Martial Arts News

Ilia Topuria doesn’t want to leave any chinks in his armor when he steps inside the UFC Octagon.

Topuria (17-0) has never fought more than twice a year. Topuria recently revealed why he doesn’t like to be too active. “El Matador” wants to step into a fight with a complete training camp, which is why he never makes quick turnarounds. The undefeated UFC lightweight champion also claims that he has never gone into a fight with an injury. Topuria even avoids random sparring in training and only focuses on situational, technical sparring.

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Proper Training Camps “Everyone has his own style,” Topuria said on Adin Ross’ Kick stream. “If that’s something that makes him happy, he has to do that. For me, I don’t like to fight three or four times in a year because I really enjoy having proper training camps. I never go inside the Octagon with an injury. When I go in, I go at 100%... I do very specific sparring. I don’t go inside the gym, pick guys and say, ‘Let’s…

Sometimes these things happen in boxing.

The Ring announced on Friday that Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) will be defending his heavyweight crown on May 23. He will be squaring off with kickboxing all-time great Rico Verhoeven (1-0, 1 KO Box; 66-10, 21 KOs KB) at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The event titled “Glory of Giza: Undefeated Icons” will put up for grabs Usyk’s WBC belt, despite the heavyweight serving as the unified champion across all major sanctioning bodies. The boxing showcase will air on Dazn.

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Unbeaten after 24 walks to the ring as a pro, Usyk appeared just once in 2025, where he mollywhopped Daniel Dubois in the fifth round to hold onto his titles while securing the IBF’s as well. Several of his recent outings the last few years have taken place in Saudi Arabia, where he squared off with names like Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. In his last six bouts, he has beaten those three aforementioned boxers twice each.

In a statement provid…

Rising Ultimate Fighting Championship talent Melquizael Costa believes he has his division figured out.

Now a ranked 145-pounder after becoming the first man to stop Dan Ige as a pro, Costa took a long look at the rest of his division. While he currently rides a six-fight win streak, the man known as “The Dalmation” knows he still has some work to do to get to the top of the ladder. The next crack at Alexander Volkanovski’s throne may go to the upcoming victor of Lerone Murphy vs. Movsar Evloev, and after that, it remains to be seen. Costa spoke to Sherdog on Monday after his victory, where he broke down the future of his weight class.

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“UFC is looking for exciting fights,” Costa noted. “In the papers, the winner of Evloev and Murphy might get the title shot, but I believe Jean Silva provides much more excitement, as he showed on his last fights, and I think he will cut that line.”

Of all the men in the top 15 at 145 pounds, Costa points to the Fig…

Here’s one you never saw coming: Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Jorge Masvidal, with a twist.

Russian quasi-MMA league Hype FC released the news on Friday that it would be holding an event on March 11 in Rio de Janeiro. The top of that card will see a submission-only grappling match between “Shara Bullet” Magomedov against Masvidal, with the two tangling for five-to-10 minutes at the Farmasi Arena in Brazil’s second-largest city—Sao Paulo holds the top spot. A previous big-name grappling bout held by Hype FC between Arman Tsarukyan and the aforementioned Magomedov resulted in a draw last year.

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Hype FC, the target of at least one police raid in Moscow due to a myriad of charges ranging from drug trafficking to fight fixing, has been flagged by Sherdog Fight Finder for its illegitimacy. While the league purports to run MMA matches, it does so with modified rules including limited grappling time with automatic standups/separations. It also put together a re…

The lineup for one of Professional Fighters League’s April shows is starting to come together.

The promotion released a trio of matchups for its PFL Chicago event on April 11, one that will be capped off by a Sergio Pettis-Mitchell McKee main attraction. The three fights will take place inside of the Wintrust Arena in the Windy City. Each of the new pairings will see a PFL-ranked fighter take on an unranked adversary.

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First among those new tilts is a featherweight contest as Gabriel Braga (16-3) faces the debuting Mehdi Baydulaev (19-2). Since making his PFL debut on the 2023 installment of the Challenger Series, Braga has served as one of the best 145ers to not win a tourney. In his three attempts to claim a tournament title, Braga has been knocked out in the playoffs each time, with two of those three defeats coming to Jesus Pinedo. On the other side of the equation, Chechnya’s Baydulaev has won his last 13 outings, nine by submission, dating bac…

The Professional Fighters League has given undefeated Darragh Kelly his next challenge.

Per the organization on Friday, Kelly (9-0) will be squaring off with Mexico’s Sergio Cossio (19-11-1) at PFL Belfast on April 16. The two will tangle at lightweight on a lineup currently headlined by another 155-pound clash pitting Paul Hughes against Jay-Jay Wilson.

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A Mauler from Moville The “Moville Mauler” has mauled his competition since making his pro debut in 2022, racking up seven stoppages across his nine victories to date. The 27-year-old from Moville, Ireland, has made all but one of his pro walks to either a Bellator MMA or PFL cage, with a lone stop off at Clan Wars in 2023 to land a second-round brabo choke. Kelly is coming into 2026 with a banner year last year, notching subs of Mike Hamel and Bakhtiyar Abdulloev to establish himself as a threat in his division.

