May 11 marked the UFC’s big pay-per-view return to the great nation of Brazil as they touched down in Rio De Janeiro. And the action got kicked off in incredibly impressive fashion.

The very first bout of the night took place at 135-pounds as BJJ specialist Talita Bernardo looked to get her second career win inside the Octagon. Originally supposed to be taking on Jessica-Rose Clark, an injury would force Bernardo’s Aussie opponent out of the bout a few weeks prior.

Stepping in for Clark would be a newcomer in Brazil’s Melissa Gatto. Unfortunately, Gatto would also be forced out of the bout with Bernardo, but this time, much closer to fight night. Thus giving Viviane Araujo (7-1) the opportunity of a lifetime.

Capitalizing on her chance in full force, Araujo would flawlessly pick apart Bernardo en route to a stunning third-round knockout. No weight cut, no problem.

Now looking to keep that momentum going, Combate has confirmed that rather than returning to strawweight like she was expected to, Araujo will instead go down just one weight class to the 125-pound flyweight division. Welcoming her will be the seasoned seventh-ranked flyweight contender and former bantamweight title challenger, Alexis Davis (19-9). The pair will meet UFC 240 on July 27 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

A win will be crucial here for the 34-year old Canadian in Davis as she currently rides a two-fight losing streak that’s seen her on the wrong end of unanimous decisions to Katlyn Chookagian and former Invicta FC champion, Jennifer Maia.

UFC 240 is still shaping up, but the card as it currently stands can be seen below.

• Featherweight – (C) Max Holloway vs Frankie Edgar
• Welterweight – Erik Koch vs. Kyle Stewart
• Flyweight – Gillian Robertson vs. Sarah Frota
• Flyweight: Lauren Murphy vs. Mara Romero Borella
• Flyweight: Viviane Araújo vs. Alexis Davis

The post Viviane Araujo Drops to Flyweight, Takes on Alexis Davis at UFC 240 appeared first on Cageside Press.

In June, the UFC will head to the state of South Carolina for UFC Greenville which is starting to really take shape.

With five matchups already on the card, a sixth one looks to be on its way as ESPN’s Ariel Helwani has reported that a fight between former KSW flyweight champion, Ariane Lipski (11-4) and Molly McCann (8-2) is in the works for the June 22 date.

“Molly McCann vs. Ariane Lipski is in the works for UFC Fight Night Greenville on June 22 in Greenville, S.C., sources told ESPN,” Helwani tweeted. “Not quite finalized but that’s the current direction.”

For Brazil’s ‘Violence Queen’ in Lipski, the fight would act as her sophomore appearance inside the Octagon after making her debut in January when she took on the resurgent Joanna Calderwood. Unfortunately for Lipski, she would have her nine-fight winning streak ended by the Scot via unanimous decision.

On the other hand, McCann just recently picked up her first Octagon win when she endured some significant orbital damage en route to a unanimous decision win over Priscila Cachoeira in a hometown affair at UFC London last month.

With both women always looking to put on a show and having striking heavy arsenals, this is definitely a matchup that would have all the potential to be an all-around entertaining battle.

As for the rest of June’s UFC Greenville, the five previously announced fights for the card can be seen below.

• Heavyweight: Allen Crowder vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
• Middleweight: Bevon Lewis vs. Darren Stewart
• Strawweight: Ashley Yoder vs. Syuri Kondo
• Flyweight: Andrea Lee vs. Montana De La Rosa
• Middleweight: Markus Perez vs. Deron Winn

The post Ariane Lipski vs. Molly McCann Targeted for UFC Greenville appeared first on Cageside Press.

Jussier Formiga and Joseph Benavidez are set to rematch at UFC Minneapolis.

The UFC’s 125-pound men’s flyweight division has been in quite an interesting state over the last few months, to say the least. With its future in continual question, there’s just no telling as to what could happen as time goes on.

But with that in mind, there are still fights being made. The UFC would announce Wednesday that the division’s No. 1 and 2 ranked contenders, Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva (23-5), and Joseph Benavidez (27-5) will meet for the second time on June 29 at UFC Minneapolis.

Who deserves the shot at a flyweight title!?@JussierFormiga & @JoeJitsu look to give us answers at #UFCMinneapolis. pic.twitter.com/9yXOCSlkuN

— UFC (@ufc) April 10, 2019

The pair of flyweight legends first met in September 2013. Benavidez would end up walking away victorious after scoring a perfect TKO via knee to the body followed by punches in the opening round. Since then, both fighters have gone 8-2 in their 10 bouts that have followed.

