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After being sidelined for more than three years, Dominick Cruz will get a bantamweight title shot in his Octagon return at UFC 249.

Cruz will square off against reigning 135-pound king Henry Cejudo at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 9. “The Dominator” relinquished the belt in his last promotional appearance, as he fell to then champ Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 on Dec. 30, 2016. Cruz was able to step in against Cejudo after original foe Jose Aldo was unable to travel to the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The booking has drawn some criticism because of Cruz’s lengthy layoff, but prior to falling to Garbrandt, the Alliance MMA stalwart had compiled a 13-fight professional winning streak — including five in the UFC — dating back to 2008.

UFC president Dana White defended the pairing, as he expects Cruz to recapture some of his previous form.

“He’s still one of the best in the world,” White said in an interview with …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is planning on restoring its headliners from postponed cards to upcoming events.

MMA Junkie initially reported on Friday that the UFC is rescheduling two main events from past cards to the ones announced earlier in the day. The first is at light heavyweight, between former title challengers Anthony Smith (33-14) and Glover Teixeira (30-7), and it will sit atop the May 13 event. The other is a heavyweight rumble between Alistair Overeem (45-18, 1 NC) and Walt Harris (13-7, 1 NC), which will be the marquis attraction on the May 16 event.

Smith rebounded from his unsuccessful jaunt for the light heavyweight strap against Jon Jones in March 2019 by tapping Alexander Gustafsson in June 2019. Since then, he fought to two draws in grappling contests against Gregor Gracie and Gesias Cavalcante at Quintet Ultra in December, and was originally matched up against Teixeira for April in Lincoln, Nebraska. The event fell through due to the coronav…

Ion Cutelaba can’t re-enter the country, I’m told, so one fight that they are looking to add to that new May 13 card is OSP vs Rothwell at heavyweight.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 24, 2020 Not long after Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White announced a series of new events in May, we have our first new matchup in the works.

On Friday, ESPN first announced that a heavyweight battle between Ovince St. Preux (24-13) and Ben Rothwell (37-12) is being planned for the upcoming May 13 Fight Night card. St. Preux was originally booked to face Ion Cutelaba at the previously scheduled April 18 event, but due to travel restrictions Cutelaba will not be able to enter the U.S.

St. Preux will be making his return to heavyweight at this event, with much his career including all of his fights in a major promotion taking place in the light heavyweight division. “OSP” snapped a two-fight skid by tapping Michal Oleksiejc…

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White is confident saying that the company has it all figured out to put on fights soon.

White spoke with ESPN on Friday on an Instagram Live session, where he explained the upcoming plans for future events. First, he confirmed that the May 9 UFC 249 card is proceeding as scheduled, and announced the lineup which is almost identical to the one discussed on April 15.

Headlining the event is an interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. White was ecstatic about this fight, saying, “Ferguson vs. Gaethje is probably one of the most violent fights you could ever make.”

One significant change to the proposed bout order from before is that Amanda Nunes will no longer be facing Felicia Spencer on this event, thereby confirming Nunes’ withdrawal from the event due to the lack of a full training camp. Also, in a few minor positional changes, Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro will open up the pay-per-view po…

MMA star Macfarlane among women suing Punahou, former basketball coach for sex abuse https://t.co/Xtx1V1ljqC #HNN

— Hawaii News Now (@HawaiiNewsNow) April 23, 2020 Bellator MMA flyweight champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is going public with accusations that her former coach sexually abused her and other students when she was young.

HawaiiNewsNow first reported this on Thursday morning, reporting that the lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Macfarlane, her sister and an unnamed student. The lawsuit alleges that her former coach, Dwayne Yuen, sexually abused her when she was on the Punahou basketball team.

“I had an inappropriate relationship with an adult who was in an authoritative position and a position of power, as a 12-year-old,” she said, “and that has 100-percent affected what I think is a healthy relationship.”

