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If he defeats Colby Covington and captures interim welterweight gold at UFC 225, Rafael dos Anjos will enter the rarified air of fighters to hold championships in two divisions within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Dos Anjos claimed the lightweight belt with a dominant five-round verdict over Anthony Pettis at UFC 185 and defended the title with a first-round stoppage of Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fox 17. After back-to-back losses against Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson, the Rio de Janeiro native moved up to 170 pounds, where he has looked impressive in victories over Tarec Saffiedine, Neil Magny and Robbie Lawler.

“It means a lot,” dos Anjos said of the opportunity during a recent media call. “I’m about to be among the very few to have two belts. I’ve been training very hard to get my second belt and make history.”

In Covington, dos Anjos will be facing an opponent who captured a junior college national championship and All America honors as a wrestler. Covi…

Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez, the wife of UFC and Strikeforce veteran Gilbert Melendez, will make her second professional MMA appearance later this month.

Melendez will lock horns with Tiani Valle in a strawweight bout at Bellator 201 on June 29. Promotion officials announced the pairing on Monday. Bellator 201 takes place at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., and is headlined by a women’s flyweight title bout pitting Ilima-Lei Macfarlane against Alejandra Lara.

Melendez hasn’t fought in the cage since November 2016, when she scored a technical knockout of Sheila Padilla 47 seconds into the opening stanza at Bellator 165. The 34-year-old Skrap Pack representative was supposed to compete at Bellator NYC last June but withdrew from the card due to injury.

Valle, meanwhile, is coming off a similar hiatus. Her MMA debut came on Sept. 24, 2016, when she outpointed Sam Hughes at X-1 44 “The Return.”

This month, @KeriMelendez41…

UFC Fight Night 131 attracted an average audience of 517,000 viewers for its main card Friday on Fox Sports 1, according to ShowBuzz Daily.

That is the lowest ratings for a UFC Fight Night televised event thus far in 2018. The previous low occurred less than one week prior, as UFC Fight Night Liverpool, headlined by a welterweight clash between Darren Till and Stephen Thompson, drew an average of 552,000 viewers to FS1 for a Sunday matinee offering on May 27.

UFC Fight Night 131 took place at Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, N.Y., and saw Marlon Moraes knock out Jimmie Rivera 33 seconds into their bantamweight headliner. In the co-main event, Gregor Gillespie submitted Vinc Pichel in the second round in a lightweight affair.

Meanwhile, the UFC Fight Night 131 prelims averaged 322,000 viewers on FS1. In the featured bout on that portion of the card, Sijara Eubanks outpointed Lauren Murphy in a battle of “Ultimate Fighter 26” cast members.

Miesha Tate is officially a mother.

The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion delivered a baby girl after 67 hours of labor. Tate’s partner, MMA fighter Jonathan Nunez, posted a photo of the newborn, named Amaia Nevaeh Nunez, via Instagram on Sunday.

Finally... after over 67 hours of Labor, my love of my life has arrived, Amaia Nevaeh Nuñez... Amaia meet the World...Daddy Vows to love you, protect you and Never leave you!! I am dedicating my life to loving you, Cherishing you, Inspiring you and Teaching you what I have learned early and in the later of my life. I am confident that you won’t take this life for granted, and I know when you get where your going in life... you won’t forget to turn around and help the next one in line!! We will teach you, by example, to be Humble and Kind... just like your momma! GO GET EM BABY GIRL! The world is yours! #godsplan #helloworld #happybirthdayamor #myqueen #Humble&Kind #Amaia #Nuñez #myworld #sundayfunday *thank …

Miesha Tate is officially a mother.

The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion delivered a baby girl after 67 hours of labor. Tate’s partner, MMA fighter Jonathan Nunez, posted a photo of the newborn, named Amaia Nevaeh Nunez, via Instagram on Sunday.

