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The Professional Fighters League is back for a second season, and its first event takes place Thursday at NYCB Live at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.

The card will be headlined by a women’s lightweight bout between two-time Olympic gold medalist, Kayla Harrison taking on Larissa Pacheco. Harrison hit the scales at 155.6 as she prepares to take on Pacheco (155.6) who is stepping in on short notice.

Meanwhile, Ray Cooper III (170.2) is back in PFL looking to capture the welterweight title when he takes on his cousin Zane Kamaka (172.8)* who missed weight. Cooper III has decided to take the fight, and the scrap will go on.

The event also features the return of welterweight champion, Magomed Magomedkerimov (170.4) taking on John Howard (170.8). Meanwhile, former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight and former Invicta Fighting Championships bantamweight champion, Sarah Kaufman (153.6) will make her lightweight debut against Morgan Frier (151.6).

The…

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For the second time, Talita Bernardo has a new foe at UFC 237.

Viviane Araujo will step for Melissa Gatto and face Bernardo on Saturday at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Multiple outlets confirmed the change following an initial report from AG Fight. Bernardo was initially scheduled to fight Jessica-Rose Clark at UFC 237, but Clark withdrew from the contest due to injury.

UFC 237 is headlined by a strawweight title tilt between Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade. The main card airs via pay-per-view on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+ and ESPN.

Araujo, 32, is 6-1 in her professional career, with all of her victories coming inside the distance. She last fought under the Pancrase banner in August 2018, earning a doctor stoppage win over Japanese veteran Emi Fujino.

After falling to Marion Reneau and Irene Aldana in her first two appearances, Bernardo garnered her first promotional triump…

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Between Rory MacDonald’s majority draw against Jon Fitch in their Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix quarterfinal and his surprising post-fight statements, the reigning Bellator MMA has had to do quite a bit of explaining in order to convince the world his heart is still in the sport.

While the razor-close draw was enough to allow “The Red King” to retain his title as well as to advance to the semifinals, where he will meet Neiman Gracie in June, he told commentator John McCarthy after the fight that he wasn’t sure if he still liked to “hurt people” anymore. Many observers took this as the 29-year-old’s way of indicating an early retirement, with several fellow fighters offering to take his place in the grand prix. Days after those comments, however, the Canadian confirmed his continued desire to compete and claimed to be looking forward to facing Gracie in the next round.

MacDonald was a …

Highly-touted Bellator prospect Aaron Pico has relocated to the Land of Enchantment, where he will train at Jackson-Wink MMA for his next camp.

Sherdog.com confirmed the move with gym general manager Michael Lyubimov following a report from ESPN.com. Jackson-Wink striking coach Brandon Gibson also recently posted a picture with Pico following a workout at the Albuquerque, N.M.-based gym.

Solid work tonight with @AaronPicoUSA at @JacksonWinkMMA. pic.twitter.com/Nc9w2EfYtS

— Brandon Gibson (@SixGunGibson) May 1, 2019

Pico has reportedly been targeted to appear at Bellator 222 in New York on June 14, although an opponent has not been named. However, a promotion official was unable to confirm that Pico’s next bout will take place at the Madison Square Garden event.

Pico entered his MMA career as one of the most hyped prospects the sport has seen in recent years. An Olympic hopeful who nearly qualified for the 2016 Games as a …

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On Monday, Jordan Burroughs rolled to an easy victory over a top UFC welterweight in an exhibition wrestling match. Naturally, there’s interest to see if he could do the same in the Octagon.

After Burroughs earned an 11-0 technical fall victory over Ben Askren at Beat the Streets “Grapple at the Garden,” UFC President Dana White addressed the possibility of the Olympic gold medalist testing his skills in the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“Yeah, listen, I’m always interested in, you know, these guys that are considered the best athletes in the world in whatever it is they do wanting to come to the UFC,” White said during an appearance on "The Jim Rome Show” on Tuesday. “Yeah, obviously I’d be very interested.”

