugby team, while Pereira visited the Melbourne Storm. Adesanya and Pereira were also in attendance for the boxing match between Joseph Parker and Faiga Opelu.

Though they didn’t meet during that time, they did end up at the airport at the same time. In Pereira’s video, Adesanya jokingly hides his face when the camera finds him, while Pereira flexes in the distance in the version filmed by the “The Last Stylebender.”

Guess who I met at the airport ? 👀 pic.twitter.com/c2xr4MAVUs

— Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) May 29, 2023

💘💘💘❤️‍🔥My life is a video game 🎮 pic.twitter.com/MoIdUniTJv

— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) May 29, 2023

Adesanya and Perei…

𝙎𝙐𝙋𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙒 🇺🇸🇯🇵

Bellator MMA and @rizin_PR present the biggest cross-promotion of the summer! 🔥 Which fight are you most hyped for? #BellatorxRizin2 | Sun, July 30 | 📍 Saitama Super Arena pic.twitter.com/0y1v3TzUMe

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) May 27, 2023

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Bellator MMA and Rizin Fighting Federation have worked well together in recent years, and that relationship will continue with a dual-promotion event in Japan on July 30.

Unlike the previous iteration on New Year’s Eve, the upcoming card will be composed of two separate events, with Bellator bouts taking place in a cage and Rizin fights happening in a ring. Still, it’s rare to see two promotions working in such a collaborative fashion in this day and age. According to Bellator president Scott Coker, it’s something that should revolutionize the sport.

“This is unbelievable,” Coker said at a press conference to promote the upcoming event. “Last time I saw [Rizin pr…

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Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA plan to pull out all the stops for their upcoming head-to-head showcase.

In a joint press conference Saturday morning, Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara and his Bellator counterpart Scott Coker, alongside a collection of stars from their respective organizations, announced the date, location and a partial lineup for their next collaboration. Bellator vs. Rizin 2 will be held on July 30 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Like the first “Bellator vs. Rizin,” which took place on New Year’s Eve in Saitama, the newly announced card will pit champions and top contenders from both promotions against one another, some in the Bellator cage under the Unified Rules of MMA and some in Rizin’s trademark boxing-style ring, under Rizin rules. Notably, Rizin’s rule set allows soccer kicks and stomps to grounded opponents, while prohibiting elbow strikes.

Among the matchups announced on Saturday were former Bellato…

LFA brings the Interim #LightHeavyweight Championship to @Caragua_Oficial, #SãoPaulo, #Brazil at #LFA159! 🏆

Rodolfo "Trator" Bellato🆚Acácio "Pequeno" Dos Santos

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TOMORROW!#CIDECasaBranca#Caraguatatuba, #SaoPaulo, #Brazil#MMA#LFANation@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/fqvYCo0uyh — LFA (@LFAfighting) May 26, 2023 The Legacy Fighting Alliance returns to Brazil for LFA 159, which is headlined by an interim light heavyweight title fight.

Fighting for the interim belt in the main event will be light heavyweight prospects Rodolfo Bellato and Acacio dos Santos. Both headliners successfully made weight, as Bellato (9-2) checked in at 204.6 pounds, while dos Santos weighed 202 pounds. Three fighters failed to make the contracted weight for their respective fights, though, as Luiz Cesar da Silva Junior, Argemiro Delmandes and Rafaela Silva all came in overweight.

Bellato comes into the title fight having won four of his …

Bellator MMA is expanding, despite what recent rumors may be suggesting for the company.

MMA Junkie first broke the news on Thursday that the promotion was planning on officially launching a men’s flyweight category. News of this development has since been confirmed by other outlets. The specific date that it will kick off this new division is unclear, and no news has developed regarding the potential signing of competitors to populate its roster.

Despite having no official flyweight weight class, the organization booked over 50 fights at 125 pounds over the years for male fighters. Of note, both Josh Paiva and Zarrukh Adashev both notched three victories in that specific category in the past. The most recent match that took place at flyweight for Bellator came at Bellator 277 in April 2022, when Edwin De Los Santos faced and defeated Alberto Mendez by decision. Before then, De Los Santos accounted for the only 125-pound bout in the last two years, when he knocked ou…

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻 🇮🇪🚨

Bellator returns to the @3arenadublin with a 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗘 card featuring Ireland's own @sineadkavanagh0 and British prospect Luke Trainer.

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🎟️ Get your #Bellator299 tickets now ▶️ https://t.co/QbOrCp0uem pic.twitter.com/bbztMLQ015 — Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) May 25, 2023 Bellator MMA is loading up its next Dublin-based card with plenty of local talent.

