Advertisement
“Let’s start with Christian,” White said. “10-0 now, coming in on a week’s notice against a much bigger guy, and you finished with an incredible body shot. You couldn’t open the show better; you couldn’t perform better; welcome to the UFC.”Apollo Gomes (13-2) took on Won Il Kwon (14-7) in a featherweight matchup. Gomes survived an early onslaught from Kwo…
Kozak (7-0) beat Christian Echols (8-5) in a middleweight matchup on Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series 2026 on Sept. 8 to earn a UFC contract.
Advertisement
Martin Kozak becomes youngest Slovakian to earn a UFC contract Kozak looked nearly flawless as he dropped Echols with a flush head kick in the opening round. While it seeed like Kozak almost finished Echols in the final seconds of the round, the referee had stopped the fight due to a low blow from the Slovakian. Kozak took hardly over 90 seconds in the second round to finish the job with a vicious flurry. The 24-year-old became the youngest Slovakian to earn a UFC contract.Kozak says he has a well-rounded arsenal, which he puts on display every time. Having his dream of a lifetime come true, he was at a loss for words.
“This is what I do,” Kozak said in his post-fight interview. “I’m con…
Moreno (9-0) took on Reginaldo Geraldo Jr. (11-2) in a welterweight clash on Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series 2026. He edged a hard-fought unanimous decision over Geraldo Jr. to maintain his perfect record and earn a UFC contract before tying the knot.
Isaac Moreno reveals same-night wedding after earning UFC contract on DWCS UFC CEO Dana White admitted that he fought with the promotion’s matchmakers to grant Moreno a contract. Moreno believes his range control gave him an edge over Geraldo Jr. and also revealed he had to make a quick game plan after accepting the fight on 10 days’ notice.“My distance management, being able to enter and exit quickly,” Moreno said in his post-fight interview. “We had to game plan for this guy fast, because it was on 10 days’ notice. I had to battle the weight cut. That taken into consideration, I never have a problem with…
Page picked up another unanimous decision win in the final bout of his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. He beat Nursulton Ruziboev in a middleweight bout at UFC Paris, but was subsequently removed from the rankings and is set to enter free agency.
Advertisement
While Whittaker commends Page’s skills, he finds it hard to watch the former Bellator standout fight.Robert Whittaker explains why Michael Page’s UFC fighting style is difficult to watch live Whittaker discussed Page's latest win on the “MMArcade Podcast.” The former UFC champ praised the Brit's ability while explaining why he sometimes prefers to watch his fights back later rather than tune in live. “I’m going to be honest with you, no,” Whittaker said. “No, I can’t, because I didn’t even want to watch it, and I have nothing but respect for MVP. His ability to do what he does at his ag…The former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder looks set to make his commentary debut on Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series Season 10.
Chris Weidman reportedly joins Laura Sanko and Dan Hellie for DWCS Week 5 Since he retired from mixed martial arts, Weidman has worked extensively as a desk analyst for UFC events. He’s been a fixture on pre-fight weigh-in shows and his profile further grew with the popularity of Paramount's "Deep Waters" podcast, where he discusses combat sports news alongside Dustin Poirier, Jorge Masvidal and Din Thomas.According to MMA Junkie, Weidman will join Laura Sanko and play-by-play announcer Dan Hellie in the three-person booth for the five-fight card at Meta Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 8.
Weidman, 42, last competed in December 2024, suffering a second-round TKO loss to Eryk Anders. The UFC Hall of Famer finished his MMA career with a 16-8 record, goin…
Page completed his current UFC contract with a unanimous decision win over Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC Paris on Sept. 5. Despite the victory, the former Bellator standout has now been removed from the promotion's latest round of rankings eligibility, according to an email sent to ranking panelists.
Advertisement
Michael Page removed from UFC rankings eligibility after UFC Paris win Longtime mixed martial arts reporter John Morgan shared an email he received from the UFC regarding the latest round of ranking updates.“Dear Panelists, Michael Page has been removed from rankings eligibility effective immediately,” the email read. “If you ranked him in your middleweight division already, we ask that you please re-rank that division to make sure you have 15 athletes.”
This comes after Page himself acknowledged that he may not be offered another UFC contract after another lackluster de…Fury vs. Joshua was targeted for November, but the location remains a major sticking point. Joshua’s side wants the fight in Britain, while Fury’s camp has pushed for Madison Square Garden in New York City. This has left the sides deadlocked, with Hearn levying the blame on TKO.
