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Considered one of the pioneers of MMA in Brazil, former Invicta flyweight champion Vanessa Porto is looking forward to making her promotional debut against Liz Carmouche at Bellator 256.

“I’ve been fighting MMA since 2005. It’s amazing to be able to be so motivated now as I was 16 years ago. Nothing better than a great card and a great opponent to make my Bellator debut,” Porto told Sherdog.com.

With the experience of having clashed with two of the most feared women in MMA history, Amanda Nunes and Cristiane Justinoat Brazilian Vale Tudo events, Porto refuses to see her fight against Carmouche as a classical striker vs. grappler match.

"Many people don’t know, but I already fought many times in wrestling competitions in Brazil. We are both 37 years old competing for more than a decade in the most complete combat sport on earth. Of course we train everything,” Porto says. “Besides that we are both very explosive girls, so definitely that´s a …

Champ Champ

KSW HW Champion@phildefriesmma

KSW LHW Champion@TomaszNarkun #KSW60 - April 24th pic.twitter.com/qUKTevA2DW — KSW (@KSW_MMA) March 29, 2021

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight champion Philip De Fries and light heavyweight title holder Tomasz Narkun are going to run it back.

The Polish promotion announced Monday that De Fries and Narkun will meet in a rematch to headline KSW 60 at Wytwornia Club in Lodz, Poland, on April 24. The event will be available via pay-per-view on KSWTV.com.

De Fries and Narkun first fought at KSW 47 in March 2019. The English heavyweight champion retained his crown with a five-round verdict over Narkun, part of an ongoing seven-bout winning streak. Most recently, De Fries scored a second-round TKO win against Michal Kita at KSW 57 this past December. “F-11” is 19-6 as a pro, including a 2-3 stint in the UFC from 2011 to 2013.

Narkun, meanwhile, rebounded from that defeat with back-t…

Thanks to his consistency and longevity, Stipe Miocic is one of the greatest heavyweight champions the UFC has ever seen.

His second reign came to an end on Saturday night, as he was knocked out by Francis Ngannou in the second round of their headlining clash at UFC 260 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Miocic fell awkwardly after being hit with the decisive blow, but in a statement released on his Instagram page Monday assured everyone that he is in relatively good health following the defeat.

“First and foremost, I’m ok. I know that fall wasn’t my most graceful fall, but I was unconscious, so it happens,” Miocic wrote.

“To my family friends and fans, especially Croatia and Cleveland … I love you and I’m sorry. I hate letting you down. To my team, thank you. I know you feel every loss just as much as I do. We win as a family, we lose as a family. Losses aren’t fun, they always sting for a while, but that’s the beast of this business,” he continued. “You can’t win t…

Cage Warriors?! Completed it, mate!

Welcome to the UFC @PaddyTheBaddy! pic.twitter.com/TbUjTCsTJX

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 29, 2021 Highly-touted Cage Warriors prospect Paddy Pimblett is taking his talents to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Both the UFC and Cage Warriors announced the signing via social media. A date fo the 26-year-old Liverpool, England, native’s debut is currently unknown.

A former featherweight champion with Cage Warriors, Pimblett will likely compete in the UFC at 155 pounds. Paddy “The Baddy” has fought at lightweight since losing the 145-pound belt against Nad Narimani in April 2017.

Pimblett is coming off back-to-back first-round finishes of Decky Dalton and Davide Martinez under the Cage Warriors banner. Prior to that, the Next Generation UK representative dropped a five-round verdict to Soren Bak in a lightweight title bout at Cage Warriors 96 in 2018. Pimblett is 16-3 since beginning his pro…

Jack May will step in for Matt Mitrione and face Tyrell Fortune in a heavyweight contest at Bellator 255.

Sherdog.com confirmed the change with a promotion official on Monday following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Mitrione withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons. Bellator 255 takes place on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and is headlined by a featherweight grand prix semifinal between reigning champion Patricio Freire and Emmanuel Sanchez. The card will air on Showtime.

Fortune and May initially squared off last September at Bellator 245, but the bout ended 2:42 into Round 1 after Fortune landed an accidental kick to the groin of his opponent. Fortune returned to action at Bellator 251, where he outpointed Said Sowma on Nov. 5. The 30-year-old Arizona Combat Sports representative is 9-1 with on no contest as a professional.

May last appeared at Xtremme MMA “Fick vs. Fialho,” where he suffered a split-decision loss to Kyle Nob…

Sean O'Malley rebounded from his first career defeat in emphatic fashion at UFC 260.

