Martial Arts News

PFL Chicago will see Sergio Pettis stepping inside the cage for the first time without his longtime coach, Duke Roufus. 

Pettis and his elder brother, Anthony Pettis, have been longtime students of late coach Duke Roufus at Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sergio and Anthony were left grief-stricken when Roufus passed away in his sleep at the age of 55  in October 2025 due to heart-related issues. 

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Sergio is scheduled to welcome undefeated debutant Mitchell McKee at PFL Chicago on April 11 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Pettis revealed that it’ll be the first time since the age of 14 that he will be fighting without head coach Roufus in his corner. Pettis admits that he was emotionally affected early in his camp. However, Roufus has left his pupils in safe hands under striking coach Scott Cushman and grappling coach Christopher Wright, who have also been with Pettis for a long time. Along with his brother, Anthony in hi…

Conor McGregor recently made a surprise appearance in an exhibition boxing match in his home country.

Video has surfaced of the former UFC two-division champion competing in a three-round bout at the Crumlin Boxing Club in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday. In the videos, McGregor enjoys success in exchanges, forcing a pair of standing eight counts during the match.

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Getting in Some Rounds

McGregor’s latest activity is sure to spark further speculation that his return to action could be imminent. The “Notorious” hasn’t competed since breaking his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. A scheduled return against fellow “The Ultimate Fighter 31” coach Michael Chandler at UFC 303 fell through when McGregor pulled out on the week of the fight due to a broken toe.

More recently, McGregor lobbied hard to be on the UFC card — at one point claiming his participation was a “done deal.” However, when the event was announced, McGrego…

Malcolm Wellmaker will attempt to get back on track at UFC Fight Night 276. | Getty/UFC

Malcolm Wellmaker will look to return to winning ways in May. 

Wellmaker is scheduled to welcome debutant Juan Diaz at UFC Fight Night 276 on May 16 in Las Vegas. Marcel Dorff was first to report the pairing.

Prospects Collide Wellmaker (10-1) gained early stardom as a welder who kept his full-time job despite earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in 2024. Wellmaker finally quit his job as a welder after earning a performance bonus with a first-round knockout win over Cameron Saimaan in his UFC debut last year. Wellmaker then made a quick turnaround to score another bonus-winning knockout over Kris Moutinho. Wellmaker was a massive favorite in his latest outing against UFC debutant Ethyn Ewing this past November. However, Wellmaker’s hype train was derailed as he suffered his first professional loss against Ewing in a huge upset. 

Me…

Marwan Rahiki enjoyed a successful UFC debut. | Getty/UFC

Marwan Rahiki will make a quick turnaround for his sophomoreUFC outing. 

Rahiki (8-0) will take on Jack Jenkins (14-4)  in a featherweight matchup at UFC Perth on May 2 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.  MMAFighting.com was first to report the bout.

Strong First Impression Rahiki made his debut against Harry Hardwick last month at UFC Fight Night 269 at the Apex in Las Vegas. While Rahiki put on a brutal beating on Hardwick, the latter showed immense grit in refusing to go out. However, Hardwick’s corner threw in the towel at the end of the second round after he revealed that he had a broken jaw. Rahiki has finished all eight of his wins so far. The undefeated Moroccan-Australian will make a quick turnaround of a month and a half for his sophomore clash against Jenkins. 

Meanwhile, Jenkins is 4-2 in the UFC since making his debut in 2023. The Australian striker is coming off…

Grant Dawson is 11-2 in the UFC. | Getty/UFC

The latest addition to the UFC 328 card has all the makings of a potential banger. 

Grant Dawson and Mateusz Rebecki are scheduled to trade leather in a lightweight tilt at UFC 328 on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Dawson confirmed the booking via social media. 

Contrast in Styles While Dawson (23-3) is a well-rounded wrestler, Rebecki (20-4) is known for engaging in violent slugfests while also being technically sound. Dawson is 11-2 in the UFCwith six finishes and coming off a first-round knockout loss against hot prospect Manuel Torres.

Meanwhile, Rebecki has now dropped three of his last four after starting his UFC career on a three-fight winning streak. However, Rebecki’s last three bouts have all been brutal bloodbaths and a treat to fans. 

Always ready to put on a show 🤩@MoicanoUFC | 156 lbs

[ #UFCVegas115 is LIVE TOMORROW at 8pmET on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/IwjbN5YHb5

— UFC (@ufc) April 3, 2026 The Ultimate Fighting Championship kicks off its busy April with a Meta Apex card, which is now official following the UFC Vegas 115 weigh-ins and two weight misses.

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Headlining the 13-fight card is a fight between lightweight veteran Renato Carneiro and prospect Chris Duncan. This is the fourth UFC main event for "Money Moicano," who had no issue making weight for the five-round fight, just like his opponent. However, three fighters weren't professional as Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev, Rafael Estevam and Darrius Flowers all missed weight for their respective bouts. Of the three, Yakhyaev returned to hit 206 pounds. The other two will be fined 20% of their purses.

