Martial Arts News

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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

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…

Adrian Yanez won’t throw caution to the wind for an extra paycheck. 

Yanez is scheduled to fight Ricky Simon at UFC Seattle on Saturday at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. While the UFC has raised the bonuses for the Paramount era, Yanez won’t be hunting for a finish against Simon. Yanez learned an important lesson in Michael Bisping’s middleweight title win over Luke Rockhold in 2016. While Rockhold was vowing to knock out Bisping, “The Count” dethroned dethroned him with a knockout in the first round. As much as Yanez would like an extra paycheck, he knows that his opponent is also lured by the same idea. While Yanez has earned his fair share of bonuses in the UFC, he wishes it was in the Paramount era instead of ESPN era.

Don't Force It “I do want a third check night, but at the same time, I got someone in front of me who’s gonna be looking for the same thing,” Yanez told MMAjunkie.com. “So sometimes you just gotta take a smarter approach… When M…

Michael Page has lofty goals despite nearing the end of his current UFC contract.

Page (25-3) had finished 16 of his 20 career wins when he signed with the UFC in December 2023. While “MVP” is known for his flashy striking, his fan-friendly style didn’t translate well into the UFC. Page has since scored four lukewarm decision wins, while suffering a loss against Ian Garry. The Englishman most recently earned a lackluster decision win against Sam Patterson at UFC London last weekend. Page seemed content to poke at his opponent from a distance without landing anything significant. Dana White admitted that it was a “bad” fight.

Page has since revealed that he has one fight left on his current UFC contract. Despite an illustrious career at Bellator MMA, Page had always dreamed of being in the UFC. While Page doesn’t shy away from voicing his complaints with the UFC, he clarifies that he is extremely grateful to be part of the promotion. The 38-year-old still aims to beco…

Shanelle Dyer, who made a spectacular debut at UFC London, used to initially hate MMA. 

Dyer was in love with the striking arts, having trained in muay thai since the age of 8. While Dyer still loves muay thai, she understood at some point that there was not much money to be made in the sport. Dyer had to choose between transitioning to boxing or MMA, and chose MMA as she didn’t want to give up kicking. 

Advertisement

Dyer admits that she initially found the grappling part of MMA a little “fruity.” However, she started appreciating the nuances of grappling once she started learning the art.Gaining an Appreciation “I used to hate MMA,” Dyer said on "The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I’ve done muay thai for so long, and I love muay thai. Muay thai is beautiful, muay thai is amazing. Unfortunately, you can’t make money in muay thai. So I transitioned to MMA when I was 17-18. It was either boxing or MMA. But I love kicking too much to do boxing. So I chose MMA at th…

Alexander Volkanovski clearly considers Movsar Evloev to be the most deserving title contender. 

Volkanovski (28-4) has long been calling Evloev (20-0) the No. 1 featherweight title contender. However, Evloev has yet to get a title shot, while his fallen opponent, Diego Lopes, has challenged Volkanovski for the title twice. While Volkanovski was ready to fight Evloev last year, Lerone Murphy entered the title picture with a knockout win over Aaron Pico. 

Advertisement

Volkanovski was expecting to fight either Evloev or Murphy, but was matched up for the second consecutive time against Lopes at UFC 325 this past January. Volkanovski defeated Lopes the second time as well. 

Meanwhile, Evloev and Murphy clashed at UFC London last weekend, in what was considered a clear title eliminator. However, despite Evloev earning a majority decision win over Murphy, the title picture remains hazy. Jean Silva has now entered the fray, rallying for the next title…

Junior dos Santos expects Alex Pereira to have great success in his heavyweight debut. | Getty/UFC

Former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos had his final Octagon appearance against Ciryl Gane at UFC 256 in December 2020.

With fellow Brazilian Alex Pereira scheduled to face Gane in the co-main event of UFC White House on June 14, dos Santos offered some insight as to what fans can expect in the interim heavyweight title bout.

Advertisement

“First of all, I would advise ‘Poatan’ to the take care with the illegal blows,” joked dos Santos, who complained about Gane an illegal elbow to the back of his head following their bout.

As for the fight itself, “Cigano” believes the Pereira will have advantage.

“There couldn't have been a better fight for ‘Poatan´s’ debut at heavyweight,” he said. “Ciryl Gane will be a great challenge, as he is very fast and skilled for a heavyweight. But I think ‘Poatan’s' style will confuse him. ‘Poatan’ goes on th…

Michael Chiesa has a new opponent at UFC Seattle. | Getty/UFC

The six-bout main card for UFC Seattle is set — with a late update.

The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed the lineup over the weekend. The one noteworthy change will see Niko Price replace Carlston Harris in a welterweight bout against Michael Chiesa. The fight is slated to be a farewell for “Maverick,” a Washington native.

Advertisement

Chiesa has been victorious in three straight Octagon appearances and is coming off a three-round verdict over Court McGee at UFC on ESPN 69 in June 2025.

Price, meanwhile, has lost five of his last six outings. Most recently “The Hybrid” suffered a first-round knockout loss against Nikolay Veretennikov at UFC Fight Night 266 on Feb. 7.

UFC Seattle -- also known as UFC Fight Night 271 — takes place at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and is headlined by a middleweight duel pitting ex-champ Israel Adesanya against Joe Pyfer. The card airs in its en…

In his post-fight interview, Lerone Murphy said that his “hip popped” late in the UFC London main event.

Now, “The Iceman” knows the extent of his injury. In a post on his Instagram Stories on Monday, Murphy revealed that he suffered a torn hip flexor in Round 4 of his majority decision loss to Movsar Evloev on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London.

🚨 Lerone Murphy reveals he tore his hip flexor in round 4 pic.twitter.com/dl7ydoJQhg

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) March 23, 2026

Murphy started well in the featherweight title elliminator, but Evloev pulled away down the stretch by effectively mixing his striking and wrestling. However, the majority of media scorecards on MMADecisions.com either scored the fight a draw or 48-46 in favor of Murphy.

Back with a Vengeance Murphy, who had a nine-bout UFC winning streak snapped, reacted to the loss in a separate post on Instagram.

“Loved every second of the fight,” he wrote. “I thought I …