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Leon Edwards still occupies the throne.

Kicks to the body, head and legs, extraordinary takedown defense and stellar counterstriking carried the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight titleholder to a majority decision over Kamaru Usman in the emotionally charged UFC 286 headliner on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London. Scores were 48-46, 48-46 and 47-47.

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Edwards (21-3, 13-2 UFC) completes his trilogy against “The Nigerian Nightmare” with a 2-1 advantage and now holds sway over the 170-pound weight class.

Usman (20-3, 15-2 UFC) struggled and ultimately failed to pry the champion away from his gameplan. Edwards zeroed in on the body and legs with repeated kicks, staggered the Onx Sports representative with a knee strike off the break in the second round and managed to minimize his rival’s gains in the grappling exchanges. Usman appeared to turn the corner in Round 3, where he also benefitted from a point deduction due to a pair of fe…

Sherdog's live UFC 286 coverage will begin Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Veronica Macedo (125.5) vs. Juliana Miller (125.5) BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Miller (-435), Macedo (+350)Round 1 The UFC will tie its record for the most bouts at a single event at night’s end, unless something unfortunate happens on fight day. An overwhelming 15 matches will play out in front of ravenous British fans, culminating with a home country fighter trying to land his first defense while doing so on home soil. Before then, there is plenty to get through, starting in the women’s divisions. The first of three 125-pound fights between women opens up this card, as “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 30 victor Miller (3-1, 1-0 UFC) welcomes the recently married Hardy (6-4-1, 1-4 UFC) – formerly known as Veronica Macedo – back to the Octagon after over three years off. The ladies will be joined in the cage by referee Lukasz Bosacki to get things going, and they commence the festivities with a …

Jack Shore adapted to his new surroundings just fine.

The Welshman upshifted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division and disposed of Makwan Amirkhani with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their featured UFC 286 prelim on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London. Shore (17-1, 6-1 UFC) drew the curtain 4:27 into Round 1, as he bounced back from his July 16 defeat to Ricky Simon.

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Amirkhani (17-9, 7-7 UFC) dictated terms for much of the first round after securing a takedown and chewing up clock. However, he emerged for the middle stanza visibly diminished by fatigue. Shore rang his bell with a few head kicks, executed a takedown and progressed to half guard before climbing to full mount. He bailed an attempted arm-triangle, wheeled to the back and cinched the choke for the finish. Meanwhile, American Top Team export Chris Duncan made a successful Octagon debut with a split decision over fellow Dana White’s Contender Series gradu…

MORE VIOLENCE 😳 #UFC286 pic.twitter.com/KIonr3sByJ

— UFC (@ufc) March 18, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses on the UFC 286 pay-per-view card.

Gunnar Nelson received an extra $50,000 for the impressive armbar submission he locked in on the main card. "Gunni" was able to submit Bryan Barberena in under a round as he forced "Bam Bam" to tap at the 4:51 mark. Additionally, Jake Hadley received the same monetary bonus for his impressive stoppage of Malcolm Gordon on the prelims.

In no surprise, fight of the night went to Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev. The two lightweights delivered an instant classic with a back-and-forth brawl that eventually was claimed by Gaethje as the former UFC lightweight interim champion came on late with damaging punches that closed the eye of Fiziev. Both fan-favorite fighters have become regulars at winning performance bonuses.

UFC 286 Bonuses: Jake Hadley - $…

Heavyweight Denzel Freeman is the latest fighter to earn a Professional Fighters League contract despite being quite low on the final card for the 2023 PFL Challenger Series.

WELCOME TO THE PFL DENZEL FREEMAN!#PFLonFubo pic.twitter.com/5QRQzxHNI4

— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 18, 2023 St. Louis Controls Laia The Week 8 main event saw Kendly St. Louis take on Paulo Henrique Laia in what was supposed to be a lightweight fight but St. Louis (9-4) missed weight. It was St. Louis that found an early advantage as his wrestling allowed him to control Laia (14-7) on the ground. This laid the framework that would be followed for the rest of the fight as the second and third rounds saw St. Louis firmly in control while never coming super close to a finish.

