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Things are already starting to heat up ahead of this weekend’s UFC London card.

Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett were involved in a brief altercation at the promotion’s host hotel on Tuesday. Topuria shared a video on social media of the incident, which saw punches and water bottles thrown before the fighters were separated.

“I warned you! This is what happens when you disrespect me and my country!” Topuria wrote on Instagram. “You saw me and wanted to greet me because you s—t your pants… and you should thank my team because if it wasn’t for them separating me, I would have taken your head off. This is not twitter, this is real life.”

Topuria, who is 11-0 as a professional and 3-0 in the UFC, is slated to meet Jai Herbert in a featherweight bout at UFC Fight Night 204 on Saturday. Pimblett, meanwhile, is set to square off against Rodrigo Vargas at 155 pounds after the ex-Cage Warriors champion was victorious in his first promotional appearance.

Pimblett …

When Pride Fighting Championship fans recall the golden era of the Japanese promotion, the rivalry between Chute Boxe and Brazilian Top Team often comes to mind.

After all, the clashes between Carlson Gracie jiu-jitsu black belts from Rio de Janeiro and the muay Thai aces from Chute Boxe team led by Rudimar Fedrigo in Curitiba marked some of the most important chapters of the Japanese organization between 1997 and 2007.

The world of MMA has changed a lot in the last 15 years. On Monday, Conan Silveira, one of the first black belts under Carlson Gracie and one of the founders of American Top Team, launched the first Brazilian branch of ATT in Curitiba, the homeland of Chute Boxe. Wanderlei Silva and Royce Gracie were also in attendance at the ceremony.

“Curitiba has always been one of the biggest producers of top MMA strikers in the history of the sport,” Silveira said. “With this new ATT branch here we will join together great strikers of Brazil and some of th…

This was Kevin Holland's reaction shortly after he and a friend took down a gunman Monday night at a restaurant in Houston.

Full story: https://t.co/OynF23aZqi

( @Trailblaze2top / @ko_reps) pic.twitter.com/YxN2WdtPXI — MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 15, 2022

Kevin Holland put his mixed martial arts training to use in a potentially dire situation on Monday night.

According to a report from Houston’s NBC-2 TV station, a man pulled out a gun and shot it in the air inside the popular Houston restaurant Ra Sushi at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time. Houston Police Department Sgt. Ricardo Salas said there were about 40-50 people inside the establishment when the shot was fired in the bar area.

Shortly thereafter, Holland and a friend with MMA training, Patrick Robinson, were able to take down the gunman. The two men quickly took action when, as Robinson recalls, they heard a loud “boom.” According to police, a third customer helpe…

UFC president Dana White was among many prominent figures from the MMA world who submitted letters in support of Cain Velasquez to the Santa Clara County Superior Court last week.

Velasquez is facing attempted murder and multiple other charges after firing shots at a man accused of molesting a younger relative of the fighter’s on multiple occasions. Velasquez was denied bail at an arraignment by judge Shelya Brown, who said that the “risk is too great” to release the UFC veteran.

According to ESPN, 34 letters were written to the court asking for leniency on behalf of Velasquez. Many of those praised Velasquez for being a family man, friend and teammate with no criminal record.

"I have known Mr. Velasquez for more than 15 years, and during his time as an active athlete with UFC, he represented our company with dignity and always treated others with respect," White wrote. "He was a model example of how a professional athlete should carry himself, projecting a p…

After eight years living in Thailand in order to improve his muay Thai technique, Brazilian lightweight Bruno Miranda will finally have the chance to make it to the big stage.

The former Road FC fighter will take part in the fifth week of the PFL Challenger Series on Friday at Universal Studios, Florida, when he faces American talent Carson Frei.

"As we could see in the first (few) weeks, they are choosing the ones who bring great shows and that's my goal,” Miranda told Sherdog.com. “If you look at all my fights, I’m always looking for a knockout or submission and it will be no different on Friday.”

