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Casey Kenney took the path of least resistance to Legacy Fighting Alliance gold.

The MMA Lab standout used well-timed takedowns, a crushing top game and punishing ground-and-pound to beat Brandon Royval by unanimous decision for the interim flyweight championship in the LFA 53 headliner on Friday at the Comerica Theatre in Phoenix. Scores were 50-45, 50-44 and 50-45, all of them for Kenney (10-1-1, 3-0-1 LFA), who figures to meet reigning 125-pound champion Maikel Perez in a unification bout sometime in the first half of 2019.

After some give and take across the first five minutes, Kenney sidestepped the standup in favor of his more trusted skills. He secured takedowns in the second, third, fourth and fifth rounds, often pairing them with oppressive control, ground-and-pound and the constant threat of a submission. Royval (8-4, 4-2 LFA) refused to give in to his advances but found himself virtually powerless in a majority of the exchanges. So ended his three-fight winni…

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

Chan Sung Jung will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon after a 21-month absence against Yair Rodriguez, who returns from a nearly 18-month layoff of his own.

“The Korean Zombie” hit the scales at 146 pounds, as he prepares to face all-action Yair Rodriguez (145.5) in the UFC Fight Night 139 main event this Saturday at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Co-headlining the card will be a welterweight showdown between Donald Cerrone (170) and Mike Perry (170.5), who both made weight without issue at Friday’s early weigh-ins.

UFC Fight Night 139, which airs live on FS1 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, also features a clash between former women’s bantamweight title challenger Raquel Pennington (*138) and former women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie (136), a lightweight contest between Beneil Dariush (155.5) and Thiago Moises (156), and the debut of 20 year old undefeated Maycee Barber (**116) mee…

UFC Fight Night 140 has experienced some more turnover shortly before the event on Nov. 17, with Tom Breese withdrawing from his middleweight bout with Cezar Ferreira.

First reporting this news on Friday was Combate, stating that Breese (11-1) had been forced to withdraw from his bout against Ferreira (13-6) due to injury. Ian Heinisch (11-1) is stepping in on just over a week’s notice to replace Breese.

Breese made his debut at middleweight this May when he knocked out Dan Kelly, having competed at welterweight prior to the move. Previously, Breese sat out the entirety of 2017 after he was deemed medically unfit to compete against Oluwale Bamgbose the day of UFC Fight Night 107 in March 2017.

Making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut on about eight days’ notice, Heinisch earned a contract on Episode 7 of Season 2 of Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series by knocking out Justin Sumter in the first round. The only fighter to ever pull off a scarf …

Breaking: TJ Dillashaw will move DOWN in weight to challenge Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title at UFC 233 on Jan. 26 in Anaheim, per multiple sources.

Dillashaw will try to become UFC’s sixth male two-weight champ. Full story coming to @ESPN. pic.twitter.com/4JsvfcR1lo

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 9, 2018

The UFC 233 bout between flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw will be taking place at 125 pounds, opening the possibility of Dillashaw becoming the sixth male two-division champ in Ultimate Fighting Championship history. ESPN's Brett Okamoto was the first to report the surprising development, late Thursday night.

With the departure of longtime flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to One Championship, the dismantling of the UFC's flyweight division appears to be in full swing, with numerous 125-pounders announcing either their release from the promotion, or their impending move to the …

“To all my fans, friends and supporters, thank you.” pic.twitter.com/mAumWDNB8q

— Rick (@Rick_Story) November 8, 2018

Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Fighters League veteran Rick Story has closed the book on a lengthy career at the age of 34.

“The Horror” posted his decision on social media Thursday, opting to call it a career following his injury loss at PFL 10 on Oct. 20.

“I am writing this to announce my retirement from professional mixed martial arts,” Story wrote. “It’s been a career with significant highs and lows, through the good and bad times, my goals were what drove me and the fans were always my inspiration, for this I thank all of you.”

During his time with the UFC, he maintained a solid record of 12-7. Winner of three of his last four bouts with the promotion, he topped fighters including Gunnar Nelson and Tarec Saffiedine in that stretch. One of only eight welterweights to ever achieve this feat, …

A new women's bantamweight fight is on tap for #UFC233 — Marion Reneau vs. Yana Kunitskaya in the works for the Jan. 26 card in Anaheim #UFC https://t.co/rzq1uVWvZn

— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) November 8, 2018

A women’s bantamweight scrap between Marion Reneau and Yana Kunitskaya is in the works for UFC 233 in Anaheim, California. First reporting the matchup on Thursday was Damon Martin of MMAnytt.

Former Invicta Fighting Championships bantamweight queen Kunitskaya (11-4, 1 NC) recently defeated Lina Lansberg by decision, where the return to her natural weight class of 135 paid off. Prior to that win, “Foxy” started her Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure with an unsuccessful featherweight contest this March, where she was stopped in the first round by Cristiane Justino.

