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5 fights in 1 year. 5 first round finishes. 0 strikes absorbed. Nobody can do it like me. We headed to the top! Much love to all my supporters, bigger things on the way!

— Bo Nickal (@NoBickal) September 28, 2022 When many expected that Ultimate Fighting Championship pickup Bo Nickal would be thrown to the proverbial wolves in his debut, most did not realize just how right they were.

Fresh off a contract-winning performance on the final episode of the 2022 season of Dana White's Contender Series, Nickal (3-0) has his first UFC fight booked. The middleweight wrestling standout will be toeing the line against “The Nightwolf” Jamie Pickett (13-8) at UFC 282 on Dec. 10. The organization’s broadcast partner of ESPN first announced this booking on Thursday.

Three-time NCAA Division I national champion wrestler Nickal made his professional debut in the sport against John Noland in June. It took Nickal 33 seconds to demolish his opponent with pu…

Only one of these two Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights will have a number next to their name when the dust settles.

On Wednesday, Brazilian outlet Super Lutas reported that the Jan. 21 pay-per-view offering in Rio de Janeiro had its first big fight lined up. In the middleweight category, Brad Tavares (19-7) will square off against rising talent Gregory Rodrigues (13-4) at UFC 283. In addition to other outlets, Rodrigues has confirmed this matchup on his Instagram on Thursday. While there is no headliner on the billing as of yet, another scrap at 145 pounds was also announced earlier this week and confirmed by one of its competitors on Thursday, at 145 pounds between Josiane Nunes and Zarah Fairn dos Santos.

While he is ranked among the top 15, Tavares has won three and lost three dating back to 2018. Most recently, the Hawaiian fell short to Dricus Du Plessis in a thrilling three-round affair. That defeat put an end to a short win streak amassed in 2021 …

We've got ourselves a FIGHT! 🔥#ONE161 | #ONEChampionship🇺🇸🇨🇦🇬🇧🇹🇭 Watch live on ONE YouTube 👉 https://t.co/8qWJXePa0w🌍 Watch live 👉 https://t.co/8MeKhRMtjy pic.twitter.com/2Trzn1HsVC

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 29, 2022 The upsets were frequent and frenetic at the latest One Championship event, culminating with a challenger unexpectedly capturing a throne.

The One 161 headliner featured a featherweight muay thai championship affair between defending titleholder Petchmorakot Petchyindee and Tawanchai PK.Saenchai. The challenger quickly imposed his pace, attacking with his well-known nasty kicks. In turn, Petchmorakot put his fast hands to work. The pair went to battle in Round 3 with a flurry of punches and elbows. Petchmorakot relied on his experience in the championship rounds, but the challenger appeared fresher than his foe down the line. While Petchmorakot adopted a hit-and-run strategy, Tawanchai hunted down his opponen…

Jessica Correa Delboni provided an opportunity, and Jillian DeCoursey took full advantage.

The Queens, N.Y., native claimed atomweight gold with a submission of Delboni in the Invicta FC 49 headliner at Sugar Creek Casino in Hinton, Okla., on Wednesday night. DeCoursey (6-3, 5-2 Invicta) brought the show to a close with a rear-naked choke 4:49 into Round 1, forcing Delboni (12-4, 4-3 Invicta) to tap for the first time in her professional career.

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“Never let anyone doubt you. If you put a goal in mind and you work hard enough, anything is possible,” DeCoursey said. “I definitely proved that tonight.”

It was a measured beginning for both fighters, but Delboni appeared to control the majority of exchanges in the early going with quick punching combinations and kicks to the legs of her opponent. However, momentum shifted when Delboni punched her way into the clinch and changed levels for a takedown late in the round. The Brazilian was able to ground her…

If manager Jorge Guimaraes gets his way, Lyoto Machida will return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship to settle some unfinished business with Mauricio Rua.