Finally... after over 67 hours of Labor, my love of my life has arrived, Amaia Nevaeh Nuñez... Amaia meet the World...Daddy Vows to love you, protect you and Never leave you!! I am dedicating my life to loving you, Cherishing you, Inspiring you and Teaching you what I have learned early and in the later of my life. I am confident that you won’t take this life for granted, and I know when you get where your going in life... you won’t forget to turn around and help the next one in line!! We will teach you, by example, to be Humble and Kind... just like your momma! GO GET EM BABY GIRL! The world is yours! #godsplan #helloworld #happybirthdayamor #myqueen #Humble&Kind #Amaia #Nuñez #myworld #sundayfunday *thank …

Andrea Lee’s husband, Donny Aaron, issued a statement on Sunday apologizing for the Nazi emblems he wears on both arms.

The tattoos were revealed on Friday, when Lee tweeted some photos of herself and Aaron at the lake. Visible in one of the photos is an image of a swastika tattoo on Aaron’s left arm. It was later revealed that Aaron also has an image of a Nazi SS bolt symbol on his right arm.

Still had a great day at the lake with my fam and certainly enjoyed the jet skis. pic.twitter.com/s5FuwYc2Y5

— Andrea Lee (@AndreaKGBLee) June 2, 2018

Aaron, who is also Lee’s coach, claimed that he has explored the possibility of tattoo removal or a coverup, but neither is a viable option. Aaron says that the tattoos represent a “dark time” when he was in prison, but he does not want his transgressions to negatively impact Lee. Aaron’s full statement is as follows:

Please read this and accept my most sincere apologies to all I have offende…

It appears that Stipe Miocic has enlisted the help of a light heavyweight champion with a particular set of skills to prepare for his UFC 226 title defense against Daniel Cormier.

Ryan Bader recently posted photos on his Instagram account of a visit to Ohio’s Strong Style Fight Team camp to train with the UFC heavyweight king. Bader, the Bellator MMA 205-pound titlist, is currently competing in the California-based promotion’s heavyweight grand prix. The Arizona native will face Matt Mitrione in the seminfinals of the tournament later this year.

“Thanks for having me out [Stipe Miocic] and for the work from the great coaches and people [at Strong Style Fight Team],” Bader wrote.

Miocic will square off against Cormier in a champion vs. champion superfight on July 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Cormier, the UFC’s light heavyweight champion, was a two-time junior college national champion and an NCAA All-American as a collegiate wrestler. He was also …

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As so often happens when a fighter earns a big victory in the Octagon, Gregor Gillespie was prompted to make a callout in his post-fight interview at UFC Fight Night Utica on Friday.

The four-time NCAA All-American wrestler from Edinboro University declined to make use of the platform after earning his fifth consecutive UFC triumph, a second-round submission of Vinc Pichel in the evening’s co-main event.

Instead, as he so often does, Gillespie talked about fishing.

“I don’t call people out. It’s not what I do,” Gillespie said in his post-fight interview. “ All I’m thinking about right now is fishing tomorrow and fishing the next day. I’ll be fishing until my training partner fights at Madison Square Garden next week and then I’m going to go and support him. I also don’t worry about winning streaks because guess what, if I lose what good is that winning streak? Some people have suggested my ne…

Just three weeks after scoring a second-round stoppage of David Rickels at Bellator 200, flamboyant British striker will compete in his second boxing match at York Hall in London on June 15.

MMANytt.com first reported the news, and ESPN.com’s Chamatkar Sandhu confirmed the booking with event promoter David Haye. Page does not yet have an opponent for the card.

The 31-year-old Page made his professional boxing debut in October 2017 with a third-round technical knockout victory over Jonathan Castano in Greenwich, England. Page’s opponent fell to 2-12-1 with that defeat.

Meanwhile, Page’s win over Rickels on May 25 was his first MMA appearance since taking a split verdict against Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 165 on Nov. 19, 2016. “Venom” is 13-0 in his MMA career, with all but two of his triumphs coming inside the distance.

