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With just three amateur bouts under his belt, former NFL star Greg Hardy will get an opportunity to earn a UFC contract in his first professional fight.

According to a report by MMA Today, Hardy will face Brandon Sayles in a heavyweight matchup at Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series on June 12 in Las Vegas. The Contender Series debuted last summer with eight five-bout events. Competitors who had the most impressive performances received UFC contracts at the end of each card.

Hardy, who trains at American Top Team, has earned a trio of first-round stoppages in his first three amateur appearances. Most recently, he garnered a 14-second TKO win over Ryan Chester at Legacy Fighting Alliance 33 on Feb. 16. A native of Fort Benning, Ga., Sayles owns a 5-1 career professional mark.

During his tenure in the NFL, Hardy was one of the top pass rushers in football, earning second-team all pro honors in 2013 with the Carolina Panthers after finishing with 15 …

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Drama on Ultimate Fighting Championship weigh-in day seems to be becoming a regular occurrence.

UFC Fight Night 128’s main event remains unchanged, but one half of the highly-anticipated lightweight clash missed weight. Edson Barboza weighed in comfortably at 155.6,but his adversary, Kevin Lee, weighed in at 157 and will surrender 20 percent of his fight purse to his opponent.

Co-main eventers Frankie Edgar (145.6) and Cub Swanson (145) hit their marks and were subsequently greenlit for their rematch. All of the other main card fighters made weight, but on the prelims, Aspen Ladd (137.8) was too heavy for her fight with Leslie Smith (135.4). According to Ladd, Smith refused to accept the fight under the circumstances.

I apologize to my opponent @ufc @UFCFightPass @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite my team, my fam and all the fans. I was 1.8 lbs over, I was told she would not t…

Boise gets its first bout!@CatZingano takes on @BelizeanBruiser at #UFCBoise on July 14! pic.twitter.com/gxheTuo1wv

— UFC (@ufc) April 20, 2018

Cat Zingano is making her return to the Octagon.

After suffering three consecutive defeats, former title contender Cat Zingano is set for a quick turnaround as she has been booked to fight Marion Reneau at UFC Fight Night 133. While Zingano is desperate for a win, her foe is on the best run of her career thus far. Reneau is fresh off a submission victory over Olympic medalist Sara McMann and is unbeaten in her last four contests.

Zingano hasn’t tasted victory since she finished current-champ Amanda Nunes in 2014. Her conquest of Nunes earned her a shot at Ronda Rousey, but she was defeated in the first round and has since dropped consecutive decision losses.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced more matchups for their first event in Idaho, with another former title contender…

Alexander Gustafsson has signed a new multi-fight deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, announcing on Instagram that he “will be fighting very soon.”

The Swedish mixed martial artist also took a shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who has publicly stated that he will retire before his 40th birthday in 2019. The details of Gustafsson’s contract were not revealed, but he said that he has secured “the biggest deal” of his career.

The UFC light-heavyweight contender has not fought since May 2017, when he knocked out Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 109. Before that, the 31-year-old Alliance MMA representative defeated Jan Błachowicz at UFC Fight Night 93 by unanimous decision.

Gustafsson has a 10-4 record in the UFC and has won three “Fight of The Night” bonuses. The highlight of Gustafsson’s career are two spectacular and close fights for the UFC light heavyweight title: one against Jon Jones on Sept. 21, 2013 at UFC 165, and the other at…

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Fans will be eager to see what improvements Phil Brooks (also known as CM Punk) has made to his game when the former World Wrestling Entertainment star turned mixed martial artist steps back into the Octagon to face Mike Jackson at UFC 225 in Chicago on June 9 at the United Center in Chicago.

The two men have a few things in common as each made their Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in 2016 and both were submitted by rear-naked choke by Micky Gall in the first round. Punk did slightly better than Jackson, lasting 2:14 seconds compared to Jackson, who was submitted in 45 seconds.

The pair will fight in Punk’s hometown of Chicago and Jackson recently appeared on “The MMA Hour” to give his thoughts on the match while promising to inflict another loss on the former WWE star’s record.

Jackson intends to knock out Punk and insists there is no bad blood between the two, despite the fact that Pun…

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Ultimate Fighting Championship commentator Joe Rogan is still angered and perplexed what happened a fortnight ago at UFC 223 media day involving Conor McGregor and believes only the Irishman is capable of getting away with such an act.

McGregor crashed media day in an effort to intimidate his long-time rival Khabib Nurmagomedov after the Russian had an altercation with McGregor’s SBG Ireland teammate Artem Lobov days earlier inside the hotel lobby. As a direct result of McGregor’s attack on the bus, the UFC was forced to remove three fights from the card with Lobov immediately pulled from his clash with Alex Caceres for his involvement in the melee. Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg’s fights were scratched due to injuries they suffered from the attack.

