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It appears that UFC 240 has its co-headliner, as Cristiane Justino and Felicia Spencer are likely to meet at the July 27 event in Edmonton.

UFC president Dana White confirmed to ESPN.com on Wednesday that the fight has been offered to both “Cyborg” and Spencer. UFC 240 will be held at Rogers Place and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash pitting Max Holloway against Frankie Edgar. The main card is available on pay-per-view through ESPN+.

Justino hasn’t fought since losing the featherweight title in a first-round knockout loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 on Dec. 29. That ended a 21-fight unbeaten streak for the 33-year-old Brazilian, who has finished 17 of her career triumphs by KO or TKO. Justino is reportedly on the final bout of her UFC deal.

Spencer, meanwhile, scored a first-round submission of fellow former Invicta FC queen Megan Anderson in her Octagon debut at UFC Rochester. “FeeNom” is now 7-0 as a professional, with four wins via submission …

A women’s bantamweight clash between Germaine de Randamie and Aspen Ladd is expected to serve as the headliner for UFC Sacramento.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the 135-pound pairing. UFC Sacramento takes place at Golden1 Center on July 13 and will also include the return of Urijah Faber, as he faces Ricky Simon in a featured bantamweight contest. The evening’s main card will air on ESPN+.

A former UFC featherweight champion, De Randamie enters the contest on a four-bout winning streak in the Octagon. “The Iron Lady” last appeared at UFC Fight Night 139, where she outpointed Raquel Pennington on Nov. 10.

A five-time Invicta FC veteran, Ladd is unbeaten in eight professional outings. That includes triumphs over Lina Lansberg, Tonya Evinger and Sijara Eubanks in UFC competition. The 24-year-old has finished five of her victories by KO/TKO and one via submission.

Felicia Spencer made her Octagon debut against Megan Anderson at UFC Rochester on May 18, maintaining her undefeated record with a first-round submission victory. For the ex-Invicta titlist, it was about as perfect as a fight could go. 


“Yeah, it really did. Everything we trained for happened. It really did go down perfect,” Spencer said to Sherdog.com.

Not only was it a dominant win for Spencer, but it was even more satisfying considering the fact that “Feenom” entered the fight as the underdog. However, Spencer enjoys proving everyone wrong.

“She deserved to be the favorite, she was already in the UFC,” Spencer said. “I love to be in that situation.”


After the fight, talks of Spencer facing Cristiane Justino next began almost immediately. Many thought the two could fight for an interim title, and “Cyborg” has even changed her Twitter handle to read Spencer vs. Cyborg #UFC240. But, according to Spencer, she is unsure what is next for her.


"I …

The lineup for UFC 240 is beginning to take shape, as the promotion on Tuesday confirmed a trio of contests for the July 27 event.

The newly-announced bouts are as followed: Lauren Murphy vs. Mara Romero Borella at flyweight; Gillan Robertson vs. Sarah Frota at flyweight and Erik Koch vs. Kyle Stewart at welterweight.

UFC 240 take place at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar. The main card airs on pay-per-view through ESPN+, with prelims airing on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

Murphy is 2-4 during her promotional tenure and is coming off a decision loss to Sijara Eubanks at UFC Fight Night 131. Borella, meanwhile, has won two of her three Octagon appearances, including a split verdict over Taila Santos in her most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 144.

Robertson has won three of her four promotional outings and is coming off a second-round submission of Veronica Macedo at…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftUG_2vrN3I&w=640&h=360] After a year layoff from mixed martial arts, Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Makwan Amirkhani is set to return to the Octagon at UFC Stockholm this Saturday and will face English native Chris Fishgold.

"Mr. Finland" stepped away from MMA for almost a year to focus solely on the "Sweet Science." Amirkhani (14-3) told Ariel Helwani that he dedicated 10 months of his life to boxing. "I did six amateur boxing fights and I was training 10 months just pure boxing, not a single day of MMA." Amirkhani only added MMA back into his regimen two months ago.

