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A new Ultimate Fighting Championship mom will have her last dance in October.

Both Carla Esparza (19-7) and Tecia Pennington (13-7) have agreed to compete on Oct. 5 at UFC 307, according to MMA Junkie on Thursday. The strawweights have not signed bout agreements but the pairing should be complete within a few days. This will not be their first meeting, as they ran into one another on Season 20 of "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2014, with Esparza getting the upper hand after their two-round exhibition. The bout has since been confirmed by Esparza on Instagram on Friday, who explained that this would serve as her retirement fight.

Former two-time strawweight queen Esparza will be looking to go out with a win after a suffocating second-round submission loss to Weili Zhang in 2022. That defeat surrendered her title, one she claimed earlier that year courtesy of a tepid split decision over Rose Namajunas. “Cookie Monster” had amassed a five-fight win streak, including two spli…

[embedded content] Editor's note: The article has been updated at 8 p.m. ET to include weigh-in information of every competitor.

The Professional Fighters League playoffs kick off with heavyweight and women's flyweight fights.

Heavyweight headliners Denis Goltsov and Tim Johnson both successfully made weight for their three-round main event, where Johnson will be the bigger man by over 18 pounds. However, the biggest news from the PFL 7 weigh-ins was that Liz Carmouche missed weight for the first time in her career. The 40-year-old came in at 127 pounds for her fight against Taila Santos. The "Girl-Rilla" will be deducted one point during the bout itself and fined 20% of her purse as a result. All other semifinalists successfully made weight.

Goltsov (34-8) enters the main attraction on a two-fight win streak after knocking out Linton Vassell and Thiago Santos. He came up short at the 2023 championships against Renan Ferreira and will look to keep his title hop…

The eighth non-title Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight headliner will play out in October.

At the UFC 304 weigh-in show last Friday, the promotion let slip during the broadcast that Brandon Royval (16-7) and Tatsuro Taira (16-0) were going to collide in the future. On Thursday, both Royval and MMA Junkie confirmed that this contest would serve as the main event for the UFC Fight Night card on Oct. 12. The flyweights will come to blows at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with Royval expecting the fight to be “most likely a title eliminator,” while remarking that he had planned on facing Amir Albazi instead.

Royval bounced back from a championship defeat to Alexandre Pantoja in December by outhustling Brandon Moreno in February. Royval picked up a close split decision, avenging a contentious last-second knockout loss to the former champ in 2020. Before falling short to Pantoja, Royval rattled off a decision over Rogerio Bontorin followed by first-round finishes over …

A Ultimate Fighting Championship scrap once expected to go down in February will now play out this October.

At UFC Fight Night 236 in February, Lerone Murphy (14-0-1) was booked against Dan Ige (18-8) in a high-stakes featherweight showdown. Murphy ultimately suffered an injury and was replaced by Andre Fili. After both men faced other opponents this year, the company has decided to put this bout back together. Per MMA Fighting on Thursday, Murphy and Ige will square off at UFC 308. The two will handle their business on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and their collision has been confirmed by other outlets.

Britain’s Murphy has yet to taste defeat as a professional, and currently brings a six-fight win streak’s worth of momentum into this clash. In May, Murphy staged a breakout performance by outworking Edson Barboza across five rounds in their UFC Fight Night 241 headliner. Before then, Murphy had gradually worked his way up the lead…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is not messing around with its return to Salt Lake City.

A pair of major fights at 135 pounds will play out at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5—the venue is still not confirmed by the promotion—as announced on Friday. The first comes between former featherweight king Jose Aldo (32-8) and Mario Bautista (14-2), first reported by Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight. The second brings top contender Kayla Harrison (17-1) into a likely title eliminator against Ketlen Vieira (14-3), and Super Lutas broke the news on that pairing. Both UFC 307 bouts have since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

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Aldo hung up his gloves in 2022 following a loss to Merab Dvalishvili, and briefly tested the waters in boxing in 2023. Over in the sweet science, Aldo fought to a draw with former MMA foe Jeremy Stephens, and he captured a six-round decision over Esteban Gabriel Espindola before coming back to the cage. His return, which he st…

A former beltholder wants to take advantage of the historically quicker path of fighting for another Ultimate Fighting Championship crown.

