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Tristan Connelly will return for the first time in more than a year and a half when he meets Pat Sabatini at UFC 261.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the featherweight booking. UFC 261 takes place on April 24 at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., and is headlined by a welterweight championship rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.

Connelly pulled off a significant upset in his Octagon debut, when he outpointed Michel Pereira in a welterweight bout at UFC Fight Night 158 in September 2019. He has been sidelined since then after undergoing neck surgery.

A featherweight title holder in Cage Fury Fighting Championships, Sabatini enters the matchup with Connelly on a two-fight winning streak. The 30-year-old Pennsylvanian is 13-3 as a pro, with 11 of those triumphs coming inside the distance.

Fabian Edwards is likely to face Austin Vanderford in a middleweight tilt at Bellator 259.

Sherdog.com confirmed that the pairing is in the works with a source close to the situation following reports from ESPN and MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 259 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on May 21 and is headlined by a women’s featherweight championship bout between Cristiane Justino and Leslie Smith.

Edwards, the younger brother of UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards, began his pro career with nine straight victories before dropping a split decision to Costello van Steenis in his last outing at Bellator Milan last September. “The Assassin” had kicked off his Bellator tenure with four victories prior to that defeat.

Vanderford, meanwhile, is 10-0 in his professional career — including four triumphs within the California-based promotion. The 31-year-old Gracie Barra Portland representative is coming off a unanimous decision win over Vinicius de Jes…

Pedro Rizzo has been doing his part to help further combat sports among Brazilian youth.

Since 2016, the former UFC heavyweight contender has led a social project called “Usina de Campeões,” where more than 300 children from the slums of Rio de Janeiro have the opportunity to train six different martial arts styles. The most talented among those kids might get the opportunity to train on the professional MMA team some day alongside the likes of UFC fighters Raoni Barcelos and Warlley Alves.

"Everything that I have conquered in my life is because of martial arts,” said Rizzo, who works six days a week coordinating the project. “I can't describe how happy I´m for being able to  help so many children to escape from drug dealing and criminal life thru martial arts.”

Rizzo was also able to discuss the current state of the heavyweight division, including the recent championship clash at UFC 260, with Sherdog.com.

“I have to admit that I was expecting […

I know first hand that losing a loved one can be devastating, so I’ve partnered with @bolddotorg to launch the $10,000 Cat Zingano Overcoming Loss Scholarship to help a student navigating life after loss. Check it and spread the word: https://t.co/XAs4SN62qa pic.twitter.com/26cmKEjoc7

— Alpha Cat Zingano (@CatZingano) April 5, 2021

Just a few days ahead of her next Bellator MMA appearance, Cat Zingano has started a $10,000 scholarship fund with Bold.org.

Officially named the “Cat Zingano Overcoming Loss Scholarship,” the award will be given to “a student who is fighting through their own loss of a close family member, legal guardian or loved one, and is in need of financial support for their education as they move forward.”

Zigano’s mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer when the fighter was in her early 20s, and Zingano struggled to focus on her education due to her mom’s declining health and eventual death in 2005. Zingano also l…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A strawweight tilt between Amanda Ribas and Angela Hill is in the works for UFC on ESPN 24.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the bout. UFC on ESPN 24 takes place on May 8 at an undisclosed location and is headlined by a bantamweight duel between Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw. Both Ribas and Hill have verbally agreed to the fight.

Ribas had a five-bout winning streak snapped at UFC 257, where she suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Marina Rodriguez on Jan. 23. The 27-year-old Brazilian began her promotional tenure with triumphs over Emily Whitmire, Mackenzie Dern, Randa Markos and Paige VanZant.

Hill, meanwhile, has been victorious in four of her last six Octagon appearances, with her two defeats during that period coming via contentious split decision against Michelle Waterson and Claudia Gadelha. Most recently, the former Invicta FC title holder rebounded from those backt-to-back losses with a decisio…

Charles Rosa will lock horns with Justin Jaynes at a UFC event on June 26.

MMAjukie.com was first to report the pairing. UFC Fight Night takes place at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown pitting Alexander Volkov against Ciryl Gane.

Rosa, 34, has alternated losses and wins since his Octagon debut in 2014 to compile a 4-5 mark within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, “Boston Strong” dropped a unanimous verdict ot Darick Minner at UFC Fight Night 185 on Feb. 20.

After beginning his UFC career with a 41-second TKO of Frank Camacho in June 2020, Jaynes has lost three straight contests in the organization. In his last outing, “Guitar Hero” suffered a second-round TKO defeat to Devonte Smith on Feb. 6.

A featherweight showdown at Bellator 257 pitting Aaron Pico against Aiden Lee has been postponed.