Just a week ago, Yair Rodriguez was getting ready to test the free agent waters.

Now, his relationship with the UFC — which cut him for what it claims was a refusal to accept a fight — is seemingly better than ever. The tide began to change on Friday, when ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto reported that the UFC had rescinded the termination of Rodriguez’s contract to set up a potential fight between the Mexican featherweight and Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC 228.

On Saturday, Rodriguez released a statement explaining how things played out. The saga took a positive turn when “El Pantera” met with matchmaker Sean Shelby face-to-face over lunch.

“I address to all my fans, friends and family for always [being] supportive of my career. As well I’ll like to thank all of those companies showing interest in my persona and work,” Rodriguez wrote.

“Sean Shelby and I have a friend in common, Mario Delgado, he was the connection between us. He set up a meeting between Sean…

Marlon Moraes had the shortest night of any winner at UFC Fight Night 131, but he was perhaps the easiest choice for a post-fight bonus check.

The former World Series of Fighting champion earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his first-round knockout of Jimmie Rivera in the evening’s main event at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, N.J. Moraes finished Rivera with a left high switch kick and follow-up punches 33 seconds after their fight began.

Meanwhile, a typically relentless approach propelled Gregor Gillespie to a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award and a second-round submission of Vinc Pichel in the lightweight co-headliner. Gillespie advanced to full mount late in the second stanza and eventually transitioned to an arm-triangle choke, securing the tapout at the 4:06 mark.

Elsewhere, Ben Saunders showcased a devastating clinch game in a first-round finish of Jake Ellenberger to capture a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check i…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 131 coverage kicks off Friday at 6:30 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 Official…

Yair Rodriguez’s situation in the UFC has taken an unexpected turn.

It appeared as if Rodriguez’s days in the UFC were done, but now it seems that “Pantera” and Zabit Magomedsharipov have verbally agreed to a fight at UFC 228 in September, according to a report from ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto.

I'm told UFC is rescinding its termination letter to Yair Rodriguez, essentially reinstating his contract. The Magomedsharipov fight is not signed yet, but is UFC 228 on Sept. 8. No location finalized for that event.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 1, 2018

According to multiple reports, Rodriguez had been released from his UFC contract just a couple of weeks ago after turning down an August fight against Magomedsharipov at UFC 227.

“We offered him fights, he turned down the fights. There was a lot more back and forth that went on with that. If you don’t want to fight, this isn’t the place to be. There’s plenty of places out there that wi…

A scheduled strawweight bout between Jessica Aguilar and Jodie Esquibel has been removed from UFC Fight Night 131 hours before the event.

The promotion announced the cancellation in a statement on Friday:

"Due to a medical issue involving strawweight athlete Jessica Aguilar, the New York State Athletic Commission has cancelled her scheduled bout against Jodie Esquibel,” the statement read. “Tonight's UFC Fight Night: Rivera vs. Moraes card will proceed with 12 bouts, beginning at 6:55 pm ET / 3:55 pm PT.”

The UFC didn’t disclose the medical issue that forced Aguilar off the card. However, Din Thomas, Aguilar’s coach, told MMAjunkie.com that the New York State Athletic Commission elected to pull the fighter from the card due to chapped lips.

“[Thursday], the commission doctor saw her lips and thought it may have been some sort of infection,” Thomas said. “They rushed her to a dermatologist as soon as she stepped off the scale. The dermatologist said no…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYUzGJtahP8&w=560&h=315]

UFC 225 is now available on Amazon Prime.

On June 9 at UFC 225, former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Rafael dos Anjos will lock horns with Colby Covington for the interim welterweight belt.

During Thursday’s UFC 225 media call, things got heated between the pair in the lead up to their big fight next weekend. As expected, Covington tried to get under the skin of his opponent, although Dos Anjos was having none of it and stayed calm and composed during the interview, explaining that he had heard it all before in the lead up to his fight with Conor McGregor, which didn’t materialize due to an injury sustained by the Brazilian.

