Martial Arts News

Paulo Costa has aimed a barrage of shots at Khamzat Chimaev after UFC 328. 

Chimaev put his middleweight title on the line against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. While Chimaev dominated the first round on the ground, Strickland found his momentum in the second and third rounds. After closely-contested championship rounds, Strickland roped in a split-decision victory in a monumental upset. 

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Costa, who has had beef with Chimaev in the past, issued multiple callouts to “Borz” after his first professional loss. Costa posted an AI-generated video of himself knocking out Chimaev in a sauna room. The video also contains a glimpse of Costa and Chimaev’s altercation at the UFC Performance Institute, dating back to 2022.

“Gourmet Chechen, next time nobody will stop me from ripping your skin off!” Costa wrote.

Costa was training with the UFC PI in 2022 when Chimaev walked out of the sauna with his gang and allegedly…

Joshua Van silenced the doubters at UFC 328. | Getty/UFC

For some, Joshua Van’s injury-shortened victory over Alexandre Pantoja last December was always going to be accompanied by an asterisk.

After all, the flyweight title fight barely had a chance to unfold before Pantoja suffered an arm injury 26 seconds into Round 1 at UFC 323. While Van celebrated becoming a champion, he still had something to prove heading into his first title defense against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 on Saturday. Van delivered in that regard, weathering some early adversity en route to a fifth-round technical knockout victory over the Japanese standout in the evening’s co-headliner at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

“I feel great. I think I have proof that I am a world champion, you know,” Van said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “Shout out to [Taira], nothing but respect to him. He’s a tough motherf—er.

While Taira was able to impose his will on the ground in…

Dricus Du Plessis just re-entered the UFC middleweight championship picture almost by default.

The South African suffered a lopsided decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev in their title clash at UFC 319 last August, so one could excuse him if he was cheering for Sean Strickland on Saturday night. Strickland delivered in a big way, upsetting Chimaev via split decision to reclaim the 185-pound belt in the UFC 328 headliner at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

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Du Plessis, of course, is 2-0 against Strickland. “Stillknocks” captured 185-pound gold with a split-decision triumph over Strickland at UFC 297 in January 2024, and he successfully defended the strap with a more convincing five-round verdict in their rematch at UFC 312 in February 2025.Just As He Expected Du Plessis reacted to Strickland’s win on the UFC’s Instagram account, claiming that he expected his rival to perform the way he did against the Chechen grappler.

“Fight went exactly t…

The lineup is official for Most Valuable Promotions first mixed martial arts event.

The organization recently unveiled the bout order for Saturday’s card, which takes place at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. One notable change to the original lineup is that Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry has been elevated to the evening’s co-main event, while Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins will now be the third from last fight on the card.

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Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" is headlined by a five-round featherweight clash pitting Ronda Rousey against Gina Carano. The main card airs on Netflix at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on the MVP YouTube channel and Tudum at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.

Rousey, 39, was one-half of the first-ever women’s bout in the UFC, when she claimed the bantamweight crown with a first-round submission of Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in February 2013. That was part of a 12-fight winning streak by Rousey to begin her MMA career, as …

Sean Strickland fought at less than 100% at UFC 328. | Getty/UFC

If it seems like Sean Strickland was even more relliant on his jab than usual at UFC 328, well, there might be a reason for that.

Strickland regained the middleweight title with a split-decision triumph over Khamzat Chimaev in Saturday’s main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. After being grounded for the majority of Round 1, Strickland gradually built momentum by turning the fight into a standup battle — where he was able to outduel his Chechen rival. Still, Strickland wasn’t 100% during his upset victory due to an injury he sustained while sparring former Bellator champ Johnny Eblen.

"You guys want to hear something funny?" Strickland said at the post-fight press conference. "So on Tuesday, I'm sparring Johnny, that motherf—er, the PFL champ. And I'm at Plinio's gym, Cruz's gym, and he f—ing shoots on me, and I hit his brick-ass wall, and I separated my shoulder. So I had …

Khamzat Chimaev's future remains uncertain after UFC 328. | Getty/UFC

Khamzat Chimaev was a man of few words following his upset loss to Sean Strickland in the UFC 328 main event.

After relinquishing the middleweight title in a split-decision defeat on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, Chimaev exited the Octagon without doing the post-fight interview that is typical of main event competitors. While “Borz” didn’t speak in the immediate aftermath of his first career loss, he did release a statement on social media implying that he might not be done in the middleweight division.

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“[Sean Strickland] see you soon again,” Chimaev wrote on X.

@SStricklandMMA see you soon again 🫡

— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) May 10, 2026 Moving on Up? Chimaev and Strickland are former training partners, so it’s possible that the Chechen standout could be referencing a future sparring session rather than a ti…

Khamzat Chimaev’s teammate, Baisangur Susurkaev, pulled off a win at UFC 328 with a move he barely trains. 