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Guimaraes revealed to Sherdog.com that he is in the process of negotiating with the Las Vegas-based promotion to bring Machida back to the Octagon for a trilogy bout against “Shogun” at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro.

“When I heard ‘Shogun was doing his last fight at UFC Rio, I immediately called (UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell) offering Lyoto for a trilogy,” Guimaraes said. “Hunter told me they initially were planning on someone like Tyson Pedro to fight Shogun, but he liked the idea and told me he was going to talk to Dana [White] about it.

“I have no doubt the Brazilian audience would love that match up. Two champions, two legends of the sport, one win for each, doing their rubber match on the night of both of their retirement fights. Shogun is already a Hall of Famer, Lyoto a…

A matchup of lightweight contenders is on tap for the UFC’s Dec. 17 event, as Arman Tsarukyan will lock horns with Damir Ismagulov.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from EuropSport. The UFC Fight Night card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight scrap between Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland.

Tsarukyan had a five-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he dropped a five-round verdict against Mateusz Gamrot in the UFC on ESPN 38 headliner on June 25. The 25-year-old Russian owns an 18-3 career mark, with 12 victories coming inside the distance.

A former M-1 Global champion, Ismagulov has tasted defeat just once in 25 professional outings. He is 5-0 in UFC competition, with victories over the likes of Guram Kutateladze, Thiago Moises and Joel Alvarez.

Bellator will continue to be in the tournament business in 2023.

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During an appearance on "The MMA Hour," Bellator president Scott Coker revealed that the promotion will hold a lightweight grand prix sometime next year. While the participants have yet to be determined, Coker is targeting February for the beginning of the 155-pound bracket.

“We’re going to finish our light heavyweight tournament in November, the [bantamweight] semifinals in December,” Coker said. “I feel like we want to set this off in February. February would be a good month and the bantamweight tournament [finals] sometime in March.”

Some of the athletes Coker mentioned who could take part in the eight-man tournament include Patricky Freire, Usman Nurmagomedov, Tofiq Musayev, Benson Henderson, Brent Primus and A.J. McKee. Signing free agent Eddie Alvarez for the grand prix is also a possibility, Coker admitted.

The Bellator light heavyweight grand prix was delayed afte…

A middleweight clash pitting Nassourdine Imavov against Kelvin Gastelum is expected to serve as the headliner for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Jan. 14.

The booking was initially reported by La Sueur on Twitter, and Gastelum has since confirmed the bout on social media. The card will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Imavov and Gastelum were initially slated to meet at UFC 273, but visa issues for Imavov resulted in the contest being canceled.

Anchored at the MMA Factory in France, Imavov enters the matchup with Gastelum on a three-bout winning streak. Most recently, the 27-year-old outpointed Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Night 209 on Sept. 3. He is 4-1 in the Octagon overall, with his lone setback coming against Phil Hawes in February 2021.

Gastelum, meanwhile, is just 1-5 in his last six promotional appearances and did not compete at all in 2022 after proposed bouts against Dricus Du Plessis and Imavov fell through. His last appearan…

It turns out that Yadong Song dealt with more than just a nasty cut in his loss to Cory Sandhagen in the UFC Fight Night 210 headliner.

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The Team Alpha Male product posted a photo of an X-ray taken after the bout while revealing that he suffered a fractured orbital.

“Since Round 2, I was seeing triple vision because of this orbital fracture,” Song wrote on Instagram. “I was facing three Cory in front of me. A titanium piece will put in for me next week, will come back tougher with the metal.”

Sandagen did the damage in Round 2, when he landed a standing elbow strike that opened a significant cut about Song’s left eye. The wound deepened as the bout progressed, and a doctor waved off the fight prior to the fifth round. A timetable for Song’s return is currently unclear.

The 24-year-old “Kung Fu Kid” had a three-fight winning streak snapped in defeat. He is 8-2-1 in UFC competition with wins over the likes of Marlon Moraes, Casey Kenney a…

Edson Barboza has been forced to withdraw from a proposed featherweight clash against Ilia Topuria at UFC Fight Night 213 due to a knee injury.

