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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…

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-Jons in a 165-pound catchweight bout. Landi-Jons, 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 rig…

A welterweight clash pitting Mounir Lazzez against Gabriel de Souza Bonfim is on tap for UFC 283.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking after Bonfim initially announced the bout on social media. UFC 283 marks the Las Vegas-based promotion’s first visit to Rio de Janeiro since May 2019. The event does not currently have a headliner.

Lazzez has been victorious in two of his first three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the Tunisian known as “Sniper” outpoined Ange Loosa at UFC on ESPN 34 on April 16. The Team Nogueira Duba representative is 11-2 as a professional, with eight wins via KO or TKO.

Bonfim earned a UFC contract thanks to a first-round shoulder choke of Trey Waters at Dana White’s Contender Series on Sept. 6. The former Legacy Fighting Alliance welterweight king is 13-0 since beginning his professional tenure in 2014.

cris cyborg wins her pro boxing debut against simone silva via unanimous decision #FMS2 pic.twitter.com/52UZEtwr93

— jake (@jakeshreds420) September 26, 2022

Cristiane Justino enjoyed a successful debut in the Sweet Science, taking a unanimous verdict against Simone Silva in a boxing match on Sunday night.

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The bout was contested over eight rounds and served as the co-main event of the Fight Music 2 card at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil. While the promotion billed it as a professional fight, it is still unclear if it will ultimately be recognized as a pro or exhibition bout, according to MMAFighting.com.

“Cyborg” reportedly landed the harder shots throughout the fight, but Silva was able to survive the power of the Bellator MMA featherweight queen. The contest ended with a wild exchange of punches in Round 8. Judges’ scores were not announced.

R8 entre Cyborg y Silva #CyborgSilva pic.…

A right hand from Floyd just before the bell brings an end to the bout, and Asakura suffers his first KO loss ‼️

『The Battle Cats presents SUPER RIZIN』🎟PPV🔻https://t.co/xluM3LdybU pic.twitter.com/hivHA3WrUn

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) September 25, 2022

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It took a little over two rounds for Mikuru Asakura to learn the same lesson his countryman and Rizin FF stablemate Tenshin Nasukawa did back on New Year’s Eve 2018: An exhibition against Floyd Mayweather is exactly as serious as you make it.

In the main event of the Super Rizin card that formed half of a doubleheader with Rizin 38 on Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the undefeated boxing legend was content to move and trade jabs and three-quarter-speed body shots with the Rizin featherweight contender for most of the first round. Late in that round, Asakura dialed up the intensity, leading to some awkward collisions and a clean head shot or…

It took a little under two rounds for Mikuru Asakura to learn the same lesson his countryman and Rizin FF stablemate Tenshin Nasukawa did back on New Year’s Eve 2018: An exhibition against Floyd Mayweather is exactly as serious as you want to make it.

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In the main event of the Super Rizin card that formed half of a doubleheader with Rizin 38 on Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the undefeated boxing legend was content to move and trade jabs and three-quarter-speed body shots with the Rizin featherweight contender for most of the first round. Late in that round, Asakura dialed up the intensity, leading to some awkward collisions and a clean head shot or two landed on Mayweather. At that point, Mayweather flipped a switch, stinging Asakura with several hard shots before the round expired.

A right hand from Floyd just before the bell brings an end to the bout, and Asakura suffers his first KO loss ‼️

『The Bat…

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A heavyweight clash pitting Derrick Lewis against Sergey Spivak will headline an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on Nov. 19.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed the booking on Saturday. The UFC Fight Night card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

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.

The 27-year-old Spivak has quietly won five of six in UFC competition since July 2020. “The Polar Bear” is 2-0 in 2022, with TKO wins against Augusto Sakai and Greg Hardy to his credit.

With a combined 28 KOs, these two heavy hitters won't go all 5 rounds 👀@TheBeast_UFC vs Serghei Spivac is OFFICIAL for Nov 19! pic.twitter.com/rtTCGVttGE

— UFC (@ufc) September 24, 2022

Melvin Manhoef is hanging up the four ounce gloves following a mixed martial arts career that began in 1995.

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The Dutch knockout artist announced his decision following a third-round knockout loss to Yoel Romero in the Bellator 285 co-main event in Dublin on Friday.

