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Well, Gabriel Benitez's night just opened up . pic.twitter.com/rpAx3E5E5V

— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) May 20, 2018

Andrea Lee, Veronica Macedo, Gabriel Benitez and Claudio Puelles all earned $50,000 bonus checks at UFC Fight Night 129 in Santiago, Chile on Saturday night.

Lee and Macedo received “Fight of the Night” honors for their featured flyweight scrap. Lee took control thanks to clinch work and knees to the body, and she also threatened with submissions in rounds one and two. While Macedo was game throughout, “KGB” punctuated her victory by mounting her foe and landing elbows in the final stanza.

Elsewhere, Benitez slammed his way into a “Performance of the Night” bonus against Humberto Bandenay at featherweight. After rocking his foe with an uppercut early, Benitez swarmed for the finish, only to find himself trapped in an armbar. “Moggly” responded by slamming Bandenay into the canvas, and a few follow-up hammerfists clinched…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 129 coverage kicks off Saturday at 6:30 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 The Offici…

Brazilian powerhouse Michel Prazeres took to his new surroundings in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division.

Prazeres recorded his seventh consecutive victory, as he eked out a split decision over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 17 alum Zak Cummings in the featured UFC Fight Night 129 prelim on Saturday at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Fabio Alves and Marcelo Vilhena for Prazeres, Chris Lee for Cummings.

They fought mostly in choppy standup exchanges, with Prazeres (25-2, 9-2 UFC) leaning on his overhand right and the American connecting with intermittent left hands. Cummings (21-6, 6-3 UFC) -- who was cut by an inadvertent head butt inside the first five minutes -- employed a stifling clinch but saw his gains there erased by well-timed tactical takedowns from “Trator” in all three rounds.

Pantoja Shuts Out Moreno Crisp combination punching and stinging leg kicks carried former Resurrection Fightin…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8R7UQocmVU&w=560&h=315]

Demian Maia has built his career on upending bigger, faster and stronger opposition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Can he do it one more time?

A short-notice fill-in for the injured Santiago Ponzinibbio, Maia clocked in at 171 pounds ahead of his five-round showdown with “The Ultimate Fighter 21” winner Kamaru Usman (170) in the UFC Fight Night 129 headliner at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. Meanwhile, Alexa Grasso (115) and Tatiana Suarez (115) also met the contracted weight requirements for their co-main event at Friday’s official weigh-in.

UFC Fight Night 129 “Maia vs. Usman” -- which airs live on Fox Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT -- will also feature a light heavyweight clash pairing Jared Cannonier (205) with Dominick Reyes (205), a bantamweight tilt pitting Diego Rivas (136) against Guido Cannetti (136), a women’s flyweight affair matching Andrea Lee (125) with Veronica Mac…

During a press conference ahead of ACB 87 on Friday in England, it was announced that Frank Mir would return to action in August against an undecided opponent under the Absolute Championship Berkut banner. An exact date was not revealed.

Mir will look to bounce back from a three-fight skid. In his last bout, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king was blitzed in the first round by Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 198.

Mir (18-12) also revealed that he aims to return to the Bellator MMA cage in October.

“Just anything to get more ring time,” said Mir. “My goal is to fight three times this year and I’m 39 in a few weeks, so I don’t have many competitions ahead of me. Between Bellator and ACB, I’ll fight (in England) in August and hopefully get a Bellator fight in October and just hope to keep it rolling, get back in form and then get back in title contention.”

Gangster alert!@TheGreat155 battles @OliAubin at #UFCCalgary! pic.twitter.com/qPxZfEm4qC

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) May 18, 2018

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has added a clash of lightweight prospects to its UFC Calgary card.

Alexander Hernandez and Olivier Aubin-Mercier will meet in the Octagon at UFC on Fox 30, the Las Vegas-based promotion announced Friday.

Hernandez is coming off a highlight-reel knockout in his major league debut against Beneil Dariush at UFC 222. The San Antonio, Texas, native has just one loss in his mixed martial arts career, in contrast to nine wins. He has won seven straight.

Aubin-Mercier (11-2) is riding a four-bout winning streak and defeated Evan Dunham in just 53 seconds at UFC 223 on April 7.

UFC on Fox 30 goes down at the Scotiabank Saddledome, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on July 28 and will be headlined by a rematch pitting lightweight conteners against each other in Dustin Poirier an…

+++ BREAKING NEWS +++#MMAIl nostro @andreabrenna98 ha avuto la conferma da parte di uno dei due protagonisti. Carlo Pedersoli Jr vola a #UFC Liverpoolhttps://t.co/MIci90sOux

— 4once.it (@4onceit) May 17, 2018

It seems that Bradley Scott has found an opponent for UFC Liverpool.

