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A pair of new bouts have been added to UFC Auckland, as Maki Pitolo will face Takashi Sato at welterweight, while Konklak Suphisara will meet Hannah Goldy at strawweight.

The promotion initially confirmed the matchups to the New Zealand Herald. UFC Auckland takes place on Feb. 22 and is headlined by a lightweight clash pitting Paul Felder against Dan Hooker. The card will stream on ESPN+.

After earning a contract on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Pitolo fell to Callan Potter via unanimous decision in his promotional debut at UFC 243. A longtime veteran of the Pancrase promotion, Sato is 1-1 in UFC competition with a second-round TKO of Ben Saunders and a submission loss to Belal Muhammed in 2019.

Suphisara, who is better known as “Loma Lookboonme,” made a successful Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 162, where she captured a s…

Luis Pena lives up to the @violentbobross moniker with this finish #UFCGreenville pic.twitter.com/n6O9NICyAX

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 22, 2019

Luis Pena will face Alex Munoz in a lightweight matchup at UFC Norfolk, promotion officials recently announced.

UFC Norfolk takes place at Chartway Arena on Feb. 29 and is headlined by a flyweight championship bout between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo. The card will air on ESPN+.

Pena had a two-bout winning streak snapped at UFC Fight Night 161, as he dropped a split decision to Matt Frevola on Oct. 12. “Violent Bob Ross” is 3-2 during his promotional tenure and 7-2 as a professional overall.

Munoz will be making his Octagon debut after earning a dominant unanimous verdict against Nick Newell on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018. The Team Alpha Male product owns a 5-0 professional mark.

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

UFC Raleigh is down a fight, as Josh Emmett has pulled out of a proposed featherweight clash against Arnold Allen.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report Emmett’s withdrawal. Emmett reportedly suffered an injury in training, but the severity of the ailment is unclear. It is not yet known if Allen will remain on the card.

UFC Raleigh takes place at PNC Arena on Jan. 25 and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Curtis Blaydes and Junior dos Santos. In the co-main event, Rafael dos Anjos will square off against Michael Chiesa at welterweight. The card will stream on ESPN+.

Emmett has won four of his last five contests in the Las Vegas-based promotion. The Team Alpha Male product last appeared at UFC Fight Night 155, where he defeated Mirsad Bektic via first-round technical knockout on July 13.

The card for UFC Norfolk continues to fill rapidly, as the Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed four contests for the Feb. 29 event.

The newly official bouts are as follows: Ion Cutelaba vs. Magomed Ankalaev at light heavyweight; Sergey Spivak vs. Marcin Tybura at heavyweight; Mike Davis vs. Giga Chikadze at featherweight and Jordan Griffin vs. T.J. Brown at featherweight.

UFC Norfolk takes place at Charway Arena and is headlined by a clash between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight crown. In the co-main event, Felicia Spencer will meet Zarah Fairn dos Santos in a women’s featherweight scrap.

The 26-year-old Cutelaba has won three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a first-round TKO of Khalil Rountree in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 160. Ankalaev has lost just once in 13 professional bouts and is currently riding a three-bout winning streak in the promotion.

Spivak improved to 10-1 as a professional wh…

Ryan Hall has fought just once a year for the past two years in the UFC, and the grappling ace is getting frustrated with being on the sidelines.

On Tuesday, “The Wizard” took to Instagram to call out former champions Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar for potential fights. In his post, Hall claims that multiple opponents have turned down bouts against a “skinny, blinky kid from the suburbs.”

“Never thought I’d have to go this route, but then again, I also never imagined a laundry list of ranked professional tough guys turning down a fight with a skinny, blinky kid from the suburbs... Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo are two people for whom courage won’t ever be an issue and it’s for that reason I have looked up to both since I first saw them compete years ago,” Hall wrote. “Maybe one of them would be willing to step in to show everybody else how it’s done?

“Pick the time and place, boys. I’ll be there.”

On problem with Hall’s callout could be the division. While “The …

Decorated grappler Rodolfo Vieira will square off against Saparbek Safarov at UFC 248.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the middleweight bout on Tuesday. UFC 248 takes place on March 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and features a strawweight title tilt between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

A former ADCC gold medalist and five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Vieira has finished all six of his MMA opponents thus far. “The Black Belt Hunter” made his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 156, where he submitted Oskar Piechota in the second round on Aug. 10.

After losing to Gian Villante and Tyson Pedro in his first two Octagon appearances, Safarov scored his first triumph within the Las Vegas-based promotion with a unanimous verdict against Nicolae Negumereanu at UFC Fight Night 147. The 33-year-old Dagestani owns a 9-2 professional mark overall.

Georges St. Pierre announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in early 2019, and in his speech he cited an inability to come to terms with the UFC for a mega-fight with reigning lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov as one of the reasons behind his decision.

