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Joe Rogan: ‘It’s in My Contract’ to Quit Working for UFC if Dana White Leaves

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If Dana White goes, so does Joe Rogan.

The longtime UFC commentator revealed on "The Joe Rogan Experience” that his time with the Las Vegas-based promotion will come to an end when White steps down.

“If Dana leaves, I’m gone,” Rogan said (via MMAjunkie.com). “It’s in my contract.”

Rogan has been with the organization since 1997, when he debuted as a backstage interviewer at UFC 12. The 55-year-old stand-up comedian has reduced his duties over the years, as he now generally only works broadcasts for pay-per-view events in the United States. He inked a lucrative deal with Spotify in 2020 for his podcast valued at more than $100 million, and is one of the most recognizable figures associated with the UFC.

White remains a figurehead of the UFC and has cashed in since the company was sold to Endeavor. He hasn’t publicly mentioned a plan for stepping down, so it’s likely that Rogan will be around for the foreseeable future.

Report: Eddie Alvarez, One Championship Part Ways After Four Fights

Eddie Alvarez is no longer under contract with One Championship, according to the South China Morning Post.

Alvarez and the Singapore-based promotion reportedly agreed to an early release from his contract, though it is unclear how many fights “The Underground King” had remaining on his deal. Alvarez was in attendance for the press conference in Los Angeles to announced the joint-partnership between One and Amazon Prime, and at the time it sounded like he intended to remain a part of the organization.

“The goal has always been the triple crown,” Alvarez said of his dream to win titles in three promotions. “I have fought for every organization. I’ve pretty much become the champion in every organization. That’s always been the main goal from the gate.

“But I think One is making strides and for right now I think it’s about getting a footprint here in the United States and this is the start of it right here with Amazon Prime.”

Things didn’t go a…

Brunno Ferreira, 17-Year-Old Raul Rosas Jr. Among UFC Signees from Week 9 of DWCS

One clubbing right hand was all Brunno Ferreira needed to shift momentum—permanently.

The undefeated Brazilian was one of five competitors signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship from Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he wrecked Leon Aliu with punches in the first round of their middleweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Aliu (10-2, 0-1 DWCS) met his end 95 seconds into Round 1.

Ferreira (9-0, 1-0 DWCS) tested the water with kicks, then connected with a right hook to the temple that set the Albanian on rubbery legs. Aliu never recovered, his equilibrium having been shaken beyond repair. Ferreira gave chase with punches, denied a desperate single-leg takedown attempt, drove his compromised counterpart to the canvas and connected with a diving standing-to-ground right hand that drew the curtain.

In addition to Ferreira, the UFC also linked arms with bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr., lightweight Nurullo Aliev, flyw…

Cody Garbrandt Pulled from UFC Fight Night 211 Card Due to Injury

Cody Garbrandt will not remain on the UFC Fight Night 211 card following an injury suffered in training.

Multiple outlets confirmed Garbrandt’s exit from the event following an initial report from ESPN. Garbrandt was originally expected to face Rani Yahya at the event, but Yahya pulled out of the fight as a result of a neck injury. Garbrandt was initially going to stay on the card against a replacement opponent.

A former 135-pound champion, Garbrandt is returning to the division following a short-lived stint at flyweight. In his lone 125-pound appearance, “No Love” fell to Kai Kara France via first-round technical knockout at UFC 269 on Dec. 11. The 31-year-old Ohioan has lost five of his last six in UFC competition.

UFC Fight Night 211 takes place on Oct. 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a strawweight tilt pitting Mackenzie Dern against Xiaonan Yan.

Dana White’s Contender Series 2022 Week 9 Play-by-Play and Results

Sherdog's live DWCS 2022 Week 9 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.

Round 1 Venezuela’s Echeverria has compiled a 7-0 mark while competing exclusively under the Titan FC banner. Filho is a veteran of the Shooto Brazil promotion and has been victorious in seven of his last eight professional appearances. Mark Smith is your referee for this flyweight clash. No glove touch and Filho takes the center of the cage. Filho with an inside leg kick to begin the offense. Echeverria moves forward behind a left hook and a front kick. Filho is focusing on the leg kicks at the start. Echeverria with a hard outside low kick of his own. Filho shoots and presses his foe into the fence. Echeverria defends and gets an underhook in. Echeverria turns off the fence, but Filho maintains his grip. Filho looks for a takedown, but Echeverria winds up on top in a scramble. They’re …

UFC 280 Update: Jailton Almeida, Shamil Abdurakhimov to Clash in Abu Dhabi

Jailton Almeida and Shamil Abdurakhimov will lock horns at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 22.

