‘Jacare’ Souza’s manager criticizes Vitor Belfort for picking opponents, offers to replace him in interim title bout your sports feeder

Vitor Belfort was offered an interim title bout with Lyoto Machida when Chris Weidman pulled out from UFC 184 with a rib injury, but “The Phenom” turned down the fight. Fellow middleweight contender Ronaldo Souza is willing to step up and replace him against anyone if that’s what the UFC wants.

Souza is undefeated in the UFC with four wins in a row, capped off by a third-round submission over Gegard Mousasi. Jacare’s manager Gilbert Faria believes that an interim title has to be created after another injury from the middleweight champion, and Belfort should not choose who he wants to fight.

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‘Jacare’ Souza’s manager criticizes Vitor Belfort for picking opponents, offers to replace him in interim title bout

Renan Barao on Mitch Gagnon: ‘I don’t think the fight was that hard’

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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Renan Barao on Mitch Gagnon: ‘I don’t think the fight was that hard’

Yoel Romero: Tim Kennedy cheated before "Stoolgate" incident at UFC 178

Yoel Romero spent almost 30 extra seconds on his stool before the start of the third round against Tim Kennedy. The way Romero sees it he should have gotten five full minutes of rest.

Romero told MMA Fighting that he believes the punches Kennedy rocked him with in the second round of their UFC 178 fight were illegal. Kennedy was holding onto Romero’s glove, an illegal maneuver, with his left hand while he was punching Romero with his right. A .gif of the sequence surfaced after the fact online, but Romero had not commented on it until now.

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Yoel Romero: Tim Kennedy cheated before "Stoolgate" incident at UFC 178

C.B. Dollaway: All the pressure is on Lyoto Machida

SAO PAULO, Brazil — C.B. Dollaway steps in the Octagon for the biggest fight of his career Saturday night against Lyoto Machida, and he feels he has no pressure over him. Fighting in Brazil for the third time after scoring wins over Daniel Sarafian and Cezar Ferreira, Dollaway spoke to MMAFighting.com about his match-up with Machida, facing the passionate Brazilian crowd, how he expects to beat “The Dragon” and what’s next for him.

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C.B. Dollaway: All the pressure is on Lyoto Machida

TUF 20 Finale salaries: Carla Esparza earns $50,000 for UFC title win

No surprise here, but if you’re fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, it’s better on your wallet to make the finals. UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza handily out-earned the rest of her fellow TUF 20 castmates at Friday’s The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale, pocketing $50,000 for her main event win according to figures released to MMAFighting.com by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Despite being the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed and reigning Invicta FC champion, Esparza entered her finals bout against 22-year-old Rose Namajunas as a betting underdog. It didn’t matter though, as Esparza dominated Namajunas with her wrestling before securing a third-round submission finish to be crowned the UFC’s inaugural 115-pound champion.

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TUF 20 Finale salaries: Carla Esparza earns $50,000 for UFC title win

Rose Namajunas on title loss to Carla Esparza: "I kind of felt just like a child in there"

LAS VEGAS — It is potential Rose Namajunas got a little bit ahead of herself leading into her historical fight with Carla Esparza on Friday night.

Namajunas fell to Esparza by third-round entry (rear-naked choke) in the UFC’s initiative women’s strawweight title fight in The greatest Combatant 20 Ending here in the Pearl in the Palms. Namajunas was the smart pick to win the fight and end up being the surface of the recent section.

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Rose Namajunas on title loss to Carla Esparza: "I kind of felt just like a child in there"

Ultimate Fighter 20 Ending in Tweets: Experts respond to Carla Esparza being crowned UFC strawweight winner

History was produced in Las Vegas Friday night as the UFC crowned its first strawweight winner. Following the remaining TUF 20 cast fought each other in the undercard, the show’s finalists tangled for the crown. Former Invicta FC strawweight winner Carla Esparza survived a scrappy opening round from Rose Namajunas, but would use her wrestling to fix a third-round rear-naked choke to become UFC champ.

See in what way the experts responded to every one of the night’s activity.

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Ultimate Fighter 20 Ending in Tweets: Experts respond to Carla Esparza being crowned UFC strawweight winner

UFC interim champ Fabricio Werdum gets hero"s reception in Brazil

Fabricio Werdum became the third Brazilian to ever win the UFC heavyweight tournament, as well as the individuals of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, gave their fellow countryman a hero’s reception on Monday.

Werdum, who traveled from America to Porto Alegre to encourage the UFC Fight Night card that takes place Feb. 22 in the city, was welcome by several supporters at the Salgado Filho International Airport.

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UFC interim champ Fabricio Werdum gets hero"s reception in Brazil

Bellator declares new show in February with Manhoef vs. Shlemenko

Bellator CEO Scott Coker said lately that if he could, hewant to set Melvin Manhoef on a show every month. While that might be excessive, Manhoef (29-12-1, 1 no contest), coming off a knockout loss to Joe Schilling to the Nov. 15 show in San Diego, Calif., is scheduled for his third fight in a five-month span in Bellator’s only announced second show of 2015, on Feb. 13 in Fresno, Calif. at the Save Mart Center. Manhoef will headline against former Bellator middleweight champ Alexander Shlemenko (50-9).

The promotion declared the fight on Friday night.

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Bellator declares new show in February with Manhoef vs. Shlemenko

Invicta FC 10 results: Herica Tiburcio stuns Michelle Waterson to win atomweight title

Invicta FC is down a poster girl.