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As expected, St. Louis took a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27 across the board. Martins Stifles Cataline The lone women's bout on the card saw Jackie Cataline take on fellow fe…

Sherdog's live PFL Challenger Series 8 coverage kicks off Friday at 9 p.m. ET. The action will be broadcast live and free on fuboTV. Round 1 Kicking off this unique card, we begin with welterweights as Sadeck Sanon (3-1) of Burkina Faso battles Ali Omar (4-2). Referee Larry Folsom will preside over this one. Omar begins the action with a body kick and Sanon immediately retaliates with a leg kick of his own. Sanon is bouncing very well on his feet. Omar partially lands another body kick but this time Sanon lands a very hard leg kick in response. Omar with another body kick and this time Sanon closes the distance and clinches. Sanon is getting good positions but Omar just barely manages to stay upright. Omar has a whizzer but it's not the best, though he manages to defend and eventually pushes off. Sanon lands a nice leg kick at range. Omar fires a few punches but Sanon blocks well. Omar does slip a little uppercut, though he doesn't follow up on it. Omar throws a head kick an…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to London and brings with it a highly anticipated championship rubber match between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.

Edwards and Usman both made championship weight by weighing 170 pounds on the dot ahead of UFC 286. The only miss on the 15-fight card was by Malcolm Gordon, who came in 3.5 pounds over the flyweight limit. As a result, Gordon has been fined 30% of his purse and his fight against Jake Hadley will move forward. In a surprise to both headliners, former title challenger Colby Covington hit the scales during the proceedings to serve as the alternate, checking in at 170 pounds even.

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In the pair's second fight, Usman (20-2) was seemingly in control until a shocking head kick sent "The Nigerian Nightmare" into dreamland. Now champion, Edwards (20-3, 1 NC) is getting to have their trilogy battle on home soil. The shocking title win capped off an incredible stretch for "Rocky" that has…

Robert Ruchala now has some meaningful hardware with which to validate his pristine resume.

The unbeaten Polish prospect walked away with the interim Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki featherweight championship, as he stopped Lom-Ali Eskiev with a burst of elbows in the fifth round of their KSW 80 headliner on Saturday at RSC Hall in Lubin, Poland. Eskiev (20-7, 1-3 KSW) succumbed to blows 4:30 into Round 5.

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Ruchala (8-0, 5-0 KSW) overcame a rough start—Eskiev dropped him with an overhand right, then gave chase with follow-up punches in the first round—and settled into a comfortable cruising speed. He spent much of his time building a lead behind a stiff jab and kicks to the body and legs. Ruchala saved his best efforts for the fifth round. There, he took down Eskiev roughly 90 seconds into the period, moved to the back and hunted a rear-naked choke before turning to his ground-and-pound. Ruchala forced his opponent into a defensive shell, cut off avenues for …

Jordan Vucenic is BACK! It was only fitting he would cap off #CW150 with a RNC 💪🙌 Back in the win column with an impressive performance. pic.twitter.com/mcKEiCRO13

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 17, 2023 Former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship featherweight kingpin Jordan Vucenic successfully bounced back after suffering his first promotional defeat.

The CW 150 headliner featured a featherweight affair between Vucenic (10-2, 6-1 CW) and Tiziano Ferranti. Ferranti (6-1, 0-1 CW) started strong and clipped his opponent a few times before Vucenic successfully grounded his opponent. Vucenic had no problem keeping Ferranti on the mat for much of the round after taking some early damage. “The Epidemic” landed a double-leg takedown almost immediately in Round 2, reaffirming that the Italian was outmatched on the canvas. Slowly but surely, Vucenic improved his position until capturing his opponent’s back. Sensing the end was close, Vucenic s…

🚨New Trailer🚨

It is The Underdog Story of Sloppy Balboa 👊 facing The Greatest Siamese Twin Fighter of All Time.