Riding a two-fight win streak in his new division of bantamweight, former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo plans on fighting for a title sooner than later. On the main card of UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday, Figueiredo (23-3-1) will come to blows with Marlon Vera (23-9-1) in a high-stakes 135-pound affair. The two will tangle inside of the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Speaking with Sherdog on fight week, Figueiredo discussed his plans to beat the top-ranked Vera and what could come after.

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“I totally left my comfort zone in this camp,” the Brazilian explained. “I spent almost three months in Natal doing my camp with Patricio [Freire] and Patricky [Freire] ‘Pitbull,’ who helped me build my strategy for this fight and also improving my kickboxing skills to surprise ‘Chito.’ He has never been knoc…

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Sharabutdin Magomedov, also known as “Shara Bullet,” doesn’t like the fact that his upcoming opponent has wins over his fellow countrymen.

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Magomedov (13-0) will face Michal Oleksiejczuk (19-8) in a short notice co-main event matchup at UFC on ABC 7 on Aug. 3, after the originally scheduled co-headliner between Nick Diaz and Vicente Luque fell through. As Magomedov was already seeking an experienced opponent, the Polish veteran is an ideal matchup. However, “Bullet” doesn’t like that those fights include first-round KO wins over his fellow countryman Gadzhimurad Antigulov (2019) and Shamil Gamzatov (2021). Magomedov vows to avenge the Russian losses against Oleksiejczuk at UFC Abu Dhabi.

“Frankly speaking, I wanted to fight such an experienced fighter who has 8-10 fights [in the UFC],” Magomedov told a group of reporters in Abu Dhabi. “And he, as far as I know, has around 12-13 UFC fights and also beat two Russian fighters or eve…

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Mayra Bueno Silva (10-4) faces a potential fine for jumping the cage at UFC 303.

Silva suffered a second-round stoppage loss against Macy Chiasson at UFC 303 in June after the cageside doctor deemed her unable to continue due to a gruesome cut. “Sheetara” immediately jumped over the Octagon to show her cut to Dana White, who gave her permission to do so.

In a monthly meeting on Tuesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed that it temporarily withheld $2,500 from Silva’s total purse of $100,000 for jumping the Octagon despite explicit instructions to not do so. The commission is expected to reach a final resolution in their next monthly meeting, scheduled for Aug. 27.

Featherweight star Diego Lopes was also fined $2,500 plus attorney fees for the same offense after his win over Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 300 this past April. White, who had also permitted Lopes to jump the fence, had then agreed to bear the fine imposed by the athletic …

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Fabian Edwards is not a fan of Johnny Eblen’s antics.

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Edwards (13-3) will challenge Eblen (15-0) in a middleweight title rematch at Bellator Champions Series London on Sept. 14. Eblen successfully defended his Bellator MMA 185-pound title with a third-round TKO in the pair’s initial meeting at Bellator 299 in September 2023. “Pressure” immediately started trash-talking a fallen Edwards, whose brother Leon Edwards entered the fray, leading to a heated exchange that needed security intervention.

Edwards then made headlines by going on a $85,000 shopping spree with his then-rumoured girlfriend, OnlyFans model Jessenia Rebecca, days prior to his title fight against Impa Kasanganay at Bellator vs. PFL Champions this past February. While Rebecca had threatened to dump Eblen if he lost, the champ went on to defend his strap with a narrow split decision.

Going by Eblen’s antics outside of fighting and a few interactions out of the…

Colby Covington revisited the onset of his beef with Dustin Poirier that caused him “pain and suffering.”

Covington (17-4) and Poirier (30-9) were former teammates at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where “The Diamond” continues to train. However, a part of ATT since 2011, Covington parted ways with the gym over feuds with Poirier, Jorge Masvidal and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

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Covington claims Poirier used to initially utilize him as a wrestling partner, where he allegedly toyed around with the Louisiana native. According to Covington, Poirier started becoming egotistic once his UFC stardom started growing. While Covington wasn’t quite there yet, he claims to have stood his ground against Poirier.

“When we were training together, he was using me everyday just for wrestling. Never wanted to do anything else but just wrestle with me. I was giving him knowledge, giving him information, obviously toying with him like he was an amateur,” Covington…

Usman Nurmagomedov believes his wrestling is different and better than Arman Tsarukyan’s.

