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Image credit: Mike Jackson/Fury FC

On Friday night, Daniel Pineda took less than five minutes to announce himself as a new presence in the Fury Fighting Championship featherweight division.

In the main event of Fury FC 32, “The Pit,” best-known to fans outside Texas for his seven-fight stint in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, put away Rey Trujillo via first-round punches. After a few wild early exchanges, Pineda rocked Trujillo, followed him to the ground and pummeled him from back mount until referee Joshua Ferraro was forced to intervene at 3:32. The win runs Pineda’s overall record to 25-13, including a 7-2 run across Fury, Bellator MMA and Legacy Fighting Alliance/Legacy Fighting Championship since his departure from the UFC.

In the co-main event, Warren Stewart took a split-decision win over Victor Pozas in a fight in which both men had their moments. Three back-and-forth rounds saw extended action on the ground, with both Stewart and Pozas assuming…

Official Results: James def. Martin via TKO at 4:45 into Round 1. pic.twitter.com/qbLZvxXe38

— AXS TV Fights (@AXSTVFights) May 25, 2019 Legacy Fighting Alliance was back on Friday night for LFA 67 where a heavyweight fight was headlining the card as Daniel James was taking on Patrick Martin. It was also the first fight of LFA's heavyweight tournament where the winner advances to fight for the vacant title.

The main event saw the two heavyweights in James and Martin collide. "The Predator" was solid from the get-go and came out guns blazing. He ended up taking down his opponent and landing some vicious ground and pound on Martin to force the ref to intervene. With the win, he now advances to fight for the vacant heavyweight title and improved to 9-3.

In the co-main event it was a back-and-forth affair with Jaleel Willis edging out a decision win over Dakota Bush. The win pushed Willis to 10-2 showing he is a lightweight prospe…

Welterweights and Women’s Lightweights return Thursday, July 11 to punch their card for the playoffs!

Full #PFL4 card: https://t.co/Uav9aMGC1R pic.twitter.com/TOQxvys1rf

— #PFLmma (@ProFightLeague) May 24, 2019 The Professional Fighters League has revealed the lineup for the event that will determine who gets into the welterweight and women's lightweight tournaments.

On Friday, ESPN and the promotion announced the 10-fight lineup for the deciding event of the welterweight and women's lightweight playoff brackets. This event will be held at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 11, and it will air on ESPN+ and ESPN2.

Headlining the card will be 2018 welterweight champ Magomed Magomedkerimov (24-5) taking on Chris Curtis (21-5). Magomedkerimov tapped out John Howard at PFL 2019 1 in the first round to earn six points, although he was one of three welterweight that night to pick up first-round stoppa…

Ultimate Fighting Championship sensation Conor McGregor appears to have suffered a hand injury while training.

McGregor (21-4) posted to his Instagram on Friday a photo of him wearing a cast on his famed left hand. He did not provide any substantial details of the nature of the injury, how it happened or how long the recovery process will take.

On the post itself, he said "Intense training and sparring session, I will always push it to the limits. This comes off and I push on! The Proper Don! Nothing will stop me."

McGregor retired for the second time in his career on March 26 via Twitter. In that message, he wrote, "Hey guys quick announcement, I've decided to retire from the sport formally known as ‘Mixed Martial Art’ today. I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition. I now join my former partners on this venture, already in retirement. Proper Pina Coladas on me fellas!" Much like his first retirement announcement in 2016, many were skep…

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Dustin Poirier is ready to unify belts with Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year, with all signs pointing to that fight happening in September at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Although the Russian is undefeated, and the big betting favorite, Poirier isn't worried about that. Rather, he knows if he implements his game plan he will be able to hand the champion his first loss.

"There's not like one thing that's glaring at me that we need to work on it's just my overall game and being a better fighter," Poirier said on Below the Belt's Food Truck Diaries with Brendan Schaub as transcribed by BJPenn.com. "We have to make holes by just performing out there. I will and can [get back up after being taken down]. I create space with my Jiu-Jitsu. I don't think people know how long I've been doing Jiu-Jitsu. As long as I've been fighting – before I ever fought. I've been doing Jiu-Jitsu 14 or 15 years, I'm a black belt…

Lance Palmer scooped up the Professional Fighters League's featherweight crown in their first season and he's well on his way to repeating the feat this year.

Palmer (18-3) turned in a workmanlike performance against Alex Gilpin in the PFL 2 2019 main event at NYCB Live at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on Thursday night. "The Party" nearly ended the duel early on when he dropped Gilpin (12-2) with a vicious left hook to the head in the first and then seized his back. Palmer couldn't finish off the ensuing rear-naked choke and then had to slowly break his foe down for the full 15 minutes.

