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First Time Ever!! The Octagon lands at #UFCParis on Sept 3! 🇫🇷

Register now for early access to tickets ⤵️

🎟️ https://t.co/IFdZXeHldm pic.twitter.com/Q21KS3FDQn

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 19, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Thursday announced that France would host its first UFC Fight Night event on Sept. 3 at the Accor Arena in Paris.

While the UFC has not yet announced an official fight, former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane expects to clash with Tai Tuivasa. Meanwhile, Marvin Vettori has campaigned to face former middleweight titleholder Robert Whittaker at the event after their scheduled clash was scratched from the forthcoming UFC 275 show in June.

Besides Gane, several other French competitors seem likely to be under consideration for the card, including Nassourdine Imavov, Manon Fiorot, Alan Baudot and Zarah Fairn dos Santos. France has long been home to mixed martial artists in all major promot…

PFL CEO @PeteMurrayPFL on how today’s funding will help the Fans, Fighters, and the growth of MMA pic.twitter.com/SrOYAjzAxy

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 19, 2022

The Professional Fighters League on Thursday announced the completion of a $30 million Series E equity round to fund global expansion and launch its new “PPV Super Fight Division.”

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The funding was ushered by Waverley Capital, a venture capital firm guided by Daniel Leff and Edgar Bronfman, Jr. Former Major League Baseball superstar and current businessman Alex Rodriguez also took part and will join Leff on the PFL Board of Directors.

A press release sent Thursday morning stated that the PFL has total funding $200 million from dozens of sports stars, media leaders and influencers, including Ted Leonsis, Brandon Beck, Mark Lerner, Debra Cafaro, Ray Lewis and Wiz Khalifa.

“With this new capital, PFL is open for business to sign the biggest MMA star fighters in th…

Two more fights have been added to the UFC’s Aug. 13 lineup, as Sara McMann will face Aspen Ladd at bantamweight, while Bruno Silva will meet Gerald Meerschaert at middleweight.

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McMann vs. Ladd was first reported by All Access MMA, and Ag.Fight initially brought word of Silva vs. Meerschaert. The Aug. 13 UFC Fight Night card does not yet have a location or headliner.

An Olympic silver medalist and former bantamweight title challenger, McMann has been victorious in two of her last three Octagon appearances. Most recenty, the South Carolina native outpointed Karol Rosa at UFC on ESPN 33 on March 26.

The 27-year-old Ladd has fallen on hard times of late with losses in three of her last four promotional outings. The MMAGold Fight Team member is coming off a decision loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 273 on April 9.

Silva, a former M-1 Global champion, saw a seven-fight professional winning streak come to an end at UFC Fight Night 203, wher…

Andre Fialho continues to be the most active fighter on the UFC roster in 2022, as he will lock horns with Jake Matthews at UFC 275 on June 11.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Full Violence. UFC 275 takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore and is headlined by a light heavyweight title clash between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka.

Fialho will fight for the third time in three months and the fourth time overall this year when he squares off against Matthews. After dropping a decision against Michel Pereira at UFC 270, the Bellator veteran has rebounded to score back-to-back KO/TKO victories over Miguel Baeza and Cameron VanCamp in the Octagon.

The 27-year-old Matthews will be making his first appearance of 2022. The Australian known as “The Celtic Kid” had a three-bout winning streak halted in his last outing, when he was submitted in the third round by Sean Brady at UFC 259.

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

After kicking off his Octagon tenure with two impressive wins, Alex Pereira will make his third promotional appearance against ranked middleweight Sean Strickland at UFC 276 on July 2.

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As a result of two kickboxing victories against Israel Adesanya, another impressive performance against Strickland could fast track Pereira to a title shot against “The Last Stylebender.”

While oddsmakers have “Poatan” as a slight favorite against Strickland, Brazilian trainers Rafael Cordeiro and Vinicio Anthony are not so optimistic about Pereira’s chances.

