Martial Arts News

Daniel Cormier called up his protege mid-interview after a successful UFC debut. 

Cormier student Imanol Rodriguez (7-0) made his UFC debut in a flyweight booking against Kevin Borjas (10-5) at UFC Mexico on Saturday at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico. The undefeated Rodriguez was a massive -470 favorite going into his UFC debut. But Borjas dropped Rodriguez twice early in the first round, in what appeared to be the makings of a huge upset. However, Rodriguez managed to take Borjas down and survive the first round. Rodriguez repeated his dominance on the mat in the second round before knocking Borjas out with a barrage late in the round. Rodriguez says he recognised that Borjas was tired enough from the grappling to go for the finish.

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Huge undefeated favourite Imanol Rodriguez for dropped TWICE in round one, but survived.#UFCMexico

pic.twitter.com/vKKfawwbVE

— Verdict (@VerdictMMA) March 1, 2026

&nb…

Imanol Rodriguez enjoyed a memorable UFC debut in Mexico City. | Getty/UFC

It was a night for new blood when it came to post-fight bonuses at UFC Mexico .

Octagon newcomer Imanol Rodriguez earned a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his stoppage of Kevin Borjas in a flyweight tilt. Rodriguez survived being floored twice in the opening stanza before dropping his foe with an overhand right near the fence in Round 2. A barrage of follow-up shots sealed his victory at the 4:21 mark of the period.

An Upset and a Short-Notice Slugfest Elsewhere, British prospect Lone'er Kavanagh garnered a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his upset of Brandon Moreno in the main event. Kavanagh relied on his jab, leg kicks and solid takedown defense to earn a unanimous decision triumph over the two-time flyweight champion.

Finally, Regina Tarin and Ernesta Kareckaite received “Fight of the Night” honors and $100,000 apiece for their three-round battle at…

Damian Pinas wants Dana White’s eyes on him after a spectacular debut at UFC Mexico City. 

Pinas (9-1) took on Wesley Schultz (8-3) in a middleweight tilt to start the action at UFC Fight Night 268 on Saturday at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico. “Baba Yaga” dropped his opponent with an uppercut before flatlining him with a 1-2 combo midway into the first round. 

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Pinas had also scored a first-round knockout on the Dana White's Contender Series last year to earn his UFC contract. However, since Pinas didn’t get a performance bonus for the Contender Series win, the Aruban is hoping for some extra cash after his impressive UFC debut. Pinas dedicated the knockout to Dana White and wants to be on the UFC head honcho’s watch. Pinas says he can be a company man for the UFC and the future of the middleweight division.‘Everybody is Gonna Watch Me’ “I have a news for Dana White,” Pinas said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “This KO is for h…

Lone’er Kavanagh proved he could run with the big dogs in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.

Savage leg kicks, a sharp jab and bulletproof takedown defense carried the Great Britain Top Team prospect to a unanimous decision over two-time champion Brandon Moreno in the UFC Fight Night 268 main event on Saturday at CDMX Arena in Mexico City. Scores were 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47—all for Kavanagh (10-1, 3-1 UFC), who filled in for Asu Almabayev on late notice.

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Moreno (23-10-2, 11-7-2 UFC) was outgunned on the feet and took too long to adjust. Kavanagh chewed up his lower lead leg with repeated kicks, pumped out his jab and zeroed in on the body with a few kicks. He had Moreno reeling with punches at one point in the second round. The Fortis MMA mainstay turned to the clinch in the third and fourth rounds, as he bottled up Kavanagh along the fence, fed him knees to the inner thigh, bled time off the clock and shifted momentum. That set …

Sherdog's live UFC Mexico coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 268. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Pinas (-270); Schultz (+220)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Christian Stein scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Christian Stein scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Christian Stein scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Marshall (-700); Silva (+500)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Christian Stein scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Christian Stein scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Christian Stein scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The…

Ryan Gandra introduced himself to the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division with the kind of ferocity that warrants immediate notice.

The Flavio Baiano Team product discarded fellow Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Jose Medina with punches in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 268 prelim on Saturday at CDMX Arena in Mexico City. Medina (11-7, 0-4 UFC) met his end just 41 seconds into Round 1.

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Gandra (9-1, 1-0 UFC) stepped forward behind a lead right hook, a left hand over the top and a front kick to the body. He then flurried with punches, connected with a knee up the middle and reset. Medina failed to circle out of danger, all but sealing his fate. Gandra pinned him to the fence with punches, folded him with a right hand and cleaned up the crumbs with follow-up shots.

Meanwhile, Xtreme Couture export Javier Reyes overcame an inauspicious start to dispatch Douglas Silva de Andrade with punches in the first rou…

A matchup of top welterweights will serve as the featured bout for UFC Perth.

Former welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena will square off against Carlos Prates in the evening’s headliner at the RAC Arena on May 2 in Perth, Australia. ESPN Brasil was first to report the 170-pound booking, which was later confirmed by the UFC on social media.

