Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori will square off in the UFC Vegas 16 main event Saturday. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesMMA Fighting has UFC Vegas 16 results for the Hermansson vs. Vettori event on Saturday, a live blog of the main event, and live UFC Vegas 16 Twitter updates. In the main event, middleweights Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori face off for a spot in the line of 185-pound title contenders. In the co-main event, veteran light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux faces Jamahal Hill. Main Card (ESPN+/ESPN2, 10 p.m. ET) Jack Hermansson vs. Marvin Vettori Ovince Saint Preux vs. Jamahal Hill Gabriel Benitez vs. Justin Jaynes Montana De La Rosa vs. Taila Santos Roman Dolidze vs. John Allan Nate Landwehr vs. Movsar Evloev Preliminary Card (ESPN+/ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET) Louis Smolka vs. Jose Quinonez Matt Wiman vs. Jordan Leavitt Jimmy Flick vs. Cody Durden Ilia Topuria vs. Damon Jackson Gian Villante vs. Jake Collier

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images“Soldier of God” Yoel Romero is no longer under contract with the UFC after seven years with the promotion. Romero’s longtime manager Malki Kawa confirmed the middleweight’s release to MMA Fighting on Friday evening after an initial report from ESPN.com. According to ESPN, Romero had three fights remaining on his contract. The 43-year-old Cuba native is “ready to move on now and resume his career, and we are already talking to other promotions as we speak,” Kawa said. It’s not immediately clear what led up to Romero’s release. Considered one of the most durable fighters in the octagon, Romero made his way to the UFC after a stint in the now-defunct Strikeforce, which was acquired by the UFC in 2011. He quickly established himself as a top contender and won eight straight fights between 2013 and 2016, capped by a flying knee knockout of ex-champ Chris Weidman. This performance earned Romero both a Performance of the Night bonus and a shot at interim champion Robert Whittaker. In a wildly competitive fight, Romero and Whittaker battled for five rounds before “The Reaper” was declared the winner via unanimous decision. Romero bounced back with a knockout win of Luke Rockhold in another interim title bout – Whittaker was later promoted to undisputed champ - but was ruled ineligible for the title when he missed weight. Romero still got another shot at the belt and Whittaker, but again came in heavy for a title bout and was ineligible to win gold. Whittaker still won the fight, which headlined UFC 225, via split decision. Scorecards have not been kind to Romero since, with decision losses to Paulo Costa and current champ Israel Adesanya in his second bid for the undisputed belt. Romero got the title shot when Costa was forced to undergo bicep surgery and was unable to challenge Adesanya.

Zuffa LLCWatch Marvin Vettori vs. Karl Roberson full fight video to see Vettori score his third straight victory and vanquish rival Roberson at UFC on ESPN 10 on June 13, 2020, in Las Vegas. There was plenty of bad blood leading into Vettori and Roberson’s fight, with the two middleweights getting into a hotel lobby altercation in May after their first scheduled meeting was canceled due to Roberson having medical issues. Their bout was rescheduled for June, but Roberson badly missed weight for the fight, giving Vettori a percentage of Roberson’s purse and some added motivation. Despite some spirited scrambles from Roberson, it was Vettori who would win this fight on the ground, softening up Roberson with ground-and-pound before finishing with a rear-naked choke in round one. Vettori, winner of three straight, now steps in on short notice for his first UFC main event, replacing Kevin Holland in a bout against Jack Hermansson this Saturday at UFC Vegas 16.

With UFC Vegas 16 just hours away, UFC announcer Brendan Fitzgerald joins MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Alexander K. Lee and E. Casey Leydon to break down the top storylines ahead of Saturday night’s event at the UFC APEX, including the middleweight headliner between Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori.

Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty ImagesIt appears Chi Lewis-Parry’s UFC career has ended before he ever stepped foot inside the octagon. The kickboxing standout has been suspended for four years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for violating the UFC’s anti-doing policy. Lewis-Parry was in the promotion’s testing pool despite not having a fight on the books. USADA announced the suspension after an independent arbitrator’s ruling that followed an evidentiary hearing on Nov. 10. The 37-year-old tested positive for drostanolone, stanozolol metabolites, and metabolites of dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) during a pair of out-of-competition tests in September 2019. The drugs are classified as non-specified substances in the class of anabolic agents and are prohibited at all times. In addition, USADA stated they discovered Lewis-Parry had “presented falsified evidence, specifically an adulterated supplement” to the agency and the arbitrator; Lewis-Perry claimed the positive test stemmed from a tainted supplement. As a result, Lewis-Parry was given a the maximum suspension of four years as opposed to a standard two-year ban due to “deceitful or obstructive conduct intended to avoid the detection or adjudication of an anti-doping policy violation,” per the UFC’s anti-doping policy. Lewis-Parry’s four-years of ineligibility is retroactive to Nov. 1, 2019. The U.K.-born fighter recently competed this past September and earned a first-round stoppage win over former UFC fighter Fabio Maldonado at UAE Warriors 13. Lewis-Parry is unbeaten in 13 professional MMA appearances, which includes two no-contests and two draws. He likely won’t be eligible to compete again until November 2023.