For the Brazilian, he currently rides his most impressive winning streak since entering the UFC in 2012. Having won four straight bouts, two of which came via submissions (rear-naked choke), his most recent two wins were his most notable as he beat Sergio Pettis and the previously unbeaten 15-0 Deiveson Figueiredo.

Joseph Benavidez, on the other hand, has gone 2-1 since returning from the ACL tear that he suffered in late 2018. He’ll come into this fight riding back to back wins over Alex Perez and Dustin Ortiz.

UFC Minneapolis is still taking shape. The event’s current lineup can be seen below.

• Welterweight – 170lbs: Tyron Woodley vs. Robbie Lawler
• Flyweight – 125lbs: Joseph Benavidez vs. Jussier Formiga
• Heavyweight – 207-265lbs: Maurice Greene vs. Junior Albini
• Lightweight – 155lbs: Drew Dober vs. Marco Polo Reyes
• Light Heavyweight – 205lbs: Vinicius Moreira vs. Roman Dolidze

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At UFC 235 last month, the undefeated Ultimate Fighter season 28 featherweight winner, Macy Chiasson (4-0), made her 135-pound bantamweight debut and did so rather impressively.

Chiasson would face Gina Mazany and end up dispatching of the Alaskan in just under two minutes with a big knockout win. Now, she’s back and looking for another.

Originally scheduled to face Leah Letson at UFC Ottawa on May 4 was the TUF 18 alumni, Sarah “Cheesecake” Moras (5-4). However, Letson has since been pulled from the bout due to medical issues. Thus leading to Chiasson stepping in.

Booking change: 🇨🇦 @SarahCheesecake now faces @Macy_Chiasson at #UFCOttawa!

🎟 ➡️ https://t.co/QOiRhgfDYz pic.twitter.com/PqWxti8dbr

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) April 3, 2019

For Canada’s Moras, this will be just her sixth fight in the UFC since joining the roster in late 2013. Since then she has gone 2-3 and currently rides a two-fight losing streak that has seen her suffer back-to-back losses to the likes of Lucie Pudilova and Talita Bernardo. Chiasson, on the other hand, hopes to score her fourth career win by finish.

As for the rest of UFC Ottawa, the card is all but finalized as Walt Harris now needs a new opponent after Aleksei Oleinik has gone to fill in for Alexander Volkov against Alistair Overeem. The card’s full line-up can be seen below.

• Lightweight – 155lbs: Al Iaquinta vs. Donald Cerrone
• Middleweight – 185lbs: Derek Brunson vs. Elias Theodorou
• Featherweight – 145lbs: Cub Swanson vs. Shane Burgos
• Heavyweight – 207-265lbs: Arjan Bhullar vs. Juan Adams
• Bantamweight – 135lbs: Sarah Moras vs. Macy Chiasson
• Bantamweight Brad Katona vs. Merab Dvalishvili
• Middleweight: Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Andrew Sanchez
• Bantamweight: Mitch Gagnon vs. Brian Kelleher
• Bantamweight: Aiemann Zahabi vs. Vince Morales
• Welterweight – 170lbs: Nordine Taleb vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
• Heavyweight: TBD vs. Walt Harris
• Featherweight: Kyle Nelson vs. Matt Sayles

The post Macy Chiasson Replaces Leah Letson at UFC Ottawa Against Sarah Moras appeared first on Cageside Press.

The women’s featherweight division in the UFC has been quite the anomaly throughout its existence to this point. It’s had three different champions crowned with less than 10 total fights having taken place. But to keep marching forward in 2019, that looks to be slowly changing.

With the recent addition of Invicta FC featherweight champion, Felicia Spencer, atop the list of new signings, things are looking up for the women at 145lbs. Spencer just recently had her promotional debut revealed; it will come against her fellow top contender and former champion, Megan Anderson. The two will meet at UFC Rochester on May 18. Just two weeks later, however, two more natural 145-pounders will enter the Octagon.

Combate has confirmed that at UFC Stockholm on June 1, The Ultimate Fighter season 28 contestant, Sweden’s own, Bea Malecki (2-0) will take on Brazil’s “Cowboyzinha” Duda Santana (3-0).

For both fighters, it will be their first fights since 2017 where they were seen capturing wins. Malecki’s came via 22-second knockout while Santana earned a unanimous decision.

As a cast member on TUF 28 this past year, Malecki did fight Leah Letson in a valiant but ultimately losing effort that saw her do plenty of damage in all striking exchanges only for Letson’s grappling prowess to get the nod from the judges over the course of two rounds.

