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A light heavyweight showdown pitting Volkan Oezdemir against Jiri Prochazka has nearly been finalized for UFC 251.

ESPN was first to report the bout. UFC 251 takes place on July 11 and is expected to be held at “Fight Island.” A location has yet to be announced for the event, but Abu Dhabi has been the rumored destination. The card will also include a strawweight rematch between Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas.

A former light heavyweight title challenger, Oezdemir has rebounded nicely from a three-bout losing streakj that occurred from January 2018 to March 2019. In his last two Octagon appearances, “No Time” has scored a second-round knockout of Ilir Latifi at UFC Fight Night 156 and a split-decision triumph against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC Fight Night 165.

The reigning 205-pound king in Rizin Fighting Federation, Prochazka is coming off a first-round knockout of UFC veteran C.B. Dollaway on New Year’s Eve. The Czech Republic native is currently on a 10-bout w…

The time has come. Who’s ready!?#SM #AndStil pic.twitter.com/vF8TftZOpq

— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) June 7, 2020

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Stipe Miocic might finally be ready to defend his UFC heavyweight crown.

“The time has come,” Miocic wrote on Twitter. “Who’s ready? #SM #AndStill.

The reigning champion has been sidelined since undergoing eye surgery following a UFC 241 victory over Daniel Cormier last August. A potential return to action was further delayed when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the Ohio-based firefighter from training at his gym.

Cormier, who has been very vocal about pushing for a trilogy with Miocic before he retires, was quite pleased to hear that the champion appears ready to return to the Octagon.

you’re done ! https://t.co/ZRLmC…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlCUMErE0Xc&w=560&h=315]

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Melissa Gatto will not be competing on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 172 card as originally anticipated.

The Brazilian flyweight has been forced to withdraw from her proposed clash against Mariya Agapova due to visa issues and travel restrictions. Combate was first to report the news, and it was later confirmed by multiple outlets. The promotion is currently searching for a replacement opponent for Agapova.

Gatto, who hopes to compete on a future “Fight Island” event, has compiled a 6-0-2 record while competing on the Brazilian regional circuit. Most recently, she submitted current UFC talent Karol Rosa in September 2018.

UFC Fight Night 172 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a flyweight clash pitting Jessica Eye against Cynthi…

Life is good for Amanda Nunes.

The two-division champion defended her featherweight belt for the first time at UFC 250, earning a dominant unanimous verdict over Felicia Spencer in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The victory extended Nunes’ winning streak to 11, and the Brazilian appears to have cleared out all the challengers in two separate weight classes.

In the aftermath of her latest masterpiece, Nunes was content to simply enjoy the moment.

“I don’t even know [what’s next]. Tonight is a beautiful night. I enjoy what I did. This is my night. I feel like I should enjoy it, that’s it,” Nunes said at the UFC 250 post-fight press conference. “I made history tonight; nobody ever did that before. That is amazing. I have to watch the fight again and just enjoy it.”

Though Nunes didn’t get a finish, she was in complete control for the duration of her clash with Spencer. The Brazilian received scorecards of 50-44, 50-44 and 50-45 from the cag…

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Like many high-level mixed martial artists, Felicia Spencer proved to be almost too tough for her own good on Saturday night.

The former Invicta FC featherweight queen absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment over five rounds in a decision loss to Amanda Nunes in the UFC 250 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Spencer spent the majority of the contest as a punching bag for the two-division champion, but she never showed any quit during 25 difficult minutes.

UFC president Dana White was impressed by Spencer’s resilience, but he recalls hoping that someone involved with the featherweight title bout would step in before the final stanza.

“That woman is one of the toughest human beings I’ve ever seen in my life,” White said of Spencer at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I was praying somebody was going…

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Four “Performance of the Night” bonuses were handed out on Saturday night, as Cody Garbrandt, Aljamain Sterling, Sean O’Malley and Alex Perez each received $50,000 checks for their efforts at UFC 250.

Garbrandt made a triumphant return from a three-bout skid with a spectacular knockout of Raphael Assuncao in the evening’s co-main event. With time running down, “No Love” dipped his shoulder and loaded up on a powerful right hook, rendering his foe unconscious 4:59 into the second stanza.

