Martial Arts News

Joshua Van studies footage of fellow fighters who have a style similar to his.

Van recently revealed that he used to flip tape of Dustin Poirier to pick up techniques. He explains that he used to flip the footage because he is orthodox while Poirier is a southpaw. Van studies tape of other elite fighters like Ilia Topuria, who have a boxing-based style like him. However, Van’s favorite fighter to study is fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Petr Yan.

Joshua Van explains how Dustin Poirier, Petr Yan and Ilia Topuria influence his striking Van defended his title for the second time at UFC 331, putting his renowned boxing on display to defeat Alexandre Pantoja in their rematch. “The Fearless” revealed in a recent interview that he actively studies Yan’s hands and incorporates what he can into his own arsenal.

“He’s got my style of fighting,” Van told Ariel Helwani. “He’s a boxing-based fighter, kind of like Petr Yan, Ilia. I like to study one of the greats a…

Sean Sharaf is planning on getting a financial advisor after making several terrible decisions.

Sharaf (5-2) was a massive underdog going into his Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight bout against Gable Steveson at UFC 331, where he recorded a 12-second knockout in a historic upset. He revealed before the bout that he was in heavy debt.

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Sean Sharaf discusses ‘crazy’ ways he blew up money to end up in debt Sharaf earned a $50,000 promotional bonus from Paramount+ for his win over Steveson. Dana White added $50,000 of his own to double Sharaf’s bonus, while revealing that the UFC heavyweight was $600,000 in debt.

Sharaf recently revealed how he gradually came under massive debt. The former U.S. Marine admits to making terrible financial decisions like buying a truck he couldn’t afford. Sharaf also started gambling when he first moved to Las Vegas in the hope of meeting White, who frequents casinos.

Sharaf eventually had to borrow money fr…

Marlon Vera’s house was broken into while he was getting ready to challenge Sean O'Malley for the title.

Vera made an unsuccessful Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title bid against O’Malley in 2024 in Miami. He recently revealed that his house in California was broken into the night before the fight. When the cameras went off at night, Vera’s wife thought it was due to a power cut. The next morning, the police informed Vera that his house had been robbed.

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Marlon Vera says his watch collection was stolen from his California home before UFC 299 Vera wasn’t happy to hear the news just hours before the biggest fight of his career. Vera’s watch collection, worth approximately $200,000, was stolen. While someone informed Vera about a suspect, the police never caught the culprit. Vera also believes it could be someone who knew him, as they entered, found the watch collection without rummaging through the house and exited within five minutes.

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Merab Dvalishvili believes he has identified the key mistake he made in his rematch against Petr Yan.

Dvalishvili put his Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title on the line for the fourth time within a year in a rematch against Yan last December. While Dvalishvili was a sizable favorite, considering how their first bout played out, Yan put on a technical masterclass to piece up the Georgian en route to a unanimous decision victory.

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Dvalishvili plans to change his approach against Yan in their UFC 333 trilogy Dvalishvili recently said that he made the mistake of fighting Yan’s fight in their rematch. “The Machine” believes it wasn’t wise of him to trade on the feet against an elite boxer like Yan. However, Dvalishvili is confident that he has made the necessary improvements to reclaim the title from the Russian in their trilogy fight.

“I think the second fight I was fighting his fight,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting. “I was in front of hi…

Six Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts were handed out on Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series 2026 despite few finishes.Dana White awards UFC contracts to Damian Piwowarczyk, Piero Guaylupo, Callum Connor, Marcos Degli, Alvi Dasuyev and Jaden OrtegaDamian Piwowarczyk (12-4) and Emilio Quissua (8-1) started the action with a light heavyweight clash. While Quissua came out strong, Piwowarczyk handed him his first pro loss late in the first round with a vicious flurry. UFC CEO Dana White awarded Piwowarczyk a UFC contract for the finish.

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“Damian, great first round,” White said. “Emilio is a tough guy. He was putting it on you in that first round. And what did you do? Knock him out with less than 10 seconds left in the first round. Congratulations, you’re in the UFC.”

