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A middleweight showdown pitting Sean Strickland against Krzysztof Jotko has been added to the UFC’s May 1 lineup.

Paradigm Sports, which represents Strickland, initially announced the pairing on social media. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between Dominick Reyes and Jiri Prochazka. A location for the card has not been confirmed.

After injuries from a motorcycle accident sidelined Strickland for two years, “Tarzan” returned to earn Sherdog.com’s "Comeback Fighter of the Year" honors with a 2020 campaign that featured victories over Jack Marshman and Brendan Allen. The 29-year-old Californian is 9-3 during a promotional tenure that has occurred primarily at 170 pounds.

Poland’s Jotko has rebounded from a three-bout losing streak that ran from 2017 to 2018 to post successive triumphs over Alen Amedovski, Marc-Andre Barriault and Eryk Anders in his last three Octagon appearances. The 31-year-old American Top Team representative is 9-4 in …

Patricky Freire, the older brother of the Bellator double champion Patricio Freire, is anxiously awaiting a decision from the organization concerning his next challenge.

"My brother is fighting in the featherweight grand prix and already said that he has no intention of remaining in the lightweight division,” Freire told Sherdog.com. “Everybody knows that he just went up to beat Michael Chandler. He already declared that he would vacate the title if I were to get a shot. Brent Primus already agreed to fight for the title against me, I dont know why Bellator is taking so long to announce that. I´m anxious to start my camp.”

Freire hasn’t fought since December 2019, when he lost a decision to Tofiq Musayev in the finals of the Rizin lightweight grand prix. Prior to that, the 35-year-old had been on a seven-bout winning streak dating back to 2017. Even without his next Bellator bout scheduled, Patricky is helping his brother prepare to face Emmanuel Sanchez in the s…

Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight belt against former 115-pound champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 261.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout to broadcast partner ESPN on Wednesday. UFC 261 takes place on April 24 at an as yet to be announced location. It is unclear if Shevchenko vs. Andrade will serve as the evening’s main event.

A former bantamweight title challenger, Shevchenko has been victorious in her last six Octagon appearances. “Bullet” captured the 125-pound title with a five-round verdict over Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231 and has followed with four successful defenses. Most recently, Shevchneko earned a lopsided unanimous verdict against Jennifer Maia at UFC 255. The 32-year-old’s only two defeats in 11 UFC fights have come against two-division champion Amanda Nunes.

Andrade made a successful 125-pound debut last October, when she scored a first-round knockout of former title challenger Katlyn Chookagian at UFC Fight Night 180. The 2…

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T.J. Dillashaw believes Petr Yan will retain his bantamweight crown against Aljamain Sterling, but he also says the challenger has a style that could cause problems for the reigning champion.

The former UFC bantamweight champion gave his assessment of the UFC 259 title bout during an appearance on “The Real Quick with Mike Swick” podcast.

“I think it’s a tough fight for Yan because of the style of the fighter. I think Yan’s the better, well-rounded fighter. He’s got more of the skills and more aspects of fighting. But Sterling’s wrestling is very aggressive,” Dillashaw said.

“[Sterling’s] striking is real uncomfortable. He doesn’t really set anything up – he just kind of bombs kicks non-stop, kind of got that distance. But then he can grab a hold of you. He’s got great wrestling and his jiu-jitsu is amazing, too. I watched him take [Cory] Sandhagen out in 45 seconds. We watched him do a lot of grea…

Sage Northcutt will return to active competition for the first time since May 2019 when he locks horns with Shinya Aoki at One Championship’s April 28 event.

The bout will be contested in One’s lightweight division, which is 170 pounds. ESPN was first to report the booking. The card is the final of four consecutive events for the Singapore-based promotion that will air on cable network TNT from April 7 to April 28.

Northcutt hasn’t fought since suffering a 29-second knockout defeat in his One Championship debut against Cosmo Alexandre on May 17, 2019. As a result of that bout, Northcutt was forced to undergo a nine-hour surgical procedure to repair multiple fractures in his face. Prior to that loss, Northcutt went 6-2 during a UFC stint from 2015 to 2018.