“I want to thank everybody for supporting my career for 28 years – 28 years I’m fighting and I didn’t want to fight a nobody,” Manhoef said during an in-cage interview. “I want to fight names. I did the best that I can. And for 28 years I’m doing this, this is what I love. I appreciate all the support that you gave me. But today I think we have to hang up the gloves after 28 years of fighting. Thanks for the support. You make my life great. Thank you, Ireland.”

The 46-year-old Amsterdam native retires with a record of 32-16-1 with two no contests. In addition to Bellator, “No Mercy” competed for organizations such as Strikeforce, One Championship, Dream and K-1. His record includes…

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship’s third foray into California this year didn’t disappoint.

𝗪𝗢𝗪! 🤯

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Erick Sanchez lands a huge right hand and scores a 𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗔𝗟 walk-off KO 🔥

📺 Watch #CW143 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 on @UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/AudZlnGSfa

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 24, 2022 The CW 143 headliner on Friday in San Diego featured a lightweight clash between Erick Sanchez and James Lynch. Sanchez (11-6, 1-0 CW) pushed on the gas and connected with quick punches, which left a mark on his opponent’s face. In turn, Lynch (5-3, 3-2 CW) looked to stop Sanchez’s footwork with some leg kicks. The fighters engaged in a brief scramble on the canvas before bouncing back to their feet. Sanchez’s elusiveness paid off after the clash entered its second minute. The Team Alpha Male representative made the most of a feint to mask an absolute right-hand bomb which immediately dropped Lynch to the canvas, lights out. The official…

That kick... @BensonHenderson 👀 #Bellator285 | 🇺🇸 @SHOSports | 🇬🇧 @BBCThree pic.twitter.com/5KulvEPXnx

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) September 23, 2022 Benson Henderson, even at 38 years of age, can still get the job done.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder ran circles around Peter Queally and strengthened his position in the Bellator MMA lightweight division with a lopsided unanimous decision in their Bellator 285 headliner on Friday at 3Arena in Dublin. All three judges arrived at the same verdict: 49-45 for Henderson (30-11, 7-6 Bellator), who was deducted a point for an inadvertent low blow in the second round.

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Nothing worked for Queally (13-7-1, 2-3 Bellator). Henderson pulled when the Irishman pushed, lured him into a tarpit clinches, executed takedowns, racked up points with ground-and-pound—his knees to the thigh were particularly effective—and kept “The Showst…

Sherdog's live Bellator 285 coverage kicks off 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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Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Tyler…

[embedded content] Bellator MMA returns to Ireland for Bellator 285, which is headlined by an anticipated lightweight main event.

The headline fight will see former champion Benson Henderson take on Irish contender Peter Queally over five rounds. Both headliners looked great on the scale, with "Smooth" weighing 155.4 pounds while his Irish opponent officially came in at a trim 154.2 pounds. All fighters successfully made weight for the 13-fight card.

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Henderson (29-11) made it clear he still had more left in the tank in his last bout against Islam Mamedov. After taking a split decision win, "Smooth" re-signed with the promotion. This key victory put an end to three straight defeats for the veteran lightweight. He'll look to go on his first win streak since 2019 by prevailing here.

"The Showstopper" has won two of his last three bouts, splitting matchups with Patricky Freire in his last two outings. While he was on the wrong side of a TKO in his last…

[embedded content] For now, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship' return to the United States will carry on with eight bouts after the weigh-ins for CW 143 took place.

Lightweights have been given the main event spotlight as promotional newcomer Erick Sanchez will take on James Lynch, who has become a mainstay of Cage Warriors' San Diego events. Both California-based headliners made weight for the main event, but same could not be said for one of the competitors in the other marquee matchup.

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A veteran of Combate Global and Bellator MMA, Sanchez (10-6) finds himself in a high-profile bout for his Cage Warriors debut. The Sacramento native is 2-2 in his last four outings, but is coming off a rear-naked choke win over Jordan Beltran. The 31-year-old will look to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since 2016. Sanchez officially weighed 155.7 pounds.

Meanwhile, Lynch (5-2) will compete in his fifth bout for the promotion. The lightweight that call…

[embedded content] The recent domination of this year’s Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Championship event by Gordon Ryan has blown away the jiu-jitsu community.

