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Gegard. GNP. W. #bellator264 pic.twitter.com/mZokLhBowz

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 14, 2021

It required more of him than he anticipated, but Gegard Mousasi forced another would-be successor to bow at his feet.

Mousasi retained his undisputed Bellator MMA middleweight championship, as he dispatched John Salter with punches in the third round of their Bellator 264 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Salter (18-5, 8-2 Bellator) met his end 2:07 into Round 3, suffering his first setback in nearly three years.

Mousasi (48-7-2, 6-1 Bellator) appeared to give away the first round with a flat start but started to sink his teeth into the challenger soon enough. He pressured Salter onto his back foot in the second round, scrambled into top position after being taken down and battered the Alabama native with standing-to-ground punches, elbows and forearm strikes. Mousasi stonewalled another a…

Two 2021 Professional Fighters League finals are now set after tonight's PFL 7 event.

The main event saw PFL's prized signee Rory MacDonald go up against promotional mainstay and 2019 welterweight division winner Ray Cooper III. With a spot in the finals on the line, MacDonald (22-8-1) came out looking to grapple. However, it was Cooper III (23-7-1) that wound up taking down "Red King" and locking in an arm-triangle choke before the round expired. The second and third round was more of the same as MacDonald had nothing for Cooper III's wrestling. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Cooper III.

The co-main event was another welterweight semifinal that saw No. 4 seed Magomed Magomedkerimov faced alternate Sadibou Sy. Magomedkerimov (28-5) showed off his superior grappling early as he took down Sy (9-6-2, 1 NC) and then controlled the entire round while on top. The second frame featured more action on the feet, but ended on the ground with the Russian on top. Afte…

Sherdog's live Bellator 264 coverage kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 Opening the Bellator 264 card, we have a mystery match, as both Jonathan McNeil (0-0) and Orlando Mendoza (0-0) are both making their pro debuts in a 195 pound catchweight affair. Sportsbooks and gamblers are equally stumped, as they have this as a dead even pick'em. Referee Todd Anderson will be observing them as closely as anyone. They began cautiously, until McNeil starts with a flurry of punches, and then, clinching against the cage, gets an easy takedown. He immediately works from the top, looking to pass with an arm triangle. Mendoza resists, but McNeil soon attains mount. Mendoza, however, does manage to get out of the arm triangle, a small consolation. McNeil keeps looking for the arm triangle, but isn't throwing many punches from such a dominant position. Mendoza tries to buck him off, but he is only…

Finally, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace has a date for his mixed martial arts debut.

One of One Championship’s most prestigious recent signings is about to make his promotional debut. According to a report by MMA Fighting, 13-time world jiu-jitsu champion Marcus Almeida will face Thomas Narmo at “One: Revolution” in Singapore on Sept. 24.

Best-known as “Buchecha,” Almeida made a name for himself in BJJ and grappling tournaments. The two-time ADCC gold medalist was supposed to make his MMA debut against Oumar Kane on April 7 before the promotion attached him to a clash with Ji Won Kang at One on TNT 1. However, the matchup fell through. The American Top Team representative will finally have his chance to crossover to MMA next month.

Narmo (4-0 1NC, 0-0 1NC One) made his promotional debut at One: Battleground 2. His fight ended in an anticlimactic fashion after Alain Ngalani (4-6 2NC) landed an accidental groin kick that prevented “The Last Viking” from continu…

One Championship aired the second pre-recorded portion of its “One: Battleground” series of events Friday.

In the “One: Battleground 2” main event, Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Lipeng Zhang made his promotional debut by taking on former two-time One lightweight titleholder Eduard Folayang. The 37-year-old Folayang (22-12, 12-10 One) put a lot on the line as he entered the competition with a single victory in his latest six appearances. The Filipino appeared to control the situation in the first minute of the clash as he landed a few punches. Zhang (31-11-2, 1-0 One) waited for the right moment to secure a takedown, pinning “Landslide” with his back on the canvas for the rest of the round and punished him with punches from the top. Before the end of the first stanza, Zhang took his foe’s back but failed to finish him with a rear-naked choke.

