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The hands of @pezao011 sent Sosoli to the canvas facefirst #UFCAuckland pic.twitter.com/HJmHvVOpub

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 23, 2020

UFC heavyweight Ben Sosoli could be in Australian jail for up to 22 months after punching a man outside a Melbourne bar in September 2019.

According to the Australian Associated Press, Sosoli was working at Jacksons Lounge Bar as a bouncer when he punched a man in the jaw after the patron twice snuck in to the establishment upon being refused entry for being too intoxicated. The man suffered a broken jaw as a result and was forced to undergo surgery.

Sosoli told police that the man had been “threatening to f—k him up” prior to the incident. However, Judge Gavan Meredith on Monday did not excuse the fighter for his actions.

"You are expected not to respond to provocation in the way you did,” Meredith said.

Sosoli pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury and must serve 11 months o…

A welterweight title bout between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns will not take place at UFC 256 as originally anticipated.

According to ESPN, the fight has been postponed because Usman needs more time to recover from undisclosed injuries, and it is unclear when the bout might be rescheduled. According to the report, the promotion has looked into booking Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou or Jorge Masvidal vs. Colby Covington for the card, but neither fight is close to being finalized.

Usman and Burns were originally supposed to meet at UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi on July 11, but Burns was forced to pull out of the contest after testing positive for COVID-19. Instead, Usman made his second successful title defense with a clear-cut five-round verdict against Masvidal in the evening’s main event. “The Nigerian Nightmare” has won 16 straight professional bouts – including 12 in the UFC.

Burns experienced mixed results at lightweight but has rattled off four consecutive vict…

Alexander Hernandez will square off against Chris Gruetzemacher in a lightweight clash at UFC Fight Night 181 on Oct. 31.

BJPenn.com was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night 181 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight showdown pitting Anderson Silva against Uriah Hall.

After beginning his promotional tenure with back-to-back triumphs over Beneil Dariush and Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Hernandez has dropped two of his last three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the San Antonio, Texas, native suffered a second-round TKO defeat against Drew Dober at UFC Fight Night 171 on May 13.

Gruetzemacher, meanwhile, halted a two-bout skid with a TKO of Joe Lauzon at UFC 223 in April 2018. The 34-year-old WSOF and Strikeforce veteran has not competed since that victory.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman was one of numerous male athletes victimized by Dr. Richard Strauss at Ohio State University, according to a report from Sports Illustrated.

In a piece entitled Why Aren’t More People Talking About the Ohio State Sex Abuse Scandal, Coleman recalls undergoing what seemed to be an inappropriate physical examination from Strauss upon his arrival on campus in 1986.

“He examined me pretty good. It was an eye-opener,” Coleman said. “I don’t want to go further than that.”

At that time, Strauss was the OSU doctor for five sports programs and the consulting physician for at least 10 others. According to the report, Strauss would not only fondle male athletes’ genitals during examinations — whether it was necessary or not — but he was also known to be present at practices, in locker rooms and would even shower with the athletes. Strauss’ bizarre and inappropriate antics earned him monikers like “Dr. Feel Good” or “Dr. Drop-You…

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson might be the most cursed bout in Ultimate Fighting Championship history, but there’s an outside chance the two lightweights could still meet in the Octagon.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, UFC president Dana White implied that the Nurmagomedov-Ferguson matchup might not be dead yet – provided a couple things happen. Nurmagomedov is currently slated to defend his lightweight crown against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on Oct. 24, while Ferguson has not fought since falling to Gaethje in an interim 155-pound title tilt at UFC 249 on May 9.

“If Khabib does beat Gaethe, you get Tony Ferguson another fight, which we’re working on right now,” White said. “And hopefully that fight with Khabib happens because I know people want to see it.”

The promotion has already tried to book Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson on five different occasions, and each time the bout has fallen through for various reasons. Most recently, the COVID-19 pand…

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Irene Aldana could have positioned herself as a top contender in the UFC women’s bantamweight division with a victory over Holly Holm on Saturday night.

Instead, the Lobo Gym MMA representative faltered at UFC on ESPN 16, losing a clear-cut unanimous verdict to Holm at Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi. The former bantamweight queen kept Aldana off balance with movement, punching flurries, a variety of kicks and timely takedowns over the course of a frustrating 25 minutes.

Aldana reacted to the setback in a recent post on her Instagram account.