Amirkhani's goal with going all-in on boxing was to elevate his striking game to the level of his wrestling game. The 27-year-old confessed that he also underwent a complete lifestyle change, eliminating all form of distraction and treating himself like a true professional athlete. The complete dedication to his sport has left Amirkhani feeling like a…

An intriguing featherweight bout between Mirsad Bektic and Josh Emmett has been confirmed for UFC Sacramento, according to MMAjunkie.com and Farah Hannoun. 

Bektic last fought at UFC 225, where he beat Ricardo Lamas by decision. He was then expected to take on Renato Carneiro at UFC 231 but had to withdraw due to an undisclosed injury. The Bosnian fighter is currently on the bubble in Sherdog’s official mixed martial arts rankings.

Emmett, meanwhile, returned the Octagon at UFC Philadelphia and knocked out Michael Johnson to get back into the win column. Before the win, Emmett lost by knockout to Jeremy Stephens and was out of action for 13 months. Like Bektic, he too has a win over Lamas, but he knocked “The Bully” out in the first round. The 34-year-old is also on the bubble in Sherdog’s rankings for the featherweight division. 


UFC Sacramento goes down on July 13 and currently, no headliner has been announced for the ESPN+ card.

Former middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho will square off against Chidi Njokuani at Bellator 224 on July 12.

Sherdog.com confirmed the booking on Monday with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. Bellator 224 takes place at Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and will feature a women’s featherweight title clash between Julia Budd and Olga Rubin.

After relinquishing the middleweight crown to Gegard Mousasi in a first-round TKO defeat at Bellator 200, Carvalho dropped a split verdict to former UFC light heavyweight titlist Lyoto Machida in his most recent outing at Bellator 213. Prior to those setbacks, the 32-year-old Rio de Janeiro native had won 15 consecutive bouts — including six in Bellator.

Njokuani, meanwhile, has lost two of his last three appearances within the California-based promotion, sandwiching a decision win over Hisaki Kato between a TKO loss to Andrey Koreshkov and a submission defeat against John Salt…

Urijah Faber recently hinted that he would like to come out of retirement, and now it appears those plans are more concrete.

In a recent interview with UFC analyst Dan Hardy, Faber confirmed that he has already accepted a fight. The Las Vegas-based promotion has not confirmed a date or opponent for Faber’s return, but the Hall of Famer previously indicated that he would like to fight at the upcoming UFC Sacramento card.

“Looking at today’s landscape, I just know that I can compete easily,” Faber told Hardy (via The Mac Life). “I’ve stayed in great shape. It sounds like fun and the reason I stopped is because I wanted to. The reason I’m coming back is I have decided I want to … I just accepted a fight yesterday. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be put out yet.”

Faber added that he had been encouraged to return to the sport by former two-division champion Conor McGregor in past conversations.

“Conor McGregor and I talk on occasion and he’s always, like, cla…

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robesiy Ramirez has signed a multi-year contract with Top Rank. The 25-year-old southpaw is expected to make his professional debut later this year.

Ramirez, who defected from Cuba last year, currently resides in Gulfport, Florida, and will train under Rob Mendez. Looking to compete as a featherweight, Ramirez is now on the same playing field and in the same promotion as Shakur Stevenson and Michael Conlan, boxers who Ramirez defeated during his gold-winning runs in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games.

"What a gift to sign a two-time Olympic gold medalist like Robeisy Ramirez," said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. "The last two-time gold medalist that we signed out of the amateurs, Vasiliy Lomachenko, has become a big star. We anticipate the same from Robesiy. He is truly a special talent, and he has what it takes to get to the top of the featherweight division in short order."

In addition to besting Conlan in the 2012 Olympic flyweight semi…

Elias Theodorou’s latest performance apparently didn’t score him any points with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The middleweight was among four fighters recently released by the Las Vegas-based promotion, joining Wilson Reis, Marcelo Golm and Eric Shelton. The news was first reported by Combate and later confirmed by TSN.

