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Not too long ago, UFC President Dana White and former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar posed for a picture together in Las Vegas.

Lesnar was in town for the WWE’s Elimination Chamber event that particular weekend, and the photo-op was dismissed by more than a few people as a publicity stunt, even after White said that the chances of an Octagon comeback by the massive South Dakota native were ”very, very, very good.”

During an appearance on UFC Tonight on Wednesday, White confirmed that Lesnar will fight in the UFC again.

“Yeah, Brock Lesnar’s coming back,” White says. “I don’t know when, but yes he is.”

Dana White dropping news that Brock Lesnar is coming back to the octagon. pic.twitter.com/FUGHO21i8O

— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) April 5, 2018

There are still some obstacles to clear for Lesnar to compete within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 40-year-old heavyweight is still under suspension for failing a USADA drug t…

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UFC 223 fight week is only just beginning and tensions are already high.

In a video posted by MMAnytt, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Artem Lobov engage in a confrontation at the fighter hotel. Based on the footage, it is unclear what initially caused the incident. Both fighters were eventually separated without any type of serious physical altercation.

It’s likely that at least one source of the animosity between Nurmagomedov and Lobov stems from Nurmagomedov’s ongoing war of words with Conor McGregor. Lobov is one of McGregor’s training partners at SBG Ireland.

Nurmagomedov will face Max Holloway for the lightweight title in the UFC 223 headliner at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Saturday. Lobov, meanwhile, will square off against Alex Caceres in a preliminary featherweight duel.

Matt Brown has suffered a torn ACL and has been forced to withdraw from a proposed welterweight bout against Carlos Condit at UFC on Fox 29.

MMAFighting.com was the first to report the injury on Monday. Promotion officials are currently seeking a replacement opponent for Condit. UFC on Fox 29 takes place on April 14 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.

Brown and Condit were initially scheduled to square off at UFC on Fox 9 in December 2013, but Brown had to pull out of that contest due to a back injury. “The Immortal” ended a three-fight skid with a first-round knockout of Diego Sanchez at UFC Fight Night 120 in November.

Condit, meanwhile, returned from a 16-month hiatus at UFC 219, where he dropped a decision to Neil Magny. “The Natural Born Killer” has lost his last three Octagon appearances.

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There was no way Max Holloway was going to turn down a chance to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 — even on short notice.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Sunday that Holloway, the reigning featherweight champion, would replace the injured Tony Ferguson in the new UFC 223 main event. According to UFC President Dana White, the bout will be for the “official” lightweight title, although there still has been no word of Conor McGregor being stripped.

"April Fools! Nah, I'm just joking. The news was crazy,” Holloway told Hawaiian station KHON2. “My manager called me. He told me that Tony is hurt and they want you and Khabib. So I was like, how do you turn down an opportunity like this? Opportunities like this come once in a lifetime. Really only one guy was able to do it. So glad to be the second guy and go out there and make history.”

With a win, Holloway would join McGregor as the …

Tony Ferguson is understandably devastated after a knee injury forced his withdrawal from the UFC 223 headliner against Khabib Nurmagomedov less than one week before their fight.

“Words can’t explain how hurt, frustrated, angry and in disbelief I am right now,” Ferguson wrote on Instagram. “I was completing my UFC pre-fight media obligations on Friday. I had an accident on a studio set that tore a ligament in my knee.

“My doctor and the UFC doctor both said I can’t fight and one is saying I need surgery, so I will see a specialist to make a final determination on how I can heal up and get back in there to defend my belt ASAP.”

I'm told the injury to Tony Ferguson was literally caused by a trip. The freak accident of all freak accidents. He was walking, saw someone he wasn't expecting to see, veered sharply to say hello and tripped.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 1, 2018

As a result, Max Holloway will face Khabib Nurmagomed…

Ed Ruth’s official 170-pound debut may have been put on hold, but the three-time NCAA national champion wrestler still has big plans for his move to the welterweight division.

“Definitely. I’ve seen Rory MacDonald. Everybody pays attention to the guy that’s on top,” Ruth told Sherdog.com. “I definitely see myself fighting Rory for the belt. Paul Daley and anybody that’s at 170, I try to visualize myself [fighting]. I don’t like leaving any stones unturned, because I feel like a lot of people like to take it for granted.”

After beginning his Bellator MMA tenure with four consecutive victories at 185 pounds or higher, Ruth was scheduled to make his welterweight debut at Bellator 196 in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday. After original foe Laszlo Furko withdrew due to injury last week, Ion Pascu agreed to step in and face Ruth in a 175-pound catchweight bout. The change didn’t faze Ruth, however.

“It’s not so bad,” he said. “Whoever wants to come fight me, that’s w…

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Darren Till vs. Stephen Thompson recently became official for UFC Fight Night 130 in Liverpool, and Till already has some very specific stakes in mind for the matchup.

