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Valentina Shevchenko will make her next flyweight title defense against Alexa Grasso at UFC 285.

ESPN Deportes was first to report the booking. UFC 285 takes place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane.

Shevchenko is currently No. 1 in Sherdog’s female pound-for-pound rankings and has rarely been challenged during her reign atop the flyweight divison. However, “Bullet” is coming off arguably the most difficult test of her career in a split-decision triumph over Taila Santos at UFC 275 this past June. Shevchenko has won nine consecutive fights and has seven successful title defenses to her credit.

Grasso, meanwhile, has won four consecutive fights since moving to 125 pounds from strawweight. In her last outing, the Lobo Gym MMA representative earned a unanimous decision triumph against Viviane Araujo in the UFC Fight Night 212 main event on Oct. 15.

A clash between Chelsea Hackett and Desiree Yanez will top the women’s flyweight lineup for PFL Challenger Series on Feb. 24.

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The promotion announced the pairings for the event on Wednesday. The card will mark the debut of the 125-pound division in the PFL and streams exclusively on Fubo Sports. In the co-main event, muay thai stylist Kaytlin Neil will face Belgian fighter Griet Eeckhout.

Two other bouts will round out the card, as Invicta FC veteran Helen Peralta squares off against Team Oyama product Lisa Mauldin, while four-time UFC competitor Shanna Young faces Contender Series alum Sandra Lavado.

“As we approach the kickoff to the 2023 PFL Challenger Series, we are excited to introduce our new women’s flyweight division as a part of this year’s eight-week competition being held live from Universal Studios Florida,”PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo said in a release.

Australia’s Hackett is coming off a second-ro…

Former interim heavyweight champion Valentin Moldavsky will square off against Linton Vassell in a rematch on the Bellator 292 main card.

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Promotion officials announced the pairing on Wednesday. Moldavsky defeated Vassell via unanimous decision in their first meeting at Bellator 218 in March 2019. Additionally, two preliminary bouts were confirmed for the event: James Gallagher vs. Leandro Higo at bantamweight and Keri Melendez vs. Bruna Ellen at flyweight.

Bellator 292 takes place at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on March 10 and is headlined by a lightweight grand prix quarterfinal matchup pitting Usman Nurmagomedov against Benson Henderson. Another 155-pound quarterfinal between Tofiq Musayev and Alexandr Shabliy is also set for the card. The Bellator 292 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.

Read more about Valentin Moldavsky vs. Linton Vassell, Two Other Bouts Added to Bellator 292 Lineup

A pivotal bantamweight matchup is in the works for UFC Fight Night 221, as Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili are expected to meet on March 11.

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The Las Vegas Review-Journal was first to report the bout. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the pairing. UFC Fight Night 221 takes place at the The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

Yan, a former 135-pound champ, has lost three of his last four promotional appearances. Most recently, “No Mercy” suffered a controversial split-decision loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 280 this past October. Yan’s resume includes triumphs over the likes of Cory Sandhagen, Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson.

Dvalishvili, a training partner of reigning bantamweight champ and two-time Yan opponent Aljamain Sterling, enters the matchup on an eight-fight UFC winning streak. In his lone appearance of 2022, “The Machine” outpointed Aldo at UFC 278.

After three years away from the UFC, Jon Jones isn’t looking too far ahead — but he does have a plan in place for his short-term future.

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Jones will return to the Octagon to face Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight championship at UFC 285 on March 4. After a lengthy reign at 205 pounds, Jones admits that he feels newly motivated competing in a new division.

“I’m excited. I’m grateful. I feel humble. I feel appreciated by the company I work for. I feel like I’m in a really good place,” Jones said in an interview with MMA Underground. “MMA feels fun to me again. Obviously, with being out for three years and in a new division, there’s a lot of questions that cause me to stay up long nights, but it keeps me sharp. It’s something that I feel like I didn’t have at light heavyweight towards the end. Towards the end it just felt like another day at the office. This doesn’t feel like another day at the office. This feels very different. The nerves, the an…

A championship doubleheader is now official for Invicta FC 51.

Taneisha Tennant tipped the scales at 134.4 pounds for her bantamweight title defense against Talita Bernardo (135), while both Kristina Williams (124.3) and Ketlen Souza (123.6) hit their contracted marks without issue in their matchup for the vacant flyweight crown.

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It wasn’t all smooth sailing at Tuesday’s weigh-ins. Serena DeJesus (137.3) missed weight by 1.3 pounds for her bantamweight clash against Olga Rubin (136) and has been fined 25 percent of her purse. Meanwhile, Tanya Niijar (118.1) was 2.1 pounds heavy for a strawweight showdown with Sayury Canon (113.1) and as a result, the bout has been removed from the card.

