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When he left Bellator MMA in January 2018, Georgi Karakhanyan never expected to be back. The Moscow-born Armenian-American was leaving the promotion for the second time, heading to Russia to fight in Absolute Championship Berkut.

However, things didn’t work out in ACB, to put it mildly. At ACB 90 last November, Karakhanyan was part of one of the most controversial matches of 2018. His opponent, Timur Nagibin, punched Karakhanyan in the face seconds after referee Herb Dean stopped the fight, believing Nagibin had submitted to Karakhanyan’s guillotine choke. The now-disqualified Nagibin claimed that Karakhanyan had told Dean, falsely, that he had tapped. A few weeks later, the promoter overturned the fight result to a no-contest and gave Karakhanyan his walking papers for good measure. In the wake of the firing,…

Former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will move up in weight to face Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239.

ESPN was first to report the light heavyweight bout. UFC 239 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 6 as part of the promotion’s International Fight Week. The main card airs on pay-per-view, available only via ESPN+, while prelims air on ESPN and ESPN+. A headliner for the card has not been announced.

Rockhold hasn’t competed since February 2018, when he suffered a third-round knockout loss to Yoel Romero in the UFC 221 main event. The American Kickboxing Academy product won five of his first six Octagon appearances, claiming 185-pound gold with a four-round stoppage of Chris Weidman at UFC 194. He is just 1-2 since, relinquishing the title in an upset loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 199.

Blachowicz, meanwhile, had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 145, where he suffered a third-round techni…

After last weekend’s main-event bout at UFC London had concluded, an ugly altercation between Jorge Masvidal and Britain’s Leon Edwards broke out after Edwards called out to the Floridian as he was in the middle of an interview.

A clearly incensed Masvidal ended his interview and approached Edwards with his hands behind his back. “Gamebred” then threw several punches before being restrained by security.

Masvidal has gone on record with his side of the story, and Edwards was a guest on on Eurobash this week to provide his version of what transpired.

“Masvidal’s a rat…I don’t know what f*ckin’ happened,” Edwards said. “He was doing media, I was doing media, we both locked eyes together. I think I said, ‘We’ll go in July,’ or something like that and he said, ‘Maybe July, or maybe not,’ and blah, blah, blah.

“So he started walking over… I’m walking over,” he continued. “He says in that f*ckin’ video that I walked over with my hands up… if I walked over with my …

It may be some time before Tony Ferguson gets back into the Octagon.

The former UFC interim lightweight champion’s wife, Christina, recently filed a restraining order against him due to due a string of unusual and disturbing behavior.

Incident reports describing Ferguson’s actions included mention of him and his wife getting into arguments, Ferguson's father asking him to leave his house, Ferguson staying up for days at a time and smashing their fireplace, Ferguson claiming there was a microchip implanted in his leg and a man living in his walls, and splashing his wife with "holy water.”

The reports also state that Ferguson was not violent at any point during the incidents, nor was his wife concerned for her or their child’s safety. However, the restraining order was filed after Ferguson refused to seek treatment.

In the meantime, when Ferguson learned that the UFC had booked Max Holloway to face Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight crown in Atlanta o…

It appears as though the much-hyped Donald Cerrone vs. Conor McGregor matchup will not come to fruition. Instead, “Cowboy” will square off against Al Iaquinta in the UFC Ottawa headliner.

ESPN reported on Tuesday that both Cerrone and Iaquinta have verbally agreed to the lightweight bout. The Las Vegas-based promotion has not yet formally announced the pairing. UFC Ottawa takes place on May 4 and also features a middleweight clash pitting Derek Brunson against Elias Theodorou. The card will stream on ESPN+.

Cerrone returned to lightweight at UFC Fight Night 143, where he scored a second-round technical knockout of lightweight prospect Alexander Hernandez in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Jan. 19. The popular veteran has won three of his last four Octagon appearances.

Iaquinta, meanwhile, is coming off a five-round verdict over Kevin Lee in the UFC on Fox 31 headliner. Prior to that, the Serra-Longo Fight Team member lost a decision to Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title bout at U…

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship extended its contract with ESPN on Monday, and it seems as though Dana White also got a new deal to remain as UFC president in conjunction with that announcement.

“We had a five-year deal with them. Now we have a seven-year deal. And [UFC parent company Endeavor CEO] Ari Emanuel and I just signed a seven-year deal too,” White said in an interview with Megan Olivi. “So we’re here for seven years, ESPN is here for seven years. The incredible things that we’re gonna work on, I can’t even tell you for how pumped I am.”

When Zuffa sold the UFC to WME-IMG in 2016 for more than $4 billion, White signed a five-year contract to remain as promotion head and reportedly sold his nine percent share in the company for $360 million. It was also reported that White would receive nine percent of the promotion’s net profits going forward. Terms of the new deal were not disclosed.

