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Two top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights are locking horns in January.

ESPN first broke the news on Thursday that Kelvin Gastelum (15-6, 1 NC) will be making his way back to the cage on Jan. 30 against Ian Heinisch (14-3). The two top-15 middleweights will be meeting at an event that does not yet have a main event, but earlier on Thursday, did gain Carlos Condit vs. Matt Brown.

Winner of Season 17 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Gastelum surged after winning that tournament to rack up several wins. Struggles in weight forced him to move up to middleweight, and Gastelum has dropped three consecutive bouts to Israel Adesanya – albeit in the 2019 “Fight of the Year” winner – Darren Till and Jack Hermansson. His quick submission loss to Hermansson in July is the first time the Kings MMA fighter had ever been stopped within the first two rounds.

Heinisch was booked against Brendan Allen at UFC on ESPN 17, but a positive COVID-19 test ejected him from the p…

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Bellator MMA has added a pair of fun matchups to its year-end event.

On Thursday, a source close to the situation revealed a pair of fights added to Bellator 254 on Dec. 12. The final 2020 show for the promotion will take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The first fight sees a pair of unbeatens clash at 205 pounds, as Tyree Fortune (5-0) takes on Grant Neal (4-0). The other match pits undefeated Romero Cotton (4-0) against Justin Michael Sumter (7-3). Both fights will take place on the preliminary portion of the card.

Fortune, twin brother of heavyweight standout Tyrell Fortune, will look to keep his perfect record intact for his first appearance in 2020. The Oregon native known as “X-Man” has set foot in a cage just once a year dating back to 2017, although he has won each of them. Before turning pro in 2016, Fortune ma…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snuYQzodoOM&w=560&h=315] 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. Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo plans to knock out Alex Perez, and eventually move up to bantamweight after notching several defenses. Getting ready to make his first 125-pound title defense against Perez, Brazil's Figueiredo will fight in the main event of UFC 255 on Nov. 21. Two weeks before the fight, the champ spoke to Sherdog about his upcoming challenge.

“My main goal is to defend the belt five times and go up to [the] bantamweight division,” Figueiredo declared.

Weighing 141 pounds at the moment, Figueiredo recognized that he gave his nutritionist a hard time.

“I was born in Para state, Acai is part of our culture, we have eaten it since we were born,” Figueiredo stated. “Dr. Lia [Figueiredo’s nutritionist] h…

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 double debut of the deadly Cosce duo has been disappointingly delayed. On Thursday morning, Denmark’s Nicolas Dalby (18-4-1, 1 NC) posted on social media that he wouldn't be facing Orion Cosce (7-0) anymore, as “Galaxy” suffered an undisclosed injury. Instead, “Lokomotivo” will lock horns with Daniel Rodriguez (13-1) at UFC 255, on Nov. 21 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Cosce was looking to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut alongside brother Louis Cosce, as the latter is taking on newcomer Sasha Palatnikov.

“On Monday I was told my original opponent was out with an injury,” Dalby wrote. “On Wednesday I received word that I will get to fight Daniel Rodriguez instead, who is a better ranked and more experienced fighter... what’s not to like?! Christmas looks to be coming early this year.”

Former Cage Warrior…

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 Ultimate Fighting Championship fan-favorite is setting foot in the cage before the end of the year. On Wednesday night, Daniel Pineda (27-13, 2 NC) posted on his Instagram announcing that he would be taking on Cub Swanson (26-11) at UFC 256. Shortly thereafter, Swanson also posted to his social media that he would be meeting Pineda. The two featherweights will square off at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 12, and it is unclear if they will fight on the main card or preliminaries.

Swanson last competed in October 2019, where he snapped a four-fight skid after a victorious thrilling brawl with Kron Gracie. Swanson then competed at the Quintet Ultra event in December, and he tore his ACL and meniscus against Jake Shields to keep him out of action for nearly a year. Once known as a finisher, the California native has not stop…

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 Ultimate Fighting Championship clash many considered to be a dream matchup may be finally coming to fruition in 2021. The report first coming from MMA Fighting on Thursday, Carlos Condit (31-13) will be coming to blows with Matt Brown (22-17) at a UFC card in 2021. The Jan. 30 Fight Night event, which may take place on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, will be gaining a potential all-action scrap once scheduled all the way back in 2013. According to MMA Fighting, the two have both agreed to meet, but the paperwork is still outstanding.

The two welterweight thrillers were booked to fight at UFC on Fox 9 in 2013, but a back injury to Brown scrubbed the pairing. At that time, Condit had bounced back from consecutive losses to Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks to finish Martin Kampmann. In the meantime, Brown was i…

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The Bellator MMA featherweight grand prix is officially back, for real this time.

