Martial Arts News

Brendan Allen had a big win in his last outing. | Getty/UFC

Brendan Allen will get something of an unexpected matchup for his next Octagon appearance.

“All In” will square off against Edmen Shahbazyan in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 278on June 6 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Allen confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from Marcel Dorff. UFC Fight Night 278 is headlined by a welterweight duel pitting ex-champ Belal Muhammad against Gabriel Bonfim.

Chance to Make a Statement Allen is coming off a short-notice fourth-round TKO win over Reinier de Ridder in the UFC Vancouver main event this past October. Allen is 14-3 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion and owns other notable triumphs against the likes of Marvin Vettori, Chris Curtis and Kevin Holland, among others.

Shahbazyan enters the clash with Allen on a three-bout winning streak. In his most recent appearance, “The Golden Boy” scored a first-round …

Gilbert Burns suffered some serious damage in his loss against Michael Morales. 

Burns suffered a first-round knockout loss against Morales in May last year. While Burns’s head was swollen from the impact, it went down within a couple of days. “Durinho” was briefly doing fine until he boarded a flight to Las Vegas during the International Fight Week at the end of June. Burns has terrible headache during the flight and decided to rush to the UFC Performance Institute once he landed. Tests revealed that Burns still had a concussion from his loss against Morales. The former welterweight title challenger had to go through another month of recovery routine before he returned to training.

‘My Head Was Exploding’ “The Michael Morales fight was the weird one, because I fell,” Burns told MMAjunkie.com. “I wasn’t out, but I fell and [my head] got swollen very big, next day bigger. And then the swelling went off and I was good for a week or so… And then, I think it was Internat…

Chase Hooper believes the UFC is trying to set Sean O’Malley up for a win. 

There were originally talks of a potential matchup between O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen, who Hooper recently trained with. However, O’Malley is now booked to fight Aiemann Zahabi at UFC White House on June 14. 

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Hooper believes the UFC has given O’Malley a “layup” with the Zahabi matchup. Hooper notes that the Canadian is shorter than O’Malley and a striker, stylistically perfect for “Suga.” While Zahabi has some wrestling, Hooper believes it’s not on the same level as elite wrestlers like Merab Dvalishvili, who beat O’Malley twice. Hooper would have rather preferred a matchup between O’Malley and Sandhagen.A Favorable Style “I think they are trying to give Sean as much of a layup as they can give him,” Hooper told Home of Fight. “Shorter guy that will strike a little bit. [Zahabi] wrestles a little bit, but not the same level as Merab, who [O’Malley] just lost to tw…

Eddie Hearn claims Tom Aspinall is not getting the money he deserves. 

Aspinall recently joined the management of Hearn, who is considered a longtime rival of UFC boss Dana White. Hearn claims Aspinall’s UFC contract has him in disbelief. According to Hearn, Aspinall barely has anything left after paying his taxes and his team. Hearn wouldn’t even have considered fighting if he were in Aspinall’s shoes. However, Hearn says that the UFC heavyweight champion is keen to return.

No Point in Fighting“I represent the UFC world heavyweight champion… His contract is a f—-ing disgrace, a disgrace,” Hearn said at a recent press conference (via Pro Boxing Fans). “And I cannot believe the money that he is on. When you look at the commercial revenue that his fight would generate against a Pereira or against a Gane in a rematch. Honestly, if I’m Tom Aspinall, I’m looking at that contract, I’ll go, ‘I don’t think you should even f—-ing bother me.’ But he wants to come back… By th…

It appears the author of the “Showtime” kick is making a comeback. 

Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is scheduled to return against Adil Boranbayev at OGF 01 on June 6 at the Almaty Arena in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This will mark Pettis’ return to MMA for the first time in nearly four years. 

An Unexpected PairingPettis (25-14) was the WEC lightweight champion when the UFC took over the promotion. “Showtime” fought in the UFC for a decade before parting ways with the promotion in 2020. Pettis went 1-4 in the Professional Fighters League and hasn’t fought in MMA since consecutive losses to Steven Ray in 2022. Pettis has since defeated Roy Jones Jr. in boxing, Benson Henderson at Karate Combat, and suffered a boxing loss against Chris Avila. 

Meanwhile, Boranbayev (22-13) has been fighting for nearly two decades, having made his professional debut in 2007. The Kazakh veteran is currently in a two-fight slump. 

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Chase Hooper doesn’t like the matchup between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje.

Interim lightweight champion Gaethje will challenge the undisputed champion Topuria in a title unification bout at UFC White House on June 14. Hooper ideally wants Gaethje to win the undisputed title and put a fairytale ending to his glorious career. However, considering the run that Topuria has been on, Hooper doesn’t see that happening. Hooper notes that “El Matador” has made a habit of putting legends like Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira to sleep. Hooper claims he was depressed when Topuria fought Oliveira and immediately turned off the television after the knockout. “The Dream” would have rather preferred a matchup between Topuria and Islam Makhachev, which was allegedly the original plan for the White House. However, Hooper is now prepared to be depressed, just like he was in the matchup between Topuria and Oliveira.

