Grant Dawson Off UFC 246 Card, Leaving Chas Skelly Without An Opponent

This weekend’s UFC 246 card has lost a preliminary fight, as Grant Dawson has pulled out from his fight against Chas Skelly.

The featherweight fighter announced via Instagram on Tuesday that he couldn’t fight “due to circumstances out of my control,” and that he wished “to get my bout rescheduled as soon as possible.”

Dawson is two-fights into his UFC career, defeating Julian Erosa and Mike Trizano in 2019.

Skelly’s singular fight in 2019 saw him get a decision victory over Jordan Griffin. Before then, he lost twice.

UFC 246 still has four fights set for it, including a main event between Conor McGregor and “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone. Here’s the whole card so far:

Bout 1: Conor McGregor (21-4) vs. Donald Cerrone (36-13) (Welterweight)

Bout 2: Holly Holm (12-5) vs. Raquel Pennington (10-7) (Bantamweight)

Bout 3: Alexey Oleinik (57-13-1) vs. Maurice Greene (8-3) (Heavyweight)

Bout 4: Claudia Gadelha (17-4) vs. Alexa Grasso (11-3) (Strawweight)

Bout 5: Anthony Pettis (22-9) vs. Diego Ferreira (16-2) (Lightweight)

Bout 6: Maycee Barber (8-0) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (23-16) (Flyweight)

Bout 7: Andre Fili (20-6) vs. Sodiq Yusuff (10-1) (Featherweight)

Bout 8: Nasrat Haqparast (11-2) vs. Drew Dober (21-9) (Lightweight)

Bout 9: Aleksa Camur (5-0) vs. Justin Ledet (9-2) (Light Heavyweight)

Bout 10: Tim Elliott (15-9-1) vs. Askar Askarov (10-0-1) (Flyweight)

Bout 11: Ode Osbourne (8-2) vs. Brian Kelleher (19-10) (Bantamweight)

Bout 12: Sabina Mazo (7-1) vs. JJ Aldrich (8-3)

UFC on ESPN+ 28 Finds Main Event In Kevin Lee vs. Charles Oliveira

UFC on ESPN+ 28 has finally found it’s headlining bout in Kevin Lee and Charles Oliveira. It was reported on Tuesday morning by Combate that the matchup was made to headline the card which will take place on March 14th, at the Nilson Nelson Gym in Brasilia, Brazil.

Lee’s last fight was scheduled for three rounds, but ended within one when he knocked Gregor Gillespie out with a head kick. The fight was the first three-round bout that Lee had been booked in since mid-2017.

Oliveira last fought in November, finishing Jared Gordon within 90 seconds with punches. The win extended his winning streak to six-straight, dating back to mid-2018.

Now with the main event added to it, the March card in Brazil is near complete. Here’s the full lineup thus far:

Bout 1: Kevin Lee (18-5) vs. Charles Oliveira (28-8) (Lightweight)

Bout 2: Paige VanZant (8-4) vs. Amanda Ribas (8-1) (Strawweight)

Bout 3: Johnny Walker (17-4) vs. Nikita Krylov (26-7) (Light Heavyweight)

Bout 4: Elizeu Zaleski (21-6) vs. Alexey Kunchenko (20-1) (Welterweight)

Bout 5: Jussier Formiga (23-6) vs. Brandon Moreno (16-5-1) (Flyweight)

Bout 6: Demian Maia (28-9) vs. Gilbert Burns (17-3) (Welterweight)

Bout 7: Francisco Trinaldo (24-7) vs. John Makdessi (17-6) (Lightweight)

Bout 8: Mayra Bueno Silva (6-0) vs. Maryna Moroz (9-3) (Flyweight)

Bout 9: Veronica Macedo (6-3-1) vs. Bea Malecki (1-0) (Bantamweight)

Bout 10: Rani Yahya (26-10) vs. Enrique Barzola (16-5-1) (Bantamweight)

Gian Villante To Face Ben Rothwell In Heavyweight Bout on UFC 249 Card

Fighting at the 265 pound weight class for the first time since 2011, Gian Villante will face Ben Rothwell at UFC 249, on April 18th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Broken by Mark La Monica of Newsday, it was revealed on Monday night that the matchup would be added to the undercard of the pay-per-view event.

