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If all goes as planned, Gegard Mousasi will have an active 2022.

The Armenian-born Dutchman authored an emphatic middlweight title defense in the Bellator 275 headliner, defeating Austin Vanderford via technical knockout 1:25 into Round 1 at the 3Arena in Dublin on Friday. Mousasi has been victorious in seven of eight promotional appearances, with his only defeat coming via majority decision in a title bout at Bellator 223.

The former Strikeforce champion admitted at the Bellator 275 post-fight press conference that he entered the fight against Vanderford more confident than he has been in quite some time.

“I was hungry,” Mousasi said. “I was more determined than him and I’m in my prime. I feel I’m the best middleweight in the world right now. I never said that because I never thought that I was the best. But I told everyone this training camp, that this day, I was the best middleweight. I don’t know about tomorrow, but today I was the best.”

Now 36 years …

It sounds like Dillon Danis is getting closer to making his first mixed martial arts appearance since 2019.

Following Bellator 275, promotion president Scott Coker revealed that he has been in contact with the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, who notably served as a training partner for former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor.

“He’s been texting me all weekend and saying he wants to get back in, he’s ready to get back in,” Coker said at the Bellator 275 post-fight press conference. “So as soon as I get back home, I’m going to call him, we’re going to see if we can put something together for him. But it’s going to be up to him. He’s going to have to really want it. He’s going to [have to] train and get in there.”

Danis’ signing with Bellator came with great fanfare, and he quickly established himself as one of the most outspoken fighters on the California-based promotion’s roster. The 28-year-old fought once in 2018 and 2019, earning first-round submission…

JARRAH AL SILAWI TIMES THE KNEE PERFECTLY!#PFLonFuboTV pic.twitter.com/IeisKHpxy0

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 26, 2022

Jarrah Al-Silawi has a new home.

The two-division Brave Combat Federation champion knocked out Michael Lilly in the first round of their PFL Challenger Series 2 headliner on Friday at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. After Al-Silawi (17-3) drew the curtain 2:54 into Round 1 of their 177-pound catchweight clash, he was rewarded with a Professional Fighters League contract.

Lilly (7-7) was woefully outgunned. Al-Silawi probed for weakness with leg kicks, stuffed an attempted takedown and floated into open space. He approached Lilly from the outside, feinted and caught him with the knee as he ducked into a takedown. The MMA Masters product collapsed backward and fell to the canvas, and though Al-Silawi was in hot pursuit, referee Andrew Glenn had seen enough.

Meanwhile, Sanford MMA export Dilano Taylor was award…

Do not mess with Jaqueline Amorim on the ground!!! #AndNew#LFA125 pic.twitter.com/a1jrEe93X8

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) February 26, 2022

Not only did Jaqueline Amorim become the fourth women’s strawweight champion in Legacy Fighting Alliance history, she is now the first-ever Brazilian woman to win a title for the promotion.

Amorim (5-0) made quick work of Nigeria’s Lovethpatra Young in the main event of LFA 125 on Friday night in Nigara Falls, New York, but the fight wasn’t without some controversy. Amorim shot in for a double-leg takedown and she appeared to have been able to get it, but Young (3-2-1) grabbed a hold of the fence and refused to let go. Veteran referee John English yelled for Young to let go of the fence multiple times before having to physically pry her fingers loose. The third man called time and deducted a point from Young, but things only got worse for her.

When the fight was restarted on their feet, Young d…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. A Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight fight with top-10 implications has fallen off about a week before it was set to go down. According to Jessica Eye (15-10, 1 NC) on her Instagram on Friday night, she has been forced out of her UFC 272 pairing with Manon Fiorot (8-1) with an undisclosed injury. The two flyweights were going to throw down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in March 5. There is no current indication as to whether the promotion will find a replacement for Eye, preserve the matchup for a later date or give Fiorot a different fight in the near future.