A former One, Dream and Shooto champion, the 37-year-old Aoki enters the matchup with Northcutt on a three-bout winning streak. “Tobikan Judan” last appeared at One “Unbreakable,” where he submitted James Na…

An undisclosed injury has forced Blagoy Ivanov to withdraw from a proposed heavyweight clash against Marcin Tybura at UFC 260.

Both fighters confirmed the news on social media following an intial report by 24Chasa. UFC 260 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on March 27 and is headlined by a heavyweight championship rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.

“Same story over and over again,” Tybura wrote on Twitter. “Yo heavyweights, where you at? Anyone wants to meet me [March 27] in Vegas?”

Ivanov was looking to halt a two-bout skid after dropping consecutive split decisions against Derrick Lewis and Augusto Sakai. The former World Series of Fighting champion is 2-3 in UFC competition.

After having mixed results early in his UFC tenure, Tybura has been victorious in his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, he scored a second-round TKO of Greg Hardy at UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19.

Curtis Blaydes isn’t going to dwell on his knockout loss to Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 185.

Heavily favored heading into last Saturday’s heavyweight main event, Blaydes was floored by a Lewis uppercut when he shot for a takedown, and his opponent punctuated the upset victory with two massive ground strikes 1:26 into Round 2.

Blaydes released a statement regarding the defeat Tuesday on his Instagram stories.

“Sometimes you’re the hammer and sometimes you’re the nail,” Blaydes wrote. “This game has a razor thin margin for error and I just got caught, it happens. Props to Derrick. No shame in it my head’s still held high.”

Blaydes entered the contest on a four-bout winning streak and appeared to be closing in on a UFC heavyweight title shot. All three of the 30-year-old Elevation Fight Team representative’s defeats — once to Lewis and twice against Francis Ngannou — have come via knockout. Blaydes currently has one fight remaining on his UFC contract.

Former UFC and boxing champion Holly Holm will be part of the broadcast team for Claressa Shields’ next fight.

Holm will help to commentate the boxing event “Superwomen: Shields vs. Dicaire,” which takes place on March 5 at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan. The headliner will see Shields (10-0), the WBC/WBO super welterweight world champion, lock horns with IBF super welterweight champion Marie-Eve Dicaire (17-0) in a 154-pound unification bout. The card airs on Fite.TV at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Holm will share the host desk with Dan Canobbio and will also serve as the evening’s unofficial scorer. Before she transitioned to mixed martial arts, Holm compiled a 33-2-3 mark in professional boxing while winning titles in multiple weight classes.

“These are the top media professionals that this historic night for female boxing deserves,” promoter Dmitriy Salita said in a release. “Holly Holm is one of the most popular female fighters in history and she’ll b…

Credit: Pro Fight League

Ramazan Kuramagomedov will replace Randy Brown and meet Alex Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 186 on Saturday.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the new welterweight booking. UFC Fight Night 186 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt pitting Jairzinho Rozenstruik against Ciryl Gane. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+. Brown withdrew from the event for undisclosed reasons.

Kuramagomedov appeared on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, earning a split decision win against Jordan Williams in July 2019. The Dagestani fighter didn’t receive a UFC contract at the time and has since posted back-to-back submission wins. Kuramagomedov is 8-0 over the course of a professional tenure that also includes stints in Professional Fighters League and Absolute Championship Berkut.

Oliveira went 2-1 in 2020, taking a split verdict over Max Griffin at UFC 248 and a unanimous decision against Peter Sobotta a…

Derrick Lewis could be sidelined for up to six months following his second-round knockout victory over Curtis Blaydes in the UFC Fight Night 185 main event.

A full list of medical suspensions from this past Saturday’s card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas was released to mixedmartialarts.com. Lewis must have X-rays of his right hand and wrist and receive medical clearance or he will be sidelined until Aug. 20. At a minimum, “The Black Beast is out until March 14 with no contact until March 7. Blaydes, meanwhile, is suspended until April 22 with no contact until April 7.