Across from her in the Octagon will be Reneau (9-4-1), who last dropped a decision to Cat Zingano in July, breaking a four-fight unbeaten streak dating back to 2…

It was announced Wednesday that the anticipated Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight bout this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 139 in Denver between Ray Borg and Joseph Benavidez had been cancelled after Borg came down with an undisclosed illness just days out from the bout.

According to Mike Perry, a former teammate of Borg at Jackson-Wink MMA, there is no illness and Borg is using the excuse to avoid running into one of his old coaches in Frank Lester, whom he claims Borg was “caught” badmouthing on Instagram.

Perry opened up in an interview with TSN Sports’ Aaron Bronsteter about the incident.

“Man, that illness....he got caught, bro. He was talking sh*t about Frank ‘The Tank’ on his wife’s Instagram Stories in the background. We heard him talking. Saying, ‘I don’t like Frank, he’s not a good coach.’ You don’t know nothing about Frank,” said a fiery Perry in the interview.

“He’s just a fucking hater, that’s why his b*tch ass isn’t showing up this w…

Retired former UFC star Miesha Tate has been named vice president of One Championship.

One CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced the news on Wednesday night. Tate will be moving to Singapore, the home base of the organization, in 2019.

Please join me in welcoming my good friend @MieshaTate to @ONEChampionship! She is one of the greatest female mixed martial artists in history. Above all, she has a heart of gold. Miesha will be moving to Singapore in early 2019 to join us as a Vice President. #WeAreONE

— Chatri Sityodtong (@YODCHATRI) November 8, 2018

“I am thrilled to join ONE Championship as a Vice President,” Tate stated in a release. “I truly believe in its mission of unleashing real-life superheroes who ignite the world with hope, strength, dreams, and inspiration. I’m honored to bring my experience as a world champion and to help inspire the next generation of athletes. And of course, I am excited to relocate to my new home, Singapore, …

Im the 1st to be let go. I didnt get to finish my UFC contract with 2 fights left because they are cutting most of my division n not giving some of us a chance to bump up n prove ourselves like myself. So now it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. Good luck small guys! pic.twitter.com/lUMijsRoDm

— Jose Shorty Torres (@ShortyTorres125) November 7, 2018

Jose Torres has been released from his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, which he hinted is a sign of the demise of the promotion’s flyweight division.

Torres revealed via Twitter on Wednesday that he was let go by the Las Vegas-based promotion despite still having two fights remaining on his existing deal. “Shorty” went 1-1 in the Octagon while competing at flyweight, defeating Jarred Brooks in his debut at UFC Fight Night 131 before falling to Alex Perez at UFC 227.

FloCombat was first to report the news, adding that some flyweights will be cut from the UFC without bei…

Sharice Davids makes history: Kansas’ 1st gay rep, 1st Native American woman in Congress. Via @KatyBergen & @BryanLowry3. https://t.co/FUt2YTZ8mt

— Mary Kate Metivier (@MKMetivier) November 7, 2018

Former mixed martial arts fighter Sharice Davids scored a major political victory in her home state, as she was elected in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday night.

Davids, who once tried out for “The Ultimate Fighter 20,” defeated David Yoder to capture the Kansas City seat, the first time a Democrat has won the spot in a decade. In the process, she became the first Native American woman to serve in Congress and the first openly gay woman to represent the state of Kansas, according to a report from the Kansas City Star.

“We have the opportunity to reset expectations about what people think when they think of Kansas,” Davids said during her victory speech. “We know there are so many of us who welcome everyone, who see everyone…

Volkan Oezdemir has undergone knee surgery following his loss to Anthony Smith at UFC Fight Night Moncton last month.

The former light heavyweight title challenger recently posted a pre-operation photo on his Instagram account.

“About to get my knee surgery,” he wrote. “Feeling great and blessed. I’ll be back at [100 percent] in No Time.”

The exact nature of the procedure is currently unclear, as is Oezdemir’s timetable for recovery. The 29-year-old Swiss fighter was submitted in the third round by Smith of their headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 138 on Oct. 27.

After coming up short in a title bid against Daniel Cormier at UFC 220 in January, Oezdemir had multiple bouts fall through for various reasons before his loss to Smith. “No Time” rose to prominence after beginning his promotional tenure with triumphs over Jimi Manuwa, Misha Cirkunov and Ovince St. Preux.

Two matchups have been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first pay-per-view of 2019.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced Tuesday that a lightweight showdown between James Vick and Paul Felder — originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night 133 — has been rebooked for UFC 233, while UFC 229 brawl participant Islam Makhachev will remain on the roster to face Francisco Trinaldo in another lightweight tilt.

