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The Women's P4P #1 Boxer - @Claressashields is now a PFL athlete! pic.twitter.com/NMqA3MQdCF

— PFL MMA (@ProFightLeague) December 1, 2020

Claressa Shields has designs on being a two-combat sport superstar.

Shields, who has already won multiple world championships and two gold medals as a boxer, recently signed a contract to make her professional MMA debut with Professional Fighters League in 2021. Shields won’t be part of the PFL season next year — she will compete in one-off fights — but is targeting 2022 for her shot at a 155-pound championship run in the promotion’s season format.

As Shields begins her MMA journey, she will continue her career in the Sweet Science, PFL CEO Peter Murray and her management revealed in a release on Tuesday.

“I want to thank Professional Fighters League and Peter Murray for believing in me and giving me this amazing opportunity. What drew me to the PFL is that it is definitely a fighter-first organiza…

A pivotal flyweight showdown between Joseph Benavidez and Askar Askarov is in the works for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on March 6.

MMA journalist Igor Lazorin first brought word of the matchup. The event has not been formally announced by the promotion, but multiple outlets are reporting that it will be UFC 259. The card is also expected to include a light heavweight tilt pitting Thiago Santos against Aleksandar Rakic.

A four-time flyweight title challenger, Benavidez is coming off the first two-bout skid of his professional career after being finished in back-to-back championship fights by Deiveson Figueiredo in 2020. The 36-year-old WEC veteran is nonetheless one of the sport’s top talents at 125 pounds, with a 28-7 career mark and wins over the likes of Henry Cejudo, Jussier Formiga, Dustin Ortiz, Alex Perez, John Moraga and Ian McCall, to name a few.

Askarov, meanwhile, is unbeaten in 13 professional outings, with his lone blemish coming via spl…

The highly-anticipated welterweight scrap between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev won’t be happening on Dec. 19 as originally expected.

According to ESPN, the UFC Fight Night 183 headliner has been canceled after Edwards tested positive for COVID-19. The promotion is hoping to rebook the contest in 2021, but a new date has not been finalized at this point in time.

UFC Fight Night 183 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The promotion is considering elevating Geoff Neal vs. Stephen Thompson to the main event slot, per ESPN. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+.

Edwards’ encounter with the virus was a difficult one, as the British fighter reportedly lost 12 pounds in four days and is recovering at home. The 29-year-old Team Renegade product has not competed since July 2019 when he outpointed Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC on ESPN 4 headliner. “Rocky” was slated to meet Tyron Woodley on March 21 in London before that event was canceled due to the pandemic…

A welterweight clash pitting Warlley Alves against Christian Aguilera has been added to the lineup for the UFC’s first event of 2020.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night takes place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 16 and is headlined by a featherweight duel between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar.

Alves, who won Season 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil,” has lost two of his last three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 29-year-old X-Gym member fell to Randy Brown via second-round submission at UFC Fight Night 164 in November 2019.

Aguilera had a memorable promotional debut at UFC on ESPN 10, where he knocked out Anthony Ivy in just 59 seconds on June 13. Most recenty, “The Beast” saw a three-bout winning streak come to an end in a submission loss to Sean Brady at UFC Fight Night 175 on Aug. 29.

Kayla Harrison is issuing an open challenge for an opponent at Titan Fighting Championship’s Dec. 18 event.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo recently took to Twitter in search of a matchup for a 150-pound catchweight bout. According to a report from ESPN, Harrison’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, is willing to pay her opponent to make the fight a reality.

If anyone wants to fight me on December 18th @TitanFighting at a catch weight of 150lbs please please contact @AliAbdelaziz00 !

— Kayla Harrison (@KaylaH) November 30, 2020

Harrison, who is under contract with Professional Fighters League, has received permission to fight for the Florida-based promotion. Harrison made her featherweight debut at Invicta FC 43, where she defeat Courtney King via second-round TKO on Nov. 20.

