Martial Arts News

Belal Muhammad refuses to accept Sean Strickland’s apology to Muslims.

Strickland (31-7) has made Islamophobic comments on multiple occasions in the past. Strickland also targeted Khamzat Chimaev’s (15-1) religion ahead of their UFC 328 fight last weekend. However, Strickland apologized to Chimaev after dethroning him via split decision. Strickland also apologized to his fans across multiple religions. 

However, Muhammad isn’t buying the apology. A devout Muslim, Muhammad accuses Strickland of trying to justify his comments by making peace with Chimaev after the fight. While Muhammad competes at welterweight, and Strickland at middleweight, “Remember the Name” wants to share the Octagon with the fellow American and make him “bleed” someday. 

No Going Back “Even though the clown apologized, ‘I apologized to my Muslim fans, I was just promoting a fight.’ No, it’s not promoting a fight when you’re talking about religion,” Muhammad Said on YouTube. “He always …

Most Valuable Promotions is giving a lucrative deal to its MMA fighters. 

MVP will host its first MMA card in collaboration with Netflix on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles,. MVP co-founder and CEO Nakisa Bidarian recently revealed that the promotion has guaranteed a $40,000 purse to every fighter, avoiding the show/win model, which the UFC follows. Bidarian also revealed that there will be a performance bonus up for grabs for every fighter, which will vary depending on the fighter.

Advertisement

Challenging the Status Quo “This event and anything we do going forward as MVP… [we plan] to have a minimum $40,000 for fighters to fight in MMA,” Bidarian said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “That’s guaranteed. And then every fighter has a performance bonus in addition to that, which there are different levels, depending on the fighter.”

MVP is making no secret of the fact that it is trying to emerge as the UFC’s strongest competitors. Ronda Rousey, who …

Sean O'Malley is not a fan of the UFC Freedom 250 fight kits. 

UFC Freedom 250 is a one-of-a-kind card that will go down at the White House on June 14. The card, which is a celebration of America’s 250th year of independence, also coincides with President Donald Trump’s birthday. To match the occasion, special fight kits have been designed in red, white and blue colors, featuring the official White House logo. 

Advertisement

However, O’Malley found the kits ugly, at least his own white one. O’Malley believes the UFC did a shabby job on the kits and wonders if they put the contract out on Fiverr.Minimal Effort? “They are ugly; mine were ugly. I don’t like them,” O’Malley said on YouTube. “They’re not pink, which is fine, whatever, I’ve worn other colors… Did they go on Fiverr and say, ‘Hey, we got these guys getting to fight at the White House lawn. Can you just come up with something?’” 

Sean O’Malley DOES NOT like his UFC W…

Khamzat Chimaev struggled with his weight cut before losing to Sean Strickland. | Getty/UFC

Khamzat Chimaev was allegedly promised a fight at light heavyweight. 

Chimaev (15-1) had long been hinting at a move up to light heavyweight. However, Chimaev put his middleweight title on the line against Sean Strickland (31-7) at UFC 328 last weekend. Chimaev showed signs of fatigue early in the second round, completely abandoning his wrestling thereafter. Strickland outpointed Chimaev on the feet via a split decision, handing “Borz” his first professional loss. Chimaev had also looked completely drained at the weigh-ins, even getting accused of missing weight. 

Advertisement

Chimaev’s brother, Artur Chimaev, recently revealed the former middleweight champion had a terrible weight cut. Chimaev’s body allegedly shut down with just over two pounds to cut. Artur claims even Khamzat didn’t know how he would go forward with the bout. 

Artur claim…

Sean Strickland recently took a moment to celebrate his championship victory with his teammates.

In a video posted on the Xtreme Couture Instagram account, Strickland brought the belt back to the Las Vegas-based gym and praised his training partners.

Advertisement

“After every L I’ve got, the fact that I went back and came to the gym is why I have another one of these f—ers,” Strickland said.

“That being said, as always, I want to thank you guys. I’m pretty f----ed up; I’m going to take a few weeks off. But I wouldn’t be here without you guys, seriously. F----ing, all the coaches, would not be here without you. So, it’s not just my belt, it’s our belt. Thank you.”

Strickland upset Khamzat Chimaev via split decision in the UFC 328 headliner this past weekend to capture the middleweight crown. It’s the second championship win for Strickland, who initially shocked the world by ending Israel Adesanya’s championship reign at UFC 293 in September 2023.

Love A…

Ariane Lipski da Silva bested Sumiko Inaba in her PFL debut. | PFL MMA

Ariane Lipski da Silva has a date and venue for her second Professional Fighters League appearance.

The UFC veteran and former KSW champion will lock horns with Jena Bishop in a flyweight contest at PFL San Diego on June 27. The promotion confirmed the pairing following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. PFL San Diego takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego and is headlined by a featherweight showdown between A.J. McKee and Salamat Isbulaev.

Advertisement

An elite and undefeated welterweight prospect headlines PFL Brussels against a former UFC champ: Tune in Saturday, May 23 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Lipski ended a three-bout losing streak in her promotional debut, as she outpointed Sumiko Inaba at PFL Pittsburgh on March 28. The 32-year-old Brazilian went 6-8 over the course of a UFC tenure that began in 2019.

