Martial Arts News

PERTH! WE’LL SEE YOU JULY 19! LIVE FROM @RACArena! 🇦🇺#BKFC79 | July 19 | Tix on sale May 30! pic.twitter.com/UQsyirkQXq

— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) May 20, 2025

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is heading Down Under this summer.

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The promotion on Tuesday revealed via social media that it will hold an event in Perth, Australia, on July 19. No bouts were announced for the card, which will take place at RAC Arena. The event will be entitled BKFC 79.

Since its inception in 2018, BKFC has gradually expanded its reach beyond the United States, holding events in locations such as Mexico, Thailand, England, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy and the United Arab Emirates.

Perth is no stranger to high-profile combat sports events. Last August, UFC 305 saw Dricus Du Plessis retain his middleweight crown with a fourth-round submission of Israel Adesanya in the Western Australia capital.

BKFC’s next event is slated for June …

It appears that Claressa Shields' brief dalliance with mixed martial arts has reached its end.

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During an appearance on "The Ariel Helwani Show” on Monday, the multi-division world champion boxer revealed that she won’t be competing in MMA again going forward.

“MMA is done, sweetheart,” she said. “It was fun. I don’t have enough time to train for it. It takes six months, eight months to get ready to defend takedowns. I got a lot better, I put in time. I had my arm broken twice. It was fun, and I enjoyed every fight.

“My family never wanted me to do it. I did it because I wanted to prove a point. I proved that point — to me three times, but you can say twice because I won twice .. I was offered one more fight with the PFL. It would have been against a girl who’s on my level … It takes a lot of time to train for MMA. Time that I don’t have. I did have aspirations of being PFL MMA world champion and having a fight with Kayla Harrison one day, or …

Kyoji Horiguchi won’t be making his Octagon return at UFC Baku as originally anticipated.

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The former flyweight title challenger has withdrawn from a proposed matchup with Tagir Ulanbekov for undisclosed reasons. Instead, Azat Maksum will step in and face Ulanbekov at the June 21 event. Red Corner MMA was first to report the change.

UFC Baku — also known as UFC on ABC 8 — marks the promotion’s debut in Azerbaijan and is headlined by a light heavyweight duel pitting Jamahal Hill against Khalil Rountree.

Earlier this year, Horiguchi vacated his Rizin Fighting Federation flyweight belt to sign with the UFC, where he previously competed from 2013 to 2016. Horiguchi went 7-1 during his UFC tenure, with his only loss coming in a flyweight title bout against then champion Demetrious Johnson in April 2015. The 34-year-old American Top Team representative has gone 14-1 with one no contest under the Rizin banner, earning notable victories over the li…

Jairzinho Rozenstruik has booked his first combat sports appearance since parting ways with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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The heavyweight veteran will headline Dirty Boxing 2 in Miami on June 14 opposite Devon Schwan. DBX utilizes four-ounce gloves and three-minute rounds with elbows and “conditional ground-and-pound” allowed as part of the promotion’s rule set. The promotion recently announced the full lineup for its upcoming event.

DBX 2 will include a number of familiar faces on the card — many with UFC experience — including Alex Caceres, Phil Hawes, Francisco Trinaldo, Jessica-Rose Clark and Alex Nicholson, among others. The card takes place at The Hanger and streams for free on the DBX YouTube channel. Prelims begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while the main card kicks off at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Rozenstruik last appeared at UFC Saudi Arabia — also known as UFC Fight Night 250 — on Feb. 1, when he dropped a forgettable unanimous deci…

Getty/UFC

If Jon Jones is to be believed, the UFC is well aware of how the heavyweight champion intends to proceed with his career.

Jones recently took to social media to share how much he is enjoying his visit to Thailand, which triggered a number of angry responses regarding the delay in the booking of a proposed heavyweight title unification bout against Tom Aspinall.

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“Been out here in Thailand, enjoying life, stuffing my face every day and I swear I’m losing weight somehow,” Jones wrote. “The quality of the food here is amazing, so delicious, so clean.”

When it was suggested that Jones would be stripped of his UFC title soon, “Bones” simply laughed it off.

“Stripped? Lol do I come across as the type of person who cares about things like that?” he wrote.

In recent months, UFC CEO Dana White has repeatedly stated that Jones vs. Aspinall will happen in 2025. While Aspinall and MMA fans have grown frustrated with the wait, Jone…

"Patchy" Mix didn’t take long to find a new home.

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Within days after Professional Fighters League confirmed that it had granted Mix his release, the former Bellator MMA bantamweight champ was seated cageside for UFC Vegas 106 on Saturday. That was followed by the announcement that Mix would be stepping in for Marlon Vera on short notice against Mario Bautista at UFC 316.