Sterling made short work of fellow bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen in a featured bout, earning a submission victory at the 1:28 mark of Round 1. “Funk Master” quickly took his opponent’s back and hunted for a rear-naked choke, and he secured the maneuver the second time around to move his name to the top of the contender’s list at…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 250 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 250 “Nunes vs. Spencer” coverage begins Saturday at 6 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:Mike Sloan scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Mike Sloan scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield…

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The third meeting between Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been verbally agreed to for a UFC Fight Night event on July 25.

The matchup was initially announced by UFC president Dana White on ”Steve-O’s Wild Ride” podcast. The event is expected to take place at the Las Vegas-based promotion’s “Fight Island,” although a location has yet to be announced. The card will be headlined by a middleweight clash between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till. Rua vs. Nogueira was originally scheduled for May 9 in Sao Paulo, Brazil before the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of that event.

Rua and Nogueira initially squared off at Pride Fighting Championship’s “Critical Countdown 2005” on June 26, 2005, with “Shogun” earning a unanimous decision triumph. The rematch occurred at UFC 190 in August 2015, and again R…

Get the #UFC250 PPV https://t.co/ZCmQDgaB46 pic.twitter.com/LGKCvdTXCp

— UFC (@ufc) June 5, 2020 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 250 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns this Saturday with its June pay-per-view offering, and all fighters successfully made weight.

Headlining UFC 250 is a women’s featherweight title clash as Amanda Nunes puts her 145-pound title up for grabs against Felicia Spencer. A heavy favorite, Nunes (19-4) is largely considered the greatest female mixed martial artist of all-time. She’s currently the UFC’s bantamweight and featherweight champion. In her last bout, she successfully defended her bantamweight strap against a game Germaine de Randamie. Prior to that, she had highlight reel knockouts of one-time 135-pound titleholder Holly Holm and former featherweight queen Cristiane Justino. “Lioness” looked prepared on the scales a…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqD2pxmO-2A&w=560&h=315] Former UFC fighter Magomed Bibulatov will compete on the undercard of an upcoming Absolute Championship Akhmat event in July.

On Thursday, sources told Sherdog that Bibulatov (15-2) has been scheduled to compete at ACA 107 against Nikita Chistyakov (11-5). The two flyweights will square off at the event that will be held on July 24, and the venue has not yet been determined but it will take place in Moscow.

Russia’s Bibulatov returns to the ACA cage after a successful outing at the anniversary event ACA 100, where he finished Josiel Silva in the second round. The former champion of both WFCA and ACB has never lost in either of those organizations, going a perfect 7-0 in the two promotions that merged to create ACA. The fighter known as “Chaborz” also competed once in World Series of Fighting, and he won the vacant flyweight title against Donovan Frelow in 2015.

His opponent Chistyakov will be making…

The main card and prelims for June 13, as revealed by @danawhite to @Jon_Anik on the ESPN MMA YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/OIBgMRrphS

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 4, 2020 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 250 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship event on June 13 now has its official bout order. On Thursday night, UFC President Dana White sat down with play-by-play commentator Jon Anik on ESPN’s YouTube to go over the official lineup for UFC Fight Night 172. The event headlined by Jessica Eye vs. Cynthia Calvillo will take place on June 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. While most of the fights on the card were already announced to this point, a few new matchups, opponent changes and a bout relocation took place.

In terms of a fight moving to another card, an initial report from Brazilian outlet AgFight wrote on Thursd…

The Lightweight division is on !Former featherweight challenger @SzymanskiMMA will welcome Oktagon MMA champion Mateusz Legierski inside the KSW cage.

Buy your PPV access now on KSWTV29 PLN 7 EUR 6 GBP 8 USD 530 RUB pic.twitter.com/x0HebXnIFc

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) June 4, 2020 KSW is building a solid card for its return in July. On Thursday morning, the Polish promotion took to Twitter to announce that its latest roster addition. Mateusz Legierski will lock horns with Roman Szymanski at KSW 53.

The undefeated Polish prospect Legierski (6-0) is making his promotional debut after claiming the Oktagon MMA lightweight title. The first five fights on the record of "Dynamit" ended inside the distance, and his most recent appearance ended that streak when he won a five-round split decision over Miroslav Strbak. The current Oktagon MMA lightweight champ, KSW will share Legierski with the Czech-Slovak promotion.