Burroughs is one of the most decorated wrestlers in U.S. amateur history. He was a two-time NCAA national champion at the University of Nebraska, captured multiple world championships in freestyle…

Ultimate Fighting Championship interim middleweight champ Israel Adesanya took to Twitter and criticized former title challenger Yoel Romero for his inability to win a belt as well as his history of weight-cutting issues.

...and tha fuck what. Y'll act like Romero is the champ, never makes weight, never won a UFC belt.Them: "yOu foUGht aN OLd sIlVa!!"Me: Anderson is 44, Yoel is 42...https://t.co/dgKVd4OYrA

— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) May 2, 2019 “…and tha f--- what. Y’ll act like Romero is the champ, never makes weight, never won a UFC belt.Them: ‘yOu foUGht aN OLd sIlVa!!’Me: Anderson is 44, Yoel is 42…” Romero was eventually made aware of the criticism and fired back with his patented “I see you soon boi” comment.

I see you soon boi #iluhju #peopleschamp https://t.co/kbcXf1IVmQ

— Peoples Champ (@YoelRomeroMMA) May 3, 2019

Adesanya responded, making fun of Romero’s broken English and c…

Al Iaquinta was battered and bloodied after going five rounds with Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 151, and as a result, he could be looking at six months on the shelf.

A full list of medical suspensions were released by the Ontario Office of the Athletics Commissioner, although it wasn’t immediately clear if Iaquinta could have term shortened with medical clearance as is the norm. MMAjunkie.com received conflicting viewpoints from a commission spokesperson, who indicated the suspension was a set timeframe, and Iaquinta, who claimed that he could indeed be cleared sooner.

The exact nature of each fighter’s medical suspension was not specified.

UFC Fight Night 151 took place at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on May 4 and saw Cerrone earn a unanimous decision win over Iaquinta in the evening’s main event. Cerrone received a 14-day term in victory. Iaquinta was the only fighter from the card to get a 180-day suspension.

UFC Fight Night …

Matt Wiman will step into the Octagon for the first time since November 2014 when he faces Luis Pena at UFC Greenville.

The lightweight bout was recently confirmed by the Greenville News. UFC Fight Night 154 takes place at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., on June 22 and is headlined by a featherweight tilt pitting Renato Carneiro against Chan Sung Jung. The evening’s main card will air on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN2.

Wiman last appeared at UFC Night 57 in Austin, Texas, where he captured a unanimous decision triumph against Isaac Vallie-Flagg. The 35-year-old with the moniker “Handsome” made his UFC debut in 2006 and compiled a 10-5 record within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Pena returns to 155 pounds after weighing in at 148.5 pounds for a featherweight matchup with Steven Peterson at UFC Nashville. “Violent Bob Ross” nonetheless earned a unanimous verdict over Peterson to run his Octagon mark to 2-1. The 25-year-old owns a 6-1 career recor…

Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Dave Mandel Credit: Gleidson Venga Credit: Gleidson Venga

The first card for Professional Fighters League’s second season has a new main event.

Larissa Pacheco will replace Svetlana Khautova and face Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison in a lightweight bout on Thursday at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. The promotion revealed the change to the headliner on Monday, but a reason for Khautova’s exit was not given. Pacheco was originally slated to face Roberta Samad on the main card. Samad will now meet Moriel Charneski instead.

The main card for PFL 1: 2019 Regular Season will air on ESPN2 beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while the preliminary draw streams on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Harrison has kicked off her professional MMA career with finishes of Brittney Elkin, Jozette Cotton and Charneski under the PFL banner.

A two-time UFC competitor, Pacheco exited the Las Vegas-based promotion following back-to-back losses…

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The shiny new Legacy Fighting Alliance lightweight championship belt is destined for prominent placement at Force of One Martial Arts, the Clovis, N.M.-based gym where Harvey Park got his start in MMA approximately a decade ago.

