Month: Februar 2026

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s plans for its landmark card at the White House are taking shape.

During the Friday edition of “The Pat McAfee Show,” Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and TKO Group President Mark Shapiro sat down to discuss some upcoming plans for the promotion. The hosts posed a few questions to the executives regarding the show scheduled for June 14 that is slated to take place on the grounds of the White House. A couple statements, including an inflated claim by President Donald Trump who said 100,000 fans would be “in a stadium” for this card, were challenged.

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The executives stated that Trump’s high number included the “fan fest” that would likely be a Washington, D.C., version of the UFC’s International Fight Week. This includes additional events during the week, fighter gatherings for fans, possible other shows going on from some of their other properties like Zuffa Boxing or UFC BJJ, and more. As for the event itself, Emanuel spec…

One prominent Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight is not mad, he's just disappointed.

After suffering his second defeat in the promotion to Alexander Volkov at UFC 321, the 10-fight UFC vet Jailton Almeida returns to the Octagon on Saturday. He battles another Russian in the hulking Rizvan Kuniev, with the two coming to blows at UFC Vegas 113, also known as UFC Fight Night 266, in Las Vegas. In a conversation with Ag. Fight on Wednesday, the Brazilian revealed why he accepted the short-notice matchup with the unranked Kuniev.

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“Actually, I always stay active,” Almeida explained. “Even when I don’t have a fight, I’m helping my teammates. When the UFC offered the fight three weeks ago, with the option to renew the contract, I talked to my manager and we decided to accept this first fight of the new contract.”

While a wrestler in Curtis Blaydes and a striker in Volkov have gotten the better of him in the cage thus far, Almeida sees a far diffe…

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Vinicius Oliveira has already passed one major test on Friday: successfully making weight.

After four consecutive victories in the UFC, Brazil’s “Lok Dog” Oliveira will have the chance to headline his first event on Saturday against Mario Bautista. He and Bautista will battle in the five-round main attraction of UFC Fight Night 266, also known as UFC Vegas 113, in Las Vegas' UFC Apex. Large for his division at 5-foot-9 with a 70-inch wingspan, the 30-year-old knows his time at bantamweight is limited.

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Speaking with the UFC on Thursday, Vinicius promised that he intends on moving up in weight, but only after he claims the bantamweight belt.

“When I found out about the fight three months ago, I weighed 183 lbs.,” the Brazilian admitted. “Since then, I started the process with a nutritionist who helped me get to 163 lbs. by fight week. On Friday I will be at weight as I always have been. I have the size to f…

A bare-knuckle brawler with sneaky jitz skills has joined the ranks of the Professional Fighters League.

The promotion announced on Thursday that it had picked up former Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship lightweight beltholder Franco Tenaglia (5-2 MMA, 5-1 BK). The Argentina-born 155er will be debuting with the organization at PFL Madrid on March 20 at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, Spain, which also serves as his home city. His opponent has yet to be announced.

The Spanish combatant leaves behind the bare-knuckle ranks for the time being, although the PFL did not state the contract was exclusive as fighters on its roster occasionally can compete elsewhere. With BKFC, Tenaglia never lost a match, winning all five of his appearances that culminated in his picking up a title. When planned on putting it on the line in 2025 in a rematch with the man in Tony Soto whom he won it against, visa issues forced him out of the pairing. As a result, BKFC stripped his belt and…

According to Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champ Ilia Topuria, he’s back.

Current lightweight king and former featherweight beltholder Topuria (17-0) declared on Thursday that he was going to return soon to competition. The Spanish fighter born in Germany to Georgian parents has settled his case out of court with ex-wife Georgiana Uzcategui, with Spanish outlet Marca first breaking the news that the two had come to an agreement.

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Per Marca, the settlement offer initially given by Topuria has been accepted, resulting in Uzcategui withdrawing her lawsuit against him. Recent rumors were dispelled by his post, including that he had been forced to sell his home in Madrid, Spain. Topuria ended any doubt by posting training videos in that house, a standalone gym that includes ample training gear and even a few recovery tanks like a hyperbaric chamber.We’ll Be the Main EventIn his post on social media on Thursday, the lightweight kingpin did no…

Shamil Musaev can say a lot with a few words, hence the nickname “The Silent Assassin.”

Undefeated through 21 career bouts, he will face Russian compatriot Ramazan Kuramagomedov for the inaugural Professional Fighters League welterweight championship in the PFL Dubai “Nurmagomedov vs. Davis” co-main event on Saturday at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It marks Musaev’s first appearance since he won the PFL welterweight tournament in November 2024.

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With 2026 being the first year under new CEO John Martin, the PFL made plenty of changes to its format, the most notable being the remove of its tournament and season-based schedule. A new rankings system should allow for the best to face the best. Musaev understands the change but admits he will miss the activity the previous format brought the table.

“This is going to be different for me, for sure,” he told Sherdog.com. “With the tournament, you knew when and how many times you could p…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is down one Nurmagomedov come Saturday.

