Martial Arts News

Bella Mir is taking her first professional mixed martial arts loss well.

Mir, the daughter of former Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Frank Mir, was one of the most highly touted prospects going into her Dana White’s Contender Series clash against Alex Apodaca. She was a -6000 favorite, the biggest in DWCS history, ahead of the fight.

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However, Apodaca edged out a hard-fought unanimous decision over Mir in the biggest upset in DWCS history. The latter has now taken to social media to address her defeat.Bella Mir vows to rebound after Alex Apodaca hands her first professional MMA defeat Mir (4-1) has since issued her first statement in the aftermath of her first professional MMA loss. She says that this is not the first time she has handled a defeat, albeit this was under the biggest spotlight. Mir vows to bounce back stronger, as she has from all of her previous setbacks.

“I’ve lost so many times,” Mir wrote on Instagram. “Big or small, e…

Jose Delgado believes Jean Silva is hiding his real personality.

Delgado (12-2) and Silva (17-3) will headline the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s fourth edition of Noche UFC on Sept. 12 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Silva was originally scheduled to fight Yair Rodriguez, who pulled out due to an injury. Following Rodriguez’s withdrawal, Delgado stepped up and recently slammed his upcoming opponent, calling his persona inauthentic.

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Jose Delgado attacks Jean Silva’s persona ahead of Noche UFC 4 Delgado is high in confidence going into Noche UFC 4. He recently claimed that beating Silva puts him in title contention, setting him up for the winner of UFC 333’s featherweight championship main event between current champ Alexander Volkanovski and unbeaten challenger Movsar Evloev.

“I expect violence. I expect to break this guy,” Delgado told Ariel Helwani. “I expect a freaking stunner of a KO… If Jean Silva took out Yair Rodriguez, he’…

Sean Brady believes Din Thomas could’ve handled his retirement from cornering better.

Thomas announced his retirement from cornering live on air after his fighter Gillian Robertson made a failed Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title bid against Mackenzie Dern at UFC 330. The former fighter faced severe backlash for stealing the moment right after his fighter lost the biggest fight of her life and subsequently issued an apology to Robertson.

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While Brady doesn’t approve of Thomas’ public comments about Robertson, he’s still open to having the UFC analyst in his corner.Sean Brady discusses Din Thomas after Gillian Robertson’s UFC 330 title loss On the “Deep Waters” podcast, Thomas hinted that he will be in Brady’s (19-2) corner in his upcoming clash against Gabriel Bonfim (20-1) on Nov. 7 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas. However, Brady didn’t confirm if Thomas will be in his corner on Nov. 7. While he didn’t like Thomas announcing his retirement af…

Aspen Ladd will debut for BKB on Saturday in Miami. Aspen Ladd believes the next year will be great for women’s mixed martial arts.

Ladd recently weighed in on the merger between the Professional Fighters League and Most Valuable Promotions. She’s slightly skeptical about the merger, considering things didn’t play out as expected with PFL’s acquisition of Bellator in 2023, but remains optimistic.

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Aspen Ladd discussed MVP-PFL merger, critiques UFC’s handling of women’s MMA Ladd also notes that women’s boxing under MVP and bare-knuckle boxing under BKFC are rising in the meantime. With former Bellator president Scott Coker set to launch his own promotion next year, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship athlete believes it’ll be a bright year ahead for women’s MMA.

“Because with the merger between, or supposed to be a merger, right, with PFL and Bellator, you thought, oh, it'd be great,” Ladd told Sherdog's Sean Sheehan. “They're absorbi…

Following a 52-second win, Denis Goltsov already has his next PFL matchup booked.| 📷: PFL MMA

The Professional Fighters League has added a heavyweight matchup to its upcoming event in Chicago.

Promotion officials confirmed to Sherdog on Wednesday that 2024 PFL heavyweight tournament champion Denis Goltsov will return against Maxwell Djantou Nana on Oct. 16. The matchup features two ranked contenders in the division.

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2024 PFL heavyweight tournament champion Denis Goltsov faces Maxwell Djantou Nana on Oct. 16 Goltsov most recently competed at PFL Charlotte, where he stopped Hasan Mezhiev via technical knockout in just 52 seconds in his first appearance of 2026.

Before that victory, Goltsov suffered a loss to Corey Anderson in July 2025. The Russian entered that bout on a four-fight winning streak that included his run to the 2024 PFL heavyweight tournament championship.

Djantou Nana has emerged as one of PFL Africa’s success st…

Islam Makhachev has revealed how many fights he has left in him before he hangs up his gloves.

Makhachev (29-1) recently defended his Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title against Ian Garry at UFC 330. The win over Garry saw Makhachev break Anderson Silva’s record for the longest winning streak in UFC history, having won 17 straight. The Dagestani wants to extend his win streak to 20 before walking away from the sport.

Makhachev eyes three more UFC fights while chasing a 20-fight winning streak Makhachev knows there’s one record that he isn’t likely to break: most title fight wins in UFC history. With seven title wins, Makhachev is still far behind the record holder Jon Jones, who has 16. However, Makhachev notes that he got to fight for a title much later in his UFC career than Jones.

