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Michael Chandler will enter the UFC in an interesting position.

Instead of being booked against a marquee opponent for his Octagon debut, the former Bellator champion instead will serve as an alternate for the lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.

“A lot of guys would at it and say, ‘This guy’s silly for doing this.’ I look at like it’s the perfect way to introduce myself…this is just an opportunity for me to show up,” Chandler recently told ESPN. “Whether I fight Oct. 24 or I do not fight Oct. 24, I’m training as if I am, I’m showing up as if I am, I am making weight as if I am. It just goes to show exactly who I am.

“I think it’s a perfect introduction to the UFC and the UFC fans of who I am and how I conduct myself.”

Chandler was reportedly considered as a p…

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Lara Fritzen Procopio has accepted a six-month suspension from USADA for an anti-doping violation.

Procopio tested positive for ostarine in an out-of-competition sample collected on Feb. 17. The Nova Uniao product was apple to provide a sample of a supplement she received from a Brazilian compounding pharmacy, and although no banned substances were listed, lab analysis revealed the presence of ostarine.

As a result Procopio received a reduced sanction of six months from the normal two-year period, and her period of ineligibility concluded on Aug. 17, 2020.

The 24-year-old Brazilian dropped a split decision against Karol Rosa in her promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 157 on Aug. 31, 2019. Rosa began her professional tenure with six consecutive victories on the regional circuit.

The full USADA statement regarding Procopio is as follows:

USADA announced today that Lara Fritzen Procopio , of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,…

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Despite a discouraging three-fight skid in the UFC, Tyron Woodley does not have designs on calling it a career just yet.

Woodley is coming off a technical knockout loss to bitter rival Colby Covington at UFC Fight Night 178 in which the bout was halted early in Round 5 due to a rib injury. The former welterweight champion was not especially competitive prior to the stoppage, as Covington controlled the majority of the fight.

“I’m not retiring – I’m not giving it up,” Woodley said on Instagram. “I’m not switching all my coaches up. I’m not changing the continent I live on. I’m not doing all that.

“Some s—t didn’t happen and guess what? I don’t know why it didn’t happen. I did everything to make it happen. Now we just take a deep breath and see what’s next.”

Woodley’s statement is in contrast to the advice …

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Recent Dana White’s Contender Series winner Phil Hawes will make his Octagon debut against Robert Whittaker training partner Jacob Malkoun at UFC 254.

AgFight was first to report the middleweight booking. UFC 254 takes place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24 and is headlined by a lightweight championship tilt pitting Khabib Nurmagomedov against Justin Gaethje.

Hawes earned a UFC contract with a 78-second TKO of Khadzhimurat Bestaev on the Contender Series on Sept. 8. The 30-year-old Sanford MMA representative, who came up short on Season 1 of the show, enters his first promotional foray on a four-bout winning streak. Hawes is 8-2 as a professional overall and has finished all his victories inside the distance.

Malkoun, who is based at PMA Super Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia, is unbeaten in three fights…

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Steven Ray has retired from mixed martial arts at 30 years old.

The Braveheart MMA founder revealed his decision in a video on Facebook, citing a knee injury as the motivating factor behind the announcement. Ray said that those knee issues caused him chronic pain in recent years and prevented him from training as consistently as he would like despite undergoing three separate surgeries.

“Going back, before that, for my last three fights my knee’s been pretty badly damaged,” Ray said. “Those that train with me or are close to me know that I was having to spend a lot of days off training, icing my knee, when my opponent was probably training.

“It was f—-ing with my head taking days off and not going into the fight as confident. A lot of stuff I wasn’t able to do. For example, really struggling to wrestle and thro…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpIrFEwlKwY&w=560&h=315]

Legacy Fighting Alliance welterweight champion Jaleel Willis has signed an exclusive, multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA.

The California-based promotion confirmed the deal following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com on Sunday. A date and opponent for Willis’ second Bellator appearance were not revealed. The Memphis Judo and Jiu-Jitsu product previously competed for the organization in 2016, when he outpointed Omar Johnson at Bellator 162.

The 28-year-old Willis claimed welterweight gold with a five-round verdict against Vinicius de Jesus at LFA 88 on Aug. 21. Willis owns a 13-2 professional mark overall and has earned five of his victories by KO/TKO and eight via decision.

