Martial Arts News

Scott Coker is proud of the executive team he has assembled. | Christian Stein/Sherdog.com

Some familiar faces will be on board when Scott Coker’s new mixed martial arts promotion launches in 2027.

Coker, who announced plans for a new organization set to debut next year, revealed on Wednesday the addition of six new executives to his leadership team. One noteworthy member of that group is Rich Chou, who served as matchmaker under Coker during their tenures in Bellator MMA and Strikeforce. Chou’s official title is executive vice president, athlete relations, and he will be “central to the league’s competition strategy and its commitment to building authentic relationships with fighters and fight teams,” per a release.

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Coker’s Executive Team: -Kevin Kay, chief content officer (Paramount Network, Spike TV)-Tom Fox, chief operating officer (Gatorade, NBA Properties, Arsenal)-Rich Chou, executive vice president, athlete relations (Strikefor…

Islam Dulatov is set to return to action after a year. 

Dulatov (12-1) is scheduled to take on Wellington Turman (18-8) at UFC Fight Night 282 on July 25 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The promotion announced the welterweight pairing via social media.

A Different Kind of Work History Dulatov has previously modeled for renowned brands like Versace and Gucci and also shared the stage once with Bella and Gigi Hadid. However, the Chechen-born German left modeling to pursue MMA. Since suffering a loss in his MMA debut in 2019, Dulatov has finished 12 straight fights, going past the first round on only one occasion. “The Ripper” earned his UFC contract with a first-round KO on Dana White's Contender Series in 2024, and lived up to his hype with another first-round KO over Adam Fugitt in his UFC debut last year. 

Meanwhile, Turman is 3-6 in the UFC since his promotional debut in 2019. The 29-year-old’s contract will probably be on the line as he looks to r…

Arman Tsarukyan doesn’t think coach Sam Calavitta is to blame for Khamzat Chimaev’s loss against Sean Strickland. 

Chimaev lost his middleweight title to Strickland in a huge upset at UFC 328 last month. Chimaev look visibly fatigued after a sloppy takedown attempt in the second round and wasn’t nearly as dominant with his wrestling thereafter. “Borz” also had a terrible weight cut, with many even accusing him of missing weight. 

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Chimaev (15-1) was doing his strength and conditioning training under coach Calavitta at The Treigning Lab aka the Garage in California. Chimaev’s close friend Tsarukyan and other fighters like Khalil Rountree also joined him in camp at the Garage. The team, including athletes from different sports, were seen undergoing gruelling training sessions under coach Cal. Calavitta has faced severe backlash from fans and pundits following Chimaev’s first professional loss. Calavitta is being accused of overtraining Chimaev …

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 …