"He went to Kings [MMA] a couple of times and did tough sparring with [Marvin] Vettori,” Cordeiro told Sherdog.com. “He is very hard to spar against. Long range, very aggressive, always walking forward. I agree ‘Poatan’ should be favored but I don’t visualize an easy fight.”

Antony, the former head coach of Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida, takes it on…

As his first light heavyweight title defense draws near, the finish line is in sight for Glover Teixeira.

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Teixiera is scheduled to face Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 275 main event on June 11 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The 42-year-old Brazilian has his ideal scenario laid out, which of course begins with a win over Prochazka.

“The perfect plan would be winning this fight, which I have full focus on,” Teixeira said on the Mundo da Luta podcast (translation via MMAFighting.com). “And fighting one last time in November, in New York, which is close to the city I live for 20 years, and close to my gym. It would be my farewell from fighting. That’s what I’m thinking right now.”

The UFC has not announced an event for New York, but November is typically when the Las Vegas-based promotion travels to the Empire State, including UFC 268 last year. If Teixeira does call it a career, he wants his retirement to stick. That isn’t so co…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPn48bMd6V8&w=560&h=315]

If Junior dos Santos takes care of business at Eagle FC 47, big things could be in store for the Brazilian heavyweight.

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That is, if Eagle FC promoter Khabib Nurmagomedov gets his way. Dos Santos will face fellow UFC veteran Yorgan De Castro in the Eagle FC 47 main event on Friday at FLXCast Arena in Miami.

“If Dos Santos wins, I really want to make Dos Santos versus Fedor [Emelianenko],” Nurmagomedov said at the Eagle FC 47 pre-fight press conference. “He has to focus on Yorgan next because Friday he has a tough opponent.

“He has to stay focused but I want to talk to my friend [Bellator president] Scott Coker because Fedor is under Bellator contract. I don’t know what they’re going to do next with him but definitely we can talk and we can create some good stories.”

Emelianenko is expected to have his farewell fight with Bellator at some point this year. Coker and the California…

Though it was a successful financial year by most any account, Conor McGregor is no longer the highest-paid athlete in professional sports.

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According to Forbes, the former UFC two-division champion ranks 35th among the 50 highest-paid athletes for 2022. The Irish star reportedly garnered $43 million in total: $33 million from a UFC 264 bout against Dustin Poirer in July 2021 and another $10 million in endorsements and sponsorships.

That is a significant drop-off from the previous year, when McGregor ranked No. 1 among athletes with $180 million in earnings. That figure was due in large part to selling a majority stake of Proper No. Twelve whiskey for $150 million. He also reportedly banked $22 million for his first meeting with Poirier at UFC 257.

Topping on the 2022 list are soccer star Lionel Messi ($130 million) and NBA standout LeBron James ($121.2 million). Messi ranked second the previous year.

McGregor is the only mixed martial …

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Undefeated UFC featherweight Lerone Murphy was hospitalized after a cycling accident led to a “near death experience.”

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The Manchester Top Team representative posted a photo on Instagram of himself in a hospital bed while providing an account of the incident.

“Ffs I can’t catch a break,” Murphy wrote. “Another near death experience. Yesterday while cycling, an oncoming car turned right without looking and we collided at speed. Which caused a nasty head wound. The ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive which nearly caused me to bleed out. I’m here still breathing for a greater purpose clearly.”

Murphy previously had a brush with death when he was shot three times in 2013 after leaving a barber shop in Fallowfield, England. Bullets hit Murphy in the face and neck and he underwent surgery after spending a week in intensive care. A tiny shard of bullet remains permanently embedded in his tongue from the attack. L…

The Professional Fighters League is ready to continue its 2022 campaign with a full slate of lightweight and light heavyweight bouts on June 17.

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The promotion on Tuesday announced matchups for PFL 4, which takes place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

PFL 4 will be headlined by a lightweight showdown between Clay Collard and Alexander Martinez, while Antonio Carlos Jr. will face Bruce Souto at light heavyweight in the co-main event. Rounding out the main draw is a lightweight tilt pitting Raush Manfio against Olivier Aubin-Mercier and a 155-pound scrap between Jeremy Stephens and Myles Price.

