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Roger Huerta will return to the Bellator cage for the first time since 2010 when he meets Benson Henderson in the new Bellator 196 headliner.

The matchup came about after James Gallagher, who was scheduled to meet Adam Borics in the original Bellator 196 main event, was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. Henderson vs. Huerta was first announced on "The MMA Hour" Monday.

Henderson has dropped back-to-back split decisions to Patricky Friere and Michael Chandler in his last two Bellator appearances. The former UFC lightweight champion is 1-3 with the California-based organization overall, with his lone victory coming via injury TKO over Patricio Freire at Bellator 160.

The 34-year-old Huerta enters the bout on a two-fight winning streak, including a disqualification triumph against Hayder Hassan on Dec. 22 as a result of his opponent landing illegal elbows to the back of the head. “El Matador” has competed primarily for One Championship in recent …

Mirko Filipovic had some choice words for Roy Nelson after “Big Country” speculated that “Cro Cop” might be on performance enhancing drugs when they square off at Bellator 200.

Filipovic and Nelson will meet in a heavyweight tilt on May 25 at the SSE Arena in London. Shortly after the rematch was announced – Nelson defeated Filipovic via third-round TKO at UFC 137 – Nelson told MMAjunkie.com that he thought the 43-year-old Croatian knockout artist could be using “special supplements” to propel him to his current winning streak.

On Sunday, “Cro Cop” fired back in a Facebook post.

“Dear Roy Nelson, you don’t have to worry that I’m using any ‘special supplements’ as you claim,” Filipovic wrote. “The only ‘special supplements’ I’m using is [two] hard and bloody trainings per day, five days a week. And I will be tested, like all others, during preparations for the fight and before and right after the fight.

“So you can be calm and start thinking of some go…

I think I want to fight in the UFC

Not surprisingly, Davis’ statement got a lot of responses from active fighters on the UFC roster. Often, Davis had no qualms about firing right back.

@Gervontaa what weight class in the @ufc you lookin at

Any one ill beat all y’all ass https:/…

Ion Cutelaba recently accepted a six-month suspension from USADA for an anti-doping violation, but the UFC light heavyweight is denying that he knowingly cheated.

“I accepted the suspension from USADA for [six] months, and after May 3 I can participate,” Cutelaba wrote Sunday on Instagram. “I did not show anything positive. I'm an honest athlete! Now we're looking for a fight! The Hulk is ready to fight again!

“I’m a true sportsman and have never cheated the rules, it’s been a long way to justice but now we’re here!”

Cutelaba was flagged for an anti-doping violation after admitting he underwent ozone therapy on paperwork associated with two out-of-competition drug tests conducted on Oct. 18 and Oct. 19 of last year. His suspension is retroactive to Nov. 3. As a result, Cutelaba was pulled from a proposed bout with Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC 217.

The 24-year-old Cirkunov is 2-2 in the Octagon since making his promotional debut in June 2016. He last app…

On Friday, it was reported that Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Mairbek Taisumov was forced out of his slated 155-pound contest with Evan Dunham due to his ongoing struggles to secure an American visa. By evening’s end, Dunham was blessed with a new dance partner, as the Oregon native posted on Twitter that Olivier Aubin-Mercier would take the Chechen’s spot.

UFC 223 is scheduled for April 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., headlined by a UFC championship doubleheader, with a lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov in the headlining slot, as well as a co-feature that sees Rose Namajunas run it back against previously-undefeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk, whom she captured the UFC women’s 115-pound crown from at UFC 217 last November.

“Thanks to @oliaubin for taking this fight. I will see you in the middle,” Dunham wrote.

Read more about Evan Dunham Says Olivier Aubin-Mercier is in For Mairbek Taisumov as UFC 223 Dance Partner

The promotion announced Thursday evening that its line-up for April 13 will feature a 125-pound contest between Rebecca Ruth and undefeated prospect Juliana Velasquez.

Bellator 197 emanates from the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., headlined by a lightweight title rematch between unbeaten Brent Primus and former titlist Michael Chandler.

Ruth, 39, hasn’t fought since succumbing to the now-promotional champion Macfarlane herself. After ripping off four wins, three of which by stoppage, Ruth was halted by “The Ilimanator” at Bellator 187, falling prey to a rear-naked choke at Bellator 157 in June 2016.

Velasquez, 31, was one of the most sought-after flyweight prospects before Bellator inked her to a contract late last year. After putting her first five professional opponents away, the Brazilian made her promotional debut for Bellator on Dec. 1 of last year, ar…

The promotion announced Thursday evening that its line-up for April 13 will feature a 125-pound contest between Rebecca Ruth and undefeated prospect Juliana Velasquez.

