Martial Arts News

After a unanimous decision loss to Aiemann Zahabi last Saturday at UFC 315, Jose Aldo announced his retirement.

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However, a post published by Aldo himself on Instagram the following day left open the possibility that the “King of Rio” might rethink his decision.

“This may have been my last time in the Octagon,” Aldo wrote in a three paragraph letter to fans, leaving doubt in the air.

It appears that Aldo’s future could be clarified next Saturday, as the former featherweight champion has called a press conference to further explain his post. The event will be broadcast live on Aldo’s Instagram.

“Stay tuned and follow everything closely,” Aldo wrote.

Aldo’s full Instagram post from this past weekend is as follows:

“This MAY have been my last time in the octagon. During this week, I experienced one of the greatest battles of my life, and it wasn’t against an opponent, but within myself. In recent years, I have once again nurtu…

"This is indeed a landmark moment for ESPN & for sports fans everywhere."

ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro & ESPN EVP of Programming & Acquisitions Rosalyn Durant share key points from Tuesday's announcement of ESPN's new direct-to-consumer offering

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More: https://t.co/zaHcX88OEq pic.twitter.com/e6VAWLp5sh — ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 13, 2025

ESPN will be increasing its focus on streaming in the coming months with an update that will directly affect Ultimate Fighting Championship fans.

The Worldwide Leader announced on Tuesday that a new direct-to-consumer streaming service — simply known as “ESPN” — will launch this fall. For a $29.99 per month subscription fee (or $299.99 annually), viewers will be able to access the entire lineup of ESPN networks and content. In a release, this is referred to as the unlimited plan. There are also bundling options with Hulu and Disney+ available for $35.99 per month with ads or …

Jon Jones doesn’t appear to be too concerned with public perception.

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During a recent session on Instagram Live, the UFC’s reigning heavyweight champion addressed accusations that he has been actively avoiding a fight against interim title holder Tom Aspinall. While UFC CEO Dana White has been confident that Jones vs. Aspinall will happen this year, there has been little tangible progress made — at least publicly — when it comes to negotiations for that fight.

In the meantime, Aspinall has grown exceedingly frustrated with the wait, as he has not competed since defending the interim crown with a stoppage of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. In a recent interview, the Englishman suggested that he would be ready to move on from Jones if the bout isn’t finalized soon.

Jones, however, doesn’t seem to be in a rush to get back in the Octagon.

“I’ve got people in the chat calling me a ‘duck,’” Jones said. “Meanwhile, I’m living my absolute best life…

The results of the two title bouts at UFC 315 could ultimately affect several weight classes.

On his weekly podcast, “Papo de Luta,” UFC Fight Pass Brazil commentator Carlos Barreto noted the direct impact caused by Valentina Shevchenko and Jack Della Maddalena’s victories at UFC 315. Barreto admitted that he was surprised by both results, which could impact as many as four divisions.

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“I expected an extremely aggressive Manon [Fiorot] to surprise Valentina with her good speed, greater reach and tactical understanding, but it ooks like the trilogy with Alexa rekindled the best Valentina,” Barreto said. “She came back renewed, dominated Fiorot and showed once again that she is among the greatest of all time.”

Barreto also thought that Muhammad would take away Maddalena’s space for striking by mixing up his attacks.

“The [Gilbert] Burns fight was very good for Maddalena to correct gaps (mainly takedown defense),” Barreto said. “Belal surprised me…

Khamzat Chimaev went off on 'fake' Belal Muhammad following his loss at #UFC315 😬

"Yes he call me Muslim brother then he go saying he wants to beat me, so [why] should I be nice to you?

I like real people not fake. If you call me brother you should be my brother." pic.twitter.com/7cMIGfesEX — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 12, 2025

Khamzat Chimaev isn’t hesitating to kick Belal Muhammad while he is down. 

Muhammad and Chimaev have had a rivalry brewing for a while, although they belong to different weight classes. Muhammad even recently teased a move up to middleweight to fight Chimaev. 

Muhammad lost his welterweight title against Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 last weekend in Canada. While it was one of Muhammad’s most entertaining performances, “Remember the Name” didn’t display any of his elite grappling. Chimaev mocked Muhammad on the loss and posted a now-deleted picture from the fight saying,…

UFC fighter Jean Silva put a fan to sleep 😳 pic.twitter.com/l0tMew2zYo

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) May 12, 2025

Jean Silva is unapologetic after choking out a fan.

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One of the quirkiest characters on the Ultimate Fighting Championshiproster, Silva is as well known for his loud presence as his finishing skills. “Lord” was recently attending a muay thai event in Floripa, Brazil, where he was seen choking out a fan. 

Silva caught the fan in a rear-naked choke and refused to let go even after he tapped and went to sleep. However, there were seemingly no ill feelings exchanged as the fan hugged it out with Silva after regaining consciousness. 

However, the episode didn’t go down well with all fight fans. A Twitter user shared screenshots of DMs from another incident reporting about the incident. According to the messages, the fan had just asked for a photo with Silva holding him in a rear-naked choke. 

