Martial Arts News

Movsar Evloev allegedly contracted coronavirus ahead of his scheduled fight against Aaron Pico last year. 

Evloev was scheduled to welcome former Bellator MMA star Aaron Pico to the UFC last August at UFC 319. However, Evloev pulled out of the matchup with hardly over two weeks to go before fight night. Evloev recently revealed that he was forced out of the fight due to coronavirus, the same virus responsible for the worldwide lockdown in 2020-21. Evloev claims he was affected by the virus in Thailand and decided to pull out when even easy exercises made him feel terrible.

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Struggling to Train “Last time I pulled out because of some type of coronavirus in Thailand,” Evloev told Submission Radio. “I was ready to fight, but two weeks before the fight I started feeling so bad — even doing easy exercises made me feel so bad, so I decided to pull out.”

Evloev (19-0) was replaced on short notice by Lerone Murphy (17-0), who knocked out Pico with a h…

Daniel Cormier became more serious about MMA after being schooled by Cain Velasquez in his early days. 

Cormier (22-3) had just transitioned from wrestling to MMA and was juggling his training between Oklahoma and California. Cormier began experimenting with a southpaw stance while sparring with Velasquez at the American Kickboxing Academy in 2010. That was the last time “DC” went southpaw, as Velasquez wrecked his nose with a head kick. Cormier turned his back to Velasquez, who decided to show mercy. Cormier was in agony and knew that Velasquez could have knocked him out if he wanted to. The lesson was enough for Cormier to permanently shift his base to AKA in San Jose, California.

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Lesson Learned “I was going back and forth between Oklahoma and California when I started my career,” Cormier told Y’all Street TV. “And I’m sparring Cain… I’m trying to be cute, and I’m fighting southpaw, which, by the way, 2010 was the last time I’d ever in my life…

Dustin Poirier is seemingly not coming out of retirement just yet. 

Poirier and Gaethje share a 1-1 head-to-head record in the UFC. While Poirier retired last year, Gaethje recently won the interim lightweight title against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 last month. Gaethje's violent performance against Pimblett was enticing enough for Poirier to consider coming out of retirement. “The Diamond” said that he would be interested in returning for a trilogy matchup against Gaethje. 

Gaethje initially said he respects Poirier too much to deny him a rubber matchup. However, Gaethje had mentioned that he was primarily looking ahead and not behind. 

Meanwhile, lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, who was on a short hiatus, said that he is ready to return this summer. Gaethje has now completely shut down the idea of a trilogy fight against Poirier. “The Highlight” is not lured by the idea of a trilogy against Poirier when he is likely to fight Topuria in a title …

Daniel Cormier believes that a particular type of combat sport athlete can reclaim America’s glory in the UFC. 

Cormier (22-3) recently noted that most UFC champions are from Eastern Europe with a wrestling base, with the exception of a few strikers. However, Cormier believes American wrestlers are not opening up to mixed martial arts. Cormier shares a close tie with the current welterweight champion, Islam Makhachev, and former lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, who exemplify the dominance of wrestling in MMA. While Cormier loves Makhachev, Nurmagomedov, and the rest of the Dagestani brigade, he wants to see American champions in the UFC. The former Olympian claims he has set a plan in motion to bring more American wrestlers to MMA.

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American Wrestlers Wanted “The American wrestler isn’t as open to fighting as we need them to be,” Cormier told Y’all Street TV. “But I have a plan. I’m getting American wrestlers into fighting. I love those guy…

There is apparently some confusion between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Quinton Jackson related to social media following.

Jackson (38-14) claimed years ago that Nurmagomedov (29-0) blocked him on social media. Jackson recently said that Nurmagomedov still hasn’t unblocked him. However, Jackson doesn’t hold it against Nurmagomedov, as he believes his content is too unhinged. Jackson understands that a religious person like Nurmagomedov might not like his uninhibited content. However, Jackson maintains that he never said anything against Nurmagomedov.

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Inappropriate Content? “Khabib still hasn’t unblocked me… Honestly, I would block me too; I say some crazy stuff on social media,” Jackson told Ushatayka. “He is very religious, and I’m probably not the type of person he should be following or looking at my content, so I’m not mad at him about it. I just thought it was weird because I never said anything about him before he blocked me.”

However, Nurmagomedov…

Gina Carano returning to MMA is allegedly not entirely out of the question. 

Carano last fought in 2009 and subsequently went on to build a career in Hollywood. Carano made headlines after she was released by Lucasfilm in 2021 following controversial comments.  Carano is now back in training at Syndicate MMA under coach John Wood. Wood says Carano got back in shape over the last few months and is training with professional fighters now. While Wood doesn’t want to jump the gun, he isn’t shutting down the idea of Carano returning to combat sports.

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Back in the Mix “She’s here every day, she’s back in the mix,” Wood told Home of Fight. “She’s back training every day. We spent first couple of months getting back in shape, she’s jumped in now, working with the pros. So who knows? I’m not at will to say what could or could not happen there… This coming back and training lit a fire under her ass. I think there are some things that are potentially on…

Daniel Cormier would preferably not include either Khabib Nurmagomedov or Islam Makhachev on any football team. 

