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Invicta Phoenix Series 3 will have a distinctly bantamweight flavor.

The March 6 event will feature a showdown between Lisa Verzosa and Julija Stoliarenko for the promotion’s vacant bantamweight crown as well as a one-night tournament including eight 135-pound competitors. Invicta FC has previously held strawweight and flyweight tournaments.

The field for the bantamweight bracket is as follows: Auttumn Norton, Brittney Victoria, Claire Guthrie, Erin Harpe, Hope Chase, Kerri Kenneson, Taneisha Tennant and Taylor Guardado.

“We are looking for one of these eight women to seize the moment,” Invicta FC president Shannon Knapp said. “We’ve purposely invited athletes who are in the earlier stages of their careers to compete in the tournament. This is the chance for one of them to make the MMA world take notice.”

The eight quarterfinalists will be matched during a random draw prior to the event. Quarterfinal and semifinal bouts will be contested over a single five-…

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 247 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Jon Jones has flirted with the idea of moving to heavyweight for several years now, but as he continues to clean out the 205-pound division, a transition feels like it could be closer than ever.

At the very least, “Bones” believes capturing a title in a weight class above could secure his legacy among the sport’s greats, if not put him at the top of the mountain.

“In order to put a lot of this pound-for-pound who’s the greatest conversation to rest, I’m gonna have to maybe obtain a second belt in a different weight class,” Jones said during a recent appearance on ESPN’s First Take. “I think that would really set me apart from a lot of the guys.”

Jones will defend his light heavyweight crown against Dominick Reyes in the UFC 247 headliner at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night. If he is victorious, a showdown with the w…

Even in the streaming era of pay-per-views, Conor McGregor is still big business for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

During a company conference call, Disney CEO and Chairman Robert Iger revealed that UFC 246 drew 1 million pay-per-view buys to ESPN+. UFC 246 took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Jan. 18 and saw McGregor defeat Cerrone via first-round technical knockout in the evening’s main event. McGregor, the promotion’s biggest star, hadn’t competed in the Octagon since October 2018.

“Looking across our portfolio of direct to consumer businesses, we're also pleased with the growth of ESPN+,” Iger said. “We ended the quarter with 6.6 million paid subscribers and as of Monday, we were at 7.6 million. We've been especially happy with a number of partnerships, particularly with the UFC and the recent McGregor-Cerrone fight brought in about 1 million pay-per-view purchases and 0.5 million new subscribers.”

While the exact figure is unclear, it appea…

Angela Hill will replace Hannah Goldy and face Konklak Suphisara at UFC Auckland.

Hill’s manager announced the change on social media and the new bout was later confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. UFC Auckland takes place at Spark Arena on Feb. 22 and is headlined by a lightweight tilt between Paul Felder and Dan Hooker. The card will stream on ESPN+.

The 35-year-old Hill has won three of her last four UFC appearances. That stretch includes back-to-back TKO triumphs against Ariane Carnelossi and Hannah Cifers in her last two outings. “Overkill” is 5-5 in her promotional tenure and 11-7 as a professional overall.

Suphisara, who is better known as “Loma Lookboonmee,” made her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 162 this past October, when she garnered a split-decision triumph over Aleksandra Albu. The 24-year-old Thailand native is 4-1 in her burgeoning professional career.

Brandon Vera will defend the One Championship heavyweight crown against Arjan Singh Bhullar in Manila, Philippines on May 29.

Multiple outlets have confirmed the booking following an initial report from Asian MMA. One Championship “Code of Honor” takes place at Mall of Asia Arena. The contest has not yet been officially announced by the Singapore-based promotion.

Vera will return to the heavyweight division after losing to Aung La N Sang via TKO in a light heavyweight title bout at One Championship “Century” on Oct. 13. “The Truth” began his promotional tenure with four consecutive first-round KO/TKO stoppages before falling to Sang.