Rogan is a big fan of McGregor, although has previously condemned his actions. On his latest podcast, he spoke about just how much worse the situation cou…

Credit: Joao Baptista Credit: Joao Baptista Credit: Joao Baptista

A middleweight clash between Paulo Henrique Costa and Uriah Hall that was originally scheduled for UFC Fight 128 has been rebooked for UFC 226.

Costa revealed the matchup via Instagram on Wednesday. The UFC has not formally announced the pairing. UFC 226 takes place on July 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between reigning champion Stipe Miocic and 205-pound king Daniel Cormier.

“Borrachinha” pulled out of the initially scheduled bout with Hall due to a torn biceps. The 26-year-old Brazilian is 11-0 thus far in his MMA career, including a trio of triumphs under the UFC banner. Most recently, he scored a second-round TKO of Johny Hendricks at UFC 217 in November.

Hall will return for the first time since a scary weight cut forced him to withdraw from a matchup with Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 125 in January. Hall last competed at UFC Fight Night …

Mirko Filipovic has passed an out-of-competition drug test ahead of his Bellator 200 heavyweight fight in London against Roy Nelson.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the result. Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation director Mike Mazzulli collected the sample on April 5 in Filipovic’s native Croatia. Mazzulli, who is also the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC) president, is in charge of regulating Bellator’s overseas fight cards. According to Mazzulli, the results were analyzed at Quest Diagnostics in the United States and returned on Wednesday. The 43-year-old tested negative for performance enhancing drugs and drugs of abuse.

“Cro Cop” was suspended for two years by USADA for his use of human growth hormone prior to a scheduled bout against Anthony Hamilton at UFC Fight Night in Seoul, South Korea, in November 2015. The Pride Fighting Championships veteran announced his retirement shortly before the suspension, but ultimatel…

Professional Fighters League season has revealed three matchups for its season debut on June 7, and there are already some accomplished names on the card.

The rebranded promotion recently announced the following three featherweight matchups on Wednesday: Andre Harrison vs. face Jumabieke Tuerxun; Lance Palmer vs. Bekbulat Magomedov and Timur Valiev vs. Max Coga. Each PFL division features 12 fighters, with the top eight advancing to the postseason for a chance at a $1 million payout.

PFL 1 takes place at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York and will air in primetime on NBC Sports Network.

Harrison, a former World Series of Fighting titlist, is unbeaten in 17 professional appearances and is coming off a five-round verdict over Steven Rodriguez at PFL “Everett” on July 29. A native of China, Tuerxun went 0-3 during a short-lived stint in the UFC but owns a 20-5-1 professional record overall.

Palmer, who relinquished the WSOF featherweig…

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe anyone in the UFC can beat newly-crowned lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The Russian is undefeated (26-0) in his professional mixed martial arts career.

Cormier is a teammate of “The Eagle” at San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy and is convinced that no one on the current roster can match up with Nurmgomedov inside the Octagon.

“He’ll be the only guy that never loses,” Cormier said Tuesday while on a media tour to promote “The Ultimate Fighter 27” (transcript courtesy of MMAFighting.com). “He’s not going to lose, man. They won’t know how to deal with him. He’s going to be the only guy that goes through this whole thing without losing. Because I’m not sure he’s going to be here that long. But while he’s here, nobody’s going to beat him.”

While the lightweight division is arguably the most talented stacked division, even the likes of Conor McGregor don’t worry Cormi…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship could have two broadcast partners after its current deal with Fox comes to an end.

According to a Tuesday report from Variety, ESPN and Fox Sports have recently proposed to split the UFC TV rights between the two companies. One of the elements of the deal would bring approximately 15 UFC events to the recently launched streaming service ESPN+.

Per the Variety report:

According to sources with knowledge of the proposal, ESPN has signaled that it would be willing to pay $120-180 million per year to add the Endeavor-owned mixed martial arts league to its collection of live-event rights.

Fox, which currently pays $120 million per year UFC rights, would be willing see that number increase to a little more than $200 million. Fox’s current package includes four Saturday-night fights per year on Fox Broadcasting and a number of fight events on cabler Fox Sports 1 that has increased annually under its current agreement. A joint bid …

A lightweight showdown pitting Bobby Green against Clay Guida has been added to the UFC 225 lineup.

The promotion confirmed the pairing to the Chicago Tribune. UFC 225 takes place at the United Center in Chicago on June 9 and is headlined by a middleweight title clash between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero.

Green, 31, halted a four-bout winless streak at UFC on Fox 27, as he took a unanimous verdict over Erik Koch on Jan. 27. Green is 5-3-1 in the Las Vegas-based promotion and 24-8-1 as a professional overall.

