The Professional Fighters League (PFL), the first organization ever to present MMA in the sport-season format of Regular Season, Playoffs, and Championship, on Thursday announced the fight cards and schedule for the first half of the regular season – PFL 1, 2 and 3 at NYCB Live on Long Island, N.Y. PFL 1 will feature Welterweights and Women’s Lightweights, PFL 2 will spotlight Featherweights and Lightweights and PFL 3 will showcase Light Heavyweights and Heavyweights. Tickets are now available for purchase at ticketmaster.com. 

“Starting May 9, Thursday night is MMA night with the PFL on ESPN. Top fighters from around the world across six divisions will compete in a regular season, playoffs and championship with the opportunity to earn a title and one-million dollars.” said Peter Murray, CEO of the PFL. “This season we’re excited for fans to experience the first-ever Women’s Lightweight division, anchored by Kayla Harrison, and real time delivery of fighter data and analytics incorporated into each broadcast on ESPN2, ESPN+ And ESPN Deportes.” 

“In the PFL, there is no undercard, every fight counts. Every fighter on our roster enters the regular season knowing that if they win, and score maximum points, they will enter the postseason with a chance to compete for a PFL Championship and one-million dollars,” said Ray Sefo, President of PFL Fighter Operations. “The journey begins at PFL 1, 2 and 3. These are tone-setting fights and fans will see quality, action-packed matchups featuring the best fighters across six weight divisions from over 14 countries around the world.” 

PFL 1 – May 9, 6pm ET – 11pm ET 

At PFL 1, fans will witness the 2019 debuts of two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison and former Strikeforce and Invicta FC Bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman in the first-ever Women’s Lightweight division. Harrison will take on Svetlana Khautova, who will make her US debut, and Kaufman squares off against Morgan Frier, who enters the PFL season on a four-fight win streak, all by way of first-round stoppage. 2018 PFL Middleweight Champion Louis Taylor completes his move up to Welterweight and begins his campaign to become the first-ever two division champion in PFL history against newcomer Chris “Action Man” Curtis, who is coming off a spectacular win over UFC Veteran Matt Dwyer. Also, in Welterweight action, a Hawaiian rivalry is brewing, as 2018 PFL breakout star Ray Cooper III takes on fellow Hawaiian and cousin Zane Kamaka.

PFL 2 – May 23, 7pm ET – 12am ET 

Long Island natives Chris Wade (Lightweight) and Andre Harrison (Featherweight) begin their 2019 campaigns in their own backyard at NYCB Live, taking on Nate Andrews and Freddy Assuncao respectively. Andrews has won nine straight fights, seven by submission. Assuncao, twin brother of UFC Bantamweight contender Raphael Assuncao, returns to the cage following a three-year absence. The Brazilian was set to compete in the 2018 season, but an ACL injury prevented that from happening. Lance Palmer (Featherweight) and Natan Schulte (Lightweight) begin their title defenses against two newcomers in Alex Gilpin and Bao Yincang. 26-year-old Gilpin holds an impressive 12-1 career record and Yincang, hailing from China, makes his US debut. One of the top young fighters from Canada, Jeremy “The Bandit” Kennedy, whose 13-1 career record includes a 3-1 run in the UFC, also makes his PFL debut against Alexandre Bezerra. Bezerra produced one of the knockouts of the inaugural season – a flying knee KO that vaulted him into the 2018 playoffs.   

PFL 3 – June 6, 7pm ET – 12am ET 

2018 PFL Heavyweight champion Philipe Lins begins defense of his title at PFL 3 against Satoshi Ishii, an Olympic judo gold medalist with a 20-8-1 career MMA record. 2018 PFL Light Heavyweight runner-up Vinny Magalhaes returns to the PFL cage seeking the title that eluded him last season. Magalhaes won each of his first four fights of the 2018 season by stoppage, all in less than two minutes. He will look to replicate that success against a newcomer with knockout power in Jorge Gonzalez. Gonzalez has won his last six fights by first-round stoppage. Jordan Johnson, who went 4-0 in the UFC, makes his PFL debut and will look to extend his undefeated streak (10-0) against 2018 PFL quarterfinalist Maxim Grishin. 

