Martial Arts News

Khurshed Kakhorov believes Oktagon 85 has the potential to deliver one of the most violent headliners in the promotion’s history.

With the vacant bantamweight title on the line live from the Barclays Arena in Hamburg, Germany, “The Killer” has been tasked with taking out former Ultimate Fighting Championship prospect Igor Severino.

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Severino (9-1) went viral two years ago after he infamously bit Andre Lima midway through the second round of his UFC debut. “The Hannibal” was instantly cut by the promotion but found a home with Oktagon MMA, where he’s rebranded himself after the legendary film villain and cannibal Hannibal Lecter. But Kakhorov isn’t amused by Severino’s mind games and promises to make the 22-year-old pay if he even considers chewing his way out of a defeat Saturday night.

“I can kill him, like I will kill him and put an end to this Hannibal stuff,” Kakhorov warned while sitting down with Sherdog.com. “He’s strong and dangerous. Very e…

Professional Fighters League made groundbreaking news in 2023 when it signed former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Francis Ngannou to a contract.

After signing with PFL and the nearly unprecedented career flexibility it offered, Ngannou competed in two high-level marquee boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua before making his mark inside and outside of the SmartCage.

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Helping launch the PFL Africa brand, which has given opportunities to top talent on the continent, Ngannou served as chairman. Now, after setting the table for a new generation, PFL and Ngannou are headed separate ways.

On Friday morning, PFL released a statement announcing it has released Ngannou, who competed once for the league, picking up a first-round technical knockout of Renan Ferreira:

“The Professional Fighters League has made the decision to part ways with Francis Ngannou,” a PFL representative said in a release. “We have great respect f…

A matchup of former UFC talents has been added to the PFL Brussels card.

The promotion announced on Wednesday that Taylor Lapilus will take on Jake Hadley in a bantamweight matchup on May 23 at ING Arena in Brussels, Belgium. PFL Brussels is headlined by a lightweight showdown pitting undefeated Belgian prospect Patrick Habirora against ex-UFC kingpin Benson Henderson.

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Continuing One Streak, Ending Another Lapilus boasts a five-bout winning streak that dates back to his UFC tenure. The 33-year-old Frenchman has been victorious in his first three Professional Fighters League appearances, notably ending a multi-fight decision streak with a third-round TKO of Kasum Kasumov in his last outing at PFL Dubai. Lapilus went 6-2 across two separate UFC stints.

England’s Hadley split a pair of PFL bouts last year, submitting Matheus Mattos with a twister in April before dropping a unanimous verdict against Macirley Alves in June. Prior to that, the Dana Wh…

Mauricio Ruffy is hinting that the UFC has big plans in store for him. | Getty/UFC

A month after his important victory over Rafael Fiziev, Mauricio Ruffy provided some insight into his UFC future.

Ruffy revealed that his next fight, while still under negotiation, should guarantee his spot as the next challenger for the belt.

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“If it’s not at the White House, it will be five rounds,” Ruffy told Sherdog.com.

Ruffy added that he has already returned to physical training following his win over Fiziev at UFC 325 on Jan. 31.

“I had surgery on my right hand after the fight, but it’s already fine,” he said. “I’ll go back to [punching] next week, but in the meantime, I’m keeping in shape and preparing the rest of my body. [Alexander] Volkanovski told me a lot not to stop training, and we’ll see each other again soon,” said the Brazilian, who made a point of praising all the treatment he received in Australia.

"It was really cool how Vol…

Mike Malott will get his first headlining opportunity at UFC Winnipeg. | Getty/UFC

The UFC Winnipeg lineup is gradually taking shape.

The Las Vegas-based promotion on Wednesday confirmed eight bouts for the event, many of which have been previously announced or reported. UFC Winnipeg — also known as UFC Fight Night 273 — takes place on April 18 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and is headlined by welterweight tilt pitting Gilbert Burns against Mike Malott. In the co-main event, Jasmine Jasudavicius will meet Karine Silva in a women’s flyweight encounter. In another newly announced fight, Tanner Boser will return for the first time since 2023 to face Bellator veteran Gokhan Saricam in a heavyweight clash.

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The preliminary draw begins at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT, while the main card kicks off at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT — all on Paramount+.

A former welterweight title challenger, Burns is in the midst of a four-bout skid tha…

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…