In the second period, the Chinese fighter wanted to move the action on the canvas once again. “The Warrior” landed a takedow…

Yoel Romero will make his Bellator debut against Phil Davis on Sept. 18, sources told @MikeCoppinger after an initial report by Ariel Helwani. pic.twitter.com/KnGmd2gGeQ

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 13, 2021

Bellator MMA is coming home.

Two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero is finally making his long-awaited Bellator debut as the Cuban will face fellow UFC vet Phil Davis in the main event of an upcoming Bellator event that will go down in San Jose, California, on Sept. 18. The news was first reported by Ariel Helwani before being confirmed in a press release issued by Bellator Friday afternoon.

Romero (13-5, 0-0 Bellator) was supposed to take part in the light heavyweight Grand Prix, where he was slated to fight Anthony Johnson at Bellator 257 before the fight was rescheduled for Bellator 258. However, an eye issue caused the “Soldier of God” to fail his medicals and his spot in the tour…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5YbvWZmwUQ&w=640&h=360] The Professional Fighters League returns with its first installment of the 2021 playoff series. The 10-fight card features four semifinal bouts in the welterweight and lightweight divisions with Rory MacDonald vs. Ray Cooper III atop the card. While all semifinalists made weight, two PFL 7 undercard fighters missed weight: Darrell Horcher and Leandro Silva.

MacDonald (22-7-1) most recently suffered a controversial decision loss to Gleison Tibau and will look to rebound against Cooper III (22-7-1), who is on a four-fight win streak. The other welterweight semifinal sees Magomed Magomedkerimov (27-5) facing off against the 34-year-old Swede Sadibou Sy (9-5-2, 1 NC). Meanwhile, the lightweight semifinals will see Clay Collard (20-8, 1 NC) go up against Raush Manfio (13-3), and Loik Radzhabov (14-3-1) face Alex Martinez (8-1)

PFL Playoffs will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT on ESPN+ and the main card m…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXTCMVUT4NE&w=640&h=360] Bellator 264 will proceed with a Bellator MMA middleweight title defense as everyone on the card made weight, including titleholder Gegard Mousasi and challenger John Salter.

Having regained the vacant middleweight title in a bout against welterweight champion Douglas Lima, Mousasi (47-7-2) now looks to make a successful defense. Mousasi has won 10 of his last 11 fights, with the lone blemish being a majority decision loss to Rafael Lovato Jr. "The Dreamcatcher" weighed 185 pounds for the title bout.

Salter (18-4) is riding a three-fight win streak that includes submission wins over Chidi Njokuani and Andrew Kapel. His last defeat came to Lovato Jr., which snapped a seven-fight win streak. Salter weighed in at 185 pounds on the dot.

Kendly St. Louis (162.5) failed to make weight for his lightweight clash against Justin Montalvo (155.75), and the bout has subsequently been scratched by Mike Mazzulli of t…

BREAKING NEWS: long-time Bellator featherweight contend-er Henry Corrales faces Vladislav Parubchenko on the upcoming #BellatorPhoenix event that will take place on Oct. 16. The same card will feature the light heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals.

— Tudor Leonte (@MrTudorLeonte) August 12, 2021

An upcoming Bellator MMA event’s lineup has gained a featherweight tilt, Sherdog has learned from a source close to the promotion.

Long-time Bellator featherweight contender Henry Corrales will meet Vladislav Parubchenko on a yet unnumbered Bellator event that will take place in Phoenix on Oct. 16.

In his latest cage appearance, former King of the Cage two-division champion Corrales (18-6, 6-6 Bellator) tapped to a second-round rear-naked choke at the hands of Johnny Campbell at Bellator 258. Prior, “OK” bounced back from a two-bout skid by overcoming Brandon Girtz thanks to a narrow split decision at Bellator 250.

The 28-year-old Parubchenko…

WOW!!!

Olympic hero @d_janikowski welcomes @PawlakMMA into the promotion at #KSW63!!

INSANE FIGHT!!!

Sept 4KSWTVKSW App pic.twitter.com/wh7kkglFJW

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) August 12, 2021

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki has scheduled an interesting middleweight clash.

