Month: Mai 2026

Ludovit Klein will return to action at UFC Belgrade. | Getty/UFC

Ludovit Klein will lock horns with Tofiq Musayev at UFC Belgrade.

Musayev confirmed the pairing on social media following an intial report from Heavy.com. UFC Belgrade — also known as UFC Fight Night 283 — takes place on Aug. 1 at Belgrade Arena and is headlined by a welterweight showdown between Uros Medic and Daniel Rodriguez.

Coming Off Victories A native of Slovakia, Klein has been victorious in five of his last six Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Mr. Highlight” took a majority decision against Mateusz Rebecki at UFC 321 this past October.

Musayev, who competed in Bellator and Rizin before signing with the UFC, is 1-1 in the Las Vegas-based promotion. After suffering a first-round submission defeat to Myktybek Orolbai in his first Octagon foray, Musayev outpointed Ignacio Bahamondes in his last outing at UFC Seattle on March 28.

Doctors have determined that B.J. Penn is mentally fit to stand trial, according to Hawaii News Now.

The UFC Hall of Famer was in court this past Friday for a hearing in his ongoing domestic violence case. Penn faces multiple charges including assault and violating a restraining order imposed by his mother, Lorraine Shin. Shin has alleged that she has been subject to “extreme psychological abuse” from her son. Meanwhile, Penn has claimed that his mother and brothers have been murdered and replaced by imposters. Shin has as stated that she believes her son suffers from Capgras delusional syndrome, a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, other close family member has been replaced by an identical imposter

Ongoing Legal IssuesPenn’s attorney plans to file a motion to dismiss the charges against his client, per the report. The former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion was arrested multiple times over the course of 202…

Real American Freestyle has announced a marquee pairing for its event in Milwaukee.

The wrestling promotion on Saturday announced that Colby Covington will face Arman Tsarukyan in the RAF 11 headliner on July 18. The event takes place at UWM Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and streams on Fox Nation.

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Past and Present Contenders Covington announced his retirement from MMA last week. The former welterweight title challenger has stated that while he won’t rule out a UFC comeback, his focus is on RAF going forward. “Chaos” improved to 3-0 under the RAF banner on Saturday with a victory over fellow UFC veteran Chris Weidman.

Tsarukyan is widely regarded as the top lightweight contender in the UFC. After pulling out of a title shot against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311, Tsarukyan spent most of the year sidelined until he submitted Dan Hooker in the UFC Qatar headliner this past November. The Russian standout is 5-0 in RAF and is coming off a victory …

While Curtis Blaydes wants to end his MMA career in the UFC, he fancies a boxing match after that. 

Blaydes recently revealed that he wants to hang up his MMA gloves while he is in the UFC. Blaydes draws inspiration from veterans like Drew Dober and Neil Magny, who have both been in the UFC for over a decade and have gradually assumed the roles of gatekeepers in their divisions. While Blaydes wants to leave behind a legacy like theirs in the UFC, he wouldn’t mind a big boxing match at the end of his combat sports career. Blaydes wants to box former UFC foe Francis Ngannou, who did well for himself financially in boxing after retiring from the UFC. 

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“I look at guys for inspiration like Drew Dober, Neil Magny. I want to be like them,” Blaydes told Home of Fight. “I want to be in the UFC as long as I can, and I want to end with the UFC. I want to have a legacy like theirs. I could see myself at the end maybe taking a random boxing match again…

Kevin Lee believes a political speech he gave in 2019 changed his MMA career. 

Lee delivered a speech campaigning for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who is a longtime political rival of President Donald Trump. Lee was coming off a bonus-winning stoppage over Gregor Gillespie when Sanders’ team contacted him. Lee had no monetary incentive to campaign for Sanders, who he thought would win the election in 2020.

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“My career really started going south after that Gregor fight,” Lee recently told Eric Cerminara. “Because I decided to get political, shoutout to Bernie Sanders. And then I went and I spoke for Bernie Sanders at this convention or something. His people reached out to me, they were like, ‘Hey, you want to do a little speech?’ I was like, ‘Sure.’ No money, I just did it – felt like it was cool, I thought he would be president.”

Lee believes his relationship with the UFC was ruined due to his speech supporting Sanders. Lee was then bo…

Kai Asakura believes he has found the right weight class for himself. 

Asakura (22-6) took on Cameron Smotherman in a bantamweight tilt at UFC Macau on Saturday Asakura violently knocked out Smotherman less than two minutes into the opening round, also earning himself a $100,000 performance bonus. The Japanese standout believes he may finally have found his right weight class after moving up from flyweight.

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The Right Move “Having moved up to this division and having actually done this fight, I definitely do feel like this is the right one for me,” Asakura said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I think in terms of the power, the strength and the speed this division is right for me.”

Asakura came to the UFC as the highly-touted Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion. However, Asakura started his UFC career at flyweight, where he took on the toughest matchup, challenging Alexandre Pantoja for the title in 2024. Pantoja derailed …

Sergei Pavlovich is back to being a feared knockout artist. 

