Martial Arts News

Dricus Du Plessis claims he forgot what losing felt like before his first defeat in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The former middleweight champion returns to action against ex-welterweight king Kamaru Usman in the UFC Oklahoma City main event on July 18, his first appearance since dropping the 185-pound championship to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 last year. The defeat snapped an eight-year unbeaten streak dating back to a knockout loss during his time on KSW.

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Dricus Du Plessis reflects on losing the UFC middleweight title and his return against Kamaru Usman Ahead of his return to the Octagon nearly a year after his loss to Chimaev, du Plessis has opened up about losing his middleweight crown, revealing initial disappointment followed by a surge of motivation to regain the title.

“Yeah, so I haven't lost in quite some time -- eight years -- and I kind of forgot how it felt," du Plessis said in a recent interview. “Now, I know exactly why. I …

Demetrious Johnson has no regrets about walking away from mixed martial arts.

Unlike many fighters who continue competing well past their prime, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship and One Championship titleholder retired on his own terms after defending his One title in 2023. "Mighty Mouse" recently claimed that the transition has been easier because he never allowed fame to define him.

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Demetrious Johnson discusses UFC Hall of Fame induction and MMA retirement Johnson (25-4-1) is content with his career and retirement. Speaking on the UFC Hall of Fame red carpet, the new inductee revealed that having humility and staying humble served him well in the long run.

“I think for me, probably because my whole career, I've stayed humble and had humility. You know, I never let the lights get to me.”

Johnson then recalled winning the UFC flyweight title at UFC 152 before quickly returning to everyday life.

“After I'll have a big amazing fi…

Dricus Du Plessis believes that the winner of his upcoming bout deserves to fight Sean Strickland next for the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title.

The South African is set to face fellow former champion Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City on July 18. With both fighters gunning for another outing against current champ Strickland, du Plessis has laid out his case for a title shot.

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Dricus Du Plessis explains his path back to Sean Strickland Ahead of his fight with Usman, du Plessis discussed the title picture at middleweight. When asked whether the winner of his next bout should fight for the belt next, "Stillknocks" replied in the affirmative, citing how he already has two wins over Strickland.

“Absolutely, because I have defended my belt against two of the best fighters in the world, the current champion being one of them,” du Plessis said in a recent interview.

However, a win might not be enough, as du Plessis …

Jared Cannonier claims he has earned the right to get paid much more than the Ultimate Fighting Championship is currently paying him.

Cannonier is scheduled to fight at UFC Oklahoma City against Christian Leroy Duncan (14-2) in the co-main event. It will mark his 21st Octagon outing, having competed in the UFC since 2015, across three different divisions. Considering how many fights he has in the premier MMA promotion, he believes his compensation is below par.

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Jared Cannonier discusses UFC fighter pay, sponsorship changes and his middleweight career Cannonier would love all MMA fighters to earn more in general. However, "The Killa Gorilla" believes there are varying levels of skill sets even in the UFC. Considering his own pedigree, Cannonier believes he deserves a much better contract with the UFC.

“I would love to get paid more,” Cannonier told Full Send MMA. “I would love all of us MMA fighters to get paid more. But there is big differentiatio…

Ultimate Fighting Championship star Jon Jones is willing to “let bygones be bygones” to do business with Dana White.

They recently had a falling out. White was strongly backing Jones when the former two-division champion was being accused of trying to avoid interim champion Tom Aspinall. White kept assuring fans that Jones would eventually fight Aspinall. However, Jones ultimately vacated the belt, creating tension between himself and the UFC CEO.

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Jones (28-1) returned to the drug testing pool just weeks later, when plans for the UFC Freedom 250 were first mentioned. "Bones" repeatedly campaigned for a spot on the card, but failed to do so as White made it clear that Jones was never even in consideration to fight at the White House. This drew the ire of Jones, who claimed he was indeed in negotiations for the historic event and started publicly asking for his UFC release.Jon Jones addresses Dana White fallout after UFC Freedom 250 controversy The te…

Israel Adesanya believes Conor McGregor might’ve entered his last bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship injured.

McGregor's comeback ended after just 69 seconds when he appeared to suffer a knee injury early in the opening round, resulting in a loss to Max Holloway in their rematch at UFC 329. There’s growing discourse surrounding whether the Irishman was carrying an injury into the bout, as he did in his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier, which also ended in anticlimactic fashion.

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The former UFC middleweight champion pointed to footage from the pre-fight inspection, saying McGregor appeared reluctant to put weight on his right leg before stepping into the Octagon.Israel Adesanya discusses Conor McGregor’s right leg concerns before UFC 329 loss to Max Holloway Speaking on his "Precision with Mighty & Izzy" podcast alongside former UFC star Demetrious Johnson, Adesanya emphasized that McGregor was clearly dealing with some leg-related iss…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Jon Jones would consider competing against Oleksandr Usyk, but not in boxing.

