UFC veteran John Lineker signs with ONE Championship
(https:)It didn’t take long for John Lineker to find a new home.
Days after being released for the UFC after a 12-4 run in the eight-sided cage, “Hands of Stone” inked a multi-fight deal with ONE Championship, he told MMA Fighting on Monday.
ONE Championship has yet to book Lineker’s promotional debut. Lineker will compete as a bantamweight, which means 145 pounds under ONE Championship's rules.
Beneil Dariush injured, Drakkar Klose needs new opponent for Saturday's UFC on ESPN+ 13
(https:)Injury has forced Beneil Dariush out of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 13 event, and UFC officials are currently seeking a lightweight opponent to meet Drakkar Klose.
MMA Junkie today learned from promotion officials that Dariush had to withdraw from the card, which takes place at Golden1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. A timeline for his return was not immediately established.
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
Germaine de Randamie vs. Aspen Ladd
Urijah Faber vs. Ricky Simon
Mirsad Bektic vs. Josh Emmett
Drakkar Klose vs. opponent TBA
Karl Roberson vs. Wellington Turman
Cezar Ferreira vs. Marvin Vettori
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)
John Allan vs. Mike Rodriguez
Andre Fili vs. Sheymon Moraes
Nicco Montano vs. Julianna Pena
Darren Elkins vs. Ryan Hall
Jonathan Martinez vs. Liu Pingyuan
Livinha Souza vs. Brianna VanBuren
Benito Lopez vs. Vince Morales
Dana White says Luke Rockhold broke jaw at UFC 239, urges ex-champ to 'hang it up'
(https:)UFC president Dana White believes it’s time for Luke Rockhold to retire after the former champion was knocked out in brutal fashion yet again at UFC 239.
Rockhold (16-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC), the former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion, had his light heavyweight debut spoiled in a gruesome manner when he was floored by Jan Blachowicz (24-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) in the second round on Saturday.
All five of Rockhold’s career defeats have come by knockout, and at 34, White said the time could be right to move on from competition.
UFC 239 bonus winners: Jorge Masvidal’s historic knockout leads $50K winners
(https:)The action delivered as promised last night (Sat., July 6, 2019) at UFC 239 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, as Jon Jones outlasted the heavy-handed Thiago Santos in the main event to retain his UFC light heavyweight title.
Performance of the Night: Jorge Masvidal
Performance of the Night: Amanda Nunes
Performance of the Night: Song Yadong
Performance of the Night: Jan Blachowicz
John Lineker released from UFC contract after 16-fight tenure
(https:)Bantamweight contender John Lineker has been released from his UFC contract.
After pleading for a fight, Lineker (31-9 MMA, 12-4 UFC) was given a co-main event spot against Rob Font at UFC on ESPN+ 12 this past month. He withdrew from the fight just days out, though, after allegedly suffering a facial laceration during his weight cut.
That withdrawal seemingly didn’t put the Brazilian in the UFC’s good graces, because just weeks later he is no longer with the company, MMA Junkie confirmed with a person close to the situation.
Derek Brunson vs. Ian Heinisch on tap for UFC 241 in Anaheim
ufc middleweight ian heinisch is on the fast track following a win over antonio carlos junior earlier this month.
heinisch (13-1 mma, 2-0 ufc) today announced he will fight octagon veteran derek brunson (19-7 mma, 10-5 ufc) at august’s ufc 241 event (via instagram): UFC middleweight Ian Heinisch is on the fast track following a win over Antonio Carlos Junior earlier this month.
Heinisch (13-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) today announced he will fight octagon veteran Derek Brunson (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) at August’s UFC 241 event (via Instagram):
Moggly’ Benitez to fight Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 241
(https:)When Gabriel Benitez returns to the cage, he’ll be facing an opponent who is also on a win streak.
