Stream or download Wednesday’s episode of MMAjunkie Radio with guests Curtis Blaydes, Aspen Ladd and Bevon Lewis.

Paul Felder was a late call up at UFC 226 when he took on Mike Perry after Perry’s original opponent Yancy Medeiros withdrew from the fight a week out. Felder went on to lose to Perry via split decision, though he valiantly fought the majority of the bout with a broken arm and even outscored Perry on one of the judges’ scorecards. Now, the career lightweight is mulling an extended stay at 170 pounds.

A season of tumult in the women’s flyweight division has given rise to Valentina Shevchenko.

Brendan Schaub professes no ill will toward UFC President Dana White in spite of a scathing social media rebuttal this past week.

Alexander Gustafsson is critical of Daniel Cormier vs. Brock Lesnar, but isn't letting DC out of his sights.

PFL 4 takes place Thursday and is the final chance for some fighters to rack up postseason points, but some of the matchmaking is a head-scratcher.

Conor McGregor is making the most of his trip to Russia, where he offered to wrestle a live tiger.

Voting is now underway for the 2018 Asia MMA Awards. Have your say in all categories from Male and Female Fighter of the Year to Rookie of the Year.

Nicco Montano will make the first defense of her UFC flyweight title since winning the belt late last year, when she steps into the Octagon at UFC 228 on Sept.8 in Dallas, Texas.

PFL 4 Weigh-ins: Lance Palmer, Jumabieke Tuerxun Set for Headliner

Bellator officials, following an initial report by ESPN, confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday that Daley had agreed to a new contract that will see him participate in its upcoming Welterweight World Grand Prix. He becomes the tenth and final competitor in the tournament.

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Fighting out of Long Beach, Calif., A.J. McKee puts his undefeated record on the line against the former champ. Currently training alongside the likes of Aaron Pico, “Baby Slice,” and Joey Davis at The Body Shop under the tutelage of his father, MMA veteran Antonio McKee, the second-generation fighter is making quite the name for himself. At just 23 years of age, “Mercenary” has set the Bellator record for consecutive wins at 11, having defeated Justin Lawrence, Brian Moore and Dominic Mazzotta along the way. Known for his highlight-reel finishes, McKee will look to remain undefeated and keep his name etched in the record books.

USADA announced today that Anderson Silva, of Palo Verdes, Calif., has accepted a one-year sanction for his second anti-doping violation after testing positive for prohibited substances from a contaminated supplement. Silva, 43, is the fourth athlete to accept a sanction under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy as a result of a positive test caused by the use of contaminated supplements purchased from a Brazilian compounding pharmacy. Unlike retail pharmacies and drugstores, which receive their drug inventories from commercial manufacturers, compounding pharmacies prepare their medications onsite according to specifications contained in a written prescription. In this instance, the compounding pharmacy also produced and sold nutritional supplements. Although athletes competing in the UFC are repeatedly warned that supplements are risky and frequently contain substances not listed on the label including prohibited, as well as, harmful drugs, the pharmacy that prepared Silva’s supplement marketed its products as a safe alternative to mass produced medications and supplements and also claimed to utilize manufacturing processes designed to eliminate the possibility of cross-contamination.

The Professional Fighters League made its 2018 debut on June 7, and it was viewed as a success after several highlight-reel finishes. However, before fighters ever reached the cage to compete, weight issues involving heavyweights forced the promotion to shuffle the deck. Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Shawn Jordan was among those who violated the scale, as he checked in well above the 265-pound limit. “It was a real mess,” Jordan told Sherdog.com. He still cannot pinpoint a specific reason why he missed the weight limit by nine pounds, though several factors conspired against him. It started when Jordan learned his bout was official. He had been inactive for almost a year and a half, and the opportunity to fight came sooner than he anticipated. Jordan was given roughly a month to prepare. “It was a lot of work done real fast,” he said. With that said, Jordan made the trip to New York believing his weight was where it needed to be ahead of the fight. Unfortunately, the scales there did not match his scales at home, and he was well above the division limit a few days before the event.

