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Former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir will square off against ex-champion Mauricio Rua at UFC Fight Night 129.

Promotion officials announced the light heavyweight booking on Wednesday. UFC Fight Night 129 takes place at Movistar Arena in Chile on May 19 and will air on Fox Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. The card does not yet have a headliner, but Santiago Ponzinibbio is rumored to be one-half of the main event.

Oezdemir burst upon the scene in 2017 with victories over Ovince St. Preux, Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa — the latter two via first-round knockout. That earned the Swiss fighter a shot at reigning light heavyweight king Daniel Cormier, but “No Time” fell to “DC” via second-round TKO at UFC 220 on Jan. 20. Oezdemir owns a 15-2 career mark that includes 11 wins by KO or TKO.

Rua, meanwhile, hasn’t competed frequently of late but has won three straight bouts over the past three years. “Shogun” last appeared at UFC Fight Night 10…

Michael Chandler won’t get his chance to avenge a previous loss to Brent Primus at Bellator 197 as originally expected.

According to multiple reports, Primus has suffered an injured knee and has been forced to withdraw from his title defense on April 13 at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. As a result, Brandon Girtz will replace the lightweight champion and face Chandler in the new Bellator 197 headliner. MMAFighting.com was the first to report the change. Girtz also alluded to the matchup on Twitter:

Fight in 3.5 weeks??!? Fucking Yep!! Let’s go @BellatorMMA

— Brandon Girtz (@brandongirtzmma) March 21, 2018

Primus claimed 155-pound gold at Bellator 180 last June when Chandler suffered an ankle injury in the first round of their bout. He hasn’t defended the title since that victory. Chandler, meanwhile, returned to the win column at Bellator 192, as he earned a unanimous verdict over Goiti Yamauchi.

Girtz halted a three-fight skid…

Ed Ruth is dropping from middleweight to welterweight for his next Bellator MMA appearance.

Sherdog.com confirmed with a promotion official on Tuesday that Ruth will move to 170 pounds and face Laszlo Furko in a main card bout at Bellator 196. MMAjunkie.com first reported the bout. Bellator 196 takes place at Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest Hungary on April 6 and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Benson Henderson and Roger Huerta.

A three-time NCAA wrestling champion at Penn State University, Ruth has been victorious in his first four professional appearances — all of which occurred under the Bellator MMA banner. Most recently, Ruth garnered a second-round knockout victory of Chris Dempsey at Bellator 186 on Nov. 3.

Furko is a native of Budapest who will be making his Bellator debut. The 28-year-old owns a 6-3 career mark, with all of his triumphs coming by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAnSm9oHhUA&w=560&h=315]

Grappling’s great purveyor of pain is making his mixed martial arts debut this weekend.

Even if you don’t keep up-to-date with submission grappling, you are likely to recognize the name Garry Tonon and it is for good reason. Tonon, a multiple time Eddie Bravo Invitational champion, is scheduled to enter the cage for the first time against Richard Corminal at One Championship “Iron Will” on March 24 and grappling fans around the world are excited.

In the meta of MMA it is hard to argue that jiu-jitsu is as all-dominating as it once was. Specialists can no longer rest on their laurels and even the greatest grapplers can struggle once strikes involved; even the arguably greatest no-gi grappler of all time, Marcelo Garcia, was defeated in his lone MMA fight, but with all that being said, optimism for Tonon’s career is high amongst fans.

Unlike most jiu-jitsu specialists, Tonon has been surrounded…

Unbeaten flyweight contender Anastasia Yankova will return to action for the first time in more than a year when she faces Kate Jackson at Bellator 200.

A promotion official confirmed the pairing to Sherdog.com following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 200 takes place at the SSE Arena in London on May 25 and features a middleweight title tilt between Rafael Carvalho and Gegard Mousasi. The card will be televised via tape delay in the United States on the Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. Yankova vs. Jackson will be part of the preliminary portion of the card.

Yankova last appeared at Bellator 176, where she captured a unanimous decision victory over Elina Kallionidou in April 2017. The 27-year-old Russian owns a 5-0 career mark that includes three victories under the Bellator MMA banner.

Jackson, meanwhile, saw a five-fight winning streak come to an end at Bellator 191, as she dropped a unanimous verdict to former UFC title challenger…

Khabib Nurmagomedov has probably become quite familiar with Kevin Lee’s last Octagon appearance in recent months.

After all, it was Lee who came up short against Tony Ferguson in an interim lightweight title bout at UFC 216 last October, submitting to a triangle choke at the 4:16 mark of round three. Now, Nurmagomedov will square off with Ferguson in the highly-anticipated UFC 223 headliner at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 7.