Almeida confirmed the heavyweight booking on his Instagram account following an initial report from AgFight. Almedia and Abdurakhimov were initially slated to square off at UFC 279 before Abdurakhimov was forced to withdraw from the event due to visa issues.

Almeida has been on a tear since earning a UFC contract with a second-round submission of Nasrudin Nasrudinov on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021. He has kicked off his promotional tenure with first-round finishes of Danilo Marques, Parker Porter and Anton Turkalj. The 31-year-old Brazilian known as “Malhadinho” has won his last 12 professional outings overall.

The 41-year-old Abdurakhimov will enter the matchup with Almeida on a three-bout skid in the Octagon. The Dagestani last appeared at UFC Fight Night 204 on March 19, when he suffered a first-round TKO loss to Sergei Pavlovich. Abdurak…

NSAC Approves Seven UFC Events in Nevada for Remainder of 2022

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will spend much of the rest of 2022 on its home turf.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday approved licenses for seven UFC events in Nevada. Six of those will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, while the seventh, UFC 282, will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The promotion currently has 10 events remaining on the calender for the rest of the year. Those not slated for Las Vegas include UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 22; UFC 281 in New York on Nov. 12 and UFC Fight Night on Dec. 3 in Orlando.

Meanwhile, the Las Vegas dates feature Fight Nights on Oct. 1, Oct. 15, Oct. 29, Nov. 5, Nov. 19 and Dec. 17, while UFC 282 is slated for Dec. 10.

Ex-UFC Featherweight Champion Germaine de Randamie Announces Pregnancy

If Germaine de Randamie does return to the Octagon, it won’t be any time in the near future.

The former UFC featherweight champion announced via Instagram that she is pregnant and expected to give birth in March 2023.

“Woohoooo we can finally scream it from the top of our lungs, ‘WE ARE PREGNANT,’ de Randamie wrote. “We are blessed with our little miracle.”

The 38-year-old de Randamie hasn’t competed since a third-round submission victory over ex-bantamweight queen Julianna Pena at UFC on ESPN 16 in October 2020. The Netherlands native was a top contender at both 135 and 145 pounds. She claimed the UFC’s inaugural featherweight belt with a decision triumph against Holly Holm at UFC 208 but would vacate the throne without defending the title.

De Randamie later challenged for bantamweight gold at UFC 245, dropping a five-round verdict to Amanda Nunes. “The Iron Lady” owns a 10-4 career mark that includes triumphs over the likes of Pena, A…

Nate Diaz Protege Chris Avila to Face Social Media Influencer on Paul-Silva Undercard

Former UFC and Bellator MMA talent Chris Avila will square off against social media influencer Mikhail “Doctor Mike” Varshavski on the Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva undercard.

Showtime announced the booking on Tuesday. The bout will be contested over four rounds at 185 pounds. The event takes place at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., on Oct. 9 and is headlined by the aforementioned clash between Paul and Silva. It will be available on pay-per-view via Showtime.

Avila, who gained a measure of notoriety as a disciple of UFC star Nate Diaz, is 8-9 in MMA and 1-1 in professional boxing. The Cesar Gracie Fight Team export went 0-2 in the UFC and 1-2 in Bellator. He is coming off back-to-back first-round KO/TKO wins under the North Iowa Fights banner in 2021 in MMA, while he took a majority decision over former Bellator foe Anthony Taylor in the boxing ring this past December.

“Hmmmm, let’s see. I am giving him a height advantage, a reach advant…

Former UFC Competitor Askar Mozharov Suspended 6 Months for Failed Drug Test

Askar Mozharov was suspended for six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday for a failed drug test in relation to his lone Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance.

Mozharov tested positive for the substance GW1516 sulfone, which is a hormone and metabolic modulator. According to USADA, the substance can modify how the body metabolizes fat and was “originally synthesized and evaluated for the treatment of obesity, diabetes, and other disorders caused by metabolic problems.” Mozharov was not sanctioned by USADA because the sample he submitted was below the organization’s threshhold for an anti-doping violation.