Dennis Bermudez (left) exchanges punches with Rick Glenn at UFC Boise. (Photo: Josh Hedges/Getty Images) Dennis Bermudez finds himself in the middle of one of the most trying times in his 16-fight Ultimate Fighting Championship career. At UFC Fight Night 133 in Boise, Idaho, this past Saturday night, “The Menace” was handed his fourth straight loss. At this moment, the longtime featherweight standout is questioning many things, including how much longer he wants to continue in the sport. “I’m not going to sit here and lie to you,” Bermudez told Sherdog.com. “I’m mentally and physically fatigued by everything I’ve put my body through.” This is not the first losing streak for the 31-year-old, but it is the longest and by far the most frustrating, partly because the last three have come by way of split decision. The most recent of those, in Boise against Rick Glenn , surprised many pundits and fans of the sport. The striking stats between the two were fairly even, but Bermudez landed six takedowns in the bout compared to zero for his opponent.

The card will be made of second fights in the two-fight regular season for featherweights and heavyweights, who hope to advance to the playoffs for a shot at the $1 million grand prize in their respective division.

These interim belts make the major belts insignificant to say the least. I don't consider anyone champ at 170 since no one ever beat GSP to begin with. After GSP retired,every joe that has held that belt, has been an interim champion. No one else can lay claim to that belt.

With Gustafsson ranked No. 1 in the UFC light heavyweight division and Oezdemir sitting at No. 2, the winner would have made an almost undeniable case for a shot at current champion Daniel Cormier. That’s also assuming that Cormier eventually defends the belt, which isn’t a given considering he just wont the heavyweight title and is expected to put that on the line in a blockbuster bout with Brock Lesnar in early 2019.

Amazing answers, not that I believe in everything that he said, but from a PR perspective I think it was spot on, and it is the truth, if you think people are falsely accusing you, then so be it, you can only do whats right, can't control what people think.

“I’m not worried that it’ll have any effect on my performance,” he said. “I haven’t even reached the peak of my potential. This hard fight is going to mold me and shape me as to how I approach fights from here on. I think everyone has to have their mettle tested in a tough fight. That was one of them for me.”

“We are looking forward to further cooperation with the UFC and the Russian-Chinese investment fund working on developing young Russian talent, and this will benefit our sports very much,” stated M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelchtein, whose past relationship with UFC President Dana White could be labeled rocky (at best). “MMA is a very popular kind of sports, and cooperation of the UFC, investment fund and M-1 Global can take MMA in Russia to new level. Competition in M-1 Global is going to be even tougher, and that means we are going to see even more excellent and spectacular fights!”

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Despite a bevy of changes to the card, there are still 13 fights scheduled, including six octagon newcomers. For more on the numbers, check below for 55 pre-event facts about UFC Fight Night 134.

It’s been an interesting turn of events for Gastelum. Right after Whittaker’s most recent bout, which ended up being a non-title fight due to Romero again missing weight, UFC president Dana White said Gastelum was actually supposed to have served as back-up that night but had “ personal issues ” to handle and couldn’t make it. Needless to say, White didn’t say that gleefully.

BACK & FORTH❗️ @BorrachinhaMMA wins an absolute classic. #UFC226 A post shared by ufc (@ufc) on Jul 7, 2018 at 7:13pm PDT Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Paulo Henrique Costa is fast becoming of the most feared 185-pound fighters in the division. Costa faced Uriah Hall on the preliminary card at UFC 226 on July 7 and Costa showed why his previous knockout of former welterweight Johny Hendricks back in November was no fluke. Costa was relentless against Hall and when the Brazilian smelled blood in the second round, he unloaded on Hall until the referee pulled him off. Costa is a big, overly muscular middleweight and against Hall he looked like a light heavyweight. The size of Costa has some fans, including surfing legend Kelly Slater, who believe the Brazilian is taking some sort of banned substance to achieve that kind of physique. Slater commented on the UFC’s Instagram page about “The Eraser” after his big win at UFC 226, accusing Costa of being “juiced.” ”Didn’t Cung Le get caught because he looked suspect in a photo after a fight?” Slater wrote.

