Day: 14. April 2025

When Dominick Reyes began his current winning streak a little less than a year ago, it was a feel-good moment in the Octagon.

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Now that he’s been able to string three consecutive finishes together, Reyes is more than just a heartwarming redemption story — he’s a genuine light heavyweight contender once again.

“Every opportunity in the Octagon is its own little universe. It really is,” Reyes said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “The losses are completely devastating. The wins are everything. In this organization, every single win means everything — whether you’re barely working your way up the ladder or not — because once you get knocked down a couple rungs it’s really hard to build back up.

“I’m literally on my second UFC run, and the first one felt really good but this one feels just a little bit better because I did fall all the way down. And now I’m on the rise. One away from the title.”

Reyes secured arguably his most impressive vic…

Patricio Freire’s highly-anticipated Ultimate Fighting Championship debut didn’t go as planned, but the Brazilian is already looking forward to his next Octagon appearance.

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The former Bellator MMA two-division champion struggled to pull the trigger against Yair Rodriguez, as he lost a clear-cut unanimous decision in a featured featherweight bout at UFC 314 on Saturday night. “Pitbull” has lost three of his last four professional outings overall.

“Congratulations to [Yair Rodriguez] we’ll see each other again. I’m injury free and ready to go at any time. Thank you to all the fans, I’ll make you all proud, you can count on that,” Freire wrote.

Congratulations to @panteraufc, we’ll see each other again. I’m injury free and ready to go at any time @ufc. Thank you to all the fans, I’ll make you all proud, you can count on that. #UFC314

— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) April 13, 2025

Since he is healthy, Freire h…

While Movsar Evloev might not be a favorite of UFC brass, Alexander Volkanovski seems more than willing to give the Russian his championship opportunity.

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Volkanovski began his second reign as featherweight king when he defeated Diego Lopes via unanimous decision in the UFC 314 headliner to capture the vacant belt at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday night. The 36-year-old Aussie defied age and survived a couple perilous moments to outduel a game Lopes, who had won five straight Octagon appearances entering the bout.

“I feel like he was there to be hit. I feel like I could’ve done a lot more. I just didn’t pull the trigger as much as I’d like – even though there were shots, I just stick out the jab, and it was right there. I could’ve done a lot more, but I’m my hardest critic,” Volkanovski said at the post-fght press conference.

“I’ll watch it back, and then we’ll see, but obviously everyone kind of counting me out, ‘Oh, is he done?’ Obvio…

The lineup for PFL Europe Belfast is now complete.

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The promotion on Monday announced the full card for the event, which takes place at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Ireland on May 10. In addition to a previously-confirmed headliner between Paul Hughes and Bruno Miranda, PFL Europe 1 will also see Lewis McGrillen-Evans square off against Alan Philpott in a bantamweight co-main event.

PFL Europe 1 will also feature the first four bouts of the eight-man lightweight tournament. The card will be broadcast via DAZN in Ireland and the U.K.

Additionally, several other showcase fights were announced on Monday: John Mitchell vs. Lorenzo Parente at lightweight; Haider Khan vs. Sean McCormac at middleweight; Gemma Auld vs. Sammy Jo Luxton at women's flyweight; Eoin Sheridan vs. Malichi Edwards at welterweight and Corey McLaughlin vs. Nahom Wedi at featherweight.

Hailing from Manchester, England, McGrillen has lost just once in 11 professional outings.…

Arman Tsarukyan is trying to maintain composure as his immediate future hangs in the balance.

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Tsarukyan was originally scheduled to challenge Islam Makhachev for the undisputed lightweight title at UFC 311 earlier this year. However, Tsarukyan was forced out due to a back injury a day before the fight and replaced by Renato Carneiro, who went on to suffer a first-round submission loss against Makhachev.

Dana White expressed his frustration with Tsarukyan and confirmed that “Ahalkalakets” wouldn’t getting the next lightweight title shot. There are also rumors that Tsarukyan pulled out on his own accord, and the UFC doctors didn’t suggest that he do so.

Currently at an unsure juncture about his immediate future, Tsarukyan is trying to stay patient and focus on training. The Russian also hinted that he was dealt an unfair hand, which he has accepted as a part of life. Having not fought in over a year now, Tsarukyan just wants to be ready when t…

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Paddy Pimblett has put himself on quite the pedestal in terms of fight IQ.

Pimblett scored the biggest win of his career so far by mauling Michael Chandler en route to a third-round TKO win at UFC 314 on Saturday. “The Baddy” believes he and his team’s game plan had a big role to play in the way he decimated Chandler. Pimblett considers his fight IQ to be comparable to Jon Jones, one of the greatest to have ever graced the Octagon.

While many believed Chandler could knock Pimblett out, the Liverpudlian also outstruck “Iron” on the feet. Pimblett said that he is so confident about his grappling that he has been solely focusing on his stand-up game for a while now.

“Me and my team, we got the best game planners that you can get. We’ve got the best fight IQ,” Pimblett said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “And the only other person that I can compare to us with game plans as good as we do is Jon Jones. We do the best game plans, that’…