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Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 256 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 256 “Figueiredo vs. Moreno” coverage begins Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy score…

Lightweight has a new threat in @RafaelFiziev #UFC256 pic.twitter.com/nET3H8zMu8

— UFC (@ufc) December 13, 2020 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 256 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Rafael Fiziev throws the kind of heat that triggers nightmares. The Phuket Top Team standout continued his climb on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight ladder, as he cut down Renato Carneiro with a blistering three-punch combination in the first round of their UFC 256 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Fiziev (9-1, 3-1 UFC) drew the curtain 4:05 into Round 1.

Carneiro (14-4-1, 6-4 UFC) held his own initially, honing in on the Kyrgyzstani police officer with penetrating jabs and overhand rights. However, when his first pass at a takedown failed, the American Top Team rep found himself trapped on the feet with one of the most frightening strikers in the 155-pound…

BODY SHOT! CHARRIERE IS THE CHAMP!

That was a special, special shot 'The Last Pirate' will bring the belt home to France #CW119 pic.twitter.com/ScRMsT9StF

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 12, 2020 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship crowned a new featherweight title holder in its third and final event of the “Trilogy Strikes Back” series on Saturday at York Hall in London.

In the main event of Cage Warriors 119, Morgan Charriere (16-7-1) locked horns with Perry Goodwin (10-8) for the vacant featherweight belt. “The Last Pirate” started testing Goodwin’s chin with heavy combinations as soon as the fight began, but it was Charriere’s kicks that impacted his opponent the most. A few minutes into the contest, Goodwin was already bearing the marks of his opponent’s shots.

In the second stanza, Charriere involuntarily hit Goodwin with a low blow. After recovering from it, “The Predator” took some severe punishment to his lead leg …

A lightweight matchup pitting Drakkar Klose against Jai Herbert has been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Feb. 20 lineup.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. The Fight Night card does not have an official location or headliner yet, but it does include a pivotal women’s bantamweight showdown between Yana Kunitskaya and Ketlen Vieira.

Klose had a three-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, as he suffered a second-round knockout loss to Beneil Dariush at UFC 248. The 32-year-old Fight Ready product is 5-2 in the Octagon and 11-2-1 as a professional overall, with notable wins against the likes of Bobby Green, Lando Vannata and Marc Diakiese.

A former Cage Warriors lightweight champion, Herbert was stopped in the third round by Francisco Trinaldo in his promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 14. Prior to that, “The Black Country Banger” had won six consecutive fights while competing in Cage Warrior and BAMMA.

Silenced the doubters

@Daico_Deiveson is the first to make weight for #UFC256! pic.twitter.com/FMFJmiJ48K

— UFC (@ufc) December 11, 2020 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 256 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The Ultimate Fighting Championship will put on its final pay-per-view event of 2020 this Saturday. Headlining UFC 256 is a flyweight title defense as champion Deiveson Figueiredo takes on Brandon Moreno in what is a three-week turnaround for both fighters. The 10-fight card is now official after the weigh-ins took place and all fighters made weight including backup fighter Manel Kape (124.5).

A frontrunner for fighter of the year, Figueiredo (20-1) will look to improve to 4-0 inside the Octagon this year. “Daico” claimed the vacant flyweight belt after choking out Joseph Benavidez earlier this year and followed that up with another submission over Alex Per…

Bout class includes fighters who fought in UFC from 12/2010-6/2017. Bout class is around 1200 fighters. Identity included any fighter whose likeness was used over same time in promos merch, etc. Basically means fewer fighters qualify for damages and UFC won't have to defend that. https://t.co/YZyUKK0rsn

— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) December 10, 2020 A federal antitrust lawsuit filed in 2014 by former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters cleared a make-or-break hurdle on Thursday.

Judge Richard J. Boulware, a U.S. District Court Judge in Nevada, confirmed what he teased in September by granting class certification in Cung Le, et al. v. Zuffa LLC.

The lawsuit alleges that UFC violated antitrust laws by monopolizing the MMA industry using anticompetitive practices in the form of long-term, exclusive contracts that prevented fighters from negotiating deals on the open market, and further controlling the MMA industry by acquiring and then shuttin…

One shot KO powerThe champ Nathias Frederick with the shot of the night, successfully defending his Middleweight Title in the process.

What a way to end #CW118 pic.twitter.com/S9dJna9Xfx

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 11, 2020 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship sailed through the second of the three back-to-back events, which went down on Dec. 11. In the main event of CW 118, Nathias Frederick (9-2-1) defended his 185-pound championship by rendering Jamie Richardson (9-6) unconscious. “Notorious” put Richardson on high alert after the beginning of the match, dropping “Young Gun” with one of his haymakers. After Richardson recovered, Frederick attempted to land with his punches more and more, but he looked unstable on his feet as if he was sliding on the canvas. Strangely, Richardson didn’t have the same issue, and right before the end of the round, he took “Notorious” down from where he limited himself to control without doing …

CW119 weigh-ins just wrapped!

Tomorrow night's full card, including both title fights, has been made official

Staredown footage coming soon

Results https://t.co/gqL1LzdvDF pic.twitter.com/Ssaf2GNLai

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 11, 2020 On Friday morning, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship held the weigh-ins for its upcoming third and final part of “The Trilogy Strikes Back” series.

In the main event of CW 119, Morgan Charriere (15-7-1) will get a second chance to win the vacant featherweight belt. The French fighter should have headlined CW 113, but the COVID-19 outbreak forced the promotion to change its plans. In September, “The Last Pirate” tested positive for COVID-19 before his title clash at CW 116. Today, Charriere looked good as he hit the scales at 143.9 pounds.

England’s own Perry Goodwin (10-7) will lock horns with Charriere. “The Predator” earned his title shot following back-to-back victories over S…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVHzHoN72Mw&w=560&h=315]

One Championship aired the pre-recorded second part of the One: Big Bang series on Dec. 11.

The One: Big Bang 2 main event featured a much-anticipated muay Thai contest in One’s flyweight division between Jonathan Haggerty and Taiki Naito. It didn’t take long for Haggerty to impose his surgical striking on his hapless opponent. “The General” dropped Naito to the canvas in the first and second frame, but the Japanese fighter survived to hear the final bell. All three judges rewarded Haggerty with a well-deserved unanimous decision victory.

Nieky Holzken is BACK with a first-round KO of Elliot Compton! @niekyholzken #ONEBigBang2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship

How to watch ONE: BIG BANG II https://t.co/vcuJcv6IbAONE: BIG BANG II streamed on YouTube https://t.co/UFrNHXNJFH pic.twitter.com/dPckEO08Ko

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 11, 2020 In the co-main event…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W82px22z39w&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 256 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Josuel Distak, head coach of Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Ronaldo Souza, is optimistic about the return of his fighter against Kevin Holland at UFC 256. On Thursday, Portal de Vale Tudo spoke with Distak about his fighter and the preparation for the event. “Jacare” was originally booked to face Marvin Vettori, but when Holland tested positive for COVID-19, the promotion switched the fighters to make Vettori fight Jack Hermansson and matched Holland against Souza.

“Even with the fighters changed two weeks before the event, our game plan did not change too much after they changed Vettori for Holland,” Distak admitted. “Kevin is a really tough kid, but he is facing the best Jacare, and the smaller octagon will work like a gi for him.”

The Brazil…

[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…