Martial Arts News

While Movsar Evloev is grateful to be taking on a legend in his maiden title bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Russian foresees one-way traffic.

Evloev (20-0) is set to challenge Volkanovski (28-4) for the UFC featherweight championship in the UFC 333 main event on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. The matchup has been brewing for quite some time now and Evloev claims his skills have improved, predicting he’ll have his way against the two-time Aussie champ.

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Movsar Evloev questions Alexander Volkanovski’s strategy ahead of their UFC 333 title fight Evloev opened up about his upcoming fight with Volkanovski in an interview with MMA Junkie, in which he outlined his improvements in the striking department.

“To become a champion while beating a legend, that's the dream of fighters,” Evloev said. “My skills are getting better. My striking, everyone noticed, is a little bit better than I do before. We're confident to fight with a guy like Alex. We resp…

Muhammad Mokaev is convinced he’s the best flyweight across mixed martial arts.

Mokaev (17-0) continues to win titles outside the Ultimate Fighting Championship since his controversial exit from the promotion. He repeatedly campaigned for a UFC return while picking up wins in MMA, submission grappling and Karate Combat.

Muhammad Mokaev explains why he believes he’s the world’s top flyweight When asked by Red Corner MMA whether he considers himself the best 125-pounder in the world, Mokaev reiterated his past claims. The Dagestan-born Brit added that he’ll continue winning outside the UFC after being denied a title shot in the premier organization.

“I just know it,” Mokaev said. “I know they just didn’t give me a chance to get the belt. I’ll keep collecting belts all over the world and calling their fighters out.”

After leaving the UFC, he won the Brave CF flyweight championship before adding the ACBJJ title to his list of accolades. After winning the latter, “T…

Israel Adesanya has switched up preparation as he looks to halt his losing skid in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Adesanya was recently spotted training at Freestyle MMA Performance Centre in Sydney alongside UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and Mauricio Ruffy. This comes after “The Last Stylebender” parted ways with his longtime gym, City Kickboxing.

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Israel Adesanya begins first camp since leaving City Kickboxing Adesanya has been finished thrice since losing the middleweight title, most recently suffering a second-round knockout loss to Joe Pyfer in March. The Nigerian-born Kiwi hasn’t won since defeating Alex Pereira to reclaim the 185-pound championship over three years ago.

Ruffy shared clips on social media of Adesanya training at the Sydney gym, which is also home to Volkanovski. Ruffy moved to the facility after leaving the Fighting Nerds following his loss to Benoit St. Denis and has since won two straight fights, i…

Jorge Masvidal remembers exactly how Kimbo Slice influenced his career.

Speaking to Daniel Cormier, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger and BMF champ detailed how a shared connection to Miami's Freestyle Fighting Academy eventually led to him competing on Slice's backyard-fight platform.

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Jorge Masvidal recalls how Kimbo Slice gave him a shot on his backyard-fight platform Masvidal revealed that he and Slice came from nearby areas, had mutual friends and began training together at the same gym. By then, Masvidal was already pursuing mixed martial arts seriously.

“Well, particularly with Kimbo, it just so happened we didn’t grow up far from each other,” Masvidal said. “We had some friends in common and we ended up at the same gym, Freestyle Fighting Academy, and we started training.”

Masvidal recalled already having amateur fights and grappling experience when one of the gym owners asked Slice to watch him spar. At the ti…

Khamzat Chimaev understands why Nassourdine Imavov is the frontrunner to face Sean Strickland.

Chimaev has been pushing for an immediate rematch with Strickland after losing the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title, but is now open to waiting for a title shot. Amidst reports that Strickland vs. Imavov 2 is being targeted for later this year, “Borz” has set his sights on the victor.

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Khamzat Chimaev wants the winner of Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavov 2 Chimaev acknowledged that Imavov, who’s won five fights in a row since previously losing to Strickland, has been waiting for a deserved title shot for quite some time.

“No, there’s no surprise,” Chimaev told Ushatayka, as seen in a clip reposted by Championship Rounds on X. “How long has Imavov been waiting now? Probably around two years. He’s already the contender. Whoever wins, we’ll take him.”

In the same interview, Chimaev asserted that he has no plans to leave the divisio…

Young featherweight debutants are reportedly set to clash at the fourth edition of Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Mexican Independence Day celebration.

Jessie Rosas will take on Sean King in a featherweight clash at Noche UFC 4 on Sept. 12 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. They are set to collide on the Fight Night’s prelims.

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Jessie Rosas draws unbeaten Sean King for his UFC debut in Glendale Rosas (8-1) is currently on a three-fight winning streak since his lone professional loss in 2024. The 23-year-old has finished six of his eight career wins. While Rosas shuffles between bantamweight and featherweight, he will make his UFC debut at 145 pounds. He is the older brother of UFC bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr.

Meanwhile, King (6-0) was originally expected to fight on Dana White’s Contender Series in October. However, the 22-year-old now gets a direct entry into the big stage. King is undefeated in six pro fights since turning pro last y…

Tyson Fury appears to have run out of patience with the long-running saga involving Anthony Joshua.

