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Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 215 coverage will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Silva (-165), Bleda (+140)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Hiestand (-165), Garcia (+140)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores …

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 215 coverage will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Silva (-165), Bleda (+140)Round 1 A week removed from a dynamite pay-per-view offering of UFC 281, the UFC takes refuge back in its headquarters of the Apex for a dozen-fight show. While 281 saw a litany of ranked competitors, and around six or seven bouts that could headline any given Fight Night, this UFC Fight Night 215 is far less stacked and only sees two top-10 competitors and four in the top 15 of their respective divisions – and those are contained in just two fights. Many of these athletes competing today actually lost on their appearance of Dana White’s Contender Series, only to later make it to the roster anyway. We begin in the women’s flyweight division, when Brazil’s Silva (13-5-1, 1-0 UFC) meets unbeaten Czech DWCS pickup Bled…

Jennifer Maia still wants a say-so in the future direction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight division.

The former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder outboxed and outfoxed American Top Team’s Maryna Moroz to a unanimous decision in the featured UFC Fight Night 215 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges sided with Maia (20-9-1, 5-5 UFC): 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

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Maia managed distance beautifully for much of the bout, stringing together efficient punching combinations that were often punctuated by thudding right hands. She sprinkled in kicks here and there—some to the body, some to the head and some to the legs—and reduced Moroz (11-4, 6-4 UFC) to single strikes through superior timing and movement. The Ukrainian rallied in the third round, where she stepped into a right hand, knocked Maia off-balance and started to connect with more than one punch at a time. Alas, her efforts fell sho…

An update to the #UFCVegas65 card. pic.twitter.com/LszdeJT0ym

— UFC (@ufc) November 19, 2022

UFC Fight Night 215 has lost its headliner just a few hours before Derrick Lewis and Sergey Spivak were slated to square off in the Octagon.

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The news was announced during Saturday’s broadcast, with a non-COVID, non-weight cut related illness for Lewis cited as the reason for the cancelation. A three-round light heavyweight clash pitting Kennedy Nzechukwu against Ion Cutelaba was elevated to the UFC Fight Night 215 main event as a result. It is unclear if Lewis vs. Spivak will be rebooked at a later date.

A two-time heavyweight title challenger, Lewis has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Black Beast” suffered a 55-second TKO defeat at the hands of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 277 on July 30.

Spivak has quietly won five of six in UFC competition since July 2020. “The Polar Bear” is 2-0 in 2022…

What five rounds of fighting Petchtanong does to you 🤕#ONE163🇺🇸🇨🇦🇹🇭🇬🇧🇸🇦🇧🇷🇲🇲  Live on ONE YouTube🌍 Live on https://t.co/eBUfsODAFL pic.twitter.com/bZYq7TEnkI

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 19, 2022

The latest One Championship installment was headlined by two highly-technical kickboxing affairs.

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In the One Championship 163 main event, Petchtanong Petchfergus upset Japanese kickboxing talent Hiroki Akimoto to capture the 145-pound championship. Petchtanong’s most lethal weapon was his swift body kicks that left a visible mark on Akimoto’s ribcage. In the opening frames, the Thai fighter kept his foe at bay with front kicks and jabs. Every time Akimoto looked to shorten the distance, he was met by a knee to the body followed by head punches. Akimoto tapped into his energy reserve in the championship rounds and occasionally took the initiative, but he struggled to deal with his foe’s unorthodox stance. Fr…

DOUBLE CHAMP 👑👑 Lightweight king @ChristianLeeMMA 🇺🇸🇸🇬 TKOs Kiamrian Abbasov to win the ONE Welterweight World Title!#ONEonPrimeVideo4 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/vnlzbu9mlq

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 19, 2022

ONE on Prime Video 4 was a consistently exciting evening of martial arts fury.

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In the main event, One Championship welterweight kingpin Christian Lee (17-4, 17-4 ONE) attempted to become a champ-champ by challenging middleweight ace Kiamrian Abbasov (23-5, 4-3 ONE), which he did after nearly being slept in Round 1, only to score a thrilling technical knockout stoppage of his own late in Round 4.

Since Abbasov missed weight, only Lee could win the title, with it becoming vacant otherwise. The action in the opening frame was electric. Abbasov scored again and again with heavy left and right hooks to the head, with Lee grappling and looking for takedowns. Halfway through, Abbas…

Sherdog's live ONE on Prime Video 4 “Abbasov vs. Lee” coverage kicks off Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result

Congrats to the champ @VadimNemkov 👏@BellatorMMA #Bellator288 pic.twitter.com/AfsDnhF1FB

— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) November 19, 2022 Bellator MMA now has not one but two Russians holding iron grips on its divisions.