The allegations include multiple instances of the coach forcing the children to touch his genitals, paying them for …

The @ufc heavyweight division needs to move on@danawhite https://t.co/PBNrqt0ncC

— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) April 22, 2020

Let's make the heavyweight division interesting again! @ufc #UFC249 https://t.co/YmfpvzrY7p

— Jairzinho 'BIGI BOY' Rozenstruik (@JairRozenstruik) April 22, 2020 The Ultimate Fighting Championship has no interest in an interim heavyweight title at this time.

This month, both Francis Ngannou (14-3) and Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10-0), who are scheduled to clash at UFC 249 in May, spoke with MMA Junkie about their meeting being a potential title fight. Rozenstruik first brought up the issue a week before, with the firm belief that the division needs to “move forward.”

“I think the heavyweight division needs that,” Rozenstruik stated. “It’s kind of slowed down with the Stipe and Cormier fight, and we don’t know when the champ is going to return. So for now, put …

Justin Gaethje will have the opportunity to wrap lightweight championship gold around his waist if he defeats Tony Ferguson at UFC 249.

However, Gaethje doesn’t put much stock in interim championship hardware. He recognizes that Khabib Nurmagomedov is the reigning 155-pound king, and defeating Ferguson will only provide him the opportunity to defeat “The Eagle.”

"When they wrap that belt around me, it won't be the destination," Gaethje told ESPN. "It will be a map to the top. That's who I'm looking at. It'll be nice to have a belt wrapped around, but for me, it won't mean the same. It won't mean I'm a world champion in the UFC.

"When I beat Tony, I'm fighting Khabib next. That's what I'm here for, to be the best in the world. And when I fight him, I want him to try and kill me, because I won't respect him if he doesn’t.”

Gaethje accepted the fight with Ferguson after Nurmagomedov was stranded in Russia as a result of travel restrictions imposed to combat th…

It appears that the postponement of Professional Fighters League’s 2020 season was not without consequences for the promotion’s roster.

MMA Brasil initially reported that the PFL cut a “large part” of its roster – namely everyone with the exception of past champions and high-profile fighters -- after announcing that it would postpone its entire 2020 season until next year. Meanwhile, in an interview with Fansided, PFL CEO Peter Murray said this regarding the roster: “We’re keeping the significant majority, over two-thirds.”

While it remains unclear just how many fighters remain under PFL contract, MMAFighting.com obtained two separate emails sent by organization president Ray Sefo. One message is in line with PFL’s announcement, which states that due to the postponement of the 2020 season, fighters under contract will receive a monthly cash stipend that “will not need to be repaid or deducted from any future pay.”

The other email, also sent by Sefo, informs fight…

Luke Rockhold’s most recent Octagon foray didn’t go so well.

The former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion moved up to 205 pounds last July, where he was subsequently knocked out by Jan Blachowicz in the second round of their International Fight Week encounter. That UFC 239 defeat, which resulted in a broken jaw, came on the heels of a brutal KO defeat against Yoel Romero in February 2018.

“I think Luke Rockhold should talk about hanging it up,” UFC president Dana White said at the UFC 239 post-fight press conference. “He broke his jaw tonight. So that’s the second broken jaw. He’s been knocked out viciously a few times here. Shin is all banged up. He had to have a skin [graft] and all kinds of stuff. He’s had a good career. He’s been a great fighter. I’d like to see him hang it up.”

While Rockhold never officially announced his retirement, later in 2019 he admitted he was more focused on other endeavors.

“Fighting takes a lot. I’ve done it, I’ve bee…

Corey Anderson has some regrets regarding his feud with Jon Jones, primarily as it relates to his verbal attack on the light heavyweight champion’s religious beliefs following UFC 232.

Anderson, who shared that card with Jones, was initially frustrated because the event was relocated from Las Vegas to California after a Jones drug test showed trace elements of a steroid metabolite. It was determined that the abnormality was a lingering effect of a failed test in 2017, not a new violation, which was why the California State Athletic Commission agreed to host the event.