Re…

BREAKING:

UFC Pay-Per-Views are now available for purchase exclusively through ESPN+ (US Only).

More information here: https://t.co/mFoIKzAoTn pic.twitter.com/HboOBaecZM— UFC (@ufc) March 18, 2019

ESPN is pretty close becoming a one-stop shopping destination for fans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

On Monday, the Las Vegas-based promotion announced an agreement that will make ESPN+ the sole provider of UFC pay-per-views through 2025. In other words, ESPN+ — not various cable or satellite providers — will be the single point of purchase for every UFC pay-per-view event throughout the year.

Additionally, the original five-year, multi-platform agreement between the UFC and ESPN has been extended through 2025.

“Today’s announcement further establishes the strength of the partnership between UFC and ESPN,” said UFC President Dana White. “Now our fans will be able to watch all UFC events exclusively on ESPN platforms, incl…

One Championship’s upcoming flyweight tournament has undergone a change after Andrew Leone had to withdraw from the bracket due to injury.

The promotion announced Monday that Senzo Ikeda will replace Leone and face Danny Kingad in a quarterfinal bout on March 31 in Tokyo. One “A New Era” takes place at Ryogoku Kokugikan and features four championship bouts. Additionally, former UFC flwyeight king Demetrious Johnson will make his promotional debut in another 125-pound quarterfinal, while ex-UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will make his first One foray in the ongoing 155-pound tournament.

Ikeda, 36, is a former Pancrase flyweight champion who owns an 8-0 record as a professional boxer. The Paraestra Matsudo product will enter his first One appearance on a four-fight winning streak. Most recently, Ikeda defended his Pancrase title with a fifth-round technical knockout of Yuya Wakamatsu in February 2018.

Kingad has won nine of his first 10 professional bouts…

Demetrious Johnson may have moved on from the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division he once dominated, but he’s still a keen observer of what’s happening there, and still wary of "superfights."

After bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw’s failed experiment in dropping down in weight to challenge Henry Cejudo for the UFC flyweight title, the question remains of where Dillashaw’s next fight will be, and against whom.

Former UFC flyweight king and current One Championship fighter Demetrious Johnson, who was strongly linked to his own superfight against Dillashaw before losing his title to Cejudo, believes the bantamweight champ should stay in his natural 135-pound weight class and defend against Brazilian contender Marlon Moraes (transcribed by MMANews.com):

“In my personal opinion, if I were to say what would be the best thing to happen, if T.J. went off and defended the belt against Marlon Moraes, who’s the No. 1 contender in my personal opinion, and t…

The lineup for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s trip to Rochester, N.Y., is beginning to take shape.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently revealed three new bouts to the Democrat & Chronicle: Patrick Cummins vs. Ed Herman at light heavyweight, Grant Dawson vs. Michael Trizano at featherweight and Zak Cummings vs. Trevin Giles at middleweight. Additionally, a previously reported women’s bantamweight clash pitting Aspen Ladd against Sijara Eubanks was also confirmed.

UFC Fight Night takes place on May 18 at Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester Community War Memorial and streams in its entirety on ESPN+.

Cummins, 38, went 0-2 in 2018, falling to Misha Cirkunov by submission at UFC Fight Night 138 and Corey Anderson by decision at UFC Fight Night 128. Herman, meanwhile, is looking to halt a three-bout skid, including a split-decision setback against Gian Villante in his most recent outing this past October.

Dawson improved to 13-1 as a pro by outpointing…

Tony Ferguson has released a statement in light of recent events that led to his wife filing a restraining order against him.

“Thank you all for the great support!” Ferguson wrote on Instagram. “I'm in a great spirits, UFC [and] management are helping me find the help we need,” Ferguson wrote. “I'm getting all of your messages, keep ‘em coming!!! Thank you very much for the kind words, my family [and] team appreciates it.

“Lots of love my social media fam, keep the faith couldn’t do this s--t without you.”

Incident reports describing Ferguson’s unusual behavior included mention of him and his wife getting into arguments, Ferguson's father asking him to leave his house, Ferguson staying up for days at a time and smashing their fire place, Ferguson claiming there was a microchip implanted in his leg and a man living in his walls, and splashing his wife with "holy water."

The reports also state that Ferguson was not violent at any point during the incidents, n…

In what was expected to be a candidate for “Fight of the Year,” Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday made it look astonishingly easy against Mikey Garcia at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Spence (25-0, 21 KOs) used a superb jab early to keep his aggressive counterpart at bay, and once he got his straight left going, the situation became hopeless for Garcia. Spence peppered his opponent from all angles, moving backward and forward, and it seemed as though he could not miss with his left hand. Whether it was a lead or a counter, “The Truth” drove his left fist into the Californian round and after round.

Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) never stopped trying to turn the tide against the Texan, but Spence was virtually perfect for 12 rounds. Spence turned up the heat in the latter stages of the welterweight contest and battered Garcia badly in the ninth round, with one judge scoring it 10-8. However, Spence was unable to finish off Garcia and had to settle for a lopsided unanimous decis…

Jorge Masvidal made a huge statement on Saturday in the main of UFC Fight Night London and now he wants a title shot.

Masvidal took the best betting favorite Darren Till had to offer, withstood several cracking left hands and eventually knocked Till into orbit. After a relatively uneventful night of action, Masvidal’s thrilling knockout of Till sent the MMA world into a frenzy because it seemed like it wouldn’t happen. Masvidal had been landing clean punches on “The Gorilla’s” head on numerous occasions, but none of them seemed to faze the larger Brit at all.

“Darren is so tough,” Masvidal said after his triumph. “Before I dropped him, I hit him with some bombs and the dude just smiled at me like, like I do to other people.”

Masvidal’s knockout eventually came, though.

Masvidal cracked Till with a powerful left hook clean on the jaw and the Englishman’s knees buckled. Masvidal missed a follow-up right hook, but his next punch – another left hook – didn’t. I…

Jorge Masvidal’s first mixed martial arts bout since November 2017 turned out to be quite profitable.

“Gamebred” earned an extra $100,000 in post-fight bonuses for his work at UFC London on Saturday, when he knocked out Darren Till 3:05 into the second round of the card’s headliner. Masvidal rallied for the victory after being floored by Till early in the opening stanza, knocking his foe out cold with a left hook. Masvidal received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus, while he and Till garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece.

Elsewhere, Dan Ige captured the other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” paycheck for his quick submission of Danny Henry in a preliminary featherweight affair. Ige landed a left early, took his man down and unload with more punches on the mat. When Henry attempted to stand, Ige transitioned to his back and sunk in the rear-naked choke to get the tapout 77 seconds into the bout.

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 147 will air live on ESPN+ with the prelims starting at 1 p.m. ET, and the main card at 4 p.m. ET. For Canadian viewers, the card will air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.

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:John Brannigan scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:John Brannigan scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the ro…

Tom Breese has pulled out of a scheduled clash with Ian Heinisch at UFC London.

Heinisch first brought word of the cancellation via social media on Saturday morning due to health issues for Breese. As a result, UFC Fight Night 147 will move forward with 12 bouts. Breese vs. Heinisch was scheduled for the preliminary card.

“Our apologies to Ian and team we have total admiration and respect in how he’s handled this situation,” Breese’s management wrote in a statement released to MMAFighting.com.

“Tom will need some time to sort things out, he’s an amazing young talent and has the full support of both myself and his team. Right now we wish everyone competing in tonight’s fights the very best of luck and a big thank you to the UFC for their understanding.”

A former welterweight competitor, Breese hit the scales without issue on Friday, clocking in at 186 pounds.

Breese hasn’t competed since May 2018, when he earned a first-round technical knockout victory…

A Back & Forth Brawl!#FarmerCarroll pic.twitter.com/xi9fjMXaTr

— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) March 16, 2019 It wasn't quite as lopsided as the official scores indicated, but Tevin Farmer retained his IBF junior lightweight championship belt nevertheless.

Farmer (29-4-1, 6 KOs) controlled the majority of the pace with challenger Jono Carroll, though the Irishman made things difficult for the champion throughout. Carroll (16-1-1, 3 KOs) forced Farmer into a slugfest repeatedly in the 12-round affair, with many of the stanzas nearly too close to call. Carroll was the busier of the two, but Farmer landed the cleaner, more definitive punches during the plentiful exchanges. With the fight seemingly up for grabs in the championship rounds, it was the champ who landed the hardest blow of the brawl. "American Idol" cracked Carroll with a sharp right to the jaw in the 11th, wobbling him with it. The Philadelphian tried closing out his foe but "The Celtic Warr…

Rachael Ostovich's husband Arnold Berdon has pleaded no contest to assaulting his wife back in November.

According to ESPN and the Associated Press late Thursday, Berdon, the husband of Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Ostovich, is pleading no contest to an assault charge against his wife. As a result, Berdon will likely be sentenced to probation, and according to Judge Trish Morikawa, he might not serve any time in prison if he participates in a domestic violence program. Ostovich is also seeking a divorce.

Initially pleading not guilty to the charge of second-degree assault, he opted to plead no contest instead to keep his family out of the courts any longer. Pleading no contest means that he will not contest the case, but also contends that he is not admitting guilt. The sentencing hearing is slated for May 16, and the maximum possible sentence for this charge is five years in prison.

In November, Berdon was arrested and initially charged with second-degree a…

Tony Ferguson's wife has sought a restraining order against the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight, alleging that he made threatening remarks and demonstrated disturbing behavior on multiple occasions.