The man known as “Robusto” believes Frei will attempt to take him down due to his eight years experience training at Tiger Muay Thai.

“Due to my background, he will probably try to grapple,” said Miranda, a purple belt under Gustavo “Ximu” Machado. “I don’t want to underestimate him, but I´ve also been training for the last six months at Nova Uniao against…

Yadong Song has earned the right to a big-name callout.

Song announced his presence in the UFC’s bantamweight division with authority on Saturday night, knocking former title challenger and ex-WSOF champ Marlon Moraes with an uppercut 2:06 into the opening round of their co-main event clash. It wasn’t necessarily the finish Song expected, but it is part of his training regimen.

“I was not planning for any uppercut, but I practice these combos every day,” Song said through a translator at the UFC Fight Night 203 post-fight press conference. “I’m really thankful for my boxing coach. He taught me some good uppercuts.”

Currently in the midst of a three-fight winning streak in the Octagon, Song hopes to renew the Team Alpha Male rivalry with Dominick Cruz. Only in this case, the “Kung Fu Monkey” considers himself to be a fan of the former UFC bantamweight champion.

“I watched his fights since I was a young kid and I like him very much,” Song said. “I like his s…

Phil Davis is in a bit of a purgatory with Bellator MMA at this point in his career.

“Mr. Wonderful” remains the clear-cut No. 2 in the promotion at light heavyweight following his unanimous decision triumph against Julius Anglickas in the Bellator 276 co-main event at the Family Arena in St. Louis, Mo., on Saturday. Unfortunately, there appears to be no clear path to the top of the division as long as Vadim Nemkov is champion, due to Davis’ two decision losses to the reigning title holder.

Another interesting option would seemingly be to move to heavyweight, where former rival Ryan Bader sits atop the division following a grueling title defense against Valentin Moldavsky at Bellator 273 in January. Davis is also 0-2 against Bader by the narrowest of margins, with a pair of split-decision defeats to the Arizona native – one in Bellator and one in the UFC.

At the moment, Davis doesn’t seem too interested in leaving the light heavyweight division. For the time bei…

The Bellator 276 headliner between Adam Borics and Mads Burnell was billed as a No. 1 contender’s bout, and both men fought with those stakes in mind.

Ultimately, Borics battled his way through five-rounds of back-and-forth standup with Burnell to capture a hard-fought unanimous decision triumph. It was the fourth straight victory and ninth in 10 Bellator appearances overall for the 28-year-old Hungarian, who believes he proved that he is capable of challenging for featherweight gold.

“It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it,” Borics said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “It makes me confident after five rounds. I wasn’t tired, and it was a high pace. A lot of people were talking about I can’t go a high pace, and I think I showed everyone I’m ready for the title. I can do five rounds easy, so let’s go.”

Borics had success landing multi-punch combinations to the head and leg kicks. He even dropped Burnell with a right hook late in the second round, th…

Bellator MMA had big plans for Fedor Emelianenko’s farewell fight in his home country, but the ongoing conflict betwen Russia and Ukraine have forced the promotion to shift gears.

Bellator president Scott Coker addressed the Emelianenko situation when speaking to reporters following Bellator 276 on Saturday night. Coker added that he’ll be able to gain more clarity when he meets with “The Last Emperor” next month.

“It’s definitely not going to happen in Moscow this year,” Coker said. “We’re not gonna do Fedor’s retirement fight there for obvious reasons. We’ll be looking for an alternative site at some point, but we’re going to sit down with Fedor when he comes to [Bellator 277] in San Jose and see what he’s thinking.”

Emelianenko had an impressive performance at VTB Arena in Moscow on Oct. 23, when he knocked out Timothy Johnson 1:40 into the opening round of their main event clash at Bellator 269. Coker revealed that the promotion initially had a spectacular …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0_xvM6BjNU&w=560&h=315]

Dustin Poirier is well aware of Colby Covington’s callout, but he doesn’t sound all that interested in pursuing a fight against the outspoken welterweight.