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MMAFighting.com was first to report Barboza’s exit. The knee injury required Barboza to recently undergo surgery. UFC Fight Night 213 takes place on Oct. 29 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a 145-pound clash pitting Calvin Kattar against Arnold Allen. It is currently unknown if Topuria will remain on the card against a replacement opponent. Barboza vs. Topuria was slated to be the evening’s co-main event.

Barboza is 2-3 since moving to 145 pounds. The 36-year-old Brazilian is coming off back-to-back losses against Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell.

Spain’s Topuria is a rising prospect who is undefeated in 12 professional appearances. He is 4-0 in the UFC with three straight KO/TKO victories to his credit.

It appears that Rafael dos Anjos is headed back to the welterweight division.

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The former lightweight champion, who said that he would look for fights that motivated him following a loss to Rafael Fiziev this past July, officially announced his return to 170 pounds in an interview on Brazilian YouTube channel “Canal Encarada.”

“The UFC offered me two names at lightweight that didn't make sense to me, taking into consideration the rankings issue. So I asked them to drop me from the rankings and decided to go back up to 170 where I can have a healthier life,” dos Anjos said. “Because I fight well with the big guys.”

During the interview the Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt claimed that he already had a fight lined up for December, but when pressed said that he was not yet authorized to reveal the name of his opponent. However, according to a report from Combate.com, dos Anjos is expected to face Bryan Barberena at UFC Fight Night in Orland on Dec.…

A women’s lightweight final between Kayla Harrison and Larissa Pacheco will headline the PFL Championship card on Nov. 25.

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The organization announced the majority of the lineup for its final event of the year on Wednesday. The PFL Championship will take place at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York and will see Brendan Loughnane square off against Bubba Jenkins at featherweight in the evening’s co-main event. The main card will be a pay-per-view available via ESPN+, and begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. A price point was not announced, however.

The rest of the main draw will feature the remaining four PFL finals: Ante Delija vs. Mattheus Scheffel at heavyweight; Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Steven Ray at lightweight; Sadibou Sy vs. Dilano Taylor at welterweight and Rob Wilkinson vs. Omari Akhmedov at light heavyweight. Additionally, the pay-per-view offering will include a featherweight bout pitting Shane Burgos against Marlon Moraes and on…

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Sherdog's live DWCS 2022 Week 10 coverage will begin Tuesday 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 Nova Uniao export Estevam owns a 12-0 mark that includes experience in Legacy Fighting Alliance and Shooto Brazil. Elias, meanwhile, is a Gile Ribeiro Team member and has submitted his last three foes inside of a round. Jason Herzog will be the third man in the cage. Elias opens with an inside leg kick in lieu of a glove touch and they’re wasting no time. It’s a rapid pace to begin and Elias is already framing an armbar following a scramble. Elias pushes off the floor and pops to his feet, only to pull guard and go back to work. Estevam is doing what he can to pass guard, but it’s quite difficult due to his foe’s active guard. Elias posts near the fence, while Estevam keeps his hands connected. Elias rolls and suddenly has a kneebar attempt. Estevam defends, spins around and dro…

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Bellator MMA has bolstered its roster with the signing of King of Pancrase welterweight champion Masayuki Kikuiri.

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The promotion announced Tuesday that it has inked Kikuiri to an exclusive multi-fight, multi-year contract. A date for Kikuiri’s Bellator debut is currently unclear.

“I’m very grateful to (Bellator president) Mr. Scott Coker for this opportunity and everyone involved in making this happen. I promise I’m coming for finishes and will be a Bellator fighter that’ll make Japan proud,” Kikuiri said in a release.


 
“I’ve fought only for Pancrase from my MMA debut and every fight until becoming champion. I’m grateful to Pancrase for helping me grow and kindly sending me out to fight under the Pancrase banner. I’ll be sure to proudly show the strength of the long line of King of Pancrase Champions to the world.”