“Moggly” looks for his third straight win when he takes on Sodiq Yusuff, who has won four straight, in a featherweight bout at UFC 241 on Aug. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The matchup was first reported by Farah Hannoun.
This will be Benitez’s first fight since May 2018. The former Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 1 cast member needed just 39 seconds to KO Humberto Bandenay in his last outing and improve his UFC record to 5-2 (15-2 overall as a pro).
Bellator 222 bout order finalized with six-fight main card; Caldwell vs. Horiguchi opens
(https:)A sixth fight has been added to Friday’s Bellator 222 main card, which features two championship matchups.
One of those bouts will kick off the main card, which streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie from Madison Square Garden in New York. The bantamweight title rematch between Darrion Caldwell (13-2 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) and Kyoji Horiguchi (27-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will open the six pack of fights headlined by a welterweight title showdown of Rory MacDonald(20-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 BMMA) vs. Neiman Gracie (9-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) in the promotion’s grand prix semifinals.
Classic Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida bout announced for UFC 2019 Hall of Fame
(lhttps:)The latest Fight Wing inductee to the UFC Hall of Fame is one of the wildest fights in MMA history.
During Saturday’s UFC 238 broadcast, it was announced that Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida from The Ultimate Fighter 9 on June 20, 2009, will be honored during international fight week this July. That lightweight main event saw Sanchez defeat Guida by split decision after three rounds of non-stop action.
Cynthia Calvillo out, Brianna Van Buren In Against Livinha Souza At UFC Sacramento
(https:)The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Sacramento, California, is reorganizing, as Cynthia Calvillo has been forced to pull out of her strawweight fight against Livinha Souza, and will reportedly be replaced by Brianna Van Buren.
According to MMAJunkie on Friday, Calvillo (8-1) broke her foot and was forced to withdraw from her strawweight contest against Souza (13-1) at UFC Fight Night 155. This event will take place on July 13 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, and according to MMA Brazil, the promotion has selected Van Buren (8-2) as Calvillo's replacement.
Calvillo was looking to raise her win streak to three, as she has beaten Cortney Casey and Poliana Botelho in her last two outings. With three rear-naked choke victories inside the Octagon, she is tied with Rose Namajunas for the most tapouts with that submission by a female UFC fighter.
Gavin Tucker ends nearly two-year layoff, meets Seungwoo Choi at UFC 240
(https:)A featherweight bout between Gavin Tucker and Seungwoo Choi is the latest addition to July’s UFC 240 lineup.
UFC officials today announced the bout between Tucker (10-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Choi (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
UFC 240 takes place July 27 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The fight card is headlined by a featherweight title bout between champ Max Holloway and ex-lightweight champ Frankie Edgar. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Andy Ruiz Jr. upsets Anthony Joshua with seventh-round TKO to claim heavyweight titles
(https:) A late replacement and massive underdog, Andy Ruiz Jr. just shook up the world.
Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs) spoiled the long-awaited U.S. debut of unified heavyweight champion and British star Anthony Joshua to score four knockdowns and record a spectacular upset via seventh-round TKO at Madison Square Garden.
Not only did Ruiz get up off the canvas early in Round 3 in order to do what oddsmakers felt was nearly impossible, he showed tremendous poise, power and fearlessness in systematically dismantling Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) to flip the heavyweight division upside down.
UFC Stockholm bonuses: Anthony Smith’s main event submission leads $50K winners
(https:)The action delivered on arrival earlier today (Sat., June 1, 2019) at UFC on ESPN+ 11 live on ESPN+ from inside Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, as Anthony Smith put an unexpected stop to Alexander Gustafsson via fourth-round submission in the main event.
In order to sift through the action and see which fighters took home an extra $50,000, we take a closer look at the official UFC on ESPN+ 11 bonus winners below:
Performance of the Night: Anthony Smith
Performance of the Night: Aleksandar Rakic
Performance of the Night: Makwan Amirkhani
Performance of the Night: Leonardo Santos
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