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Sherdog's live Dana White Contender Series play-by-play kicks off at 8 p.m. ET.

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Count Conor McGregor’s coach among those who believes his fighter will square off with Khabib Nurmagomedov at some point in 2018.

In an interview with MMA analyst Robin Black (video courtesy of MMANytt.se), SBG Ireland head trainer John Kavanagh made a bold statement regarding the highly-anticipated lightweight bout.

“It’s the obvious fight, as his coach and as a fan,” Kavanagh said. “As a fan of MMA, it’s the fight I want to see as well. I would almost bet anything — almost bet anything — that fight happens before the end of the year.

“I can’t imagine it not happening.”

McGregor is scheduled for his next court appearance on July 26 for his role in an attack on a bus carrying UFC fighters and employees at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., this past April. McGregor threw a dolly through a window of the bus, shattering glass and injuring fighters Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg. He is facing charges of assault and criminal mischief, but his legal team …

While it appeared to be all but a done deal after UFC 225, Rashad Evans has formally announced that it is time for him to hang up the four-ounce gloves.

“The Ultimate Fighter 2” winner revealed the news Monday on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. Evans last appeared at UFC 225, where he suffered a 53-second knockout loss to Anthony Smith on June 9. That was the fifth consecutive defeat for the former UFC light heavyweight champion.

After Evan’s latest bout, UFC President Dana White said the fighter had indicated he was ready to call it quits. However, immediately after UFC 225 Evans only released a lengthy statement via Instagram that didn’t seem to make a decision one way or another. On Monday, Evans was much more clear.

"At one point in my life, I felt as if fighting was everything. It was everything. I put life second," Evans said on the ESPN show. "But now life has taken over. Now fighting has become second. And competing in a sport like mixed martial arts, whe…

The back and forth between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones continues, even if Cormier made it a point to say he wasn’t responding to his light heavyweight rival on social media.

Last week, UFC social media created a post asking if Cormier would become The G.O.A.T with a victory over heavyweight king Stipe Miocic at UFC 226. Cormier’s response: “I’m fighting these dudes at 39 years old and still getting my hand raised. So yes, put me in the conversation.” That drew immediate mockery from Jones on social media.

“If he’s in the conversation, does that make me the motherf---ing man?” Jones responded on Twitter.

If he’s in the conversation does that make me the motherfucking man? https://t.co/cEnNRayEus

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) June 20, 2018

Jones, of course, is the only fighter with a victory over Cormier. He outpointed “DC” in a light heavyweight title defense at UFC 182 and stopped the American Kickboxing Academy standout in th…

Josh Barnett has officially confirmed that he is no longer an Ultimate Fighting Championship athlete.

MMAjunkie.com initially reported that Barnett had been released from his UFC contract last week. His departure comes on the heels of a debacle with USADA that saw him cleared of fault for a failed out-of-competition drug test on Dec 9, 2016. “The Warmaster” tested positive for the banned substance ostarine, but the fighter and his legal team were able to prove to an independent arbitrator that the result was due to a tainted supplement.

“No one thought I would ever be back in the UFC given the tumultuous relationship that we had had in the past, but for five fights and five years, that's precisely where I have been. I have very much enjoyed my time there,” Barnett wrote in a statement on his Facebook page. “The UFC has been a wonderful experience the second time around and together we have done great things. Although I am sure we could continue to do so, I feel t…

Kevin Lee is one of the most talented contenders in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division, but he envisions a more lucrative future for himself in a newly-created weight class.

“The Motown Phenom” explained what he hopes to see happen in a recent interview with the Straits Times ahead of UFC Fight Night 132 in Singapore.

"Right now, [what] makes the most sense is to really correct the divisions,” Lee said. "The 155-pound and 170-pound [divisions] are so messed up right now. You've got three titles between the two divisions already, so they've got to add another weight class.

"I think me and Georges [St. Pierre] for the 165-pound title makes the most amount of sense. You do Conor [McGregor] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] in October, you do me and Georges in November, at Madison Square Garden. And maybe you do Tyron [Woodley] and Colby [Covington] to figure out the 170-pound division."

Last year, the Association of Boxing Commissions and …

It’s been about two weeks since Robert Whittaker defeated Yoel Romero via split decision in a memorable five-round battle bout at UFC 225, but he still has some questions regarding how the Cuban wrestler was able to recover so quickly from what appeared to be a grueling weight cut.