"You get the call and you answer it," Mix said at the UFC Vegas 106 post-fight press conference. "I'm not afraid of anyone in this division, especially Mario Bautista. He's on a seven-fight win streak, and I want that seven-fight win streak. When they called me, I answered it. I'll make weight and I'll get the job done. It didn't matter who. I didn't mind if he was ranked No. 1 or No. 50. I would've gone against the best, the hardest, the guy they didn't want anyone to fight. It didn't matter. It happened to be him and I think 'Chito' Vera popped his rib or something. They called …

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Clean shot, clean kill. Volkanovski shows he's just as skilled with a rifle as he is in the cage 🎯— Hunting with Volk.🦌🦌🎥 @alexvolkanovski pic.twitter.com/eDcvNdqS2D

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 18, 2025

Alexander Volkanovski is a champion everywhere. 

From fighting to cooking and now, hunting, the UFC featherweight champ can do it all. Volkanovski recently uploaded a clip of a successful hunting trip in Australia. Volkanovski was with his friends in a vehicle at night when they spotted movement at quite some distance. With impeccable vision and accuracy, “The Great” took two clean shots and downed a deer. Volkanovski’s friend was heard saying the deer was hit right near the shoulder. 

A master of many trades, Volkanovski started wrestling early in life but gave it up to pursue rugby. He want on to have a successful career as a front rower in a semi-pro league in Australia. While he used to weighed more than 200 p…

🏍️🏔️Islam Makhachev spends his weekends climbing mountains on his motorcycle.

🎥 IG / salim__85▫️ pic.twitter.com/lCfBNynDEc

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 18, 2025

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Islam Makhachev is an adrenaline addict. It is no secret that Makhachev loves to scale mountains on his dirtbike or ride horses when he is not fighting. After getting stuck initially, Makhachev was recently seen conquering a treacherous dirt track on his motorcycle. The UFC lightweight champ was stuck in an uphill climb but eventually throttled his way out of the tricky part. 

Islam Makhachev was stuck uphill — but not for long. 🔓🐺⛰️ pic.twitter.com/hU4XlJsWxT

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 18, 2025

Makhachev loves going on adventures with his close friends. He has a farm in Dagestan with lots of sheep and horses, which is his special place. Makhachev is often seen riding motorcycles or horses while massive barb…

Tadala Fellas resistiu como pode mas sucumbiu ao pesadelo chamado Minotouro.

A lenda não brincou em serviço. ☠#FMSnoCombate pic.twitter.com/uQARdOM5HW

— Combate (@combate) May 18, 2025

Even at 48 years old, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira still has more than enough skill to win with ease on the influencer boxing circuit.

At Fight Music Show 6 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday, the former UFC and Pride Fighting Championships competitor squared off against a Brazilian bodybuilder and social media personality named Fabio Tadalafellas. Nogueira, a bronze medalist in boxing in the 2007 Pan-American Games, made short work of his opponent, knocking Tadalafellas out cold with a left hand in the second round of their bout.

“Minotouro” hasn’t fought in MMA since July 2020, when he dropped a split decision to Mauricio Rua in his final Octagon appearance at UFC on ESPN 14. He more recently competed at Fight Music Show 1 in January 2022, winning…

Topuria on potential fight against Makhachev: "He said he wouldn't vacate his title and I said he ruled the division and who has gotten away with it? Me. After this fight, when I have the belt, he might get in line, which is a long one, so more than one's eyes will be shining" pic.twitter.com/rppCH3UdjZ

— Álvaro Colmenero (@KOlmeneroMMA) May 18, 2025

If things don’t work out for Islam Makhachev in his venture to welterweight, he won’t have an immediate title shot waiting for him in the lightweight division.

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At least, that’s how it will be if Ilia Topuria has a say in the championship pecking order. “El Matador” will face Charles Oliveira for the vacant 155-pound strap at UFC 317 on June 28. Makhachev vacated the belt to pursue a title shot against Jack Della Maddalena at 170 pounds. A date for that fight has not yet been confirmed.

“You know from the beginning, he wanted to give the impression that he had some sort of d…

Cris Cyborg won her boxing match on Saturday night in San Jose via a first-round TKO. pic.twitter.com/iHbGlBNb2O

— Superbeast MMA (@SuperbeastCraig) May 18, 2025

Cris Cyborg made short work of another opponent in the boxing ring on Saturday night.

The former UFC, Bellator and Invicta champion defeated Precious Harris-McCray via first-round technical knockout at Fight Nights 3 — the promotion run by Scott Coker and Gilbert Melendez — in San Jose on Saturday night. “Cyborg” landed a series of heavy punches that had her opponent stumbling all over the ring. That prompted the referee to step in and wave off the bout.

The heavy-handed Brazilian is now 3-0 in boxing in 2025, finishing all of her competition inside the distance. Her professional boxing record currently stands at 5-0 overall.

In a recent interview with MMAjunkie.com, “Cyborg” said that she expected her next PFL fight to be announced soon.

"I know my manager did…