Eddie Alvarez Signs with ONE Championship
(https:)Eddie Alvarez’s free agency days are over. The former UFC lightweight champion has found a new home in ONE Championship. Eddie Alvarez announced the signing himself through ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong via Twitter Monday night, putting an end to speculation regarding his future.
Eddie Alvarez has had a storied MMA career, becoming the first-ever two-time Bellator lightweight champion and then going on to also become UFC lightweight champion with a victory over Rafael dos Anjos in July of 2016. Hailed as the “Underground King,” Alvarez will now return to defend his throne in ONE Championship and, in the process, seek to hoist the organization’s name up in contention with his former homes: Bellator MMA and the UFC. This signing marks arguably the biggest boon in the history of ONE FC. When signing his contract, Alvarez appeared eager to begin this new chapter of his career:
Joao Zeferino withdraws from PFL 10 due to injury
(https:)Top-seeded Joao Zeferino won’t be getting a chance to compete for the Professional Fighters League’s million-dollar prize.
On Monday, Zeferino announced that he is withdrawing from Saturday’s PFL 10 card and the league’s 2018 welterweight playoffs due to injury.
Shinya Aoki vs Ev Ting at ‘ONE: Kingdom of Heroes’ in Bangkok, Thailand
(https:)ONE Championship will be in Bangkok, Thailand on October 6, 2018 for “ONE: Kingdom of Heroes.” One of the bouts on the fight card is between Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki, 35, of Japan and Ev “E.T.” Ting, 29, of New Zealand and Malaysia.
Aoki and Ting will compete in the lightweight division at “ONE: Kingdom of Heroes.” The winner will earn a shot at the ONE Lightweight World Championship.
Currently reigning as the ONE Lightweight World Champion is Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen, 29, of Australia and Vietnam, who also holds the ONE Featherweight World Championship title, which he has successfully defended once. For the first time, he will defend his ONE Lightweight World Champion title in Tokyo, Japan in 2019.
Brian Foster, Ramsey Nijem forced to withdraw from PFL playoff race
(https:)Brian Foster and Ramsey Nijem are out of the 2018 Professional Fighters League playoff picture, opening the door for two unlikely candidates to claim a postseason spot.
MMA Fighting confirmed with league officials that Foster and Nijem have been forced to withdraw from the current season. Foster didn’t receive a license to compete from the athletic commission, and Ramsey wasn’t cleared by a physician after being placed on medical suspension following his loss to Foster at PFL 2 on June 21.
MMA pioneer Kid Yamamoto announces cancer diagnosis
(https:)The former K-1 Heroes 165 lb Grand Prix champion and Japanese MMA legend is battling cancer.
Over the first half of the 2000s Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto was unquestionably one of the greatest talents in MMA. Standing just 5’ 4”, he blitzed the K-1 Heroes 165lb Middleweight Grand Prix, defeating Royler Gracie, Caol Uno, and Genki Sudo all by KO. His knockout of Kazuyuki Miyata, via flying knee just four seconds into round 1, is one of the fastest in MMA history.
Virna Jandiroba defends strawweight title vs. Janaisa Morandin at Invicta FC 31
(https:)The strawweight title will be on the line in an all-Brazil matchup when Invicta FC returns in a month.
Undefeated champ Virna Jandiroba (13-0) will headline Invicta FC 31 against challenger Janaisa Morandin (10-1), the promotion recently announced. In the co-main event, UFC veteran Pearl Gonzalez (8-3) takes on Daiane Firmino (10-2) at flyweight.
Invicta FC 31 takes place Sept. 1 at the historic Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, Mo. The card streams live on UFC Fight Pass.
The Invicta FC 31 card includes:
Champ Virna Jandiroba vs. Janaisa Morandin – for strawweight title
Daiane Firmino vs. Pearl Gonzalez
Raquel Pa’aluhi vs. Shanna Young
Mallory Martin vs. Ashley Nichols
Kelly D’Angelo vs. Lindsey VanZandt
Kay Hansen vs. Helen Peralta
Audrey Drew vs. Holli Salazar
Ray Cooper III vs. Pavel Kusch headlines PFL 6 in Atlantic City; Kayla Harrison returns
(https:)The full lineup is now set for PFL 6, which features the rebranded promotion’s first trip to Atlantic City and a welterweight headliner between Ray Cooper III and Pavel Kusch.
