Month: September 2026

Real American Freestyle has signed a five-year partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and the UAE Wrestling Federation, with the agreement beginning Nov. 14 at Etihad Arena.

Khamzat Chimaev will headline RAF’s debut event in the Middle East, with his opponent to be announced in the coming weeks. Arman Tsarukyan, Henry Cejudo, Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Snyder and Abdulrashid Sadulaev are also set to compete, with their matchups still to be revealed.

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Real American Freestyle signs five-year partnership with Abu Dhabi Chimaev has become one of RAF’s crossover attractions since joining the promotion. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder made his RAF debut against Dillon Danis before facing Tyron Woodley in Moscow and Gilbert Burns at RAF 13.

The Abu Dhabi event marks RAF’s third international show in its first year, following events in Tbilisi and Moscow. The new partnership will establish Abu Dhabi…

Shavkat Rakhmonov’s recovery and rehabilitation from multiple leg injuries is seemingly moving in the right direction.

The undefeated welterweight recently shared footage on his Instagram stories, in which he’s seen doing some light wrestling work. Rakhmonov hasn’t competed since December 2024, with multiple injury setbacks preventing a return to competition. However, the recent video he and his coach shared online could be a sign of good things to come.

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Shavkat Rakhmonov continues recovery after calling for Islam Makhachev matchup Rakhmonov (19-0) was working on his clinch work in the video shared on Instagram. He appears to be in good spirits and, notably, didn’t have a protective boot on his leg as he did in a recent interview.

While speaking to AFL Global in an interview posted on Sept. 6, the Kazakh was wearing a full protective boot. He’s now boot-free and gunning for an Octagon return, evidenced by his comments in said interview, wherein he s…

Michael Morales and Ian Garry appear to have reached an agreement.

Garry came up short in his maiden title bid in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 330, losing to Islam Makhachev via decision. The Irishman is now looking to re-enter the title mix by beating unbeaten welterweight Morales, who’s open to the matchup.

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Michael Morales accepts Ian Garry’s Nov. 28 proposal for a UFC fight in Saudi Arabia Morales has shared a screenshot of his DMs with Garry wherein they agree to fight in November. The latter initially questioned the former’s availability claims, speculating that he’s avoiding the matchup.

“I wanna fight before the end of the year and I’m being told you’re not available,” Garry wrote. “You were able to be the back up for the world title fight but not able to take a fight with me now? You’ve also asked to be a back up for the next title fight, but still not available to fight with me? Looks like someone is avoiding me. Talk all that…

Demetrious Johnson claims Arman Tsarukyan put a lesson from their training session together to good use in his recent bout.

Tsarukyan further bolstered his case for a title shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 331, knocking out Mauricio Ruffy with an elbow at 4:56 of the opening round. The technique he used to deliver the knockout was among the positions he worked on alongside Johnson when they trained together.

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Arman Tsarukyan put Demetrious Johnson's clinch advice to use against Mauricio Ruffy Johnson broke down the finish and highlighted Tsarukyan’s decision to remain aggressive in close range rather than immediately looking for another takedown when he had Ruffy up against the Octagon wall.

“Now, instead of just wrestling here, like I said, you don’t have to wrestle here,” Johnson said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “Look, he’s already here. That’s one of the things I showed him. Usually people want to wrestle here, but …

Magomed Ankalaev is willing to fight Paulo Costa despite considering it a lose-lose scenario.

Costa is currently amidst a falling-out with the Ultimate Fighting Championship over the last fight on his current contract. The Brazilian has repeatedly called out the promotion online while campaigning for a fight. Former champ Magomed Ankalaev has now offered a solution.

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Ankalaev offers to serve as Costa’s final fight under his current UFC contract Costa’s latest gripe with the UFC involved being offered a short-notice five-round fight for no additional pay. While Costa is willing to accept a five-round fight, he wants to be compensated accordingly and have ample time to prepare for a 25-minute bout. Furthermore, he’s taken shots at UFC exec Hunter Campbell and asked for his release multiple times.

Ankalaev has offered to be the last fight on Costa’s current contract. The former light heavyweight champ believes Costa has nothing to lose, as his stock wi…

Valter Walker believes his compromised feet might be a hurdle on his way to an Ultimate Fighting Championship title.

While Walker is a feared leg lock submission artist, he isn’t an elite striker. “The Foot Hunter” recently admitted that his striking isn’t up to the mark due to bad footwork caused by his compromised feet. Walker revealed that his footwork is poor as his toes are curled, limiting his ability to be light on his feet.

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Valter Walker says childhood shoe problems left him with curled toes and poor footwork Coming from a poor background, Walker didn’t have money to buy new shoes as his feet grew. Wearing undersized shoes did long-term damage to his toes, which is now showing its effects. He claims that this issue is the biggest stumbling block towards him becoming a champion.

“I really have a big problem with my footwork,” Walker told Full Mount MMA. “My foot is not really good because when I was young, I didn’t have money to buy new shoe…

Patricio "Pitbull" Freire believes reconnecting with a longtime boxing coach, Edelson Silva, played a major role in getting his career back on track.

