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Tom Aspinall’s return from a horrific knee injury is set to take place in the same venue where it was inflicted last year.

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On Wednesday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced that Aspinall (12-3, 5-1 UFC) will headline UFC on ESPN 49 on July 22 in London against Marcin Tybura. Aspinall was vocal about his intentions to return in July after a year on the sidelines as he called out Tybura during the UFC 286 fight week in March. The Nevada-based promotion granted his wish, offering Aspinall his third main event booking, all of which have taken place in his native U.K.

BREAKING: Your #UFCLondon heavyweight main event is signed!!

@AspinallMMA vs @MarcinTybura

Get your tickets EARLY https://t.co/slZM2gosSA pic.twitter.com/6uFPMHzW8D

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 10, 2023

Aspinall’s last outing ended in misery, as he suffered a freak knee injury 15 seconds into his clash with Curtis Blaydes in the UFC Fig…

[embedded content] Bellator MMA is set to make its return to Paris, with the card official following the Bellator 296 weigh-ins.

Middleweight headliners Gegard Mousasi and Fabian Edwards both had no trouble making weight. However, two preliminary contests were marred by participants missing weight, with one of the fights being canceled. The most notable miss was Steven Hill coming in 3.8 pounds over the welterweight limit for his fight against Nicolo Solli, and the fight has been axed as a result. Additionally, Romain Debienne has been fined a percentage of his purse for coming in at 172.4 pounds for his welterweight bout against Bourama Camara.

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The 37-year-old known as "Dreamcatcher" returns to the Bellator cage for the first time since dropping the title to Johnny Eblen. The unanimous decision defeat snapped a four-fight win streak. Mousasi (49-8-2) will look to show he still has more left in the tank, and hit the scales at 185.6 pounds for the mai…

- 2x Glory Kickboxing Welterweight Champion- 2016 A1 WGP Final Tournament Champion- World Kickboxing Association World Champion

"The Best" 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗗. Welcome to the Professional Fighters League @CedricDoumbe pic.twitter.com/MuStGGGyNR

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 10, 2023

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Newly-signed Cedric Doumbe will make his Professional Fighters League debut this summer.

On Wednesday, the PFL announced Doumbe as the latest addition to its 170-pound division. The fighter took to his social accounts to unveil he would fight for the first time under the PFL banner in Atlanta on June 23.

“Cedric Doumbe is one of the greatest athletes in the world and a tremendous addition to the Professional Fighters League global roster,” said PFL President of Fighter Operations Ray Sefo in a press release. “Cedric dominated the sport of kickboxing and is poised to do the same in MMA. He is one of the most talented fighters in the world and will mak…

Our #UFC290 main event is OFFICIAL!

Dana White just dropped the entire main card for International Fight Week and it's HUGE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aoNWRRiJvb

— UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2023

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The featherweight division will have an undisputed champion again as Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez have been booked to headline UFC 290.

The main attraction of the upcoming pay-per-view event in Las Vegas is the unification bout between 145-pound linear champion Volkanovski and interim titleholder Rodriguez. In the UFC 290 co-headliner, Brandon Moreno will face Alexandre Pantoja. “International Fight Week” will also feature the induction of former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Robbie Lawler’s UFC 189 clash with Rory MacDonald in the Hall of Fame, with “Ruthless” then set to compete against Niko Price in a bout that has been promoted as Lawler’s final contest.

Volkanovski (25-2, 12-1 UFC) is looking to bo…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming visit to the UK has gained an important women’s bantamweight clash.

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Ketlen Vieira and Pannie Kianzad will attempt to climb the 135-pound rankings when they meet at UFC on ESPN 49 in July in London. The news was first reported by MaximumSports and was confirmed by the UFC on Tuesday.

Bantamweights on deck!

🇧🇷 @KetlenVieiraUFC vs @PannieKianzad 🇸🇪 is official for #UFCLondon

🎟️ https://t.co/wg9VkLrok2 pic.twitter.com/EYlQx8iHcU

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 9, 2023

Vieira (13-3, 7-3 UFC) is looking to get back on track after finding herself on the wrong side of a split decision in her UFC Fight Night 217 affair with Raquel Pennington. Prior to that, “Fenomeno” overcame former divisional queens Miesha Tate and Holly Holm at UFC Fight Night 198 and UFC Fight Night 206, respectively. The Nova Uniao representative is looking for her first UFC title shot, and a victo…

Professional Fighters League’s 2023 season appears in danger of losing several of its top contenders and biggest names.

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On Tuesday, MMA Fighting reported that Thiago Santos, Krzysztof Jotko, Bruno Cappelozza and Rizvan Kuniev had tested positive for undisclosed banned substances after their fights in the PFL light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. The fighters have been temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission pending full hearings in the next few days.

