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It seems the third time was a charm for Elvin Espinoza.

And just like that, the Professional Fighters League has a new lightweight prospect as the Nicaraguan won for the third time in as many tries in the PFL. After previously winning “showcase” bouts during the 2021 and 2022 PFL Playoffs, Espinoza punched his ticket to the major leagues with an impressive Round 2 submission of Damir Ferhatbegovic at PFL Challenger Series 4. Still unblemished at 8-0, Espinoza took the first frame on all three unofficial Sherdog score cards and then put a stamp on his performance by making Ferhatbegovic (6-3-1), who missed weight Thursday, tap to a tight rear-naked choke at the 1:53 mark.

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship divisional rulers Tyron Woodley and Vitor Belfort were joined by 2014 NBA rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams as celebrity judges for the event. Both the celeb panel and online fan vote handed the contract to Espinoza, who is expected t…

Sherdog's live PFL Challenger Series 4 coverage kicks off Friday at 9 p.m. ET. The action will be broadcast live and free on fuboTV. Round 1 Kicking off the PFL Challenger Series 4 card which features lightweights, Charles Decca (4-2-1) battles Jose Aguayo (5-2). Referee Josh Rutgers will work the first fight of the night. Aguayo has a weird stance from which he throws an overhand right and it knocks Decca down, though it's mostly from him being off-balance. Decca tries to get it back with his own punches, but Aguayo dodges. Decca does score with a leg kick though and Aguayo appears a little hurt. Decca scores another one. They clinch and Aguayo tosses Decca into the cage. They resume in the center of the cage and Decca lands a fancy switch kick to Aguayo's head. He then lands another leg kick and clinches, getting an easy pick-up and slam. Decca is now in the half-guard, throwing the occasional left hand. After a while, he starts scoring with right hands to the body, though…

Media Day. Official Weigh Ins. ✅1⃣More Sleep8⃣ Lightweights fight for a life changing opportunityA PFL Contract ✍️

Fights are 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 & 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 on @fuboSports

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[ #PFLonFubo | Lightweights | Fri, Feb 17th | 9pm] pic.twitter.com/VIA0mm07SP — PFL (@PFLMMA) February 16, 2023 The latest Professional Fighters League Challenger Series show will feature eight fighters in the lightweight division, although only seven made weight.

PFL Challenger Series Week 4 headliner Damir Ferhatbegovic failed to hit the 156-pound limit for his bout against Elvin Espinoza. "The Bosnian Barn Cat" came in at 157.2 pounds, or 1.2 pounds above the cap. The fight will move forward at a 158-pound catchweight, with Ferhatbegovic receiving a fine of a percentage of his purse.

Ferhatbegovic (6-2-1) hasn't been defeated since 2017, coming into this meeting with three wins and a draw since getting submitted by Jonathan Pearce. His last performance …

The card for Professional Fighters League’s first event of 2023 is nearly complete.

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The organization on Thursday announced the full main card — and the vast majority of the prelims — for PFL 1, which takes place on April 1 at the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and features featherweights and light heavyweights. As previously reported, a featherweight showdown between Brendan Loughnane and Marlon Moraes will serve as the evening’s main event, while a light heavyweight clash pitting Rob Wilkinson against Thiago Santos is set for the co-headliner.

Three other bouts will complete the main draw: Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Ryoji Kudo at featherweight; Chris Wade vs. Bubba Jenkins at featherweight and Omari Akhmedov vs. Will Fleury at light heavyweight. The main card will air on ESPN in primetime.

Meanwhile, three preliminary matchups were also confirmed: Marthin Hamlet vs. Mohammad Fakhreddine at light heavyweight; Joshua Silveira vs. Sam Kei at li…

A middleweight duel pitting Caio Borralho against Michal Oleksiejczuk is on tap for UFC Fight Night on April 29.

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Borralho confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. The UFC Fight Night event doesn’t yet have a location or headliner.