Bellator president Scott Coker recently confirmed the news to Insider. The bout is expected to be rebooked at a later date.

"The fight that was supposed to happen in April is being pushed back," Coker said. "[Pico] has some medical issues that he had to take care of, so now he's probably being pushed back to the second fight [event] in May, or June.”

Bellator 257 takes place on April 16 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and is headlined by a light heavyweight grand prix matchup between reigning 205-pound champion Vadim Nemkov and Phil Davis. The main card will air on Showtime.

After a bumpy start to his professional tenure, Pico established some momentum in 2020, winning three bouts within the California-based promotion. Most recently, the 24-year-old Jackson-Wink MMA member knocked out John de Jesus in the second round at Bellator 252 to run his professi…

JUAN ESPINO IN LESS THAN A ROUND!! #UFC253#InAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/2HocCKB0GF

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) September 26, 2020

A heavyweight showdown pitting Juan Espino against Alexander Romanov is slated for UFC on ESPN 22.

Both fighters announced the booking via social media, and it was also confirmed by MMAFighting.com. UFC on ESPN 22 takes place on April 17 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight tilt between Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum.

The winner of Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Espino returned to action for the first time in nearly two years at UFC 253, where he tapped out Jeff Hughes with a scarf hold in the opening stanza. The 40-year-old Spaniard has been victorious in 10 of his 11 professional appearances, with seven triumphs coming by way of submission.

Romanov, meanwhile, has been victorious in his first 13 professional outings, including submissions of Roque Martine…

Raoni Barcelos will clash with Timur Valiev in a bantamweight matchup at UFC Fight Night on June 26.

ESPN was first to report the pairing. UFC Fight Night takes place at an as yet to be announced location and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Alexander Volkov and Ciryl Gane.

Barcelos was supposed to compete at UFC Fight Night 186 on Feb. 26 but was forced to withdraw from the event after testing positive for COVID-19. The former Resurrection Fighting Alliance title holder is currently on a nine-bout professional winning streak that includes five triumphs in UFC competition. Most recently, he outpointed Khalid Taha at UFC on ESPN 17.

Valiev, meanwhile, is unbeaten in his last eight professional appearances, but only because an upset loss to Trevin Jones at UFC on ESPN 15 was overturned to a no contest after his opponent failed a drug test. The former World Series of Fighting and Professional Fighters League competitor rebounded to score a unanimous decis…

Demian Maia is back for a potential farewell bout, as he will square off against Belal Muhammad at UFC 263.

ESPN was first to report the welterweight pairing. UFC 263 takes place at an undisclosed location on June 12 and features a flyweight title rematch pitting Deiveson Figueiredo against Brandon Moreno.

After suffering a first-round TKO loss to Gilbert Burns in the UFC Fight Night 170 co-main event in March 2020, Maia expressed a desire to finish out his contract with the promotion and then call it a career after one more bout. Prior to the setback against Burns, the 43-year-old jiu-jitsu ace had won three consecutive fight in the Octagon, besting Lyman Good, Anthony Rocco Martin and Ben Askren in succession.

Muhammad is unbeaten in his last five UFC outings but is coming off a no contest against Leon Edwards on March 13. The bout ended when Muhammad was unable to continue after being poked in the eye by his opponent 18 seconds into Round 2. Although “Remem…

Alexander Volkov will square off against Ciryl Gane in the featured bout of an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on June 26.

ESPN was first to report the heavyweight matchup. The card does not yet have an official venue or location.

Volkov has been victorious in three of his last four UFC appearances. Most recently, the 32-year-old Russian dominated Alistair Overeem en route to a second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6. His UFC tenure includes wins over the likes of Walt Harris, Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson and Timothy Johnson.

Gane is unbeaten in eight professional outings — including five in the UFC. The Frenchman is coming off a five-round verdict over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the main event of UFC Fight Night 186 on Feb. 27.

A pivotal welterweight showdown pitting Gilbert Burns against Stephen Thompson is on tap for UFC 264.

UFC president Dana White recently confirmed the bout to ESPN. UFC 264 takes place on July 10 and is headlined by a trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. The card is expected to be held in Las Vegas, potentially at the T-Mobile Arena.

Burns last appeared at UFC 264, where he suffered in a third-round TKO loss against Kamaru Usman in a welterweight title bout. Prior to that, “Durinho” had been victorious in his last six promotional appearances, besting the likes of Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and Gunnar Nelson in the process.

After a stretch in which he won just once in five bouts from November 2016 to March 2019, “Wonderboy” has rebounded to post consecutive decision triumphs over Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal. The South Carolina native is 11-4-1 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Chan Sung Jung will lock horns with Dan Ige in a featherweight main event at UFC Fight Night on June 19.

