Martial Arts News

Sean Strickland isn’t bothered by Sharabutdin Magomedov’s recent tirade against him. 

Magomedov fought Strickland teammate Michel Pereira at UFC Baku last weekend. Magomedov survived early adversity to score a come-from-behind unanimous decision win over Pereira. 

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Strickland emulated Magomedov’s style while helping Pereira prepare for the fight. “Shara Bullet” has since aimed unprovoked verbal shots at Strickland. Magomedov claims Strickland is a “domestic champion” who is scared to defend his title outside the U.S. While Magomedov is yet to be officially ranked at middleweight, he says Strickland will avoid a fight with him outside America. Laughing It Off Strickland isn’t taking Magomedov’s comments too seriously. The UFC middleweight champion just reminded Magomedov that he fought his teammate, not him.

“It makes me laugh. Bro you fought my teammate... There are levels to this haha,” Strickland wrote on X.

Magomedov (17-1) h…

Rafael Fiziev would never have become a UFC standout striker had his job as a police officer not gone south. 

Born to an Azerbaijani father and a Russian mother, Fiziev (14-5) was mostly raised in Kyrgyzstan. Fiziev dreamed of becoming a Kyrgyz police officer and successfully graduated from the police academy. However, Fiziev’s expectations were shattered from the very beginning of his job. Fiziev claims that academically less successful people got better positions by paying bribes, while he was made to serve parking tickets. Fiziev’s original goal was to fight the drug mafia. When Fiziev saw the alleged corruption in the police force, he left within a couple of months to pursue a professional career in MMA.

Corruption and Changing Course “I went to work and saw all of this bulls—t in the Kyrgyzstan police,” Fiziev said on "The Ariel Helwani Show” “Zero justice—100% corruption. I said, ‘What the f—k? I don't want to be here.’... It was my dream to stand against the …

While Sean Strickland and Anthony Hernandez had no beef to begin with, they have developed a good relationship after sharing the Octagon. 

Hernandez (15-3) was a sizeable favorite going into his last matchup against Strickland (28-1) this past February. However, Strickland completely neutralized Hernandez’s wrestling and picked him apart on the feet to score an upset stoppage win in the third round. The win earned Strickland a immediate title shot against Khamzat Chimaev, whom he dethroned in another massive upset at UFC 328 last month. 

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Meanwhile, Hernandez is now set to headline UFC Sacramento against Gregory Rodrigues (19-6) on Aug. 22. Hernandez is currently training with Strickland for his upcoming fight. Hernandez praised Strickland for helping him. Hernandez revealed that while Strickland had originally asked him to train together before his fight against Chimaev, “Fluffy” was injured at the time. However, Hernandez had promised Str…

Magomed Zaynukov earned a UFC contract on the Contender Series last summer. | Getty/UFC

Magomed Zaynukov is booked to make his much-anticipated UFC debut. 

Zaynukov will face fellow undefeated lightweight prospect Damian Rzepecki at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25 at the Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Marcel Dorff was first to report the pairing.

Generating Buzz “Wild Chanco” has risen to significant stardom even before making his UFC debut. Zaynukov (8-0) was first seen on camera when his Islam Makhachev introduced him to Demetriosu Johnson during “Mighty Mouse’s” visit to Dagestan. Zaynukov subsequently earned his UFC contract with an entertaining unanimous decision win on Dana White's Contender Series this past October. A striker from a region known for wrestling, Zaynukov has finished five of his eight professional wins so far. 

Meanwhile, Rzepecki (10-0) has the potential to derail Zaynukov’s hype train. The 24-year-old Polish stan…

Jon Jones might have a massive boxing fight on his hands.

Oleksandr Usyk vacated his IBA, WBC and WBA boxing heavyweight titles last week. However, Usyk clarified that he will have one “last dance” before completely hanging up his gloves. 

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One Last Hurrah Usyk advisor Sergey Lapin recently told Ring Magazine that the former world champion is considering Jones and Deontay Wilder as potential opponents for his last fight. 

Usyk was en route to a massive upset loss against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven last month. However, Usyk scored a highly controversial stoppage win in the final seconds of the 11th round. 

Meanwhile, Jones (28-1) retired from the UFC last year as the heavyweight champion. However, “Bones” later started rallying for a spot on the UFC White House card, which went down earlier this month. Jones lashed out at the UFC and asked for his release after failing to land a spot on the White House card. The former UFC double …

Paulo Costa is ready to get back to work. | Getty/UFC

Paulo Costa wants to keep the momentum going, but it appears that he and the UFC aren’t on the same page in that regard.

“Borrachinha” enjoyed a successful light heavyweight debut at UFC 327, where he finished the previously undefeated Azamat Murzakanov with a head kick in the third round on April 11. The victory seemingly opened up a variety of new possibilities for the Brazilian. Thus far, however, he’s been kept on ice.

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Costa’s sense of urgency to get back to work is compounded by the fact that he is entering the last fight on his current UFC contract.The Waiting Game “Since I defeated Azamat in April, I have been looking for the next fight,” Costa wrote on X. “I’ve eventually opened the door to fight at heavyweight. UFC told me to wait…wait… Here we are, it’s already July, and [I’m] still looking to fight someone else at light heavyweight, middleweight or even heavyweight but th…

Jon Jones didn’t hesitate while picking between Arman Tsarukyan and Ilia Topuria. 