Bhullar compiled a 3-1 mark in the UFC before signing with One. After besting Marcelo Golm and Juan Adams in his last two Octagon appearances, the 33-year-old outpointed Mauro Cerilli in his promotional debut on Oct. 13 to improve to 10-1 as a professional.

Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t seem to be on the same page with the Ultimate Fighting Championship when it comes to his future plans.

While UFC president Dana White has suggested that Conor McGregor would get a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov if the Dagestani champion is victorious against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249, “The Eagle” seems much less interested in that possibility. First and foremost, Nurmagomedov is focused on defeating Ferguson, the true No. 1 contender in the lightweight division.

The champion addressed the situation at a press conference following a charity event in Kaspiysk, Russia.

“I have a fight on April 18,” Nurmagomedov said (translation via RT Sport). “I have a very serious fight. For the past month and a half I’ve been consistently training day and night. I’ve gotten myself in good shape, to where I’m supposed to be 70 days before a fight, I feel great. What’ll happen after a fight? No one knows. I don’t worry about it, that’s what they want. Read more about Nurmagomedov Rejects Notion of McGregor Rematch: ‘I Did Everything I Wanted to Him’

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 247 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Jon Jones has inspired plenty of superfight talk during his reign over the light heavyweight division.

Usually that discussion involves a move up to heavyweight, but more recently, Jones has been feuding with recently-crowned middleweight king Israel Adesanya. “The Last Stylebender” has the looks of a superstar, and after claiming the 185-pound belt with a finish of Robert Whittaker this past October, the Nigerian-born Kiwi will defend the crown against Yoel Romero at UFC 248 next month.

Despite his sparkling 18-0 record, Jones has been slow to praise Adesanya. That trend continued during a media call to promote UFC 247.

“His swagger is exciting for the fans, but I know a thousand people like him,” said Jones, who will defend his 205-pound title against Dominick Reyes in the UFC 247 headliner. “I grew up with people like him. He …

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

Dominick Reyes took some heat from Jon Jones for his comments that the UFC light heavyweight champion hasn’t fought an “athlete” during his promotional tenure.

Jones blasted his UFC 247 foe on Twitter, calling the statement “the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a while.”

Reyes, who played college football and harbored dreams of an NFL career, addressed his remarks during a media call to promote UFC 247.

“I was speaking on being a traditional athlete: baseball, football, basketball, track and field. Those sports are different than being a martial artist,” he said. “They require a different amount of athleticism and focus. If you don’t understand it, then you don’t understand it.

“It’s getting to a very high level of athletics. It’s learning the intricacies of movement. Guys don’t study film until they get in the UFC. There’s so many intricacies of being a high-level athlete that most people do not u…

Katlyn Chookagian is taking a business as usual approach to her first UFC title bout.

Chookagian will square off against reigning flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko, a fighter who is regarded as one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound female talents. Despite that daunting task, “Blonde Fighter” claims her approach hasn’t changed much from past fights.

“I think it’s just another fight. Yes it’s the title, and that’s what we’re all here for,” Chookagian said during a media call. “You can’t put these fights on a bigger pedestal. Every fight seems like the biggest fight.

“I prepare specifically for Valentina, but I’m confident in the way I’ve trained. Of course each time you make adjustments to try to get better and improve. My mentality is the same for every fight: train as hard as you can so you can be prepared at the day of the fight.”

Chookagian has been on a roll of late, winning five of her last six Octagon appearances to earn a shot at UFC gold. Becomin…

For the past year — or a little bit longer — Jon Jones has made headlines primarily for his exploits inside the Octagon rather than the issues outside of it.

On Saturday, the Jackson-Wink MMA standout will step into the cage for the fourth time since December 2018 when he faces Dominick Reyes in the UFC 247 main event. Prior to regaining the light heavyweight belt with a stoppage of Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232, Jones’ recent years had been marred by a myriad of well-documented issues that led to him being stripped of the belt and suspended on more than one occasion.

As he heads into his first appearance of 2020, “Bones” believes he has put those troubles in the rearview mirror.