“Hey Believe’rs [sic], I’m sorry to report that I’m out of my fight at UFC 272 due to an injury I sustained last night,” Eye wrote. “I’m extremely disappointed as it was an incredible camp with my original team back at home in Cleveland at Strong Style MMA. My…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kLQsyBnNDY&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. With any luck, the commission will be on the lookout for any errant skateboards ahead of this big Ultimate Fighting Championship rematch. Friday brought news of a high-stakes light heavyweight rematch, courtesy of Ag. Fight and later confirmed by multiple outlets. At UFC 274, which will take place on May 7 at a currently undetermined location, Ovince St. Preux (25-16) will face Mauricio Rua (27-12-1) for a second time. They first met in the main event of UFC Fight Night 56 in 2014, and “OSP” knocked Rua out in 34 seconds after “Shogun” missed with a right hand that made him fall over.

St. Preux will be returning to the 205-pound division for this fight, as he has jumped back and forth between light heavyweight and heavyweight over the last two years. The Knoxville M…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. It should come as a shock to absolutely no one that the coach of Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champ expects his fighter will win impressively. The current lightweight king, Charles Oliveira, has won in each of his last 10 outings, including nine by finish. Fresh off of a December win over Dustin Poirier, Oliveira did not waste much time before preparing for his next challenge: Justin Gaethje. “Do Bronx” will face off against the vaunted striker at UFC 274, a card that was initially announced for Brazil, but was shifted to the U.S. due to the pandemic. Oliveira was not thrilled about this relocation, per his coach Diego Lima, who spoke to Sherdog this week about the matchup and much more.

“Definitely, it was a big disappointment,” Lima explained. “There is no bigger emotion for a champion than to fight [in front of t…

Heavyweight Title Fight

🇬🇧 @phildefriesmma 👑🇷🇸 @DarkoStosic92 ⚒️

Tomorrow night!! #KSW67 pic.twitter.com/fxOGLwl1KM — KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 25, 2022 Editor's note: The article has been updated at 8:30 p.m. ET to reflect the new, updated lineup.

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's latest KSW 67 card is limping its way to fight night after a disastrous weigh-in.

Thankfully, the headliner of KSW 67 is still intact as Philip De Fries will look to defend his heavyweight title against Darko Stosic. De Fries (20-6) will be the heavier fighter as he weighed 265 pounds, while Stosic (16-4) came in at 232 pounds.

Other fighters weren't as professional as Andrzej Grzebyk, Filip Pejic and Idris Amizhaev/a> all came in overweight for their respective bouts. Additionally, Caio Bitencourt fell ill during his weight cut, which caused his match against Ivan Erslan to be scratched. The card will continue with eight mixed martial arts bouts.

Read more about KSW 67 Weigh-in Results: 3 Fighters Heavy; 1 Bout Canceled

WOW WOW WOW! 🤯

Gegard Mousasi finishes Austin Vanderford in less than 90 seconds!

That's why he's the champion!That's why he's the Dreamcatcher!#Bellator275 | @mousasi_mma pic.twitter.com/x1ZQFFXUuR — Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 25, 2022 Gegard Mousasi retained the Bellator MMA middleweight championship in the Bellator 275 main event.

Challenger Austin Vanderford looked to strike with Mousasi (49-7-2) and that quickly was his undoing. "The Dreamcatcher" quickly found his range and hurt Vanderford (11-1) with a slick three-punch combination. Mousasi never gave his opponent a chance to recover and landed a series of damaging blows on the ground to get the stoppage. The end came just 1:25 into Round 1.

Sinead Kavanagh bounced back from her loss to Cristiane Justino by defeating fellow women's featherweight contender Leah McCourt. McCourt (6-2) started the fight off strong by getting top position on the ground but was event…

Reinier de Ridder appears to have no equal among the One Championship ranks.