After Salim Touahri was removed from the bill due to injury, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has signed up-and-coming Italian fighter Carlo Pedersoli Jr. (10-1) to fight against Scott at UFC Fight Night 130. The British fighter has confirmed the report reported by Jim Edwards to the Italian website 4once.it.

Less than a month ago, Pedersoli defeated former UFC fighter Nicolas Dalby via split decision at Cage Warriors 93. The Gloria Fight Center representative is entering the UFC riding a seven-bout winning streak after competing in multiple organizations including Cage Warriors, Venator FC, RXF and Magnum FC. The Italian prospect is the nephew of Italian act…

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

Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier takes on current heavyweight king Stipe Miocic in the much anticipated heavyweight title at UFC 226 on July 7 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Cormier believes whoever comes out on top in the fight should be considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. The super fight between the two champions in their respective weight divisions will be a fitting end to “International Fight Week,” which is a week-long celebration of all combat sports.

“DC” talked with Damon Martin about his status at potentially becoming the best fighter in the world if he is able to get past the Ohio:

“That’s what it should be. Stipe and I are ranked like No. 3 and 4 or No. 4 and 5 in the pound-for-pound rankings right now. How much better does it get than that? This is as good as it gets in terms of sport, in terms of athletic comp…

Cian Cowley, who was arrested along with Conor McGregor for his role in an attack an a bus carry UFC fighters and employees last month ahead of UFC 223, has been booked for his next fight.

According to reports from MMAUK.net and MMAFighting.com, Cowley will square off against Daniel Olejniczak in a welterweight bout at Brave 13 in Dublin on June 9.

Cowley, one of McGregor’s training partners at SBG Ireland, was charged with one count of criminal mischief in Brooklyn and is due to return to court on June 14. McGregor is facing three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after hurling a dolly through the bus window, injuring fighters Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg as well as a UFC employee.

McGregor and Cowley were part of a large group of fighters involved in the incident, which is believed to be in response to a confrontation between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and SBG Ireland’s Artem Lobov earlier during UFC 223 fight week. N…

The UFC will officially make its debut in Russia this September.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Wednesday that it will travel to Moscow for a Fight Night event at Olimpiyskiy Arena on Sept. 15. No bouts were announced for the card.

“Russia is a key part of UFC’s international expansion strategy,” David Shaw, Senior Vice President, UFC International and Content, said in a release. “The demand from our fans to bring a live event to Russia has been overwhelming, and with the vast potential this market holds for us, we knew this was the perfect time to bring UFC Fight Night to Moscow.”

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov and featherweight prospect Zabit Magomedsharipov are currently some of the top stars hailing from Russia. It is unlikely that Nurmagomedov will compete at the debut event, as he recently revealed that he is targeting November or December for his first title defense.

The release …

Bellator 199 attracted a combined viewership of 605,000 to Paramount Network and CMT, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

The event drew 453,000 viewers to Paramount and 152,000 to CMT for a card that was headlined by the final heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal between Ryan Bader and Muhammed Lawal. Bader won the main event at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., via knockout just 15 seconds into the opening stanza.

The card also included the debut of former UFC welterweight title challenger Jon Fitch, who outpointed Paul Daley in the evening’s co-main event as well as the fourth professional appearance for bluechip prospect Aaron Pico, who knocked out Lee Morrison in 70 seconds.

Still, the event represented a step down from Bellator 198, which attracted 581,000 viewers to Paramount and 169,000 to CMT for a combined audience of 750,000. That card was headlined by a heavyweight grand prix contest pitting Fedor Emelianenko against Frank Mir.

Bellator 199 went…

Abu Azaitar will make his Octagon debut against Vitor Miranda in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 134 in Hamburg, Germany.

The promotion’s European branch announced the pairing via Instagram on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night 134 takes place on July 22 at the Barclaycard Arena and is headlined by a light heavyweight showdown pitting Volkan Oezdemir against Mauricio Rua. The card airs on Fox Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

A veteran of the World Series of Fighting, Absolute Championship Berkut and Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki promotions, Azaitar enters his first promotional foray with a 13-1 career mark. The Cologne, Germany-based fighter hasn’t competed since October 2016, when he captured a decision win over Michael Arrant at WSOF 33. He has finished seven of his career triumphs by knockout or technical knockout.

