Martial Arts News

Magomed Zaynukov earned a UFC contract on the Contender Series last summer. | Getty/UFC

Magomed Zaynukov is booked to make his much-anticipated UFC debut. 

Zaynukov will face fellow undefeated lightweight prospect Damian Rzepecki at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25 at the Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Marcel Dorff was first to report the pairing.

Generating Buzz “Wild Chanco” has risen to significant stardom even before making his UFC debut. Zaynukov (8-0) was first seen on camera when his Islam Makhachev introduced him to Demetriosu Johnson during “Mighty Mouse’s” visit to Dagestan. Zaynukov subsequently earned his UFC contract with an entertaining unanimous decision win on Dana White's Contender Series this past October. A striker from a region known for wrestling, Zaynukov has finished five of his eight professional wins so far. 

Meanwhile, Rzepecki (10-0) has the potential to derail Zaynukov’s hype train. The 24-year-old Polish stan…

Jon Jones might have a massive boxing fight on his hands.

Oleksandr Usyk vacated his IBA, WBC and WBA boxing heavyweight titles last week. However, Usyk clarified that he will have one “last dance” before completely hanging up his gloves. 

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One Last Hurrah Usyk advisor Sergey Lapin recently told Ring Magazine that the former world champion is considering Jones and Deontay Wilder as potential opponents for his last fight. 

Usyk was en route to a massive upset loss against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven last month. However, Usyk scored a highly controversial stoppage win in the final seconds of the 11th round. 

Meanwhile, Jones (28-1) retired from the UFC last year as the heavyweight champion. However, “Bones” later started rallying for a spot on the UFC White House card, which went down earlier this month. Jones lashed out at the UFC and asked for his release after failing to land a spot on the White House card. The former UFC double …

Paulo Costa is ready to get back to work. | Getty/UFC

Paulo Costa wants to keep the momentum going, but it appears that he and the UFC aren’t on the same page in that regard.

“Borrachinha” enjoyed a successful light heavyweight debut at UFC 327, where he finished the previously undefeated Azamat Murzakanov with a head kick in the third round on April 11. The victory seemingly opened up a variety of new possibilities for the Brazilian. Thus far, however, he’s been kept on ice.

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Costa’s sense of urgency to get back to work is compounded by the fact that he is entering the last fight on his current UFC contract.The Waiting Game “Since I defeated Azamat in April, I have been looking for the next fight,” Costa wrote on X. “I’ve eventually opened the door to fight at heavyweight. UFC told me to wait…wait… Here we are, it’s already July, and [I’m] still looking to fight someone else at light heavyweight, middleweight or even heavyweight but th…

Jon Jones didn’t hesitate while picking between Arman Tsarukyan and Ilia Topuria. 

Jones, Tsarukyan, Petr Yan and Alexander Volkov were all recently in attendance for an International Boxing Association card in Moscow, Russia. Jones was asked who would win a fight between Tsarukyan and Topuria.

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“You already know, Arman all day,” Jones replied.

Tsarukyan then joked that he would have wrestled “Bones” if the latter had picked Topuria. 

Missed Connection Tsarukyan (23-3) should have ideally fought Topuria (17-1) when “El Matador” moved up to lightweight. However, Tsarukyan had fallen out of the UFC’s favor after pulling out of a scheduled title fight against Islam Makhachev. Topuria went on to beat Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight title instead. While Tsarukyan subsequently started calling for a shot against Topuria, the Georgian-Spaniard expressed interest in fighting Paddy Pimblett instead. However, Pimblett went on to los…

Yair Rodriguez is apparently moving up to lightweight. 

Rodriguez (20-5) and Belal Muhammad are teammates at Valle Flow Striking in Bensenville, Illinois. Muhammad recently claimed that “El Pantera” is moving up to lightweight from featherweight. 

Rafael Fiziev knocked out Manuel Torres via a highlight-reel spinning back kick in front of his home fans at UFC Baku last weekend. Muhammad subsequently suggested a matchup between Fiziev and Rodriguez. When a fan noted that Rodriguez is a featherweight, Muhammad Said that the Mexican is moving up to lightweight. Muhammad also revealed that Rodriguez underwent surgery on his wrist after his last win over Patricio Freire. 

Fizev and Yair would be fire

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) June 27, 2026 ’ Shifting Gears and Injury Recovery Rodriguez has had an illustrious career at featherweight, only losing to top talents like Frankie Edgar, Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski and Bria…

Sharabutdin Magomedov believes Sean Strickland is afraid of fighting outside the U.S. 

Magomedov (17-1) scored a come-from-behind victory over Strickland’s teammate Michel Pereira at UFC Baku last weekend. Strickland had even mimicked “Shara Bullet” while helping Pereira prepare for the fight. 

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Magomedov has since labeled Strickland (31-7) a “domestic champion.” Magomedov accuses Strickland of not leaving America because he is scared. According to Magomedov, Strickland just acts like a hero in his own gym. Magomedov believes Strickland would ask for additional security if had to go to Abu Dhabi to fight. While Magomedov wants to Strickland in the future, he believes it won’t be anytime soon. ‘Just a Windbag’ “He’s just a windbag,” Magomedov told Red Corner MMA. “His time will come and we’ll meet in the Octagon. There’s where we’ll find out. Even if he keeps talking trash what should I do? Go to America to chose him? He’s like a domestic…

Alex Pereira has gained two allies in his crusade against Herb Dean: Tom Aspinall and Renato "Moicano" Carneiro.

