Martial Arts News

Arnold Allen has praise for Melquizael Costa’s powerful kicks. 

Allen faced surging prospect Costa in the main event at UFC Fight Night 276 on Saturday in Las Vegas. While Allen dropped Costa early, the tough Brazilian refused to be put away. Despite Costa’s valiant effort, Allen put on a technical masterclass to earn a unanimous decision win. 

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With Costa being known for his kicking game, Allen was expecting heavy kicks. However, “Almighty” admits that the first spinning back kick from Costa that hit him in the chest felt like a battering ram. Allen also revealed that he was coughing up phlegm during fight week. The Englishman jokes that he felt like the kick from Costa cleared up the cough in his chest.Meeting Expectations “I wasn’t surprised, but the first back kick he threw felt like I got hit with a battering ram in the stomach,” Allen said at the post-fight press conference. “I kind of expected that to happen. It was the shot that knoc…

Nate Diaz doesn’t think he could have done much if his fight against Mike Perry had continued longer than it did. 

Diaz returned to action against Perry at MVP’s first MMA card on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Perry put his bare-knuckle skills on display, battering Diaz from the very onset. While Diaz managed to take Perry down, he was barely able to land any damage. Perry left Diaz bloodied by the end of the second round, forcing the fight to be waved off by cageside doctors. 

Diaz subsequently revealed that he injured his finger early in the fight, which diverted his attention. Diaz also agrees with his corner’s decision to stop the fight. The Stockton native admits that he could barely see with blood covering his eyes.

‘I Couldn’t See S—t’ “I think I broke my finger in the first two seconds,” Diaz siad. “I was spending too much time focusing on that…I had blood in my eyes, I couldn’t see s—t. I wasn’t gonna do nothing… But next time he ain…

Jon Jones is interested in fighting Francis Ngannou under the Most Valuable Promotions banner. 

Ngannou fought Philipe Lins at Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. Ngannou put on a one-sided beating on Lins before knocking him out cold late in the first round. 

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Jones, who was attending the event, expressed interest in a future matchup against Ngannou. However, Jones believes the hardest part of making that fight happen will be getting out of his existing UFC contract. Since Dana White is unlikely to sign Ngannou to the UFC again, Jones sees MVP as the only promotion to make that fight.

“I’ve got to try to focus on getting out of my UFC contract,” Jones said during an interview on the Netflix broadcast . “That’s going to be the difficult part if this fight is going to happen. I don’t think Dana is interested in doing business with Francis. So doing it with MVP is probably…

Arman Tsarukyan seemingly can’t stay out of trouble. 

Tsarukyan (23-3) was in attendance at Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles California. Namo Fazil (10-1) picked up a second-round submission win over Jake Babian (6-2) in a welterweight clash on the card. Fazil surprisingly called out Tsarukyan in his post-fight interview.

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“Arman Tsarukyan, where are you at? We gotta talk baby,” Fazil said.Given An Ultimatum Tsarukyan then confronted the Iraqi fighter while he was walking out of the cage. Tsarukyan even tried to jump the gate and also pursued Fazil backstage. However, MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian intervened, asking Tsarukyan to return to his seat or leave the venue. 

Tsarukyan has been known for getting into trouble in the past, even punching a fan during his walkout for his UFC 300 win over Charles Oliveira in 2024. “Ahalkalakets” remains sidelined from the UFC lightweight title pictur…

Alice Ardelean doesn’t even know the name of the move she used to secure a win against Polyana Viana. 

Ardelean (12-7) took on Viana (13-9) in a strawweight clash at UFC Fight Night 276 on Saturday. Ardelean made Viana tap out with a “capsule lock” in the second round, making it the first-ever submission of its kind in UFC history. 

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Must. Watch. Novel Submission!!!

Polyana Viana makes a mistake with the body lock from the bottom by letting her left leg get inside of Alice Ardelean's body. Alice saw it and put the pressure on it & results in a verbal tap!#UFCVegas117pic.twitter.com/Fbpx8kNwtV

— Consensus Score (@ConsensusScore) May 16, 2026

Viana caught Ardelean in a body triangle from the bottom position. The Romanian managed to trap Viana’s locking leg on the inside and applied pressure on it to secure the tap. Ardelean subsequently revealed that she learned the move on Instagram. Ardelean doesn’…

Despite being on a precarious stage in his career, Cody Brundage felt no pressure fighting on his 32nd birthday. 

Brundage (12-9) took on Andre Petroski (13-6) in a middleweight tilt at UFC Fight Night 276. Brundage dropped Petroski with a left hook early in the second round and unleashed vicious ground-and-pound to secure a stoppage win. 

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The win over Petroski marked the end of a four-fight winless streak for Brundage. Brundage admits that this could have marked the end of his UFC career if he hadn’t gotten his hand raised. However, the 32-year-old claims he didn’t feel any pressure going into his clash against Petroski. Going into his 16th UFC fight, Brundage didn’t want to look back regretting not having enjoyed his time inside the Octagon. Instead of trying to live up to expectations, Brundage fought for himself.Gratitude Over Fear“No pressure this time,” Brundage said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I was at peace with whate…

Ronda Rousey was the top earner from Saturday's MVP card. | Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix

As one might expect, Ronda Rousey was the highest-paid athlete on Most Valuable Promotions’ first-ever MMA card.