*Times and matchups subject to change

PFL 1 – May 9, 6pm ET – 11pm ET*

ESPN+ (6pm ET – 9pm ET)

• Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (Brazil) (13-2-1) vs. Bojan Velickovic (Serbia) (16-8-2)
• Lightweight: Larissa Pacheco (Brazil) (11-2) vs. Roberta Samad (Cincinnati, OH) (4-1)
• Welterweight: Gamzat Khiramagomedov (Russia) (7-0) vs. Glaico Franca (Brazil) (19-5)
• Lightweight: Genah Fabian (New Zealand) (1-0) vs. Bobbi Jo Dalziel (Canada) (4-0)
• Welterweight: Sadibou Sy (Sweden) (7-4-1) vs. David Michaud (Phoenix, AZ) (15-4)

ESPN2 (9pm ET – 11pm ET)

• Lightweight: Sarah Kaufman (Canada) (20-4-1) vs. Morgan Frier (Las Vegas, NV) (4-1)
• Welterweight: Ray Cooper III (Hawaii) (17-6) vs. Zane Kamaka (Hawaii) (13-3)
• Welterweight: Magomed Magomedkerimov (Russia) (23-5) vs. John Howard (Boston, MA) (27-14-1)
• Lightweight: Kayla Harrison (Middletown, OH) (3-0) vs. Svetlana Khautova (Russia) (2-0)
• Welterweight: Louis Taylor (Chicago, IL) (18-4-1) vs. Chris Curtis (Cincinnati, OH) (20-5)

PFL 2 – May 23, 7pm ET – 12am ET*

ESPN2 (7pm ET – 9pm ET)

• Featherweight: Steven Siler (Provo, UT) (32-18-1) vs. TBA
• Featherweight: Damon Jackson (Dallas, TX) (16-2-1) vs. Movlid Khaybulaev (Russia) (13-0)
• Featherweight: Alexandre Bezerra (Brazil) (22-6) vs. Jeremy Kennedy (Canada) (13-1)
• Lightweight: Natan Schulte (Brazil) (15-3-1) vs. Bao Yincang (China) (12-6-1) 

ESPN+ (9pm – 12am ET) 

• Lightweight: Rashid Magomedov (Russia) (22-3-1) vs. Loik Radzhabov (Tajikistan) (11-0)
• Lightweight: Islam Mamedov (Russia) (16-2) vs. Ylies Djiroun (France) (16-4)
• Featherweight: Alexandre Almeida (Brazil) (20-9) vs. Luis Rafael Laurentino (Brazil) (33-1)
• Lightweight: Akhmed Aliev (Russia) (17-4) vs. Carlao Silva (Brazil) (11-1)
• Lightweight: Ramsey Nijem (Orem, UT) (10-7) vs. Ronys Torres (Brazil) (37-6)
• Featherweight: Andre Harrison (Long Island, NY) vs. Freddy Assuncao (Atlanta, GA) (10-1)
• Lightweight: Chris Wade (Long Island, NY) (14-5) vs. Nate Andrews (Providence, RI) (15-1) 
• Featherweight: Lance Palmer (Columbus, OH) (17-3) vs. Alex Gilpin (Madison, WI) (12-1) 

PFL 3 – June 6, 7pm ET – 12am ET*

ESPN2 (7pm ET – 9pm ET) 

• Heavyweight: Ben Edwards (Australia) (4-0) vs. Ante Delija (Croatia) (15-3)
• Heavyweight: Jared Rosholt (Sandpoint, ID) (17-6) vs. Denis Goltsov (Russia) (22-5)
• Light Heavyweight: Dan Spohn (Columbus, OH) (18-6) vs. Bozigit Ataev (Russia) (19-3)
• Light Heavyweight: Vinny Magalhaes (Brazil) (18-10-1) vs. Jorge Gonzalez (Mexico) (15-4)

ESPN+ (9pm – 12am ET) 

• Heavyweight: Alex Nicholson (Apopka, FL) (13-7) vs. Francimar Barroso (Brazil) (22-7-1-1)
• Light Heavyweight: Rashid Yusupov (Russia) (10-1) vs. Mikhail Mokhnatkin (Russia) 
  (11-3-2)
• Light Heavyweight: Ronny Markes (Brazil) (18-7) vs. Sigi Pesaleli (New Zealand) (3-0)
• Light Heavyweight: Maxim Grishin (Russia) (28-7-1) vs. Jordan Johnson (Gilbert, AZ) (10-0)
• Heavyweight: Valdrin Istrefi (Switzerland) (13-2) vs. Ali Isaev (Russia) (4-0)
• Light Heavyweight: Smealinho Rama (New York, NY) (11-5-1) vs. Viktor Nemkov (Russia) (26-7)
• Heavyweight: Kelvin Tiller (Topeka, KS) (10-2) vs. Muhammed Dereese (Titusville, FL) 
  (7-0)
• Heavyweight: Philipe Lins (Brazil) (14-3) vs. Satoshi Ishii (Croatia) (20-8-1) 

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/professional-fighters-league-unveils-first-three-events-for-2019

(Courtesy of UFC)

Dan Hardy and John Gooden take a look at the UFC 236 lightweight interim title fight between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier from all angles in this episode of Inside the Octagon.

It has been more than seven years since Holloway and Poirier last fought. Since that time, Holloway has run away with the UFC featherweight division.

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.

