Jones was stripped of the victory after the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to overturn the fight’s result to a no-contest after the 30-year-old was found to have used marijuana. He was also hit with a 4.5-month suspension and a fine of $1,945.36; he will be required to submit three clean drug tests at various intervals before he is issued a new fighting license.

Jones accepted his fight on two days’ notice and was met with a barrage of punches at the UFC Apex in the first round of the contest, but he came back strong in the second round to land a right hook that ended Valiev then and there.

There will be plenty of MMA action this coming weekend, with UFC Fight Night set for Saturday. Of course, bettors will get the opportunity to rake in some cash and, if you’re looking to get your first betting spell off the ground, be sure to take advantage of free bets from the bookmakers.

Most of the biggest bookies offer free bets to new customers and, if you grab what’s presented, stakes are covered by free bet tokens. Tokens are usually non-withdrawable and are unlikely to be included in winnings, however.

Saturday night’s action will see Mads Burnell go up against Darko Banovic, with the fighters 2/13 and 19/4 respectively. Michael Page is 2/5 for a win over the 3/1 Ross Houston while Emmanuel Dawa heads into his fight with the 1/2 Oliver Enkamp as the 37/19 underdog.

Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen will feature on the main card in a bantamweight fight; Moraes is 6/5 with the bookies and Sandhagen’s name has been attached to odds of 13/17. In featherweight competition, 2/5 favorite Edson Barboza will go head-to-head with Makwan Amirkhani, who’s at 9/4.

The heavyweight main event will showcase Ben Rothwell and Marcin Tybura. Bettors can get 4/6 odds on Rothwell and 6/4 odds on Tybura.

Jones is only one of the latest fighters to incur punishment for marijuana use. Jamahal Hill, Tim Elliott and Luis Pena were all penalized last month and, although Eliott and Pena took fights on short notice and informed the commission they’d stop using as soon as they were presented the fights, the amounts left in their system exceeded the 150 ng/ml allowable threshold.

Commission meetings have seen commissioners express concerns over the difficulty of fining and suspending fighters for a substance that is legal in the state of Nevada but they’re yet to amend laws pertaining to marijuana use despite the medicinal benefits and the fact that it’s now widely recognized as not being harmful.

There’s also been concern over athletes being forced to take more dangerous substances, with opioids, Xanax and Ambien all allowed.

The fight was originally penciled in to headline UFC Vegas 10 on September 12 but was pushed back after Teixeira tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the week leading up to the event. UFC officials planned to move the duel to the UFC ESPN 16 card set for October 4 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi – Holly Holm and Irene Aldana are poised to headline that one in a women’s bantamweight fight.

Santos has since tested positive for the respiratory disease, leaving the fight postponed indefinitely. UFC president Dana White confirmed as much after Tuesday night’s Dana White’s contender Series.

“Yeah, yeah, the fight is out,” the president confirmed after being asked if the reports over Santos contracting COVID-19 were true. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do yet. We haven’t really got there yet.”

While this contest hangs in the balance, there’s still a lot of MMA to bet on, with Gentingbet offering a number of odds on upcoming fights. New signups can take advantage of various perks such as Gentingbet’s welcome offer. Now, the bookmakers are offering £25 to new users. It will take a small deposit to trigger the offer, though.

As it pertains to the postponed fight, UFC should move to reschedule it once both Teixeira and Santos test negative and are cleared to step into the octagon again.

This news comes after the Iranian government executed 27-year-old Greco-Roman wrestling champion Navid Afkari on Saturday, despite both White and U.S President Donald Trump urging officials to spare his life. Afkari was accused of murdering a security guard during protests in 2018. The deceased’s family and attorneys claim Afkari was protesting peacefully, adding he only confessed to the murder after being tortured.

While Afkari wasn’t associated with UFC, the development appeared to weigh heavily on the UFC president, who pleaded with the Iranian government in a video and had Trump plead on his behalf as well.

As mentioned above, there’s still plenty of action to be had on the punting front with Gentingbet. The bookies are offering several odds on UFC fights set for this weekend. As things stand, Tyson Nam is 1/2 to beat Jerome Rivera at UFC Fight Night on Saturday, with the latter at 6/4.

Darrick Minner and TJ Laramie are also poised to go head-to-head on said date and are 12/5 and 3/10 respectively with Gentingbet, who are also offering odds of 4/9 on Andre Ewell vs the 17/10 Irwin Rivera.

