Martial Arts News

Stephen Thompson wants to go out by giving another fighter the type of opportunity he once received.

The longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight contender is scheduled to face Charles Radtke in his retirement bout at UFC 334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Thompson has explained his reasoning for accepting a fight against the unranked welterweight.

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Stephen Thompson wants to give Charles Radtke the opportunity veterans once gave him “Wonderboy” explained in an interview with Full Mount MMA that he wants to leave the door open for a new wave of fighters. Thompson believes he would not have become a perennial presence in the welterweight rankings if established fighters had not given him similar opportunities earlier in his career. He now wants to give Radtke the chance to work his way up the rankings.

“Why not go out with a chance to give these other guys an opportunity to work their way up?” Thompson said. “I would…

Payton Talbott believes he has become a more complete fighter during his Octagon hiatus.

Talbott defeated former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division titleholder Henry Cejudo in his most recent outing in December. The bantamweight prospect returns to action at UFC 332 on Oct. 3 after spending much of the year focused on training while waiting for his next fight.

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Payton Talbott explains what changed before facing Deiveson Figueiredo Talbott, who faces former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo on Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, said the extended time spent working on his game allowed him to reinvent aspects of his fighting style.

“Yeah, it was kind of weird,” Talbott told the UFC when asked about his nine-month hiatus. “This is all still new to me, so I tried to just stay training and just stay ready. I mean, I trained pretty much the whole year, and I feel like I kind of reinvented myself a little bit and went back to my roots…

Ateba Abega Gautier wears his battle scars with pride.

Gautier is scheduled to face Roman Kopylov (15-5) in an Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight bout at UFC 332 on Oct. 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The rising contender understands that physical damage comes with the territory in combat sports.

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Ateba Gautier embraces his battle scars before facing Roman Kopylov at UFC 332 The Cameroonian believes those concerned with preserving their appearance might want to reconsider a career in combat sports. Gautier considers the scars on his face badges of honor.

“Don’t fight if you want to stay clean,” Gautier told the UFC. “If you want to look pretty, don’t fight. Because there’s always someone in front of you who wants to look dirty. And he wants you to look dirty as well. So, I’m not there to look clean. I have scars on my eyebrows. These are gold… I’ll never get rid of them. So, why are you fighting? To be a model? No, I didn’t choose to …

Natalia Silva never stopped believing in herself, even when she considered walking away from mixed martial arts.

Silva (20-5) is scheduled to face Cong Wang (10-1) for the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight title at UFC 332 on Oct. 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Ahead of her championship bout, Silva reflected on her journey to title contention and the hardships she has overcome.

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Natalia Silva recalls living at her gym before earning UFC 332 title shot Silva credits her perseverance and belief in herself with helping her overcome hardships throughout her career. She recently revealed that she once lived at her gym and slept on a physical therapy bed. The Brazilian admitted there were several occasions when she considered quitting mixed martial arts but credits her faith and the people around her with helping her continue.

“I think what brought me here was believing in myself and never quitting and continuing regardless of …

Dana White remains involved in discussions surrounding a potential NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO was asked about the NBA potentially expanding to Las Vegas and whether he remains involved with a prospective ownership group during Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series post-fight press conference.

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UFC CEO Dana White says he remains involved with a prospective ownership group tied to NBA expansion in Las Vegas White previously acknowledged that he had been approached about potentially becoming part of an ownership group connected to a Las Vegas NBA expansion effort. When asked for an update following reports that the NBA is reviewing finalist bids for a potential Las Vegas franchise, White simply said, “Yes.”

ESPN reported that the NBA is reviewing bids for a potential Las Vegas expansion franchise. The bids reportedly value the franchise and arena proposals at between $12 billion and $13 billion. The …

Dana White added another seven-figure casino story to his gambling history.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO joined streamer and social media personality SteveWillDoIt for a high-stakes baccarat session at Park MGM in Las Vegas, with UFC fighter Tommy McMillen also present. White ultimately walked away $1 million richer after winning a seven-figure wager.

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Dana White's $1 million baccarat wager pays off at Park MGM White won $1 million after placing a $1 million baccarat wager at Park MGM. SteveWillDoIt documented the session on his stream, explaining that the casino had imposed one condition before allowing the pair to gamble together: They couldn’t bet on the same side of a hand.

“You guys are p*ssies,” White said upon entering the high-stakes room. “Your bosses called and they were like, ‘Yeah, you can bet $1 million, but you’ve got to make sure you don’t call us p*ssies anymore.’ And then they call me and go, ‘Here’s the deal: you can both…

UFC 334 has a new middleweight matchup after Baisangur Susurkaev withdrew from his bout against fellow undefeated prospect Donte Johnson.