The UFC’s big return to Sweden is still shaping up but what’s in store as of right now looks pretty good. Check out the card as it currently stands below.

• Light heavyweight – 205lbs: Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Smith
• Light heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir vs Ilir Latifi
• Light heavyweight: Jimi Manuwa vs Aleksandar Rakic
• Lightweight – 155lbs: Nick Hein vs. Luigi Vendramini
• Featherweight – 145lbs: Makwan Amirkhani vs. Chris Fishgold

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Out of the UFC’s four women’s divisions, there is currently none that are richer with talent than their lightest, the 115-pound strawweight class.

The division has been a deep pool for quite some time now, but it wasn’t until this past year where things really started to heat up with the emergence of many new and exciting faces. One of those being China’s own Yan Xiaonan (10-1).

Xiaonan would arrive in the UFC in late 2017 when she picked up a dominant win over Kailin Curran before extending her current streak to three with two more solid victories in 2018.

The 29-year old hasn’t lost since her third professional bout and has established herself as one of the dangerous new wave fighters at 115 pounds. Alongside Weili Zhang, the pair are leading the charge for their country of China.

As for Zhang, she recently picked up the biggest win of her career when she defeated perennial top 10 strawweight, Tecia Torres at UFC 235. Thus catapulting herself right into the mix of top contenders. Now it’s Xiaonan’s turn to try and do the same.

Combate has reported that a bout between Xiaonan and the No. 12 ranked contender, Felice Herrig (14-8) is being finalized for UFC 238 in Chicago, Illinois on June 8.

For the veteran and fellow season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter alumni to Torres in Herrig, she will be looking to rebound after two consecutive losses to Cortney Casey and Michelle Waterson that halted her resurgent four-fight winning streak.

UFC 238 is still in the early building stages. But as of right now, it’s off to a good start. Check out what’s currently on tap below.

• Flyweight – 125lbs: (C)Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Eye
• Strawweight – 115lbs: Tatiana Suarez vs. Nina Ansaroff
• Flyweight: Katlyn Chookagian vs. Joanne Calderwood
• Heavyweight – 207-265lbs: Tai Tuivasa vs. Blagoy Ivanov

The post Felice Herrig vs. Yan Xiaonan In the Works for UFC 238 appeared first on Cageside Press.

When it comes to pioneers in the women’s divisions, discussions can’t be had without mentioning former Strikeforce and current Invicta FC bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman.

The 25-fight veteran has fought and beaten a who’s who of notable MMA fighters and continues to show that she’s nowhere near finished as evidenced by her current run as Invicta champion. Having not fought since May 2018 when she successfully defended her title against Katharina Lehner, Kaufman has been very vocal and open with her willingness to fight everyone and anyone as soon as possible.

Unfortunately for the perpetually underrated Kaufman, she had a fight lined up following Invicta FC 32 when the continually impressive Julia Avila dominated Alexa Conners on route to a second-round TKO victory. This is prefaced with ‘unfortunately’ due to the fact that Avila would end up breaking her thumb in her win, therefore, requiring her to get surgery and take some time off.

But now that she’s back, Avila has been signed to the UFC as she announced this week, thus leaving Kaufman happy for her yet frustrated with her own situation.

“Happy for Avila and wish her all the best…can’t play the pity game in MMA but man it can be frustrating. Just have to make the most of what happens next…and I’m sure it’s going to be a fun year” Kaufman said in a tweet on Thursday.

Kaufman has been fighting to get back to the place that she never should have left in the UFC since 2015 when she lost a split decision to the debuting future flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko. The fight was the last on Kaufman’s contract.

The post On the Outside Looking in, Sarah Kaufman Happy for Julia Avila in Wake of UFC Signing appeared first on Cageside Press.

The UFC women’s bantamweight division kick-started the introduction of the female fighters to the UFC roster. Six years later, and the division’s depth has decreased significantly.

Thanks to the emergence of The Ultimate Fighter season 28 winner Macy Chiasson as well as former Invicta FC standouts Irene Aldana and Yana Kunitskaya, things are starting to show promise once again in a historic division.

Continuing that trend of top Invicta prospects making the move over to the big show, the “Raging Panda” Julia Avila has announced that she has signed a four-fight contract with the UFC.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BupNEqiA8BD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Avila has been unstoppable in her seven-fight professional career to this point and as evidenced by her fighting style that sort of resembles a blend of Tatiana Suarez and Tony Ferguson, her potential is blatant.

