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Marcin Tybura has a new date and opponent for his next Octagon appearance.

The Polish heavyweight, who was originally slated to meet Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 260, will now square off against Walt Harris at the promotion’s June 5 event. MMAFighting.com was first to report the new booking. The UFC Fight Night event does not yet have a headliner or location.

Tybura is currently on a four-bout winning streak in UFC competition. Most recently, the 35-year-old scored a second-round technical knockout victory against Greg Hardy at UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19.

After a four-fight unbeaten stretch from June 2018 to July 2019, Harris has suffered back-to-back TKO defeats to Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov in the Octagon. “The Big Ticket” is 6-8 with one no contest over the course of two UFC stints.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h4sjfwwdMA&w=640&h=360] Israel Adesanya weighed in with a box of pizza in hand and still came in well below the light heavyweight limit for his title fight.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is kicking off March with its most stacked pay-per-view offering of 2021 so far. The event, which features three title fights, will be capped off by middleweight champion Israel Adesanya moving up a division to challenge the newly crowned light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz. The 15-fight UFC 259 card also features two additional title fights as Amanda Nunes will put her featherweight title on the line against Megan Anderson, while bantamweight champ Petr Yan will look to stop the surging Aljamain Sterling. None of the fighters in any of these bouts had any issue making weight.

Blachowicz (27-8) has been highly impressive since getting knocked out by Thiago Santos in 2019. Wins over Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza and Corey Anderson l…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jdn_ln8uxw&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. The brother of former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Paulo Costa would like to add some details to the story about Costa drinking too much wine before his last fight. Scheduled to face Robert Whittaker on April 17 in Las Vegas, top-ranked middleweight Costa (13-1) brought a big story to MMA world last week. “Borrachinha” declared on his YouTube channel that he fought drunk against Israel Adesanya, in the main event of UFC 253 last September at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

On Wednesday, Costa’s older brother and head coach, Carlos Borracha, confirmed that information in an interview with Sherdog.

“He arrived in Abu Dhabi weighing 211 lbs., and because of that, we needed to train a lot in the [days before] the fight. Due to that, after the …

Kang Ji Won springs a MASSIVE upset, stopping Amir Aliakbari in Round 1! #ONEFistsOfFury2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/zje6KvjwkA

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 5, 2021 In a sharp contrast from the previous event, just one bout on the second, pre-recorded part of One Championship’s “Fists of Fury” series went to the judges.

The main event of One: Fists of Fury 2 saw Ji Won Kang (5-0) taking on decorated Iranian wrestler Amir Aliakbari (10-2) in their heavyweight tilt. The two behemoths took a few seconds to study one other early in the fight, with Aliakbari keeping the center of the cage while Kang was reaching out with a few kicks. After chasing the South Korean fighter for a while, Aliakbari finally reached “Mighty Warrior” with a right hand, followed by another heavy that forced his opponent to retreat. The face of the Kang immediately showed damage from the Iranian fighter’s strikes, as Kang’s left eye started…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ROZZcIBDI?start=887&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 259 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. If the Ultimate Fighting Championship has its way, fans will be back en masse at events in the very near future. At the UFC 259 pre-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White spoke to media about a myriad of topics including some upcoming events. Texas Governor Greg Abbott rescinded the mask mandate for COVID-19 on Monday, while opening up venues to 100-percent capacity. Effective March 10, all Texas businesses will be allowed to re-open to full capacity, and Abbott has stripped the local government from re-imposing a mask mandate. The businesses will be allowed to limit their own capacities based on their own internal policies.

This new development has the UFC head chomping at the bit to put on fight cards in front of large audiences again. White…

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 heavyweights looking for their first win inside the Octagon will clash in June. The news first came from MMA DNA, Josh Parisian (13-4) will try once more to win one in the UFC against fellow struggling heavyweight Roque Martinez (15-7-2) on June 19. This UFC Fight Night event does not yet have a location set, although it likely will take place either in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Parisian confirmed the news of this pairing on his Instagram.

Parisian, the first heavyweight to ever record a spinning back fist knockout in combined Zuffa history, did so on his first trip to Dana White's Contender Series in 2018. The stellar finish did not earn him a place on the roster, and instead a slot on Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Unsuccessful in…

BREAKING NEWS

UFC debut for Nikolas Motta against Damir Hadzovic is set to take place on May 8th.#UFC #MMA #UFCESPN https://t.co/H25UgcWDas pic.twitter.com/PdywHhJfFz

— MMA DNA (@MMADNANL) March 4, 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. A promising Dana White's Contender Series signee has his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut set for May.

First reported by MMA DNA on Thursday, Nikolas Motta (12-3) will be squaring off against Damir Hadzovic (13-6) at lightweight on the May 8 UFC Fight Night card. The event, which is currently tabbed to take place in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, does not yet have a headliner booked. The match was confirmed later by multiple outlets.