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While Saturday’s majority draw with Niko Price was a disappointing result — one that Donald Cerrone actually regards as his fifth consecutive defeat — the popular veteran is nowhere near hanging up his four-ounce gloves.

“No. Don’t stretch that by any means,” Cerrone said following UFC Fight Night 178.

“I just need to figure out something that I’m doing wrong,” he added. “I don’t know where it is along the line, but I need to figure out what’s causing me to be—let’s just rewind it. Last fight with Pettis I felt great. That was the best I ever felt. The fight before with Conor [McGregor], with the biggest lights, the biggest stage, the biggest chance of my entire life — I didn’t want to be there at all. I did not want to be in that cage… That’s not me. That’s not who I am.”

Cerrone hasn’t tasted victory since a f…

ARE YOU SERIOUS!? #UFCVegas11 pic.twitter.com/ihvYCLVTYX

— UFC (@ufc) September 20, 2020

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Khamzat Chimaev more than lived up to the hype at UFC Fight Night 178.

The Allstars Training Center representative made short work of Gerald Meerschaert, knocking his opponent out with a right cross just 17 seconds into their featured middleweight encounter at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. After using his grappling to dominate John Phillips and Rhys McKee in his first two promotional appearances, Chimaev was pleased to showcase a different element to his game. The 26-year-old’s first two performances had drawn comparisons to reigning lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, but Chimaev wants the world to know he is more than that.

“Everybody says, ‘You’re Khabib. Khabib No. 2,’ someth…

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Colby Covington had a night to remember on Saturday, when he vanquished rival Tyron Woodley via fifth-round technical knockout in the UFC Fight Night 178 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Woodley suffered a rib injury 1:19 into Round 5, bringing an anticlimactic end to a bitter rivalry between former American Top Team members.

“He was done,” Covington said at the UFC Fight Night 178 post-fight press conference. “I broke him. In the third round I broke him. He quit. I put vicious ground and pound. He was done. He told his coach he was done and he was looking for a way out. He knew I trapped his arm and I was getting ready to put vicious ground-and-pound on him and he took the easy way out. He would rather be the spineless coward like he is. He’s a woke little f—k and he got exposed tonight.”

While conductin…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Tyron Woodley has endured a steep decline since his reign as UFC welterweight champion. The 38-year-old suffered his third consecutive loss at UFC Fight Night 178, falling to Colby Covington via fifth-round technical knockout in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. That defeat comes on the heels of lopsided setbacks at the hands of Gilbert Burns at UFC on ESPN 9 this past May and to reigning 170-pound king Kamaru Usman in 2019.

UFC president Dana White believes Woodley’s recent struggles could signal the end of the line for the Missouri native.

“I think that he should start thinking about hanging it up,” White said at the UFC Fight Night 178 post-fight press conference. “He’s had a great career, he’s had a great run. He’s made money.”

When Woodley was initially expected to face Covington at UFC 228 in Se…

Cashing in on a WILD night of fights!

: @KChimaev: @MackenzieDern: @RandyCosta135: Damon Jackson pic.twitter.com/SI6iexwtoc

— UFC (@ufc) September 20, 2020 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. UFC Fight Night 178 featured plenty of fun fights and impressive finishes, which has led to four mixed martial artists becoming $50,000 richer.

The most obvious pick was Khamzat Chimaev, who wiped out Gerald Meerschaert with just one punch. With the 17-second KO, Chimaev improves to 9-0.

Also earning $50,000 is Mackenzie Dern, who put on a grappling clinic against Randa Markos. The Arizona native was able to put Markos in a tight armbar and earned a submission win just 3:44 into the fight. Dern advances to 9-1 with the victory.

Randy Costa's incredible high kick KO of Journey Newson was also compensated financially. The fini…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Colby Covington may be the most hated man in mixed martial arts, but more often than not, he backs up his bravado with his performance. High-volume striking, a stifling clinch, opportunistic takedowns and damaging ground-and-pound spurred the MMA Masters representative to a fifth-round injury stoppage of former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley in the UFC Fight Night 178 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Having been thoroughly dominated for four-plus rounds, Woodley (19-6-1, 9-5-1 UFC) surrendered to an apparent rib injury 79 seconds into Round 5.

Covington (16-2, 11-2 UFC) turned on the afterburners in the fourth round, where he executed a high-crotch takedown and sliced open his former American Top Team stablemate with a slashing elbow. Blood gushed from the wound near Wo…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 178 coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The …

DAYS NOTICE.

