Month: Januar 2025

One of the lasting images from the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first event of 2025 was that of Victoria Dudakova slapping one of her coaches following a loss to Fatima Kline.

Advertisement

As it turns out, Dudakova has a more personal relationship with the object of her wrath: He’s also her husband. On Tuesday, Dudakova released a statement apologizing for the incident.

“The emotions have calmed down a bit,” Dudakova wrote on Instagram. “First of all, I would like to apologize to my husband and coach. I was upset that at such a difficult moment, he turned away from me and did not want to go into the cage. This is not an excuse and I am not looking for an excuse for myself. I did the wrong thing, I could not control my emotions. I set a bad example for athletes and the younger generation. I also want to apologize to sports fans. Thank you to everyone who stays with me in such a difficult situation.”

😳Victoria Dudakova slapped one …

You only get 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗧.☝️

64 Fighters. Single elimination tournament 💰🏆

Advertisement

One Shot to WIN. One Shot to ADVANCE. One Shot at a WORLD TITLE#PFLWorldTournament pic.twitter.com/7YlTLgKPAB — PFL (@PFLMMA) January 15, 2025

As expected, Professional Fighters League is doing away with its season format in favor of grand-prix style tournaments in each weight class.

The promotion announced on Wednesday that it will be launching what is called its 2025 World Tournament beginning this April. The single-elimination brackets will feature eight fighters from eight different weight classes — heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and women’s flyweight. Winners will receive a $500,000 bonus, and according to a release, the PFL World Tournament will “pay out over $20 million in prize money” overall.

The first round of the tournament will begin in April, followed by semifin…

[embedded content]

Arman Tsarukyan has high praise for Adriano Martins, the only man to beat Islam Makhachev.

Advertisement

Tsarukyan challenges Makhachev for the lightweight title in the main event at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Las Vegas. In preparation, Tsarukyan is training with Martins, who dealt Makhachev his lone career loss in 2015.

Makhachev faced Martins in his sophomore Ultimate Fighting Championship outing in 2015, when he suffered a first-round knockout loss. With Makhachev having since taken over the lightweight division, many attribute that loss to a lucky shot from Martins. However, Tsarukyan doesn’t think so after sparring with the Brazilian veteran. According to “Ahalkalakets,” Martins holds natural power in his hands, which left him bleeding for two weeks after getting hit in sparring.

“I’ll tell you straight, his punch is insane,” Tsarukyan told Ushatayka (h/t Home of Fight). “It’s not just a lucky punch, as people say. He…

Nate Diaz and Team Makhachev threw water bottles at each other backstage 😳 #UFC310 pic.twitter.com/gr3TDd5abt

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 7, 2024

Nate Diaz claims he doesn’t remember meeting Islam Makhachev in an elevator.

Makhachev’s and Diaz’s teams recently got into a near-brawl over unclear reasons. Makhachev defends his title against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The lightweight champ was in Las Vegas for a presser this past December when he came across Diaz, who was cornering teammate Kron Gracie against Bryce Mitchell at UFC 310.

Both teams hurled water bottles at each other and have later accused the other side of starting the altercation. Makhachev believes Diaz hurled the first water bottle, mistaking one of his teammates to be Khabib Nurmagomedov. Makhachev also recently said that Diaz was respectful towards him when they allegedly met in an elevator a few months ago.

…

[embedded content]

Aljamain Sterling thinks Merab Dvalishvili will retain his bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov.

Advertisement

Dvalishvili will defend his strap against Nurmagomedov in the co-main event at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Many expect Nurmagomedov to pose the biggest threat to Dvalishvili so far with his strong wrestling base and well-rounded skillset. However, Sterling believes fans are overestimating the level of competition from Nurmagomedov, at least in terms of the wrestling.

Nurmagomedov’s most high-caliber win so far came against Cory Sandhagen, who was able to defend the Dagestani’s takedown attempts multiple times. Based on that fight, Sterling doesn’t see Nurmagomedov posing a threat to Dvalishvili, who also comes from a grappling background.

“I mean if Cory Sandhagen could get ready, a guy who’s not coming from a grappling background at all – what do you think Merab is gonna do?” Sterling said on h…

One of Professional Fighters League’s most vocal critics is now a free agent.

Advertisement

PFL chairman and founder Donn Davis announced via social media on Tuesday that Patricio Freire has been released from the promotion, and Sherdog.com subsequently confirmed the news with a promotion official. In recent months, Freire had been critical of both his contract and lack of activity since PFL purchased Bellator in late 2023.

“[The PFL] is all about opportunity,” Davis wrote. “I founded this company to create new great opportunities for top fighters. PFL has and will continue to do that for all top fighters who want to be here.”