Anderson has traded barbs with Jones periodically since then, but it was his remarks shortly after UFC 232 that seem to have “Overtime” rethinking his words.

“A lot of his Bible s—t is fake to me,” Anderson told TMZ Sports after the December 2018 event. “The fact that he keeps quoting these Bible verses, and he’s even got Philippians 4:13, which is one of my favorite verses, tatted on his chest. I’m…

After a little bit of confusion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming event has a numerical designation – and a potential host.

The May 9 card, which will reportedly be held in Florida, will proceed as UFC 249, according to ESPN. The original UFC 249 card was scheduled for April 18 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The coronavirus pandemic forced the promotion to attempt to relocate the card to the Tachi Palace Casino Resort in Lemoore, California, but ultimately ESPN and Disney executives requested that UFC president Dana White “stand down” in his plans to proceed with the event.

According to a Tuesday report from MMAFighting.com, the newly-minted UFC 249 will be held at a still-undisclosed location in Florida on May 9. Fighters will initially fly into Jacksonville before being traveling to the venue. Florida has deemed professional sports as essential by government order, which would conceivably make it easier to hold an event in “The Sunshine St…

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Ray Longo had an interesting perspective on Anderson Silva’s revelation that he nearly retired from mixed martial arts in 2012.

In a video interview on the UFC’s Brazilian website, “The Spider” said that he met with promotion brass to inform them that he was considering calling it a career. In response, UFC president Dana White and then owner Lorenzo Fertitta gave Silva a Bentley GT Continental, which the fighter felt was an attempt to “buy him off.” Nonetheless, Silva proceeded with his career and lost his middleweight crown to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in July 2013.

Longo, who is one of Weidman’s longtime coaches, had a humorous response to Silva’s story on the MMA & Beyond podcast.

“I mean, so basically what he’s saying is he’s a f—-ing whore,” Longo said. “Is that the moral of the story? And then for the rematch they gave him gift certificate to McDonald’s. They let him have a shopping spree at Target for the rematch. They bou…

Ion Cutelaba’s appeal of his controversial technical knockout loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Fight Night 169 has been denied by the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.

ESPN was first to report the news. UFC Fight Night 169 took place at the Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, on Feb. 29. The light heavyweight bout between Ankalaev and Cutelaba was one of the evening’s main card fights.

“After [two] months of waiting and a rematch that got canceled this is not the answer I was hoping for,” Cutelaba wrote on Instagram. “Getting robbed again was not what I was looking for. There was no justice made here, this is only an extension of the same error. What's the point of a commission to review a case for [two] months just to ignore the truth.”

After being stunned by a left hook from Ankalaev during an initial exchange, Cutelaba wobbled around the Octagon as his opponent continued to attack with punches and kicks. During that sequence, the…

Despite his struggles in recent years, B.J. Penn has continued to soldier onward in his mixed martial arts career. That could be changing, however.

In an Instagram Live interview with coach Jason Parillo, “The Prodigy” admitted that the preparation for a fight “takes too much f—-king work.”

“It takes a lot of work,” Penn said (transcription via MMAjunkie.com). “It takes too much. Too much f—-ing work. At this age, it just takes too much f—-king work. You never know what’s going to happen, but it takes so much work.”

The 41-year-old Hawaiian hasn’t been victorious in a bout since a first-round knockout of Matt Hughes in November 2010. Since that time, he has gone 0-7-1 in the Octagon, losing many of his appearances in lopsided fashion. Still, Penn has love for the sport in which he began competing professionally in 2001.

“If I can get anything else going it would be nice,” Penn said. “If I could get anything else going in life than just a fist fight, it woul…

Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com Credit: Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com

Weili Zhang will finally return home to China following her memorable strawweight championship victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk on March 7.