Five bouts will kick off the preliminary portion of the card: Omari Akhmedov vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis at light heavyweight; Natan Schulte vs. Marcin Held at lightweight; Emiliano Sordi vs. Delan Monte at light heavyweight; Rober…

A recent positive test for the long term metabolite of the steroid dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) — known as the M3 metabolite — will not keep Manel Kape from competing at UFC 275 next month.

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The Nevada State Athletic Commission ruled on Monday that Kape must be tested twice per month for six months and the results must either be negative or below the 100-picograms-per-millileter threshold for the M3 metabolite in order to be licensed by the commission.

The M3 metabolite is the same one that came to prominence when Jon Jones tested positive for the long-term metabolite in multiple screenings beginning in late 2018. USADA ruled that in cases like Jones and numerous others that followed, that it could not determined how long ago the fighter might have ingested the banned substance before it turned into the metabolite. That led to the anti-doping body instituting the 100 pg/ML threshold as a tipping point to potentially discipline the athlet…

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The dates for Season 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series are now official.

The promotion, which serves as a feeder system for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, received approval from the Nevada State Athletic Commission to hold cards at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday nights from July 26 to Sept. 27. If that holds, the upcoming season of the Contender Series would be 10 events.

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The Contender Series held eight cards apiece in its first two seasons, but has since expanded to 10 events for Seasons 3 through 5. Cards typically feature five bouts barring late cancellations, but a few have included as many as six fights.

Some of the notables to sign with the UFC from the Contender Series include Sean O'Malley, Geoff Neal, Ryan Spann, Jamahal Hill, Brendan Allen, Tracy Cortez, Andre Muniz, Taila Santos, Johnny Walker, Marina Rodriguez, Maycee Barber, Sodiq Yusuff, Jimmy Crute, Alex Perez and Grant Dawson, to name a few.

Read more about Dana White’s Contender Series to Run 10-Week Schedule from July 26 to Sept. 27

After submitting Nasrudin Nasrudinov to earn a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, Jailton Almeida impressed yet again in his Octagon debut with a first-round TKO of Danilo Marques at UFC Fight Night 200.

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Almeida was originally slated to meet Maxim Grishin in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 206 on Saturday before his opponent withdrew as a result of an injury. Instead, he’ll move up a weight class in order to remain on the card.

“Mick Maynard offered us an opportunity at heavyweight against Parker Porter and since I want to be active, I decided to accept,” Almeida told Sherdog.com.

A self-proclaimed fan of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Khamzat Chimaev, Almeida revealed that fighting Porter is part of his plan to follow in Chimaev’s footsteps.

“In our last interview I told you I want to be the Khabib Nurmagomedov of 205-pound division,” he said. “But I also want to be just like Chimaev, fighting in two divisions. The opportu…

"I'm Argentinean, but I'm a nice guy.”

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With that introductory statement on the Globo broadcast of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2,” Santiago Ponzinibbio, the only non-Brazilian on the season, was able to win over the audience and make them forget about the country’s longstanding soccer rivalry with Argentina. Always smiling and speaking Portuguese with a strong Spanish accent, Ponzinibbio went on to be one of the most popular fighters on the season.

Ponzinibbio won all his fights on the show but was unable to fight in the finale due to an arm injury. Once he recovered, Ponzinibbio signed with the UFC and relocated to Florida to train at American Top Team. He authored a seven-bout winning streak between 2015 and 2018 to establish himself as a serious contender at 170 pounds, but a bacterial infection put him on the shelf for more than two years.

Ponzinibbio returned to the Octagon in 2021, losing two of his three bouts, including a competitive s…

A light heavyweight scrap pitting Devin Clark against Azamat Murzakanov is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Aug. 13 card.

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Hosheh MMA was first to report the booking. The event current does not have a location or headliner.

