Martial Arts News

Khamzat Chimaev struggled with his weight cut before losing to Sean Strickland. | Getty/UFC

Khamzat Chimaev was allegedly promised a fight at light heavyweight. 

Chimaev (15-1) had long been hinting at a move up to light heavyweight. However, Chimaev put his middleweight title on the line against Sean Strickland (31-7) at UFC 328 last weekend. Chimaev showed signs of fatigue early in the second round, completely abandoning his wrestling thereafter. Strickland outpointed Chimaev on the feet via a split decision, handing “Borz” his first professional loss. Chimaev had also looked completely drained at the weigh-ins, even getting accused of missing weight. 

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Chimaev’s brother, Artur Chimaev, recently revealed the former middleweight champion had a terrible weight cut. Chimaev’s body allegedly shut down with just over two pounds to cut. Artur claims even Khamzat didn’t know how he would go forward with the bout. 

Artur claim…

Sean Strickland recently took a moment to celebrate his championship victory with his teammates.

In a video posted on the Xtreme Couture Instagram account, Strickland brought the belt back to the Las Vegas-based gym and praised his training partners.

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“After every L I’ve got, the fact that I went back and came to the gym is why I have another one of these f—ers,” Strickland said.

“That being said, as always, I want to thank you guys. I’m pretty f----ed up; I’m going to take a few weeks off. But I wouldn’t be here without you guys, seriously. F----ing, all the coaches, would not be here without you. So, it’s not just my belt, it’s our belt. Thank you.”

Strickland upset Khamzat Chimaev via split decision in the UFC 328 headliner this past weekend to capture the middleweight crown. It’s the second championship win for Strickland, who initially shocked the world by ending Israel Adesanya’s championship reign at UFC 293 in September 2023.

Love A…

Ariane Lipski da Silva bested Sumiko Inaba in her PFL debut. | PFL MMA

Ariane Lipski da Silva has a date and venue for her second Professional Fighters League appearance.

The UFC veteran and former KSW champion will lock horns with Jena Bishop in a flyweight contest at PFL San Diego on June 27. The promotion confirmed the pairing following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. PFL San Diego takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego and is headlined by a featherweight showdown between A.J. McKee and Salamat Isbulaev.

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An elite and undefeated welterweight prospect headlines PFL Brussels against a former UFC champ: Tune in Saturday, May 23 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Lipski ended a three-bout losing streak in her promotional debut, as she outpointed Sumiko Inaba at PFL Pittsburgh on March 28. The 32-year-old Brazilian went 6-8 over the course of a UFC tenure that began in 2019.

Bishop, meanwhile, has been victorious in three of he…

Khamzat Chimaev will make his first Real American Freestyle foray a little more than a month after losing the UFC middleweight belt.

The wrestling promotion on Tuesday announced that Chimaev will face Dillon Danis in a catchweight match in the RAF 10 headliner on June 13 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. The card will stream via Fox Nation.

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Chimaev suffered his first professional MMA defeat in the UFC 328 headliner, where he dropped a split decision to Sean Strickland on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. “Borz” has been known for dominating foes with his wrestling and grappling throughout his UFC tenure, but he struggled somewhat in that regard against Strickland. While the Chechen star was initially expected to move up to 205 pounds after UFC 328, his team recently revealed that he was obsessed with securing an immediate rematch against Strickland in the Octagon.

Danis initially gained notoriety as a training partner of Conor Mc…

Bellator vet Christian Edwards will make his UFC debut on Saturday. | Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan

The UFC Vegas 117 bill has undergone some more changes ahead of Saturday’s event.

The promotion announced on Tuesday that Rodolfo Bellato has been “removed” from a proposed light heavyweight clash against Modestas Bukauskas. As a result, Christian Edwards will step in and face Bukauskas in a 215-pound catchweight affair.

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Down One Fight Additionally, Nicolas Dalby has been pulled from a welterweight matchup with Jeremiah Wells, and that bout has been canceled. Those changes are in addition to a previously reported change that saw Artur Miniev replace Thomas Gantt in a lightweight contest.

UFC Vegas 117 — also known as UFC Fight Night 276 — takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight scrap between Arnold Allen and Melquizael Costa. The event airs in its entirety on Paramount+ beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.…

Khamzat Chimaev wants another shot at Sean Strickland. | Getty/UFC

Khamzat Chimaev may not be headed to the light heavyweight division just yet.

A statement from Chimaev’s team provided to ESPN on Tuesday revealed that the Chechen standout is instead focused on a return date with Sean Strickland. Entering UFC 328 as a heavy favorite, “Borz” relinquished his middleweight crown to Strickland in a surprising split-decision defeat.

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"The rematch with Sean Strickland is the only fight that Khamzat wants, he is obsessed with it," the statement read. "That's the only fight he will accept right now.”

That’s a shift from what UFC CEO Dana White indicated shortly after Saturday’s main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. At the post-fight press conference, White revealed that Chimaev told him that UFC 328 was his last bout at 185 pounds. However, Chimaev also tweeted “See you soon again” to Strickland, perhaps hinting that he …

Marvin Vettori will be back in action this summer. | Getty/UFC

The UFC Baku lineup continues to take shape.