After earning a pair of victories on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, Borralho is 3-0 in the UFC. Most recently, the 30-year-old Brazilian outpointed Makhmud Muradov at UFC 280 to run his career mark to 13-1.

Oleksiejczuk, meanwhile, has been victorious in four of his last five promotional outings. The 27-year-old Pole is coming off back-to-back first-round KO/TKO victories against Sam Alvey and Cody Brundage.

Alessio Sakara is the latest MMA veteran to go the bareknuckle boxing route, as the Italian fighter has signed a multi-fight contract with BKFC.

The organization announced the deal on Wednesday. A date and opponent for Sakara’s BKFC debut is currently unknown.

Sakara, 41, hasn’t competed in MMA since earning a 23-second technical knockout victory against Canaan Grigsby at Bellator 230 on Oct. 12, 2019. He was supposed to fight at Bellator Milan in October 2020 but was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. According to MMAjunkie.com, Sakara remains under contract with Bellator but has been granted permission to fight in BKFC.

“Legionarius” has compiled a 21-13 mark in MMA while competing for Bellator and the UFC. He has finished 15 of those triumphs by knockout or technical knockout. Sakara also owns an 8-1 record as a professional boxer but has not competed in the sport since 2009.

A new challenger has arrived! pic.tw…

UFC flyweight Carlos Mota has been suspended for two years by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a failed drug test.

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Mota tested positive for meldonium in relation to an Oct. 29 bout against Cody Durden at UFC Fight Night 213, which he lost via unanimous decision. According to USADA, meldonium is classified as a metabolic modulator and “may increase endurance, improve rehabilitation following exercise, and enhance activations of the central nervous system” in athletic competition.

Mota was fined $2,400 and must also pay $448.25 in legal fees. He will not be eligible to compete until Oct. 29, 2024.

A former Legacy Fighting flyweight champion, Mota accepted the bout against Durden on short notice. He owns an 8-2 career mark that also includes a stint in the Shooto Brazil organization.

Sara McMann will make her promotional debut against Arlene Blencowe in a featherweight bout at Bellator 294.

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The promotion confirmed the pairing on Wednesday. Also announced was a heavyweight showdown pitting Tim Johnson against Said Sowma. Both McMann vs. Blencowe and Johnson vs. Sowma are slated for the evening’s main card, which airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Bellator 294 takes place on April 21 at the Neil S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is headlined by a flyweight title tilt between Liz Carmouche and DeAnna Bennett.

After competing as a bantamweight during a 13-bout UFC tenure, McMann is set to make her 145-pound debut against Blencowe. The Olympic silver medalist last competed at UFC on ESPN 33, where she captured a unanimous decision against Karol Rosa.

Blencowe is a two-time featherweight title challenger under the Bellator banner but has come up short on both occasions against reigning champ Cristiane Justino.…

Marc Goddard will be the third man in the cage when Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane square off for the vacant heavyweight crown in the UFC 285 main event.

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The Nevada State Athletic Commission selected the referees and judges for the two title bouts atop the UFC 285 bill during a meeting on Wednesday. Mike Bell, Sal D’Amato and Ron McCarthy will score Jones vs. Gane from cageside.

Interestingly enough, it will be the first time Goddard has officiated a bout involving Jones, who was last seen defending his light heavyweight belt in a unanimous decision triumph against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020. Goddard was in the cage, however, for Gane’s last Octagon appearance, a third-round KO of Tai Tuivasa at UFC Fight Night 209 this past September.

Meanwhile, Jason Herzog will officiate the flyweight title clash between Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso in the co-main event. Ben Cartlidge, Derek Cleary and Chris Lee will serve as judges for …

[embedded content] Not much has gone according to plan for Philipe Lins since he made his way to the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a Professional Fighters League title in tow on May 13, 2020. In the more than 600 days that have elapsed since, he has competed just three times while watching no fewer than nine scheduled bouts evaporate for various reasons.

