Martial Arts News

Ben Askren has an interesting take on the upcoming wrestling match between Colby Covington and Arman Tsarukyan. 

Covington (17-5) and Tsarukyan (23-3) will headline RAF 11 on July 18 at the UWM Panther Arena in Milwaukee. While Tsarukyan is considered to be in his prime, Askren believes Covington will give him a close contest. Askren notes that Tsarukyan will be going up in weight against Covington, who has wrestled at even heavier weight classes before. Regardless, Askren believes Tsarukyan will edge out Covington by a single point.

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A Tough Call “It’s interesting because Arman is going up in weight,” Askren said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." “I believe they’re wrestling at 185 [pounds], while Colby has wrestled a couple of his matches at 200 pounds… Colby's clearly the larger person. I don't know. I'm very split on it. I think it's kind of a coin flip. Colby – Weidman was a fun one… Arman did have some close matches against Georgio Poullas, who w…

Georges St. Pierre wisely spent his first UFC earnings, which were not much. 

St. Pierre (26-2) faced Karo Parisyan in his UFC debut in 2004. While it was a long time ago, St. Pierre made a surprisingly small amount of money from the fight. As per the UFC’s show/win structure, “Rush” was paid $3,000 to show and $3,000 to win. St. Pierre won the fight via unanimous decision and wisely spent his earnings from the fight. Instead of spending on luxury, St. Pierre spent money on essentials like a mortgage. The Canadian also spent money on trips to New York, Thailand, and Brazil to develop his skills. 

Invest Wisely St. Pierre also notes that many young fighters waste their early earnings on luxuries. The former UFC double champ advises young fighters to reinvest their earnings in developing themselves instead.

“In UFC, it was 3+3, $3,000 to show and $3,000 to win. Karo Parisyan… I reinvested in myself,” St. PIerre said on Demetrious Johnson’s podcast “I didn’t use…

Ilia Topuria has a strong response to Justin Gaethje’s father’s latest comments.

Interim champion Gaethje (27-5) will challenge Topuria (17-0) for the lightweight title in the main event at UFC White House on June 14. Gaethje’s father, John Ray Gaethje, acknowledges it as one of the biggest fights of his son’s life. However, with this being Gaethje’s third challenge for an undisputed title, his father recalls thinking the same about several past matchups. 

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Gaethje’s father believes it’s just another fight for “The Highlight” against a “short guy,” the likes of whom he has previously beaten. Gaethje Sr. believes his son will beat Topuria just like he beat Michael Chandler, Rafael Fiziev, and other short guys.

“This is the biggest fight of his life. But we’ve said that three or four other times… He’s fighting another little short guy, and he's done really well against Chandler, Fiziev, and a few others,’ Gaethe’s father said on YouTube. “I just …

Jay Silva passed away at 45 years old. | Piotr Pedziszewski

Jay Silva, a veteran of 27 professional fights, has died at 45 years old.

Fame MMA, the last organization for which Silva fought, brought word of his passing via social media on Monday. The cause of death was not revealed.

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Z ogromnym smutkiem informujemy o śmierci zawodnika FAME Jaya Silvy.

Jay swoimi występami wnosił wielki uśmiech, pozytywne emocje i profesjonalizm prawdziwego sportowca. Na zawsze pozostanie częścią historii naszej federacji!

Bliskim, rodzinie oraz przyjaciołom Jaya składamy… pic.twitter.com/dnRRA3MB8N — FAME MMA (@famemmatv) June 1, 2026

Silva went 12-14-1 over the course of an MMA career that began in 2008. He fought twice in the UFC from 2009 to 2010, dropping unanimous decisions against C.B. Dollaway and Chris Leben. “Da Spyda Killa’ also fought for Bellator MMA and challenged for middleweight gold in KSW. He squar…

Tito Ortiz suffered serious injuries in a recent boating accident. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz is still on the mend after being involved in what he calls “the worst accident of my life.”

The former UFC champion shared some of the details behind a boating accident that occurred 11 weeks ago in a post on social media on Monday.

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“I was thrown from a boat traveling approximately 55 [miles per hour] and launched nearly 10 feet into the air. I was knocked unconscious and woke up 10 feet underwater. I remember opening my eyes beneath the surface and realizing I had to get to the top. It took about six hard strokes before I finally broke through the water,” Ortiz wrote on Instagram.

“When I surfaced, the boat was over 100 yards away. As I floated there, trying to understand what had happened, I realized how close I had come to losing my life. Thankfully, the boat came back around and picked me up. I sat down on a be…

Josh Hokit and Sean O'Malley are ganging up as Team USA for the UFC White House card. 

While Hokit (9-0) fights Derrick Lewis (29-13) at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House, O’Malley (19-3) takes on Aiemann Zahabi (14-2) on the same card. Meanwhile, Alex Pereira (13-3) co-headlines the card in an interim heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane (13-2). And Ilia Topuria (17-0) puts his lightweight title on the line against Justin Gaethje (27-5) in the main event.