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Nurmagomedov (17-0) is scheduled to defend his Bellator MMA lightweight title against Alexandr Shabliy at Bellator Champions Series San Diego on Sept. 7 in Southern California. Shabliy is training with No. 1 Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight contender Tsarukyan (22-3) for his upcoming fight against Nurmagomedov.

However, Nurmagomedov believes Tsarukyan doesn’t possess the skillset to counter his wrestling. While both Nurmagomedov and Tsarukyan started their combat sports journey with freestyle wrestling, the Bellator lightweight champ later took up combat sambo, like most fighters from his region of Dagestan.

Nurmagomedov claims his wrestling is on a different level than Tsarukyan’s, which he deems one-dimensional. Nurmagomedov believes he wouldn’t make the same mistakes that “Ahalkalakets” did in the sophomore UFC loss of his career again…

We received word back from the UFC matchmaker last week about why we weren't re-signed.

We were told the Flyweight division is comprised of exciting fighters and he doesn't view me as exciting 🥴 I suppose half your fights being finishes/bonuses isn't good enough now.

— Nate Maness (@MayhemManess1) July 29, 2024

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Flyweight prospect Nathan Maness did not get his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract extended despite his best effort.

Maness (16-3) fought out his contract with a unanimous decision win over Jimmy Flick last month. While “Mayhem” was expecting to get his contract extended, he did not hear anything from the UFC. Maness voiced his hopes of getting re-signed even after the exclusive period for the UFC to renew his contract had expired. Despite getting offers from other promotions, Maness was awaiting the UFC’s renewal offer or at least an explanation for the lack of one.

Maness has now allegedly been t…

You can clearly see the moment when Mokaev Tap ✋🏾.

Before the fight we were warned by the same referee that any manipulation of tap or dirty games the judge would end the fight or have removed the point . But ?? #taporfaketapitstap ✋🏾 pic.twitter.com/uW1XS72a2C

— マネル・ケイプ موسى Manel Kape (@ManelKape) July 29, 2024

Manel Kape had his chance to make a statement inside the cage with Muhammad Mokaev, but instead continues to make them outside of it.

Kape (19-7) took on Mokaev (13-0) at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, at UFC 304 last Saturday. While there was serious animosity leading up to the bout, the contest turned out to be a lukewarm affair. Mokaev outpointed Kape from the outside to rope in a unanimous decision win, which “Starboy” now disputes.

Kape caught Mokaev in a guillotine attempt while defending a takedown in the final frame. While Mokaev eventually escaped the attempt, Kape claims “The Punisher” ha…

[embedded content] Someone’s block will get knocked off come October.

Robelis Despaigne (5-1) is slated to trade leather against Austen Lane (12-5) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas in Oct. 19. The matchup was first announced on Monday by Despaigne on Instagram, and later confirmed by multiple outlets. The two will tangle on a currently unnumbered UFC Fight Night show that currently only has its headliner announced between Michel Pereira and Anthony Hernandez.

2012 taekwondo Olympic bronze medalist Despaigne started his MMA career with four consecutive first-round knockouts, combining for 5:13 of total cage time. His UFC debut in March went swimmingly, as the Cuban crushed Josh Parisian in 18 seconds at UFC 299. “The Bad Boy” was then matched up against Waldo Cortes-Acosta in a quick turnaround at UFC St. Louis in May, but that did not go so well for him. Cortes-Acosta derailed the 6-foot-7 striker by outwrestling him to earn a unanimous decision win.

Meanwhile, for…

A pair of formerly ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweights will try to get a number next to their name in September.

Two large 205ers will come to blows on Sept. 7 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas as part of UFC Fight Night 242, as first reported by MMA Junkie on Monday. Both Ryan Spann (21-10) and Ovince St. Preux (27-17) are 2-3 in their last five respective outings, but a statement performance could still rebound them to fringe contender status. The pairing has since been confirmed by other outlets.

The 32-year-old Spann has dropped three straight outings, with a triangle choke loss to Nikita Krylov, a close decision to Anthony Smith and a stunning knockout at the hands of Bogdan Guskov sullying his recent ledger. Before the trio of setbacks, Spann maintained his status as a top-15 light heavyweight by hitting a quick guillotine choke on Ion Cutelaba and crushing Dominick Reyes in 80 seconds in 2022. As a pro, “Superman” has earned stoppages in 18 of…

Two action fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division will clash in October.

