Month: April 2025

[embedded content] One of these days, the Brazilian contingent of analysts might pick against their home country fighter. Now is not that day.

A number of current and former Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA fighters wanted to make their voices heard on the main attraction of UFC 314. On Saturday, Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes will tangle for the vacant throne, one abandoned by Ilia Topuria after Topuria clobbered both Volkanovski and Max Holloway. The challenger Lopes surged his way to a title shot thanks to stellar performances against names like Sodiq Yusuff, Dan Ige and Brian Ortega along with a close loss to unbeaten Movsar Evloev. The five Brazilians spoke to Sherdog about how they thought the fight would play out, and confidence was fairly high on the Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, native.

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Gilbert Burns, former UFC welterweight title challenger: “I believe Diego can decide that fight with his hands. I got really impressed by w…

بطاقة نزالات وزن اللايت ويت من الموسم الثاني لبطولة "PFL MENA" 🔒

من سيحصد اللقب؟

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بطولة "PFL MENA" | الجمعة، 9 مايو | جدة، المملكة العربية السعودية | مباشر على منصة "STARZPLAY"#نصنع_التاريخ #السعودية pic.twitter.com/ePKvh06IWL — PFL MENA (@PFLMENA) April 4, 2025 The Professional Fighters League is doubling down when it comes to developing lightweight talent.

The tournament-based organization released on Thursday the complete lineup for its May 9 event in Saudi Arabia. PFL MENA 1: 2025 First Round will take place at the Onyx Arena in the nation’s second-largest city of Jeddah, with 145ers and 155ers on tap. The champs of these two single-elimination brackets will receive a belt for winning the tournament as well as a potential opportunity to be called up for the $500,000 Global season.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, April 11 at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2..

In sister tournam…

Your new #PFLWorldTournament 2️⃣Main Event

•Josh Rettinghouse is not cleared to fight and is off the card•Marcirley Alves (alternate) replaces Rettinghouse in the main event

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𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁: Leandro Higo vs Marcirley Alves

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲: Early Card… pic.twitter.com/cSzjQbWvJu

— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 10, 2025 The Professional Fighters League's 2025 World Tournament continues on Friday, albeit with a new main event, as the first round of the men's bantamweight and women's flyweight tournaments kick off. The new headliner will see bantamweight Leandro Higo take on Marcirley Alves, who is stepping up as an alternate and replacing Josh Rettinghouse after the American was not cleared to fight. A former Bellator standout, Higo (23-6) will take on the 25-year-old Alves (12-4) in his promotional debut. At 36 years of age, this could mark one of the final high-level runs for "Pitbull," who is coming off back-to-back wins ove…

It appears that the Global Fight League might be going under before it could even get off the ground.

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The fledgling mixed martial arts promotion has canceled its first two events that were scheduled for May 24 and May 25 at the Shrine Auditorium in Las Angeles. The GFL only officially announced the two fight cards — featuring many prominent veterans and a total of 31 bouts — last week. Yahoo! Sports was first to report the cancellation, which was confirmed by California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster.

GFL 1 was supposed to be headlined by a trilogy bout between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao, while GFL 2 was topped by a clash pitting Tony Ferguson against Dillon Danis. The promotion was planning a team-based format with squads based in Los Angeles, New York, London, Dubai, Sao Paulo and Miami. All told, the cards were expected to featured 42 UFC veterans and a number of former UFC and Bellator MMA champions.

GFL fou…

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In just a few days, former Bellator MMA two-division champion Patricio Freire will realize his dream of stepping into the UFC’s Octagon.

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“Pitbull” will face Yair Rodriguez in a featured bout at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday night. In an interview published on the UFC Fight Pass Brazil YouTube channel, Freire shared insight into his camp and the game plan for his Mexican foe.

“There is no fighter on the face of the Earth more motivated than I,” Freire said. “I’ve trained since 1998 always having a white belt mindset — I mean going to the academy every day to adjust something. And that mentality helped me to beat all the records in my former organization, and I won’t lose that golden opportunity to get the UFC belt and put my name among the GOATS of the sport.”

While Freire is confident in his abilities, he acknowledged that his UFC debut will be a difficult challenge.

“Yair is a complete fighter, an oppon…

Coker 🤝 @criscyborg -

The Greatest of All-Time competes in six rounds of professional 🥊 on May 17 at the @TechCUArena pic.twitter.com/2rHXyy5nRr

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) April 9, 2025

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Cris Cyborg is doing her best to stay busy.

The multi-promotion MMA champion will join the Fight Night 3: San Jose card for a boxing match against Precious Harris-McCray in the evening’s co-main event. Fight Night is a promotion launched by former Bellator and Strikeforce leader Scott Coker and ex-Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez a little more than a year ago. The event will take place at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, California, on May 17 and is headlined by a bantamweight MMA bout between Bobby Seronio III and Lake Gee.