Palmer landed a total of 100 strikes on the ground after repeatedly taking the Wisconsin-based fighter down. Gilpin hung tough for the full three rounds, but he was in over his head against Palmer, who did nearly whatever he wanted on the ground. Palmer couldn't get the finish he so badly coveted, however, and settled for a unanimous decision, which he won via tallies of 30-27 a…

@LFAfighting #LFA67 main event is offical HWs #2 Daniel James vs #4 Patrick Martin battle with a future title shot on the line Live 9 pm ET 6 PT on @AXSTVFights @patmiletich @microphonephoen pic.twitter.com/7bBm7YqWcC

— Ron Kruck (@rkruck) May 23, 2019

Legacy Fighting Alliance returns to Branson, Missouri for LFA 67 this Friday.

In the main event, Daniel James hit the scales at 262.8 pounds as he prepares to take on Patrick Martin (250.4) in a heavyweight clash. In the co-main event, Dakota Bush (156) will meet Bellator MMA and World Series of Fighting veteran Jaleel Willis (156.6) in a lightweight bout.

LFA 67, which airs live on AXS TV on Friday, May 24 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, also features a featherweight scrap between T.J. Brown (147.2) and Ken Beverly (146.8). Sticking in the featherweight division, Terry Britton (144.2) collides with Chris Hatley (145.4). At welterweight, Chel Erwin-Davis (171) will meet Mike Breeden (1…

You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.Kevin Lee’s Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight debut didn’t go as planned last Saturday night as the former lightweight took on Rafael dos Anjos, losing by submission in the fourth round. Lee had moved up from the 155-pound division, citing the tough weight cut as the main reason and many believed the welterweight division would benefit “The Motown Phenom,” especially relating to his well-documented cardio-issues.

It wasn’t the case as history repeated itself and Lee became increasingly sluggish the longer the fight went on and “RDA” capitalised by dragging his opponent into the fourth round before taking the fight to the floor and submitting him.

Lee confirmed on his Instagram account that he would remain at welterweight and that his mental coach is working with him to overcome his Octago…

There will be a second cross-promotional bout at Bellator 222, as Lindsey VanZandt will lock horns with Rizin’s Rena Kubota in New York on June 14.

Bellator President Scott Coker announced the catchweight bout on Wednesday. Kubota vs. Vanzandt will air on the preliminary portion of the card, which is available on Bellator.com and DAZN beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Bellator 222 takes place at Madison Square Garden and is headlined by a light heavyweight scrap between Chael Sonnen and Lyoto Machida. The card will also see Rizin bantamweight champ Kyoji Horiguchi attempt to claim Bellator gold in a rematch with Darrion Caldwell.

Kubota, the reigning Shoot Boxing women’s flyweight champion, is currently Sherdog.com’s No. 5 ranked atomweight. Kubota has been victorious in seven of her nine Rizin appearances, finishing all but one of those victories inside the distance.

VanZandt, meanwhile, is coming off a second-round TKO of Tabitha Ann Watkins in her …

An intriguing bantamweight duel pitting Cory Sandhagen against Raphael Assuncao has been added to the UFC 241 lineup.

ESPN was first to report the bout. UFC 241 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 17 and is headlined by a heavyweight championship rematch between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic. The main card airs on pay-per-view through ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Sandhagen is coming off the biggest win of his career to date, a split-decision triumph against John Lineker at UFC Fort Lauderdale on April 27. The Elevation Fight Team representative has won his last six bouts, including four within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

A perennial bantamweight contender, Assuncao had a four-bout winning streak snapped in a first-round submission loss to Marlon Moraes at UFC Fortaleza on Feb. 2. The 36-year-old Brazilian owns an 11-3 record in UFC competition that includes notable wins over Moraes, Aljamain Sterling, Pedro Munhoz and T.…

Khabib Nurmagomedov teammates Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Zubaira Tukhugov have been granted reduced suspensions by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for their roles in the melee that occurred after the UFC 229 headliner.

Sherdog.com confirmed with NSAC executive director Bob Bennett on Wednesday that the fighters’ attorney put forth a motion requesting a reduction of 35 days in their original one-year suspension. That requested will be fulfilled provided both Nurmagomedov and Tukhugov serve 10 hours of community service apiece with youth in a manner of their choosing.

During their initial hearing, the NSAC did not discuss the community service option with Nurmagomedov and Tukhugov as they did with Khabib Nurmagomedov, which created some leeway with the terms of the suspension.

“We feel there’s precedence for this and it was a reasonable request,” said Bennett.

Nurmagomedov and Tukhugov have already paid their $25,000 NSAC-mandated fines, and Bennett antic…

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

Despite making only two appearances inside the Octagon and not fighting for over a year, Sean O’Malley is fast becoming a household name in the UFC, but according to fellow bantamweight Cody Stamann, he’ll eventually be exposed.

