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Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

There were no suprises when it came to bonus selections at UFC 253, as Israel Adesanya, Jan Blachowicz, Brandon Royval and Kai Kara France eached received an extra $50,000 for their work in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

Adesanya earned a “Performance of the Night” award for an impressive stoppage of Paulo Costa in the evening’s middleweight headliner. “The Last Stylebender” chopped away at his opponent’s legs early before flooring the Brazilian with a left hook and sealing his victory with ground-and-pound at the 3:59 mark of Round 2 to retain his 185-pound title.

Meanwhile, Blachowicz garnered the evening’s other “Performance of the Night” check for a second-round technical knockout of Dominick Reyes in a matchup for the vacant light heavyweight crown in the co-main event. The Polish veteran appeared to break Reyes’ n…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The divide between Israel Adesanya and his top challenger was far greater than anyone realized. “The Last Stylebender” retained the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title with a scintillating stoppage of Paulo Costa in the UFC 253 headliner on Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Costa (13-1, 5-1 UFC) met his end 3:59 into Round 2, the latest victim on Adesanya’s march to all-time greatness.

It was a blowout from start to finish. Adesanya (20-0, 9-0 UFC) wrecked the Brazilian’s lead leg with repeated kicks, frustrated him with quick movements and methodically dismantled him. He unleashed a multi-punch volley to the head and body in the second round, floored Costa with a compact left hook and closed the door on him with mounted ground-and-pound.

Blachowicz Fells Reyes, Strikes UF…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC 253 “Adesanya vs. Costa” coverage begins Saturday at 7 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:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp …

THE EARTHQUAKE!

@BradQuakeRiddel erupts in the last two rounds for the UD!

[ #UFC253 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/8fLF134oOg — UFC (@ufc) September 27, 2020

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Brad Riddell may not be a household name in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division, but he appears to be moving in that direction.

The City Kickboxing standout weathered some early adversity, hit the accelerator and climbed another rung on the 155-pound ladder, as he took a unanimous decision from Alex da Silva Coelho in the featured UFC 253 prelim on Saturday at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three judges scored it 29-28 for Riddell (9-1, 3-0 UFC), who now finds himself in possession of a six-fight winning streak.

Coelho (21-3, 1-2 UFC) secured two taked…

BIG takedown from Costello van Steenis on Fabian Edwards in round !

This tense main event is LIVE NOW on @channel5_tv. #BellatorMilan pic.twitter.com/DnlZVKGwMq

— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) September 26, 2020 Costello van Steenis knocked Fabian Edwards from the ranks of the unbeaten at Bellator Milan on Saturday at Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. It was Bellator’s first event in Europe since the COVID-19 outbreak.  

The middleweight contenders studied each other for the majority of the first stanza, but it looked like it was van Steenis (13-2) who deserved to take the round home, as he landed several brutal leg kicks on Edwards’ (9-1) lead leg. In the second frame, "The Spaniard" landed the first takedown of the match, dragging Edwards into a sticky situation thanks to an almost-closed guillotine choke attempt. In the last few seconds of Round 2, van Steenis landed several heavy shots of ground-and-pound that alm…

Mason 'The Dragon' Jones is THE MAN.

A TKO victory in the first round - he is now the double champ. DOUBLE DRAGON #CW116 pic.twitter.com/Pb2vev6E03

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 26, 2020 Mason Jones can now call himself a two-division champion in Cage Warriors.

The reigning lightweight king defeated Adam Proctor via technical knockout to claim the vacant 170-pound strap in the Cage Warriors 116 main event at BEC Arena in Manchester, England, on Saturday. Jones (10-0) brought a halt to the contest with a series of unanswered punches to the side of his opponent’s head 4:31 into Round 1.

“They look good on my shoulders,” Jones said of the belts. “Everyone knew I could do this. I knew I could get him out of there early, and I showed that.”

Jones ignored a visible size discrepancy to draw Proctor (12-2) into a fire fight. Although Proctor was able to sting the Welshman with long, rangy strikes on occasion, “The Dragon” l…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiIlguJ4I6I&w=560&h=315] Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Although a pair of bouts have been transformed into 150-pound catchweights, the weigh-ins for UFC 253 are official and the championship bouts are set. The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to "Fight Island" for its latest pay-per-view. UFC 253 is headlined by a middleweight title tilt as champion Israel Adesanya takes on rival Paulo Henrique Costa. The co-headliner will also put gold on the line, where the promotion will see a new light heavyweight king crowned.

