Month: Mai 2025

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Stephen Thompson will be drawing an unranked opponent who is just as dangerous as any contender.

According to the UFC on Friday morning, Thompson (17-8-1) will be appearing at UFC Nashville on July 12. Inside of the Bridgestone Arena in Tennessee, the welterweight veteran will square off with a man 15 years his junior in Gabriel Bonfim (17-1). “Wonderboy” expressed immediate excitement when the news went public, stating, “Time to prove this old man’s still got it” on social media.

Once a single scorecard away from claiming the 170-pound throne, Thompson has fallen on hard times the last several years. Winner of just one bout since 2021, that victory came over Kevin Holland via corner stoppage when Holland busted both of his hands in their 2022 encounter. That triumph is bookended by four losses to top talents Gilbert Burns, Belal Muhammad, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Joaquin Buckley—the latter two by stoppage. Of note,…

🚨 𝘽𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂: Patrick Habirora moves up to welterweight to take on England’s Danny Roberts in the #PFLBrussels main event!

🇧🇪 Patrick Habirora 🆚 Danny Roberts 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

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Patrick Habirora moves up to 170lbs to face his toughest test to date in front of his hometown fans,… pic.twitter.com/WxEx0TeWqF — PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) May 30, 2025 The first round of Professional Fighters League Europe’s bantamweight tournament will kick off in a bit over a month.

Per a release from the PFL on Friday, the lineup for the nine-fight show at the ING Arena in Brussels, Belgium, is official. While the organization had hinted that local combatants would serve high on the marquee, the billing reflects this and adds four 135-pound quarterfinals as well. These fights will all go down on July 5, with the European broadcast airing on Dazn while stateside viewers do not currently have established means to watch the event live.

The main attra…

While Arman Tsarukyan had a title shot booked last year, now even Paddy Pimblett doesn’t want to fight him.

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Pimblett (23-3) plans to return to action when the Ultimate Fighting Championship hosts their yearly Abu Dhabi pay-per-view in October. The Liverpudlian has long been calling out former featherweight champ Ilia Topuria. However, that ship has sailed for the time being, as “La Leyenda” is booked to fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317 on June 28. While Pimblett still hopes for a callout from Topuria if the Georgian-Spaniard wins, he thinks a fight against Justin Gaethje is more plausible.

“I'm hoping to fight in Abu Dhabi in October. I think that's when I'm going to be back in the cage. I was thinking Ilia might call me out if he wins [against Oliveira]. I'd love to beat him if he gets the belt,” Pimblett told BBC. “I'd love to fight him anyway but he's booked, so I think it's more than likely Justin Gaethje.”<…

Israel Adesanya reveals Dana White tried to convince him not to fight at #UFC293 against Sean Strickland

“Dana was like ‘Listen kid, you got enough money. Just chill out.’

I was like ‘nah’… in hindsight maybe Dana was right.”

🎥 @stylebender #UFCpic.twitter.com/esU9L3SxwY

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 30, 2025

Israel Adesanya slightly regrets not listening to Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.

Adesanya (24-5) defended the middleweight title five times before losing it to rival Alex Pereira. However, Adesanya put a fairytale ending to their saga by knocking out “Poatan,” also avenging two previous kickboxing losses.

Adesanya was then scheduled to defend his title against Sean Strickland (29-7), whom many considered unworthy of a title shot. “The Last Stylebender” was a -400 favorite ahead of his UFC 293 fight against Strickland, a +350 underdog.

However, Strickland put on a defensive striking m…

Muhammad Mokaev says Dana White sent him money after his car crash, just a few months after being cut from the UFC

"Not sure what for but it meant a lot to me." 👏🙏 pic.twitter.com/1FZ2m4TYnO

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 30, 2025

According to Muhammad Mokaev, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White doesn’t forget fighters even if they are no longer with the promotion.

Mokaev (14-0), a former UFC flyweight, recently revealed that White helped him months after parting ways with the promotion. Mokaev’s UFC contract was not renewed after a unanimous decision win over Manel Kape in July 2024. While many blamed his wrestling-heavy style, there were also reports of behavioral issues with which brass had a problem. Mokaev recently said that it wasn’t White, but the matchmakers who didn’t want him on the UFC roster.

To make things worse, Muhammad lost control of his Mercedes-Benz A35 AMG and had an accident in Dagestan …

Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja is not ready to slow down any time soon.

“The Cannibal” is preparing to face Kai Kara-France for the second time, not just with professional stakes but flyweight gold on the line. The two first collided on the quarterfinals of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 24, where the victor of the season—Tim Elliott—ended up getting a crack at Demetrious Johnson’s throne. While Pantoja prevailed by a two-round decision, the stakes are substantially higher nine years later. Pantoja spoke to Sherdog on Thursday about his final weeks of camp, where he will serve as the co-main event of UFC 317 on June 28 in Las Vegas.

