Martial Arts News

Some UFC veterans think the odds are heavily stacked against Conor McGregor in his return. 

McGregor (22-6) is scheduled to return for the first time since 2021 against Max Holloway (27-9) at UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Former foe Dustin Poirier, who beat McGregor twice, believes “Notorious” only has a “puncher’s chance” against Holloway. Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman agrees with Poirier, giving McGregor only the first couple of minutes to potentially finish Holloway.

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“The only chance Conor really has is to knock out Max,” Weidman said on Deep Waters. “And probably in the first or second round.”Limited Time to Make an ImpactWhile Jorge Masvidal agrees with Poirier and Weidman, he doesn’t thinks McGregor only has a chance in the first couple of minutes of the fight.

“Second round, not even… He’s got two minutes,” Masvidal said.

Weidman noted that McGregor is going up against a volume puncher, who h…

Dustin Poirier recently analyzed the upcoming matchup between Paddy Pimblett and Benoit St. Denis.

Pimblett (23-4) is scheduled to fight St. Denis in a lightweight matchup at UFC 329on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Poirier is backing Pimblett to beat St. Denis. Poirier notes that Pimblett’s chin survived the test in the Liverpudlian’s last loss against Justin Gaethje. Poirier believes Gaethje would have knocked out St. Denis had they fought.

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Having shared the Octagon with St. Denis, Poirier claims the Frenchman isn’t very clean on the feet. “The Diamond” believes Pimblett’s striking, which he finds better than St. Denis,’ will be the deciding factor. However, Poirier also acknowledges that St. Denis isn’t scared to take risks to land his own shots.An Edge on the Feet “I got Paddy… I just compare it to the Gaethje fight,” Poirier said on Deep Waters. “I think if BSD fought Gaethje, Gaethje would stop him on the feet. Paddy took it and was…

Alex Pereira believes Josh Hokit doesn’t get along well with anyone. 

Pereira is scheduled to fight Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title at UFC White House on June 14. Meanwhile, Hokit is scheduled to fight Derrick Lewis in a heavyweight matchup on the same card. 

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During a promotional presser for UFC Freedom 250 at Newark last month, Hokit went on an unprovoked rant against Pereira. Meanwhile, Ilia Topuria looks to defend his lightweight title on the same card against interim champion Justin Gaethje on the same card. Topuria was sitting next to Pereira at the presser when Hokit launched his tirade. With a fast-growing friendship between the Topuria and Pereira, “El Matador” stood up to defend his friend against Hokit’s insults. While Pereira isn’t fluent in English, Topuria was enraged when Hokit said he would “Chama on Pereira’s Mama.” Topuria told Hokit that Pereira doesn’t need to answer him before throwing a bottle of water at t…

Herb Dean believes he made the right call in the fight between Phumi Nkuta and Adriano Moraes.

Dean was the third man in the cage when Nkuta and Moraes clashed in a bantamweight tilt at Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" last weekend in Los Angeles, California. While it was a competitive fight, Nkuta was apparently edging past Moraes in the final round. 

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However, Moraes caught Nkuta in a guillotine with 10 seconds left in the fight. While Nkuta tried to survive till the bell, Moraes held on to the choke for a few moments after the final bell despite Dean’s intervention. As Nkuta was choked unconscious, Dean took a long look at the replay before declaring it a submission win for Moraes.  

The controversial ending faced massive backlash from fans and pundits alike. However, Dean recently defended his call of a submission win for Moraes. Dean explains that he is usually focused on a fighter's limbs when they are caught in a ch…

Most Valuable Promotions didn’t manage to satisfy every fighter on its first MMA card.

Jake Paul’s MVP hosted its first MMA card last weekend at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles,. Jason Jackson knocked out Jefferson Creighton just 20 seconds into their welterweight clash on the card. 

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However, Jackson believes he wasn’t appreciated enough while going into the fight as well as for his performance. The former Bellator champion believes he didn’t deserve to be on the prelims. While Jackson had told his friends and family that his fight would be broadcast on Netflix, the prelims were available for free on YouTube. 

Francis Ngannou earned the $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his first round knockout win over Philipe Lins. Jackson thinks that was a foregone conclusion with Ngannou weighing 34 pounds more than Lins. With all respect to Ngannou, Jackson believes he should have earned the performance bonus instead of “The Predator.”

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Claressa Shields is banned from all Most Valuable Promotions events until further notice. 

Shields was in attendance at MVP’s first MMA event last Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. The three-division women’s boxing world champion confronted fellow boxer Alycia Baumgardner backstage and slapped her. 

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🚨‼️Claressa ShieldsCONFRONTS & SLAPSALYCIA BAUMGARDNER LAST NIGHT‼️🚨👋👀👀#Boxing🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊 pic.twitter.com/rY0C43ha9T

— Dan The Boxing Man (@dantheboxingman) May 18, 2026

Shields didn’t show any regret and accused Baumgardner of disrespecting her. Meanwhile, Baumgardner said that she showed restraint as a professional. “The Bomb” also accused Shields of displaying repeated hostility against fellow women and instigating fights.

