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One former Jon Jones training partner believes “Bones” will continue his extended run of success when he moves to the heavyweight division.

In an interview with TMZ Sports, former Jackson-Wink MMA teammate Rashad Evans discussed Jones’ potential at heavyweight. After Evans spit from the Albuquerque, N.M.-based camp, he faced Jones for the 205-pound title at UFC 145, losing a five-round verdict on April 21, 2012. While there was once bad blood between the two rivals, Evans still has plenty of respect for Jones.

“Jon moving up, it’s going to be a continuation of the legacy of Jon Jones,” Evans said. “Jon Jones is a phenomenal athlete. He’s a phenomenal fighter and his IQ inside the Octagon, it can’t be surpassed by anybody. So I expect him to carry that to the heavyweight division.

“The things that I think may give him some problems is the fact that these guys are big and they do hit harder. But for …

For Dustin Poirier, it was an easy decision to choose a trilogy with Conor McGregor over a lightweight title fight.

"If I am the best in the world, then I'm gonna beat Conor and fight for the belt. It's like doubling down on yourself,” Poirier told ESPN. “I’m a gambling man. I believe in my skills and fighting. So I just doubled down. That’s what it was.”

It seemed like a virtual certainty that “The Diamond” would be next in line to fight for the vacant lightweight crown after defeating McGregor via second-round technical knockout at UFC 257 in January. However, Poirier opted for the trilogy with the Irish star over a title bout, and Charles Oliveira claimed the throne with a stoppage of Michael Chandler at UFC 262.

“I don’t know how much you want to get into the actual contractual stuff with this, but me fighting for the belt, I wouldn’t have got pay-per-view [points]. I”d have got a base salary of probably not even a third of my base salary for this fight,” Po…

#BellatorFWGP finalist @ajmckee101 stopped by the desk to chop up #Bellator263 with @BCusterTV #ColbertNyambayar @BellatorMMA pic.twitter.com/qpAsth4XvE

— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) July 4, 2021

The Bellator 263 headliner between Patricio Freire and A.J. McKee may very well be the biggest fight in the history of the California-based promotion, but McKee is willing to take it one step further.

Not only does “The Mercenary” believe the featherweight grand prix final determines the No. 1 fighter under the Bellator banner, but he thinks the winner also deserves a spot at the top of all pound-for-pound lists, regardless of organization.

“Definitely. Hands down,” McKee said on Saturday’s Showtime Boxing broadcast. “This fight is for the pound-for-pound best, I feel, in the world. At 145 pounds, there’s not too many guys that can stop myself or ‘Pitbull.’”

McKee has kicked off his professional tenure with 17 consecutive triumphs in Be…

HEADKICK ARTIST

Ludovit Klein puts Slovakia on the map!

[ Tune in LIVE on ESPN2 ] pic.twitter.com/0oj8dN5p1Y — UFC (@ufc) September 27, 2020

Nate Landwehr and Ludovit Klein will lock horns at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Oct. 16.

MMA DNA was first to report the booking. The event does not yet have an official location or headliner.

A former M-1 Global champion, Landwehr is 1-2 in his first three promotional appearances. In his last outing, “The Train” suffered a flying knee knockout loss to Julian Erosa 56 seconds into the opening round of their bout at UFC Fight Night 185. Landwehr was also knocked out by a knee from Herbert Burns in his Octagon debut but recovered to outpoint Darren Elkins in his next bout at UFC on ESPN 8.

Slovakia’s Klein has split his first two UFC bouts. After knocking out Shane Young in his first Octagon foray at UFC 253, “Mr. Highlight” dropped a decision to Michael Trizano at UFC o…

Former UFC flyweight contender John Dodson and his family were involved in a serious car accident over the weekend.

According to Dodson’s manager, Ricky Kottenstette, the fighter will no longer be able to compete in his scheduled bout against Cody Gibson at XMMA 2 on July 30 following the “near death” crash. A GoFundMe account has been started to help the New Mexico native and his family, and donations can be made here.

“We have started this go fund me to help John Dodson and family. The Dodson’s were headed to Texas on vacation to visit family when they were involved in a near death accident with the whole family inside the vehicle,” Kottenstette wrote.

“They were all released from the hospital this morning but will have a rough month of recovery and financial hardship ahead. They have totaled their family vehicle and unfortunately John will no longer be able to fight in his upcoming July 30th bout. We are asking for assistance to help them with their medical …

Saturday marks a year since Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the father of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomeodv, died due to COVID-19 related complications.

Abdulmanap was an integral figure in the MMA career of his son, serving as Khabib’s main coach during his rise to prominence. His death hastened Khabib’s departure from the sport, as the Dagestani grappler retired following a victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 this past October, citing a promise he made to his mother to no longer compete without his father by his side.