Bellator 288 came to a head with the second attempt of the finals of Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament. A rematch seven months in the making, and the conclusion of a tourney that began on April 9, 2021, ended with a 205-pound scrap between Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson. Although much of their first fight took place on the ground, this battle carried on for 25 minutes exclusively on the feet. Russia’s Nemkov never slowed or wavered, and he claimed a hard-fought unanimous decision win with one score of 48-47 and two of 49-46.

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The eight-man bracket commenced in 2021 with Ryan Bader, Lyoto Machida, Anderson, Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov, champ Nemkov, Phil Davis, the late Anthony Johnson and Jose Aug…

Sherdog's live Bellator 288 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Final:Vadim Nemkov (203.8) vs. Corey Anderson (204.2) Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result

2️⃣6️⃣3️⃣ pounds for @TheBeast_UFC ⚖️

[ #UFCVegas65 | TOMORROW | Prelims 1pm ET | Main Card 4pm ET | LIVE on ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/2dgvt0AMbM

— UFC (@ufc) November 18, 2022 Derrick Lewis will be the heavier fighter in the UFC Fight Night 215 main event.

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"The Black Beast" officially weighed 263 pounds for his five-round encounter against Sergey Spivak. "The Polar Bear" weighed in at 254 pounds, putting him at a nine-pound deficit to Lewis. All other fighters on the UFC Fight Night 215 billing also made weight for what was a drama-free weigh-in ceremony.

Lewis (26-10, 1 NC) is currently on a two-fight skid, having been knocked out by Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich this year. He'll look to turn the tides against Spivak (15-3), who is looking to recement himself as a contender after taking out Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai in recent bouts. It's a pivotal fight for the 27-year-old, who has won five of his last six ins…

pic.twitter.com/MmvPp9uD6M

— Full Metal Dojo (@FullMetalDojo) November 18, 2022 The circus will be in town the week before Christmas, and it will bring with it several presents of violence and comedy.

The Thailand-based fight league Full Metal Dojo will be staging its fifth “Fight Circus” event on Dec. 17 at the Illuzion Nightclub in Phuket. Per the league’s press release, FMD will be putting on the “12 Fights of Christmas,” although not every “fight” may be a combat sports bout. The event follows its recent “Fight Circus Vol. 4” card in November, where the organization suffered a lengthy delay at the beginning of the broadcast when the truck carrying its ring flipped over and the company had to build a new one on fight night. It is unclear at this time if “Fight Circus 5: Hanukkah Gone Wrongukkah, an Homage to Scrooged” will air on Fite.tv or another platform.

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“Will be a Christmas Fight Show like none other,” the relea…

The legendary Fedor Emelianenko is getting a chance to go out on top.

On Friday, CBS Sports broke the news that Emelianenko (40-6, 1 NC) would be taking his final fight on Feb. 4. Atop Bellator 290, he will square off against former foe Ryan Bader (30-7, 1 NC) for the latter’s heavyweight title. The fight card will be held at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and it will air on the CBS network. This event will be the first MMA fight card on CBS since Strikeforce: Nashville in 2010, which concluded with a massive post-fight brawl and the prompted the cancelation of Strikeforce's television contract.

Former two-division champ Bader has not tasted defeat as a heavyweight, as he moved up to the division in 2018 and rattled off three wins in under a year over Muhammad Lawal, Matt Mitrione and the aforementioned Emelianenko to claim the strap. While his first defense against Cheick Kongo ended by no contest due to an eye poke, a contentious title unification match against Va…

[embedded content] The Bellator 288 fight card is down to 13 bouts, but every competitor that stepped on the scales did successfully make weight.

Atop Bellator 288 sits two championship tilts, with the marquee matchup for the Bellator MMA light heavyweight strap. Defending champ Vadim Nemkov will run it back with Corey Anderson, and both champion and challenger made weight without issue. The co-headliner will see Patricky Freire (154) and Usman Nurmagomedov (154.8) come to blows with lightweight gold on the line, and the two combatants in that affair also hit their proper marks. While there were no official weight misses, a few late scratches and a no-show at the ceremony cut the lineup down to a baker's dozen.

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The main event will see Nemkov (14-2, 1 NC) will look to settle the score with Anderson (16-5, 1 NC) after their last bout ended as a no contest due to an accidental clash of heads. "Overtime" had mostly been in control during the fight, so An…

A place in the top five of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division almost certainly hinges on this bout’s outcome.