“I think it’s gonna be the most interesting fight of my life, just because of his fight IQ and my own,” Till said on the “Obviously Fight Talk” podcast. “So let’s see who wins. Let’s see who is the best striker in the division. Now it’s time to see.”

Till improve to 16-0-1 as a professional with a first-round technical knockout of Donald Cerrone in his most recent appearance at UFC Fight Night 118 this past October. The Liverpool native is unbeaten in five Octagon appearances, with a draw against Nicolas Dalby in October 2015 the only blemish on his ledger thus far.

The 25-year-old welterweight doesn’t agree with the notion that it might be too soon for him to take on an opponent as experienced as Thompson, who twice challenged…

Day by day, the UFC’s debut in Liverpool continues to grow.

UFC Fight Night 130 has gained yet another welterweight bout, as Claudio Henrique da Silva and Nordine Taleb. The promotion confirmed the bout on Thursday night.

The event is scheduled for May 27 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England, headlined by a welterweight main event between undefeated Scouser Darren Till and two-time UFC title challenger Stephen Thompson.

Da Silva, 35, has fought just twice under UFC employ over the last four years, due to a siege of injuries. In his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 37, “Hannibal” took a unanimous verdict over Bradley Scott, then returned eight months later to take a nip-tuck split decision over now-top contender Leon Edwards. Since the Edwards victory, da Silva has had previous bouts with Taleb as well as Siyar Bahadurzada canceled due to injury.

The 36-year-old Taleb, on the other hand, has won three of his last four. Outside of his February 2017 unanimou…

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Tony Ferguson takes on Khabib Nurmagomedov on April 7 as the main event for UFC 223. The winner will be crowned undisputed lightweight champion as Conor McGregor has not defended the belt ever since he captured it in November 2016.

If he returns at all, McGregor could face the winner of Ferguson and Nurmagomedov. It will also guarantee whoever is standing across the Octagon from the Irishman will benefit from a huge pay day.

While the bout with McGregor would substantially grow that fighter’s bank account, Ferguson believes that there’s another money fight on the horizon against one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time in former UFC welterweight king Georges St. Pierre.

Ferguson was in a very confident mood at the UFC media lunch for UFC 223 and talked about the potential fight (quotes courtesy of MMA Fighting).

“I mean, GSP, literally if he wants a money fight, he’s an ath…

Vitor Belfort has been one of the most feared fighters throughout his career, using devastating power coupled with ridiculous hand speed to run roughshod over his opponents. However, in the eyes of many, his career has been overshadowed by his well-publicized use of Testosterone Replacement Therapy.

Belfort, who has amassed 40 professional fights in his career, (26-13 & 1 NC) made his debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship back at UFC 12 in February 1997, fighting the likes of David Abbott, Randy Couture and Wanderlei Silva in his early days. He even took a catchweight (210) bout with Alistair Overeem back in 2006.

However in the past few years, “The Phenom” has been much less effective inside the Octagon and has decided to hang up his four ounce gloves with one last fight against former UFC lightweight champion Lyoto Machida on May 12 at UFC 224. However, it seems that the Brazilian could be lured back if offered a large financial package.

Belfort recent…

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Professional Fighters League has landed itself a big shark.

Thursday, PFL, formerly known as World Series of Fighting, announced that it had reached a partnership agreement with reality television leader Mark Burnett, President of MGM Television Group & Digital and MGM Television. Burnett has signed on to develop and produce new content and programming for PFL's upcoming season which begins on June 7, and will entail 11 live events on the NBC Sports Network and Facebook Watch.

“We are thrilled to partner with MGM Television and Mark Burnett,” said Peter Murray, Chief Executive Officer of Professional Fighters League. “Mark’s creative vision for delivering innovative live content is among the absolute best the industry has to offer - and that is exactly what we will bring MMA fans this season.”

After a near five-year-run under the World Series of Fighting Banner, the promotion rebranded as…

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While MMA traditionally uses an air horn, some of the UFC’s biggest stars about to ring the bell.

Next Friday, ahead of UFC 223 in Brooklyn, N.Y., the New York Stock Exchange will ring in “The Big Board” the day before the Octagon settles at the Barclays Center. UFC champions Stipe Miocic, Daniel Cormier, Robert Whittaker, Tyron Woodley, Demetrious Johnson and Amanda Nunes will all be a part of the famous daily ceremony, alongside the UFC’s COO and senior executive vice president Lawrence Epstein.

UFC 223 takes place on April 7 from the Barclays Center, boasting a title doubleheader, with interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson meeting unbeaten Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event, while Joanna Jedrzejcyk seeks to regain her women’s strawweight title from Rose Namajunas in the co-feature.

