Martial Arts News

You are not Volk I will show you different level. Keep my belt clean https://t.co/gTplxCAXMY

— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) May 11, 2025

There was more than just the welterweight title at stake in the UFC 315 headliner.

Advertisement

When Jack Della Maddalena defeated Belal Muhammad to claim the 170-pound belt on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, it also cleared the way for Islam Makhachev to pursue his dreams of holding a title in two weight classes.

“Time to become a two-division champion,” Makhachev wrote on X shortly after Della Maddalena’s victory. “Let’s go.”

Time to become a double champion #inshaAllahLet’s go

— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) May 11, 2025

Prior to UFC 315, the promotion confirmed that Makhachev would defend his lightweight title against Ilia Topuria at UFC 317 if Muhammad was victorious against Della Maddalena. Due to their history as frien…

As it turned out, Jack Della Maddalena and Belal Muhammad were the ideal dance partners for a memorable championship clash.

The welterweight combatants earned “Fight of the Night” and $50,000 apiece for their spirited battle in the UFC 315 headliner at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Saturday night. The action only increased as the fight wore on, culminating in a frenetic final round where Della Maddalena put a final stamp on his unanimous decision victory to claim 170-pound gold.

Elsewhere, Jasmine Jasudavicius pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a dominant victory over Jessica Andrade in a preliminary flyweight contest. The Canadian took the former strawweight champion down with ease, landed ground-and-pound and then elicited a tap with a rear-naked choke at the 2:40 mark of Round 1.

Finally, Marc-Andre Barriault took home the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for a violent finish of Bruno Silva i…

Jack Della Maddalena made certain the world would remember his name.

The Dana White’s Contender Series graduate laid claim to the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight crown with a five-round unanimous decision over Belal Muhammad in the UFC 315 headliner on Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Della Maddalena (18-2, 8-0 UFC) carried all three scorecards—48-47, 48-47 and 49-46—to his 18th consecutive victory.

Advertisement

Muhammad (24-4, 15-4 UFC) chose to stand with the Australian kickboxer for three rounds, foregoing the wrestling-centric approach that made him a champion. Della Maddalena capitalized, called upon kicks to all levels and cut loose with multi-punch combinations to the body and head. Muhammad picked up his pace and appeared to turn a corner in the fourth round, which gave way to an epic fifth. A close-range knee strike from Della Maddalena opened a cut underneath his counterpart’s left eye. Muhammad answered with a takedown a…

Sherdog's live UFC 315 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Almakhan (-180), Katona (+150)Round 1 The UFC is back in Montreal, the city of the world-famous Expos, for the first time in over a decade. Two champions will attempt to defend their thrones for the first times—with the first of those two on her second stint as a titleholder. Before then, an even 10 matches from flyweight to light heavyweight will play out with plenty of Canadians in tow to give the home crowd someone to support in most of those bouts. The first of those fights pits Canada’s Katona (14-4, 4-4 UFC) against the hard-swinging Almakhan (11-2, 0-1 UFC) at 135 pounds. With referee Jason Herzog taking charge of the contest, the two men consider touching gloves but bail so they can get after it. It’s time for some action. Almakhan takes the center of the cage, allowing Katona to circle around him. Almakhan leads the dance with a body shot, and then strings …

Jasmine Jasudavicius looks like a genuine threat in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight division.

The Niagara Top Team rep disposed of Jessica Andrade and did so with clinical disregard, as she submitted the former 115-pound champion with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their featured UFC 315 prelim on Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Jasudavicius (14-3, 8-2 UFC) brought it to a close 2:40 into Round 1 and now finds herself on a five-fight winning streak.

Advertisement

Andrade (26-14, 17-12 UFC) was never a factor. Jasudavicius cracked her with a one-two, executed a takedown, threw her ground-and-pound in gear and progressed to the back without much resistance. She then flattened out Andrade, softened her further with punches and cinched the choke for the finish.

Meanwhile, Mike Malott wiped out onetime Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Charlie Radtke with punches in the second round of their welterweight pairing. R…

42 SECONDS IS ALL IT TOOK 😱

WHAT A HOMECOMING FOR PAUL HUGHES!#PFLBelfast | LIVE NOW pic.twitter.com/kuOwUPHvSg

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 10, 2025 It only took 42 seconds for Paul Hughes to remind the world why he’s the face of Irish mixed martial arts.

The Belfast native put a swift beatdown on Bruno Miranda to cap off the 2025 PFL Europe 1 main event from SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Coming off a narrow loss to Bellator MMA lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, Hughes (14-2) could’ve opted to wait for Nurmagomedov to give him his well-deserved rematch, but instead, he decided to give his hometown fans the show they’ve come to expect over the years. Miranda was outclassed and out of his depth and Hughes didn’t even break a sweat, but Nurmagomedov might be after Hughes called him out post-fight.

“Your day is fu*king coming!” Hughes belted toward the champion.