Per MMA Junkie on Wednesday evening, Kai Kara France (24-10, 1 NC) will battle it out with Alex Perez (24-7) in a pivotal 125-pound tilt on Feb. 11. The two flyweights will compete in Perth, Australia, at UFC 284, and it is unclear if this contest will serve on the main card or if it will bolster the prelims. The bout has since been confirmed on Thursday by Perez’ management team of the Iridium Sports Agency.

Kara France last competed in July, where he succumbed to strikes from Brandon Moreno in their interim title fight. Before then, the Aussie had rattled off three wins over Rogerio Bontorin, Cody Garbrandt and Askar Askarov – knocking out the first two in the opening round. Since joining the roster in 2018, the only men to beat Kara France are named Brandon: Moreno, and Brandon Royval. The five post-fight bonuses picked up by “Don’t Bl…

Your tournament winner #AndNew Invicta FC Strawweight Champion @TinablackM! #InvictaFC50 pic.twitter.com/aTDYRZpqao

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) November 17, 2022

Valesca Machado stuck to the game plan, and it paid off in the form of some championship hardware.

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Machado (12-3, 1 NC , 3-0 Invicta) completed her run through the one-night strawweight tournament with a unanimous decision triumph over Karolina Wojcik in the Invicta FC 50 headliner at Reelworks Denver, in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday night. All three judges scored the contest for Machado: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. With the victory, the 26-year-old Brazilian claims the promotion’s vacant 115-pound belt.

After fighting three rounds earlier in the evening, Machado adopted a measured approach in the tournament final. She controlled the distance, utilized intelligent movement and landed nearly all the strikes of consequence, countering effectively when her opponent mo…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Several bouts have been added to the Rizin 40 card scheduled for New Year’s Eve, including UFC veteran Rogerio Bontorin vs. Yuki Motoya.

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Three other contests were also recently confirmed for the card: Seika Izawa vs. Si Woo Park in a non-title affair at super atomweight; Tsuyoshi Kamiyama vs. Junior Tafa at heavyweight and Naoki Inoue vs. Kenta Takizawa at bantamweight.

Rizin 40 takes place on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and will feature five Bellator vs. Rizin matchups on the evening’s main card. The headliner will see former Bellator featherweight king A.J. McKee face Rizin lightweight champion Roberto de Souza in a 155-pound clash.

Bontorin enters his Rizin debut on a four-bout winless streak in UFC competition. The Gile Ribeiro Team representative last appeared at UFC on ESPN 32, where he dropped a split decision to Brandon Royval. The Dana Whi…

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was arrested and detained for possession of brass knuckles on Wednesday afternoon at JFK Airport in New York.

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According to an initial report from TMZ Sports, Adesanya was arrested by the Port Authority Police Department after going through security with the weapons near the TSA screening area at approximately 1:57 p.m. local time. While brass knuckles are a class A misdemeanor in New York and can be punished with up to a year in prison plus fines, it appears that the situation was a misunderstanding. Adesanya’s manager, Tim Simpson, released a statement regarding the situation.

“Israel was handed a gift by a fan, which he put in his luggage. When flagged at the airport, Israel quickly disposed of the item, and cooperated with authorities,” Simpson said in the statement. “He has complied accordingly, with that the matter was dismissed and he is on his way home.”

Adesanya relinquished his middle…

Ilir Latifi could serve as the poster child for fighters who fail to disclose injuries or illness prior to their fights.

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Latifi was suspended three months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Wednesday for failing to disclose that he had a staph infection ahead of a UFC Fight Night 211 bout against Alexey Oleynik on Oct. 1. Latifi revealed the illness in a post-fight interview following a unanimous decision triumph over Oleynik.

“Even this week, my leg is swollen. I didn’t even tell my coaches, but I got a staph infection two days ago," Latifi said in the cage. "As you can see, my leg is all swollen. It’s an amazing sport, but the margins are so small. You put in so much work, and this thing happens the last day. Today, actually when I woke up, my leg was swollen. I was like, ‘I can’t cancel again.’ So I had to fight like this with a fever and a staph infection. That’s part of being a fighter.”

The NSAC stated that the ruling will set a…

🔥 LIVE IN U.S. PRIMETIME 🔥 A World Champion vs. World Champion DOUBLEHEADER goes down at ONE on Prime Video 4!⁰#ONEonPrimeVideo4 | Fri Nov 18 at 8PM ET🇺🇸🇨🇦 Live on @PrimeVideo 👉 https://t.co/XUu9wwDEZb🌍 Live on https://t.co/eBUfsOlZOd pic.twitter.com/Cga3c5s4Xl

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 2, 2022

The first year of One Championship’s partnership with Prime Video will conclude with cards in November and December.