The American Top Team product made her MMA debut with PFL in 2018 and competed in the organization’s season format in 2019, when she captured the championship a…

Co-main event competitor Takashi Sato is one of seven fighters from UFC on ESPN 18 who is facing a potential 180-day layoff following Saturday’s event.

Sato, who suffered a second-round submission loss to Miguel Baeza in a welterweight clash, must have a left orbital fracture cleared by a doctor or he will be sidelined until May 28. At a minimum, Sato is suspended until Jan. 13 with no contact until Dec. 29. Baeza did not receive a medical suspension.

Mixedmartialarts.com released a full list of medical suspensions from the card on Tuesday.

UFC on ESPN 18 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday and saw Anthony Smith score a first-round submission victory against Devin Clark in the evening’s light heavyweight headliner. Both Smith and Clark emerged with a clean bill of health following their bout.

Six other fighters from UFC on ESPN 18 are also looking at 180-day sits: Parker Porter (left hand), Bill Algeo (left hand), Norma Dumont (right hand…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rAhS0A2GVs&w=560&h=315]

UFC Fight Pass will present an even larger offering of combat sports in 2021 with the addition of six new promotions to its streaming lineup.

The promotion’s digital platform announced Tuesday that Battlefield Fight League, Unified MMA, The Golden Cage, Tuff-N-Uff, Fight Club Rush, and Lion Fight will stream exclusively on UFC Fight Pass next year. Additionally, UFC Pass extended distribution deals with 14 existing live partners, which brings its total to more than 30 overall.

According to a release, UFC Fight Pass expects to stream more than 200 events in 2021 from a vareity of combat disciplines, including mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and more. That number could increase as additional events or partners are added. Fight events will be streamed from six continents and countries such as the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Japan, to name a few.

Read more about UFC Fight Pass Announces Addition of Six New Promotions to 2021 Lineup

Professional Fighters League has made a significant addition to its roster.

The promotion has signed boxing champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields to compete in the lightweight division. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news.

Shields will not participate in the PFL 2021 season format; instead she will take one-off fights at various events throughout the year. The arrangement is similar to how Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison began her PFL tenure in 2018 before winning the organization’s 155-pound championship in 2019.

In the past, Shields has publicly mused about a transition to MMA, and she has a enjoyed a training relationship with current Bellator featherweight queen Cristiane Justino.

Shields later attended UFC 245 in December 2019 to watch Amanda Nunes defend her bantamweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Germained de Randamie. UFC president Dana White confirmed that he had engaged in discussions…

With losses in three of his last four fights, Ronaldo Souza will attempt to right the ship when he faces Kevin Holland at UFC 256 on Dec. 12.

Competing as a non-ranked middleweight for the first time — according to UFC.com rankings — Souza was supposed to return to 185 pounds against Uriah Hall at UFC 249 in May, but “Jacare” tested positive for COVID-19 and the bout was canceled.

Then, the 40-year-old Brazilian was scheduled to face Marvin Vettori at UFC 256, while Holland was slated to meet Jack Hermansson at UFC on ESPN 19 on Saturday. But once Holland tested positive for COVID-19, the UFC rebooked Holland against “Jacare” on Dec. 12 and brought in Vettori to face Hermansson.

“Actually I offered myself to take revenge against Hermansson, but unfortunately he didn’t accept,” said Souza, who lost a five-round verdict against “The Joker” at UFC Fight Night 150 on April 27.

As a result of the new opponent, the multiple-time world jiu-jitsu champion had to a…

“Pode haver alguém que goste de luta tanto quanto eu, mais é impossível”. ROBERTO LEITÃO (última entrevista concedida pelo mestre) https://t.co/QtV5fXvynH pic.twitter.com/VhWltP7WBE

— marcelo alonso (@alonsopvt) November 29, 2020

COVID-19 has taken a victim from the combat sports world.