Carneiro (20-7-1) enters the fight on a two-fight losing streak, as he went winless in 2025. L…

Chisora has a Tyson Fury mask 😅

🎟️ Buy CHISORA vs WILDER HERE --> https://t.co/FoiaUucafv #ChisoraWilder | April 4 | Live Exclusively on DAZN ▪️ pic.twitter.com/zNLzqBCpIA

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 3, 2026 A heavyweight boxing clash between two of the division's beloved knockout artists is now official following the Deontay Wilder vs. Derek Chisora weigh-ins.

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Both hard-hitting heavyweights successfully made weight for their clash, which will take place at the O2 Arena in London. Two other boxers failed to hit their weight limits, though. Ashton Sylve came in three pounds over the super lightweight limit for his fight against Raul Antonio Galaviz Hernandez, while Jordan Dujon was 2.9 pounds over the middleweight limit for his bout against Amir Anderson. Both fights will continue forward, but the overweight fighters will be fined a percentage of their purses.

Wilder (44-4-1) enters the anticipated fight with…

It appears the beef between Ultimate Fighting Championship former stars Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal is far from squashed.

On March 21, 2022, a few weeks after the two collided atop UFC 272, Masvidal attacked Covington outside of a restaurant in Miami. Covington stated that he chipped a tooth, while he also claimed his expensive watch was damaged in the assault. “Gamebred” was ultimately charged with a few felonies, and they were reduced to a misdemeanor battery charge when he took a plea deal. Masvidal was sentenced to two days in jail—not prison—and fined almost $1,000 in fees and costs.

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As first reported by Fox Sports South Florida talk show host Andy Slater on Wednesday, Covington is suing Masvidal for damages upwards of or in excess of $50K sustained in the attack. Per the civil complaint filed on March 23, 2026, Covington claims that he suffered the following: “bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering; disability; disfigurement; p…

This former Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder’s nose has become the instructions in “Rocky Horror Picture Show” song “Time Warp”: it’s just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right.

Merab Dvalishvili has never had the straightest of noses, and he wears his crooked beak like a badge of honor. As a result of his many hard training sessions at his gym of Serra-Longo Fight Team, including those where he dueled with fellow ex-champ Aljamain Sterling, his nose took a lean towards the right. On Wednesday, Dvalishvili posted a video of himself driving to the hospital to get his face checked. In what appeared to be a non-April Fools’ gag, he had his even more tilted snout stuffed with bloody tissues, and he explained what happened.

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“What a good day, and what a stupid accident…again,” Dvalishvili said in his video first displaying the damage to his schnoz. “Five years after [my previous nose break], my nose is f---ed up even worse [laughs]. A…

Barring something funky on fight night, one of these two Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes will shed a losing streak at night’s end.

The UFC announced the return of former Rizin Fighting Federation champion Kai Asakura (21-6) on Thursday, who will be moving back up to 135 pounds after suffering two defeats in the Octagon. He draws fellow skidding combatant Cameron Smotherman (12-6), who won his promotional debut and has since dropped two decisions. The latter may be more famously known as the one who made weight ahead of his UFC 324 match with Ricky Turcios, only to faint and faceplant shortly after walking off the scales.

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Japan’s Asakura, 32, has not panned out since debuting with the promotion in 2024. Coming off winning the Rizin bantamweight belt against Juan Archuleta at the end of 2023—where Archuleta missed weight by over five pounds on fight night—Asakura was thrust into an immediate title shot. Champ Alexandre Pantoja throttled him i…

The four new fighters booked on the Professional Fighters League’s jaunt to South Dakota may not be local, but they are highly ranked.

On May 2, the organization will take to a former Bellator MMA stomping ground of the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The man on the marquee representing the area will be Logan Storley in a welterweight pairing against Florim Zendeli. On Thursday, the promotion dropped two new bouts for this billing, with three of the participants among the PFL’s top 10 in their respective division.

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The first of the two fights set for the PFL Sioux Falls main card is a heavyweight banger as Renan Ferreira (13-5, 3 NC) takes on Sergey Bilostenniy (14-4). It has been a rough couple years for “Problema,” as he claimed the PFL Super Fight heavyweight belt against Ryan Bader and everything looked up. When he was thrust into a matchup against Francis Ngannou, it all went wrong, as Ngannou punched him out in just over three minutes. The re…

The winner of this upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight clash may receive a number next to their name.

Last Friday, Spanish news outlet ABC broke the news that Joel Alvarez (23-3) would be throwing down with Yaroslav Amosov (29-1) at UFC 328. The welterweights will toe the line on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and it is unclear at the time where the two will be placed on the billing. The promotion confirmed this bout on Thursday.

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Featherweight-turned-lightweight Alvarez moved up to 170 pounds in October 2025 after having missed weight a few outings prior, and he battled Vicente Luque at his new division. The Spaniard overcame Luque on the scorecards in a truly bizarre outing where Alvarez was briefly awarded the TKO victory in the opening frame, only for referee Osiris Maia to second-guess himself and call a punch an eye poke. This ultimately marked the first decision win in the career of “El Fenomeno,” one t…