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A featherweight showdown pitting Emmanuel Sanchez against Sam Sicilia will co-headline Bellator 198.

The promotion revealed the matchup on Monday night. Bellator 198 takes place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., on April 28 and features a heavyweight grand prix matchup between Fedor Emelianenko and Frank Mir. The card will be televised on the Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.

Sanchez has won six of his last seven in the California-based organization, with his only defeat coming at the hands of former title challenger Daniel Weichel via split decision. “El Matador” scored the biggest victory of his tenure to date at Bellator 184, when he submitted ex-champ Daniel Straus with a triangle choke in the third round.

Sicilia signed with Bellator on the heels of a three-fight skid in the UFC. He made his debut at Bellator 189, taking a unanimous decision over Marcos Galvao. Sicilia went 5-7 during his UFC stint and is 16-8 as a professional overall.<…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will plant its flag in a South American country other than Brazil for the first time on May 19 when it visits Santiago, Chile.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the first five bouts for the UFC Fight Night card on Monday: Alexa Grasso vs. Tatiana Suarez at strawweight; Vicente Luque vs. Chad Laprise at welterweight; Diego Riva vs. Guido Cannetti at bantamweight; Poliana Botelho vs. Syuri Kondo at strawweight and Andrea Lee vs. Veronica Macedo at flyweight.

The event takes place at the Movistar Arena and will be televised on Fox Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. A headliner has not yet been revealed.

Grasso, the highly touted prospect from Mexico, has won two of her three Octagon appearances, including a split verdict against Rando Markos in her most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 114. Suarez, meanwhile, owns a 5-0 mark that includes wins over Viviane Pereira and Amanda Bobby Cooper in the Octagon.…

A late change has occurred on the UFC Fight Night 127 card, as Bradley Scott will replace Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and meet Jack Marshman on March 17 in London.

The promotion’s European branch announced the change on Monday. UFC Fight Night 127 takes place at the O2 Arena and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Fabricio Werdum and Alexander Volkov. The card will stream in its entirety on UFC Fight Pass.

The 28-year-old Scott has alternated wins and losses throughout his seven-bout Octagon tenure. He last appeared at UFC Fight Night 114, where he suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Jack Hermansson on Aug. 5.

Marshman is 2-2 in four promotional appearances, including a first-round submission defeat against Antonio Carlos Jr. at UFC Fight Night 119 on Oct. 28. The 28-year-old Welshman owns a 22-7 career mark.

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French prospect Tom Duquesnoy will attempt to get back on the winning track when he faces Terrion Ware at UFC Fight Night 127.

Promotion officials announced the bantamweight pairing on Monday. UFC Fight Night 127 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on March 17 and is headlined by a heavyweight tilt pitting Fabricio Werdum against Alexander Volkov. The card will stream in its entirety on UFC Fight Pass.

Duquesnoy saw a 12-fight unbeaten streak come to an end at UFC 216, as he dropped a split decision to Cody Stamman on Oct. 7 in Las Vegas. It was the Paris native’s first defeat since falling to Makwan Amirkhani in February 2013. “Fire Kid” earned a second-round TKO triumph over Patrick Williams in his promotional debut at UFC on Fox 24.

Ware also joined the Las Vegas-based organizatin in 2017 and came up short in both of his appearances, dropping decisions to Stamann and Sean O’Malley. The 31-year-old owns a 17-7 career reco…

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Bellator 194’s headliner is good to go, but par for the promotion, the weigh-ins were not without …

Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Brandon Davis certainly seems eager to put his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut behind him.

The UFC featherweight made his Octagon debut at UFC 220 on Jan. 20, losing a unanimous decision to Kyle Bochniak. On Thursday, “Killer B” took to Instagram to announce that he would be stepping in for Humberto Bandenay against Steven Peterson at UFC Fight Night 126 on Feb. 18. Peru’s Bandenay has been forced out of contest due to visa issues.

UFC Fight Night 126 takes place at Frank Erwin Centre in Austin, Texas, headlined by a welterweight scrap between “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone and Yancy Medeiros.