“After so many cancellations, I jokingly say that my nickname changed from ‘Monstro’ to ‘Drama Fighter,’” Lins told Sherdog.com. “Some of the cancellations were due to my injuries. On other occasions, my opponents got hurt; and sometimes, there were personal problems. In the end, the most important thing is that I’m back to work.”

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Lins will draw his first assignment of 2023 when he collides with Ovince St. Preux as part of the UFC Fight Night 219 undercard this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. St. Preux has lost six of his past 10 bouts but remains a viable threat at 205 pounds. The 39-…

For the second year in a row, Bellator MMA will hold an April doubleheader in Hawaii.

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The California-based promotion revealed to Hawaiian news outlet KHON2 that Bellator 294 and Bellator 295 will take place at the Neil S. Blasdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 21 and April 22, respectively. Bellator 294 is headlined by a flyweight title bout between Liz Carmouche and DeAnna Bennett, while Bellator 295 features the bantamweight grand prix final pitting Raufeon Stots against Patrick Mix.

Carmouche is 5-0 since leaving the UFC to sign with Bellator. “Girl-Rilla” claimed flyweight gold with a fourth-round stoppage of Velasquez at Bellator 278 and defended the crown with a second-round submission of Velasquez in a rematch at Bellator 289 this past December. She defeated Bennett via third-round submission in her promotional debut at Bellator 246.

Bennett will enter the matchup with Carmouche on a three-bout winning streak that includes deci…

Mateusz Gamrot will replace the injured Dan Hooker and face Jalin Turner at UFC 285.

Multiple outlets confirmed the new lightweight pairing following an initial report from Fansided. Hooker was forced to withdraw from the contest after suffering a broken hand. UFC 285 takes place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane.

Gamrot had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last Octagon appearance, as he fell to Beneil Dariush via unanimous decision at UFC 280 this past October. Prior to that defeat, the former KSW champ had bested Scott Holtzman, Jeremy Stephens, Diego Ferreira and Arman Tsarukyan in succession.

Turner, meanwhile, is currently in the midst of a five-fight finishing streak in UFC competition. In his last outing, “The Tarantula” submitted Brad Riddell in just 45 seconds at UFC 276.

As he prepares to face A.J. McKee in the quarterfinals of the Bellator lightweight grand prix, Patricky Freire says he has learned from his championship loss to Usman Nurmagomedov this past November.

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"Never approach the fight based on what my opponent is going to do and always impose my game,” Freire said. “Going forward, have a better believe in myself and what I do. That's what I’m bringing from the fight against Usman to the fight against McKee.”

Patricky revealed that the bad blood between McKee and his brother was solved when they traveled to Japan to represent Bellator against Rizin.

"Patricio explained to him some misunderstanding they had because of a signature in a cartoon. My brother asked for his signature in a magazine. He did the same with Patricio, and they ended up taking a picture together,” Patricky said. “Our faceoff was cool. As I said at the press conference, trash talk is not my style. No matter what we say…

A matchup of longtime Octagon veterans is on tap for UFC Fight Night on May 13, as Matt Brown is expected to square off against Court McGee in a welterweight tilt.

Brown revealed the pairing on "The Fighter vs. Writer” podcast. The event, which doesn’t have a confirmed location or venue, will be headlined by a light heavyweight clash between Anthony Smith and Johnny Walker.

The 42-year-old Brown competed once in 2022, falling to Bryan Barberena via split decision at UFC on ESPN 33 in March. “The Immortal” has lost three of his last four promotional appearances dating back to 2020. The Ohio native is 23-19 over the course of a professional tenure that began 2005 with notable wins over the likes of Ben Saunders, Diego Sanchez, Tim Means, Mike Pyle, Mike Swick, and Stephen Thompson.