One fighter who didn’t compete at UFC Fight Night 185 was Jamall Emmers, who suffered back spasms just prior to his walkout against Chas Skelly. As a result, Emmers must undergo an MRI of his lumbar and receive doctor clearance or face a six-month suspension.

Eight other athletes who fought on Saturday are facing potential six-month terms: Charles Rosa (right hand), Chris Daukaus (right hand), Andr…

A lightweight showdown between Anthony Pettis and Clay Collard will headline the first card of the 2021 Professional Fighters League season.

The promotion announced the full lineup for the April 23 event, which features lightweights and featherweights and will air on ESPN2 and ESPN+. The four-bout main card airs on ESPN2 and also includes: Natan Schulte vs. Marcin Held at lightweight; Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Jason Soares at featherweight and Lance Palmer vs. Bubba Jenkins at featherweight.

A five-bout undercard will air on ESPN+: Loik Radzhabov vs. Johnny Case at lightweight; Joilton Lutterbach vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier at lightweight; Akhmed Aliev vs. Mikhail Odintsov at lightweight; Sung Bin Jo vs. Tyler Diamond at featherweight and Brendan Loughnane vs. Sheymon Moraes at featherweight.

“The PFL’s season kickoff on April 23 is one that is sure to be a showstopper and full of nonstop action,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “The talent that exists within these matchup…

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Bellator MMA has signed Russian lightweight Alexandr Shabliy to an exclusive, multi-fight contract.

Sherdog.com confirmed the deal with a promotion official following a report from MMAjunkie.com. An opponent and debut date for Shabliy is currently unknown.

The 27-year-old will enter his promotional debut with a 19-3 record that includes 17 triumphs via submission. He has competed for organizations such as ProFC, Fight Nights Global and Absolute Championship Berkut over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2010.

Shabliy has won his last four outings, a run that includes triumphs over UFC veteran Adriano Martins and ex-Bellator talent Gleristone Santos. Shabliy has recently been training at American Top Team in Cocounut Creek, Florida.

Former featherweight title challenger Felicia Spencer will welcome Danyelle Wolf to the Octagon at a UFC event on May 22.

BJPenn.com was first to report that both Spencer and Wolf have verbally agreed to the bout. The UFC Fight Night card does not yet have an official headliner or location.

Spencer returns to action for the first time since losing a five-round decision to Amanda Nunes in a 145-pound championship clash at UFC 250 last June. A former Invicta FC title holder, Spencer is 2-2 in the Las Vegas-based promotion, with first-round finishes of Megan Anderson and Zarah Fairn dos Santos to her credit.

Wolf, 37, earned a UFC contract after taking a unanimous verdict against Taneisha Tennant in her professional MMA debut at Dana White’s Contender Series on Sept. 15. The Tiger Muay Thai export is a three-time U.S. National Boxing champion who has compiled an amateur record of 30-14, according to BoxRec.com.

Longtime mixed martial arts veteran Travis Fulton is facing multiple charges of child pornography, according to a report from The Courier.

The 43-year-old Fulton was indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child porn and receipt of child porn. On Friday, Fulton pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was detained pending a further hearing, with a trial date set tentatively for April.

According to court records, Fulton allegedly attempted to engage a minor in sexual conduct with hopes of taking photos of the encounter this past November. Additionally, Fulton is accused of possessing a flash drive with pornographic images of a child under 12 years of age between November 2018 and November 2020.

Prior to the most recent charges, Fulton was awaiting trial on domestic violence charges related to a 2019 incident in which he is accused of punching a woman in the back of the h…

Dan Ige will get to remain on the UFC Fight Night 187 card.

According to ESPN, Gavin Tucker will step up to face Ige after original foe Ryan Hall withdrew from the event due to an injury suffered in training. Ige wanted to make every effort to remain on the March 13 card because he has a baby coming in April. Tucker had previously been tabbed to face Cub Swanson on May 1.

