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What a speech by Chris Barnett for his opponent Gian Villante #UFC268 pic.twitter.com/wvTtzChIOP

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 6, 2021

Gian Villante has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts following a 31-bout professional career that began in 2009.

Villante’s final appearance will end up on highlight reels, as he was dropped by a spinning wheel kick from Chris Barnett and finished with follow-up ground strikes 2:23 into the opening round of their heavyweight bout at UFC 268 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. Villante, 36, ends his tenure on a four-bout losing streak — with his final three appearances coming in the heavyweight division.

Villante’s next step will be a return to his gridiron roots, as he is coaching youth football in the Long Island area. He gave those players a shoutout in a post-fight interview with Newsday.

“Say hello to all my Seahawks, all my Generals, all the people in attendan…

There’s something special about fighting in New York for Rose Namajunas.

“Thug” Rose improved to 3-0 in the Empire State with a split-decision triumph over Weili Zhang in the UFC 268 co-main event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to successfully defend her strawweight title. Her success at the famous venue began in November 2017, when she initially captured the 115-pound belt with an upset win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217, and she also bested Jedrzejczyk in a five-round rematch at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in April 2018.

“New York City inspires me,” Namajunas said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Like I said at weigh-ins, it’s the toughest people in the world. It’s the coolest city.”

The rematch with Zhang took on a far different look than their first meeting, when Namajunas vanquished her Chinese opponent with a head kick 78 seconds into the opening stanza at UFC 261. This time around, the bout was far more closely conte…

When all was said and done, Kamaru Usman was able to bury the hatchet with Colby Covington following their rematch at UFC 268.

The two men shared a moment of respect following Saturday’s headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York, where Usman retained his title with a unanimous decision victory — his second triumph against Covington in a little less than two year’s time. Both fights against “Chaos” were hard-fought, which Usman acknowledged while making a lofty comparison regarding their rivalry at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“As a competitor I respect him – that’s the next best guy in the division. “This guy’s tough as nails. He’s very, very tough,” Usman said. “Let’s be honest: [Muhammad] Ali needed a [Joe] Frazier. All these guys. You can be the great one, but there’s always going to be the one guy that can push you. He is that guy. As much of him outside the Octagon as most people don’t like, myself included, you have to respect him as a competito…

Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler delivered on the hype in a big way at UFC 268.

The lightweights received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their slugfest at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday in a bout that will likely lead many “Fight of the Year” lists in the weeks to come. While Gaethje was rocked early in the first round, he maintained his composure and gradually pulled away from Chandler for an enthralling unanimous decision triumph.

Meanwhile, on an evening that featured a number of memorable finishes, the Las Vegas-based promotion handed out a quartet of $50,000 “Performance of the Night” checks to deserving athletes.

Marlon Vera earned one of those bonuses on the strength of a front kick knockout of Frankie Edgar in a featured bantamweight clash. After two competitive rounds, Vera emphatically brought the show to a close at the 3:50 mark of Round 1, becoming just the eighth fighter in promotion history to win a bout via f…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 268 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The gulf between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington appears to have shrunk ever so slightly but not enough to necessitate a changing of the guard. “The Nigerian Nightmare” maintained his stranglehold on the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight crown with a unanimous decision over Covington in the UFC 268 headliner on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. All three cageside judges scored it for Usman (20-1, 15-0 UFC): 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.

SWANGIN' & BANGIN'

[ #UFC268 | We’re LIVE on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/xRVlqJBhNX ] pic.twitter.com/xNso0eL5Ag

— UFC (@ufc) November 7, 2021 An understandably cautious Covington (16-3, 11-3 UFC)—who succumbed to fifth-round punches from the champion in their December 2019 encounter at UFC 245—took some time to get going. Usman floo…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 268 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 268 “Usman vs. Covington 2” coverage will begin Saturday 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 Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scor…

The MW division just got put on NOTICE

[ #UFC268 | Prelims are LIVE on ESPNews & ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/wZbuaYuLal

— UFC (@ufc) November 7, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 268 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Alex Pereira announced his arrival from the air.

The former two-division Glory kickboxing champion dazzled in his hotly anticipated Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, as he brought down Andreas Michailidis with a spectacular flying knee in the second round of their featured UFC 268 prelim on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Pereira (4-1, 1-0 UFC) lit the crowd on fire 18 seconds into Round 2.