Bellator 197 emanates from the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., headlined by a lightweight title rematch between unbeaten Brent Primus and former titlist Michael Chandler.

Ruth, 39, hasn’t fought since succumbing to the now-promotional champion Macfarlane herself. After ripping off four wins, three of which by stoppage, Ruth was halted by “The Ilimanator” at Bellator 187, falling prey to a rear-naked choke at Bellator 157 in June 2016.

Velasquez, 31, was one of the most sought-after flyweight prospects before Bellator inked her to a contract late last year. After putting her first five professional opponents away, the Brazilian made her promotional debut for Bellator on Dec. 1 of last year, ar…

He may not be the favorite of Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, but UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is shrewdly understanding how to stay in the spotlight.

In the latest edition of his “Hollywood Beatdown” segment with TMZ, the 170-pound kingpin revealed that he has been training boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. under mixed martial arts pretenses, hinting that “Money Mayweather” may legitimately be interested in stepping into the cage.

“I saw him at the [Michael] Jordan party during [NBA] All-Star weekend, we started chatting about training MMA and we decided hey, let’s connect, let’s hook up in Vegas and do some training and get ready for MMA,” Woodley said.

Mayweather, 41, last fought on Aug. 26 of last year, knocking out UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor in their blockbuster “Money Fight.” After bringing his pro boxing record to 50-0, Mayweather has since…

Friday, Poland’s preeminent MMA company announced that KSW 43 will feature a 155-pound contest between recent promotional title challenger Norman Parke and Polish veteran Lukasz Chlewicki. KSW 43 is scheduled for April 14 at Centennial Hall in Wroclaw, Poland, headlined by Olympic wrestling bronze medalist squaring off with Yannick Bahati.

Parke, 30, is fresh off a highly controversial two-fight series with KSW lightweight champion Mateusz Gamrot. In their first confrontation this past May, “Stormin’ Norman” dropped a contentious unanimous verdict to “Gamer,” which led to a rematch at KSW 40 in October. In the second go-around, after missing weight, was repeatedly eye poked by Gamrot, leading referee Marc Goddard to declare a No Contest in the second round

After the bout officially ended, things got uglier as one of Gamrot’s cornermen, …

The bantamweight title is on the line in May! @Amanda_Leoa takes on @RockyPMMA in the main event at #UFC224 in Rio! pic.twitter.com/yB8Gu4BEzJ

Despite Dana White all but confirming a super fight between Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg, that bout, for now, will have to wait after the Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced that Nunes will instead defend her bantamweight belt against No. 8 ranked Raquel Pennington.

Pennington (9-5) has slowly worked her way up the bantamweight rankings and is currently on a four-fight winning streak. She has notable wins against Miesha Tate and Jessica Andrade. Pennington hasn’t fought since November 2016 at UFC 205, where she earned a unanimous decision victory against Tate.

Nunes (15-4) has won six fights in a row and will return to her homeland of Brazil to fight for the first time since 2015. Nunes is coming off a split decision nod over Valentina Shevchenko in h…

Thursday, USADA unveiled a press release that the promotion will pull “The Hulk” on the sidelines for half of a calendar year. According to the statement released by USADA, Cutelaba admitted that he underwent ozone therapy on paperwork associated with two separate of out-of-competition drug tests conducted Oct. 18 and 19 of last year.

“The WADA Prohibited List prohibits the administration or reintroduction of blood or red blood cell products of any origin or quantity in the circulatory system, unless a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption has been obtained,” USADA’s official release wrote. “While Cutelaba was unaware of the violation and declared the treatment on his doping control paperwork, he was unable to refute the documentation provided.”

Due to his admission, the Moldovan native’s sus…

BAMMA 34 goes down tomorrow, March 9, at the SSE Arena, Wembley, in London.

Both main eventers, promotional welterweight champ Alex Lohore (168.6) and challenger Terry Brazier (169) easily tipped the beam in fashion, while predictably in the heavyweight co-feature, undefeated prospect Chi Lewis-Parry (249) and veteran brawler Stav Economou (263) both came in under the limit for their interim title bout. The injured Brett McDermott remains BAMMA’s heavyweight champion.

Elsewhere, unbeaten Tim Barnett (155) and opponent Rhys McKee (154.6) both clocked in appropriately for their lightweight title clash.

BAMMA 34 also features the fourth pro bout of highly-touted Fabian Edwards (186), the yo…

French prospect Salahdine Parnasse will meet Artur Sowinski in his sophomore KSW appearance, Sherdog.com confirmed with a promotion official.

