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There’s a different angle now available in the Conor McGregor cell phone case.

TMZ Sports recently published new surveillance footage of McGregor allegedly destroying a man’s cell phone outside a Miami nightclub, and the video seems to support Ahmed Abdirzak’s claims that the Irish star pretended to go in for a handshake before snatching his device.

In the footage, McGregor appears to extended his hand before taking Abdirzak’s phone. He then stomps on the phone before picking it up and walking away. The phone is reportedly valued at $1,000.

McGregor’s attorney, Sam Rabin, entered a not guilty plea on the fighter’s behalf at an arraignment on Wednesday. The 30-year-old Dublin native was not present at the hearing. McGregor’s next court date is set for April 30, and if a plea deal isn’t reached, a trial will begin on May 13.

McGregor was initially arrested and charged with felony strong-armed ro…

UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn has been accused of verbal, physical and sexual abuse in a restraining order filed by his partner of 10 years, Shealen Uaiwa.

According to a statement obtained by MMAjunkie.com , Uaiwa writes, “During our 10-year relationship, I [endured] verbal abuse, physical abuse…sexual abuse.

“..B.J. has been a drug addict since he was 14. He has patterns of up and down drug use and uses his training camps to try and stay sober.”

Uaiwa initially obtained a restraining order against Penn in October in Hawaii family court, and the order was extended until Oct. 8, 2021 following a February hearing. Penn was required to stay at least 100 feet away from Uaiawa in the initial order, but he is allowed supervised visits with the couple’s two children and some interaction with Uaiawa through their attorneys, according to the report.

Penn’s attorney, John Schmidtke Jr., couldn’t comment on the allegations but told MMAjunkie that the records contained …

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Alistair Overeem has spent well over a decade as a top-10 fighter across two weight classes, and attributes that longevity to periodic changes in scenery.

The former Strikeforce champion and Pride Fighting Championships standout has trained in some of the very best gyms including the likes of the Blackzilians, Jackson-Wink MMA and his current gym he calls home, Team Elevation.

Overeem is a veteran of 62 MMA fights (44-17, 1 NC) and was a guest on “The MMA Hour” this week, where he told host Luke Thomas that if he didn’t change up camps, particularly after some of his losses, he might have retired from the sport by now.

“If I had stayed in one or two places, I’d probably be retired by now,” Overeem said. “Because as a fighter, you can get compromised. It’s not for everybody, but I have been compromised a couple times in my career, and to me, it was do or die time. I had to make some changes.

“…

Sergey Spivak will be making his Octagon debut on short notice when he faces Walt Harris at UFC Ottawa on May 4.

The promotion announced the new heavyweight pairing on Tuesday. Spivak steps in for Alexey Oleynik, who was transported to face Alistair Overeem at UFC St. Petersburg on April 20 after Alexander Volkov was pulled from that card.

A 24-year-old native of Kiev, Ukraine, Spivak is unbeaten in nine professional appearances. “The Polar Bear” last appeared at World Warriors Fighting Championship 12 on Sept. 29, where he submitted well-traveled veteran Tony Lopez with a neck crank in the opening stanza. Spivak has finished all of his victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

Harris, meanwhile, had a recent win over Andrei Arlovski at UFC 232 overturned to a no contest due to an anti-doping violation. Prior to that bout, “The Big Ticket” is 3-2 in his last five appearances with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

UFC Fight Night 150 takes place …

USADA came down twice as hard on T.J. Dillashaw as the New York State Athletic Commission did, handing the champion a two-year suspension for a failed drug test at UFC Brooklyn.

The UFC’s anti-doping body announced the sanction in a statement on Tuesday, revealing that Dillashaw tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO). The banned substance is a synthetic hormone that increases the body’s production of red blood cells, which as a result improves oxygen transport and aerobic power.