While his last fight against Yoel Romero was a dud, Adesanya (19-0) will look to put on an exciting bout in his second title defense. Adesanya’s incredible rise to stardom saw him knockout Robert Whittaker and win clear decisions over Kelvin Gastelum and Anderson Silva along the way. “The Last Styleben…

Conor McGregor says he is fighting Manny Pacquiao. PLEASE happen.

Opening odds @betonline_ag :

Pac-Man -1200Conor +700

Odds> https://t.co/Brb9nyMjEX

— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) September 25, 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. Manny Pacquiao has predictably opened as a massive favorite over Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor.

On Friday, McGregor (22-4 MMA, 0-1 Box) revealed that he was negotiating with the UFC and Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) to stage a boxing match towards the end of the year. Even though the matchup is far from official, betting lines have opened with McGregor as a huge underdog against his potential Filipino foe.

According to sportsbook betonline.ag, Pacquiao is a -1200 favorite against McGregor (+700) in their discussed bout. This same book has boxing lines of potential Flo…

A smooth transition to a submission victory for the champAll in two minutes #AndStill #CW115

Knockouts and submissions, whats next for Jack Cartwright? pic.twitter.com/Q8lp0xHlUM

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 25, 2020 It was a quick night at the office for the defending champion. The CW 115 card was headlined by the championship battle between Jack Cartwright (9-0) and Gerardo Fanny (9-2). It took just over two minutes for Cartwright to secure the victory, doing so with style points. The British fighter relocated the action to the floor as soon as the fight started, and after a few scrambles, he locked an arm-triangle choke that forced Fanny to tap. The win was Cartwright’s fifth by submission, and all five have come in the first round.

Precision and pressure, James Webb gets the W and is on the road back to the top

A first round submission #CW115 pic.twitter.com/jUn5fWJ5CS

— Cage Warriors (@…

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. After calling out practically everyone in his division and a few others, Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Marvin Vettori finally has a fight in the form of a previous opponent. The story first breaking from MMA Junkie on Friday, Vettori (15-4-1) confirmed on his Instagram page that he will be squaring off with Omari Akhmedov (20-5-1) at UFC 256. The two middleweights will come to blows for the second time on Dec. 12, and the expected venue for this pay-per-view card is at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. They first fought at UFC 219 in 2017, where the bout was scored a majority draw.

Vettori last competed in June, when he tapped Karl Roberson in the first round to settle their grudge match. The win put Vettori on a three-fight win streak, which tied the record for the longest win streak of any Italian fighter in UFC his…

Anyway all water under the bridge who gives a fook.I’m boxing Manny Pacquiao next in the Middle East.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 25, 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. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champ Conor McGregor has his sights set on boxing again. In a lengthy string of tweets from “Notorious” on Friday, McGregor posted several text messages sent back and forth between UFC President Dana White earlier this year. Among topics the Irishman discussed on Twitter included his intent on fighting UFC Hall of Famer Diego Sanchez, his disinterest in serving as an injury replacement and his desire to put on a blockbuster event. McGregor concluded his series of messages by putting the sport on notice that he was going to box again, and that his opponent of choice is all-time great Manny Pacquiao…

.@LFAfighting brings a #Bantamweight Showdown to #Kansas at #LFA92! @KevinWirthMMAvs.@AK_MMA94

Friday, October 2@HartmanArena#ParkCity, #Kansas#MMA#LFANation@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/CL5mLzXjyW

— LFA (@LFAfighting) September 25, 2020 The Legacy Fighting Alliance has announced the lineup of its first of three cards in October. The promotion made official in a press release on Friday that three events would take place on Oct. 2, Oct. 16 and Oct. 30 all at the Hartman Arena in Wichita, Kansas. The LFA recently ended a stretch of events in Sioux Falls, South Dakota earlier in September. It is unclear if the LFA will stay in Kansas after October, but these three will be held in the same arena in October. Each of the events will air on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on their respective dates.

LFA 92 will be topped by a sure-fire bantamweight thriller between Kevin Wirth (8-1) and Askar Askar (10-1). Since a split verdict loss a…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaaEdAbv_04&w=640&h=360] Bellator MMA’s return to Europe has started off right, with a weigh-in ceremony with no complications.

Bellator closes out an eventful September with its latest event from Milan, Italy. The European Series card is headlined by a middleweight bout between Costello van Steenis and Fabian Edwards. All 13 fights are now official after the weigh-ins took place Friday morning.