The main card will see Khamzat Chimaev take on Gerald Meerschaert in a middleweight bout; the bookmakers handing out odds of 2/9 and 3/1 respectively. Donald Cerone’s 5/4 to beat the 8/13 Niko Price in Welterweight competition as co-mains. The main card throws up Colby Covington, who is 2/7 to beat Tyrone Woodley, who’s at 13/5.

The fans might just get what they want.

In fact, McGregor has attempted to bait Diaz into a trilogy fight following the Stockton native’s unanimous decision victory at UFC 241 against Anthony Pettis, his first since beating McGregor in March 2016. Doing it on the anniversary of their UFC 202 encounter, McGregor posted a photo of himself and Diaz which was taken immediately post-match showing both fighters in a bloody embrace. While many expected Diaz to take the bait and call for a rubber match, he had something else in mind and instead called for a fan-friendly bout with fellow ‘gangsta’ Jorge Masvidal.

For his part, the brash Irishman hasn’t fought since the high-profile matchup with Khabib Nurmagomedov back in October 2018. McGregor’s rematch against Diaz was a high-profile affair, and one of the UFC’s most-watched and bought events of all time. It was attended by over 15,000 fans and had a pay-per-view buy rate of 1.65 million. Yet, McGregor’s defeat to Nurmagomedov shattered that record, with over 20,000 in attendance and a 2.4 million buy rate. No stranger to high-profile matches, what really catapulted McGregor to global stardom, however, was his epic fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Time Magazine described their 10-round bout in Sin-City as one the biggest fights on US soil since Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao back in 2015. While McGregor lost by TKO and extended Mayweather’s perfect career record to 50-0, he held his own admirably, even taking some of the early rounds and impressing many boxing experts in Las Vegas. In Coral’s guide to why Las Vegas is the home of combat sports they explain how McGregor’s boxing match against Mayweather was watched by 13,000 fans at the T-Mobile Arena. A trilogy fight could match or even exceed McGregor’s previous bouts in pay-per-view buys, as millions would tune in.

Since the Mayweather and Nurmagomedov fight, however, The Notorious one has been absent from the Octagon but was apparently attempting a comeback in April of this year when he punched an old man at a bar in Dublin during a difference of opinion over whiskey. While McGregor was trying to play it cool, his tweets to Diaz show that he is itching for a high-profile comeback. Back in March, MMA Mania quoted McGregor as saying, ‘I have nothing but respect [for Diaz]. I owe him the trilogy and now a trilogy will happen.”

Yet, Diaz didn’t seem to be interested. In an ESPN interview in June, he stated very clearly that he’s not interested in fighting losers, saying that he doesn’t believe he lost the second matchup with McGregor and shouldn’t have to beg to fight him again. UFC president, Dana White, has said he is in favor of a trilogy, however, he wants to wait and see if Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier in September before making a definite decision.

That’s right! Following Cyborg’s brute departure from the UFC, the Brazilian quickly inked a lucrative deal with Bellator. Cyborg previously teamed up with Scott Coker in STRIKEFORCE, so Bellator should be fairly familiar territory. 

According to a statement released by Coker on Tuesday, Cyborg just signed “the biggest contract in women’s MMA history.” 

Coker said,

I have worked with countless athletes over my thirty-plus years of promoting combat sports, but there is no one quite like ‘Cyborg’. Her ability to excite the crowd from the moment she makes her walk to the cage is special, and having had the pleasure of promoting several of her fights in the past, I am looking forward to the opportunity of promoting her once again.

Cyborg’ is the most dominant female fighter in the history of the sport and she will be a perfect fit here at Bellator, where champion Julia Budd and the other women that make up best female featherweight division in the world have eagerly awaited her arrival.

In addition, Cyborg expressed great enthusiasm in a short video clip, which was shared earlier today by Bellator’s president.

Cyborg said,

My goal is to be the only female fighter is holding four different major titles in the same division.

There is no word yet on when Cyborg will debut, but it’s most likely she’ll end up jump right into deep water with Julia Budd in the not too distant future.

Stay tune to Yell! Magazine for the update.

When Conor McGregor called up Paulie Malignaggi to his training camp for his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr in August 2017, he could not have foretold the fallout that would have the two chomping at the bit to take each other out ever since. 