Today is already a year since the Father is not with us,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram. “This event increased my conviction that nothing in this world belongs to us, neither our children, nor our parents, nor our property. All we have is all temporary.”

“Everything belongs to Allah alone and to Him will be our return, tie your hearts to Allah, stay more alone with Him, because the time will come and we will all be put in a grave…

Nate Marquardt making his MMA return Aug 6th #TitanFC70 pic.twitter.com/LsPcnzoUb9

— Jim (@ItAlways420) July 3, 2021

Nate Marquardt will return to action for the first time since November 2017.

The former Strikeforce champion and UFC title challenger announced his comeback from retirement during Titan FC 70 on Friday. Marquardt plans to fight at the promotion’s Aug. 6 event. An opponent for the fight was not revealed.

“It’s 100 percent God,” Marquardt said of his motivation to return. “Honestly, I’ve been sent here to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and He’s the only way to be saved and our nation is in desperate need right now to turn back to the Lord. I believe that’s the message God has for me and I’m really excited to fight again.”

Marquardt initially revealed that in December 2019, but it wasn’t until now that “The Great” was able to make those plans concrete. The ex-King of Pancrase first announced his retirement at the en…

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Sean Soriano will square off against Octagon newcomer Fernando Padilla in a featherweight clash on Oct. 2.

ESPN was first to report the booking. The UFC Fight Night event takes place at an as yet to be announced location and is headling by a light heavyweight showdown pitting Thiago Santos against Johnny Walker.

After winning five of his last six bouts on the regional circuit, Soriano returned for a second promotional stint at UFC 262, where he suffered a second-round submission defeat to Christos Giagos on May 15. The 31-year-old Sanford MMA product is thus far winless in four UFC appearances.

A native of Chihuahau, Mexico, Padilla enters his first UFC foray having won four of his last five professional outings. Most recently, the 24-year-old Team Oyama representative knocked out Cameron Graves with an elbow in the second round of their featherweight title encounter at Fury Fighting Championship…

The LFA 110 main event is LIVE on UFC FIGHTPASS!! #LFA110 pic.twitter.com/132I15oQhh

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 3, 2021 Legacy Fighting Alliance crowned a new interim flyweight champion in the LFA 110 main event that pitted Yuma Horiuchi against Charles Johnson.

The action was fast-paced on the feet, with both fighters having success. Referee Kevin Nix inserted himself into the bout by deducting a point from Horiuchi for a low blow during Round 2. While Horiuchi (8-4) landed damaging leg kicks, Johnson (9-2) was able to find success with his hands. Johnson would come on strong in the championship rounds in order to eke out a split-decision victory with scores of 49-45, 46-48 and 48-46.

The co-main event was a solid middleweight bout between undefeated prospect Chibwikem Onyenegecha going up against an experienced veteran in Renato Valente Alves. While not the most dramatic contest, Alves (8-4) was generally able to outwork Onye…

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. Top Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight contender Rob Font had a major scare from the World Anti-Doping Agency recently. Following his successful performance, a five-round decision win over ex-champ Cody Garbrandt, Font (19-4) failed a post-fight drug test for a metabolite of the noontropic substance known as meclofexonate. Upon learning of this test, Font and his team including manager Tyson Chartier documented every supplement that Font took, submitting his information to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. After an investigation, Font has been cleared of any wrongdoing, although he is currently under suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is customary for an active anti-doping case. Chartier released a full statement of the proceedings on his Instagram account on Friday, detailing the steps they took as well…

Now that the #LFA110 weigh-in is in the books, which fight are you looking forward to the most?

: https://t.co/o0b7Vbey3p

: https://t.co/KLUg3OjH5h@ShellsDotCom@Drink9mm@KoiCBD@SheathUnderwear@GLCDirect2000@HowlerHead@TeamSmartStop@GrandCasinoOKC@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/hWqsPXqVIU — LFA (@LFAfighting) July 2, 2021 Although several fights fell through during fight week, the Legacy Fighting Alliance will surge ahead with a shortened five-fight offering capped off by a title bout.

A new LFA interim flyweight champion will be crowned at LFA 110. All 10 mixed martial artists that remained on the billing hit their proper marks. The main event will see Charles Johnson face Japanese prospect Yuma Horiuchi for the interim 125-pound championship. The promotion is opening up the title for dispute, as current champ Victor Altamirano is headed to Dana White's Contender Series in search of a Ultimate Fighting Championship contract.

After s…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXmrRla8jqs&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. Top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight Thiago Santos knows his back is up against the wall in a few months. Placed at number four at 205 pounds on the UFC rankings and #10 on Sherdog’s official rankings, Santos (21-9) is passing through the most difficult moment of his UFC career. With a record of 13-8 in eight years with the UFC, the man known as “Marreta” is reeling from three consecutive losses to Jon Jones, Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. Santos spoke to Sherdog about his upcoming October matchup and his future with the company, and despite his losing streak, he does not appear to be tense or unhappy.