Michailidis (13-5, 1-2 UFC) closed the distance to great effect for much of the first round—he even managed to ground the Teixeira MMA middleweight twice—but bled his gas tank dry in the process. Pereira took flight in the opening mo…

Ali "Puncher King" Bagautinov stops Sean Santella in the very first round and advances to the final of the BRAVE CF Flyweight Tournament pic.twitter.com/tG6cowx2p3

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) November 6, 2021

It wasn’t the opponent he originally expected, but Ali Bagautinov is nonetheless moving on in the Brave Combat Federation flyweight grand prix.

It took a little more than one minute for the former Ultimate Fighting Championship 125-pound title challenger to secure the second spot in the Brave flyweight grand prix finals after stopping Sean Santella (23-8-2, 1 NC; 0-2-1 Brave) in the Brave CF 55 headliner on Saturday in Rostov-On-Don, Russia. Bagautinov was supposed to face Jose Torres, but the latter pulled out 24 hours before the weigh-ins after admitting he wouldn’t hit the contracted weight. Former Cage Fury FC flyweight titleholder Santella was originally slated to lock horns with Rizvan Abuev but agreed to replace Torre…

The Pitbull legacy continues! #AndNew @PatrickyPitbull joins his brother @PatricioPitbull in the history books as a Bellator Lightweight champion! #Bellator270 pic.twitter.com/8TPMWWD9eF

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) November 5, 2021

Patricky Freire stands alone after a decade-long climb.

“Pitbull” brought home the vacant Bellator MMA lightweight championship, as he wiped out Peter Queally with punches in the second round of their Bellator 270 headliner on Friday at 3Arena in Dublin. Unable to ride a wave of emotion that saw a ravenous crowd serenade him with The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” Queally (13-6-1, 2-2 Bellator) succumbed to blows 65 seconds into Round 2.

Freire (24-10, 15-8 Bellator)—who debuted with the organization in March 2011—made his intentions known from the start, attacking the Irishman with stinging leg kicks and hooks to the body from both hands. After an eye poke briefly delayed the Brazilian’s march to the title early …

Sherdog's live Bellator 270 coverage kicks off at 2 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 Opening the card in Dublin, we have local Irish fighter Stephen Costello facing Yusuf Nazokatov, with both making their pro debuts. Costello was 4-3 as an amateur while Nazokatov hasn't even had a pro bout, so it's anyone's guess what will happen here. Referee John English will see it all. Costello starts with a leg kick, but Nazokatov pulls back in time. Nazokatov misses a right hand and Costello just barely misses a counter. Costello partially misses a leg kick but gets reckless for a takedown afterwards, eating a short punch. They clinch against the cage now, with Nazokatov pushing his Irish foe against the fence. They enter a stalemate, with Costello using the whizzer to stay upright as Nazokatov pushes him against the fence. Finally, Costello spins off and they return to range. Not for long, as Nazokatov's …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zThnRIIbdQQ&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. Two high-flying Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweights will go at it on the first card of next year. On Thursday, Michel Pereira’s (26-11, 2 NC) coach told MMA Fighting that Pereira would be facing Muslim Salikhov (18-2) at the UFC Fight Night card on Jan. 15. The two will likely go at it inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Pereira has since confirmed the matchup on his Instagram.

Since his unsuccessful debut in 2017, Salikhov has rattled off five wins over the last four years. Two knockouts of Ricky Rainey and Nordine Taleb springboarded “The King of Kung Fu” into matchups with Laureano Staropoli, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Francisco Trinaldo. The fighter out of Dagestan won all three of those by decision, giving him the second, third and fourth decision …

#RIZIN_TRIGGER at the Kobe World Memorial Hall. Surging Featherweight contenders Shoji Maruyama and Kyohei Hagiwara headline the first event of the TRIGGER series. #RIZIN_TRIGGER 1st2021.11.28[sun]Kobe World Memorial Hall#RIZIN #MMAhttps://t.co/CCKpBqOiSz

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) November 5, 2021 A new era in Rizin Fighting Federation history is set to begin later this month.