Kikuiri brings an 8-2-1 record into his Bellator debut. He ended his Pancrase tenure with a five-r…

The #InvictaFC49 main event is OFFICIAL! Atomweight champion @Jessicadmma defends her title against @lionheartjill TOMORROW NIGHT!#InvictaFC49 | Wednesday, Sept. 28 | LIVE at 8/7c on @axstv + @fightnet + @facebook + @youtube! pic.twitter.com/doqJvcDGqi

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) September 27, 2022

The Invicta FC 49 headliner is now official, as both Jessica Correa Delboni and Jillian DeCoursey made weight ahead of their atomweight title showdown.

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Delboni, the reigning champion, tipped the scales at 104.8 pounds, while Jillian DeCoursey checked in at 104.7. Invicta FC 49 takes place on Wednesday at the Sugar Creek Casino in Hinton, Okla., and airs on AXS TV and the Invicta FC YouTube channel and Facebook page beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

After a controversial loss to Alesha Zappitella in her first title bid in May 2021, Delboni claimed the atomweight throne with a five-round verdict in a rematch at Invicta FC 45…

Once-promising bantamweight prospect Aspen Ladd is no longer on the UFC roster following her latest mishap on the scales.

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MMAFighting.com was first to confirm Ladd’s release after Twitter account UFC Roster Watch revealed that the figher had been removed from the UFC women’s bantamweight rankings. Ladd has lost three of her last four Octagon appearances.

Fighter removed: Aspen Ladd

— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch) September 27, 2022

Ladd was scheduled to face Sara McMann at UFC Fight Night 210 on Sept. 17, but the bout was canceled after Ladd checked in two pounds overweight for the 135-pound clash. That was Ladd’s third weight miss in the UFC, as she also came in heavy for fights against Macy Chiasson in 2021 and against Leslie Smith in 2018. Both of those bouts were scrapped as a result. She also missed weight for a fight against Jessica Hoy under the Invicta FC banner in 2016, but that bout went ahead as planned…

One Championship heavyweight Martin Batur is facing sanctions from the promotion after failing a drug test in relation to his most recent fight.

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One Championship announced Tuesday that Batur has been suspended for 1 year after testing positive for an androgenic anabolic steroid. As a result, his first-round technical knockout victory against Paul Elliott at One Championship 160 on Aug. 26 has been overturned to a no contest.

According to a statement, Batur’s sample was collected and processed by International Doping Tests and Management (IDTM). Additionally, the Croatian will be subject to in- and out-of-competition testing in the future.

One Championship 160 was Batur’s debut with the Singapore-based organization. Prior to that, the UFD Gym export compiled a 7-3 career mark, with a notable loss to UFC heavyweight Aleksander Rakic at Austrian Fight Challenge 1 in 2015.

The Professional Fighters League isn’t waiting until next season to throw Shane Burgos and Marlon Moraes into the fire.

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According to ESPN, the recently-signed fighters have agreed to square off at the PFL Championships in November at featherweight. The promotion hasn’t officially announced a date or venue for the event, but the card is expected to take place on Nov. 25.

Burgos recently parted ways with the UFC following an 8-3 stint with the Las Vegas-based organization, which prompted Dana White to admit that it was a mistake not re-signing the Team Tiger Schulmann representative. The 31-year-old known as “Hurricane” is coming off back-to-back decision triumphs over Billy Quarantillo and Charles Jourdain in the Octagon.

Moraes, meanwhile, announced his retirement in April before returning to sign with the PFL. Moraes was the World Series of Fighting’s first bantamweight champion before signing with the UFC, where he earned wins over the li…

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Mike Perry isn’t scheduled to fight anyone in Russia, but that didn’t prevent him from nearly brawling with Magomed Ismailov during an impromptu faceoff.