On Thursday morning, KSW announced that Damian Janikowski would face Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Pawel Pawlak at KSW 63. The 31-year-old Janikowski will welcome “Plastinho” to the Polish promotion’s middleweight division. Before turning to mixed martial arts, Janikowski (6-3, 6-3 KSW) made a name for himself by winning the Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling in 2012. In his most recent cage appearance, he overcame Jason Radcliffe (16-8) thanks to a series of punches that halted the contest at the 4:41 mark in the second stanza of their middleweight encounter at KSW 59. Prior, WCA Fight Team’s ensign edged Andreas Gustafsson thanks to a narrow split dec…

Claressa Shields will face Abigail Montes at the 2021 #PFLChampionship on Wednesday, October 27th!https://t.co/WYQE9B4A9y

— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 12, 2021

The Professional Fighters League 2021 Season Championship will end earlier than usual.

On Thursday morning, the PFL revealed that this year’s finals would go down on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The promotion used to hold the championship fights on New Year’s Eve as the previous editions went down on Dec. 31, 2018, and Dec. 21, 2019, respectively. Fans can already buy their tickets for the event, with tickets prices ranging from $30 to $175. As always, the finale will see two fighters from each of the six divisions who made their way to finals competing for the much-coveted $1 million prize.

“There is no better place to welcome fans back in-person than at the 2021 PFL World Championship as $6 million and six world titles will be u…

Daniel Rodriguez has agreed to step in on short notice to face Kevin Lee at UFC on ESPN 30 later this month.

Rodriguez is a replacement for Sean Brady, who withdrew from the matchup due to a foot infection. ESPN was first to report the new welterweight bout. UFC on ESPN 30 takes place at the UFC Apex on Aug. 28 and is headlined by a featherweight clash between Edson Barboza and Giga Chikadze.

The 34-year-old Rodriguez has been victorious in five of his six promotional appearances dating back to February 2020, with his only defeat coming against Nicolas Dalby. Most recently, the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu representative defeated Preston Parsons via first-round technical knockout at UFC on ESPN 26 on July 17. Rodriguez owns notable wins over the likes of Mike Perry and Tim Means.

A former interim lightweight title challenger, Lee will make his 170-pound debut against Rodriguez. “The Motown Phenom” has lost three of his last four outings, including a third-round submis…

Arman Tsarukyan will lock horns with Christos Giagos in a lightweight bout at UFC Fight Night on Sept. 18.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. The card is expected to be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a light heavyweight scrap between Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann.

After losing to Islam Makhachev in his promotional debut, Tsarukyan has bounced back to post successive triumphs over Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Davi Ramos and Matt Frevola in UFC competition. The 24-year-old Russian has been victorious in 16 of his 18 professional fights overall, with 10 triumphs coming inside the distance.

Giagos, meanwhile, has won four of his last five UFC bouts. Most recently, “The Spartan” submitted Sean Soriano in the second round of their matchup at UFC 262.

The lineup for Rizin Fighting Federation 30 continues to grow with the addition of five new bouts, including a featherweight tilt between UFC veteran Yuta Sasaki and Yoshinori Horie.

The four other confirmed matchups are as follows: Yusuke Yachi vs. Koji Takeda; Shinobu Ohta vs. Yuta Kubo; Shoji Maruyama vs. Chihiro Suzuki and Panchan Rina vs. Momoka under kickboxing rules.

Rizin 30 takes place on Sept. 19 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and features the quarterfinals of the bantamweight grand prix and a non-title clash between atomweight champion Ayaka Hamasaki and Emi Fujino.

A nine-time UFC veteran, Sasaki is coming off a unanimous decision triumph over Kenta Takizawa at Rizin 26 on New Year’s Eve. Prior to that, “Ulka” suffered a broken jaw against Kai Asakura at Rizin 19 in October 2019.

Horie, meanwhile, is coming off a third-round knockout of Tetsuya Seki at Rizin 27 on March 21. The longtime Pancrase veteran has one Octagon appearance unde…

A pair of former UFC champions are scheduled to meet in a boxing match under the Triller Fight Club banner.