After 45 days of struggle in the hospital, master Roberto Leitao died due to the virus on Saturday at 83 years old in Rio de Janeiro. Master Leitao was the man who famously introduced ground skills to Marco Ruas, Pedro Rizzo, Gustavo Ximu, and Renato Sobral. 

Considered a master of the leglock and heel hook, master Leitao was passionate about training. In addition to being a 10th degree Luta Livre black belt, Leitao was also a judo black belt.

"There must be someone who likes fighting as much as I do, [but] more is totally impossible. Fighting is my addiction,” Leitao once said. 

Leitão was also a professor of mechanical engi…

After back-to-back lopsided losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic to begin his 2020 campaign, Anthony Smith had lost much of the luster that surrounded the beginning of what has largely been a successful run at light heavyweight.

At UFC on ESPN 18, Smith secured a much-needed victory, as he submitted Devin Clark with a triangle choke 2:34 into Round 1 of their headlining bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. A third straight loss would have made Smith all but irrelevant in the UFC’s 205-pound division. Instead, “Lionheart” sent a message to UFC brass — and the right people were paying attention.

“He looked awesome,” UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “[He] came in to make a statement and message received.”

Smith and Clark were initially expected to square off in the evening’s co-main event before a positive COVID-19 test for Curtis Blaydes nixed his headlining heavyweight bout against Derrick Lewis o…

HEADKICK KO!!! @randycosta135 with a HUGE first round finish! #UFCVegas11 pic.twitter.com/tOVssMPhRp

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) September 19, 2020

Randy Costa will meet Trevin Jones at the UFC’s March 6 card.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bantamweight bout. A location and venue has not been announced for the event, which is also expected to include a light heavyweight showdown pitting Thiago Santos against Aleksandar Rakic.

After suffering a submission loss to Brandon Davis in his Octagon debut at UFC 236, Costa has authored back-to-back first-round stoppages of Boson Salmon and Journey Newson in his last two promotional outings. The 26-year-old Lauzon MMA representative is 6-1 as a professional, with all of his triumphs coming via KO or TKO.

Jones, meanwhile, had a memorable Octagon debut when he rallied to stop Timur Valiev in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 15 encounter on Aug. 22. However, the victory was overturned t…

A lightweight rematch pitting Beneil Dariush against Diego Ferreira is slated for the UFC’s Fight Night card on Super Bowl weekend.

ESPN was first to report the booking. The card is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov and is expected to go down on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 6.

Dariush and Ferreira initially locked horns at UFC 179, with Dariush winning a unanimous verdict in October 2014. The 31-year-old Kings MMA product has been on a tear of late, winning his last five appearances within the Las Vegas-based promotion — including four inside the distance. In his most recent outing, Dariush knocked out Scott Holtzman with a spinning backfist at UFC Fight Night 174 on Aug. 8.

Ferreira, meanwhile, has been victorious in his last six UFC bouts. Most recently, the 35-year-old Fortis MMA product tapped out Anthony Pettis with a rear-naked choke at UFC 246 on Jan. 18.

Clay Guida and Michael Johnson will square off at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 6.

Guida recently announced the lightweight pairing on his Instagram account. The UFC Fight Night card is expected to take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Super Bowl weekend and is headlined by a heavyweight clash pitting Alistair Overeem against Alexander Volkov.

The 38-year-old Guida has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Carpenter” was outpointed by Bobby Green at UFC on ESPN 11 on June 20. The former Strikeforce champion is 15-14 over the course of a promotional tenure that began in 2006 and owns wins over the likes of B.J. Penn, Joe Lauzon, Anthony Pettis, Takanori Gomi, Rafael dos Anjos and Nate Diaz, among others.

Johnson, meanwhile, enters the matchup on a three-bout skid, the second such losing streak of his UFC career. In his most recent outing, Johnson suffered a second-round submission defeat to Thiago Moises at UFC …

It's all over!! @Thunder92Baeza ends our #UFCVegas15 co-main via submission in round 2

Live on TSN 3/5 & RDS 2 pic.twitter.com/LU0JJYfTCW

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) November 29, 2020 With three finishes in his first three promotional appearances, Miguel Baeza looks like an emerging star in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division.

