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Footage of the altercations that ensued behind the scenes before the #UFC279 press conference (via @UFC) pic.twitter.com/kTNF1XiyMK

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 10, 2022

The backstage scuffle that ultimately led to the cancellation of the UFC 279 pre-fight press conference is now under investigation by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

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The NSAC issued a statement on Monday indicating that disciplinary action could be taken if it is determined that any “licensees acted improperly.” Last Thurday’s presser was cut short by UFC president Dana White, who revealed that it was an “absolute s—tshow” backstage. The melee reportedly began with an altercation between Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland and escalated from there, with multiple groups taking part. Including fighter entourages, White claimed that there were up to 100 people involved in the incident. Former fighter Tiki Ghosn played a significant role in breaking …

All 10 fighters scheduled to compete on Week 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series hit their contracted marks at weigh-ins on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday night and airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a bantamweight tilt pitting Allan Begosso (135.5) against Farid Basharat (135.5).

A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who trains at Team Alpha Male, Begosso is 7-1-1 thus far in his professional career. That stint includes a 3-1 mark in Legacy Fighting Alliance, where he suffered his lone career defeat in a 135-pound title bout against Richard Palencia this past December.

Basharat, meanwhile, carries an 8-0 mark into the Contender Series. The 25-year-old London Shootfighters representative has competed for a handful of organizations on the European regional scene, capturing gold under the Ultimate Challenge MMA banner along the way.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Allan Bego…

For the most part, Tony Ferguson with pleased with his performance against Nate Diaz in the UFC 279 headliner on Saturday night.

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There was one exception, however. “El Cucuy” regrets the takedown attempt that led to him being caught in the fight-ending guillotine 2:52 into the fourth round of their welterweight bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“My corner went for the shot, but should’ve kept it standing,” Ferguson said at the UFC 279 post-fight press conference. “Little details to expand on and to grow from. Nate is a game fighter. I can’t say anything else. It’s not like he’s old and slow and stuff. Hopefully, the crowd that was at UFC 279 there present got some blood splattered on them or something. I had fun in there.

“I guarantee you Nate was looking for that guillotine the whole entire camp,” Ferguson added. “They had a full camp to be able to do stuff. It is what you practice. We did a lot of wrestling practice and we did a lot of …

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Elias Theodorou has died from cancer at 34 years old.

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According to TSN, Theodorou had been battling Stage 4 liver cancer, but only a few people were aware of his diagnosis. BJPenn.com was first to report Theodorou’s passing.

A native of Ontario, Canada, Theodorou rose to prominence by winning “The Ultimate Fighter: Nations.” He would go on to compile an 8-3 mark in the UFC before his suprising release from the Las Vegas-based promotion following a loss to Derek Brunson in 2019. His Octagon record included wins over the likes of Cezar Ferreira, Sam Alvey and Eryk Anders, among others. He would go 3-0 outside the UFC, with his last victory coming against Bryan Baker at Colorado Combat Club 10 in December 2021.

Theodorou was a well-known advocate for medical cannabis and became the first professional athlete to receive a therapeutic use exemption for it in January 2020. “The Spartan” also served…

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship could be breaking new ground in the near future.

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At the UFC 279 post-fight press conference, Dana White revealed that the Las Vegas-based promotion is working on staging its first-ever event in Africa.

“We literally just had a meeting the other day, and we’re seriously talking about Africa now,” White said. “We’re actually starting to look at venues and cities to hold an event. So Africa is going to happen very soon.”

While an exact location is currently unclear, the UFC does have a few fighters with African roots who could headline such a card, including middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (Nigeria), heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (Cameroon) and ex-welterweight king Kamaru Usman (Nigeria). The promotion recently reached another milestone when it traveled to France for the first time for UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris on Sept. 3.

For a moment, Irene Aldana wasn’t even sure what she had done.

