Martial Arts News

Paddy Pimblett believes his fight against Justin Gaethje might have played out differently had fouls been aptly penalized. 

Pimblett (23-4) and Gaethje (27-5) fought for the vacant lightweight title in the main event at UFC 324 last month in Las Vegas. Gaethje handed Pimblett a beating en route to a unanimous decision victory. However, the fight wasn’t entirely devoid of controversy. 

Gaethje received a stern warning for poking Pimblett in the eye in the first round. Gaethje also dropped Pimblett late in the second round and “The Baddy” was barely saved by the bell. But replay showed that Gaethje blatantly poked Pimblett in the eye before dropping him in the second round. However, despite the previous warning, Gaethje didn’t have a point taken away.  Pimblett notes that the most damage he received from Gaethje was after he got poked in the eye and then dropped. The Liverpudlian came back strong and went on to went on to win the third round on all three o…

Paul Hughes will fight on home soil this spring. | PFL MMA

A lightweight clash pitting Paul Hughes against Jay-Jay Wilson will headline Professional Fighters League’s return to Belfast, Ireland, the promotion announced Monday.

PFL Belfast takes place at the SSE Arena on April 16. The main card airs on ESPN2, the ESPN app and ESPN Deportes in the United States beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The prelims will be broadcast on the ESPN app at 2:30 p.m.. ET/11:30 a.m. PT. More bout are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.

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Lightweight Contenders in Ireland A former Cage Warriors champion, Hughes was a high-profile free agent signee for the PFL in 2024. He has gone 2-2 under the PFL banner, with both of his losses coming against reigning lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov. He notably defeated former Bellator MMA featherweight king A.J. McKee via split decision at PFL “Battle of the Giants” in October 2024.

Wilson, meanwhile, …

Paddy Pimblett had an uneasy feeling just before walking out for his fight against Justin Gaethje. 

Pimblett (23-4) faced his biggest step up in competition to date in Gaethje for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 324 last month. Despite an immense display of grit, Pimblett suffered a beatdown en route to a unanimous decision loss against Gaethje. 

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Pimblett says he is being lauded for the loss against Gaethje more than he has been praised for his seven UFC wins leading up to that. “The Baddy” also revealed that he got a weird feeling just before walking out for the fight. While Pimblett didn’t feel his usual confident self, he brushed off the feeling once his walkout music started playing. The Liverpudlian believes he might have been waiting too long backstage before walking out. Regardless, Pimblett had a perfect camp and weight cut and makes no excuses for his loss.Looking Back “I always watch me fights back,” Pimblett said on YouTube. …

Anthony Hernandez is taking his loss to Sean Strickland in stride.

“Fluffy” saw an eight-bout winning streak come to an end in the UFC Houston headliner, as he fell to Strickland via third-round technical knockout on Saturday at the Toyota Center. Hernandez struggled to match the volume of his opponent before a knee to the body from the ex-middleweight king set the stage for the finishing sequence. Strickland put the reeling Hernandez away with a barrage of punches at the 2:23 mark of Round 3.

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“First things first, thank you guys so much everyone who came out,” Hernandez said in an Instagram Story. “Showing me a lot of love, that was f—ing awesome. Players f—k up. I mean, I was on an eight-fight win streak. Felt like things were going smooth until I got hit with a f—king body shot. Sh— happens. Part of the game. Took six years for someone to finally beat me. I’ll be back.”Paying Respect While a victory could have made Hernandez next in line for 185-po…

Welterweights with championship aspirations will square off in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card on April 25.

The promotion announced on Saturday that Sean Brady will meet Joaquin Buckley in a 170-pound tilt at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card will also include a women’s bantamweight scrap pitting Norma Dumont against Yana Santos and airs in its entirety on Paramount+.

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Looking to Rebound Brady had a three-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Michael Morales at UFC 322 this past November. Prior to that, the Philadelphia Fight Factory representative had earned successive triumphs over Kelvin Gastelum, Gilbert Burns and Leon Edwards. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championships title holder is 7-2 during his UFC tenure overall.

Buckley, meanwhile, saw a six-fight promotional winning streak come to an end at UFC Atlanta, where he dropped a five-round verdict to ex-champ Kamar…

Chris Duncan will get his first main event opportunity on April 4. | Getty/UFC

A pair of American Top Team stablemates will lock horns in the UFC Fight Night 272 main event.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Saturday that Renato "Moicano" Carneiro will lock horns with Chris Duncan in a five-round featherweight bout on April 4 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. UFC Fight Night 272 also includes a women’s strawweight showdown between Virna Jandiroba and Tabatha Ricci and will air on Paramount+.

“Moicano” was initially slated to face Brian Ortega at UFC 326 on March 7 before his opponent withdrew from the bout. After winning four straight fights from November 2022 to September 2024, Carneiro found himself in a short-notice lightweight title tilt against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311. The Brazilian was submitted in the first round of that contest. He returned at UFC 317 this past June, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to Beneil Dariush.

Duncan, …

The UFC allegedly offered Ronda Rousey a massive pay-per-view deal but not a guaranteed fight purse. 