In a typical spar before his Las Vegas show fight, a short clip of video footage appeared to show the Irishman knock Malignaggi clean out. 

The former welterweight champion of the world refuted the claims, claiming he was pushed down to the floor, and after leaving Team McGregor he demanded that the full video be released. 

And it will, perhaps, given that it is rumoured that Netflix is producing a three-part series about the notorious sparring sessions.  

In them, McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, attempted to replicate the big fight atmosphere by appointing the legendary referee Joe Cortez to oversee the action, with celebrities sat ringside watching on – hence Malignaggi’s rather defensive attitude towards the video footage.  

Kavanagh has also hinted that his man and his nemesis could be set for a sanctioned boxing match in the near future, although Malignaggi has other ideas as to how the action might go down. 

Settling The Score 

Back in June, the ‘Magic Man’ fought McGregor’s friend and training partner Artem Lobov in a bout sanctioned by the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Prior to the first bell, Malignaggi had claimed he wanted to put Lobov in a coma, as that would help to ‘bait’ McGregor into a subsequent fight. 

Well, things didn’t quite work out as planned as the Russian outpointed the 38-year-old. 

But there are two things that are sure in life: Conor McGregor loves to fight and he loves to make money. 

Normally, Malignaggi’s defeat would have ended any hopes of a clash with the Irishman in any format, be it a boxing match, an MMA contest or a bare-knuckle brawl. 

But you suspect McGregor’s ego won’t let this lie, and he will be desperate to get his hands on the Magic Man no matter what the circumstances. 

And, given the ability of both to hype a fight, there will be plenty of gold coins in it for them too. 

“I will tell you this, Feldman and BKFC have more money than people think and there will be an offer for Conor McGregor,” Malignaggi said when penning his deal with the organization. “If you pay him [McGregor] enough money, he will become your personal piñata and he’s shown that already.” 

Lobov dished out the kind of beating that has left Malignaggi claiming he has retired for good, but money talks in the fight game and with the right provocation this is a feud that will surely get settled in the boxing ring – that is the most likely arena given both have previous in the sport. 

Indeed, some sportsbooks are offering prices in their latest betting odds, making both men -110 to win the fight. Keep your eyes peeled to the latest boxing and MMA news updates to make sure you don’t miss a thing in the build-up to any potential McGregor vs Malignaggi battle. 

Those odds suggest any scrap would be a closely-fought epic, and that only serves to increase the anticipation and the hype yet further.  

During an interview with MMAfighting.com, the Brazilian former UFC heavyweight champion revealed that he plans to knockout Francis Ngannou at UFC Minneapolis. According to dos Santos, he believes he has more skills and that too much power without control is useless.  

Dos Santos said, 

He has a lot of power. If he connects a good punch on you, you’re out. That’s 100 percent sure. But too much power without the right control is useless. So I’m going to take the best of Ngannou and if he’s not ready to show me his best, he’s going to get knocked out. I’m going to come to knock him out for this fight.

I believe I have more skills than him. I have better boxing. I know he was talking about even fighting in boxing. This could be a good chance for him to have a boxing fight because I’m not going away from the standup game with him. I’m ready to stand up and bang against him. I hope he’s ready for that, too. Because I’m sure the fans will love it. I can knock anyone out in this division and Ngannou is going to be the next guy. I even have enough boxing to beat boxing champions.

If the fight goes as planned, dos Santos confirmed that will try to match up next against Deontay Wilder in a superfight that can most likely happen in the very near future. That’s what dos Santos believes, if he KO’s Ngannou tomorrow night.

I think and I already have this idea in my mind who it could be. It could be Deontay Wilder because everything I see about Deontay, he’s a great champion, he knocks everybody out and he doesn’t run away from a good match,” dos Santos said. “He accepts all the matches. Some of the guys pick fights but this guy is not picking fights. He’s fighting everybody. So I think if we have a good match and we are able to make people want to see that fight and there’s a chance it could happen.

Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine for much more daily news in MMA.

In a few hours, Paulie Maglignaggi and Artem Lobov will square off in a 154-pound contest to prove who is the better striker. In addition, Chris Leben will go toe-to-toe against Dakota Cochrane in the co-main event. The overall fight card is pretty much staked, so if you have nothing planned for tonight then BKFC 6 should be your choice of entertainment.

The TV start times and full schedule is listed right below to get familiar with the event, which will be held at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa. Fla.