A welterweight clash pitting Bryan Barberena against Jake Ellenberger has been added to the UFC Fight Night 135 lineup in Lincoln, Neb. Barberena announced the pairing via social media. Barberena and Ellenberger were initially scheduled to square off at UFC Fight Night 131 in Utica, N.Y., before “Bam Bam” had to withdraw from the contest due to injury. UFC Fight Night 135 takes place at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Aug. 25 and is headlined by a lightweight tilt between Justin Gaethje and James Vick . BamBam’s Back August 25th Lincoln Nebraska!! pic.twitter.com/2b6QeaNFTL — BRYAN BARBERENA (@bryan_barberena) July 18, 2018 Barberena will be making his first appearance of 2018 after splitting a pair of bouts in 2017. The MMA Lab product kicked off last year’s campaign with a first-round TKO of Joe Proctor at UFC Fight Night 108 before dropping a unanimous verdict to Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night 115. Barberena is 4-3 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion. Ellenberger enters the matchup on a three-bout skid, including a first-round knockout loss to Ben Saunders in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 131.

BREAKING: @Karate_Combat hits #UFCFIGHTPASS LIVE 7/28! Check out the free fight below and read more https://t.co/NKmYGLXiAx pic.twitter.com/McxkOthuDO — UFC Fight Pass (@UFCFightPass) July 19, 2018 Karate Combat’s next event will be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass, the promotion announced on Thursday. The full-contact striking promotion is set to hold its second event in Athens, Greece, on July 28 after the smashing success of their debut card in April, which was chock-full of brutal and spectacular knockouts. UFC Fight Pass confirmed on Thursday that they will be live streaming Karate Combat events, beginning with next Saturday’s sophomore event. Brand ambassador and color commentator Bas Rutten enthusiastically lent his services to the promotion for the first Karate Combat event, and will return to the commentary booth next weekend for what he describes as the next big thing in combat sports: “This is a brand new sport within traditional karate,” Rutten said in a press release. “This isn’t the points-system you may have seen before -- this is full-contact competition with full-force combinations, spinning back-fists, flying kicks, sidekicks and amazing action.

The event is expected to take place at NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, home to in Uniondale, N.Y. (on Long Island), and it’s expected to air on Paramount following prelims on MMAjunkie. A day prior, the other half of the grand-prix semifinals – Matt Mitrione (13-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) vs. Ryan Bader (25-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) – takes place in Connecticut.

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On Ep. 134, Anik and Florian recap UFC 218, which produced one of the best fight cards of 2017. Full analysis on all the big winners, including Max Holloway, Francis Ngannou, and Eddie Alvarez. The guys are joined by UFC 218 winner and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. Plus, Flo’s pick for this weekend’s main event between Cub Swanson and Brian Ortega. And a new Ray Longo Minute.

“I think PFL 1 exciting. I think PFL 2 really exciting. I think PFL 3 even more exciting,” PFL president Carlos Silva told MMAWeekly. “At the beginning of season, I think we were all curious to see how it goes and I think the fighters responded. They said ‘I get it, I want to make the playoffs, I want to make $1 million and I want to put myself in the best position’ and I’ve seen it as a fan but I’ve also seen it as an executive here. I see something different in the fighters even in the second round, when they think ‘if I can get a finish, I can get some bonus points’.

In part 4, fighters participate in media day, the beef between Junior Tafa and Anthony McDonald heats up, and heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven makes media rounds around New York City.

Maycee "The Future" Barber (5-0) flashes her potential in the main event, dominating Jamie Colleen en route to a third-round TKO. Busting up the former KOTC champ with some nasty elbows to end it, the 20-year-old has finished four of her five victories. #DWTNCS pic.twitter.com/wtBTIXbEwf — Tanuki Usman (@Hamderlei) July 18, 2018 Maycee Barber looks like the real deal. Barber netted an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, as she systematically dismantled Jamie Colleen and put away the former King of the Cage champion with elbows in the third round of their women’s strawweight affair on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series . Colleen (4-2) succumbed to blows 4:15 into Round 3 after being thoroughly outclassed at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas. Barber (5-0) employed a multi-pronged approach -- she kicked effectively at all levels with both legs -- but did some of her best work in the clinch, where she battered her opponent with standing elbows, forearm strikes and knees to the body at close range.