UFC Fight Night 187 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight showdown between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad. The event is expected to stream in its entirety on ESPN+.

Tucker enters the matchup on a three-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 34-year-old Titans MMA product last appeared at UFC 256, where he outpointed Billy Quarantillo on Dec. 12. Tucker is 13-1 as a professional, with 10 of those triumphs coming inside the distance.

Ige had a six-bout promotional winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he dropped a five…

Infelizmente testei positivo para o COVID 19 e estarei fora desse card do próximo dia 27 de fevereiro,em breve estarei em ação novamente!!#deussabedetodasascoisas @ufc @ufc_brasil pic.twitter.com/UVLw8cpwN6

— Raoni Barcelos (@BarcelosRaoni) February 22, 2021

Not long after officially receiving a new opponent for his scheduled appearance at UFC Fight Night 186, Raoni Barcelos has been forced to withdraw from Saturday’s event.

The Brazilian bantamweight announced via social media that he is off the card after testing positive for COVID-19. In a video statement (translation via MMAFighting.com), Barcelos revealed the he and is wife are not experiencing any symptoms and he hopes to fight soon.

Barcelos was originally booked against Raphael Assuncao before his opponent withdrew due to a positive COVID-19 test of his own. The promotion then announced over the weekend that Barcelos would instead square off against short-notice foe Marcelo Rojo…

Once considered to be among the Top 5 middleweights in the world between 2005 and 2008, former World Extreme Cage Fighting champion Paulo Filho analyzed the top of the UFC heavyweight and lightweight divisions in a recent interview with Sherdog.com.

"I dont see any need for Jon Jones to gain weight to enter in the heavyweight division. His technical level is so superior to [Francis] Ngannou and [Stipe] Miocic that I truly believe he can beat both, even weighing 205 pounds. Ngannou is a one-punch fighter and Miocic has less tools than Jones. I see clearly Jon Jones as future heavyweight champion at the end of 2021.”

As far as the lightweight division goes, the Carlson Gracie black belt believes that former Bellator champion Michael Chandler will eventually capture UFC gold.

"I was really impressed with this kid. He is such a solid fighter — wrestling, cardio, explosion and knockout power in one single package. Considering the Top 5 of that division, I see Charles…

Recent flyweight title challenger Alex Perez will return to action against Matt Schnell at UFC 262 on May 15.

MMA DNA was first to report the pairing. UFC 262 does not have an official location or headliner, but it is expected to include a women’s 125-pound matchup pitting Katlyn Chookagian against Viviane Araujo.

Perez had a three-fight winning streak halted at UFC 255, where he was submitted in the opening stanza by reigning flyweight king Deiveson Figueiredo on Nov. 21. Prior to that, the Team Oyama representative had scored successive triumphs over Jussier Formiga, Jordan Espinosa and Mark De La Rosa. The former Contender Series competitor is 6-2 during his promotional tenure and 24-6 as a professional overall.

Schnell, meanwhile, returned for the first time in more than a year at UFC on ESPN 20, as he rebounded from a knockout loss against Alexandre Pantoja in December 2019 to earn a split verdict against Tyson Nam in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 20. The 31-year-old …

The UFC Fight Night 185 co-main event came down to a battle of damage vs. positional control.

Ultimately, it was Yana Kunitskaya’s activity that won the day, as she captured a unanimous decision triumph against Ketlen Vieira in a matchup of ranked women’s bantamweights at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The former Invicta FC champion was buoyed by a strong finish down the stretch in the final stanza, when she reversed from being mounted and bloodied her Brazilian foe with elbows before the horn.

Although Vieira controlled much of the contest through takedowns and grappling, her inability to land offense from above ultimately cost her. While all three judges submitted 29-28 tallies for Kunitskaya, media scorecards told a different story, with 14 of the 18 tracked by MMADecisions.com favoring Vieira. Kunitskaya admitted feeling some tension before the final verdict was announced.