Davis is an understudy of UFC veteran. Alan Belcher, fighting out of Starkville, Miss. After earning a UFC deal in August with a unanimous decision over Austin Artnett at Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series 4, the 27-year-old made his afor…

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Priscila Cachoeira’s coach has no regrets when it comes to his fighter’s bout against Valentina Shevchenko this past weekend.

Gilliard Alfredo Fagundes, the head trainer at Parana Vale Tudo, was in the corner as Cachoeira was overwhelmed by Shevchenko en route to a second-round submission defeat in the UFC Fight Night 125 co-main event in Belem, Brazil, on Saturday. In the lopsided flyweight bout, Shevchenko held a whopping 230-to-3 advantage in total strikes.

While referee Mario Yamasaki initially took the brunt of the criticism for failing to stop the fight sooner, Fagundes also took some heat because he didn’t throw in the towel to save his athlete.

As someone who has 18 professional bouts on his record, Fagundes didn’t see that as an option.

"I would never throw a towel, no way, I'm a fighter and I know that playing that is something that neither athlete wants,” the coach told Sherdog.com.

Fagundes…

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There was plenty of criticism to go around following Priscila Cachoeira’s lopsided loss to Valentina Shevchenko in the UFC Fight Night 125 co-main event.

The immediate culprit was referee Mario Yamasaki, who drew the ire of UFC President Dana White for allowing the flyweight contest to last as long as it did. Ultimately, Shevchenko won via rear-naked choke at the 4:25 mark of the second round after racking up a whopping 230-to-3 advantage in total strikes landed.

In the aftermath, the UFC matchmaking also received some scrutiny for allowing Cachoeira, an Octagon rookie, to be paired with Shevchenko, a former title challenger at 135 pounds. Additionally, the Brazilian’s corner was questioned for its failure to throw in the towel as Cachoeira continued to absorb what appeared to be unnecessary punishment.

Cachoeira disputed the criticism surrounding her fight with Shevchenko in a recent Instagram post.

“I’ll f…

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Kristina Williams will face Emily Ducote at Bellator 195 in Thackerville, Okla., on March 2.

Williams confirmed the flyweight pairing via Twitter following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 195 takes place at Winstar World Casino and Resort and is headlined by a bantamweight championship tilt between Darrion Caldwell and Leandro Higo. The evening’s main card will be televised on the Paramount Network.

You guys wanted an announcement? Here you go!!! March 2nd at @WinStarWorld & live on @paramountnet at @BellatorMMA 185 | @TKOcombatsports #MMA #WarhorseMMA #TeamTKO #Winstar #Oklahoma #OK #BellatorM…

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James Mulheron has accepted a one-year suspension from USADA for an anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on Nov. 10.

The UFC announced the heavyweight’s sanction in a statement on Tuesday:

Mulheron, 29, tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolite, hydroxyclomiphene, following an out-of-competition urine test conducted on November 10, 2017. Clomiphene is a Specified Substance in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

Clomiphene is not approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) or the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use in the male population, as its use has not been thoroughly studied f…

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Gegard Mousasi wants…

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The gap in experience between UFC Fight Night 118 headliners Darren Till and Donald Cerrone is glaring, but it isn’t as significant as one might think – at least according to the Englishman with four Octagon appearances under his belt.

“Fighting isn’t about age or experience; it’s about intelligence,” Till recently said. “I know I’m the most intelligent fighter out there. I don’t think he’s half the fighter I am, I really don’t.”

Cerrone has never held championship gold in the UFC or World Extreme Cagefighting, but he’s fought the best in the sport during his 35 bouts within those two promotions. The 34-year-old “Cowboy” enters the matchup on a two-fight skid after having lost to Robbie Lawler and Jorge Masvidal in his last two outings. Still, his resume is loaded with victories over notable names, including Matt Brown, Patri…

This Bud isn’t for the Ultimate Fighting Championship any more.

