Martial Arts News

After Alex Apodaca pulled off the biggest upset in Dana White’s Contender Series history on Week 3 of Season 10, a new crop of prospects will look to earn Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts at Week 4.

The first three weeks of DWCS 2026 have seen 15 fighters receive contracts, including 14 winners and one fighter who earned a contract despite losing on the judges’ scorecards. As such, the possibility of a new season record is alive. Seasons 7 and 9 currently share the record with 46 contracts awarded in each installment.

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The Week 4 lineup features five matchups across the welterweight, middleweight, lightweight and heavyweight divisions. The event takes place on Sept. 1 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas. Welterweights Patrick Rivera (170) and Adam Darby (169.5) are set to headline the card.Dana White’s Contender Series Season 10 Week 4 full weigh-in resultsPatrick Rivera (170) vs. Adam Darby (169.5)Brandon Holmes (183.5) vs. Modestino Rodrigues (185…

Vitor Petrino isn’t letting Valter Walker's latest jab go unanswered.

Petrino (15-2) extended his win streak to four with a unanimous decision over Serghei Spivac on Aug. 22 to further ascend the heavyweight rankings. Walker (16-1), who’s also among the top-ranked heavyweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, took a shot at Petrino on social media by posting a photo from his recent fight, labeling it boring.

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Petrino has now fired back.Vitor Petrino says he has repeatedly asked the UFC to book Valter Walker In a recent interview with Sherdog's Marcelo Alonso, Petrino responded to Walker’s comments about his fight with Spivac, claiming that he’s campaigned for a matchup against the grappling specialist many times, to no avail.

“That guy is a clown. Nobody respects him. I don’t even want to talk about him much,” Petrino said. “I’ve asked for that fight several times and I don’t know why the UFC hasn’t made it happen.”

Petrino's interest in…

Alexandr Shabliy will return to action at PFL Chicago.

Shabliy is scheduled to return to the cage in a lightweight matchup at the promotion's Oct. 16 event at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The Russian last competed in June against Alfie Davis, which saw him bounce back from his defeat to Usman Nurmagomedov.

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Alexandr Shabliy faces Landry Ward on Oct. 16 at PFL Chicago Shabliy (25-4) has lost just once since 2017 and was on a nine-fight win streak before coming up short against Nurmagomedov, the most recent PFL lightweight champ. He’ll look to compile another win streak when he returns at PFL Chicago.

A flyweight title fight headlines PFL Chicago: Tune in on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN.

His upcoming opponent, Landry Ward (11-3), is coming off a split-decision victory over Michael Boylan in his PFL debut on Aug. 7 and has won his last three fights.

The matchup joins a PFL Chicago card headlined by the women's flyweight title remat…

Kai Asakura is reinvigorated at bantamweight following a rocky start in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Asakura stopped Qileng Aori with a second-round technical knockout at UFC Shanghai on Aug. 29. The Japanese star is now 2-0 in the UFC bantamweight division after losing his first two UFC fights via submission at flyweight. He detailed how his approach has changed since the move up and broke down his finishing move against Aori soon after the victory.

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Kai Asakura says bantamweight gives him more power, speed and confidence Asakura claims that he can be more assertive with his offense at 135 pounds, a significant improvement on how he felt while competing at 125 pounds.

“At bantamweight, I have more power and I have more speed,” Asakura said in a post-fight interview. “So, I feel like I can fight with more confidence than at flyweight.”

He also broke down the sequence that led to the finish.

“There were two things,” Asakura added. “The …

Bilal Hasan believes fighting is more than a career and sees it as a way of giving back.

Hasan made a memorable Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC Shanghai on Aug. 29, stopping fellow promotional newcomer Nilson Rojas in the second round, earning a Performance of the Night bonus for his efforts. He recently revealed what drives him both in and out of competition.

Bilal Hasan discusses his purpose after UFC Shanghai debut victory The first round between Hasan and Rojas was closely contested. The former pulled ahead in the second round and eventually found the finish, dropping his opponent with a counter-right hand before finishing with a follow-up strike to cap off an eventful Octagon debut.

Speaking after the fight, Hasan explained the deeper meaning he attaches to fighting.

“I don't want to get all religious or spiritual or anything like that, but I feel like we're all put on this earth to give back in some way,” Hasan said in a post-fight interview. “…

Zabit Magomedsharipov claims Yadong Song’s finish against Umar Nurmagomedov is down to “bad luck.”

Nurmagomedov suffered his second professional defeat, his first-ever via a finish, on Aug. 29, when Song stopped him with a right uppercut in the second round of their main event clash in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Nurmagomedov’s compatriot, Magomedsharipov, is backing him to bounce back stronger and claims every fighter is susceptible to flash knockouts.

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Zabit Magomedsharipov backs Umar Nurmagomedov after his first knockout loss Magomedsharipov was asked about the result ahead of his submission grappling match at ACBJJ 22. The former UFC fighter said he viewed the knockout as a matter of luck rather than a sign of a deeper issue.

“I believe Umar will be back. I see no problem there,” Magomedsharipov said at the ACBJJ 22 press conference. “Anyone can experience that. It is what it is. I think it was bad luck. He was well prepared for the figh…

Yadong Song’s team planned for an uppercut finish throughout training camp.