Check it out right below!

The main card airs on pay-per-view at 9 p.m. ET. This portion is as follows: 

Paulie Malignaggi vs. Artem Lobov 
Chris Leben vs. Dakota Cochrane 
Reginald Barnett Jr vs. Johnny Bedford 
Tom Shoaff vs. Julian Lane 
Joey Beltran vs. Jamie Campbell 
Joe Riggs vs. Walber Barros 
Abdiel Velazquez vs. Travis Thompson 
Elvin Leon Brito vs. Jim Alers 
David Mundell vs. Drew Lipton 

You can either stream the action here or watch below for $39.99. 
The card will kick off on Facebook at 7 p.m. ET. The card will be as follows: 

Abidiel Velasquez vs. Travis Thompson 
Jared Hayes vs. Chris Boffil  

Initially, Gatto was expected to make her UFC debut earlier this year at UFC 237, but she was forced off the card due to an infection. Gatto will now square off against the “Raging Panda”, who is 6-1, in a 135-pound clash that is not to be missed.

If you’re living under a rock lately, UFC 239 will headline a light-heavyweight title bout between reigning champion Jon Jones and Brazilian prospect Thiego Santos. In addition, another exciting title bout between UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm will serve as co-main event.

According to SBD, Jon Jones (-600) and Amanda Nunes (-325) are both heavily favored to retain their title belts at UFC 239. While light-heavyweight challenger Thiago Santos has looked great since moving up in weight, he’s also 37 and will have an 8.5-inch disadvantage in reach against Jones. Jones’ more difficult fights have come against longer fighters, such as Alexander Gustafsson.

Holly Holm is seen as a more viable title threat against Nunes. She’s also 37 and six years older than her opponent, but she won’t have a reach deficit to overcome and, as a former pro boxer, has KO potential against any woman she faces.

UFC 239 will take shape on July 6th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine for much more daily news in MMA.

Moments after a second-round TKO loss to Machida in the co-main event of Bellator 222 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, “The American Gangster” announced retirement and dropped his gloves inside the Bellator 360 cage. It was the 49th bout of Sonnen’s 22 year MMA career. 

During the post-fight presser for Bellator 222, Sonnen said, 

You’ve got to be tough in this sport. And I feel like I used all my toughness up. There were some positions in there that before in my career I would have walked right through them. I didn’t mind losing to him in his spots, like some of the stuff on our feet, those jumping knees and whatnot, but I did mind losing to him in my spots. He was on top of me, I didn’t think he’d be on top of me, I thought I could have scrambled, I got up.

“I used to be tougher. I used to want it more. I used to have more grit. And I just felt like maybe I fired my last bullet, I didn’t have that same grit and it’s time to move on.

Sonnen had high praise for Bellator president Scott Coker, explaining that there were times when the two worked together solely on a verbal agreement and that Coker always honored his word. He said the Machida fight was the last one that he owed Coker. 

Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine for much more daily news in MMA.

As many of you know, “The Mauler” took on Anthony Smith last night in Stockholm, but lost in the fourth round by rear-naked choke. Soon after the fight was over, Gustafsson removed his gloves, dropped them to the canvas and declared “the show is over” before walking out of the six sided cage.

While he was questioned in the post-fight presser, the media wanted to know whether it was just emotions on display or whether it was truly the last time we see “The Mauler” inside the famous Octagon.

 Gustafsson said,

I’m feeling that it’s pretty much a done deal. If you don’t feel you have it in you anymore then it is what it is. I had three title fights and, like I said, it’s been a great journey. This is it.

He later added,

I feel like I don’t do this for money or because of anything else, I do this because I want to be the best and beat the best and if I can’t do that then it is what it is. I lost to Jon and that was the third title fight and I felt like because I got a little bit of an injury in that fight and I didn’t get to show my capacity. So I had some hope in me still and I felt this Anthony Smith fight would be a great comeback and start climbing again. But now I lose to Anthony too. It feels like I don’t have it in me anymore. It’s like a confirmation to myself because I lost my three title fights.

Gustafsson (18-6) ends his time in the UFC with a record of 10-6, which includes stoppage wins over Glover Teixeira, Jimi Manuwa and Matt Hamill as well as decisions over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Thiago Silva and Jan Blachowicz.

Stay tune to Yell! Magazine for much more daily news in MMA.