Former middleweight king Anderson Silva and ex-light heavyweight ruler Tito Ortiz will square off in a 195-pound bout on Sept. 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The fight is slated for eight rounds, and both athletes will wear 10-pounce gloves. MMAFighting.com was first to report the booking.

Silva vs. Ortiz will be on the undercard of the Triller Fight Club event that is headlined by a showdown between former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya and ex-UFC title holder Vitor Belfort. The card will air on pay-per-view.

The 46-year-old Silva made his first boxing appearance since 2005 on June 19, when he defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by split decision. “The Spider” is 2-1 as a professional boxer. Silva’s last Octagon appearance came at UFC Fight Night 181 on Oct. 31, when he suffered a fourth-round TKO defeat to Uriah Hall.

Ortiz, who recently …

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A heavyweight showdown between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich has been added to the UFC Fight Night 191 lineup.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Wednesday. UFC Fight Night 191 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 4 and is headlined by a middleweight clash pitting Derek Brunson against Darren Till.

Aspinall is currently on a three-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion that includes finishes of Jake Collier, Alan Baudot and Andrei Arlovski. The former Cage Warriors competitor is on a six-fight winning streak overall in which only Arlovski has made it past the first round against him.

Pavlovich, meanwhile, has been victorious in 14 of 15 outings since beginning his professional tenure in 2014. The former Fight Nights Global champion lost his Octagon debut to Alistair Overeem via first-round TKO before rebounding to score back-to-back first-round finishes of Marcelo Golm and Maurice…

Ronaldo Souza is walking away from mixed martial arts at the age of 41.

“Jacare” announced his retirement in an interview with Combate. Souza ends his career with a 26-10 record that included a middleweight championship in Strikeforce and a stint in the UFC where he was one of the division’s top contenders.

“I've fought a lot, I retired from jiu-jitsu very early, I think I've fought a lot of MMA and I have no intention of fighting again,” Souza said. “It's really over. I'm retiring from MMA, and I'm returning to the sport that I made history, the sport I really like.

“I'm going back to training and, who knows, I'll go back to competing [in jiu-jitsu]. I'm challenge-driven, and jiu-jitsu for me is becoming a challenge, because it's very evolved, there's a lot of new stuff. It's beautiful to see.”

Souza exits the sport on the heels of a loss to Andre Muniz at UFC 262 in which he suffered a badly broken arm. “Jacare” had fallen on hard times in recent years…

Friday’s Bellator 264 card is down two fights due to “health and safety protocols.”

The promotion announced Tuesday that Danny Sabatello vs. Johnny Campbell and James Adcock vs. Nekruz Mirkhojaev have been canceled. As a result, the preliminary draw will begin at 7:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. PT. According to a report from MMAFighting.com, Sabatello was forced to withdraw from the event after testing positive for COVID-19.

Bellator 264 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Friday and is headlined by a middleweight championshp bout between Gegard Mousasi and John Salter. The main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

American Top Team’s Sabatello has been victorious in 11 of his first 12 professional outings, including a three-round verdict over Brett Johns in his most recent fight at Bellator 259. A veteran of 34 professional bouts, Campbell is coming off a second-round submission of Henry Corrales at Bellator 258.

Adcock was to make…

OFFICIAL: Fight Card is set for the final #PFLPlayoffs event on Friday, August 27th! pic.twitter.com/aaAalhwBBy

— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 10, 2021

The Professional Fighters League playoff event on Aug. 27 has been finalized with a lineup featuring featherweight and light heavyweight semifinals.

The card is headlined by a 145-pound semifinal pitting top-seeded Brendan Loughnane against No. 4 Movlid Khaybulaev, while No. 2 Chris Wade meets third-seeded Bubba Jenkins in the other half of the featherweight bracket.

Meanwhile, No. 1 Antonio Carlos Jr. locks horns with No. 4 Emiliano Sordi, while No. 2 Cezar Ferreira squares off against No. 3 Marthin Hamlet in the light heavyweight semifinals.