Jones, Tsarukyan, Petr Yan and Alexander Volkov were all recently in attendance for an International Boxing Association card in Moscow, Russia. Jones was asked who would win a fight between Tsarukyan and Topuria.

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“You already know, Arman all day,” Jones replied.

Tsarukyan then joked that he would have wrestled “Bones” if the latter had picked Topuria. 

Missed Connection Tsarukyan (23-3) should have ideally fought Topuria (17-1) when “El Matador” moved up to lightweight. However, Tsarukyan had fallen out of the UFC’s favor after pulling out of a scheduled title fight against Islam Makhachev. Topuria went on to beat Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight title instead. While Tsarukyan subsequently started calling for a shot against Topuria, the Georgian-Spaniard expressed interest in fighting Paddy Pimblett instead. However, Pimblett went on to los…

Yair Rodriguez is apparently moving up to lightweight. 

Rodriguez (20-5) and Belal Muhammad are teammates at Valle Flow Striking in Bensenville, Illinois. Muhammad recently claimed that “El Pantera” is moving up to lightweight from featherweight. 

Rafael Fiziev knocked out Manuel Torres via a highlight-reel spinning back kick in front of his home fans at UFC Baku last weekend. Muhammad subsequently suggested a matchup between Fiziev and Rodriguez. When a fan noted that Rodriguez is a featherweight, Muhammad Said that the Mexican is moving up to lightweight. Muhammad also revealed that Rodriguez underwent surgery on his wrist after his last win over Patricio Freire. 

Fizev and Yair would be fire

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) June 27, 2026 ’ Shifting Gears and Injury Recovery Rodriguez has had an illustrious career at featherweight, only losing to top talents like Frankie Edgar, Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski and Bria…

Sharabutdin Magomedov believes Sean Strickland is afraid of fighting outside the U.S. 

Magomedov (17-1) scored a come-from-behind victory over Strickland’s teammate Michel Pereira at UFC Baku last weekend. Strickland had even mimicked “Shara Bullet” while helping Pereira prepare for the fight. 

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Magomedov has since labeled Strickland (31-7) a “domestic champion.” Magomedov accuses Strickland of not leaving America because he is scared. According to Magomedov, Strickland just acts like a hero in his own gym. Magomedov believes Strickland would ask for additional security if had to go to Abu Dhabi to fight. While Magomedov wants to Strickland in the future, he believes it won’t be anytime soon. ‘Just a Windbag’ “He’s just a windbag,” Magomedov told Red Corner MMA. “His time will come and we’ll meet in the Octagon. There’s where we’ll find out. Even if he keeps talking trash what should I do? Go to America to chose him? He’s like a domestic…

Alex Pereira has gained two allies in his crusade against Herb Dean: Tom Aspinall and Renato "Moicano" Carneiro.

Considered one of Brazil's biggest MMA influencers, “Moicano” published a video on his Youtube channel criticizing Dean's failure to deduct points from Sharabutdin Magomedov after the Russian repeatedly grabbed Michel Pereira’s hair during their bout at UFC Baku.

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"Three weeks in a row where Herb Dean has interfered with results: first at UFC White House, then in the 'Lok Dog' vs. Andre Fili fight fight last week, and now in the Michel vs. Shara fight. The truth is this guy manipulates results. How does he not deduct a point? The Russian committed an eye poke and grabbed Michel's hair three times, yet he did nothing. If he had punished [Magomedov for the infractions], the result would have been a draw. Once again, he made a huge mistake and interfered with a fight's outcome,” Carneiro said.United in Criticism Tom Aspinall—who the previous w…

Alex Pereira seemingly doesn’t deserve the backlash that he is facing for his recent seminar during his United Kingdom tour. 

Pereira (13-3) recently faced criticism for allegedly refusing photographs during a paid meet-and-greet session at a seminar in Keighley, England. However, the organizers for the event, Joyagear, recently issued a statement defending Pereira. As per Joyagear, Pereira was only informed about a one-hour seminar, which he delivered. The organizers claim that “Poatan” was not informed about autograph signings or individual photographs after the session. The organizers promise to fully refund the meet-and-greet ticket holders.

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😲Alex Pereira is getting called out after his seminar in London

Attendees claim he REFUSED to take photos, even the pre paid ones

He refused to sign merch

Also he cut the seminar time pic.twitter.com/eFuFWhw2N7

— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) June 28, 2026 In Defense of…

Terence Crawford believes he is a smarter boxer than Jaron “Boots” Ennis. 

Ennis (36-0) challenged Xander Zayas for the WBO and WBA junior middleweight titles on Saturday in Brooklyn, New York. Ennis scored three knockdowns en route to a seventh-round stoppage win over Zayas. Fans have since started plotting a matchup between “Boots” and Crawford, who retired last December. 

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However, Crawford confirms that he won’t come back from retirement to fight Ennis. Crawford lauded Ennis in every aspect, labelling him a threat to anyone. However, Crawford believes he would outsmart Ennis.Nothing to Prove “I don’t worry about coming back to prove anything,” Crawford told “The Porter Way Podcast.” “… To credit ‘Boots,’ he is a tremendous talent and he’s no walk in the park for no one. He is a threat to anyone that he steps a foot in the ring with. He got tremendous speed, he got great power, defense, reflexes. But the only thing that I can say is, I’m 1…