Martial Arts News

Francis Ngannou wanted to fight out his contract with the Professional Fighters League. 

PFL announced its split with Ngannou earlier this month. This was immediately followed by the announcement of Ngannou’s booking against Philipe Lins on May 16 on MVP’s first MMA card in collaboration with Netflix. 

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Ngannou claims he still had a fight left on his PFL contract, which he wanted to exhaust. However, the PFL allegedly told Ngannou for a year that they were working on it. Ngannou also believes the major changes in the PFL leadership led to a delay in proceedings. While Ngannou used to previously discuss fight-related matters with former CEO Peter Murray, he was replaced by John Martin last year.Slow Negotiations “I think I had one fight left, and I was hoping to have that fight since last year,” Ngannou said on "The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I’ve been asking for the fight, but they keep telling me they are working on it… At the same time, a lot o…

Pat Sabatini is 8-2 in the UFC. | Getty/UFC

Battle-tested featherweights will trade leather at UFC 328. 

Pat Sabatini and William Gomis will share the Octagon at UFC 328 on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Home of Fight was first to report the pairing. Khamzat Chimaev puts his middleweight title on the line against Sean Strickland in the main event at UFC 328.

While Sabatini is past the prospect phase, the 35-year-old has been through the trenches at featherweight and mostly come out victorious. Sabatini is 8-2 in the UFC and has only lost to Damon Jackson and Diego Lopes, while beating the likes of Jamall Emmers, Lucas Almeida, Joanderson Brito and Jose Mariscal. 

Meanwhile, Gomis has only suffered a narrow split-decision loss against top prospect Hyder Amil in six UFC outings. The Frenchman has since rebounded with a win over Robert Ruchala last September. 

The UFC and Jorge Masvidal might be destined for a reunion. | Getty/UFC.

It appears that Jorge Masvidal’s return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship could be imminent.

On the "Death Row MMA” podcast, “Gambred” revealed that he was offered a fight on the Most Valuable Promotions “Rousey vs. Carano” card but ultimately decided not to accept it because of talks he had with UFC brass.

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"I got offered to fight on this [Netflix] card,” Masvidal said (transcription via MMAjunkie.com). "I had a very good, nice offer from Netflix, but UFC had other plans for me. I was talking to Nakisa [Bidarian]. I get along very well with Nakisa and nothing but love for him for even thinking of me and calling me up, but it just didn't work out.

"I had the first offer before they gave it to Nate [Diaz]. It was me, and I desperately wanted to take the fight, but the UFC has a good, good plan for me, and they told me the plan. I like it, and we're g…

Georges St. Pierre's life story is getting the Hollywood treatment. | Getty/UFC

The life story of Georges St. Pierre is headed to the big screen.

According to Variety, a movie about the UFC Hall of Famer and two-division champion is in development. The biopic will be directed by Quebec-based director Thomas Soto and is expected to chronicle everything from St. Pierre’s formative years in Isidore Quebec to his journey to the top of the UFC. The report states that filmakers want to “reveal Georges, the man.”

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“We have been considering telling my story for a moment now, and when we found this team it was clear to us that we wanted this to be told in a new creative way,” St Pierre said in a statement.

St. Pierre is one of a handful of athletes in the running for greatest mixed martial artist of all-time. He had two reigns as UFC welterweight champion and also captured middleweight gold before calling it a career in 2018.

A Privilege an…

Horiguchi got the better of Kape in their first meeting. | Rizin FF

A couple of former Rizin Fighting Federation standouts are going to run it back in a potential flyweight title eliminator.

Kyoji Horiguchi and Manel Kape will headline a UFC Fight Night event on June 20 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the 125-pound booking. Horiguchi defeated Kape via third-round submission in a Rizin bantamweight grand prix semifinal on Dec. 31, 2017.

Title Shot at Stake? Horiguchi went 7-1 during his first Octagon stint, coming up short against Demetrious Johnson in a flyweight title bout at UFC 186. After a successful run in Rizin, the American Top Team standout has returned to the Las Vegas-based promotion to post back-to-back triumphs over Tagir Ulanbekov and Amir Albazi.

Kape, meanwhile, has been victorious in seven of his last eight Octagon appearances — with his lone defeat coming against Muhammad Mokaev at UFC 304. “Starboy” has…

Muhammad Mokaev is among a slew of notables set to compete on MVP's first MMA card. | Getty/UFC

While some of the names may be past their primes, Most Valuable Promotions has nonetheless put together one of the most intriguing fight cards in the first half of 2026.

MVP on Tuesday announced the full lineup for its "Rousey vs. Carano” event, which takes place on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and airs on Netflix. Among those scheduled to compete are former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, undefeated ex-UFC flyweight Muhammad Mokaev, ex-Bellator MMAwelterweight kingpin Jason Jackson, longtime KSW standout Saladhine Parnasse and former ONE Championship title holder Adriano Moraes.

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The full fight card for Saturday May 16th is set! Live globally on Netflix from Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, CA🌎

🇺🇸 Rousey vs 🇺🇸 Carano🇺🇸 Diaz vs 🇺🇸 Perry🇨🇲 Ngannou vs 🇧🇷 Lins🇫🇷 Parnasse vs 🇺🇸 Cross🇧🇷 Dos San…

Sergio Pettis will get top billing at PFL Chicago. | PFL MMA

The card for Professional Fighters League’s upcoming trip to the Windy City is now complete.