“We’ve won belts, but nothing this big or heavy or nice,” Park told Sherdog.com. “We’ll put it out there on the reception desk for maybe a month for whoever wants to take a picture with it. We have a shelf with all the belts we’ve won, and we’ll just put that one there on the top.

“And it’ll stay there until we win a bigger one.”

In an ideal world, Park will never defend the title he claimed with a technical knockout of Demarques Jackson at LFA 64 on April 26. Fighting for a promotion with a proven track record as a springboard to the UFC, the 33-year-old Curry County (N.M.) Sheriff’s deputy has won three straight contests and 10 of his last 11 professio…

UFC Fight Night 151 wasn’t necessarily an event for the record books. That is, at least, until Donald Cerrone and Al Iaquinta showed up in Ottawa.

The lightweight contenders put on a show for five rounds in the UFC Ottawa headliner, with Cerrone winning a unanimous decision on the strength of a career-best 138 significant strikes and two knockdowns. While he was bloodied and outgunned, Iaquinta never showed any quit during the 25-minute encounter.

Not only did that effort earn “Fight of the Night” honors, but the lightweight clash also was praised by UFC President Dana White on social media.

“Congrats to [Donald Cerrone] on the impressive win last night and MUCH respect to the incredibly TOUGH and BAD ASS [Al Iaquinta] for an amazing fight,” White wrote on Instagram.

Cerrone has now won three fights in a row and two straight since returning to 155 pounds. Iaquinta, meanwhile, was unable to capitalize on the momentum he gained from a win over Kevin Lee in hi…

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. Donald Cerrone’s ferocity was too much to bear, even for Al Iaquinta. Crushing kicks and savage multi-punch bursts spurred “Cowboy” to a unanimous decision over Al Iaquinta in the UFC Fight Night 151 headliner on Saturday at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. Cerrone (36-11, 23-8 UFC) extended his Ultimate Fighting Championship record for career victories with a sublime performance and carried all three scorecards with room to spare: 49-45, 49-45 and 49-46.

The first 10 minutes were competitive, but Cerrone found another gear in the third round and never looked back. He tenderized Iaquinta’s upper and lower leg with kicks while chewing up his face with searing jabs and combinations of two, three and four punches or more. Iaquinta (14-5-1, 9-4 UFC) refused to buckle but hit the deck on multiple…

The Battle For Middleweight Supremacy #CaneloJacobs pic.twitter.com/lGhnQ5zCWT

— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) May 5, 2019

DAZN is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up here.

It might not have been the all-out action brawl that fight fans were hoping for, but Saul Alvarez proved once again that he is the best middleweight in the world.

Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) used a methodical approach to best Daniel Jacobs over 12 rounds in the main event of a DAZN-streamed boxing card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Mexican superstar racked up several early rounds by stalking his Brooklyn-based opponent with sharp jabs and thudding hooks to the body. “Canelo” never got over-zealous with his attacks and instead jabbed and countered Jacobs throughout.

With the contest slipping away, “Miracle Man” came on strongly in the latter stages of the fight. Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) tried turning the fight into an all-out brawl…

They will run it back in Anaheim!@DC_MMA @StipeMiocic 2 headlines #UFC241 Aug. 17! pic.twitter.com/FBEsS4qFAT

— UFC (@ufc) May 5, 2019

They are running it back at UFC 241, as Daniel Cormier will put his heavyweight title on the line when he rematches Stipe Miocic in the main event.

The promotion officially confirmed the bout following reports that the rematch was being targeted earlier in the week. The two initially fought at UFC 226 where Cormier became a “champ-champ” when he knocked out Miocic in the first round. Since then, the former champion has been campaigning for the rematch and hasn’t fought since. Cormier, on the other hand, fought at UFC 230 where he submitted Derrick Lewis in the second round to retain his heavyweight title.

Cormier had been linked to a potential fight against Brock Lesnar, but Lesnar told Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White that he was retiring.

UFC 241 Is set to go down at t…

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.

