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Cain Velasquez will return to the Octagon for the first time in more than two years on Sunday when he faces Francis Ngannou in the UFC on ESPN 1 main event.

Once regarded as a fighter who had the potential to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, injuries have robbed Velasquez of many of his prime years. The former UFC champion has only competed twice since 2013, and his American Kickboxing Academy training partner, Daniel Cormier, has claimed the heavyweight throne in his absence.

While Cormier has secured his legacy with a historic 2018 that saw him become a simultaneous two-division champion, Jon Jones remains the only man to beat “DC” in an MMA bout. Although he has been out of action for a while, Velasquez is confident that he would fare well against “Bones.”

“I think I’m good enough,” Velasquez told TMZ Sports. “Jon Jones is an amazing athlete. I’ve watched him in all his fights. I …

Saturday’s UFC 234 preliminary card drew an average of 1.339 million viewers to ESPN, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

That’s the highest figure for a UFC pay-per-view preliminary card since the UFC 207 prelims averaged 1.5 million viewers for the lead-in to the Amanda Nunes vs. Ronda Rousey event. The UFC 234 prelims were likely boosted due to following the men’s basketball broadcast of Duke vs. Virginia on ESPN, which averaged 3.3 million viewers. The card drew an overall market share of 0.82.

The four-bout UFC 234 prelims weren’t high on star power. In the featured bout, Devonte Smith stopped Dong Hyun Ma via technical knockout 3:53 into the opening round of their lightweight bout. The card’s early prelims streamed on ESPN+.

Despite the promising ratings for the preliminary card, UFC 234 isn’t expected to draw a large number of pay-per-view buys. The middleweight championship headliner between Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum was canceled on the day of the eve…

Bellator has made a couple of updates to its weekend doubleheader.

Towering heavyweight Steve Mowry will face professional debutante Darion Abbey at Bellator 215 after original opponent Ahmed Samir Hefny was unable to compete on the card. Meanwhile, Tyrell Fortune will square off against Ryan Pokryfky in a late addition to the Bellator 216 lineup. Sherdog.com confirmed the bookings with a promotion official following separate reports from MMAjunkie.com. Both bouts are scheduled for the preliminary portion of their respective cards.

Bellator 215 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Feb. 15 and is headlined by a heavyweight duel between Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov. The main card airs on Paramount and DAZN, while prelims stream on Bellator.com and DAZN. Bellator 216 takes place at the same venue on Feb. 16 and features a welterweight tournament bout between Paul Daley and Michael Page. The main card streams exclusively on DAZN, with prelims av…

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More and more Russian fighters are trying to reach the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Among them: Nikolay Aleksakhin, he of the 22-5 record and five-fight winning streak.

What do we know about him? The 28-year-old welterweight started his martial arts career in combat sambo, where he became a multiple-time national champion and developed his technique and distance control while acquiring a taste for hand-to-hand competition. Aleksakhin made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2011 -- he was 20 at the time -- and has since competed in the ProFC, M-1 Global, Absolute Championship Berkut, Fight Nights Global and One Championship organizations.

Aleksakhin won the 2014 ProFC welterweight grand prix with a unanimous decision over Dimitri Zebrowski, then locked horns with Jose de Ribamar Machado Gomes at ACB 21 on Aug. 29, 2015. Their encounter did not last long, as he stopped Gomes with punches 4:12 …

Daniel Cormier hoped to retire by his 40th birthday. With nagging injuries piling up, the UFC heavyweight champion admits that he will have to fight on beyond March 20.

During an appearance on "The MMA Hour" on Monday, Cormier revealed that he doesn’t yet have a fight booked due to the back issues that have continued to plague him since UFC 230 this past November. Cormier nearly pulled out of his fight with Derrick Lewis after injuring his back while sneezing hours before the event.

“I hurt my back in New York City when I sneezed. This was no joke and it’s just still trying to rehab it and get better,” Cormier said on Monday. “It was just me hurting my back. I put a lot of miles on myself in my life with the wrestling, but then last year was a big year and you don’t get to have that type of year at my age and not really feel the effects of it and I’m still going through that right now.”

Cormier added that a thumb injury that nearly prevented him from fighting at …

Johnny Walker is looking for a quick turnaround following his technical knockout of Justin Ledet at UFC Fortaleza on Feb. 2.

Over the weekend, Ovince St. Preux’s management revealed that the light heavyweight had been forced to pulled out of a proposed clash with Misha Cirkunov at UFC 235 due to injury. Walker has since offered his services.

#ufc235 takes a hit as OSP has been forced to pull out due to injury. He should not be sidelined for an extended period of time. #ufc

— KOreps (@ko_reps) February 10, 2019

“Hey [Misha Cirkunov], I heard you need a new opponent for UFC 235?” Walker wrote on Instagram. “I might know someone. [UFC and Dana White] I am waiting for your call.”