Szymanski (12-5) felt …

Applications online at https://t.co/5N6HHWaetj.

8 man tournament names to be announced soon! June 21st

Winner gets 10k AND a paid spot against Craig Jones at the following show!@UFCFightPass @sonnench @bossladymma pic.twitter.com/TPHhiUCZ5Z— Submission Underground (@SUG_Grappling) June 1, 2020

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight contender Jessica Eye will be pulling double duty in mid-June, tentatively competing at both UFC Fight Night 172 and Submission Underground 15.

Eye, 33, is already booked to face Cynthia Calvillo at the UFC’s June 13 event in Las Vegas’ UFC Apex. However, Sherdog has learned that “Evil” is also set to compete the following weekend at SUG 15 against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and SBG Portland talent Amanda Loewen on June 21.

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Takeya Mizugaki, a veteran of 39 professional fights, has called it a career at 36 years old.

The Japanese bantamweight announced his decision to MMA Planet on Tuesday. Mizugaki compiled a 23-14-2 record over the course of a tenure that began in 2005.

ありがとうございました！！最高でした！！#MMA https://t.co/e6rrbzMluQ

— Takeya Mizugaki (@takeya_miz) June 2, 2020

Mizugaki is best known for his stints with the UFC and the now-defunct WEC. He came up just short in a split-decision defeat to then bantamweight champ Miguel Torres in a memorable bout in his WEC debut in 2009. The Japanese veteran also faced Urijah Faber, Jeff Curran and Scott Jorgensen in WEC competition. Mizugaki went on to compete 14 times under the UFC banner from 2011 to 2016, compiling an 8-6 record while squar…

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UFC on ESPN 9 drew an average audience of 1.021 million viewers for Saturday’s main card, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

That is the fifth-best ratings figure for a UFC on ESPN card since the promotion signed a deal to broadcast on the network beginning in 2019. UFC on ESPN 9 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on May 30 and saw Gilbert Burns defeat Tyron Woodley via unanimous decision in the evening’s welterweight main event.

The Las Vegas-based organization’s previous event, UFC on ESPN 8 on May 16, drew an average audience of 1.198 million to the Worldwide Leader for card headlined by a heavyweight duel between Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris. That was the highest-rated card on the network since UFC on ESPN 1 in February 2019.

Meanwhile, the UFC on ESPN 9 prelims averaged 615,000 viewers, which is the fourt…

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As George Floyd’s death has led to protests, looting, vandalism and general unrest across the United States, a number of prominent athletes in the MMA community have weighed in on the situation.

Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor was the latest to offer his thoughts, as he called for compassion and understanding during a difficult time.

“There is no place for injustice, racism and intolerance in this world! We must really listen and learn from those in pain,” McGregor wrote on Instagram.

“Be the example of the change you want to see!! Praying, hoping, and believing everyday that this is all a part of the Lord’s plan to lead us to a better and brighter future ahead. God speed everyone.”

More than 5,000 protesters marched in McGregor’s native Dublin on Monday while carrying signs and chanting “bl…

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It could be some time before fans see Jon Jones compete in the Octagon again.

In the last few days, the current UFC light heavyweight champion has been publicly locking horns with UFC president Dana White in negotiations for a higher payment for a potential superfight with heavyweight Francis Ngannou. "Bones" has even threatened to relinquish the belt and asked the UFC to release him from his contract.

While many fans believe that Jones's declarations are just part of his strategy, in a recent interview with BJPenn.com Jones's coach, Mike Winkeljohn, said that Jones may be willing to go through with leaving the UFC.

"I had a conversation on Sunday with Jon and he is serious about vacating the belt and walking away," Winkeljohn said. "He told me he has no problem sitting out and not fighting and just han…

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If Jon Jones wants to relinquish the light heavyweight title and walk away from the sport, that’s his decision, according to Dana White.

The UFC president issued a brief statement to the Canadian Press on Monday after Jones tweeted that he planned on vacating the 205-pound belt. Jones’ threat was the latest salvo in a public dispute regarding negotiations for a potential superfight with heavyweight Francis Ngannou.

“Jon Jones is one of the greatest to ever do it,” White said. “The decision he wants to make regarding his career is up to him. The reality is that he’s made enough money from fighting that he’s now in the position to retire and never work again in his life.”