Dillashaw is just the second UFC fighter to test positive for EPO under USADA jurisdiction. Lightweight veteran Gleison Tibau twice tested positive for the substance and was suspended for two years in 2015. Prior to the USADA era, Chael Sonnen and Ali Bagautinov were notable fighters to have been flagged for EPO use. Cycling star Lance Armstrong is perhaps the most-well known offender to have taken EPO in the athletic realm.

Dillashaw’s sanction is retroactive to Jan. …

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship signee Artem Lobov made his bare-knuckle boxing debut this past weekend when he took on another former UFC fighter in Jason Knight at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 5 in Biloxi, Mississippi.

“The Russian Hammer” and Knight delivered a fight-of-the-year performance putting everything on the line until the final bell rang with the judges awarding the win to Lobov via unanimous decision. Lobov and Knight have both been praised for their toughness and durability after the fight with images of their busted-up faces making the rounds on social media.

Despite the images, Lobov believes Bareknuckle boxing “is a lot safer” than boxing, MMA and American Football especially when it comes to long-term injuries such as brain damage. The injuries as he puts it will go away “in a week or two” and are cosmetic compared to serious injuries like brain damage, which is pe…

Ross Pearson is retiring from mixed martial arts following a 37-bout career.

The 34-year-old Englishman announced his decision Monday via Instagram. “The Real Deal” left the door open to compete in combat sports outside the realm of MMA.

“After some long hard talks, and careful consideration with my family, friends and team,  I’ve decided it's time to retire as an MMA fighter,” Pearson wrote. “As hard as that is to say, it’s not the end of my career as a competitor. I’ve always been a fighter, and right now I am keeping my mind open as to what's next for me.

“I'd like take this time to thank everyone at the [UFC] for having me for the past 10 years [and Dana White] for seeing something in me and believing in me for all these years ago.”

Pearson exits the sport in an extended slump, as he is 1-6 in the Octagon dating back to July 2016. He last appeared at UFC on ESPN, where he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Desmond Green on March 30.…

Conor McGregor is reportedly once again on the wrong side of the law.

According to the Irish Mirror, McGregor is under investigation for allegedly punching a man in a Dublin bar. The former UFC champion was reportedly at the Marble Arch pub on Saturday after attending an amateur fight card at the Green Isle Hotel in Clondalkin, Dublin, one day prior.

According to a Mirror source, the incident occurred due to because “McGregor was being a show off in the pub and one man didn’t like it and went up to have a word with him.” Another source claims that prior to the incident McGregor was approached by a patron who commented on the fighter’s loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, saying, “The Russian battered you.” It is unclear if that is the same man McGregor allegedly hit.

A Garda (Irish police) spokesperson released the following statement: “Gardaí are investigating an incident at a pub in Drimnagh, Dublin on April 6, 2019. No arrests have been made. Investigations…

Anthony Pettis is fresh off his come-from-behind victory over former two-time welterweight title contender Stephen Thompson last month at UFC Nashville and his longtime coach is already eyeing another exciting stylistic match-up for his next fight.

The fight against “Wonderboy” was Pettis’ first welterweight bout under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner and the win immediately propelled the former lightweight champion up to eighth according to the official UFC welterweight rankings.

Now, at 32 years of age and already a previous champion of the 155-pound division, Pettis’ head coach Duke Roufus told MMAFighting.com that they’re looking at making interesting fights in the latter parts of Pettis’ career starting with a high profile bout against another former lightweight champion in Conor McGregor:

“The fight honestly that’s trippin’ my trigger, Conor commended Anthony after the fight and then said, ‘Who wants it?’ You know what, we want it. No disrespect, I…

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After knocking out rival Chuck Liddell in the main event of Golden Boy MMA’s debut card this past November, Tito Ortiz sounded as he might finally be ready to call it a career.