Freire recently returned to winning ways in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, finishing Doo Ho Choi by first-round technical knockout at UFC 331.

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Patricio Freire credits reunion with Edelson Silva for Doo Ho Choi finish After his victory over Choi, Freire spoke about his reunion with Silva, which he credited as the primary factor in reviving his career. Talking to UFC Brazil’s Evelyn Rodrigues as he left the Octagon, the former Bellator champ said the reunion allowed him to fight more freely.

“I wasn’t letting myself go in the previous fights, but thank God I was able to find myself again in this one,” Freire said after the victory. “Edelson worked with me from 2010 to 2015. Unfortunately, we drifted apart for 11 years, when he worked on 10 of Anderson Silva’s camps. But we were able to work things …

Manel Kape is making his case for the next Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title shot.

Joshua Van (18-2) successfully defended the 125-pound championship in a rematch against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331 on Sept. 19. Top-ranked flyweight Manel Kape, seemingly the frontrunner for a shot at UFC gold, can’t wait to fight Van as he favors the matchup stylistically.

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Manel Kape sees UFC champion Joshua Van’s striking style as an ideal matchup Van has faced wrestling-heavy fighters in his two title defenses so far, finishing Tatsuro Taira and going the distance with Alexandre Pantoja in a five-round war. Kape, one of the best strikers in the division, can’t wait to dissect Van’s boxing-centric fighting style and he claims he’ll make it look effortless.

“The perfect style for me to paint a masterpiece,” Kape posted on X. “You’re all going to be surprised by how easy I make this fight look.”

The California State Athletic Commission released the…

Dana White’s Contender Series returns on Sept. 22 for Week 7 of Season 10, with five more matchups set to go down at Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

The Week 7 lineup features fights across the middleweight, welterweight, flyweight, lightweight and light heavyweight divisions, with Norbert Novenyi Jr. (185.5) and Theo Haig (184) set to headline the card. They are among 10 fighters looking to secure an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. The bill features five undefeated fighters.

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Norbert Novenyi Jr. and Theo Haig headline the five-fight DWCS Week 7 card Norbert Novenyi Jr. (185.5) vs. Theo Haig (184)Alvi Dasuyev (170) vs. Jaden Ortega (170.5)Marcos Degli (125.5) vs. Paris Moran (125.5)Piero Guaylupo (155.5) vs. Callum Connor (155.5)Damian Piwowarczyk (205) vs. Emilio Quissua (204.5)

The fighters of #DWCS Week 7 have weighed in to make it official for Tuesday.

Weigh-In Results ➡️ https://t.co/Aa4LVIrVS5

Watch Season …

Sean Strickland wants to test himself in boxing.

The two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder recently revealed that while he loves mixed martial arts, he wants to try his hand in the squared circle at some point down the line.

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UFC champion Sean Strickland prefers a future boxing fight under Zuffa Strickland foresees boxing fights in his future. He recently took to social media to reveal his desire, eyeing a boxing fight under the Zuffa banner.

“I love MMA but I want to box,” Strickland wrote on X. “Prefer Zuffa but if they can't make that happen…”

Strickland is known for his boxing-heavy approach inside the Octagon. He reclaimed the 185-pound championship in May by defeating Khamzat Chimaev and is rumored to be defending his title in a rematch against Nassourdine Imavov next.

I love MMA but I want to box.. Prefer Zuffa but if they cant make that happen.....

— Sean Strickland (@SStrickla…

Charles Jourdain had a terrifying reason for waving off his recent bout with Marlon Vera.

Jourdain and Vera squared off on the prelims of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s recent numbered event in Los Angeles. In the third round, Jourdain signaled that he didn’t want to take any more damage after being knocked down. While this isn’t the first time the Canadian has been dropped in a fight, he has revealed that the final knockdown against “Chito” compromised his vision.

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Charles Jourdain explains why he waved off his UFC 331 fight against Marlon Vera After Jourdain hit the canvas and signaled that he didn’t wish to continue, the referee stepped in, handing Vera his first finish in four years. While there was initially confusion about Jourdain’s gesture, “Air” has now revealed why he was done fighting after the third-round knockdown, as he couldn’t see anything.

“Lost my eyesight in the third,” Jourdain wrote on Instagram. “I waved the fight ‘cause …

Joshua Van entered his second flyweight title defense with a significant shoulder injury.

Van retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight belt on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, defeating former champion Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 331. “The Fearless” has revealed that he had a less-than-ideal training camp for the rematch.

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Joshua Van says shoulder injury kept him from sparring for most of Alexandre Pantoja camp At the post-fight press conference, Van said he injured the AC joint in his right shoulder following the pre-fight presser in August in Philadelphia and was unable to spar normally for much of camp, relying primarily on cardio training.

“Coming into this fight after the press conference in Philly, I tore my AC joint in my right shoulder and I couldn't even spar,” Van said. “So, the last two weeks was my first time sparring, and this camp we did nothing but cardio. Just running and …