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Daniel Cormier is impressed with the version of Sean Strickland that showed up at UFC Houston on Saturday. 

Strickland was a massive underdog going into his middleweight headliner against Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston on Saturday. However, Strickland displayed his signature defensive striking masterclass from the opening bell, never letting “Fluffy” find his rhythm. Strickland folded Hernandez with a knee to the midsection in the third round and followed up with a barrage of punches, forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight.

Cormier believes that the version of Strickland that defeated Hernandez could also pose a serious threat to the champion Khamzat Chimaev. “DC” recalls that a similar version of Strickland had shocked the world by dethroning Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title in 2023. Strickland lost his title to Dricus Du Plessis in his first defense and failed to reclaim it in their rematch. However, Cormier believes Strickland wasn’t …

Paddy Pimblett isn’t happy that Benoit St. Denis has climbed above him in the rankings by beating Dan Hooker. 

St. Denis dominated Hooker en route to a technical knockout win at UFC 3255 last month. The win saw the Frenchman climb ahead of Pimblett to the No. 5 spot on the official UFC lightweight rankings. The fact that St. Denis overtook Pimblett by beating Hooker isn’t sitting well with the Liverpudlian. Pimblett is now calling for a matchup against St. Denis, which he bills as a matchup between Europe’s two best lightweights. However, Pimblett is willing to fight anyone that the UFC offers, be it Arman Tsarukyan or anyone from the fallout of the upcoming UFC 326 headliner between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira.

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Keeping Options Open “What pissed me off is that St. Denis has moved above me for beating that bum Dan Hooker… St. Denis sounds like a good fight to me,” Pimblett said on YouTube. “Europe’s two best lightweights going at it again…

Sean Strickland had some choice words about his opponent's coach on Saturday. | Getty/UFC

Sean Strickland drew fuel from his anger toward Anthony Hernandez’s coach, Jim West. 

Strickland (30-7) faced Hernandez in the main event at UFC Houston on Saturday. Unlike most of his other opponents, Strickland couldn’t find a reason to hate Hernandez. Strickland then directed his anger towards Hernandez’s coach, West. It certainly paid off as Strickland looked in his element en route to a third-round stoppage win over “Fluffy.”

Strickland subsequently accused West of grooming former UFC fighter Aspen Ladd. Strickland claims Ladd was still a minor when West started grooming her. However, Strickland’s tirade was cut short as his mic was muted, and the press conference abruptly ended.

On a Tirade “I kept thinking there’s no f—-ing way I’m gonna let this predator beat me and have a victory over me,” Strickland said. “So my motivation was thinking about Jim We…

Dana White doesn’t think similarly about every UFC champion planning to move up a weight class. 

Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira reclaimed his title by knocking out Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320 last year, avenging a previous loss. Pereira is now eyeing a move up to heavyweight. White says “Poatan” has always stepped up for the UFC and deserves to do whatever he wants. White assures that the promotion will work with the Brazilian on whatever his next plan is.

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“He’s one of those guys who always steps up and does whatever we need him to do,” White said at the UFC Houston post-fight press conference. “Whatever that guy wants to do, we’ll work with him.”The Need to DefendHowever, White doesn’t think the same about middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev. Chimaev won the middleweight title via a dominant unanimous decision against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 last year. “Borz” is now eyeing a move up to light heavyweight to challenge Pereira. H…

Uros Medic had an eventful night at UFC Houston on Saturday. 

Medic (13-3) co-headlined the card against welterweight veteran Geoff Neal at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. “The Doctor” sent Neal to the shadow realm with a left hook to the temple in the very first round. 

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Medic revealed that he was congratulated by President Donald Trump immediately after his win. Trump lauded Medic for dispatching Neal, who was known for his durability until his last few losses. Medic, who was born in Serbia, also shares ethnic similarity to the first lady of the United States, Melania Trump, who was born in Slovenia. Medic had also pleaded for the resolution of his immigration issues in his post-fight Octagon interview. Trump promised that the UFC welterweight would be free to travel. Medic was overwhelmed by the conversation, which seemed unreal initially.

“They brought me back,” Medic told the UFC. “Dana was in the office, as soon as I walked in,…

Paddy Pimblett believes his fight against Justin Gaethje might have played out differently had fouls been aptly penalized. 

Pimblett (23-4) and Gaethje (27-5) fought for the vacant lightweight title in the main event at UFC 324 last month in Las Vegas. Gaethje handed Pimblett a beating en route to a unanimous decision victory. However, the fight wasn’t entirely devoid of controversy. 

Gaethje received a stern warning for poking Pimblett in the eye in the first round. Gaethje also dropped Pimblett late in the second round and “The Baddy” was barely saved by the bell. But replay showed that Gaethje blatantly poked Pimblett in the eye before dropping him in the second round. However, despite the previous warning, Gaethje didn’t have a point taken away.  Pimblett notes that the most damage he received from Gaethje was after he got poked in the eye and then dropped. The Liverpudlian came back strong and went on to went on to win the third round on all three o…

Paul Hughes will fight on home soil this spring. | PFL MMA

A lightweight clash pitting Paul Hughes against Jay-Jay Wilson will headline Professional Fighters League’s return to Belfast, Ireland, the promotion announced Monday.