The promotion today made official the full fight card for the event, which takes place Aug. 16 at Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. The card airs on NBCSN following prelims streamed on Facebook.
The PFL 6 card includes:
MAIN CARD (NBCSN)
Ray Cooper III vs. Pavel Kusch
Gomed Magomedkerimov vs. Bojan Velickovic
Kayla Harrison vs. Jozette Cotton
Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Jonatan Westin
Joao Zeferino vs. Yuri Villefort
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook Live)
Abus Magomedov vs. Anderson Goncalves
John Howard vs. Bruno Santos
Rick Story vs. TBD
Shamil Gamzatov vs. Rex Harris
Jake Shields vs. Herman Terrado
Louis Taylor vs. Andre Lobato
Gasan Umalatov vs. Eddie Gordon
PFL 5 Weigh-ins: Efrain Escudero Eliminated from Playoffs on the Scale
(m.sherdog.com)Known for missing weight at several points in his career, Escudero again failed on the scale Wednesday in Uniondale, New York, hitting 163.2, which led to his removal from Thursday’s PFL 5 card. His opponent, Islam Mamedov, did his part by hitting 155.2. Mamedov will be paid his show and win money, as well as receive a win in the PFL Playoff standings.
By missing weight for the second time this season, Escudero has been eliminated from post-season consideration.
Kyoji Horiguchi Extends Win Streak to 10, UFC Vets Gomi, Brandao Score KOs at Rizin 11
(sherdog.com)Kyoji Horiguchi continues to cement himself as one of the top lighter weight fighters in the world, regardless of organization.
The former UFC title challenger weathered an early storm to win a decision in a rematch with Hiromasa Ogikubo at Rizin Fighting Federation 11 on Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama Japan. Ogikubo, a two-division Shooto champ, floored his opponent early, but could not capitalize on the fast start, as Horiguchi gradually took control. While the Japanese star was unable to get a finish, he did batter his foe with punches to the face and soccer kicks to the body, leaving Ogikubo bloodied at the end of the 10-minute affair.
Brian Foster vs. Natan Schulte headlines PFL 5 in New York
(https:)The lineup is set for the Professional Fighters League’s next show, which will be its second straight in New York.
PFL 5, like PFL 4 this past week, takes place at NYCB Live in Uniondale, N.Y., on Long Island. The main card airs on NBCSN following prelims on Facebook Live. The event will feature regular-season fights in the lightweight and light heavyweight divisions
The PFL 5 lineup includes:
NBCSN CARD (NBCSN, 9 p.m. ET)
Brian Foster vs. Natan Schulte
Brandon Halsey vs. Vinny Magalhaes
Luiz Firmino vs. Rashid Magomedov
Rakim Cleveland vs. Maxim Grishin
Will Brooks vs. Robert Watley
FACBOOK CARD (Facebook Live, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Artur Alibulatov vs. Dan Spohn
Efrain Escudero vs. Islam Mamedov
Arthur Estrazulas vs. Thiago Tavares
Yuki Kawana vs. Chris Wade
Heavyweight champ Phil De Fries meets Karol Bedorf in KSW 45 headliner
(https:)English heavyweight Phil De Fries will defend his KSW title on home soil.
KSW officials today told MMAjunkie that De Fries (15-6) will put his title on the line against Polish challenger Karol Bedorf (15-3) in the main event of KSW 45, which takes place Oct. 6 at London’s Wembley Arena.
The full card streams live on KSWTV.com.
ACB Cancel Second Fights Card In A Week With Cyprus Show Latest To Be Canned
(https:)ACB have reportedly cancelled their second fight card as many weeks with this weekends ACB 89 Cyprus not taking place.
The ACB 89 fight card set for the Spyros Kyprianou Arena in Limassol, Cyprus this weekend has been cancelled.
Sources close to MMANytt.com confirmed a report by Marcel Dorff earlier today on Twitter that the show is no longer taking place.
At this point in time, we have been unable to confirm why the event has been cancelled.
Shortly before publishing this report, we reached out to ACB officials for an official statement but have not yet heard back from them. We will update our report if we do.