Nurmagomedov offered his assessment of Lee during an interview with Megan Olivi on “The Exchange.”

“He wants to be tough, but he has very small heart,” Nurmagomedov said. “Very small heart. When he fought with Tony Ferguson, between second and third round, you guys can watch his face and understand everything. Face never lie. His eyes -- when Tony Ferguson talks about, ‘This is my night,’ his face agrees with this.”

WATCH: @TeamKhabib speaks to @MeganOlivi in an all-new episode of #TheExchange on #…

Shortly after Leon Edwards finished off Peter Sobotta at UFC Fight Night 127 in London, he turned his attention to a fellow Englishman who has a considerably higher profile in the welterweight division.

“Five in a row, top 15 in the world, I feel good. I’m looking forward to the next one,” Edwards said. “I called out Darren Till -- it is what it is. There are no friends in this game. I’ll have a rest this weekend and then I want to go again in eight weeks. If they don’t give me Till in Liverpool, July in Vegas would be great. I want on that Stipe-DC card. I haven’t fought in the States for a while now so that would be good too. But whatever they give me, I’ll be ready to go.”

Till boosted his status with an impressive first-round technical knockout of Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118 in October. That coupled with his brash personality, netted him a spot atop the promotion’s upcoming event in Liverpool, England, on May 27. An opponent for Till has not yet bee…

An admittedly “sad” Fabricio Werdum issued a statement thanking his fans and vowing to keep his head up following a loss to Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 127.

Werdum, the former heavyweight champion, entered Saturday’s headliner in London as the favorite, and he initially looked the part as he used takedowns and top control to bank the first two rounds against his Russian opponent. However, “Vai Cavalo” slowed down the stretch, and Volkov took control, ultimately winning via knockout at the 1:38 mark of round four.

“I would like to thank everyone who cheered for me, who sent me messages of support and who are by my side in this difficult moment which is a defeat,” Werdum wrote on Instagram. “I am sad but I keep my head up with the certainty that life is made and mistakes and correct and that the most important of this trajectory is how we rise from a fall.”

Werdum had won three of his previous four Octagon appearances prior to Saturday. While a win mi…

Stipe Miocic is already slated to defend the heavyweight crown against Daniel Cormier in a champion vs. champion superfight at UFC 226, but once that concludes, Alexander Volkov believes he has the resume to be next in line.

Volkov earned the biggest victory of his career to date at UFC Fight Night 127, as he knocked out former heavyweight king Fabricio Werdum in the fourth round of their headlining encounter at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday. It was the fourth straight triumph for the Russian, giving him the second-longest active winning streak in the division behind only Miocic.

In addition to his win over Werdum, Volkov has also bested Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson and Timothy Johnson during his current streak.

“I think I deserve title shot right now,” Volkov said at the post-fight press conference. My winning streak is four right now. I beat a former UFC champion [Werdum] and a guy who beat the current UFC champion [Struve], so maybe it’s my time.”

…

Alexander Volkov, Jan Blachowicz, Jimi Manuwa and Paul Craig were the recipients of $50,000 bonuses for their work at UFC Fight Night 127 on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London.

Volkov earned a “Performance of the Night” award for his fourth-round stoppage of ex-champion Fabricio Werdum in the evening’s heavyweight headliner. After being grounded for the better part of the first two rounds, the Russian took control down the stretch, ultimately putting his foe away with a series of punches at the 1:38 mark of round four.

Meanwhile, Jan Blachowicz and Jimi Manuwa captured “Fight of the Night” honors for their light heavyweight duel in the co-main event. While Manuwa defeated Blachowicz in their first meeting some three years ago, the Pole exacted his revenge in the rematch. Blachowicz rocked his foe in round one and generally outpaced him on the feet for most of the contest to earn a unanimous decision. for his third straight win.

Finally, Paul Craig got the card’s…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 127 coverage kicks off Saturday at 1:45 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Round 2 Sherdog Scores Round 3 Sherdog Scores The Offici…

Heavyweight prospect Tai Tuivasa will face his most experienced foe to date when he squares off against former champ Andrei Arlovski at UFC 225.

Promotion officials recently announced the pairing. UFC 225 takes place on June 9 at the United Center in Chicago and is headlined by a middleweight title tilt between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero.

A training partner of Mark Hunt, 25-year-old Tuivasa has kicked off his Octagon tenure with back-to-back first-round stoppages of Rashad Coulter and Cyril Asker. The Sydney native owns a 7-0 career mark, with all of his victories ending inside of a round.