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When Aldana landed the upkick to the liver that ended Macy Chiasson’s night at UFC 279, the Mexican standout was a little confused to see her opponent shut down instantly. However, the Lobo Gym MMA product wasn’t completely surprised to see the maneuver be successful, because it is something that she practices on a consistent basis.

“It was bizarre. I knew the kick hit well, and it hit in the liver, but it was a little confusing for me to see her reaction like that,” Aldana said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

“So I was like, ‘I’m sure I kicked her in the liver, but maybe I kicked her somewhere else. I’m not sure because of her reaction.’ But we trained the kick a lot, I’m glad it came out this night.”

While the bout was contested at a 140-pound catchweight due to Chiasson missing weight, it was still the type of statement victory that could propel Aldana to a tit…

While Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev didn’t end up meeting in the UFC 279 main event as originally anticipated, both gave performances to remember on Saturday night.

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Diaz submitted Tony Ferguson with a guillotine choke in the fourth round of the card’s new headliner to fulfill the final fight on his UFC contract. After the victory, Diaz hinted that he would be willing to return to the UFC some time in the future after he explores other options. If that’s the case, UFC president Dana White would welcome him back with open arms.

“No matter what Nate does from here on out, this is his house,” White said at the post-fight press conferene. “He’s been here forever. It’s been a blast having him here. I wish him well. He and I had this discussion months ago at the offices. Whatever he moves on to do, I wish him nothing but the best. If he’s starting his own organization or getting into promoting or doing something else, I wish him nothing but the best of lu…

For someone who missed weight by a considerable amount, Khamzat Chimaev wasn’t exactly remorseful following his victory over Kevin Holland at UFC 279.

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Chimaev was initially supposed to face Nate Diaz in Saturday’s headliner, but the card was restructured when “Borz” tipped the scales at 178.5 pounds on Friday. As a result, the Allstars Training Center product was booked against Holland in a 180-pound catchweight clash.

While Chimaev claimed the he could have made weight but was advised by doctors to stop his cut, he also didn’t seem to think it mattered all that much. That ultimately led to fans at T-Mobile arena showering Chimaev with boos, which also didn’t seem to bother him.

"You care about that s—t? I don't care,” Chimaev said at Saturday’s post-fight press confernece. I care about my family, I care about my family, I care about my career, I care about my money... One day they're with me, one day they're not with me.”

In his post-fight i…

Irene Aldana made history and padded her bank account in the process at UFC 279.

The Lobo Gym MMA representative became just the third UFC fighter to finish a bout with an upkick — and the first to do so by going to the body — when she dispatched Macy Chiasson with a heel kick to the liver from her back 2:21 into the third round of their 140-pound catchweight bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. That effort earned Aldana of $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus — one of four handed out by the promotion.

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Meanwhile, Nate Diaz garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award thanks to his submission of Tony Ferguson in the evening’s welterweight main event. The Stockton, Calif., upped the volume of his punching combinations in Round 4, forcing Ferguson to shoot for a takedown. That allowed Diaz to lock in a guillotine choke and force a tapout at the 2:52 mark of the period.

Order UFC 279 "Chimaev vs. Diaz" exclusively on ESP…

Nate Diaz saw the opening and threaded the needle.

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner dismissed Tony Ferguson with a guillotine choke in the fourth round of their UFC 279 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where he fulfilled the final bout on his current Ultimate Fighting Championship contract and gazed towards greener pastures. Diaz (21-13, 16-11 UFC), who sounds very much like a man who intends to enter professional boxing at some level, sewed up the submission 2:52 into Round 4.

