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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCdfdlodpCw&w=640&h=360] Anthony Joshua will look to defend his World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization heavyweight titles against challenger Kubrat Pulev on Saturday. The boxing title tilt is now official after the weigh-ins took place, and both fighters weighed nearly the same amount.

This is the first fight for Joshua (23-1, 21 KO) since defeating an out-of-shape Andy Ruiz in Saudi Arabia to regain his titles. Prior to his shocking knockout loss to Ruiz, Joshua had never tasted defeat. He’ll look to keep his dreams for a unification bout with Tyson Fury alive with a win. Joshua officially weighed in at 240.75 pounds.

Looking to tag Joshua’s chin is Pulev (28-1, 14 KO), whose only defeat came at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. Since getting knocked out, Pulev has kept active and defeated the likes of Derek Chisora, Hughie Fury and Rydell Booker. Slightly lighter than his…

Bellator MMA's final card of 2020 was headlined by a flyweight title fight between reigning champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and undefeated challenger Juliana Velasquez. In the end, it was the record of Macfarlane (11-1) that received its first blemish.

The main event of Bellator 254 saw both women struggle to land anything of importance over the first two rounds, although a guard pull by Velasquez (11-0) gave Macfarlane control as the second round ended. However, Velasquez started to land heavily in Round 3, which saw Macfarlane go for desperate takedowns she was unable to secure. The fourth frame saw Macfarlane able to put the Brazilian on her back, but it was the challenger that took Macfarlane to the ground and finished the fight strong. After 25 minutes, Velasquez was declared the winner via unanimous decision with scores of 48-47, 49-46, and 48-47.

Bantamweights were slotted as the co-main event as Magomed Magomedov faced off against Matheus Mattos. The fight wa…

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 popular Ultimate Fighting Championship champ leveled up his grappling recently. On Tuesday, an emotional Israel Adesanya (20-0) was awarded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt from highly acclaimed coach Andre Galvao. The former blue belt Adesanya sat down to roll with Galvao, the co-founder of Atos Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego, when Galvao surprised him behind his back with the belt advancement. Adesanya had been with the team for a five-week stint along with other City Kickboxing teammates, and he made a promise to the team that once per week, he will train in jiu-jitsu with a gi.

On his Instagram, Adesanya celebrated his accomplishment, writing:

I smoked with Snoop Dogg, I surfed [with] Kelly Slater, I rolled with Andre Galvao. This has been the highlight of my trip so far, being surprised with a purple belt by [Galvao].…

Dana White outlines the plan for three events at the start of 2021. pic.twitter.com/FtEz2IBbEx

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) December 10, 2020 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 is going ahead full-steam with Yas Island cards to begin the year. Per UFC President Dana White in an interview with TSN on Thursday, the headlining plan for the Wednesday event early in the new year will be a rebooking of Leon Edwards (18-3) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (9-0). White was not able to confirm the bout at the time, but that it was in the works. The UFC Fight Night event on Jan. 20 will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, between UFC Fight Night 184 and UFC 257.

Should it come to fruition, it will be a month and a day removed from its previously scheduled date, as the two were set to headline UFC Fight Ni…

AND NEWJake Hadley dominates his opponent at #CW117 to become the new CW Flyweight Champion. pic.twitter.com/RcjpbzVfYn

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 10, 2020 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship returned with the first of three consecutive events on Dec. 10.

In the main event of CW 117, Jake Hadley (7-0) dominated Luke Shanks (7-2) for all five rounds of their flyweight championship clash. The fight boded well for the fans in the first minute when the fighters brawled. One of Hadley’s shots wobbled Shanks’ legs, and Hadley exploited the opportunity to land a takedown. “White Kong” went nearly finished the fight in the first round with a one-arm rear-naked choke attempt, but the bell saved Shanks before tapping.

Starting the second round, the fight slowed in pace but allowed Hadley to showcase his impressive grappling skills. The former Extreme Fighting Championship titleholder scored repeat takedowns and dominated on the ground…

The U.S. Department of Treasury announced sanctions on Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov's MMA promotion and fight club (Akhmat MMA + ACA).

