Day: 6. Juni 2026

Tom Aspinall’s immediate professional future is looking murkier by the day.

Aspinall’s new manager, Eddie Hearn, has been vehemently criticising his current Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. Hearn now claims that he won’t let the UFC heavyweight champion fight under such terms.

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While Aspinall (15-3) is sidelined with an eye injury, Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will compete for the interim heavyweight title at UFC White House: Freedom 250 on June 14. The winner of that fight is expected to meet Aspinall in a title unifier. However, Hearn claims he will try his best not to let Aspinall accept that fight unless a new deal is reached. Hearn claims Aspinall’s current UFC contract would earn him 1/50th of the amount of money he would generate in a title unifier against Pereira or Gane.

“I’m not gonna let Tom Aspinall fight for the kind of money that’s in his contract,” Hearn told Bloody Elbow. “To be involved in a fight against Pereira or Gane, fo…

In a rematch nearly two years in the making, Makoto Takahashi avenged a past loss and defeated mentor-turned-rival Hiromasa Ougikubo Saturday at Rizin Fighting Federation: “Landmark Vol. 14.” Competing in front of his hometown fans in Sendai, Japan, Takahashi took a well-deserved unanimous decision victory over Ougikubo in the main event to become the new Rizin flyweight champion.

Takahashi (23-5-1, 1 NC; 9-4 Rizin) ducked under a wild left hand and took Ougikubo (30-9-2, 12-6 Rizin) down into back control during the opening minute of the fight. He kneeled against the cage and punched the side of Ougikubo’s head while also elbowing his ribs. Ougikubo scrambled up to his feet as the round entered its final minute and he knocked ‘Shinryu’ off-balance with a calf kick. Ougikubo got past Takahashi’s jab and landed a nice combination in the second frame, but he soon found himself on the ground again after a Takahashi trip takedown. Ougikubo stood up and he landed a series…

Derrick Lewis has been dealing with a health issue for a long time.

Lewis is coming off a second-round stoppage loss against Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC 324 this past January. “The Black Beast” was seemingly just out of the fight after a lousy slip while Cortes-Acosta rained down a barrage of shots, forcing the referee to step in. Lewis recently revealed that he was dealing with back issues during the fight. While Lewis weighed in at 263.5 pounds, he went up to 296 pounds on fight night, which triggered his persistent back issues. Lewis also revealed that his problem has forced him to pull out of fights at the last moment multiple times. Lewis told UFC on Paramount+:

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“One of my downfalls I’ve had my whole career is always my back. I’ve been having back issues; I believe that it really got down, down, down. My last fight I cut a lot of weight. I didn’t walk around to where I usually fight at. Right after I made weight, I went all the way back up to 296 …