Saturday's UFC Fight Night 151 card airs live on ESPN+ at 5 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:Ant Walker scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:Jay Pettry scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Ant Walker scores the round:J…

Nicco Montano was the UFC’s inaugural female flyweight champion, but a bad weight cut ultimately cost her the chance to ever defend that crown.

While she works on the weight-cutting process, Montano will move up a division to bantamweight, where she is expected to make her Octagon return sometime this summer. Sherdog.com confirmed the move with Montano’s manager, Ricky Kottenstette, who said a potential return to flyweight is contingent upon how well her cut to 135 pounds proceeds.

A date and opponent for Montano’s sophomore UFC appearance have not been announced.

Montano made her way through Season 26 of “The Ultimate Fighter” with victories over Lauren Murphy, Montana De La Rosa and Barb Honchak on the reality show before taking a five-round verdict against veteran competitor Roxanne Modafferi at the “TUF 26” finale to claim the 125-pound belt.

Since then, it’s been one unfortunate incident after another for the 30-year-old New Mexico resident. First, ton…

Brandon Royval armbars Joby Sanchez #LFA65 pic.twitter.com/ZdtxDL8Vot

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 4, 2019 After Brandon Royval came up short against Casey Kenney for the Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight title last November, he vowed to make sure it didn't happen again. So far, he's been right.

Royval stood toe-to-toe with Joby Sanchez for a few minutes in the LFA 65 main event Friday night inside Dobson Arena in Vail, Colorado, though the loose, sometimes wild striking didn't last very long. Royval (9-4) shot in for a takedown, but Sanchez stuffed him and immediately went to work on a D'Arce choke. "Raw Dawg" remained patient and battled through the submission attempt and then turned the tables on his foe.

Royval swept Sanchez (12-5) once he escaped the D'Arce, hooked Sanchez' left leg and then rolled him into a textbook armbar. Sanchez had nowhere to go and had no choice but to tap out, officially ending the entertaining d…

3 fights. 3 wins. 1 new strawweight champ!

Congrats to @115_brianna! Incredible performances all night! #PhoenixRising pic.twitter.com/XQ1eQFyKqT

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) May 4, 2019 Brianna Van Buren ran the gauntlet. The 25-year-old Californian submitted Kailin Curran with a rear-naked choke and took possession of vacant Invicta Fighting Championships gold at 115 pounds in the final of a one-night, eight-woman tournament at Invicta Phoenix Rising Series 1 on Friday at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. Curran (6-7, 2-1 Invicta) bowed out 3:49 into Round 2.

Van Buren (8-2, 4-1 Invicta) had all the characteristics of a runaway freight train. She struck for multiple takedowns in the first round, pairing them with suffocating top control and punishing ground-and-pound. Curran offered little in the way of effective resistance. Van Buren went back to work in Round 2, where she executed another takedown, climbed to full …

UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier has been on an unbelievable tear in the ultra-competitive 155-pound division, and his boxing coach has a good idea of one of the reasons behind it.

“The Diamond” has beaten some of the best fighters in the planet at lightweight including Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez and most recently defeated Max Holloway to win the interim title and propel himself into a unification bout against undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year.

Poirier’s boxing coach at American Top Team, Dyah Davis, recently spoke to BJPenn.com and praised his fighter’s ability to maintain his stamina throughout a fight. While Davis is aware fans know Poirier for his boxing ability and power, he commended his ability -- in particular against Holloway -- to land big shots in the final rounds of a five-round fight:

“What’s crazy is with Dustin, his stamina threshold is crazy,” Davis said. “He can go long and still have power …

@LFAfighting goes down tomorrow night at 7pm MT! #ElevationFightTeam pic.twitter.com/a16gM3NfO7

— Elevation Fight Team (@ElevationMMA) May 3, 2019

The Legacy Fighting Alliance is returning to Vail, Colo., for LFA 65, where every fighter on the main card has successfully made weight.