“San Jose holds a special place in my heart as it was where I was able to be a part of history when I became the inaugural Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion in the first televised women’s MMA main event …

A welterweight semifinal clash pitting former Bellator MMA champion Jason Jackson against undefeated prospect Thad Jean will serve as the headliner for the Professional Fighters League’s tournament event in Nashville on June 12.

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The PFL announced the main card lineup for the event, which features semifinal bouts at welterweight and featherweight. In the evening’s co-main event, Jesus Pinedo and Gabriel Braga will square off for a third time in a 145-pound semifinal.

Two semifinal other fights will round out the PFL World Tournament 5 main draw: Logan Storley vs. Masayuki Kikuiri at welterweight and Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Taekyun Kim at featherweight.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, April 11 at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2..

The card takes place at Nashville Municipal Auditorium and will air on the ESPN family of networks. More bouts and specific broadcast deals will be announced at a later date.

Jac…

says the guy who got the easiest path to the top in ufc just because he’s got a funny accent and budget beatles haircut. I dare you to call me out if you win and we will see who will shit his pants in the octagon when we meet clown @PaddyTheBaddy https://t.co/TKbm1hn5X2

— Arman Tsarukyan UFC (@ArmanUfc) April 8, 2025

Mateusz Gamrot took a dig at Arman Tsarukyan for seeking a matchup against Paddy Pimblett.

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Tsarukyan was originally scheduled to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 311 earlier this year. However, “Ahalkalakets” pulled out due to a back injury a day before the fight.

UFC CEO Dana White seemed annoyed by the withdrawal and confirmed that Tsarukyan wouldn’t be getting the next lightweight title shot. Pimblett recently started claimed to have heard that the UFC doctors never advised Tsarukyan to pull out of UFC 311. “The Baddy” further mocked Tsarukyan for being a “posh boy” who “chicken…

😢 Jean Silva feels the presence of his passed away brothers when the fight day comes closer.

He feels the closest to them in that moment which is why he is happy and excited on fight weeks.

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Unfortunately, we don't know the story behind this and what brothers he means.🎥 @ufc pic.twitter.com/5uHJXRfqBX — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) April 8, 2025

Jean Silva is always at his happiest going into a fight because that’s when he feels the closest to his late brother.

Silva is scheduled to fight Bryce Mitchell in a featherweight matchup at UFC 314 on Saturday at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. “Lord” recently revealed that there is no question of any ill feelings as he heads into a fight. Silva shared that he feels closest to the loved ones he has lost going into a fight, especially his late brother. The Brazilian feels the happiest during fight night, which is the same to him as sharing a cup of coffee with his la…

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Gilbert Burns doubts Michael Chandler can hold his own on the ground against Paddy Pimblett.

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Chandler and Pimblett are set to clash at UFC 314 on Saturday at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. It’s almost a home outing for Chandler, who trains at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. “Iron” was recently seen training with former welterweight title contender Burns.

Burns revealed that he had the pleasure of wrestling with Pimblett in Mexico in the past. Known for his elite grappling, Burns considers “The Baddy” a high-level grappler as well. According to “Durinho,” Chandler’s key to victory against the Liverpudlian will be to stay on the feet. If forced to wrestle at all, Burns advises Chandler to attempt ground-and-pound instead of engaging in jiu-jitsu exchanges against Pimblett.

“Michael’s ready. Facing a guy that is very tough,” Burns said on the UFC 314 Countdown show. “I had honor to grapple with Paddy when I was in Mexico. Guy …

Merab thinks Islam Makhachev needs to fight Ilia Topuria next:

“Islam told me at the press conference ‘Merab I respect you but when you have a top contender you should fight him’, and I said okay…

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Now he has a top contender as Ilia Topuria but he’s not fighting him…

Nobody… pic.twitter.com/jRaghPkkRi

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 8, 2025 Merab Dvalishvili wants Islam Makhachev to live up to his own standards.

Dvalishvili was initially loathe to make his first bantamweight title defense against Makhachev’s cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov. Makhachev then expressed his respect for Dvalishvili while asking him to not shy away from fighting a deserving contender. Dvalishvili eventually accepted the booking and successfully defended his title against a previously undefeated Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 earlier this year.

Now Dvalishvili’s countryman Ilia Topuria has vacated his featherweight title in quest for a lig…

A thief broke into Henry Cejudo’s studio last night and stole his first UFC belt 😬

🎥 @rushmma11 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/FtjHqonN07

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 8, 2025

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Henry Cejudo’s first Ultimate Fighting Championship belt was reportedly stolen during a burglary.

Cejudo’s producer, Dylan Rush, recently revealed that the former two-division champion’s first UFC belt was stolen from his studio in the early morning hours on Tuesday. Rush was trying to sleep on the couch when he saw a person who he mistook to be Cejudo. Rush then suddenly heard a glass shelf break after which the unknown perpetrator took to his heels.

“Someone broke into Henry's studio last night at 4:45 AM and stole his first UFC belt while I was sleeping on the couch,” Rush wrote on social media. “I woke up and watched the guy stand there for two minutes thinking it was Henry because it was dark. Then I heard a crash (the shelf fell)…