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HE'S BACK!👑The Return of @francis_ngannou4⃣𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒2⃣𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗧𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘1⃣Gigantic night of MMA

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and it all goes down on October 19th #PFLSuperFights pic.twitter.com/mDHCFd6PBp — PFL (@PFLMMA) August 7, 2024

Professional Fighters League is going big for its second pay-per-view event of 2024.

The organization announced on Wednesday that the card will be headlined by a heavyweight clash between former UFC champ Francis Ngannou and 2023 PFL champion Renan Ferreira. In the co-main event, reigning Bellator MMA featherweight title holder Cris Cyborg will square off against 2023 PFL 145-pound queen Larissa Pacheco.

The PFL pay-per-view event — which is titled “Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact” — takes place on Oct. 19 and is available via ESPN+. A venue and a price point for the card were not announced. In both bouts, PFL Super Fights Championship Belts will be on the line.

Ngannou…

Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman will return to action against Eryk Anders at what is expected to be UFC 309 on Nov. 16.

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Anders’ management, Iridium Sports Agency, first brought word of the booking. While UFC 309 has not been officially announced by the promotion, it is likely to be held at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Weidman will be making his second appearance of 2024 and third overall since suffering a gruesomely broken leg against Uriah Hall at UFC 261 in April 2021. In his last outing, “The All-American” earned his first victory since August 2020, as he took a unanimous decision over Bruno Silva at UFC on ESPN 54 on March 30.

A former linebacker at the University of Alabama, Anders has competed at both middleweight and light heavyweight during his promotional tenure. The 37-year-old has won two of his last three Octagon appearances, including a three-round verdict over Jamie Pickett in his most recent outing at UFC Fight…

Belal Muhammad doesn’t see himself being very far from a potential move up to middleweight to fight for his second title.

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Muhammad got his welterweight title shot against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 after mounting a 10-fight unbeaten run. “Remember the Name” outdueled Edwards throughout five rounds in front of the latter’s home crowd in Manchester to earn a unanimous decision win.

Muhammad is already discussing a future move up to middleweight to attempt to become a two-division champion. Muhammad believes he is just two more title defenses away from being able to make that goal a reality.

Making his case, the Chicago native argues that neither of the two potential opponents for his first title defense, Kamaru Usman or Shavkat Rakhmonov, is a clear No. 1 contender. Muhammad notes that when he fought Edwards for the title, he was the undeniable title challenger. With Muhammad having already beaten several top 10 contenders on his way up to title c…

Umar Nurmagomedov has fired back at Merab Dvalishvili after the “The Machine” accused him of getting privileges in the UFC because of his connection to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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Nurmagomedov climbed eight spots to No.2 in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings with an impressive unanimous decision win over top contender Cory Sandhagen at UFC on ABC 7 last weekend. Nurmagomedov is expected to be fight for the title next against the winner of Sean O'Malley-Dvalishvili, which headlines UFC 306 on Sept. 14.

However, Dvalishvili isn’t excited about a potential clash against Umar Nurmagomedov, as he believes the Dagestani has been fast tracked on his way to title contention. Dvalishvili claims Nurmagomedov hasn’t paid his dues as much as other elite contenders and has been pushed because of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is his cousin.

“He has a push because we all know why,” Dvalishvili recently told heavywgt MMA. “Because he’s Khabib’s cousin. He’s a good fighte…

While Kai Kamaka III hasn’t had the worst of it, the Hawaiian has seen the Professional Fighters League season format take a toll on fellow fighters.

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Kamaka headlines PFL 9 opposite Brendan Loughnane in a featherweight semifinal on Aug. 23 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. It will mark Kamaka’s third outing within a span of four months, a campaign that began with back-to-back decision wins to advance to the PFL postseason.

“The Fighting Hawaiian” says his gym, Xtreme Couture, which has built a reputation for preparing fighters for short-notice outings, has been of help while fighting so frequently in the PFL season format. However, Kamaka has also seen the format take on toll on others like his teammate, PFL light heavyweight Sadibou Sy. Kamaka revealed that the Swede, who dislocated his thumb in a freak injury loss to Joshua Silveira to start off the 2024 season, has been “banged up” all season. However, “The Swedish Denzel “has since bounced b…

Let's get it on! 🏆

Head to https://t.co/VeFJNoH35S to cast yours.#worldmmaawards #fightersonly pic.twitter.com/I4S77fCR00

— Fighters Only (@FightersOnly) August 6, 2024

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Nominees for the 16th annual World MMA Awards have been announced, and Sherdog.com is among the candidates for Best MMA Media Source.