The organization announced on Thursday that it had booked six new matches for the Sept. 23 event at the 3Arena in Dublin. The fight card, titled Bellator 299, appears to have its four-fight main card put together – albeit this could change at any time – with Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards for the middleweight strap as the main attraction. The new bout that will open it up is a featherweight clash between Sinead Kavanagh (9-5) and Sara Collins (4-0).

Former title challenger Kavanagh is aiming for a three-fight win streak, which would be …

Cain Velasquez’s trial setting date has been pushed back until Aug. 2 after the former UFC heavyweight champion appeared in Santa Clara County (Calif.) court on Wednesday.

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Accompanied by attorney Renee Hessling, Velasquez’s request to delay the hearing was granted by Judge Panteha Saban. The trial setting date has been postponed on three different occasions.

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 vehicle containing Goularte and allegedly hit and injured his stepfather, Paul Bender. Velasquez has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If found guilty, he faces 20 years to life in prison.

Velasquez was released on released on $1 million bail in November after spending eight months in a holding facility. He remains under GPS surveillance and cannot leave his home without th…

The mixed martial arts community still has plenty of time to speculate on who Francis Ngannou will face when he makes his Professional Fighters League debut.

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The former UFC heavyweight champion signed with the PFL earlier this month with plans to return to MMA sometime in 2024 after he pursues a fight in professional boxing. While that has led to fans looking at the league’s heavyweight roster and free agents outside the UFC’s control, PFL founder Donn Davis is confident that Ngannou’s first booking will exceed expectations.

“To me, what’s so fun here is the mystery box of candy and everything is going to be good,” Davis said on The Spinning Backfist MMA Show. “There’s been all kind of speculation, ranging from the PFL season to [Fabricio] Werdum. I believe it will be something else and bigger and more exciting than you’ve read so far. We have nine months — nine months ago, people would have laughed if we said Francis was gonna come to the PFL. So,…

James Gallagher will face Cris Lencioni in a featherweight scrap at Bellator 298 on Aug. 11.

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Severe MMA was first to report the pairing. Bellator 298 takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and is headlined by a welterweight tilt pitting Logan Storley against Brennan Ward.

Gallagher had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his most recent outing, when he suffered a third-round submission defeat to Patrick Mix in a bantamweight bout at Bellator 270 in November 2021. The SBG Ireland product is 8-2 during his tenure with the California-based promotion.

Lencioni, meanwhile, has been victorious in his last four professional appearances — including two under the Bellator banner. Most recently, the Gracie Barra Portland representative submitted Blake Smith in the second round of their encounter at Bellator 294.

It appears that an immediate rematch with Valentina Shevchenko will be next for newly-crowned flyweight champion Alexa Grasso.

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Dana White indicated as much during the UFC Fight Night 223 post-fight press conference on Saturday. He did not reveal a potential date or event for the bout, however. “We’re working on that, too,” White said regarding the rematch. “That’s one of the fights we’re definitely working on right now.”

Grasso authored one of 2023’s biggest upsets when she submitted Shevchenko with a fourth-round face crank in the UFC 285 co-main event on March 4. That ended a streak of seven consecutive successful title defenses for Shevchenko, who had established herself as one of the top female pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

The 29-year-old Grasso has won five consecutive fights since moving up to 125 pounds from strawweight. Had the UFC elected to avoid an immediate rematch, Grasso had a number of interesting options for her firs…

A welterweight showdown pitting Logan Storley against Brennan Ward will serve as the main event for Bellator 298 on Aug. 11.

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Promotion officials announced the booking on Monday. Bellator 298 takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., and will see Valentin Moldavsky square off against Steve Mowry in the evening’s heavyweight co-headliner. The main card, which airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, will also include a middleweight clash between Dalton Rosta and Aaron Jeffrey and a lightweight tilt between Sidney Outlaw and Islam Mamedov.

Meanwhile, Lucas Brennan will lock horns with Weber Almeida on the preliminary draw, which airs at the Bellator YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.

A former interim champion, Storley had a three-bout winning streak snapped in a five-round decision loss to Yaroslav Amosov in a title unification bout at Bellator 291 on Feb. 25. Storley …

Fight news!

Here we go, I’m back 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/lz1PUNxZNo

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) May 22, 2023

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Terrance McKinney will lock horns with Nazim Sadykhov in a lightweight bout at UFC on ESPN 49 on July 15.

