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Interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane is currently a slight favorite in a potential matchup with undisputed heavyweight king Francis Ngannou, according to BetOnline.

Gane is listed as a -122 favorite, while Ngannou checks in at +102. The fight must happen before June 2022 for those odds to be valid. The promotion has not announced a date for a heavyweight title unification bout, but UFC president Dana White expressed a desire to book Gane vs. Ngannou “ASAP” on Saturday night.

A former training partner of Ngannou’s at the MMA Factory in Paris, Gane claimed the interim throne with a third-round technical knockout victory against Derrick Lewis in the UFC 265 headliner at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night. After beginning his professional MMA career just three years ago in August 2018, “Bon Gamin” is 10-0 with notable victories over the likes of Lewis, Alexander Volkov, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Junior dos Santos.

Ngannou, meanwhile, captured heav…

A middleweight clash pitting Edmen Shahbazyan against Nassourdine Imavov is in the works for UFC 268.

La Sueur was first to report the pairing. UFC 268 is expected to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6 and is headlined by a rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington.

Shahbazyan began his professional tenure with 11 consecutive triumphs before falling to Derek Brunson and Jack Hermansson in his last two UFC outings. The Glendale Fighting Club member earned a contract with the promotion on Dana White’s Contender Series and began his UFC career with triumphs over Darren Stewart, Charles Byrd, Jack Marshman and Brad Tavares — the latter three inside of a round.

The 26-year-old Imavov has been victorious in two of his three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the MMA Factory representative scored a second-round technical knockout victory against Ian Heinisch at UFC on ESPN 27 on July 24. The Paris native is 10-3 as a professional, with e…

Logan Storley will square off against Dante Schiro in a welterweight contest at Bellator 265.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 265 takes place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Aug. 20 and is headlined by a heavyweight duel pitting Cheick Kongo against Sergei Kharitonov. The evening’s main card will air on Showtime.

A native of Roslyn, S.D., who was a four-time NCAA All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota, Storley will look to rebound from his first career defeat. After beginning his professional tenure with 11 consecutive triumphs, Storley dropped a split verdict to current welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov in his most recent outing at Bellator 252 this past November.

Schiro will enter his promotional debut with an 8-2 career mark. The Wisconsin native notably has two victories under the Legacy Fighting Alliance banner and is coming off a TKO tri…

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT GLORY announces its return to the GelreDome in Arnhem, Netherlands for back-to-back events. GLORY 79 will take place on 23 October 2021, followed by GLORY 80 in early 2022. Link below for full story https://t.co/RJ0LWmhm7X pic.twitter.com/5Xx1pTxZFm

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) August 8, 2021

Glory Kickboxing is set to return to the site of its biggest-ever event for a pair of nearly full-capacity arena shows.

Glory’s GelreDome Return This week, the Singapore-based kickboxing giant announced two upcoming events at GelreDome in Arnhem, Netherlands. The two events will allow 27,000 fans, which is near capacity, marking another step in a return to normalcy for the promotion since the COVID-19 pandemic. Glory 79 will take place on Oct. 22, while Glory 80 will happen on a date to be announced in early 2022. No matchups have been announced yet for either card.

Glory’s last event at the GelreDome was the biggest in promotio…

For most MMA diehards, Vicente Luque has been a well-known commodity for a few years now.

However, it seems that UFC president Dana White is only just now giving Luque his due recognition after “The Silent Assassin” put away the streaking Michael Chiesa with a first-round brabo choke in a featured welterweight bout at UFC 265 on Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston.

“He is [a top welterweight] now,” White said at the UFC 265 post-fight press conference. “We’re talking about him now. First of all, that kid is fun to watch. When he beat [Tyron] Woodley, Woodley hadn’t won a fight in three years. He beat Woodley – OK. Tonight, not only did he beat Michael Chiesa, but when he went for that choke, I was like, ‘Why are you trying to submit Michael Chiesa? Get back on your feet!’ He got it. He did it.”

Luque is currently on a four-bout winning streak of his own, and his stoppage of Chiesa was his 13th finish at 170 pounds – the second most in the history of t…

Michael Chiesa hit a road block on his path to the top of the welterweight division at UFC 265.

After winning his first four appearances at 170 pounds, “Maverick” suffered a submission loss to Vicente Luque on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. Making the defeat that much more painful is the way the fight started: Chiesa opened a cut under his opponent’s eye with a two-punch combination before landing a takedown and transitioning to Luque’s back early in the first round.

From there, Chiesa threatened with a rear-naked choke and a neck crank, but Luque was able to escape, transition into top position and secure a brabo choke, which forced the Sikjitsu representative to tap at the 3:25 mark of Round 1.