The 39-year-old Miranda won three of his first four Octagon appearances but is currently looking to halt a two-bout skid. In his l…

After a few weeks of back-and-forth and speculation, the rematch between Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier is finally official for the UFC on Fox 30 headliner.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the lightweight pairing on Monday. UFC on Fox 30 takes place on July 28 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and will see former featherweight king Jose Aldo square off against Jeremy Stephens in the co-main event. The main card airs on Fox following prelims on Fox Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

main event at #UFCCalgary!@EAlvarezFight rematches @DustinPoirier. Who takes it? pic.twitter.com/UEMXmZ0GZj

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) May 14, 2018

Alvarez and Poirier initially square off at UFC 211. What was already shaping up to be an entertaining battle ended prematurely when Poirier was unable to continue after Alvarez landed an illegal knee. The bout was declared a no contest.

A former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion, Alv…

Amanda Nunes, not Raquel Pennington, is the fighter facing a potentially lengthy medical suspension following their main event clash at UFC 224 on Saturday night.

Nunes, who defeat Pennington via fifth-round technical knockout to retain her bantamweight crown at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, will be sidelined 180 days until she gets an x-ray of her right foot and is cleared. At a minimum she will be out 30 days with 21 days of no contact.

Pennington, meanwhile, appeared to have her nose broken in defeat and was bleeding badly before the bout was stopped. “Rocky” has been suspended 60 days with 45 days of no contact pending clearance from a maxillofacial surgeon.

The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) released a full list of medical suspensions from the event on Monday.

The only other fighter from the UFC card with a 180-day suspension is co-main event competitor Ronaldo Souza, who needs an x-ray and clearance of his right foot to have his …

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight contender Raquel Pennington took on Amanda Nunes over the weekend for the undisputed bantamweight title.

“Rocky” threw everything at the Brazilian but came up short, eventually losing to Nunes in the fifth and final round via TKO.

The bigger talking point came at the conclusion of the fourth round when Pennington -- who was visibly hurt -- walked back towards her corner and immediately told her coaches that she was “done.” Instead of throwing in the towel and calling off the fight, Pennington’s coaches encouraged her to go back out for the final round.

The decision from Pennington’s corner not to call off the fight drew scathing criticism from fans who have accused the coaches of putting their own agendas over her personal welfare. Pennington went out for the final round and went on to suffer even more damage when Nunes busted open her nose and referee Marc Goddard eventually called off the fight as blood came gushing ou…

Amanda Nunes gradually inflicted more and more damage on Raquel Pennington as their UFC 224 headlining bout progressed, so much so that Pennington didn’t want to continue after the fourth round.

In her corner before the final frame, Pennington told her coaches that she was “done.” However, her team urged her to continue, telling the bantamweight “we’ll recover later.” Pennington didn’t have much to offer Nunes in round five, as her nose appeared to be broken and was bleeding profusely.

The Brazilian champion finished off her victory with a barrage of ground-and-pound. Pennington, who was gushing blood, could only cover up until referee Marc Goddard stepped in to wave off the fight at the 2:36 mark of round five.

Nunes wasn’t aware of the exchange between Pennington and her corner until after the fight.

“It’s sad. Nina [Ansaroff] told me in the locker room. I didn’t even know,” Nunes said at the post-fight press conference. “It’s sad because you could …

It’s safe to say that Kelvin Gastelum’s move to middleweight has gone well, as “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner has lost just once in six appearances since leaving the welterweight division.

His ascent continued at UFC 224 with a split-decision over Ronaldo Souza, who is consistently among the top contenders in the weight class, in the evening’s co-main event. The victory comes on the heels of a first-round knockout triumph over ex-champion Michael Bisping this past November.

Gastelum, whose 185-pound resume also includes wins over Johny Hendricks, Tim Kennedy as well as a victory over Vitor Belfort that was overturned due to a positive marijuana test, was adamant that his next bout should be for UFC gold.

“I definitely feel like a title shot should be next,” Gastelum said at the UFC 224 post-fight press conference. “I don’t think I’d accept any other fight than a title shot. I’m the most active middleweight there has been. All the guys that I’ve fought are…

On an evening filled with finishes, Kelvin Gastelum, Ronaldo Souza, Lyoto Machida and Alexey Oleynik went home with $50,000 bonus checks for their work at UFC 224.