“Caramel Thunder” was impressive in his latest outing at UFC on ESPN 18, where he submitted Takashi Sato with an arm-triangle choke 4:28 into the second round of the evening’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Before the finish, Baeza had success landing with a varied arsenal on the feet, but he says patience was the key in his latest victory.

“I did [think I was going to get the finish in Round 1], but I didn’t want to rush it,” Baeza said at the UFC on ESPN 18 post-fight press conference. “It’s something my coaches were telling me, ‘Be patient, don’t force it.…

Anthony Smith needed to get his mind right heading into his UFC on ESPN 18 showdown with Devin Clark.

The former light heavyweight title challenger entered the matchup on a two-bout skid after back-to-back lopsided losses at the hands of Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic earlier this year. Where “Lionheart” once looked like a Top 5 talent at 205 pounds thanks to victories over the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Volkan Oezdemir and Mauricio Rua, his recent performances had knocked him down several notches in the divisional pecking order.

That said, Smith didn’t put any added pressure on himself Saturday night, even after his showdown with Clark was elevated to headlining status when the originally scheduled heavyweight main event between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis was scrapped.

“I just wasn’t too concerned with anything,” Smith said. “In the past I’ve forced myself to feel how I think I’m supposed to feel. I just let myself feel it and make friends with…

Shortly after Bill Algeo earned his first Octagon triumph with a unanimous verdict over Spike Carlyle at UFC on ESPN 18, he issued a callout to Giga Chikadze.

Algeo has had Chikadze on the brain ever since an encounter with the former Glory Kickboxing Standout at Kings MMA. Chikadze has built some momentum in the Las Vegas-based promotion with five consecutive wins to kick off his tenure — including four in 2020 alone. However, according to Algeo, the Georgian fighter wasn’t so successful in what was supposed to be a light sparring session.

“Myself and coach, we were on vacation in California and we went to Kings MMA, which is Rafael Cordeiro’s school. Rafael Cordeiro could not have been more welcoming, He’s such a nice guy,” Algeo said.

“He had one d--- head student—Giga, who tried to take my head off with little gloves. I was like, ‘I’m on vacation, man.’ We were going light and he wasn’t winning. He was losing. He’s got some hot blood. He was just trying to …

Mike and Roy left it all in the ring tonight #TysonJones pic.twitter.com/zUirisWPqN

— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) November 29, 2020

Dana White isn’t necessarily a fan of combat sports events with fighters who are past their primes.

However, the UFC president was keeping a close eye on the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. boxing exhibition while simultaneously working the UFC on ESPN 18 card in Las Vegas on Saturday night. White was admittedly skeptical that the aging boxing stars could put on a show, but he came away impressed following the conclusion of the bout, which was unofficially declared a draw after eight rounds by the WBC judges.

“You guys have been asking me questions leading up to this thing and I didn’t want to say anything negative because I love Tyson and he’s a good friend of mine. I was nervous,” White said at the UFC on ESPN 18 post-fight press conference. “He’s [54] years old. Time is undefeated. Time takes us all down. O…

Four $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses were handed out following UFC on ESPN 18 on Saturday night.

Anthony Smith earned a bonus for a first-round submission of Devin Clark in the evening’s main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Smith landed an early takedown only to see his opponent reverse into top position. “Lionheart” was no less dangerous from his back, however, as he used a triangle choke to elicit a tap from Clark 2:34 into the opening stanza.

Meanwhile, Miguel Baeza received an extra check for his third finish in as many Octagon appearances after dispatching Takashi Sato in the welterweight co-main event. After spending most of the fight outlanding his foe on the feet, Baeza scored a takedown and eventually framed an arm-triangle, forcing Sato to submit 4:28 into Round 2.

