Martial Arts News

Like many Dagestani MMA stars, Usman Nurmagomedov has the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov to credit for his success.

Usman (21-0) recently defended the Professional Fighters League lightweight title for the second time against Alfie Davis at PFL Road to Dubai. Usman subsequently thanked his uncle for the heights that he has scaled in his career. Usman revealed that while their father pushed him and his brother, Umar, into sports, he didn’t have championship aspirations for them. However, their uncle Abdulmanap saw great potential in them and alerted their father about the same. While Abdulmanap is no longer with them, Usman is glad to have his son, Khabib Nurmagomedov, fill in his shoes.

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Realizing His Potential “This everything is from my uncle Abdulmanap,” Usman said on the PFL Dubai broadcast. “My father pushed us into sports, but he didn’t have any plans that we’d be champions. But my uncle Abdulmanap, he believed in us. He always came to my father …

Former BKFC foes Mike Perry and Eddie Alvarez apparently had some unfinished business to settle outside of the ring.

In a video that surfaced on Tuesday, Perry appears to be involved in a verbal dispute with people in the crowd — with Alvarez standing nearby — at BKFC Knucklemania 6 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Eventually, that interaction turned into a full-blown melee, and footage seems to show Perry being punched and kicked by multiple people in the audience after he fell to the floor.

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Eventually, security was able to intervene and separate both sides. Meanwhile, Perry reacted to the incident on social media.

“They welcomed me to Philly as one of their own, and that floor was slippery as heck and his wife fell on her face, and I laughed at her,” Perry wrote. “ Looks like I was just down underneath everybody slipping for the first minute. Told y’all, eventful.”

They welcomed me to Philly as one of their…

Tom Aspinall remains on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery on both eyes.

The medical team that performed the procedure shared an update on the UFC heavyweight champion’s condition on Tuesday via Instagram. Late last year, Aspinall revealed he would need to undergo surgery after being poked in both eyes by Ciryl Gane in their title bout at UFC 321.

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“After his highly publicized eye poke injury, Optegra’s expert team is proud to have supported MMA fighter and UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall,” the post read. “Over recent months, we’ve been working closely with him on his recovery.

“Following his operation on both eyes we continue the journey to get Tom’s vision back to fighting fitness.”

Uncertain Timetable Aspinall has dealt with vision issues since UFC 321 and earlier this year shared that he was diagnosed with traumatic bilateral Brown’s syndrome, a condition which makes it difficult for an individual to move their eye freely in …

A feud between Fighting Nerds teammates Jean Silva (pictured) and Mauricio Ruffy recently became very public. | Getty UFC

After spending three weeks in Las Vegas helping Fighting Nerds members Jean Silva and Bruna Brasil in their UFC fights, Flavio Álvaro arrived in São Paulo on Monday and spoke to Sherdog.com about the conflict between Silva and Mauricio Ruffy.

A black belt in jiu-jitsu with over 60 Vale Tudo fights and one of the main figures responsible for grappling training on the team, Álvaro assures that he wasn't upset by Ruffy's statement saying that training with Volkanovski made him realize he knew nothing about grappling.

"Ruffy hadn't shown up for grappling training at The Fighting Nerds for a long time,” Alvaro said. “He always focused on striking with us, and you can see his excellence in that area. This change of scenery to Australia certainly motivated him to train grappling, and I think that's very positive. In fact, he didn't mean to …

Max Holloway has top billing at UFC 326, but he's unlikely to make the CBS portion of the broadcast. | Getty/UFC

For a two-hour window, UFC 326 will be broadcast on both Paramount+ and CBS.

The network announced on Tuesday that CBS will air its first-ever UFC event on March 7, simulcasting the final hour of the event’s prelims from 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT to 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and the first hour of the main card from 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT to 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. As usual, the entirety of the UFC 326 lineup will stream on Paramount+.

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UFC 326 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a BMF championship clash between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira. A co-main event has yet to be confirmed for the card after Brian Ortega withdrew from a proposed matchup against Renato Carneiro. As it currently stands, it appears that Rob Font vs. Raul Rosas Jr. and Gregory Rodrigues vs. Bruno Ferreira would be the main card fights to …

Demetrious Johnson can’t be lured out of retirement. 

Johnson’s former foe, Henry Cejudo, recently retired from the UFC following a loss to Payton Talbott in December 2025. Cejudo is now set to compete in a wrestling match against fellow UFC veteran Urijah Faber at RAF 6 on Feb. 28 in Tempe, Arizona. Cejudo was recently telling Johnson how excited he is about the offer, which also allegedly includes a lucrative payday. Cejudo also briefly tried to convince Johnson to complete their trilogy on the wrestling mats at RAF.

“I know, dude… I’m stoked. It’s good stuff, and they’re paying good money, DJ… A lot of people are calling you out,” Cejudo said. “This is the trilogy!”

Resolute in Retirement However, Johnson was having none of it. “Mighty Mouse” is firm on his decision to stay retired from all sorts of competition.

“Don’t try to con me into this s—t,” Johnson replied. “I don’t wrestle, man. I’m retired and super busy. I’ve got my other stuff going on. You st…

There is currently a logjam of UFC welterweight title contenders. 

