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PFL MENA 9: Mehdi Saadi outstrikes Mohammad Yahya in main event

🔥🇹🇳 MEHDI SAADI L'EMPORTE À LA DÉCISION PARTAGÉE DANS CE MAIN EVENT !!

🤩 Grâce à cette victoire, il se qualifie en demi-finale du tournoi des -66kg du PFL MENA ! pic.twitter.com/cjeP7zXSXn

— RMC Sport Combat (@RMCSportCombat) May 24, 2026 The Professional Fighters League MENA returned on Sunday, as fights in the lightweight and featherweight tournaments took center stage.

The PFL MENA 9 main event was a featherweight quarterfinal fight between Mohammad Yahya and Mehdi Saadi. Both men came out looking to strike, with Saadi (7-2) landing hard leg kicks and Yahya (12-7) using his longer reach to find success at distance. The legs of "The UAE Warrior" were heavily damaged as the fight went on, but Yahya never stopped coming forward and throwing punches. After 15 minutes of back-and-forth striking, the judges preferred the work of Saadi, who took a split decision with scores of 30-27, 27-30 and 29-28. With the victory, th…

Justin Gaethje: Holloway, Oliveira had ‚plenty of success‘ against Ilia Topuria

Justin Gaethje doesn’t think Ilia Topuria’s defense is impenetrable.

Gaethje will challenge Topuria for the lightweight title in the main event at UFC White House on June 14. Gaethje is a +385 underdog going into the fight against Topuria, a -500 favorite.

Topuria is coming off three consecutive knockouts against Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira. However, Gaethje saw at least two of his fellow veterans find success against Topuria. While Topuria had dominant wins over all three, Gaethje, on closer inspection, saw Oliveira and Holloway winning some exchanges against “El Matador.” However, Gaethje believes Oliveira and Holloway even made some mistakes, which he knows he can’t afford against a precise technician like Topuria.

Upon Further Review“It’s very important for me to use my head for position and put my head in his chest, push him backwards, put him in a dog fight,” Gaethje told Grind City Media. “We’ve seen him getting hit…

Punahele Soriano’s UFC return delayed due to car accident

Punahele Soriano’s plans for his next fight have been temporarily ruined due to an accident.

Soriano recently revealed that he is currently recovering from a car accident. While Soriano originally planned to fight in July, the Hawaiian was involved in a car accident. Soriano claims his car was very slow when it was hit by an “old man” near a red light. Soriano suffered a mild concussion and injuries to his neck.

‘I Was Kind of Embarrassed’ “I was like, I’m gonna look for a fight in July. I’m gonna start getting healthy; I’m gonna start training hard, but I got into a car accident,” Soriano told Home of Fight. “Some old man hit me. I got a mild concussion, my neck was jacked up. I was kind of embarrassed, actually because we were going slow, we were off a red light and just kind of T-bones me. I didn’t see it. I was so confused. It kind of messed me up.”

While Soriano (13-4) started his UFC journey as a highly-touted finisher, he dropped four …

Paulo Costa moves on from Khamzat Chimaev matchup: ‚I think he’s done‘

Paulo Costa is no longer interested in fighting Khamzat Chimaev.

Chimaev lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland in a massive upset at UFC 328 earlier this month. Costa had initially called for a matchup against Chimaev after he lost to Strickland.

However, Costa (16-4) has now changed his mind. “Borrachinha” believes Chimaev won’t be able to recover from the loss anytime soon. Meanwhile, Costa wants to be back in action as early as July or August. The Brazilian is willing to fight at middleweight, light heavyweight or even heavyweight. Costa gave his fans three potential opponents to choose from: Sean Strickland, Josh Hokit, or Mike Perry.Weighing His Options “I know many of you guys want to have me facing Gourmet Chen Chen Chimaev next,” Costa said in a since-deleted post on Instagram. “I don’t think it’s gonna happen. Why? Because he broke; I think he’s done, I don’t think he’ll be back. And even he can grow and be back, it will not be…

Rico Verhoeven releases statement following loss to Oleksandr Usyk

Rico Verhoeven believes the scorecards did the talking in his clash against Oleksandr Usyk.

Verhoeven challenged Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title in front of the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, on Saturday. Going in as a +1400 underdog, Verhoeven shocked the world by dominating the early rounds against Usyk, even stunning the unified heavyweight champion. However, Usyk gradually started landing in the later rounds and dropped Verhoeven with an uppercut in the 11th. While Verhoeven returned to his feet, Usyk cornered him with another barrage of shots. Referee Mark Lyson then unexpectedly stopped the fight with a second left in the 11th round, declaring a stoppage win for Usyk. The controversial stoppage is facing widespread backlash in the world of combat sports.

Verhoeven says the lesson he learned from his fight is never to get comfortable and always stay focused.

“Never get comfortable,” Verhoeven told Boxing King Media. “Stay focused, stay switc…

Canelo Alvarez, Francis Ngannou react to Usyk’s controversial win over Verhoeven

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Francis Ngannou slightly disagree on Oleksandr Usyk’s win over Rico Verhoeven.