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Ferguson (25-8, 15-5 UFC) was effective in spurts, especially with repeated kicks to his opponent’s legs. Diaz weathered the damage to his lower extremities, uncorked some of his patented multi-punch volleys and stayed competitive as the fight drifted into the fourth round. There, Ferguson moved in for an ill-advised takedown and wandered into the awaiting guillotine. Diaz tightened his grip, brought his hips into play and let his squeeze do the rest…

Order UFC 279 "Diaz vs. Ferguson" exclusively on ESPN+ Sherdog's live UFC 279 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

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Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 The UFC was blessed with a drama-free week for this fight card, with absolutely no funny business taking place the last few days leading up to UFC 279. It’s a good thing, too, because this event might not have been able to afford some shakeups or bout changes. We start this totally normal fight card off in the welterweight division, with two men searching for their first win inside the Octagon. Weeks (5-2, 0-2 UFC), who came into the UFC in 2021 undefeated only to lose his first two fights, wants the third time to be the charm at the expense of Canada’s Lainesse (8-1, 0-1 UFC). Weeks celebrates a 100% finish rate, while “White Lion” responds with a 75% knockout rate, so the judges may not be needed while referee Mike Beltran almost certainly…

Juicy J closing out the prelims 👏

Here’s your 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 📸

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[ #UFC279 | B2YB by @JoseCuervo ] pic.twitter.com/cHlXt2IgZL — UFC (@ufc) September 11, 2022

Hakeem Dawodu failed on the scales, then failed in the cage.

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 22 semifinalist Julian Erosa shined as an underdog in perhaps his most complete performance as a member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, as he cruised to a one-sided unanimous decision over Dawodu in their featured UFC 279 featherweight prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it 30-27 for Erosa (28-9, 6-5 UFC), who suddenly finds himself on a three-fight winning streak.

Dawodu (13-3-1, 6-3 UFC)—who missed weight for the bout by nearly four pounds—endured a difficult first round in which he was twice badly hurt by right hands and never seemed to recover. Erosa incorporated takedowns in the second and third rou…

He does it again!

KSW HW Champion@phildefriesmma #AndStill #KSW74 pic.twitter.com/H4xvpDnPQh

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) September 10, 2022

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Philip De Fries' dominant reign as the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight champion continued on Saturday in Poland. 

In the KSW 74 headliner, De Fries (22-6, 1 NC; 8-0 KSW) notched his seventh title defense after overcoming Ricardo Prasel. After some quick exchanges, De Fries stuffed a timid takedown attempt from Prasel (13-4, 2-1 KSW), and from there, the Brazilian was more than willing to fight off his back. On the mat, De Fries landed several shots from half-guard as he controlled his foe. In turn, Prasel worked to close the guard from where he unsuccessfully attempted to sweep De Fries. Once he stabilized a dominant position, De Fries started hitting Prasel with heavy shots that left an immediate mark on the Brazilian’s face. During a scramble phase, Prasel left an opening for his…

#UFC279 has a new top part of its card, per UFC president Dana White on the @SportsCenter Instagram.

-- Diaz vs. Ferguson-- Chimaev vs. Holland-- Li vs. Rodriguez

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) September 9, 2022 Khamzat Chimaev’s failure on the scales has forced the Ultimate Fighting Championship to scramble in unexpected ways.

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On Friday, Chimaev tipped the scales at 178.5 pounds at the early UFC 279 weigh-ins, for 7.5 pounds above the non-title welterweight cap. His headlining matchup against Nate Diaz, who weighed 171 pounds, has been scuttled as a result, as first reported by BJPenn.com. In the new five-round UFC 279 main event, per UFC President Dana White on UFC's Instagram page, Diaz (20-13) will now be squaring off Tony Ferguson (25-7), who also weighed in at welterweight. This event, which remains a pay-per-view will carry on at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Diaz will be looking to get back on…

[embedded content] Editor's note: The article has been updated at 5:15 p.m. ET on Friday to add additional information.

Khamzat Chimaev has fumbled the biggest opportunity of his career.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship was slated to return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a highly anticipated welterweight clash between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz, but that may not be the case for long. Weight concerns plagued many competitors ahead of UFC 279, and even though only three officially missed weight, one of the most important players tipped the scales way over the limit.