After five years of reporting on Kadyrov's use of MMA as a soft power strategy to distract from human rights abuses, it has finally happened pic.twitter.com/Tcrb92t4Hk

— Karim Zidan | كريم زيدان (@ZidanSports) December 10, 2020 The United States Department of the Treasury has sanctioned Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov for human right abuses, affecting fighters associating with Kadyrov or competing in his promotion of Absolute Championship Akhmat. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has placed sanctions on a number of international figures for “serious human right abuse across several countries in the Western Hemisphere, Middle East, and Eurasia.” Multiple parties in Haiti, Yemen and other countries have been sanctioned, and this includes Chechen leader Ka…

Additional fight announcement for RIZIN.26

Mikuru Asakura vs. Satoshi"Dominator"Yamasu#RIZIN #RIZIN26 pic.twitter.com/4CIkg7yDMz

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) December 10, 2020 Rizin Fighting Federation is jamming its final event of the year full of MMA fights. Per a press release on Thursday, four new bouts including three under MMA rules and one in kickboxing have been added to Rizin 26. The year-end card will be held in the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, with a limited number of fans allowed in the building. Unlike past years, there will only be a single card for New Year’s Eve, and 12 bouts are currently slated for the card. The event will be buoyed by a bantamweight title fight between Kai Asakura and Kyoji Horiguchi.

The new MMA fights include a 150-pound catchweight contest of Mikuru Asakura (13-2, 1 NC) against Satoshi Yamasu (11-5), a featherweight scrap between Kleber Koike Erbst (25-5-1) and Kyle Aguon (13-9) and…

I can confirm reports that Jared Vanderaa vs. Sergey Spivak is OFF #UFC256. Vanderaa tested positive for COVID-19, per sources.

— Farah Hannoun (@Farah_Hannoun) December 10, 2020 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 hits keep coming for the final Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view card of the year. MMA Junkie first confirmed the scattered reports that Jared Vanderaa (11-4) had tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. The story has since been confirmed by multiple outlets. He was to face Sergey Spivak (11-2) at UFC 256 on Dec. 12, but the heavyweight match will have to wait. It is currently unclear if the promotion will attempt to keep Spivak on the card against a new foe, but with two days’ notice the options may be sparse in the COVID-19 era of the sport.

Vanderaa’s positive test pushes back his promotional debut after…

Scheduled to face Brazilian Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 256, Tony Ferguson used his Instagram account to express concern regarding his opponent’s ability to make the lightweight limit.

“I am counting on the Brazilian [Charles Oliveira] and others to come In overweight like usual. So I’m calling it now,” Ferguson wrote. “Case law: Short notice fight, Charles Oliveira will not cut weight all week and show up 3-4 pounds overweight and use the excuse of a short-notice fight.”

“If he shows up that much overweight, we are not competing. So crew, make sure you visit the kid’s page and encourage him to make the weight if you want to see a fight.

Shortly thereafter, Sherdog.com contacted both Oliveira and his head coach, Diego Lima, to get a reaction to Ferguson’s statement. Both guaranteed that there will be no issues on the scales come Friday.

"I am really happy with that statement from Ferguson. It just shows how worried he is about Charles’ si…

RIZIN's sculpted judoka gets her org on the board, as Kana Watanabe (9-0-1) slowly overwhelms a fast-starting Ilara Joanne with her grappling en route to a third-round TKO! She rides seven straight wins, five of them finishes. #Bellator237 #BellatorJapan pic.twitter.com/dWBM8M2pOq

— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) December 29, 2019

Unbeaten Japanese flyweight Kana Watanabe has signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the new addition to the roster, which was later confirmed by Bellator officials. A date for Watanabe’s promotional debut is currently unknown.

Watanabe was an Olympic qualifier for judo in Japan and sports a 9-0-1 career mark in MMA. She has competed for both Deep and Rizin while finishing six of her opponents by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Most recently, she defeated Ilara Joanne by third-round TKO in a crossover bout at Bellator 237 in December 2019.