The 26-year-old bantamweight nearly had a walkoff knockout victory against Thomas Almeida in Round 1 and when that didn’t quite come to fruition, “Sugar” put on a clinic until the finish did arrive 3:52 into the final frame.

After suffering a TKO loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 252 last August, O’Malley appears to be back on track as one of the top rising talents at 135 pounds.

“He looked good coming back in off of the ‘Chito’ Vera fight, he came in tonight against a real tough kid, durable, with serious punching power and he put on a masterpiece tonight,” UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“He picked him apart, stayed on the outside and did whatever he wanted to do. He hurt him [in the first round], thought he finished him and then finished him again in the third round. You really couldn’t have put on a better performance than he did tonig…

It was a different version of Tyron Woodley at UFC 260, but unfortunately for the ex-welterweight champion, the end result was the same as his recent Octagon appearances.

Woodley suffered his fourth consecutive defeat in Saturday’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, as he tapped to a brabo choke from Vicente Luque 3:56 into Round 1 of their 170-pound encounter. While his previous three losses were characterized by a lack of aggression, Woodley brought the fight to Luque at the outset and rocked his adversary with a couple of his patented overhand rights in the early going.

Ultimately it wasn’t enough, because Luque, one of the most prolific finishers in the division, made Woodley pay for his aggression.

S--t was going really well until it wasn’t,” Woodley wrote on Instagram. “My camp pushed me in ways I haven’t been pushed in a while. I committed, and swore to myself I would bring the tiger out that earned me gold. I saw the opportunity for the KO and g…

You need to see this!

5.15amBatié, Cameroon

Incredible scenes from the hometown of @Francis_Ngannou as they celebrate the crowning of a new UFC Heavyweight Champion!

( Mathieu Pennella) pic.twitter.com/NSA57bUsmA

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) March 28, 2021

It may have been in the wee hours of morning in Batie, Cameroon, when Francis Ngannou captured UFC heavyweight gold, but that didn’t prevent his home country from launching into a raucous celebration.

Video footage shows Ngannou’s countrymen cheering wildly after “The Predator” knocked out Stipe Miocic in the UFC 260 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. At the time of Ngannou’s victory, it was 5:15 a.m. local time in Batie.

Ngannou was born in Batie and worked in the mines at a young age. After he became interested in combat sports, he moved to France with designs on pursuing a boxing career before he discovered MMA. Ngannou current lives in Las Vegas…

The trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor has a tentative date and venue.

During the UFC 260 post-fight press conference on Saturday, Dana White confirmed that the promotion is targeting July 10 for the third meeting between the two lightweights. That would set the stage for Poirier-McGregor 3 to go down at UFC 264, and as an added perk, the UFC wants to hold the card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which means the organization is optimistic fans will be allowed in the venue.

“That’s the plan,” the UFC president said. “I hope so. We all hope so.”

The Las Vegas-based promotion will hold an event in front of a capacity crowd for the first time on April 24, when UFC 261 heads to the 15,000-seat Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. Tickets for that event quickly sold out, and the gate is believed to be the highest in the history of the venue. The promotion is also expected to hold UFC 262 in front of an audience with no capacity restrictio…

Vicente Luque has been quietly working his way up the ladder of the UFC’s welterweight division, winning nine of his 10 Octagon appearances since October 2017.

The Cerrado MMA product earned his most high-profile victory to date in the UFC 260 co-main event, as he submitted former 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley with a brabo choke in the opening stanza on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Woodley, who had been tentative during a three-bout skid heading into the matchup with Luque, pressed the action from the outset, attacking his opponent with heavy right hands while looking to secure takedowns.

“I have a tendency to bring the best out of my opponents every single time, so I’ve gotten used to not underestimating anybody and being ready for their best versions,” Luque said. “That’s what we saw tonight. I thought Woodley was much more aggressive than in his last fights, actually connected a good right hand on me. Once I realized that that was going to be the fight…

About three years ago, Francis Ngannou looked like he might be a fighter who falls victim to his own hype.

After beginning his Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure with six consecutive victories, Ngannou was exposed in a five-round decision loss to Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title at UFC 220. His ensuing Octagon appearance was a baffling, action-starved loss to Derrick Lewis at UFC 226 that hurt the stock of both of the division’s most powerful knockout artists.

After the second of those defeats, UFC president Dana White speculated that Ngannou began to get a big head during his rise to stardom.