That doesn’t mean people aren’t still talking about the hypothetical matchup, however. In an interview with the fightTIPS podcast, Firas Zahabi, St. Pierre’s longtime coach at Tristar Gym in Montreal, discussed how a matchup with the Dagestani grappler might play out.

While Nurmagomedov has mauled the majority of his opponents with his suffocating pressure and wrestling, Zahabi believes that aspect of the fight would look quite different against St. Pierre.

“Even if Khabib would take Georges down, let’s give the best case scenario: I think Georges is getting up, personally,” Zahabi said. “He’s going to get up. Georges’ jiu-jitsu is impeccable. It’s impeccable. It’s not going to be like holding down a…

Former UFC and Strikeforce competitor Jordan Mein has signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA.

Sherdog.com confirmed the signing with a promotion official following an initial report from TSN on Monday. Mein will compete in the welterweight division, but a date and opponent for his promotional debut were not revealed.

The 30-year-old Mein began fighting professionally at 16 years old and has compiled a 31-12 mark over the course of his career. “Young Gun” ended a nine-bout UFC stint with back-to-back decision wins over Erick Silva and Alex Morono, with his last Octagon appearance coming at UFC on Fox 30 in July 2018.

Mein, who lost to Rory MacDonald in his pro debut in 2006, owns notable wins over the likes of Joe Riggs, Marius Zaromskis, Evangelista Santos, Dan Miller and Mike Pyle. The Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, native briefly retired from the sport in July 2015 but he returned to action a little more than a year later in a loss to Emil Meek at UFC 206.

FIGHT NEWS! @RD_Goat returns to the cage on January 25th in LA to take on Jason “The Asian Persuasion” King at #Bellator238. pic.twitter.com/V1fh5dGsdv

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) January 6, 2020

Flashy kickboxing star Raymond Daniels will make his third professional mixed martial arts appearance at Bellator 238 when he faces Jason King.

The California-based promotion announced the contest on Monday. Bellator 238 takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Jan. 25 and is headlined by a women’s featherweight title clash pitting Julia Budd against Cristiane Justino.

Daniels, the welterweight champion in Bellator Kickboxing, scored a highlight-reel knockout victory over Wilker Barros at Bellator “Birmingham” on May 4. That was “The Real Deal’s” first MMA bout since losing to Jeremiah Metcalf via second-round submission at a Strikeforce event in June 2008.

Known as “The Asian Persuasion,” King has compiled an 8-5 prof…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9qpMvYebuI&w=560&h=315]

While UFC president Dana White has hinted that Conor McGregor could get a rematch with reigning lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov as soon as his second Octagon appearance, the Dagestani fighter’s team seems to have other ideas.

In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, manager Ali Abdelaziz claimed that a return date with McGregor is hardly a priority for “The Eagle.” Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the fourth round of their title bout at UFC 229 in October 2018. A post-fight melee that ensued after the bout resulted in suspensions for both fighters, and interest in a rematch remains high for the Irish star. The event reportedly set a record for pay-per-view buys, which explains the promotion’s interest in a rematch.

“Listen, Dana’s the greatest promoter in history; I respect the man very much,” Abdelaziz said. “He has to make people care about Conor. And by mentioning Khabib’s name, he is making C…

A featherweight contest between Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar is in the works for UFC 248.

MMAjunkie.com first reported the booking. UFC 248 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 7 and will feature a strawweight title tilt between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN+ and ESPN. Stephens and Kattar have verbally agreed to the matchup but bout agreements have not yet been finalized.

Stephens is winless in his last four Octagon appearances after losing a unanimous decision to Yair Rodriguez at UFC on ESPN 6. The 33-year-old known as “Lil Heathen has also lost to Zabit Magomedsharipov and Jose Aldo during his current skid, while an initial meeting with Rodriguez was declared a no contest due to an accidental eye poke.

Kattar had a two-bout winning streak halted at UFC Fight Night 163, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Magomedsharipov on Nov. 9. Prior to that defeat, “The Bost…

A welterweight bout between Demian Maia and Gilbert Burns is in the works for UFC Brasilia on March 14.

Multiple outlets have confirmed that verbal agreements are in place for the fight following an initial report from Combate. UFC Brasilia takes place at Nilson Nelson Gymnasium and will also feature a light heavyweight tilt between Johnny Walker and Nikita Krylov.

Maia extended his winning streak to three with a third-round technical submission of Ben Askren at UFC Fight Night 162 on Oct. 26. The 42-year-old Brazilian appeared to be near the end of the line after a trio of lopsided losses to Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman, but he has since rebounded with wins over Lyman Good, Anthony Rocco Martin and Askren.