Watanabe will join …

Rafael de Freitas is denying the sexual assault charges levied against him by one of his students stemming from an incident on Nov. 7.

The Albuquerque, New Mexico-based jiu-jitsu instructor and MMA veteran has been jailed after being accused of drugging and raping a client on that aforementioned date. Bowles Law Firm, which is representing de Freitas in the case, released a statement on the situation Wednesday.

The full statement, which was first obtained by MMAjunkie.com , is as follows:

We represent Rafael de Freitas Barata, a well-loved and very accomplished ju-jitsu practitioner. To date, the public has received one-sided reports of sexual assault based on the word of the alleged victim and a video, which no news agency or the public has seen. We have now watched the video. Let us be clear: these charges are false.

The video proves Mr. de Freitas’ innocence of a crime. We will present evidence that she invited Mr. de Freitas over that morning in text…

Bellator MMA is adding a heavy hitter to its 205-pound division.

It appears that Anthony Johnson (22-6) will eventually make his long-awaited return to MMA, but not in the promotion everyone was expecting. On Wednesday morning, ESPN reported that the former two-time UFC light heavyweight championship contender has signed with Bellator. "Rumble" will most likely compete at 205 pounds, but other reports indicate that he might test himself in the heavyweight division, as well. Johnson is expected to compete in the first half of 2021.

The 36-year old fighter hadn’t stepped inside the cage since April 2017, when he lost to Daniel Cormier in a title clash at UFC 210. Shortly after tapping to a second-round rear-naked choke, "Rumble" announced his retirement from the sport. The first title encounter between Johnson and "DC" also ended in a submission loss for “Rumble” when they locked horns for the interim championship at UFC 187. Johnson finished his UFC tenure wi…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCYBwKQUzWM&w=560&h=315]

The flyweight championship headliner between Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Juliana Velasquez is now official, as both fighters made weight ahead of their Bellator 254 showdown.

Macfarlane tipped the scales at 124.8 pounds, while Velasquez checked in at 124.4. Bellator 254 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Thursday. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network and Dazn at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream on Bellator’s YouTube channel and Dazn at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.

Elsewhere, Goiti Yamauchi weighed in at 162.8 pounds for proposed lightweight clash with Nate Andrews (155.8). Since Yamauchi missed weight by such a substantial amount, Andrews elected not to accept the fight. As a result, a heavyweight bout pitting Davion Franklin (264) agianst Anthony Garrett (241) has been moved to the main card.

Macfarlane has defended her title four times since becoming the…

BAD BLOOD Things just got heated between @MrApocalypseMMA and @JakeHadleyMMA at the CW117 weigh-ins

New episode of Cage Warriors Unlocked drops tonight. pic.twitter.com/PpxaKvmOM0

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 9, 2020 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship is back with the first of three consecutive events. 

On Wednesday, the Cage Warriors 117 weigh-ins took place, and everything went smooth as all fighters on the card were cleared to fight. Luke Shanks (7-1), who will put his flyweight title on the line in the main event, had no issues making the championship weight. Shanks weigted at 124.4 pounds. “The Apocalypse” won the divisional title after one of the most one-sided fights in Cage Warriors history when he upended Samir Faiddine at CW 114. 

The challenger, Jake Hadley (6-0), had zero problems when he hit the scales at 125 pounds. “The White Kong” earned his title shot after smashing up Shaj Haque at CW 114 bac…

Marina Rodriguez has agreed to replace Michelle Waterson and meet Amanda Ribas at UFC 257 on Jan. 23.

Multiple outlets confirmed the new strawweight booking following an initial report from Ag Fight. A reason for Waterson’s withdrawal is currently unknown. UFC 257 is expected to take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

Rodriguez is 2-2-1 to begin her UFC tenure, with victories over Tecia Torres and Jessica Aguilar. Most recently, the 33-year-old Thai Brasil product dropped a split decision to Carla Esparza at UFC on ESPN 14 that many observers thought she deserved to win.

