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Brazilian jiu-jitsu standout Lucas Barbosa will head a field of eight welterweights vying for a Professional Fighters League contract next year.

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The organization announced on Wednesday the welterweight lineup for the first PFL Challenger Series event on Jan. 17. Barbosa will square off against Itso Babulaidze in the card’s featured bout. The PFL Challenger Series airs on FuboTV on Friday nights, and contract winners are selected by a judging panel comprised of combat sports notables and other celebrity guests.

“The 2023 PFL Challenger Series provides world class talent a path to the PFL,” said PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo in a release. “The Challenger Series continues the PFL’s commitment to finding the best talent in MMA around the world.”

Three other 170-pound bouts were also confirmed for the event: Cage Fury Fighting Championships welterweight title holder Eric Alequin vs. undefeated Combate Global and L…

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Brazilian jiu-jitsu standout Lucas Barbosa will head a field of eight welterweights vying for a Professional Fighters League contract next year.

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The organization announced on Wednesday the welterweight lineup for the first PFL Challenger Series event on Jan. 27. Barbosa will square off against Itso Babulaidze in the card’s featured bout. The PFL Challenger Series airs on FuboTV on Friday nights, and contract winners are selected by a judging panel comprised of combat sports notables and other celebrity guests.

“The 2023 PFL Challenger Series provides world class talent a path to the PFL,” said PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo in a release. “The Challenger Series continues the PFL’s commitment to finding the best talent in MMA around the world.”

Three other 170-pound bouts were also confirmed for the event: Cage Fury Fighting Championships welterweight title holder Eric Alequin vs. undefeated Combate Global and L…

The lineup for Bellator 290 continues to take shape, as three bouts were recently added to the Feb. 4 event.

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The new matchups are as follows: Diana Avsaragova vs. Alejandra Lara at flyweight; Christopher Gonzalez vs. Max Rohskopf at lightweight and Jornel Lugo vs. Jaylon Bates at bantamweight. MMAjunkie.com was first to report Avsaragova vs. Lara, while FanSided MMA initially brought word of Gonzalez vs. Rohskopf and Lugo vs. Bates.

Bellator 290 takes place at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko. In the co-main event, Vadim Nemkov will defend the light heavyweight crown against Yoel Romero. The evening’s main card will air on CBS.

Avsaragova is undefeated in five professional outings and is coming off a three-round verdict over Kyra Batara in her third promotional appearance at Bellator 276. A former flyweight title challenger, Lara has dropped her last three …

A championship doubleheader is on tap for Invicta FC 51 on Jan. 18.

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The event will be headlined by a bantamweight championship clash between reigning title holder Taneisha Tennant and Talita Bernardo, while Kristina Williams and Ketlen Souza will vie for the vacant flyweight crown in the co-main event. The all-female promotion announced the bookings on Tuesday.

Invicta FC 51 takes place at Reelworks Denver in Denver, Colo., and airs on AXS TV and the Invicta FC YouTube channel beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. Five other bouts were also announced for the card: Serena DeJesus vs. Olga Rubin at bantamweight; Claire Guthrie vs. Auttumn Norton at bantamweight; Marisa Messer-Belenchia vs. Elisandra Ferreira at atomweight; Katie Saull vs. Rayanne Amanda at atomweight and Fatima Kline vs. Laura Gallardo at strawweight.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Tennant is 4-0 under the Invicta FC banner — including five-round verdicts ove…

Amanda Ribas now has a dance partner for UFC 285, as a clash against Viviane Araujo has been targeted for March 4.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Dama de Ferro MMA. Sherdog.com previously reported that Ribas was expected to return to flyweight at UFC 285 and multiple opponent options — including Araujo — were under consideration.

UFC 285 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is also expected to include a middleweight tilt pitting Bo Nickal against Jamie Pickett. A headliner for the event has not been announced.

Ribas will be making her third 125-pound appearance in the Octagon. In her last outing, the Brazilian dropped a competitive split decision to former flyweight title challenger Katlyn Chookagian at UFC on ESPN 36. She is 5-2 during her tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion, which also includes a first-round submission of Paige VanZant at 125 pounds.

Araujo, meanwhile, is …

Thank y’all for the luv! pic.twitter.com/SCIJZSOK2I

— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) December 12, 2022

The featherweight matchup pitting Ilia Topuria against Bryce Mitchell that opened the UFC 282 pay-per-view was billed as a clash between two of the top young contenders in the division.

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It turned out to be one-way traffic for Topuria, as “The Spaniard” battered his opponent on the feet and denied all but one of his takedowns before submitting Mitchell with an arm-triangle choke 3:10 into Round 2. Mitchell’s attempts at grappling were ineffective and he was outgunned on the feet in suffering his first setback in 16 professional outings.

According to “Thug Nasty,” there were more factors at play at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.