In addition to a six-month suspension, Mozharov was fined 10 percent of his purse from his first-round technical knockout loss to Alonzo Menifield at UFC Fight Night 207 on June 4. Salaries from the event were not disclosed.

Mozharov gained notoriety for falsifying his MMA record prior to facing Menifield, and once…

Contender Series Weigh-in Results: All Fighters Hit Contracted Marks for Week 9

Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series is now official, as all 10 fighters set to compete made weight without issue on Monday.

The Contender Series Takes place on Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a middleweight showdown between Leon Aliu (186) and Brunno Ferreira (184).

Italy’s Aliu has been victorious in 10 of his first 11 professional appearances — with all of his victories coming inside the distance. In his last outing, the 33-year-old knocked out James Webb in the opening round at Cage Warriors 138 on May 28.

A native of Curitiba Brazil, Ferreira brings an 8-0 mark into the Contender Series. The 29-year-old Evolucao Thai product has six first-round finishes to his credit since beginning his professional tenure in 2019.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Leon Aliu (186) vs. Brunno Ferreira (184)Raul Rosas Jr. (134) vs. Mando Gutierrez (135.5)Austen Lane (240.5) vs. Richard J…

Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Chris Daukaus Moved to UFC 282 on Dec. 10

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A heavyweight bout pitting Jairzinho Rozenstruik against Chris Daukaus has been moved to UFC 282.

The fight was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night 211 on Oct. 1 but was shifted for undisclosed reasons. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news. UFC 282 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 10 and is expected to feature a light heavyweight championship rematch between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira.

Roze…

Featherweight Championship Bout Tops Rizin 39 Lineup on Oct. 23

Rizin Fighting Federation featherweight champion Juntaro Ushiku will defend his crown against Kleber Koike Erbst in the Rizin 39 main event on Oct. 23.

The Japanese promotion recently announced the booking, along with the following bouts: Koji Takeda vs. Zach Zane at lightweight; Motonobu Tezuka vs. Mehman Mamedov at bantamweight; Vugar Karamov vs. Yoshiki Nakahara at featherweight and Daichi Abe vs. Yukinari Tamura at welterweight.

Ushiku, who is also the reigning Deep champion, claimed Rizin gold with a second-round stoppage of Yutaka Saito at Rizin 31 this past October. He defended the crown with a unanimous verdict against Saito in a rematch at Rizin 35 on April 17. The 27-year-old Tokyo native has won 10 of his last 11 professional outings and is 20-6 over the course of his career.

A former KSW title holder, Erbst has kicked off his Rizin tenure with five consecutive submission triumphs. Most recently, he dispatched Kyohei Hagiwara in th…

Former UFC, WEC Champ Jose Aldo Retires from MMA

Jose Aldo is retiring from mixed martial arts following a decorated career in the sport.

Sherdog.com confirmed the news with sources close to the fighter following an initial report from Combate.com. The UFC has agreed to grant Aldo his release even though the former featherweight champion still had one fight remaining on his contract, which will allow him to puruse other combat sports endeavors if he so chooses.

Aldo was reportedly offered a fight at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 21, but he hadn’t made a decision about his career at that time.

The Nova Uniao standout exits the sport at 36 years old with a 31-8 mark following an 18-year career. He captured 145-pound gold in World Extreme Cagefighting and the UFC and was a top contender during his recent transition to bantamweight, falling short in a title bid against Petr Yan at UFC 251.

It’s likely that Aldo continues to test his skills in other combat sports going forward. There …

Gregory Rodrigues Felt ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Kind of Blind’ After Knee from Chidi Njokuani

Gregory Rodrigues had to dig deep to earn victory at UFC Fight Night 210.

The Brazilian absorbed a heavy knee early on in his co-main event encounter with Chidi Njokuani, and that blow opened a massive cut on his forehead. The man known as “Robocop” admitted that he needed a moment to regain his bearings.

“I know I was dizzy,” he said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I was like, ‘Man what happened?’ The blood starting coming down. i was kind of blind, trying to figure out [what I was going to do] … After that cut, everybody is gonna be confident to try to finish the fight. Then I started to throw my hands to show him I’m still there.”