“You get that feeling of, ‘Is this the last one?’ I want it to be,” Ortiz said. “It’s a lot of pressure; to impose your will on someone like that every single fight is really, really hard. There’s so much pressure to do that. And I’ve been doing it for 21 years. Now, if I just step out of that game and do it the right way of being a promoter and helping fighters, help them [grow]. And grow the next Tito Ortiz, grow the next Chuck Liddells, grow the next ‘Rampage’ Jacksons, Royce Gracies, Ken Shamrocks, Conor McGregors. And give them an opportunity to make the real money to make.”

Now, however, it seems like “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” will put his promotional work on hold in order to compete in the cage one more time. Ortiz did …

Jack Hermansson will look to continue his momentum built in recent bouts, as he will step in on short notice to face Ronald Souza in the UFC on ESPN 3 main event.

Hermansson replaces Yoel Romero, who withdrew from the middleweight contest due to illness. Multiple outlets have confirmed the new booking following an initial report from ESPN. Souza will reportedly receive a 185-pound title shot if he wins. UFC on ESPN 3 takes place at the BB&T Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on April 27 and also includes the sophomore Octagon appearance for controversial former NFL star Greg Hardy.

Hermansson last fought at UFC on ESPN 2, where he submitted former World Series of Fighting two-division titlist David Branch with a guillotine choke in just 49 seconds. “The Joker” has won five of his last six UFC bouts, finishing all of his wins inside the distance – including four in the opening round.

A former Strikeforce champion, Souza is coming off a third-round knockout of Ch…

Shawne Merriman announced that he’s starting a mixed martial arts promotion called Lights Out Xtreme Fighting. The former San Diego Chargers linebacker has been a longtime fan of the sport and trains in martial arts himself. Merriman already has a television deal in place and will be holding the first event on May 11 in Burbank, California.

The former football star isn’t just trying to jump into the business of MMA because he's a fan. According to TMZ, he wants to fight as well. He even called out World Wrestling Entertainment star and “Guardians of the Galaxy” actor Dave Bautista, who has a 1-0 MMA record and a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Merriman believes a bout between the two would bring in a lot of casual fans to the new promotion. Given the commercial success of other WWE stars crossing over to MMA, there’s merit to his claim. Merriman was also briefly signed to the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation but they allegedly had issues with the contract. Read more about Shawne Merriman Launches MMA Promotion, Challenges Dave Bautista to Fight

Bellator is adding a welterweight title fight to its MSG return on June 14. More: https://t.co/hREejF5kk0

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2019

DAZN is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up for a free trial here.

Bellator MMA is rapidly adding to its recently announced event in New York City this summer, placing a combined welterweight Grand Prix semifinal match and title fight on the card.

According to ESPN late Thursday, Neiman Gracie (9-0) will be competing in the welterweight Grand Prix semifinal as well as for the welterweight title on June 14 at a Bellator event in Madison Square Garden in New York. Gracie will face off against the winner of Rory MacDonald (20-5) and Jon Fitch (31-7-1, 1 NC), where MacDonald will be defending his belt in the last quarterfinal of the tournament against Fitch at Bellator 220 in April. As the turnaround will be less than two months, if the winner is not cleared to comp…

BKFC5 | Saturday, April 6th | 9PM ET

Jason Knight and Artem Lobov toe-the-line LIVE from Biloxi, MS

Who ya got? @RusHammerMMA or @Jasonthekid23

https://t.co/1SmsWhc9du for details pic.twitter.com/svVMZA9gnZ— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) March 19, 2019

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships is making its return to the state of Mississippi, where it is putting a belt on the line, the lightweight tournament semifinals and a big headliner between ex-UFC fighters Jason Knight and Artem Lobov.

Knight hit the scales at 145.9 pounds, as he prepares to face "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 22 finalist Lobov (145.6) in the BKFC 5 main event this Saturday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss. Co-headlining the card will be a scrap between "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 1 standout Chris Leben (195.9) and Justin Baesman (188.2), and all four made weight without issue at Friday's official weigh-ins.