“Today things didn’t go my way,” she wrote. “First of all I want to apologize to my corner because we had a very specific fight plan that I could not execute. I felt that something was wrong with my left foot; it wasn’t responding since the beginning of the fight. No excuses, I s…

Five-time UFC veteran Jessica Aguilar has signed an exclusive deal with Xtreme Fighting Championships.

The promotion confirmed the signing following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com on Monday. Aguilar is expected to make her debut at XFC 43 on Nov. 11 in Atlanta. The card will be televised on NBC Sports Network, but Aguilar’s opponent was not revealed.

The 38-year-old American Top Team product last appeared at UFC on ESPN 2 in March 2019, when she suffered a unanimous decision loss against Marina Rodriguez. “Jag” entered the Las Vegas-based promotion on a 10-bout winning streak but was victorious in just one of her five UFC bouts.

Prior to that, she captured 115-pound gold in World Series of Fighting and also enjoyed a successful stint in Bellator MMA. Aguilar owns notable wins over the likes of Carla Esparza, Megumi Fuji (twice), Jodie Esquibel and Angela Magana.

It was a rough night at the office for Jordan Williams at UFC on ESPN 16.

Not only did the Dana White’s Contender Series alum drop a unanimous decision to Nassourdine Imavov in their preliminary middleweight bout, but he also suffered mutlple injuries in a contest that featured two headbutts and an accidental groin strike.

The first headbutt seemed to affect Imavov more than Williams, but the 25-year-old Frenchman was able to recover and pull away for a victory down the stretch. In additions to injuries suffered as a result of the fight, Williams also revealed that he entered the contest with a pre-existing neck ailment.

“Just got back from the hospital and the verdict is a broken nose, multiple fractures,” Williams said in a post-fight statement on Instagram. “I have a broken orbital bone from that illegal head butt — the second illegal head butt. This [cut on my head] is from the first illegal head butt. And, apparently, I broke my neck in the last fight. I…

Daniel Jubileu Oliveira defends his title! #andstill #ACA112 pic.twitter.com/vJoMPn9Ffl

— ACAMMA (@ACA_League) October 4, 2020

Deivi Daniel Oliveira de Almeida defended his 135-pound championship in spectacular fashion against Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev in the Absolute Championship Akhmat 112 headliner on Sunday.

It looked like Dudaev's time to shine in the early going, as the challenger put severe pressure on the champion in the opening stanza, scoring on multiple occasions with his notorious spinning shots. In the second round, Dudaev (25-5) continued to hit his opponent and nearly secured a finish after landing a left head kick. However, Oliveira (28-6-1) exploited his opponent's eagerness to end the fight and connected with a right overhand that dropped Dudaev in his tracks. The tune of the battle changed after that shot, even as Oliveira attempted unsuccessfully to close a rear-naked choke attempt.

Midway through the third round, the Br…

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Julianna Pena is taking her loss at UFC on ESPN 16 in stride.

“The Ultimate Fighter 18” winner released a statement via Instagram after being choked unconscious by Germaine de Randamie in the third round of their bantamweight clash in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. In her post, Pena included a video of her daughter while expressing a desire to set a good example for her child.

“You win some, you learn some. Wasn’t my night! Massive Congratulations to [Germaine de Randamie] it was an honor to compete against you and thank you for your service of upholding the #thinblueline Thank you [Dana White] and [UFC]for the experience,” she wrote.

“I can’t wait to get back to this little love of mine!! I’ve missed her so much! Your kids don’t always follow your advice, a lot of times they follow your example. I’m uninjured an…

Not just a striker @IronLadyMMA #UFCFightIsland4 live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/kxea3rHfIf

— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2020

Germaine de Randamie has always been known for her standup acumen.

In addition to her MMA bouts, the Dutchwoman owns an impressive 46-0 record in kickboxing, which means that most UFC opponents won’t want to stand and trade with her. That was again the case at UFC on ESPN 16, where Julianna Pena did her best to ground “The Iron Lady” at any opportunity.

While that worked well early in the bantamweight bout, Pena paid the price for her strategy in Round 3, when de Randamie trapped her in a guillotine following a takedown and choked “The Venezuelan Vixen” unconscious. It was the first submission victory of de Randamie’s 14-bout MMA career.

“I said before this fight to my coaches, either I’ll get this guillotine—because if you give me your neck, I’m going to put you to sleep—or I’m going to knock her out,” de Randamie s…

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James Krause will step in for Muslim Salikhov and square off against Claudio Henrique da Silva at UFC Fight Night 180.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the change to the welterweight bout. UFC Fight Night 180 takes place at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a welterweight showdown between Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung.