Brandon Royval hit the scales at 125.4 pounds, as he prepares to face Joby Sanchez (125.6) in the LFA 65 main event this Friday at the Dobson Arena in Vail, Colo. Co-headlining the card will be a featherweight battle between Jose Mariscal (145.2) and Brazilian Joanderson Sa de Brito (145.6).

LFA 65, which airs live on AXS TV on Friday, May 3 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, also features a featherweight showdown between Youssef Zalal (144.6) and Matt Jones (145). Women's strawweights Pauline Macias (116) and Sarah McLeod (115.6) will throw down as well. At middleweight, Adam Stroup (185.6) meets Hayward Charles (186). Rounding out the main card will be a b…

Featherweights headline our first-ever South Carolina card! @MoicanoUFC takes on @KoreanZombieMMA in the main event at #UFCGreenville! https://t.co/giFOrQkywR pic.twitter.com/NMLrhHyjEf

— UFC (@ufc) May 2, 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be taking its first trip to South Carolina this June, putting on what is sure to be a thrilling main event between Renato Carneiro and Chan Sung Jung.

First reporting this was Combate on Thursday morning. The UFC confirmed this story later on Thursday, announcing that "Moicano" (13-2-1) will meet "The Korean Zombie" (14-5) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 154 in Greenville, S.C., on June 22.

Carneiro suffered the first knockout loss of his career in his most recent performance against Jose Aldo, snapping a two-fight win streak over Cub Swanson and Calvin Kattar. Throughout his career, all of his stoppage wins have come by submission, never knocking out an opponent.

Jung…

After UFC President Dana White announced that Brock Lesnar would be retiring and no longer challenging current heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title, the promotion immediately announced plans for Cormier to take on Stipe Miocic in a rematch for the belt. The UFC is rumored to be looking at booking the fight on the UFC 241 card in August.

The pair previously met last July at UFC 226 in a fight that Cormier won via knockout in the opening round. The loss ended Miocic's record for heavyweight title defenses at three and snapped a six-fight winning streak which dated back to 2015.

Despite the bout not being officially announced, the betting lines have already been drawn and according to BetOnline, the champion is listed as the slight betting favorite to retain his title at -150 with Miocic coming in as the underdog at +130.

Cormier is currently riding a seven-fight win streak and is undefeated as a heavyweight, going 13-0 while capturing both the UFC…

Angela Hill will make a relatively quick turnaround from her victory at UFC Fight Night 150 this past Saturday.

“The Ultimate Fighter 20” will replace the injured Felice Herrig and face Xiaonan Yan in a strawweight bout at UFC 238. Herrig announced her withdrawal due to a torn ACL early this week. UFC officials confirmed the new matchup with broadcast partner ESPN.

Hill ended a two-bout skid with a unanimous decision triumph over Jodie Esquibel at UFC Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. The former Invicta champion is 4-6 over the course of two stints with the Las Vegas-based organization.

Yan, meanwhile, has kicked off her promotional tenure with successive triumphs over Kailin Curran, Viviane Pereira and Syuri Kondo to run her professional mark to 10-1.

UFC 238 takes place at the United Center in Chicago on June 8 and is headlined by a showdown for the vacant bantamweight title between Henry Cejudo and Marlon Moraes.

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Unbeaten King of the Cage champion Patrick Mix has signed with Bellator MMA and will make his promotional debut at Madison Square Garden.

Mix will square off against Ricky Bandejas in a bantamweight bout at Bellator 222 on June 14. Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official on Wednesday. Bellator 222 is headlined by a light heavyweight duel between Chael Sonnen and Lyoto Machida. The card also includes a welterweight tournament bout between Rory MacDonald and Neiman Gracie as well as an inter-promotional bantamweight championship clash pitting Darrion Caldwell against Kyoji Horiguchi.

Mix and Bandejas will scheduled to square off under the Ring of Combat banner in June 2017 for the promotion’s vacant bantamweight crown, but the bout was ultimately canceled.

A native of Angola, N.Y., Mix has captured the KOTC bantamweight crown while compiling a 10-0 career mark. His resume includes …