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Perry was reportedly in Russia to corner traininer partner and fellow UFC veteran Alex Nicholson against Vagab Vagabov. Perry appeared on Russian TV to promote the event, and for some reason he squared off against Ismailov during the event. That ultimately led to a brawl nearly breaking out in a television studio before the two fighters were separated.

According to Perry, Ismailov mistook an expletive for a more serious insult.

“I almost got jumped in there,” Perry said on his Instagram stories. “Luckily, people was breaking it up. But in Russia if you call someone a motherf——er, they think you’re talking about someone’s mom so then the whole team coming to get you. But in America when you say motherf——er it’s like normal words. It’s normal. I’m not talking about your mama,…

If anyone has a right to be bitter about 17-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. Jr. securing a UFC contract on his first Dana White’s Contender Series appearance, it’s Bo Nickal.

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After all Nickal is a three-time NCAA national champion wrestler at Penn State University, won an under-23 world championship and was a finalist at the 2020 U.S. Olympic team trials. As one of the most highly-touted prospects in recent memory, Nickal rolled through Zachary Borrego on Week 3 of the Contender Series, winning via submission in 62 seconds. And yet, UFC president Dana White needed to see more.

“I don’t know what else he could have done to look any better. He looked incredible. The only reason I didn’t sign him tonight is because he’s 2-0 now,” White said after the fight. “We got eight more weeks of this. Why not have him fight here again, you know what I mean? It just makes sense.”

It would seem that Nickal’s credentials would far surpass that of someone like Rosas Jr.…

Bo Nickal is hoping the second time is the charm when it comes to earning a UFC contract.

Nickal made weight without issue ahead of his second appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, tipping the scales at 185.5 pounds on Monday. All nine other athletes slated to compete on Week 10 of the show — the last episode of the season — hit their contracted marks, as well.

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The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured matchup is a middleweight clash between Nickal and Donovan Beard (184).

Nickal, a three-time NCAA national champion at Penn State University, is one of the most high-touted MMA prospects in recent memory. The 26-year-old was dominant in his first Contender Series appearance, submitting Zachary Borrego with a rear-naked choke in just 62 seconds on Aug. 9.

Beard, 32, has been victorious in seven of eight professioal outings. Most recently, he cla…

BELLATOR MMA, the leading mixed martial arts organization, will return to 3Arena on Friday, February 24, marking the promotion’s ninth event in the Irish capital, following the massive success of BELLATOR 285! 3Presale kicks off Wednesday morning followed by general sale Friday pic.twitter.com/gLKjmVRtXt

— 3Arena (@3ArenaDublin) September 26, 2022

Bellator MMA will return to the Irish capital early next year.

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The California-based promotion recently announced that it will hold an event at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Feb. 24. No bouts were announced for the card, which will mark Bellator’s ninth event in the country.

Bellator held its initial event in Ireland in 2016. Most recently, Bellator 285 took place at the same venue and saw Benson Henderson captured a unanimous decision over Peter Queally in the evening’s lightweight headliner this past Friday. Afterward, the promotion claimed that the latest event set an attenda…

popo drops pele early in the first and knocks him out shortly after #FMS2 pic.twitter.com/kcOPpGc5lu

— jake (@jakeshreds420) September 26, 2022

After a successful debut, the Fight Music Promotion held its second event on Sunday at Arena de Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil. According to the promotion, 7,000 people attended the card, and it was broadcast live in Brazil on the Combate Channel.

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While the boxing debut of Cristiane Justino drew the majority of the attention from the MMA community, the show featured five MMA fights on the undercard and five boxing bouts on the main draw. In the main event, 47-year-old Acelino Popo Freitas face 49-year-old Vale Tudo legend Jose Landi-Johns in a 165-pound catchweight bout. Landi-Johns, who has been retired since 2015 and has no professional boxing experience, was knocked out by Freitas 1:25 into Round 1.

Freitas floored “Pele” within the fight’s opening 10 seconds with a straight r…