Fighters involved in the upcoming Bellator 252 event tipped the scales on Wednesday, and headliners Patricio Freire and Pedro Carvalho had no problems making championship weight. "Pitbull" looked good on the scales and officially came in at 144.7 pounds, while Carvalho weighed 144.5 pounds. The pair should have faced each other at Bellator 241 in March, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The main card will feature a second featherweight grand prix quarterfinal bout between Daniel Weichel (143.8) and Emmanuel Sanchez (145).

The fight between Gabriel Varga and Brandon Phillips is off after Phillips missed weight by 5 pounds. On top of that, Keri Melendez had weight issues, coming in .2 heavy for her strawweight scrap against Emilee King. Lucas Brennan weighed in at 148 pounds, two pounds over the…

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It takes more than a few fights in the Octagon to impress Leon Edwards.

It's been a while since Ultimate Fighting Championship fans saw “Rocky” competing in the Octagon. A plethora of reasons has kept the 29-year-old fighter away from competition for what is almost an 18-month hiatus, including a global pandemic. However, he should dust off the gloves in a few weeks when he will meet rising star Khamzat Chimaev (9-0) on an upcoming UFC Fight Night event that will go down on Dec. 19. That night, the 29-year-old Englander will put his eight-bout winning streak on the line, including victories over names like Donald Cerrone, Vicente Luque and Gunnar Nelson.

In a recent interview with ESPN, the British fighter revealed that he believes he will get a shot at the 170-pound championship once he gets past Chimaev.

“That's been mentioned, yeah,” he said about receiving a title shot. “If when I get there a…

BRAVE CF 45 will now happen on November 19th, as the entire BRAVE Nation sends its condolences to the Royal Family on the passing and joins in mourning with the rest of the world. @khalidbinhamad @shahidthehawk pic.twitter.com/sN1OkVsakf

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) November 11, 2020

On Wednesday, Brave Combat Federation announced that the upcoming Brave CF 45 event has been postponed. The card was slated to gone down on Nov. 12 in Bahrain, but it was delayed after prince Khalifa Bin Salman al-Khalifa died at the age of 84, according to the state-run Bahrain News Agency. As a member of the royal family, Prince Khalifa served as the prime minister of the country since 1970. He was also related to Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the founder of Brave.

The previous week, the Brave CF 45 card also underwent some significant changes. The main event should have been a featherweight clash between Dumar Roa and Gabriel Miranda, b…

It appears as though Phil Davis will get a chance to recapture a championship he once held.

“Mr. Wonderful” on Monday was named as the No. 1 contender for current Bellator MMA light heavyweight titleholder Vadim Nemkov. In an interview with MMAJunkie.com, Bellator President Scott Coker indicated that the current plan was for Davis to challenge Nemkov for the 205-pound title. The two men met previously at Bellator 209 in 2018, when Nemkov eked out a split decision over the Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran. It remains his only career victory by decision.

Davis has since bounced back with consecutive wins over Liam McGeary at Bellator 220, Karl Albrektsson at Bellator 231 and Lyoto Machida at Bellator 245.

“He had a great fight with Nemkov last time,” Coker said. “This will be a rematch. Phil has done a great job since then. That was a close fight. Phil just came off of a great win against Machida. I think Phil should be next in line.”

News of Davis’ ascent …

Sign up for ESPN+, 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 grew its ranks by three during Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as the promotion signed Natan Levy, Nikolas Motta and Luana Pinheiro to contracts on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

A Syndicate MMA prospect, Levy kept his perfect professional record intact and did so in spectacular fashion, as he choked Shaheen Santana unconscious with an arm-triangle in the third round of their catchweight confrontation at 160 pounds. Santana (6-1) lost his grip on reality 55 seconds into Round 3.

Levy (6-0) was superior in all phases. He did some damage on the feet but buttered his bread in the extended ground exchanges with Santana. Levy successfully navigated the MMA Masters rep’s active guard and progressed to dominant positions in all three rounds. He struck for a takedown inside the first minut…

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 DWCS 2020 Week 9 coverage kicks off Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Moore stalks Sabatello, who lands a kick to the body and then plants Moore on his back with a takedown less than 30 seconds into the fight. Sabatello works inside of his foe’s guard, landing short punches to the body and elbows to the head. Sabatello stands with Moore attached to him and slams him back down. Moore remains in closed guard, as Sabatello drops several more elbows from above. There’s two minutes to go and Sabatello has stayed busy enough with ground-and-pound to maintain his dominant position. Sabatello continues to do a nice job of vary his offense from above, mixing up punches to the head and body as the clock ticks down. The horn sounds with Moo…

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Magomed Magomedov will square off against Matheus Mattos in main card matchup at Bellator 254.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Additionally, a women’s featherweight fight pitting Marina Mokhnatkina against Jessica Borga is set for the prelims. Bellator 254 takes place on Dec. 12 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and is headlined by a flyweight title tilt between Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Juliana Velasquez.