Rodrigues did exactly that. His rally began in the second half of Round 1, as he hurt and dropped the Bellator veteran. That set the stage for a relatively quick finish in the second frame, when he tripped Njokuani to the canvas and unloaded with ground strikes for a stoppage at the 1:27 mark of the pe…

Cory Sandhagen: Doctor Stoppage at UFC Fight Night 210 Was ‘Kind of a Bummer’

Cory Sandhagen was mostly happy with his performance at UFC Fight Night 210, but he can also empathize with Yadong Song’s situation.

Sandhagen emerged with a technical knockout win after four rounds when the cageside doctor determined Song couldn’t continue due to a significant cut over his left eye. Sandhagen caused the gash when he landed an elbow early in the fight, and the wound got progressively worse as time passed. Sandhagen was confident that he had already seized momentum and would’ve have continued to take control in a fifth round.

“It was definitely a step forward. Song’s a hell of a fighter. I knew that he was gonna be super tough. The guy hits really hard. He defended my takedowns really well,” Sandhagen said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I think I was starting to figure him out as the fight went on, so I was really looking forward to a fifth round.

“That [stoppage] was kind of a bummer. These people that I’m fightin…

Dana White Shares Before, After Photos of Gregory Rodrigues’ Gruesome Cut

[SENSITIVE STOMACH WARNING]

These before and after pics of Greg Rodrigues' getting stitched up are WILD #UFCVegas60

(via @danawhite) pic.twitter.com/6juxEbRZtj — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 18, 2022

A nasty gash didn’t faze Gregory Rodrigues, but the wound isn’t for the faint of heart.

The Brazilian known as “Robocop” suffered a signficant cut on his forehead early in the opening round of his middleweight clash with Chidi Njokuani at UFC Fight Night 210 when his opponent connected flush with a knee. Rodrigues kept fighting and rallied to defeat Njokuani via second-round TKO in Saturday’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

After the bout, UFC president Dana White shared before-and-after photos of Rodrigues’ cut (via Bleacher Report), which was pretty gruesome until it was stitched up. The former Contender Series competitor has won four of five Octagon appearances, and he proved tha…

UFC Fight Night 210 Bonuses: Rodrigues, Njokuani, Pyfer, Jackson Receive $50K

WHAT A COMEBACK #UFCVEGAS60 pic.twitter.com/lIrFPnZpq4

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 18, 2022

Gregory Rodrigues and Chidi Njokuani delivered on their pre-fight hype — and then some — in the UFC Fight Night 210 co-main event.

The middleweights received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their slugfest at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. Njokuani opened a nasty cut on Rodrigues forehead with a knee early, but the Brazilian known as “Robocop” rallied to drop his foe later in Round 1 before ending the fight with ground-and-pound at the 1:27 mark of Round 2.

Elsewhere, recent Dana White’s Contender Series winner Joseph Pyfer garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his quick finish of Alen Amedovski in a featured middleweight affair. Pyfer stalked his opponent near the fence, dropped him with a massive right and sealed his win with one follow-up strike 3:55 into the opening stanza. Read more about UFC Fight Night 210 Bonuses: Rodrigues, Njokuani, Pyfer, Jackson Receive $50K

Cory Sandhagen Elbow Cuts, Stops Yadong Song in UFC Fight Night 210 Headliner

Yadong Song will likely bear the evidence of his encounter with Cory Sandhagen forever.

The 30-year-old Sandhagen kept his spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight line, as he prompted a cut stoppage against the fast-rising Team Alpha Male contender in their UFC Fight Night 210 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The end came between the fourth and fifth rounds, and it certainly seemed justified.

The fight was competitive from start to finish. However, Sandhagen (15-4, 8-3 UFC) landed the signature blow in the second round, where he stepped into an elbow strike in the center of the cage and hacked open a ghastly diagonal gash above his counterpart’s left eye. Song (19-7-1, 8-2-1) fought through adversity initially, but the cut only widened and deepened as the bout progressed. By the time Round 4 was over, it became clear that he should go no further. Resilient Rodrigues Dismisses Njokuani Former Legacy Fighting Allian…

UFC Fight Night 210 ‘Sandhagen vs. Song’ Play-by-Play, Results & Round Scoring

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 210 coverage will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