Pavlovich took on Tallison Teixeira in a heavyweight matchup at UFC Macau on Saturday. Pavlovich took 39 seconds to shut the lights on Teixeira with a vicious combination. This was Pavlovich’s first stoppage win since 2023. The Russian knockout artist admits that he was trying to put on a technical display in his last few outings, which didn’t work out very well. 

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“Really great feeling,” Pavlovich said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “Couple of fights back it was all about being technical, about trying to show some skills, but we weren’t able to do that. Now finally everything worked out and I’m really happy about it.” Tall Task Pavlovich and his team studied a lot of tape on Teixeira, who stands four inches taller than him.   “This is the second opponent I had that’s almost 2 meters in height, over 6 [feet] something,” Pavlovich said. “We looked at all of his fi…

Darren Till’s post-UFC winning streak has carried over to BKFC.

Till (18-5) made his BKFC debut against Aaron Chalmers on Saturday at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England. Till knocked Chalmers out cold with a left hand early in the second round. 

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While this was Till’s bare-knuckle boxing debut, Chalmers had finished both of his previous BKFC fights. Till parted ways with the UFC in 2022 on a three-fight skid.

While “The Gorilla” promised to return to the UFC, the promotion’s brass didn’t seem very excited about the idea. Till had a long period of inactivity after leaving the UFC, which was partly due to canceled boxing matches. Till returned to action last year, defeating Anthony Taylor and fellow UFC veterans Darren Stewart and Luke Rockhold in boxing matches. 

Till Rocks Chalmers

😱💥 Darren Till GETS THE SECOND ROUND KO IN HIS BKFC DEBUT!! pic.twitter.com/yzVil6hAsL

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) …

Arman Tsarukyan continues his dominant run at Real American Freestyle. 

Tsarukyan (23-3) took on Keelon Jimison aka “Mugzy” at RAF 9 on Saturday in Arlington, Texas. Tsarukyan defeated Jimison via tech fall in the first period.

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This was Tsarukyan fifth straight victory in wrestling under the RAF banner. However, none of the opponents “Ahalkalakets” has faced so far were on his level. “Mugzy” is an influencer wrestler like Georgio Poullas, who Tsarukyan defeated twice at RAF. Tsarukyan has also defeated former PFL champion Lance Palmer and former UFC champion Urijah Faber.

Tsarukyan is now scheduled to wrestle Tony Ferguson at RAF 10 on June 13. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan is losing out on his prime years waiting for a UFC lightweight title shot. 

Tsarukyan Handles ‘Mugzy’

Arman Tsarukyan just beat Mugzy via tech fall in the first period at RAF 09 🔥

He's now 5-0 in RAFpic.twitter.com/H3jqBBssgB

— Championshi…

UFC Oklahoma City could see a potential change of guard at middleweight. 

Former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier is set to face Chris Leroy Duncan at UFC Fight Night 281 on July 18 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. MagicM was first to report the booking on social media, and it was later officially confirmed by the UFC. The Las Vegas-based promotion also recently announced a welterweight clash pitting Kevin Holland against Jacobe Smith.

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Gatekeeper vs. Rising Talent While Cannonier (18-9) has been a perennial contender at middleweight, he has recently taken up the role of a gatekeeper at the top of the division. “The Killa Gorilla” has dropped three of his last four, with the losses coming against elite opponents in Nassourdine Imavov, Caio Borralho and Michael Page. 

Meanwhile, Duncan (14-2) is on a four-fight winning streak that includes two spinning backfist knockouts. The Englishman suffered his last loss in 2024 agai…

Eddie Hearn says Tom Aspinall is one of the most underpaid athletes in professional sports. 

Hearn is the former manager of boxer Conor Benn, who was recently poached by Zuffa Boxing, which the UFC’s parent company owns. Benn signed a $15 million contract, sparking dissent among UFC fighters. When Hearn criticized the signing, Dana White said that the Matchroom Boxing chairman should instead be happy for Benn earning as much as he can. 

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Hearn now looks to give White a taste of his own medicine. Hearn recently started managing UFC heavyweight champion. Hearn called for Aspinall's release from the UFC, although it didn’t seem very sincere. Hearn guarantees he can arrange for Aspinall to be paid three times what he is earning in the UFC. Hearn notes that according to White’s own ideology, he should be happy for Aspinall to be earning as much as possible. Doubling down on his criticism of Aspinall’s contract, Hearn says “Honey Badger” is one o…

While Carlos Prates has no plans of fighting again before he gets a title shot, he would fight Michael Morales if he had to. 

Prates (24-7) demolished former welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Perth earlier this month to firmly establish himself as a contender. However, Prates believes Ian Garry, who previously defeated him, will challenge Islam Makhachev for the welterweight title next. Prates is confident that he will be next in line for a title shot against the winner of the fight between Makhachev and Garry. 

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According to Prates, Garry will likely challenge Makhachev at UFC 330 on Aug. 15 in Philadelphia. Prates has no issues waiting for a shot against the winner of the fight. However, that could stall the UFC welterweight title picture until next year. If Prates has to fight again in the meantime, he would pick undefeated Ecuadorian contender Morales (19-0).Considering the Possibilities“If I have no choice, if I have to…