The organization has added Chris Curtis (31-11, 1 NC) vs. Kevin Holland (26-11, 1 NC) to the billing of UFC 307 on Oct. 5, courtesy of an initial announcement by Curtis’ management team Iridium Sports Agency on Monday. The former welterweights who have swum in the same circles for years will finally throw down, likely doing so in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City—although that venue is not official. The middleweight pairing has since been confirmed by Holland on social media.

“The Action Man” is coming off a pair of split decisions leading up to this expected main card excursion, winning one against Marc-Andre Barriault in January and dropping a five-rounder to Brendan Allen in April. While the well-traveled Curtis had experienced success introducing himself to the promotion in 2021 and 2021, beating Phil Hawes, Allen and Rodolfo Vieira, he has struggled since then,…

The noble Merab Dvalishvili would rather go out on his shield whenever possible.

Winner of 10 straight in the talent-rich bantamweight division, Dvalishvili (17-4) will get a crack at the title held by Sean O'Malley (18-1, 1 NC) at UFC 306. While friend and training partner Aljamain Sterling held the strap from 2021 to 2023, the pathway is now open for the Georgian to pursue undisputed gold. He will try to do so in the main attraction of the card titled “Noche UFC,” which takes place on Sep. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

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When Sterling was dethroned by O’Malley at UFC 292 in September, he immediately protested his knockout loss to referee Marc Goddard, proclaiming it was too early. Dvalishvili watched that result closely, and vows to prove that O’Malley “got lucky” putting away “Funk Master,” with a light touch from Goddard. “The Machine” told The Schmo on Sunday that he prefers his fight handled a bit differently.

“I’m going to beat Sean O'Malley,…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has enough with flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev.

Mokaev (13-0, 1 NC) defeated Manel Kape (19-7) in his adopted home country of England on Saturday, picking up a less-than-stellar decision win over his bitter rival. Ahead of UFC 304, the flyweights had brewed plenty of bad blood between them, even getting into multiple scuffles prior to their actual fight. However, that aggression was nowhere to be found once the Octagon doors closed, with referee Mike Beltran even calling for more action in the opening frame. The UFC brass was not impressed by his performance, and even less so by his conduct behind the scenes.

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Approaching this event in Manchester, England, Mokaev revealed that the bout with Kape was the last fight on his UFC contract. While he hoped it would be renewed, he claimed that UFC matchmakers were not a fan of his grappling-heavy style and allegedly told him that his re-signing hinged on his UFC 304 per…

At 33 years of age, Curtis Blaydes still has plenty of time to develop and climb back up the heavyweight division.

Blaydes (18-5, 1 NC) challenged Tom Aspinall (15-3) for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event at UFC 304 in the latter’s home of Manchester, England. The two previously clashed in 2022, with Blaydes picking up an injury stoppage TKO win after Aspinall blew out his knee in 15 seconds. In the rematch, Blaydes fared well in the initial exchanges, but a single jab set “Razor” down, and Aspinall finished the job with ruthless ground-and-pound to notch the stoppage one minute into the fight.

Addressing his defeat, Blaydes apologized for throwing his premeditated gameplan out the window after landing on Aspinall early. “Razor” remained confident that he would have defeated the Brit had he stuck to the strategy designed by his coaches.

“Sorry guys,” Blaydes wrote, “I got greedy when I touched him early and threw out the amazing gameplay that my…

Paddy Pimblett targets Renato “Moicano” Carneiro next after his win over Bobby Green at UFC 304.

Pimblett (22-3) choked Green (32-16-1, 1 NC) to sleep in the opening round of their lightweight matchup in front of a home crowd in Manchester, England. The Liverpudlian had a name ready when given the opportunity to call someone out in his post-fight Octagon interview: “Moicano.” Pimblett hopes to face the Brazilian before the end of the year or early next year, provided the fighter who also calls himself “Money” gets past his upcoming opponent of Benoit St. Denis at UFC Paris in September.

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“I have a name that everybody wants me to fight, Renato ‘Moicano,’” Pimblett said. “Hopefully he gets through [Benoit St. Denis]. We’ll see if we can set it up before the end of the year or in the new year.”

