Martial Arts News

Justin Gaethje holds Arman Tsarukyan responsible for his own situation. 

Despite Tsarukyan being the top lightweight contender, he has been sidelined from the title picture. As the champion, Ilia Topuria, takes a short hiatus, Gaethje (26-5) will fight Paddy Pimblett (23-3) for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 on Saturday in Las Vegas.  Gaethje believes Tsarukyan is to blame for the situation that he is in. Gaethje notes that “Ahalkalakets” has irked the UFC multiple times by pulling out of a title fight and then headbutting his opponent before a fight.

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Multiple Mistakes “Tsarukyan is definitely probably more deserving,” Gaethje told New York Post Sports. “But the guy f’ed up multiple times, and this is something you can’t do. He was gonna fight for the belt, he pulled out the night before because he couldn’t make weight or… I don’t think any of us are actually privy to what happened that night… They put a lot of money, time, and re…

Magomed Zaynukov isn’t one to forget his roots. 

Zaynukov is popularly known as “Chanco,” which is the name of his village in Dagestan, Russia. “Chanco” recently visited his village, where he is building a new house. Zaynukov revealed that he wants to host his entire village for a barbecue feast if he wins his UFC debut.

A Feast for All “This is the new house we’ve been building with my brother,” Zaynukov told Red Corner MMA. “The old house fell apart, so we decided to build a new one. Now we’re going to live here. We’ll come here with our families and kids and spend some time here. You should never forget your roots and where you come from. After the UFC debut – Inshallah, I hope it’ll be victorious for me — I’d love to have all my villagers here to grill some meat and celebrate my win.”

Zaynukov (8-0) shot to fame as a teammate of Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov even before he was in the UFC. While most of the team is made up of elite wrestlers, “Chanco”…

Justin Gaethje doesn’t think Paddy Pimblett will stand up with him for five rounds. 

Gaethje (26-5) and Pimblett (23-3) are scheduled to fight for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 on Saturday in Las Vegas. While Gaethje is primarily known for his striking, Pimblett is an ace grappler. However, Pimblett has promised to stand and trade on the feet with Gaethje.  But Gaethje vows to turn Pimblett into a wrestler. While Gaethje acknowledges Pimblett’s skills, he believes “The Baddy” will leave enough openings for him to exploit.

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‘He’s Gonna Make Mistakes'   “I’m definitely going to turn him into a wrestler, I promise you that,” Gaethje told New York Post Sports. “But we’ll see, he is super dangerous. He absolutely commits 100% of his power into his shots. But he does leave himself open. And I have to use my experience and my technical abilities to take advantage of those mistakes. He’s gonna make mistakes. And you cannot make mistak…

Magomed Zaynukov misses the feeling of making his father proud. 

Zaynukov recently became emotional while remembering his late father. Zaynukov recalls that his father never praised him in person. However, Zaynukov’s father would proudly boast of his son’s achievements with relatives and friends. Zaynukov’s father passed away soon after he transitioned from kickboxing to MMA. Zaynukov misses his father even more now that he has made it to the UFC.

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‘I Miss Him’ "My father never really praised me personally, but he always praised me when he talked to his friends or relatives,” Zaynukov told Red Corner MMA. “He just never did that to me in person. Right when I transitioned to MMA, my father passed away. Of course, I miss him so much, even more so now that I’ve achieved so much and made it to the best league in the world — the UFC. I miss him… I miss the feeling of him being proud of me."

Fans initially knew Zaynukov (8-0) as a training partner of…

Khamzat Chimaev found it difficult to train for his fight against Kamaru Usman. 

Chimaev has only gone the distance thrice in his career – against Usman, Gilbert Burns, and Dricus Du Plessis. While Chimaev dominated Du Plessis to win the middleweight title, Usman and Burns made him look human. Chimaev was cut open en route to his unanimous decision win over Burns in 2022. Meanwhile, “Borz” earned a majority decision win over Usman, which many believe could have gone the other way in a five-round fight. 

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Chimaev recently revealed that the Usman fight was harder than the Burns fight. While Chimaev doesn’t find the actual fight hard, it is the training camp that takes a toll. Chimaev had just shifted to Abu Dhabi from the Allstars Training Center in Sweden ahead of his clash against Usman. With only a few friends around and the lack of a proper team, training for the Usman matchup was hard for Chimaev.Unfamiliar Surroundings "Every fight is har…

Dustin Poirier didn’t want to stand in the pocket with Max Holloway for more than 10 seconds. 

Holloway’s iconic gesture of pointing down to the ground to invite his opponent to a slugfest started with Justin Gaethje. After picking apart Gaethje for five rounds, Holloway invited him to stand and trade in the pocket in the final seconds and knocked him out in an iconic buzzer beater at UFC 300. 