Song firmly put himself in title contention in the Ultimate Fighting Championship with the biggest victory of his career, finishing Umar Nurmagomedov in the second round of the UFC Shanghai headliner. The Chinese bantamweight’s coaches identified the route to victory long before fight night.

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Yadong Song explains the preparation behind his UFC Shanghai knockout of Umar Nurmagomedov After his knockout victory, Song revealed he had specifically prepared the uppercut as a counter to Nurmagomedov's takedown attempts. “The Kung Fu Kid” claimed that his boxing coach identified where the Dagestani was vulnerable and they repeatedly worked on the finishing sequence he pulled off at UFC Shanghai.

Song explained that his team anticipated Nurmagomedov shooting with his head dipping towards the left side and worked on counters to that movement.

“My boxing coach, Rudy Hernandez, he …

Sedriques Dumas had an eventful night at Duel Arena 1.

Dumas (10-5) attended Duel Arena 1 on Aug. 29 at Kia Center in Orlando, Florida. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter is no stranger to controversy and got into a brawl at the event, requiring intervention from security.

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Sedriques Dumas gets involved in crowd brawl at Duel Arena 1 Mike Perry suffered a huge upset loss against Brandon Jenkins in the main event, while Paul Miller earned a split decision win over Ben Azoulay. A brawl broke out in the stands after the fight between Miller and Azoulay. Dumas was seen taking down a fan dressed in a joker costume before security separated them.

Dumas was arrested last year in Escambia County, Florida, on charges of home invasion, battery and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Dumas fought three more times in the UFC before being released in July shortly after he was sentenced on those charges.

Three of the charges against …

Usman Nurmagomedov has addressed his brother Umar Nurmagomedov's knockout loss to Yadong Song and the discourse surrounding his immediate actions after seeing his brother hit the canvas.

Song flatlined Umar with an uppercut in the second round of their bantamweight clash in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Just as Song ended the UFC Shanghai headliner with some follow-up hammer-fists, Usman stormed the cage to check on his brother.

Song began celebrating and briefly crossed paths with a concerned Usman, who seemingly loaded up an instinctive elbow strike in the heat of the moment, but didn’t follow through.

Usman denies trying to hit Yadong Song after rushing toward the cage following Umar Nurmagomedov’s knockout Usman took to social media in the aftermath of UFC Shanghai to address his brother’s first-ever professional loss via a finish and also touched on fans accusing him of trying to hit a celebrating Song. The Professional Fighters League star first downp…

TOTAL MADNESS AT #UFCShanghai🤯@SongYadongLFG with the biggest moment of his career!!! pic.twitter.com/op48pu2a62

— UFC (@ufc) August 29, 2026 After close to nine years in the UFC, and several ups and downs, Yadong Song earned the biggest win of his career tonight in front of an arena full of supporters at UFC Fight Night 286 in Shanghai, China. The Chinese superstar viciously knocked out heavy favorite Umar Nurmagomedov in the second round of their bantamweight headliner, which brought the elated crowd to its feet and capped off an excellent night of fights.

Song (24-9-1, 1 NC; 13-4-1 UFC) caught a kick and snapped Nurmagomedov’s (20-2, 8-2 UFC) head back with a counter right cross in the first round. Nurmagomedov took Song down and escaped from a guillotine choke. He stayed on top until he tried to transition to Song’s back, which allowed Song to stand up and the fight stayed on the feet until the bell. Song stuffed a takedown attempt in the…

SONG YADONG JUST KNOCKED Umar Nurmagomedov OUT COLD 😱😱😱 #UFCShanghai📺 @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/0xJt9yUjdc

— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) August 29, 2026 The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to China concluded with four fighters receiving performance bonuses.

Following UFC Shanghai, UFC senior vice president and head of Asia, Kevin Chang, announced the fight of the night and two performance of the night awards. In the third visit to the venue, the promotion saw a total of 10 finishes, with a massive one in the main event.

Yadong Song, Bilal Hasan, Ce Liu and Levi Rodrigues earn UFC Shanghai bonuses Yadong Song walked away $100,000 richer after defeating Umar Nurmagomedov in the main event. In a fight that lasted just around two rounds, the Chinese fighter overcame a vicious Nurmagomedov. After seemingly losing to the Dagestani fighter in the opening stanza, the “Kung Fu Kid”landed a brutal right uppercut behind his op…

Sherdog's live UFC Shanghai coverage will begin Saturday at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 286. Round 1 Welterweights kick off festivities at UFC Shanghai, as Ding (35-10, 0-1 UFC) squares off with Nelson (7-1, 0-0 UFC) at 170 pounds. Matt Wynne polices the proceedings. Customary glove touch gets them started. Ding switches stances early and often, pawing with his lead hand from both sides. He counters a leg kick with an overhand right, then resets. Ding jabs at the body and gets off a body kick. Nelson answers with a low kick, then another. Raucous crowd already. Hard leg kick from Ding followed by a straight left. Strong start from the Colin Oyama protégé. They trade in the center of the cage before they exchange leg kicks. Nelson circles on the outside. Two minutes to go in the round. Nelson changes levels, ducks into a takedown and lands in side control. A short burst of significant ground-and-pound ensues from the Niagara Top Team rep.…