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Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 11 event has lost its co-main event just two days out.
Ilir Latifi (14-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled light heavyweight matchup with Volkan Oezdemir (15-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) due to a back injury.
UFC officials announced the news Thursday.
The specifics of Latifi’s back injury are unknown and the promotion did not detail how the situation arose on such short notice.
Submitted May 30, 2019 6:44PM by JLS - 2 comments Filed under: UFC
On Wednesday, the UFC made several bouts official for its upcoming visit to Sacramento.
Per a release, featherweights Josh Emmett (14-2) and Mirsad Bektic (13-1) will fight on the July 13 card at Golden 1 Center. The matchup was first reported by FloCombat.
Other bouts announced Wednesday include Andre Fili (19-6) vs. Sheymon Moraes (11-3), Gian Villante (17-11) vs. Mike Rodriguez (10-3), and Pingyuan Liu (15-4) vs. Jonathan Martinez (10-2).
Submitted May 30, 2019 12:37PM by JLS - 0 comments Filed under: UFC
UFC Sacramento has its headlining fight.
Less than two weeks ago, Aspen Ladd was on the prelims of UFC Rochester against fellow contender Sijara Eubanks. After a Fight of the Night performance and another win, Ladd has been elevated to headliner status after previously never appearing on a UFC main card.
Submitted May 30, 2019 12:35PM by JLS - 0 comments Filed under: UFC
Eduardo Dantas will switch things up for his return to the Bellator cage.
The former Bellator bantamweight champion has decided to move up to 145 pounds and take on Juan Archuleta in the main card portion of Bellator 222 at Madison Square Garden, New York, on June 14, promotion officials confirmed to MMA Fighting.
UFC veteran Bryan Caraway and flyweight Joseph Morales are among just a handful of names who have been released by the UFC.
In addition to Caraway and Morales, MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz confirmed that light heavyweight Abdul-Kerim Edilov and heavyweight Dmitry Smoliakov are no longer on the UFC roster.
Caraway’s departure was revealed by South Korean promotion Battlefield Fighting Championship on Monday. “Kid Lightning” went 6-4 during his almost eight-year UFC career, picking up wins against the likes of Aljamain Sterling and Eddie Wineland during his time in the promotion.
Submitted May 29, 2019 9:21AM by JLS - 5 comments Filed under: UFC
The lineup for UFC 240 is beginning to take shape, as the promotion on Tuesday confirmed a trio of contests for the July 27 event.
The newly-announced bouts are as followed: Lauren Murphy vs. Mara Romero Borella at flyweight; Gillan Robertson vs. Sarah Frota at flyweight and Erik Koch vs. Kyle Stewart at welterweight.
UFC 240 take place at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar. The main card airs on pay-per-view through ESPN+, with prelims airing on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Submitted May 29, 2019 9:18AM by JLS - 0 comments Filed under: UFC
Yoel Romero’s name has been further cleared of wrongdoing after a failed drug test from 2016 was proven to have stemmed from a tainted supplement.
Romero (13-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) on Tuesday won a lawsuit based in New Jersey against Gold Star Performance Products with total damages of $27.45 million, according to Romero’s agent, Abraham Kawa. The UFC middleweight sued the company after a failed drug test caused him to be suspended from competition by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Submitted May 29, 2019 9:16AM by JLS - 2 comments Filed under: UFC
A member of the UFC Hall of Fame will soon enter the Octagon.
Urijah Faber, who retired from the sport following a decision victory over Brad Pickett in Sacramento in Dec. 2016, has agreed to take on Ricky Simon at UFC’s return to the city on July 13, sources said. MMA Fighting’s Dave Meltzer confirmed the bout with sources.
UFC Welterweight Alex Oliveira will meet with police over an alleged assault against his ex-wife in Tres Rios, Rio de Janeiro this coming Monday.
The news was confirmed by MMA Junkie after precinct chief Andre Lourenco told the media outlet about it on Sunday. The expected meeting comes after an alleged incident that took place Saturday.
Submitted May 27, 2019 9:39AM by JLS - 0 comments Filed under: UFC
On a day in which we learned of the scintillating lightweight showdown between Tony Ferguson and Donald Cerrone, it was going to be hard for the UFC to top it with another fight-announcement.
And sure, for many reasons, that pivotal 155lb clash will be a phenomenal showcase in terms of name-value and the almighty stakes, but for those in the know, this featherweight title-eliminator is just as good.
Submitted May 27, 2019 6:41AM by JLS - 2 comments Filed under: UFC
The lineup for the UFC’s return to Sweden this week appears to be complete with the addition of a welterweight fight.
Rostem Akman (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will step up on short notice to take on Sergey Khandozhko (26-5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN+ 11, according to online reports. UFC officials have not made a formal announcement of the booking, however.
The UFC on ESPN+ 11 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 1 p.m. ET)
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Smith
Ilir Latifi vs. Volkan Oezdemir
Jimi Manuwa vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Makwan Amirkhani vs. Chris Fishgold
Christos Giagos vs. Damir Hadzovic
Sung Bin Jo vs. Daniel Teymur
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2, 10 a.m. ET)
Rostem Akman vs. Sergey Khandozhko
Tonya Evinger vs. Lina Lansberg
Stevie Ray vs. Leonardo Santos
Frank Camacho vs. Nick Hein
Bea Malecki vs. Eduarda Santana
Devin Clark vs. Darko Stosic
Joel Alvarez vs. Danilo Belluardo
Submitted May 27, 2019 6:39AM by JLS - 0 comments Filed under: UFC
A popular Canadian “Ultimate Fighter” winner and a former title challenger are among four recent cuts to the UFC’s roster.
