(Click on the fight below and then scroll down to see in-fight live analytics and the latest results, courtesy of Fight Analytics. The first UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2 bout from Atlanta is scheduled to begin on Saturday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.)

UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2 marks the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Atlanta with a dual-championship bill. It is also the promotion’s move away from the traditional pay-per-view model to ESPN+ pay-per-view.

Featherweight champion Max Holloway moves up to the lightweight division to face top contender Dustin Poirier for the interim UFC lightweight championship in the UFC 236 headliner. The winner will be crowned the interim titleholder and slotted as the next challenger to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov when he returns to the cage later this year.

Holloway and Poirier have fought once before, more than seven years ago, with Poirier winning. Since that time, Holloway has run away with the UFC featherweight division.

He’s won 13 consecutive fights, become the UFC featherweight champion, and is considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

Poirier hasn’t been on quite the streak that Holloway has, but returned to lightweight a few years after defeating Holloway, and is currently on a run of 8-1-1, elevating his stock to championship caliber.

The UFC 236 co-main event features another interim championship as Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya fight for the middleweight version. 

Gastelum was already supposed to have fought Robert Whittaker for the undisputed title at UFC 234, but the bout was derailed on the day of the fight when Whittaker was rushed to surgery for a hernia and collapsed bowel. Adesanya defeated Anderson Silva in the de facto headliner and earned the bout with Gastelum, while Whittaker sits on the sidelines.

UFC 236 takes place on Saturday, April 13, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga.

Check out the MMAWeekly.com Rumors page for more scheduled events and rumored fight cards.

UFC 236 Live Results: Holloway vs. Poirier 2 Full Live Results

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-236-full-live-results-holloway-vs-poirier-atlanta

Fresh off of a win in Philadelphia on March 30, Jack Hermansson is making a quick turnaround to face Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza later this month in Florida.

The UFC announced the change in line-up on Monday.

Jacare was initially slated to fight Yoel Romero on April 27 at UFC on ESPN 3 with the winner earning a shot at the middleweight title. Romero had to withdraw from the fight late last week after coming down with pneumonia.

UFC officials moved swiftly to slot Hermansson into the main event following his stellar performance in Philadelphia. On the heels of back-to-back victories over Thales Leites and Gerald Meerschaert, submitted former World Series of Fighting dual-division champion David Branch with a guillotine choke in 49 seconds.

Hermansson (19-4) stepping into the fight keeps Jacare in the main event with a victory still likely to put him in line for a title shot. 

Jacare (26-6, 1NC) has long been entrenched at the top of the 185-pound division. In his last 15 bouts, he has only lost three times, once each to Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, and Kelvin Gastelum. Whittaker is currently the UFC middleweight champion, but on the shelf with injury, while Gastelum is facing Israel Adesanya at UFC 236 on Saturday in a fight for the interim middleweight belt. 

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Jacare is coming off of a third-round knockout of former UFC champion Chris Weidman at UFC 230 last November, paving his way back into contention.

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/jack-hermansson-replaces-yoel-romero-in-ufc-ft-lauderdale-main-event

(Courtesy of UFC)

On Episode 1 of UFC 236 Embedded, featherweight champion Max Holloway puts the pedal to the metal at a Porsche development track. Middleweight title contender Kelvin Gastelum takes on his final week of camp and visits the beach with family.

At the gym, lightweight title contender Dustin Poirier puts in work alongside coach Mike Brown, teammate Thiago Alves and his daughter Parker.

UFC 236 Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the two title fights taking place Saturday, April 13 on Pay-Per-View, available on ESPN Plus.

TRENDING Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier 2: UFC 236 Countdown

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/max-holloway-kicks-off-ufc-236-fight-week-ripping-up-the-track-in-a-porsche

Max Holloway has accomplished a lot already in his UFC career but he’s far from finished when it comes to history making moments.

At UFC 236, the 27-year old Hawaiian will move up to 155 pounds where he faces Dustin Poirier in the main event with the interim lightweight title on the line.

If he’s victorious, Holloway would become the fourth fighter in UFC history — joining Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes — to hold two championships in two separate divisions simultaneously.

Holloway is already a two-time defending featherweight champion with a pair of TKO wins over Jose Aldo, who is arguably the greatest 145-pound fighter in history not to mention his dominant victory against previously undefeated foe Brian Ortega last December.

