Martial Arts News

🌹😤 Movsar Evloev wants to go after Ilia Topuria to Lightweight division even if the title is not on the line.

☝️ Adds that it's nothing personal, he just wants to prove that he is the best Featherweight since Ilia beat everyone.🎥 @Home_of_Fight pic.twitter.com/qTHKtoQWYK

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) March 3, 2025

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Movsar Evloev wants to prove himself against Ilia Topuria, regardless of whether there’s a title on the line.

Topuria won the featherweight title against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 last year and defended it by knocking out Max Holloway for the very time in his career at UFC 308. While Evloev and Diego Lopes were the frontrunners for the next featherweight title shot, Topuria recently vacated the belt in favor of a move to lightweight. Lopes is now scheduled to fight Volkanovski for the vacant title at UFC 314 on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.

Meanwhile, Evloev has an unfulfille…

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Alex Pereira believes he can hold his own on the ground against Magomed Ankalaev.

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Pereira puts his light heavyweight title on the line against Ankalaev in the main event at UFC 313 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Many expect it to be the toughest test yet for Pereira, who hasn’t faced a grappler of Ankalaev’s caliber in the UFC. However, “Poatan” promises to display his wrestling skills, which he has been honing under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, former champ Glover Teixeira.

Pereira recently posted a video of himself grappling with Teixeira in the snow. Ankalaev, who sounds supremely confident going into the fight, wondered aloud in the comments whether Pereira could do that for five rounds. Responding to Ankalaev, Pereira retorted back with the same question. Pereira believes if Ankalaev can’t grapple him for 25 minutes, the fight will take place on the feet, where the Brazilian expects to have a massi…

Caio Borralho is looking to move up the middleweight rankings.

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Borralho recently issued a callout to former 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker for a summer matchup. While Whittaker had recently called out Sean Strickland, Borralho urged “The Reaper” to stop calling out higher ranked opponents after a loss. “The Natural” wants to fight Whittaker at UFC 317 during the International Fight Week in June.

“Hey [Robert Whittaker], stop calling guys ahead of you in the rankings after [you] lose a fight bro!” Borralho wrote. “Let’s fight UFC 317 June [28] on International Fight Week! What do you think? What do you all fans think?”

Hey @robwhittakermma stop calling guys ahead of you in the rankings after u lose a fight bro!

Let’s fight UFC 317 June 29 on International Fight Week!

What do you think?What do you all fans think?

— Caio Borralho (@BorralhoCaio) March 3, 2025

The co-founder of The Fighting Nerds tea…

🗿🤼‍♂️ Movsar Evloev doesn't think that Magomed Ankalaev needs to wrestle to beat Alex Pereira this weekend.

He also added about Pereira:"Pereira doesn't defend himself very well. He just believes in his power."🎥 @Home_of_Fight pic.twitter.com/NzoFWJYI0j

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) March 3, 2025

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Movsar Evloev has a bold prediction for the upcoming title fight between Alex Pereira (12-2) and Magomed Ankalaev (19-1).

Ankalaev challenges Pereira for the light heavyweight title in the main event at UFC 313 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Many expect Ankalaev’s wrestling to pose the biggest threat to knockout artist Pereira. However, Evloev believes Ankalaev doesn’t have to wrestle to beat the former Glory Kickboxing champ. According to Evloev, Pereira’s striking defense has enough holes for Ankalaev to exploit and get the win.

“Even if [Ankalaev] do not use his wrestling, I think he have enough ski…

Jean Silva recently took a dig a Movsar Evloev for mocking Diego Lopes.

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Ilia Topuria recently vacated the featherweight title to move up to lightweight. Lopes is now scheduled to fight Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant title in the main event at UFC 314 on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. This matchup didn’t go over well with Movsar Evloev, who is expected to be the next contender at featherweight. Evloev called Lopes his “chicken,” predicting Volkanovski to beat the Brazilian.

“[Alexander Volkanovski] good luck for your next fight,” Evloev wrote on X. “I know you’re gonna beat this guy. He’s my chicken.”

@alexvolkanovski good luck for your next fight. I know you’re gonna beat this guy. He’s my chicken.

— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) March 1, 2025

Silva, a surging force in the division, hit back at Evloev for his comments. “Lord” blamed Evloev’s inactivity for Lopes surpassing him for the title s…

Raul Rosas Jr. will return to action against Vince Morales at UFC Mexico City.

Multiple outlets confirmed the bantamweight pairing following an initial report from ESPN Deportes. UFC Mexico City — also known as UFC on ESPN 64 — takes place at Arena CDMX on March 29 and is headllined by a flyweight scrap pitting Brandon Moreno against Steve Erceg.

The 20-year-old Rosas Jr. has been victorious in four of five Octagon appearances since earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in September 2022. In his last outing, “El Nino Problema” went the distance in victory for the first time during his promotional tenure, taking a unanimous verdict against Qileng Aori at UFC 306.

Since beginning his second UFC stint last year, Morales has dropped back-to-back decisions agianst Taylor Lapilus and Elijah Smith. Morales went 3-5 during his first go-round in the promotion before winning five straight bouts on the regional circuit to earn another shot in the …

Chris Gutierrez will get to remain on the UFC 313 card after all.