“…

Though it might not always seem like it, Tom Aspinall is an admirer of Jon Jones’ body of work.

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That is at least part of the reason that the Englishman has been so determined in his pursuit of a fight against the current UFC heavyweight champion.

“I think Jon is amazing at MMA,” Aspinall said on the High Performance podcast. “You can never be a complete UFC fighter. It’s impossible. That’s one of the things that draws me to the sport so much because you’re constantly chasing perfection — but you’re never gonna get it. No one’s ever gonna be the perfect, complete fighter. But Jon, in my opinion, if you look at his body of work over the last 15 years, he’s as close to perfection as you can get as possible.

“That being said, he’s got a lot of miles on the clock and he’s fighting one of the most concussive punchers in UFC history. I just think I can exploit it. I think to get out the way of me for 25 minutes, at this point in his career, without g…

👀Ian Machado Garry reacts on Islam Makhachev moving up to welterweight:

"All of us welterweights have to step back and give the man respect he deserves.

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But if negotiations don’t go so well, then you’ve got a tall, blonde Irishman who’s ready to take over the UFC…

And I will… pic.twitter.com/qf9PJH1AFX

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 11, 2025

Ian Garry is looking to steal the next welterweight title shot if Islam Makhachev doesn’t get it. 

The UFC 315 main event on Saturday in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, had major implications for multiple weight classes. While Makhachev has been eyeing a welterweight move for a while, he was unwilling to fight his friend Belal Muhammad, the former champ at 170 pounds. Dana White had made clear that if Muhammad defended his title, Makhachev would have to defend his lightweight title against former featherweight champ Ilia Topuria, who recently moved up to 155 pounds.…

Magomed Ankalaev is seemingly looking for other options after his originally targeted opponent turned down a UFC 317 matchup. 

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UFC 317, which goes down on June 28 during International Fight Week, is yet to have a main event. Speculations are that the two targeted matchups were Ankalaev’s light heavyweight title defense or Islam Makhachev’s lightweight title defense against Ilia Topuria. 

Makhachev had already said that he would move up to welterweight instead of fighting “La Leyenda” if his friend Belal Muhammad loses his belt at UFC 315. And Jack Della Maddalena was crowned the new welterweight champ with a unanimous decision upset win over Muhammad on Saturday in Canada. 

Meanwhile, Ankalaev is seemingly ready to defend his title at UFC 317 and ideally against Alex Pereira, whom he dethroned at UFC 313 in March. Regardless of the opponent, the Russian is now eager to defend his title at UFC 317.

“I was offered to fight Alex […

Conor McGregor was impressed by Jose Aldo’s performance in his retirement fight. 

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Aldo faced Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315 on Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The former featherweight champ put on a spectacular performance, hurting Zahabi with his signature leg kicks and even dropping him. However, Zahabi went on to earn a controversial unanimous decision win in front of his home crowd. Aldo subsequently hung up his gloves inside the Octagon, marking the end of a legendary career. 

#UFC315 Official Scorecard: Jose Aldo vs Aiemann Zahabi (@Aiemannzahabi)

Complete Scorecards ➡️ https://t.co/tKozyRJHQT pic.twitter.com/AZ6sXykTyu

— UFC News (@UFCNews) May 11, 2025

Former foe Conor McGregor took to Instagram to react to Aldo’s retirement. McGregor re-shared a post hailing “Junior” as the greatest featherweight of all time. The Irishman wrote with a “wide eyed” emoji: “Jose Aldo last night…

Dana White confirms Belal has a broken nose & broken orbital along with his gnarly lip split. #UFC315 pic.twitter.com/B33UEa7f2d

— Bodyslam.net MMA (@BodyslamNetMMA) May 11, 2025

Belal Muhammad will have some scars to show from his war with Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315.

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Muhammad put his welterweight title on the line against Maddalena in the main event at UFC 315 on Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. “Remember the Name” was a sizeable favorite going into the fight against the Australian. However, Maddalena scored a huge upset via unanimous decision, leaving Muhammad battered in the process. 

However, Muhammad put up arguably the most entertaining performance of his career, engaging in slugfests with one of the hardest hitters on the UFC roster. While Muhammad managed to steal Round 4 on all scorecards, the judges were split on the first round. 

UFC CEO Dana White subsequen…

Listen closely... 👀

Jack Della Maddalena spoke to Dana White and the UFC matchmakers immediately after his victory!#UFC315 pic.twitter.com/E6HDZ8cjFk

— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) May 11, 2025

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Jack Della Maddalena’s post fight conversation with Ultimate Fighting Championship brass was recently revealed. 

Maddalena challenged Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title in the main event at UFC 315 on Saturday in Canada. Maddalena likely got the shot by a stroke of luck, as the originally expected contender, Shavkat Rakhmonov, couldn’t accept the booking due to an injury. An underdog going into the matchup, Maddalena shocked the world with a “Fight of the Night” unanimous decision win. The newly-crowned champ then got a video call with UFC CEO Dana White and exec Hunter Campbell, footage of which has been made public. 

As was expected, Maddalena asked White if his first title defense will be against lightwe…