Villante’s sole fight last year was a first-round loss to Michael Oleksiejczuk. The UFC veteran has a 7-8 record in the promotion, with his longest winning streak being two-fights long.

Rothwell recently got out of his three-fight losing streak, prevailing over Stefan Struve in December with a second-round finish.

Currently set to main event the card is Khabib Nurmagomedov defending his UFC Lightweight Championship against Tony Ferguson, a fight which has been sought after for years.

Here’s the full card for UFC 249 so far:

Bout 1: Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) vs. Tony Ferguson (25-3) (UFC Lightweight Championship)

Bout 2: Jacare Souza (26-8) vs. Uriah Hall (15-9) (Middleweight)

Bout 3: Jessica Andrade (20-7) vs. Rose Namajunas (8-4) (Strawweight)

Bout 4: Ben Rothwell (37-12) vs. Gian Villante (17-11) (Heavyweight)

Demetrious Johnson To Battle Adriano Moraes For ONE Flyweight Championship In April

ONE Championship announced on Monday that Demetrious Johnson would return to face the promotion’s Flyweight Champion, Adriano Moraes on their April 11th card in China.

Johnson has been on a 3-0 run since entering ONE Championship. Most recently he went to a decision victory over Danny Kingad, winning a 135 pound tournament.

Moraes is a two-time ONE Championship Flyweight Champion. He won the interim belt in 2017, prevailing over Kairat Akhmetov. He went on to stop Danny Kingad within a round to make his first defence.

Moraes dropped the belt in a split decision fight to Deje Eustaquio in 2018, although avenged his loss in early 2019, getting back his belt.

Despite being held at what is traditionally known as bantamweight (135 pounds), the belt is known as the Flyweight Championship.

The championship fight is the sole bout announced so far for ONE Championship: Reign of Dynasties.

Makhmud Muradov vs. Antonio Carlos Junior Off UFC on ESPN+ 28 Card

Main card fight between Antonio Carlos Junior and Makhmud Muradov is off of the UFC on ESPN+ 28 card which is set for March 14th.

Announced on Muradov’s Instagram and reported by Mike Bohn of MMAJunkie, it was found out on Monday that the fight would not happen.

The fight was scrapped after Carlos Junior had to pull out with an injury.

Carlos Junior was attempting to snap his two-fight losing streak, which started in 2019. He was originally meant to fight Brad Tavares on this card, but that fight also went out of the picture once Tavares faced injury.

Muradov is 2-0 in his short UFC run thus far, defeating Alessio Di Chirico and Trevor Smith in 2019. Those wins combined with previous ones makes his current winning streak 13 fights.

While the card currently does not have a main event announced for it, there is many fights booked already. Here’s the card so far, which will take place at the Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil:

Bout 1: Paige VanZant (8-4) vs. Amanda Ribas (8-1) (Strawweight)

Bout 2: Johnny Walker (17-4) vs. Nikita Krylov (26-7) (Light Heavyweight)

Bout 3: Elizeu Zaleski (21-6) vs. Alexey Kunchenko (20-1) (Welterweight)

Bout 4: Jussier Formiga (23-6) vs. Brandon Moreno (16-5-1) (Flyweight)

Bout 5: Demian Maia (28-9) vs. Gilbert Burns (17-3) (Welterweight)

Bout 6: Francisco Trinaldo (24-7) vs. John Makdessi (17-6) (Lightweight)

Bout 7: Mayra Bueno Silva (6-0) vs. Maryna Moroz (9-3) (Flyweight)

Bout 8: Veronica Macedo (6-3-1) vs. Bea Malecki (1-0) (Bantamweight)

Bout 9: Rani Yahya (26-10) vs. Enrique Barzola (16-5-1) (Bantamweight)

Eric Spicely To Return Against Punahele Soriano on UFC on ESPN 8 Card

Punahele Soriano’s (7-0) second UFC fight will happen in March, against Eric Spicely (12-5) on the UFC on ESPN 8 card.

