Martial Arts News

Junior dos Santos is looking forward to competing on the first MMA card broadcast by Netflix. | Getty/UFC

Junior dos Santos will face a tall task — literally — when he meets the 6-foot-7 Robelis Despaigne on the Most Valuable Promotions “Rousey vs. Carano” card on May 16.

“Cigano” recently spoke with Sherdog.com about the challenges presented by the Olympic taekwondo bronze medalist and current Karate Combat heavyweight champion.

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“Robelis is a good fight and a great challenge. He comes from taekwondo, he’s very fast, has dangerous kicks, straight punches and I have my background in boxing, so it´s going to be an interesting clash of styles,” dos Santos said.

Dos Santos revealed that 6-foot-8 former Professional Fighters League champion Renan Ferreira has been a primary training partner in preparation for Despaigne.

“The training sessions are intense here with Renan ‘Problema,’ who is even taller than Despaigne. He should also …

The PFL Belfast card has taken a significant hit.

Paul Hughes announced on Wednesday that a knee injury has forced him to withdraw from his main event bout against Jay-Jay Wilson. As a result, Darragh Kelly will step in and face Wilson in the new PFL Belfast headliner, the promotion confirmed. Additionally, Pedro Carvalho will step in to face Kelly’s original opponent, Sergio Cossio.

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PFL Belfast takes place on April 16 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Recent signee Rhys McKee is expected to compete in the co-main event against an opponent that will be announced next week.

𝙋𝙁𝙇 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙁𝘼𝙎𝙏 𝙐𝙋𝘿𝘼𝙏𝙀 🚨

Paul Hughes is OUT of PFL Belfast due to injury. We wish Paul well in his recovery.

Undefeated lightweight Darragh Kelly⁸ steps in to face New Zealand’s Jay Jay Wilson⁶ in the lightweight main event.

Rhys McKee’s opponent will be… pic.twitter.com/SMNG3nyNpT

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) March 25, 2026 Surgery …

Francis Ngannou didn’t want his relationship with the Professional Fighters League to end in the way it did. 

PFL suddenly announced earlier this month that Ngannou was no longer a part of the promotion. Days later, it was announced that Ngannou was booked to fight Philipe Lins on May 16 on a Netflix card under the banner of Most Valuable Promotions. 

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Ngannou claims the PFL announced his release to stay ahead of the narrative, which the former UFC heavyweight champion understands. However, Ngannou claims that the decision to part ways was not his. “The Predator” wanted the PFL to come up with a nicer story to explain his release. Ngannou also revealed that he had originally left the PFL in January. Ngannou claims he had no prior knowledge that the PFL would publicly announce his release before they did.Caught Off Guard “They wanted to get ahead of the story, which is what every organization would do,” Ngannou said on "The Ariel Helwani Sh…

Israel Adesanya says he was the last active UFC middleweight champion. 

Adesanya notes that the current middleweight champion, Khamzat Chimaev, once fought twice within 10 days early in his UFC career. However, Chimaev won the title in August 2025 and will now defend it against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on May 9. Adesanya sees the division slowing down without him as the champion.

The Last Active Champion “Look at the middleweight division now — Khamzat was a very active guy coming up, smoking everybody, fighting multiple times, I think twice in a month, even at one point,” Adesanya told ESPN. “And now that he’s champion, I’m sure what the deal is – is it visa issues? Is it injuries? I’m not sure… The last active champion was me. The last guy who put it all on the line regardless, every time calling out the best, was me. So that’s one thing that I would say people didn’t appreciate, even I didn’t appreciate. Now that I’m here watching it, I’m like, damn, this game …

Jean Silva is ready to risk everything to get the next title shot. 

Silva (17-3) is rallying for a featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanovski. However, perennial contender Movsar Evloev recently maintained his undefeated record by handing Lerone Murphy his only professional loss at UFC London last weekend. That did not deter Silva, who was in attendance at UFC London, from walking up to UFC executiveHunter Campbell with a contract. 

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Meanwhile, Volkanovski has clearly expressed his preference to defend his title against Evloev rather than Silva. Volkanovski notes that he has two wins over Diego Lopes, who defeated Silva via a technical knockout last year. Volkanovski believes Silva is yet to prove himself, and a win over the Brazilian won’t add much to his legacy compared to a win over Evloev. 

However, Silva hasn’t given up hope of earning the next title shot. Silva argues that the division will stall if Evloev becomes th…

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya might have one of the healthiest rivalries in UFC history. 

Adesanya (24-5) is scheduled to fight Joe Pyfer (15-3) in the main event at UFC Seattle on Saturday. Pereira recently posted a video of himself getting knocked out by Adesanya in their rematch at UFC 287 in 2023. “Poatan” also wished Adesanya luck for his upcoming fight while expressing his gratitude for sharing the Octagon with him. 

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‘We Keep Evolving’ “Saturday is fight night once again,” Pereira wrote on Instagram while tagging Adesanya in the post. “Much respect to Israel Adesanya — we’ve shared the Octagon and moments that became part of my journey. That loss taught me a lot; it pushed me to evolve not only as a fighter, but as a man. I grew, matured, and used it as fuel to reach a higher level in the sport and in life. Regardless of rivalry, I know what it means to step in there — the years of work, the pressure, the sacrifice. That’s why I w…

Joe Pyfer is a changed man going into the biggest fight of his career to date.