“I definitely got to let you know that definitely wasn’t me out there,” Mitchell said in a video on Twitter. “I had the flu the week before, and I thought I’d just tough it out. I d…

In an ideal world, Bellator’s bantamweight grand prix final will go down early next year.

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The 135-pound championship is now set, as interim king Raufeon Stots will square off against Patrick Mix following their victories in the semifinals at Bellator 289this past Friday. Stots edged Danny Sabatello via split decision in one half of the bracket, while Mix submitted Magomed Magomedov in the other half.

As of now, a date has not been set for Stots vs. Mix, but Bellator president Scott Coker does have a timeline in mind.

“We’re going to have to see who’s injured, who’s not injured, and that’s going to determine when they fight,” Coker said at the Bellator 289 post-fight press conference. “We want them to be healthy, fresh and ready to go and not just training through injuries or having to cut weight too quick from this fight.

“We’re going to talk to all the managers Monday and see how everybody’s feeling and then we’ll decide when we throw…

Not all that long ago, the future appeared to be bright indeed for Darren Till.

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The Liverpool, England, native was unbeaten in his first six UFC appearances, a run that included signature triumphs against Donald Cerrone and Stephen Thompson. That led to a welterweight title shot against Tyron Woodley, and though Till lost via second-round submission in that September 2018 bout, it seemed as though he would remain on an upward trajectory.

That hasn’t been the case. The Woodley loss was just the start of an extended slump that has seen Till lose five of six in the Octagon, including a third-round submission defeat at the hands of Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 282 this past Saturday. Till showed mettle in rallying back from a lopsided opening stanza, but ultimately, he was unable to completely turn the corner in a clash that ultimately received “Fight of the Night” honors.

The latest setback caused Till to do some serious reflecting, and while some tim…

Though most observers felt differently, neither Dana White nor Paddy Pimblett thought Jared Gordon was robbed at UFC 282.

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Pimblett remained unbeaten in the Octagon on Saturday night, taking a contentious unanimous verdict over Gordon in the evening’s co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with judges Douglas Crosby, Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy all submitting 29-28 tallies for the former Cage Warriors champion. The general consensus in the MMA community after the fact was that Gordon was the victim of some bad scorecards.

Not so, says the UFC president.

“Gordon had a horrible game plan going into that third round,” White said at the UFC 282 post-fight press conference. “You think you won the first two rounds with the judges? How do you know that? Why go in there and throw away the third round and not go in and fight your ass off and try to win.

“If you think you know who won what round or whatever, you’re crazy. I’ve been doing this…

In the immediate aftermath of the split draw in the UFC 282 headliner, it sounded as though Magomed Ankalaev was contemplating a future outside the Las Vegas-based promotion.

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Ankalaev’s clash with Jan Blachowicz for the vacant light heavyweight title was ruled a majority draw after five rounds at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Derek Cleary scored the contest 48-46 for Ankalaev, Michael Bell had it 48-47 Blachowciz and Sal D’Amato had it 47-47. Meanwhile, the vast majority of media members tracked by MMADecisions.com thought Ankalaev won the fight.

“I don’t know what to say,” Ankalaev told Joe Rogan in the Octagon through a translator. “I won that fight. Why didn’t I get my belt? I don’t know what to say. … I can’t choose the judges for the fight that are sitting over here, but I won this fight. I won this belt. Where is my belt?

Ankalaev then seemed to imply that the judges’ verdict might cause him to consider leaving the U…

BREAKING NEWS @GloverTeixeira to take on @JamahalH for the vacant LHW title at #UFC283! pic.twitter.com/JQOpACa6u4

— UFC (@ufc) December 11, 2022

It appears that the Ultimate Fighting Championship is making a quick pivot following the unsatisfying conclusion to Saturday’s light heavyweight main event.

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After Magomed Ankalaev and Jan Blachowicz battled to a majority draw at UFC 282 in their 205-pound title bout, Dana White revealed at the post-fight press conference that neither fighter will factor into the next championship fight. Instead, the UFC president announced that Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill will vie for the vacant light heavyweight strap at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 21.

Teixeira was initially slated to face Jiri Prochazka in a championship rematch at UFC 282, but that fight was scrapped when Prochazka vacated the belt after suffering a serious shoulder injury in training. When Teixeira asked for m…

The UFC was in a giving mood on Saturday night.

The Las Vegas-based promotion handed out a grand total of 11 bonuses following a UFC 282 card that saw finishes in all but the evening’s final two bouts.

Dricus Du Plessis and Darren Till received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece following their back-and-forth middleweight clash on the main card. Du Plessis dominated Round 1 before Till staged a brief rally in the second stanza. Ultimately, “Stillknocks” recovered and submitted his English foe with a face crank at the 2:43 mark of Round 3.