Michelle Waterson, potentially the most widely used fighter in the business, was upset by youthful novice Herica Tiburcio by submission (arm-in guillotine) at 1:04 of the third round in the primary occasion of Invicta FC 10 on Friday night in Houston, Texas. Tiburcio, who’s only 21 years old, is the brand new Invicta women’s atomweight victor. The card aired live on UFC Fight Pass.

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Invicta FC 10 results: Herica Tiburcio stuns Michelle Waterson to win atomweight title

Morning Report: Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping tell Tim Kennedy to "take it like a guy" and "shut up" about "stoolgate"

Supporters might be a bit broken up over UFC 178’s notorious ‘stoolgate,’ but not Chael Sonnen or Michael Bisping.

The occasion’s ‘Fight of the Night’ between middleweights Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero was marred with controversy after Romero was slow to rise off his stool to start the third round.

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Morning Report: Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping tell Tim Kennedy to "take it like a guy" and "shut up" about "stoolgate"

Acute bronchitis knocks Irene Aldana out of Invicta fight with Marion Reneau

Invicta FC’s third show on UFC Fight Pass is down a fight.

Swearing Mexican bantamweight Irene Aldana is out of her Invicta FC 10 fight Friday night with Marion Reneau in Houston due to your serious case of bronchitis that necessitated hospitalization, Invicta declared Monday. The fight will likely be rescheduled on a card in early 2015.

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Acute bronchitis knocks Irene Aldana out of Invicta fight with Marion Reneau

Morning Report: "Exposed," Cub Swanson thanks Frankie Edgar for teaching him a lesson

While Conor McGregor and Cub Swanson debated who had the better right to next face UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo, former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar was a lost third wheel.

Sadly for Swanson, and perhaps Edgar, the prior winner just got to fight once Saturday night in Austin.

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Morning Report: "Exposed," Cub Swanson thanks Frankie Edgar for teaching him a lesson

UFC Fight Night 57 bonuses: Paige VanZant vs. Kailin Curran wins Fight of Night

Two UFC newcomers earned an extra $50,000 on Saturday night.

Paige VanZant and Kailin Curran, two women’s strawweights both making their UFC debuts, earned ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for their clash on UFC Fight Pass. VanZant won the fight via third-round TKO.

Frankie Edgar earned a Performance of the Night bonus for his fifth-round submission win over Cub Swanson.

Oleksiy Oliynyk earned the night’s final performance bonus for his efforts when he rallied past Jared Rosholt to deliver a first-round KO.

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UFC Fight Night 57 bonuses: Paige VanZant vs. Kailin Curran wins Fight of Night

Ralek Gracie ‘definitely interested’ in having B.J. Penn compete at Metamoris

B.J. Penn has retired from MMA after a third loss to Frankie Edgar earlier this year, but he could return to competition in a different sport.

Metamoris founder Ralek Gracie told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that he has spoken to the former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion about competing in his grappling event in the future.

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Ralek Gracie ‘definitely interested’ in having B.J. Penn compete at Metamoris

UFC 180 Embedded, Episode 3: "That guy"s a piece of sh*t"

On the third episode of UFC 180 Embedded, Fabricio Werdum rallies the fans at Wednesday’s open workouts, the Mexican faithful swoon over Ricardo Lamas, Mark Hunt craves some tacos, Jake Ellenberger and Dennis Bermudez slip in some fight week training, plus more. Check out the video above.

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UFC 180 Embedded, Episode 3: "That guy"s a piece of sh*t"

Miesha Tate vs. Sara McMann set for UFC 183

A long-simmering match-up between women’s bantamweight contenders Miesha Tate and Sara McMann was made official for UFC 183 on Wednesday’s episode of UFC Tonight.

Tate (15-5), the No. 2 ranked female 135-pounder on the UFC’s media-generated rankings, looks to string together her third consecutive win in her quest for a trilogy bout against champion Ronda Rousey. Since her title loss, Tate has rebounded to pick up back-to-back decisions against Rin Nakai and Liz Carmouche, although her win against the former came in a relatively sluggish affair, while her win against the latter came in the form of a furious rally after dropping the bout’s opening round.

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Miesha Tate vs. Sara McMann set for UFC 183

Jose Aldo "believed the fight was over" after contentious post-bell clouts on Chad Mendes

RIO DE JANEIRO — Jose Aldo stays the UFC featherweight champ, but Chad Mendes proved to be an excellent challenge at Saturday night’s UFC 179 in Brazil.

The first and only 145-pound champ, Aldo defended his title for the seventh successive time, the third in Brazil, and he feels even better when performing in the front of his countrymen.

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Jose Aldo "believed the fight was over" after contentious post-bell clouts on Chad Mendes

Neil Magny willing to fight for sixth time this year

RIO DE JANEIRO — Neil Magny, who won his fifth straight fight in 2014 using a third-round TKO over William Macario, talks about his position in lightweight section, his run, if he really wants to fight again in 2013, and much more.

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Neil Magny willing to fight for sixth time this year

UFC 179 results: Neil Magny ties UFC record with win over William Macario

Neil Magny left nothing to chance on Saturday night. And because of this, he etched his name in the UFC’s record books.

The Colorado-based fighter turned up the heat in the 2nd and third round of his UFC 179 fight against William Macario, earning a TKO victory.

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UFC 179 results: Neil Magny ties UFC record with win over William Macario