“Anyone who passed through the surgeries I did, after five rounds with Jon Jones, and returned doing good fights with top contenders wo…

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 Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights eyeing a spot in the top-10 will come to blows in October. The promotion will be booking Diego Ferreira (17-4) against Grant Dawson (17-1) on its UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 2, as first reported by MMA Junkie on Thursday. The news of this booking was hinted at and then confirmed shortly after its announcement by Dawson on his Instagram. The two will be meeting at a card that will likely take place in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Ferreira finds himself on a rare losing streak, having dropped a close decision in a rematch with Beneil Dariush in February and then suffering a knockout loss to Gregor Gillespie in May. The Brazilian out of Texas came into his high-stakes pairing with Dariush on a six-fight win streak that saw him beat the likes of Anthony Pettis, Rustam Khabilov and …

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. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has already rescheduled a highly anticipated welterweight tilt for August. The organization announced on Thursday that the previously postponed match between Sean Brady (14-0) and Kevin Lee (18-6) will be slotted on to the Aug. 28 UFC Fight Night event. This fight card does not currently have a headliner, although it is looking to go on at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Lee withdrew from their prior booking for UFC 264 in July due to a rib injury.

The undefeated Brady has looked like a man possessed since making his promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 6 in 2019. The Philadelphia native has stormed through competition including Court McGee and Ismail Naurdiev, and most recently tapped Jake Matthews in March. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championships champ hoists a flat finish rate of 50 percent, alth…

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. When future Ultimate Fighting Championship hall-of-famer Jim Miller fights again, he will hold the widest edge in Octagon experience ever. Per MMA Junkie on Thursday, Miller (32-16, 1 NC) will be taking on newcomer Nikolas Motta (12-3) at the upcoming UFC Fight Night card on Sept. 18. The event will go down inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Miller, a 37-fight veteran with the promotion, will be part of the match with the largest difference in UFC bouts in organizational history. Motta has since confirmed this lightweight matchup on his Instagram.

Miller’s appearance will be his 38th, breaking a tie held with former foe Donald Cerrone for the most of all time. “A-10” finds himself on his first losing streak since 2018, with back-to-back unanimous decision defeats to Vinc Pichel and Joe Solecki slowing him down. A finisher by trad…

Alexander Gustafsson Returns to 205 Pounds Against Paul Craig on Sept. 4 - Molly McCann vs Ji Yeon Kim Rankings

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Two more bouts have been added to the Bellator 263 lineup, as Jared Scoggins will square off agains Brian Moore at bantamweight, while Georgi Karakhanyan will face Kiefer Crosbie at lightweight.

Promotion officials announced both bouts, which are part of the preliminary draw, on Wednesday. Bellator 263 takes place on July 31 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and is headlined by a featherweight grand prix final matchup between reigning champion Patricio Freire and A.J. McKee. The main card will air on Showtime.

Scoggins has twice previously had his Bellator debut scheduled only to have bouts against Toby Misech and Magomed Magomedov fall through. “Psycho” is a former Cage Fury Fighting Championships title holder who will enter the matchup with Moore on a five-bout winning streak.

Anchored at SBG Ireland, Moore is 4-3 under the Bellator banner and is coming off back-to-back victories against Binh Son Le and Simone D’Anna. The 33-year-old Irishman is 13-7 over th…

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Kris Moutinho is the apparent winner of the Sean O'Malley sweepstakes.

Multiple outlets confirmed that Moutinho will face O’Malley at UFC 264 after “Sugar” announced the pairing on Twitch. O'Malley's original opponent, Louis Smolka, withdraw from the bout due to a staph infection. UFC 264 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 10 and is headlined by a trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

Moutinho has competed almost exclusively for CES MMA while compiling a 9-4 record since beginning his professional tenure in 2016. The 28-year-old Rivera Athletic Center representative challenged for promotional gold at CES MMA 54 in January 2019, falling to current UFC talent Tony Gravely via fourth-round knockout. Most recently, Moutinho submitted Andrew Salas in the third round of their clash at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 96 on May 28.

O’Malley, meanwhile, rebounded from…

Credit: Getty Credit: Getty Jake Paul has been an outspoken critic of UFC fighter pay, and now the social-media-celebrity-turned-professional-boxer is putting some money toward that cause.

Paul recently donated $5,000 to a GoFundMe account started by UFC fighter Sarah Alpar, writing “Keep training hard Sarah, sending you positive energy for your camp!!!” Alpar started the account in hopes of raising $30,000 by December to help her train full time and cover expenses such as food, supplements, recovery, gym fees, doctor fees, travel, gas and room and board.