Per a press release from the promotion on Thursday, Rizin is officially putting on its Trigger 1st show on Nov. 28 at the Kobe World Memorial Hall in Kobe, Japan. The event will be unlike any other that the organization has put on, because the fights will be contested inside a cage and not a ring. This fight card is the first of its “Trigger” series, in which Rizin will make its transition to Cagefighting. The “Trigger” series will incorporate both MMA and kickboxing matches in a cage.

“There are many fighters who are looking to compete overseas, where the…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32uPIGDZupY&w=640&h=360] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 268 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Two Ultimate Fighting Championship titles will be on the line at UFC 268 as both championship bouts are now official following the weigh-ins. While the champions and title challengers all showed professionalism, the undercard was a different story as two prelim fighters missed weight. Bruno Souza came in 2.4 pounds heavy for his featherweight bout against Melsik Baghdasaryan. Meanwhile, C.J. Vergara weighed 1.4 pounds over the flyweight limit for his fight opposite Ode Osbourne. Both bouts will continue despite the misses, with each fighter being fined 20% of their purses. Additionally, Vicente Luque was tapped as the alternate in the headliner, but he missed championship weight by 2.2 pounds.

Atop the UFC 268 card is a championship rematch between welterweight k…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLefGn4y_4g&w=640&h=360] A new Bellator MMA lightweight champion will be crowned at Bellator 270.

After Patricio Freire vacated the 155-pound title, Peter Queally and Patricky Freire will battle for that lightweight belt. Both fighters successfully made championship weight, as Queally (13-5-1) weighed in at 155 pounds on the dot and Freire (23-10) came in at 153.6 pounds. The only fighter on the card that missed weight was bantamweight Patrick Mix, who came in 1.8 pounds over the 136-pound limit. The bout against James Gallagher will continue, although Mix has been fined a percentage of his purse.

Ireland's Queally is on a two-fight win streak and most recently defeated Patricky after their Bellator 258 bout was controversially stopped by the doctor due to a cut. Queally will get a chance to settle the score and add some gold to his waist in the rematch.

"Pitbull" will look to keep the lightweight title within the Freire famil…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmidOdybSQo&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. Rising Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Bruno Silva plans on ending his 2021 campaign with one more knockout. After impressively recording two knockouts in UFC since his debut in June, Brazilian “Blindado” is scheduled to face another tough out in the middleweight division. At UFC 269 on Dec. 11, Silva (21-6) will take on Jackson-Wink fighter Jordan Wright (12-1). Silva spoke to Sherdog on Thursday shortly after news of the bout surfaced.

“This fight was closed 24 hours after my win over Andrew Sanchez and I’m really excited about that,” Silva admitted. “When I heard he never fought more than six minutes, and saw just one video of him, I immediately said yes.”

Fresh off his Oct. 16 demolition of Andrew Sanchez, the Evolucao Thai fighter has already …

Vicente Luque will be on standby in case anything goes wrong with the UFC 268 main event.

According to a report from ESPN, Luque will weigh in on Friday and serve as a backup for the welterweight championship main event between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Top welterweight contender Leon Edwards was reportedly offered the backup role over Luque, but the Englishman elected to remain home to train for his matchup with Jorge Masvidal scheduled for UFC 269 on Dec. 12.

UFC 268 takes place at Madison Square Garden and is will also see Rose Namajunas square off against Weili Zhang in a strawweight title bout in the evening’s co-headliner. The main card airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT and on ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

The 29-year-old Luque has won 10 of his last 11 UFC appearances and is coming off back-to-back first-round submission victories over Tyron Woodley and Michael Ch…

A potential all-action lightweight clash with championship implications will kick off the pay-per-view portion of the UFC 268 card.

Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler will be the opening act for Saturday’s main card at Madison Square Garden, it was announced during "The MMA Hour” on Wednesday. It was generally expected that Gaethje vs. Chandler would be the third bout on the pay-per-view draw just ahead of the strawweight championship co-main event between Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang and the welterweight title headliner pitting Kamaru Usman against Colby Covington.

Instead, Gaethje vs. Chandler will precede Shane Burgos vs. Billy Quarantillo and Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera.

Gaethje hasn’t competed since falling to Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title bout at UFC 254 in October 2020. During media day on Wednesday, “The Highlight” was adamant that he will deserve another opportunity at lightweight gold if he defeats Chandler.

