Martial Arts News

Carlos Prates understands why Conor McGregor might not want to fight him. | Getty/UFC

While there was no formal fight offered to him by the UFC, Carlos Prates believes there may have been talks within the promotion about showdown with Conor McGregor.

Last month, McGregor revealed that he had been offered a “no name” for his next fight in a since-deleted post on social media.

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‘I Wouldn’t Accept That Fight Either’ "I believe they did offer my name to McGregor and then he chickened out and ran away because I'm a tough matchup, man," Prates told Laerte Viana in a translated interview (via Championship Rounds). "The guy's been inactive for five years, and it's not even in his weight class.

"Even though his last fights were at 170 [pounds], he's not a natural 170-pounder. I'm coming in with all the hype, knocking everyone out, so if I were in his position, I wouldn't accept that fight either – no way. I think he probably wants to fight, I …

Petr Yan wasn’t impressed with Merab Dvalishvili’s title reign. 

Dvalishvili won the bantamweight title against Sean O'Malley in 2024. “The Machine” then defended his title against Umar Nurmagomedov, submitted O’Malley in a rematch, and defended his title a third time against Cory Sandhagen — all within a year. Dvalishvili then put his title on the line for the fourth time last year against Yan at UFC 323 in December. Yan completely shut down Dvalishvili’s game in every aspect and battered him down to earn a unanimous decision win. 

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Yan wasn’t very impressed with Dvalishvili’s title reign, considering he fought O’Malley twice within that span. The bantamweight champion believes Dvalishvili didn’t even need to prepare for his rematch against “Suga.”Easy Money “Two of those four fights were against Sean O’Malley,” Yan said on "The Ariel Helwani Show.” “One time, he basically mauled him, and the other time he choked him out with one arm. So do…

Alexander Volkanovski believes Max Holloway is on the cusp of a lightweight title shot. 

Holloway is scheduled to put his BMF title on the line against Charles Oliveira at UFC 326 on March 7 in Las Vegas. Volkanovski believes Oliveira has to finish Holloway early or he’ll get stopped in the later rounds by “Blessed.”

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“I’m gonna go with a finish for Max,” Volkanovski said on YouTube. “It’s either Charles lands and gets a finish early, or he gets finished in the later rounds… I’m leaning more towards a finish than a decision for Max.”

Volkanovski also believes Holloway, whom he has beaten thrice, deserves a lightweight title shot with a win over Oliveira. Volkanovski argues that Holloway has recently beaten the interim lightweight champ Justin Gaethje and former perennial contender Dustin Poirier, while only losing to the champion Ilia Topuria.

An Impressive Run “He’s taken out Gaethje, who is the interim champ. He’s taken out Dustin Poirier,…

Dricus Du Plessis was certain that he would defeat Khamzat Chimaev until the final seconds of their UFC 319 clash last year. 

Du Plessis put his middleweight title on the line against Chimaev in the main event at UFC 319 in August 2026. Chimaev dominantly controlled “Stillknocks” on the ground for nearly 22 minutes out of 25 total to earn a unanimous decision victory. 

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However, Du Plessis thought he was winning that fight until he heard the final 10-second warning clap. The South African claims that he was confident that he would either knock out Chimaev or submit him in the final round. When Du Plessis was briefly on top of Chimaev in the final round, he says he felt that “Borz” didn’t want to be there. Du Plessis is still confident that he can beat Chimaev in a potential rematch.'He Didn't Want to Be There Anymore' “He was not tougher than I expected him to be,” Du Plessis said on "The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I was honestly thinking I was w…

Petr Yan wants to avenge his loss against Sean O'Malley. 

Yan suffered a controversial split-decision loss against O’Malley (19-3) in their first outing in 2022. O’Malley went on to win the bantamweight title in his next outing and defended it only once before losing it to Merab Dvalishvili. Meanwhile, Yan went through the trenches for a chance to reclaim his title and dethroned Dvalishvili at UFC 323 this past December. 

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Dvalishvili claims he has been guaranteed an immediate rematch against Yan. While Yan acknowledges that Dvalishvili is likely to get the next title shot, he isn’t counting out O’Malley, who recently returned to the win column with a victory over Yadong Song. 

Yan believes he was robbed in his first loss against O’Malley. “No Mercy” wants a chance to avenge his loss at the White House in June. Yan suggests that “Suga” should color his hair like the American flag to better his chances for a spot on the White House car…

Reinier de Ridder believes he hasn’t strayed too far away from the UFC middleweight title picture. 

De Ridder was on the cusp of title contention with four straight UFC wins, including one over former champion Robert Whittaker. De Ridder was then scheduled to fight Anthony Hernandez in October 2025. However, Brendan Allen replaced an injured Hernandez on short notice against de Ridder. “All in” brutally beat down de Ridder, forcing the Dutchman’s corner to throw in the towel before the fifth round. 

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De Ridder is now scheduled to fight Caio Borralho at UFC 326 on Saturday in Las Vegas. “The Dutch Knight” believes the winner of his fight against Borralho gets right back into title contention with an impressive performance.