First reported by Farah Hannoun of MMAJunkie, it was reported on Sunday morning that the matchup was made.

Soriano made an explosive debut in the UFC at UFC 245 in December, stopping Oskar Piechota within a round. The fight extended his professional MMA record to an undefeated 7-0.

The Hawaiian fighter earned his UFC contract via TV series Dana White’s Contender Series, winning on the first episode of the third season.

Yorgan de Casto, who won on the same Dana White’s Contender Series episode of Soriano is fighting on the card as well, facing Greg Hardy.

Spicely’s last fight was a loss to Deron Winn via decision in June. The fight was his return fight to the UFC, having a two-fight stint in CES during 2019. Previously, Spicely had a 2-4 record in the UFC.

UFC on ESPN 8 is set to take place at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, USA, on March 28th, with Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruick headlining the card.

Here’s how the full card looks so far:

Bout 1: Francis Ngannou (14-3) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruick (10-0) (Heavyweight)

Bout 2: Raphael Assuncao (27-7) vs. Cody Garbrandt (11-3) (Bantamweight)

Bout 3: Greg Hardy (5-2) vs. Yorgan De Castro (6-0) (Heavyweight)

Bout 4: Khalil Rountree (8-4) vs. Sam Alvey (33-13) (Light Heavyweight)

Bout 5: Tecia Torres (10-5) vs. Mizuki (14-5) (Strawweight)

Bout 6: Aspen Ladd (9-1) vs. Julianna Pena (9-3) (Bantamweight)

Bout 7: Carlos Felipe (8-0) vs. Jeff Hughes (10-3) (Heavyweight)

Bout 8: Davey Grant (9-4) vs. Louis Smolka (16-6) (Bantamweight)

Bout 9: Randy Costa (5-1) vs. Martin Day (9-3) (Bantamweight)

Bout 10: Punahele Soriano (7-0) vs. Eric Spicely (12-5) (Middleweight)

Mark Madsen To Face Austin Hubbard At UFC 248

News broke Saturday that undefeated fighter Mark Madsen (9-0) will return to the UFC in March, facing Austin Hubbard (11-3) on the UFC 248 card.

First reported by Farah Hannoun of MMAJunkie, the bout is scheduled to be on the preliminary portion of the card and set at lightweight.

Madsen made his UFC debut in September, stopping Danilo Belluardo in just over a minute with strikes, co-main eventing the card.

Hubbard has a 1-1 record in the UFC, recently getting his first promotional win over Kyle Prepolec via unanimous decision.

Both fighters have competed in regional promotion LFA before, never losing under that banner.

From Denmark, Madsen has fought for recognized promotion Cage Warriors when they have toured to the country. He went 3-0 in 2019.

Schedule to headline UFC 248 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA is Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Zhang will be putting her UFC Strawweight Championship on the line, which was earned in August with a TKO victory over Jessica Andrade.

Here’s the full card for UFC 248 so far:

Bout 1: Weili Zhang (20-1) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3) (UFC Strawweight Championship)

Bout 2: Robert Whittaker (20-5) vs. Jared Cannonier (13-4) (Middleweight)

Bout 3: Jeremy Stephens (28-17) vs. Calvin Kattar (20-4) (Featherweight)

Bout 4: Beneil Dariush (17-4-1) vs. Drakkar Klose (11-1-1) (Lightweight)

Bout 5: Neil Magny (21-7) vs. Jingliang Li (17-5) (Welterweight)