“I feel I won the fight. I did more damage, but sometimes judges make v…

After a perfectly-timed uppercut sent Curtis Blaydes tumbling to the canvas like a sack of potatoes, Derrick Lewis punctuated his UFC Fight Night 185 victory with a little something extra.

With Blaydes already unconscious, “The Black Beast” dove in to land two brutal shots of ground-and-pound in a follow-up reminiscient of what Dan Henderson did to Michael Bisping at UFC 100 in July 2009. It was also a reminder of just how brutal this sport can be.

When asked about the final two punches, Lewis defended his actions in typical humorous fashion with a WWE reference, while also pointing out that it’s the referee’s job to say when the fight is over.

“I can’t just turn the switch off just like that,” Lewis said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Some fighters can do that, but I can’t do it. I have to wait until the referee pulled me off because you never know what could happen. Anything could happen. He could’ve turned into the Undertaker and stood straight …

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Chris Daukaus earned the most significant victory of his career to date at UFC Fight Night 185, as he scored a first-round technical knockout of Alexey Oleynik in a featured heavyweight encounter at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

With three first-round finishes to kick off his promotional tenure, the 31-year-old Philadelphia native is now a person of interest in the division.

“This is what careers are made of right now. The light is on the heavyweight division right now, especially with the amount of heavyweight headliners,” Daukaus said. “It’s definitely something I’m not taking for granted. I’m definitely capitalizing on it.

  “I’ve finally got a number next to my name. It’s something I’ve been striving for. It was definitely something I could grab and I did that.”

By putting Oleynik away 1:55 into the opening stanza, Daukaus was able to avoid going to the ground with the Russian submission speciali…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Tom Aspinall’s latest Ultimate Fighting Championship victory came by different means than he anticipated it would.

After nearly finishing Andrei Arlovski with punches in the opening stanza, the Englishman landed a takedown early in Round 2, locking in a rear-naked choke for a submission victory at the 1:09 mark of the period.

“I didn’t expect to finish him with a submission. That’s the last thing I expected,” Aspinall said. “I thought it was going to be a quick knockout or I’m going to beat him on points. Very happy with it, but not very happy with the performance. I’ve got a lot to work on, but I’ve got a long time to work on it. It’s all good.”

Aspinall’s previous five triumphs — including two in UFC competition — had come via KO or TKO, but the Team Kaobon product points out that he has solid submission skills even if he doesn’t usually show them.

“I’ve been doing jiu-jitsu for a long time. My dad’s one of the first …

Derrick Lewis’ massive knockout of Curtis Blaydes halted the championship aspirations of his opponent, and it made “The Black Beast” $50,000 richer in the process.

Lewis received a “Performance of the Night” bonus thanks to a finish of Blaydes 1:26 into the second round of their heavyweight headliner at UFC Fight Night 185 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. After getting outstruck for a round, Lewis timed a Blaydes’ takedown attempt and blasted his foe with an uppercut. The Houston native sealed his win with a pair of brutal ground strikes.

Elsewhere, Chris Daukaus garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for making short work of Alexey Oleynik in a featured heavyweight matchup. Daukaus forced the submission specialist to remain standing and rocked the Russian with a right hand, then swarmed with punches and knees against the fence to secure a stoppage 1:55 into Round 1.

Tom Aspinall was the third heavyweight on the main card to take home a $50,000 “…

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. It may sound cliché, but Derrick Lewis really does only need one. “The Black Beast” took a massive step forward in a bid for another Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title shot, as he knocked out Curtis Blaydes in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 185 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Lewis (25-7, 16-5 UFC) brought it to an emphatic and frightening close 1:26 into Round 2.

Blaydes (14-3, 9-3 UFC) enjoyed some early success with a penetrating jab and thudding leg kicks but struggled to safely close the distance. He ducked into an uppercut in the second round, froze where he stood and collapsed backward. Lewis trailed his defenseless opponent to the canvas and slammed two right hands into his exposed face before referee Herb Dean could intervene.

Lewis, 36, now finds himself on a four-figh…