After enduring a five-bout losing streak from January 2016 to June 2017, Arlovski has righted his ship. “The Pit Bull” returned to the win column with a decision win over Junior Albini at UFC Fight Night 120 this past November before outpointing Stefan Struve at UFC 222 on March 3. The 39-year-old Belarusian is 27-15 with one no contest over the course of a career t…

Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com

On the eve of the Ultimate Fighting Championship headed to London for its tenth event in the city, Liverpool, England, is now on the UFC docket.

On Friday, the UFC announced the Octagon will touch down in Liverpool on May 27. The card in The Pool, which figures to be UFC Fight Night 130, will take place at the Echo Arena.

In addition to the actual card announcement, the promotion announced one half of its headline, as well as two main card bouts: Scouser welterweight Darren Till will form one part of the card’s headlining fight against a yet to be named opponent, while the event will also feature once-beaten Brit Tom Breese moving up to middleweight to meet Australian judo Olympian Daniel Kelly. Also at 185 pounds, Elias Theodorou will meet Trevor Smith.

It's happening!! #UFCLiverpool is official f…

Notwithstanding Jack Marshman’s Thursday removal from UFC Fight Night 127 due to Ultimate Fighting Championship officials’ concerns over his weight cut, every other fighter hit the scale and made without incident Friday morning in London.

Heavyweight headliners, former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum (249) and former Bellator MMA titlist Alexander Volkov (246), both tipped the beam well under the 265-pound limit. Elsewhere, co-headliners Jan Blachowicz and Jimi Manuwa both made the light heavyweight mark evenly at 205 pounds both, giving their rematch the green light.

UFC Fight Night 127 emanates Saturday from London’s O2 Arena, the promotion’s 10th card in London and 22nd in the United Kingdom.

The company’s recently instituted, more stringent rules on weight cutting, formally implemented for UFC 200 in July 2016, have nixed many bouts on the weigh-in day over the past 20 months, but all fighters made their marks, save for the fact that on Thursday, former Cage Warr…

Chalk up another potential hit for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) as the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s third-party anti-doping partner.

On Thursday, USADA announced that UFC lightweight Marco Polo Reyes has allegedly tested positive for a yet-unnamed banned substance as a result of an out-of-competition test sample collected on March 8.

Mexico’s Reyes last fought on Jan. 14 at UFC Fight Night 124, knocking out Matt Frevolta in 60 seconds flat in St. Louis, Mo.

USADA’s official release reads as follows:

“The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Marco Reyes of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on March 8, 2018.

“USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Reyes. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT1Yku7nG34&w=560&h=315]

Outspoken Brazilian jiu-jitsu Dillon Danis finally has his mixed martial arts debut set when Bellator MMA returns to Chicagoland.

A black belt under BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia, Danis has made a name for himself as one of the grappling world’s outspoken and controversial competitors, the 24-year-old New Jersey native will make his pro MMA debut at Bellator 198 against 2-4 Illinois native Kyle Walker at a 175-pound catchweight.

Bellator 198 is scheduled for April 28 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., just outside of Chicago. The card is headlined by a quarterfinal showdown in the promotion’s ongoing heavyweight grand prix, pitting legendary former Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight king Fedor Emelianenko against past UFC champ Frank Mir.

Danis rose to a greater MMA recognition after becoming a training partner for UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor ahead of “The Notorious” one’s…

Mackenzie Dern’s sophomore Octagon appearance will come at UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro, as she requested.

Multiple outlets confirmed the strawweight pairing on Wednesday following an initial report from MMA Brasil. UFC 224 takes place on May 12 at Jeunesse Arena and features a women’s bantamweight title bout between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington.

The 24-year-old Dern earned a split verdict over Ashley Yoder in her promotional debut at UFC 222 on March 3. The MMA Lab Product improved to 6-0 with the victory. Her professional tenure has included stints with Legacy Fighting Alliance and Invicta FC.

Cooper, 26, is 2-2 in the Octagon. Most recently, she scored a second-round technical knockout win over Angela Magana at UFC 218. Cooper is 3-3 as a professional overall, and all three of her defeats have come via submission.

Fabricio Werdum recently had an interesting physical encounter with the boxer once recognized as “The Baddest Man on the Planet.”

The former UFC heavyweight champion had a role in the action film “Kickboxer: Retaliation,” and as a result, he got to work with former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. The results were a little bit painful.

“I saw him on TV all the time and now I fight with him in the movie. It’s amazing. Mike Tyson punched my nose, too, an accident, but he punched me and almost he broke my nose,” Werdum told TMZ Sports. “Because I’m an actor, he’s no actor too, but he’s good, he’s a funny guy, he’s a very nice guy, but he punch very hard.”