Usyk put his WBC heavyweight title on the line against former kickboxing champion Verhoeven in front of the Pyramids in Egypt on Saturday. A +1400 underdog going into the fight, Verhoeven surprised everyone by dominating the early rounds. While Verhoeven appeared to be en route to one of the biggest upset wins in boxing history, Usyk dropped him with an uppercut in the 11th round. Verhoeven returned to his feet but immediately found himself on the receiving end of a flurry from Usyk. While Verhoeven was still on his feet, referee Mark Lyson bizarrely stopped the fight with a second left in the round.

Difference of Opinion While the stoppage is facing massive backlash from fans and pundits, Canelo thinks it was fair. The former multiple-division world champion believes the referee saved Verhoeven from a vicious knockout.

“Very good fig…

Unbeaten Patrick Habirora squashes Benson Henderson in PFL Brussels headliner

Patrick Habirora showed no respect to one of his most accomplished elders.

“The Belgian Bomber” stepped up his ascent in the Professional Fighters League and blew away onetime Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder Benson Henderson with punches in the first round of their PFL Brussels welterweight main event on Saturday at ING Arena in Belgium. Henderson (30-13, 0-1 PFL) met his end just 20 seconds into Round 1.

Habirora (9-0, 5-0 PFL) intercepted the MMA Lab cornerstone with a left hook and backed it up with a right hook that sent the John Crouch protégé into a nosedive. Prone and badly hurt, the 42-year-old Henderson ate a series of right hands before referee Mike Beltran could arrive on the scene to rescue him.

Meanwhile, former Ares Fighting Championship and TKO Major League MMA titleholder Taylor Lapilus cruised to a clear-cut unanimous decision over Dana White’s Contender Series alum Jake Hadley in their t…

PFL Brussels ‘Habirora vs. Henderson’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog's live PFL Brussels coverage will begin Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

An elite and undefeated welterweight prospect headlines PFL Brussels against a former UFC champ: Tune in Saturday, May 23 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores …

New visuals unveiled for UFC White House setup

The UFC White House event is just around the corner, and the promotion has provided some insight into how things will look come June 14 in the nation’s capital.

The UFC on Saturday released renderings of both the setup for the UFC White House and the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest, which will include a number of fight week events as well as a watch party on fight night.

History in the making 👀

New visuals for #UFCWhiteHouse and the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest are here!

[ Presented by @Cryptocom & @RamTrucks ] pic.twitter.com/PQP7dut7fE

— UFC (@ufc) May 23, 2026

UFC White House is headlined by a lightweight title unification bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, while Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will vie for interim heavywight gold in the co-main event. The card airs in its entirety on Paramount+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

UFC White House Card Ilia Topuria vs. Justin GaethjeAlex Pereira vs.…

Scott Coker shares more details regarding new MMA promotion

Former Bellator president Scott Coker has big plans for his new organization. | Lucas Noonan/Bellator MMA

If one thing is inevitable about any Scott Coker-led MMA promotion it’s this: There will be a tournament.

Earlier this week, Coker announced his return as the head of an as-yet-to-be-named organization that will launch next year behind a team of investors and familiar faces from the entertainment industry. At the time, details were scarce, but the former Strikeforce and Bellator MMA leader has since offered some more insight into the fledgling promotion in an interview with the New York Post.

According to Coker, the debut date is expected for January 2027 and will be highlighted by “a gauntlet of events that we produce in the first half of the year.” This includes a tournament that will feature a field “way north of eight” fighters. Coker, of course, was well known for producing tournaments during both his Strikeforce and Bellator t…

Ex-Bellator champ returns in PFL Austin co-main event

Sergio Pettis suffered an upset loss to Mitchell McKee at PFL Chicago. | PFL MMA

Sergio Pettis will face another up-and-coming talent in the PFL Austin co-headliner.

The former Bellator MMA bantamweight champion will square off against Lewis McGrillen-Evans on July 18 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The bout was announced during the PFL Brussels broadcast on Saturday. PFL Austin is headlined by a middleweight title rematch between Costello van Steenis and Johnny Eblen.

Looking to Rebound Pettis had a two-bout winning streak snapped in his most recent outing at PFL Chicago, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to undefeated newcomer Mitchell McKee on April 11. Prior to that, “The Phenom” had earned consecutive triumphs over Magomed Magomedov and Raufeon Stotts. Pettis claimed Bellator gold with a victory over Juan Archuleta and defended the crown against Kyoji Horiguchi and Patricio Freire before relinquishing the strap to Patrick Mix at Bellator 30…

PFL MENA 9 weigh-in results: Main event official; new tournament bout set

PFL MENA 9 is now official, but the card did undergo one significant change during Saturday’s weigh-ins.

According to a video posted by PFL MENA on social media, Zakaria Bichi did not make weight for his lightweight tournament bout against Basel Ahmed Shalaan. As a result Shalaan (155.6 pounds) will lock horns with Abdullah Saleem (155.6). Shalaan vs. Saleem was originally supposed to be a showcase bout at PFL MENA 9 before the card underwent other changes. Now it will be part of the 155-pound bracket.

Bichi’s weight was not revealed. In the aforementioned video, a promotion official simply stated that he was “way heavier” and “cannot fight in the lightweight division.”

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[#PFLMENA9 | الأحد، ٢٤ مايو | كوكاكولا أرينا، دبي | …