Chiesa later released a statement on Instagram in which he gave credit to Luque while admitting that he may have placed too much pressure on himself leading up to the fight.

First and most importantly, congrats to [Vicente Luque]. He’s a stone cold kill…

After a rough beginning, Jose Aldo has found his stride in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division.

The former UFC and WEC featherweight champion earned his second consecutive triumph at 135 pounds, as he showcased his skilled hands in a three-round verdict against Pedro Munhoz in the UFC 265 co-main event at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night. The Nova Uniao star moved to the new weight class in late 2019 and began his bantamweight tenure with losses to Marlon Moraes and Petr Yan.

Since then, Aldo has authored back-to-back decision victories over Munhoz and Marlon Vera at 135 pounds to regain some much-needed momentum. The soon-to-be 35-year-old Brazilian credits some tweaks to his training for his performance at UFC 265.

“After I lost a fight, I felt I needed to incorporate more things into my repertoire and that’s how I got into Navy-sponsored boxing in Brazil,” Aldo said. “I feel that’s how it made better my punches and obvious…

Ciryl Gane’s performance in the UFC 265 headliner against Derrick Lewis was about as flawless as one could get at the sport’s highest level.

The Frenchman chopped away at his opponent’s legs with kicks to hinder his movement before unloading with heavy punches to the head as Lewis covered up near the fence, forcing a stoppage 4:11 into Round 3. When all was said and done, Gane’s 98-to-16 advantage in significant strikes was the largest ever for a UFC heavyweight title fight. About the only adversity “Bon Gamin” suffered was a couple inadvertent eye pokes from his opponent.

“He touched me maybe one time [or] two times. He gave me a poke [in my] eyes. My vision was blurring for all of the fight. It was not easy to manage this, but I think it was a masterclass,” Gane said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“The feeling was exactly what we expected – exactly what we expected. That’s why he never touched me. He never touched me. Every time, maybe 10 times, it…

Six fighters from UFC 265 boosted their bank accounts with bonus checks on Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Not only did Ciryl Gane claim interim heavyweight gold, but he received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his dominant win over Derrick Lewis in the evening’s main event. Gane outlanded his opponent by a whopping 98-to-16 count in significant strikes en route to a third-round technical knockout victory, much to the chagrin of a vocal hometown throng in attendance to support Lewis.

Elsewhere, Vicente Luque garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for a first-round submission of Michael Chiesa in a featured welterweight contest. After nearly being trapped in a rear-naked choke, Luque turned the tables to submit his opponent with a brabo choke at the 3:25 mark of Round 1.

Earlier, Rafael Fiziev and Bobby Green received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their high-octane preliminary scrap at lightweight. …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Ciryl Gane was on another level. The undefeated Frenchman captured the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title, as he put away Derrick Lewis with punches in the third round of their UFC 265 headliner on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. Having been effectively drawn and quartered in his hometown, Lewis (25-8, 16-6 UFC) succumbed to blows 4:11 into Round 3. Gane (10-0, 7-0 UFC) chipped away at “The Black Beast” with kicks to the legs and body, powerful jabs, occasional combinations and slashing knees from the clinch. He flummoxed Lewis with routine stance switches, controlled the center of the cage and went about dissecting one of the most feared men in the sport’s history. Gane finally broke down the former Legacy Fighting Championship titleholder with leg kicks in the third round, forced him to turtle at …

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 265 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:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:…

This fight is UNREAL #UFC265 pic.twitter.com/L1b0maDhxx

— UFC (@ufc) August 8, 2021

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Rafael Fiziev cleared another significant hurdle in the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division.

The once-beaten Tiger Muay Thai star leaned on a sustained body attack and clean power punches, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over former King of the Cage champion Bobby Green in the featured UFC 265 prelim on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. All three cageside judges sided with Fiziev (10-1, 4-1 UFC): 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

Green (27-12-1, 8-7-1 UFC) held his own with the highly touted prospect but lacked the horsepower necessary to fight fire with fire. Fiziev staggered him twice with clubbing right hands in the second round and opened a cut across the bridge of his nose w…

For the second time, a proposed welterweight clash between Sean Brady and Kevin Lee has been canceled.

Brady announced via Instagram that a foot infection has forced him to pull out of the UFC on ESPN 30 bout on Aug. 28. It’s unclear if Lee will remain on the card against a replacement opponent. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news.

Brady and Lee were initially slated to square off at UFC 264 before “The Motown Phenom” pulled out of the event due to a broken rib.

Brady’s post is as follows:

Hey guys so last Friday I got a small cut on my foot training. I didn’t think anything of it but it turns out I had an infection in the cut causing cellulitis. I was out on antibiotics that were unsuccessful in treating the infection.