White’s statement bears some resemblance to remarks he made about Conor McGregor after the Irish star earned in the neighborhood of $100 million …

The CHAMP @stylebender addresses the Auckland #BlackLivesMatter march earlier today. GO OFF KING pic.twitter.com/8q7Rs3uGK2

— ISOALATION 2020 ☣ (@isoakavakimotu) June 1, 2020

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Though he lives thousands miles away, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has been deeply affected by the death of George Floyd.

Adesanya spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally outside the U.S. Embassy in Auckland, New Zealand, on Monday, as a crowd demanded justice for Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis. Officer Derek Chauvin was eventually charged with third-degree murder in Floyd’s death.

“For the last two weeks I’ve been angry. I’m pissed off,” Adesanya told the crowd. “Wait, hold up. How m…

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Spike Carlyle and Vince Morales are facing potential 180-day layoffs following losses at UFC on ESPN 9.

Carlyle, who dropped a unanimous verdict to Billy Quarantillo in a 150-pound catchweight bout, must have his left knee MRI cleared by an orthopedic physician or he will be sidelined six months. At a minimum, Carlyle is not allowed to have contact for 21 days.

Morales, meanwhile, suffered a second-round TKO loss to Chris Gutierrez due to leg kicks in a preliminary featherweight tilt. He must have a right orbital fracture cleared by an opthalmologist or face a six-month sit. At a minimum, Morales is suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission released a full list of medical suspensions from the event on Monday.

UFC on ESPN 9 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on …

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By vanquishing Tyron Woodley in lopsided fashion in the UFC on ESPN 9 main event this past Saturday, Gilbert Burns instantly earned himself a spot on the short list of top welterweight contenders.

But unlike Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards or Colby Covington – all of whom UFC president Dana White recently mentioned as possible foes for Kamaru Usman – a title shot would put Burns in an interesting predicament. Both Burns and Usman train at Hard Knocks 365 in Florida, which would create a teammate-vs.-teammate matchup if they were booked to face one another.

If it means a chance to wear UFC gold, Burns is all in.

“We’re both professionals,” Burns said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I like the guy a lot. He motivated me a lot when he became champion. We always like to work together because I had the jiu-ji…

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Even as Jon Jones is embroiled in a bitter dispute with the UFC and Dana White, he still found time to stop vandalism in his adopted hometown on Sunday night.

The death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer last week has sparked both peaceful protests and violent riots throughout the United States. Jones himself has spoken out and demanded justice for Floyd, but that doesn’t mean he is in favor of tearing down a city to make a point.

In a video posted on Jones’ Instagram account, the light heavyweight champion can be seen taking what appear to be cans of spray paint from two people on the streets of downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The video was accompanied by an angry caption questioning the motives of those using Floyd’s death as an excuse to damage buildings and other property.

“Is th…

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Augusto Sakai is gaining momentum in the UFC’s heavyweight division, but his latest triumph didn’t come without controversy.

Sakai defeated Blagoy Ivanov via split decision in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 9 on Saturday night in Las Vegas. In a competitive bout, Sakai appeared to be aided by a fence grab that prevented him from being taken down in the Round 3. After an otherwise strong final 10 minutes from Sakai, judges Junichiro Kamijo and Ron McCarthy scored the fight 29-28 for the Brazilian, while Michael Bell submitted a 30-27 tally in favor of Ivanov.

Although a takedown at that juncture of the fight might have allowed Ivanov to sway the scorecards in his favor, Sakai claims the move was unintentional and didn’t alter the trajectory of the fight.

“It was something completely subconscious. It was involunt…

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At no point was the outcome ever in doubt. Gilbert Burns was just that dominant against Tyron Woodley in the UFC on ESPN 9 main event on Saturday night.

When all was said and done, the scorecards — 50-44, 50-44 and 50-45 in favor of Burns — painted an accurate picture of the lopsided nature of the bout. Burns nearly finished Woodley during a frenzied opening salvo, and from there, he never allowed the former welterweight champion to find a rhythm. Woodley spent the majority of the 25 minutes on his heels hunting for an opening that never arrived as Burns landed takedowns, controlled positioning and outstruck his opponent at every turn.

“I think I made a statement, to beat the former champ the way I beat him, and being the underdog and people saying, ‘Oh if Woodley shows up,’” Burns said. “And he said he was motivated, …