Guida, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back triumphs over Koch and Joe Lauzon in 2017. “The Carpenter” began his UFC tenure in 2006 and has compiled a 14-11 record in the organization. The 36-year-old owns a 34-17 career mark.

For the past few years now, Carlos Condit has seemed to teeter on the brink of retirement.

Following a second-round submission defeat to Alex Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 29 — his fourth consecutive loss in the Octagon — those feelings appear to be stronger than ever. The 33-year-old “Natural Born Killer” took a moment to reflect on things following his most recent defeat in a lengthy Instagram post.

“Post choke out, where the f—k am I , WTF happened, feeling kinda warm and fuzzy , hope I didn't just piss my shorts on live TV , thousand yard stare,” he wrote. “I've posted plenty of pictures looking like a badass. Triumphant and powerful... But here's the flip side, crumpled and weak in defeat. Rough day at the office.



“F—k it though, I had fun. I trained my ass off and I came to fight. This is what leaving it all out there looked like on Saturday. Much respect to my opponent and his team. Thank you for taking the fight on short notice. Cong…

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Alexander Gustafsson is fully healthy and ready to return to the Octagon, but he isn’t exactly sure what his next move will be given the current state of the light heavyweight division.

While rematches with Daniel Cormier or Jon Jones would seem to be the most attractive options, neither one is likely going to be available in the near future. Cormier is challenging Stipe Miocic for heavyweight gold at UFC 226 on July 7, while Jones could be looking at a four-year USADA suspension stemming from a failed drug test at UFC 214. During an appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Gustafsson discussed his current situation.

“I wish I had an answer to that right now, but I really don’t,” he said. “It just has to be a meaningful offer, it has to be something I feel, ‘This is right, this is what I want.’ I feel like in my position, in my career right now, every fight has to mean something.

“It…

Dustin Poirier earned every bit of his salary against Justin Gaethje in the UFC on Fox 29 headliner.

“The Diamond” pocketed an event-high $170,000 for his fourth-round technical knockout victory over Gaethje ($110,000) on Saturday at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. The bout became an immediate contender for “Fight of the Year” honors in 2018, as the lightweights combined for 289 significant strikes landed, the 11th highest total for a fight in UFC history.

The Arizona Boxing and MMA Commission released salary figures from the event on Monday.

Other notable earners included Carlos Condit, who took home $115,000 in a second-round submission defeat to Alex Oliveira ($100,000) in the co-main event, and prospect Israel Adesanya, who garnered $106,000 for a split verdict over Marvin Vettori in a featured middleweight affair.

Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic commissions do not include any performance-based or discretionary bonuse…

INSANE flying knee from @ChicanoJohn! #UFCGlendale pic.twitter.com/73ERlEVDsD

— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2018

John Moraga has extended his winning streak to three with his latest decision victory over Wilson Reis in the flyweight division on Saturday at UFC on Fox 29.

While Moraga came out the winner, it did come at a cost as he suffered multiple injuries during the bout. The worst of them happened as Moraga’s face slid down the cage fence, which acted as a cheese grater tearing a chunk of flesh from his forehead.

Moraga spoke about his injuries after the fight during the post-fight interview (quotes courtesy of MMAJunkie.com)

“The cage got me pretty good,” he said after the bout. “It took a chunk out of my forehead.”

How many stitches did it require to sew up?

“You can’t stitch it,” he said. “It’s a big chunk, a big hole.”

The win for Moraga ensured his next foe would be a high-ranked opponent as he edges closer …

Ovince St. Preux will square off against Tyson Pedro in a light heavyweight duel at UFC Fight Night 132.

The promotion announced the matchup on Sunday, as well as a welterweight showdown between Jake Matthews and Shinsho Anzai and a flyweight clash pitting Matt Schnell against Naoki Inoue. UFC Fight Night 132 takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on June 23. Broadcast plans for the event have yet to be revealed.

St. Preux had a three-fight winning streak snapped in his most recent outing when he tapped to an Ilir Latifi guillotine choke in the opening round at UFC on Fox 28 on Feb. 24. Prior to that, “OSP” had earned successive finishes of Corey Anderson, Yushin Okami and Marcos Rogerio de Lima.

Pedro has been victorious in three of his four Octagon appearances, including a first-round submission of Saparbek Safarov at UFC 221. The 26-year-old Australian is 7-1 as a professional overall, with all of his victories coming inside the distance. H…

The ratings for UFC on Fox 29 are similar to the promotion’s last two offerings on the television network.

According to TV by the Numbers, Saturday’s card averaged 1.78 million viewers on the Fox Network for the main card and drew a 0.6 share in the 18-to-49 demographic. Those are for overnight ratings, which could increase slightly once final figures are released later in the week.

By comparison, UFC on Fox 28 in February drew 1.822 million viewers, while UFC on Fox 27 in January attracted 1.59 million viewers to the network. The UFC on Fox 27 audience was an all-time low for the UFC on Fox series.