Kristen and my mom told me to go to the ER so that we could get it under control, thinking I would be out the hospital next day. Turns out, the infection got worse and spread to my tendon and my ankle joint which caused me to…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA_8f5-M85A&w=640&h=360] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 265 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The UFC 265 weigh-ins were largely uneventful, but there was still some drama before the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view to crown an interim heavyweight champion. Twenty-five fighters on the card officially made weight, with Manel Kape the lone exception. Kape came in at 129 pounds for his flyweight bout against Ode Osbourne. There was little concern for the main eventers, but Derrick Lewis did come in just half a pound under the 265-pound championship limit. "The Black Beast" will be the far bigger man on fight night, as he was 17.5 pounds heavier than Ciryl Gane prior to rehydrating.

A fan favorite inside the Octagon, Lewis (25-7, 1 NC) is known for delivering shocking knockouts. He most recently demolished Alexey Oleynik and Curtis Blaydes…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DoKwXfPnJU&w=560&h=315] Former Bellator MMA featherweight king Patricio Freire wants to run it back with A.J. McKee one day, but he is not in a rush to line it up.

Freire (23-5) and McKee (18-0) met at Bellator 263, for the finals of the featherweight grand prix with a championship, tournament belt and $1 million check on the line. In their meeting, McKee stunned “Pitbull” with a head kick, and finished him off with a guillotine choke in under two minutes. The Brazilian, after taking a few days off to spend time with his family, spoke to Ag. Fight on Thursday about his defeat and prospects going forward.

Freire was none too thrilled by the stoppage in that bout, when referee Mike Beltran intervened believing that “Pitbull” went limp from the choke. While Freire did ultimately congratulate McKee, crediting the younger fighter for his successes, he believes he was not given the full opportunity to get out of the perilous situatio…

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. Although Abusupiyan Magomedov did not earn a million dollars when competing for Professional Fighters League, he did work his way up to a Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. The Dagestan-born German Magomedov (24-4-1) announced on his Instagram on Friday that he has signed with the UFC. In the last five years, Magomedov has amassed a record of 11-1-1, and the lone defeat came in a PFL title fight. His opponent has not yet been announced, nor has his debut date, but he is expected to compete at middleweight.

“I am happy to announce that I have signed with the UFC,” Magomedov wrote. “A big thanks to my management for giving me this opportunity. I am looking forward to fighting with the best athletes in the world and I am excited to announce my first UFC Octagon appearance soon.”

“Abus” worked his way up the ranks with…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 267 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Two Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights with their eyes on the prize will come to blows in October. MMA Fighting first announced on Wednesday that Alexander Volkov (33-9) will be squaring off with Marcin Tybura (22-6) on UFC 267. This Oct. 30 card will likely be held inside the Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Tybura confirmed the pairing on his Instagram on Thursday.

Russia’s Volkov had a two-fight knockout victory streak crumble at the hands of Ciryl Gane in June, when he came up short and lost a unanimous decision. Before then, he put Walt Harris and Alistair Overeem away, both in the second round. “Drago” charged into the UFC and strung together a four-fight win streak, with a knockout of Fabricio Werdum to thrust him into a title eliminator with Derrick Lewis. Volkov celebrates a fi…

BREAKING

Fedor Emelianenko returns against No. ranked heavyweight @TBearTim in the #BellatorMoscow main event, Saturday, Oct. 23 at the VTB Arena

Tickets on sale NOW https://t.co/wh48J9HfEO pic.twitter.com/noLYPKWBED — BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) August 5, 2021 Recent Bellator MMA interim title challenger Timothy Johnson is the winner of the Fedor Emelianenko sweepstakes.

On Thursday, Bellator announced that Emelianenko (39-6, 1 NC) now has an opponent for his headliner atop Bellator Moscow in October. The Oct. 23 show, which will be held inside the VTB Arena – barring any COVID-19 related concerns – will be capped off by a heavyweight battle between Emelianenko and Johnson (15-7). While this will be the final bout for “The Last Emperor” in his home country of Russia, he will reportedly take one more match to say goodbye to the sport.

The Pride Fighting Championships legend had multiple different foes suggested or offered for his f…

There has been a shakeup in the bracket for the Professional Fighters League welterweight playoffs.

Joao Zeferino has suffered an undisclosed injury and will not be able to face Magomed Magomedkerimov in a scheduled 170-pound semifinal bout on Aug. 13. As a result, Sadibou Sy will step in as an alternate and square off against Magomedkerimov.