Motta prevailed on the ninth week of the 2020 season of DWCS, where he captured a decision over Joseph Lowry to earn a contract. The ex-Cage Fury Fighti…

We have a home for the 2021 PFL Regular Season! @TheOceanAC will host all 6 regular-season events in a bubble environment.

— PFL MMA (@ProFightLeague) March 4, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the PFL live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The Professional Fighters League has its home for its upcoming tournament season. Via press release from the organization on Thursday, each of the six fight cards of the PFL regular season will be held at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The league has erected a “state-of-the-art” bubble environment, which will require fighters to check in 17 days before their bouts to quarantine. The PFL will be running heightened COVID-19 protocols in order to preserve all of the tournament matchups. It is unclear how the promotion will handle short-notice replacement fights in the event of a fighter's withdrawal, or if any competitor falls …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is parting ways with longtime heavyweight standouts Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report Overeem’s release, while dos Santos initially brought word of his departure via social media. Multiple outlets have since confirmed the cuts. According to a report from ESPN, Overeem had two bouts remaining on his UFC contract, while dos Santos had five.

Overeem recently competed at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6, when he had a two-bout winning streak snapped in a second-round technical knockout loss against Alexander Volkov. A former Strikeforce, K-1 and Dream champion, Overeem made his Octagon debut with a first-round stoppage of Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 and proceeded to compile a 12-8 mark within the Las Vegas-based promotion. “The Demolition Man” challenged for heavyweight gold at UFC 203, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Stipe Miocic in September 2016.

The 40-year-old Dutchman owns a…

Cub Swanson will attempt to hand Giga Chikadze his first Ultimate Fighting Championship defeat when the featherweights lock horns on May 1.

Multiple outlets confirmed the bout following an initial report from Adjarasport. UFC Fight Night takes place at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a light heavyweight clash between Dominick Reyes and Jiri Prochazka.

After enduring a four-bout skid from December 2017 to May 2019, Swanson has scored consecutive victories against Kron Gracie and Daniel Pineda in his last two Octagon appearances. The World Extreme Cagefighting veteran notably authored a six-fight winning streak early in his UFC tenure that included wins over Jeremy Stephens, Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira but has never fought for a title in the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Chikadze will bring a seven-bout winning streak into the matchup with Swanson. The 32-year-old Georgian is 5-0 in the UFC and was very active in 2020, posting triumphs…

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Joseph Benavidez did some soul searching after his loss to Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC Fight Night 172 headliner this past July.

It was his fourth loss in a UFC flyweight title bout since 2012, and the division’s perpetual top contender had to make peace with the notion that his days of challenging for championship gold were over. It took some time, but Benavidez finally found the impetus he needed with a matchup against the unbeaten Askar Askarov at UFC 259 on Saturday.

“I think after my last title fight I came to the acceptance that was probably my last title fight,” Benavidez said during a virtual media day. “That’s kind of what I put in my mind. I had some fight offers earlier, and I wasn’t loving it.

“Then when I finally decided this was a good timeframe I want to fight in, and take a good break and fall back in love with training and the sport …. What’s the next best thing? I’m still wanti…

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Had one scorecard gone his way at UFC Fight Night 165, Aleksandar Rakic could have been on the precipice of really big things in the light heavyweight division right now.

Instead, Rakic dropped a split decision to Volkan Oezdemir in December 2019, his only loss in six UFC appearances thus far. The verdict was contentious, with seven of eight media scorers awarded the decision to Rakic. Despite being outlanded by a 75-to-63 count in significant strikes, Oezdemir made a lasting impression on the judges with his low kicks, which led to some grotesque swelling on the leg of his opponent.

On the brink of a showdown with Thiago Santos at UFC 259, Rakic seems to have moved past the ruling, but he hasn’t changed his mind about who won.

“It doesn’t matter. On this decision, I felt like a winner. Everybody who understands MMA and who saw that fight know that I am a winner,” Rakic said during a virtual media …

For the third time, Bellator MMA will attempt to make a fight happen between Paul Daley and Sabah Homasi.

The welterweights have been booked to square off at Bellator 257 on April 16. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bout. Bellator 257 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and features light heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal matchups between Vadim Nemkov and Phil Davis as well as Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero.

Daley and Homasi were initially slated to meet at Bellator 232 in October 2019, but Homasi withdrew after suffering an injury. The two combatants were then booked for Bellator 241 in March 2020, but that event was scrapped due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

After losing a five-round verdict to Michael Page in the promotion’s welterweight grand prix, Daley has rebounded with a decision triumph over Erick Silva at Bellator 223 and a technical knockout of Saad Awad at Bellator 232. “Semtex” has compiled an 8-4 mark…

Jim Miller will square off against Joe Solecki at UFC Fight Night on April 10.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the lightweight pairing. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight duel betwee Darren Till and Marvin Vettori. The card does not yet have an official location.