Gastelum and Souza earned “Fight of the Night” honors for their middleweight co-main event tilt. Gastelum weathered a strong start from “Jacare” to drop his opponent in the second frame and pull out a narrow split-decision triumph over the former Strikeforce titlist.

Elsewhere,Machida just has a knack for giving opponents a kick into retirement, and his latest parting gift earned him a “Performance of the Night” award. Machida used a front kick to the jaw to knock out Vitor Belfort 60 seconds into round two of in his farewell fight, a move that was reminiscent of “The Dragon’s” sendoff to Randy Couture at UFC 129 more than seven years ago.

Finally, Oleynik garnered the evening’s other “Performance of the Night” payment for his first-round submission of Junior Albini in their preliminary heavyweig…

Sherdog's live UFC 224 coverage kicks off Saturday at 6:15 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 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 Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result

Sherdog's live Bellator 199 coverage kicks off Saturday at 7 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 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 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 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 Officia…

Cezar Ferreira put Karl Roberson to sleep pic.twitter.com/wIsvv4SSsd

— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) May 13, 2018

Karl Roberson woke up looking at the lights, likely with little recollection of how he got there.

The previously unbeaten Roberson was choked unconscious by a first-round arm-triangle choke from “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” winner Cezar Ferreira in the featured UFC 224 prelim on Saturday at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Ferreira (13-6, 9-4 UFC) closed the deal 4:45 into Round 1 and continued his ascent in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.

Roberson (6-1, 1-1 UFC) fought to stay upright but nevertheless conceded two takedowns. Ferreira transitioned to mount with roughly a minute remaining in the first round, applied his ground-and-pound and shifted his attention to the choke. Roberson went limp in a matter of seconds.

Crafty Oleynik Throttles Albini American Top Team’s Alexey Oleynik submit…

An altercation involving Nate Diaz, Clay Guida and others allegedly occurred at a Combate Americas event in Los Angeles on Friday night.

Guida’s teammate, “The Ultimate Fighter 27” competitor Tyler Diamond, Diaz pushed Guida from behind during Combate Americas 20 “Mexico vs. USA,” and a scuffle ensued from there. Diamond claims he attempted to step in to break up the confrontation only to be surrounded by members of Diaz’s “little entourage.”

Diamond then claims that Diaz landed the “Stockon Slap” while one of the other members of the group “rabbit punched” him. The incident has since been confirmed by MMAFighting.com.

Nate Diaz just pushed Clay Guida from behind! & I ended up in the middle & he slapped me while his little entourage surround me. #209Bitches

— Tyler Diamond (@TylerD1amond) May 12, 2018

I was talking face to face with Clay, he got pushed & I saw Nate & about ten other dudes so I…

UFC 224 available for order on Amazon Prime (Prime Video PPV)

Not shocked @MackenzieDern missed weight but 7.4lbs over is a disgrace to all professionals. She’s not getting out of this fight that easy. Fight is still on. ABCNation get ready. #ufc224 strawweight vs flyweight tomorrow night in Brazil

— Amanda Bobby Cooper (@ABCnation115) May 11, 2018

Amanda Bobby Cooper is going to fight Saturday at UFC 224, despite her opponent badly missing weight by seven pounds.

Mackenzie Dern hit the scale at 123 pounds during early weigh-ins Friday morning and she will lose 30 percent of her show money, 20 percent of which will go to Cooper, with the remaining 10 percent going to CABMMA. Nevertheless, the finalist of the 23th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” accepted the bout at a catchweight that the fighter called on her social media properties a “strawweight vs flyweight” bout.

“[The situation] is incredibly unprofessional, I mean she basically …

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X2sMgy5ge4&w=560&h=315]

UFC 224 available for order on Amazon Prime (Prime Video PPV)

If Amanda Nunes plans to further consolidate power atop the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight division, she will have to go through Raquel Pennington.

Nunes tipped the scales at a fit-and-ready 135 pounds in advance of her bantamweight title defense against Pennington (135) in the UFC 224 main event on Saturday at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Meanwhile, middleweights Ronaldo Souza (186) and Kelvin Gastelum (185) were also cleared for their three-round co-headliner at Friday’s official weigh-in.

Mackenzie Dern (*123) continues to struggle on the scale, as the highly touted prospect missed the mark for her fight against Amanda Bobby Cooper (116) by seven pounds.

Dern’s MMA career thus far can be summarized by two indisputable facts: She has amazing jiu-jitsu skills, and she struggles to make weight. Dern’…