McGrillen-Evans Seeks Repeat Lewis McGrillen-Evans is one of t…

Sherdog’s live 2025 PFL Europe 1 coverage will begin Saturday morning at approximately 12 p.m. ET. Round 1 Dan Movahedi is the third man in the cage. McLaughlin opens with a low kick. Wedi answers back with one of his own. Shins collide in the center of the cage. McLaughlin throws out a front kick and then lands another calf kick. Both men are feeling each other out and aren't ready to throw hands. McLaughlin is outlanding his opponent with kicks on the outside. Wedi lands a quick jab but can't follow up. A nice right straight for McLaughlin. Wedi sends a hard leg kick to the calf of McLaughlin. The Irish fighter lands a body kick and follows up with a leg kick. Both men are composed with two minutes left in the first frame. Wedi eats more leg kicks, but his movement isn't impacted. McLaughlin pushes Wedi against the cage with 40 seconds left. Wedi sneaks in a nice knee and then is able to break away. The round ends with Wedi trying to get a takedown, but he's reversed. Sher…

One fight after dispatching one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most highly-touted prospects, Reinier de Ridder will get the opportunity to face a respected former champion.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Satuday that the former ONE Championship two-division title holder will square off against Robert Whittaker in the UFC Abu Dhabi headliner on July 26 at Etihad Arena. The main card is expected to air on ABC and ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT.

De Ridder has been victorious in 20 of 22 professional outings, with his lone two defeats coming via TKO against Anatoly Malykhin under the ONE banner. “The Dutch Knight” has kicked off his Octagon tenure in style, earning finishes against Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland and Nickal. De Ridder has secured 18 of his 20 career triumphs inside the distance, including 13 via submission.

A former 185-pound champion, Whittaker has remained near the top of the division despite not holding the belt since 2…

First to the scale this morning! ⚖️@BullyB170 weighs in at 170lbs

[ #UFC315 is LIVE on @ESPNPlus PPV | SAT | 10pmET ] pic.twitter.com/x4Cp1cL1Br

— UFC (@ufc) May 9, 2025 The Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight and women's flyweight titles will be on the line as two title fights are now official following the UFC 315 weigh-ins.

Advertisement

The main event will see Belal Muhammad look to cement himself as the best fighter at 170 pounds with a championship defense against Jack Della Maddalena. Meanwhile, the co-main event will see Valentina Shevchenko attempt to defend her second reign as women's flyweight beltholder against Manon Fiorot. All four title tilt participants successfully made weight.

As for the rest of the card, only Bruno Silva failed to make weight, as he was one pound over the middleweight limit for his pairing with Marc-Andre Barriault. Additionally, the Jose Aldo vs. Aiemann Zahabi clash was moved to feath…

𝙈𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉𝙏 🔒 @paulhughesmma and @brunorobusto hit their marks ahead of the #PFLBelfast main event!

Presented by @OnlyFans

Advertisement

LAST CHANCE TO BUY TICKETS! 🎟️ https://t.co/HJseTmGMjG #PFLBelfast | TOMORROW | LIVE on DAZN pic.twitter.com/6ywnUyBn3J — PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) May 9, 2025 The Professional Fighters League will kick off its PFL Europe 2025 season this weekend with four lightweight quarterfinals and a homecoming fight for Ireland's Paul Hughes.

The PFL Europe 1 main event will see Hughes (13-2) go up against Bruno Miranda. Both men successfully came in under the lightweight limit for the headlining bout. All eight of the lightweight tournament fighters also made weight. The middleweight scrap between Haider Khan (194.1) and Sean McCormac (188) changed to a catchweight contest at 195 pounds, and the heavier Khan was fined 20% of his purse by hitting the scales eight pounds over the 186-pound limit. The match wil…

Reigning Professional Fighters League MENA lightweight champion Mohsen Mohammadseifi passed his first test on the road to defending his title Friday, but it was far from easy.

After three hellacious rounds, the “Golden Boy” had his hands raised over Egypt’s Ahmed El Sisy in the 2025 PFL MENA 1 main event from the Onyx Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Advertisement

Mohammadseifi (8-2) entered the tournament riding the high of a seven-fight win streak and hoped to put fear into the rest of the field with a knockout. He sat down on every punch and cut El Sisy over his eye with a whopper of a right hand, but El Sisy didn’t budge. El Sisy was buckled and dropped throughout the fight, but was never out of the match, and the slugfest was glorious. It was a clear win for Mohammadseifi, but El Sisy showed grit and raised his stock. With the win, Mohammadseifi moved on to the lightweight semifinals, where he’ll face Mohammad Fahmi.

It might’ve taken three rounds, but that…

Sherdog’s live 2025 PFL MENA 1 coverage will begin Friday morning at approximately 11:30 a.m. ET. Round 1 An amateur bout at a 166-pound catchweight kicks off festivities, as Saudi Arabia’s Moammar meets Algeria’s Hamdani. Basheer Reda administers the law and order. Glove touch gets us going. Hamdani probes with his lead hand, looking to gauge distance as he gathers information. They circle in the center of the cage. Moammar connects with a powerful leg kick, then another. Hamdani looks to stay light on his feet. Two minutes to go. Hamdani lands a leg kick of his own, as Moammar closes the distance and crashes into the clinch. They jockey for position along the fence. Hamdani using underhooks to keep Moammar at bay. Hamdani reverses position with a minute left in the round. Moammar secures a takedown and sheds a guillotine choke. Hamdani immediately scrambles to his feet. Once again, they settle into the clinch. Moammar hunts for another takedown as time runs out.

Advertis…