This marks the first UFC main event for Chimaev, who is a perfect 11-0 as a professional mixed martial artist. "Borz" faced the first significant obstacle of his career in his last outing as Gilbert Burns gave the Allstars Training Center fighter everything he could handle in a back-and-forth war. However, Chimaev passed that test and will look to prove he's ready for a titl…

[embedded content] Editor's note: The article has been updated at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday to add additional information.

Khamzat Chimaev has fumbled the biggest opportunity of his career.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship was slated to return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a highly anticipated welterweight clash between Chimaev and Nate Diaz, but that has now changed. Weight concerns plagued many competitors ahead of UFC 279, and even though only three officially missed weight, one of the most important players tipped the scales way over the limit. As a result, the final three bouts of the evening have changed, with new matchups in each. Now, Diaz will fight in the five-round main event against Tony Ferguson.

Despite losing his last two fights, and with his last win coming in 2019, Diaz (20-13) finds himself in another pay-per-view main event. The fan-favorite fighter from Stockton, Calif., is on the last fight of his UFC contract and will…

[embedded content] The Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight championship will be on the line at KSW 74.

Philip De Fries is looking to make his seventh straight defense of the KSW heavyweight title. In his way is Ricardo Prasel, who has put together back-to-back wins in the promotion. Both heavyweights had no trouble making weight, although two fighters down the card missed weight. Pawel Politylo came in heavy for his bantamweight bout against Werlleson Martins Ribeiro and has been fined 40 percent of his purse, plus Anita Bekus has been fined 30 percent of her purse for coming in heavy for her strawweight bout against Sofiia Bagishvili.

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Having not lost since 2017, De Fries (21-6, 1 NC) is currently on a roll with a nine-fight win streak. The champion will be the larger man by 26 pounds after weighing in at 264 pounds. Meanwhile, Prasel (13-3) is coming off a TKO win over Michal Kita and an ankle lock submission victory against Daniel Omielanczuk. The…

The 𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 rematch in UAE Warriors history is official!! 🤩

UAEW Featherweight Title 🏆🇨🇦 @bigcatsreal vs. AlQaisi 🇯🇴

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Sept 17 | @etihadarena_ae | @UFCFightPass #UAEWarriors33 #UAEW33 #UAEWarriors pic.twitter.com/2lMyL7mt5S — UAE Warriors (@uae_warriors) August 11, 2022

Jesse Arnett will defend his featherweight championship against Ali AlQaisi when their rematch headlines UAE Warriors 33 on Sept. 17 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Tahir Abdullaev risks his welterweight crown against Josh Togo in the co-main event.

Arnett heads in to show on a two-fight winning streak. The 38-year-old Canadian has not competed since he prompted what some viewed as a controversial doctor stoppage against AlQaisi in the second round of their UAE Warriors 30 pairing on July 2. Arnett has delivered 15 of his 20 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. AlQaisi, meanwhile, has ra…

[embedded content] Chaos ensued ahead of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s latest pay-per-view press conference.

On Thursday night, the UFC staged its regular press conference for fans and media ahead of its marquee show. UFC 279 will go down on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and as is tradition two days before the fights, the promotion brought all the fighters together to place on stage and take questions, followed by a staredown, for the last gathering before the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday. Things did not go according to plan, as the UFC’s streamed press conference cut in unexpectedly, with president Dana White trying to keep things together. On the stage with him were only main card combatants Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez.

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“Absolute s---show back there,” an exasperated White remarked when asked about what just happened. “Ask them [Holland and Rodriguez] questions.”

After a brief topic for Holland – who was allegedly inv…

The Professional Fighters League has scooped a big name for next year’s tournament season.

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, ESPN broke the news that former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Thiago Santos (22-11) is no longer under contract with the UFC. He has signed with the PFL, where he plans on competing in its 205-pound division starting in 2023. Per ESPN, in interviews with PFL president Ray Sefo and Santos’ manager Alex Davis, Santos’ contract had not ended, but the UFC allowed for his release. The organization celebrated his signing on social media shortly after the story came out.