A former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion, Clark ended a two-bout skid in his last outing, when he stopped William Knight in the third round of their matchup at UFC on ESPN 34. “Brown Bear” is 7-6 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Murzakanov earned a UFC deal with a first-round TKO of Matheus Scheffel on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2021. In his Octagon debut, the 35-year-old Russian knocked out Tafon Nchukwi with a flying knee at UFC Fight Night 203 to run his professional mark to 11-0.

As expected, Aleksandar Rakic suffered a serious injury to his knee at UFC on ESPN 36 this past Saturday.

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The fighter’s manager, Marcelo Briagdeiro, told ESPN that an MRI revealed that the light heavyweight tore the ACL in his right knee in a third-round TKO loss to Jan Blachowicz at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Rakic collapsed to the canvas after stepping back on his right leg, and the bout was halted at the 1:11 mark of Round 3.

Rakic is currently returning to Austria and is expected to have the surgery done as soon as possible. “Rocket” posted a message on his Instagram account on Monday, part of which seemed to be directed toward Blachowicz.

“God had other plans for me Saturday night. Sometimes we need to lose small battles in order to win the war,” he wrote. Win or lose, good or bad the experience will change you.

“One thing I promise you, I will be back better than ever. This is not over yet. Unfinished business. Rematch! I waited…

The lineup for the UFC Fight Night card on July 16 continues to grow, as a bantamweight clash between Ricky Simon and Jack Shore and a featherweight tilt pitting Billy Quarantillo against Bill Alegeo have been added to the lineup.

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Iridium Sports Agency announced Simon vs. Shore, while Sherdog.com's Tudor Leonte initially reported Quarantillo vs. Algeo. UFC Fight Night is expected to be headlined by a featherweight showdown between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez, with a location and venue to be announced.

Simon has established himself as a person of interest at 135 pounds with a four-bout winning streak that includes a second-round KO of longtime contender Raphael Assuncao in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 199.

A former Cage Warriors champion, Shore is unbeaten in 16 professional appearances — including five in UFC competition. Most recently, “Tank” outpointed Timur Valiev at UFC Fight Night 204.

Quarantillo has lost two of his las…

Brad Riddell will lock horns with Jalin Turner in a lightweight bout at UFC 276.

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Turner’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, announced the pairing on social media. UFC 276 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight championship clash between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier.

Riddell had a seven-bout winning streak snapped in his most recent Octagon appearance, when he suffered a knockout loss to Rafael Fiziev at UFC on ESPN 31 this past December. The City Kickboxing export kicked off his promotional tenure with successive triumphs against Jamie Mullarkey, Magomed Mustafaev, Alex da Silva Coelho and Drew Dober.

Turner, meanwhile, is in the middle of a four-bout Octagon run in which he has finished all of his opponents inside of two rounds. In his last outing, “The Tarantula” stopped Mullarkey via TKO 46 seconds into Round 2 at UFC 272. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum is 12-5 as a professional, w…

A lightweight showdown pitting Drew Dober against Rafael Alves has been added to the UFC 277 lineup.

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The bout was first reported by MMA Fight Universe. UFC 277 is expected to take place in Dallas on July 30 and features an interim flyweight title tilt between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara France as well as a middleweight showdown betwee Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold.

Dober snapped a two-bout skid in his last outing, when he defeated Terrance McKinney via technical knockout 3:17 into the opening round of their UFC Fight Night 203 clash on March 12. The Elevation Fight Team representative enjoyed his greatest success in the Octagon from 2017 to 2020, when he was victorious in six of seven promotional appearances.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Alves has split a pair of UFC bouts, dropping a three-round verdict to Damir Isamgulov at UFC Fight Night 188 before submitting Marc Diakiese at UFC Fight Night 197. The 31-year-old M…

Our 20-week program allows you to step into the cage and test your skills against a fellow Alta Warrior in an amateur #MMA bout! pic.twitter.com/MTkQfhkEtZ

— Alta (@trainalta) May 4, 2022

The next installment of the transformative mixed martial arts program formerly known as Wimp2Warrior is set for the end of May, and a few familiar faces will be at the helm.