The semifinal bouts will air on ESPN2 and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while the preliminary bill streams on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

PFL Playoffs 3 Card:Main Card (ESPN2/ESPN+)Brendan Loughnane vs Movlid KhaybulaevChris Wa…

Shortly after he defeated Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision at UFC 265 in arguably his best performance as a bantamweight, Jose Aldo suggested a fight with ex-champ T.J. Dillashaw to decide the division’s next No. 1 contender.

Andre Pederneiras, the Nova Uniao leader who serves as Aldo’s trainer, mentor and manager, approves of his fighter’s attitude but told Sherdog.com that he doesn’t believe a showdown with Dillashaw is likely. Dillashaw is coming off a split-decision triumph against Cory Sandhagen in the UFC on ESPN 27 main event in his first bout in more than two years.

"I would love for T.J. to say yes, but if I were his manager, right after he beat the No. 2 of the division, I would pressure the UFC to give him an immediate title shot and avoid a tough opponent like Aldo,” Pederneiras said. “But I hope I'm wrong and T.J. accepts the call to face him by December as Aldo suggested. I have no doubt that this clash of former champions would be monumental.” Read more about Andre Pederneiras Doesn’t Expect T.J. Dillashaw to Accept Jose Aldo’s Challenge

UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC UFC 265Credit: Getty/UFC

Derrick Lewis will be sidelined for a month following his technical knockout loss to Ciryl Gane in the UFC 265 headliner.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event to mixedmartialarts.com. UFC 265 took place at the Toyota Center in Houston this past Saturday and saw Gane claim the interim heavyweight crown with a stoppage of Lewis at the 4:11 mark of Round 3. Lewis is suspended until Sept. 7, while Gane is out until Aug. 17.

Specific reasons fo…

We Are BACK!@UFC announces #UFC267 will be held in Abu Dhabi on October 30. More info

[@VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi]

— UFC News (@UFCNews) August 10, 2021 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is officially heading back to Abu Dhabi this fall.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced Tuesday that UFC 267 will take place at Etihad Arena on Oct. 30. According to a release, the card is part of “Abu Dhabi Showdown Week,” which includes fan events, fitness showcases and more.

No bouts were formally confirmed by the UFC, but the card is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight championship tilt between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira. Other key bouts that have been reported include: Islam Makhachev vs. Rafael dos Anjos at lightweight; Khamzat Chimaev vs. Jingliang Li at welterweight and Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura at heavyweight.

UFC 267 will mark the promotion’s first event in Abu Dhabi since UFC 257 on …

A flyweight clash pitting Alex Perez against Matt Schnell has been pushed back one week from Aug. 28 to Sept. 4.

MMA DNA was first to report that Perez vs. Schnell will now take place at UFC Fight Night 191. UFC Fight Night 191 will be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight clash between Darren Till and Derek Brunson.

Perez will return to action for the first time since falling to Deiveson Figueiredo via first-round submission in a flyweight title bout at UFC 255 last November. Prior to that, the Team Oyama representative had been victorious in six of his first seven promotional appearances.

Schnell, meanwhile, has lost two of his last three UFC bouts. Most recently, “Danger” dropped a three-round verdict to Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 262 on May 15. Schnell is 5-4 in the Octagon overall, including a four-fight winning streak from October 2017 to August 2019.

After her scheduled bantamweight title defense at UFC 265 was scrapped due to a positive COVID test, Amanda Nunes is ready to get back to work.

American Top Team owner Dan Lambert informed ESPN on Monday that Nunes has been cleared to return to the gym and that the two-division champion hopes to fight before December. Nunes was slated to face Julianna Pena in the UFC 256 co-main event before the positive test forced her to withdraw from this past Saturday’s event.

UFC president Dana White said at the UFC 265 post-fight press conference that the plan was to rebook Nunes vs. Pena once “Lioness” was able to return to action.

Currently in the middle of a 12-bout winning streak, Nunes last defended her bantamweight crown in a five-round verdict over Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245 in December 2019. She has since defeated Felicia Spencer and Megan Anderson in 145-pound title bouts in her last two Octagon appearances.