Martial Arts News

The first pair of bouts booked for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Azerbaijan share a common theme.

Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight broke the news on Thursday about the first two matches set for UFC Baku, which will be held at the Baku Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan’s capital city on June 27. Both fights will be held at 185 pounds, featuring one Brazilian against a Russian adversary. The first will see Michel Pereira (32-14, 2 NC) take on Sharabutdin Magomedov (16-1) in a collision that may have rankings implications at 185 pounds. Pereira confirmed this fight by sharing an AI-generated video of him in pirate captain garb forcing Magomedov to walk the proverbial plank.

Advertisement

“Demolidor” put a three-fight skid behind him by claiming a split decision in a bloody thriller with Zachary Reese at UFC Houston in February. Before getting his hand raised, the high-flying Brazilian had succumbed to strikes from Anthony Hernandez and Kyle Daukaus that bookend …

At the tender age of 42, “Stitch ‘em Up” Joe Schilling is going to test himself in the confines of the Professional Fighters League in May.

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

Advertisement

After over six years away from the sport of MMA, former Glory kickboxing standout Schilling (4-6) will be coming back to compete in a cage again. The PFL released the news of his next fight on Thursday, which will take place at PFL Brussels on May 23. There, he will square off inside of the ING Arena with fellow former kickboxer Donegi Abena, who will be making his professional debut.

The one-time welterweight will be taking this match in Brussels, Belgium, at 205 pounds, in what will be his first MMA bout since October 2019. At Bellator 229, Schilling saw his lone career win streak come to a crashing halt when Tony Johnson put him away with one punch. This also spelled the end to his time with Bellator MMA, a…

⚖️ #PFLMadrid Official Weigh Ins are underway

PFL Middleweight World Title is official! 🏆

Advertisement

🇪🇸Costello van Steenis: 184.7 lbs🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Fabian Edwards: 184.7 lbs

PFL Madrid is streaming LIVE on the ESPN app this Friday, March 20th#PFLMadrid | Fri, March 20th | 📍Palacio Vistalegre… pic.twitter.com/7aTOpSW8AZ

— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 19, 2026 A Middleweight World Title Fight headlines PFL Madrid: Tune in LIVE, Friday, March 20 at 12 p.m. ET. The Professional Fighters League's middleweight championship will be on the line tomorrow, as the PFL Madrid card is now official following the weigh-ins.

The 11-fight card will be headlined by middleweight champion Costello van Steenis, looking to defend his belt against Fabian Edwards. Both men successfully made weight for the five-round fight. Two competitors came in heavy for the PFL's first European event of 2026: Kevin Cordero (136.6), who clocked in .6 pounds above the bant…

This seemingly insignificant detail will be crucial in the operation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s fight card at the White House.

On Monday, the promotion encountered a major regulatory snafu when the District of Columbia Combat Sports Commission weighed in on the fight card. As the UFC White House: Freedom 250 event is to be held on federal land and not under a state’s jurisdiction, the UFC can technically serve as its own commission in running it—a la the upcoming UFC Macau show, for example.

Advertisement

The drama all came down to a $100 permit that at the time the UFC was refusing to acquire. The D.C. commission and its head, Andrew Huff, stated that any fight card run without this permit would be considered unsanctioned and may not be eligible for records. Huff’s overarching concern is that any other event would receive this same permit that would allow the commission to be involved in the regulatory process, including the use of commission med…

Lerone Murphy thought he'd clinched a title shot by knocking out Aaron Pico. | Getty/UFC

Last summer in Chicago, Lerone Murphy thought a title shot was all but inevitable.

After all, he had just knocked out highly-regarded Bellator MMA signee Aaron Pico with a spinning back elbow in the first round at UFC 319. Not only was it a “Knockout of the Year” candidate, but it extended the Englishman’s promotional winning streak to nine. The performance also caught the attention of reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Advertisement

However, Murphy did not get the championship opportunity he anticipated. Instead, it went to Diego Lopes, who only needed to earn one victory to earn a rematch with Volkanovski at UFC 325.

“To be completely honest, it was rough,” Murphy told the UFC. “After the fight in Chicago, I thought I’d done enough. Everyone thought I’d done enough. I go out there, co-main event, step in on short notice and get a KO…

Colby Covington says he's been iced out by the UFC. | Getty/UFC

Colby Covington’s most recent layoff might not have been completely by choice.

During a recent Q&A session with streamer N3on, Covington addressed the UFC’s negotiating tactics. According to “Chaos,” the promotion plays hardball when it comes to matchmaking.

Advertisement

“You have no say,” Covington said (transcription via MMAFighting.com). “Hunter Campbell, who is like the UFC lawyer, he kind of just tells you what direction they’re going to go, and it’s either you take it or leave it. So, you don’t really get a choice what you want to do. They just leave you. They ice you. They won’t give you fights. They’ll just let you sit out there. They’ll say, ‘Hey, you turned down this fight, now you’re not going to fight for the year. You’re not going to make money.’ They’ll freeze you out.

