Month: Juni 2026

Pereira and Vakhitov went 1-1 in a pair of 2021 title fights (Photo: Glory Kickboxing)

Ciryl Gane is training with the last man to defeat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, but Pereira claims to be unfazed.

Advertisement

Gane (13-2), who faces Pereira (13-3) for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday in Washington, D.C., has enlisted Artem Vakhitov in his camp to help prepare for the fight against Pereira. Vakhitov is a former two-time Glory Kickboxing light heavyweight champion with a 3-1 MMA record including a victorious appearance on Dana White's Contender Series in 2024.

Significantly, the 35-year-old Russian defeated Pereira by majority decision at Glory 78 in September of 2021, winning back the Glory light heavyweight belt and marking Pereira’s last loss in kickboxing before making his final transition to MMA. The narrow decision brought the pair even after their similarly competitive first bout eight month…

The lightweight title fight headlining UFC Freedom 250 definitely has the attention of one man who recently held that belt.

UFC welterweight champ Islam Makhachev, who relinquished the lightweight title last year in his quest for a second title, recently weighed in on the upcoming clash between his successor, Ilia Topuria, and interim champ Justin Gaethje.

In an interview shared Monday by the UFC’s official social media channels, Makhachev predicted that White House card will be a treat for fans. Gaethje (27-5) will enter the cage as a prohibitive underdog to the undefeated Topuria (17-0) in Sunday’s main event, but Makhachev does not dismiss the American’s chances. However, Makhachev believes the eight-year age gap will be an advantage for the younger Topuria. Makhachev is picking “El Matador” to defeat Gaethje. Regardless of the outcome, Makhachev believes the fight will be fan-friendly and definitely won’t go the distance.

“Of course, I’m not counting…

UFC White House: Freedom 250 won’t be the first time that Steve Garcia has fought outdoors.

Garcia (19-5) is scheduled to open the iconic UFC White House card in a featherweight tilt against Diego Lopes (27-8) on June 14. Fighters, pundits and even UFC boss Dana White have expressed various concerns about the promotion’s first outdoor event.

Advertisement

Garcia, speaking from experience, recently listed his concerns about fighting in the Octagon that will be set up on the South Lawn of the White House. Garcia has fought outdoors twice in his career before. The first time was at night, where he had to face a common issue -- bugs. Many, including White, have expressed concerns about insects at the UFC White House event. Garcia’s first outdoor event, being an amateur one, he also had to deal with lighting issues.

However, Garcia had to weather a more serious issue in his second outdoor event, which was also his professional debut in 2013. Garcia says that the cage…

Sean Brady saw some holes in Belal Muhammad’s game.

Muhammad took on Gabriel Bonfim in a welterweight matchup in the main event at UFC Fight Night 278 on Saturday. Bonfim delivered a master class on the feet, never letting Muhammad get his wrestling game going. While “Remember the Name” put on a display of heart and chin, Bonfim beat him down for five rounds to earn the win by dominant unanimous decision.

Advertisement

Muhammad’s former opponent Brady believes the former champ failed to use a few weapons at his disposal. Namely, when Bonfim kicked, Brady expected Muhammad to either catch the limb or counter it more effectively. Brady noted that Muhammad fought on his back foot for most of the fight, which significantly hampered his wrestling. However, Brady also gave the victor Bonfim credit for placing himself in the best place to win the fight. Brady said on the UFC post-fight show:

“I think [Muhammad] could have worked on catching the kicks a lot more. Gabrie…

Kyle Daukaus had to conquer some demons after the end of his first stint with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Daukaus (17-4) is scheduled to fight Bo Nickal (8-1) in a middleweight matchup on the UFC White House card on June 14. The placement of Daukaus on the seven-bout billing surprised many, given that one year ago, Daukaus was on the outside of the UFC looking in. His first stint did not go well, with the Pennsylvanian washing out of the promotion with a record of 2-4-1.

Advertisement

After leaving the UFC, “The D’Arce Knight” saddled back up with his developmental organization of Cage Fury Fighting Championships in the tri-state area. In the span of a year, Daukaus crushed four foes to pick up a title and rebuild his confidence. A late replacement opportunity against Michel Pereira in 2025 worked in his favor as he staged the surprise upset in his UFC return to make himself one to watch in the division going forward. His 50-second submission of Gerald Mee…

Bo Nickal believes people often undermine the body of work he put in before his Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Nickal is scheduled to fight Kyle Daukaus (17-4) in a middleweight clash on the UFC White House card on June 14. Like many of Nickal’s previous bookings on high-profile cards, some fans believe he didn’t deserve a spot on the iconic seven-fight White House show.

Nickal (8-1) tries not to take criticism lobbed towards him personally, noting that while he transitioned into MMA in 2021, he has been toiling hard on the wrestling mats for most of his life. Nickal does not entirely understand the hatred cast his way, as he doesn’t call the shots regarding his matchmaking. The wrestler claims he has accepted every matchup that the UFC has offered him so far. Nickal said in an interview with the UFC:

“I mean, it’s natural for people to just be jealous in general. I think a lot of people think that I haven’t earned this spot. What they don’t realize is t…

Arman Tsarukyan is going all in on the UFC White House headliner.