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

BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Motta (-205), VanCamp (+175)Round 1 The UFC is having a bit of a comedown from the last week’s ridiculous pay-per-view mess, trotting out a low-key Fight Night with one single ranked matchup that sits atop the event – to top it off, a plurality of the competitors came straight off or are one fight in from Dana White’s Contender Series matches. This includes the first fight on the card, where 2020 signee Motta (12-4, 0-1 UFC) had the misfortune of drawing motivated Jim Miller in his UFC debut earlier this year. Motta was not the only man to get a tough first out, as VanCamp (15-6-1, 1 NC; 0-1 UFC) squared off against power-punching welterweight Andre Fialho a few months ago only to get punched out. Both of these two lightweights will try to r…

UFC Fight Night 210 Prelims: Heavy-Hearted Damon Jackson Upsets Pat Sabatini

ACTION JACKSON WASTED NO TIME 👊 #UFCVegas60 pic.twitter.com/VV0lo2o06b

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 17, 2022

Neither grief nor Pat Sabatini could slow down Damon Jackson.

Roughly a week after the sudden death of his older brother, the Fortis MMA representative strengthened his position in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division and struck Pat Sabatini into submission in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 210 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The end came 69 seconds into Round 1.

Jackson (22-4-1, 5-2-1 UFC) unleashed a devastating front kick to the face that staggered the former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder, then went to work. He sprawled on an attempted takedown and climbed to full mount before advancing to the back and flattening out a clearly compromised Sabatini (17-4, 4-1 UFC). Jackson uncorked a series of unanswered punches to the side of the …

Anderson Silva Suggests Dana White, Jake Paul Should Fight to Settle Beef

Ultimate Fighting Championship great Anderson Silva believes his old boss should lace up the gloves and do some fighting for himself.

UFC head Dana White recently stated that Silva might be inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame in the future, and Silva had some thoughts about his former employer he wanted to get out. Silva is planning on boxing Jake Paul at the end of October, and White was not entirely sold on the whole endeavor while expressing his distaste for the YouTuber-turned-boxer. “The Spider” spoke with Brazilian outlet Combate this week, initially to promote his boxing match with Jake Paul, scheduled for Oct. 29 in Phoenix.

“If the two of them have a problem, I think Dana should agree to fight Jake, that would end all this controversy,” Silva remarked. “Put [on] the gi, do MMA. Jake understands a lot about MMA, so I think it would be a nice MMA fight for the two of them.”

Getting the topic back on track to his own upcoming fight, Silva had som…

UFC Fight Night 210 Weigh-in Results: Ladd vs. McMann Canceled After Ladd Weight Miss

1️⃣3️⃣5️⃣.5️⃣ for @SongYadongLFG - your #UFCVegas60 main event is official 👏 pic.twitter.com/elPAeVTAOj

— UFC (@ufc) September 16, 2022 After a hectic pay-per-view offering, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to relative normalcy with UFC Fight Night 210.

The now 13-fight card is headlined by a bantamweight contest between contenders Cory Sandhagen and Yadong Song. Both main event fighters successfully made their contracted weights, which was a stark contrast to the drama last week. All fighters made weight except for Aspen Ladd (138), who weighed in two pounds heavy for her bantamweight fight against Sara McMann, and middleweight Alen Amedovski (186.5), who initially clocked in half a pound over for his 185-pound scrap with Joseph Pyfer. Ladd vs. McMann has since been canceled by the UFC, while Amedovski came back to weigh 185.5 pounds.

While a title shot seemed inevitable after back-to-back stunning knockou…

Marlon Moraes Ends Brief Retirement, Signs With PFL for 145-Pound Return

Once again, a fighter’s retirement came to an end just a few months after saying goodbye to the sport.

On Thursday night, ESPN announced that Marlon Moraes (23-10-1) has come out retirement to sign with the Professional Fighters League. The report mentioned, that per Moraes’ manager Ali Abdelaziz, the contract was not finalized but was expected to come together shortly. Minutes later, Moraes publicized his return to the organization, and he will be competing at 145 pounds when he does come back. There is no currently announced event or opponent for his first fight back, although PFL recently picked up fellow ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Shane Burgos as well.

Moraes initially wrote a thorough retirement message in April, when he stated that he was going to hang up his gloves.

“I want to thank everyone – Sean Shelby, Dana White and the UFC for giving me so many opportunities,” Moraes wrote. “I want to thank my family, my coaches, my manager…