Damon Jackson with sub No. in his UFC return.

[ Tune in - LIVE on #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/qD349adm0j — UFC (@ufc) September 19, 2020

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Persistence was Damon Jackson’s strongest ally.

The Fortis MMA mainstay returned to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for the first time in nearly five years and did so with spectacular results, as he submitted Mirsad Bektic with a mounted guillotine choke in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 178 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Bektic (13-4, 6-4 UFC) waved the white flag 1:21 into Round 3.

Jackson (18-3-1, 1-1-1 UFC) refused to be denied. Bektic largely dominated the first two rounds with takedowns, ground-and-pound and positional control. In response, Jackson employed an active submission game, thre…

“The Lion” once again reigns on the Absolute Championship Akhmat lightweight division.

The ACA 111 main event on Saturday in Russia pitted Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov (18-2) against Alexander Sarnavskiy (37-8) for the 155-pound championship vacated by former titleholder Ali Bagov following his move to the welterweight division. Sarnavskiy started working Abdulvakhabov’s body early in the fight, and, for a while, it seemed the strategy was paying its dividends. Right before the end of the third round, Abdulvakhabov hit Sarnavskiy with a violent series of elbows that changed the fight’s direction.

Entering the championship rounds, Abdulvakhabov made the most out of his experience as former Absolute Championship Berkut champion, hunting his opponent across the cage with several vicious shots that transformed Sarnavskiy’s face into a bloody mask. During the last seconds of the fight, both fighters brawled and exchanged wild shots. Eventually, all five judges rewarded Abdulvakh…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has cut ties to “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 14 winner and two-time flyweight title challenger John Dodson. MMAFighting.com was first to report his release from the organization.

Dodson debuted in the UFC in 2011 and compiled a 10-6 record with the promotion during what was something of an uneven tenure marked be exhilarating highs and disappointing lows. The Jackson-Wink MMA mainstay twice fought for the flyweight crown, losing five-round decisions to an all-time great in Demetrious Johnson at UFC on Fox 6 and UFC 191. Dodson returned to the bantamweight division in April 2016 but lost five times in nine appearances at 135 pounds, never again regaining his championship-level footing. He last competed at UFC 252, where he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous verdict against Merab Dvalishvili on Aug. 15.

Now 35, Dodson will carry a well-established reputation as one of MMA’s most durable fighters to his next destination. He has…

@ColbyCovMMA makes our main event official!

[ LIVE on #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/Sj5QelpVjk

— UFC (@ufc) September 18, 2020 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. It’s all systems go for the last Ultimate Fighting Championship card in Las Vegas for a while.

Heading to “Fight Island” next week, the UFC is going out with a bang with a jampacked card headlined by a pivotal welterweight bout between Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley. Both men former champs, the victor from the UFC Fight Night 178 main event will almost certainly cement themselves as a top contender once again. The 14-fight card is now official after the weigh-ins took place and everyone successfully made weight.

Covington (15-2) is coming off his first loss since 2015 as he came up short against current champion Kamaru Usman, who knocked “Chaos” out in Round …

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship has arguably made its highest profile acquisition.

On Friday, Fight Bananas first reported and a BKFC representative subsequently wrote that former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Frank Mir (19-13) has opted not to retire from combat sports. The 41-year-old recently became a free agent after his Bellator MMA contract ended, and he has reportedly elected to join the ranks of bare-knuckle boxing. He will become part of an organization with a roster that includes other ex-UFC names like Gabriel Gonzaga, Antonio Silva, Thiago Alves and Chris Leben, to name a few.

One of the most dangerous grapplers to ever set foot inside the Octagon, Mir left the promotion with eight submission wins on his ledger – good for the most in UFC heavyweight history. In Mir’s last eight victories, four came by knockout; this number accounts for 80 percent of his total victories due to strikes. On the other hand, Mir has been knocked out 10 time…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMzXRLXj2L8&w=560&h=315] Dazn is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up here and live stream 100+ fight nights a year. Legendary Dutch kickboxer Melvin Manhoef is not finished yet. On Friday morning, Bellator MMA revealed in a press release that Manhoef (32-14-1, 1 NC) will be taking on Simon Biyong (7-1) in a light heavyweight clash that will go down at the upcoming Bellator Paris card. In addition, the promotion announced a series of other matchups at the event, including multiple natives of France.