Su Mudaerji padded his bank account with a 44-second knockout of Malcolm Gordon in a preliminary flyweight affair. A straight left from Mudaerji stopped Gordon in his tracks,…

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. Anthony Smith agreed to five rounds on short notice. He needed less than one. “Lionheart” returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in more than a year and retained his place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight pecking order, as he submitted Devin Clark with a triangle choke in the first round of their makeshift UFC on ESPN 18 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Clark (12-5, 6-5 UFC) tapped 2:34 into Round 1.

A replacement for Shamil Gamzatov, Smith (34-16, 9-6 UFC) wrapped the former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion in a body lock, secured a takedown and then drew him to the center of the cage and away from the relative safety of the fence. Clark sprang a reversal after being threatened with a twister but uncovered an opponent who was no less dangerous from his back. Smith c…

First win for 's @BerinjaMMA! pic.twitter.com/wypN23oFml

— UFC (@ufc) November 29, 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. Anderson dos Santos has a strangulation fixation. The Babuino Gold Team bantamweight on Saturday strengthened his position on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, as he submitted Martin Day with a guillotine choke in the first round of their featured UFC on ESPN 18 prelim at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Day (8-5, 0-3 UFC) raised the white flag 4:35 into Round 1 and remains winless through three appearances inside the Octagon.

Dos Santos (21-8, 1-2 UFC) swooped in on a takedown midway through the first round despite considerable resistance from the former Universal Reality Combat Championship titleholder. Day absorbed some ground-and-pound, created some space out of butterfly guard and sprang to his feet. How…

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Marvin Vettori will get his first headlining opportunity when he locks horns with Jack Hermansson at UFC on ESPN 19.

Vettori replaces Kevin Holland, who withdrew from the bout after testing positive for COVID-19. ESPN was first to bring word of the new matchup, and it was later confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. UFC on ESPN 19 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 5. Vettori was originally slated to meet Ronaldo Souza at UFC 256. It’s unclear what the promotion’s plans are for “Jacare.”

Vettori is currently on a three-bout winning streak since losing a split decision to current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC on Fox 29. The 27-year-old Italian last appeared at UFC on ESPN 10, where he submitted Karl Roberson in the opening stanza on June 13.

Hermansson has won five of his last six UFC bouts to establish himself as a …

The UFC is adding the younger brother of reigning flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo to its roster.

Francisco Nazareno Figueiredo Junior has signed a contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion, according to a report from MMAFighting.com. Deiveson later confirmed the news on his social media.

Figueiredo’s manager, Wallid Ismael, told MMAFighting that the bantamweight is targeting early next year for his Octagon debut at one of the UFC’s “Fight Island” events.

Francisco Figueiredo is a former interim champion with the Brazi-based Jungle Fights promotion. The 31-year-old has compiled an 11-3-1 mark with one no contest over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2009. He has finished all but one of his victories inside the distance.

Kevin Holland will get his chance to go 5-0 in 2020 after all.

After being removed from next weekend’s UFC on ESPN 19 main event due to a positive COVID-19 test, Holland will square off against Ronaldo Souza at UFC 256. The pairing was announced during the UFC on ESPN 18 broadcast Saturday night.

UFC 256 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 12 and is headlined by a flyweight championship tilt pitting Deiveson Figueiredo against Brandon Moreno. “Jacare” was originally supposed to face Marvin Vettori, but Vettori was tabbed to step in for Holland against Jack Hermansson at UFC on ESPN 19.

So far this year, Holland has earned victories against Anthony Hernandez, Joaquin Buckley, Darren Stewart and Charlie Ontiveros — with three of those wins coming inside the distance. “Trailblazer” is 7-2 during his promotional tenure and 20-5 as a professional overall.

Souza, meanwhile, will return to 185 pounds after losing a split decision to Jan Blachowicz in…