In the One: “Full Circle“ main event, de Ridder kept an iron grip on his middleweight title by completely shutting down the challenger, Kiamrian Abbasov. De Ridder (15-0, 6-0 One) shot for a takedown right out of the gate, and it never got better for Abbasov once his back was on the mat. The Dutchman kept his opponent pinned on the canvas for most of the first frame, scoring with effective ground-and-pound. When Abbasov powered back to his feet, de Ridder landed some nice knees to the head.

The grappling clinic continued in Round 2, as “The Dutch Knight“ took his foe to the floor with ease, overwhelming Abbasov (23-5, 4-2 One) with smothering top control and razor-sharp elbows. Right before the end of the stanza, de Ridder latched on to an arm-triangle choke, and Abbasov tapped a split-second after the bell sounded. This spelled the beginning of the end for the challenger, as de Ridder went for…

Sherdog's live Bellator 275 coverage kicks off at 12:55 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:John Brannigan scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Tyler Treese scores th…

Main event ready 😤

[ @MakhachevMMA | #UFCVegas49 | TOMORROW| Live on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/OA7UO4u7qN

— UFC (@ufc) February 25, 2022 While not the fight that the Ultimate Fighting Championship originally set as the main event of UFC Fight Night 202, fight fans are excited about seeing Islam Makhachev vs. Bobby Green in just one day now that both main eventers have made their 160-pound catchweight. The weigh-ins were largely uneventful, as only Zhu Rong missed weight, coming in four pounds over the lightweight limit for his bout against Ignacio Bahamondes. Originally set to face Beneil Dariush, Makhachev (21-1) was looking to be propelled into title contention with a win. Now, the Dagestani contender will look to keep his win streak alive against a savvy mixed martial arts veteran. Makhachev has won his last nine outings, with the most notable victories coming over Dan Hooker, Thiago Moises and Gleison Tibau. The lightweight looked …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Two top-10 Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweights will battle it out this May. On Thursday, Brandon Royval (13-6) officially had his next fight announced, courtesy of his team of the Iridium Sports Agency. On May 7, “Raw Dawg” will throw down with Matt Schnell (15-5, 1 NC) in what could be a thrilling flyweight contest on UFC 274. The destination of that event is still uncertain, other than that it will take place in the U.S. Earlier in the day, another fight was also announced for this event, coming by way of ESPN Deportes, which broke the news that Fernando Garcia (10-1) will take on Journey Newson (9-3, 1 NC) on the prelims.

Since joining the promotion in 2020, Royval has put on thrilling performances against the likes of Tim Elliott, Kai Kara France and Rogerio Bontorin, winning each of those matchups. He has also fallen sh…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight contender Marina Rodriguez has her eye on the prize, but she is not taking anyone lightly on her way up. Coming from an impressive sequence of three straight wins in UFC, top-ranked strawweight Rodriguez is aware that a win over Xiaonan Yan at UFC 272 on March 5 would be huge. An impressive performance could thrust her into title contention, which would give her a chance to realize her dream of fighting for a UFC title. Should she get that far, she expects that she would face the winner between the champion Rose Namajunas and former foe and challenger Carla Esparza. The Brazilian spoke with Sherdog this week about her upcoming battle and what lies ahead in her division.

“That was not officially decided by UFC, but the fact that Esparza already defeated Namajunas shows that it must be the…

The fighters face off one last time until they meet again inside the SmartCage tomorrow night!#PFLonFuboTV Friday, Feb 25th at 9pm ET pic.twitter.com/zSwiZqrMOl

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 24, 2022 The Professional Fighters League's Challenger Series 2 card was supposed to spotlight welterweights, but Friday's card now features two catchweight bouts.

Topping the bill is a 177-pound catchweight affair between Jarrah Al-Silawi and Michael Lilly. The three other fights are all at welterweight, although Nathan Pierce missed weight by 2.6 pounds and forced a 174-pound catchweight for opponent Chris Mixan. Other bouts include Dilano Taylor vs. Mark Martin, and Carlos Leal Miranda taking on late replacement Korey Kuppe, who steps in for Socrates Pierre.