Della Maddalena is coming off a lopsided five-round unanimous decision defeat to Islam Makhachev in his first title defense at UFC 322 this past November. That snapped an 18-fight professional winning streak for the Aussie, who claimed welterweight gold by outpointing Belal Muhammad at UFC 315.

Prates has been victorious in six of seven Octagon appearances — with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Ian Garry in April 2025. “The Nightmare” has since rebounded to post back-to-back knockout victories over Geoff Neal and Leon Edwards. Prates has finished all six of his UFC triumphs via knockout.

Contenders Collide Dow…

Jiri Prochazka will get another shot at light heavyweight gold at UFC 327. | Getty/UFC

With Alex Pereira likely moving to heavyweight, a new 205-pound champion will be crowned in Miami this spring.

Jiri Prochazka and Carlos Ulberg will vie for the vacant light heavyweight crown in the UFC 327 headliner, the Las Vegas-based promotion announced Friday night. UFC 327 takes place on April 11 at the Kaseya Center in Miami and will also see Joshua Van defend the flyweight strap against Tatsuro Taira in the evening’s co-main event. There was no mention of Pereira’s next move, though the popular Brazilian has been linked to fights against the likes of Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane for months now.

A handful of new fights were also confirmed on Friday, including Beneil Dariush vs. Manuel Torres at lightweight; Patricio Freire vs. Aaron Pico at featherweight; Mateusz Gamrot vs. Esteban Ribovics at lightweight and Kelvin Gastelum vs. Vicente Luque at middleweight.

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Max Holloway says fans shouldn’t count him out in grappling against Charles Oliveira.

Holloway puts his BMF title on the line in a rematch against Oliveira at UFC 326 on March 7 in Las Vegas. A volume puncher, Holloway believes fans might be undermining his ground game leading up to his clash against Oliveira, who is a feared submission artist. “Blessed” admits that even his coaches don’t take him too seriously when he talks about the possibility of a submission win over Oliveira. However, Holloway believes both he and Oliveira can hold their own anywhere the fight goes,. The BMF champion says submitting a submission artist like “do Bronx” would really do justice to his title.

‘Never Say Never’ “The narrative is for this fight – If we can keep it on the feet, it’s me, and if we go to the ground, it’s like 200% [Oliveira]. Which is crazy,” Holloway told ESPN. “I feel like we both fought at the highest levels… Never say never. My coaches just keep seeing interviews of me t…

Being Max Holloway’s coach must be tough during the last 10 seconds of his fights. 

Although he was already winning the fight, Holloway iconically pointed down to the ground for a slugfest in the final seconds of his BMF title fight against Justin Gaethje in 2024. “Blessed” knocked out Gaethje exactly at the final bell in one of the greatest spectacles in modern MMA. Holloway’s inviting his opponents for a slugfest in the final seconds has since become a ritual.  However, Holloway recently revealed that his coaches are absolutely against the idea. While his coaches constantly urge to avoid a brawl, Holloway wants his final 10 seconds after sticking to their game plan for the whole fight.

'They Hate It'“They hate it,” he said in an interview on Freestylebender. “They tell me not to ever do that. They tell me to run away… I’m like, ‘Coaches, I love you guys, but you came up with the game plan. You made me fight this way the whole fight - just give me these 10 sec…

Ilia Topuria’s top three preferred matchups include Conor McGregor. 

Topuria recently revealed that his top three preferred opponents are Islam Makhachev, McGregor, and Paddy Pimblett. Topuria added that he would love to hand Pimblett the first knockout loss of his career.

“Islam, Conor, and Paddy,” Topuria told Adin Ross on a Kick stream. “… I’d love to do that - to be the first one [to KO Paddy]. If someone else did it, I can do it too. And if no one did it, I can always be the first to do it.”

High-Profile Foes Topuria (17-0) was the featherweight champion when he started rallying for a double champ bid against then-lightweight champ Islam Makhachev. However, that matchup never came to fruition as Makhachev moved up and won the welterweight title. Meanwhile, Topuria moved up and became the lightweight champion. While both parties continue to tease the matchup, Makhachev is unwilling to move down to lightweight. 

Meanwhile, McGregor hasn’t fought since…

Colby Covington wants to settle the score with Kamaru Usman, but in wrestling. 

Covington recently called out Usman for a wrestling match at Real American Freestyle. While Usman is currently rallying for a UFC welterweight title shot, Covington is ready to wrestle him if he can't secure the gold bid. Covington believes Usman would be interested in the proposition, despite having beaten him twice in the UFC. “Chaos” disputes his title losses against Usman – the first one as an early stoppage, and the rematch as a decision robbery.

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'It's a Huge Matchup' “I’d like to see Usman in Real American Freestyle,” Covington recently told Bloody Elbow. “We need to settle the trilogy in RAF. If Usman doesn’t get the title fight, come see daddy at Real American Freestyle and let’s do this trilogy, bitch… I think he would take the challenge - he’s a competitor, he likes to compete. He still has that fire and drive; he wants these title fights, he wants these bi…