“I love Justin and I want him to win. I want…

Jon Jones remains confident in his abilities. | Getty/UFC

Jon Jones is not to be counted out because of his arthritis. 

Jones recently reminded fans that while arthritis is painful, it hasn’t robbed him of his skills. Widely considered the greatest of all time, Jones believes he still runs through most fighters.

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“Random thought: Arthritis hurts, it doesn’t make you cripple,” Jones wrote on X. “I’m still smashing 99.47% of you out there.”

Random thought: Arthritis hurts, it doesn’t make you cripple. I’m still smashing 99.47% of you out there.

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) March 20, 2026 Shattered Dreams Jones stalled the heavyweight division for over a year before retiring last year. However, “Bones” returned to the drug testing pool within weeks of his retirement after UFC White House plans were revealed. But Jones failed to land a spot on the card despite his best efforts. 

While there were talks …

The champ is here: Fresh off winning the Professional Fighters League middleweight title via a last-minute comeback, Costello van Steenis established himself as a true champion with a technical knockout of Fabian Edwards in the third round (1:48) on Friday at the Vistalegre Arena Palace in Madrid, Spain.

With his countrymen supporting him, van Steenis controlled the bout early at PFL Madrid and outstuck the dangerous Englishmen. As van Steenis (18-3, 3-0 PFL) established his leg kick, Edwards surprisingly looked to clinch and takedown the champion along the fence. With Edwards stuffed and van Steenis dropping his weight on top of his back, the Spaniard dropped elbows to the side of The Assassin’s head until Edwards body went limp and was saved by referee Blake Grice.

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For Edwards the loss is devastating; van Steenis was the first fighter to beat Edwards nearly six years ago and revenge was on his mind. Edwards won the 2025 PFL middleweight tournament…

Sherdog's live PFL Madrid coverage will begin Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

A Middleweight World Title Fight headlines PFL Madrid: Tune in LIVE, Friday, March 20 at 12 p.m. ET.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:J.L. Kirven scores the round:Mike Pendleton scor…

Before today, rumor had it that Death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience.

Famed martial arts black belt and former Air Force Airman first class Norris was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday, where he was treated for an unknown medical emergency. TMZ stated that Norris was still conscious at the time and that he was reportedly in “good spirits.” A day earlier, Norris was working out on the island of Kaua’i in Hawaii, where a friend of his said he was joking around and having a good time. He had even posted a video on Instagram days before, showing the 86-year-old hitting pads on his birthday.

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In his final video, Norris riffed, “I don’t age. I level up.” He continued, writing, “I’m 86 today! Nothing like some playful action on a sunny day to make you feel young. I’m grateful for another year, good health and the chance to keep doing what I love. Thank you for all being the best fans in the world. Your support through the years has meant more to m…

FROM MANCHESTER TO LONDON 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿@LeroneMurphy comes in at 145lbs!

[ #UFCLondon | TOMORROW 4pmET on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/AUhcuok8Jo

— UFC (@ufc) March 20, 2026 The Ultimate Fighting Championship's featherweight title eliminator is now set following the UFC London weigh-ins, which also featured a fighter missing weight by 8 pounds.

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Headlining the UFC's return to London is a No. 1 contender bout between Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy. The winner will be in pole position for a shot at Alexander Volkanovski's championship later this year. All other fighters successfully made weight for the 14-fight card, with the glaring exception of Luana Carolina. The Brazilian unprofessionally missed the bantamweight mark by 8 pounds and came in at 144 pounds for her fight against Melissa Mullins, which has been canceled as a result.

The undefeated Evloev is 9-0 inside the promotion. Recent wins over Diego Lopes, Arnold…

The gruesome, heartbreaking ordeal of Aniah Blanchard, stepdaughter of former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Walt Harris, is about to come to a close.

Earlier in March, the trial of Ibraheem Yazeed, the man suspected of killing Blanchard in 2019, began. On Thursday afternoon, the jury came back with two verdicts of guilty for the charges of murder and felony murder—that is, the unlawful killing of a person during the commission of a felony like kidnapping or robbery. Both Class A felonies come with sentences no less than 10 years imprisonment with a maximum of life in prison. The verdict of capital murder, which would have made Yazeed eligible for the death penalty in Alabama, was not guilty.

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The sentencing hearing will take place on May 7—Yazeed has six weeks to appeal the verdict—and the prosecutors are seeking life in prison without the possibility of parole. Per local outlet WSFA, Yazeed elected not to testify during the trial, and his …