The 27-year-old Ribas has emerged as a budding star at 115 pounds with victories in her first four Octagon appearances. Ribas went 2-0 in 2020, taking a decision over Randa Markos at UFC Fight Night 170 and submitting Paige VanZant in the opening stanza at UFC 251.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSgHsZNqcLs&w=560&h=315]

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane believes she will be facing the most difficult test of her flyweight reign when she faces Juliana Velasquez in the Bellator 254 headliner on Thursday night.

Since becoming the promotion’s inaugural 125-pound queen with a submission of Emily Ducote in November 2017, “The Ilimanator” has vanquished Alejandra Lara, Valerie Letourneau, Veta Arteaga and Kate Jackson in successive championship defenses.

“Yes, I consider it the biggest challenge so far,” Macfarlane said of Velasquez during a virtual media day. “I would say that Valerie Letourneau at that stage of my career was my biggest challenge because of her pedigree, her experience in the sport, but I would say that stylistically, Juliana is my biggest challenge to date.

“Not only is she a southpaw, but she’s bigger. She seems very physically strong. She goes for the finish. I think her mentality too — she’s ready to be champion…

In his early UFC career, wrestling was a key foundation for Jon Jones’ success.

If the action ever got to be too much on the feet — though it rarely did — Jones, a junior college national champion at Iowa Central Community College, could always resort to taking his opponent down and battering them with elbows. In more recent years, Jones’ wrestling hasn’t been as much of a factor as he’s relied more frequently on his length and kickboxing to carry him to victory.

That could change as the Jackson-Wink MMA standout prepares to move to heavyweight in 2021. Jones, for one, expects to be much more powerful with his takedowns with added weight and strength in his lower half.

"When I was 205, I always had a hard time getting down low," Jones told ESPN. "Or hated getting low, with [single-leg takedowns] and stuff like that. Almost as if my knees were killing me to do it.

"Now that I've been working on my legs so much and they've gotten thicker ... I think that's …

Tony Ferguson has issued an ultimatum to Charles Oliveira ahead of their co-main event clash at UFC 256.

“I am counting on the Brazilian [Charles Oliveira] and others to come In overweight like usual. So I’m calling it now,” Ferguson wrote on Instagram. “Case law: Short notice fight, Charles Oliveira will not cut weight all week and show up 3-4 pounds overweight and use the excuse of a short-notice fight.”

“If he shows up that much overweight, we are not competing. So crew, make sure you visit the kid’s page and encourage him to make the weight if you want to see a fight.”

Oliveira missed weight on four occasions while competing in the featherweight division but he has been on point for all nine of his lightweight bouts in the UFC. However, Ferguson vs. Oliveira was added to the UFC 256 lineup on short notice after the event lost a pair of title bouts.

Ferguson famously cut and made weight for a bout in April against Justin Gaethje even though the entire …

Three-time Legacy Fighting Alliance competitor Sam Hughes will step in on less than one week’s notice to face Tecia Torres at UFC 256.

Hughes is a replacement for Angela Hill, who withdrew from the event after a positive COVID-19 test. Multiple outlets confirmed the new matchup following an initial report from Best Fight Picks. UFC 256 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a flyweight championship tilt between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno.

Hughes has won two of her three bouts under the LFA banner and is coming off a guillotine choke submisison against Danielle Hindley at LFA 93 on Oct. 16. The Everett, Washington, native is 5-1 as a pro, with all but one of her victories coming inside the distance.

Torres, meanwhile, snapped a four-fight skid in her last outing, as she took a unanimous verdict over Brianna Van Buren at UFC on ESPN 11.

Credit: Joao Baptista/Sherdog.com

Ramazan Emeev and David Zawada will lock horns in a welterweight matchup at the UFC’s Jan. 20 card.

The promotion announced the pairing on Tuesday. The UFC event is expected to take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a welterweight showdown between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar.