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“It was an amicable separation with the UFC,” Davis explained to ESPN. “Thiago is very grateful for everything the UFC did for him, and he’s very grateful toward the PFL for signing with him. He’s looking forward to winning a million dollars.”

The Rio de Janeiro native has struggled as of late, falling short by razor-close split decision to c…

The UFC Fight Night 210 card has taken a hit, as Giga Chikadze has withdrawn from a proposed co-main event clash against Sodiq Yusuff on Sept. 17.

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MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news. A reason for Chikadze’s exit is currently unclear. The promotion is reportedly seeking a replacement opponent for Yusuff. UFC Fight Night 210 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight scrap between Cory Sandhagen and Yadong Song.

Order UFC 279 "Chimaev vs. Diaz" exclusively on ESPN+

Chikadze had an eight-fight professional winning streak halted in his last outing, when he dropped a five-round verdict against Calvin Kattar in the UFC on ESPN 32 headliner on Jan. 15. The 34-year-old Georgian earned notable wins over Cub Swanson and Edson Barboza before falling to Kattar.

Yusuff has been victorious in five of six promotional appearances. Most recently, the 29-year-old Team Lloyd Irvin export outpointed Alex Caceres …

The vídeo of the altercation between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev posted on Costa´s YouTube channel earlier this week led to mixed reactions in the MMA community.

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Some fans thought it was theater created by both teams in order to make a potential matchup for UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, while others thought the conflict was real since it would make no sense for Chimaev to fight Costa in Brazil when he’s already so close to the welterweight title.

Chimaev’s coach, Alan “Finfou” Nascimento, told Sherdog.com that the altercation was real. The black belt added that the bad blood began when Costa published a video on social media cheering on Nate Diaz while badmouthing Chimaev.

"Khamzat didn’t like the things he said about him and when we arrived at [the UFC Performance Institute], ‘Borrachinha’ was there working with Diaz’s coach, Jake Shields, in the same area,” Nascimento said. “Khamzat immediately wanted to go there to talk to him, but I told …

Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo will now have five rounds in which to settle their differences.

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The flyweight bout will now serve as the main event for UFC Fight Night 212 on Oct. 15, the promotion announced Wednesday. UFC Fight Night 212 was originally expected to be headlined by a middleweight clash pitting Jared Cannonier against Sean Strickland, but that bout was canceled when Strickland was forced to withdraw due to an infected finger.

Order UFC 279 "Chimaev vs. Diaz" exclusively on ESPN+

Grasso and Araujo were scheduled to meet at UFC on ESPN 41 on Aug. 13 but was removed due to visa issues for Grasso. Prior to that, an Araujo injury nixed a proposed bout between the two at UFC 270.

Grasso has won three straight fights since moving up to 125 pounds, including a first-round submission triumph against Joanne Wood in her last outing at UFC on ESPN 33 on March 26.

Araujo, meanwhile, has been victorious in three of her last fou…

Kamaru Usman didn’t leave UFC 278 with the welterweight belt, but he did take home the highest disclosed payday of anyone on the card.

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“The Nigerian Nightmare” earned $500,000 for his fifth-round knockout loss to Leon Edwards in the main event of the Aug. 20 card, which took place at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. Edwards, the newly crowned champion, garnered $350,000 in victory. The Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission recently released a full list of salaries from the event.

Elsewhere, ex-featherweight king Jose Aldo earned $400,000 in a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili ($198,000) in a 135-pound matchup on the evening’s main card. All told, seven fighters secured six-figure salaries, including Paulo Costa ($130,000), Luke Rockhold ($200,000) and Marcin Tybura ($240,000).

Order UFC 279 "Chimaev vs. Diaz" exclusively on ESPN+ Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic commissions do not include any performance-based or di…