The The promotion addressed the situation in a statement that acknowledged the suspensions and announced significant changes to the 2023 Regular Season without mentioning names.

“PFL has been notified by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that several fighters who competed in two PFL 2023 Regular Season events this past April have been temporarily suspended until further review by the Commission. The PFL has a zero-tolerance policy related to the usage of banned su…

Arman Tsarukyan has finally received his next Ultimate Fighting Championship assignment.

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Tsarukyan (19-3, 6-2 UFC) had been attached to a bout with Renato Carneiro scheduled for the UFC on ESPN 45 card on April 29 before “Moicano” pulled out due to injury. A replacement opponent did not materialize in time for that event, but on Tuesday, ESPN reported Tsarukyan and Joaquim Silva would collide in a lightweight clash at UFC on ESPN 47 on June 17. The matchup was then confirmed by Silva’s team on their social media accounts.

The surging Tsarukyan appeared most recently in December, a dominant unanimous decision victory over Damir Ismagulov which allowed him to bounce back from a loss at the hands of former KSW two-division champion Mateusz Gamrot in the UFC on ESPN 38 headliner. Prior, “Ahalkalakets” went on a five-bout winning streak with victories over Joel Alvarez and Matt Frevola, among others. Tsarukyan's only other loss under the UFC banner cam…

Photo: Getty Images/UFC

A white belt enrolled as “Mark Elliot” in the Featherweight Master 1 category stole the show last week in a Silicon Valley BJJ event. When “Mr. Elliot” stepped onto the tatame for his first match, the audience found out his surname: Zuckerberg.

The creator of Facebook competed a total of three times in the event: two with gi and one without. In the no-gi competition he won his lone bout, netting the gold medal, while in the gi he won his first match before losing in the final via Ezekiel choke, earning silver. Zuckerberg, who made MMA headlines in October by attending a closed to the public UFC Fight Night 211 at the Apex in Las Vegas, had already declared his passion for jiu-jitsu on Ep. 267 of the Lex Fridman podcast, saying, “In my first class, in the first five minutes I thought: Where has this been, my whole life? Definitely jiu-jitsu is the best sport.” What most couldn't imagine is that he would show up in a competition.

…

It wasn’t the night Gilbert Burns was hoping for at UFC 288, who suffered an injury in addition to losing his fight.

Last Saturday, Burns (22-6, 15-6 UFC) dropped a unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad in the UFC 288 co-headliner while fighting with a left shoulder injury that prevented him from fully expressing his fighting skills. On Monday, the New Jersey Athletic Control Board suspended “Durinho” indefinitely, pending clearance from an orthopedist after getting an X-ray of his left shoulder. Thanks to his victory, Muhammad has been promised a matchup with the Leon Edwards-Colby Covington welterweight championship clash winner.

Joseph Holmes and Kalinn Williams have also been suspended indefinitely pending the doctor’s clearance to fight again. Overall, 14 fighters received medical suspensions, including former two-division titleholder Henry Cejudo, who appeared opposite Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 288 headliner.

UFC 288 Medical Suspensions: Henry Cejudo: suspen…

The upcoming UFC Fight Night 223 has an interesting women’s strawweight clash as its new main event.

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Mackenzie Dern and Angela Hill will now collide one week later than initially scheduled. The pair was supposed to fight on the UFC on ABC 4 main card this weekend, but the Ultimate Fighting Championship has opted to promote the matchup as the new UFC Fight Night 224 headliner on May 20. The Nevada-based promotion had to deal with several last-minute changes as the initially targeted main event between Irene Aldana vs. Raquel Pennington was canceled after Aldana agreed to replace the injured Julianna Pena against two-division titleholder Amanda Nunes for the women’s 135-pound gold at UFC 289 next month. The change was first reported by MMA Fighting and has already been confirmed by Hill on her social accounts.

Hill (15-12, 9-10 UFC) is riding a two-bout winning streak after overcoming Lupita Godinez and Emily Ducote via unanimous decision at UFC on …

The rumors of Henry Cejudo’s second retirement were apparently premature, according to the man himself.

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This s*** is far from over! @danawhite I want @MerabDvalishvil head on a plate! #ufcboston pic.twitter.com/ME9ygzPaJG

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 8, 2023 Things didn’t go according to plan for former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champ Cejudo (16-3, 10-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 288 headliner as “The Messenger” dropped a narrow split decision to bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling. In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Cejudo removed his gloves in the cage and teased that he might be done with MMA once again. A few hours later, however, Cejudo announced via Twitter that he wanted to don the four-ounce gloves at least once more, against Sterling’s teammate and good friend Merab Dvalishvili.

“This s—t is far from over,” Cejudo wrote. “Dana White, I want [Dvalishvili’s] head on a plate.”