The UFC champion, along with two teammates, was expected to fly to China from Las Vegas on Sunday, according to the fighter’s management. ESPN was first to report news of Zhang’s departure. Zhang stayed in the United States for an extended period to avoid the risks associated with travel as the coronavirus pandemic took hold across the globe. Zhang had been in Las Vegas since Feb. 21.

During her camp for UFC 248, Zhang was forced to leave China as the COVID-19 outbreak worsened in her home country, which was the original epicenter of the disease. Zhang was in both Abu Dhabi and Thailand before eventually arriving in the United States.

RELATED LINKS SPONSORED BY H&R BLOCK:The U.S. Government is providing tax relief on your upcoming tax returns due to the financi…

If he had the option to do it all over again, Michael Bisping would have ended his mixed martial arts career one fight earlier than he actually did.

After relinquishing the middleweight title via submission to Georges St. Pierre in a physically-demanding bout at UFC 217, Bisping agreed to face Kelvin Gastelum approximately three weeks later in the UFC Fight Night 122 headliner. The British veteran dealt with eye issues dating back to 2013, when he suffered a detached retina in his right eye in a knockout loss to Vitor Belfort. Bisping told Submission Radio that he wears a prosthetic and is essentially blind in that eye.

While that created some difficulties in his career, he was able to get cleared consistently enough to experience some of his greatest success from that point forward. However, Bisping briefly had fears of losing vision in his good eye following the knockout loss to Gastelum in November 2017.

“I fight Georges St. Pierre, I lose that fight, and he k…

Anderson Silva nearly retired with his 16-bout UFC winning streak intact.

“The Spider” recently revealed to the UFC’s Brazilian website that he and his management met with UFC president Dana White and then owner Lorenzo Fertitta in Las Vegas in late 2012 following his victory over Stephan Bonnar in October of that year. There, Silva informed UFC brass that he was considering calling it a career.

“I want to stop, I want a time for myself, to stay with my family,” Silva said he told White and Fertitta (translation via MMAFighting.com). “I have been doing this for years and I’m losing contact with my kids. I’m only training and training, it’s not working for me anymore.”

Shortly thereafter, Silva said that White and Fertitta gave him a Bentley Continental GT worth approximately $174,000, which he believes was an incentive to continue fighting. Of course, the Brazilian eventually agreed to fight again and was scheduled to defend the middleweight crown against Chris W…

Frank Mir is plotting his next move, both as a mixed martial artist and as a commentator.

While the heavyweight veteran still has one fight left on his current Bellator contract, Mir has essentially been free reign to test the free agent market despite his intentions to fulfill the last bout on his existing deal. Mir recently announced the news on the ”Phone Booth Fighting Podcast.”

“Basically, I had a good conversation with [Bellator president] Scott Coker. “[I’m] still going to have a fight with them, just because there’s a fight left on my fight contract,” Mir said. “Scott was very easy to talk to about it – their company’s shut down, he hasn’t even left his house in three weeks – so, once they start up, there’s going to be a backlog of fights because they have so many fighters on their roster. “So now I’m basically, not basically, I am a free agent. Even though I would still do fights for Bellator, I’m not beholden to any contract to anybody now. So I can try out t…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iwt_2riugY&w=560&h=315]

Tyron Woodley was one of the first fighters to feel the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Initially scheduled to square off against Leon Edwards in the UFC Fight Night 171 headliner in London on March 21, Woodley’s bout was postponed as the disease began to take effect all over the world. At one point, the former welterweight champion was reportedly in talks for a grudge match with former American Top Team stablemate Colby Covington, but nothing would come of it.

With the UFC’s next event now slated for May 9, Woodley is still without an opponent. And while Dana White revealed what is expected to be the full lineup for that card, Woodley is hopeful that me might get a chance to compete at the event. If not then, the sooner the better.

“I want to fight sooner than later. One, because I think it’s a chance that a fight can go down May 9. And then they might have in their mind, OK May 9 we’re gonna …

The UFC has a couple interesting possibilities when it comes time to choose Jon Jones's next challenger. 