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The Singapore-based promotion confirmed the full lineups for One on Prime Video 4 on Nov. 18 and One on Prime Video 5 on Dec. 2 in a release on Wednesday. The main card for both events will air on Prime Video beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while the lead cards start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

One on Prime Video 4 features a pair of championship fights. In the main event, lightweight (170-pound) champion Christian Lee will challenge Kimrian Abbasov for his welterweight (185-pound) belt, while…

Veteran referee Marc Goddard will be the third man in the cage when Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira have their light heavyweight championship rematch in the main event at UFC 282.

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The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced the referee and judge selections for the fight during a meeting on Wednesday. Goddard, who will earn $2,500 for the bout, was also the referee for the first meeting between Prochazka and Teixeira at UFC 275 in Singapore on June 12.

Mike Bell, Sal D’Amato and Derek Cleary will serve as cageside judges for the title clash. They will earn $2,000 apiece for their work.

When Prochazka and Teixeira initially squared off at UFC 275, Prochazka claimed the 205-pound belt with a rear-naked choke at the 4:32 mark of Round 5. Had Teixeira survived until the final horn, he likely would have won a unanimous decision. UFC 282 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 10, and a potential light heavyweight title eliminat…

SAHARA Las Vegas to host the 14th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards on December 8 https://t.co/himFltuQZM pic.twitter.com/41L1dHqlWj

— Fighters Only (@FightersOnly) November 16, 2022

The World MMA Awards will return to an in-person ceremony for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic this December.

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Rob Hewitt, CEO of Fighters Only, announced that the 14th iteration of the event will take place on Dec. 8 at the SAHARA Las Vegas to celebrate the achievements from the best of the MMA industry.

“The past number of years have been challenging for not only us but the entire events industry. However, despite the difficulties and obstacles, we never stopped staging the World MMA Awards and each year we have regained important elements to bring back fully, what makes our awards show special,” Hewitt said in a release. “With that in mind, I am really excited for this year’s event to back to a big stage at a ve…

Until recently, the Professional Fighters League has been little more than the Kayla Harrison show at 155 pounds when it comes to women’s MMA.

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That’s going to change for the next season, as the promotion plans to unveil a 145-pound weight class in 2023. The first female featherweight bout will take place on the main card of the PFL Championship event on Nov. 25, with Aspen Ladd squaring off against Julia Budd. Ladd, who recently signed with the organization after a seven-bout stint in the UFC, is thrilled that the PFL has elected to build an oft-overlooked division.

“I’m extremely excited that they decided to do that,” Ladd said. “As I said, going into this it’s like, ‘Oh they have a 155 – which is you walk in at whatever you’re walking around that basically.’ But for them to actually have a 145 division, and the fact that they actually want to put effort in, and they want to flush it out, that is exciting.”

Ladd began her UFC tenure as a promi…

John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade are going to run it back at One on Prime Video 7 on Feb. 10.

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The Singapore-based promotion announced the bantamweight (145-pound) championship rematch on Tuesday. The first meeting between Lineker and Andrade was ruled a no contest when an accidental knee to the groin rendered Lineker unable to continue 2:44 into Round 3 of their bout at One on Prime Video 3. Lineker was stripped of the belt after missing weight prior to the fight, so the One bantamweight throne is currently vacant.

Lineker began his promotional tenure with four straight triumphs, including three via knockout or technical knockout. He claimed the belt with a second-round KO of Bibiano Fernandes at One “Lights Out” this past March.

Andrade had been victorious in seven consecutive outings prior to the no contest. He is 5-0 under the One banner, with all his victories coming inside the distance. The 25-year-old Brazilian is 8-2 since beginning h…

Kleber Koike Erbst has no issue being the underdog in his champion vs. champion bout against Bellator featherweight title holder Patricio Freire at Rizin 40 on New Year’s Eve.

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“I've always admired Patricio as one of the most complete fighters in MMA. A few hours after I captured the Rizin belt I got that invitation. I knew it was a huge challenge but after everything I've been through, a challenge like that is like a blessing,” Erbst told Sherdog.com.

Erbst is a close friend and business partner of Rizin lightweight champion Roberto de Souza. Together they run six branches of the Bonsai Jiu-Jitsu academy around Tokyo.

“Over the past five years we can say that we both have a good life in Japan, living only from the sport, but things were never easy for us,” Erbst said. 

Born in São Paulo into a humble family of Japanese descendants, Kleber decided that he would try to live in the land of his maternal grandfather. At the age of 14, he…