Fighters Only Magazine, which launched the awards in 2008, announced the full list of nominees in more than 20 categories on Tuesday. In addition to Best MMA Media Source, winners will be selected for Fighter of the Year (in multiple categories), Fight of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Upset of the Year, Coach of the Year, Gym of the Year, Referee of the Year, Best Promotion — and much more. Award nominees are selected by a panel of insiders based on their performances between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

Voting is now live and continues through Sept. 30. Fight fans can visit the World MMA Awards website and cho…

Fans of the UFC and Professional Fighters League are going to have to endure another price hike in they want to keep watching the events held by those organizations.

Disney on Tuesday announced that the ESPN+ monthly subscription fee will increase from $10.99 to $11.99 on Oct. 17. The majority of UFC events and PFL offerings are available through ESPN+, though some can be viewed on ESPN lineal networks, as well. Meanwhile, an ESPN+ subscription is required to be able to access UFC pay-per-view events — which, of course, include an additional charge to purchase.

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When the UFC initially became broadcast partners with ESPN, the price for ESPN+ was $4.99 per month. Subscription price increases have become the norm over the years, as the price was raised to $6.99 per month in 2021 and to $9.99 in 2022. Last October, it went up to $10.99.

The UFC’s broadcast deal with ESPN will expire in 2025. UFC CEO Dana White recently indicated that the promoti…

A middleweight clash pitting Caio Borralho against Jared Cannonier will serve as the main event for UFC on ESPN 62.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. UFC on ESPN 62 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Aug. 24 and also includes a welterweight showdown between Neil Magny and Michael Morales. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

After earning a pair of victories on Dana White’s Contender Series, Barralho has kicked off his Octagon tenure with six consecutive triumphs. Most recently, The Fighting Nerds standout scored a second-round knockout of Paul Craig at UFC 301 on May 4.

A former middleweight title challenger, Cannonier is coming off a controversial fourth-round TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC on ESPN 57 on June 8. Prior to that defeat, “The Killa Gorilla” had been victorious in four of his last five UFC appearances, a run…

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Jose Mariscal recently shared some details of his lethal judo game.

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A lifelong mixed martial artist, Mariscal boasts a suffocating grappling skillset with a combination of judo and jiu jitsu. Mariscal owns a black belt under Bob Schirmer in what he labels “hood judo” based on its Chicago origin. Mariscal revealed that it was that judo skillset which mostly got him out of physical altercations unscathed.

“I call it ‘hood judo’ because it’s from Chicago,” Mariscal recently told MMAjunkie.com. “Nobody really knows where I got my black belt from… It was under Bob Schirmer, the Combat-Do team. I never got into a street fight because I threw people before they even tried to punch me or try to do anything. So when I toss them, someone will lose the air out of their stomach. Someone will be kind of concussed. I’m glad I never got caught up on that.”

While Mariscal admired watching judo being translated into MMA by the likes of Georges St. Pierre and …

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Javier Mendez gives the lion’s share of credit to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, for the success of his Dagestani fighters.

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Mendez has formed a close bond with the Dagestani contingent over the course of years since Nurmagomedov first walked into the American Kickboxing Academy in 2012. Nurmagomedov went on to establish his status in MMA GOAT conversations by dominating the UFC’s lightweight division during his title reign before retiring with a perfect record.

Following in Nurmagomedov’s footsteps, his teammates and cousins also came under the tutelage of Mendez, bringing a plethora of talent to AKA. Mendez is now coach to UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev (26-1), Bellator lightweight champ Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0) and UFC bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov (13-0), who made his case for the next gold bid with a unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen last weekend at UFC on ABC 7.

Read more about Javier Mendez Credits Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov for Success of Dagestani Fighters

Javid Basharat (14-1) is out of his UFC on ESPN 61 booking against Chris Gutierrez (20-6) due to an injury.

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Basharat and Gutierrez were slated to trade leather in a bantamweight matchup at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this weekend. However, Basharat revealed on social that he won’t be able to fight due an undisclosed injury.

“Sad to say I will not be fighting this weekend,” Basharat wrote on Instagram. “I picked up an injury too close to the fight and wouldn’t heal in time for the fight, so me and my team made a collective decision. I was in great shape thanks to all the coaches and training partners at [American Top Team]. Tthey opened their doors for me and leveled me up for sure. Now it’s time to heal up and I will be back as soon as I can.”

It is currently unknown if Gutierrez will remain on the card against a short-notice replacement opponent.

Basharat’s 14-fight winning streak was marred by an unfortunate no contest against Victor H…

Ramon Taveras plans to move out of Duval County, Florida, after surviving an attempt on his life last week.

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According to Taveras, armed men drove up to his mother’s house in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 29 and attempted to kill him. Taveras also opened fire in defense, footage of which was posted by the UFC fighter. While Taveras luckily escaped unscathed, he and his family don’t feel safe in their home any longer.

