Day: 23. Mai 2025

Better keep an eye on this young man! 👀

🇨🇳Sulangrangbo makes his presence felt with an emphatic finish to the #RTU4 BW semifinals! pic.twitter.com/B5zZCDxYFk

— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) May 23, 2025

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Semifinalists in the “Road to UFC” Season 4 bantamweight and lightweight tournaments have revealed themselves, as the chase for an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract heats up.

Rangbo Sulang moved along in the 135-pound draw and did so in emphatic fashion on Friday at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, China, where he buried Peter Danesoe (8-4) with punches in the first round of their quarterfinal. Sulang (9-3) brought it to a close 3:48 into Round 1. The 19-year-old Enbo Fight Club prospect advances to meet Sim Kai Xiong (7-1)—a 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 unanimous decision winner over Kuya Ito (17-9-1)—in the bantamweight semifinals.

Lawrence Lui awaits Van Y Nghiem in the other bantamweight semifinal. Lui (6-1) pu…

𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 #PFLCapeTown 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗

Stayed tuned as more fight announcements are on the way! 🔜👀

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Tickets are on SALE NOW for July 19th 👇🎟️ https://t.co/24eUYWUFjL #PFLChampionSeries pic.twitter.com/E10ETYYXxx — PFL (@PFLMMA) May 23, 2025

Professional Fighters League added two solid matchups to its growing July 19 PFL Champions Series 2: 2025 Africa First Round event at GrandWest Arena in Capetown, South Africa.

Headlined by a middleweight title tilt pitting Johnny Eblen against Costello van Steenis, the event also features 2024 PFL champion Dakota Ditcheva, who will do battle with Bellator MMA veteran Sumiko Inaba.

On Friday, PFL revealed two more intriguing tilts to July 19’s lineup as A.J. McKee will lock horns with Akhmed Magomedov in a featherweight clash and Corey Anderson will toe the line against Denis Goltsov in a heavyweight scrap.

The PFL Africa 1 card will precede the PFL Cham…

⚡️Charles Oliveira says “it will be over” for Jack Della Maddalena if Islam Makhachev takes him down:

"I think Islam is going to do very well in this weight, right? Now, he's going to be much stronger...

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If [JDM] will let Islam grab him and put him down, it's over."… pic.twitter.com/937lhS4f01 — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 23, 2025

Charles Oliveira doesn’t think Jack Della Maddalena can hold his own on the ground against Islam Makhachev.

Makhachev (27-1) had long been eyeing a move up to welterweight, but his friend, former champ Belal Muhammad, stood as a hurdle. However, that changed with Maddalena (18-2) dethroned “Remember the Name” at UFC 315 earlier this month. Makhachev immediately announced a move to 170, with Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White confirming that he will challenge Maddalena for the title next.

Makhachev’s former foe Oliveira (35-10) recently shared his prediction fo…

Chael Sonnen responds to Islam Makhachev:

“In the future, if I want your opinion I’ll beat it out of you.” 👀🍿

🎥 @espnmma #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/Q4iPWF2Psa — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 23, 2025

Islam Makhachev didn’t hold back while responding to Chael Sonnen’s criticism.

Makhachev (27-1) recently announced a move to welterweight to challenge newly-crowned champ Jack Della Maddalena for the title. However, unlike many expected, Makhachev had to vacate his Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight strap, which will now be up for grabs between Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 on June 28.

Topuria also vacated his featherweight belt, chasing a lightweight title fight against Makhachev. However, Makhachev didn’t want to fight the Georgian Spaniard until he had proven himself at 155 pounds. Sonnen recently had some strong criticism for Makhachev’s move to 170. According to the Oregonian, Makhachev’s move is …

"It got serious right away, play fighting with Nate Diaz was a bad idea."

Jon Jones, who's currently serving as a captain on the Russian spin-off of the TUF reality show in Thailand, told Red Corner MMA about the conflict betwen Nate Diaz and one of the fighters from his team.… pic.twitter.com/HQ0gUctVmu

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 22, 2025

Jon Jones’ co-star, Nate Diaz, is no longer a part of the mixed martial arts reality show they were working on.

Jones and Diaz were filming a show for Russian television in Thailand. A brawl recently broke out on the show's set, seemingly during the filming of the first episode. A fighter named Zalik was seen approaching Diaz, who shrugged him off before a full-scale brawl broke out. A teammate of Diaz even punched Zalik to escalate matters further. Diaz and his team subsequently parted ways with the show and returned to the U.S.

Jones’ version of things were pretty much matched …