Romero, of course, missed weight by 0.2 pounds one day prior, and “The Soldier of God” had to be helped from weigh-ins by his team. Come fight night, however, Romero was as powerful and explosive as ever. He floored Whittaker in rounds three and five to nearly steal a victory that would have created a mess in the middleweight division considering the matchup was a non-title bout. Whittaker discussed Romero’s recovery and subsequent performance during a recent appearance on GrangeTV .

“Guys who are cutting weight and are missing weight, and they look like shriveled husks of themselves – you can’t get back in the Octagon 24 hours later and compete in your top form. I know this firsthand …

Former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will meet Shamil Abdurakhimov when the Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its maiden voyage to Russia on Sept. 15.

Arlovski recently announced the booking via Instagram, though it hasn’t been formally confirmed by the Las Vegas-based promotion. The UFC Fight Night card takes place at Olympic Stadium in Moscow and will stream in its entirety on UFC Fight Pass. Alexey Oleynik is rumored to headline the card against Mark Hunt in another heavyweight contest.

Arlovski had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a competitive decision loss to Tai Tuivasa at UFC 225 on June 9. Prior to that defeat, 39-year-old Belarusian had outpointed Stefan Struve and Junior Albini in back-to-back outings.

Abdurakhimov, meanwhile, has won three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a first-round knockout of Chase Sherman in his most recent bout at UFC Fight Night 122. The 36-year-old Dagestan native is 18-4 as a professional …

For a few moments, it looked as though Ovince St. Preux was going to serve as fodder for the rise of Australian prospect Tyson Pedro at UFC Fight Night 132 in Singapore.

Pedro stunned St. Preux with a right high kick during an initial exchange, then dropped his opponent with a right hand. Moments later, Pedro applied a standing guillotine choke, but was unable to find the right angle to secure the submission against his taller adversary. When that failed, the Sydney native attempted a bodylock takedown, but the failed attempt put St. Preux in top position.

From there, OSP went to work, landing ground-and-pound before isolating Pedro’s arm and locking in a straight armbar to get the tapout at the 2:54 mark of round one.

“I was just think I need to gain my composure early in the fight. I have a bad habit of starting slowly, so composure was the key,” St. Preux said. “The fight went to the ground and I landed perfectly. I landed in a position I wanted to. If I…

Ovince St. Preux, Yadong Song, Shane Young and Rolando Dy all received $50,000 bonuses for their work at UFC Fight Night 132 in Singapore on Saturday.

St. Preux garnered a “Performance of the Night” check for his submission of Australian prospect Tyson Pedro in the light heavyweight co-main event. After being dropped and trapped in a guillotine choke early, St. Preux escaped and regathered his bearings. Eventually, OSP moved to top position near the fence after a botched Pedro takedown and grabbed a kimura before transitioning to a straight armbar to earn the tapout at the 2:54 mark of round one.

Elsewhere, Song received the card’s other “Performance of the Night” award for a brutal knockout of Felipe Arantes in a bantamweight affair. Late in the second stanza, Song broke a clinch with a vicious right elbow, sending his opponent toppling to the canvas. From there, three follow-up blows on the ground brought an end to the contest at the 4:59 mark of round two.

…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 132 coverage kicks off Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has signed with Bellator MMA after fighting out his UFC contract at UFC 224 last month, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reports.

Machida ended his UFC tenure with an emphatic front-kick knockout over fellow Brazilian MMA legend Vitor Belfort, which likely helped his bargaining power as he negotiated with both the UFC and Bellator. Machida was reportedly fielding offers from both promotions after becoming a free agent following his knockout of Belfort, but ultimately decided to try his luck outside of the promotion he’s fought for since 2007.

The 40 year-old karateka already holds wins over two titleholders in his new promotion: a knockout victory over Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader as well as a decision victory over newly-crowned middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi.

“The Dragon” is part of a general exodus of…

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

Donald Cerrone has been cleared for his first fight in Singapore against British fighter Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night 132.

One of mixed martial arts’ most active fighters, Cerrone tipped the scales Friday at 171 pounds, clearing the way for his much-awaited clash against Edwards, who hit 170 and is looking forward to the biggest fight of his career.