“Sugar” makes his long-awaited return to the Octagon at UFC 239 against Marlon Vera on July 6 with the 24-year-old’s last appearance all the way back at UFC 222 last March against Andre Soukhamthath in a fight he won after injuring his foot. O’Malley’s return was delayed after he was suspended for six months by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for ostarine in October.

Stamann was a guest on the latest edition of Bloody Elbow‘s “Pull No Punches” podcast and claiemd O’Malley’s hype train will come to a sudden halt when he faces a step up in competition.

“It makes sense,” Stamann said. “Sean O’Malley is obviously a …

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Fabian Edwards will square off against Jonathan Bosuku at Bellator London on June 22.

The unbeaten middleweight prospect, who is the younger brother of UFC welterweight Leon Edwards, has also signed a new multi-fight contract with the California-based promotion. Sherdog.com confirmed the news with a Bellator official following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

Bellator London takes place at SSE Arena in London and features a middleweight championship clash between Gegard Mousasi and Rafael Lovato Jr. The card airs on Paramount Network and DAZN in the United States.

The 26-year-old Edwards made a pair of appearances on the promotion’s European Series earlier this year, earning victories over Lee Chadwick and Falco Neto Lopes to improve to 7-0 in his professional career. The latter of those was a highlight-reel finish as “The Assassin” dispatched Lopes with an upkick and follow-up punches at Bel…

Professional Fighters League heavyweight Josh Copeland pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in court on Tuesday, according to TMZ Sports.

The fighter was originally facing four charges – felony assault, domestic violence, obstruction of telephone and child abuse – for allegedy punching his wife in the face during an argument on Feb. 2. Copeland reportedly reached a deal with prosecutors on Tuesday to plead guilty to two assault charges in exchange for having the other charges dropped.

As a result, Copeland was given two years probation with the possibility of jail time if he runs afoul of the law again. Copeland will be allowed to travel for fights if necessary. He was suspended indefinitely by the PFL following the initial charges.

At the time of the incident, Copeland’s wife told Adams County (Colo.) police that the couple had an argument that began with both of them pushing each other and her slapping her husband in the face. Eventually, Copeland allegedly …

Some 11 years after their first meeting, Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell will fight again in a rematch at UFC San Antonio.

Rothwell confirmed the heavyweight booking on his Twitter account following an initial report from ESPN.com. The card takes place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on July 20. A headliner has not been announced for the event.

Arlovski defeated Rothwell via third-round knockout at Affliction “Banned” on July 19, 2008. The “Pit Bull” is currently on a four-bout winless streak in the Octagon, including a split-decision loss to Augusto Sakai at UFC Fight Night 150 on April 27.

Rothwell, meanwhile, returned to action for the first time since April 2016 at UFC Wichita, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to former WSOF champ Blagoy Ivanov on March 9. The Kenosha, Wisc., native is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his 47-bout professional career.

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It turns out that Sage Northcutt’s update on his condition following a 29-second knockout loss to Cosmo Alexandre at One Championship “Enter the Dragon” only scratched the surface regarding the nature of the injury he suffered.

Northcutt initially revealed that he was in surgery for nine hours to repair eight fractures in his face suffered as a result of the knockout punch from Alexandre. Team Alpha Male coach Urijah Faber went into a little more detail during a recent interview with TMZ Sports.

“It’s kinda crazy actually,” Faber said. “He got his face blasted. We said eight fractures [on his face], but literally 30 different pieces. His cheek shattered like an egg shell.

“The whole ride back back in the ambulance Sage is talking to me and his dad and he’s telling us, ‘I’m telling you I broke my arm in three places and this is 40 times worse than any pain I’ve ever felt. It feels like something is p…

Philipe Lins won’t be able to defend his Professional Fighters League heavyweight championship in 2019.

The promotion announced Monday that Lins has withdrawn from the second season due to an undisclosed injury. Lins has been replaced Ezekiel Wily on the PFL heavyweight roster. Wily will lock horns with Satoshi Ishii at PFL 3: 2019 Regular Season on June 6 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.

A six-time Bellator MMA veteran, Lins bested Alex Nicholson, Caio Alencar, Jared Rosholt and Josh Copeland to win the PFL Season 1 heavyweight championship along with a $1 million payout. The 33-year-old Brazilian is 14-3 over the course of a professional career that began in 2005.

Wily is a former collegiate football player at the University of Utah. He owns a 3-1 professional mark.

Given the relative ease with which Khabib Nurmagomedov has dispatched every foe the Ultimate Fighting Championship has placed in front of him in the last five years, it’s natural to ask if there is anyone out there who poses a serious threat.