This news today comes just a week after the promotion announced that ACB 91 set for London, England on Aug. 11 had been also been cancelled. The event was set to feature the return of Brad “One Punch” Pickett who is still to have his fight with Jesse Brock rearranged.
ACB’s next scheduled event is ACB 90 set to take place in Kazan, Russia on July 28. The event is set to be headlined by a lightweight bout pitting Musa Khamanaev against Leandro Silva. The co-main event slot is currently occupied by fan favourite Eduard Vartanyan taking on Erivan Pereira.
PFL 4 lineup set for Long Island with Lance Palmer vs. Jumabieke Tuerxun headliner
(https:)The Professional Fighters League will be back in New York next month, and the lineup is set for its fourth event of its inaugural season.
PFL 4 takes place July 19 at NYCB LIVE in Uniondale, N.Y., on Long Island. The main card airs on NBCSN following prelims on Facebook.
The card will be made of of the second fights in the two-fight regular season for featherweights and heavyweights in the field.
The full PFL 4 fight card includes:
Lance Palmer (13-3) vs. Juma Tuerxun (20-7-1) – second fight of featherweight season
Andre Harrison (18-0) vs. Nazareno Malegarie (29-4) – second fight of featherweight season
Francimar Barroso (20-7) vs. Jack May (10-3) – second fight of heavyweight season
Alexandre Almeida (19-7) vs. Steven Siler (30-17) – second fight of featherweight season
Alex Nicholson (12-5) vs. Philipe Lins (10-3) – second fight of heavyweight season
Jared Rosholt (16-4) vs. Kelvin Tiller (9-1) – second fight of heavyweight season
Bekbulat Magomedov (19-2) vs Magomed Idrisov (8-2) – second fight of featherweight season
Max Coga (19-5) vs. Marcos Galvao (18-10-1) – second fight of featherweight season
Lee Coville (4-2) vs. Timur Valiev (13-2) – second fight of featherweight season
Josh Copeland (16-5) vs. Shawn Jordan (19-8) – second fight of heavyweight season
UFC vet Sean Soriano meets Bruce Boyington for vacant 145 title at CES MMA 51
(https:)The vacant featherweight title will be on the line when CES MMA returns to Rhode Island in August.
UFC veteran Sean Soriano (11-5) will take on Bruce Boyington (15-11) for the vacant 145-pound strap at CES MMA 51, the promotion announced today. The event takes place at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., on Aug. 3. The main card airs on AXS TV.
The title fight is the first added to the card, and it has not yet been announced whether it will be the main event.
PFL 2 weigh-in results and video: Firmino 154.5, Brooks 156
(https:)Check out the full weigh-in results and video for week 2 of the Professional Fighters League 2018 regular season.
Week 2 of the Professional Fighters League 2018 regular season has arrived. June 21st sees the lightweight and light heavyweights in action, with UFC veteran and former Bellator champion Will Brooks headlining against WSOF mainstay Luiz Firmino. Familiar faces also on the card include Brian Foster, TUF 13 runner-up Ramsey Nijem, TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero (who missed weight in what was a short notice call-up), Ronny Markes, former Bellator middleweight champion Brandon Halsey, Vinny Magalhaes, and many more. Outside the tournament itself, two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison makes her MMA debut against Brittany Elkin, in what is a lightweight bout that will air on the main card.
Thiago Silva out of ACB 88 main event due to visa issues, Camozzi fight scratched
(https:)UFC veteran Thiago Silva is out of his main event bout against fellow Octagon alumn Chris Camozzi, at Absolute Champion Berkut ‘88, in Brisbane, Australia. According to an Instagram post made by Silva himself, visa issues rendered him unable to enter the country and the promotion could not find a suitable replacement on such short notice.
According to Silva, however, he still has interest to take the fight. As he wrote on his post, the 35-year-old looks forward to beating Camozzi.
“Unfortunately my fight in Australia got canceled because of visa issues. Unfortunately the organization didn’t tell the truth to @chriscamozzi7, so he’s saying he doesn’t know the reason on social media. Don’t worry honey bim we will fight soon. Keep your hard work because you will need it for the next time I see you. You like to talk. I like to punch and kick and slap the big talkers In the face inside the cage, Brandon Vera style. Be ready, you will face me soon.”
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