A former ACB title holder, Magomedov enters his promotional debut with a 16-1 record. The 28-year-old Moscow native notably defeated current UFC 135-pound champ Petr Yan via split decision in a title bout at ACB 32 in March 2016 but lost to Yan in a rematch at ACB 57 approximately one year later.

Mattos, a former ACB title challenger, has lost just once in 14 professional outings. That defeat came at the han…

After some public posturing and haggling, it appears that Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier have finally agreed to square off in a lightweight bout at UFC 257.

MMAFighting.com reported that both sides came to terms late Monday night However, the report also states that McGregor is pushing to have the bout moved to UFC 256 on Dec. 12, since that card lost its original headliner of Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson at the beginning of the week, and the Irish star has recently expressed a desire to compete before 2021.

The promotion was reportedly having difficulty getting Poirier to agree to a deal, but ESPN on Tuesday also confirmed that Poirier signed a bout agreement. McGregor already previously verbally agreed to the fight but has not yet signed a bout agreement, according to ESPN. In September, McGregor and Poirier struck an informal agreement over Twitter to lock horns in an exhibition match in Ireland on Dec. 12 for charity before the UFC stepped in and offered…

It’s one thing to accept a fight on short notice. It’s entirely another to do so less than one week before facing a former champion in a headlining bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

For Paul Felder, stepping up to face Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC Fight Night 182 headliner was an opportunity to do something positive in a what has been a dark period for so many people.

“I thought about it and I decided with everything going on in the world and all the sad things going on in people’s lives and losing their jobs and suffering and we just lost Alex freaking Trebek to pancreatic cancer, I was like, ‘Man, you know you’re still 36. You’re young. You’re in shape. Save the date. Let’s go get paid. Let’s have fun. You’re fighting a legend,’” Felder told ESPN. “What do I have to lose?”

Perhaps even more impressive than Felder’s willingness to step up was the fact that he agreed to compete at 155 pounds. After all, Dos Anjos is just coming off a stint at welterweig…

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will move up to 170 pounds to face Jason Jackson in the Bellator 253 co-main event.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official following an initial report MMAFighting.com. Bellator 253 takes place on Nov. 19 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and is headlined by a featherweight grand prix semifinal between Darrion Caldwell and A.J. McKee.

Henderson made his Bellator debut at welterweight in April 2016, when he dropped a five-round verdict to then champion Andrey Koreshkov. “Smooth” returned to 155 pounds after that and has since gone 5-3 in the California-based promotion. The 36-year-old MMA Lab stalwart is coming off a first-round KO loss to Michael Chandler at Bellator 243, his first stoppage loss since 2014.

A former competitor on Dana White’s Contender Series, Jackson enters the matchup with Henderson having won five of his last six professional outings. The Sanford MMA represe…

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping will play a lead role in the boxing-themed film “The Journeyman,” according to Deadline.

The film is an adaption of British author Mark Turley’s book entitled “The Journeymen: The Other Side of the Boxing Business, a New Perspective on the Noble Art.” Turley’s book spotlights “boxers who lose for a living” and features East London’s Johnny Greaves, who went 4-96 in his professional career. Greaves will serve as a technical advisor for the film.

Bisping will play Kenny “The Beast” Breen, “an alcoholic, drug-abusing, past-his-prime journeyman boxer with a record of 11-85-0 who, after being diagnosed with neurological damage, continues his career on the small-hall circuit at grave risk to himself.” The film will be directed by Dax Phelan and shot in the UK. A release date for the movie is currently unknown.

“For obvious reasons, Mike brings an authenticity and an X-factor to the role that no other actor ever could,…

Earlier this year, Paul Felder was contemplating retirement. Instead, he’ll make his next Octagon appearance on just five days’ notice.

Felder will step in for Islam Makhachev and face Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC Fight Night 182 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Despite the short-notice nature of the matchup, it will remain a five-round fight and will still be contested at 155 pounds. ESPN was first to report the new pairing.

Felder last appeared at UFC Fight Night 168 on Feb. 23, when he lost a narrow split decision to Dan Hooker in the evening’s headliner. “The Irish Dragon” publicly mulled retirement in the aftermath of that defeat before ultimately reconsidering that decision. The 35-year-old Roufusport product is 9-5 in his UFC career, with noteworthy triumphs against the likes of Edson Barboza, Charles Oliveira and James Vick. Felder has also become a staple of UFC broadcasts as a commentator.

A former UFC lightweight champion, dos Anj…

Two-division champion Amanda Nunes has pulled out of her scheduled featherweight title defense at UFC 256 for undisclosed reasons, according to ESPN.