Pyfer is scheduled to headline UFC Seattle against Israel Adesanya on Saturday. While performing media obligations, Pyfer is evidently different than his former self. While Pyfer would burst out with emotions back in the day, “Bodybagz” can be seen calm and collected ahead of UFC Seattle. Pyfer reveals that the change is due to his newfound faith in God.

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“I feel like I’ve had a complete resurgence, a complete 360, as far as my faith and God and Jesus Christ,” Pyfer told Full Send MMA. “I feel I’ve had an outer body experience with something, where I was able to see who I was and I was pretty disappointed. And I feel God gave me direction and a chance to change my life. And it’s the craziest presence I’ve ever felt in my life.”

Pyfer credits his soon-to-be wife, Ashlyn, for introducing him to God. Planning to have a family soon, Pyfer can now finally see life beyond fight…

Israel Adesanya partially blames an eye poke for his loss against Nassourdine Imavov. 

Adesanya headlined UFC Saudi Arabia against Imavov in February 2025. “The Last Stylebender” was going toe-to-toe against Imavov before abruptly getting finished early in the second round. Adesanya was poked in the eye moments before Imavov landed the finishing sequence. However, the former middleweight champion brushed it aside and immediately resumed the action. 

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Adesanya recently revealed that his focus was compromised after getting eye poked. The Nigerian-born Kiwi admits that he should have taken his allotted to compose himself before continuing.Live and Learn “The last fight, I got eye poked,” Adesanya told ESPN. “I should have taken my time and reset properly. But I wanted to carry on the work I was doing and not let him get any time to rest. And focus, it just wavers. No matter what level you are, you can never master it. I should have just locked i…

Francis Ngannou wanted to fight out his contract with the Professional Fighters League. 

PFL announced its split with Ngannou earlier this month. This was immediately followed by the announcement of Ngannou’s booking against Philipe Lins on May 16 on MVP’s first MMA card in collaboration with Netflix. 

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Ngannou claims he still had a fight left on his PFL contract, which he wanted to exhaust. However, the PFL allegedly told Ngannou for a year that they were working on it. Ngannou also believes the major changes in the PFL leadership led to a delay in proceedings. While Ngannou used to previously discuss fight-related matters with former CEO Peter Murray, he was replaced by John Martin last year.Slow Negotiations “I think I had one fight left, and I was hoping to have that fight since last year,” Ngannou said on "The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I’ve been asking for the fight, but they keep telling me they are working on it… At the same time, a lot o…

Pat Sabatini is 8-2 in the UFC. | Getty/UFC

Battle-tested featherweights will trade leather at UFC 328. 

Pat Sabatini and William Gomis will share the Octagon at UFC 328 on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Home of Fight was first to report the pairing. Khamzat Chimaev puts his middleweight title on the line against Sean Strickland in the main event at UFC 328.

While Sabatini is past the prospect phase, the 35-year-old has been through the trenches at featherweight and mostly come out victorious. Sabatini is 8-2 in the UFC and has only lost to Damon Jackson and Diego Lopes, while beating the likes of Jamall Emmers, Lucas Almeida, Joanderson Brito and Jose Mariscal. 

Meanwhile, Gomis has only suffered a narrow split-decision loss against top prospect Hyder Amil in six UFC outings. The Frenchman has since rebounded with a win over Robert Ruchala last September. 

The UFC and Jorge Masvidal might be destined for a reunion. | Getty/UFC.

It appears that Jorge Masvidal’s return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship could be imminent.

On the "Death Row MMA” podcast, “Gambred” revealed that he was offered a fight on the Most Valuable Promotions “Rousey vs. Carano” card but ultimately decided not to accept it because of talks he had with UFC brass.

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"I got offered to fight on this [Netflix] card,” Masvidal said (transcription via MMAjunkie.com). "I had a very good, nice offer from Netflix, but UFC had other plans for me. I was talking to Nakisa [Bidarian]. I get along very well with Nakisa and nothing but love for him for even thinking of me and calling me up, but it just didn't work out.

"I had the first offer before they gave it to Nate [Diaz]. It was me, and I desperately wanted to take the fight, but the UFC has a good, good plan for me, and they told me the plan. I like it, and we're g…

Georges St. Pierre's life story is getting the Hollywood treatment. | Getty/UFC

The life story of Georges St. Pierre is headed to the big screen.

According to Variety, a movie about the UFC Hall of Famer and two-division champion is in development. The biopic will be directed by Quebec-based director Thomas Soto and is expected to chronicle everything from St. Pierre’s formative years in Isidore Quebec to his journey to the top of the UFC. The report states that filmakers want to “reveal Georges, the man.”

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“We have been considering telling my story for a moment now, and when we found this team it was clear to us that we wanted this to be told in a new creative way,” St Pierre said in a statement.

St. Pierre is one of a handful of athletes in the running for greatest mixed martial artist of all-time. He had two reigns as UFC welterweight champion and also captured middleweight gold before calling it a career in 2018.

A Privilege an…