…

Ultimate Fighting Championship star Tony Ferguson is lucky he emerged uninjured.

According to TMZ on Sunday morning, Ferguson allegedly crashed his truck into a pair of parked cars in Hollywood, California. The lightweight was picked up around 2 a.m. local time for a misdemeanor charge of DUI, and according to the arrest record from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, his bail has been set at $30,000. TMZ subsequently stated that for refusing the field sobriety test, he might have his driver’s license suspended.

Ferguson was allegedly driving his truck by a Hollywood nightclub, where he struck the cars including one reported to be owned by rapper Cash Gotti. The truck flipped on its side and stopped moving. Remarkably, no persons were injured during the incident, including Ferguson himself, per TMZ. A law enforcement officer told TMZ that Ferguson “reeked of alcohol” while sporting “bloodshot eyes.”

A local news outlet of KTLA disputed the TMZ report o…

Diego Lopes gave Movsar Evloev a tougher test than anyone could have imagined, and both fighter’s bank accounts benefitted as a result.

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Evloev and Lopes garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their entertaining featherweight feature bout at UFC 288 on Saturday night. Lopes, who accepted the bout on less than a week’s notice, rocked his foe with a right hand early and threatened with multiple submission attempts throughout the fight. Ultimately, Evloev prevailed via unanimous decision behind superior striking, pressure and wrestling.

Elsewhere, Xiaonan Yan earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for her first-round knockout of Jessica Andrade in a strawweight clash on the main card. Yan capitalized on her opponent’s reckless aggression, as she dropped Andrade with a counter right hand and finished the bout with follow-up punches on the canvas at the 2:20 mark of the period.

Finally, Matt Frevola received the even…

Aljamain Sterling remains the gold standard in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division.

Sterling (23-3, 15-3 UFC) retained his 135-pound belt with a hard-fought split-decision triumph over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo (16-3, 10-3 UFC) in the UFC 288 main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday night. Judges Derek Cleary and Eric Colon both submitted 48-47 tallies in favor of “The Funk Master,” while Michael Bell saw it 48-47 for Cejudo. It was the first bout for the Olympic gold medalist since he retired following a victory against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020.

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Sterling utilized his reach advantage, working behind unorthodox movement, stance switches and a toolbox of kicks — with calf kicks being an especially effective weapon. The Serra-Longo Fight Team member set the tone in the opening stanza, when he landed some knees to the body in close quarters and secured a late takedown, working his …

Sherdog's live UFC 288 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Ribeiro (-175), Holmes (+150)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Aliskerov (-210), Hawes (+180)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BET…

STEAMROLLA DID THAT 👊 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/isFkRr6lqe

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 7, 2023

Matt Frevola went toe-to-toe with Drew Dober and got the best of the encounter.

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The Dana White’s Contender Series alum added to his highlight reel with an explosive technical knockout victory against Dober in the UFC 288 featured prelim at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday night. Frevola (11-3-1, 5-3-1 UFC) dropped his adversary with a counter right hand to the chin and then sealed the victory by swarming with ground-and-pound 4:08 into Round 1. Frevola has finished three straight fights in UFC competition. Frevola enjoyed success early behind a steady diet of straight right hands and kicks to the body. Dober took a little longer to find his range, but he was beginning to land more impactful offense before the fight-ending exchange occurred. When Dober attacked the body with a left, Frevola capitalized with a dev…

LOUGHRAN SILENCES THE CROWD!!!#CW154 pic.twitter.com/2CE7r8eJz3

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) May 6, 2023

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship crowned a new 135-pound kingpin in its second event in Rome, Italy, but it wasn’t the one for which Italian fans had hoped.

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In the Cage Warriors 154 headliner, Italy’s own Dylan Hazan took on Caolan Loughran for the vacant bantamweight championship. Hazan (9-1, 4-1 CW) looked faster with his punches while demonstrating intelligent in-and-out movement in the openzing stanza. Still, Loughran (8-0, 4-0 CW) kept his composure and retaliated with heavier shots. By the end of Round 1, “The Don” had already marked Hazan’s face with his haymakers. Things took an ugly turn for Hazan in the second frame, when Loughran pushed the pace and tested his adversary’s chin. A right hook-left uppercut combination shook Hazan before Loughran followed up with a couple more hooks and uppercuts that d…

A big knee to the body gets Kai Asakura the finish, and he will meet Juan Archuleta for the vacant Bantamweight title!

[ #RIZIN42 | @FiteTV | Link in bio ] pic.twitter.com/ShUh2NjRWI

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) May 6, 2023

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Kai Asakura and Juan Archuleta are expected to square off for the vacant Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight crown after earning key victories on Saturday.