We are releasing @PatricioPitbull @PFLMMA is all about opportunity

I founded this company to create new great opportunities for top fighters

PFL has and will continue to do that for all top fighters who want to be here #PFLMMA

— Donn Davis (@DonnDavisPFL) January 14, 2025

One of the top feat…

ALL fighters now integrated and connected in one powerful roster

One Brand 👊@PFLMMA 👊One Roster

Advertisement

Professional Fighters League #PFLMMA pic.twitter.com/JcylkqFQSA — Donn Davis (@DonnDavisPFL) January 14, 2025

The Bellator MMA brand is officially a thing of the past.

Professional Fighters League chairman and founder Donn Davis released a statement clarifying Bellator’s status on Tuesday, announcing that “all fighters [are] now integrated and connected in one powerful roster.” In short, that means the Bellator name will not be associated with any fighters or events under the PFL umbrella.

The full statement posted by Davis on social media is as follows:

Professional Fighters League acquired Bellator MMA one year ago primarily for its great fighter roster. The PFL brand has become synonymous with the “win and advance” format and product innovation. PFL has established itself as a premium brand doing things diffe…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

A featherweight clash pitting Nathaniel Wood against Morgan Charriere was one of four bouts announced for UFC London on Tuesday.

Advertisement

The Las Vegas-based promotion also confirmed the following three fights for the event: Nathan Fletcher vs. Caolan Loughran at bantamweight; Lone'er Kavanagh vs. Felipe dos Santos at flyweight and Jai Herbert vs. Chris Padilla at lightweight.

UFC London takes place at the O2 Arena on March 22 and is expected to be headlined by a welterweight scrap between ex-champ Leon Edwards and Jack Della Maddalena.

A former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship champion, Wood has been victorious in four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Prospect” took a unanimous decision over Daniel …

[embedded content]

Justin Gaethje (25-5) is preparing to return to action against Dan Hooker (24-12).

Advertisement

Gaethje is currently at a crossroads in his career. Gaethje has dropped two lightweight title bids, against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020 and Charles Oliveira in 2022. “The Highlight” then bounced back with a decision win over Rafael Fiziev followed by a highlight-reel head kick KO against Dustin Poirier.

With a lightweight title shot still not in sight, Gaethje then took on Max Holloway in a BMF title fight at UFC 300 in April 2024. In a shocking upset, Holloway beat down Gaethje for five rounds, challenged him to a slugfest in the final seconds and knocked him out in a buzzer beater.

Gaethje is now back in training and already has a date and opponent in mind for his return. While he is yet to put pen to paper, the 36-year-old is in talks for a clash against Hooker at UFC 313 on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“So there’s no o…

Jiri Prochazka is confident he can become a UFC champ once more.

Advertisement

Prochazka takes on Jamahal Hill at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles in a high stakes light heavyweight matchup. “BJP” initially won the title against Glover Teixeira in 2022 but vacated it months later due to a shoulder injury. He faced Teixeira’s protege, Alex Pereira, for the vacant title at UFC 295 in 2023, when he suffered a second-round TKO loss. While he bounced back with a stoppage win over Aleksandar Rakic, the Czech has since dropped his rematch against “Poatan” at UFC 303 in June 2024.

However, Prochazka claims to have since made significant changes in his lifestyle, which could propel him towards a third title fight with Pereira.

“I said that many times, and I mean that very seriously,” Prochazka told MMAjunkie.com. “Everything that I say, I mean very seriously. I believe that I’ve made improvements to my style, to my life, in everything so I can…

[embedded content]

Khabib Nurmagomedov won’t step away from coaching until his teammates are done.

Advertisement

Nurmagomedov put Dagestan on the MMA world map with his spectacular reign at the top of the UFC lightweight division. However, “The Eagle” is only the leader of a long list of elite fighters trained by his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov retired from the sport in 2020 at the age of 32 after the death of his father due to COVID-19 complications. Nurmagomedov has since stepped into coaching shoes, guiding his teammates and cousins to world titles across every promotion in the world. While he once hinted at stepping away from coaching in 2023, the MMA GOAT contender couldn’t stay away for long.

Nurmagomedov has a busy fortnight ahead with three of his teammates competing in title fights. Islam Makhachev (26-1) defends his UFC lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan (22-3) in the main event at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome i…

👀Robert Whittaker says there is a 'skill gap' between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan:

“I just feel there is a skill gap. Islam is in a very good place right now. I find it very hard to see him getting defeated.”

Advertisement

🎥 @MMArcadePodcast ▫️ pic.twitter.com/5YSwG7Eeku — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) January 13, 2025

Robert Whittaker doesn’t think Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan are on the same level.

Makhachev puts his lightweight title on the line in a rematch against Tsarukyan in the main event at UFC 311 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Tsarukyan previously dropped a hard-fought unanimous decision against Makhachev in his short-notice UFC debut in 2019. Tsarukyan has since lost only once in 10 outings and comes off a split-decision win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 in April 2024.

Meanwhile, Makhachev has defended his title three times since winning it against Oliveira in 2020. The Dage…