The promotion on Tuesday announced the full lineup for PFL Chicago, which takes place on April 11 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago and is headlined by a bantamweight tilt pitting Sergio Pettis against Mitchell McKee. In the evening’s co-main event, Joshua Silveira will square off against Jordan Newman at middleweight. PFL Chicago kicks off with prelims on the ESPN app at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT before the shifting to the main card on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

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A high stakes middleweight clash headlines PFL Pittsburgh: Tune in LIVE, Saturday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET.

Two main card pairings were officially confirmed on Tuesday: Raufeon Stots vs. Renat Khavalov at bantamweight and Gabriel Braga vs. Cheyden Leialoha at featherweight. Leialoha is a replacement for Mahdi Bayd…

Michel Pereira has lost three of his last four UFC appearances. | Ben Duffy/Sherdog.com

With three losses in his last four UFC bouts, Michel Pereira is well aware that his fight with Sharabutdin Magomedov on June 27 will decide his future within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

In an interview with Brazilian journalist Laerte Viana, Michel confirmed that his victory over Zachary Reese on Feb. 21 was the last fight of his contract and the UFC chose not to renew it.

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“Mick Maynard offered me a fight in April, but it was too close because I still had some injuries to heal, so I refused and he offered me this fight with "The Pirate" and I accepted,” Pereira said. “Then Mick told me to do this fight and then we'll talk about the contract.”High Risk, High Reward Pereira is aware of the risk, but he guarantees that the stakes will not impact his fighting style.

The secret of the success is run the risk,” he said. “I like to put on a show and t…

Jorge Masvidal is riding the Kevin Vallejos hype train. 

Masvidal says he hasn’t been as excited for a prospect in a while as he is for Vallejos (18-1). “Gamebred” was extremely impressed with Vallejos’ dominant knockout win over Josh Emmett at UFC Vegas 114 earlier this month. Masvidal is confident that Vallejos is destined for championship glory in the featherweight division.

Destined for Big Things? “That dude is the truth,” Masvidal said on the "Death Row MMA” podcast. “I haven’t been excited about a motherf——r in a minute… He made it look like Emmett brought fists, and he pulled out a gun and started shooting… I’m very high on this guy. I think this guy’s gonna do big things at 145 [pounds]. If this guy doesn’t become champ, I don’t know s—t about the sport.”

Vallejos suffered his lone professional loss in his first Dana White's Contender Series opportunity in 2023 against Jean Silva, who is now on the cusp of featherweight title contention. A couple of wins…

Michael Page wanted to make a statement with his walkout song at UFC London. 

Page (25-3) faced fellow Englishman Sam Patterson (14-3) in front of their home fans in the O2 Arena in London last weekend. Page walked out to Michael Jackson’s iconic “They Don’t Care About Us,” which was admittedly a message against the disrespect he felt.

While Page is a considerable star at home, he was neither in the co-main nor the main event. Page also admits that he felt disrespected being matched up with a former training partner, Patterson, whom “MVP” doesn’t consider as big a star as himself. While Page failed to deliver with a lackluster unanimous decision win, he believes the O2 Arena was originally there to see him. Filmed in the Santa Marta Favela in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, “They Don’t Care About Us” sends a powerful social message against injustice. Page also added that his song was a statement against the general cruelty going on worldwide.

‘It Was a Bit of Annoyanc…

Lerone Murphy and Diego Lopes could be on a collision course. 

Murphy suffered a majority decision loss against Movsar Evloev at UFC London last weekend. Lopes, who has also lost to Evloev, slammed the fight as a boring affair. Lopes also separated himself from Murphy despite their losses against the same opponent.

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“No, Lerone, we are not the same,” Lopes wrote on X. “Never do that again.”

Murphy responded by slamming Lopes’ performance against Evloev. The Englishman also called out Lopes for his next fight.

“I didn’t lay on my back in guard for 3 rounds bro,” Murphy wrote. “Let’s fight next?”

Same Opponent, Same Result Murphy (17-1) suffered his first career loss against Evloev. Meanwhile, Lopes came up short against Evloev in his short-notice UFC debut in 2023. Lopes then scored five consecutive wins to earn a title shot at the vacant title, where he lost to Alexander Volkanovski. Lopes (27-8) rebounded by finishing Jean Silva to ear…

Bryan Battle will risk it all to make a statement in his Professional Fighters League debut. 

Battle is scheduled to make his debut against Johnny Eblen at PFL Pittsburgh on Saturday at the UPMC Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While Eblen has never been knocked out before, Battle warns that he has previously handed other fighters their first-ever knockout losses. Battle isn’t just content with winning in his PFL debut, as winning isn’t enough to sell tickets. While Battle knows that Eblen can try to control him on the ground, “The Butches” promises to leave it all inside the cage to make it a “kill or be killed” kind of fight.

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Willing to Risk it All “Winning being the name of the game is just pretty lame,” Battle told MMAjunkie.com. “Winning being the name of the game does not sell tickets. Nah, I’m coming in to knock him out. There’s a lot of guys that I’ve fought that hadn’t been knocked out before I fought them. I’m not looking ju…