Invicta FC 51 takes place at Reelworks Denver in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday night and airs on the Invicta FC YouTube channel and AXS TV in the United States beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tennant has been victorious in five of her six professional outings. …

For Francis Ngannou, it was about more than just money.

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During an appearance on "The MMA Hour" on Tuesday, Ngannou broke his silence on why contract negotiations fell apart with the UFC, which led to him relinquishing the heavyweight title and entering free agency. According to “The Predator,” he asked for several stipulations that proved to be a sticking point for the Las Vegas-based promotion. This included the ability to negotiate with outside sponsors, health insurance and having a fighter advocate during negotiations with the UFC.

“What I’ve learned is you don’t go to the table of negotiation expecting to have everything that you want. But at least you want your partner, the other side, to show your willingness or to at least try,” said Ngannou, who also revealed that he was offered in the neighborhood of $8 million to fight Jon Jones at UFC 285.

“I asked for a lot of things, which doesn’t mean I was expecting all those things,” he continu…

UFC flyweight Jeff Molina had his suspension extended on Tuesday for what was categorized as “substantial involvement” in the promotion’s ongoing betting scandal.

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Molina was temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission last month. That term was extended during a commission meeting after Nevada deputy attorney general Joel Bekker revealed that the Glory MMA & Fitness member “was involved in some substantial way in the gaming scheme currently under ongoing investigation related to James Krause.” Molina’s suspension will continue until those investigations have concluded.

No further details regarding Molina’s involvement were revealed during Tuesday’s meeting. However, screenshots recently captured by ESPN showed Molina advocating for Krause’s private Discord server that offered betting tips. Krause was recently revealed to be an agent for an offshore sportsbook who allegedly engaged in “insider trading.” U.S. residents who act …

Karol Rosa will move to 145 pounds for a matchup with Norma Dumont at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on April 22.

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Ag.Fight was first to report the bout. Neither a location nor a headliner have been announced for the card.

Rosa has won five of her six UFC bouts and is ranked No. 10 in Sherdog’s bantamweight poll. After suffering a unanimous decision loss to Sara McMann at UFC on ESPN 33, Rosa rebounded by taking a majority decision over Lina Lansberg at UFC 280 this past October.

Dumont, meanwhile, has been victorious in four of her last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 32-year-old outpointed Danyelle Wolf at UFC 279 this past September. Dumont owns other notable wins against the likes of Aspen Ladd and Felicia Spencer.

A strawweight showdown pitting Michelle Waterson-Gomez against Luana Pinheiro is on tap for UFC 287.

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ESPN first brought word of the bout. UFC 287 takes place on April 8 and is likely to take place in Brooklyn, N.Y. A main event has not been confirmed for the card.

Waterson-Gomez will attempt to snap a two-fight skid when she meets Pinheiro. The former Invicta atomweight champion is coming off a second-round submission loss to Amanda Lemos at UFC on ABC 3 in her lone appearance of 2022. Waterson has lost four of her last five promotional appearances.

Pinheiro, meanwhile, is 2-0 since earning a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. Most recently, the 29-year-old Brazilian outpointed Sam Hughes at UFC Fight Night 198 on Nov. 20.

Flyweight prospect Muhammad Mokaev will welcome Jafel Cavalcante Filho to the Octagon at UFC 286.

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ESPN was first to report the pairing. UFC 286 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on March 18 and is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.

Mokoev has kicked off his promotional tenure with successive triumphs over Cody Durden, Charles Johnson and Malcolm Gordon. His showdown with Filho will mark his fourth Octagon appearance in approximately one year’s time. The 22-year-old known as “The Punisher” is unbeaten in 10 professional appearances.

Filho, meanwhile, will make his first UFC appearance after scoring a third-round TKO of Roybert Echevveria on Dana White’s Contender Series last September. The Nova Uniao product owns a 14-2 career record, with 13 triumphs coming inside the distance.

Jon Jones is no longer the one at odds with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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The former light heavyweight champion recently reworked his contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion, clearing the way for Jones to make his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane in a championship bout at UFC 285. Richard Schaefer, the former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and currently Jones’ advisor, revealed during an appearance on "The MMA Hour" just how lucrative the deal will be. Not only is it the highest in heavyweight history, but now Jones will apparently be one of the highest-paid UFC athletes of all time.

“I think UFC realizes that Jon Jones is the GOAT. He is a generational talent, so they were very much interested and very open to work with us and come to the conclusion of putting together a fair deal, which we did here,” Schaefer said. “That deal we made for Jon makes Jon in the history of the UFC, the highest paid heavyweight athlete. Overall, I think as…

Claudio Silva, a veteran of eight UFC appearances, has retired from MMA at 40 years old.