“I think that he had a pretty quick rise here and obviously the fight over Alistair Overeem catapulted him,” White said after UFC 226. “Everybody was talking about him. I thought he was going to be the next guy. I think his ego ran away with him. Big time. I can tell you that his ego absolutely did run away with him. And the minute that happens to you in the figh…

Jon Jones made the choice to move to heavyweight for a moment like this one.

Francis Ngannou’s emphatic knockout of Stipe Miocic in the UFC 260 headliner set the stage for a potentially lucrative showdown with Jones down the road. Jones vacated his 205-pound belt last year, and it has generally expected that “Bones” would get the first crack at the winner of Saturday’s title bout.

Jones’ initial reaction to Ngannou’s victory was to the point: “Show me the money,” he tweeted.

Show me the money

— BONY (@JonnyBones) March 28, 2021

Ngannou, meanwhile, appeared ready to book the matchup in his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

“Jon Jones is the greatest of all time for mixed martial arts and him moving up, he's a challenge that I would take and to put it on my record would be a very good thing on my resume,” Ngannou said. “This time he's gonna be the challenger, I am the champ.

“I’m ready. Any time. If it’s …

Vicente Luque and Tyron Woodley weren’t in the Octagon for long on Saturday, but the time they spent together was memorable enough to earn them an additional $50,000 apiece.

Luque and Woodley received “Fight of the Night” honors for their frantic welterweight scrap in the UFC 260 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. A more-aggressive-than-usual Woodley did his best to take the fight to Luque in the early going and briefly rocked his opponent with a pair of right hands. However, Luque regained his bearings, hurt Woodley with a counter right of his own, swarmed with offense and drove his man to the canvas, where he locked in a brabo choke for the finish 3:56 into Round 1.

Elsewhere, Francis Ngannou was a relatively easy selection for a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award, as he avenged a previous loss to Stipe Miocic to claim heavyweight gold in the evening’s headliner. “The Predator” displayed improved takedown defense and dropped Miocic twice, ultimately f…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 260 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Francis Ngannou carries a different kind of power in his massive fists. The Xtreme Couture rep avenged a 2018 defeat in resounding fashion, as he blew away Stipe Miocic with punches and captured the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title in the second round of their UFC 260 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Miocic (20-4, 14-4 UFC) succumbed to blows 52 seconds into Round 2.

Ngannou (16-3, 11-2 UFC) fought at a frighteningly measured pace from the start, picking his spots while he probed for openings. He sprawled out of a Miocic takedown in the first round, punished him with crushing ground-and-pound and set the stage for what was to come. Ngannou put the Euclid, Ohio, native on unsteady feet with a short but devastating left hook early in Round 2, ate a right hand in return and then uncorke…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 260 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 260 coverage will begin Saturday at 7:30 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 scores the round:Tristen C…

With the Von Flue!! @AlonzoMenifield locks in the early sub to close the #UFC260 prelims! pic.twitter.com/FpFP8NzHVQ

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) March 28, 2021

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 260 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Alonzo Menifield exploited the narrowest of openings.

The Dana White’s Contender Series graduate submitted Ultimate Fighting Championship newcomer Fabio Cherant with a Von Flue shoulder choke in the first round of their featured UFC 260 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Cherant (7-2, 0-1 UFC) capitulated 71 seconds into Round 1.

Menifield (10-2, 3-2 UFC) swooped into range and countered an attempted guillotine from the Legacy Fighting Alliance champion with a high-amplitude takedown. Cherant failed to release his grip on the way down and wandered into the fight-ending choke. Once Menifield connected his hands, the co…

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Cleveland, the is official!

[ #UFC260 LIVE on #ESPNPlus PPV: https://t.co/BafF9Km8j8 ] pic.twitter.com/dyL6vZzpGY

— UFC (@ufc) March 26, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 260 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title will be on the line as the UFC 260 main event is now official after the weigh-ins took place.

As expected, both Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou made weight without issue as both came in under the 265-pound limit. There will be quite the size difference, though, as Ngannou weighed 29 pounds heavier than the champion. The rest of the weigh-ins weren’t as drama-free as both Fabio Cherant and Jared Gooden initially came in half a pound heavy for their respective bouts. Gooden made weight on his second attempt, while Cherant opted not to weigh-in again.

Having spent the past two years preparing an…

Spike gets it done! Chalk one up for whatever the bad guys are called in Star Wars. #LFA103 pic.twitter.com/rENkYwR0tz

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) March 27, 2021 Spike Carlyle made a triumphant return to the Legacy Fighting Alliance by winning the LFA 103 main event.