“Imagine a rookie in the NBA had to start a GoFundMe to play,” Paul wrote on Twitter. “I let Sarah know she has my support and contribution. It’s my honor and privilege to help fellow fighters in any way I can.”

SMH… Imagine a rookie in the NBA had to start a GoFundMe to play..

I let Sarah @TOOSWEET_Alpar know she has my support and contribution

It’s my honor and privilege to help fel…

JUST ANNOUNCED: Toyota Center will host #UFC265 on August 7!

@TheBeast_UFC vs @Ciryl_Gane@Amanda_Leoa vs @VenezuelanVixen ⁰Tickets on sale July 9 at 10am!⁰More Info: https://t.co/dKIhBmRZ65 pic.twitter.com/EoU5xH9HvR

— Toyota Center (@ToyotaCenter) June 30, 2021 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going to be a regular visitor to Houston for the foreseeable future.

The Las Vegas-based promotion on Wednesday announced a multi-event partnership with the Toyota Center that will include the UFC 265 event on Aug. 7. While it was not revealed exactly how many events or for how many years the agreement would run, it does include a “prospective” pay-per-view card in 2022.

The organization also held UFC 262 at the Toyota Center, a card that saw Charles Oliveira defeat Michael Chandler in the evening’s main event to claim the vacant lightweight crown on May 15.

“I love the city of Houston. We had a sold-out event in May, the city and f…

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Tatiana Suarez is expected to make her flyweight debut against Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 266.

Multiple outlets confirmed the targeted booking following an initial report from Ariel Helwani. UFC 266 takes place on Sept. 25 and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.

Suarez has not competed since a unanimous decision triumph over Nina Ansaroff at UFC 238 in June 2019. The 30-year-old Milennia MMA representative has been sidelined since then due to a neck injury. “The Ultimate Fighter 23” winner also owns triumphs over Carla Esparza, Alexa Grasso, Viviane Pereira and Amanda Bobby Brundage in UFC competition. All of her previous Octagon victories came at 115 pounds.

Modafferi, 38, is 4-6 over the course of two stints in the Las Vegas-based promotion. “The Happy Warrior” last appeare…

Your #KSW62 Main Event!!

@szymonkoleckiAkop Szostak

July 17KSWTVKSW App pic.twitter.com/ahcsKBZegb — KSW (@KSW_MMA) June 28, 2021

Olympic gold medalist Szymon Kolecki will meet Akop Szostak in the KSW 62 headliner.

The Polish promotion recently announced the light heavyweight main event. KSW 62 takes place in Warsaw, Poland and will see Andrzej Grzebyk and Marius Zaromskis square off in the co-headliner at welterweight. The event can be viewed via pay-per-view at KSWTV.com.

Kolecki won a gold medal for Poland in weightlifting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He made his MMA debut in 2017 and went 6-1 before signing with KSW. His promotional tenure thus far includes TKO triumphs against Mariusz Pudzianowski and Damian Janikowski and a decision win over Martin Zawada.

According to a release, Szostak is a bodybuilder and famous fitness coach in Poland. The 32-year-old is 4-3 in MMA and…

Louis Smolka has pulled out of a proposed bantamweight clash with Sean O'Malley at UFC 264 due to a staph infection.

Smolka’s exit was initially reported by Ariel Helwani, and the fighter’s management confirmed with ESPN the reason for his withdrawal from the bout.

The promotion is currently seeking a replacement opponent for O’Malley, according to multiple reports.

UFC 264 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 10 and is headlined by a trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. O’Malley vs. Smolka was slated to kick off the pay-per-view portion of the event, which airs at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT via ESPN+.

Smolka has been victorious in three of five Octagon appearances during his second UFC stint. Most recently, “Da Last Samurai” stopped Jose Alberto Quinonez in the second round of their bout at UFC on ESPN 19 on Dec. 5. The 29-year-old Hawaiian went 5-5 during his first go-round with the UFC, exiting the promotion on the heels …

Ciryl Gane is a solid favorite to claim interim gold when he squares off against Derrick Lewis at UFC 265.

According to online oddsmaker BetOnline, Gane is a -315 favorite in the heavyweight bout, while Lewis is listed as a +265 underdog. Odds are subject to change as the fight approaches. The promotion announced Monday that Gane and Lewis will meet for the interim belt in the UFC 265 headliner because reigning champ Francis Ngannou reportedly wouldn’t be ready to defend his crown by the Aug. 7 date of the event.

A Houston native, Lewis is currently on a four-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion and is coming off a second-round knockout of Curtis Blaydes in the UFC Fight Night 185 main event on Feb. 20.

Gane is 9-0 since beginning his professional MMA career in 2018, a ledger that includes six triumphs in the Octagon. The Frenchman has scored back-to-back five-round verdicts over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Volkov in his last two pro…