Fury and Joshua have spent months trying to finalize their highly anticipated heavyweight matchup, but negotiations have stalled over the location. Fury's side has pushed for the fight to take place in the United States, while Joshua and Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn have favored England.

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Tyson Fury says Anthony Joshua fight is ‘going nowhere’ amid location dispute Fury took to Instagram and claimed that Joshua is the primary roadblock for the fight coming to fruition.

“The facts are you don’t want to fight,” Fury said in an Instagram video. “Because if you did, you’d be ready to rock and roll like I am. Tyson Fury has already said 1,000 times will fight anywhere, no problem at all. Turki Alalshikh has paid you tens of millions to fight and you’re still acting like little b*tches. It is what it is. There’s nothing I can do. I can’t make a coward figh…

Hawaii is a targeted future destination for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

During his recent appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” UFC CEO Dana White was asked where he’d like to stage an event the promotion has never visited previously. Hawaii immediately came to mind, although he explained that infrastructure has prevented the promotion from staging an event there, but a new arena is apparently in the works.

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Dana White points to a new Hawaii arena as the key to UFC's long-awaited debut According to White, the state's existing infrastructure has been the biggest obstacle to staging an event. However, with a new arena targeted for 2028-29, taking the promotion to the island state is a priority.

“One of our biggest markets since day one has been Hawaii, and we’ve still never put on an event in Hawaii,” White said. “We’ve had multiple world champions from Hawaii. The infrastructure there can’t support a UFC event. But now they’re building a new a…

Jason Jackson believes he can disrupt the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division and upset the reigning champ.

Jackson recently called for a UFC signing while making a bold claim. The former Bellator welterweight champion believes he can defeat UFC welterweight king Islam Makhachev. Furthermore, the 35-year-old says the premier promotion doesn’t want him on the roster, considering his age.

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Jason Jackson explains why he believes he can beat UFC champ Islam Makhachev Makhachev faced one of the toughest tests of his career while successfully defending his welterweight title against Ian Garry at UFC 330. Jackson claims he had his way with Garry in training and never struggled against the Irishman.

Jackson also handed Yaroslav Amosov his lone career loss. According to the Jamaican, Amosov, who has finished both of his UFC wins so far, is a better fighter than Makhachev. He believes the UFC isn’t offering him a contract as they fear that …

Bilal Hasan is unburdened by his perfect record.

Hasan (10-0) is rapidly rising to stardom less than a week after making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut. He earned his UFC contract with a 45-second knockout win on Dana White’s Contender Series less than three weeks prior.

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Bilal Hasan explains why protecting his 10-0 record doesn't consume him Hasan says he isn’t concerned about losing his perfect record. While many undefeated prospects are devastated after their first loss, Hasan says he is used to losing in the gym. He claims he loves the sport as it gives him space for endless growth and is excited to be a student and keep learning forever.

“Not at all, man. I lose every day in the gym, and it’s cool,” Hasan told Bedtime MMA. “I love that, man; that’s how it should be. The No. 1 thing I love about martial arts, and I know you train as well, is the learning, man. The constant being a student, being a sponge, it’s so cool. There’s so much…

Fares Ziam plans to move to the United States to develop his game.

Ziam is scheduled to fight fellow Frenchman Alex Sola in the co-main event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event in France on Sept. 5. He did most of his camp in Denver under Justin Gaethje’s head coach, Trevor Wittman, and eventually wants to move stateside.

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Fares Ziam plans to move his family to Denver to develop his UFC career Ziam says that while he didn’t previously have a head coach, he believes he needs one at the highest level. He eventually plans to move with his family to Denver to train under Wittman, whom he considers the best head coach for himself.

“My plan is to move with my family to the U.S. to be in Denver,” Ziam told MMA Junkie. “Two to three years in Denver and forget. For me, it’s important to evolve in this game, to be focused. Before, I didn’t get any head coach; I had a team around me. But at this level, we need a head coach, a guy who is looking out …

Movsar Evloev is unimpressed with women’s mixed martial arts.

Evloev recently revealed that he finds it hard to watch women’s MMA. The Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight claims to have only ever enjoyed one women’s MMA bout and is curious about the viewership numbers an all-women promotion would garner.

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UFC 333 title challenger Movsar Evloev questions the appeal of women’s MMA Evloev was impressed with Rose Namajunas’ title defense against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in their rematch at UFC 223 in 2018. However, every other bout is a challenging viewing experience, according to the unbeaten Russian. He jokes that the UFC should start a separate league for women’s MMA and check its viewership.

“I don’t watch women’s fights,” Evloev told MMA Junkie. “I can’t watch; it’s so hard. One fight I watched and liked was [Joanna] Jedrzejczyk and [Rose] Namajunas, the second one… I don’t watch a lot of fights, but all the fights I watched of women weren’t goo…