Usyk vacated his IBA, WBC and WBA heavyweight boxing titles last month. However, the Ukrainian legend isn’t hanging up his gloves just yet. Usyk’s advisor, Sergey Lapin, subsequently revealed that they are considering Jon Jones and Deontay Wilder as potential opponents for one last fight.

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Jon Jones explains why an MMA fight with Oleksandr Usyk interests him more than boxing While Jones (28-1) isn’t interested in boxing Usyk, he’s open to an MMA bout. "Bones" notes that wrestling is an important part of Usyk’s training regimen and that he’d gladly share the cage with him.

Jones doesn’t want to limit his arsenal by entering the squared circle against Usyk. While he doesn’t consider himself an elite boxer, he also doesn’t think of Usyk as a complete fighter. The American then claimed that he would definitely come out on top if t…

Bogdan Guskov is now used to the chaotic package that is Valter Walker.

Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters Guskov and Walker are training partners at Gor MMA under head coach Gor Azizyan. The latter has a loud personality and rarely hesitates to pull off embarrassing pranks in public, and the former was his latest victim.

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Bogdan Guskov reacts to Valter Walker prank ahead of UFC Abu Dhabi In his latest prank, the Brazilian bizarrely touched Guskov’s manhood on camera. However, Guskov has learned to be unfazed by Walter’s antics.

Guskov believes Walker has chaos inside his head. While Guskov doesn’t understand Walker, he considers “The Foot Hunter” a friend. The Uzbek fighter neither took the incident seriously in any way nor tried to stop Walker from posting it on social media.

“He is a f*cking moron. A fool. A f*cking idiot. I didn’t expect that. I don’t understand him at all,” Guskov told Red Corner MMA. “He’s got chaos in his head. We’…

Ultimate Fighting Championship legend Jon Jones believes Ciryl Gane’s confidence will play a key role in a rematch against Tom Aspinall.

Gane (14-2) challenged Aspinall (15-3) for the heavyweight title in their first meeting at UFC 321 last October. However, the fight ended in an unfortunate no-contest after a double eye poke by Gane in the first round rendered Aspinall unable to continue.

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While Aspinall subsequently underwent eye surgery, Gane defeated Alex Pereira to win the interim heavyweight title at UFC Freedom 250. "Bon Gamin" is now expected to challenge Aspinall in a title unification bout next and Jones believes the Frenchman will come out on top.Why Jon Jones believes Ciryl Gane has the edge over Tom Aspinall According to Jones, Gane’s confidence is soaring after his win over Pereira. The former champion also notes that Aspinall was looking invincible until he faced Gane at UFC 321. Notably, many, including UFC CEO Dana White, opined that…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship nearly beat its record set a few weeks ago.

Per a release from the UFC’s broadcast partner of Paramount+, the official viewership numbers for UFC 329 are now out. According to the release, viewers in the U.S. and Latin America combined for a whopping 15.9 million total viewers. The breakdown for the U.S. totaled 14.3 million while the other countries combined for 1.6 million on the streaming service. This total does not eclipse the 17 million reached by the UFC White House card

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Even as it brought in an average of 6.5 million average viewers, that tally falls far short of the number on the June 14 spectacle show. The UFC White House event saw 8.2 million average viewers—it has since corrected the number previously submitted of seven million—throughout that Sunday night, one where the event started late due to a weather delay.UFC 329 beat UFC White House in one major metricWhile the UFC White House show largely su…

Jake Paul believes a mixed martial arts debut could be in his future once he returns from the jaw injury that has sidelined him since losing to Anthony Joshua.

Paul recently revealed that he expects to be medically cleared for full-contact sparring within the next few weeks as he continues recovering from the broken jaw he suffered against Joshua last December. Apart from his return to boxing, "The Problem Child” said that he also plans to make his MMA debut under the Most Valuable Promotions banner.

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Paul says the proposed Nate Diaz matchup remains a possibility as MVP expands into MMA. Now weeks away from getting cleared for full-contact sparring, Paul has revealed that he is planning a switch to the cage, with Nate Diaz as the likely opponent. Notably, Diaz has already fought under MVP, losing to Mike Perry at the promotion’s inaugural MMA event.

“Maybe I'll do some MMA. We've got a lot of stuff with MVP coming soon, big promotions getting more i…

Scott Coker's new global mixed martial arts promotion has further strengthened its leadership team ahead of its planned 2027 launch.

The organization recently announced that longtime sports media executive Steve Bornstein has joined its advisory board. Bornstein will advise the promotion on media strategy, distribution, technology, fan engagement and commercial development as the league continues preparations for its inaugural season.

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Steve Bornstein joins Scott Coker's new MMA promotion According to a press release, Bornstein has joined an advisory group assembled to help guide the promotion's global rollout.

“Steve Bornstein is one of the great builders in the history of sports media," Coker said in the release. “His experience connecting fans to premium live sports is invaluable as we continue to build.”

Bornstein previously served as the youngest president and CEO in ESPN history. He later worked as president and CEO of NFL Network and execu…