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After originally being booked against Jean Matsumoto, Gutierrez will instead lock horns with John Castaneda on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Matsumoto was pulled from the event to face Rob Font at UFC Seattle on Feb. 22. Castaneda, meanwhile, was supposed to face Douglas Silva de Andrade at UFC Vegas 103 this past Saturday before the bout was scrapped. Multiple outlets confirmed the new matchup, which will take place at 145 pounds, following an initial report from Eurosport NL.

Gutierrez fought just once in 2024, taking a unanimous decision against Quang Le at UFC on ESPN 61 this past August. The Factory X product is 9-3-1 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Castaneda last appeared at UFC on ESPN 57, where he dropped a three-round verdict against Daniel Marcos this past June. The longtime Combate Americas veteran is 4-3 in the Octagon.

UFC…

A boxing match between Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans Diego Sanchez and John Makdessi is on tap for the ICS Mania Boxing event scheduled for April 12.

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The promotion recently announced the booking, which has also been confirmed by both Sanchez and Makdessi. ICS Mania Boxing takes place at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is headlined by a clash between former UFC foes Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson. The card, which is co-promoted by Albuquerque’s Tapia Promotion’s and Florida’s Signature Punch Promotions, will feature a number of local boxers from New Mexico.

Sanchez, 43, was one of the winners on “The Ultimate Fighter 1.” He last competed in MMA at Eagle FC 46 in March 2022, where he lost a unanimous decision to Kevin Lee. More recently, “The Nightmare” fought under the BKFC banner in February 2023, when he suffered a fourth-round stoppage loss to pro boxer Austin Trout.

The 39-year-old Makdessi will be making his boxing de…

Alex Pereira wants Magomed Ankalaev to put his money where his mouth is.

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Ankalaev has been a consistent presence on social media leading up to his title opportunity against Pereira in the UFC 313 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. This past weekend, the Dagestani issued another strong statement regarding the upcoming light heavyweight bout.

“CHAMA is a dead man walking. I’m going to drown this man,” Ankalaev wrote on X.

CHAMA is a dead man walking I’m going to drown this man 🤼🤼

— Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) March 2, 2025

Ankalaev’s confidence hasn’t gone unnoticed by the reigning 205-pound king. Pereira recently issued a challenge to Ankalaev, urging his opponent to put up a significant amount of cash for a good cause.

“Since you are so confident you will win, $200,000 to the winner’s charity of choice,” Pereira wrote on X. “Win or lose, this will help those in need. It’s in y…

A pair of light heavyweights coming off quick finishes at UFC Seattle will square off in Montreal this spring.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Monday that Modestas Bukauskas will meet Ion Cutelaba in a 205-pound bout at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on May 10. UFC 315 is headllined by a welterweight title tilt pitting Belal Muhammad against Jack Della Maddalena, while Valentina Shevchenko will defend the flyweight crown against Manon Fiorot in the evening’s co-main event.

After going 1-3 during his first UFC stint, Bukauskas has been victorious in four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Baltic Gladiator” defeated Raffael Cerqueira via first-round knockout at UFC Fight Night 252 on Feb. 22.

Cutelaba also had a short night at UFC Seattle, as the Moldovan veteran tapped Ibo Aslan with an arm-triangle choke 2:51 into Round 1. The 31-year-old known as “The Hulk” has won three of his last four UFC outings after en…

🚨 Leon Edwards says he wanted to step in and fight Belal Muhammad but it wouldn’t make sense to take him off the London card

He also says the UFC told him the winner of the fight between him and Sean Brady will fight for the title

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🎥 @Leon_edwardsmmapic.twitter.com/fLDLZTb5W3 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 2, 2025

Leon Edwards is looking forward to a title shot with a win over Sean Brady.

Edwards lost the welterweight title to Muhammad via unanimous decision at UFC 304 in July 2024. The Englishman was originally supposed to return to action against Jack Della Maddalena on March 22 at the O2 Arena in London. Meanwhile, Muhammad was expected to defend his strap against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 315 on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. However, Maddalena replaced Rakhmonov, who couldn’t accept the matchup due to an injury. Meanwhile, top contender Sean Brady replaced Maddalena on the UFC L…

😅 Love this. Manel Kape actually breaking down Alexandre Pantoja’s flaws instead of giving the usual ‘He’s going to find out’ response.

These two respect each other and it seems like the next Flyweight title fight 🏆🎥 @ufc pic.twitter.com/ClM99mvUft

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) March 2, 2025

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Manel Kape (21-7) recently laid down his gameplan to beat Alexandre Pantoja (29-5) in a potential title fight.

Kape took on Asu Almabayev in the main event at UFC Vegas 103 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. “Starboy” put on a striking masterclass, beating down Almabayev to force the finish in the third round. The Kazakh had not been beaten in 17 outings since 2017. However, it must be noted that two eye scrapes from Kape went unpenalized, including one that started the finishing sequence.

Regardless, Kape’s stock skyrocketed after the entertaining win, leading to his name being pitched as the next flyweight title cont…