MMAJunkie reported Thursday that Ferguson's wife filed a restraining order against him. The order was filed after a series of incidents where his wife called the police out of concern for Ferguson and his well-being.

MMAJunkie.com was provided with each of the incident reports involving Ferguson and his family. The reports included Ferguson and his wife getting into arguments, Ferguson's father asking him to leave his house, Ferguson staying awake for days at a time and causing damage to their fire place, Ferguson claiming there was a microchip implanted in his leg and someone living in his walls, and repeatedly splashing his wife with "holy water." At one time, he also called the police to report that his wife had been missing overnight.

The reports were v…

MMA fighter Conor McGregor sued in South Florida https://t.co/6JwPkJrg3M

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) March 14, 2019

The alleged victim in the phone-smashing incident in Miami is now suing Conor McGregor for over $15,000 in damages.

According to the Associated Press on Thursday, Miami-Dade County court records show that McGregor is being sued by Ahmed Abdirzak, the alleged victim in the incident. The lawsuit accuses the Irishman of assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. While the phone itself was valued at $1,000, the additional damages account for the remainder, totaling at least $15,000.

Earlier on Thursday, a video from TMZ surfaced showing McGregor stomping on Abdirzak's phone. For the incident, McGregor was arrested and charged with felony strong-armed robbery and criminal mischief. He has since been released on a $12,500 bond, and he will return to court for an arraignment on April 10.

The defense …

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It was only a matter of time until video of the alleged phone smashing by Conor McGregor would come out, and that video has now been released by TMZ.

In a video published by TMZ on Thursday, McGregor is seen in the clip stomping on the phone he allegedly took from Ahmed Abdirzak late Sunday night. In the video, you can hear Abdirzak begging McGregor, saying "Let me get my phone, man." While Abdirzak was pleading to McGregor, you can loudly hear and see the phone being stomped on by McGregor's left foot.

According to the arrest report, McGregor and Abdirzak were outside the LIV Nightclub at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel very early in the morning. When Abdirzak tried to take a photograph of the UFC superstar, he claimed McGregor feigned a handshake and pulled in Abdirzak, while grabbing the phone.

For this incident, McGregor was arrested and charged with felony strong-armed robbery and cr…

A pair of brothers from Russia will compete together at Bellator 218.

Anatoly Tokov will face Gerald Harris at middleweight, while Vladimir Tokov will make his promotional debut against Ryan Walker at bantamweight. Sherdog.com confirmed the bookings with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAFighting.com on Wednesday.

Bellator 218 takes place on March 22 in Thackerville, Okla., on March 22 and is headlined by a featherweight tilt pitting Emmanuel Sanchez against Georgi Karakhanyan. The main card, which will include Anatoly Tokov vs. Harris, airs at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on Paramount Network and DAZN.

Anatoly Tokov is riding a three-fight winning streak in Bellator, including a decision victory against Alexander Shlemenko in his most recent outing this past October. He owns a 27-2 career mark.

Harris, meanwhile, is coming off a majority draw against Hracho Darpinyan at Bellator 210 on Nov. 30. “Hurricane” lost to Yarsoslav Amosov and Rafael …

A lightweight bout pitting Jalin Turner against Matt Frevola has been added to the UFC 236 lineup.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently confirmed the pairing. UFC 236 takes place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on April 13 and is headlined by an interim lightweight championship tilt between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier. In the co-main event, Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya will vie for the interim middleweight crown.

After suffering a knockout loss to Vicente Luque in his Octagon debut at UFC 229, Turner rebounded to score a 53-second technical knockout of Callan Potter in his sophomore outing at UFC 234 on Feb. 9. The 23-year-old Contender Series alum owns an 8-4 career mark, with all of his triumphs coming inside the distance.

Frevola began his career with wins in his first six pro bouts, including a second round submission of Jose Flores on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in August 2017. The Serra-Longo Fight Team representative then de…

There have been a few updates to the upcoming UFC on ESPN 2 card.

Former flyweight title challenger Ray Borg, who was originally scheduled to face Pingyuan Liu, will now meet Kyler Phillips in a 135-pound contest on the March 30 card. Meanwhile, two new bouts have been added to the event, as Kevin Holland will face Gerald Meerschaert at middleweight, while Mark De La Rosa meets Alex Perez at bantamweight. PhillyVoice.com was the first to report the new bookings.

UFC on ESPN 2 takes place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Justin Gaethje and Edson Barboza. The card airs on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+.

Borg hasn’t fought since being submitted in the fifth round of a flyweight title bout against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 216, as multiple bouts have fallen through since then. Phillips, an alum of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, is coming off a first-round knockout of Emeka Ifekandu at LFA 5…