"If I win Saturday and I don't…

After a week in which four Brazilian fighters captured belts in a span of four days – Glover Teixeira in the UFC and Raush Manfio, Bruno Henrique Cappelozza and Antonio Carlos Jr. in Professional Fighters League – Patricky Freire will attempt to add to that collection on Friday when he faces Peter Queally for the vacant lightweight crown at Bellator 270.

Patricio Freire, who recently vacated the 155-pound title, spoke with Sherdog.com about his brother’s upcoming bout shortly after arriving in Dublin with kickboxing coach Thiago Tourão and boxing coach Everton Lopes.

“We arrived on Sunday here in Dublin and as far as we could see around the hotel area there was a lot of excitement for the event. But they won’t have good memories after this weekend. I can guarantee Patricky is in the best shape ever. For the first time, he did a complete camp for a title fight. In the past, he stepped in as a replacement on short notice.”

According to the former champion, a raucous pro-…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 268 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Two Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts were handed out during the final Dana White's Contender Series event of Season 5. Joining the leading mixed martial arts promotion is lightweight Maheshate and the undefeated welterweight Yohan Lainesse, who both impressed UFC head honcho Dana White. The card was headlined by a lightweight battle between Maheshate and Achilles Estremadura, who walked in with an undefeated record seven bouts into his career. Both men came out firing and it was Maheshate (6-1) that rocked his unbeaten opponent just seconds into the bout. However, Estremadura stayed composed and was able to land damaging combinations for the rest of the round. However, Maheshate landed a huge jumping knee in the second frame that hurt the Canadian and stole the round. The third round was back-and-forth with both men having…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 268 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live DWCS 2021 Week 10 coverage kicks off Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Fridley scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Fri…

A flyweight showdown between Roxanne Modafferi and Casey O’Neill is in the works for UFC 271.

MMA Ideas was first to report the contest. UFC 271 takes place on Feb. 12 at an as yet to be determined location. The event does not yet have a headliner.

A veteran of 46 professional bouts over the course of a career that began in 2003, Modafferi has lost three of her last four Octagon appearances. “The Happy Warrior” is coming off back-to-back decision losses to Viviane Araujo and Taila Santos in 2021.

Australia’s O’Neill is emerging as a top prospect at 125 pounds after victories in her first three outings within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 24-year-old Tiger Muay Thai product has scored successive finishes of Shana Dobson, Lara Procopio and Antonina Shevchenko in UFC competition thus far to run her professional mark to 8-0.

Glover Teixeira’s light heavyweight championship victory over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267 was big not only in Brazil, but also in his adopted hometown.

The newly-crowned title holder received a hero’s welcome upon returning to Dansbury, Conn., after submitting Blachowicz in this past Saturday’s headliner at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Watch the video above to see the reception Teixeira received.

UFC 267 was an important event regarding the status of the light heavyweight divison.

After Glover Teixeira took 205-pound gold from Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev secured a dominant win against Volkan Oezdemir in Abu Dhabi, the weight class appears to be wide open for contenders like Thiago Santos, who is coming off a win over Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night 193. For now, “Marreta” is simply waiting for the promotion to call with a name and date.

"I would love to face [Jiri] Prochaska, He is the only Top 5 opponent I haven’t faced yet, but since the UFC announced that he is the next No. 1 contender, I’m open to a few rematches,” Santos said. “I’ve already defeated Blachowicz and Anthony Smith via TKO, but it happened in 2018 and 2019, and I’m sure they are totally different fighters today. Aleksandar Rakic said I was an easy matchup, so I challenged him and he did not answer back.”

Santos plans to return to action sometime between February and March, and…

A heavyweight tilt pitting Tom Aspinall against Shamil Abdurakhimov is on tap for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on March 19.

ESPN was first to report the booking. The card does not yet have an official location or headliner.

Aspinall is currently on a seven-bout winning streak that includes four triumphs within the Las Vegas-based promotion. In his last outing, the Team Kaobon representative scored a first-round TKO of Sergey Spivak at UFC Fight Night 191 on Sept. 4. Aspinall has also finished Andre Arlovski, Alan Baudot and Jake Collier in UFC competition.

After a two-year hiatus, Abdurakhimov returned at UFC 266, where he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Chris Daukaus on Sept. 25. After winning six of seven UFC bouts from February 2016 to April 2019, the 40-year-old Dagestani has dropped back-to-back contests in the Octagon.