All six champions, as well as Epstein, will profile and pose for the media at 9 a.m. ET, following th…

There will be a number of familiar faces on the card when Russian promotion Fight Nights Global travels to Brazil for the first time.

The organization announced Wednesday that Fight Nights Global 87 will be headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between reigning champion Fabio Maldonado and Nikita Krylov. The card will take place in Sao Paulo on May 5 and will also see Diego Brando lock horns with Felipe Froes in the featherweight co-main event, while Elias Silverio will meet Michael Graves in another featured bout.

The 38-year-old Maldonado enters the matchup on a two-fight winning streak. He captured 205-pound gold with a third-round submission of Kurban Omarov at Fight Nights Global 73 on Sept. 4. The former professional boxer went 5-6 during a stint in the UFC from 2010 to 2015.

Since exiting the UFC, Krylov has posted a 3-0 mark, with all of those victories ending inside of two rounds. Most recently, the 26-year-old Ukraine native knocked out form…

It’s been a rough week for Ronda Rousey on the ESPN circuit, as awkward interactions with network personalities Mike Golic and Max Kellerman were used to highlight her reluctance to talk about the end of her UFC career.

However, the former bantamweight queen offered some candid thoughts on why she doesn’t want to talk about the past in an interview with ESPN.com on Wednesday. Rousey explained that, if she doesn’t find the subject matter enjoyable, she doesn’t feel obligated to discuss it. That includes her MMA career.

"I'm only here to enjoy myself. That's the only thing that's never been a priority in my life," Rousey said "In judo and MMA, there were times when the process was fun and the results were fun. And there's a time when things run their course. You fall in love, you fall out of love and you find a new love.

"There was a while when I was just looking for an honorable way out [of the UFC]. I felt satisfied that I'd proven everything I need to prov…

Now that UFC London is in the books, Michael Bisping has targeted another event in his home country for a potential farewell fight.

On his "Believe You Me” podcast, the former middleweight champion said he’d be interested in competing at UFC Fight Night 130, which takes place in Liverpool, England, on May 27.

“This is a ‘Believe You Me’ exclusive,” Bisping said on the his podcast. “UFC, I’m available. If you want me on that card, you’ve got my number.”

“The Count” hasn’t competed since being finished by Georges St. Pierre and Kelvin Gastelum during a three-week span this past November. Bisping relinquished the 185-pound belt to St. Pierre in a third-round submission loss at UFC 217, and then stepped in to face Gastelum on short notice at UFC Fight Night 125, where he fell via first-round knockout. He then targeted UFC Fight Night 127 in London for a retirement bout before eventually withdrawing from consideration for the event.

UFC Fight Night 130 tak…

Gilbert Burns will welcome Dan Moret to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 29 in Glendale, Ariz., on April 14.

Burns confirmed the lightweight pairing via Instagram following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. UFC on Fox 29 takes place at Gila River Arena and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.

Burns was supposed to face Olivier Aubin-Mercier at UFC on Fox 28 in February but was pulled from the card due to concerns about his weight cut. “Durinho” competed once in 2017, scoring a second-round knockout of Jason Saggo at UFC Fight Night 116.

Moret, 31, will make his promotional debut with a 13-3 record that includes appearances in Victory Fighting Championship, Legacy Fighting Alliance and Resurrection Fighting Alliance. “The Hitman” is coming off a first-round submission of Alonzo Martinez at VFC 59.

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A word of advice to journalists: If you’re going to ask Ronda Rousey about a potential mixed martial arts return, it’s best to do it as clearly as possible.

Mike Golic learned that the hard way during an interview with the former UFC champion on ESPN’s “Golic and Wingo” show on Tuesday. Things got a bit awkward when Golic posed a follow-up question after Rousey denied saying she would never fight again. A full transcription of the exchange is as follows:

Golic: Let’s go back and start with when you knew from the MMA, when you were done there. When you knew in your mind, “I’m not going to fight anymore?”

Rousey: I never said that.

Golic: Ah, so there is a possibility that you could go back, in time?

Rousey: There’s a possibility that I could go back in time? That’s your question to me?

Golic: Go back in time and fight. Go back in the Octagon.

Rousey: I do not have the a…

It took a little more than a year, but Sarah Kaufman and Jessica-Rose Clark have finally been compensated for their fight in South Korea in March 2017.

Kaufman defeated Clark via unanimous decision at Battlefield Fighting Championship “The Great Beginning” on March 18, 2017 at Seoul Olympic Hall in Seoul, South Korea. Not long after the event, multiple fighters confirmed they hadn’t been paid by the promotion..