Appearing in the commentar…

Sterling v Munhoz, Rivera v Yan. UFC 238 is turning into a bantamweight tournament of sorts. More: https://t.co/mpzy55Ww1P

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship appears to be putting together a de facto tournament at bantamweight, adding two huge divisional matchups to UFC 238 in June.

According to ESPN late Thursday, two major bouts at bantamweight are being targeted for the UFC 238 card in Chicago on June 8. Aljamain Sterling (17-3) will face Pedro Munhoz (18-3, 1 NC), and Jimmie Rivera (22-3) will clash with Petr Yan (12-1) at the event. Serving as the headliner of UFC 238 will be a vacant bantamweight title fight between flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and Marlon Moraes, so the winners of the aforementioned bouts could very well be in title contention.

Sterling has won his last three, with decisions over Rivera and Brett Johns and a rare "Suloev Stretch" modified kneebar over Cody Stamann alon…

Shinya Aoki is making a quick turnaround to defend his new One Championship lightweight strap, when he faces Christian Lee in the main event of One Championship: Enter the Dragon.

The promotion announced via press release on Friday that Aoki (43-8, 1 NC) will be facing rising star and Singapore native Lee (11-3) at One Championship: Enter the Dragon on May 17 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Additionally, the organization revealed that newly-signed former Ultimate Fighting Championship standout Sage Northcutt (11-2) would be fighting under the One banner for the first time at this event. Northcutt will meet longtime kickboxer Cosmo Alexandre (7-1).

Aoki earned his lightweight belt back from the man who took it from him in 2016, by putting Eduard Folayang to sleep in the main event of One Championship: A New Era at the end of March. The submission specialist notched his 28th career win via tapout or technical submission, and has submitted twice as man…

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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.

Colby Covington is back in the news as he waits for the Ultimate Fighting Championship to officially announce his welterweight title challenge against the newly-crowned champion Kamaru Usman later this year. However, “Chaos” will need to be patient, as the promotion is unlikely to announce anything until Usman recovers from his recent hernia surgery.

Covington was a guest on Submission Radio and was asked if he would consider taking a catchweight fight against the undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. “The Eagle” has been in the news thanks to his ongoing Twitter feud with former two-division champion Conor McGregor.

Covington said that if he were to fight Nurmagomedov, it would be the easiest challenge for him…

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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.

Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum returns to the Octagon next weekend at UFC 236 to take on Israel Adesanya for the interim UFC middleweight title. Gastelum was previously scheduled to face the champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 234 before the Aussie was forced to withdraw from the fight to undergo emergency surgery.

Gastelum was at a media event on Thursday promoting his upcoming title shot and was asked by reporters about his thoughts on the current feud between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Their controversial Twitter exchange has been labeled by UFC President Dana White as “unacceptable.”

Gastelum said both fighters have been reckless. “I think there are some lines that shouldn’…

Changing lives, #ChangingTheGame.The 2019 #PFLmma season starts Thursday, May 9. https://t.co/4sBhZubzlv pic.twitter.com/YtXgJuA4d5

— #PFLmma (@ProFightLeague) April 4, 2019

The Professional Fighters League has revealed the first three events from their 2019 regular season schedule, with each of the three events focusing on two specific weight classes.

On Thursday, the promotion announced the lineup in their official press release of the first three events making up the first half of their regular season. All six of the weight classes will be featured throughout these events. PFL 1 on May 9 will feature welterweights and women's lightweights, while PFL 2 on May 23 will focus on featherweights and lightweights, and PFL 3 on June 6 will play host to the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. Each of their men's divisions will hold 12 total fighters, while the women's lightweight division has eight participants. Throughout the past few mo…

В главном бою на турнире UFC в Санкт-Петербурге заменили участника.

Как это случилось:https://t.co/96xegFR84I

globallookpress pic.twitter.com/1tqxGFypYd— Матч ТВ (@MatchTV) April 3, 2019

Alexander Volkov was reportedly removed from his main event bout at UFC Fight Night 149 in April due to an alleged USADA violation.