UFC 233 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Jan. 26 and features the Octagon debut of Ben Askren, as he takes on former 170-pound champion Robbie Lawler.

Instead of facing Felder in July, Vick was moved to a headlining bout vs. Justin Gaethje at UFC Fight Night 135. “The Texecutioner” was knocked out in the opening stanza to halt a four-fight winning streak.

Felder, meanwhile, ended up moving to 170 pounds to face Mike Perry at UFC 226, where he dropped a split decision in a brutal back-and-forth affair. That snapped a three-fight …

Fans were left stunned and disappointed last April when former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title contender Anthony Johnson announced his retirement from the sport after a second loss to 205-pound champion Daniel Cormier.

The 34 year-old had been arguably the most feared man in the division; his losses to Cormier had been the only blemishes on a run that saw him knock out a string of Top-10 contenders including Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and current Bellator MMA light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader.

“Rumble” appears to have been enjoying retirement, posting images of himself getting into bodybuilding at his gym and looking even bigger than he was last year. His manager, Ali Abdelaziz, was a recent guest on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show and said while his client is loving retirement he is keen to make a return to the Octagon.

“I talked to Rumble last week, right? And he said if Jon Jones fought ‘DC’ as a heavyweight, and if J…

Ben Askren’s Octagon debut is nearly finalized, as the promotion is targeting a matchup with Robbie Lawler at UFC 233.

ESPN was first to report the welterweight booking. Contracts have not yet been signed, according to the report, but that appears to be a formality at this point. Askren himself appeared to confirm the matchup on Twitter. The UFC has not formally announced the bout.

Lots of welterweights breathing easy right about now. Don’t worry your times will come! https://t.co/8xDJwIC7VZ

— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) November 6, 2018

UFC 233 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Jan. 26. The card will be the Las Vegas-based promotion’s first pay-per-view of 2019.

Askren came to the UFC as part of a trade with Singapore-based organization One Championship. “Funky” was released from his contract and allowed to sign with the UFC, while Demetrious Johnson was released from his deal to join One. Askren, a former titli…

It didn’t take too long for Conor McGregor to react the announcement of Floyd Mayweather’s next combat sports endeavor.

On Sunday, Rizin Fighting Federation revealed that Mayweather would face undefeated kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in Saitama, Japan, on Dec. 31. Rules and weight class for the bout have not been decided.

Mayweather retired after defeating McGregor via 10th round technical knockout in a boxing match in August 2017. That victory raised “Money’s” career mark to 50-0 in the Sweet Science.

McGregor taunted Mayweather in a profane Instagram post on Monday, while not appearing to recognize Nasukawa.

“Is that a tracksuit or a sauna suit Floyd haha wtf,” McGregor wrote. “Is it hot in Tokyo or what’s the story here? That climate change is no joke f—k me hahah. What in the f—k is going on here? Who’s this little prick next to you ? That’s mad s—t. Like something out of [Rush Hour] 5 or something. Chris Tucker and Jackie f—king Chan back in this b—…

Reigning One Championship atomweight titlist Angela Lee will have to put her dreams of being a two-division queen on hold.

One CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced via Facebook on Monday that Lee has withdrawn from a scheduled clash against strawweight champion Jingnan Xiong at the promotion’s ”Heart of the Lion” event on Friday. A back injury forced Lee out of the event.

“I am bummed to announce that our medical team has deemed One Atomweight world champion Angela Lee unfit to compete in One ‘Heart Of The Lion’ this Friday, November 9,” Sityodtong wrote. “As such, I have made the decision to pull Angela off the card, despite her adamance to compete still in the world title fight against One strawweight world champion Jingnan Xiong.

“We all know that Angela is a warrior with an unbreakable spirit. However, she suffered a serious back injury in training last week and badly herniated a spinal disc; she was unable to walk just a few days ago,” he continued. “Doctor…

Floyd Mayweather will return from a short-lived retirement to face Tenshin Nasukawa under the Rizin Fighting Federation banner on New Year’s Eve.

The matchup was announced during a press conference on Sunday evening. The rules of the bout were not initially clear, however. Both Mayweather and Nasukawa appeared at the press conference, and Rizin chairman Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that the rule set and weight have yet to be determined.

"First we had to convince Mr. Mayweather to come to the ring on the Rizin ring on Dec. 31. As you know Mr. Mayweather is undefeated. But all his fights have been in the U.S. He has had a wish to fight outside the U.S….” Sakakibara said. "We're happy we've convinced him to come to Japan for this history making event. In the second phase once we knew Mr. Mayweather would be in the Rizin ring on New Year’s Eve, we thought of the appropriate opponent and there was only one: Tenshin [Nasukawa].

