Martial Arts News

Jake Hadley enjoyed a memorable PFL debut. | PFL MMA

Jake Hadley will have to go into hostile territory to earn his second Professional Fighters League victory.

The organization on Thursday announced that Hadley will square off against Spain’s Kevin Cordero in a bantamweight clash at PFL Madrid on March 20. The event takes place at Palacio Vitalegre in Madrid, Spain, and is headlined by a middleweight championship showdown between Costello van Steenis and Fabian Edwards. The card will air on the ESPN app in the United States.

A Strong First Impression A former Cage Warriors champion and a seven-time UFC veteran, Hadley his split his first two PFL appearances. “White Kong” enjoyed a spectacular promotional debut, when he tapped out Matheus Mattos with a third-round twister at PFL World Tournament 2 on April 11. The 29-year-old Englishman couldn’t continue that momentum in his second outing, as he dropped a unanimous verdict to Marcirley Alves at PFL World…

Alexa Grasso is looking for her first win since March 2023. | Getty/UFC

More than five years after their first encounter, Alexa Grasso and Maycee Barber are going to run it back.

Grasso and Barber will square off in a flyweight contest at UFC Seattle — also known as UFC Fight Night 271 — on March 28. Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from RealKevinK on social media. Barber defeated Grasso via unanimous decision in their initial meeting at UFC 258 on Feb. 13, 2021. UFC Seattle takes place at Climate Pledge Arena and airs on Paramount+.

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Grasso had been slated to face Rose Namajunas at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 but pulled out of the fight due to an undisclsoed injury.On the Comeback Trail Grasso will be looking for her first victory since March 2023, when she upset Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285 to claim the 125-pound crown. After their rematch ended in a split draw, Grasso lost the trilogy bout via unanimous de…

Sean Strickland came up short for a second time against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312 | Getty/UFC

Sean Strickland says that he was less than 100% for his middleweight title rematch with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312.

After losing a contentious split-decision to Du Plessis in their first meeting at UFC 297, Strickland lost a more convincing unanimous verdict to the South African standout in his most recent outing last February. During an appearance on the "Kairouz Bros" podcast, he revealed that he felt pressured to accept the fight despite a lingering injury suffered outside the cage.

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“I’m an idiot, you guys. I deserve this,” Strickland said. “Before the Dricus fight, I was f—king riding with [motocross athlete] Axell Hodges and I broke my shoulder,” Strickland said. “So I was in Colombia getting stem cells on my shoulder and they hit me up for the fight. The thing with the UFC, you don’t say no. They are pimps. You don’t say no to the mas…

"The Hulk" made short work of Gregory Rodrigues at UFC 283. | Getty/UFC

Brunno Ferreira will attempt to author a repeat of a memorable Octagon debut at UFC 326.

After a proposed middleweight bout against Paulo Costa fell through for undisclosed reasons, “The Hulk” will lock horns with Gregory Rodrigues in a rematch on March 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ferreira confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from Laerte Viana. UFC 326 is headlined by a BMF title tilt between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira and airs on Paramount+.

Brazilian Middleweights Surging After earning a contract on Dana White's Contender Series in September 2022, Ferreira faced Rodrigues in his first promotional foray at UFC 283, winning via knockout at the 4:13 mark of Round 1. The 33-year-old Curitiba, Brazil, native is 6-2 in UFC competition overall and is coming off a 3-0 campaign in 2025 that concluded with a decision triumph over Marvin Vettori. Read more

Jones and Cormier are slated to serve as opposing coaches on an MMA reality show. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

It appears that Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier will renew their rivalry as opposing coaches on a mixed martial arts reality show.

On Monday, ALF Reality announced via social media that Jones and Cormier will coach on the third iteration of the show. Noteworthy names such as Nate Diaz, Petr Yan, Khamzat Chimaev and Aljamain Sterling have served as coaches on the Russian show in previous years. A date for the new season was not revealed.

Jones was part of a past season that saw Nate Diaz involved in a brawl with one of the participating fighters. Diaz, Jake Shields and the rest of the team would leave the set and return home to California as a result. Jones was not involved in the incident.

😱Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier faced off.

Who could've thought this would happen. pic.twitter.com/iNGoyu0LzO

— Home of Fight (@Home…

Cage Warriors hosts a Friday card in Manchester, England. Sherdog's play-by-play kicks off at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Round 1 Kicking off the CW 113 preliminary card is a 148-pound catchweight contest between Crawford (4-2) and Monarch (10-5). Referee Rich Mitchell will oversee the action, and there is no touch of gloves as these two are amped to get down to it. Crawford misses with an overhand right, but does manage to land a loud leg kick. Monarch throws one back at him, and evades a right looping right from Crawford. The two come together and swing heavily, but neither connect as Monarch backs off and scores a slapping body kick. Crawford scores a straight left hand, and Monarch loads up on a counter but comes up short. Crawford hops forward to score a few right hooks, and a cut has opened up over the eye of Monarch from some of these strikes. Monarch chases Crawford down and backs him a…