On Monday, both Kaufman and Clark confirmed via Instagram that they had been paid by Battlefield FC. According to a report from MMAFighting.com, Kaufman received $20,000 on Monday, while Clark got $7,000. Meanwhile, Joe Ray, who lost to Igor Svirid via first-round submission in the main event, also garnered $7,000 owed to him last week.

Kaufman has competed once since then, earning a unanimous decision over Pannie Kianzad at Invicta FC 27. Clark, meanwhile, has won three straight, including triumphs over Bec Rawlings and Paige VanZant in the UFC.

…

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Recently, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley mentioned that he would be interested in training Floyd Mayweather for a potential foray into mixed martial arts.

Now, it appears that things could be getting more serious. The main key, according Woodley, is getting Mayweather’s takedown defense up to par.

“I talked to Floyd yesterday actually,” Woodley told TMZ Sports over the weekend. “He’s in Miami right now and we’re coordinating dates on training. I think, obviously, his striking is bar-none some of the best we’ve ever seen in the sport,” said Woodley. “Anybody who has the ability to evade a punch in a fraction of a second, I think, with proper repetition and proper drilling can avoid a takedown wrestling attempt. So that’s obviously gonna be the primary goal, to equip him with the tools to not get taken down and if he happens to get taken down, how to keep his cool and how to get his butt bac…

Here is the end of the strawweight bout between Kritsada Kongsrichai and Robin Catalan. The Thai's knockout win was overturned to a disqualification loss. pic.twitter.com/R1sbuwSXaO

— 'El Chapo' Nissi Icasiano (@Nissi_Icasiano) March 25, 2018

What appeared to be a highlight-reel victory for Kritsada Kongsrichai at One Championship “Iron Will” will now go down as a disqualification.

Kongsrichai initially earned a first-round technical knockout victory over Robin Catalan on Saturday at Impact Arena in Bangkok Thailand, as he suplexed his opponent and finished him off with punches at the 1:40 mark.

However, One Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong issued a statement via Facebook that the suplex was illegal, and as a result, Catalan would get the victory in the strawweight bout via disqualification.

“Unfortunately, I have to be the bearer of bad news. While I am a big fan of Kritsada Kongsrichai and his incredible athleticism, the figh…

Virna Jandiroba put her foot on the gas and left Mizuki Inoue behind.

Repeated takedowns, superior positional control and damaging ground-and-pound carried the undefeated Brazilian to a split decision over Inoue, as she captured the vacant Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight title in the Invicta 28 headliner on Saturday at the Union Event Center in Salt Lake City. Judges delivered 49-46 scores across the board, with Rochelle Montanez inexplicably siding with Inoue (12-5) in a fight that never felt competitive.

Jandiroba (13-0) leaned on her strengths, moved into clinch range and planted her Japanese counterpart on the canvas over and over again. By the end of the first round, Inoue was suffering from severe swelling around her left eye -- a byproduct of the short punches and hammerfists she absorbed in full guard. Jandiroba nearly finished it in Round 3, where she advanced to the back, hunted the rear-naked choke and abused the onetime Deep Jewels champion with c…

Sherdog's live Invicta FC 28 coverage 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 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores Round 4 Sherdog Scores Round…

Two of the welterweight division’s rising contenders will square off in the main event when the Ultimate Fighting Championship travels to Chile for the first time on May 19.

According to multiple reports, Santiago Ponzinibbio and Kamaru Usman will meet in the UFC Fight Night 129 headliner at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. MMAFighting.com first brought word of the bout, which is expected to be announced soon by the UFC.

A native of La Plata, Argentina, Ponzinibbio will carry a six-fight winning streak into the matchup with Usman. The 31-year-old American Top Team representative last appeared at UFC on Fox 26, where he earned a unanimous decision over Mike Perry. “Gente Boa” owns KO/TKO wins over Gunnar Nelson, Court McGee and Andreas Stahl during his current streak.

Usman, meanwhile, has won seven straight Octagon appearances and 11 fights in a row overall. “The Nigerian Nightmare” made his first appearance of 2018 at UFC Fight Night 124, where he outpoi…

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos wants to fight for the welterweight title. Rising 170-pound firebrand Colby Covington wants to fight dos Anjos. Both men may soon get their way.

According to a Thursday report from BJPenn.com, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is working to put together an interim championship bout between the pair of top-10 welterweights. The fight would reportedly take place at UFC 224 on May 12 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, headlined by a women's bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington.

Despite being ostensibly healthy, current full UFC welterweight king Tyron Woodley balked at facing either man despite their emergence as contenders in recent months, preferring to angle for potential bigger paydays against fighters like Nate Diaz and Georges St. Pierre, which dos Anjos has publicly chided him for.

“I’m not his friend, family or anything close. I’m his foe,” Woodley wrote on Twitter on Feb. 7 in…