Alex Oliveira parts ways with the UFC after 22 fights with the promotion

Fedor Emelianenko promises his fight at Bellator 290 will be his last, but unlike ex-UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, he knows he could never completely walk away from the sport. After retiring from competition in 2020, Nurmagomedov shocked the world when he effectively cut ties with MMA to return home to...

On Saturday night, the MMA community will bid adieu to one of the all-time greats. Fedor Emelianenko will make his final walk to the cage in the main event of Bellator 290 when he challenges Ryan Bader for the heavyweight title. The event serves as the promotion’s first to air on CBS network television and takes place at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

It’s a heavyweight doubleheader this weekend with UFC Vegas 68 and Bellator 290 taking place on Saturday in Las Vegas and Inglewood, Calif., respectively. In the UFC, Derrick Lewis faces Sergey Spivac, while over in Bellator, heavyweight champion Ryan Bader puts his title on the line against the great Fedor Emelianenko in the final fight of the legend’s esteemed career. There’s no time to waste so let’s hop to it.

Fedor Emelianenko called his shot for the final fight of his legendary career but there was no storybook ending after he fell to Ryan Bader in the Bellator 290 main event. Win, lose or draw, the 46-year-old Russian had plans to retire after Saturday night regardless of the result but he wanted the opportunity to go out on top with a request for a rematch against Bader with the Bellator heavyweight title on the line. His night ended after Bader connected with a single shot behind the ear that sent Emelianenko crashing to the canvas.

Fedor Emelianenko has the opportunity to have one of the best retirement stories in the history of MMA as he challenges for the Bellator heavyweight championship on Saturday. Ahead of Emelianenko’s final fight against champ Ryan Bader in the main event of Bellator 290, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Alexander K. Lee, and Jed Meshew preview the matchup and discuss why “The Last Emperor” could get it done in his swan song, Johnny Eblen’s opportunity to boost his star potential against Anatoly Tokov in the co-main event, the super-fun main card opener between Sabah Homasi and Brennan Ward, the impact of being on CBS, and more.

The UFC will finally make its return to Miami for the first time in two decades for the rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya for the middleweight championship at the Miami-Dade arena on April 8, the company announced Saturday. UFC 287, which will also feature Miami star Jorge Masvidal...

DAMN! They Were Good celebrates the careers of the most exciting and influential fighters in MMA history, and on the second episode of 2023, the MMA Fighting crew remembers the best of Fedor Emelianenko as he prepares for the final fight of his legendary career. Starting his career in 2000,...

Gilbert Burns hasn’t given up hope on a five-round fight against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287, though he concedes it probably won’t happen. Just days after their matchup was announced for the April 8 card, the one-time UFC welterweight title challenger requested a 25-minute co-headliner. Masvidal quickly shot down that idea, adding he’d already signed his bout agreement and wasn’t interested in a five-round fight unless the UFC pays him “BMF money.”

UFC Vegas 68 is an early front-runner for the promotion’s strangest event of the year. Originally set to take place in South Korea, Saturday’s card ended up back in the cozy confines of the UFC APEX after it was originally planned for Chan Sung Jung to have a triumphant homecoming. Unfortunately, an injury removed any chance of “The Korean Zombie” headlining what would have been UFC South Korea so the decision was made to just tack another lineup to the Vegas board, even though a glut of Asian fighters (including the Road to UFC tournament finalists) had already been booked for this date.

Watch Fedor Emelianenko vs. Ryan Bader 2 full fight video highlights from the main card of Bellator 290, courtesy of CBS and other outlets. Bellator 290: Fedor vs. Bader 2 took place Feb. 4 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Fedor Emelianenko (40-7, 1 NC) took on Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (31-7, 1 NC) in the main event. The fight aired live on CBS.

This is the Bellator 290 live blog for Ryan Bader vs. Fedor Emelianenko 2, the heavyweight title fight in Inglewood, Calif. After 23 years and 46 fights, the legendary career of “The Last Emperor” finally comes to a close on Saturday. Making his name in Pride FC in the early 2000s, Fedor was the consensus “Baddest Man on the Planet” for over seven years, before finally suffering his first true career defeat in 2010. Since then, Fedor’s career has had a few ups and downs, but somehow, at 46 years old, one of the greatest fighters to ever live finds himself on the cusp of claiming another world championship, and writing a storybook ending for the ages.

Fedor Emelianenko cashed one last six-figure payday in his final MMA fight. The heavyweight legend earned a $100,000 fight purse for his farewell fight against Ryan Bader in Bellator 286’s main event, which took place Saturday at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and aired live on CBS. Bader,...

Undefeated Bellator heavyweight Steve Mowry was well aware that former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou entered free agency, and that there’s a chance Ngannou could enter the fray in the Bellator heavyweight division. As great as that could potentially be for the promotion, and possibly for Mowry, he’s focused on the task at hand.

Jiri Prochazka is the truth. The now-former champion is waiting on the sidelines until his eventual return to action after a severe shoulder injury forced him out of action. Prochazka is chomping, at the bit, hoping a title return bout takes place sooner rather than later. Ideally, Prochazka would face...

UFC heavyweight prospect Hamdy Abdelwahab will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. Abdelwahab, 30, has accepted a two-year suspension that stretches into the summer of 2024 for violations of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, USADA announced Friday. The Egyptian heavyweight tested positive for the anabolic agent metenolone and its metabolite in...

Trevin Jones is getting his shot at a former UFC champion. Jones is set to face former UFC bantamweight titleholder Cody Garbrandt on short notice on March 4 at UFC 285. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck confirmed the news Friday following an initial report by UFC broadcast partner ESPN. Jones replaces Garbrandt’s original opponent Julio Arce, who withdrew from the contest due to an undisclosed injury.

Dustin Poirier isn’t the only one to offer his thoughts to the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler announcement Saturday morning by UFC President Dana White.

Scott Coker sees Bellator as having a potential trump card in the Francis Ngannou free agency chase. As the president of a promotion that is part of the Showtime Sports family, Coker feels that Bellator is uniquely positioned to make a run at the former UFC heavyweight champion. Ngannou recently parted ways with the UFC after failing to agree on a new contract following a year-long negotiation period, with the company’s refusal to allow him to compete in boxing being one of the major sticking points.

Tatsuro Taira picked up his second submission win in as many UFC appearances by forcing Jesus Santos Aguilar to tap at UFC Vegas 68. Taira rolled into a triangle and then went belly-down with an armbar to get the win at 4:20 of the opening frame in the first bout of Saturday’s fight card at UFC APEX.

Johnny Eblen is going to be a serious problem for anybody he faces in the middleweight division. In his first title defense in the Bellator 290 co-main event, Eblen put on a clinic as he just continued getting stronger with each passing minute to eventually overwhelm Anatoly Tokov en route to a unanimous decision victory. The final scorecards read 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 with Eblen securing the victory and moving his record to a perfect 13-0 overall.