McKinney announced the pairing in a cowboy-themed video on social media. UFC on ESPN 49 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight duel pitting Holly Holm against Mayra Bueno Silva.

After beginning his Octagon tenure with back-to-back first-round finishes, McKinney has lost two of his last three UFC bouts. Most recently, the 28-year-old Spokane, Wash., native suffered a second-round KO defeat to Ismael Bonfim at UFC 283 on Jan. 21.

Sadykhov scored a third-round KO of Ahmad Sohail Hassanzada on Dana White’s Contender Series last August before defeating Evan Elder via technical knockout in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 219 on Feb. 18. The Long an…

Anthony Hernandez is quietly building an impressive resume in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.

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The former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor earned his fourth straight victory at UFC Fight Night 223, pulling away for a third-round technical knockout victory over once highly-touted prospect Edmen Shahbazyan in the evening’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Fluffy” endured a strong start from his opponent before overwhelming him with takedowns, submission attempts and ground-and-pound.

In the aftermath, Hernandez found plenty of room for improvement.

“I got hit, so obviously I’ve got to work on head movement,” he said at the post-fight press conference. “My coaches told me I was making a couple mistakes when I was moving backward. Just back to the drawing board. We just come back and we try to perform better next time.”

Hernandez was confident that he would eventually be able to impose his will on S…

The countdown to #TUF31 begins!!! ⏱

[ #TUF31 Premieres Tue. May 30 on @ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/QpdIYGMySZ

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) April 30, 2023

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As Conor McGregor continues to delay his entry into the USADA drug testing pool, there has been some concern in recent weeks that his matchup with Michael Chandler won’t actually happen.

According to UFC president Dana White, a fight announcement will occur during the airing of “The Ultimate Fighter 31,” which features McGregor and Chandler as opposing coaches and premieres on May 30.

“That’s correct,” White said at the UFC Fight Night 223 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. “There’s a fight. He [McGregor] has to get into the USADA pool first. He’s filling out the paperwork. I don’t know how soon that will be done or what’s going on, but that’s his business, that he’s handling with USADA. But it’s all in motion.”

USADA normally requires…

Rose Namajunas has been off the grid since relinquishing the strawweight crown to Carla Esparza in a forgettable rematch at UFC 274, but the ex-champ remains one of the biggest names in the strawweight division.

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Mackenzie Dern set her sights on “Thug” Rose following a dominant victory over Angela Hill in the UFC Fight Night 223 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Namajunas hasn’t fought MMA since May 2022, but Dern is aware that she has been honing her grappling skills in recent months.

“I follow her on social media and stuff, and I saw her do an ADCC regional or something like that,” Dern said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I’m a former ADCC champion, so I’m always happy when I see the MMA girls doing jiu-jitsu. But, for sure, fighting Rose is a priority of mine right now at this moment.”

Dern has won two of her last three Octagon appearances dating back to 2022 and demonstrated considerable improvement in…

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Paul Craig will move to 185 pounds and face Andre Muniz at UFC Fight Night 224.

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Super Lutas was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night 224 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on July 22 and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Tom Aspinall and M…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is bestowing a newly announced event with a pair of light heavyweight collisions and one top contender match at 115 pounds.

On Thursday, MMA Junkie first announced that the UFC would be staging a Fight Night card on Aug. 5. The destination is currently unknown, but it is but rumored to be taking place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. On that lineup, two 205-pound affairs have been booked plus one outside that weight class. The first, likely on the main card, comes between Dustin Jacoby (18-7-1) and Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-3). The second, also courtesy of MMA Junkie, which has no distinction as to its placement, features Tanner Boser (20-10-1) against the returning Aleksa Camur (6-2). Jacoby later announced his bout on social media, while Iridium Sports Management confirmed Camur vs. Boser.

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Additionally, a pivotal 115-pound affair is on the books for this fight card, as Virna Jandiroba (19-3) is expec…

Mackenzie Dern is still rounding out her mixed martial arts skill set. That could be a scary prospect for the rest of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s strawweight division.

Dern dominated Angela Hill on the feet and on the canvas en route to a lopsided unanimous decision triumph in the UFC Fight Night 223 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Cageside judges scored the strawweight bout 49-43, 49-44 and 49-44 in favor of Dern, who rebounded from a decision loss to Xiaonan Yan in her most recent outing this past October.

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Dern (13-3, 8-3 UFC) came out with aggressive striking, sitting Hill down near the fence with a right hand in the opening stanza. From there, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt nearly secured an armbar before the horn sounded. Survival would be the prevalent theme for Hill, who had her most success when she slowed down the pace and pressed her opponent into the fence for much of Round 2.