The UFC has reached a multiyear deal with Modelo Especial which will make the Mexican import the Octagon’s official beer and malt beverage starting in 2018. The partnership was announced on Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Modelo is an amazing brand that shares UFC's unmatched commitment to its fan base,” UFC President Dana White told The Associated Press. “I love Modelo and we're already talking about doing a lot of exciting things together.”

The fight promotion signed a sponsorship deal with Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. nearly a decade ago. In February 2008, the two companies announced their partnership, making Bud Light the official beer of both the UFC and then-active World Extreme Cagefighting brands. After the initial three-year contract, the UFC and Anheuser-Busch extended their deal in April 2011.

“When Bud signed on to be our sponsor, it sent a significant message t…

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Following the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White has announced that the Las Vegas-based promotion will donate $1 million to a victim support fund for those impacted by the tragedy.

White confirmed the news of the pending donation to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Adam Hill on Monday. The UFC boss also confirmed that UFC 216, scheduled for this Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, would go on as planned.

“The fighters are already in town,” White told Hill. “As far as the event goes, it's on.”

On Sunday evening, at least 59 were killed and 527 were injured at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in the Las Vegas Village when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd from the 32nd floor of the nearby Manadalay Bay. Paddock was found dead in his room by Las Vegas Metro Police after shooting himself following the attack.

"At the end of the day, this is o…

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Josh Emmett will square off against Felipe Arantes at UFC Fight Night 118 on Oct. 21.

Promotion officials announced the pairing on Friday. UFC Fight Night 118 takes place at Ergo Arena in Gdansk Poland and is headlined by a welterweight clash pitting Donald Cerrone against Darren Till. The card streams in its entirety on UFC Fight Pass.

Emmett suffered the first loss of his 12-bout professional career at UFC 210, as he dropped a split decision against Desmond Green. The Team Alpha Male representative began his promotional tenure with back-to-back triumphs over Jon Tuck and Scott Holtzman.

Arantes was supposed to face Luke Sanders in a bantamweight bout at UFC Fight Night in Pittsburgh last Saturday but withdrew from the bout one day prior due to illness. “Sertanejo” last appeared at UFC Fight Night 98, losing a split decision to Erik Perez. Arantes is 5-4-1 in th…

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Nick Roehrick has accepted a one-year suspension from USADA after failing an out-of-competition urine test conducted on Aug. 8.

The UFC light heavyweight tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolite, 4-hydroxyclomiphene. Roehrick’s sanction is retroactive to Aug. 17, the date his provisional suspension was imposed. Per USADA:

Clomiphene is not approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the male population, meaning such off-label clinical use has not been thoroughly studied for safety and efficacy. Clomiphene also indirectly promotes the secretion of testosterone. Increasing testosterone, especially when combined with strength training, has been demonstrated to increase fat-free mass, muscle size, and strength in males, potentially leading to performance enhancement in sport.

Roehrick came up short in his Octagon debut, falling to Jared Cannonier at “The Ultimate Fighter 25” finale on July 7. The …

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UFC Fight Night 116Credit: Getty/UFC UFC Fight Night 116Credit: Getty/UFC UFC Fight Night 116Credit: Getty/UFC UFC Fight Night 116Credit: Getty/UFC UFC Fight Night 116Credit: Getty/UFC UFC Fight Night 116Credit: Getty/UFC A pair of late replacements are looking at the most serious suspensions after UFC Fight Night 116.

Heavyweight slugger Azunna Anyanwu suffered a three-round decision loss to Justin Ledet, stepping in on a week's notice for Ukraine's Dmitriy Sosnovskiy, while welterweight Alex Reyes filled in on just three days' notice for co-headliner Thiago Alves, suffering a first-round knockout defeat against Mike Perry. Anyanwu now faces an indefinite suspension pending an ophthalmologist clearing his right eye injury, while Reyes will sit for 60 days after his knockout.

Anyanwu and Reyes head the list of suspensions released Monday by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, following UFC Fight Night 116, which took Saturday night place at the PPG Paints Arena …

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Nate Diaz Blasts Conor McGregor Over Defeat to Floyd Mayweather Nate Diaz had some pointed words for his rival Conor McGregor on Tuesday.