Krause is coming off another short notice appearance, when he dropped a split verdict against Trevin Giles at UFC 247 on Feb. 8. That setback snapped a six-bout winning streak for the Glory MMA & Fitness representative.

After losing his professional debut, da Silva has won 14 consecutive fights – including five in the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, the 38-year-old Brazilian choked out Cole Williams in the opening stanza at UFC on ESPN 5 in August 2019.

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.

UFC on ESPN 16 was an opportunity for Irene Aldana to solidify herself as the bantamweight division’s No. 1 contender.

UFC president Dana White indicated as much when speaking to media last month following an episode of the Contender Series. However, Holly Holm had other ideas.

The former 135-pound champion, just a couple weeks shy of her 39th birthday, authored one of the most complete performances of her UFC career, as she dominated Aldana for five rounds in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. Once upon a time, Holm was the intriguing new talent, a boxing champion with a pedigree not often seen in women’s MMA.

“When I first came to MMA, a lot of people didn’t really know what to expect,” she said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “And then [eventually] they all knew who I was but there was this whole new ex…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhWytirby10&w=560&h=315]

Joshua da Silveira, the son of American Top Team coach Marcus "Conan" Silveira, has signed with Legacy Fighting Alliance.

The promotion announced the news on Sunday. Silveira will compete in the light heavyweight division, but a debut for his LFA debut is currently unknown.

The 27-year-old notably competed for Titan FC last year, scoring a first round submission of Jahsua Marsh in his professional debut. He followed that up with a head kick KO of Cody Rolling at a regional event on Aug. 13 in Florida.

His father, a longtime coach at ATT, went 6-4 with one no contest over the course of a professional career that began in 1995 and ended in 2007. “Conan” competed against the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba, Patrick Smith, Maurice Smith and Dan Severn.

.@LFAfighting is excited to announce that we have signed top prospect @JMDaSilv. @JMDaSilv is the son of @AmericanTopTeam head coac…

AT. THE. HORN. @CarlosCondit dropped Court McGee at the end of the first round at #UFCFightIsland4 pic.twitter.com/XR0UG1w11q

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 4, 2020

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There were probably quite a few fans watching UFC on ESPN 16 who never saw Carlos Condit at his peak.

One of the sport’s most reliable action fighters for most of his career, the New Mexico native is a former World Extreme Cagefighting titlist and ex-UFC interim champ who has a laundry list of memorable bouts on his resume. Heading into his matchup with Court McGee on Saturday, Condit had fallen on hard times, losing his last five Octagon appearances.

“The Natural Born Killer” shook off a slow start to end that skid, earning a unanimous decision victory over McGee in a preliminary welterweight bout at the Flash Forum in Abu Dh…

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Four fighters received $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses for their work at UFC on ESPN 16 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

Former featherweight queen Germaine de Randamie’s first-ever submission triumph secured her a “Performance of the Night” bonus. The Dutch kickboxer ensnared Julianna Pena in a guillotine choke for a technical submission victory at the 3:25 mark of Round 3 in a featured bantamweight tilt.

Elsewhere, Kyler Phillips earned a “Performance of the Night” check thanks to a second-round technical knockout of Cameron Else in a bantamweight clash. The MMA Lab product brought an end to the contest with elbows and punches from mount 44 seconds into the period.

Unbeaten prospect Dusko Todorovic took home a “Performance of the Night” check for a dominant showing against Dequan Towns…

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. Holly Holm was not ready to pass the torch just yet. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight titleholder ran literal circles around Irene Aldana in the UFC on ESPN 16 headliner, where she cruised to a unanimous decision on Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three judges sided with Holm (14-5, 7-5 UFC): 50-44, 50-45 and 50-45.

A failure to cut off the cage proved costly for Aldana (12-6, 5-4 UFC), who grew increasingly frustrated as time went on. Holm was brilliant from a tactical perspective. The Jackson-Wink MMA mainstay steered clear of the lethal Aldana left hook, attacked the body with kicks and directed sharp punches at the head. Perhaps most importantly, she incorporated takedowns in all five rounds. When the fifth round arrived, Aldana appeared to be overcome by resi…

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. Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 16 coverage will begin 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:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treeese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen …

AT. THE. HORN. @CarlosCondit dropped Court McGee at the end of the first round at #UFCFightIsland4 pic.twitter.com/XR0UG1w11q

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 4, 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.

Even at 36, “The Natural Born Killer” retains some of his trademark killer instinct.