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"I love to fight in Vegas at T-Mobile,” Pantoja exclaimed. “Actually, it was fighting in there two years ago, against Brandon Moreno in UFC 290, that I got my belt exactly in the International Fight Week. Last year I was there as guest fighter too, so I'm really excited to make my 4th title…

[embedded content] Rizin Fighting Federation will make its debut in South Korea this weekend with eight mixed martial arts fights.

Headlining the World Series in Korea event is a fight between Rizin lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi de SouzaRoberto de Souza vs. Road to UFC veteran Won Bin Ki. All fighters except for one successfully made weight for the card as Johnny Case came in .7 pounds over the limit for his lightweight fight against Juri Ohara. As a result, he is not eligible to win the fight, and it will be ruled a no contest if Ohara is not victorious.

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De Souza enters the main event with a professional record of 18-3. The Japanese-Brazilian fighter is on a three-fight winning streak since losing to Patricky Freire, which includes title defenses over Luiz Gustavo and Vugar Karamov. Meanwhile, South Korea's "The Danger" has won two of his last three fight, including a TKO victory over Tatsuya Saika. Ki (18-9) will look to score the biggest w…

Up-and-coming Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Mauricio Ruffy is open to learning from anyone, anywhere.

The Fighting Nerds prospect has won three times since debuting with the promotion in 2024. Knocking out Jamie Mullarkey to put himself on the map, he went on to win on the scorecards against James Llontop, and most recently, demolish Bobby Green with a spinning wheel kick at UFC 313. The Brazilian is at a crossroads, having reached rankable opposition given that Green recently resided within the confines of the top 15 at 155 pounds. According to Ruffy, he is quite close to a return to the promotion.

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The fighter born Mauricio de Lima Santos, whose nickname refers to “One Piece” main character Monkey D. Luffy, recently turned down a fight against top-ranked Mateusz Gamrot, as he was unwilling to step up on nine days. This did not put him down the list of names to call, as he told Sherdog on Thursday that he is preparing to sign a bout agree…

[embedded content] Jon Jones is having a great time toying with anyone who asks him if he plans on fighting again.

The current Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion has been the subject of a long-lasting “will he or won’t he” question about if whether he will step back into the Octagon. In November 2024, Jones opted against taking on interim beltholder Tom Aspinall to face champ emeritus Stipe Miocic, whom he dispatched within three rounds. While he and Aspinall, per the UFC, are on a collision course, Jones is as coy as ever about the subject.

When appearing on ”DeepCut with VicBlends” on Thursday, the champion waffled on what he has in mind for a competitive future, even going so far as to say he is “focusing on love” as of late. He also hinted that he might have other prospects outside of combat, but did not go into any detail.

“I don’t know what life holds as far as fighting and competing,” Jones said in response to being asked if he had one more bout…

Sean O'Malley has gone above and beyond to prepare for his rematch against Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley will get a chance to avenge his title loss against Dvalishvili in the main event at UFC 316 on June 7 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The former bantamweight champ was dethroned by “The Machine” via unanimous decision at UFC 306 last year.

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The loss prompted significant changes in his lifestyle to prepare for the rematch. “Suga” has stayed away from the camera, stopped smoking marijuana and had surgery to repair a hip injury. Additionally, the flamboyant competitor has abstained from social media almost entirely.

Apart from the lifestyle changes, O’Malley also claims to have changed his training method. Most notable is his focus on grappling, whether to work on his defensive wrestling to stop takedowns or to get up in the event that his seat hits the canvas. The former champ believes that this specialized camp has allowed him to be …

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Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming UFC 318 card.

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UFC 318 takes place July 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Dustin Poirier will make his final Octagon appearance in a trilogy fight with Max Holloway in the main event. Meanwhile, ranked middleweights Marvin Vettori and Brendan Allen will trade leather in the co-headliner.

The early prelims will start at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, followed by the prelims at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and the main card at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The early prelims will be available on ESPN+ and Disney+, while the next set of prelims will be available on ESPN/ESPN+/Disney+.

The main card can only be viewed on pay-per-view via ESPN+ in the U.S.

Tickets for the event are now available on the UFC’s official website through Ticketmaster.

Jon Jones assembles a 'dream team' of fighters for $10

"Yoel [Romero], Alex [Pereira], Tom [Aspinall]" 👀

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(via. @DirtyBoxing_) pic.twitter.com/QD6LfviJDr — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 28, 2025

While it seems that Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall, he does acknowledge the Englishman’s skills.

Jones has stalled the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title picture, neither vacating his belt nor fighting interim champ Aspinall. However, Jones recently included Aspinall in his “dream team” of three fighters.

Dirty Boxing recently posted a fantasy contest to build a dream team with virtual currency, including three fighters picked from a curated list. The fighters were listed in three different tiers worth $5, $3 and $2:

$5: Mike Perry, part owner of Dirty Boxing, former UFC fighter Yoel Romero and heavyweight champ Jones.$3: Former UFC light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira, former feat…