Kamaru Usman, Michael Morales, Ian Garry and Carlos Prates are all rallying for a title shot against Islam Makhachev. Garry recently played matchmaker for the contenders, suggesting different bookings for each other while reserving the title shot for himself. Garry proposed a matchup between Morales and Prates, while matching up Usman against the recently dethroned former champion, Jack Della Maddalena.

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“Everybody has an opinion on who should fight whom in the welterweight division,” Garry said on Instagram. “Here’s mine: Carlos Prates vs. Michael Morales. Because it’s two power heavy hitters, and I want to see who comes out on top. I doubt Morales would take it, because the truth is, Carles Prates hits harder. I kind of want to see Prates vs. JDM too. But I’m gonna match Jack Della Maddalena vs. Kamaru Usman… And finally, the world title fight at welterweight. I want to see the…

Aljamain Sterling really enjoyed punching T.J. Dillashaw. 

Sterling defended his bantamweight title with a technical knockout win over Dillashaw in 2022. Sterling recently said that punching Dillashaw was the best moment of his career. While Sterling respects Dillashaw’s skillset, his dislike for the former bantamweight champion stems from his infamous drug testing failures. Sterling notes that Dillashaw’s former teammate turned foe, Cody Garbrandt, had long been accusing him of cheating. While Sterling had his doubts then, he is now free to speak his mind since Dillashaw has been caught cheating.

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'He’s a Lying Cheat' “Best moment – probably punching T.J. Dillashaw… I just know he’s a cheat,” Sterling told Home of Fight. “He’s a lying cheat. ‘Oh no, I only got caught that time.’ Yeah, you only got caught that time. Your teammate outed you before you fought him. Don’t get me wrong, I like T.J. in terms of skillset, fun to watch, studied a lot of h…

Muhammad Mokaev hasn't fought in the UFC since 2024. | Getty/UFC

Muhammad Mokaev has seemingly been invited back to the UFC, but not to compete in MMA. 

Mokaev (15-0) recently won the under-65 kilogram title at the English Senior Wrestling Championships in freestyle wrestling. Mokaev claims he has now been offered to fight jiu-jitsu ace Mikey Musumeci for a UFC BJJ title.

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“I have been offered to compete against Mikey Mussumeci for the UFC BJJ belt. What do you think guys?” Mokaev wrote on X.

I have been offered to compete against Mikey Mussumeci for the UFC BJJ belt

What do you think guys? 🙂

— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) February 9, 2026 Staying Active Outside the UFC Despite being undefeated, Mokaev’s UFC contract was not renewed following a win over Manel Kape in 2024. While some alleged behavioral issues, Mokaev said it was due to his fighting style, which has often been criticized for…

Sean O'Malley thinks Petr Yan will do better to fight him instead of Merab Dvalishvili after the champion’s recent back surgery. 

Yan recently underwent a lumbar spine surgery and is expected to return this summer. While Yan said that it was a “minor” surgery, he needed nine hours of anaesthesia. Yan is expected to put his title on the line in a rematch against Dvalishvili upon his return. However, O’Malley advises Yan not to return soon from the surgery against Dvalishvili. O’Malley believes Yan could be compromised against Dvalishvili, who is known for relentless grappling. O’Malley wants Yan to fight him instead, as “Suga” is not exactly known for his wrestling.

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'I Suck at Wrestling'   “I want Petr Yan next,” O’Malley said on YouTube. “I hate the idea of him coming off back surgery and fighting Merab… You’re gonna f—-ing fight Merab within a year after back surgery? It sounds like a f—-ing terrible mistake… I’m not gonna go out there and …

Lerone Murphy only has to watch his knockout win over Aaron Pico if he is feeling low.

Murphy welcomed Pico to the UFC in the co-main event at UFC 319 in August 2025 in Chicago. While Murphy was a slight underdog, he starched Pico with a spinning back elbow in the first round. Murphy recently revealed that the happiness from watching that knockout never fades for him. “The Iceman” wishes he had a way to keep track of the number of times he has watched that knockout. Murphy notes that the significance of the knockout was amplified by the timing, the precision, the high stakes, as well as the magnitude of the event.

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High Magnitude KO “That was cold. I wish I had a counter to see how many times I actually watched that,” Murphy told the UFC. “I’ve watched that knockout a million times. I will watch that until I’m dead, until I’m old… The happiness I get from watching it never goes. I feel like if I’m down, I might as well just watch this and bring me bac…

Israel Adesanya nearly fought twice in 2025. | Getty/UFC

If the stars had aligned, Israel Adesanya would have returned to the Octagon a little sooner than expected.

The former middleweight champion will face Joe Pyfer in the UFC Seattle headliner on March 28 at Climate Pledge Arena. “The Last Stylebender” hasn’t been in action since suffering a second-round technical knockout defeat against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia last February.

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On his YouTube channel, Adesanya revealed that he had been ready to accept a short-notice booking against Reinier de Ridder in October before an injury suffered in training removed him from consideration.

“I was going to fight last year, but then I got injured in the gym, and then that opportunity got taken away. It was a short-notice fight, as well. And I’ve never done one of those, so that would have been exciting,” Adesanya said.

De Ridder was scheduled to face fellow middleweight cont…