The event will also feature Ovince St. Preux (206), who will be facing Australia’s Tyson Pedro (205) in the co-main event.

UFC Fight Night 132 “Cerrone vs. Edwards” will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The main card will air live on UFC Fight Pass on Saturday at 8 a.m. ET. The Fight Pass prelims will stream live at 4:30 a.m. ET.

UFC Fight Night 132 Weigh-in Results: Donald Cerrone (171) vs. Leon Edwards (170)Ovince St. Preux (206) vs. Tyson Pedro (205)Jessica-Rose Clark (126) vs. Jessica Eye (126)Daichi Abe …

She wasn’t in the main event, but in her much-anticipated MMA debut, two-time Olympic judo champion Kayla Harrison was positively golden.

Thursday night at Professional Fight League 2 inside the Chicago Theatre, Harrison (1-0 MMA, 1-0 PFL) ran roughshod over Brittney Elkin (3-5 MMA, 0-1 PFL) in their lightweight contest, locking up a fight-ending armbar at 3:18 to elicit the tap and gain her first career win in the cage.

The 27-year-old Harrison, who took Olympic gold at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro games at 172 pounds, immediately rushed Elkin into the fence, hit an inside trip and began delivering powerful punches before moving to mount. The Middleton, Ohio, native, who has taken up training with American Top Team in Florida, then switched from a rear-naked choke to an over-the-top armbar, broke Elkin’s grip and forced her to concede.

"The waiting before the fight is the hardest part. You go through a million scenarios in your head but once I got here…

When Jake Ellenberger first appeared in the Ultimate Fighting Championship back in 2009, the then-newcomer nearly took out established welterweight Carlos Condit in his Octagon debut.

“The Juggernaut” was a kind of new breed at the time, a competent if not dangerous striker with a proficient wrestling base. And Ellenberger was knocking people out, cold.

Those days seem firmly in the rearview mirror at this point, with Ellenberger going an uninspired 2-7 in his last nine fights. Mind you, many of those losses were to highly-ranked welterweights, however they were brutal defeats, with Ellenberger being violently knocked out in his last three fights.

But the UFC veteran isn’t ready to hang up the gloves just yet, despite dropping another loss recently, this time by first round TKO against Ben Saunders at UFC Fight Night 131 in Upstate New York on June 1 (via MMAJunkie.com):

“In my 12 years of fighting, that was the best preparation leading up to a fight camp that …

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Tyron Woodley packs some serious power, having put away the likes of Robbie Lawler, Josh Koscheck and Jay Hieron with punches during his mixed martial arts career.

Woodley sees a pattern of the type of pressuring fighters he knocks out, compared to more subtle and elusive opponents like Steven Thompson, who usually take the champ the distance. As for newly-minted interim welterweight champion Colby Covington, Woodley sees “Chaos” as more of the former kind of opponent (from the UFC Unfiltered Podcast:)

“Fighters that press me like that have been the ones that get knocked out. Koscheck was one and got knocked out. Robbie (Lawler) is a pressure fighter. He got knocked out. I’ve fought a guy like him before. These are people I call The Walking Dead. They know they have to get a takedown.”

“His ground is terrible. When you think about all those attributes, I’ve said this before, put your chin on the treadmill. Show me …

PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League PFL 2 Weigh-insCredit: Pro Fight League Former Bellator MMA lightweight champion Will Brooks is primed to resurrect his career in the Professional Fighters League, and his path starts on Thursday in Chicago against Luiz Firmino at PFL 2.

PFL 2 will take place at the Chicago Theather on Thursday and has have a seasonal format in which fighters will compete for a $1 million prize and a championship.

Brooks, also an Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, tipped the scales today at 156 pounds, clearing…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDsoWp743gM&w=560&h=315]

When Georges St. Pierre was in his heyday, maintaining a high level of intensity during training sessions sometimes required some creativity.

St. Pierre established himself as one of the UFC’s biggest stars during a lengthy reign as welterweight champion, and as a result, training partners in the gym would often be reticent to go hard against him during sparring. Tristar Gym trainer Firas Zahabi explained the situation during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s JRE MMA Show podcast.