KSW 43 takes place in Wroclaw, Poland, on April 14, and will see hometown favorite Damian Janikowski headline the card against Yannick Bahati. Additionally, Roberto Soldic will defend the welterweight strap against Dricus Du Plessis.

Parnasse was successful in his first promotional foray, as he took a majority verdict over Lukasz Rajewski at KSW 41 on Dec. 23. The 20-year-old owns a 10-0-1 career mark since beginning his professional tenure in 2015.

Sowinski, a longtime KSW veteran, is coming off a third-round submission defeat to Kleber Koike Erbst at KSW 41. The 30-year-old Pole is 18-9 with two no contests over the course of his pro tenure.

Strawweight Cynthia Calvillo will be able to return to action soon after testing positive for marijuana at UFC 219.

USADA announced on Wednesday that Calvillo received a six-month suspension for her anti-doping violation. That suspension can be reduced to three months if she completes a USADA-approved drug awareness and management program.

According to a release, “Calvillo officially tested positive for carboxy-THC, the pharmacologically-active metabolite of marijuana and/or hashish, above the decision limit of 180 ng/mL, stemming from an in-competition sample collected on December 30, 2017.”

At a minimum, Calvillo will be suspended until March 30 if she completes the program. If not, her sanction will last until June 30. Additionally, Calvillo faces punishment from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Calvillo suffered her first loss in seven professional appearances at UFC 219, dropping a unanimous decision to former champion Carla Esparza. The Team Alph…

Georgi Karakhanyan has signed with Russian promotion Absolute Championship Berkut.

The organization confirmed the signing via social media on Wednesday. The 12-time Bellator veteran recently parted ways with the California-based organization. A date for Karakhanyan’s ACB debut is not yet certain.

Karakhanyan exited his second Bellator stint with losses in two of his last three bouts. Most recently, “Insane” suffered a unanimous decision loss to Henry Corrales at Bellator 192 on Jan. 20.

The Milennia MMA representative captured World Series of Fighting gold with a third-round submission of Lance Palmer in December 2013. He relinquished the title in a loss to Rick Glenn at WSOF before signing with Bellator for a second time, where he went 4-4 over the course of three years.

Welcome to the ACB @georgimma Georgi Karakhanyan! pic.twitter.com/jJAuOXVJou

It appears that justice was served for Tim Means -- at least financially.

A little more than a month after “The Dirty Bird” dropped a split decision to Sergio Moraes at UFC Fight Night 125 in Belem, Brazil, the New Mexico-based welterweight says the Las Vegas-based promotion has paid him a win bonus for the bout. Salary figures from the event were not disclosed.

“Thank you [UFC] and [Dana White} for sending me my win bonus,” wrote Means.

According to the official scorecards, judges Phillipe Iorio and Tony Weeks saw the fight 29-28 in favor of Moraes, while Marcos Rosales submitted a 29-28 tally for Means. That wasn’t necessarily the popular opinion: 13 of the 14 unofficial media scorecards tracked by MMADecisions.com had Means winning.

Means has tasted victory just once in his last five Octagon appearances, a three-round verdict over Alex Garcia at UFC Fight Night 112. The FIT-NHB representative is 9-7 with one no contest during his tenure with the pr…

Tony Martin will lock horns with Keita Nakamura at UFC Fight Night 128.

Promotion officials announced the welterweight pairing on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night 128 takes place in Atlantic City, N.J., on April 21 and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Kevin Lee and Edson Barboza. The main card will be televised on Fox Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Martin saw a three-bout winning streak come to an end in his most recent outing, as he dropped a split decision to Olivier Aubin-Mercier at UFC Fight Night 116. The 28-year-old is 4-4 during his promotional tenure and is 12-4 as a professional overall. Eight of his career triumphs have come by way of submission.

Nakamura, meanwhile, appeared just once in 2017, taking a split decision over Alex Morono at UFC Fight Night 117. The 33-year-old Tokyo native has competed in organizations such as Deep, Shooto and Sengoku while compiling a 33-8-2 record over the course of a tenure that begain in 2003.

Shevchenko (15-3) is coming off an impressive submission victory over Priscila Cachoeira in Belem, Brazil, in her flyweight debut while earning a performance of the night bonus.

The Peruvian recently posted on Twitter a picture of the current flyweight rankings and suggested she’d like to face the current champion Nicco Montano at UFC 225 in Chicago on June 9.