PFL Belfast takes place at the SSE Arena on April 16. The main card airs on ESPN2, the ESPN app and ESPN Deportes in the United States beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The prelims will be broadcast on the ESPN app at 2:30 p.m.. ET/11:30 a.m. PT. More bout are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.

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Lightweight Contenders in Ireland A former Cage Warriors champion, Hughes was a high-profile free agent signee for the PFL in 2024. He has gone 2-2 under the PFL banner, with both of his losses coming against reigning lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov. He notably defeated former Bellator MMA featherweight king A.J. McKee via split decision at PFL “Battle of the Giants” in October 2024.

Wilson, meanwhile, …

Paddy Pimblett had an uneasy feeling just before walking out for his fight against Justin Gaethje. 

Pimblett (23-4) faced his biggest step up in competition to date in Gaethje for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 324 last month. Despite an immense display of grit, Pimblett suffered a beatdown en route to a unanimous decision loss against Gaethje. 

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Pimblett says he is being lauded for the loss against Gaethje more than he has been praised for his seven UFC wins leading up to that. “The Baddy” also revealed that he got a weird feeling just before walking out for the fight. While Pimblett didn’t feel his usual confident self, he brushed off the feeling once his walkout music started playing. The Liverpudlian believes he might have been waiting too long backstage before walking out. Regardless, Pimblett had a perfect camp and weight cut and makes no excuses for his loss.Looking Back “I always watch me fights back,” Pimblett said on YouTube. …

Anthony Hernandez is taking his loss to Sean Strickland in stride.

“Fluffy” saw an eight-bout winning streak come to an end in the UFC Houston headliner, as he fell to Strickland via third-round technical knockout on Saturday at the Toyota Center. Hernandez struggled to match the volume of his opponent before a knee to the body from the ex-middleweight king set the stage for the finishing sequence. Strickland put the reeling Hernandez away with a barrage of punches at the 2:23 mark of Round 3.

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“First things first, thank you guys so much everyone who came out,” Hernandez said in an Instagram Story. “Showing me a lot of love, that was f—ing awesome. Players f—k up. I mean, I was on an eight-fight win streak. Felt like things were going smooth until I got hit with a f—king body shot. Sh— happens. Part of the game. Took six years for someone to finally beat me. I’ll be back.”Paying Respect While a victory could have made Hernandez next in line for 185-po…

Welterweights with championship aspirations will square off in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card on April 25.

The promotion announced on Saturday that Sean Brady will meet Joaquin Buckley in a 170-pound tilt at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card will also include a women’s bantamweight scrap pitting Norma Dumont against Yana Santos and airs in its entirety on Paramount+.

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Looking to Rebound Brady had a three-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Michael Morales at UFC 322 this past November. Prior to that, the Philadelphia Fight Factory representative had earned successive triumphs over Kelvin Gastelum, Gilbert Burns and Leon Edwards. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championships title holder is 7-2 during his UFC tenure overall.

Buckley, meanwhile, saw a six-fight promotional winning streak come to an end at UFC Atlanta, where he dropped a five-round verdict to ex-champ Kamar…

Chris Duncan will get his first main event opportunity on April 4. | Getty/UFC

A pair of American Top Team stablemates will lock horns in the UFC Fight Night 272 main event.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Saturday that Renato "Moicano" Carneiro will lock horns with Chris Duncan in a five-round featherweight bout on April 4 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. UFC Fight Night 272 also includes a women’s strawweight showdown between Virna Jandiroba and Tabatha Ricci and will air on Paramount+.

“Moicano” was initially slated to face Brian Ortega at UFC 326 on March 7 before his opponent withdrew from the bout. After winning four straight fights from November 2022 to September 2024, Carneiro found himself in a short-notice lightweight title tilt against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311. The Brazilian was submitted in the first round of that contest. He returned at UFC 317 this past June, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to Beneil Dariush.

Duncan, …

The UFC allegedly offered Ronda Rousey a massive pay-per-view deal but not a guaranteed fight purse. 

Rousey (12-2) is scheduled to fight fellow veteran Gina Carano (7-1) on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. The fight will take place on a Netflix card under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions. 

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Rousey revealed that she was originally in talks with the UFC for her return to MMA after nearly a decade. According to “Rowdy,” Dana White offered her the highest percentage of pay-per-view shares in UFC history. However, White wanted more time to confirm the deal. Things permanently changed when the UFC’s ESPN deal ended last year, marking the end of the pay-per-view model as well. The UFC made a multi-billion dollar deal with Paramount, switching to a subscription-based streaming model starting in 2026.A Shift in FocusRousey claims that after the pay-per-view era ended, the UFC did not want to pay her the guaranteed amount th…