Susurkaev took on Djorden Santos in a middleweight matchup on the UFC 328 prelims on Saturday. While Susurkaev mostly outclassed Santos on the feet, the tough Brazilian also returned fire. Susurkaev finally took Santos down and put him to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the third round. 

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  Susurkaev surprisingly revealed that submissions aren’t usually a part of his arsenal. The undefeated Chechnyan claims he is never able to pull off submissions in the gym, although he tries sometimes. Susurkaev also leaves his teammates surprised whenever he tries doing something in the grappling department. “Hunter” believes the unexpected moves come out from deep inside him when he is scared.Relying on Instinct “I never train submissions in the gym,” Susurkaev said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I try sometimes but I can’t. I don’t …

Jim Miller is excited about the night he will call it a career. 

Miller took on Jared Gordon in a lightweight matchup at UFC 328 on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Miller locked in a guillotine choke, forcing Gordon (21-9) to tap in the very first round. Miller extended his record for the most fights in UFC history (47), most wins in UFC history (28), and most guillotine submissions in UFC history (6). This also marked the 20th UFC finish for the 42-year-old, putting him just behind Charles Oliveira (21) for the most finishes in the history of the promotion. 

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The Quest for 50 Miller (39-19) wants to achieve the record of 50 UFC fights. “A-10” hopes to fight once more in 2026, reach his aim of 50 UFC fights by 2027, and hang up his gloves. Miller reveals that he is even excited about the night he will finally leave his gloves inside the Octagon and doesn’t want anything to take away from that moment.

“Another one t…

Yaroslav Amosov wants an absolute war inside the Octagon. 

Amosov (30-1) made his sophomore UFC appearance against Joel Alvarez at UFC 328 on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Amosov looked nearly flawless as he dominated Alvarez on the ground before making him tap with an arm-triangle in the second round. 

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Amosov admits that it is always good to finish a fight instead of going the distance. However, the former Bellator MMA welterweight champion also dreams of having a five-round bloodbath inside the Octagon where he is tested to his limits.

“If can do knockout or submission, finish it, it’s of course much better than full fight,” Amosov said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “But sometimes, my dream – full fight, five rounds, hard fight, bones to bones. Much blood. Hard, very close fight.” 

Looking Ahead Amosov dominated Bellator’s welterweight division before suffering his lone professional loss aga…

Ateba Abega Gautier is aiming high for his next fight. 

Gautier faced Osman Diaz in a middleweight matchup at UFC 328 on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. While Diaz managed to defend himself in the first round, Gautier knocked him out with a right hand early in the second round. Gautier says he was prepared to go the distance and was in no rush to finish the fight. “The Silent Assassin” claims he wasn’t even looking for the knockout when it came.

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“I went to the cage thinking, ‘I’m going for 15 minutes,’” Gautier said in a post-fight interview witht the UFC. “If he hangs up before 15, it’s fine, but if he doesn’t hang up, it’s OK… I didn’t even try to knock him out. It just comes naturally.”

Gautier called out Israel Adesanya after his win over Diaz. Gautier explains that he is a huge fan of Adesanya and considers the former champ a legend. While Gautier admires Adesanya, the Cameroonian wants to test himself against “The…

Josh Hokit and Paulo Costa have seemingly not buried the hatchet. 

Hokit (9-0) and Costa (16-4) were both in attendance at UFC 328 on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Things got heated between the two as they came head-to-head. However, security personnel intervened before things could escalate. 

Hokit has been attracting the attention of many, including Costa, with his unabashed trash talk. Both fighters fought on the UFC 327 card last month. While Hokit defeated Curtis Blaydes in the “Fight of the Night,” Costa handed Azamat Murzakanov his first professional loss. Hokit was immediately booked against Derrick Lewis for UFC White House on June 14. 

However, Costa subsequently offered to replace Lewis against Hokit. Hokit and Lewis appeared to have briefly resolved their beef as they shared a laugh over an Instagram post. While the rivalry has seemingly not settled, it doesn’t seem there are any serious hard feelings between…

Joshua Van was too much for Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328. | Getty/UFC

Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira produced an instant classic at UFC 328.

Van and Taira received “Fight of the Night” honors and $100,000 apiece for their back-and-forth battle in Saturday’s co-main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. After struggle to defend his opponent’s takedowns early, Van began to assert his dominance on the feet, ultimately defeating Taira via technical knockout at the 1:32 mark of Round 5 to retain the 125-pound belt.

Newcomer, Veteran Nab Checks Elsewhere, former Bellator MMA champion Yaroslav Amosov secured a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” award for dispatching Joel Alvarez in a preliminary welterweight contest. Amosov powered his foe to the canvas in the second frame, immediately transitioned to an arm-triangle choke and elicited the tapout at the 1:13 mark of the period.

Finally, beloved veteran Jim Miller garnered the card’s other $100,000 “Pe…