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The London Shootfighters representative announced his decision in a post on his Instagram account.

“Hello everyone: family, fans, friends and haters!!! I’m write this letter today with the most upmost gratitude and appreciation to you and my coaches and team. I’d like to announce my retirement,” Silva wrote.

“Since I [started competing] in MMA and the UFC, I’ve had nothing but positive memories and special moments that I will never forget. Thank you everyone that helped me achieve my goals as a man, athlete and sportsman. I wish nothing but the best to all my coaches, fans, friends, family members.”

“Hannibal” was released from the UFC shortly after a loss to Nicolas Dalby this past July — his third consecutive defeat within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The Brazilian was victorious in his first five UFC bouts, most notably earning a split-decision…

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An injury suffered in his last bout will delay Paddy Pimblett’s UFC return.

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The lightweight star revealed on his video blog that he will undergo ankle surgery in March to repair an injury suffered in his UFC 282 triumph over Jared Gordon on Dec. 10. Pimblett hurt his right ankle throwing a kick early in the bout.

That procedure likely rules out the possibility of Pimblett competing at UFC 286 in London, which initially seemed to be a natural landing spot for the Englishman’s next Octagon appearance. It is currently unclear how long Pimblett’s recovery will take.

The former Cage Warriors champion has emerged as a star in the UFC after just four bouts. He began his promotional tenure with finishes of Luigi Vendramini, Rodrigo Vargas and Jordan Leavitt before edging Gordon in a controversial unanimous decision triumph at UFC 282. The 28-year-old Liverpool native has compiled a 20-3 record since beginning his professional tenure…

Gunnar Nelson will lock horns with Daniel Rodriguez in a welterweight bout at UFC 286.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Monday. UFC 286 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on March 18 and is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.

Nelson returned to action for the first time in two and a half years at UFC Fight Night 204, where he defeated Takashi Sato via unanimous decision this past March. The 34-year-old Iceland native debuted in the Octagon in 2012 and owns a 9-5 mark in UFC competition overall.

Rodriguez had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, as he suffered a third-round submission loss to Neil Magny at UFC Fight Night 214 on Nov. 5. “D-Rod” has been victorious in seven of nine promotional appearances, with wins over the likes of Kevin Lee, Jingliang Lee, Mike Perry and Tim Means.

After back-to-back losses to close out 2022, Sean Strickland accepted a short-notice fight against Nassourdine Imavov at the UFC’s first event of 2023.

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It wasn’t the most ideal of circumstances for someone badly in need of a victory, but Strickland emerged with a unanimous decision triumph against Imavov in the UFC fight Night 217 headliner on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Since Strickland accepted the fight on less than one week’s notice, the bout was contested at light heavyweight instead of middleweight.

“I got paid flat money just to go fight,” Strickland said at the post-fight press conference. “It was fun. It was nice.”

The former King of the Cage champion emerged as a person of interest at 185 pounds after compiling a six-bout winning streak from October 2018 to February 2022. That momentum slowed, however, when he dropped consecutive fights against Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier. The second of those, a decision defeat to Cannonier in …

If things keep going as they are, Gregory Rodrigues won’t be able to sneak up on the middleweight division for much longer.

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The burly Brazilian who goes by “RoboCop” entered the UFC to relatively little fanfare a year and a half ago, as a former Dana White's Contender Series competitor and Legacy Fighting Alliance contender, but since then he has won four of five fights, with the lone setback coming in a split decision loss to Armen Petrosyan last February.

Rodrigues, who turns 31 next month, had been scheduled to face Brad Tavares at UFC 283 on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, in a bout that would have propelled him well into the middleweight Top 10 with a win. Instead, Tavares was forced to withdraw with an injury, and Rodrigues is now set to square off with the debuting Brunno Ferreira in a bout that offers a very different ratio of risk to reward. Nonetheless, the Kill Cliff FC export trusts to his team and preparation, and expresses satisfaction wi…

For Jessica Andrade, UFC 283 will be a welcome, yet strange homecoming.

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The 31-year-old, who faces Lauren Murphy in a high-stakes flyweight tilt on Saturday at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, will be competing in her native country for the first time since May 11, 2019, when she wrested the Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title from Rose Namajunas at UFC 237. Separated from that glorious night by six fights, nearly four years and a change in weight class, Andrade finds herself at, not merely a career crossroads but a four-way intersection. As “Bate Estaca” prepares to face Murphy, she spoke to Sherdog about her training, her long road back from injury, the nagging desire for a measure of strawweight revenge and the prospect of fighting without her longtime head coach in her corner for the first time in years.

