Month: April 2025

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

Malcolm Wellmaker followed his spectacular Dana White's Contender Series win with a similar effort in his Octagon debut.

Wellmaker earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his knockout of Cameron Saaiman in a preliminary bantamweight clash at UFC Kansas City on Saturday night. The Augusta, Georgia, native sent his foe crashing to the floor with a counter right hook, abruptly ending their bout at the 1:59 mark of Round 1. Wellmaker earned a UFC deal with a first-round KO of Adam Bramhald on the Contender Series this past August.

Elsewhere, Mingyang Zhang received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for spoiling Anthony Smith’s retirement bout in the evening’s light heavyweight co-main event. Zhang busted his opponent open with an elbow early and went to work from there, ultimately finishing “Lionheart” with a barrage of elbows on the canvas 4:03 into the opening stanza.

Finally, Rand…

Ian Garry had just enough in the tank to avoid disaster in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division.

The former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder quelled a late rally and held on for a unanimous decision over Carlos Prates in the UFC on ESPN 66 main event on Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Garry (16-1, 9-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 marks from the judges.

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Prates (21-7, 4-1 UFC), who entered the cage on an 11-fight winning streak, was slow out of the gate. Garry called upon kicks to the legs, body and head, leaned heavily on his jab and kept the Brazilian off-balance with level changes and deft footwork. Later, he fired off accurate punches in combination and secured multiple takedowns. The Irishman entered back half of the fight in front by a significant margin. Prates, however, turned up the heat, forced him onto his back foot and started to connect with increasing i…

Sherdog's live UFC Kansas City coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC on ESPN 66. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Edwards (-298), Chandler (+240)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Romero (-115), Cuamba (-105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:The Official Result BET…

Matt Schnell willed his way to the winner’s circle and reasserted himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.

Sound submission defense, unshakable resolve and damaging ground-and-pound carried the Fortis MMA rep to a unanimous decision over former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Jimmy Flick in the featured UFC on ESPN 66 prelim on Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. All three judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Schnell (17-9, 7-7 UFC), who closed the book on a three-fight losing streak.

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Flick (17-9, 2-4 UFC) completed multiple takedowns and moved to advantageous positions on more than one occasion but always seemed to leave his opponent an escape route. Schnell slowly but surely seized the reins—he opened a cut on Flick’s hairline with an elbow strike in the second round—and forced his counterpart to play defense as they drifted into deeper water. He threatened with a guillotine late in the third, rolle…

🚨Dricus Du Plessis’s coach confirms he’ll fight Khamzat Chimaev next — just NOT at International Fight Week on June 29th:

"[UFC] plans something else for [International Fight Week]. But we’re fighting Khamzat… It’s a done deal… We are waiting for the contract."

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🎥… pic.twitter.com/lBWYstsj3W — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) April 24, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis coach Morne Visser says they’re waiting on a contract for a title defense against Khamzat Chimaev.

While Chimaev getting the next middleweight title shot has long been expected, the matchup hasn’t been finalized yet. There were rumors of a Du Plessis injury causing a delay in the booking, which were recently dismissed by Visser.

The matchup was originally being considered for UFC 317, which goes down on June 28 during the International Fight Week. However, Visser confirmed that while Chimaev is undoubtedly getting the next gold bid, it won’t be at UFC 317.

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Homecoming at #UFCBaku 🇦🇿@RafaelFiziev takes on @JaulaBahamondes in the co-main event! pic.twitter.com/GYtzB96FkA

— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2025

A matchup of lightweight strikers has been added to UFC Baku.

Rafael Fiziev (12-4) and Ignacio Bahamondes (17-5) are set to trade leather at UFC on ABC 8 on June 21 at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. The promotion announced the pairing on Friday.

After suffering his first career loss in his UFC debut in 2019, Fiziev went on a six-fight winning streak with victories over the likes of Bobby Green, Renato Carneiro and Rafael dos Anjos. However, “Ataman” is now on a three-fight skid, which includes two decision losses against Justin Gaethje.

Meanwhile, Bahamondes earned his UFC contract with a spectacular finish over Edson Gomez on Dana White's Contender Series in 2020. “La Jaula” has since gone 6-2 in the UFC with five finishes and is currently riding a three-fight winning str…

🚨𝘽𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 🚨

From the Pitch to the SmartCage ⚽️👊

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Former Manchester United and Les Bleus star @Evra makes his PFL MMA DEBUT at PFL Paris on Friday 23rd May#PFLParis | Friday 23rd May🎟️ On Sale NOW | LIVE on DAZN pic.twitter.com/2iCufpIFVy — PFL (@PFLMMA) April 25, 2025 With a full football career behind him, Patrice Evra is going to test the waters of combat sports with the Professional Fighters League.