Al-Silawi (16-3) comes in as a two-division Brave CF champion, and will look to make his mark in North America with the PFL. "The Jordanian Lion" is riding a three-fight win streak and is a heavy fa…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7YOZhDcUn8&w=640&h=360] Bellator MMA returns to Dublin for Bellator 275.

Headlining the card is a middleweight title fight between champion Gegard Mousasi and challenger Austin Vanderford, who both had no issue making weight. The weigh-ins were mostly uneventful, as only prelims curtain-raiser Jamie Hay missed weight, coming in less than a pound heavy for his featherweight bout against Lee Hammond.

Mousasi (48-7-2) has only lost once since joining the promotion in 2017, and successfully won back the title he lost to Rafael Lovato Jr. in 2020. "The Dreamcatcher" was last seen knocking out John Salter last year, and will look to continue his momentum. Mousasi officially weighed 184.6 pounds for his latest title defense.

An undefeated prospect looking to stake his claim as one of the best in the world, this is the biggest fight in the career of Vanderford (11-0). Having proved he was a contender by winning a decision over Fabian …

Shinya Aoki will square off against Yoshihiro Akiyama in a matchup of Japanese MMA legends at One Championship “X.”

A promotion official confirmed the 170-pound pairing with Sherdog.com on Wednesday. One “X” takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on March 26 and will see ex-UFC champion Demetrious Johnson face muay Thai king Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a bout featuring both MMA and muay Thai rule sets. Additionally, Angela Lee will meet Nong Stamp in a strawweight title clash, while Adriano Moraes will take on Yuya Wakamatsu in a bantamweight championship tilt.

A former One lightweight title holder, Aoki is currently on a four-bout winning streak that includes three triumphs within the Singapore-based promotion. Most recently, the 38-year-old submitted Eduard Folayang 4:20 into the opening round of their clash at One on TNT 4 last April.

After a seven-bout stint in the UFC from 2009 to 2015, Akiyama has gone 1-1 under the One Championship banne…

Zviad Lazishvili Accepts Sanction for Violation of UFC Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/Lcv7AweQ4F

— USADA (@usantidoping) February 23, 2022

One-time Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Zviad Lazishvili has been suspended 10 months by USADA for an anti-doping violation.

The UFC’s anti-doping partner announced the sanction Wednesday. The bantamweight tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolites in an in-competition sample related to his bout at UFC Fight Night 196 on Oct. 23 and on out-of-competition sample collected on Nov. 5.

Lazishvili was previously suspended nine months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and was fined $1,800 — 15 percent of his fight purse. The Georgian fighter lost a unanimous decision to Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Night 196.

The full USADA statement regarding Lazishvili is as follows:

USADA announced today that Zviad Lazishvili, of Alexandria, Va., has accepted a 10-month sanction for…

A women’s strawweight bout pitting Jinh Yu Frey against Hannah Goldy has been pulled from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 202 card.

Promotion officials announced on Wednesday that an illness forced Goldy to withdraw from the event, and a replacement opponent will not be sought for Frey. As a result, UFC Fight Night 202 will move forward with 11 bouts. It is unclear if Frey vs. Goldy will be rebooked at a later date.

UFC Fight Night 202 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a lightweight showdown between Islam Makhachev and Bobby Green. The main card airs on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT following prelims on ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

Goldy snapped a two-bout skid in her last appearance, when she submitted Emily Whitmire in the opening stanza at UFC Fight Night 192 this past September. The 29-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series alum began her pro tenure with five consecutive triumphs before dropping back-to-back decisions agains…

BKFC x @triller pic.twitter.com/UhYi2SAL1D

— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) February 23, 2022

Two promotions that have helped alter the landscape of combat sports in recent months are forming a partnership.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship president David Feldman announced Wednesday during an interview on "The MMA Hour" that Triller, the social media company that has expanded into combat sports promotion, has acquired a majority stake in BKFC.