Pimblett and Carneiro have been teasing a matchup for a while now, with the Englishman having issued the initial callout. However, Carneiro didn’t include Pimble…

Muhammad Mokaev’s post-fight admission might have cost him his job.

Unbeaten youngster Mokaev (13-0, 1 NC) picked up a lackluster win over rival Kape (19-7) in front of his home fans in Manchester, England, on the prelims of UFC 304. Leading up to the fight, UFC featherweight Jean Silva reported Kape punched Mokaev outside the UFC Performance Institute. However, Kape dismissed the reports as mere exaggeration by his friend to help promote the fight.

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On fight week, Mokaev and Kape’s teams were captured on video brawling at the fighter hotel after the UFC 304 weigh-ins. While Kape subsequently posted a picture of Mokaev with a cut on the forehead, the Dagestan-born Brit shared a photo of his unscathed face along with a screengrab of a seemingly downed Kape. Kape’s coach, Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture, subsequently accused Mokaev of sucker punching the Angolan on the pretext of taking a photo together.

Kape and Mokaev looked primed to attack one an…

REN HIRAMOTO IS THE LAST MAN STANDING!!!

HE STOPS MIKURU ASAKURA IN THE VERY FIRST ROUND!

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Watch on #RIZIN TV!🔗https://t.co/CXiPKkswl0

[ #SuperRIZIN3 ] pic.twitter.com/IEUWvFUMaG

— RIZIN.tv (@RIZINTV_) July 28, 2024 Competing in front of 48,111 fans inside a packed Saitama Super Arena, Ren Hiramoto scored the biggest victory of his young MMA career in devastating fashion Saturday at Rizin Fighting Federation: Super Rizin 3 in Saitama, Japan. Hiramoto knocked out heated rival Mikuru Asakura in the featherweight main event to win the Rizin FF ‘Last Man Standing’ title. Leading in to tonight’s headliner, both Hiramoto (4-3, 4-3 Rizin) and Asakura (17-5, 1 NC; 11-4 Rizin) had pledged to retire if they were not victorious. Hiramoto was viewed by many as an underdog due to his comparable lack of experience, but he looked like a seasoned veteran tonight and needed just 2:18 to dispatch of Asakura.

Early on, Asakura lande…

REN HIRAMOTO IS THE LAST MAN STANDING!!!

HE STOPS MIKURU ASAKURA IN THE VERY FIRST ROUND!

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Watch on #RIZIN TV!🔗https://t.co/CXiPKkswl0

[ #SuperRIZIN3 ] pic.twitter.com/IEUWvFUMaG

— RIZIN.tv (@RIZINTV_) July 28, 2024 Competing in front of 48,111 fans inside a packed Saitama Super Arena, Ren Hiramoto scored the biggest victory of his young MMA career in devastating fashion Saturday at Rizin Fighting Federation: Super Rizin 3 in Saitama, Japan. Hiramoto knocked out heated rival Mikuru Asakura in the featherweight main event to win the Rizin FF ‘Last Man Standing’ title. Leading in to tonight’s headliner, both Hiramoto (4-3, 4-3 Rizin) and Asakura (17-5, 1 NC; 11-4 Rizin) had pledged to retire if they were not victorious. Hiramoto was viewed by many as an underdog due to his comparable lack of experience, but he looked like a seasoned veteran tonight and needed just 2:18 to dispatch of Asakura.

Early on, Asakura lande…

Paddy Pimblett will need a caddy for the bonuses he won Saturday night.

The rising lightweight prospect cashed $200,000 in bonuses for submitting Bobby Green in the first round at UFC 304 with an uber-slick triangle. Pimblett frustrated Green on the feet before Green unwisely level changed and took him to the mat. Pimblett seized his opportunity and snatched up the submission, putting him to sleep in front of the screaming fans at the Co-Op Arena in Manchester, England.

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UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall raises his stock every time he steps in the Octagon, and he upped his bank account by $100,00 on Saturday with a first-round knockout over Curtis Blaydes. While Dana White still seems set on making the Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic fight, Aspinall has only raised the pressure on Jones to fight him for the undisputed title.

It was a good night for heavyweights as Michael “Mick” Parkin also took home a $100,000 bonus for his devastating first…