Carlyle (10-3) was given a stern test in his first bout since being released from the Ultimate Fighting Championship by facing Batsumberel Dagvadorj, who dropped down to lightweight after suffering the first defeat of his career. The "Alpha Ginger" was hurt early by a knee to the body thrown by Dagvadorj (7-2, 1 NC), which forced Carlyle to take down his Mongolian opponent. After the fight hit the mat, Carlyle was able to sink in a rear-naked choke that ended the fight at the 4:00 mark.

The co-main event saw former strawweight women's champion Crystal Vanessa Demopoulos return against Cynthia Arceo, who missed weight by 2.8 pounds. Demopoulos (6-3) made Arceo (5-3-1) …

Updates to our upcoming slate of events: https://t.co/EQYcxbxoaH

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) March 26, 2021 Two sections of the Bellator MMA light heavyweight grand prix are being pushed back, but the pairings are all still intact.

The organization announced via press release on Friday that two of the four light heavyweight tilts for the quarterfinals of its tournament had been pushed back. Corey Anderson (14-5) vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (18-5-1), which was booked for Bellator 256 on April 9, has now been relocated to Bellator 257 one week later. Additionally, the highly anticipated battle between Anthony Johnson (22-6) and Yoel Romero (13-5) has been bumped from its previous placement of Bellator 257 to Bellator 258 on May 7.

The reasons for the changes were explained by Bellator President Scott Coker. He stated, “Like everyone, we had a few hurdles with travel issues and had to move some things around, but I'm pleased…

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 perennial Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contenders will lock horns in July. Middleweight Omari Akhmedov (21-5-1) announced on Instagram that his contract had been signed for his next bout. The Dagestan native, per MMA Fighting, will be taking on Brad Tavares (18-6) at UFC 264. The two will throw hands on July 10, and there is no official venue or location in the books for this top-15 185-pound matchup.

Akhmedov rebounded from his first defeat since 2016, where he dropped a decision to Chris Weidman at UFC Fight Night 174 in August 2020, by tapping out jiu-jitsu standout Tom Breese in the second round. The stoppage win for “Wolverine” was his first finish since 2015, and his first not by injury since 2013. Before tapping Breese, Akhmedov reached the scorecards in each of his last seven bouts, and had fought in…

Thank you UFC fans!!!

- Sold out in minutes. One of the fastest sell outs in UFC history.- Arena record for highest gross.- 15k attendanceI will see you in Jacksonville pic.twitter.com/mPwmOf4Saa

— danawhite (@danawhite) March 26, 2021 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 had no issues filling its first arena back with full fan capacity.

UFC President Dana White celebrated on Twitter on Friday that the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., has completely sold out. The venue in Florida’s most populous city holds 15,000 fans, and UFC 261 is being allowed 100 percent capacity for the card. Per White, the ticket sales broke the record for the highest gross in the arena’s history, while clocking in as one of the quickest sellouts in UFC history.

The promotion headed to this aren…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sM66QWxyC0&w=560&h=315] The long-rumored Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight tournament now has all 16 of its participants lined up.

On Friday morning, the Japanese promotion held a press conference where it announced 16 members of the upcoming all-Japan bantamweight grand prix. A notable absence in the tourney is current Rizin 135-pound king Kyoji Horiguchi, and it is rumored that he will be heading to Bellator MMA to pursue his former belt. After that bout, Horiguchi may return to Rizin to face that same opponent in the Rizin ring with his Rizin belt on the line. The winner of that bout may face the tournament champ for the Rizin title.

The tournament will begin on May 23, where four of the eight opening round matches will take place inside the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo. The only bout official for that Rizin 28 event is Kai Asakura’s (16-3), who gets his wish to compete in the massive stadium after speaking to Rizin head Nobuyuki …

Spike Carlyle will return to the Legacy Fighting Alliance this Friday in his first fight since being released by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Carlyle (9-3) will headline LFA 103 against Batsumberel Dagvadorj. The event caps off a busy March for the LFA, which saw the promotion put on three shows. The eight-fight card is now official after the weigh-ins took place, with all fighters except for Cynthia Arceo making weight.

After impressing in his UFC debut with a TKO victory over Aalon Cruz, Carlyle’s limitations were shown after he dropped decisions to Billy Quarantillo and Bill Algeo. “Alpha Ginger” will look to rebound impressively here by showing off an improved skillset in his first fight of 2021. Carlyle had no issue making weight and officially weighed 155.6 pounds.

Also coming off a defeat is Dagvadorj (7-1), who suffered the first loss of his career in his attempt to win the LFA welterweight title. While he didn’t walk away with gold, “The Mongolian F…