Julia Budd has a new opponent for her Bellator debut.
Undefeated Brazilian grappler Talita Nogueira, scheduled to take on Budd at the Bellator 133 card in Fresno on Feb. 13, will be replaced by Gabrielle Holloway, who makes her promotional debut on a 10 days’ notice.
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PHOENIX — Bryan Barberena talks about overcoming a strong first round from Joe Ellenberger, feeling his UFC on FOX 13 opponent begin to fade in the second round, training at The Lab, his Colombian heritage, and more.
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PHOENIX — Drew Dober talks about the retirement of opponent Jamie Varner at UFC on FOX 13, feeling Varner relax after a failed lateral drop, wanting to be patient, not being the crowd favorite in his hometown, and more.
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LAS VEGAS — Heather Jo Clark discusses the play between her and The best Fighter 20 Ending adversary Bec Rawlings, fighting and training despite a torn ACL and needing to be an inspiration to young women.
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Sheymon Moraes had his first World Series of Fighting adversary shifted twice, however he does not care.
Moraes, a 6-0 bantamweight possibility from Team Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro, confronts Gabriel Solorio at Saturday night’s WSOF 16 in Sacramento, and his largest challenge was days prior to the particular fight.
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PHOENIX — Nate Diaz’s return to the limelight got off into a rocky beginning, as the popular and frank UFC lightweight was a clearly absent existence from Wednesday’s UFC on FOX 13 open work outs occasion at Phoenix’s U.S. Airways Center.
among the four featured combatants to the Dec. 13 card, Diaz (17-9) was scheduled to appear at the buff occasion alongside headliners Junior dos Santos and Stipe Miocic, and coming competition, Rafael dos Anjos. All three other combatants revealed. Diaz was expected to as well, yet he never did.
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NEW YORK — Anthony Pettis considers Gilbert Melendez will be among his toughest competitors and is certainly one of the most effective fighters in the lightweight division. The UFC 155-pound champ only believes Melendez’s career path and his own trajectory are going in opposite ways.
“I feel like he is on his way from the pinnacle of his career, and that I’m only entering it,” Pettis told MMA Fighting in a media lunch Monday in Manhattan. “I believe his pinnacle of his career, I’d not say it is passed, but he is not beginning it anymore. I am just beginning to tap into my grown man power, my total potential, my understanding of fighting. I am really assured in this fight.”
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Edson Barboza improved to 9-2 in the UFC using a unanimous decision victory over Bobby Green at UFC Fight Night 57, but Green was not the first competition the UFC needed next for the Brazilian lightweight.
Barboza, who had been coming off a first-round knockout over Evan Dunham in July, was offered a fight with Nate Diaz. The Brazilian lightweight accepted the challenge, but Diaz declined.
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UFC bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey is scheduled to defend her title against Cat Zigano on Feb. 28, and Bethe Correia is expecting to get a chance at the UFC star next.
Driven to refuse a fight with Miesha Tate as a result of an injury, Correia eyes a return to the Octagon in March, and vows to complete any competition in the primary round — even Rousey.
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UFC ‘cash weight’ Nick Diaz might be the most effective and worst portrayal of a martial artist in modern MMA.
The expletive hurling, nunchuck twirling Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt is not above breaking out the ole Stockton Salute on occasion, but Diaz says he had never critically target an adversary’s harm.
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The UFC has located a fresh competition for John Moraga.
Moraga, who had been initially anticipated to face Jussier Formiga in the UFC on FOX 13 card in Phoenix on Dec. 13, now meets UFC rookie Willie Gates, sources told MMAFighting.com on Tuesday. Formiga was forced from the spell having an injured knee.
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Grappling expert Kron Gracie comes with an adversary for his first MMA fight.
Kron Gracie, Son of MMA and jiujitsu star Rickson Gracie, will meet Hyung Soo Kim in a lightweight fight at Real Fight Championship 1 on Dec. 23 in Japan, the promotion declared.
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Former Bellator title contender Rick Hawn is headed to Titan FC.
According to Titan FC CEO Jeff Aronson, Hawn has signed a four-fight deal with the promotion and is scheduled to make his debut at Titan 32 on Dec. 19 in Lowell, Mass. His opponent has yet to be signed.
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John Moraga needs a new opponent for his UFC on FOX 13 bout after Brazilian flyweight Jussier Formiga has been forced out of the card with an injury.
Formiga’s head coach Andre Pederneiras told MMAFighting.com that the flyweight has suffered a knee injury, a partial LCL tear, and won’t be able to recover in time to compete for the Dec. 13 card. MMA Junkie first reported the news.
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In Boston promoting his Jan. 18 headliner against Dennis Siver, UFC featherweight Conor McGregor didn’t waste much time getting right after his opponent.
Claiming to be walking around at 168 pounds, McGregor admitted he enjoys the size advantage to ‘bully’ his opponents.
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LAS VEGAS – Throughout Monday’s “The Time is Now” UFC press conference, the fighters on hand noticeably reacted to Conor McGregor’s witticisms. Anderson Silva laughed uncontrollably at one point. Ronda Rousey frequently turned around to get a look at the madness going on behind her. Several others unsuccessfully tried to hide their smiles.
One fighter at the event didn’t find this quite so humorous, however: McGregor’s opponent in Boston on Jan. 19, Dennis Siver.
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SAN DIEGO — The finish seemed so strange.
There was Michael Chandler, in the fourth round of his Bellator lightweight title fight against Will Brooks, waving his hands and moving away from his opponent after an awkward scramble.
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The UFC announced on Wednesday that Miesha Tate will return to the Octagon at UFC 183 against Sara McMann, but that wasn’t the first option for “Cupcake.”
Bethe Correia, who engaged on a verbal war with Tate for almost a month, was the original opponent for the former Strikeforce champion, but was unable to accept the bout.
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SAN DIEGO – In the final days leading up to Bellator 131, it’s been Tito Ortiz’s turn to attempt mind games with Stephan Bonnar.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion arrived at the open workouts at a local Dave and Buster’s on Wednesday while Bonnar, his opponent in Saturday night’s main event at the Valley View Casino Center, went through a wrestling workout with Ortiz’s former wrestling coach, Paul Herrera.
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Greasin’? Fine. Questionable hand wraps? Sure. But deep cover espionage? Perhaps you were correct to balk at the notion.
After Tito Ortiz claimed earlier this week that he had not only conspired to have his Bellator 131 opponent signed by the promotion, but to have planted a mole into his training camp, Stephan Bonnar isn’t buying it.
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