First and foremost, Andrade is clearly pleased to be back fighting in Brazil. “I'm very happy to be able to fight at home,” she …

Before Jon Jones was paired with Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, it was rumored that “Bones” would make his heavyweight debut against Stipe Miocic in late 2022.

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While that bout didn’t come to fruition, Miocic took notice when Jones vs. Gane was announced for the vacant heavyweight crown on Saturday.

“March 4 — I like it,” Moicic wrote on Twitter. “I got winner in July.”

March 4th - I like it.

I got winner in July.

— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) January 15, 2023

A two-time UFC champion regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport, Miocic is nearing two years of inactivity. The Ohio-based firefighter hasn’t competed since March 27, 2021, when he relinquished the heavyweight crown in a second-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260. The 40-year-old Strong Style Fight Team product apparently isn’t ready to hang up his four-ounce gloves just yet — a fact that was confirmed by UFC pres…

The news of the fight may have leaked somewhat prematurely on Saturday, but the booking itself was legit: Ciryl Gane will welcome Jon Jones to the heavyweight division at UFC 285 on March 4.

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“I’m really happy to be the first guy in this division fighting with Jon Jones,” Gane said at the UFC Fight Night 217 post-fight press conference. “And I’m sure it’s going to be – he’s a great athlete.”

UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout while revealing that negotiations fell through with former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for a potential fight with Jones. As a result, Ngannou was stripped of the belt and has been released of his contractual obligations with the promotion, and Gane vs. Jones will be for the vacant heavyweight title.

While Gane doesn’t possess the same fearsome knockout power as Ngannou, the Frenchman is confident that he might be a more difficult matchup for Jones than the ex-champ.

“I know I’ve got good footwork at firs…

A welterweight championship trilogy bout between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman is official for UFC 286.

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UFC president Dana White announced the booking during the UFC Fight Night 217 post-fight press conference on Saturday. UFC 286 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on March 18 and also includes a lightweight tilt between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev.

Edwards claimed welterweight gold in shocking fashion at UFC 278, when he knocked out Usman with a head kick 4:04 into the fifth round of their headlining clash this past August. The Englishman appeared to be on his way to a decision defeat prior to the finish. “Rocky” is unbeaten in his last 11 promotional appearances.

Usman, meanwhile, saw a 19-bout professional winning streak snapped in the defeat to Edwards. He claimed the 170-pound throne with a five-round verdict over Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 and then successful defended the belt five times before the upset loss at UFC 278. Usman pre…

Dan Ige lived up to his “50K” moniker on Saturday night.

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Ige received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his second-round knockout of Damon Jackson in the UFC fight Night 217 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Ige punctuated his victory with a counter left hand that rendered his opponent unconscious at the 4:13 mark of the second frame.

Elsewhere, Roman Kopylov pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check thanks to a technical knockout victory against Punahele Soriano in a featured middleweight affair. Kopylov put his foe on the defensive with a kick to the body before sealing his victory with a barrage of punches 3:19 into Round 2.

Umar Nurmagomedov also garnered a $50,000 bonus thanks to an impressive KO triumph against Raoni Barcelos at bantamweight. The undefeated Dagestani set the stage for the finish with a kick to the body before flooring his adversary with a left hook. A follow-up hammerf…

There’s some chaos atop the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division.

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UFC president Dana White announced on Saturday that Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane will square off for the vacant heavyweight belt in the UFC 285 main event on March 4. He also revealed that Francis Ngannou has been released from his UFC contract and is now a free agent. White said that the promotion and Ngannou were unable to come to terms on a deal following his victory over Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022. Ngannou has been on the mend after undergoing knee surgery after that fight, and he also expressed displeasure with his contract following his last Octagon appearance.

“We’ve been negotiating with (Ngannou) for more than two years,” White said. “We offered Francis a deal that would’ve made him the highest paid heavyweight in the history of the company – more than [Brock] Lesnar, more than anybody, and he turned the deal down.”

Jones has been on the sidellines si…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship's first event of the year saw Sean Strickland getting his hand raised against Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC Fight Night 217 main event.

Both men came out looking to strike, with Strickland (25-5) throwing more kicks than usual, slapping the body and legs of Imavov (12-3) with his shin. The pressure and forward movement of "Tarzan" worked well as the French fighter repeatedly got caught by punches in the first round. The second frame would see Imavov finding more success on the feet, which caused Strickland to switch up his attack by incorporating takedown attempts and clinch work. The American would frustrate his opponent with body kicks in the third round and wind up having a lot of success at the close boxing range he imposed.

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The fourth round saw Strickland continue his onslaught as Imavov struggled to deal with the overall pressure of the attack. Imavov would show urgency in the fifth round but never came close…