“We reach those high intensity levels periodically through the year, and we have to do it a certain way so that it’s fun. Georges was on your show, and he was saying I was trying to kill him in the practice room. He’s right, but I do it so rarely,” Zahabi said. “I do it so periodically. I make it a joke. I brought the guys in a room, and I was watching them spar with Georges, and they don’t want to touch his face. This is when…

Yusuke Yachi, Hatsu Hioki, Kaitlin Young will be among those competing at Rizin 12 on Aug. 12.

The Japanese promotion announced several matchups for the card during a recent press conference. Rizin 12 takes place in Nagoya, Japan and is headlined by a lightweight showdown between Yachi and Bruno Carvalho.

The 26-year-old Yachi has reeled off a six-bout winning streak that includes triumphs over the likes of Diego Nunes, Takanori Gomi and Daron Cruickshank. The 36-year-old Carvalho owns a 10-5 career record but hasn’t competed since October 2016.

Meanwhile, Hioki will square off against Mikuru Asakura in a featured featherweight duel. An eight-time UFC veteran, Hioki is coming off back-to-back losses under the Pancrase banner in 2017.

“I debated about returning to the ring, but this is a big event in my home town against a young up and coming opponent,” Hioki said. “At the end of the day, there was no reason for me to turn down the fight.”

Elsewh…

Alliance MMA's Matt "Robo" Sayles makes it five finishes in five fights here at #DWTNCS, dropping Yazan Hajeh with a straight right and stopping him from the mount. He moves to 7-1 with six KOs. pic.twitter.com/alIe7PhGZ6

— Kyle Johnson (@Maldobabo) June 20, 2018

Anthony Hernandez could not have done more to impress the powers that be with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The undefeated MMA Gold Fight Team middleweight obliterated Jordan Wright with first-round punches on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas. Hernandez (7-0) brought it to a close 40 seconds into Round 1.

Wright (9-1) was in over his head. Hernandez cracked “The Beverly Hills Ninja” with a thudding right, then flurried and separated. A left hook sent a dazed Wright to the mat and left him vulnerable to the attack that followed. Hernandez capitalized on the opening, a burst of right hands knocking his adversary unconsci…

Sherdog's live Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series play-by-play kicks off at 8 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result

Angela Hill will square off against Alexa Grasso in a strawweight contest at UFC Fight Night 135 on Aug. 25.

The promotion confirmed the pairing on Tuesday evening. UFC Fight Night 135 takes place at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb., and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Justin Gaethje and Al Iaquinta.

Hill, the former Invicta FC 115-pound queen, has alternated wins and losses in her last four Octagon appearances. “The Ultimate Fighter 20” cast member last appeared at UFC on Fox 28, where she captured a unanimous decision victory against Maryna Moroz on Feb. 24.

A native of Guadalajara, Mexico, Grasso is 2-2 thus far during her promotional tenure. Most recently, the 24-year-old was submitted 2:44 into the opening stanza by Tatiana Suarez at UFC Fight Night 129 on May 19.

Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t yet have a date or foe for his first UFC lightweight title defense, but signs are pointing toward Conor McGregor being his next dance partner in the Octagon.

"I do not know yet who will be my opponent. The battle is likely to take place in Las Vegas,” Nurmagomedov told Russian outlet Sport24. “I want to fight McGregor, the fans are also waiting for this fight. I hope that Conor wants this fight. He talked a lot, but for some reason, as soon as it came to real negotiations about the fight, he fell silent.”

McGregor’s silence has occurred in part due to legal issues stemming from his attack on a charter bus prior to UFC 223 in April. The Irishman was charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after throwing a dolly through a bus window and injuring fighters Ray Borg and Michael Chiesa. His team is currently working on a plea deal, and the “Notorious” is due back in court on July 26.

Meanwhile, McGregor …

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

The UFC Fight Night 133 lineup will apparently expand to 14 bouts, as Niko Price will square off against Randy Brown in a welterweight clash on July 14.

Price recently revealed the pairing in the comments section of an Instagram post. The matchup has not yet been formally announced by the promotion. UFC Fight Night 133 takes place at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho and is headlined by a heavyweight scrap between Junior dos Santos and Blagoy Ivanov.

The 28-year-old Price has lost just once in 13 professional outings, a second-round submission defeat at the hands of Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night 119 last October. “The Hybrid” has since rebounded, tapping out George Sullivan with a rear-naked choke in the second stanza at UFC on Fox 27.

Brown has won three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a three-round verdict over…