Bishop, meanwhile, has been victorious in three of he…

Khamzat Chimaev will make his first Real American Freestyle foray a little more than a month after losing the UFC middleweight belt.

The wrestling promotion on Tuesday announced that Chimaev will face Dillon Danis in a catchweight match in the RAF 10 headliner on June 13 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. The card will stream via Fox Nation.

Advertisement

Chimaev suffered his first professional MMA defeat in the UFC 328 headliner, where he dropped a split decision to Sean Strickland on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. “Borz” has been known for dominating foes with his wrestling and grappling throughout his UFC tenure, but he struggled somewhat in that regard against Strickland. While the Chechen star was initially expected to move up to 205 pounds after UFC 328, his team recently revealed that he was obsessed with securing an immediate rematch against Strickland in the Octagon.

Danis initially gained notoriety as a training partner of Conor Mc…

Bellator vet Christian Edwards will make his UFC debut on Saturday. | Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan

The UFC Vegas 117 bill has undergone some more changes ahead of Saturday’s event.

The promotion announced on Tuesday that Rodolfo Bellato has been “removed” from a proposed light heavyweight clash against Modestas Bukauskas. As a result, Christian Edwards will step in and face Bukauskas in a 215-pound catchweight affair.

Advertisement

Down One Fight Additionally, Nicolas Dalby has been pulled from a welterweight matchup with Jeremiah Wells, and that bout has been canceled. Those changes are in addition to a previously reported change that saw Artur Miniev replace Thomas Gantt in a lightweight contest.

UFC Vegas 117 — also known as UFC Fight Night 276 — takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight scrap between Arnold Allen and Melquizael Costa. The event airs in its entirety on Paramount+ beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.…

Khamzat Chimaev wants another shot at Sean Strickland. | Getty/UFC

Khamzat Chimaev may not be headed to the light heavyweight division just yet.

A statement from Chimaev’s team provided to ESPN on Tuesday revealed that the Chechen standout is instead focused on a return date with Sean Strickland. Entering UFC 328 as a heavy favorite, “Borz” relinquished his middleweight crown to Strickland in a surprising split-decision defeat.

Advertisement

"The rematch with Sean Strickland is the only fight that Khamzat wants, he is obsessed with it," the statement read. "That's the only fight he will accept right now.”

That’s a shift from what UFC CEO Dana White indicated shortly after Saturday’s main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. At the post-fight press conference, White revealed that Chimaev told him that UFC 328 was his last bout at 185 pounds. However, Chimaev also tweeted “See you soon again” to Strickland, perhaps hinting that he …

Marvin Vettori will be back in action this summer. | Getty/UFC

The UFC Baku lineup continues to take shape.

The Las Vegas-based promotion on Tuesday confirmed a handful of matchups for the event, including a pair of intriguing middleweight tilts: Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev and Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk.

Advertisement

Other announced pairings, some of which have been previously reported include: Nazim Sadykhov vs. Matheus Camilo at lightweight; Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson at flyweight and Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Andrey Pulyaev at middleweight.

UFC Baku takes place at National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 27 and is headlined by a lightweight clash pitting Rafael Fiziev against Manuel Torres. The card will air in its entirety on Paramount+.

Middleweight Mania A middleweight title challenger in 2021, Vettori will look to snap a four-bout losing streak when he squares off against Naurdiev. “The Italian…

Zabit Magomedsharipov holds the UFC partially responsible for his premature retirement. 

Magomedsharipov (18-1) is one of the biggest “what ifs” in MMA history. From elite striking to grappling, the Dagestani standout could seemingly do it all. However, Magomedsharipov fought for the last time in 2019 and officially retired in 2022 to pursue a career in medicine. 

Advertisement

Magomedsharipov recently opened up about his premature retirement. Magomedsharipov blames multiple fight cancellations, which eventually took a toll on him. Magomedsharipov particularly notes that he had multiple fights against fellow featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez canceled. After going through multiple training camps and weight cuts, only to have Rodriguez pull out at the last minute, Magomedsharipov had enough. 

Rodriguez was even briefly released from the UFC after allegedly refusing to fight Magomedsharipov. While Rodriguez was supposed to fight  Magomedsha…

Nassourdine Imavov admits that he takes certain things personally.

Sean Strickland dethroned Khamzat Chimaev in a shocking upset to win the middleweight title via a closely-contested split decision at UFC 328 last weekend in Newark, New Jersey. Strickland had insulted Chimaev’s race, ethnicity and religion in the lead-up to the fight. However, the two showed mutual respect after the fight, and Strickland apologized for going too far with the trash talk. Strickland justified his words saying he was trying hard to sell the fight.

Advertisement

Strickland has since expressed interest in defending his title against Imavov, who vows to knockout the newly-crowned middleweight champion. Responding to Imavov’s comments, Strickland said that he can’t avoid racism. However, Imavov warns Strickland that he has certain boundaries when it comes to trash talk. The Frenchman says that targeting his religion, family and nation won’t be forgiven as a marketing gimmick. Unlike the n…