ESPN first brought word of the matchup. The event does not yet have an official location or venue.

“The Korean Zombie” had a two-bout winning streak snapped at UFC Fight Night 180, when he dropped a five-round verdict to current No. 1 contender Brian Ortega this past October. Prior to that, Jung had earned consecutive first-round TKO wins against Frankie Edgar and Renato Carneiro.

Ige, meanwhile, is coming off a 22-second knockout of Gavin Tucker at UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13. The Xtreme Couture product has won seven of his last eight Octagon appearances, with a five-round decision loss to Calvin Kattar on July 15 as the only setback on his record during that run.

Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega will serve as opposing coaches for “The Ultimate Fighter 29.”

UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to ESPN. The long-running reality show, which hasn’t aired since 2018, is expected to begin filming later this month. The latest iteration will feature competitors at middleweight and bantamweight and will stream on ESPN+.

Volkanovski and Ortega were scheduled to square off in a featheweight championship bout in the co-main event of UFC 260 on March 27, but Volkanovski was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19. Volkanovski will be rebooked at some point after “TUF 29.”

The reality show was initially supposed to premiere in March but was postponed when tryouts were delayed due to the pandemic. The most recent edition of the series, “TUF 28,” premiered in August 2018 and featured Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum as opposing coaches. The show included men’s heavyweights and women’s featherweights, wit…

Cristiane Justino will defend her featherweight crown against Leslie Smith in the Bellator 259 main event.

The California-based promotion recently announced the booking. Bellator 259 takes place on May 21 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and the main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. Two other bouts were confirmed for the card: Adam Piccolotti vs. Georgi Karakhanyan at lightweight and Christian Edwards vs. Ben Parrish at light heavyweight.

Justino and Smith initially squared off at UFC 198, where “Cyborg” earned a technical knockout victory 1:21 into the opening stanza of a 140-pound catchweight affair.

“I believe [after] five years she’s going to be a better fighter,” Justino said. “More training, more working and fighting. More experience. The first fight was very fast, so I think this one is going to be a longer fight. She’s a warrior. She likes to fight and it’s going to be nice to fight somebody like this.”

A former 145-pound ch…

Sherdog's live Bellator 255 coverage kicks off Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Also, free live streams of the prelim and main cards can be watched here.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 The “Showtime Era” for Bellator MMA kicks off with Bellator 255 and a middleweight matchup between Newman (2-0, 2-0 BMMA) and Busick (2-1, 1 NC; 0-1 BMMA). John English is your referee. No touch of gloves as the 185ers set up, Newman southpaw, Busick orthodox. Newman clinches and runs Busick to the fence, looking for the takedown but Busick defends with an overhook. Newman drills Busick with a knee just before they disengage. 90 seconds gone. Newman clinches again, they’re against the fence, and Newman drills Busick with a knee to the cup. After a brief break, they’re back to it. Newman again closes the distance and clinches. They jockey for position away from the fence, Newman just misses a big elbow on the break. Busick slips and …

ピットブル圧勝‼️#Bellator255 pic.twitter.com/AGxAAxWs7X

— エイジ (@ek420doggydogg) April 3, 2021

Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes. In Bellator MMA, it has taken the form of a 5-foot-6, 145-pound Brazilian.

Patricio Freire retained his undisputed featherweight championship, as he choked Emmanuel Sanchez unconscious with a guillotine in the first round of their Bellator 255 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Sanchez (20-5, 12-4 Bellator), who had never before been finished, lost his grip on reality 3:35 into Round 1.

Champion and challenger fought at a measured pace, their mutual respect evident from the start. Midway through the first round, Freire (32-4, 20-4 Bellator) stepped into punching range and knocked down the Roufusport standout with a ringing left hook. In his haste to return to his feet, Sanchez left his neck exposed. “Pitbull” bit down on the choke, jumped into full guard and let h…

Dustin Poirier has officially signed his contract to fight Conor McGregor on July 10, sources say. McGregor, as we know, was already in.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 2, 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. It’s on. On Friday, ESPN broke the news that Dustin Poirier (27-6, 1 NC) and Conor McGregor (22-5) had officially signed their bout agreements to compete on UFC 264 on July 10. The two lightweights will headline the pay-per-view event that is expected to take place in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with fans in attendance. The two had been targeted for the matchup back in March, and the bout has now been made official. No title will be on the line, but McGregor has suggested a custom belt be created for the victor of this match.

