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Despite a lackluster performance in his welterweight title loss to Leon Edwards this past December, Colby Covington claims to be the division’s top dog.

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While many considered Covington undeserving of the third title shot of his career, Dana White insisted “Chaos” fight Edwards at UFC 296. Edwards thoroughly dominated Covington in a forgettable affair in which the American claimed to have broken his foot in the first 30 seconds. Covington also inexplicably believed he did enough to win and blamed political bias for the scorecards.

A couple months removed from that defeat, Covington insists that he is the best welterweight on the planet and wants to prove it more than anything else. Covington even sees himself earning yet another title shot with another victory and is willing to take on whoever the promotion offers.

“I am the title of this division, I’m the welterweight savior,” Covington told “Submission Radio”. “I’m the biggest draw in this …

Ilia Topuria plans on reaching new career highs in 2024.

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Topuria is slated to challenge Alexander Volkanovski for the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title in the main event at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 in Anaheim, California.

“El Matador” has exuded an unprecedented amount of confidence going into the fight and continues to do so. While oddsmakers have it as a near toss-up, Topuria vows to knock out the Australian standout in the opening round.

“It’s going to be a first-round knockout. You will see. He’s saying a lot of bulls—t, ‘There’s levels, I have this and I have that, dah, dah, dah.’ You’re right, there are levels. There are levels, then there is me. I’m going to show you where the levels are. I’m going to dominate him everywhere. I’m going to make him look like a punching bag. You will see. I will be dancing Feb. 17,” Topuria said during an appearance on “The MMA Hour.”

While Volkanovski successfully defended his featherweight…

Dustin Poirier is glad to have his booking against Benoit St. Denis still in place after a brief period of confusion where it appeared to have fallen through.

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Poirier is scheduled to face St. Denis in the co-main event at UFC 299 on March 9 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. This past Thursday Poirier announced that the fight was off, with his teammate Johnny Eblen subsequently accusing the Ultimate Fighting Championship of being “stingy.”

A few hours later, “The Diamond” revealed that the fight was back on after a conversation with his manager that seemingly cleared a “misunderstanding” with the promotion. While the perennial lightweight contender didn’t divulge much about what went down behind the scenes, he is glad to have the booking in place.

“I don’t want to dive too deep into it. There was some miscommunication — not everybody was on the same page, and I couldn’t get a hold of somebody, and things got a little bit confusing for me, and I wa…

Paddy Pimblett and Renato Carneiro are teasing a potential clash after trading barbs on social media.

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“Moicano” outgrappled Drew Dober over three rounds to earn a unanimous decision win in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 235 on Saturday. The Brazilian, who has been amping up his media presence recently, turned matchmaker to propose a clash between Dober and Paddy Pimblett next.

“I want to see Drew Dober fighting Paddy Pimblett next… let’s see how tough is this kid,” Carneiro wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

I want to see drew Dober fighting paddy pimblett next… let’s see how tough is this kid…. #ufc

— Renato Moicano UFC (@moicanoufc) February 4, 2024

Pimblett was quick to respond to the Brazilian’s suggestion in a social media post of his own. However, the Liverpudlian didn’t seem too interested in Carneiro’s proposal. Instead, Pimblett claims he can “smoke” Moicano much easier than Dober.

“Why …

Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk went to war inside the Octagon, but the strawweight competitors share a mutual respect outside the cage.

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Zhang and Jedrzejczyk recently reunited and captured the moment in a video on social media.

“We are each other’s opponent in the Octagon, we all want to chase our dreams to win the fight, but outside of the Octagon we are friends,” Zhang said. “We can have dinner together, we can talk to each other, we can be really good friends. So I am really happy about it. ‘JJ’ is always a legend in my heart, she is always the champion. I want to learn from her.”

Zhang initially defended her strawweight crown against Jedrzejczyk via split decision at UFC 248 in a fight that will go down as one of the greatest in promotion history. The rematch occurred more than two years later, when Zhang defeated her Polish rival via spinning backfist KO at UFC 275.

Jedrzejczyk eventually retired after the second loss to Zhan…

𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙀𝙍𝘼 𝙊𝙁 𝙈𝙈𝘼 𝙃𝘼𝙎 𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙄𝙑𝙀𝘿

Bellator MMA Champion Series8️⃣Global Events🏆Title Fights on Every Card

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It all starts on 𝟯.𝟮𝟮.𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 🔜 pic.twitter.com/mLqcNtd7S6 — Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) February 5, 2024

There’s now a little more clarity regarding the direction of Bellator MMA in the coming months.

Professional Fighters League on Monday officially announced the launch of Bellator Champions Series, which will feature eight events airing on prime time in European Markets over the course of the year. This will begin with Bellator 302 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Ireland on March 22. Future Bellator Champions Series events will take place in the U.K., Italy, Portugal, Belgian, France and other locations, according to a release.

Bellator 302 will be headlined by a previously-reported light heavyweight title clash between Corey Anderson and Karl Moore. Additionally, Leah McCourt will square off against Sinead Kavan…

Molly McCann believes she shed all parts of her “Meatball” persona leading up to her strawweight debut at UFC Fight Night 235.

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McCann rose to prominence in the UFC on the heels of three-fight winning streak from September 2021 to July 2022. However, back-to-back submission losses led to her droping to strawweight, where she made her divisional debut in a rematch against Diana Belbita on Saturday. The Liverpudlian quieted the doubters by submitting Belbita with an armbar in the opening frame.

McCann reflected on her journey during the UFC Fight Night 235 post-fight media scrum.

“It’s just been the hardest 14 months of my life. My biggest dream was to fight at MSG, and [I] got destroyed. I got co-main event at London and got destroyed,” she said.

“I had to really dig in deep to see if I really wanted it. My coach pulled me aside and asked, ‘How much do you really want to be a champion? It’s going to cost that to make this weight and to …

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While Robert Whittaker is coming off a loss against Dricus Du Plessis, “The Reaper” believes he beats the South African “nine out of 10 times.”

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“Stillknocks” handed Whittaker a second-round TKO loss at UFC 290 this past July, earning himself a title shot. He went on to defeat Sean Strickland at UFC 297 last month to be crowned the new middleweight champ. While Whittaker admits that he underestimated Du Plessis going into their matchup, the former champ firmly believes he is more skilled than the South African.

“Dricus is a hungry guy, and I think I underestimated that hunger,” Whittaker said during a pre-fight press conference in Sydney. “I still believe I beat him nine times out of 10. I still believe that I’m a better fighter than he is, that I have a better skill set than he does, but [fighting] a big, strong, hungry guy that’s willing to leave it all there, you need to match that. I feel like I didn’t do that in that last figh…

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Renato Carneiro is aiming high after his win over Drew Dober at UFC Fight Night 235.

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“Moicano” showed immense grit in enduring Dober’s damaging strikes and went on to outwrestle his opponent over three rounds to earn a unanimous decision win in Saturday’s lightweight co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Moicano” followed that victory with yet another entertaining post-fight interview, which have now become the Brazilian’s signature.

Carneiro was subsequently taken to the local hospital for a precautionary CT scan of his head and face, the results of which are currently unknown. While on the ambulance, “Moicano” went live on his YouTube channel to talk to fans, also calling out a next potential opponent in Dan Hooker.

“Moicano” called Hooker an easy-fight leading up to his clash against Dober and rallied for a booking against “The Hangman” at UFC 301 in Brazil.

“Dan Hooker is in trouble,” Carneiro said. “I want to be…

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Urijah Faber claims Sage Northcutt’s fight against Shinya Aoki fell through due to a juxtaposition of miscommunications and divine messages.

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Northcutt was scheduled to make his long-awaited return to combat sports against the Japanese grappling legend at ONE Championship 165 on Jan. 28. However, it was announced midway through the card that Northcutt pulled out because his coaches didn’t have working visas in Japan. Northcutt was replaced by UFC veteran John Lineker, who was submitted 3:00 into the first round by Aoki.

Because Lineker weighed in ahead of the card for no apparent reason, there was speculation that the visa issue didn’t reveal the whole narrative. Faber has now revealed that the cancellation of the fight was in the works the night before the event.

“There’s a lot of misinterpretation there,” Faber told MiddleEasy. “I think if you watch [ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong’s] interview, he kind of said the way it was: T…

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Charlie Radtke continues to build his heel image in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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Radtke had a successful second promotional outing at UFC Fight Night 235 on Saturday, knocking out Gilbert Urbina in the very first round. “Chuck Buffalo” subsequently shouted out his teammate Belal Muhammad while slamming the UFC’s biggest active heel, Colby Covington.

While Radtke’s post-fight press conference started off well, the welterweight suddenly made a bizarre demand when questioned by a reporter, leading to an awkward and abrupt end to the session (video via FanSided MMA).

“With a knockout like that, you know people are going to be talking, wanting to see more of you,” a reporter said to Radtke. “How soon do we get you back in that cage? Is there anybody that you would want to match up with?”

Radtke responded by demanding money for interview appearances.

“How much money you got? That’s what it is,” Radtke said. “Y…

A flyweight clash pitting Steve Erceg against Matt Schnell has been rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 238.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the pairing on Sunday. Erceg and Schnell were initially slated to meet at UFC 295, but Schnell was forced to withdraw from the contest for undisclosed reasons. UFC Fight Night 238 takes place on March 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and includes a heavyweight bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gamziev and a flyweight scrap between Muhammad Mokaev and Alex Perez. A headliner has not been confirmed for the event.

Erceg remained on the UFC 295 card, where he took a unanimous verdict over replacement foe Alessandro Costa. The 28-year-old Aussie has been victorious in 10 straight professional outings, including a three-round verdict against David Dvorak in his Octagon debut at UFC 289.

Schnell, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since December 2022, when he suffered a second-round knockout loss to Matheus Nicolau at…

Randy Brown couldn’t have drawn up a better finish than the one he authored at UFC Fight Night 235.

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“Rude Boy” followed a double jab with a picture-perfect right hand, flooring Muslim Salikhov and earning a knockout victory 3:17 into Round 1 of their welterweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“One hitter quitter on a striker like that, it means a lot,” Brown said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “He’s a accomplished so much, and I have so much respect for him, it means a lot. It means a lot to go in and perform and finally show the things I’m capable of.”

While the fight could have easily been halted once Salikhov crashed to the canvas, referee Kerry Hatley hesitated at first. The forced Brown to seal his victory with one mostly unnecessary standing-to-ground punch.

“I didn’t want to hit him again. I really didn’t,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘What is this ref doing?’ The ref was unsure, so I had to do it.”

…

The most dominant champ in KSW history vs. a true combat sports legend! 🤩

𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠🇬🇧 @phildefriesmmavs. @JoshLBarnett 🇺🇸

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Celebrating 20 years of KSW!

XTB #KSWEpic | Feb 24 | #Gliwice🎟️ @eBiletPL | 📺 PPV https://t.co/KEwIlAHwkA pic.twitter.com/eFPt52gTZO

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 2, 2024

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight champion Philip De Fries will square off against Josh Barnett in a grappling match on Feb. 24.

The Polish promotion recently announced the booking. KSW "Epic" takes place at PreZero Arena in Gliwice, Poland and is available via pay-per-view.

The 37-year-old De Frieds is on a 12-fight winning streak in MMA that dates back to October 2017. He’s successfully defended the KSW heavyweight strap nine times and is coming off a second-round submission of Szymon Bajor at KSW 84 this past July. Fourteen of his 24 career victories have come by way of submission.

A former UF…

Nassourdine Imavov wants to run it back against Sean Strickland after his majority decision win over Roman Dolidze in the main event at UFC Fight Night 235.

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Imavov outstruck Dolidze on the feet for the majority of the bout, but he was consistently slowed down by desperate clinching from the Georgian. The French middleweight was also hurt by a point deduction due to an illegal kick in the fourth round, which led to the final scorecards being closer than expected.

Imavov subsequently thanked his team and called for a rematch against r Strickland, who handed him his last loss in January 2023.

“The fight camp was absolutely good, I want to thank all my coaches, first of all Nicholas Ott, second Ilian [Bouafia] one of my training partners, Issa Samake, the boxing coach and of course my brother [Daguir Imavov], I talked about him the first time I came to the UFC. He’s a phenomenal fighter, his record is 15-3 and I can’t wait for him to fight in th…

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have a new date for their highly-anticipated fight, and pulling out will have massive repercussions for both parties.

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Fury and Usyk were originally scheduled to clash in a heavyweight title unifier on Feb. 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, the booking fell through less than two weeks before fight night, as it was announced on Friday that Fury has been forced out due to a severe cut suffered in sparring.

Usyk’s camp expressed frustration upon hearing the news, even calling for Fury to be stripped off his WBC title. However, the fight has now been rebooked for May 18 in Saudi Arabia with a significant pullout clause in place. Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment of Saudi Arabia, announced that both Usyk and Fury have agreed to forfeit $10 million from their respective fight purses if they fail to show up on the rebooked date. Alalshikh also plans on having back-up fighters ready for the oth…

Themba Gorimbo is aiming straight for the stars after his first stoppage win in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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Gorimbo predicted a first round knockout win going into his third Octagon outing and delivered on it at UFC Fight Night 235. The South African sent Pete Rodriguez crashing to the canvas with a thunderous right hand and finished the bout with follow-up shots on the canvas before referee Herb Dean stepped in to wave off the fight 32 seconds into Round 1.

While he is currently unranked at welterweight, Gorimbo voiced his aspiration to win UFC gold by the end of the year. In addition to reigning champ Leon Edwards, “The Answer” mentioned surging Kazakh contender Shavkat Rakhmonov as potential title fight opponents.

“This is business. Mr. Sean Shelby, I’d like the biggest opportunities,” Gorimbo said in his post-fight interview. “I know that when we get out of here, probably I’m getting the biggest contract but I wanna fight the ba…

It was one of the cleanest victories of Randy Brown’s Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Brown quickly dispatched Muslim Salikhov in their featured welterweight clash at UFC Fight Night 235 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, earning himself a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus in the process. Brown followed a double jab with a perfectly-placed right cross that sent Salikhov crashing to the canvas. Though the contest was all but over, Brown landed one standing-to-ground shot before the bout was waved off at the 3:17 mark of Round 1.

Elsewhere, fan favorite Molly McCann received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a successful strawweight debut against Diana Belbita. In a rematch of a 2019 bout that was contested at 125 pounds, McCann was aggressive on the feet before forcing a tap with an armbar 4:59 into the opening frame. “Meatball” snapped a two-bout skid in victory.

Finally, Charles Johnson and Azat Maksum secured “Fight of…

Nassourdine Imavov took care of business, even if it was messy in practice.

The Frenchman made his pitch as a Top 10 contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division, as he outstruck and outlasted Romand Dolidze to a majority decision in the UFC Fight Night 235 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Judges Derek Cleary and Sal D’Amato saw it 49-44 and 48-46 for Imavov, while Ron McCarthy scored it a 47-47 draw.

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Imavov (13-4, 5-2 UFC) was docked a point for an illegal head kick in the fourth round but otherwise controlled the majority of the match with sharp striking. He wobbled Dolidze with a right hand inside the first five minutes, forced him to the canvas with a series of follow-up shots, including a brutal knee strike to the body, and nearly authored a quick finish with ground-and-pound. Perhaps undercut by fatigue, Imavov was hesitant from that point forward yet still managed to extend his lead against a woeful…

Molly McCann put her naysayers in timeout.

The Next Generation MMA mainstay downshifted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division and disposed of Diana Belbita with an armbar in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 235 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Belbita (15-9, 2-5 UFC) conceded defeat 4:59 into Round 1 but not before her limb bent the wrong way.

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McCann (14-6, 7-5 UFC), who had beaten the Romanian by unanimous decision back in 2019, was far more decisive in their rematch. She closed the distance without fear and unleashed a variety of weapons, from overhand rights and spinning back kicks to push kicks and her patented spinning back elbow. McCann delivered a late takedown, climbed to full mount and uncorked a series of elbows before she transitioned to the armbar for the finish.

Meanwhile, former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Charles Johnson rallied from an inauspicious start to stun t…

Considered one of the greatest grapplers in history, Marcelo Garcia has emerged from what he called the most difficult fight of his life.

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The four-time ADCC champion and five-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion spoke to Sherdog.com after a long battle against esophagus cancer that required eight chemotherapy sessions.

"I moved from New York to Hawaii with my wife and two kids and lived one year totally focused on defeating this cancer,” Garcia said. “And this is the first interview I'm giving after that long battle.”

After revisiting the most important moments of his brilliant career, such as his historic match against Ricco Rodriguez in the 2005 ADCC absolute division and wins over jiu-jitsu legends such as Andre Galvao, Demian Maia, Renzo Gracie and Robert Drysdale, Garcia revealed an interesting episode that made him change his opinion about grappling star Gordon Ryan.

"In the past I didn't like his attitude,” Garcia said. “When I arrived to a j…

Geoff Neal is determined to not let his upcoming UFC 298 meeting with Ian Garry go the distance.

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Garry and Neal were initially slated to compete at UFC 292 in August. However, Neal was forced to pull out of the bout due to undisclosed reasons and was eventually replaced by Neil Magny.

Garry then went on to record a unanimous decision win against Magny in a dominant showing and has now been rebooked to face Neal at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 after being forced out of his UFC 296 clash with Vicente Luque due to a severe case of pneumonia during fight week.

Infamous for his trash talk and antics, the undefeated Garry has grabbed any and every opportunity available to belittle and intimidate his opponent, including selling T-shirts with Neal’s mugshot on them.

Neal doesn't seem to be perturbed by Garry’s actions outside the Octagon and is looking forward to capitalizing on all the attention on “The Future” by finishing the Irishman before the final hor…

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A flyweight clash pitting Brazil’s Alessandro Costa against Peru’s Kevin Borjas has been added to the UFC 301 pay-per-view scheduled to take place on May 4 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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The booking was first reported by ESPN Deportes’ Carlos Contreras Legaspi.

Costa (13-4) will enter the Octagon on the heels of a unanimous decision loss to Steve Erceg at UFC 295 in November. Prior to that, “Nono” secured a technical knockout victory in the second frame against Jimmy Flick in June, bouncing back from a Round 3 knockout loss in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at the hands Amir Albazi.

Meanwhile, Borjas (9-2) is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Myanmar’s Joshua Van in h…

A heavyweight clash between two former Dana White’s Contender Series competitors has been added to a UFC Fight Night event scheduled for April 27.

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Brazil’s Jhonata Diniz is set to make his first walk to the Octagon against Florida native Austen Lane. The news was first announced by Diniz’s management company, All In Sports, on social media.

Undefeated in his professional mixed martial arts career, Diniz (6-0) is a former professional kickboxer who transitioned to the sport of MMA in May 2022. Over the course of his MMA journey, the Brazilian has displayed an incredible affinity for finishing fights early, recording six first-round finishes in as many outings. The 32-year-old most recently recorded a Round 1 technical knockout victory against Eduardo Neves in an appearance on the Contender Series in September to earn himself a UFC contract.

Meanwhile, Lane (12-4) is coming off a Round 1 KO loss to Justin Tafa at UFC 293 in a matchup that had…