Martial Arts News

Former Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA talent Tofiq Musayev will make his Octagon debut against Myktybek Orolbai at UFC Baku.

Both fighters confirmed the booking via social media following an initial report from VestnikMMA. UFC Baku — also known as UFC on ABC 8 — takes place on June 21 at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan and is headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between Khalil Rountree and Jamahal Hill.

A native of Baku, Musaev hasn’t fought since November 2023, when he scored a second-round knockout of Koji Takeda at Rizin “Landmark Vol. 7.” In addition to being a lightweight grand prix winner with the Japanese promotion, Musayev went 1-1 during a brief stint in Bellator. Musayev was one of many prominent fighters slated to compete for the Global Fight League before the ill-fated promotion canceled its first two announced events earlier this year.

Orolbai, meanwhile, is coming off a memorable brawl at UFC 308, where he dropped a s…

Trevin Giles will replace Jeremiah Wells and face Andreas Gustafsson at UFC Fight Night on ESPN 68.

Both Giles and Gustafsson confirmed the booking on social media after the bout was listed on the UFC.com event page. Giles vs. Gustafsson will be contested at an 180-pound catchweight. UFC on ESPN 68 takes place on May 31 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a women’s flyweight scrap pitting Erin Blanchfield against Maycee Barber.

Giles will enter the short-notice bout on a three-fight skid. The 32-year-old Texan last appeared at UFC Edmonton, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Mike Malott on Nov. 2. Giles is 7-7 during his Octagon tenure.

Gustafsson will make his promotional debut after earning a UFC deal with a second-round stoppage of Pat Pytlik on Dana White's Contender Series last August. The 32-year-old Swede owns an 11-2 professional mark with 10 of those victories coming inside the distance.

Better keep an eye on this young man! 👀

🇨🇳Sulangrangbo makes his presence felt with an emphatic finish to the #RTU4 BW semifinals! pic.twitter.com/B5zZCDxYFk

— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) May 23, 2025

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Semifinalists in the “Road to UFC” Season 4 bantamweight and lightweight tournaments have revealed themselves, as the chase for an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract heats up.

Rangbo Sulang moved along in the 135-pound draw and did so in emphatic fashion on Friday at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, China, where he buried Peter Danesoe (8-4) with punches in the first round of their quarterfinal. Sulang (9-3) brought it to a close 3:48 into Round 1. The 19-year-old Enbo Fight Club prospect advances to meet Sim Kai Xiong (7-1)—a 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 unanimous decision winner over Kuya Ito (17-9-1)—in the bantamweight semifinals.

Lawrence Lui awaits Van Y Nghiem in the other bantamweight semifinal. Lui (6-1) pu…

𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 #PFLCapeTown 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗

Stayed tuned as more fight announcements are on the way! 🔜👀

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Tickets are on SALE NOW for July 19th 👇🎟️ https://t.co/24eUYWUFjL #PFLChampionSeries pic.twitter.com/E10ETYYXxx — PFL (@PFLMMA) May 23, 2025

Professional Fighters League added two solid matchups to its growing July 19 PFL Champions Series 2: 2025 Africa First Round event at GrandWest Arena in Capetown, South Africa.

Headlined by a middleweight title tilt pitting Johnny Eblen against Costello van Steenis, the event also features 2024 PFL champion Dakota Ditcheva, who will do battle with Bellator MMA veteran Sumiko Inaba.

On Friday, PFL revealed two more intriguing tilts to July 19’s lineup as A.J. McKee will lock horns with Akhmed Magomedov in a featherweight clash and Corey Anderson will toe the line against Denis Goltsov in a heavyweight scrap.

The PFL Africa 1 card will precede the PFL Cham…

⚡️Charles Oliveira says “it will be over” for Jack Della Maddalena if Islam Makhachev takes him down:

"I think Islam is going to do very well in this weight, right? Now, he's going to be much stronger...

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If [JDM] will let Islam grab him and put him down, it's over."… pic.twitter.com/937lhS4f01 — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 23, 2025

Charles Oliveira doesn’t think Jack Della Maddalena can hold his own on the ground against Islam Makhachev.

Makhachev (27-1) had long been eyeing a move up to welterweight, but his friend, former champ Belal Muhammad, stood as a hurdle. However, that changed with Maddalena (18-2) dethroned “Remember the Name” at UFC 315 earlier this month. Makhachev immediately announced a move to 170, with Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White confirming that he will challenge Maddalena for the title next.

Makhachev’s former foe Oliveira (35-10) recently shared his prediction fo…

Chael Sonnen responds to Islam Makhachev:

“In the future, if I want your opinion I’ll beat it out of you.” 👀🍿

🎥 @espnmma #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/Q4iPWF2Psa — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 23, 2025

Islam Makhachev didn’t hold back while responding to Chael Sonnen’s criticism.

Makhachev (27-1) recently announced a move to welterweight to challenge newly-crowned champ Jack Della Maddalena for the title. However, unlike many expected, Makhachev had to vacate his Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight strap, which will now be up for grabs between Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 on June 28.

Topuria also vacated his featherweight belt, chasing a lightweight title fight against Makhachev. However, Makhachev didn’t want to fight the Georgian Spaniard until he had proven himself at 155 pounds. Sonnen recently had some strong criticism for Makhachev’s move to 170. According to the Oregonian, Makhachev’s move is …

"It got serious right away, play fighting with Nate Diaz was a bad idea."

