Grant Dawson To Have USADA Hearing On January 22nd

After being taken off of this weekend’s UFC 246 card against Chas Skelly, it has come out that Grant Dawson will attend a hearing later this month over a USADA out-of-competition testing that he was flagged for.

Set for January 22nd, the Nevada State Athletic Commission will hold a hearing over the drug test violation.

Also set for a hearing on that same day is Glaico Franca, Daniel Pineda, Sean O’Malley and Jessica Eye.

Dawson has dealt with USADA issues in the past, being flagged down by the drug testing program in the fall of 2017. After fighting the case, it was dropped in late 2018.

Dawson has been 2-0 in the UFC, earning his contract back in 2017 through the inaugural season of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Nik Lentz vs. Arnold Allen Matched Up For UFC on ESPN+ 24

After both losing their original opponents on the UFC Raleigh show, Arnold Allen and Nik Lentz will be booked against each other.

Allen was originally meant to face Josh Emmett, and the original opponent of Lentz was scheduled to be Nad Narimani. Both opponents pulled out from their fights due to injury.

Lentz, who celebrated 10 years in the UFC recently, will look to bounce back after a loss to Charles Oliveira.

Allen has still yet to lose in the UFC, with a six-fight winning streak ongoing. He fought twice in 2019, going to decision against Jordan Rinaldi and Gilbert Melendez.

Currently scheduled to main event the January 25th card is heavyweights Curtis Blaydes and Junior dos Santos.

Here’s the full card of UFC on ESPN+ 24, which will take place at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA:

Bout 1: Curtis Blaydes (12-2) vs. Junior dos Santos (21-6) (Heavyweight)

Bout 2: Rafael dos Anjos (29-12) vs. Michael Chiesa (15-4) (Welterweight)

Bout 3: Jordan Espinosa (14-6) vs. Alex Perez (22-5) (Flyweight)

Bout 4: Hannah Cifers (10-3) vs. Angela Hill (10-7) (Strawweight)

Bout 5: Jamahal Hill (6-0) vs. Darko Stosic (13-3) (Light Heavyweight)

Bout 6: Justine Kish (6-2) vs. Lucie Pudilova (8-5) (Flyweight)

Bout 7: Bevon Lewis (6-2) vs. Dequan Townsend (21-9) (Middleweight)

Bout 8: Montel Jackson (8-1) vs. Felipe Colares (9-1) (Bantamweight)

Bout 9: Sara McMann (11-5) vs. Lina Lansberg (10-4) (Bantamweight)

Bout 10: Brett Johns (15-2) vs. Tony Gravely (19-5) (Bantamweight)

Bout 11: Nate Landwehr (13-2) vs. Herbert Burns (9-2)

Bout 12: Arnold Allen (15-1) vs. Nik Lentz (30-10-2) (Featherweight)

UFC 246 Pre-Fight Press Conference

Before this weekend’s UFC 246 pay-per-view, fighters are given a final chance to speak their piece to the press and the general public with the pre-fight press conference.

Headlining the card is “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone and Conor McGregor fighting at welterweight. McGregor has known in the past to be outspoken at these press conferences, being a soundbite machine sometimes.

Watch the press conference as it is streamed live on Youtube, starting at 8PM EST, or watch in replay afterwards via the link below.

RIZIN Light Heavyweight Champion Jiri Prochazka Signs Contract With The UFC

RIZIN Fighting Federation Light Heavyweight Champion Jiri Prochazka has signed an exclusive UFC contract, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.

Prochazka is currently riding a 10-fight winning streak, with nine of those coming from the top Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN.

The Czech Republic fighter won the promotion’s Light Heavyweight Championship in April of 2019, stopping Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in the third round.

He made his first defence of the belt on New Year’s Eve, defeating former-UFC veteran C.B. Dollaway within a round.

Robert Whittaker Pulled From UFC 248 Bout Against Jared Cannonier

Robert Whittaker has been taken off his co-main event fight at UFC 248 in March against Jared Cannonier, citing “undisclosed personal reasons.”

Reported on Wednesday evening by Ariel Helwani of ESPN, it was also mentioned that the UFC are looking for a replacement opponent for Cannonier.

This is the third time in recent years that Whittaker has been taken off of fights. In 2018, Whittaker was pulled from a fight against Luke Rockhold due to an undisclosed injury.

Last year, Whittaker suffered a hernia, sidelining him against Kelvin Gastelum only a few days before the fight.

The UFC 248 was set to be Whittaker’s first since losing his UFC Middleweight Championship to Israel Adesanya in October.

The fight was a clear move-up in competition for Cannonier, who’s current three-fight winning streak has made him emerge as a title contender.

Still in place for the UFC 248 card is the main event, which will see Weili Zhang make the first defence of her UFC Strawweight Championship against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Here’s the full card for UFC 248 as of right now:

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

Bout 2: Jeremy Stephens (28-17) vs. Calvin Kattar (20-4) (Featherweight)

Bout 3: Beneil Dariush (17-4-1) vs. Drakkar Klose (11-1-1) (Lightweight)

Bout 4: Neil Magny (21-7) vs. Jingliang Li (17-5) (Welterweight)

Bout 5: Emily Whitmire (4-3) vs. Polyana Viana (10-4) (Strawweight)

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

Bout 7: Jose Alberto Quinones (8-3) vs. Sean O’Malley (10-0) (Bantamweight)

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

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

Bout 10: Mark Madsen (9-0) vs. Austin Hubbard (11-3) (Lightweight)

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)

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)