Recently, the current UFC light heavyweight champion and former title challenger Dominick Reyes engaged in a quarrel on social media. “The Devastator” started the beef after he claimed that the champion is avoiding him.

On Saturday morning, "Bones" took to Twitter to reply to those accusations. Jones reminded his opponent the outcome of their last encounter, then teased a future match with Jan Blachowicz (26-8).

“Now suddenly I’m afraid of a good dogfight? Pretty sure I walked him down for 25 minutes straight when we fought,” Jones wrote. “One thing about being the champion of the world, you got to search for fresh meat on every soil. I’m feeling like popping some [cherries] in Poland, haven’t had that yet.”

Now suddenly I’m afraid of a good dogfight? Pretty sure I walked him down for 25 minutes straight when we f…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship held its first of two meetings briefing fighters about plans in place.

On Friday, MMA Junkie reported several of the discussion topics that UFC President Dana White talked about in a meeting among fighters. MMA Fighting also reported additional information from other fighters following the invite-only meeting. White first gave a statement to his roster, and then answered questions the athletes submitted with topics ranging from fight camps to “Fight Island.”

White made certain to repeatedly elucidate that the fighters were not obligated to compete under these circumstances. If they do not feel comfortable taking a matchup during the coronavirus pandemic, they will not be penalized or negatively impacted in any way. He also explained that in the event any fighter on the roster is struggling financially or with their health, the UFC would take care of them.

Of the fighters that choose to compete, those affected by event cancellations wou…

On April 13, the UFC filed 22 new trademarks for:

'FIGHT ISLAND'

&

'UFC FIGHT ISLAND'

The filings were made based on an "intent to use" FIGHT ISLAND as the name of a mixed martial arts competition and for branded goods such as clothing and jewelry.#UFC #ufc249 pic.twitter.com/Q9cHHQJFBK— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) April 17, 2020

If these filings are any indication, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is going full steam ahead with “Fight Island.”

Attorney Josh Gerben first reported on Friday that the UFC has filed trademarks for 22 uses of “Fight Island” and “UFC Fight Island.” In addition to the promotion looking to use these trademarks for events, they are also being filed for items the UFC plans to market including clothing and jewelry.

The existence of “Fight Island” was first brought to light by UFC President Dana White, when concerns about the coronavirus threatened international fight cards. T…

Hey @MMARLONMORAES, can you send me location and explain how to get there? pic.twitter.com/Sitgad8LRx

— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) April 13, 2020 Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight contender Petr Yan is ready for his next bout, which he predicts will undergo some changes before it takes place.

Archangel Michael Club representative Yan (14-1) believes his five-round fight with Brazilian Marlon Moraes (23-6-1) will take place in the U.S., not in Kazakhstan, as expected earlier. The two are currently slated to meet at UFC Kazakhstan on June 13, which is scheduled go down at the Astana Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Yan expects the organization will relocate it.

“I hope the fight with Moraes will maintain the five-round status as we signed,” said Yan to Sherdog.com. “Now, I don't know about Kazakhstan or the fighting island. There are a lot of points to consider - how quickly the si…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight queen is ready to return in a few months, and has a destination in mind for her next outing.

On Thursday, Valentina Shevchenko spoke with MMA Junkie, where she explained how excited she was at the prospect of competing on a special island built for MMA competition.

“From the very, very first second when I heard about the island, it was already my favorite idea,” she explained to MMA Junkie Radio. “Yes, I would definitely love to fight there.

Shevchenko was originally slated to compete against Joanne Calderwood at UFC 251 in June, but an MCL injury forced her out of her title fight. Her timetable for return to action is currently around the end of August, where she is more than willing to compete on this private island currently in the works, according to UFC President Dana While.

“Now I hope it’s going to happen sometime in the end of August, and why not -- why not on the island,” asked Shevchenko. “It can be like a dou…