McGee, meanwhile, had a two-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a first-round KO loss to Jeremiah Wells at UFC on ESPN 37 this past June. The 38-year…

According to Andre Pederneiras, the wheels are in motion for a boxing showdown between Jose Aldo and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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During a backstage interview with Sherdog.com at UFC 283, the Nova Uniao coach stated that Aldo was already negotiating for an international fight that would follow his debut against Argentina native Emmanuel Zambrano under the Shooto Brazil Boxing banner on Feb. 10. Pederneiras’ statement led to speculation that Aldo could be close to facing the biggest name in Brazilian boxing, four-time world champion Acelino Popo Freitas, who had been using social media to challenge the former UFC featherweight champion for a long time. Instead, Aldo revealed the suprise opponent to media shortly after he defeated Zambrano via unanimous decision last week.

“Negotiations are progressing for me to fight Mayweather in June or July,” Aldo said.

Shortly after that announcement, Sherdog contacted Pederneiras, who serves as co-manager of Aldo, …

The return of undefeated welterweight Joey Davis highlights several new additions to the Bellator 293 lineup.

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Davis will square off against Jefferson Creighton in a 170-pound preliminary clash, the promotion announced Tuesday. Three other contests were also confirmed for the Bellator 293 prelims: Maria Henderson vs. Mackenzie Stiller at strawweight; Lance Gibson Jr. vs. Vladimir Tokov at lightweight and Sullivan Cauley vs. Luke Trainer at light heavyweight.

Bellator 293 takes place on March 31 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif., and is headlined by a heavyweight duel pitting Marcelo Golm against Daniel James. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on the Bellator MMA YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

A four-time NCAA Division II national champion wrestler, Davis will return to active competition for the first time in more than two year…

Mark your Calendars. @PFLEurope is 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗢 📆

4️⃣Weight Divisions2️⃣Regular Season events1️⃣Playoff Event1️⃣Championship100K Prize on the Line 💰🏆

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It all starts from the UK’s @VertuArena

[ #PFLEurope | Sat, March 25th | Live on @daznmma ] pic.twitter.com/HXlhjWnL7C

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 14, 2023 Professional Fighters League on Tuesday unveiled the full roster of fighters for its inaugural PFL Europe Season.

The lineup spans four weight classes and includes 32 athletes from 14 countries. PFL Europe will include four events, with winners in each division earning $100,000 and a spot on the main PFL roster.

PFL Europe regular season cards are set for Vertu Motors Arena in Newcastle, England, on March 25 and Vetri Music Hall in Berlin, Germany, on July 8. PFL Europe 1 will feature light heavyweights and women’s flyweights, while PFL Europe 2 includes lightweights and bantamweights. The PFL Europe playoffs ta…

Pancrase featherweight champion Isao Kobayashi has signed with Bellator MMA, the promotion announced on Monday.

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A date for Kobayashi’s debut is currently unknown. It will be the 34-year-old Osaka, Japan, native’s second stint with the California-based promotion. He went 0-2 with Bellator from 2015 to 2016, falling to Goiti Yamauchi and Justin Lawrence in back-to-back outings. All Bellator events featuring Kobayashi will be streamed live in Japan via U-Next.

“Even prior to our successful New Year’s Eve event in Japan, we’ve been signing the top available talent in the region and that has led us to this reunion with Isao Kobayashi,” Bellator president Scott Coker said in a release.

“Since his last stint with Bellator, Kobayashi has been tearing through competition culminating in a Pancrase championship win now and we’re looking forward to seeing him back in the Bellator cage.”

Kobayashi will return to Bellator riding the momentum of a six…

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With UFC 284 in the rearview mirror, the countdown has already begun for UFC 285.

The Las Vegas-based organization on Monday released a promo video for the event, highlighting the Octagon return of former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Jones will make his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title in the UFC 285 main event.

“This next chapter will where I show the world how great I can possibly be,” Jones says in the video. I’m coming back to get what’s mine.”

UFC 285 takes place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will also see Valentina Shevchenko defend her flyweight crown against Alexa Grasso in the co-main event. The main card will be available via pay-per-view on ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

FREE FIGHT! Didn't take long, so you get the whole thing!

Amorim must have had somewhere to be. pic.twitter.com/TXuk8we5pk

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 3, 2021

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Undefeated former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Jaqueline Amorim will make her first promotional forway against Sam Hughes at UFC 287.