Walker generated some buzz at UFC Fight Night 144, where he dropped Ledet with a spinning back fist and finished him with follow-up punches in just 15 seconds. That win came on the heels of Walker’s elbow knockout of Khalil Rountree at UFC Fight Night 140 this past…

With the original UFC 234 headliner scrapped due to Robert Whittaker’s emergency hernia surgery, Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva took center stage in Melbourne on Saturday night.

While Silva has been in numerous high-profile bouts over the course of his illustrious career, it was some added pressure for Adesanya, who has been tabbed as one the promotion’s rising stars. Ultimately, “The Last Stylebender” came through, taking a unanimous decision over Silva in an entertaining affair that was more competitive than expected.

“That first round was like Kung Fu movie. It was a fun fight to watch with two guys who are incredibly talented,” UFC President Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I was saying [Friday], any oddsmakers that makes Anderson Silva 7-to-1 [underdog] is out of their mind. He’s a great martial artist; he’s always taking care of himself.

“But Israel went in with a sold-out house tonight and a lot of pressure on him…Anderson is…

David Branch will square off against Jack Hermansson in a middleweight clash at UFC on ESPN 2.

The promotion initially confirmed the pairing to The Philly Voice. UFC on ESPN 2 takes place at Well Fargo Center in Philadelphia and is headlined by a lightweight tilt pitting Edson Barboza against Justin Gaethje. The card airs on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+.

A former two-division champion in World Series of Fighting, Branch is 2-2 during his second UFC stint. Most recently, Branch suffered a second-round TKO loss against Jared Cannonier at UFC 230.

Sweden’s Hermansson has won four of his last five Octagon appearances, finishing all of his wins during that time. In his last outing, “The Joker” submitted Gerald Meerschaert in the opening stanza at UFC on Fox 31.

Dana White believes Sam Alvey could have been given a little more time in his technical knockout loss against Jim Crute at UFC 234.

The contest was halted 2:49 into the opening stanza, as the 22-year-old Australian unleashed a salvo of punches with Alvey on all fours. While many of the blows missed or glanced off of Alvey’s arm, referee Marc Goddard decided “Smile’n Sam wasn’t doing enough to defend himself and halted the bout. Alvey vehemently protested the stoppage, but at that point it was to no avail.

While White was impressed with Crute, a Contender Series alum who improved to 10-0 in victory, he believes that Alvey could have been allowed to recover.

“I think he looked damn good, and especially against a really tough guy,” White said of Crute at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I think there’s only been three people that have ever finished him [Alvey] out of 40-something fights. I didn’t agree with the stoppage – I thought it was a bad stoppage.

…

The UFC 234 main event bout between Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva was more competitive than expected, and for their quality work, the middleweights received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece.

Adesanya earned a unanimous decision over Silva at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday night, but “The Spider” was competitive for stretches of the fight. After Adesanya got off to a quick start, rocking the Brazilian with a short right to the jaw in the opening stanza, Silva rallied to connect with some combinations in round two. “The Last Stylebender” pulled away down the stretch, however, outlanding the former champion in the final stanza to earn the nod on the scorecards.

Elsewhere, Montana De La Rosa captured a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for her submission of Nadia Kassem in a featured flyweight tilt. De La Rosa quickly took Kassem down in the second stanza, where she moved to mount. Eventually she would transition to a fight-e…

One of the hottest young fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Israel Adesanya, took on and defeated his idol.

“The Last Stylebender” was brilliant against all-time great Anderson Silva in the replacement headline bout of UFC 234 Saturday night, out-striking Silva for three rounds. Adesanya (16-0) hurt “The Spider” with a short right to the jaw in the first, but he was unable to inflict enough follow-up punishment to put the Brazilian away.

Silva (34-9) rallied in the second by landing several combos of punches to the head, but the Nigerian regained control of the middleweight encounter with superb striking in the third. Adesanya peppered Silva’s right leg throughout the stanza, cracked him with scattered punches upstairs and nullified the 43-year-old’s attacks down the stretch.

In the end, Adesanya won the fight via unanimous decision with scores of 30-27 (twice) and 29-28. Silva, the greatest middleweight champion in the history of MMA, hinted at fighting at…

UFC 234 is now available on Amazon Prime.

Sherdog's live UFC 234 coverage kicks off Saturday at 6:15 p.m. ET.

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

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Adam Martin scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the rou…

Robert Whittaker has been forced out of his middleweight title defense against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 to undergo surgery for a hernia in his abdomen.

UFC President Dana White confirmed the news to ESPN on Saturday. Whittaker experienced pain in his abdomen late last night and was taken to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a hernia. The issue is not believed to be related to his weight cut.