Asakura (20-4, 12-3 Rizin) made a statement with a third-round stoppage of Yuki Motoya in the Rizin 42 headliner at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. The Tri-Force Akasaka representative put his foe on the defensive with a knee in the clinch while the combatants were engaged near the ropes. Asakura stalked his reeling opponent and threw a couple punches before stepping in with a left knee that folded Motoya (33-10 1 NC, 10-6 Rizin) to the canvas, bringing an end to the contest at the 2:25 mark of Round 3.

Asakura has won four of his last five …

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to New Jersey with its latest pay-per-view offering.

UFC 288 is headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion Aljamain Sterling and former titleholder Henry Cejudo. Both men successfully made weight, making the five-round fight official for Saturday. However, not all fighters were as professional as the fight between Rafael Estevam vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov was canceled after Estevam had weight issues. Additionally, Joseph Holmes came in 3 pounds overweight for his middleweight fight against Claudio Ribeiro and will be fined a percentage of his purse.

"Funk Master" will be looking to make his third defense of the bantamweight title. Sterling won the belt after Petr Yan was disqualified for an illegal knee in 2021 but then defeated Yan via split decision last year. Sterling (22-3) then followed up that impressive win with a quick TKO over an injured T.J. Dillashaw. Now he'll get to test himself again…

The king kept his crown.

Demetrious Johnson successfully defended the undisputed One Championship flyweight title with a unanimous decision over rival Adriano Moraes in the ONE on Prime Video 10 headliner on Friday at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. All three cageside judges sided with “Mighty Mouse,” who closed his trilogy against Moraes (20-5, 11-5 ONE) with a 2-1 advantage.

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Johnson (25-4-1, 5-1 ONE) pressured the Brazilian from the outset and forced him into one tactical error after another. Moraes engaged the AMC Pankration export in the clinch—an area in which Johnson has always excelled—for much of the 25-minute battle, choosing to swim against the current over the path of least resistance. Johnson tore into his body with knees, snuck in repeated short elbows to the head and mixed in some frustrating shoulder strikes to the face. Moraes never changed gears and walked away empty-handed as a result.

Now 36, Johnson has won 18 of his…

Sherdog's live ONE on Prime Video 10 coverage kicks off Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Le…

[embedded content] Editor's note: The article has been updated at 1 p.m. ET on May 5 to add additional information including the identity of the shooter as well as his arrest and charging.

Ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Jorge Masvidal is in the headlines again, but not for something he caused.

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According to an initial report from Fox Sports 640AM South Florida on Thursday afternoon, a shooting took place at Masvidal’s house earlier on Thursday. Per the report, and later confirmed by multiple outlets including TMZ, Masvidal's father, Jorge Masvidal Sr., allegedly shot another person during an argument. The early details of the incident were brought to light by local news outlets, including WPLG Local 10 in Miami. The retired fighter was not at his house at the time, as he is preparing to run a Gamebred bareknuckle event on Friday.

The Miami-Dade Police issued a statement to MMA Fighting, although it did not identify the parties. The arre…

[embedded content] Rizin Fighting Federation has had to invoke an infrequently used rule ahead of Rizin 42.

There was little drama on the scale as most of the fighters ahead of the show made weight, including main eventers Kai Asakura and Yuki Motoya for their bantamweight clash. However, Takuya Yamamoto failed to make weight for his featherweight match against Takeji Yokoyama. Yamamoto came in at 147.5 pounds, and as a result, he has received a red card penalty under the "no contest rule," which means he is penalized 50% of his points should his match go to decision, he will be ineligible to win the fight, and it will be declared a no contest if he prevails.

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As for the main event, former champ Asakura hit the scales at 134.2 pounds. The 19-4 fighter is looking to bounce back from a defeat to Hiromasa Ougikubo, which snapped a three-fight win streak. Meanwhile, Motoya (33-9, 1 NC) has won his last five fights, and checked in at 134.4 pounds.

Rizin …

FIERY FACE OFF 🔥

Dylan Hazan 🆚 @DonCaolan135 for the VACANT bantamweight title!

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📺 Watch #CW154 on @UFCFightPass from 9PM CEST tomorrow night pic.twitter.com/qOgoqTVsaS — Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) May 5, 2023 Dylan Hazan and Caolan Loughran have acquired their target: the vacant Cage Warriors Fighting Championship bantamweight title.

The unbeaten Hazan checked in at 135 pounds ahead of his high-stakes showdown with the undefeated Loughran (135) in the CW 154 main event on Saturday at the Fiera Roma in Rome. Meanwhile, Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Lean Aliu (186) and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Darren Stewart (185.4) also met their contracted weight requirements without issue at Friday’s official weigh-in.

Cage Warriors 154 streams live to UFC Fight Pass at 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT.

CAGE WARRIORS 154 WEIGH-IN RESULTS: Caolan Loughran (135) vs. Dylan Hazan (135)Darren Stewart (185.…