The 37-year-old Miller has won three of his last five promotional outings. Most recently, he lost a unanimous decision against Vinc Pichel at UFC 252 this past August. His matchup with Solecki will mark his 37th Octagon appearance, a UFC record. Miller was supposed to face Bobby Green at UFC 258 but the bout was scrapped after Green endured a difficult weight cut.

Solecki earned a UFC contract with a first-round submission of James Wallace on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series. Since then, the 27-year-old has posted a decision win over Matt Wiman at UFC on ESPN 7 and a submission victory against Austin Hubbard at UFC on ESPN 15. Solecki has won his last five professional fights.

Roxanne Modafferi is slated to meet Taila Santos in a flyweight matchup at UFC Fight Night on May 8.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Combate. UFC Fight Night takes place at an as yet to be announced location and also features a women’s bantamweight tilt pitting Holly Holm against Julianna Pena.

Modafferi came up short in her first appearance of 2021, falling to Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 20 on Jan. 20. “The Happy Warrior” is 4-6 in UFC competition with wins over the likes of Andrea Lee, Maycee Barber and Antonina Shevchenko.

Santos, meanwhile, has scored back-to-back decision triumphs against Molly McCann and Gillian Robertson in her last two UFC appearances. The 27-year-old Astra Fight Team product has been victorious in 17 of 18 pro outings, with her lone defeat coming against Mara Romero Borella in her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 144.

Although Israel Adesanya is moving up a division at UFC 259, not much will change from his usual middleweight routine.

‘I’m gonna keep the same energy during my fight week,” Adesanya told ESPN. “I’m not gonna go crazy and f—-ing order Uber Eats and cakes and whatever. I’m just gonna keep the same energy.”

The reigning 185-pound king will attempt to become a two-division champion when he faces reigning light heavyweight title holder Jan Blachowicz Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Despite facing an opponent who has competed at 205 pounds for years, Adesanya didn’t adopt a plan to pack on extra weight.

“Put it this way,” Adesanya said. “I could still make 185 if I have to.”

That said, “The Last Stylebender” expects to weight below 200 pounds when he hits the scales and when he stands across the Octagon from Blachowicz.

“Don’t be surprised if I weigh in at like 193,” he said. “Don’t be surprised.”

For Adesanya, maintaining a routi…

JIMMY THE BRICK!!

First round sub to open his UFC career! What a performance #UFCVegas17 pic.twitter.com/iiWqtYC9D2

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) December 19, 2020 A flyweight clash between Jimmy Flick and Francisco Figueiredo has been booked for the UFC's May 8 offering.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing after Flick announced it on The Corner and The Casual podcast podcast. The event is expected to include a women’s bantamweight bout between Holly Holm and Julianna Pena as well as a welterweight tilt pitting Donald Cerrone against Diego Sanchez. A location has not been formally announced.

Flick turned heads in his Octagon debut when he submitted Cody Durden with a flying triangle 3:18 into the opening round of their encounter at UFC Fight Night 183 on Dec. 19. The 30-year-old Oklahoma native has won four straight fights overall, including appearances with Dana White’s Contender Series and Legacy Fighting Alliance.

Figueiredo is …

Edson Barboza will make his third featherweight appearance when he takes on Shane Burgos at UFC 262.

Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from Combate. UFC 262 takes place on May 15 at an as yet to be announced location and also includes a flyweight scrap between Alex Perez and Matt Schnell.

The 35-year-old Barboza has lost five of his last seven UFC bouts but is 1-1 at 145 pounds. After dropping a narrow split decision against Dan Ige in his featherweight debut at UFC on ESPN 8, Barboza rebounded to outpoint Makwan Amirkhani in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 179 on Oct. 10.

Burgos began his tenure in the Las Vegas-based promotion with victories in six of his first seven appearances. The 29-year-old Team Tiger Schulmann representative came up short in his last bout, losing a unanimous decision to Josh Emmett at UFC on ESPN 11 on June 20.

Three fighters who competed at UFC Fight Night 186 are facing potential six-month layoffs after their bouts.

Thiago Moises, who took a three-round verdict against Alexander Hernandez in a lightweight contest, must have his right foot X-rayed and if positive, needs to be cleared by a doctor or he will be sidelined until Aug. 27. At a minimum he is suspended until March 30 with no contact until March 21.

After a decision loss to Alexis Davis at bantamweight, Sabina Mazo needs a left leg X-ray. If positive, she’ll need doctor clearance to avoid a being suspended until Aug. 27. At a minimum, Mazo is suspended until March 30 with no contact until March 21.