As a result, the middleweight co-main event between Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva will be elevated to the new UFC 234 headliner. Adesanaya vs. Silva will remain a three-round contest. A lightweight clash between Lando Vannata and Marcos Rosa Mariano that was originally scheduled for the Fight Pass prelims has been moved to the pay-per-view lineup.

UFC 234 takes place at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Injury also forced Whittaker to pull out of his last scheduled title defense in Australia, a UFC 221 clash against Luke Rockhold. “The Reaper” last appeare…

Official Weights/Pesos Oficiales:Super Featherweight Championship - 12 RoundsGervonta Davis: 129.8 lbsHugo Ruiz: 129.4 lbs#TaleOfTheTape #DavisRuiz pic.twitter.com/a2I6aC1BGL

— MayweatherPromotions (@MayweatherPromo) February 8, 2019

Unbeaten Gervonta Davis was supposed to face former two-division world champion Abner Mares on Saturday, but he’ll be facing late replacement Hugo Ruiz instead. Either way, the WBA super featherweight championship will go on, though the luster has all but vanished.

At Friday’s official weigh-in, both Davis and Ruiz made weight. However, Davis initially was over by .2 pounds and had to use extra time to get down to super featherweight limit. With both fighters clearing the final and most crucial hurdle, the two can lock horns for Davis’s WBA 130-pound world championship. Showtime will televise the action inside the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, which goes live on the network at 10 p.m. ET (7 p…

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UFC 234 is now available on Amazon Prime.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is ready to take its first trip to Australia in 2019, giving middleweight champ Robert Whittaker the chance to defend his belt for the first time in his adopted country of Australia against Kelvin Gastelum.

Whittaker hit the scales at 185 pounds with a big boost from the crowd, as he prepares to face Gastelum (184) for the middleweight championship in the UFC 234 main event this Saturday at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Co-headlining the card will be a middleweight title eliminator bout between the undefeated Israel Adesanya (185) and longtime champion Anderson Silva (186). All four men made weight without issue.

UFC 234 "Whittaker vs. Gastelum," which airs live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, also features a bantamweight matchup between submission specialist Rani Yahya (135) and former Legacy Figh…

Back in Anderson Silva’s prime there was a never-ending call for “The Spider” to challenge either welterweight Georges St-Pierre or light heavyweight Jon Jones in a super fight to determine the best fighter on the planet. Unfortunately for fans neither fight took place.

The 43-year-old Silva, who is currently in Melbourne, Australia preparing for a fight against the rising superstar Israel Adesanya was asked by ESPN Brazil on his thoughts regarding the light heavyweight king Jones and how he would have hypothetically matched up to him in his prime with the Brazilian admitting “Bones” would have beaten him.

"Jon Jones," said Silva when asked who would have won. "He's an excellent fighter. I consider him like a younger brother and I believe he is the evolution of this sport."

If Silva defies the odds this weekend and upsets the favorite Adesanya, he will face the winner of Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum for the 185-pound belt later in the year.

Suited up. @BellatorMMA Newcastle media day. pic.twitter.com/FYfmTiEiOy

— Patricky Freire (@PatrickyPitbull) February 7, 2019

Bellator MMA is launching its European Series starting with Bellator Newcastle this weekend, and fans need not worry about how to watch the event any longer.

A source with the promotion told Sherdog.com that fight fans in the United States will be able to watch Bellator “Newcastle” in its entirety, live on the Bellator App. No cable authentication will be needed to access the event, and fans can simply log on to the app and view the event as it airs. For audiences in the U.K., this week the promotion announced a broadcasting deal with Channel 5 to televise these events in 2019 as well.

Bellator Newcastle "Pitbull vs. Scope" airs live at 3:00 p.m. ET for the preliminary bouts, and 5:00 p.m. ET for the main card. It is the first of a series of at least six events titled the European Series that will take place i…

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The pay-per-view landscape for the Ultimate Fighting Championship is still uncertain, as the organization has announced that due to failed negotiations, fight fans will not be able to order UFC events through DirecTV for the foreseeable future.

One of the largest pay-per-view providers in North and Central America, the company owned by AT&T Communications, DirecTV appears to be at an impasse with the UFC regarding their distribution deal. According to a brief statement on UFC's official website on Thursday, the UFC 234 pay-per-view event held in Australia will not be available for purchase on DirecTV for international consumers. In the statement, the promotion wrote, “Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement with one of our primary distributors, DirecTV. Though we continue to work to reach a resolution, UFC 234, live from Melbourne on Saturday, Feb. 9, will not be available on DirecTV.”…

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Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker is a huge MMA fan who is often spotted in the crowd at Ultimate Fighting Championship events. As it turns out, he has firsthand experience with some of the athletes he watches in the cage.

Barker was a guest on a recent episode The Joe Rogan Podcast and told Rogan about the times he got to train with some high-level fighters including longtime UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz.