Sy went 1-0 with one no contest during the 2021 PFL season. Most recently, the 34-year-old Pancrase Gym Sweden representative earned a unanimous decision over Alexey Kunchenko on June 17.

There have been several changes to the preliminary portion of the PFL Playoff 1 card, as well. With Sy moving into the playoffs, Gleison Tibau will now face Curtis Millender in a welterweight contest. Additionally, Darrell Horcher will step in for Natan Schulte and meet Olivier Aubin-Mercier at lightweight, while Tyler Hill will replace Nikolay Aleksahkin and lock horns with Brett Cooper at welterweight.

Finally, a lightweight clash pitting…

Luke Rockhold will make his return from a lengthy hiatus against Sean Strickland in a middleweight bout at UFC 268.

UFC broadcast partner ESPN confirmed the booking following an initial report from TSN. Both Rockhold and Strickland have verbally agreed to the bout. UFC 268 is expected to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6 and is headlined by a welterweight championship rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington.

Rockhold will fight for the first time since a move to 205 pound resulted in a second-round knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 on July 6, 2019. The 36-year-old American Kickboxing Academy product is a former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion but has lost three of his last four appearances. Rockhold owns notable wins over the likes of Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, Ronaldo Souza, Tim Kennedy and Keith Jardine.

Strickland, meanwhile, is coming off a decisive five-round victory over Uriah Hall in…

Chad Mendes is returning to combat sports, but his next fight won’t be inside the Octagon.

The former UFC title challenger revealed on "The Joe Rogan Experience” that he has signed a multi-fight contract with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Mendes is expected to compete at 155 pounds and has targeted Chandler, Ariz., on Oct. 22 for his BKFC debut.

“I just signed a big contract – I’m coming back to fighting,” Mendes told Rogan. “But I’m not coming back to MMA. … I’m coming back to boxing. I want to try something different. I think we’re going to throw some bareknuckle in there, bro – just mix it up and get real crazy. This is something that’s kind of been in the works for probably a year now.”

According to a report from MMAjunkie.com, the contract is “the most lucrative deal” of Mendes’ fighting career. The Team Alpha Male product had existing fights on his UFC contract but was granted his release by the Las Vegas-based promotion to sign with BKFC.

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Nicco Montano is no longer part of the UFC roster following her latest debacle on the scales.

The promotion released the former flyweight queen on the heels of Montano missing weight by seven pounds for a scheduled clash with Yanan Wu at UFC on ESPN 28 this past weekend. Montano later released a statement regarding her weight miss and the subsequent cancellation of the bout.

“So I’ve been eating less for my workout sessions, training up until I had to come to the quarantine bubble and had to start my cut pretty high. I have done this cut before but unfortunately it just didn’t work out this time around. I think the most important thing for me to do is focus on getting my weight down healthily,” Montano wrote on Instagram.

“Believe me I didn’t want this to happen and did everything in my power to make sure it didn’t but sometimes life kicks you in the balls over and over and over. But I’m learning that it’s only making me stronger and more resilient for what’s t…

Both components of this past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 28 headliner are facing potential six-month medical suspensions.

Sean Strickland needs an X-ray of his left thigh and knee as well as dental evaluation of his lower prosthetic tooth, and if he doesn’t receive clearance, he will be out until Jan. 28. At a minimum, Strickland is sidelined with no contact until Aug. 31. Hall, meanwhile, must have a right orbital fracture cleared by an ENT doctor or he will be out until Jan. 28. At a minimum, “The Ultimate Fighter 17” finalist is suspended until Sept. 30 with no contact until Sept. 15.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission released a full list of medical suspensions to mixedmartialarts.com. Strickland captured a clear cut unanimous verdict against Hall in the UFC on ESPN 28 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Eight other fighters from UFC on ESPN 28 are facing possible six-month terms pending medical clearance: Jared Gooden (hands), Melsik Baghdasaryan (left …

Contract signed drunks#chivas #blacklabel pic.twitter.com/2s8J268tHd

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) August 3, 2021

Paulo Costa isn’t taking himself too seriously in the lead-up to his recently announced matchup against Marvin Vettori.

After some controversy regarding his pay in recent months, “Borrachinha” has signed a contract to return to the Octagon. The former middleweight title challenger poked some fun at himself on social media, posting a picture of himself signing the agreement with an empty bottle of whiskey in the vicinity.

“Contract has been signed and tasted,” Costa wrote on Instagram. “Salute.”

The post is a nod toward the Brazilian’s post-fight comments following a second-round technical knockout loss to Israel Adesanya last September, when Costa claimed that he drank an entire bottle of wine because he was having difficulty sleeping the night before the middleweight title bout.

Costa vs. Vettor…