Finally, Ronnie Lawrence must have his left foot and left ribs X-rayed and receive cleareance or he will be out until Aug. 27. His minimum suspension is the same as Moises and Mazo. Lawrence defeated Vince Cachero via third-round technincal knockout in a preliminary bantamweight scrap.

A full list of medical…

A lightweight showdown pitting Scott Holtzman against Mateusz Gamrot has been booked for UFC Fight Night on April 10.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report by Kuba Voranek on Twitter. UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight tilt between Darren Till and Marvin Vettori. A location for the card has not been formally announced.

Holtzman last competed at UFC Fight Night 174, where he suffered a spinning backfist KO defeat at the hands of Beneil Dariush this past August. Heading into the matchup the man known as “Hot Sauce” had been victorious in five of his previous six promotional appearances.

A former two-division champion with KSW, Gamrot is looking for his first UFC triumph. In his Octagon debut, the 30-year-old Poland native dropped a split verdict against Guram Kutateladze at UFC Fight Night 180 on Oct. 17. Prior to that defeat, “Gamer” had been unbeaten in his first 18 professional appearances, with a no contest against Nor…

Matt Brown will meet Dhiego Lima at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on June 19.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the pairing. The UFC Fight Night event doesn’t have an official location or headliner at this time.

The 40-year-old Brown has lost five of his last seven promotional appearances. Most recently, “The Immortal” dropped a three-round verdict against Carlos Condit at UFC on ABC 1 on Jan. 16. Brown has earned wins over the likes of Stephen Thompson, Mike Swick, Mike Pyle, Tim Means, Diego Sanchez and Ben Saunders during a lengthy UFC tenure.

Lima, meanwhile, is coming off a clear-cut decision loss to Belal Muhammad at UFC 258 on Feb 13. Prior to that defeat, “The Ultimate Fighter 19” finalist had won three straight Octagon appearances, besting Chad Laprise, Court McGee and Luke Jumeau in succession.

Rory MacDonald will finally make his highly-anticipated Professional Fighters League debut in the main event of the promotion’s April 29 event against David Michaud.

The PFL announced the bout, along with the full card for its second 2021 regular season event, on Tuesday. The lineup will feature welterweights and light heavyweights, with the main card airing on ESPN2 and the prelims streaming via ESPN+.

The rest of the main card lineup is as follows: Ray Cooper III vs. Jason Ponet at welterweight; Jordan Johnson vs. Tom Lawlor at light heavyweight; and Emiliano Sordi vs. Chris Camozzi at light heavyweight.

Meanwile, the preliminary draw will feature a total of six contests: Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Joao Zeferino at welterweight; Smealinho Rama vs. Jordan Young at light heavyweight; Cezar Ferreira vs. Nick Roehrick at light heavyweight; Gleison Tibau vs. Alexey Kunchenko at welterweight; Sadibou Sy vs. Nikolay Aleksakhin at welterweight; and Dan Spohn vs. Marth…

Lingering effects from COVID-19 continue to take their toll on Khamzat Chimaev.

The UFC welterweight prospect seemingly announced his retirement in a cryptic statement on Instagram Monday evening.

“I want to say thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport,” Chimaev wrote (translation via Google). “I think I’m done, yes I know I didn’t take the belt but it’s not the most important victory in his life. It may upset you but my heart and body tell me everything. I want to say a big thank you to my team [Allstars Training Center]. I want to say a big thank you to UFC.”

Additionally, Chimaev posted photos on Instagram Stories of what appeared to be blood in a sink. Chimaev was recently flown to Las Vegas by the UFC to receive additional medical care after he withdrew from UFC Fight Night 187 due to lingering symptoms from the virus. It was the second time he was forced to pull out of a fight vs. Leon Edwards due to COVID-19 issues after cont…

BOMBS AWAY

Michał Włodarek collides with the debuting @DarkoStosic92 at #KSW59 pic.twitter.com/CIdhRPE4gZ

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 25, 2021 Four-time UFC veteran Darko Stosic will make his promotional debut against Michal Wlodarek at KSW 59 on March 20.

The Polish promotion recently announced the booking, which will be contested at heavyweight. Four other contests were also confirmed: Damian Janikowski vs. Jason Radcliffe at middleweight; Lukasz Rajewski vs. Mateusz Legierski at lightweight; Sebastian Rajewski vs. Savo Lazic at lightweight and Krystian Kaszubowski vs. Michal Pietrzak at middleweight.

KSW 59 takes place in Lodz, Poland and is headlined by a super heavyweight clash between Mariusz Pudzianowski and Serigne Ousmane Dia. In the co-main event, Antun Racic defends his bantamweight crown against Sebastian Przybysz.

Stosic, 29, debuted in the Octagon with a first-round stoppage of Jeremy Kimball but then proceeded to …