UFC on Fox 29 took place at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., and saw Dustin Poirier defeat Justin Gaethje via fourth-round TKO in an action-packed lightweight main event. Elsewhere, Alex Oliveira submitted Carlos Condit in the second stanza of the welterweight co-headliner, while Michelle Waterson garnered a hard-fought split verdict over Cortney Casey in an…

Israel Adesanya generated a fair amount of hype with a technical knockout win over Rob Wilkinson in his Octagon debut in February, but his sophomore outing showed he is still very much a work in progress.

“The Last Stylebender” walked away with a split-decision triumph over Marvin Vettori in a featured middleweight bout at UFC on Fox 29 in Glendale, Ariz., on Saturday night, but it wasn’t exactly one for the highlight reels. Adesanya got the better of his foe in striking exchanges for two rounds, although he didn’t land in great volume. However, the Nigerian kickboxer spent the majority of the final frame on his back, as Vettori landed a pair of takedowns.

Adesanya himself wasn’t especially impressed with his performance. It was the first time in 13 professional bouts that he had been forced to go the distance.

“I’m not happy, but I’ll take the win,” Adesanya said. “Like my coaches say, a win is a win but that is not enough for me. I want the finish, and I’m upset…

The UFC on Fox 29 headliner may very well take its toll on Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje down the road, but it will boost their bank accounts in the more immediate future.

Poirier and Gaethje received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their lightweight brawl on Saturday night at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. Poirier attacked primarily with punches to the head, while Gaethje chose to brutalize his adversary’s legs. Ultimately, it was Poirier’s approach that paid off, as he polished off Gaethje with a series of punches to earn a technical knockout victory 33 seconds into the fourth stanza.

Elsewhere, Alex Oliveira captured a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” paycheck for his victory over Carlos Condit in the evening’s welterweight co-main event. Despite taking the bout on short notice, the Brazilian “Cowboy” was able to lock in a guillotine choke and force Condit to tap out at the 3:17 mark of the second round.

Finally, Adam Wieczorek…

Antonio Carlos Jr. won his fifth straight with a dominating submission win against Tim Boetsch in the main event of the UFC on Fox 29 preliminaries.

Carlos Jr., also known as “Shoe Face,” improved his record to 11-2 (1 NC). Boetsch, a longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, dropped to 21-12.

The Brazilian started the first round landing leg kicks, putting Boetsch on his heels and moving backward. Carlos Jr., who won “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3,” continued to press his advantage until he eventually used a double leg to take Boetsch down against the cage.

Carlos Jr. then positioned himself on Boetsch’s back and attacked with power punches. “Shoe Face” then took his foe’s back and locked in the rear-naked choke, forcing him to tap at the 4:28 mark of round one.

Salikhov Sparks Rainey The “King of Kung Fu” has his first win in the UFC.

Muslim Salikhov, regarded as one of the best Wushu Sanda competitors in the world, dropped Ricky Rainey at the 4:1…

A bantamweight clash pitting Raphael Assuncao against Rob Font has been added to the UFC 226 lineup.

Multiple outlets recently confirmed the pairing following an initial report from the Las Vegas-Review Journal. UFC 226 takes place on July 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight title bout between reigning titlist Stipe Miocic and light heavyweight king Daniel Cormier.

Assuncao has scored victories over Aljamain Sterling, Marlon Moraes and Matthew Lopez in his last three outings after losing a unanimous verdict to current 135-pound champ T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 200. Overall, the 35-year-old Brazilian has won 10 of his last 11 Octagon appearances.

Font, meanwhile, has been victorious in three of his last four bouts, including a second-round technical knockout of Thomas Almeida in his most fight at UFC 220. The 30-year-old Boston native is 5-2 in the Las Vegas-based promotion and 15-3 as a professional overall.

OUCH! #Bellator197 pic.twitter.com/h63EazKNhr

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) April 14, 2018

Michael Chandler has designs on reclaiming the Bellator MMA lightweight throne for an unprecedented third time.

Chandler cleared his latest hurdle with room to spare, as he choked Brandon Girtz unconscious with a first-round arm-triangle in the Bellator 197 headliner on Friday at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. A replacement for injured Bellator lightweight champion Brent Primus, Girtz (15-8, 7-6 Bellator) passed out 4:00 into Round 1.

After a stalemate developed on the feet, Chandler (18-4, 15-4 Bellator) swooped in for a takedown, moved to the mounted crucifix position and softened the Trevor Wittman protégé with ground-and-pound. He then made a lightning-quick transition to the arm-triangle, tightened his squeeze and waited for Girtz to go limp.

Chandler, 31, has won six of his last seven fights. His 15 victories inside the …

Sherdog's UFC on Fox 29 overage kicks off Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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

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