The Las Vegas-based promotion on Tuesday confirmed a handful of matchups for the event, including a pair of intriguing middleweight tilts: Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev and Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk.

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Other announced pairings, some of which have been previously reported include: Nazim Sadykhov vs. Matheus Camilo at lightweight; Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson at flyweight and Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Andrey Pulyaev at middleweight.

UFC Baku takes place at National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 27 and is headlined by a lightweight clash pitting Rafael Fiziev against Manuel Torres. The card will air in its entirety on Paramount+.

Middleweight Mania A middleweight title challenger in 2021, Vettori will look to snap a four-bout losing streak when he squares off against Naurdiev. “The Italian…

Zabit Magomedsharipov holds the UFC partially responsible for his premature retirement. 

Magomedsharipov (18-1) is one of the biggest “what ifs” in MMA history. From elite striking to grappling, the Dagestani standout could seemingly do it all. However, Magomedsharipov fought for the last time in 2019 and officially retired in 2022 to pursue a career in medicine. 

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Magomedsharipov recently opened up about his premature retirement. Magomedsharipov blames multiple fight cancellations, which eventually took a toll on him. Magomedsharipov particularly notes that he had multiple fights against fellow featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez canceled. After going through multiple training camps and weight cuts, only to have Rodriguez pull out at the last minute, Magomedsharipov had enough. 

Rodriguez was even briefly released from the UFC after allegedly refusing to fight Magomedsharipov. While Rodriguez was supposed to fight  Magomedsha…

Nassourdine Imavov admits that he takes certain things personally.

Sean Strickland dethroned Khamzat Chimaev in a shocking upset to win the middleweight title via a closely-contested split decision at UFC 328 last weekend in Newark, New Jersey. Strickland had insulted Chimaev’s race, ethnicity and religion in the lead-up to the fight. However, the two showed mutual respect after the fight, and Strickland apologized for going too far with the trash talk. Strickland justified his words saying he was trying hard to sell the fight.

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Strickland has since expressed interest in defending his title against Imavov, who vows to knockout the newly-crowned middleweight champion. Responding to Imavov’s comments, Strickland said that he can’t avoid racism. However, Imavov warns Strickland that he has certain boundaries when it comes to trash talk. The Frenchman says that targeting his religion, family and nation won’t be forgiven as a marketing gimmick. Unlike the n…

Nate Diaz isn't a fan of artificial beef in combat sports. | Noah Red & Alexis Contreras

Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev have raised questions about fake rivalry. 

Strickland dethroned Chimaev via split decision to win the middleweight title at UFC 328 last weekend. While there appeared to be serious bad blood between the two leading up to the fight, it didn’t reflect in the bout. Strickland and Chimaev also quashed their beef after the fight, hugging it out inside the Octagon. Strickland further admitted to crossing boundaries with his trash talk to sell the fight and apologized to Chimaev for the same. 

Nate Diaz isn’t impressed by how things played out between Strickland and Chimaev. Diaz (21-13) is set to return to MMA against Mike Perry (14-8) at Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. While Diaz admits that he is not best friends with Perry, he refuses to build up a fak…

Yaroslav Amosov’s UFC 328 camp was going too perfectly, until it wasn’t. 

Amosov took on Joel Alvarez in a welterweight booking at UFC 328 last weekend in Newark, New Jersey. Amosov barely broke a sweat while dominating Alvarez on the ground before submitting him in the second round. The Ukrainian star also earned a $100,000 performance bonus for his win. 

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Amosov recently revealed that he had suffered a massive black eye in sparring just a couple of weeks before UFC 328. While Amosov usually suffers minor cuts and bruises during fight camp, this one was going so well that it almost had him worried. Amosov was assured that everything was in place when he suffered a black eye just two weeks before fight night.No Such Thing as Perfect “If this video gets posted, it will be after the fight,” Amosov said on social media. “There’s no perfect camp, every time I’m in camp, something happens to me always: a minor cut, a minor injury. Something that d…

Thomas Gantt will make his UFC debut on Saturday. | Getty Images/DWCS

Undefeated debutants will trade leather at UFC Fight Night 276. 

Contender Series graduate Thomas Gantt was originally scheduled to fight Trey Ogden at UFC Fight Night 276 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. However, Ogden was forced out with an injury just five days before the fight. The UFC has found a replacement in Artur Minev, who will now take on Gantt. Marcel Dorff was first to report the new booking.

A Penchant for Finishing Gantt (11-0) has finished 10 of his 11 pro wins so far with an equal number of knockouts and submissions. The undefeated 33-year-old earned his contract with a first-round submission win on the Contender Series in September 2025. 

Meanwhile, Minev (7-0) has finished six of his seven pro wins so far. The undefeated Ukrainian last fought in a 165-pound catchweight bout under the Fury Fighting Championship banner ib Jan. 18.