The UFC’s lightweight division is arguably the most talent-stacked division in the promotion, with the 27-0 Nurmagomedov sitting comfortably atop the mountain. The 30-year-old is set to defend his title at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi this September in a unification fight with interim champion Dustin Poirier. It will be the Nurmagomedov’s first fight since the infamous bout against Conor McGregor back in October and the nine-month suspension he earned for his part in the post-fight melee.

Nurmagomedov’s coach at American Kickboxing Academy, Javier Mendez, was interviewed recently by SportsDaily.ru and gave his assessment of the four contenders that he believes present the biggest challenge to his fighter:

“Talking about four potenti…

Shenzhen bound #UFCShenzhen pic.twitter.com/cG56oaIt60

— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) May 20, 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will break new ground in mainland China this summer.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Sunday that it will hold an event in Shenzhen, China, on Aug. 31. It will mark the UFC’s third consecutive card in mainland China, a streak that began with a sold-out event in Shanghai in 2017.

“We continue to add new cities in China to our global calendar of events, and we are excited to see the momentum that is steadily building,” said UFC Senior Vice President Asia-Pacific, Kevin Chang. “China is the most important growth market for UFC, and our ongoing success is a testament to the loyalty of our passionate fans, the on-going support from our partners, and the work we are doing to fast-track the development of UFC ready athletes in this region.”

The card will take place at Universiade Sports Centre a…

Rafael dos Anjos’ job likely wasn’t in jeopardy at UFC Rochester, but the former lightweight champion still wanted no part of the first three-fight losing streak of his professional career.

The 34-year-old Brazilian has had a trio of two-bout skids during his UFC tenure, the most recent of which came against Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman in five-round welterweight fights. Each time dos Anjos has responded in a big way, and Saturday against Kevin Lee was no different, as the veteran earned a fourth-round submission victory against and a young and talented opponent.

“My debut in the UFC, I lost two in a row,” dos Anjos said during a post-fight interview on ESPN+. “Before I moved up a division, I lost two in a row, and I’m not gonna lie to you guys. I was under a lot of pressure. But it’s good to be back in the winning path.”

Dos Anjos survived a fast start from Lee, who faded as the later rounds arrived. While “The Motown Phenom” was able to land six takedowns, …

No longer facing the grueling weight cut that came with fighting at 155 pounds, Kevin Lee expected to be a new man in his welterweight debut at UFC Rochester on Saturday night.

Instead, “The Motown Phenom” faded down the stretch and succumbed to an arm-triangle choke submission from Rafael dos Anjos at the 3:47 mark of the fourth round in the evening’s headliner at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. Once viewed as one of the sport’s top rising stars, Lee has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. The 26-year-old was clearly disappointed in his performance, but he offered no excuses in a video post to his Instagram account.

“Don’t know what happened out there tonight. I thought I did everything right leading up to this fight,” Lee said. “Tried to eliminate every little distraction, everything that wasn’t good for me. I swear I felt like something, everything was falling into place, was talking to me even before I walked out there, and it still wasn’t enough.…

You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sometimes old dogs have no need for new tricks. Rafael dos Anjos reasserted himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division and closed the book on a two-fight losing streak, as he submitted Kevin Lee with an arm-triangle choke in the fourth round of their UFC Fight Night 152 headliner on Saturday at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. An exhausted Lee (17-5, 10-5 UFC) conceded defeat 3:47 into Round 4.

A former lightweight titleholder who has more than held his own at 170 pounds, dos Anjos (29-11, 18-9 UFC) leaned his deep reservoir of experience, weathered an early onslaught and made “The Motown Phenom” work for every inch of ground he gained. Fatigue was quick to set in. Dos Anjos made his move in the third and fourth rounds, as he took advantage of a depleted opponent. He d…

From TUF to the strap!

Welcome to the #UFCHoF, @SugaRashadEvans!

B2YB: @ToyoTires pic.twitter.com/LfBmnV9Etq— UFC (@ufc) May 19, 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship went to Rochester, N.Y. for UFC Fight Night 152 on Saturday night, and on the broadcast it announced Rashad Evans will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.

“Rashad and I have been close since season two of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and we’ve had an amazing relationship,” UFC President Dana White said. “It has been fun to see him succeed and grow as a fighter, become a world champion and then a respected coach for up and coming fighters, and then to see him retire last year. I love to see him still involved with UFC. I couldn’t be prouder of Rashad than I am right now with him being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.”

The veteran finished his MMA career with a record of 24-8-1 and had notable wins over the likes of Chuck Liddell, Forrest G…

You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

UFC Fight Night 152 airs on ESPN+ with the prelims at 5 p.m. ET and the main card starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin …