Page 25 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

Update: Jinh Yu Frey (5-2), who Hamasaki defeated via doctor stoppage in September, will face undefeated Janaisa Morandin (9-0) on the same card. Ayaka Hamasaki wants to make a statement. The Invicta FC women’s atomweight champion will move up to strawweight to face former champion Livia Renata Souza at Invicta 22 on March 25 in Kansas City, sources told MMA Fighting on Monday. Invicta president Shannon Knapp confirmed the news and said it would be the co-main event of the card. It should be announced officially this week, she said.

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UFC 207 was Mike Goldberg’s final event; disgracefully, there was no public goodbye. Being let go is a normal part of corporate life. The new owners have four billion reasons to run the company as they see fit, and have laid off a number of personnel.

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In boxing, sanctioning bodies only make money if there is a title at stake, so they recognize a lot of titles. The WBA sanctions Super, Undisputed, Unified, Regular, and Interim world championship bouts in 17 weight divisions (there used to be eight). Then throw in the WBC, IBF and WBO. And the IBO and WBF. And the World Underwear Association. By contrast, the UFC recognizes eight weight divisions for men, and most fans can name all the champions. Not a single person alive can definitively name every “world” champion in boxing. This alphabet soup is one reason boxing is losing young fans to mixed martial arts.

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World Series of Fighting was kind to David Branch, but now WSOF's only two-division champion has no belts and is ready to fly the coop. Monday, in an interview with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour,” the 35-year-old Bronx native stated that he had vacated both his WSOF middleweight and light heavyweight titles and was now a free agent after four-plus years with the promotion, where he racked up an undefeated 10-0 mark during his tenure, plus two title belts.

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Justin Willis is filling in for Luis Henrique to take on Marcin Tybura at this weekend's UFC 208: Holm vs de Randamie. This is the 12 and final fight to this card and this fight will take place on the Prelims. Start Times for this Event PPV Main Card @ 10PM ET Televised Fight Prelims @ 8PM ET Fight Pass Early Prelims @6:30PM ET

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More than a year after he was first tested, it appears there is some closure to UFC heavyweight Daniel Omielanczuk’s meldonium saga with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

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A UFC heavyweight title fight is coming to Big D. According to multiple sources, the promotion has booked Stipe Miocic vs. Junior dos Santos 2 for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 211 on May 13 in Dallas.

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It’s the Super Bowl. Tom Brady takes the snap, sees all his receivers covered and rolls out of the pocket to his right. With nothing available downfield and his check-down options smothered, Brady throws the ball away into the stands. Immediately, the referee nearby throws a flag. Brady doesn’t understand what just happened. An intentional grounding penalty can only be called when the quarterback is still in the pocket, he thought, not when he’s near the sidelines.

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Chan Sung Jung, Marcel Fortuna, Jessica Andrade and Angela Hill each earned $50,000 fight-night bonuses at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 104 event. Jung and Fortuna earned “Performance of the Night” awards, and Andrade and Hill took home “Fight of the Night” honors.

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Jessica Andrade earned the next crack at undefeated UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk with a dominant win over Angela Hill at UFC Fight Night 104. UFC President Dana White said after Saturday’s FS1-televised event at Toyota Center in Houston that Andrade will indeed be next for the Polish titleholder.

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Much of the criticism heading into UFC 208 is that the inaugural featherweight title fight between Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie doesn’t outwardly lead anywhere. A champion will be crowned in a newly created division that doesn’t have any other contenders waiting in the wings. As such, there’s a one-off feel to what could become a historic moment for Holm, who has already held the bantamweight title after dethroning Ronda Rousey at UFC 193.

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A group of officials from the United Kingdom will no longer work events promoted by Russia’s Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB). Prominent British referee Marc Goddard confirmed with MMA Fighting that he and other referees and judges from the UK are boycotting future ACB events due to the questionable overturning of two fights from an event last month in Austria.

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Randy Brown will fight at UFC 208 after all. Brown will now face Belal Muhammad at next Saturday's pay-per-view-event in Brooklyn, according to the UFC on Friday. Brown was originally supposed to face George Sullivan at the event.

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Michael “Venom” Page is rumored to be fighting Paul “Semtex” Daley sometime in May, a natural fit for a London card. Finally, Page gets a high level challenge, and it’s against one of the most powerful strikers at welterweight.

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The most tenured light heavyweight fighter in UFC history officially will be taking his talents elsewhere. Ryan Bader (22-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) appears to be headed for Bellator. UFC President Dana White today told USA TODAY Sports that the promotion gave its blessing to Bader leaving for its top competitor and would not match any contract offer Bader might receive from the Viacom-owned Bellator.

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Bec Rawlings was the lone fighter to miss weight Friday at the UFC Fight Night 104 weigh-ins. Rawlings went on social media to explain why she was 1.5 pounds over the 115-pound strawweight limit.

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On the heels of 2016’s year-end show, World Series of Fighting is returning to New York with another championship triple-header at WSOF 35 in Verona, NY. And one of the titles up for grabs on March 18 will be the bantamweight belt long held by 135-pound stud Marlon Moraes, which has since been vacated, according to the promotion.

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A welterweight bout is the latest addition to the UFC’s return to Brazil in March. Max Griffin (13-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will head to enemy turf to take on Brazil’s Sergio Moraes (11-2-1 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 106. UFC officials announced the new booking today. UFC Fight Night 106 takes place March 11 at Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil.

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An all-Britain bantamweight bout has been added to next month’s UFC Fight Night 107 lineup. England’s Ian Entwistle (9-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) and undefeated Welsh fighter Brett Johns (13-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) are slated for the show. UFC Fight Night 107 takes place March 18 at The O2 in London.

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The return of former Bellator welterweight champion Andrei Koreshkov highlighted a pair of fight bookings announced on Friday for Bellator 174, as Koreshkov will take on Fernando Gonzalez in a 170-pound showdown, and middleweight prospect Chris Honeycutt will meet Kendall Grove on the main card of the March 3 event.

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