Martial Arts News

Khabib Nurmagomedov is confident in cousin Umar Nurmagomedov leading up to the latter’s upcoming title fight against Merab Dvalishvili.

Advertisement

Umar challenges Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. Dvalishvili was initially loathe to fight Umar, deeming him undeserving of a title shot.

While Umar didn’t seem to say anything inflammatory about the bantamweight champion, Dvalishvili claims he felt disrespected by the Dagestani. While announcing the UFC 311 matchup, Dana White revealed that Dvalishvili agreed to the matchup because he was done feeling disrespected by his opponent. While “The Machine” continues to voice his respect for Umar’s teammates leading up to UFC 311, he hasn’t stopped taking shots at his upcoming foe.

Khabib believes Dvalishvili was initially pretending to be nice guy but couldn’t handle his championship status very well. Dvalishvili has re…

Khabib blames DJ for making his cousin Abubakr lose a fight 😭

Khabib: “Because of you, you take him all the time to game, he lose one fight.”

Advertisement

DJ: “I haven’t seen him play in a long time.”

Khabib: “Because we break his computer.” 😭😭

🎥 @MightyMousepic.twitter.com/WSmRLU3wCl — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 16, 2024

Khabib Nurmagomedov claims his cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov lost a fight because of Demetrious Johnson.

“Mighty Mouse” is currently helping coach Khabib prepare Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov prepare for their upcoming title fights. While Makhachev will defend his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event, Umar challenges Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight strap in the co-main event at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

Johnson recently uploaded footage from the Dagestani camp where he can be seen spending some quality time with the tea…

Bibiano Fernandes will call it a career in February, but not before he squares off against Kevin Belingon one more time.

Advertisement

The fifth meeting between Fernandes and Belingon was among a trio of new bouts recently announced for ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20. Additionally, former KSW champion Roberto Soldic will face Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev at 185 pounds, while Shamil Gasanov will meet former ONE two-division king Martin Nguyen at 155 pounds.

The 44-year-old Fernandes is a former bantamweight (145-pound champion) with the Singapore based promotion. He is 3-1 against Belingon, most recently defeating his rival via second-round submission at ONE “Century Part 2” in October 2019. The AMC Pankration-trained Brazilian is on a two-fight losing streak but hasn’t competed since November 2022.

A native of Manila, the 37-year-old Belingon has also been dormant since November 2022 and has lost his last five professional outings — all under the ONE banner. Bel…

The only man to defeat Islam Makhachev has been a valuable presence in Arman Tsarukyan’s camp.

Advertisement

Adriano Martins, who knocked out the reigning UFC lightweight champion in October 2015, traveled from Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, to American Top Team to help Tsarukyan prepare for his main event clash with Makhachev at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 in Los Angeles.

"Master Parrumpa [Marcos DaMatta] believes I have a similar game to Islam and could help Arman a lot in this camp. Since I have a fight on Dec. 27 in Russia, he invited me to have my camp here at ATT,” the 42-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt told Sherdog.com.

After training with Tsarukyan on a daily basis for a month, Martins believes his teammate has the potential to defeat Makhachev. Tsarukyan initially faced Makhachev in his Octagon debut, falling via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 149 on April 20, 2019.

"Arman has a pretty solid game: good striking, great wrestling and also a…

[embedded content]

It should come as no surprise that Colby Covington has a different perspective on the happenings at UFC Tampa this past Saturday night.

Advertisement

The three-time welterweight title challenger returned for the first time in a year, falling to Joaquin Buckley via third-round technical knockout in the evening’s main event at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The bout was halted by a cageside doctor at the 4:42 mark of Round 3 due to a significant cut above Covington’s right eye.

It was unclear exactly what caused the wound, but Covington seemed to believe it occurred due to a clash of heads. While Buckley appeared to be in clear control of the fight prior to the stoppage, Covington contends that he was robbed of an opportunity to shift momentum down the stretch.

“We came in close contact, and I felt like there was a headbutt, and as soon as it cut in the first round, I couldn’t see,” Covington said on his YouTube channel. “I had blurred vis…

[embedded content]

Javier Mendez isn’t excited about Ilia Topuria’s lightweight plans.

Advertisement

Topuria recently said that he might be done competing at featherweight after only one title defense. The undefeated champ wants to instead move up to lightweight and fight Charles Oliveira with reigning 155-pound title holder Islam Makhachev already booked for his next defense.

Makhachev puts his belt on the line against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. While Topuria has taken multiple shots at Makhachev in the recent past, Mendez, the Dagestani’s long-term coach, isn’t paying heed just yet. Mendez is more focused on Makhachev’s upcoming defense against “Ahalkalakets,” whom he already beat via a hard-fought unanimous decision in 2019.

Mendez also reiterated Makhachev’s double-champ aspirations with a possible move up to welterweight. At the end of the day, Mendez promises Makhachev will ac…

⚡️ Bryce Mitchell got a DM from his future wife after Bryce had an interview with Tucker Carlson.