“I do feel like the storm is behind me,” Jones told ESPN. “It has been an interesting journey and I’ve learned so much. I’m just grateful. I’m grateful to have had all the lessons that I’ve been able to learn. I’m grateful that God has kept me through all of it and allow me to grow so …

3rd Round Arm-Triangle Submission win for Jamall Emmers. #LFA81 pic.twitter.com/i8neyW47Yu

— mma 21+ (@mma21plus) February 1, 2020 Jamall Emmers may have punched his ticket to a Legacy Fighting Alliance featherweight title fight after winning in stellar fashion in the Rafael Barbosa, but it was his grappling prowess that sealed the deal. “Prettyboy” had peppered Barbosa (12-3) with lead rights to the face early in the third, but once he took “Coxinha” down, it was over. Emmers transitioned from a rear-naked choke attempt to a textbook arm-triangle choke, which finished his foe off.

Barbosa tried his best to fight through the choke, but veteran referee Mike Beltran noticed that he had gone out and stepped in, eliciting a raucous approval from the capacity crowd inside The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California. The end came officially at 2:39 of the third, giving Emmers his fourth straight win.

Jacob R…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is set on putting the Nurmagomedov family under one roof.

On Friday, UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov posted on his Instagram that his cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov (12-0), has been signed by the UFC. The featherweight will join the 155-pound king as well as his other cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov. His potential opponent or debut date have not yet been announced.

Unbeaten as a professional, U. Nurmagomedov has finished half of his opponents before the final bell. A veteran of Fight Nights Global early in his career, he later made two appearances with the Professional Fighters League. In those, he defeated Saidyokub Kakhramonov and Sidemar Honorio on the scorecards. Most recently, the Dagestan native handed Argentinian Braian Gonzalez his first career defeat, doing so by first-round rear-naked choke.

In his post, K. Nurmagomedov wrote (via Google Translate):

"I, the horse and the @ufc fighter.

"Brotherly @umar_nurmag…

Ovince Saint Preux Accepts Sanction for Violation of UFC Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/w9qi740bmG

— USADA | UFC Anti-Doping Program (@USADA_UFC) January 31, 2020

Ovince St. Preux is the second prominent fighter on Friday to test positive for banned supplements and have his suspension reduced to three months, joining Diego Sanchez.

According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Friday, former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title challenger St. Preux has been suspended for three months dating back to a positive test for ostarine on Nov. 1. The Tennessee native was flagged for ostarine and LGD-4033 as well as two additional prohibited compounds, and all four appeared in his positive test.

Following to his cooperation and the investigation that followed, St. Preux was cleared of wrongdoing and received a reduction in his sentence. The regulations under USADA have recently changed, and now permit an infinitesimal …

Dana White told Jim Rome that Masvidal vs. Usman is happening in Las Vegas, probably in July.

— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) January 31, 2020 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going big in July for International Fight Week.

On Friday, UFC President Dana White stated on the Jim Rome Show that welterweight champ Kamaru Usman (16-1) will be taking on Jorge Masvidal (35-13) at an unannounced pay-per-view event in July. The organization does not have any events scheduled beyond UFC 250 in May, so the date and event title have yet to be determined. However, the card will go down in Las Vegas, potentially at the T-Mobile Arena. As the Allegiant Stadium -- the new home of the Las Vegas Raiders -- will open at the end in July, it does not seem to be a suitable venue since International Fight Week traditionally takes place around Independence Day Weekend.

The two men met on Wednesday at a media day in Miami, and engaged in a fr…

Diego Sanchez Accepts Sanction for Violation of UFC Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/HvwDoL4vjk

— USADA | UFC Anti-Doping Program (@USADA_UFC) January 31, 2020

Diego Sanchez has run afoul of some banned substances, although he was able to determine his positive test was the result of tainted supplements.