Makhachev revealed that he expects to fight at least three more times before calling it a career. With the logjam of elite contenders in the welterweight division, Makhachev …

Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series saw the biggest upset in the history of the show.

Week 3 of the 10th season of DWCS went down at Meta Apex in Las Vegas on Aug. 25. All five winners on the card walked away with Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts.

Alex Apodaca defeats the -6000 favorite to cap DWCS 2026 Week 3 The main event of the card saw the biggest upset in the history of DWCS. Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir’s daughter Bella Mir (4-1) was a -6000 favorite going into her bantamweight clash against Alex Apodaca (5-1). Apodaca outclassed Mir on the feet while holding her own in wrestling exchanges to earn a unanimous decision win.

White admits that while he is mostly unbiased in fights, he was heavily biased towards Mir, having been a mentor to her. White notes that Michael Bisping had correctly expected Apodaca’s experience to play a factor in the fight.

“Alex, what you had to face tonight… Now I’m very proud of myself that in 10 years…

Abubakar Nurmagomedov is set to return to competition after a three-year absence.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight will face David Zawada in an 84-kilogram (185-pound) wrestling rematch under the AIGA banner in Istanbul, Turkey. The match is scheduled for ORA Arena on Sept. 20 as part of the Global Grappling Series 2026.

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Abubakar Nurmagomedov faces former UFC opponent David Zawada in Istanbul They previously met in the Octagon in November 2019 at UFC Moscow, where Zawada submitted Nurmagomedov via first-round triangle choke.

Nurmagomedov went 2-2 during his UFC tenure. His most recent MMA appearance came back in June 2023, when he dropped a split decision to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos.

Zawada, meanwhile, will look to repeat the result of their first meeting. The German veteran went 1-4 in the UFC, with his lone victory in the promotion coming against the Dagestani in Russia. He’s also competed in Oktagon MMA, the Profes…

Bilal Hasan's Ultimate Fighting Championship debut feels written in the stars.

The undefeated prospect will make his Octagon debut against fellow promotional newcomer Nilson Rojas at UFC Shanghai on Aug. 29, with the significance of the date not lost on Hasan.

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Bilal Hasan plans a special walkout for his UFC Shanghai fight against Nilson Rojas Hasan takes on Rojas on Michael Jackson's birthday, a coincidence he described as almost prophetic.

“It still feels so surreal to be halfway across the world fighting in China on August 29th on Michael Jackson's birthday,” Hasan said in a recent interview. “Sounds like something out of like a prophecy or something like that. It still doesn't feel real.”

Hasan, a big fan of “The King of Pop,” plans to make the occasion memorable with his walkout.

“I have a sick walkout planned,” he added.

The matchup will open the UFC Shanghai main card, giving Hasan his first opportunity to compete since earning h…

Yadong Song has left no stone unturned in preparation for his upcoming bout against Umar Nurmagomedov.

Song claims to be well-equipped to deal with Nurmagomedov’s grappling prowess ahead of their Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight clash at UFC Shanghai. The Chinese 135-pounder even worked with Georgian wrestlers who are familiar with the wrestling system used by Nurmagomedov’s team.

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Yadong Song trained with Olympic and world champions ahead of UFC Shanghai While Song is a competent grappler, he’s well aware of the challenge Nurmagomedov presents and is confident should the fight hit the mat.

“Umar is a very tough guy,” Song said in a recent interview. “Even everybody knows he's a very good grappler. So, I just prefer to use striking... But if you want to grapple, let's grapple. Doesn't matter.”

Song further revealed that he traveled to Georgia before beginning his latest training camp, where he worked with Olympic and world champion…

Kai Asakura wants to showcase improvement in his next bout.

The former Rizin Fighting Federation champ endured a disappointing start in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, getting finished in his first two appearances. He then secured a win after moving up to bantamweight and is set to meet Qileng Aori next at UFC Shanghai.

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Kai Asakura targets Qileng Aori knockout after successful move to bantamweight Asakura recorded his first win in the UFC against Cameron Smotherman earlier this year. He claims he’s settled in nicely at bantamweight and vowed to finish Aori when they clash on Aug. 29 to extend his win streak. However, he isn’t just looking for a win, stating that he wants to show off some new moves as well en route to finding the knockout.

“I will knock him out and I will show a new combination this Saturday,” Asakura said at UFC Shanghai media day.

The Japanese fighter also revealed that he wants to stay active and compete again before …

Jena Bishop has an Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer helping her prepare for the biggest fight of her career.

The Professional Fighters League recently shared a photo showing Bishop training with Ronda Rousey ahead of the former’s rematch with Liz Carmouche for the inaugural PFL women's flyweight championship.

Jena Bishop challenges Liz Carmouche for the inaugural PFL women’s flyweight championship after training with Ronda Rousey Bishop will face Carmouche in the main event of PFL Chicago on Oct. 16 at Wintrust Arena. The bout will crown the promotion's first women's flyweight champion and mark its first new title since the PFL's merger with Most Valuable Promotions.

The clash is a rematch of last year's PFL women's flyweight tournament final. Carmouche stopped Bishop in the third round of that meeting, but the latter has since rebounded with victories over Borena Tsertsvadze and Ariane Lipski da Silva. Carmouche enters following a submission win over Vi…