After competing primarily at lightweight earlier in his promotional tenure, Burns has scored back-to-back wins over Alexy Kunchenko and Gunnar Nelson at 170 pounds in the Octagon. “Durinho” is 10-3 during his UFC tenure and 17-3 as a profess…

A welterweight showdown pitting Sean Brady against Ismail Naurdiev has been added to the UFC Norfolk lineup.

Promotion officials recently announced the contest. UFC Norfolk takes place at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va., on Feb. 29 and is headlined by a bout between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight crown.

Brady improved his career record to 11-0 with a unanimous verdict over Court McGee at UFC on ESPN 6 on Oct. 18. The 27-year-old Renzo Gracie Philly representative has earned nine of his 11 career triumphs while competing under the Cage Fury Fighting Championships banner.

Austria’s Naurdiev has been victorious in two of his three Octagon appearances, including a three-round verdict over Siyar Bahadurzada in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 160 on Sept. 28. “The Austrian Wonderboy” owns a 19-3 pro record and has finished all but three of his victories inside the distance.

Anote na sua agenda! Os ingressos para o #UFCBrasília estarão à venda a partir de 16 de janeiro!

— UFC Brasil (@UFCBrasil) January 3, 2020 Antonio Carlos Jr. already has a new opponent in his middleweight contest at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Brasilia, Brazil.

On Friday, the organization announced that Makhmud Muradov (24-6) will stepping in to take on Carlos Jr. (10-4, 1 NC) at middleweight at UFC Brasilia. Carlos Jr. was originally scheduled to face Brad Tavares at the event, but Tavares was forced to withdraw on Monday due to an injury. The event will take place on March 14 at the Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia.

Muradov has not lost since suffering a shoulder injury in a 2016 bout, for a stretch of 13 victories including two inside the Octagon. The Floyd Mayweather-managed MMA fighter made his successful promotional debut by beating Alessio Di Chirico in September by decision. Less than three months…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cg6cxYR-Cw&w=560&h=315] Conor McGregor is ready to start the year off in a big way when he faces Donald Cerrone on Jan. 18.

McGregor (21-4) has been out of action as far as mixed martial arts competition goes since his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov back at UFC 229 in 2018. At the dawn of a new decade and a fight booked with Cerrone (36-13, 1 NC) at UFC 246, McGregor says he is focused on competition, and his upcoming match is only the beginning of what he calls his "2020 season."

Speaking to TheMacLife on Friday, McGregor says Cerrone is part of a list of names he plans on facing in the coming year. When asked why Cerrone is first, McGregor simply stated that their history dictates Cerrone is first. "If you look at the list of callouts or the people that I've engaged with, Donald was probably one of the first ones, so he's first on the list, and that's it. And I'll get to every single one of them also."

Part of McGregor's 2020 pla…

Another Brit heading to #UFCRaleigh!

England's @NadNarimani meets @NikLentz on Jan 25! pic.twitter.com/KUs3VNMzUz

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) January 3, 2020 A solid featherweight tilt has been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship's first trip to Raleigh, North Carolina, in January. On Friday, the promotion announced that Nik Lentz (30-10-2, 1 NC) will be facing Nad Narimani (12-3) in the featherweight division at UFC Raleigh. The event will take place on Jan. 25 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh.

Lentz snapped a two-fight win streak in his last appearance when he suffered a knockout at the hands of longtime nemesis Charles Oliveira. A 22-fight UFC vet, Lentz holds victories over names like Gray Maynard, Will Brooks and Tyson Griffin throughout his lengthy career. When "The Carny” made his promotional debut at UFC 103 in 2009, Narimani was nearly two years away from taking his first pro fight.

Narimani suffered his first …

begins today... are you ready? #TheRise pic.twitter.com/LFy8AFOv3Y

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) January 1, 2020 Invicta Fighting Championships is kicking off the year with Invicta FC 39 on Feb. 7 in Kansas City, Kansas.

On Thursday, the organization announced via press release that its next event will be taking place on Feb. 7 at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. The card will be headlined by an atomweight championship bout as Jinh Yu Frey (8-4) looks to defend her 105-pound strap in a rematch with Ashley Cummins (7-4). The two first met at Invicta FC 24, and Frey took home a decision win that later earned her another title shot.

Frey recently suffered a decision loss at the hands of former Rizin Fighting Federation atomweight queen Ayaka Hamasaki at Rizin 16 in June. Had Frey prevailed, she would have become the first two-promotion champion between Invicta and Rizin. Prior to her defeat to Hamasaki, Frey took a pair of…

Rizin Fighting Federation atomweight champ Seo Hee Ham has gone public with allegations that a management team has been embezzling money throughout her career.