That would be the la…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 223 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Sato (-110), Gorimbo (-110)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Silva (-800), Leonardo (+575)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Edwin Ayala scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTIN…

“Slava Claus” delivered an emphatic technical knockout victory to the UFC Apex on Saturday evening.

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Viacheslav Borshchev snapped at two-bout skid at UFC Fight Night 223, as he defeated Maheshate Hayisaer via technical knockout in their preliminary lightweight showdown. Borschev (7-3, 2-2 UFC) dropped Hayisaer (9-3, 1-2 UFC) with a clean right hook to the chin and sealed the victory with about six standing-to-ground strikes at the 2:37 mark of Round 2. Borschev flashed his power on multiple occasions. After a competitive striking battle for the majority of the opening frame, the Team Alpha Male product dropped Hayisaer with a short right near the end of the period. The show continued in the second frame. Borschev sat his Chinese foe down with another right early in the period before putting Hayisaer away with the finishing sequence moments later. Borschev has finished six of his seven professional triumphs via KO or TKO. Kowalkiewicz Stymies Demopo…

Ready for action!@MackenzieDern in at 115lbs for tomorrow's #UFCVegas73 main event 💪 pic.twitter.com/HeqpreevYW

— UFC (@ufc) May 19, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship continues its busy May with a UFC Apex card headlined by two fan-favorite strawweight fighters.

UFC Fight Night 223 will see Mackenzie Dern take on Angela Hill in a five-round main event. Both women successfully made weight and are familiar faces to fans. However, two undercard fighters missed weight as both Vanessa Demopoulos and Orion Cosce came in 1.5 pounds over their respective weight class limits. Demopoulos came in at 117.5 pounds for her strawweight fight against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, while Cosce came in at 172.5 for his welterweight clash against Gilbert Urbina. They have each been fined 20% of their respective purses, and the bouts will otherwise continue as scheduled.

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Dern (12-3) will be looking to bounce back after a decision loss to X…

Jacobi Jones spilled blood and a lot of it.

The Factory X rep laid claim to the vacant Legacy Fighting Alliance lightweight championship, as he dispatched Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani with punches and elbows in the second round of their LFA 158 headliner on Friday at Gila River Resorts and Casinos’ Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona. Jones (6-1, 6-1 LFA) brought it to a close 2:18 into Round 2.

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Lebosnoyani (5-2, 4-1 LFA) applied maximum pressure but could not force his counterpart to break. Jones dodged a bullet in the first round, escaped an armbar from the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and tore open multiple cuts with elbow-laced ground-and-pound. Lebosnoyani pressed forward in Round 2, where he was met with a picture-perfect knee strike that appeared to lengthen one of the lacerations. Blood poured from the wound, covered both participants and painted various parts of the canvas. Jones moved into top position near the base of the fence, uncorking pun…

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 6:30 p.m. ET to reflect the reason for Klein's withdrawal.

Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Jim Miller has a new opponent just a few weeks before his fight.

The Underground broke the story on Friday that Jim Miller (35-17, 1 NC) would no longer be taking on Ludovit Klein at UFC on ESPN 46. Instead, the grizzled lightweight will be facing off against Jared Gordon (19-6, 1 NC) on about two weeks’ notice. According to MMA Junkie, Klein is out of the matchup due to illness. Gordon has since confirmed this June 3 UFC Apex-located pairing on Instagram.

It will have been a bit over a month removed from Gordon’s last appearance, which ended in the first round when he and Bobby Green clashed heads to force a no contest. Instead of booking the immediate rematch, Green took a fight in July against Tony Ferguson. “Flash” is aiming to get back in the win column after a two-bout winless stretch that includes the Green no c…

[embedded content] The very first color commentator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Jim Brown, has died at the age of 87.

The Associated Press first reported of Brown’s passing on Friday, stating that the football great “passed away peacefully” in his home in Los Angeles on Thursday night, with wife, Monique, at his bedside. While known for a litany of accolades over his storied lifetime, Brown made his appearance as the first color commentary on a UFC broadcast, sitting along with play-by-play caller Bill Wallace and fellow commentator and martial artist Kathy Long at UFC 1 in 1993.

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Brown sat cageside for the first six UFC cards, accounting for the entire early era of Royce Gracie winning UFCs 1, 2 and 4. The football star spoke highly of the combatants, at the time generally specialists in one particular martial art.

“Bill, I’ve been around the toughest fighters in the world: Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson,” Brown stated at UFC 1. “…