Barker said he was in awe of Cruz’s abilities and how quick he was and was no match for the former bantamweight champ when they sparred together (via MMA Mania):

“He beat the shit out of me a couple of times,” Barker said. “We used to sponsor him a little bit when they didn’t have Reebok gear and he would come down and train. It was so difficult. He’d try to sleep me, like try to knock me out. He’s so quick, like with footwork, and then I’m wrestled to the ground and that’s a wrap, e…

After 51 professional fights, Wanderlei Silva is feeling the effects of a career filled with slugfests in the cage and ring.

In an interview with Brazilian outlet PVT, “The Axe Murderer” revealed that he is suffering from multiple concussion-like symptoms. Silva’s combat sports career spans 29 years overall, and his pro MMA tenure began in 1996.

“I was in a lecture about concussion and of the 10 symptoms the guy mentioned, I had eight,” Silva said (translation via MMAFighting.com). “The symptoms would be, for example, mood swings, getting angry very fast, forgetting some things, having difficulty sleeping.”

The former UFC and Pride Fighting Championships star has squared off with some of the sports biggest names over the years, including the likes of Mirko Filipovic, Quinton Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Mark Hunt, Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping and Tito Ortiz, to name a few. While seven of Silva’s 14 career losses have come via KO or TKO, he’s also abso…

While Nick Diaz was briefly linked to a matchup with Jorge Masvidal, at least one person close to the Stockton, Calif., native believes he’s retired from mixed martial arts.

That’s according to Skrap Pack stablemate and friend Gilbert Melendez, who provided an update on the former Strikeforce champion’s status during an appearance on Chael Sonnen's ”You’re Welcome” podcast.

“I would love to see him come back, but last time I checked, he’s retired,” Melendez said.

UFC President Dana White confirmed that the promotion was close to finalizing a Diaz vs. Masvidal bout at UFC 235. Shortly thereafter Diaz backed out of the fight and White was back to doubting the likelihood of a comeback for the controversial fighter.

Melendez wouldn’t entirely rule out a Diaz return to the Octagon, but it would have to be the right offer. So far, nothing has enticed him. Diaz last appeared at UFC 183 against Anderson Silva in January 2015, losing a five-round decision that was l…

Over the weekend, Anthony Johnson generated a little bit of buzz when he appeared on the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s broadcast.

While there was initially some confusion about Johnson’s role within the company, “Rumble” made it clear that he had not signed on to fight in the organization.

“I’m in charge of fighter relations,” Johnson said on “The Luke Thomas Show” on Sirius XM. “Getting fighters and other opportunities to help the company grow, that’s what I’ll be a part of.

“Rumble” retired from MMA following a second-round submission loss to Daniel Cormier in a light heavyweight title bout at UFC 210. Johnson didn’t completely rule out a return.

“If the price is right, anything can happen,” he said.

.@Anthony_Rumble says he’s open to a return at heavyweight 'if the price is right' #TLTS@lthomasnews pic.twitter.com/dg72PJ4Xav

— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) February 6, 2019

However, Johnson said he hasn’t had an…

Khabib Nurmagomedov has the opportunity to have his nine-month Nevada State Athletic Commission suspension reduced if he produces an anti-bullying PSA, but it appears as though the UFC lightweight champion isn’t willing to cooperate.

Nurmagomedov was suspended nine months and fined $500,000 for inciting a post-fight melee following his victory over Conor McGregor in the UFC 229 main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Oct. 6. With the reduced suspension, “The Eagle” would be eligible to return to the Octagon as soon as April.

“[The NSAC] said to take part in a social campaign… the state of Nevada is a place where they allow drugs, prostitution and gambling,” Nurmagomedov told Russian Website sportbox.ru. “Let them work on themselves [and their own behavior]. There were fighters who didn’t fight for two years and didn’t have their belts taken for a year and a half.

“I’m ready to fight, they were the ones who banned me.”

Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Ab…

A trio of contests were officially announced for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s March 23 visit to Nashville.

The bouts confirmed for the UFC Fight Night 148 lineup were as follows: John Makdessi vs. Nasrat Haqparast at lightweight; Bryce Mitchell vs. Bobby Moffett at featherweight and Chris Gutierrez vs. Martin Day at bantamweight.

UFC Fight Night 148 — also known as UFC on ESPN+ 6 — takes place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., and is headlined by a welterweight tilt between Stephen Thompson and Anthony Pettis. The card will stream on ESPN+.

A 15-fight Octagon veteran, Makdessi enters the matchup on the strength of consecutive triumphs over Abel Trujillo and Ross Pearson. After losing his promotional debut, Haqparast has outpointed Marc Diakiese and Thibault Gouti in his last two UFC appearances.

Mitchell improved to 10-0 as a professional with a majority decision triumph over Tyler Diamond at “The Ultimate Fighter 27” finale on July 6. Moffe…