Nunes vs. Anderson was supposed to headline the UFC 256 card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Dec. 12. According to Anderson, the promotion is working to reschedule the bout, though UFC officials have not officially announced the cancellation of the title fight. It is currently unclear if UFC 256 will get a new headliner. The card also features a bantamweight championship clash between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling.

Wishing Amanda a speedy recovery UFC are rescheduling the bout for a date early next year.

The goal remains the same We'll be ready.. https://t.co/APZt4zUkS0

— Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) November 9, 2020

"All I was told was she has a 'serious medical issue' and that they're working on rescheduling the bout currently," Anderson said in a statement released to ESPN. "Obviou…

A middleweight showdown between Brendan Allen and Sean Strickland has been added to the UFC Fight Night 182 lineup.

Allen initially announced the pairing on Instagram, and it has since been confirmed by multiple outlets. Allen was supposed to square off against Ian Heinsich at UFC on ESPN 17 last weekend before a positive COVID-19 test involving Heinisch resulted in the cancellation of that bout.

“It all happened super fast, but we got everything done and put together. Thank you SO much to the [UFC], [Dana White] and my guy [Mick Maynard] for working his tail off and taking super good care of me and getting me set up with a talented opponent,” Allen wrote.

UFC Fight Night 182 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and was originally scheduled to feature a lightweight clash between Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev. Makhachev withdrew from the bout due to a staph infection, and the promotion is in the process of seeking a replacement opponent for dos Anjos.…

Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series is now official, as all 10 fighters slated for action made weight without issue on Monday.

The event did undergo one late change when Landon Quinones Stewart was forced to exit the event due to a positive COVID-19 test. As a result, Natan Levy will step in to face Shaheen Santana in a 160-pound catchweight affair. Levy tipped the scales at 159 pounds, while Santana checked in at 158.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on UFC Fight Pass at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. ET. The card is headlined by a middleweight clash between Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz (184.5) and Mario Filipe de Sousa (185.5).

The Winnipeg-based Ksiazkiewicz is unbeaten in eight professional appearances thus far. He last competed in November 2019, when he scored a first-round submission of Guilherme Miranda. All but one of his victories have come inside the distance.

Sousa has lost just once in 12 career bouts. The 24-year-ol…

Raufeon Stots will square off against Keith Lee in a bantamweight affair at Bellator 253.

Sherdog.com confirmed the bout with a promotion official on Monday following an initial report from MMA journalist James Lynch. Bellator 253 takes place at on Nov. 19 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and is headlined by a featherweight grand prix semifinal pitting Darrion Caldwell against A.J. McKee.

Stots has gone 2-0 in his promotional tenure thus far, posting a unanimous verdict against Cheyden Leialoha at Bellator 236 and a third-round submission over Cass Bell at Bellator 242. The 31-year-old Roufusport product has lost just once in 15 professional outings — a 15-second KO to current UFC talent Merab Dvalishvili at Ring of Combat 59 in June 2017.

Lee is also 2-0 in the California-based organization, with decision triumphs against Shawn Bunch and Vinicius Zani to his credit. The younger brother of former UFC title challenger Kevin Lee is 7-3 over the…

Professional Fighters League lightweight champion Kayla Harrison will test the waters at 145 pounds against Courtney King at Invicta Fighting Championships 43 on Nov. 20.

PFL officials announced the news in a release on Monday. Harrison is still expected to compete in the promotion’s 2021 season, which begins in April, at 155 pounds.

“I have been on a mission to show I am the best fighter,” Harrison said. “I have been tackling challenges my entire career and this bout at 145 pounds is a new and exciting one for me. I’m looking forward to competing in this new weight class and can’t wait to get back into the PFL cage come April.” 

Additionally, Invicta FC confirmed that the originally scheduled flyweight championship headliner between Pearl Gonzalez and Erin Blanchfield has been postponed after Gonzalez tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, a strawweight title tilt between Emily Ducote and Montserrat Ruiz has been elevated to the main event. In anothe…

FLORIDA REPRESENT!

@Thunder92Baeza makes a STATEMENT early RD2!

Watch now LIVE on @ESPN #UFCFL pic.twitter.com/OOPnFmEpt3 — UFC (@ufc) May 17, 2020

Miguel Baeza will lock horns with Takashi Sato in a welterweight bout at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Nov. 28.

MMA DNA was first to report the booking. The card takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight duel pitting Curtis Blaydes against Derrick Lewis.

A competitor on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Baeza has kicked off his promotional tenure with technical knockout victories against Hector Aldana and Matt Brown. The 28-year-old known as “Caramel Thunder” is 9-0 with seven wins coming by KO or TKO.

The 30-year-old Sato has been victorious in two of his three Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 30-year-old Tokyo native stopped Jason Witt 48 seconds into the opening stanza at UFC on ESPN 12 on June 27. The Pancrase…