Meanwhile, the other nine competitors on the card who authored a finish — Cameron Saaiman, T.J. Brown, Billy Quarantillo, Chris Curtis, Edmen Shahbazyan, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Raul Rosas Jr., Ilia Topuria and Santiago Ponzinibbio — all received a $50,00 “Perofrmance of the Night” check.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight throne remains unclaimed.

Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev battled to a split draw in the UFC 282 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, leaving the 205-pound penthouse vacant in wake of former champion Jiri Prochazka’s reign-ending shoulder injury. Judge Michael Bell cast a 48-47 scorecard for Blachowicz, while Derek Cleary saw it 48-46 for Ankalaev and Sal D’Amato scored it 47-47.

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Ankalaev (17-1-1, 9-1-1 UFC) set the tone early with crisp punching combinations and punishing front kicks to the body. Blachowicz (29-9-1, 12-6-1 UFC) answered by shifting gears and blowing out the Xtreme Couture rep’s base with vicious kicks to the lower leg. They eventually hobbled Ankalaev to such a degree that he was forced to switch stances. He made the necessary tactical adjustments in the fourth and fifth rounds, where he crowded Blachowicz with pressure, executed multiple takedowns and chipped …

Sherdog's live UFC 282 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Saaiman (-320), Koslow (+265)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Brown (-110), Silva (-110)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Quarantillo (-165), Her…

Raul Rosas Jr. did not shrink in the spotlight. In fact, he basked in it.

The 2022 Dana White’s Contender Series graduate dazzled in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, as he submitted former CES MMA titleholder Jay Perrin with a face crank in their featured UFC 282 bantamweight prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rosas Jr. (7-0, 1-0 UFC), the youngest fighter to ever compete inside the Octagon, finished it 2:44 into Round 1.

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Perrin (10-7, 0-3 UFC) was out of his depth. Rosas Jr. delivered a takedown inside the first minute, climbed to the back and applied his ground-and-pound. After securing his position with a body triangle, the 18-year-old phenom slid his arms into place, tightened his vice-like squeeze and drew out the white flag from Perrin.Frightening Rozenstruik Mauls Daukaus American Top Team export Jairzinho Rozenstruik obliterated Chris Daukaus with punches less than a minute into the first round of their heavywei…

After plenty of bad blood in the buildup to their fight, Raufeon Stots got the last laugh against Danny Sabatello at Bellator 289.

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Thanks to a steady jab, a solid sprawl and an active ground game, Stots retained the interim bantamweight crown and advanced to the grand prix finals with a split-decision triumph over Sabatello at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Friday night. While Sabatello did land a few takedowns to rack up control time, he didn’t do all that much with positioning when he had it. Still, one judge awarded the American Top Team product with a 50-45 scorecard.

“I was surprised with the 50-45,” Stots said at the Bellator 289 post-fight press conference. “I believe he was trying to control; we know that’s his game, but he did no damage. I did the things I was supposed to do. I was progressing toward the finish, he was trying to stall the fight out. Just because you hold somebody’s legs doesn’t mean you should win a fight, and…

Patrick Mix is feeling quite confident after submitting Magomed Magomedov in the semifinals of Bellator MMA’s bantamweight grand prix.

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Mix will square off against interim king Raufeon Stots, who defeated Danny Sabatello via split decision in the other half of the bracket, at a Bellator event sometime in 2023.

“I’ve been telling everyone all f—-ing weekend: I’m the favorite to win the tournament,” Mix said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “You know why? You see those two guys on the other side? I can submit them too. Sabatello puts himself in that same position 100 times. I was already confident against him. Seeing Magomed and Stots’ fight, and how my fight went with [Magomedov], I feel good about that.”

Mix used a guillotine to render Magomedov unconscious 2:39 into the second round of the 135-pound clash at Bellator 289 on Friday. “Patchy” has earned 12 of his 17 career triumphs by submission — including four via guillotine.

“I go…

Liz Carmouche closed the book on her rivalry with Juliana Velasquez in emphatic fashion at Bellator 289.

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“Gir-Rilla” successfully defended her flyweight crown in Friday’s co-main event, as she tapped her Brazilian foe with an armbar 4:24 into Round 2 of their rematch at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. It was welcome closure after Carmouche’s controversial fourth-round stoppage of Velasquez at Bellator 278 in April resulted in her opponent unsuccessfully appealing to have the fight overturned.

“It felt great. My mindset is to walk into every fight thinking that I have to earn the belt,” Carmouche said at Friday’s post-fight press conference. “Every fight, I have to train like I have to earn the right to have the belt.”

With her first successful title defense in the books, Carmouche turned her attention to becoming a two-division champion in Bellator MMA. That will require some cooperation from the promotion, because Carmuche wants to see…

Interim Bellator MMA bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots showed he could handle the grind of a notorious grinder.