The 14th edition of the ADCC Worlds, which were held on Sept. 17 and 18 in Las Vegas, delivered for fans of the gentle art. Several competitors made names for themselves, including Amy Campo for her victory over Gabi Garcia and Kade Ruotolo by winning the 170-pound championship at only 19 years of age. No star shone brighter, however, than Ryan, who triumphed over the field in the 99+ kg division (218.25 pounds) with four victories in no-gi competition to win the gold. After pulling that off, Ryan submitted one of the greatest champions ADCC had ever seen in Andre Galvao, landing the rear-naked choke in their superfight after racking up 12 points.

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Multiple Brazilian jiu-jitsu legends and past ADCC competitors Fabricio Werdum, Fabio Gurgel and Carlos Barreto, all had something to say about this do…

While Islam Makhachev is the most accurate takedown artist in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division, not everyone believes he is guaranteed to take his next opponent down.

In August, Chute Boxe head coach Diego Lima revealed to Sherdog that ex-UFC champ Charles Oliveira had a secret weapon in his training camp. The Iranian wrestler known as Alireza Noei had joined the team some years before, with the singular goal of helping fighters in the camp train their wrestling. Noei specifically devoted a great deal of focus on Oliveira, especially ahead of the Brazilian’s October meeting with Makhachev, and Noei believes that Oliveira’s chops on top and bottom are exceptional.

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“We have been working together for the last four years and I’m really impressed by how he has evolved,” Noei admitted to Sherdog. “Even for myself, who always competed in high level wrestling, [it] is hard to take him down. He is good both attacking and defending.” Read more about Coach Alireza Noei Believes Charles Oliveira Will Not Be Taken Down at UFC 280

UFC welterweight Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos has been suspended for one year by USADA after failing an out-of-competition drug test.

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The 35-year-old Brazilian tested positive for ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator, on April 8. MMAFighting.com was first to report the positive test, which has not been yet been formally announced by USADA. Zaleski denies knowingly taking the banned substance, blaming the result on a contaminated supplement.

While Zaleski’s manager, Tiago Okamura, told MMAFighting that even though the supplement in question was identified, the compounding pharmacy that produced it denied responsiblility. As a result, dos Santos was unable to secure a reduced suspension from USADA.

“The talks with Elizeu and the doctor went as expected but the pharmacy denied compounding ostarine and later questioned the tested sample and even the packaging it was sent to the lab in,” Okamura wrote in a statement. “With the pharmacy …

Dana White believes Raul Rosas Jr. proved he was ready for the bright lights of the UFC with his victory on the Contender Series Tuesday night.

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The 17-year-old Las Vegas resident put on a grappling clinic en route to a three-round verdict over Mando Gutierrez, an opponent who was eight years his senior. Rosas Jr. was active on the canvas, threatened with submissions and never appeared to fatigue, and that was enough to earn a UFC contract from White.

“For a 17-year-old to conduct himself the way he did in this fight, I was blown away by it. Blown away,” White said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “After what I just saw, this kid’s ready to fight in the UFC.”

With that, Rosas Jr. becomes the youngest fighter on the UFC roster. According to White, a lack of experience shouldn’t be an issue when someone is as talented as Rosas Jr.

“He’s absolutely special,” White said. “The amount of fighters that were blowing me up, going, ‘Oh my G…

These days, Floyd Mayweather prefers to be in the exhibition business.

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As his matchup with Mikuru Asakura this weekend at Super Rizin draws near, the retired former boxing champion discussed what the future holds for him — and that could include a rematch with Conor McGregor.

'I want to go out there this weekend and have fun,” Mayweather told Sportsmail. “Then I have another exhibition Dubai in November and me and Conor McGregor in 2023.

“We don't know if it's going to be an exhibition or a real fight,” he said of a potential rematch with McGregor. “But there's been talks of both. I would prefer an exhibition.’”

“Money” has squared off against the likes of Tenshin Nasukawa, Logan Paul and Don Moore in exhibition bouts over the past few years. He defeated Nasukawa via TKO at Rizin 14, while the fights with Paul and Moore were both declared draws. Mayweather explained his reasoning for wanting exhibitions over professional bouts at this point …