Despite her few fights, she already holds two very notable victories over the likes of current top 10 UFC bantamweight Marion Reneau and the inaugural UFC flyweight champion, Nicco Montano.

Following her stellar performance in her last win over Alexa Connors, Avila was staring at an Invicta title shot. That, however, would be halted due to a hand injury suffered in her delivered beatdown to Conners.

The 30-year old Julia Avila is a fantastic and much-needed addition to a division that is need of new talents. It will be exciting to see who she gets for her promotional debut.

The post Enter the ‘Raging Panda,’ Julia Avila Signs With the UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

When it comes to feared submission specialists, there aren’t many like Russia’s Alexey Oleynik (57-11-1). The 41-year old 69-fight veteran has earned a whopping 45 of his 57 career victories via submission. With just about every variation in the book under his belt, it’s safe to say that his favorite is the ever rare Ezekiel choke which he has successfully executed on a crazy 12 separate occasions.

Currently riding a two-fight winning streak with his most recent win coming over Mark Hunt in the UFC’s debut in Russia, Oleynik was hoping for a big jump up the ladder for his next time out.

Instead, ESPN has now confirmed that the ninth-ranked contender Oleynik will face the 14th-ranked Walt Harris (11-7) at UFC Ottawa on May 4.

For Harris, his last fight was originally the biggest win of his career when he picked up a split decision win against Andrei Arlovski at UFC 232. However, a failed USADA test would overturn the result to a no-contest. Harris would only end up getting a four-month suspension as he was able to prove that his test failure was the result of a tainted supplement. That suspension ends on April 29, just five days before fight night.

As for the rest of UFC Ottawa, it has begun to shape up rather nicely and will surely be finalized within the coming weeks.

• Middleweight: Derek Brunson vs. Elias Theodorou
• Bantamweight: Sarah Moras vs. Leah Letson
• Middleweight: Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Andrew Sanchez
• Heavyweight: Arjan Bhullar vs. Juan Adams
• Bantamweight: Aiemann Zahabi vs. Vince Morales
• Bantamweight: Mitch Gagnon vs. Brian Kelleher
• Bantamweight: Brad Katona vs. Merab Dvalishvili
• Featherweight: Kyle Nelson vs. Matt Sayles
• Welterweight: Nordine Taleb vs. Siyar Bahadurzada

The post Alexey Oleynik and Walt Harris to Throw Down at UFC Ottawa appeared first on Cageside Press.

On top of that, we got two big interim title fights announced as at middleweight, Kelvin Gastelum will take on the unbeaten Israel Adesanya in the co-main event. In the event’s headliner, we’ll see a rematch at lightweight between current featherweight champion Max Holloway and Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier. Also recently reported for the event was a fun flyweight match-up between Brazil’s Poliana Botelho and Paige VanZant.

In a follow-up report today from Yahoo! Esportes, however, it was revealed that Botelho had withdrawn from the bout. Which led to the surging Montana De La Rosa appearing to get the fight she’s been wanting for quite some time now.

But that doesn’t appear to be the case either. De La Rosa told BJPenn.com that the reports of the fight between her and VanZant for UFC 236 were not true, as VanZant is dealing with an injury.

“I guess [UFC matchmaker] Mick [Maynard] wanted to make that fight between me and Paige,” De La Rosa said. “But now Paige is claiming her arm is hurt so she can’t fight that Poliana girl or me so we aren’t sure what is happening. As of now, she is hurt so that is not true. I’m just waiting to hear. They do want to make that fight with Paige and I but she is claiming she is hurt. I’m not really sure what is going on now.”

Both De La Rosa and VanZant are coming off of successful performances where they both picked up wins via armbar. For VanZant, hers came at UFC Brooklyn against Rachael Ostovich while De La Rosa more recently scored hers in Australia at UFC 234 over Nadia Kassem. Both came in the second-round.

As for the rest of UFC 236’s lineup, it currently sits as follows.

• Lightweight – 155lbs: (IC) – (FW C)Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier
• Middleweight – 185lbs: (IC) – Kelvin Gastelum vs. Israel Adesanya
• Light Heavyweight – 205lbs: Ovince Saint Preux vs. Nikita Krylov
• Light Heavyweight: Eryk Anders vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
• Bantamweight – 135lbs: Montel Jackson vs. Andre Soukhamthath
• Flyweight – 125lbs: Wilson Reis vs. Alexandre Pantoja
• Bantamweight: Boston Salmon vs. Khalid Taha

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