Cormier is close to Nurmagomedov, Makhachev and the rest of their Dagestani team. “DC” doesn’t miss any chance to pull the leg of Nurmagomedov or Makhachev, who also return the favor. 

Rules Optional Cormier was recently asked to pick the better football player between Nurmagomedov and Makhachev. Cormier immediately called out both of them for not following any rules. Cormier noted that their famous games of Dagestani basketball is a mixture of rugby and basketball with almost no rules. Cormier would preferably not include them on any team as they would try to modify the rules according to their convenience. However, if bound to choose, Cormier would pick Nurmagomedov, whom he sees as the bigger and rougher one.

“Islam and Khabib, they don’t follow rules,” Cormier told the NFL. “Have you ever seen them play basketball? Their basketball is a mix of f…

Dillon Danis and Craig Jones will headline the Craig Jones Invitational 3 tournament.

Danis and Jones will meet in a jiu-jitsu matchup for the title of the “Greatest Grappler in the World.” The date and venue for the event are yet to be announced. The announcement of the matchup promoted Danis as the No. 1 pound-for-pound MMA and jiu-jitsu fighter in the world, with Jones as the No. 2. 

  

Grappling Roots Jones is an accomplished grappler considered to be among the best of all time in jiu-jitsu. Jones claims to have developed a counter to Dagestani grappling and frequently helps fellow Australian and Kiwi UFC fighters in their training camps. 

Meanwhile, Danis initially rose to fame as the primary grappling partner of Conor McGregor, ‘El Jefe” was a part of the infamous UFC 229 brawl involving McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teams. Danis has since gained notoriety for stirring up trouble at combat sports events. Danis has competed only twic…

⚖️ PFL Dubai Official Weigh Ins

PFL Lightweight World Title bout is official! 🏆Usman Nurmagomedov: 155 lbsAlfie Davis: 154.6 lbs#RoadToDubai | Saturday, February 7th | Dubai, UAE | Prelims 9AM EST | Main Card 12PM EST | 📺Streaming on the ESPN App pic.twitter.com/cpxTiPZrBP

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 6, 2026 The Professional Fighters League kicks off its 2026 schedule with two title fights, which are now official following the PFL Dubai weigh-ins.

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Headlining the card, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates, is a lightweight title fight between champion Usman Nurmagomedov and challenger Alfie Davis. Both fighters made weight, as did Ramazan Kuramagomedov and Shamil Musaev, who will battle for the vacant welterweight title in the co-main event. The only fighter on the 13-fight card who missed weight was Antonia Silvaneide, who came in a pound overweight for her flyweight bout against Denise Kielholtz. Silvaneide ha…

One of bantamweight’s best 💪@Bautista_MMA weighs in at 135.5lbs!

[ #UFCVegas113 | TOMORROW at 8pmET on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/ETdw1vBEWo

— UFC (@ufc) February 6, 2026 Thus far this year, the Ultimate Fighting Championship appears to be having an issue with fighters coming in at their proper weights.

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Headlining UFC Vegas 113 is a bantamweight fight between contenders Mario Bautista and Vinicius Oliveira. Both men successfully made weight as they look to make a case for being in title contention.

However, four other fighters on the card came in over their weight limits. Both Muin Gafurov and Gianni Vazquez came in five pounds overweight for their respective fights against Jakub Wiklacz and Javid Basharat. Both heavy men will be fined 25% of their respective purses, and the bouts will otherwise proceed as planned. Finally, Cong Wang and her opponent, Eduarda Moura, missed weight by 1.5 and one pound, respect…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s plans for its landmark card at the White House are taking shape.

During the Friday edition of “The Pat McAfee Show,” Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and TKO Group President Mark Shapiro sat down to discuss some upcoming plans for the promotion. The hosts posed a few questions to the executives regarding the show scheduled for June 14 that is slated to take place on the grounds of the White House. A couple statements, including an inflated claim by President Donald Trump who said 100,000 fans would be “in a stadium” for this card, were challenged.

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The executives stated that Trump’s high number included the “fan fest” that would likely be a Washington, D.C., version of the UFC’s International Fight Week. This includes additional events during the week, fighter gatherings for fans, possible other shows going on from some of their other properties like Zuffa Boxing or UFC BJJ, and more. As for the event itself, Emanuel spec…

One prominent Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight is not mad, he's just disappointed.

After suffering his second defeat in the promotion to Alexander Volkov at UFC 321, the 10-fight UFC vet Jailton Almeida returns to the Octagon on Saturday. He battles another Russian in the hulking Rizvan Kuniev, with the two coming to blows at UFC Vegas 113, also known as UFC Fight Night 266, in Las Vegas. In a conversation with Ag. Fight on Wednesday, the Brazilian revealed why he accepted the short-notice matchup with the unranked Kuniev.

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“Actually, I always stay active,” Almeida explained. “Even when I don’t have a fight, I’m helping my teammates. When the UFC offered the fight three weeks ago, with the option to renew the contract, I talked to my manager and we decided to accept this first fight of the new contract.”

While a wrestler in Curtis Blaydes and a striker in Volkov have gotten the better of him in the cage thus far, Almeida sees a far diffe…