While it has been nothing but green grass and high tides for Kelly, his foe is enteri…

Brandon Moreno weighing in at 125.5lbs 🇲🇽

[ #UFCMexico | SAT FEB 28 | LIVE on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/P7X7Mu9fHm

— UFC (@ufc) February 27, 2026 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Mexico for the first time in 2026 this weekend.

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Headlining the UFC Mexico card is a fight between former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and Lone'er Kavanagh. Both men successfully made weight for the five-round main event without any issue. All other fighters on the card also made weight, so it was an uneventful weigh-in for those looking for drama.

"The Assassin Baby" enters the fight looking to rebound from a TKO defeat to Tatsuro Taira. Prior to the setback, Moreno (23-9-2) had put together back-to-back wins against Steve Erceg and Amir Albazi. Just 32, the Mexican fighter will look to show that he has plenty left in the tank while impressing the fans in his home country. Moreno officially weighed 125.5 pounds for …

Two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Diego Lopes is looking for a new lease on life at lightweight.

After suffering his second championship defeat to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 325, Lopes took the opportunity to spend three weeks with his family in Manaus, Brazil. On Wednesday, Lopes spoke with Brazilian journalist Laerte Viana, where he broke down his unsuccessful jaunt for the belt while giving the Aussie his laurels.

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“We did everything in our power and it wasn’t enough,” a resigned Lopes admitted. “I just have to admit that he is better. He moves well to the left and right. I’m not the first person to lose twice to him in a title fight, so I’m quite calm about it.”

After his failed second try for the 145-pound throne, rumors spread that the Brazilian by way of Mexico damaged one or both feet during the match. Lopes shed light on the injuries he sustained against Volkanovski, where there were no outright breaks but some min…

The Zuffa Boxing signing of Conor Benn has been a controversial topic this past week.

Benn reportedly received a $15 million contract for one fight, which is significantly more than most — if not all — UFC athletes earn on a per fight basis. Since Dana White is the head of both the UFC and Zuffa Boxing, that sparked plenty of criticism from fighters who go to work inside the Octagon. Former bantamweight champ Sean O'Malley was in disbelief that Benn would be paid that much, while Michael Page expressed disappointment that White would place such value on someone outside of the promotion where he “built his reputation.”

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However, during a quarterly financial call on Wednesday, TKO Group Holdings (the parent company of the UFC and Zuffa Boxing) president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro attempted to quell some of that controversy by revealing that Benn’s signing was entirely funded by the company’s partners in Saudia Arabia, which includes ente…

A 21-year-old prospect with a 7-0 record will make her Octagon debut on less than a week’s notice at UFC Mexico City.

The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed on Wednesday that Regina Tarin will replace the injured Sofia Montenegro and face Ernesta Kareckaite in a 130-pound catchweight bout this Saturday. UFC Mexico City — also known as UFC Fight Night 268 — takes place at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico and is headlined by a 125-pound scrap pitting Brandon Moreno against Lone’er Kavanagh. The card airs in its entirety on Paramount+, beginning with prelims at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT before moving on to the main draw at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

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🚨OFICIAL🚨 Regina Tarín hace su debut en corto aviso en #UFCMexico

Talento del programa del UFC PI 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/MYHkOhdZHW

— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) February 25, 2026 A Dual Threat Tarin, who is nicknamed “Kill Bill,” has made her name on the regional circuit in Mexico, w…

Carlos Leal outdueled Chidi Njokuani at UFC Houston. | Getty/UFC

When he entered the Octagon this past Saturday to face Chidi Njokuani on the last fight of his UFC contract, Carlos Leal knew there was only one possible path: to win, and in a convincing way.

“I knew that my future depended on my performance, so I entered that Octagon thinking, no matter what happens, I can bleed, break myself, but I will keep moving forward in search of the knockout,” Leal told Sherdog.com.

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Leal, who defeated Njokuani via unanimous decision in their welterweight bout at UFC Houston, revealed that he broke his hand during the fight.

“It was right at the beginning of the second round. I was sure I had broken it when I landed a second punch to his head that got him dizzy,” Leal said. “Even in a lot of pain, I kept punching him with the broken hand. I fought like I was fighting for my life, and it was worth it.”

The Brazilian left the Octagon certain…

Joshua Van admittedly didn’t know that one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time was in the UFC. 

Van (16-2) won the flyweight title against Alexandre Pantoja via a freak injury at UFC 323 this past December. “The Fearless” had sparked controversy in the lead-up to the fight by labellng Pantoja the greatest flyweight of all time. Fans instantly brought up Demetrious Johnson (25-4), who is widely considered not only the greatest flyweight, but arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time. Van later explained that he hadn’t watched much of Johnson’s fights and grew up watching Pantoja. 

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Not a Historian Van recently revealed that he wasn’t even aware that Johnson was in the UFC. The UFC flyweight champion only knew of “Mighty Mouse” from highlights of his viral flyweight knee knockout over Adriano Moraes.

“I swear to God, I didn’t know he was in the UFC,” Van said on the "Jaxxon Podcast.” “I saw him fighting in ONE Championship. His hig…