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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 …

OFFICIAL! @MoTownPhenom - 170@RdosAnjosMMA - 170 pic.twitter.com/CaMRAWts8g

— UFC (@ufc) May 17, 2019

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.

The Octagon heads to Rochester, New York, for UFC Fight Night 152. The card will be headlined by an intriguing welterweight matchup between Kevin Lee and Sherdog’s fourth-ranked welterweight, Rafael dos Anjos.

Lee hit the scales at 170.2 as he prepares to fight dos Anjos, who weighed 170.4. In the co-main event, it is a battle between middleweights as Antonio Carlos Jr. (185.6) steps into the Octagon to take on Ian Heinisch (185.6).

UFC Fight Night 152 airs live on ESPN+ Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The event also features a rare women’s featherweight scrap between two former Invicta Fighting Championships champs in Megan Anderson (145.8) wel…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w08BBKmQWfI&w=640&h=360] Derrick "D-Rock" Krantz is stepping in on less than one week's notice to fight Vicente "The Silent Assassin" Luque at UFC Rochester but is still confident that he'll prove victorious this Saturday. Krantz is replacing the 13th-ranked Neil Magny who was pulled from the card on Monday for a USADA violation.

Making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, the 24-10 welterweight is not surprised by the haphazard manner in which he'll be introduced to the Octagon. "This is pretty much how I saw myself getting into the UFC, just taking some crazy, short-notice fight, and showing all these welterweights what's up," Krantz told The Score's James Lynch.

Though the 31-year-old Krantz has been a professional mixed martial artist for some time, he admits not being familiar with his last-minute opponent. "Yeah, I didn't know about him," revealed Krantz. However, "D-Rock" and his team caught up quickly, watching two o…

WBC heavyweight champ @BronzeBomber tips the at a ready 223 1/4 lbs & @TroubleBoxing at 255 1/4 lbs ahead of tomorrow’s #WilderBreazeale main event!

STREAM LIVE: https://t.co/RPnqsbv01i pic.twitter.com/kpZW8QNoBF

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) May 17, 2019 World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and challenger Dominic Breazeale have had bad blood leading up to their Showtime bout on Saturday. Wilder has received criticism for saying that he wants to "catch a body" inside the ring and is looking to end Breazeale's life during their match. As such, it wasn't a surprise when the two had an intense staredown at today's weigh-in. Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KO) has put away every opponent he has faced except for Bermane Stiverne and Tyson Fury, who he went to a split draw with in December 2018. The match against Fury was a controversial one, as many thought that the British fighter won on points despite being knocked…

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Alexander Volkanovski hasn’t had the best of times since dominating Jose Aldo last weekend, first being hospitalized a blood infection, then discovering that former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar would be the next challenger for Max Holloway’s featherweight title.

“The Great” is coming off a career-best performance against former featherweight kingpin Aldo and was the favorite to secure a title fight against Holloway later this year, potentially on a card in his native Australia alongside fellow Aussie Robert Whittaker. However, the UFC had different plans and decided to go with Edgar instead after “The Answer” did the promotion a favor in March last year by risking his No. 1 contender position to fight Brian Ortega at UFC 222 in a fight which he unexpectedly lost by knockout.

Volkanovski’s coach, Eugene Bareman of City Kickboxing -- home to Adesanya as well -- made an appearance on Submission Radio …

Women's mixed martial arts pioneer Jessica Aguilar is no longer with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Though expectations were high, Aguilar, 37, endured a disappointing run in the promotion's strawweight division, going 1-4 since her 2015 debut.

The former World Series of Fighting strawweight champion's only UFC highlight was a unanimous decision victory over Jodie Esquibel. Her last two outings resulted in back-to-back losses against the number 6-ranked Weili Zhang and the undefeated Marina Rodriguez. Aguilar's March 2019 bout against Rodriguez was the last on her UFC deal.

Aguilar confirmed to MMA Fighting that she has yet to receive official word from the UFC that her contract will not be re-upped, but she has heard from USADA. "I did receive an e-mail last night from USADA stating that I was being removed from the testing pool," explained the fighter. "Which I assume means the UFC has decided not to offer me a new contract."

Aguilar was riding a 10-fight w…

Say it ain't so! Fresh off a TKO loss at UFC 237, Anderson Silva reaffirmed that he would continue fighting after healing from his injury.

On his Instagram page on Wednesday night, Silva posted a statement discussing whether he would stop or continue in the sport of MMA. He expounded about what he wanted to do going forward, and questioned whether he should keep training and giving his life to the sport.

View this post on Instagram

PARAR OU CONTINUAR?!?!? Fala meu povo... Fico freqüentemente me perguntando, o que cada um de nós está fazendo neste planeta? Se a vida for somente viver por viver o máximo possível as horas e minutos esse definitivamente não é meu lema. Tenho a plena convicção de que existe um sentido maior em tudo o que vivemos e fazemos aqui, a vinda neste plano terrestre tem um sentido maior do que simplesmente viver por viver, acredito que é uma busca constante de evolução. Nesses 4 dias após mais uma missão que não foi bem sucedida estou me…

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In the wake of Jessica Andrade’s emphatic slam-induced knockout of Rose Namajunas, there are still some observers who are not completely sold on the new strawweight champ, and it appears we can count Michael Bisping among them.

Andrade became the new women’s strawweight champion last Saturday after a fight-ending sequence where she picked up Namajunas in the second round of their fight, slamming her down on her head and knocking her out cold to claim the belt.

However, before the finish, the Brazilian had been getting picked apart on the feet by Namajunas, who successfully defended two slam attempts in the first round. Based on the first round, Bisping believes that Namajunas would come out on top if they were to meet again.

During a recent edition of Bisping’s “Believe You Me” podcast, Bisping asserted that the knockout resulting from Andrade’s slam was “kind of a fluke.”

“Listen, Jessica An…

While their ongoing trainer-fighter status recently appeared to be in doubt, John Kavanagh and Conor McGregor will not be parting ways ahead of the Irish star’s next Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance.

In an interview with the Irish Mirror, Kavanagh confirmed that he will be in McGregor’s corner when the former two-division champion fights again.

“I’m sure I’ll be there, we talk almost daily,” the SBG Ireland coach said. "He doesn't have a fight lined up yet, but as soon as he does we'll get the old gang back together and start plotting, training and I'm sure he'll steal the show again, which I've no doubt he'll do.”

Kavanagh could offer no insight regarding McGregor’s return date, however.

“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “That’s a question for Conor, he's got a lot of other stuff going on so I'll just be honest and say I don't know.”

In most instances, Kavanagh’s confirmation that he will corner McGregor wouldn’t be news, as he has been the …

Liz Carmouche will square off against Roxanne Modafferi in a flyweight showdown at UFC San Antonio on July 20.

ESPN was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night takes place in San Antonio, Texas at the AT&T Center. The card airs on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+. A headliner for the event has not been revealed.

After moving from bantamweight to 125 pounds, Carmouche has earned back-to-back decision victories against Jennifer Maia and Lucie Pudilova. Carmouche, who challenged Ronda Rousey for the inaugural women’s bantamweight crown in the Octagon, has won four of her last UFC appearances overall.

Modafferi, meanwhile, has won two of three bouts since coming up short in a bid for the inaugural women’s flyweight strap against Nicco Montano at “The Ultimate Fighter 26” finale. Most recently, “The Happy Warrior” garnered a split verdict over Antonina Shevchenko at UFC St. Petersburg on April 20.