“I think it goes for both of us,” he told MMAjunkie.com. “Whoever wins this one and does it in spectacular fashion, gets right back in the title mix. There’s a lot of cool fights out there and all I have to do is put him…

The rematch between Arman Tsarukyan and Georgio Poullas has reportedly fallen out. 

Tsarukyan and Poullas initially competed in a wrestling match at RAF 6 last weekend. Tsarukyan accused Poullas of repeatedly fouling by attempting to slap him, poke his eyes and grab his fingers. Poullas was penalized and Tsarukyan won the bout via points. Tsarukyan then took down Poullas and punched him, which led to a massive brawl involving several members of both teams. 

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Tsarukyan and Poullas were recently booked for a rematch in submission only grappling under Hype FC on March 11 at the Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However, RAF co-founder Chad Bronstein claims Poullas is withdrawing from the rematch against Tsarukyan. According to Bronstein, Poullas wants the rematch to happen at RAF.Unfinished Business“RAF06 created one of the biggest moments in combat sports this year,” Bronstein stated on social media. “Now everyone wants the rematch. But…

Petr Yan claims a UFC staff member tried to take his original championship belt and replace it with a replica. 

Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch at UFC 323 this past December to win the bantamweight title for the second time. “No Mercy” claims a UFC employee approached him after the post-fight press conference and asked him to hand over his belt. The staff member allegedly handed Yan a replica instead, saying he already had an original belt from his first title reign. However, Yan refused to hand over the fruits of his hard earned victory. The Russian was disappointed with the whole affair, regardless of whoever was responsible for it.

A New History “I got the real, original championship belt, I had it over my shoulder,” Yan said on "The Ariel Helwani Show.” “We went and did the press conference and as soon as I was coming off the press conference stage, one of the UFC employees says, ‘I gotta get that belt and I’m gonna give you this one.’ And I said, ‘…

Ateba Abega Gautier has won his first four UFC appearances. | Getty/UFC

UFC 328 has a date, location — and a couple of fights.

The card will take place on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., a consistent destination for the Las Vegas-based promotion over the years. Additionally, two middleweight bouts have been reported for UFC 328: Roman Kopylov vs. Marco Tulio and Ateba Abega Gautier vs. Osman Diaz. ESPN Brasil was first to report the UFC 328 location and Kopylov vs. Tulio, while Marcel Dorff initially brought word of Gautier vs. Diaz — which was initially scheduled for UFC 320.

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Kopylov is coming off back-to-back decision losses to Gregory Rodrigues and Paulo Costa to close out his 2025 UFC campaign. Prior to that, the 33-year-old Russian had gone 6-1 in the Octagon from September 2022 to January 2025.

A two-time winner on Dana White's Contender Series, Tulio finished his first two Octagon opponents before suffering a …

Conor McGregor continues to tease his UFC return. | Getty/UFC

The timeline may have shifted yet again for Conor McGregor’s proposed Octagon return.

The Irish star once claimed that fighting on the UFC White House card was a "done deal,” but that no longer seems to be the primary target.

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"I am in negotiations with the Ultimate Fighting Championship about the bout, either the White House or thereabouts," McGregor told Drink Litt. "Sometime in the summer, McGregor will return.”

🚨 Conor McGregor says he’s in negotiations with the UFC to fight this summer 👀

“I am in negotiations with the UFC about the bout, either the White House or thereabouts. Sometime in the summer, McGregor will return.”

(via IG / drinklitt) pic.twitter.com/VFS4jaVCiL

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 3, 2026 Same Story, Different Date Last month in a tweet he later deleted, McGregor claimed that he had been offered a d…

Arman Tsarukyan and Georgio Poullas are going to run it back — under a slightly different rule set.

Hype FC announced on Tuesday that Tsarukyan and Poullas will meet in a submission-only grappling match on March 11 at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The match will be contested over 10 minutes. Tsarukyan had already been confirmed for the event but was awaiting an opponent. The card will also see Jorge Masvidal face Sharabutdin Magomedov in another grappling match, while UFC featherweight Jean Silva is also expected to compete on the card.

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Capitalizing on the Heat Tsarukyan and Poullas initialy squared off in a chippy wrestling match at Real American Freestyle 6 this past Saturday in Tempe, Arizona. While Tsarukyan emerged victorious, the real drama began after the conclusion of the match, when the UFC lightweight tackled his foe to the mat and threw a punch. That led to a full-scale melee in the arena, as Tsarukyan and Poullas were seperated during t…

It's been more than a decade since Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira first squared off. | Josh Schaefer/Sherdog.com

Since their first fight in 2015, Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway have followed parallel paths in different divisions.

While Holloway continued his winning streak at featherweight, defeating Jose Aldo by technical knockout at UFC 212 to take the belt from the fighter considered to be the GOAT of the division, Charles migrated to Chute Boxe, moved up to lightweight, restarted his career and after a sequence of eight victories, won the division’s belt by knocking out Michael Chandler at UFC 262 in 2021.

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In 2026, the two legends will face each other again in the UFC 326 headliner, disputing the BMF belt that the Hawaiian has held since 2024 after beating Justin Gaethje and Dusin Poirier. Holloway has been pointed out as a slight favorite in the odds, but the only certainty is a very exciting fight. At least that is the opini…