Multiple outlets confirmed the strawweight pairing following an initial report from MMA Ideas. UFC 287 takes place at Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Fla., on April 8 and is headlined by a middleweight title rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.

Amorim began her professional MMA career in 2020 and has finished all six of her opponents inside of a round. She claimed strawweight gold with a kneebar submission of Lovethapatra Young at LFA 125 before tapping Ashley Nichols with an armbar in a title defense at LFA 142 this past September.

Hughes, meanwhile, is 2-4 in the Las Vegas-based promotion since m…

Thus far during his Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure, Jack Della Maddalena has shown a knack for putting opponents away in short order.

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That continued at UFC 284, where ended Randy Brown’s four-fight winning streak with a submission victory 2:13 into Round 1. All four of the Perth native’s promotional triumphs have ended inside of a round.

I honestly think it’s just my style,” he said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “I’m trying to get finishes, I’m trying to damage my opponent from the get-go. I think I’ve got accurate punches. With the small gloves, if I land accurately, people go down and then I’ve got a good finishing ability I believe.”

While Della Maddalena briefly struggled with his opponent’s reach, he eventually closed the distance and dropped Brown with a perfectly-placed right hook behind the ear. From there, he unloaded with hammerfists until Brown gave up his back, providing the necessary opening to securing the fight-en…

Before he moved on to thinking about a future title unification bout against Alexander Volkanovski, Yair Rodriguez took a moment to encourage Josh Emmett following their bout in the UFC 284 co-headliner.

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Rodriguez was impressive in victory, as he survived being rocked early to author a complete performance that was capped off by a triangle choke submission 4:19 into the second stanza. At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, “El Pantera” shared what he said to Emmett during their Octagon exchange in the immediate aftermath.

“This is a really important moment for us, and when I finished the triangle, I could see in his expression the desperation of like, ‘F—k, I lost,’” Rodriguez said. “It’s like he saw his opportunity go away, but I just wanted to say to him, ‘No.’ I told him, ‘No, No. Hey, no. Stop that thinking that you have right now. You’re a warrior. You will overcome this. You got this.’

“So the only thing I could say to him was, ‘You’r…

Bryce Mitchell will attempt to bounce back from the first loss of his professional career when he meets Jonathan Pearce in a featherweight bout on May 6.

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Mitchell confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report by BRKKZ via Instagram. The event does not have a confirmed location or venue, but it is rumored to be UFC 288.

Mitchell last appeared at UFC 282, where he was submitted in the second round by Ilia Topuria. “Thug Nasty” later revealed that the flu hindered his performance in the Dec. 10 bout. Prior to that setback, Mitchell won his first 15 fights — including six in UFC competition.

Pearce, meanwhile, has won five consecutive bouts since dropping his Octagon debut to Joe Lauzon at UFC on ESPN 6. The Fight Ready product is coming off a 3-0 campaign in 2022 that featured triumphs over Christian Rodriguez, Makwan Amirkhani and Darren Elkins.

Back at it May 6 👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/KyFUo90FI5

—…

Alexander Volkanovski gave Islam Makhachev all he could handle. It wasn’t quite enough.

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Makhachev won a closely-contested unanimous decision over Volkanovski in a champion vs. champion clash at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia, on Saturday night, staking his claim to the sport’s No. 1 pound-for-pound spot in the process. Volkanovski nonetheless raised his stock in defeat, as he held his own against a larger opponent in all aspects of the fight.

In the aftermath of the defeat, Volkanovski acknowledged that there were missed opportunities that could have swung the scorecards in his favor.

“I could’ve done more, so I’m going to be hard on myself. A lot of people probably counted me out, like, ‘Oh, wow.’ But I never counted myself out. I expected to win, so I’m disappointed,” Volkanovski said at the UFC 284 post-fight press conference.

“I know I could’ve done more, could’ve capitalized on things earlier as well. I did think he was going to be stronger…