The UFC has a new cable home in Canada.
The company, which had long been broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet, will now be seen on TSN and it’s French-language counterpart, RDS, the company formally announced on Monday. MMAFighting.com first reported the news of the impending deal on Friday.
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The UFC will make its first trip to Porto Alegre, Brazil, on Feb. 22, and the promotion has added six more bouts to the UFC Fight Night 61 card.
Headlined by Glover Teixeira and Rashad Evans in a light heavyweight contest, UFN 61 will also feature the return of Rustam Khabilov against Brazilian lightweight Adriano Martins.
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Carla Esparza’s 2014 may have felt long, but it also has to feel good.
The former Invicta strawweight championship not only matriculated to the UFC by being the top-seeded cast member on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 20, she won the show and in the process, became the first-ever UFC women’s strawweight champion when she defeated Rose Namajunas at the TUF 20 Finale.
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BARUERI, Brazil — Former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao returned to the win column with a submission victory over Mitch Gagnon, but the fight lasted longer than many expected.
Gagnon, who entered the bout in a four-fight winning streak, was able to survive after getting knocked down in the first round, and won the second round on two of the three judges’ scorecards, but ended up submitted by the Brazilian 135-pounder in the third.
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There wasn’t a fight of the night at UFC Fight Night 58, but four fighters earned Performance of the Night bonuses Saturday night.
Former UFC champion Lyoto Machida was honored for his first-round TKO of C.B. Dollaway in the main event, while Renan Barao earned his bonus for his submission win over Mitch Gagnon in the co-main event.
Erick Silva and Vitor Miranda were the other two fighters to earn $50,000. Silva put Mike Rhodes to sleep with a first-round technical submission victory, and Miranda defeated Jake Collier via first-round TKO.
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What looked to be a mismatch on paper ended up playing out that way in reality, as former champ Lyoto Machida capped off the UFC’s final show of 2014 by dusting C.B. Dollaway with a gunshot of a body kick early in the first round of UFC Fight Night 58’s main event. Check out what the pros had to say about Machida’s brilliant performance, plus all the rest of Saturday’s nuggets from the FOX Sports 1 main card.
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Rashad Evans is back. And now it’s official.
Evans will return to the Octagon for the first time in more than a year to meet Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 61 on Feb. 22 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the UFC announced Friday. It will be the UFC’s first trip to the city. The main card will air live on FOX Sports 1. The bout was first reported by Globo.
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SAO PAULO, Brazil — Renan Barao returns to action for the first time since passing out moments before UFC 177 weigh-ins in August, and he feels “great”. In an interview to MMAFighting.com, Barao discussed his preparation for a UFC Fight Night 58 bout with Mitch Gagnon in Barueri, the current state of the UFC bantamweight division and much more.
(Editor’s note: Hit the CC button on the video player to get the English translation.)
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BARUERI, Brazil — Patrick Cummins returned to the win column with impressive back-to-back wins over Kyle Kingsbury and Roger Narvaez, and he’s ready to keep the win streak alive against TUF: Brazil winner Antonio Carlos Junior at UFC Fight Night 58 in Barueri, Brazil, on Dec. 20. In an exclusive interview to MMAFighting.com, “Durkin” broke down his match-up with “Cara de Sapato”, his desire to rematch Daniel Cormier, “DC’s” title clash with Jon Jones, recalled his first trip to Brazil with Jason Miller and much more.
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SAO PAULO, Brazil — Mitch Gagnon will be the first fighter to face Renan Barao after the Brazilian lost his UFC bantamweight championship, and he feels he got the gold ticket. Following the UFC Fight Night 58 open workouts in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Canadian prospect spoke to MMAFighting.com about his match-up with Barao, why he believes he’s better than Barao “everywhere”, what a win over Barao makes for his career, the UFC-Reebok deal and much more.
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ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The first thing Holly Holm did last month after pulling out of her UFC debut? First, she cried. Then… well, she made a bed.
“Like, out of wood,” Holm says, laughing. “I Googled it and took my time doing it. I had to do something.
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Carla Esparza talks about becoming the first UFC strawweight champion and what’s next for her.
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For the first time in his MMA career, Bibiano Fernandes finished a fight after going past the first round, but there’s a reason why Dae Hwan Kim survived that long at ONE FC 23.
The ONE FC bantamweight champion, who improved his winning streak to nine on Dec. 5, submitted Kim with a second-round rear-naked choke. However, he had to overcome a tough situation when Kim landed several illegal elbows to the back of his head in the opening round.
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World Series of Fighting welterweight Jon Fitch lost out on the title Saturday night, but he might be missing the use of his right leg for a few months.
The former UFC contender was caught in a first-round kneebar by leglock master Rousimar Palhares Dec. 13 at WSOF 16.
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Cris Cyborg will not cut down to 135 pounds after all.
Two and a half months after announcing her decision to drop to the bantamweight division for a bout at Invicta FC 10, the first and only Strikeforce and Invicta FC featherweight champion confirmed she won’t try cutting the extra 10 pounds anymore.
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UFC featherweight contender Conor McGregor seems a bit torn over the promotion’s decision to allow a retired professional wrestler with no competitive experience whatsoever to compete alongside him in the sport’s premier organization.
McGregor understands the appeal of wrangling the elusive and dreaded ‘casual fan,’ but would have preferred for 36-year-old CM Punk to first prove himself elsewhere.
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Putting three heavyweight bouts on a single main card is always a bit of a gamble, but it paid off tonight in Phoenix. After Matt Mitrione and Alistair Overeem each scored impressive first-round knockouts, former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and rising contender Stipe Miocic had an absolute war in the night’s main event. Perhaps most impressively, No. 3 lightweight Rafael dos Anjos proved his worth in a three-round domination of Nate Diaz.
See how the pros called the action at UFC on FOX 13 in Phoenix, Arizona.
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PHOENIX — Andre Pederneiras talks about whether he thought Junior dos Santos did enough to defeat Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 13, concern for the damage dos Santos has taken in recent fights, his first time working with a heavyweight, the decision loss of Claudia Gadelha, Renan Barao’s return, and more.
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PHOENIX — Ian Entwistle talks about locking in a heel hook against Anthony Birchak at UFC on FOX 13, his proficiency with leg locks, time spent as a nightclub owner, making the cut to bantamweight for the first time, and more.
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PHOENIX, Ariz. — If Friday saw the crowning of the UFC’s first female strawweight champion, Saturday may have seen the crowning of the division’s first title contender.
Polish striker Joanna Jedrzejczyk showcased exceptional takedown defense and aggression to capture a split decision over heavy favorite and presumed number-one contender Claudia Gadelha on the preliminary card at UFC on FOX 13. Afterward, at UFC on FOX 13’s post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White alluded to Jedrzejczyk being the first test for 115-pound champion Carla Esparza.
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