Perhaps the most surprising of those is Theodorou, who had won five of six promotional appearances prior to a decision loss to Derek Brunson in the UFC Ottawa co-main event on May 4. However, while the 30-year-old Canadian has been largely successful in compiling an 8-3 UFC record, his bouts – including the loss to Brunson – aren’t usually known for their entertainment value.

Reis, a former flyweight title challenger, exits the UFC having lost four of his last five appearances. Most recently, the 34-year-old Brazilian suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 236.

After submitting Christian Colombo in …

Alex Oliveira is wanted for allegedly attacking his ex-wife and taking their infant son on his motorcycle, according to reports from multiple Brazilian outlets.

G1 was first to report the news regarding the UFC welterweight, and it was also confirmed by UOL and ESPN Brasil.

According to the reports, the incident occurred at the home of Oliveira’s parents, where the fighter allegedly was intoxicated and wanted to take his 5-month-old son on a motorcycle ride. Oliveira then allegedly punched his ex-wife and pulled her hair and broke windows and a door before leaving with the infant on the vehicle.

“According to his former partner, he appeared to be drunk and wanted to take the child and leave with the motorcycle,” precinct chief Andre Lourenco told UOL (translation via MMAjunkie.com). “They started an argument, and he would have attacked her with punches to the head and slaps. His parents intervened, put her in the house, but he, very agitated, would have broken th…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8lhOeEuzNo&w=560&h=315]

The lineup for UFC Stockholm is complete with 13 bouts, as Rostem Akman will step in on short notice to face Sergey Khandozhko, according to multiple reports.

Akman replaces Bartosz Fabinski, who recently withdrew from the welterweight contest. UFC Fight Night 153 takes place at Ericcson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday and is headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Smith. The main card airs on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN2.

A Stockholm native, Akman is unbeaten in his MMA career thus far. The Fightzone Stockholm representative last appeared at Superior Challenge 19, where he scored a third-round technical knockout of Mauricio Reis.

Moscow’s Khandozhko has compiled a 25-5-1 mark since beginning his pro tenure in 2011. However, the 27-year-old is just 7-4 since 2015 after losing just once in his first 20 MMA appearances.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida carries lofty goals as he prepares to make his second Bellator MMA entrance on June 14. The 40-year-old is scheduled to face another mixed martial arts luminary in Chael Sonnen at Bellator 222 in New York. Taking place at the iconic Madison Square Garden, Machida is moving up from middleweight to light heavyweight to face his 42-year-old opponent.

In a recent interview with Danny Segura of MMA Fighting, Machida admits that moving up from 185 pounds to 205 pounds was almost an inevitability. "As I said, I like to be busy, and in order to be busy, I have no choice sometimes. So I said to Bellator that I would like to fight even if it would be 205, I would like to accept any fight and Bellator came up with Chael's name, and I said this is gonna be great, man, this is gonna be outstanding, because especially here in New York, in Madison Square Garden, it means a lot to me."

Machida, who debuted i…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Bryan Caraway is set to make his first appearance for Battlefield Fighting Championship, the South Korean combat sports promotion that also recently signed former Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks. This Battlefield FC news also serves to inadvertently confirm that Caraway is no longer with the UFC, information that was unknown prior to the disclosure of this July 27 matchup.

Caraway holds a 21-9 professional mixed martial arts record, with his UFC tally at 5-4. His last bout in the Octagon resulted in a first-round loss against Pedro Munhoz. "Kid Lightning" earned notable UFC wins over Eddie Wineland and Aljamain Sterling before losing two in a row against rising prospect Cody Staman and Munhoz.

The 34-year old MMA veteran will now travel from his native Washington state to Macau, China, to fight on Battlefield FC 2 against Raja Shippen. Shippen (18-11-1) competed in the inaugural Battlefield FC show back in Mar…

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…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjt2rf6_Pa8&w=560&h=315]

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 …