The undefeated Edwards has been perfect throughout all nine fights in his mixed martial arts career. His well-rounded nature has been shown as his wins are evenly split between knockouts, submissions and decisions. “The Assassin” most recently won a split decision over Mike Shipman and will look to impress in his first main event. The English fighter looked prepared on the scales and weighed 185 pounds.

Looking to rebound from a disappointing decision loss to John Salter is van Steenis (12-2). "The Spaniard" had won six fights in a row p…

Congratulations to the NEW Cage Warriors Flyweight Champion, Luke 'The Apocalypse' Shanks

We have a new king in the flyweight division #CW114 pic.twitter.com/JC1Ns5Cgvd

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 24, 2020 “The Apocalypse” has come for Cage Warriors Fighting Championship’s flyweight division. The CW 114 main event featured Samir Faiddine (11-7) putting his 125-pound title on the line against Luke Shanks (7-1). The defending champion looked competitive in the first round, but things went downhill quickly. By the second frame, Shanks exposed all Faiddine’s gaps in his takedown defense. From there, “The Apocalypse” took his opponent down practically at will, where he mauled Faiddine with relentless ground-and-pound. This strategy repeated itself throughout the remaining rounds without mercy. After one of the most one-sided fights in Cage Warriors history, Shanks was awarded a unanimous decision victory with scorecards tallying …

Ultimate acertou a contratação de Dricus du Plessis, ex-campeão do KSW, e estreia deve ser no dia 10 de outubro contra Markus Maluko. Após longa disputa com o evento polonês, sul-africano conseguiu sua dispensa e assinou com UFC. Brasileiro já assinou contrato da luta. #feedmma

— Raphael Marinho (@raphamarinho) September 24, 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. A big South African prospect has been let out of his KSW contract and has opted to sign with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. According to a report from Combate on Thursday, Dricus du Plessis (14-2) has secured his release from KSW after battling with the Polish promotion the last few months. Du Plessis will be stepping in on short notice in a middleweight bout against Markus Perez (12-3) at UFC Fight Night 179, which will be held on Oct. 10 at the Flash Forum in Abu …

Sean Santella and Jose Torres fight to a majority draw in an exciting main event at #BRAVECF42

Rematch in the making! Stay Tuned BRAVE Nation @Srock125 @ShortyTorresMMA

.#BRAVECF pic.twitter.com/scWvRCtacv — BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) September 24, 2020 Only one fighter advanced to the semifinals of the Brave Combat Federation flyweight tournament today after an event full of decisions.

In the main event of Brave CF 42, Jose Torres (9-1-1) made his long-awaited return to the cage after over a year away by taking on Sean Santella (23-7-2). The winner was set to advance to the semifinal to crown Brave’s first 125-pound champ, but that was not meant to be in the battle of “Shorty” vs. “Shorty Rock.” In the first two rounds, Santella showed off his Brazilian jiu-jitsu prowess. Santella took his opponent’s back with ease, keeping “Shorty” trapped on the canvas with a tight body triangle. However, Torres managed to defend all the su…

Breaking: UFC working on Thiago Santos (@TMarretaMMA) vs. Glover Teixeira (@gloverteixeira) to headline a Fight Night on Nov. 7, per sources ... This fight has been postponed twice due to Covid-19. Recent quotes from Santos included in the article. https://t.co/HaEdZi79XC

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) September 24, 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. Let us hope the third time is the charm for this exciting Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight matchup. The story first coming from ESPN on Thursday, Thiago Santos (21-7) and Glover Teixeira (31-7) are being re-booked to headline the Nov. 7 UFC Fight Night event. The two light heavyweights have been scheduled to compete against one another in September and October, but the first was scuttled when Teixeira tested positive for COVID-19 and the second scratched when Santos…

Your #UFCFightIsland6 co-main!@Volkan_Oezdemir vs @KrylovUFC is official! pic.twitter.com/rVJNY0kXGZ

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 24, 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. The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Oct. 17 event has added a fun light heavyweight tilt in the co-headliner spot. The promotion announced the new co-main matchup on Thursday for UFC Fight Night 180 on Oct. 17. At 205 pounds, Volkan Oezdemir (17-5) will square off with Nikita Krylov (27-7), in a battle between two men that have won only five decisions across 44 victories. This fight card will be held at the Flash Forum in Yas Island, United Arab Emirates, in the fourth of a five-event stretch on the island.