On Wednesday, Ham posted to her Instagram account an allegation that Hidekatsu Morooka, along with his wife, are accused of embezzling money from her since she started working with them at the beginning of her career. Over the years, she claims that they have siphoned off upwards of $26,000 in her fight earnings. After her big win at Rizin 20 mere days ago, Ham decided it was time to say something.

In a statement, Ham wrote (via translation from electimes.com):

"I moved into Japanese pro MMA league, making my debut in 2007. Hidekatsu Morooka and his wife, Yoon Sik Lee, were my [management team] and I could made a contract for my fight in Japan through them. They've treated me like a real daughter, so I respected and followed what they said until 2014. Five years have passed since then, and I started to fight …

Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight Tyson Pedro has been forced to pull out of his bout in New Zealand in February.

On Thursday, Pedro (7-3) announced on his Instagram that he will no longer be competing at UFC Auckland against Vinicius Moreira Castro (9-4) due to an injury. The event will take place at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 22. A replacement has not yet been named.

Pedro wrote:"Peaks and ValleysJust when you think everything is going to your plan something hits you upside the head with a different one. Out of the fight in Feb, I'm gutted but thank you for all the messages. I'm not stressed as I know I'm coming back, I've never stopped before, so I'm not going to now. Every time I've messed up in life, been injured or blind[sided], something good came out from it, that I couldn't see at the time. So until then, it's all smiles and time to grind again. A massive positive was being able to connect and train with the boys down @ci…

Conor McGregor’s coach is expecting a vintage performance at UFC 246.

John Kavanagh has been in the corner for all of McGregor’s biggest moments to date, but the SBG Ireland coach has been particularly impressed with his fighter as the Jan. 18 showdown with Donald Cerrone approaches.

“Jan. [1], last heavy spar today before going to Vegas,” Kavanagh wrote on Twitter. “Can honestly say this is the best I’ve seen him and I wasn’t sure that was possible to do six months ago. You guys are in for a real treat. I’m just glad to have a good seat.”

Jan 1st, last heavy spar today before going to Vegas. Can honestly say this is the best i've seen him and i wasn't sure that was possible to do 6 months ago. You guys are in for a real treat, i'm just glad to have a good seat! #UFC246

— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) January 1, 2020

McGregor will face Cerrone at welterweight in the UFC 246 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. …

Ryan Bader is looking to make his first light heavyweight title defense since November 2017, and it appears the Bellator two-division champ has his eyes on a belt holder from another organization.

The former Arizona State University wrestling standout recently took to Twitter to call out Jiri Prochazka after Rizin’s reigning 205-pound king defeated C.B. Dollaway via first-round knockout on New Year’s Eve in Saitama, Japan. Dollaway and Bader are longtime teammates at Power MMA.

Congrats #jiriprochazka . we couldn’t make it happen in @rizin_PR so let’s do this in the @BellatorMMA cage. LHW title on the line

— Ryan Bader (@ryanbader) December 31, 2019

Bader had designs on competing for Rizin, but he revealed he was unable to come to terms to fight Prochazka in the Japanese organization. Crossover bouts between Bellator and Rizin fighters have become quite common of late, and now it appears Bader is ready to put his light heavywei…

Johnny Case will be competing under the Professional Fighters League banner this year.

According to ESPN, Case has signed with the PFL and plans to compete at lightweight during the 2020 season. Case is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Tofiq Musayev at Rizin 20 in the semifinals of the Japanese promotion’s lightweight grand prix.

Case has one prior PFL appearance under his belt, as he battled Natan Schulte to a majority draw during the playoffs in October 2018. Schulte just completed a second consecutive lightweight championship season with a unanimous verdict over Loik Radzhabov at the PFL Season 2 finals on Tuesday.

After that bout, Case went on to post successive stoppage wins over Yusuke Yachi, Satoru Kitaoka and Roberto de Souza under the Rizin banner before falling to Musayev. The 30-year-old MMA Lab product also went 4-2 during a stint in the UFC from 2014 to 2017. Case owns a 27-7 professional mark overall.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the PFL and UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Kayla Harrison reached her first mountaintop in mixed martial arts. The two-time Olympic gold medalist captured the 2019 Professional Fighters League championship with a unanimous decision over Larissa Pacheco in the women’s lightweight final on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. All three judges sided with the undefeated Harrison (7-0, 7-0 PFL): 50-43, 50-45 and 50-45.

Pacheco (13-4, 2-2 PFL) could match neither the strength nor the technique of the American Top Team standout across five one-sided rounds. Harrison executed multiple takedowns, battered the Brazilian with ground-and-pound and achieved full mount on multiple occasions. Beyond an attempted guillotine choke in the fifth round, Pacheco posed little threat to the decorated American judoka.

Heavy-Handed Cooper III Folds Michaud Ray Cooper III cut dow…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the PFL and UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Sherdog's live 2019 PFL Championship coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET. Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result