“We grew this thing to a point where we thought that we got it as far as we could take it by ourselves right now,” Feldman said. “We’ve overcome so many obstacles and so many people telling us no and, ‘this will never happen, you’ll never make it work.’ And we got to a point where we’re pretty well accepted among the combat sports community right now, and we needed to make a partnership that was going to take us to the next level, create more opportunities, more resources, more funding, more thin…

Adam Piccolotti has been suspended by the Association of Boxing Commissions after posting a weight-cutting video that was deemed “unneccesarily dangerous,” according to a report from MMAjunkie.com.

Piccolotti defeated Georgi Karakhanyan via unanimous decision at Bellator 274 in a featured lightweight clash at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., this past Saturday. Later, Piccolotti posted a video on social media — that has since been deleted — of himself crawling out of a portable sauna and vomiting on a towel. Piccolotti added in the post that he continued to throw up “20-plus times throughout the night.”

As a result of that post, ABC president Mike Mazzulli revealed that Piccolotti has been suspended from four to six months and must receive clearance from a nephrologist, a doctor who treats conditions involving the kidneys, before he can return to active competition.

“I reviewed the video and determined the process was unnecessarily dangerous,” Mazzu…

Although he made short work of Johnny Walker in the UFC Fight Night 201 main event, Jamahal Hill did not escape Saturday’s light heavyweight bout unscathed.

Hill, who defeated Walker via knockout 2:55 into Round 1 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, must have X-rays on his left elbow and right forearm and an MRI on his left knee. If any of those results are positive, he must receive clearance from an orthopedic doctor or he will be out until Aug. 19. At a minimum, Hill is out until March 13 with no contact until March 6.

Walker, meanwhile, is suspended until April 21 with no contact until April 6. The Nevada State Athletic Commmission released a full list of medical suspensions from UFC Fight Night 201 to mixedmartialarts.com.

Nine other fighters from the card are facing possible six-month terms pending doctor clearance: Nikolas Motta (left knee), Abdul Razak Alhassan (right hand, right wrist, left rib, left foot, right hip), Gabriel Benitez (left knee),…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ejDXG4OcjY&w=560&h=315]

Newly-released body cam footage shows Jon Jones headbutting a police vehicle and yelling obscenties at officers on the night of his arrest for battery domestic violence and vehicle tampering this past September.

The video, which was obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, shows an agitated and emotional Jones handcuffed against a police vehicle on the Las Vegas strip. The former UFC light heavyweight champion was arrested due to an alleged domestic violence incident with his fiancee, Jessie Moses. Jones was in town for a UFC Hall of Fame induction for his 2013 fight with Alexander Gustafsson.

“Humiliating me [on] my Hall of Fame night,” Jones can be heard saying on the video to officers. “You f—ing nerd. I hate you. I hate you! I hate you! You f—ing nerd. I hate you so much.

“Say your name publicly. ... You turned me in my Hall of Fame night, just because I’m big and Black. And what did I do? ..…

Although UFC Fight Night 202 lost its originally scheduled main event, the promotion still came through with a pretty decent backup plan.

After Beneil Dariush withdrew from the lightweight headliner against Islam Makhachev on short notice, Bobby Green agreed to step in against the Khabib Nurmagomedov protege on short notice. Though not as highly regarded as Dariush, Green enters with positive momentum after a first-round TKO of Al Iaquinta at UFC 268 and a convincing decision victory against Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 271. Overall, “King” has won five of his last seven Octagon appearances dating back to 2020.

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Javier Mendez, who helps coach Makhachev at American Kickboxing Academy, discussed Saturday’s fight against Green.

“Bobby Green, he’s an incredible guy,” Mendez said. “I love the fact that he’s a great entertainer. I love the fact that he comes to fight, gives the fans a great fight. I’m a fan. He’s a great fighter…