Martial Arts News

Paddy Pimblett will share a card with Conor McGregor at UFC 329. | Getty/UFC The UFC’s International Fight Week card is far more than just Conor McGregor’s return.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced 11 bouts for UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. McGregor’s rematch with Max Holloway at welterweight is the featured attraction. Meanwhile, a previously rumored lightweight clash between Paddy Pimblett and Benoit St. Denis will serve as the co-main event.

The lineup also includes key bouts at bantamweight (Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista) and flyweight (Brandon Royval vs. Lone'er Kavangah). Meanwhile, heavyweight uber prospect Gable Steveson has an opponent for his Octagon debut, as he will lock horns with one-time UFC competitor Elisha Ellison. Also noteworthy is the first 205-pound foray for ex-middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, who will lock horns with Nikita Krylov.

Outside of the main and co-main events, an official bout o…

Ronda Rousey is happy to ride off into the sunset after what she considers a fairytale ending to her career. 

Rousey took on fellow veteran Gina Carano in the main event of MVP's first MMA card on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. “Rowdy” took 17 seconds to make Carano tap with her signature armbar. Rousey subsequently confirmed that she is hanging up her gloves for good.

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Abbreviated Farewell Tour “There’s no way I could have ended it better than this,” Rousey said in her post-fight interview. “I want to have some more babies, and I gotta get cooking.”

Rousey (12-2) went on a murderous streak in Strikeforce and later the UFC, securing nine submissions via armbar. Rousey’s UFC bantamweight title reign ended with a knockout loss against Holly Holm in 2015. Rousey exited the UFC after a first-round knockout loss in a failed title bid against Amanda Nunes in 2016. Rousey later went on to ply her trade in the WWE. The Olympic…

Arnold Allen has praise for Melquizael Costa’s powerful kicks. 

Allen faced surging prospect Costa in the main event at UFC Fight Night 276 on Saturday in Las Vegas. While Allen dropped Costa early, the tough Brazilian refused to be put away. Despite Costa’s valiant effort, Allen put on a technical masterclass to earn a unanimous decision win. 

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With Costa being known for his kicking game, Allen was expecting heavy kicks. However, “Almighty” admits that the first spinning back kick from Costa that hit him in the chest felt like a battering ram. Allen also revealed that he was coughing up phlegm during fight week. The Englishman jokes that he felt like the kick from Costa cleared up the cough in his chest.Meeting Expectations “I wasn’t surprised, but the first back kick he threw felt like I got hit with a battering ram in the stomach,” Allen said at the post-fight press conference. “I kind of expected that to happen. It was the shot that knoc…

Nate Diaz doesn’t think he could have done much if his fight against Mike Perry had continued longer than it did. 

Diaz returned to action against Perry at MVP’s first MMA card on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Perry put his bare-knuckle skills on display, battering Diaz from the very onset. While Diaz managed to take Perry down, he was barely able to land any damage. Perry left Diaz bloodied by the end of the second round, forcing the fight to be waved off by cageside doctors. 

Diaz subsequently revealed that he injured his finger early in the fight, which diverted his attention. Diaz also agrees with his corner’s decision to stop the fight. The Stockton native admits that he could barely see with blood covering his eyes.

‘I Couldn’t See S—t’ “I think I broke my finger in the first two seconds,” Diaz siad. “I was spending too much time focusing on that…I had blood in my eyes, I couldn’t see s—t. I wasn’t gonna do nothing… But next time he ain…

Jon Jones is interested in fighting Francis Ngannou under the Most Valuable Promotions banner. 

Ngannou fought Philipe Lins at Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. Ngannou put on a one-sided beating on Lins before knocking him out cold late in the first round. 

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Jones, who was attending the event, expressed interest in a future matchup against Ngannou. However, Jones believes the hardest part of making that fight happen will be getting out of his existing UFC contract. Since Dana White is unlikely to sign Ngannou to the UFC again, Jones sees MVP as the only promotion to make that fight.

“I’ve got to try to focus on getting out of my UFC contract,” Jones said during an interview on the Netflix broadcast . “That’s going to be the difficult part if this fight is going to happen. I don’t think Dana is interested in doing business with Francis. So doing it with MVP is probably…

Arman Tsarukyan seemingly can’t stay out of trouble. 

Tsarukyan (23-3) was in attendance at Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles California. Namo Fazil (10-1) picked up a second-round submission win over Jake Babian (6-2) in a welterweight clash on the card. Fazil surprisingly called out Tsarukyan in his post-fight interview.

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“Arman Tsarukyan, where are you at? We gotta talk baby,” Fazil said.Given An Ultimatum Tsarukyan then confronted the Iraqi fighter while he was walking out of the cage. Tsarukyan even tried to jump the gate and also pursued Fazil backstage. However, MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian intervened, asking Tsarukyan to return to his seat or leave the venue. 

Tsarukyan has been known for getting into trouble in the past, even punching a fan during his walkout for his UFC 300 win over Charles Oliveira in 2024. “Ahalkalakets” remains sidelined from the UFC lightweight title pictur…

Alice Ardelean doesn’t even know the name of the move she used to secure a win against Polyana Viana. 