Waiting on the date for my next fight.Would be happy to come back to Chicago again ! #UFC225 June 9 #Chicago #125 #FightForTheBelt @danawhite @ufc @Mickmaynard2 pic.twitter.com/zdZKpkC93E

Shevchenko has fond memories of fighting in Chicago at the United Center, where she defeated former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm in a f…

Brian Ortega’s emphatic victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 all but assured him of receiving the next featherweight title shot, but still, “T-City” didn’t want to take anything for granted.

“I’ve been told, but I really want to talk to the main bosses to find out if that’s true before I get too excited” Ortega said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I don’t want to get too excited then have it get shut down. Then I’m gonna be heartbroken. In my opinion, I feel like that should be the next fight.”

Ortega’s appearance on the dais wasn’t far apart from that of UFC President Dana White, who told media that he would book Ortega vs. Max Holloway “immediately” once the reigning featherweight champ is cleared to compete.

While it may have seemed like a foregone conclusion to the rest of the MMA world, Ortega appears to have received the confirmation he needed.

“I am getting the shot for Holloway. I just got off the phone with Dana White. He said I’…

The vacant Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight title will be up for grabs when Michal Andryszak squares off with Philip De Fries at KSW 43 on April 14.

A promotion official confirmed the pairing to Sherdog.com on Monday. KSW 43 takes place in Wroclaw, Poland and will see hometown favorite Damian Janikowski headline the card against an as-yet-to-be announced opponent. Additionally, Roberto Soldic will defend the welterweight strap against Dricus Du Plessis.

Andryszak is currently on a six-fight tear that includes triumphs over Fernando Rodrigues Jr. and Michal Kita under the KSW banner. The 25-year-old Pole has finished each of those six opponents inside of a round and has earned all but one of his 20 career triumphs inside the distance. In fact, “Longer” has not seen the judges’ scorecards in any of his 27 professional bouts.

De Fries, meanwhile, will make his KSW debut riding the momentum of a two-fight winning streak. The 31-year-old Englishman last appe…

Not much was expected of Yana Kunitskaya in the UFC 222 headliner, but for one fleeting moment, she had Cristiane Justino on the defensive.

After being rocked by a right hand in an initial exchange, the former Invicta FC titlist dove low for a takedown and was able to take “Cyborg” to the canvas. The Brazilian then rolled to her knees and attempted to crawl away. When she tried to stand, Kunitskaya briefly jumped on her back.

It didn’t last, however, as Justino was able to free herself from the predicament in relatively short order. Kunistkaya never really had an opportunity to attempt a rear-naked choke.

“It’s why I’m so sad, because I feel I can control this fight at some points,” Kunitskaya said at the post-fight press conference. “But what happened, everyone saw.”

Once the combatants resumed trading on the feet, it was only a matter of time before “Cyborg” asserted herself. Justino floored Kunitskaya with another big right hand and ended the conte…

Frankie Edgar was supposed to receive his third featherweight title shot at UFC 222, but an injury to reigning champion Max Holloway spoiled those plans.

Rather than bow out of the event altogether, Edgar elected to accepted a dangerous bout against Brian Ortega, with the winner moving on to face Holloway at a later date. What resulted was a disheartening defeat for the 36-year-old New Jersey native, as he was finished for the first time in his 29-fight career. The end came in devastating fashion: Ortega rocked Edgar with a standing elbow, floored him with a massive uppercut and sealed the victory with a pair of hammerfists on the mat 4:44 into round one.

After the fight, Holloway took to Twitter to offer praise for “The Answer.”

“You had nothing to gain from taking that fight [Frankie Edgar]. But you took it; you defended what you already earned,” Holloway wrote. “There’s no belt for sacrificing everything, but true fans and Jersey knows no belt can outshi…

It may have looked like a cakewalk for Cristiane Justino against Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 222, but that’s not how “Cyborg” prepared.

“I was ready for five rounds, and I didn’t know what Yana was going to do in the fight,” Justino said in a backstage interview on UFC.com. “But I was prepared for everything. I always think it’s going to be more rounds. I’m really happy with this fight.”

Justino barely broke a sweat in her second successful title defense, as she rocked Kunitskaya with her first punch of the fight, weathered an early takedown attempt and ultimately overwhelmed the Russian with heavy hands for a technical knockout victory at the 3:25 mark of round one. The 34-year-old Brazilian improved to 5-0 in the UFC, and only Holly Holm has been able to make it to the final bell against the Chute Boxe representative.

Before Justino agreed to face Kunitskaya on short notice to give UFC 222 a championship headliner following Max Holloway’s withdrawal from the c…