In the featured preliminary matchup of UFC on ESPN 16 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Carlos Condit overcame a slow start to take a hard-fought unanimous decision over Court McGee. A competitive first round seemed to be going the way of McGee, when a picture-perfect right hook from Condit dropped him at the bell, instantly bloodying his nose in the bargain. McGee managed to get up and return to his corner, but the momentum had turned: Condit won the final two rounds in straightforward fashion, as he seemed to be a step ahead of “The Ultimate Fighter” Sea…

RNC’s for The Strabanimal!@StrabanimalMMA gets another first round submission victory at #BellatorMilan! pic.twitter.com/ONtnB3Wjby

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 3, 2020

After being rescheduled three times, the grudge match between James Gallagher and Callum Ellenor finally went down at Bellator Milan.

It took less than one round for "The Strabanimal" to overcome his opponent thanks to a vicious submission that ended the bitter rivalry in Saturday’s bantamweight headliner at Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. Gallagher (11-1) took his opponent on the canvas early in the fight and trapped him in a body lock. Once there, the Irish fighter took his time to expose his opponent's gaps in the grappling. Gallagher teased Ellenor (8-3) with a neck crank before sinking a deep rear-naked choke. "Cal Pacino" tapped at the 4:31 mark in the opening stanza. 

"Give me anyone, everyone, and a big bag of money, and I'll f…

No surprise here! @HollyHolm on weight at

#UFCFightIsland4 is on @ESPN and ESPN+ | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/TXyREqf0IS

— UFC (@ufc) October 2, 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. UFC on ESPN 16 is full steam ahead after every fighter on the card made weight.

The Ultiamte Fighting Championship returns to ESPN airwaves with a card from Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, this weekend. Headlining the event is a women’s bantamweight bout between former champion Holly Holm and rising contender Irene Aldana.

While Holm (13-5) has lost five times since dethroning Ronda Rousey with a sensational head kick, she remains a top contender having challenged for both the bantamweight and featherweight belts since then. “The Preacher’s Daughter” has won two of her last three having earned decisions over Megan Anderson an…

Askar Askar did not give Kevin Wirth a moment to breath.

Merciless forward pressure, hyperaggressive standup and effective grappling carried the former Hoosier Fight Club titleholder to a unanimous decision over Kevin Wirth in the Legacy Fighting Alliance 92 headliner on Friday at Hartman Arena in Wichita, Kansas. Askar (11-1, 2-0 LFA) swept the scorecards with 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 marks from the judges, as he rebounded from his Feb. 7 knockout loss to Saidyokub Kakhramonov.

Wirth (8-2, 2-2 LFA) spent almost the entire fight moving backward and playing defense. Askar floored him with an overhand right in the first round, opened a cut near his left eye in the second and paired his takedowns with ground-and-pound and positional control at various times in the fight. He tied a bow on his latest victory midway through Round 3, when he executed a high-amplitude takedown, settled in half guard and continued to pile up points with short punches and elbows.

In the three-roun…

With Alex Perez stepping in to face Deiveson Figueiredo, multiple sources tell me the UFC is now targeting Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval at #UFC255 in what has to be a number one contender fight. https://t.co/PFInRd6WQc

— Cole Shelton (@ColeShelton91) October 2, 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. An all-Brandon flyweight battle for the ages is coming to a Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view. Fresh off Alex Perez stepping out of his match with Brandon Moreno (17-5-1) to face Deiveson Figueiredo for the belt, the UFC has found a replacement, according to BJPenn.com on Friday. The promotion is looking to book Brandon Royval (12-4) against Moreno on UFC 255, which will be taking place on Nov. 21 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It has since been confirmed by other outlets. This will be the first match in UFC history pitting…

BREAKING: AlejandroPerez Vs Thomas Almeida out of next week card #UFCFightIsland5 https://t.co/Qmim6dStGJ

— C. Contreras Legaspi (@CCLegaspi) October 2, 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. COVID-19 has claimed another thrilling Ultimate Fighting Championship matchup. Mexican outlet Milenio first reported on Friday that Alejandro Perez (21-8-1) has been forced to withdraw from his bantamweight battle against Thomas Almeida (21-3) after testing positive for COVID-19. The two were set to square off at UFC Fight Night 179 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 10. It is not clear if the promotion will elect to replace Perez or simply reschedule the match for a later date.

Perez was looking to snap a two-fight skid from 2019, where he dropped a decision to Cody Stamann and was later knocked out by Yadong Song. Th…