According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Friday, Sanchez has been suspended for three months dating back to a positive test for ostarine on Dec. 12. Additionally, he was also flagged for S-23, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM), and both were discovered in supplements he provided for analysis. Due to his cooperation and the investigation that followed, Sanchez was not found at fault and received a reduction in his sentence. As the USADA regulations have changed, allowing for miniscule levels of these substances provided they do not enhance an athlete's performance, Sanchez was in that threshold of permissibility.<…

Bellator signs Wyatt Barber, Maycee's brother https://t.co/VR1MsXuDCM

— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) January 31, 2020 Bellator MMA is investing in a young prospect in hopes that he performs like his famous sister.

According to ESPN on Friday, the promotion has signed Wyatt Barber (0-0) to a contract. A featherweight who fights out of Roufusport in Wisconsin, he is the younger brother of top-10 Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Maycee Barber. He has since confirmed this news on his Instagram page.

The 18-year-old Barber has not made his professional debut, although he appeared at LFA 70 in 2019 as an amateur and finished Julian Valencia in the opening round. This is not the first developmental contract the organization has issued, as it previously signed Aaron Pico to a long-term contract prior to his own pro debut.

His sister lost for the first time in her career at UFC 246 in January against Roxanne Modafferi, …

Got a fight!!! All this time to prepare and I'm already head and shoulders above the competition. #UFC248 pic.twitter.com/if9OAwGE1E

— Gerald Meerschaert (@The_Real_GM3) January 31, 2020 The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be bringing another middleweight showdown to its March pay-per-view card.

Both Gerald Meerschaert (30-12) and Deron Winn (6-1) posted on their respective social media accounts announcing the matchup on Thursday night. The two will collide at middleweight at UFC 248, which goes down on March 7. The two will join fellow middleweights on the card including the champ and his challenger, Jared Cannonier and his unannounced opponent, Derek Brunson and Edmen Shahbazyan.

Meerschaert has dropped three of his last four outings, most recently a split decision loss to Eryk Anders at UFC Fight Night 161 in October. Sporting a finish rate of 93 percent, “GM3” has finished his opponent in each of his five Octagon appea…

THE MAIN EVENTJoshua Pacio retains his ONE Strawweight World Title in a back-and-forth battle with Alex Silva! #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #FireAndFury pic.twitter.com/ePa80jR2mf

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 31, 2020 One Championship stopped for its second event in 2020 as Fire & Fury went down at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, on Jan. 31.

The main event featured a title clash between One strawweight champion Joshua Pacio and challenger Alex Silva. After winning the belt back in April 2019 at Yosuke Saruta’s expense and defending it against Rene Catalan, “The Passion” managed to repeat himself and add another successful defense to his championship stint. Pacio and a very fierce Silva went back and forth for all five rounds of the bout. Pacio tried to impose his striking superiority while “Little Rock” looked to apply his stellar Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills. The Brazilian contender nearly secured an…

Now that the #LFA81 weigh-in is in the books, which fight are you looking forward to the most tomorrow night?@IncaKolaUSA@FredLoyaIns@WWP@buyVPNservice@GLCDirect2000@USENDmoney@OCFair @UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/s7Ffgy9JUc

— LFA (@LFAfighting) January 31, 2020 The Legacy Fighting Alliance returns to California for its second event of 2020 with LFA 81, which is headlined by a featherweight bout between Jamall Emmers and Rafael Barbosa.

Emmers (16-4) has rebounded from getting knocked out on the second season of the Dana White's Contender Series by finishing Fard Muhammad, Caio Machado and Jay Cucciniello. The 30-year-old will look to extend his win streak in what will be his third appearance with the organization. "Prettyboy" looked great on the scales and came in at 145.2 pounds.

A training partner of Lyoto Machida, Barbosa (12-2) is coming off a split decision defeat to Luis Alberto Nogueira in October. The Brazilian was pre…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will reportedly be adding a big heavyweight matchup to its upcoming Brazil card in May.