Per a release by the tournament-based league on Friday, Evra, 43, will be making his professional MMA debut at PFL Europe 2 in Paris on May 23. His match will not be part of any tourney, and his opponent and weight category have not yet been determined. The soccer star suggested on social media that he would like to take on Luiz Suarez in his first outing, a Uruguayan soccer talent infamous for flopping, biting and stomping on opponents.

Senegal-born Frenchman Evra bounced around a number of teams over the ye…

Our main event is OFFICIAL! 👊@IanGarryMMA weighs in at 171lbs!

[ #UFCKansasCity LIVE on @ESPNPlus | SAT | 9pmET ] pic.twitter.com/hBaTGALUA3

— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2025 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Kansas City, Missouri, after two years for a 14-fight card that is now official after the UFC Kansas City weigh-ins took place.

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Sitting atop the event is a headlining fight between Ian Garry and Carlos Prates. Both welterweight contenders successfully made weight for their five-round main event. Only one fighter missed weight as Giga Chikadze came in at 147 pounds, a full pound over the featherweight limit, for his fight against David Onama. As a result, he'll be fined 20% of his purse.

Garry (15-1) enters his first UFC main event coming off his first-ever career defeat to Shavkat Rakhmonov. "The Future" will be looking to show that he's still a top contender despite the loss and was previously undefeated…

#UFCAtlanta has its headliners 🚨@Usman84kg vs @NewMansa94@RoseNamajunas vs @FearTheMaverick

Tickets on sale May 2 | Info: https://t.co/8HQfIg4b0R pic.twitter.com/lav45WCWaz

— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2025 The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Hotlanta will have a solid one-two punch in the marquee.

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The promotion released information about its upcoming trip to Atlanta on Friday, announcing the headliner the June 14 card. In the main attraction will be Kamaru Usman (20-4) against Joaquin Buckley (21-6) in a high-stakes welterweight showdown. It will be Usman’s return to 170 pounds after a one-off outing at middleweight, and overall, his first appearance since October 2023—he will be searching for his first victory since his rematch with Colby Covington in 2021.

Former beltholder Usman is looking to put a three-fight skid in the rear-view, with two of those three coming to Leon Edwards with the third defeat against…

WHO WILL BE THE BADDEST OF THEM ALL???

The hometown kid @DustinPoirier challenges @BlessedMMA for the BMF belt in his final trip to the Octagon!#UFC318 | @GNOSports | Learn More: https://t.co/GUdzvfNyaj pic.twitter.com/fDnILvrVwW

— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2025 Two of the most beloved Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters will run it back one more time.

The trilogy bout for Max Holloway (26-8) and Dustin Poirier (30-9, 1 NC) is on the books for UFC 318 on July 19. The two lightweights will collide for Holloway’s symbolic “BMF” belt, a title not currently connected to actual championship accolades. This event will also serve as the promotion’s return to “The Big Easy” for the first time in over a decade, with Tim Boetsch and Dan Henderson duking it out in New Orleans' Smoothie King Center back in June 2015. Of note, Poirier won by knockout on that fight card.

Over the last several years, Holloway has excelled against competition not …

Top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship Mateusz Gamrot is taking a bit of a stroll outside of the top 15 for a time.

Per the promotion on Thursday, Gamrot (24-3, 1 NC) will be taking on Ludovit Klein (23-4-1) in a major lightweight tilt at UFC on ESPN 68, also known as UFC Vegas 107. They will serve on the main card but not as the main attraction, with that spot going to the flyweight title eliminator between Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber. The fighters will all throw down inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on May 31.

In the Octagon thus far, former two-division KSW king Gamrot has yet to amass a win streak greater than four. He debuted in 2020, lost a decision to Guram Kutateladze and went on to rattle off fought straight wins. A top contender match against Beneil Dariush did not go his way in 2022, so he settled for winning three more to climb the leaderboard again. Once more, the Polish combatant came up short when it mattered most, dropping a split verdict…

Two more bouts have been added to the UFC Vegas 106 lineup, as Sodiq Yusuff wil meet Mairon Santos at lightweight, while Julian Erosa will take on Melquizael Costa at featherweight.

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MMAFighting.com was first to confirm Yusuff vs. Santos, while Ag.Fight initially brought word of Erosa vs. Costa. UFC Vegas 106 — also known as UFC Fight Night — takes place on May 17 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight tilt pitting Gilbert Burns against Michael Morales.

Yusuff will be making the move to 155 pounds on the heels of back-to-back losses against Edson Barboza and Diego Lopes at featherweight. Prior to that, Yusuff had been victorious in six of his first seven Octagon appearances.

Santos, meanwhile, has won 15 of his first 16 professional outings — including two victories in UFC competition. The 24-year-old Brazilian debuted in the Octagon with a second-round KO of Kaan Ofli at UFC on ESPN 62 before taking a split verdict ov…