The California State Athletic Commission released salary figures from Saturday’s event, which took place at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Rousey earned $2.2 million for her headlining bout against Gina Carano, who garnered $1.05 million. Francis Ngannou was the third seven-figure earner on the card, as he took home $1.5 million for a heavyweight clash against Philipe Lins ($100,00).

Meanwhile, Nate Diaz ($500,000) and Mike Perry ($400,000) were well compensated for their welterweight bout in the co-main event. Former Bellator champ Jason Jackson ($110,000) was the only other fighter to receive a six-figure check. Everyone who competed on the card received at least a minimum purse of $40,000.

Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic …

Alice Ardelean dug into her bag of tricks against Polyana Viana at UFC Vegas 117.

Ardelean received a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for her first-round submission victory over Viana in their preliminary strawweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Vianna appeared to have Ardelean neutralized with a body triangle from her back until the Romanian deftly shifted position and forced a tapout at the 4:36 mark of Round 2. The move that apppeared to injure Viana’s knee was described as a capsule lock on the Paramount+ broadcast.

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WHAT JUST HAPPENED 😳@ArdeleanAlice is now on a 3 fight win streak after #UFCVegas117!

[ LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/eHIk2DMe35

— UFC (@ufc) May 16, 2026 Superboy and a Memorable Debut Elsewhere, Doo Ho Choi and Daniel Santos secured “Fight of the Night” honors and $100,000 apiece for a back-and-forth featherweight battle in the evening’s co-main…

Conor McGregor will fight for the first time in five years at UFC 329. | Getty/UFC

The rumors have become reality: Conor McGregor is expected to make his long-awaited return at International Fight Week. 

The former two-division champion will square off against ex-featherweight kingpin Max Holloway in the UFC 329 headliner on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout was announced during the UFC Fight Night 276 broadcast on Saturday night. Perhaps it was no coincidence that the news also came during the Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" main card.  McGregor vs. Holloway 2 will be contested at welterweight.

More Than a Decade in the Making McGregor and Holloway initially squared off early in their promotional tenures, with the Irishman taking a unanimous decision over “Blessed” at UFC Fight Night 26 on Aug. 17, 2013. McGregor won the fight despite suffering a torn ACL, an injury that would sideline him for some 10 months afte…

Ronda Rousey did not mess around.

The onetime Olympic bronze medalist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder dismissed Gina Carano with an armbar in the first round of their Most Valuable Promotions main event on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Carano (7-2, 0-1 MVP), who had not fought since August 2009, issued her surrender a mere 17 seconds into Round 1.

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Rousey (13-2, 1-0 MVP) ducked into an immediate takedown, shed an attempted guillotine and climbed to full mount. From there, the decorated judoka unleashed punches, transitioned to her patented armbar and slammed the door on Carano.

Meanwhile, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship King of Violence champion Mike Perry was awarded a cut-induced technical knockout over Nate Diaz in the welterweight co-headliner. It was waved it off in between the second and third rounds, with Diaz (21-14, 0-1 MVP) bleeding profusely from multiple lacerations to his scalp and face.

Perr…

Arnold Allen wants to make sure we don’t forget him in the featherweight title discussion, but Melquizael Costa didn’t do his stock too much harm either.

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In the main event of UFC Vegas 117 on Saturday at the Meta Apex, Allen faced Costa, with some prime space in the featherweight pecking order up for grabs, and gave a quietly impressive accounting of his intelligence, conditioning and well-rounded skills. Both men wasted little time in bringing their best weapons to bear, as Costa landed a solid spinning back kick to the midsection in the early going, while Allen stunned the “Dalmatian” with a short right hand, then spent the next minute or so keeping him in all sorts of trouble on the floor. Costa recovered, however, and turned the tables on Allen midway through the first frame, sweeping to top position and smashing the Englishman with a couple of hard ground punches. Costa tried to press his advantage and take Allen’s neck while he was hurt, but t…

Getty Images/UFC

Ivan Erslan did it about how they must have drawn it up in camp.

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In a light heavyweight clash atop the seven-fight undercard of UFC Vegas 117 on Saturday at the Meta Apex, the 34-year-old Croatian faced George Tokkos. It was a clash of styles of the kind that has characterized mixed martial arts for three decades and counting, as kickboxing convert Erslan faced submission specialist “Tuco.” Despite Tokkos’ obvious need to get the action to the mat at any cost, the fight was competitive in the early going, as Erslan was clearly uncomfortable with Tokkos’ constant encroachment on the feet.

Erslan may have won a competitive Round 1 anyway, but definitely found his groove in the second frame. Tokkos looked slow and suddenly tired on the feet, wading in from well outside with badly telegraphed takedown attempts. These attempts Erslan punished with accurate, solid counters in the pocket. When the action did go to the groun…