Shortly after vanquishing former American Top Team training partner Jorge Masvidal in the UFC 272 headliner on March 5, Covington turned his attention to Poirier, another ATT stalwart. In an interview on the UFC Fight Night 203 post-fight show, Poirier addressed Covington’s remarks while not completely ruling out a move to 170 pounds in the future.

“It’s cute. It’s all good. It is what it is. People want big fights,” Poirier said. “That’s a big fight. He wants a big fight. Obviously, he’s not in line for the title fight. He lost twice to the champ so he probably needs a few more wins, but I would think if you want to get back to that strap, you’ve got to fight welterweight contenders.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, if I’m going to welterweight, i…

While Magomed Ankalaev won his eighth consecutive light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 203, it wasn’t the type of performance that will raise his stock in the eyes of promotion officials.

Ankalaev took an uneventful unanimous decision win over Thiago Santos on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas in a clash where both competitors were largely hesitant to pull the trigger. Ankalaev was dropped in by Santos in the second round, but for the most part, the Dagestani dictated the terms in the fight. In the aftermath, Ankalaev admitted that it wasn’t his best showing, but he put some of the blame on his opponent for the overall lack of action.

“I am happy that I won,” Ankalaev said at the UFC Fight Night 203 post-fight press conference. “To be honest, it is what it is. We expected him to move forward for the whole fight and to catch him on his mistakes, but he preferred to move backwards. That’s why I preferred to strike with him.

“To be honest, I’m not glad wi…

Absolutely 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 💢

[ @KhalilRountree | #UFCVegas50 ] pic.twitter.com/b1dpn3Wc2e

— UFC (@ufc) March 13, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses on the UFC Fight Night 203 card.

Light heavyweight standout Khalil Rountree secured a $50,000 bonus by knocking out Karl Roberson. The finish came just 25 seconds into Round 2 and saw Rountree knocking down Roberson and landing a brutal body kick to his grounded opponent. "The War Horse" is now 10-5.

Cody Brundage also took home a performance of the night bonus. The middleweight prospect wound up getting a come-from-behind guillotine choke against Dalcha Lungiambula. This marks the first UFC win for the 7-2 middleweight.

The final two performance of the night bonuses went to co-main event winner Yadong Song for his gorgeous knockout of Marlon Moraes and Azamat Murzakanov, who got a shocking win via flying knee in the first prelim of the…

Magomed Ankalaev sent a statement to the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division after defeating former title challenger Thiago Santos in the main event of UFC Fight Night 203.

The fight began with Santos (22-10) looking to throw bombs, but Ankalaev (16-1) was able to dodge the strikes and counter with his own. "Marreta" struggled to find his range as the Russian walked him down and never stopped advancing. However, Santos finally landed a punch that wobbled Ankalaev late in Round 2, which tilted the frame decisively in his favor.

The power of Thiago Santos 😳

[ @TMarretaMMA | #UFCVegas50 ] pic.twitter.com/JrKaKM61vj

— UFC (@ufc) March 13, 2022 After a tepid third round that could've gone either way, Santos started off hot in Round 4 by winging punches and going for a flying knee. However, Ankalaev would battle back and land a takedown to finish the round in top position. The fifth and final frame was spent on the …

A bit of fun from both @AdamBorics and @Burnellmma 😅

We are LIVE on @SHOsports with #Bellator276👇https://t.co/TbKTQ7lKsu pic.twitter.com/erF5WCDC3L

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) March 13, 2022 Adam Borics entered Saturday’s Bellator 276 main event as one of the promotion’s best featherweight contenders; he’s now set to fight for the championship in his next outing.