The last time he fought, former title challenger Manhoef smashed Yannick Bahati with a barrage of heavy ground-and-pound halfway through the first stanza. In his post-fight interview, the 44-year-old Dutch fighter was non-committal regarding his fighting future, but it seems that he has found the motivation to keep going.

Born in Cameroon but fighting out of Italy, Biyong makes his Bellator debut on a fou…

Petchmorakot retains his ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Championship belt with a third-round finish of Magnus Andersson! #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/BEBmnOfBia

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 18, 2020 If One: A New Breed 3 is any indication, it could be a great while until someone dethrones One Championship featherweight king Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy.

The defending champion put his muay Thai title on the line for the third time since winning it in 2019 against Magnus Andersson, with the two vying for the strap in the tape-delayed main event that aired on Sept. 18. It did not take long for Petchmorakot to establish dominance over his Swedish opponent through his far superior striking skills. Petchmorakot dictated the pace of the match until he decided to put an end to it in the third stanza. The Thai fighter first landed a violent left hand that visibly shook Andersson. Even though the Swedish contend…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYVPUuVKLw8&w=560&h=315]

Alesha Zappitella channeled her inner Ovince St. Preux and gave a figurative nod to Jason Von Flue when Invicta Fighting Championships gold was on the line.

The 4-foot-11 Scorpion Fighting System standout dispatched Ashley Cummins with a shoulder choke in the fourth round of their Invicta 42 headliner, as she captured the promotion’s vacant atomweight title on Thursday at the Police Athletic League in Kansas City, Kansas. Submitted for the first time in her 13-fight career, Cummins (7-6, 4-6 Invicta) conceded defeat 1:20 into Round 4.

Zappitella (8-2, 5-1 Invicta) trudged through considerable difficulty across the first 10 minutes. Cummins flexed her superiority in the standup exchanges, staggered her counterpart more than once with thudding right hands and largely nullified her wrestling advances. However, the tide began to shift in Round 3, where Zappitella executed a takedown inside the first minut…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view card has undergone a sudden change on a preliminary match. On Thursday, Ludovit Klein (16-2) announced on his Instagram page that he will be making his promotional debut at UFC 253 on Sept. 26. MMA Junkie then reported that Klein will be stepping in for Nate Landwehr after Landwehr tested positive for COVID-19. Klein will be facing Shane Young (13-4) at featherweight on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

According to Klein, he would be the first fighter from Slovakia to ever compete inside the Octagon. Since a 2017 loss in Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, Klein has rattled off seven victories including six finishes. His last win came against former UFC vet Lukasz Sajewski, where Klein smashed Sajewski in under four minutes at an Oktagon MMA event in Feb…

What a story for Mohammad Fakhreddine! The new champion has knocked out Daniel Gaucho to capture the title!#BRAVECF41 pic.twitter.com/9VPdJ0YSGs

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) September 17, 2020 The Brave Combat Federation middleweight division has a new kingpin after Brave CF 41.

The bill was headlined by a middleweight championship battle between the champion Daniel Souza Pereira (9-3) and mixed martial arts veteran Mohammad Fakhreddine (14-4, 1 NC). Both fighters put on a show for the fans watching the event as long as the bout – and the stream – lasted. "Gaucho" Pereira showed off his boxing skills matched by Fakhreddine’s kicks. In the first two rounds, it seemed that the challenger had the edge over the Brazilian champion as Pereira's leg started swelling up absorbing several heavy leg kicks. In the third stanza, "Gaucho" accidentally poked his opponent in the eye. The Lebanese fighter recovered from it soon enough, but it looked…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. A Ultimate Fighting Championship vet has found his way back to the promotion on short notice this weekend. On Thursday, Bloody Canvas first broke the story that Damon Jackson (17-3-1, 1 NC) will be returning to the UFC on Sept. 19 at UFC Fight Night 178. He will be stepping in the Octagon against Mirsad Bektic (13-3) at featherweight, pending a COVID-19 test. Luiz Eduardo Garagorri was originally slated to face Bektic, but the Uruguayan was pulled after one of his cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. Jackson has since confirmed the matchup on his Facebook page.

Jackson will be making his way back to the UFC after a lengthy stretch in the Legacy Fighting Alliance and an unfortunate 10-second stint in the Professional Fighters League. His May 2019 bout in the PFL saw him separated from his consciousness in 10 seconds with …