Advertisement
Hearn says TKO's New York push is keeping the Fury-Joshua fight from being finalized Speaking to DAZN following Katie Taylor's retirement fight Saturday, Hearn claimed TKO recently approached Joshua directly, encouraging him to accept the fight for New York City.“Yesterday [Friday], TKO went around the back again to try and offer Joshua money to do the fight in America,” Hearn said. “It’s a dirty, dirty game, mate, to be honest with you.”
Hearn insisted Joshua remains committed to fighting in Britain and argued that the support behind that position has only…
Garry wants to take on unbeaten 170-pounder Michael Morales next and believes a win over the Ecuadorian warrants another shot at the welterweight championship.
Advertisement
Ian Garry targets Michael Morales as his path back to Islam Makhachev or Carlos Prates Garry, who lost to reigning champion Islam Makhachev via unanimous decision at UFC 330 in August, hasn’t called for an immediate rematch. The Irishman wants his case for a second title shot to be undeniable and claims being the first to defeat Morales will serve as an ideal statement.“For me, there’s only one fight that makes sense right now,” Garry told Eze Talks Sports. “That’s Michael Morales. When I beat him, I’m the only one who deserves a title shot, even though me and Islam have just fought.”
Carlos Prates, whose lone loss in the UFC came against Garry, looks …
The former UFC title challenger exited the promotion after his defeat to Joaquin Buckley in 2024. He now says the decision was taken so he could pursue opportunities outside the UFC in wrestling, but remains open to returning to mixed martial arts.
Advertisement
Colby Covington says big UFC fights could bring him back to MMA Covington is 4-0 under the Real American Freestyle banner and recently captured the promotion's inaugural cruiserweight crossover championship with a victory over Arman Tsarukyan. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, he said an MMA return is possible after previously disagreeing with the UFC on certain matchups and his omission from UFC Freedom 250.“I'm technically retired, technically, but that was just the red proverbial tape I needed to get by so I could get the biggest matchups in RAF,” Covington said. “Everybody knows my first love and passion was al…
Shevchenko was rumored to defend the title against Natalia Silva at UFC 332 on Oct. 3, but an undisclosed injury forced her out. The UFC subsequently announced that Shevchenko would relinquish the belt, with Silva and Cong Wang now set to fight for the vacant championship in Salt Lake City.
Valentina Shevchenko suffered shoulder and back ligament injuries before vacating her UFC title Ushatayka’s Telegram channel revealed what Pavel Fedotov, Shevchenko’s coach, said about her injury.“We were supposed to fight on Oct. 3 against Natalia Silva, but due to an injury to the ligaments in the shoulder and back, we decided not to push things and postpone the fight,” Fedotov said. “Given that the recovery will take a long time, we’ve made the decision to temporarily vacate the belt and once she recovers, she will fight for it again.”…
Donchenko (15-2) called out Rodriguez (20-6) after a win over Punahele Soriano on the main card of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s latest trip to Paris. Rodriguez responded to Donchenko’s callout with an emoji and an odd song choice, hinting at his disapproval.
Advertisement
Daniel Rodriguez responds after Daniil Donchenko targets him following his win over Punahele Soriano Donchenko called for a fight against Rodriguez after his unanimous decision victory over Soriano. Rodriguez responded on Instagram stories, sharing Donchenko’s callout accompanied by a middle-finger emoji and Drake’s “I’m Upset” playing in the background.Donchenko has finished 11 of his 15 career wins so far. The Ukrainian is undefeated in four UFC outings with two finishes. Meanwhile, Rodriguez was on a three-fight winning streak when he was arrested in August 2025 for crossing the border into Mexico with marij…
The former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder is campaigning for a rematch with Ciryl Gane after losing to the Frenchman in their interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250.
Advertisement
Pereira says a second fight with Gane makes sense after their UFC Freedom 250 finish Pereira took to Instagram to call out Gane. He touched on the controversial nature of the finish when they squared off at the White House in June and seems confident the matchup will come to fruition.“After much time resting and doing what I needed to do, after much work, after my last fight, many people are talking about who will Alex fight,” Pereira said in an Instagram video. “I’m seeing many opinions, but I think the fight that makes sense is Ciryl Gane. That’s the fight. I’m going to work on that and from what I’m seeing, it’s something that’s going to happen. How the last fight ended: there were illegal shots.” Read more