Dos Anjos explained that trash talk by his opponents doesn’t faze him as he’s grown up with much worse and believes Covington is doing a poor job imitating McGregor.

“I grew up in Brazil in the favelas, man. Bullies, trash talking, doesn’t work with…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zakBbTjiHH8&w=560&h=315]

A pair of bantamweight contenders have received the all clear to do battle.

Jimmie Rivera (134.6) and Marlon Moraes (135.4) were on target with their weight Thursday morning in Utica, New York, making official the UFC Fight Night 131 headliner at Adirondack Bank Center.

It what feels to be a bit unusual in the current weight-cutting climate, there was no drama Thursday, as all 26 competitors hit their marks.

UFC Fight Night 131 Weigh-in Results: Jimmie Rivera (134.6) vs. Marlon Moraes (135.4)Gregor Gillespie (155.6) vs. Vinc Pichel (155.8)Walt Harris (253) vs. Daniel Spitz (243.8)Jake Ellenberger (170.4) vs. Ben Saunders (169.4)Julio Arce (145.4) vs. Daniel Teymur (145.8)Gian Villante (205.2) vs. Sam Alvey (204.8)Sijara Eubanks (125.6) vs. Lauren Murphy (125.6)Nik Lentz (155.4) vs. David Teymur (155.8)Belal Muhammad (170.2) vs. Chance Rencountre (170.6)Desmond Green (155.4) vs. Gleison Tibau (15…

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

On Sunday night, Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight contenders Stephen Thompson and Darren Till locked horns in the main event of UFC Fight Night 130 in Liverpool England. Till, who was born and raised in Liverpool, edged out Thompson over five rounds according to the judges who were unanimous in their decision in their scoring (48-47, 49-46, 49-46).

Thompson was a recent guest on “The MMA Hour” and told host Ariel Helwani he was confident he did enough throughout the fight to win and believes the judges were swayed by the hometown support for Till.

“I know close fights are very hard in the moment,” Thompson said. “But there seems to be a lot of that happening recently. But I think [I would have won if the fight was not in Liverpool]. I really do. I think so. Darren is definitely a tough guy, man. He’s a very confident person. Definitely built for the fight game. And yeah, I think I would …

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Fresh off being crowned the Bellator MMA middleweight champion, Gegard Mousasi has already told fans he wants his first fight as the champion to be against Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald.

Mousasi took on Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 200 on Friday, winning impressively with a first-round TKO. During the post-fight interview, Mousasi called out MacDonald and “The Red King” wasted no time to respond by congratulating the newly crowned champion and tagging Bellator officials on Twitter, requesting the fight.

@mousasi_mma congratulations on you dominant victory, @ScottCoker @rich_chou i know you wanted a title defense from me before challenging at middle weight. but myself vs @mousasi_mma is the fight to make right now, so lets make this happen!?

— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) May 25, 2018

MacDonald and Mousasi were both guests on “The MMA Hour” Monday and…

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On Sunday at UFC Fight Night 130, Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Elias Theodorou took on Trevor Smith in a preliminary contest inside the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Theodorou was victorious, winning by unanimous decision.

Theodorou, who won “The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia,” is 4-1 in his last five fights, and is now eyeing a more prestigious opponent after beating the likes of Sam Alvey, Cezar Ferreira, Daniel Kelly and Smith.

It appears he already has someone in mind in the form of UFC veteran and former light heavyweight Lyoto Machida (via MMAJunkie.com):

“I’ve said it before: I kind of fancy myself the poor man’s Machida, and I’d love to take on the real one. It’s the case of, essentially, you train hard enough, you compete long enough and your idols eventually become your competition. He fought someone who wasn’t ranked two fights ago (Eryk Anders),…

It appears as though Charles Oliveira will step in for Bobby Green and face Clay Guida at UFC 225.