Bout 6: Emily Whitmire (4-3) vs. Polyana Viana (10-4) (Strawweight)

Bout 7: Guido Cannetti (8-4) vs. Danaa Batgerel (6-2) (Bantamweight)

Bout 8: Jose Alberto Quinones (8-3) vs. Sean O’Malley (10-0) (Bantamweight)

Bout 9: Alex Oliveira (20-8-1) vs. Max Griffin (15-7) (Welterweight)

Bout 10: Rodolfo Vieira (6-0) vs. Saparbeg Safarov (9-2) (Middleweight)

Bout 11: Mark Madsen (9-0) vs. Austin Hubbard (11-3) (Lightweight)

Rodtang Jitmuangnon Retains Belt, Stopping Jonathan Haggerty In The Third Round

Rodtang Jitmuangnon retained his ONE Flyweight Muay Thai Championship in a rematch against Jonathan Haggerty on Friday, stopping him within three rounds at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Jitmuangnon finished the fight after scoring three knockdowns in the third round. He scored four knockdowns in total, with his first one coming in the first round. Most damage was done with body punches.

The fight main evented ONE Championship’s first card of 2020: “ONE Championship: A New Tomorrow.”

The fight was a rematch from August, where Jitmuangnon and Haggerty fought for five rounds, with Haggerty dropping his belt to Jitmuangnon via decision.

The win was the second defence of the Flyweight Muay Thai belt for Jitmuangnon. His first defence came in October, getting a split decision victory over Walter Goncalves.

In the co-main event of the evening, Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex defeated Puja Tomar in a mixed-martial-arts bout, stopping her with grounded strikes in just under one round.

ONE’s next event will be on Friday, January 31st, returning to the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. Headlining the card will be Joshua Pacio defending his 125-pound belt against Alex Silva.

A full report of ONE Championship: A New Tomorrow can be seen here.

Johnny Case Signs New Deal With PFL

After a four-fight run in RIZIN, Johnny Case (27-7-1) will return to the Professional Fighters League for their 2020 season.

First reported by Ariel Helwani of ESPN, news broke on Tuesday that Case would join the lightweight division of the PFL for it’s 2020 season.

Case fought once in PFL back in 2018, going to a two-minute draw against Natan Schulte in the quarter-finals. He was meant to face Jason High in the regular season, however, did not fight as High missed the lightweight limit by four pounds.

The most recent fight for Case was at RIZIN 20 on New Year’s Eve, losing to Tofiq Musayev (18-3) in the semi-finals of the RIZIN Lightweight Grand Prix, being stopped with punches in the first round.

Case debuted in RIZIN on New Year’s Eve 2018, defeating Yusuke Yachi due to a cut. He went on to stop Satoru Kitaoka and Roberto Satoshi de Souza in 2019. He finished his RIZIN run with a 3-1 record.

Earlier in his career, Case also competed in the UFC. He finished his major-league run with a 4-2 record, with his two losses being the final two fights of the stint.

Natan Schulte won the lightweight playoffs for the second time on New Year’s Eve, defeating Loik Radzhabov via decision.

Manel Kape Stops Kai Asakura In The Second Round, Becomes New RIZIN Bantamweight Champion

Manel Kape won the vacant RIZIN Bantamweight Championship in the main event of RIZIN 20, stopping Kai Asakura early in the second round with punches. Kape became champion at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Kape dropped Asakura with punches early in the second round, continuing with punches on the ground until referee Jason Herzog called a halt to the competition.

The original plan for New Year’s Eve was for Kai Asakura to challenge Kyoji Horiguchi for his Bantamweight belt. Horiguchi pulled from the fight and vacated his belt after being sidelined by a torn ACL.

Right after winning the fight, Kape went over to Horiguchi at ringside and kissed him on the forehead.

In the co-main event of the evening, Tenshin Nasukawa stopped Rui Ebata in under a round in a kickboxing bout.

Full coverage of the event can be found here.