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🎪 Fight Circus Vol.6: The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa

🗓️ March 31st📍 Illuzion Phuket🎫 Tickets on SALE SOON!!! pic.twitter.com/atAJlvS1fj

— FMD ☣️ (@FullMetalDojo) March 16, 2023 Their whole lives have been million-to-one shots…now, “Sloppy Balboa” is about to show the world that they’re one-in-a-million. Courtesy of Full Metal Dojo head Jon Nutt on Thursday, the preliminary bout listing for Fight Circus 6: “The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa” on April 1 has been made public. The Thailand-based league will be running its sixth iteration of the “Fight Circus” series on March 31 in Thailand, airing the first of April in the United States, at the Illuzion Nightclub in Phuket. Capping off the evening’s festivities will be a two-on-two “Siamese boxing” match pitting Bob Sapp and Quinton Jackson against Nutt …

SBG Ireland’s Walter Cogliandro was coming off a two-fight skid and needed to overcome an Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran in Mark Striegl to return to the win column. Striegl, who has a win over former UAE Warriors featherweight king Do Gyeom Lee, last saw action at UFC Fight Night 201 in a losing bid to Chas Skelly.

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Striegl’s stifling grappling was on display in Round 1, taking down the Italian less than 20 seconds into the fight. But likewise present was Cogliandro’s resilience, even ending the stanza with elbows off his back to open up the Filipino as the bell sounded.

In the second period, a game Cogliandro answered the bell with heightened activity on the feet, utilizing his dirty boxing with a few elbows and knees from the inside. Even when Striegl was able to hold him against the cage, Cogliandro was still throwing punches.

Striegl was able to take him down for some time in the final stage, but as soon as Cogliandro stood u…

👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/zho13QHXeT

— Jeff Molina (@jmolina_125) March 17, 2023 Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Jeff Molina is the victim of extremely unfortunate circumstances.

On Thursday, an intimate video leaked involving Molina. As rumor spread, on Friday morning, Molina released a statement on Twitter where he came out as bisexual, while expressing his disappointment that he was forced out against his will. While there are openly gay and LGBTQ women on the UFC roster, Molina is the first male UFC fighter to publicly come out. Molina (11-2) was a top-15 flyweight with the promotion, who is currently under suspension for his involvement with the James Krause betting scandal.

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Molina’s statement reads as follows:

“Welp.. this f---ing sucks

“TLDR: im bi

“Not the way I wanted to do this but the chance to do it when I was ready was taken from me. I’ve tried to keep my dating life private from social media. I’…

Top 15 Incoming 💣 👊🏻🩸 #UFC288 #Frevola #Dober #DirtyJersey #MyTime #Top15 #Steamrolla #TeamSteam #GigaChad #Gfuel pic.twitter.com/WmhI4zCTDu

— Matt “The Steamrolla”Frevola (@SteamRollaa) March 16, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship has put together an absolute banger at 155 pounds for May.

On Thursday, Matt Frevola (10-3-1) broke the news on Twitter that he will be fighting Drew Dober (26-11, 1 NC) at UFC 288. The two lightweights will toe the line at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 6. Dober confirmed their pairing shortly after Frevola’s announcement, doing so on his Instagram.

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The two 155ers combine with momentum at their respective backs, with five straight knockouts between them. Dober has rattled off three straight, with a triumphant 2022 campaign that began with a wild collision with Terrance McKinney, led to a battle against Rafael Alves and concluded with a thrashing of Bobby Gr…

[embedded content] The coach of recent Bellator MMA victor Alexandr Shabliy broke down the controversial kick that earned his fighter the win.

At Bellator 292, Shabliy scored a front kick to the lower midsection, and his foot slid down to strike the cup of Tofiq Musayev in one fluid motion. Referee Jason Herzog intervened and determined that the incidental contact with the groin was not significant enough to merit a foul call, and Shabliy earned the win by technical knockout. As it turned out, the specific kick the Russian threw was a technique heavily practiced at American Top Team, as ATT striking coach Katel Kubis informed Sherdog of this in an interview on Thursday.

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“It’s a very technical kick that requires timing and precision, and is normally applied between two punches,” Kubis explained. “You can see Tofiq was throwing an overhand, and when Tofiq turned his body, he opened the space Shabliy needed to apply that frontal kick to the abdomen, on…

The final week of this year's Professional Fighters League Challenger Series will feature eight fighters being given a second chance at gaining a contract.