“Even if it’s not a good move, and you’re not getting paid what you think you deserve, it doesn’t …

Charles Oliveira's coach was defiant when discussing the Brazilian's dominance at UFC 326. | Getty/UFC

Two weeks after Charles Oliveira's BMF belt win over Max Holloway at UFC 326, Sherdog.com spoke with Chute Boxe leader Diego Lima about his athlete's next steps.

"Actually, Charles is returning from Las Vegas with his whole family this Wednesday. Four days after the fight, he gave a seminar in Germany and another in the Netherlands, returned to Vegas, and flew to São Paulo yesterday,” Lima said.

Advertisement

According to the Chute Boxe head coach, Charles' first option would be to make himself available to the UFC as a reserve for the main event fight at the UFC White House.

"Hoping that neither of them gets injured, because it will be a great fight, but we have already offered Charles as an option to be the reserve for this fight at the White House," Lima said. “Charles wants the belt, so he could take the winner of Topuria and Gaethje, or if…

Vitor Petrino is building momentum at heavyweight. | Getty/UFC

After watching Vitor Petrino's third consecutive victory over Steven Asplund in the heavyweight division last Saturday, Valter Walker challenged his countryman on social media.

"You're complaining about the ranking, so let's fight in June to see if you enter the rankings. I'm in the top 14," Walker said in a comment right after the fight (Petrino would enter the UFC rankings at 15th on Tuesday).

Advertisement

Petrino’s coach, Cristiano Marcello, told Sherdog.com that the challenge was not only accepted but also taken to the UFC.Challenge Accepted "Challenge accepted,” Marcello said, adding that the preference is that the fight takes place in July. “Our manager has already taken it to the UFC and we are just waiting for the answer. Valter is a good fight for Petrino. Now it's up there and we'll see which shield breaks through first.”

Walker has won four straight UFC appearances since dr…

Carlos Prates is eyeing a title shot with a potential win over Jack Della Maddalena. 

Prates is scheduled to fight Maddalena in the main event at UFC Perth on May 2. “The Nightmare” is confident that he will knock out Maddalena in front of the latter’s home fans. Prates notes that he will have knocked out two former welterweight champions if he starches Maddalena at UFC Perth. The Brazilian believes a win over Maddalena will make the next welterweight title shot undeniable for him.

Advertisement

Who Deserves It More? “I will knock JDM out,” Prates said on "The Ariel Helwani Show.” “If we talk about media, I have a lot of media [presence] A lot of people like me, and I have a lot of fans. There’s talk about whether I deserve it or not. I think I deserve it. Of course, I will knock JDM out, and then I will have knocked out two former champions. So who deserves it more than me?”

While Prates (23-7) can already make a legitimate case for a title shot, the welte…

The BMF title fight between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira failed to impress many, including UFC boss Dana White. 

Holloway (27-9) put his BMF title on the line against Oliveira (37-11) in the main event at UFC 326earlier this month. Oliveira dominated Holloway on the ground for over 20 minutes to earn a unanimous decision victory. Despite Oliveira’s dominant performance, some didn’t find it befitting of the BMF title. 

Not ImpressedJoe Rogan recently revealed that White also wasn’t impressed with the BMF title fight. Rogan was pitching the idea of muay thai and kickboxing fights to White when the UFC head honcho told him that he didn’t like fight between Holloway and Oliveira.

“The fights on [ONE Championship] are amazing, especially the muay thai fights,” Rogan said on his podcast. “I was trying to pitch this to Dana. So I started sending Dana all these high level muay thai fights and high level kickboxing fights. And they are f—-ing phenomenal. He did…

Islam Makhachev denies ever weighing 190 pounds on fight night. 

UFC welterweight champion Makhachev seems to be at least the same size, if not bigger than, most fighters in his weight class. Makhachev amazingly also had a dominant title reign at lightweight. 

Advertisement

Dustin Poirier, who made a failed lightweight title bid against Makhachev in 2024, recently made a surprising claim. According to Poirier, the UFC keeps a record of every fighter’s weight on fight night. Poirier claims UFC matchmaker Hunter Campbell told him that Makhachev weighed around 190 pounds on fight night for their lightweight matchup. Which means Makhachev allegedly gained around 35 pounds after weighing in at 155 pounds. Meanwhile, Poirier claims he himself weighed only 176 pounds.He Said, He Said “Hunter, I was in his office not too long ago,” Poirier said on "The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “And they keep record of all the weights on fight night. They don’t release them…

The ALF Reality Series, also known as the Russian “TUF,” is proving to be too much for Daniel Cormier. 

Cormier and Jones are currently in Thailand, starring as rival coaches for ALF, where things often get out of control. While brawls are pretty commonplace, someone recently pulled out a knife on the show. That was enough for “DC” to consider leaving the show and flying back to America.

Advertisement

“Brother, I need to go home,” Cormier said. “I might give them their money back to stay at home. I can’t handle this. Someone’s gonna get hurt bad, like bad. I didn’t know it was like this. This is crazy, bro, like knives, everything.” 

While they are known for their bitter rivalry, Jones pleaded with Cormier not to leave the show.

“Please, we all really need you bro,” Jones said.

Not Worth Losing Your LifeJones then gave everyone a speech, explaining that a TV show isn’t worth risking their lives. “Bones” also admitted that even he didn’t want t…