Poirier and McGregor are 1-1 headed into the trilogy match, with each scoring a knockout…

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. After over two years away, Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Michel Prazeres is ready to get back in action. Late Thursday night, Georgian outlet Ag. Fight reported that Prazeres (26-3) was gearing up to make his return to the Octagon on June 26. The unnumbered UFC Fight Night event on this date does not currently have a headliner, location or venue established, as it could take place in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or elsewhere depending on the status of the coronavirus pandemic. On this card, he will be squaring off with unbeaten Shavkat Rakhmonov (13-0) in the welterweight division. The matchup has since been confirmed by multiple outlets as well as Rakhmonov himself on his Instagram.

Prazeres was suspended in 2020 for failed drug tests the previous year, with his results showing the anabolic steroid boldenone and i…

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in the great sport of MMA, something new happens – and on April Fools’ Day, no less.

On Thursday night, the first event in a doubleheader for Cage Fury Fighting Championships took place in Philadelphia titled CFFC 94. The event was capped off by a thrilling welterweight championship clash between Evan Cutts and Bassil Hafez, where it became the first bout in the organization’s history to reach the fifth round – CFFC title fights are four-round affairs, with the possibility for a fifth should it be tied up. Even though this was a historic occasion, the biggest story was not about the championship showdown, the omoplata that occurred earlier in the night or the other fun fights on the card. The most noteworthy was that a fighter lost a finger.

The co-headliner saw undefeated Devin Goodale square off against 2012 Olympic wrestler Khetag Pliev in a 180-pound catchweight contest. The two battled it out for ten hard-fought minutes, and …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzYEqTbwvvI&w=560&h=315] If you thought Full Metal Dojo would run out of wild ideas for its “Fight Circus” series of events, you haven’t been paying attention.

On Tuesday, the Thailand-based organization announced that its third Fight Circus event, titled “Fisting for Dollars,” would take place on April 9 in the U.S. and April 10 in Thailand. Like the previous cards, Fight Circus Vol. 3 will be streamed live and free on the CamSoda platform, with a wide variety of bouts scheduled throughout the night. Although there may not be a single traditional MMA bout on the card, FMD is branching out to many different facets of unarmed combat.

There are currently nine announced matches for the event, with each one under a different ruleset. While more traditional combat sports such as muay Thai, lethwei and bare-knuckle boxing bouts are booked, the intrigue lies with the unusual matchups. Carrying on the trend from the past two Fight Circus…

Damnn. An accumulation of damage to the left leg of Ismail Naurdiev puts an end to the Brave main event. Jarrah Hussein Al-Silawi finishes the UFC vet with low kicks in R2. #BRAVECF50 pic.twitter.com/RKUpajVOC8

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) April 1, 2021 The judges put in overtime at Brave Combat Federation’s jam-packed card on Thursday.

The main event of Brave CF 50 saw 175-pound titleholder Jarrah Hussein Al-Silawi (16-3) notching his first title defense at the expense of Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Ismail Naurdiev (20-5). “The Jordanian Lion” and Naurdiev spent most of the opening stanza studying one another, with the defending champion landing effective kicks while his opponent returned fire with repeated jabs. Al-Silawi’s gameplan started paying dividends as the bout progressed, as “The Austrian Wonderboy” started losing his footwork. The defending champion forced Naurdiev to back against the fence as he hunted his opponent down wit…

Update April 1st, 2021 pic.twitter.com/IAkryJWTZx

— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) April 1, 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 standout Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight has embraced the old adage of “ask and ye shall receive.” The UFC on ABC 2 main event was minus a competitor after Darren Till broke his collarbone earlier this week. Immediately after this news broke, Kevin Holland (21-6) spoke up, saying he would take the fight against Marvin Vettori (16-4-1). Per Holland on social media, and then confirmed by multiple outlets, the two middleweights will now headline the April 10 card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Holland last competed at UFC on ESPN 21 on March 20, where he dropped a decision to Derek Brunson to snap a five-fight win streak. The Texas native will tie a record held by Deiveson Figueiredo and Mich…

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. Another talented Invicta Fighting Championships competitor has been plucked to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. On Wednesday, Sportskeeda reported that Erin Blanchfield (6-1) will be fighting in the UFC for the first time, replacing Bea Malecki against Norma Dumont (5-1). ESPN and Blanchfield have both confirmed this news on Thursday, with Blanchfield moving up to the bantamweight division at UFC on ABC 2. The career flyweight will be appearing on April 10 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The Invicta standout rebounded from her first career loss in 2019 – a split decision defeat to Tracy Cortez – by finishing Gabriella Gulfin and Victoria Leonardo. Most recently, “Cold Blooded” captured a unanimous verdict over Brogan Walker-Sanchez in July 2020. Her stoppage of current UFC fighter Leonardo came from a head kick, e…