A persistent jab and a balanced sprawl carried Stots to a split decision over Danny Sabatello in the Bellator 289 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, where he successfully defended his title and punched his ticket to the final of the promotion’s $1 million bantamweight grand prix. Judge Douglas Crosby struck a 50-45 scorecard for Sabatello, while Eric Colon and Bryan Miner saw it 48-47 for Stots.

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Sabatello (13-2, 3-1 Bellator) secured multiple takedowns and piled up more than 10 minutes of control time but exacted little damage with his efforts. Stots (19-1, 7-0 Bellator) stayed patient on the feet, fed the American Top Team export a steady diet of jabs and mixed in the occasional combination. He also made Sabatello’s life difficult on the ground, refusing to concede positions and even threatening h…

Sherdog's live Bellator 289 coverage will begin Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET. Round 1 Our first match is refereed by Bryan Miner. Bell comes out throwing and Scoggins misses with a head kick. Both bantamweights are aggressive and a low blow pauses the action briefly before it restarts. Bell lands several leg kicks. Scoggins kicks a leg and gets Bell up against the fence. Scoggins has kept Bell up against the fence for well over a minute. Both land knees to one another, but neither is doing any damage. Bell finally reverses position with 10 seconds left and the round ends uneventfully. 10-9 Scoggins.

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Round 2 A slow start but Scoggins gets a big takedown a minute in. Scoggins holds on for a minute but does no damage. Bell escapes and lands a knee to the body. Bell gets a takedown of his own and is in half-guard. A small cut has opened above Scoggins' right eye. Scoggins is happy to play in guard with two minutes left. Bell lands a solid elbow. Another cut opens o…

First to the scale! ⚖️@JanBlachowicz in at 204.5lbs for his shot to reclaim LHW gold tomorrow #UFC282 pic.twitter.com/m9aARrhrRQ

— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2022 Editor's note: the article has been updated at 2:15 p.m. ET on Dec. 9 to reflect a fight cancellation.

The UFC 282 card is now official after the weigh-ins, and the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight championship will be on the line.

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While the former light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz and top contender Magomed Ankalaev both made weight without issue, one fighter failed to hit his mark. Daniel da Silva came in three pounds overweight at 129 pounds for his flyweight fight against Vinicius Salvador. Although he was initially fined 20% of his purse, the match has since been removed from the UFC 282 lineup.

After losing the title to Glover Teixeira last year, Blachowicz (29-9) will now have a chance to regain the belt he once held. The Pol…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Charles Oliveira is taking a little time off, but will be ready to come back soon with a vengeance.

At UFC 280 in October, Oliveira lost his chance to reclaim his lightweight throne when Islam Makhachev submitted him in the main event. According to coach Diego Lima, Oliveira is recovering and getting his mind right instead of diving straight back into action. Although he was offered a spot on UFC 283 in January in his home country of Brazil, he and his team declined the offer as it was too short of a turnaround for “Do Bronx.”

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“[The] UFC knew how much Charles wanted to fight in Brazil and kept their offer, but the time to recover was really short. We had a meeting with the whole team and decided it was too short a time. He came from four wars in 17 months [against Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Makhachev] against all top five, [one] war after another, so we decided that it was time …

We're kicking our 30th anniversary off with a 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆 💥 pic.twitter.com/g7l1VLveXQ

— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2022 In the next few months, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is venturing out beyond the walls of the UFC Apex more and more.

At the end of the UFC 282 press conference on Thursday, the organization announced the majority of its fight card lineup from January to March 2023. Notably, the promotion did not mention a jaunt to South Korea on Feb. 4 that already has several fights on the books. Three of the first six UFC events of next year will go down in Las Vegas, with three shows at the UFC Apex on Jan. 14, Feb. 18 and Feb. 25. The others will be international, with Rio de Janeiro and Perth, Australia, already confirmed.

The UFC formalized the date and location of UFC 285 in its announcement as well, which will take place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The following week, the promotion will remain in Las Vegas, bu…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s next trip to Australia is jam-packed with local talent.

On Thursday, MMA Junkie broke the news that Nasrat Haqparast (14-5) will take on Jamie Mullarkey (15-5) at UFC 284. The two lightweights will battle it out at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on Feb. 11. Both Haqparast and Mullarkey subsequently confirmed their appearances at the event on their respective Instagram pages.

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Born in Germany to Afghan parents and currently representing Morocco, Haqparast concluded his first winless streak in September by taking a decision over John Makdessi. The victory reversed his fortune after two straight decision losses to Dan Hooker and Bobby Green in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Each of the last five outings for Haqparast have seen the final judges’ scorecards, but prior to that, he had sparked Joaquim Silva early in the second round only to get blasted by Drew Dober in 70 seconds a few months later.

Australia native…