Martial Arts News

Kangjie Zhu won’t face Ramon Taveras at UFC Macau. 

Zhu and Taveras were set to trade leather in a featherweight tilt at UFC Fight Night 277 on May 30 at the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China. However, Taveras is now out of the booking due to unknown reasons. Taveras will be replaced by Rodrigo Vera, who steps in on three weeks’ notice. Vera’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, was first to announce the new booking.

Riding a five-fight winning streak, Kangjie (21-4) makes his debut in his homeland after winning the Road to UFC Season 3 featherweight tournament last year. Meanwhile, fellow debutant Vera (21-1) is also making waves on the regional circuit. The Peruvian is undefeated in 13 straight bouts since 2020. 

Prospects Collide

🚨 We’re very pleased & excited to announce that #TeamIridium’s @rodrigovera3 (21-1-1) is taking his talents to the @ufc & will make his highly anticipated Octagon premiere at #UFCMacau 📃🖊 #…

Ultimate Fighting Championship head Dana White had few answers for his actions a couple years ago.

At a New Year’s Eve celebration in Mexico at the end of 2022, White was filmed slapping his wife in the midst of a physical altercation. As seen in the video, he appeared to grab wife, Anne, by the wrist, and she struck him in the face. He responded by slapping her back, before others intervened. White received no public punishment from his organization, and no charges were filed.

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White and his wife both explained later that alcohol played a factor into tensions escalating between them, resulting in them slapping one another. After regularly declaring that “there is never an excuse for a man to put his hands on a woman,” he did so and did not receive any notable consequences. White suggested that the stigma of him doing so was his punishment, that he would always been known as a man who struck his wife.Rules for thee, not for me Appearing on a recent e…

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Conor McGregor is coming back soon.

Ultimate Fighting Championship star McGregor has often been a subject for discussion since his last fight in July 2021 when Dustin Poirier broke his leg in their trilogy match. Regularly injecting himself into championship conversations, keeping himself in the news by floating things like vying for the middleweight belt, he has been regularly asked about by fans and media members alike.

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On Thursday, UFC chief Dana White appeared on “The Jim Rome Show,” where he spoke about McGregor’s future with the promotion. White explained upfront that the relationship between McGregor and the company is indeed in a good place. He further noted that the comeback for the Irishman, who will turn 38 in July, is in the works. McGregor himself often posts photos and videos of his training to get in shape for his next match.The cure for the summertime bluesIf what White says comes to fruition…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship's biggest grudge match of 2026 is now official after the UFC 328 weigh-ins.

UFC middleweight king Khamzat Chimaev and challenger Sean Strickland have had a war of words in the lead-up to their five-round fight, and it's clear no love has been lost. However, both men were pure professionals when it came to making weight for the UFC 328 main event, as both came in under the 185-pound championship limit. Meanwhile, flyweight champion Joshua Van and challenger Tatsuro Taira both weighed 125 pounds on the dot for their co-main event fight. In total, 13 fights are now set after all fighters made weight with the exception of Jeremy Stephens, who came in four pounds over the lightweight limit for his fight against King Green and will be fined 30% of his purse as a result.

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The undefeated Chimaev (15-0) will look to make his first championship defense against his one-time training partner. "Borz" is coming…

When looking solely at the revenue statements, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is bigger and badder than ever.

During a TKO-run financial call on Wednesday, TKO Group Holdings President Mark Shapiro shrugged off any concerns that fans and media have raised lately about the quality of its events. All across social media, fans have lambasted the UFC’s matchmaking and card creation decisions this year since the Paramount deal came into play. The claims of fewer ranked combatants on the billing, a smaller number of championship pairings and more fights with athletes on long losing streaks have plagued the promotion as of late.

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Prior to UFC 328 on Saturday, the promotion has only run three championship bouts this year: Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett, Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2 and Carlos Ulberg vs. Jiri Prochazka. Four more are on the books through June, with two of those at UFC 328 and the other two at the UFC White House event.

As …

Before you read how much it will cost some to attend the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s White House show, you might want to be sitting down.

At the UFC White House card on June 14, approximately 4,000 to 4,500 individuals will be able to attend in the newly constructed arena built for this event alone. It will be held on the White House lawn, with stands for seating and a giant framework overhead for lighting and possibly rain protection in the event of inclement weather. Some have hailed the structure, which was seen being put together in Pennsylvania, as something reminiscent of a roller coaster.

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The promotion has said it will be spending around $30 million of its own money to run this event, reportedly without assistance from the government. Public seating will not be available, although there will be limited opportunities for fans to win contests and earn tickets. Otherwise, those seats will be specifically sold by the UFC in conjunction with …

The four men at the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship White House card billing can win a two-of-a-kind prize.