Ardelean (12-7) took on Viana (13-9) in a strawweight clash at UFC Fight Night 276 on Saturday. Ardelean made Viana tap out with a “capsule lock” in the second round, making it the first-ever submission of its kind in UFC history. 

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Must. Watch. Novel Submission!!!

Polyana Viana makes a mistake with the body lock from the bottom by letting her left leg get inside of Alice Ardelean's body. Alice saw it and put the pressure on it & results in a verbal tap!#UFCVegas117pic.twitter.com/Fbpx8kNwtV

— Consensus Score (@ConsensusScore) May 16, 2026

Viana caught Ardelean in a body triangle from the bottom position. The Romanian managed to trap Viana’s locking leg on the inside and applied pressure on it to secure the tap. Ardelean subsequently revealed that she learned the move on Instagram. Ardelean doesn’…

Despite being on a precarious stage in his career, Cody Brundage felt no pressure fighting on his 32nd birthday. 

Brundage (12-9) took on Andre Petroski (13-6) in a middleweight tilt at UFC Fight Night 276. Brundage dropped Petroski with a left hook early in the second round and unleashed vicious ground-and-pound to secure a stoppage win. 

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The win over Petroski marked the end of a four-fight winless streak for Brundage. Brundage admits that this could have marked the end of his UFC career if he hadn’t gotten his hand raised. However, the 32-year-old claims he didn’t feel any pressure going into his clash against Petroski. Going into his 16th UFC fight, Brundage didn’t want to look back regretting not having enjoyed his time inside the Octagon. Instead of trying to live up to expectations, Brundage fought for himself.Gratitude Over Fear“No pressure this time,” Brundage said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I was at peace with whate…

Ronda Rousey was the top earner from Saturday's MVP card. | Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix

As one might expect, Ronda Rousey was the highest-paid athlete on Most Valuable Promotions’ first-ever MMA card.

The California State Athletic Commission released salary figures from Saturday’s event, which took place at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Rousey earned $2.2 million for her headlining bout against Gina Carano, who garnered $1.05 million. Francis Ngannou was the third seven-figure earner on the card, as he took home $1.5 million for a heavyweight clash against Philipe Lins ($100,00).

Meanwhile, Nate Diaz ($500,000) and Mike Perry ($400,000) were well compensated for their welterweight bout in the co-main event. Former Bellator champ Jason Jackson ($110,000) was the only other fighter to receive a six-figure check. Everyone who competed on the card received at least a minimum purse of $40,000.

Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic …

Alice Ardelean dug into her bag of tricks against Polyana Viana at UFC Vegas 117.

Ardelean received a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for her first-round submission victory over Viana in their preliminary strawweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Vianna appeared to have Ardelean neutralized with a body triangle from her back until the Romanian deftly shifted position and forced a tapout at the 4:36 mark of Round 2. The move that apppeared to injure Viana’s knee was described as a capsule lock on the Paramount+ broadcast.

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WHAT JUST HAPPENED 😳@ArdeleanAlice is now on a 3 fight win streak after #UFCVegas117!

[ LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/eHIk2DMe35

— UFC (@ufc) May 16, 2026 Superboy and a Memorable Debut Elsewhere, Doo Ho Choi and Daniel Santos secured “Fight of the Night” honors and $100,000 apiece for a back-and-forth featherweight battle in the evening’s co-main…

Conor McGregor will fight for the first time in five years at UFC 329. | Getty/UFC

The rumors have become reality: Conor McGregor is expected to make his long-awaited return at International Fight Week. 

The former two-division champion will square off against ex-featherweight kingpin Max Holloway in the UFC 329 headliner on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout was announced during the UFC Fight Night 276 broadcast on Saturday night. Perhaps it was no coincidence that the news also came during the Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" main card.  McGregor vs. Holloway 2 will be contested at welterweight.

More Than a Decade in the Making McGregor and Holloway initially squared off early in their promotional tenures, with the Irishman taking a unanimous decision over “Blessed” at UFC Fight Night 26 on Aug. 17, 2013. McGregor won the fight despite suffering a torn ACL, an injury that would sideline him for some 10 months afte…

Ronda Rousey did not mess around.

The onetime Olympic bronze medalist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder dismissed Gina Carano with an armbar in the first round of their Most Valuable Promotions main event on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Carano (7-2, 0-1 MVP), who had not fought since August 2009, issued her surrender a mere 17 seconds into Round 1.

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Rousey (13-2, 1-0 MVP) ducked into an immediate takedown, shed an attempted guillotine and climbed to full mount. From there, the decorated judoka unleashed punches, transitioned to her patented armbar and slammed the door on Carano.

Meanwhile, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship King of Violence champion Mike Perry was awarded a cut-induced technical knockout over Nate Diaz in the welterweight co-headliner. It was waved it off in between the second and third rounds, with Diaz (21-14, 0-1 MVP) bleeding profusely from multiple lacerations to his scalp and face.

Perr…