Considered one of Brazil's biggest MMA influencers, “Moicano” published a video on his Youtube channel criticizing Dean's failure to deduct points from Sharabutdin Magomedov after the Russian repeatedly grabbed Michel Pereira’s hair during their bout at UFC Baku.

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"Three weeks in a row where Herb Dean has interfered with results: first at UFC White House, then in the 'Lok Dog' vs. Andre Fili fight fight last week, and now in the Michel vs. Shara fight. The truth is this guy manipulates results. How does he not deduct a point? The Russian committed an eye poke and grabbed Michel's hair three times, yet he did nothing. If he had punished [Magomedov for the infractions], the result would have been a draw. Once again, he made a huge mistake and interfered with a fight's outcome,” Carneiro said.United in Criticism Tom Aspinall—who the previous w…

Alex Pereira seemingly doesn’t deserve the backlash that he is facing for his recent seminar during his United Kingdom tour. 

Pereira (13-3) recently faced criticism for allegedly refusing photographs during a paid meet-and-greet session at a seminar in Keighley, England. However, the organizers for the event, Joyagear, recently issued a statement defending Pereira. As per Joyagear, Pereira was only informed about a one-hour seminar, which he delivered. The organizers claim that “Poatan” was not informed about autograph signings or individual photographs after the session. The organizers promise to fully refund the meet-and-greet ticket holders.

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😲Alex Pereira is getting called out after his seminar in London

Attendees claim he REFUSED to take photos, even the pre paid ones

He refused to sign merch

Also he cut the seminar time pic.twitter.com/eFuFWhw2N7

— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) June 28, 2026 In Defense of…

Terence Crawford believes he is a smarter boxer than Jaron “Boots” Ennis. 

Ennis (36-0) challenged Xander Zayas for the WBO and WBA junior middleweight titles on Saturday in Brooklyn, New York. Ennis scored three knockdowns en route to a seventh-round stoppage win over Zayas. Fans have since started plotting a matchup between “Boots” and Crawford, who retired last December. 

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However, Crawford confirms that he won’t come back from retirement to fight Ennis. Crawford lauded Ennis in every aspect, labelling him a threat to anyone. However, Crawford believes he would outsmart Ennis.Nothing to Prove “I don’t worry about coming back to prove anything,” Crawford told “The Porter Way Podcast.” “… To credit ‘Boots,’ he is a tremendous talent and he’s no walk in the park for no one. He is a threat to anyone that he steps a foot in the ring with. He got tremendous speed, he got great power, defense, reflexes. But the only thing that I can say is, I’m 1…

Conor McGregor is back to his antics before his UFC return. 

McGregor recently mocked his former boxing opponent, Floyd Mayweather, out of nowhere. “The Notorious” reacted to a video of Mayweather from 2018, which was shortly after their fight in 2017. In the video, “Money” can be seen entering an MMA cage inside a gym and walking around. McGregor simply reacted to the photo with a “tears of joy” emoticon. 

😂 https://t.co/Qk3U69j0Jq

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 28, 2026 A Lucrative Payday McGregor was the UFC featherweight and lightweight champion when he fought former five- division boxing champion Mayweather in a massive boxing match, which was billed as the “Money” fight. Mayweather tired out McGregor before stopping him in the 10th round. Mayweather’s declared payout from the fight was $100 million, and McGregor’s disclosed payout was $30 million. However, both reportedly earned much more from the fight, with May…

Ariane Lipski da Silva competed for the PFL, UFC and KSW over the course of a 30-fight pro tenure. | PFL/MMA

The woman known as “The Queen of Violence” has decided to call it a career.

Ariane Lipski da Silva announced her retirement via social media following a first-round submission loss to Jena Bishop at PFL San Diego on Saturday night. Lipski da Silva went 1-1 under the Professional Fighters Leaguebanner but exits the sport having lost four of her last five professional outings.

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"Officially retired from MMA,” Lipski da Silva wrote on Instagram. “Everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Yesterday was the last time I stepped into the cage, bringing to a close a journey of nearly 13 years as a professional MMA fighter, with the privilege of competing in the biggest organizations in the world. I'm grateful for everything this sport has given me; for every opportunity, every lesson, and every door it opened along the way. I gav…

Rafael Fiziev was struggling with his vision moments before he put the decisive finishing sequence in motion in the UFC Baku headliner.

“Ataman” rocked and dropped Manuel Torres with a spinning wheel kick, then put his reeling foe away with a barrage of punches 15 seconds into Round 2 of their lightweight clash on Saturday at National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Fiziev’s spectacular finish seems even better considering the fact that he was dealing with extenuating circumstances in that moment.

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SPINNING HEEL KICK INTO GNP 🤯

Rafael Fiziev blows the roof off of #UFCBaku 👏

[ LIVE ON @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/3kGbvxosLJ — UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) June 27, 2026

“This guy is strong, he [has] reach, long hands, power,” Fiziev said in an interview with the UFC. “…[His] last jab on my eye, I didn't see anything when I opened my both eyes, but when I closed my left eye, I see good.

“Begi…