Nearly all of the PFL Challenger Series Week 7 fighters made weight for the four-fight card. The lone miss was Kendly St. Louis, who came in at 156.8 pounds for his lightweight headliner against Paulo Henrique Laia. The rest of the card stayed contract eligible by making weight.

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St. Louis (8-4) is coming off a rear-naked choke win over Nick Alley in the first week of the 2023 Challenger Series. The win extended the current win streak for "The Highlander" to five. Meanwhile, Laia (14-6) lost a split decision to Manoel Sousa and will get a chance to put on a more impressive performance.

PFL Challenger Series Week 8: 2nd Chance Fights will air live on FuboTV on Friday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

PFL Challenger Series Week 8 Weigh-in Results:Kendly St. Louis (156.8)* vs. Paulo Henrique Laia (156)Ja…

Leading Polish mixed martial arts organization Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's third card of 2023 will feature an interim featherweight title fight.

The KSW 80</> main event will see featherweights Lom-Ali Eskiev and Robert Ruchala battle for the interim title as two-weight champion Salahdine Parnasse focuses on his upcoming lightweight title unification bout. Both men easily made weight as they both came in at 145 pounds on the dot. All other fighters on the card also made weight.

Eskiev (20-6, 1 NC) is actually coming off a split-decision loss to Daniel Rutkowski in his last outing but had previously won five straight fights. Ruchala is a perfect 8-0 as a professional and is 5-0 within the promotion. The Polish prospect is coming off a split-decision win over Damian Stasiak and will look to claim his first title.

KSW you 80 will stream live on the promotion's website starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on Friday.

KSW 80 Weigh-in Results:Lom-Ali Eskiev (145) …

If Conor McGregor is to be believed, the originally proposed coaching matchup for “The Ultimate Fighter 31” would have renewed one of the UFC’s great rivalries.

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During an appearance on "The MMA Hour" on Wednesday, McGregor revealed that he was initally expected to coach opposite Nate Diaz on the long-running reality show. That never came to fruition, though, and McGregor instead matched wits with Michael Chandler on “TUF 31.” A date for McGregor vs. Chandler has not been set.

“‘The Ultimate Fighter’ just kind of presented itself. It was originally for me to be against Nate. It was me vs. Nate,” McGregor said. “I did not mind who it was against, to be honest. Nor do I mind who I compete against, that’s widely known.

“I had agreed to it, it was Nate. It was a day or two before and now it’s Chandler. I’m not sure what went down on that end. It was me vs. Chandler and I have no problem with it, I’m happy with it. It’s gonna be a good bout for sure.…

Kamaru Usman had won 19 straight professional fights before Leon Edwards shocked the world with a head kick knockout late in the fifth round of their title clash at UFC 278 this past August.

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For that, Usman doesn’t hesitate to give Edwards his props.

“It’s a beautiful kick … I”m a fan of it,” Usman said during a recent media day appearance.

However, while others — Edwards included — have speculated that Usman might not be the same after suffering his first KO defeat, the man himself points out that he has lost plenty of times in his athletic career. That has him uniquely prepared to rebound in his trilogy bout with Edwards at UFC 286 on Saturday.

“Leon hasn’t wrestled in over 300 wrestling matches like I have,” Usman said. “He hasn’t competed as many times as I have. When you get pinned, I’ve been in the situation where I lost the first wrestling match of the day and now you’re in the consolation bracket and it’s a dogfight to get back up on …

While Kamaru Usman may have been moments away from retaining the welterweight title against Leon Edwards at UFC 278, those waning moments of their August bout turned out to be quite significant indeed.

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Edwards authored one of the biggest upsets of 2022 when he knocked Usman out with a head kick 4:04 into the fifth round of their headlining bout in Salt Lake City, Utah, saving himself from a decision defeat in the process. Since then, Usman has been somewhat dismissive of Edwards while pointing to the fact that he was well ahead on the scorecards prior to the finish.

Edwards understands the logic, but it still doesn’t take away the end result.

“I think when you get knocked out like that, he has to find something to clutch on to,” Edwards said during a media day ahead of UFC 286. “He needs to build the confidence back up because going into it, he thought he could never be taken down, he could never be hurt or knocked out.