Cesar Almeida has reportedly agreed to step in and face Johnson at the Nov. 14 event at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

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Cesar Almeida reportedly steps in to face unbeaten Donte Johnson at Madison Square Garden Susurkaev (12-0) vs. Johnson (9-0) was among the most intriguing undercard bouts announced for the UFC’s upcoming trip to the Big Apple. Susurkaev has withdrawn from the matchup for undisclosed reasons.

Almeida (7-3) has now replaced Susurkaev, according to a report from AG Fight. The Brazilian is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Damian Pinas in July and is 3-3 in the UFC.

Meanwhile, Johnson is 3-0 in the UFC. He most recently stopped Eric McConico at UFC 330 after previously defeating Cody Brundage and Sedriques Dumas.

The updated UFC 334 lineup, as of Sept. 29, is as follows: Read more

Ilia Topuria is back in the gym.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight and lightweight titleholder recently shared photos of himself hitting mitts on Instagram with the caption, “Back to the office.”

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Ilia Topuria resumes full training after receiving medical clearance following his loss to Justin Gaethje The post comes after Topuria announced earlier this month that he had completed medical testing and was cleared to return to full training. He suffered his first professional loss against Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 in June. Topuria has said he sustained significant facial damage during the bout that severely compromised his vision.

His corner ultimately stopped the fight after the fourth round.

Topuria has remained vocal about the result since receiving medical clearance. In announcing that he had been cleared, Topuria called for a rematch with Gaethje and accused the American of illegally loading his gloves.

A…

Marvin Vettori has changed things up in an attempt to snap his losing streak.

Vettori (19-10) has lost four fights in a row in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is scheduled to face Ismail Naurdiev (25-8) at UFC 332 on Oct. 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Italian recently revealed that he has parted ways with American Top Team and returned to Kings MMA.

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Beneil Dariush takes over as Vettori's head coach ahead of UFC 332 While Vettori has no complaints about ATT, he believes the gym wasn’t getting the best out of him. The former title challenger has returned to his roots in California, where he trained during his ascent through the middleweight ranks. While the Kings MMA team he previously trained with no longer exists in the same form, Vettori said he is now training with Beneil Dariush as his head coach.

“I made some changes… I’m back in California,” Vettori told MMA Fighting. “I had to find myself again and I did. I feel good. I'm …

Jose Aldo has offered some advice and encouragement to former rival Conor McGregor.

McGregor injured his knee in the opening seconds of his rematch against Max Holloway in July, which marked the end of a five-year Octagon hiatus. He damaged his ACL and meniscus and underwent surgery in August. The Irishman is targeting a return in the summer of 2027 for what would be the final bout of his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract.

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Not only does Aldo wish McGregor the best, but he also believes the former two-division champion can shake things up at lightweight and potentially reclaim UFC gold.Jose Aldo believes Conor McGregor can re-enter the UFC lightweight title picture at 155 Aldo and McGregor shared a contentious relationship in the lead-up to their 2015 title bout, which McGregor won by knockout in just 13 seconds, ending Aldo’s 18-fight, nearly decade-long winning streak. McGregor frequently mocked and belittled Aldo as part of his pre-fight psyc…

Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington are finally set to square off.

Real American Freestyle announced Wednesday that the former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder and former interim champion will collide for the cruiserweight crossover championship at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14. The event will take place at Etihad Arena.

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Khamzat Chimaev will challenge Colby Covington for the RAF cruiserweight crossover title in Abu Dhabi Covington captured RAF’s inaugural cruiserweight crossover championship by defeating Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 11. Chimaev later called for a match against “Chaos” after his recent victory over Gilbert Burns. That bout served as the co-headliner at RAF 13, where Covington defended his title against Belal Muhammad.

The feud between Covington and Chimaev dates back to Covington’s time in the UFC, and the bad blood continues to this day.

RAF Abu Dhabi will also feature Arman Tsarukyan, Henry Cejudo, Jordan Burroug…

Jiri Prochazka returns to action against Navajo Stirling in the main event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming trip to Qatar.

The five-round light heavyweight clash tops a stacked card set for ABHA Arena in Doha on Nov. 21. The UFC Qatar lineup features former champions, up-and-coming prospects and fan favorites.

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UFC Qatar features Aljamain Sterling, Brian Ortega, Kyoji Horiguchi and more Prochazka will look to rebound from his loss to Carlos Ulberg in April. The former 205-pound champion needs a victory to work his way back into title contention but faces a stiff test against an undefeated Stirling.

The Kiwi has quickly ascended the UFC light heavyweight rankings. The City Kickboxing fighter improved to 11-0 with a first-round stoppage of former champion Jan Blachowicz in August. The victory also marked Stirling's sixth UFC win and his third in 2026.

Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will also compete in Doha, where…