“When your purpose is to elevate, there will always be people who attempt to pull you down to the level from which they operate,” Baumgardner wrote on X. “…

Junior dos Santos will be sidelined indefinitely following a brutal knockout loss at Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano” this past Saturday.

The former UFC heavyweight king was stopped by Robelis Despaigne 2:59 into the opening round of their main card bout at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. It was dos Santos’ first appearance since winning the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA heavyweight crown with a stoppage of Alan Belcher in March 2024. As a result of the knockout, “Cigano” will need neurological clearance before he can return to active competition. At a minimum, he is suspended 45 days with 30 days no contact.

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Robelis Despaigne JUST SLEPT Junior dos Santos IN ROUND 1 🔥#RouseyCarano is LIVE now only on Netflix 👊 pic.twitter.com/07RpIS7wSQ

— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) May 17, 2026

The California State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of medical suspensions from the event. Everyone on the …

Colby Covington was a controversial figure during his UFC tenure. | Getty/UFC

Colby Covington appears to be calling it a career — at least in MMA.

Multiple outlets confirmed that “Chaos” has informed the UFC of his retirement after the promotion listed the former welterweight title challenger as “retired” on its official website. Social media account UFC Roster Tracker was first to bring word that Covington was no longer part of the UFC roster.

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Covington hasn’t competed in MMA since December 2024, when he suffered a third-round TKO defeat to Joaquin Buckley at UFC on ESPN 63. The 38-year-old Springfield, Oregon, native lobbied hard for a spot on the UFC White House but was ultimately not included in the June 14 event. After the fight card was announced, Covington admitted that his relationship with the UFC had gone downhill in recent months and claimed that fighters typically have “no say” in negotiations.Shifting Focus Covington has …

Nate Diaz still has plenty of fight left in him. | Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix

Nate Diaz ended first MMA fight in nearly four years covered in blood.

After two fairly lopsided rounds in the Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano"co-main event, Diaz’s corner waved off the fight against Mike Perry, giving the BKFC “King of Violence” an emphatic TKO victory against a man who emerged as biggest stars of the sport over the past decade-plus.

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While the bout wasn’t especially competitive, the Stockton, California, native remains defiant regarding his fighting future. When Diaz is ready to retire, he vows that it won’t be a public spectacle — and that day doesn’t seem to be coming anytime soon.

"The show goes on," Diaz said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. "I felt the same way as when I lost when I was younger and the same as the last time. I don't have a checkout time, you know what I'm saying? That s—t’s forever.

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Gina Carano's MMA return didn't last as long as she would have liked. | Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix

Gina Carano’s first mixed martial arts appearance in nearly two decades was abbreviated, to say the least.

The Strikeforce and EliteXC veteran was quickly taken down and submitted by Ronda Rousey just 17 seconds into the MVP MMA main event this past Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Considering Rousey’s penchant for quick victories — she had eight previous wins in less than a minute — it shouldn’t have been all that surprising.

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Carano reflected on the experience during her post-fight interview.

"I wanted that to last longer. I felt like I was so ready. I felt so good. I've never felt that good, but I haven't been here for 17 years. I wanted to hit her,” Carano said. “I’ll probably feel [unfulfilled] later, but right now getting in the cage was a victory. Getting here after 17 years was a victory. Fighting a legend was…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to Abu Dhabi this summer.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Monday that a Fight Night event will take place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on July 25. Fights will be announced in the coming weeks for a card that will air in its entirety on Paramount+.

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The UFC’s partnership with Abu Dhabi dates back to 2010. The country gained attention for its “Fight Island” moniker when the promotion held events there during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it typically remains an annual Octagon destination.Recent HistoryLast year, UFC on ABC 9 took place at Eithad Arena in Abu Dhabi on July 9 and saw Reinier de Ridder defeat Robert Whittaker via split decision in the main event. More recently, UFC 321 took place at the same venue, where the main event ended in controversy when a Ciryl Gane eye poke rendered Tom Aspinall unable to continue in the first round of their heavyweight title bout.

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Considered one of the most popular UFC fighters in Brazil today Carlos Prates was recently invited to appear on one of Brazil's most popular podcasts: Podpah, a YouTube channel with almost 10 million subscribers.

In a two-hour conversation, Prates drank four beers and smoked two cigarettes, reminiscing about his entire journey and eliciting laughter from both hosts with his usual candor. According to The Fighting Nerds product, his entry into fighting was an alternative found by his mother due to his difficulties at school.

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“My mother is a teacher, and since I was very difficult and had learning difficulties, she decided to take me to a psychologist when I was 8 years old, where I was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder),” Prates said. “Once she saw me engrossed in watching a DVD of Wanderlei Silva fighting Yuki Kondo in Pride, and noticed my interest in fighting, [she] decided to enroll me in a muay thai school.”

In mar…