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Daniel Cormier, Gilbert Melendez and Jessica-Rose Clark are among those who will serve as head coaches for what is now called Alta’s “Warrior Training Program,” a 20-week journey that begins with basics of the sport and ends with a three-round amateur MMA bout against someone from the program.

Cormier will coach athletes at the Daniel Cormier Wrestling Academy in Gilroy, Calif.; Melendez will work out of the El Nino Training Center in San Francisco and Clark will lead athletes at the Combat Sports Academy in Dublin, Calif. The program will also be held at Xtreme Co…

UFC bantamweight competitor Ashlee Evans-Smith has received a 14-month suspension from USADA for an anti-doping violation.

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Evans-Smith tested positive for “an anabolic androgenic steroid of exogenous origin” in out-of-competition samples collected on Jan. 3 and Jan. 27. Evans-Smith declared dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on her doping control forms at the time post samples were collected. DHEA is a hormone that the body produces in the adrenal gland and helps to produce other hormones like testoserone and estrogren.

Evans-Smith provided evidence that a physician incorrectly prescribed DHEA to her, which diminished her degree of fault, according to USADA. She also received a reduction in her suspension for her full and complete cooperation. Evans-Smith’s sanction is retroactive to Jan. 3, the date her first positive sample was collected. That means she will be eligible to return to action in March 2023.

The 34-year-old Reign MMA member hasn’t fou…

A second request for bail for Cain Velasquez was denied during a hearing at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose, Calif., on Monday.

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Judge Shelyna Brown, the same judge who denied bail to the former UFC champion during an arraignment on March 7, determined that Velasquez will remain behind bars. Velasquez is facing attempted murder and other charges after allegedly shooting at Harry Goularte, who is accused of molesting a relative of the Velasquez’s on multiple occasions. Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender, was shot in the shoulder during the incident, which occurred on Feb. 28. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the latest details in the Velasquez case.

“The reason this court says that is because this was such a reckless disregard for human life,” Brown said. “In this case, it is not just Mr. Goularte and his family. It is every single citizen who was in danger of being shot or rammed with a vehicle at the time of this seven-mile c…

Gregor Gillespie wants to make one thing perfectly clear: He is still very much a part of the UFC roster.

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Rumors of Gillespie’s release began to circulate when Twitter account UFC Roster Watch announced that the lightweight had been removed from the UFC roster. Gillespie took to social media to clarify the situation shortly there after.

“I am removed from the RANKINGS.. Not from the organization,” Gillespie wrote on Twitter. “(Fighters are removed after 12 months of inactivity). I am NOT GOING ANYWHERE! The UFC has always been great to me! 100% class! It is not their fault that I don’t have a fight. They have offered me plenty of fights.”

Gillespie hasn’t competed since UFC on ESPN 24 in May 2021, when he defeated Diego Ferreira via second-round technical knockout. The 35-year-old Bellmore Kickboxing Academy representative explained that he has been on the sidelines because he isn’t interested in facing anyone ranked below him, and that has mad…

Not only did Amanda Ribas move up a weight class on Saturday night, but it sounds as though she was competing at less than 100 percent.

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Ribas was competitive against flyweight contender Katlyn Chookagian at UFC on ESPN 36, ultimately losing a split decision in a bout that received “Fight of the Night” honors at the end of the evening. Marcelo Ribas, the father of the Brazilian fighter, took to Instagram to reveal that Ribas suffered a “total rupture of the biceps tendon” 25 days before the fight.

“A very stressful month,” Marcelo wrote on Instagram. “A golden opportunity to fight world number one. At 25 days, an injury ‘total rupture of the biceps tendon’ comes in, then physical therapy 3 times a day to try to get [her] to fight. ... 25 days without training our strength which is jiu jitsu and judo. And we’d arrive in Las Vegas not knowing if we’d be able to handle grappling or wrestling on the ground.”

Ribas landed three takedowns and contro…