Elias Theodorou, Wilson Reis, Marcelo Golm and Eric Shelton have been released by the promotion. A UFC official today confirmed the news to MMA Junkie after an initial report by Brazilian MMA media outlet Combate.com.
Theodorou (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC), a middleweight, had won three straight fights and five of his past six before a decision loss to Derek Brunson earlier this month at UFC on ESPN+ 8 in Canada. Before that setback, Theodorou had decision wins over Dan Kelly, Trevor Smith and Eryk Anders to bounce back from a loss to Brad Tavares in July 2017.
Submitted May 27, 2019 6:38AM by JLS - 0 comments Filed under: UFC
Two veteran heavyweights will meet again at UFC Fight Night San Antonio in July.
Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell 2 is set for the July 20 event, sources told ESPN.
The rematch is 11 years in the making. Arlovski knocked out Rothwell at Affliction: Banned, the promotion's first event, back in July 2008.
Submitted May 21, 2019 9:15AM by JLS - 2 comments Filed under: UFC
The UFC is close to finalizing a featherweight title fight between Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar for UFC 240 on July 27 in Edmonton, Canada, according to multiple sources.
The promotion has tried to book this matchup twice in the past, although both attempts fell through due to injury. Once official, the 145-pound championship will take place on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 240, which will take in Edmonton's Rogers Place.
Submitted May 14, 2019 7:34AM by JLS - 1 comment Filed under: UFC
The UFC is looking for someone to step up and fight Vicente Luque on short notice this Saturday at UFC Rochester.
Neil Magny has pulled out of his welterweight bout against Vicente Luque for undisclosed reasons, MMAjunkie.com reported Monday evening. UFC officials have yet to confirm the news.
Submitted May 13, 2019 11:15PM by JLS - 2 comments Filed under: UFC
Former UFC fighter Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was arrested for domestic violence on Monday in Florida. MMAWeekly.com confirmed the arrest by the Boca Raton Police Services, following an initial report by TMZ Sports.
The PFL’s first show of 2019 is once again seeing a main event change.
Less than a week after scheduled headliner Louis Taylor announced that he would not be competing in the league’s second season due to the New York State Athletic Commission not clearing him for his welterweight bout with Chris Curtis, Thursday’s replacement main event between Kayla Harrison (3-0) and Svetlana Khautova is no more.
There weren’t many finishes last night (Sat., May 4, 2019) at UFC on ESPN+ 9 live on ESPN+ from inside Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but the action still produced fireworks, including Donald Cerrone’s main event destruction of lightweight contender Al Iaquinta (highlights HERE).
Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone vs. Al Iaquinta
Performance of the Night: Walt Harris
Performance of the Night: Macy Chiasson
Submitted May 5, 2019 9:34PM by JLS - 1 comment Filed under: UFC
The Professional Fighters League announced the first three events for the first half of the 2019 regular season Friday.
PFL 1 will feature two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison as she takes on Russian born Svetlana Khautova. Also on the card, former Strikeforce and Invicta FC bantamweight champion Sara Kaufman makes the jump up two weight classes to challenge Morgan Frier. Both women will compete in the inaugural women’s lightweight division. PFL’s season 1 breakout star Ray Cooper III is also set to return as he faces off against his cousin Zane Kamaka.
PFL 2 will feature hometown favorites Chris Wade and Andre Harrison as well the returns of defending 2018 PFL featherweight champion Lance Palmer and lightweight champion Natan Schulte.
Rounding out the first three events, fans will witness the return of defending heavyweight champion Philipe Lins as he enters the cage against former Bellator and RIZIN veteran Satoshi Ishii at PFL 3. Last season’s light heavyweight runner-up Vinny Magalhaes will also begin his quest for redemption against Emiliano Sordi.
All three events will take place at NYCB Live on Long Island, N.Y.
Here is the first three fight cards:
PFL 1 – May 9
ESPN2
Kayla Harrison vs. Svetlana Khautova
Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. John Howard
Ray Cooper III vs. Zane Kamaka
Sarah Kaufman vs. Morgan Frier
Sadibou Sy vs. David Michaud
ESPN+
Handesson Ferreira vs. Bojan Velickovic
Genah Fabian vs. Bobbi Jo Dalziel
Gamzat Khiramagomedov vs. Glaico Franca
Andre Fialho vs. Chris Curtis
Larissa Pacheco vs. Roberta Samad
PFL 2 – May 23
ESPN+
Lance Palmer vs. Alex Gilpin
Chris Wade vs. Nate Andrews
Andre Harrison vs. TBD
Ramsey Nijem vs. Ronys Torres
Akhmed Aliev vs. Carlao Silva
Alexandre Almeida vs. Luis Rafael Laurentino
Islam Mamedov vs. Ylies Djiroun
Rashid Magomedov vs. Loik Radzhabov
ESPN2
Natan Schulte vs. Bao Yincang
Alexandre Bezerra vs. Jeremy Kennedy
Damon Jackson vs. Movlid Khaybulaev
Steven Siler vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov
PFL 3 – June 6
ESPN+
Philipe Lins vs. Satoshi Ishii
Kelvin Tiller vs. Muhammed Dereese
Maxim Grishin vs. Jordan Johnson
Valdrin Istrefi vs. Ali Isaev
Rakim Cleveland vs. Viktor Nemkov
Ronny Markes vs. Sigi Pesaleli
Rashid Yusupov vs. Mikhail Mokhnatkin
Alex Nicholson vs. Francimar Barroso
ESPN2
Vinny Magalhaes vs. Emiliano Sordi
Dan Spohn vs. Bozigit Ataev
Jared Rosholt vs. Denis Goltsov
Ben Edwards vs. Ante Delija