Borics (18-1) stood toe-to-toe for virtually 25 minutes with Denmark’s Mads Burnell to win a unanimous decision in what was the best performance of his career. Borics landed dozens of thudding and stinging leg kicks and popped Burnell (16-4) with two- and three-punch combos. Burnell was ferocious with an endless assault of body punches and sizzling combos up top, but Borics landed the harder, more telling blows throughout.

Borics dropped Burnell with a slick right hook late in the second round, but even though he busted the Dane up and nearly closed his right eye, he was…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 203 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.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the…

A clean sweep across the board for @SemiTheJedi! 🧹

[ #UFCVegas50 | Prelims are LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/Gs1hP4Ii9U

— UFC (@ufc) March 13, 2022 UFC Fight Night 203's featured prelim saw Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight prospects Matthew Semelsberger and A.J. Fletcher battle for supremacy. Fletcher (9-1) managed to take the fight to the ground early with a strong double leg takedown and then navigated his way to mount. Semelsberger (10-3) would have more success in Round 2 and even managed to get top position on Fletcher. Round 3 would mirror the previous frame with Semelsberger riding out the round in top position and landing solid punches. The judges all saw the fight 29-28 in the favor of Semelsberger.

With the win, "Semi the Jedi" improves to 4-1 inside the Octagon.

Aldrich Handles Robertson In the women's flyweight division, J.J. Aldrich took on fellow UFC mainstay Gillian Robertson.

The first round was co…

Sherdog's live Bellator 276 coverage kicks off at 6 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores t…

Do Gyeom Lee's Cornerman calls the fight after the 2nd round. Boston Salmon gets the TKO Win!#PFLonFuboTV LIVE NOW🇺🇸 https://t.co/R67yD8VVFQ🌍 https://t.co/StPf5kcxnW pic.twitter.com/PhoT2XH3Vn

— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 12, 2022

The only fighter to score a finish Friday night was rewarded with a spot on the upcoming Professional Fighters League 2022 Regular Season.

Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Boston Salmon was the worthiest man at PFL Challenger Series 4. Salmon (8-3, 1-0 PFL) went to war with Do Gyeom Lee (8-5, 0-1 PFL), exchanging wild strikes for 10 minutes. In Round 2, Salmon’s educated jab found the way to its target more freely, inflicting major damage to Lee’s mouth. The Korean — who missed weight by 2.6 pounds the day before the fight — attempted to battle through the pain, but his corner called it a night between the second and third stanzas. In addition to the promotional contract, “Boom Boom” also pocketed a $5,000 perform…

? @MoTownPhenom drops @DiegoSanchezUFC late in the third!#EagleFC46: Lee vs. Sanchez | LIVE NOW on @EagleOnFLX | Sign up to watch LIVE and FREE at https://t.co/QslxaipV9R pic.twitter.com/KfztaJCFMi

— Eagle FC (@EagleFightClub) March 12, 2022

Kevin Lee's (19-7) stock has fallen a lot in the past few years.

The former can't-miss prospect exited the Ultimate Fighting Championship having lost four of his last five fights, most recently a miserable decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez. Nevertheless, he was expected to dominate a 40 year-old Diego Sanchez (30-14), a man who seemed like he had no business fighting for a while now, looking woefully out of shape and offering little resistance in his last appearances.

Moreover, Sanchez had recently been hospitalized for Covid. The expectation was that Lee would dominate him everywhere at Eagle FC 46 in Miami, as he opened as a -400 favorite and closed at an astronomical -4000. Yet, to everyone's sh…

What a way to close out a WILD fight#LFA126 pic.twitter.com/jdTICWYdKZ

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) March 12, 2022 Despite having two vacant title fights, the Legacy Fighting Alliance crowned only one champion in its return to Brazil.

The main event of the evening was for the LFA featherweight championship, however, only Jonas Bilharinho could win it as late replacement opponent Jose Mauro do Amaral Delano came in one pound heavy. This was more than just a footnote as Delano (10-2) offered up much more of a fight than many pundits expected.