The (new) main event is set for UFC Fight Night 136, which marks the UFC’s debut in Russia.

This Thursday in Long Island, New York, Harrison (18-0) will look to remain undefeated when he takes on Nazareno Malegarie (35-4) in a 145-pound co-main event of PFL 4.

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Chris Leben is coming out of retirement to take on veteran brawler Phil Baroni and a bare-knuckle bout with the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation on Oct. 20. Leben made the announcement via Instagram on Tuesday.

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The promotion has booked Hill versus Cortney Casey for the Aug. 25 Fight Night card in Lincoln, Nebraska.

ESPN story on Volkan Oezdemir’s withdrawal from UFC 227 and what’s next for Alexander Gustafsson — https://t.co/prRsk6sUZj — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 19, 2018 UFC light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir has pulled out of his UFC 227 bout against Alexander Gustafsson . ESPN was the first to report that he suffered a nose injury on Thursday. This marks the third time in just two months that Oezdemir has been forced out of a fight, with visa issues preventing him from fighting in May and this past weekend’s event in Germany. The former title challenger had been dealing with legal issues stemming from an alleged bar fight in Florida last year, but was cleared of a felony battery charge last week. UFC 227 takes place in Los Angeles on Aug. 4 and will feature two title fight rematches between bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and former champ Cody Garbrandt as well as flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo . It’s still unclear whether or not Gustafsson will remain on the card, as Ultimate Fighting Championship officials have yet to make a formal announcement yet on Oezdemir’s withdrawal from the card.

“Before the UFC, I was fighting at catchweights at 165 or 170. I decided that I wanted to go to 155 to have an advantage, or try to have as much of as advantage as I could to be one of the bigger 155ers. I walk around pretty lean all the time. I thought that would be a benefit, but even though I was undefeated at 155 – I’ve won five fights in the UFC at 155 – it just kind of played a toll on my body. I don’t feel like the same kind of Sage, same kind of exciting Sage I can be, and like finishing Sage,” he said.  “At 155 I don’t have that same kind of ability I don’t feel like at the moment.”

Barroso makes easy work of May in the first with an arm triangle choke. Moving himself into the # 1 seed for the playoff in the big boys division. Fun to see playoff seeding shape out in front of us. #PFL4 #PFL #PFLmma

The event will be Bellator’s second that weekend. Bellator 207 takes place on Oct. 12 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., the night before and is headlined by the other semifinal bout between light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader and Matt Mitrione .

Chief among the announcements were two additional women’s bouts in the strawweight division. Jessica Andrade, fresh off of back-to-back victories over Claudia Gadelha and Tecia Torres, looks to continue her winning ways against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, who has also won her last two bouts. As previously confirmed by MMAWeekly.com’s Damon Martin, Carla Esparza will attempt to bounce back from a loss to Gadelha in her most recent bout, as she faces undefeated Tatiana Suarez.

Shake Break (new video on Patreon) 7/19/18

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Now, two years down the road, the 42-year-old fighter has found new life under the Bellator banner. The promotion hasn’t billed it as such, but it seems that Silva sees Bellator’s penchant for signing fighters in their sunset years as a de facto “stars division” akin to Vitor Belfort’s idea of a Legend’s Division.

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11-year-old Tatiana Vasquez suffered a seizure while in the water, and began to drown. The quarter of firefighters, who happened to be in the area for a community relations program, sprung into action, immediately providing first aid to Vasquez.

Nick Newell speaks to Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour about his upcoming fight at the Contender Series, potentially making it to the UFC, his condition, why he still plays Nintendo 64, his cats, and much more. Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c... Check out our full video catalog: http://www.youtube.com/mmafightingons... Visit our playlists: http://www.youtube.com/mmafightingons... Like MMAF on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mmafighting Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mmafighting Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com

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