Considering the source of the punch, Werdum sounds almost honored that the incident occurred. And even at 51 years old, Tyson still apparently has some power.

“It almost knocked me down, but it’s good,” Werdum said. “I feel good because it’s Mike Tyson, no other guy. Maybe other guy, I don’t feel…

Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping continue to build toward a possible trilogy fight with their social media feud.

This time it was Rockhold who fired the first shot, posting a photo of their first bout with the caption: “Sign the contract or shut it.” Rockhold defeated Bisping via second-round submission in that bout at UFC Fight Night 55 on Nov. 7, 2014.

@bisping sign the contract or shut it. pic.twitter.com/LgOgQy7iF1

— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) March 13, 2018

Bisping didn’t take long to respond, pointing out that he knocked out Rockhold in the first round at UFC 199 to claim the middleweight throne on June 4, 2016. The two rivals went back and forth from there, with Bisping denying that there has been a contract offer of any sort regarding a trilogy fight between the two men.

good one dipshit. But remember when I knocked you out cold, took your belt and you cried like a little bitch? In fact that's pr…

Credit: Joao Baptista Credit: Joao Baptista Credit: Joao Baptista

Promising knockout artist Paulo Henrique Costa won’t be able to compete at next month’s UFC Fight Night 128 card due to a biceps injury.

“Borrachinha” announced the news on Instagram. Canal Encarada was the first to report the news. Costa was reportedly scheduled to face Uriah Hall in a middleweight bout, although the contest had not been formally announced by the UFC.

“This is not good news for my fans... I had a serious injury, partial breaking of [biceps] ligament,” Costa wrote. “I know that you are excited to see me again and I am too , but I need some more time to return to show all my potential to you in the cage. Soon you will see me again. Probably in June. God bless. God bless.”

UFC Fight Night 128 takes place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., on April 21 and is headlined by a lightweight showdown between Kevin Lee and Edson Barboza. It is unclear if Hall will remain on the c…

Cynthia Calvillo will have to wait a little bit longer to make her Octagon return following sanctions handed down by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

During a hearing on Tuesday, the NAC suspended Calvillo for nine months for a positive marijuana test at UFC 219. Last week, USADA announced a six-month sanction for the same offense, and that could have been reduced to three months if Calvillo completed a drug awareness and management program.

Initially, it appeared that Calvillo could return as soon as March 30. With the NAC penalty, the Team Alpha Male product will be out until September 30. Calvillo tested positive for the marijuana metabolite Carboxy-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in an in-competition drug screening at UFC 219. Calvillo lost a unanimous decision to Carla Esparza at the event.

In addition to her suspension, Calvillo was fined $6,150 — 15 percent of her $41,000 purse. She must submit a clean drug test in order to be relicensed.

Prior to lo…

Thank you to @seanshelby and the @ufc for saving my spot on the #UFCLondon card. I really appreciate the effort. Now it’s time to put on a show @AliAbdelaziz00 @Firas_Zahabi @kings_mma

— Nasrat Haqparast (@Nasrat_mma) March 12, 2018

There has been a late change to the UFC Fight Night 127 lineup, as Nad Narimani will step in for the injured Alex Reyes and face Nasrat Haqparast on Saturday in London.

Promotion officials announced the new bout on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night 127 takes place at the O2 Arena and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between Fabricio Werdum and Alexander Volkov. The card will stream in its entirety on UFC Fight Pass.

Narimani captured the Cage Warriors featherweight crown with a five-round verdict over highly-regarded prospect Paddy Pimblett last April. The 30-year-old Englishman has won three straights overall and owns a 10-2 career mark.

Haqparast, meanwhile, saw an eight-bout winning streak come to an end…

News broke on the “MMA Hour” Monday that James Gallagher was injured and would not be able to fight at Bellator 196 against Adam Borics. Instead, Benson Henderson would face Roger Huerta as the new main event.

In a social media post Gallagher apologized to fans and let them know the details of his injury and when he expects to return to action.

This injury is coming after Gallagher had undergone knee surgery last October and worked his way back to training for competition. The 21-year-old featherweight is one of the younger rising stars on the Bellator MMA roster.

His last appearance against Chinzo Machida at Bellator 180 in Madison Square Garden this past June not only elevated the young man as a legit force of his own to be reckoned with, but put his submission game on full display. Five of Gallagher’s seven wins come by way of rear-naked choke.

Edward Carbajal serves as the lead MMA analyst for Frontproof Media and holds a black belt in Brazili…