Rousey (12-2) is scheduled to fight fellow veteran Gina Carano (7-1) on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. The fight will take place on a Netflix card under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions. 

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Rousey revealed that she was originally in talks with the UFC for her return to MMA after nearly a decade. According to “Rowdy,” Dana White offered her the highest percentage of pay-per-view shares in UFC history. However, White wanted more time to confirm the deal. Things permanently changed when the UFC’s ESPN deal ended last year, marking the end of the pay-per-view model as well. The UFC made a multi-billion dollar deal with Paramount, switching to a subscription-based streaming model starting in 2026.A Shift in FocusRousey claims that after the pay-per-view era ended, the UFC did not want to pay her the guaranteed amount th…

Islam Makhachev believes Usman Nurmagomedov is as good as any UFC lightweight. 

While most elite fighters of Makhachev’s team are in the UFC, Nurmagomedov is making waves in the Professional Fighters League. The undefeated PFL lightweight champion is inevitably being compared to top-tier UFC lightweights. Makhachev knows Nurmagomedov’s true potential, having trained with him since childhood. The UFC welterweight champion believes Nurmagomedov can pose a serious threat to the best UFC lightweights. 

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Nurmagomedov has one fight left on his current PFL contract, which will expire at the end of 2026 regardless of whether he fights again. While Makhachev believes Nurmagomedov is already ready for the UFC, he doesn’t want his teammate to rush things. Makhachev believes it will be the perfect time for Nurmagomedov’s UFC career once his PFL contract expires in 2026.Plenty of Time Ahead “Honestly, I don’t think Usman is any worse than anyone [in the…

The level of competition Alden Coria faces in training is difficult match for his opponents inside the Octagon. 

Coria recently made his sophomore Octagon appearance in a flyweight matchup against Luis Gurule at UFC Houston on Saturday. Coria displayed impressive range control, picking his opponent apart from a distance, to earn a unanimous decision victory. 

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Coria says the fight went exactly how he had expected. “Cobra” knew that Gurule was a tough customer and difficult to dispatch within three rounds. Coria knew that Gurule would pressure him from the onset, which he did. However, Coria trains with UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van, who is known for his pressure. Having trained with the champion of his division, Coria says it’s difficult to match Van’s pressure.No Surprises“It was exactly how I expected it,” Coria told the UFC. “I knew this guy was gonna be very tough, hard to get him out of there. That’s what he brought, really brough…

Jacobe Smith doesn’t want to spend his bonus money on a trip to Disney World. 

Smith took on fellow undefeated prospect Josiah Harrell in a welterweight matchup at UFC Houston on Saturday. “Cobe” capitalized on a takedown attempt by Harrell, took side control, and finished him with ruthless ground-and-pound in the first round. The finish secured a $100,0-00 “Performance of the Night” bonus for Smith in the new Paramount era. However, upon securing the finish, Smith was first worried about spending the money on a trip to Disney World. Smith’s children had asked him for a trip to Disney World if he secured a bonus for his win. Smith called for Disney World to sponsor his family trip if they are listening.

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“First thing that went through my mind after it happened – my daughter and my son were like, ‘If you win the bonus, can we go to Disney World?’” Smith told the UFC. “So I’m like, ‘I’m gonna win all this money, but I’m going to give it to Disney W…

Professional Fighters League on Thursday revealed two bouts for its April 11 event at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena.

Headlining “The Windy City” card will be former Bellator MMA bantamweight king Sergio Pettis (25-7) against undefeated 135-pound prospect Mitchell McKee (10-0).

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Pettis was last seen in competition with an incredible knockout of Magomed Magomedov back in October. McKee will be making his major league debut following a stint in the Legacy Fighting Alliance.

The event’s co-feature will host a middleweight clash pitting Jordan Newman (8-0) against former LFA two-division champion Joshua Silveira (15-5).

April 11’s main card will air live in the U.S. on cable network ESPN2 at 9:00 p.m. ET. The prelims will stream exclusively in the ESPN app via subscribers who have access to the ESPN Unlimited plan. Tickets for the event go on sale Friday, Feb. 20 through Ticketmaster.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗠 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦@sergiopettis makes hi…

There came a moment when Khamzat Chimaev’s coach, Alan “Finfou” Nascimento, knew that his fighter could control the animal inside him.

Nascimento believes Chimaev substantially changed ahead of his fight against Robert Whittaker in 2024. While Chimaev once flipped off the crowd after missing weight by 7.5 pounds, “Borz” wore glasses and was respectful towards everyone going into his fight against Whittaker. This even had fans worried as they thought the wild and often unruly fighter had lost his hunger and aggression.

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However, Nascimento wasn’t worried as he had been observing Chimaev change since the birth of his son a year ago. Nascimento assured others that, while Chimaev previously used to be controlled by the animal inside him, he was now in control of the beast and would unleash it when needed. Chimaev proved “Finfou” right by breaking Whittaker's jaw with a face-crank in the first round to earn a stoppage win.

“The biggest change in Khamzat …