Taveras revealed that gun violence took his brother’s life in 2019, and fears he may become a victim of the same. Taveras blamed the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for alleged negligence towards the “less fortunate” parts of the city.

According to Taveras, the JSO also tried to blame him for the recent attempt on his life, accusing him of gang involvement. The UFC featherweight now plans on moving away from Jacksonville. Taveras detailed the situation in a post on Instagram:

It’s unfortunate that I even have to make a post like th…

Belal Muhammad is not buying the narrative from Leon Edwards’ coach that “Rocky” wasn’t 100% in their UFC 304 clash.

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Muhammad dethroned Edwards via unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, last month. Edwards subsequently claimed to be feeling “tired” due to the timing of fight, which took place after 5 a.m. BST.

Meanwhile, Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, said that “Rocky” went into the fight with a with a "niggle" in his back. Muhammad has dismissed both narratives, advising Edwards’ camp to come up with unanimous excuse. “Remember the Name” believes even Edwards doesn’t listen to his coach and hopes nobody else will, either.

“He’s a joke. Like I said, he was a joke before the fight as a coach and he’s a joke after the fight,” Muhammad told MMAjunkie.com. “It’s funny that they all have different excuses. Leon was like, ‘Oh, I couldn’t sleep,’ and now his coach came out with, ‘Oh, his back was hurting.’ Get on the …

Marlon Vera plans to step away for a “reset” following his latest loss to Deiveson Figueiredo.

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Vera was completely outclassed by the former flyweight champ en route to a unanimous decision loss in their bantamweight clash at UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. This marked Vera second consecutive decision loss following a failed title bid against Sean O'Malley at UFC 299 this past March.

Addressing his latest loss, Vera admitted that he may have returned to action too soon after the O’Malley defeat.

“I fail at myself last [night]. I thought I was ready I felt good in the gym but at the end maybe I come back too quick after a hard title fight,” he wrote on Instagram. “Life doesn’t end here. I still dream about big things, I just need time to let go and reset.

Vera won four consecutive fights from 2021 to 2022, including knockouts over former champs Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz. However, the Ecuadorian has since drop…

Michael Chiesa called out Colby Covington after his win over Tony Ferguson:

"I want to fight Colby Covington... the guy can sit on the sidelines and say whatever he wants...

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Are you gonna idly sit around and do nothing, or are you gonna come back and fight. Keep your ranking, I… pic.twitter.com/nDy1iDfUzW — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 4, 2024

Michael Chiesa is eyeing a step up in competition after returning to the win column this past Saturday.

UFC on ABC 7 saw Chiesa rebound from a three-fight slump with a first-round submission win over Tony Ferguson at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. “Maverick” subsequently called out former interim welterweight champ Colby Covington.

Chiesa claims that the matchup has nothing to do with rankings. The Spokane, Washington, native wants to fight Springfield, Oregon’s Covington in order to determine the best welterweight in the Pacific Northwest.

“I want to figh…

The Professional Fighters League welterweight playoffs have a new entrant.

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The promotion announced on Sunday that Don Madge has pulled out of his semifinal bout against Magomed Umalatov due to an undisclosed injury. As a result, Neiman Gracie will step in and face Umalatov on Aug. 23. Additionally, Luca Poclit, who was originally slated to fight Gracie, will remain on the card against Eric Alequin.

PFL 9 takes place at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., and features semifinal bouts at featherweight and welterweight. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Gracie went 1-1 during his 2024 PFL campaign. After dropping a unanimous verdict to Goiti Yamauchi at PFL 3, the Bellator MMA veteran rebounded to outpoint Madge in his second outing at PFL 6 on June 28.

Undefeated in 16 professional bouts, Umalatov is still seeking his first PFL champi…

Rafael dos Anjos will return to the welterweight division for a clash against Geoff Neal at UFC 308.

The pairing was revealed during the UFC on ABC 7 broadcast on Saturday. UFC 308 takes place on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight championship bout between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.

Dos Anjos has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Mateusz Gamrot in a lightweight bout at UFC 299 on March 9. The former 155-pound champion is 5-5 at welterweight since making his first appearance in the weight class in 2017.

Neal will attempt to get back on track after dropping back-to-back fights against Ian Garry and Shavkat Rakhmonov. “Handz of Steel” won his first five fights within the Las Vegas-based promotion but has gone 2-4 in UFC competition since 2020.

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Dana White remains insistent that Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic is the fight to make in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division.

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Jones was originally scheduled to defend the undisputed heavyweight title against Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023 before pulling out due to an injury. Tom Aspinall went on to knock out Sergei Pavlovich in a short-notice interim title fight put together to help save the card.