With the report first coming from MMA Latinoamerica on Thursday, Said Nurmagomedov has been forced to withdraw from UFC Vegas 113, also known as UFC Fight Night 266. The Russian bantamweight was booked against Javid Basharat (14-2, 1 NC), the elder of the Basharat brothers, on the prelims set for the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. His replacement, Gianni Vazquez (13-5), has confirmed the initial news as well as his status as a new addition to the roster.

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Nurmagomedov, who withdrew for currently undisclosed reasons, has had a great deal of difficulty getting to the UFC cage since he joined the roster in 2018. Thus far, he has only made 11 walks to the Octagon, with 2022 his high-water mark as he appeared thrice that year. Since 2023, he has fought twice, losing both outings to headliner Vinicius Oliveira and Bryce Mitchell. Whether due to injury or an issue for his opponent, Nurmagome…

Armed with an impressive resume and one of the best nicknames in the sport, Abdoul Abdouraguimov plots his return to the Professional Fighters League.

“The Lazy King” will take on Kendly St. Louis in a PFL Dubai “Nurmagomedov vs. Davis” welterweight attraction on Saturday at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he draws his first assignment since December 2024. Abdouraguimov was originally scheduled to meet Magomed Umalatov but had no issues with the change in opponent.

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“First of all, I’m grateful to have the opportunity to fight in Dubai,” he told Sherdog.com. “You know, I took the chance. They proposed Umalatov to me and I said, ‘Yes, I have the chance to be at the top.’ In life, you have to take risks, but he didn’t want to fight this guy. Umalatov didn’t want to fight me. They came to me, [and] I took the risk. So now, I don’t have Umalatov, but I am at the top, so everything is good. In my career, I never scheduled my own fight…

Jon Jones said he spent his camp for UFC 309 in pain. | Getty/UFC

Jon Jones didn’t know he was being recorded when he revealed that “severe arthritis” would prevent him from considering a wrestling match against Daniel Cormier at a future Real American Freestyle event.

“I have severe arthritis,” Jones said in a video via Home of Fight. “Most people don’t know that. My left hip is covered in arthritis. I actually already qualified for hip replacement. My last training camp I went to bed in so much pain.”

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Since that video became a hot topic of conversation in the MMA community, Jones addressed his condition in an interview with TMZ Sports.

"Looks like a private conversation I had at DBX 5 in Houston made its way out into the wild," Jones said. "It happens. Like most fighters, we deal with injuries quietly sometimes and like in my case, for years. A lot of us walk around limping most days, paying the ultimate price for our health.”

W…

Israel Adesanya will be a featured attraction at UFC Seattle. | Getty/UFC

The card for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming trip to the Emerald City is close to being finalized.

The Las Vegas-based promotion on Wednesday confirmed 11 bouts for UFC Seattle, many of which had already been reported. UFC Seattle — also known as UFC Fight Night 271 — takes place on March 28 at Climate Pledge Arena and is headlined by a middleweight showdown pitting Israel Adesanya against Joe Pyfer. In the co-main event, ex-flyweight queen Alexa Grasso will square off against Maycee Barber at 125 pounds. The card will air in its entirety on Paramount+.

Adesanya has lost four of his last five Octagon appearances dating back to November 2022. In his lone appearance of 2025, “The Last Stylebender” suffered a second-round technical knockout defeat to Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC Saudi Arabia headliner last February. Adesanya captured 185-pound gold in October 2019 and…

Floyd Mayweather is taking Showtime Sports to court. | Mike Sloan/Sherdog.com

Floyd Mayweather has filed a lawsuit against Showtime and former Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza seeking to recoup missing earnings from a number of his fights.

According to TMZ Sports, the undefeated former boxing champion claims ex-manager Al Haymon misappropriated a “significant portion of his career earnings” while collaborating with Showtime and Espinoza. Mayweather is seeking “to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in the misappropriated funds and damages resulting from a long-running and elaborate scheme of financial fraud.” In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Mayweather is seeking $340 million and punitive damages.

In the suit, Mayweather alleges that Showtime and Espinoza gave money from some of his biggest fights — including bouts against Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor — directly to Haymon. According to Mayweather, that money is …

Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway first squared off in 2015. | Josh Schaefer/Sherdog.com

Vitor Miranda has an interesting perspective when it comes to Charles Oliveira’s game plan for his upcoming fight with Max Holloway.

Miranda, the UFC veteran who is now a commentator for the promotion in Brazil, recently gave his analysis of the BMF title fight between Oliveira and Holloway scheduled to headline UFC 326 on March 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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“I believe that if Charles goes after Holloway in the striking exchanges like he did with [Ilia] Topuria, it won't be a mistake,” Miranda recently told Sherdog.com. “Topuria finishes the fight with one strike, while Holloway needs to impose his volume of strikes to break down his opponent. In fact, Charles has heavier hands than him and can finish the fight with one strike. Besides, by going for close-range combat, “do Bronxs” has a better chance of taking it to grappling, where he is …