Though Holloway still holds the featherweight title, he and Poirier will be fighting for the interim UFC lightweight championship in the UFC 236 main event on Saturday, April 13, in Atlanta. Barring injury or other misfortunes, the winner is then expected to be the next challenger to current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov when he returns to the Octagon later this year.

TRENDING Ahead of UFC 236, take a look back at Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier’s first fight

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. In the UFC 236 co-main event, Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya fight for the interim middleweight belt and a shot at champion Robert Whittaker.

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-236-preview-max-holloway-vs-dustin-poirier-inside-the-octagon

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has booked his second trip to the Bellator cage. He’ll face Chael Sonnen when Bellator returns to Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 14. 

Bellator officials confirmed the news to MMAWeekly.com following an initial report by ESPN.

Machida (25-8) made the move from the UFC to Bellator in 2018 despite winning his final two bouts in the Octagon opposite Eryk Anders and Vitor Belfort. He made his promotional debut at Bellator 213 in Hawaii in December, where he took a split-decision nod over former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho.

Machida will attempt to keep his streak alive when he faces Sonnen (31-16-1) in a light heavyweight bout.

Sonnen has been fighting his own personal version of Belfort’s proposed Legends League under the Bellator banner. Sonnen made his promotional debut by losing to Tito Ortiz before going on to win bouts against Wanderlei Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. 

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Sonnen’s last trip to the cage was a loss to Fedor Emelianenko in the semi-final round of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix in October of 2018. 

No other bouts have been announced for Bellator’s return to Madison Square Garden at the time of publication.

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/lyoto-machida-fight-chael-sonnen-bellator-madison-square-garden-new-york

Following a highly successful amateur career, bantamweight Mitch Raposo is set to make his pro debut.

As Raposo puts it, following an undefeated run in the amateurs that culminated in two championships, there was nowhere left for him to go but turn pro.

“I was a Cage Titans and AMMO Fight League amateur champion I went 6-0,” Raposo told MMAWeekly.com. “(I had) really good performances; some people thought it was great, but I hold myself up to really high standards.

“I spent my whole amateur career fighting the best there was, and once there was nobody left to fight or people were turning down fights, I had to turn pro. I have like 30 to 35 rounds of experience under my belt, which is a crazy amount of experience at 20 years old.”

Experience aside, Raposo feels that his maturation physically was the biggest thing that he’ll be bringing with him to the pro ranks that he picked up during his amateur run.

“I’ve put on at least 15lbs since my amateur debut, and I feel like more of an adult right now,” said Raposo. “My killer instinct, my power, I got all that experience out of the way. Moving up a weight class and letting my body fill up, I feel the best I’ve ever felt.

“I feel like people will see the same skillset that I’ve always done, but they’ll see a more violent version of myself. The only questions anybody had was about my finishing ability, but after (my pro debut) nobody is going to have anything to say about that.”

On Saturday in Plymouth, Mass., Raposo (0-0) will make his pro debut against Rob Fuller (0-3) in a Cage Titans 43 main card bantamweight bout.

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“He’s kind of a brawler,” Raposo said of Fuller. “He throws bombs.

“I don’t think he’s really bigger than me. I think we weigh the same. He’s a little taller than me and might have the reach, but I think with my speed and footwork on the feet I think I’ll drop him and put him away. If he runs at me like he does other people I’m going to take him down and pound him out.”

When it comes to 2019, Raposo looks to build a solid foundation during his first year as a pro, and set up for big moves either by year’s end or in 2020.

“It’s always fight by fight, but I am a very motivated kid and I’m always in the gym, so I’d like to finish the year at 4-0,” said Raposo. “By the summer of 2020, if I’m not in the UFC already, I don’t see how I’m not on Dana White’s Contender Series.

“That’s the goal for me: get to 4 or 5-0, get on Dana White’s Contender Series, and get into the UFC in 2020.”

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/mitch-raposo-heads-into-cage-titans-43-targeting-dana-white-contender-series

The UFC’s return to Russia has a new main event after Aleksei Oleinik was tapped to replace Alexander Volkov in the headline fight against Alistair Overeem on April 20 in Saint Petersburg.

Sources close to the contest confirmed the news on Wednesday following an initial report from ESPN.

There’s no word on what happened to Volkov but it appears he was pulled from the card and the UFC sought out a replacement to face Overeem in the main event.

Oleinik steps into the fight with a 4-1 record in his past five fights including submission victories over Mark Hunt, Junior Albini and Travis Browne.

The crafty ground specialist has quietly been creeping up the rankings in the heavyweight division and now he’ll face a former title contender in Overeem when they clash on April 20.

Overeem comes into the fight off a TKO victory in his last performance against Sergey Pavlovich in his UFC debut.

Overeem vs. Oleinik will now headline the second UFC card from Russia and first event held in Saint Petersberg.  

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/aleksei-oleinik-replaces-alexander-volkov-meets-alistair-overeem-in-ufc-russia-main-event