Piero Guaylupo (13-0) and Callum Connor (8-1) put on a barnburner in their lightweight tilt. The bout would have broke the UFC lightweight record for the most significant strikes l…

Sean Sharaf knew Gable Steveson was looking past him before their clash.

Sharaf was a massive underdog going into his Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight bout against Steveson at UFC 331. He knocked Steveson out cold in 12 seconds in a monumental upset and has since revealed that he knew the Olympian was underestimating him, which only motivated him further.

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Sharaf says Steveson's RAF 12 wrestling match during UFC camp lit a fire under him Sharaf recently revealed that a specific moment made it certain that Steveson was looking past him. Steveson (4-1) defeated Anthony Cassioppi in a wrestling match at RAF 12, less than a month before his fight against Sharaf. When Sharaf saw Steveson doing side quests during fight camp, he knew that the Olympic gold medalist was overconfident.

“He did a [Real American Freestyle] match,” Sharaf told TMZ Sports. “He did a wrestling match like the month prior, and that’s when I knew. He’s in fight camp and he’…

Sean Strickland continues to be reckless with vehicles.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder was recently involved in yet another accident. Strickland claims his friend was driving when their ATV flipped over and rolled six times. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, leading to minor scratches on his head and shoulders.

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Sean Strickland escapes major injury after six-roll ATV accident While the two-time champ didn’t suffer any major injuries, he admitted he was in a “bad place” after the accident.

“Guys, I’m in a real bad place,” Strickland said on Instagram. “Aw, f*ck. I let my buddy drive; he rolled us going, like, 60. We rolled, like, six times. That was from my head smacking the ground while going 60; I did not have a helmet on. I’m an idiot. [Shows scrapes on shoulder and head] That was just from rolling and smacking the concrete and the dirt. F*ck, I’m in a real bad place right now. I think I’m just going to lay here and take a nap for a litt…

The Professional Fighters League is undergoing another major change.

PFL CEO John Martin announced Tuesday that he’s stepping down. Martin’s decision comes hardly a month after PFL merged with Most Valuable Promotions. Martin had assumed the role of CEO of the merged brand.

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John Martin steps down as PFL-MVP CEO and backs Nakisa Bidarian to lead next Martin also said MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian is likely to take over after him.

“After an incredible year and the successful combination of PFL and MVP, I’ve made the decision to step down as CEO of the combined company,” Martin announced on Instagram. “I’m enormously proud of what this team has accomplished and couldn’t have more confidence in what comes next. Nakisa and I worked closely together to bring these companies together, and I believe he is the natural person to lead this next chapter. I’m grateful to the entire team and Board for their partnership, and I’ll be cheering for MVP as both a f…

Chuck Liddell says the use of wrestling in modern mixed martial arts by some fighters doesn’t sit well with him.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer has no problem with wrestling itself. What bothers him is how fighters use it to stall, rather than inflict damage or progress towards submission attempts.

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Chuck Liddell takes issue with control-heavy wrestling that doesn't pursue a finish During a recent livestream with N3on, Liddell was asked whether there’s a current fighter he doesn’t enjoy watching. Rather than name an active UFC fighter, the former champ singled out a style that has become increasingly common in MMA.

“I don’t like the guys who try to wrestle and hold,” Liddell said.

Liddell explained that his issue isn't with grappling, but with fighters who use wrestling primarily to control their opponents without actively pursuing a finish.

“They’re not trying to finish. I’ve got nothing against wrestling. I like wrest…

Colby Covington believes Gable Steveson needs to make changes after suffering his first defeat in mixed martial arts.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship interim titleholder singled out Steveson training under Jon Jones as one of the changes the Olympian needs to make following his 12-second knockout loss to heavy underdog Sean Sharaf at UFC 331.

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Covington says Steveson should find a new camp and return to his Olympic wrestling roots In an interview with Submission Radio, “Chaos” said Steveson has moved too far away from the wrestling that made him an Olympic champion, arguing that the heavyweight should return to his roots rather than focusing on his striking.

“I definitely saw this coming,” Covington told Submission Radio. “You know, he was over-hyping himself, overlooking other competitors and he just thought he was invincible. You don't see him try to wrestle in any fights; he's just going straight into striking. But when you forget about…

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…