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Hokit launched an unprovoked tirade on Pereira during a promotional press conference for the card in Newark last month. While Pereira isn’t fluent in English, Topuria came to his defense and responded to Hokit by throwing a glass of water. Hokit was then escorted out of the presser before things could escalate. Hokit later said that O’Malley missed a perfect setup to plot a future fight against Topuria. Someone to Stand Behind O’Malley recently admitted he should have ba…

Ian Garry is expected to receive the next UFC welterweight title shot. | Getty/UFC

The Fighting Nerds coach Pablo Sucupira doesn’t think Carlos Prates needs to be overly patient for a UFC welterweight title shot.

Last week in an interview with Daniel Cormier on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast, Prates said that if the UFC required him to have one more fight before competing for the welterweight title, he would choose Michael Morales. In an exclusive interview with Sherdog.com on Monday, Sucupira disagreed with his pupil.

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“Prates knocked out two former champions in a row who had never been knocked out in the organization,” Sucupira said. “After what he did in Australia, at [Jack Della] Maddalena’s house, and the way he did it, I think the title fight is the next step. Makhachev and Garry should fight in August. We expect him to fight the winner by the end of the year.” .

In the view of the Fighting Nerds leader, the Irishman has everythin…

Approximately a year ago, Ben Askren came face-to-face with his mortality. This summer, he’ll make his return to active competition.

Askren will square off against Belal Muhammad at Real American Freestyle 11 on July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Askren initially announced the news on “"The Ariel Helwani Show,” and RAF later confirmed the booking via social media.

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“I was the first signee for Real American Freestyle back in May of 2025 prior to all my issues,” Askren said. “I love wrestling. I love what they're doing. I've been back coaching for three months or so right now on regular practices….They told me that they were doing a show in Milwaukee — I asked them to come to Milwaukee because I knew we would knock it out of the park.

“But it was July 18, and it was my birthday and I thought something spoke to me and said I need to wrestle on that. So i've been doing my very best every single day to train and to get in shape and it's feeling really good…

A rematch with Charles Oliveira appears to be a possibility for Arman Tsarukyan. | Getty/UFC

The stakes could be quite high when Arman Tsarukyan is ready to return to the Octagon.

The UFC lightweight contender offered some insight into his next MMA fight during a recent video blog posted on his YouTube channel.

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"My next fight is the title fight, which is probably in September in L.A.," Tsarukyan said. "But I'm a backup for the White House, too, if someone pulls out or gets hurt. ... I may fight him [Charles Oliveira] again.”Plenty to Be Determined There are a lot of moving parts involved with Tsarukyan’s statement. The UFC has yet to announce its schedule for September, but if Tsarukyan is correct, the promotion will hold a major event in California around that time. Ilia Topuria is currently slated to defend the lightweight belt against Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC White House on June 14. There has been speculation that if …

Islam Makhachev doesn’t hesitate to give credit where it’s due. 

Ilia Topuria will look to defend his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House. While Makhachev believes Gaethje still has a chance, he thinks “The Highlight” is a little past his prime. Makhachev believes Topuria will rule atop the lightweight division in the near future.

“Topuria is the new generation,” Makhachev told UFC on TNT Sports. “I still believe Gaethje can do something. But he’s a little bit old right now. He’s a good fighter, legend. He showed us many very good fights. But now I think it’s Topuria’s time for lightweight.”

What Might Have Been A matchup between Topuria (17-0) and Makhachev (28-1) is arguably the most anticipated matchup in recent history. Topuria was the featherweight champion when he started calling out Makhachev, who was the lightweight champion then. However, Makhachev didn’t want to give Topuria a title shot until “El …

Islam Makhachev believes Conor McGregor has a tough matchup for his return. 

McGregor is set to return for the first time since 2021 in a rematch against Max Holloway at UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. McGregor is a +300 underdog going into the fight against Holloway, a -450 favorite. While Makhachev believes McGregor’s return is good for the sport, the UFC welterweight champion is siding with the oddsmakers on this one.

Good for the Sport “It’s good. Big name for our sport,” Makhachev told UFC on TNT Sports. “But he have tough opponent, Max Holloway, against Conor. I think Max can beat him.”

McGregor (22-6) defeated Holloway (27-9) via a unanimous decision in their first matchup in his sophomore UFC outing in 2013. McGregor hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in a trilogy loss against Dustin Poirier in 2021. While “Notorious” has teased a return multiple times, it hasn’t come to fruition so far for various reasons. Meanwhile, Holloway has …

Ilia Topuria is leaving no stone unturned in preparing for his upcoming fight. 

Topuria (17-0) puts his lightweight title on the line against interim champion Justin Gaethje (27-5) in the main event at UFC White House on June 14. Topuria recently revealed a neurostimulation device he uses in fight camps. The device, which looks like a complicated headgear, has two variations. The version Topuria was wearing in his YouTube video is used to increase focus before training.

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“El Matador” claims the effect of the device is better than 100 cups of coffee. Topuria says there’s another version of the device that is used after training for mental recovery and sleep. Topuria jokes that the only flaw the device has is its weird appearance.Weird But Effective “This is neurostimulation with infrared light and serves for various things, to improve focus, for mental recovery, to improve sleep,” Topuria said on YouTube. “What I notice most is the focus before tr…