On Wednesday, the promotion brought the four headliners of the UFC White House event to the White House for some staredowns, interviews and meet-and-greets with the president. President Donald Trump showed off mockup images of the arena that will be constructed specifically for the event. Additionally, he revealed that there will be custom belts up for grabs.

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Atop the billing is a unified lightweight championship pairing between Georgian champ Ilia Topuria and American interim titleholder Justin Gaethje. In the co-main attraction, Brazilian former two-division champion Alex Pereira will move up to challenge French ex-interim titlist Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight strap. All four men were in attendance clad in suits for the big day. Per the reveals, both newly crowned champions will be taking home a specially created gold be…

It was always a question of when, not if, the Professional Fighters League would hold a fight card in Saudi Arabia this year.

Via press release on Thursday, the organization announced that June 19 would be the date of the next Saudi Arabian fight card run by the PFL. The event, which is currently listed as PFL MENA 10, does not currently have a headliner or billing set. Fights will go down at the King Abdullah Sports City Indoor Arena in Jeddah. The promotion announced that a pair of local athletes would be competing at the event, with one of the two making their professional debuts.

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Currently 3-0 as a professional, the PFL has indicated that Jeddah native Malik Basahel will absolutely be part of the lineup. He does not yet have an opponent announced, with that news coming soon. A longtime amateur, Basahel dabbled in the PFL three times as an unpaid athlete until he flipped the switch in May 2025 to enter the professional ranks. Over the course of …

Despite not winning a performance bonus for his victory over Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327, Paulo “Borrachinha” Costa has nothing to complain about regarding the fruits of his labor.

With a long history at middleweight and now ranked No. 7 by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the light heavyweight division, Costa feels he has a real chance of competing for the 205-pound interim belt soon with champ Carlos Ulberg recovering from a serious knee injury. He has also been called out by former champion Jiri Prochazka.

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And the Brazilian's range of possibilities doesn't end there. After challenging Josh Hokit for “stealing his bonus” at UFC 327 and receiving a positive response from the American, a match at heavyweight has also become an option for Costa.

“I have one more fight on my UFC contract and thank God there are plenty of options,” Costa said. “I can fight in all three divisions.”

When asked who he would select between Hokit, Prochazka and m…

Johnny Eblen has waited patiently, and will now get his shot at redemption 364 days after losing his crown.

That moment will come on July 18 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas, as the Professional Fighters League on Wednesday revealed its plans for a rematch pitting PFL middleweight champion Costello van Steenis against the man he dramatically upset almost a year ago to the day.

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“This is the fight that fans have been asking for since the moment Costello secured the rear-naked choke in the final seconds of their first world championship fight,” PFL CEO John Martin stated in a news release. “There were a lot of opinions about how that fight ended, and both fighters have something to prove. Now we have a massive rematch with everything on the line, validation for ‘The Spaniard,’ or redemption for ‘Pressure.’ I can’t wait to see how it plays out on July 18.”

Eblen (17-1) was widely considered to be one of the best middleweights in the world before…

Khamzat Chimaev has shared a glimpse of his sparring with Sean Strickland.

Chimaev will put his middleweight title on the line against Strickland in the main event at UFC 328 on May 9 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. There is some serious beef between Chimaev and Strickland from their time training together.

Chimaev (15-0) briefly trained with Strickland (30-7) at the Xtreme Couture MMA in Las Vegas. Things allegedly went sour between the two after Strickland made insensitive comments about Chimaev’s homeland of Chechnya. Strickland claims Chimaev didn’t show up when invited to settle things like men. Meanwhile, Chimaev says those who saw them train together know what went down.

Chimaev also made Strickland tap out in sparring, which the American admitted in a previous interview with “The Schmo.” However, Strickland has since dismissed it as a situational grappling session.

Strickland has recently accused Chimaev of bullying lesser fighters in …

While both are known for their trash talk, Sean Strickland is not a fan of Josh Hokit.

Hokit has quickly risen to stardom in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, cutting pro wrestling-style promos. “The Incredible Hok” also toes the boundary at times, like saying Curtis Blaydes’ parents knew the exact position of coitus to have ugly offspring.

Strickland, who is known for his controversial trash talk, believes Hokit’s style is fake and fabricated. Strickland claims he instantly shuts off clips of Hokit whenever they pop up on his feed. Strickland is also not a fan of Hokit interviewing random people on the streets. However, Strickland has nothing personal against Hokit and even likes him as a person. Strickland further admits that while he may not like it, Hokit’s style is seemingly working as it has landed him a spot on the UFC White House: Freedom 250 card.

“I respect him for doing it,” Strickland said on UFC on Paramount. “To me, it’s too much. It’s so fake …