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When Poirier (30-10) faced Holloway in his retirement fight at UFC 318 last year, “The Diamond” knew a similar invitation was coming. However, Poirier wanted to make sure he didn’t have to trade with Holloway for over 10 seconds. Poirier’s wife, Jolie, had also warned him not to get lured by Holloway’s pointing down gesture. Confident in his own striking in the pocket, Poirier eventually decided to exchange with Holloway. However, “Blessed” started picking Poirier apart, forcing him to clinch in the final seconds.Making a Business Decision “I knew it…

Usman Nurmagomedov considers Alfie Davis to be just another opponent in his way. 

Usman will look to defend his lightweight title against Davis at PFL Road to Dubai on Feb. 7 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. While Usman trains with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, Davis doesn’t think his wrestling is of their level. However, Usman believes Davis will have no answer for his wrestling in Dubai. Usman doesn’t consider Davis an elite striker and thinks the Englishman only runs away from his opponents to avoid wrestling. However, Usman warns Davis that the cage in Dubai is not big enough to run around. 

Nowhere to Run “He's not a good striker,” Nurmagomedov told MMAjunkie.com. “Who said he has good striking? This guy beginning talking, but people don't know nothing about him because he just won one fight, lost three fights, began to win one, two fights with former champions or old guys…He only has striking… For example, I take him down, what is he going to d…

Come March 14, there should be a firefight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship cage.

The organization announced on Friday its headliner for its March 14 fight card that will be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Atop the UFC Fight Night 269 billing—also known as UFC Vegas 114—will be a 145-pound slugfest pitting Josh Emmett (19-6) against Kevin Vallejos (17-1). Vallejos subsequently confirmed his involvement in this March main attraction on his Instagram.

California’s Emmett has fallen on hard time as of late. The 40-year-old has dropped four of his last five, with his lone victory since 2022 a one-punch knockout of Bryce Mitchell. Otherwise, Emmett has fallen short to Yair Rodriguez and Youssef Zalal by submission, and dropped decisions to Ilia Topuria and Lerone Murphy. Before the struggles, “CC0” had amassed a five-fight win streak from 2019 to 2022, culminating in an interim title tilt against the aforementioned Rodriguez.

The streaking Vallejos has made …

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Mohammed Usman could not escape the investigation of the anti-doping agents.

On Thursday, the UFC announced in a joint statement with drug-testing agency Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) that Usman has been suspended after testing positive for an exogenous source of testosterone. He was flagged on Sept. 8, 2025, which resulted in his removal from his bout against Valter Walker at UFC Fight Night 261 in October of last year. Additionally, Usman provided a false reason as to his failed test, resulting in additional sanctions.

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As a result of that test and his admission of past use of the substance as well as BPC-157—an unapproved peptide designed to improve the recovery process, Usman will be suspended until April 2028. Normally, a fighter would receive a two-year sentence, but Usman added “aggravating circumstances” by attempting to falsely claim its source and his regular use. Thus, the CSAD issued a sentence…

🔥 The OKTAGON 82 card is set!

15,000 fans have sold out PSD Bank Dome for the Tipsport Gamechanger final on Saturday.

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💰 Engizek vs. Jotko 💰☄️ Palokaj vs. Hendin 🥋🥊 Ilbay vs. Ryšavý 💥

➕ Dulatov, Zawada, Ligocki and Bark

📺 https://t.co/TVP7NaEp1x | RTL+ | TVP Sport pic.twitter.com/p4EYE69014 — OKTAGON (@OktagonOfficial) January 13, 2026 Oktagon MMA's first mixed martial arts event of 2026 will feature the €1 million European MMA Champions League final, which is now official following the Oktagon MMA 82 weigh-ins.

Competing for €1 million are middleweight champion Kerim Engizek and UFC veteran Krzysztof Jotko. Both men weighed 185 pounds for the tournament finals, which is set for three rounds and will not have Engizek's championship on the line. All other fighters also made weight, with the exception of Daniel Ligocki, who came in a pound heavy for his tournament reserve bout against David Zawada.

En…

It's coming this Saturday 👀

Are you ready for the first card of 2026? 🔥

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XTB #KSW114 | 🇵🇱 @CANALPLUS_SPORT | 🌍 KSWTV pic.twitter.com/91OLqWHTTQ — KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 14, 2026 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's first event of 2026 will see the mixed martial arts promotion's lightweight championship on the line, which is now official following the KSW 114 weigh-ins.

In the five-round main event, Salahdine Parnasse will look to defend his lightweight title against challenger Marcin Held. Both men hit championship weight, weighing 155 pounds on the dot. All other fighters on the nine-fight card also successfully made weight.

Parnasse (21-2) is riding a three-fight win streak since losing a welterweight title fight against Adrian Bartosinski. He's since gone back to lightweight and beat Valeriu Mircea to unify the titles before knocking out Wilson Varela and Marian Ziolkowski in title defenses. The French fighter will …