“Regarding rules and weight we hav…

A few years back, it seemed laughable that UFC President Dana White would have any interest in signing Ben Askren.

White said as much after Askren parted ways with Bellator MMA in 2013.

“[We have] no interest. I’m sure [World Series of Fighting] will pick him up. They [Bellator] don’t want him. It’s their champion, and they don’t want him. What does that say?” White said then.

“I feel sorry for the kids that fight there. I do. I truly feel sorry for the kids that have to be stuck in that s–thole. The fact you would just give away a guy that has gone undefeated for you, it just shows what kind of people you are, what kind of business you do. And as far as the level he’s on, he barely beat Jay Hieron. He’s got some work to do. He can fight in another organization and work his way up here some day.”

Some day has arrived. Askren was recently released from his One Championship contract so he could join the Las Vegas-based promotion. In turn, the UFC releas…

UFC 230 had its share of issues leading up to Saturday’s event at Madison Square Garden, including the promotion’s well-documented struggles to find a suitable headliner.

The card was on the brink of having disaster strike again after Daniel Cormier threw out his back while sneezing hours before his heavyweight title defense against Derrick Lewis.

“I hurt myself this morning bad,” Cormier said at the UFC 230 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. “Sometimes I go into the Octagon, and I hear in the build-up, ‘When is this guy going to get old?’ It could happen overnight. I thought it happened this morning when I sneezed, and I slipped my back out. I was hurting bad. Like seriously. We got some pictures that we may release later in the week. I sneezed, and because I sneezed my back slipped out. I tried to do my morning run, and it wasn’t happening.”

Cormier, who turns 40 in March, said he received treatment from UFC Performance Institute staff after t…

The new era begins Jan. 19. @ESPN, you ready?! pic.twitter.com/joKTwLvO6Z

— UFC (@ufc) November 4, 2018

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s schedule for the first quarter of 2019 is set and will include multiple events marking the beginning of the promotion’s partnership with ESPN.

The schedule will kick off on Jan. 19 with an event entitled UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night, which will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. No bouts were announced for the card, but a welterweight clash between Stephen Thompson and Robbie Lawler has been rumored for the event.

The length of the debut ESPN+ card doesn’t appear to differ much from past Fox Sports 1 offerings. According to a release, UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night will begin at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT and end at approximately 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT.

The UFC will make its official ESPN Network debut on Sunday, Feb. 17 with a Fight Night card from Talking Stick Resort in Phoenix. No bouts have be…

Middleweights owned the post-fight bonuses at UFC 230, as Ronaldo Souza, Chris Weidman, Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier all received $50,000 for their work at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

“Jacare” and Weidman” received “Fight of the Night” honors for their slugfest in the evening’s co-headliner. The two middleweight contenders went toe-to-toe throughout the contest before Souza ended the bout with a right hand to the temple and a few follow-up blows at the 2:46 mark of round three.

Elsewhere, Adesanya announced his presence as a 185-pound contender with a lopsided victory over Derek Brunson to earn a “Peformance of the Night” award in a featured bout. “The Last Stylebender” floored his opponent three times en route to a stoppage with nine seconds remaining in the opening stanza for his fourth consecutive UFC triumph.

Finally, Cannonier, a former heavyweight and light heavyweight competitor, looked like a new man at 185 pounds, as he finished…

UFC 230 is now available on Amazon Prime.

Sherdog's live UFC 230 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.

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UFC 230 has lost a bout just before the promotion’s third event at Madison Square Garden was scheduled to begin.

The UFC announced Saturday that Brian Kelleher has withdrawn from his proposed bantamweight clash against Montel Jackson due to illness. Kelleher missed weight by one pound on Friday, but his illness is believed to be due to food poisoning and unrelated to his weight cut, according to multiple reports.

UFC 230 will move forward with 12 bouts. Kelleher vs. Jackson had been part of the UFC Fight Pass portion of the preliminary card.

Kelleher last appeared at UFC 224 on May 12, when he had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a third-round knockout loss to John Lineker. Jackson, a product of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, was coming off a decision loss against Ricky Simon in his Octagon debut at UFC 227.

UFC 230 has lost a bout just before the promotion’s third event at Madison Square Garden was scheduled to begin.

The UFC announced Saturday that Brian Kelleher has withdrawn from his proposed bantamweight clash against Montel Jackson due to illness. Kelleher missed weight by one pound on Friday, but his illness is believed to be due to food poisoning and unrelated to his weight cut, according to multiple reports.

UFC 230 will move forward with 12 bouts. Kelleher vs. Jackson had been part of the UFC Fight Pass portion of the preliminary card.

Kelleher last appeared at UFC 224 on May 12, when he had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a third-round knockout loss to John Lineker. Jackson, a product of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, was coming off a decision loss against Ricky Simon in his Octagon debut at UFC 227.