They ended up getting married and now their son is named after Tucker! 👏🎥 @dc_mma pic.twitter.com/bvw0FmVPtu

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) December 15, 2024

Advertisement

Bryce Mitchell has Tucker Carlson partly to thank for the beautiful family he has today.

Mitchell is quite an interesting character in several ways. The UFC featherweight is a flat earther who loves farming and lives a secluded life on his ranch in Arkansas. Mitchell is married to Erin Handlow, with whom he had a son earlier this year. “Thug Nasty” named his son Tucker after Carlson, whom he credits for helping him connect with Handlow.

While Mitchell has done multiple interviews with Carlson over the years, a particular one from 2022 went viral due to “Thug Nasty’s” wild theories and views on the government. Mitchell revealed that Handlow messaged him on Inst…

Joaquin Buckley kept things short and sweet during his appearance at the UFC Tampa post-fight press conference on Saturday night.

Advertisement

“New Mansa” secured his sixth consecutive triumph in the evening’s main event, earning a technical knockout victory via doctor stoppage against Colby Covington at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. When he addressed media after the card, Buckley answered just one question but did manage to address of number of topics in his response.

“My first main event was a big success,” Buckley said. “I feel like the whole card was very successful, getting a lot of knockouts. I feel like my fight shouldn’t have been stopped. It is what it is. You’ve got to protect the fighters. I feel like 2025 is definitely my year and we definitely taking over. With this being said, this is on a six-fight winning streak. I’ve got eight knockouts within the UFC.

“I feel like I’ve done enough to really put myself in a position to, yet again, fight…

Cub Swanson knows he has the ideal opportunity to ride off into the sunset on a high note — but he isn’t closing the door on his mixed martial arts career just yet.

Advertisement

The 41-year-old WEC veteran authored a memorable performance in the UFC Tampa co-main event on Saturday night, as he knocked out hometown favorite Billy Quarantillo at the 1:36 mark of Round 3 following a back-and-forth battle that garnered “Fight of the Night” honors. In his post-fight interview, Swanson revealed that he had told his wife beforehand that “this might be the last one.” However, he also acknowledges that the fighting itch won’t go away completely.

“I’m always going to be tempted. We’ll see how I heal up,” Swanson said at the post-fight press conference. “I’ve got three little kids that are getting a little bit older now and definitely want my attention more. I’ve got a bunch of fighters, my Team Bloodline, my guys I manage and coach. I put a lot of effort into them and t…

[embedded content]

Dana White is supremely confident that Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall will square off in the Octagon, so much so that he is willing to guarantee the heavyweight title fight happens at some point next year.

Advertisement

“Yeah, I’ll say 100 percent [guaranteed],” White said at the UFC Tampa post-fight press conference on Saturday night.

Aspinall recently revealed that he had a conversation with the UFC CEO at UFC 309, where White assured him that he would get his desired showdown with Jones sometime down the road.

Jones returned to action in the UFC 309 headliner, where he dispatched Stipe Miocic via third-round technical knockout in the evening’s main event at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16. It was a fight that Jones insisted on keeping intact even after Aspinall become the promotion’s interim heavyweight king and defended the strap over the course of the past year while the New Mexico resident healed from a pectoral injury. In the aftermath…

[embedded content]

Jan Blachowicz is attending a secret training camp for his upcoming fight.

Advertisement

Blachowicz is scheduled to fight Carlos Ulberg at UFC Fight Night 255 at the O2 Arena in London on Feb. 22. While the former light heavyweight champ primarily has a striking-heavy game, Blachowicz won’t hesitate to use his wrestling if needed. Although Blachowicz will be returning to the Octagon after a hiatus of more than a year and a half, the matchup against Ulberg could be a potential title eliminator. And the Polish powerhouse plans to focus on rallying for a title shot if he gets his hand raised.

“He [is a] standup fighter, I am standup fighter,” Blachowicz recently told James Lynch. “But you know, if I have to go use my wrestling, I will go and do it. It’s MMA, so… But I like fighting standup so for sure people are gonna see a lot of punches…I would like to win before time… I think if I win this fight in a good way, anyway I will start talking only a…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⚔️ Aljamain Sterling is looking to fight Brian Ortega or return in March on the UK card and fight Arnold Allen.

🎥 @Home_of_Fight pic.twitter.com/Rraprn2Ux2

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) December 14, 2024

Advertisement

Aljamain Sterling is aiming up the rankings despite a recent loss.

Sterling took on undefeated featherweight contender Movsar Evloev on the prelims at UFC 310 earlier this month. While “Funkmaster” dropped a unanimous decision against Evloev, the Russian arguably faced his toughest test to date.

Sterling isn’t even considering it a complete loss based on his performance. The former bantamweight champ doesn’t think he deserves to fight down the rankings after splitting his first two 145-pound appearances.

Sterling recently called out Arnold Allen, which would ideally go down at the O2 Arena for the UFC’s return to London on March 22. Sterling is otherwise eyeing former title challenger Brian Ortega …