Jon Jones, who's currently serving as a captain on the Russian spin-off of the TUF reality show in Thailand, told Red Corner MMA about the conflict betwen Nate Diaz and one of the fighters from his team.… pic.twitter.com/HQ0gUctVmu

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 22, 2025

Jon Jones’ co-star, Nate Diaz, is no longer a part of the mixed martial arts reality show they were working on.

Jones and Diaz were filming a show for Russian television in Thailand. A brawl recently broke out on the show's set, seemingly during the filming of the first episode. A fighter named Zalik was seen approaching Diaz, who shrugged him off before a full-scale brawl broke out. A teammate of Diaz even punched Zalik to escalate matters further. Diaz and his team subsequently parted ways with the show and returned to the U.S.

Jones’ version of things were pretty much matched …

Strategy on point! 🎯

🇦🇺’s Sebastian Szalay wins via UD to advance in the #RTU4 featherweight semis! pic.twitter.com/LNSVCZsliP

— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) May 22, 2025

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship now knows the identities of the featherweight and flyweight participants in the “Road to UFC” Season 4 semifinals.

Eternal MMA featherweight champion Sebastian Szalay advanced in the 145-pound draw with a unanimous decision over Jieleyisi Baergeng (19-7) in their three-round quarterfinal on Thursday at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, China. Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Szalay (9-1), who has rattled off eight consecutive victories. The 31-year-old Australian moves on to face Chang Min Yoon (8-2-1)—a 30-27, 28-29, 30-27 split decision winner over Jin Aoi (14-6-1)—in the featherweight semifinals.

A NASTY KNOCKOUT VIA KNEE 🫣

Keiichiro Nakamura delivers a stunner to advan…

𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙇𝙊𝙒 𝙕𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙋𝘼𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙆 𝙃𝘼𝘽𝙄𝙍𝙊𝙍𝘼 👊🇧🇪

Patrick Habirora delivered one of the flashiest knockouts last time he stepped into the SmartCage

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He returns on Saturday, July 5th at #PFLBrussels

Follow @PFLEurope for the latest announcements… pic.twitter.com/Yzhc16CS8z

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 22, 2025 Professional Fighters League on Thursday made public its plans for July 5’s 2025 PFL Europe 2 in Brussels, Belgium. The event was originally slated for May 23 in Paris, but was postponed on May 8 for undisclosed reasons.

Undefeated Belgian 165-pound prospect Patrick Habirora (6-0) will anchor the card against a yet-to-be-revealed opponent. Habirora’s Red Kings teammate, Boris Mbarga Atangana (5-0), will also lock horns with a foe to be determined.

The bill’s co-main event will see Taylor Lapilus (21-4) make his SmartCage debut against 2024 PFL MENA bantamweight champion Ali Taleb (12-1). Rounding out the card wil…

Noche UFC: For Mexico, For All Time won the Sports Emmy for Graphic Design - Specialty.#UFCpic.twitter.com/RYyu6TLGQM

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 21, 2025

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s memorable event at The Sphere has received some accolades from outside the MMA realm.

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Noche UFC, also known as UFC 306, received a pair of Sports Emmy awards on Tuesday night — one for Outstanding Graphic Design — Specialty and another for Outstanding Studio or Production Design/Art Direction. The 46th annual event was held at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York.

Noche UFC, UFC 306 at Noche UFC won the Sports Emmy for Studio or Production Design/Art Direction#UFC pic.twitter.com/uZrvLMAgbN

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 21, 2025

The Outstanding Graphic Design honor was for the the film, "For Mexico, For All Time,” which ran in six, 90-second segments throughout …

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Mauricio Ruffy believes Belal Muhammad’s loss to Jack Della Maddalena is a sign of things to come.

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In an interview on Laerte Viana’s YouTube channel, Ruffy analyzed the UFC 315 main event. Muhammad, who has a close relationship with the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, struggled to implement his preferred style against his Australian opponent.

“I've seen this fight three times. Maddalena fought very well, very intelligently, taking the angle and anticipating Belal's takedowns and imposing his own,” Ruffy said. “He did exactly what I would do. Maybe I would land few more counter strikes. The fact is that fighters are increasingly reading the ugly game of these Russians and falling less. A natural process of MMA evolution.”

While Muhammad isn’t Russian, his grinding approach isn’t unlike some of his Dagestani counterparts. Ruffy has plans on creating a shirt that answers one the Dagestanis made as a taunt to B…

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Jean Silva is taking his study of Ilia Topuria seriously.

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After Topuria recently dismissed Silva’s offer to help prepare Charles Oliveira for his lightweight title fight against “El Matador” at UFC 317, the Fighting Nerds product took to YouTube to show some mistakes the Georgian-Spaniard made in fights against Bryce Mitchell and Jai Herbert.

“Actually, I did better than you. Look at my fight against Bryce Mitchell and see how many punches he landed on me. You got hit and rocked,” Silva said.

Both Silva and Topuria submitted Mitchell in the second round of their respective fights.

Silva also highlighted a moment when Topuria was knocked down by Herbert in his fourth UFC fight. The Brazilian was quick to note that he hasn’t been dropped yet in five Octagon appearances.

“You got knocked down, I didn’t,” Silva said. “By the way, compare the dominant way I beat my first five oponents. It's not because they are bad. I…