(Courtesy of UFC)

Israel Adesanya continued his rapid ascent up the middleweight rankings after he faced off with UFC legend Anderson Silva at UFC 234 in February. Adesanya faces Kelvin Gastelum next for the interim middleweight championship at UFC 236 on April 13.

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Tune in Saturday, April 13, for UFC 236 full live results, where Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier battle for the next shot at UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Israel Adesanya squares off with Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title.

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/relive-israel-adesanyas-win-over-anderson-silva-ufc-236-free-fight

Though he was able to pick up a unanimous decision victory over previously undefeated Ryan MacDonald at UFC on ESPN+ 6 in Nashville on March 23, bantamweight Chris Gutierrez feels like his performance wasn’t perfect.

According to Gutierrez, even though he came out of the bout relatively unscathed, there is more work to be done and there are always areas he can make adjustments to.

“I just watched the fight a couple days ago and as a martial artist there’s always room for improvement,” Gutierrez told MMAWeekly.com. “I’m my own biggest critic.

“I’m happy I got the win, but I’m excited to get back to training and keep evolving as a martial artist. Overall I’m glad I got the win, but I know I can do more.”

For Gutierrez, picking up a win over MacDonald following a loss in his UFC debut last November to Raoni Barcelos at The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale was essential.

“It’s a very big deal to me,” said Gutierrez. “After my loss I didn’t really consider myself a UFC fighter. It gave me more motivation to really go out there and perform.

“Of course all the adversity that I was going through and am still going through, it was a big relief. Hard work does pay off, and I’ve got to stay persistent and stay at it.”

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Now that he’s picked up his first UFC victory, Gutierrez will take just a short time off before returning to training in preparation for his next bout sometime hopes during the summer.

“I feel like this (last) fight I broke out of my shell and this version of myself I feel good,” Gutierrez said. “With the good things that I’ve been learning, just growing as a man and having my life in order, it makes fighting and training just fall into line. Everything happens for a reason, and I really believe that. Everything is going the way I feel it should and the way it’s supposed to play out.

“I’m not that hurt, so I’m taking this week off to relax and recoup a little bit. Come Monday it’s back to training. And hopefully around May or June or by the end of July I’ll get back to it.”

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/chris-gutierrez-broke-out-of-his-shell-with-ufc-on-espn-6-win

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/demetrious-johnson-eddie-alvarez-shinya-aoki-one-new-era-fight-highlights-video

Former UFC champion and King of Pancrase Josh Barnett has inked a deal to fight for Bellator MMA.

Bellator president Scott Coker announced the news on Twitter on Monday with Barnett replying his affirmation of the news with Bellator officials further confirming the news to MMAWeekly.com’s Damon Martin.

“Welcome to Bellator MMA, Josh Barnett,” wrote Coker, who added “(Not an April Fools joke)” due to the announcement coinciding with the day littered with practical jokes.

At 41 years of age, Barnett has been fighting professionally his entire adult life. He’s fought for nearly every major organization on the planet. 

He won three fights in one night to win an old-school SuperBrawl tournament, became a UFC heavyweight champion, was an openweight King of Pancrase, fought the best heavyweights that Pride FC had to offer, lost to current UFC champion Daniel Cormier in a Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, and made another run in the Octagon.

There is hardly a soul on Earth that could bolster a similar resume.

But “The Warmaster” isn’t done yet. He now re-emerges with Bellator MMA.

It’s unclear how soon or whom he will fight in his Bellator debut, but the promotion could be angling for a fight that for years has eluded Barnett. While they never fought under the Pride banner, Barnett was supposed to have fought Fedor Emelianenko under the Affliction moniker in 2009, but the bout was cancelled after Barnett tested positive to an anabolic steroid.

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Barnett currently holds a record of 35-8. He last fought in the Octagon, defeating fellow former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski in a headlining bout at a UFC Fight Night in Hamburg, Germany, on Sept. 3, 2016. He sat out for more than a year following that bout while adjudicating a UFC Anti-Doping Policy violation which was later found to have been caused by a contaminated supplement.

“As man fights man
In the epic struggle for survival

The Warmaster shall reign
With oppression fed by a burning hate”

Here I come @BellatorMMA https://t.co/zJmKaERjHV

— ??? ????????? (@JoshLBarnett) April 1, 2019

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/former-ufc-champ-josh-barnett-inks-deal-with-bellator

Heavyweight competitor Ruslan Magomedov has received a lifetime ban from USADA after multiple violations of the UFC’s anti-doping policy.

On Monday, USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) revealed that Magomedov had recently received his second and third violations of the anti-doping policy resulting in his lifetime suspension.

Magomedov had initially been suspended two years for his first violation after testing positive for Ostarine in an out of competition test administered on Sept. 7, 2016. His suspension ran through September 2018.

Now the Russian fighter has received a lifetime ban from the sport after a second and third violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy.

“Magomedov, 32, received a second violation after he tested positive for methyltestosterone metabolite 17α-methyl-5β-androstan-3α, 17β-diol, as well as stanozolol metabolites 3’-hydroxystanozolol-O-glucuronide, 16β-hydroxystanozolol-O-glucuronide, and stanozolol-N-glucuronide, as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on October 10, 2018,” USADA officials said in a statement. “Methyltestosterone and stanozolol are non-Specified Substances in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

“The athlete’s third violation resulted from his refusal to complete the sample collection process as requested by a doping control officer during an out-of-competition test on February 5, 2019. Refusing or failing to submit to sample collection, without compelling justification, is a doping violation under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy. Magomedov’s lifetime period of ineligibility began on November 5, 2018, the date his provisional suspension was imposed.”

Magomedov now has the distinction of becoming the first fighter in UFC history to receive a lifetime ban from USADA since launching the anti-doping program.

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Magomedov competed in the UFC three times amassing a 3-0 record overall before his multitude of problems with USADA.

Now he has been permanently banned from competition by USADA due to three separate violations of the UFC’s anti-doping policy.

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-heavyweight-ruslan-magomedov-receives-lifetime-ban-from-usada