Emeev has been victorious in four of his five Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 33-year-old American Top Team representative outpointed Niklas Stolze at UFC on ESPN 14 on July 25. The former M-1 Challenge champion has only lost to Anthony Rocco Martin in UFC competition thus far.

Zawada will return for the first time since November 2019, when he snapped a two-bout losing streak with a first-round submission of Abubakar Nurmagomedov at UFC Fight Night 163. The KSW veteran fell to Danny Roberts and Jingliang Li in his first two Octagon appearances.

Jack Hermansson could be sidelined for a while following his five-round battle with Marvin Vettori in the UFC on ESPN 19 main event.

“The Joker” is suspended for six months unless he has a left orbital fracture cleared by an ophthalmologist. At a minimum he is suspended until Feb. 4 with no contact until Jan. 20. Vettori, meanwhile, needs to have a left eyelid cut cleared by a doctor or he is out until Jan. 20. At a minimum, “The Italian Dream” is suspended until Jan. 5 with no contact until Dec. 27.

mixedmartialarts.com released a full list of medical suspensions from the event late Monday night. UFC on ESPN 19 took place this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Four other fighters from the card are facing potential six-month terms: Jamahal Hill (left hand), John Allan (right knee, right ankle), Damon Jackson (nasal bone fracture) and Jake Colllier (left orbital fracture).

UFC on ESPN 19 Medical Suspensions:

Marvin Vettori: must have left …

Eddie Wineland and John Castaneda have agreed to square off at the UFC’s Feb. 20 event.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the pairing. A location and headliner for the event have yet to be announced. A heavyweight clash pitting Alexey Oleynik against Chris Daukaus and a bantamweight tilt between Yana Kunitskaya and Ketlen Vieira are also slated for the card.

Wineland is 1-3 in his last four promotional appearances following a first-round knockout loss to Sean O’Malley in his most recent outing at UFC 250. The WEC veteran’s lone victory during that stretch came when he knocked out Grigory Popov at UFC 238.

An 11-time Combate Americas veteran, Castaneda has also last three of his last four pro fights. That includes his Octagon debut, when he dropped a unanimous decision against Nathaniel Wood at UFC on ESPN 14 on July 25.

Kayla Harrison will squeeze in one more fight in 2020 when she faces Jozette Cotton at Titan FC 66 on Dec. 17.

ESPN was first to report the bout. Harrison, Professional Fighter’s League defending 155-pound champion, received permission to fight outside the organization until its season resumes in 2021. Harrison defeated Cotton via second-round TKO under the PFL banner in her second MMA bout in August 2018.

Titan FC 66 takes place at Intercontinental Hotel in Miami and will stream on UFC Fight Pass.

"It wasn't easy to find an opponent," Harrison’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz told ESPN. "Thank you to Jozette for accepting the fight. Her management reached out to me, I reached out to Lex and we got it done. I want to thank everyone for making this happen, including the PFL for giving Kayla the opportunity.”

Harrison made her featherweight debut at Invicta FC 43 on Nov. 20, when she scored a second-round TKO of Courtney King. The two-time judo Olympic gold medalis…

After an impressive submission win over Felice Herrig last August, former Invicta champion Virna Jandiroba is back in Octagon for her fourth promotional appearance on Saturday at UFC 256 against Mackenzie Dern.

With 13 submission triumphs among her 16 professional victories, Jandiroba promises that she will not be afraid to go to the ground against the multiple-time world jiu-itsu champion.

“It’s an MMA fight, not a gi jiu-jitsu match. I´m prepared for all areas,” Jandiroba said. “If the fight goes to the ground, it will be pretty entertaining for the fans. Mackenzie´s game is pretty [unorthodox], [while] my jiu-jitsu is more like a classical old school style. But I'm bringing some surprises for that fight too.”

Jandiroba trained extensively with Nova Uniao black belt Michele Oliveira to help prepare her for the showdown with Dern.

“She has a pretty similar game to Mackenzie and spent almost two month here with me in Bahia, which was really important in my…