Oezdemir saw a two-fight win streak end violently at the hands of Jiri Prochazka in July. Although Daniel Cormier finished him with strikes in their…

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. Count Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Gilbert Burns among those that give Michael Chandler a chance should Chandler fight for a belt at UFC 254. The win for Colby Covington over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC Fight Night 178 brought “Chaos” back to the #1 position in the rankings. According to the #2 Burns, these ranking exchanges will not take away his upcoming title shot.

“Fortunately, this ranking is not made by the UFC,” Burns explained to Sherdog. “I called [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby last Friday and he guaranteed I’ll be the next [challenger]. I’m just waiting for the contract to sign my fight with [Kamaru] Usman.”

Coming from an impressive sequence of six wins in UFC, the former lightweight with four straight wins in his new division did not hide his disappointment with those that…

Mike Perry vs. Robbie Lawler is booked for UFC 255 on Nov. 21, according to multiple sources.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 24, 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. A sure-fire welterweight banger is headed towards the Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view card in November. ESPN announced the news on Thursday that Robbie Lawler (28-15, 1 NC) will be squaring off with Mike Perry (14-6) at UFC 255. Their 170-pound affair will be taking place on Nov. 21, likely at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Lawler has not won a fight since 2017, dropping four consecutive bouts to Rafael dos Anjos, Ben Askren, Colby Covington and Neil Magny since then. Although the Askren bout was marred with controversy with a questionable stoppage from referee Herb Dean, the other three unanimous decision defeats left no doubt. The former champ w…

Talk about explosive! @Semtex_170 fights @DerekBarbaric on 10/1 at #Bellator247.

You can watch it all go down LIVE via The Bellator Mobile App!#Bellator247 #MMA pic.twitter.com/bba8KCbOHB

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) September 22, 2020 The first Bellator MMA card on CBS Sports is now set. On Thursday, the promotion released the full lineup for the event that will take place at the Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. Bellator 247 on Oct. 1 – a Thursday, breaking with standard tradition of Bellator shows on Friday or Saturday – will be topped by a welterweight thriller between Paul Daley (41-17-2) and Derek Anderson (16-3, 1 NC). Unlike previous Bellator fight nights that take place in Europe, there will be no tape delay to international audiences. The 10-fight preliminary card will be aired on CBSSports.com and Bellator’s YouTube channel, while the four-fight main card will be the first Bellator offering on the CBS Sports Network.

The event, …

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

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

After 10 months away from the Octagon due to injury, Brazilian Ketlen Vieira will face an added challenge for her return against Sijara Eubanks on Saturday at UFC 253.

Vieira’s coach, Andre Pederneiras, tested positive for COVID-19 upon their arrival in Abu Dhabi this week. Because Pederneiras and Vieira traveled to the Yas Island on different flights (the coach traveled commercially while Vieira arrived on a flight chartered by the promotion), the UFC did not remove the bantamweight from the card.

Pederneiras, who will have to remain isolated in his Abu Dhabi hotel for 14 days, explained his strange case to Sherdog.com on Wednesday.

  “Actually I had a positive serological test on May 21. One week latter I did a…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

The UFC’s outfitting partner is not on board with Colby Covington’s views regarding the Black Lives Matter movement.

Reebok issued a statement to Bloody Elbow condemning the comments Covington made on the issue following his victory over Tyron Woodley at UFC Fight Night 178 this past Saturday in Las Vegas. The apparel company, which has partnered with the UFC since 2015, does not have a separate sponsorship deal with Covington as it does with many of the promotion’s athletes. However, Covington is required to wear Reebok apparel during fight week and in the Octagon as part of the outfitting policy.

“Reebok is the uniform provider for the UFC, however we do not sponsor Colby Covington,” the statement read. “We do not agree with the sentiments he expressed, and stand firm in our belief that Black lives matter. We stand…

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

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya insists his rivalry with Paulo Henrique Costa is nothing personal.

In fact, he claims that his UFC 253 opponent is doing the majority of the work when it comes to manufacturing animosity leading up to Saturday’s headling bout on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

“If you look at it, you can really ask yourself, who’s been doing the trash talking? Who’s been the one posting stupid memes? They’re not even that creative. Who’s been the one posting videos and putting the effort into trying to create something?” Adesanya asked during UFC 253 media day. “I just said I don’t like the guy because I don’t like his vibe, I don’t like the way he looks. I’m honest about it. He’s always trying to create something, the reason why he doe…