According to a report from Combate on Thursday, heavyweights Blagoy Ivanov (18-3, 1 NC) and Augusto Sakai (14-1-1) will square off at UFC 250 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The bout will mark Ivanov's first appearance in South America, while his opponent Sakai has taken nearly half of his career fights in his home country of Brazil.

Ivanov suffered a setback in his recent performance, losing a split decision to Derrick Lewis in November. The durable Ivanov has never been knocked out as a professional, and sports exactly six victories by knockout, another six by submission and six more on the scorecards. Since joining the UFC in 2018, Ivanov has two decision wins over Ben Rothwell and Tai Tuivasa bookended by decision defeats to Junior dos Santos and the aforementioned Lewis.

Sakai has yet to taste defeat since dropping a split verdict to eventual Bel…

Bellator MMA is looking to put a fight back together that was scratched hours before it was set to go down.

According to MMA Fighting on Thursday, the promotion is looking to match Josh Barnett (35-8) against Ronny Markes (19-7) once more at Bellator 241 in March. The promotion has since confirmed that this bout is being targeted for this event, but that the agreement is not yet in place. The two were originally booked to headline Bellator 235, but on the night of the fight, Barnett was not cleared to compete by the medical staff due to illness.

Barnett as not appeared in a pro MMA bout since he handed Andrei Arlovski his first career submission defeat in September 2016. “The Warmaster” went on to fail a post-fight drug test and was kept out of action for over a year. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency went on to reverse its decision and not suspend Barnett, on the grounds that he tested positive for a contaminated supplement. Barnett sought and received his release from the…

Rafael Lovato Jr.’s mixed martial arts career could be in jeopardy due to a hereditary brain condition.

Prior to facing Gegard Mousasi at Bellator 223 this past June, Lovato was required to undergo a brain scan for the first time in his professional career. It was then that he was diagnosed with cavernoma, which is known as a “cluster of abnormal blood vessels, usually found in the brain and spinal cord.”

In an interview on Joe Rogan’s JRE MMA podcast, Lovato recalls sensing something was amiss when it took a while for him to be summoned from the examination room.

“The radiologist, with really no candor or an easy or soft way of saying it, was like, ‘Dude, have you seen your brain before? There’s some stuff in here you need to see.’ He pulls me into the room and shows me on the screen, pointing out what looked like little balls,” Lovato said. “It looked like something was wrong – it didn’t look like a normal scan. But I don’t know – like shades of discoloration. …

Jorge Masvidal & Kamaru Usman CLASH at Super Bowl Media Row in Miami!!! @GamebredFighter @USMAN84kg @joerogan @danawhite pic.twitter.com/BOcjooQy1L

— Fanatics View (@fanaticsview) January 29, 2020

Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal aren’t currently booked to fight each other, but the tension is building between the two welterweight stars.

Usman and Masvidal recently engaged in a brief altercation that was caught on camera during a Super Bowl media day event. The welterweight champion approached Masvidal as both fighters did interviews on radio row and shouted at the Miami native.

“Do something,” Usman said. “That’s all I hear you talking. Do something. You come up talking. Do something.”

Officials held both fighters back to prevent the incident from getting physical as Masvidal fired back at the champ while blowing kisses in his direction.

“You got a cast on, b--h,” Masvidal said. “I ain’t going to take advantage o…

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

A bantamweight clash between Cody Stamann and Raoni Barcelos has been targeted for UFC Columbus.

Combate was first to report the bout. UFC Columbus takes place at Nationwide Arena and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Raphael Assuncao will square off against Cody Garbrandt in the co-main event.

Stamann last appeared at UFC on ESPN 7, where he battled Yadong Song to a majority draw on Dec. 7. The 30-year-old Michigan native is 4-1-1 in the UFC and 18-2-1 over the course of his professional career.

A former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion, Barcelos has kicked off his UFC tenure with four consecutive triumphs. Most recently, the 32-year-old Brazilian outpointed Said Nurmagomedov at UFC Fight Night 165 to run his career mark to 15-1.