Now with the fight against Poirier on Saturday night with the winner then expected to unify the title against Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year, Holloway has his sights set on a lot of action in the lightweight division in 2019.

Obviously getting the job done at UFC 236 is paramount but even with a win over Poirier this weekend, Holloway still has no desire to give up his featherweight belt just because he’s got business to handle at lightweight.

“First things first, we’ve got Dustin and then I keep hearing the one after this is maybe Khabib in September,” Holloway told MMAWeekly ahead of UFC 236. “I’m really going to have to sit down and talk to the UFC about that. I want to figure it out. A king defends his throne. We’ll sit down with the UFC after this fight, we’ll see how it goes first. All my attention is on Dustin for sure.

“Everybody is talking about me being the fourth person that might be able to be the simultaneous [two-division champion] but I want to be the champ that holds both and defends both. That’s always the end game.”

As of now, the 145-pound division will move forward attempting to build a new top contender to potentially await Holloway’s return but no decisions will be made by the UFC until at least after Saturday night’s main event is finished.

Former rugby player turned fighter Alexander Volkanovski could be the next person in line to challenge for the title if he can get past Aldo in May. Holloway has never hand-picked any of his past opponents and he certainly wouldn’t start now if Volkanovski ends up as the next No. 1 contender.

Of course as much as the featherweight title means to him, Holloway has to stay focused on the task at hand, which means winning the interim lightweight championship and avenging the first loss of his UFC career.

At just 20-years of age, Holloway accepted a short notice bout against Poirier back in 2014 but ultimately fell by first round submission.

Now five years later, Holloway is regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and he’s excited to not only win his second divisional title but also get back that loss that started his UFC career.

“Like I said before, all these guys are cupcakes and I got to eat a little bit more cupcakes in this camp. I get to retry a flavor I had seven years ago,” Holloway stated. “Hopefully it tastes better this time around.”

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/max-holloway-addresses-his-future-at-featherweight-ahead-of-ufc-236

Weeks after Conor McGregor was arrested for allegedly snagging a fan’s phone and smashing it, a lawsuit filed stemming from the incident has been dropped.

Though TMZ Sports headlines indicated that McGregor had settled the lawsuit, it’s not yet known if that is certain. Court records show that the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, which means that it is resolved and can’t be brought back to court. Generally, that indicates that a settlement has been reached.

The incident in question took place in early March when McGregor was arrested by Miami Beach Police after he allegedly destroyed a fan’s phone outside the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel. According to police records, McGregor was arrested and charged with felony robbery/strong-arm and felony criminal mischief.

The arrest report stated that McGregor was leaving the hotel where the LIV nightclub is located around 5 a.m. and a fan was walking alongside him when he attempted to take a photo of the UFC superstar. McGregor allegedly slapped the phone out of the fan’s hand and then stomped on it several times to destroy it.

The report states that McGregor then allegedly picked up the phone and walked away with it.

Though the lawsuit has been dismissed, McGregor still faces legal charges, though they have been downgraded somewhat since the initial arrest. Following a review by prosecutors, the two charges were modified, according to a report by USA Today.

“As a matter of normal procedure, police officers arrest and charge based on probable cause, the lowest evidentiary standard,” Ed Griffith, spokesperson for the Miami-Dade state attorney, told USA TODAY Sports. “Prosecutors must believe that they can prove the potential charges beyond a reasonable doubt, a much higher standard of required evidence.”

After determining the value of the phone to be between $200 and $1,000, the charge of felony criminal mischief was reduced to a misdemeanor. 

The strong-armed robbery charge was reduced to a charge of robbery by sudden snatching. That lowers the significance of the charge from a second-degree felony to a third-degree felony.

The reduction in charges means that McGregor is facing less severe penalties: six years in jail as opposed to 20 years. It is unlikely that McGregor will serve a prison sentence when all is said and done, but the charges could have an affect on his immigration status as an Irish citizen.

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McGregor is clear to return to the Octagon as of Saturday, April 6, following the completion of a Nevada-imposed suspension for his role in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl with Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team last October.

McGregor recently issued a retirement tweet, but appears to have changed his mind after recently tweeting, “See you in the Octagon.” Still, there is nothing official on tap for his return, although a July date had reportedly been discussed.

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/conor-mcgregors-phone-smashing-lawsuit-dismissed