Guida revealed the change via Instagram, and the new bout was subsequently confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. The promotion has not officially announced the matchup. UFC 225 takes place at the United Center in Chicago on June 9 and is headlined by a middleweight title clash between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero.

Oliveira, 28, has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a second-round TKO defeat at the hands of Paul Felder in his most recent appearance at UFC 218. “Do Bronx” does own a first-round submission of former Bellator champ Will Brooks at UFC 210 during that stretch.

Guida is coming off back-to-back wins over Joe Lauzon and Erik Koch in 2017. “The Carpenter” is 14-11 during his promotional tenure and 34-17 as a professional overall.

Currently on a three-bout winning streak, Mauricio Rua will return to the Octagon to face former light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Fight Night 134 in Hamburg, Germany, on July 22.

The Brazilian has chosen to hold his entire training camp in Brazil, just as he did in his last few fights, under the remote supervision of Kings MMA leader Rafael Cordeiro.

"He is my head coach, he will continue to spend all the coordination of my training along with Eduardo [Alonso]. It was like that in the last two fights, so it's the way that makes me comfortable,” Rua said at a press conference. “I'm a person who cannot adapt outside [the country]. If I went outside, I would stay two months without my family, and I really cannot adapt outside without my family. So I opted for Brazil with the master supervising my training normally.”

“Shogun” is coming off successive triumphs over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Corey Anderson and Gian Villante. Currently No.…

Ideally, Sijara Eubanks would have fought Nicco Montano for the inaugural women’s flyweight crown at “The Ultimate Fighter 26” finale.

Instead, a disastrous weight cut hospitalized Eubanks one day before the bout, and she was replaced by Roxanne Modafferi. Montano then went on to claim 125-pound gold with a five-round verdict over “The Happy Warrior” this past December.

Eubanks was seeded 12th out of 16 fighters in the house, while Montano was No. 14, and both bested more experienced and celebrated opponents to make it to the finale. However, Eubanks’ Octagon debut won’t come until Friday, when she faces Lauren Murphy in a preliminary flyweight contest at UFC Fight Night 131 in Utica, N.Y.

Meanwhile, Montano hasn’t defended her belt since winning it at the “TUF 26” finale. She initially targeted a summer return after rehabbing an injured foot that plagued her even before the clash with Modafferi. However, a rumored UFC on Fox 30 date with Valentina Shevchen…

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There will be no swan song for Michael Bisping.

After flirting with the possibility of a farewell fight over the past few months, the former UFC middleweight champion announced his retirement on his “Believe You Me” podcast Monday.

“Obviously I’ve teased this for a long time now. I might fight again, I might not. Unfortunately, there’s not a fight that I’m announcing,” Bisping said. “I am going to announce my official retirement from mixed martial arts.”

The 39-year-old Englishman hasn’t competing since being finished twice in a three-week span this past November in losses to Georges St. Pierre and Kelvin Gastelum. Bisping, who suffered a detached retina in his right eye earlier in his career, said he began experiencing issues with his left eye following the loss to Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 122 on Nov. 25.

“You can’t do it forever. I’ve done it for a long time. Of course, I’ve got is…

Anastasia Yankova tasted defeat for the first time in her young MMA career last week, as she dropped a unanimous decision to Kate Jackson at Bellator 200 in London.

Yankova recently released a statement via Instagram following that loss. The message was positive, as the Russian kickboxer vowed to return to action soon.

“[Friday] I lost, but if you choose to be a fighter, take challenges, fight strong opponents, then you also accept the fact that this can happen,” Yankova wrote. “..To those who stay with me, regardless of the fact that [at Bellator 200] the referee [didn’t raise my hand], I am very grateful and happy that [you’re] in my life…Nothing ends, it's just the beginning. My face is slightly dented, but I don’t have injuries, so I'll see you soon.”

Yankova wasn’t especially competitive against Jackson in their flyweight bout. Jackson controlled the contest with takedowns and ground-and-pound, leaving her opponent’s nose a mangled mess at the conclusi…