Despite no clear timeline in sight for Jones’ return to the Octagon, “Bones” wasn’t stripped of his title. Meanwhile, Jones remains adamant on facing Stipe Miocic, who hasn’t fought in more than three years, in his return to action. That bout has been rumored for November, but nothing is official at this point in time.

The UFC CEO not only continues to vehemently defend that matchup, but is visibly irked about Jones losing his status as UFC pound-for-pound king due to inactivity. The UFC rankings are decided …

Umar Nurmagomedov was surprised by multiple aspects of his opponent’s game in a unanimous decision win over Cory Sandhagen at UFC on ABC 7.

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Nurmagomedov put on an MMA masterclass en route to an impressive unanimous decision win over Sandhagen in the main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The Dagestani star subsequently admitted being surprised by both the stand up and grappling aspects of Sandhagen’s game. According to Nurmagomedov, while Sandhagen’s grappling defense was better than he expected, “The Sandman” surprisingly didn’t impress him with his striking.

“He was more tough than I expect,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN. “And his defense much better than I [anticipated]. When I take his back, he almost defense, he go out. I was surprised. It was very hard to hold him, take him down. He is very good. But my strike is much better than him. That I accept. I think he will be much better than me, but I’m not bad. I was not bad today.”

…

Tony Ferguson doesn’t want to retire despite suffering his eighth consecutive loss against Michael Chiesa at UFC on ABC 7.

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Ferguson suffered a first-round submission loss against Chiesa at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Ferguson revealed that he was feeling nauseous due to nervousness leading up to the fight.

“Well, I thought it was gonna go a lot further,” he told Full Send MMA. “Time difference is kind of crazy. Right before we walked out I kept on feeling like I was throwing up, kind of feeling just a little bit bad. Lot of nerves going into this s—t. I got 12 [wins] and eight [losses] now, so it’s kind of crazy. Not very happy with my performance. Obviously, could have did a little bit more resting and warming up today. But what the f—k you gonna say man? Good job Mike.”

Ferguson left one of his gloves in the Octagon after his loss to Chiesa, labeling it a “see you later” instead of a retirement. While “El Cucuy” was riding the l…

Steve Garcia (16-5) will look to further raise his stock with a quick turnaround.

Garcia steps up to fight Kyle Nelson (16-5) at UFC Fight Night 242 at the promotion’s Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, replacing Calvin Kattar (23-8), who pulled out due to undisclosed reasons. The change was first reported by MMA media member Robert Tellez and subsequently confirmed by multiple outlets.

This will mark a decently quick turnaround for Garcia, who comes off a first-round knockout win over Seung Woo Choi last month. The win put “Mean Machine” on a four-fight knockout streak, bettering his overall promotional record to 5-2 — with all of his wins coming via finish.

Meanwhile, Nelson comes off a first-round knockout win over featherweight veteran Bill Algeo this past March. Currently riding a three-fight winning streak, the Canadian is 4-4-1 in the UFC so far.

Joel Alvarez simply doesn’t go to the judges when he wins fights, and his latest effort in that regard made him $50,000 richer.

The Spaniard earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his third-round stoppage of Elves Brener in the main card opener at UFC on ABC 7 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Alvarez gradually built momentum before rocking his foe with a left and unleashing a stream of knees to the head in Round 3. “El Fenomeno” polished off his victory with a pair of punches on the ground to bring an end to the lightweight bout at the 3:36 mark of the period.

Elsewhere, Azamat Murzakanov received a $50,000 “Peformance of the Night” award for putting away Alonzo Menifield in their preliminary light heavyweight clash. “The Professional” sent his adversary tumbling to the canvas with a series of heavy shots, and he needed just two follow-up ground strikes before the contest was halted 3:18 into the second stanza.

Finally, Sharabutdin Magomed…

Umar Nurmagomedov put the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division on notice and cemented himself as a legitimate title contender with perhaps his most complete bell-to-bell performance to date.

Efficient standup, tactical takedowns and doggedness in the scrambles carried the undefeated Russian to a unanimous decision over Elevation Fight Team’s Cory Sandhagen in their five-round UFC on ABC 7 headliner on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three judges sided with Nurmagomedov (18-0, 6-0 UFC): 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46.

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Sandhagen (17-5, 10-4 UFC) competed from start to finish but failed to shake the American Kickboxing Academy star’s steely resolve. Nurmagomedov excelled, on the feet and on the ground. He routinely dragged Sandhagen down from behind, putting him in potentially compromising situations and forcing him to burn energy through intricate, drawn-out scrambles. Nurmagomedov also proved superior in a maj…