Armed with an unorthodox striking style, Delano was able to get Bilharinho (9-2-1) off his game early on and control the fight at distance by keeping up the pressure and landing damaging flurries of punches. "Joshua" would finally come to life in Round 4, and would have quite a few moments in the final frame, but it was too little, too late as Delano kept walking down his fellow Brazilian. After fi…

The trash talk is heating up, but not between the fighters involved in the potential matchup.

On Tuesday, undefeated free agent Kayla Harrison (12-0) re-signed with Professional Fighters League when the organization utilized matching rights to keep her under contract. Offers from the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA were beaten by the PFL’s unexpectedly large war chest, thereby keeping the two-time Olympic gold medalist under its banner. Following the signing, Bellator chief Scott Coker expressed his disappointment to MMA Junkie that Harrison was kept under lock and key with PFL.

“With Kayla right now, I don’t know who she’s going to fight over there,” Coker said in his interview with MMA Junkie Radio. “She’s got to fight the girls that are the dominant girls in that weight class, [who] are ‘Cyborg’ [Cristiane Justino], to me, the greatest female fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes, and then Kayla. She’s growing, she’s doing very well, but she’s got to figh…

Eight out of ten fights ended by knockout in the latest One Championship event, one appropriately titled “Lights Out.”

Lights OUT! 💡@ThanhLeMMA 🇻🇳🇺🇸 uncorks a looping right hand on Garry Tonon to close the show and retain his ONE Featherweight World Title! #ONELightsOut pic.twitter.com/GAM5Mn1BlB

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 11, 2022 The One: “Lights Out” headliner saw Thanh Le notch his first title defense against grappling ace Garry Tonon at 155 pounds. The fight itself only lasted 56 seconds, the time for the two contestants to study one other and exchange a few shots. When the Dana White's Contender Series vet Le (13-2, 5-0 One) started reaching his opponent with a few combinations, Tonon (6-1, 6-1 One) dropped low in pursuit of a heel hook. Le resisted the first submission attempt, and Tonon switched to a kneebar after a remarkable transition. At the same time, the John Danaher protégé left himself exposed to his opponent shot…

First to the scales, Thiago Santos is in at 205.5 🔨

[ @TMarretaMMA | #UFCVegas50 | TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/PoRkKJ2s1s

— UFC (@ufc) March 11, 2022 The Ultimate Fighting Championship's busy March continues with UFC Fight Night 203. The card is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between contenders Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev, who both successfully made weight. The weigh-ins were devoid of any drama, as all 14 bouts are going ahead with all 28 fighters successfully hitting their marks.

A former title challenger, Santos (22-9) bounced back from three straight defeats by beating Johnny Walker in his last outing. While the fight didn't live up to the hype, "Marreta" will look to give a more exciting showing here. Santos officially weighed 205.5 pounds for his sixth UFC main event.

Meanwhile, this is the first UFC headlining spot for Ankalaev (15-1). The Russian fighter hasn't lost a bout since his UFC debut in …

#Bellator276 Official Weigh-In Results: Adam Borics (@AdamBorics) - 145.8 lbs. pic.twitter.com/mOKyi7W7dw

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) March 11, 2022 Bellator MMA's lone event of March is upon us as Bellator 276's featherweight main event featuring Adam Borics and Mads Burnell is now official.

While both main event fighters and the bulk of the card made weight, the lone exception was late replacement Josh Weston. Weston missed the welterweight limit by 4.8 pounds, and his fight has been scrapped as a result. All other bouts on the card remain intact.

Borics (17-1) has bounced back from his lone career defeat to Darrion Caldwell and is riding a three-fight win streak. "The Kid" most recently defeated Jeremy Kennedy by decision, and weighed 145.8 pounds for the main event. Meanwhile, Burnell (16-3) is 3-0 inside the Bellator cage, recording finishes in two of those three victories. Burnell, who most recently defeated Emmanuel S…