According to Russian site Match TV late Wednesday, heavyweight Volkov (30-16-1) withdrew from his headliner battle against Alistair Overeem (44-17, 1 NC) at UFC Fight Night 149 in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 20 due to an alleged and potential anti-doping violation. The site claimed, "As it became known to 'Match TV', the reason for removing the Russian from the [fight] was the violation of the [promotion's] anti-doping policy." In an official statement by the UFC on Wednesday, the promotion said differently, stating, "Due to health issues, Alexander Volkov has been forced to withdraw from his bout against Alistair O…

Madison Square Garden will host its fifth major MMA event on Friday, June 14.

Bellator is coming back to NYC, and it’s bringing Chael Sonnen vs. Lyoto Machida, among others. More: https://t.co/lgkrt3xJfV

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 4, 2019 DAZN is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up for a free trial here.

Bellator MMA is returning to Madison Square Garden this summer, bringing back the man who headlined their first jaunt to the Big Apple in Chael Sonnen, who will face Lyoto Machida.

According to ESPN on Thursday, heavyweight tournament semifinalist Sonnen (30-16-1) will be returning to light heavyweight to compete against former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ Machida (25-8) at a Bellator event on June 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. ESPN previously reported in February the two would meet in the summer, and the date and location have now been set.

Sonnen…

Alexander Volkanovski faces the biggest test of his career so far when he faces off against former featherweight king Jose Aldo at UFC 237 on May 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and he's making the argument that it should be for bigger stakes.

The Aussie, who is currently riding a 16-fight winning streak, believes if he beats Aldo next month and the current champion Max Holloway delays his return to featherweight, the promotion should reward him with an interim title.

As it stands, two interim titles will be on the line at UFC 236 next week including a fight at lightweight between Holloway -- who will be moving up a weight division -- and Dustin Poirier for the interim 155-pound belt.

“The Great” is aware the UFC are not against awarding interim titles to fighters if the division will be held up by the current champion and the 30-year-old wants one for himself if he can upset the Brazilian next month (via MMA Junkie).

“We know how this game works now. How man…

Aleksei Oleinik vs. Alistair Overeem is the new main event for UFC Fight Night St. Petersburg on April 20, per sources. Overeem’s original opponent Alexander Volkov recently withdrew. Oleinik was scheduled to fight Walt Harris on 5/4. Harris will get a new foe.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 3, 2019

Alexey Oleynik will now co-headline UFC Fight Night in St. Petersburg on April 20 against Alistair Overeem after Alexander Volkov was forced off the card. The reason for his removal from the bill in currently unknown.

Oleynik and Overeem are Top-10-ranked in Sherdog’s official mixed martial arts heavyweight rankings and both are coming off wins; Oleynik last saw action in a submission win over Mark Hunt in September and Overeem put away Sergei Pavlovich in November.

Oleynik was slated to lock horns with Walt Harris on May 4 at UFC Fight Night 150. Harris is now expected to receive a new opponent.

UFC St. Petersburg, also know…

It’s crazy! No one needs to be doing illegal shit. Teammate or not. It’s not cool. What did he pop for? https://t.co/NUHqL56HiE

— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) April 2, 2019

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Ruslan Magomedov has become the first fighter in MMA history to receive a lifetime ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

The ban handed to Magomedov was a result of failing two USADA drug tests in 2016 and 2018 before refusing to take a third test.

Magomedov is a teammate of UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA). In tweet sent by “DC” yesterday, the champ condemned his teammate before asking what substances he was flagged for.

“It’s crazy! No one needs to be doing illegal s---. Teammate or not. It’s not cool. What did he pop for?”

Cormier is no stranger to seeing failed USADA tests, especially involving his long-time rival Jon Jones.

Cormier’s first bout against Jone…