“He was winning the fi…

One on Prime Video 8 will have a new main event after the heavyweight title unfication bout between Arjan Singh Bhullar and Anatoliy Malykhin was pulled from the card.

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The Singapore-based promotion announced the news on Wednesday, citing a “shift in broadcaster commitments” as the reason for the cancellation. Bhullar vs. Malykin is expected to be rescheduled for a future One event. As a result, a flyweight kickboxing title bout pitting Superlek Kiatmoo9 against Rodtang Jitmuangnon will serve as the new One on Prime Video 8 headliner.

One on Prime Video 8 takes place on March 24 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The main card airs on Prime Video in the United States at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. ET, while prelims begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

A four-time UFC veteran, Bhullar claimed the undisputed heavyweight crown with a second-round technical knockout victory against Brandon Vera at One Championship “Dangal” in April 2021. Bhullar has…

A former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger has joined Professional Fighters League in an executive capacity.

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The organization announced Wednesday that Dan Hardy will serve as director of fighter operations for PFL Europe, the new league that will launch on March 25. Hardy’s role will include identifying talent in the region and ensuring the well being and development of fighters. He will also working alongside global PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo on matchmaking decisions.

“I’m excited to be taking on the role of director of fighter operations for PFL Europe. This will allow me to bring together the best MMA prospects from around the region, and give each of them an opportunity to establish themselves as world class talent,” Hardy said in a release. “PFL Europe will bring stability to the opportunities available to European MMA athletes, and I’m honoured to be able to play a role in that process.”

A native of Not…

A women’s flyweight bout between Miranda Maverick and Jasmine Jasudavicius is in the works for UFC 289.

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Maverick announced the bout on Instagram, and MMAFighting.com later confirmed that the booking is expected to be finalized shortly. UFC 289 takes place on June 10 but doesn’t have a location or headliner at this tie.

Maverick went 2-0 in 2022. After submitting Sabina Mazo in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 203 encounter, the Easton Training Center product outpointed Shanna Young at UFC Fight Night 214. Maverick is 4-2 during her tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion and 11-4 as a professional overall.

Jasudavicius has won two of three Octagon appearances since appearing on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021. Most recently, the Ontario, Canada, native earned a unanimous decision against Gabriella Fernandes at UFC Fight Night 220 on Feb. 25.

A bantamweight clash between Danny Sabatello and Marcos Breno and a welterweight scrap pitting Levan Chokheli against Michael Lombardo will complete the Bellator 294 main card.

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The promotion announced the two new bouts on Tueday. Bellator 294 takes place at the Neil S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 21 and is headlined by a flyweight championship clash between Liz Carmouche and DeAnna Bennett. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Five bouts were confirmed for the Bellator 294 preliminary draw: Alex Polizzi vs. Karl Moore at light heavyweight; Killys Mota vs. Kenneth Cross at lightweight; Tyrell Fortune vs. Sergei Bilostennyi at heavyweight; Cris Lencioni vs. Blake Smith at featherweight and Anthony Adams vs. Sharaf Davlatmurodov at middleweight.

Sabatello had a seven-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he dropped a split decision to Raufeon Stots in the semifinals of the promotion’s bantamwe…

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Former Jungle Fight welterweight champion Quemuel Ottoni will finally make his debut on U.S. soil when he faces Jackson-Wink MMA product Chris Brown at the PFL Challenger Series “Second Chance” event on Friday.

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“I should have made my debut in January, but unfortunately I had a spinal sprain so I postponed it to March,” Ottoni told Sherdog.com.

Ottoni is happy to make his PFL debut against a fellow striker.

“Brown likes to brawl just like myself and that will be good for the fans,” he said. “I hope to impose my game and get a contract signed. I’ve waited a long time to have my chance to fight in the U.S., where everything happens, and I'll not waste that.”

Ottoni is perhaps best known for a third-round submission victory over current UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira at Jungle Fight 82 in 2015. Since that rear-naked choke win, Ottoni and Pereira have followed totally different career paths. While “Poatan” initially…