Interim champion Justin Gaethje (27-5) challenges Ilia Topuria (17-0) to unify the lightweight belts on June 14 at the White House. Sportsbooks and experts have prognosticated that the reach and prominence of these bouts may break single-event MMA betting records. Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight contender Tsarukyan is contributing his own share to the pot, to the tune of $1 million.

Advertisement

Tip the dealer The Armenian by way of Russia has put down a million dollars on the bout between Topuria and Gaethje. Recording himself on video placing the bet with +570 underdog odds, Tsarukyan has put it all on Gaethje to win. Should “The Highlight” get the job done on Sunday, Tsarukyan can clear $5 million on this bet alone. He posted a screenshot of his betting slip on social media, while promising Gaethje he will buy him a new truck should he defeat Topuria.

Tsarukyan has developed a littl…

Ciryl Gane takes responsibility for poking Tom Aspinall in the eyes.

Gane challenged Aspinall for the undisputed heavyweight title at UFC 320 last October. The highly anticipated matchup met with an anticlimactic end as Gane unintentionally poked Aspinall in both eyes at the same time in the first round. The fight was declared a no contest after Aspinall was unable to continue despite taking four out of the five allotted minutes to recover. Although early into the matchup, some suggested Gane was getting the better of the Brit while it lasted.

Advertisement

Gane admits that he made a mistake, although it was unintentional. “Bon Gamin” explains that he had mistimed a kick to the midsection, which Aspinall tried to capitalize on by moving forward. The Frenchman instinctively extended his hand to push Aspinall back and ended up poking his eyes.The division keeps turning With Aspinall still recovering from the eye injury, Gane is now scheduled to fight Alex Pereira for…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship gala extravaganza has encountered a legal hitch.

On Friday, the Public Integrity Project—a firm with the mission statement to “stop corruption”—sued the U.S. government on behalf of two individuals from Virginia. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C.), defendants include the Acting Director of the National Park Service (NPS) Jessica Bowron, the National Capital Region Director of the NPS Jen Nersesian, the U.S. Department of the Interior and its Secretary, Doug Burgum. The plaintiffs request that the court deems the organization of the event itself unlawful and shuts it down, while removing the structures built on the White House lawn to accommodate the fight card.

Advertisement

In the suit itself, the demand for relief declares that the arrangement between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the White House is corrupt, partially due to the personal relationship between President D…

Dana White has an exchange offer of sorts for Eddie Hearn.

As of March, boxing promoter-slash-manager Hearn picked up a major client: Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. Since that arrangement came into place, Hearn has been harshly criticizing the UFC for underpaying Aspinall. The Matchroom Boxing chairman recently asked for Aspinall’s release from the UFC, promising to increase the Englishman’s earnings substantially more than what he is currently making.

Advertisement

Responding to Hearn’s comments, White snapped back by asking for the release of one of Hearn’s most valued boxers, two-division champ Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KOs). White said at a Zuffa Boxing press conference:

“[Hearn] said he wanted [Aspinall] released, right? Well, you release ‘Bam’ Rodriguez then. Sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it? Congratulations again, Eddie. You sound stupid again.”

The current WBC, WBO and “The Ring” super flyweight titleholde…

Jeisla Chaves was surprised by the result in her Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

Chaves made her promotional debut against Yuneisy Duben at UFC Fight Night 278 on Saturday. “A Braba” earned a hard-fought split decision win over Duben at the Apex in Las Vegas. However, the flyweight was surprised by the split nature of the verdict. While Duben managed to win the third round on all the scorecards, judge Tony Weeks also gave her the first round. While Chaves admits that Duben deserved Round 3, she was confident that she did enough to win the first two. Chaves said in a post-fight interview:

Advertisement

“Very happy with a win in my debut. It was a split decision. I gotta confess, I was really surprised. I was like, ‘Oh my God. We’re gonna have some emotion. Why not? It makes it more fun.’ Thankfully, the win came… I was confident. My corners came to me and said, ‘You won 2-1.’ I felt that we had done enough to win.”

Chaves (8-0) got introduced to combat spor…

Bryce Mitchell feels like he belongs in the bantamweight division.

Mitchell (19-3) was originally scheduled to fight Victor Henry at UFC Fight Night 278 on Saturday. However, Henry was forced out with an injury and replaced by a previously undefeated Santiago Luna (8-1) on short notice. Mitchell dominated Luna on the ground throughout the fight before securing an arm-triangle choke, forcing Luna to tap with less than ten seconds left. While the fight was not very fan-friendly apart from the finish, Mitchell explained that he largely burned his arms out trying to control his opponent. Mitchell remarked in a post-fight interview:

Advertisement

“I’m squeezing so hard with my arms the whole fight; it was actually hard for me to elbow and punch him. Because you do that with your hands too… When he moves, I finally get to punch, but I don’t get to do very big punches because he is moving. So, you get a heavy grappling match, an exhausting pace, with very little room for…