Martial Arts News

Josh Hokit and Sean O'Malley are ganging up as Team USA for the UFC White House card. 

While Hokit (9-0) fights Derrick Lewis (29-13) at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House, O’Malley (19-3) takes on Aiemann Zahabi (14-2) on the same card. Meanwhile, Alex Pereira (13-3) co-headlines the card in an interim heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane (13-2). And Ilia Topuria (17-0) puts his lightweight title on the line against Justin Gaethje (27-5) in the main event.

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Hokit launched an unprovoked tirade on Pereira during a promotional press conference for the card in Newark last month. While Pereira isn’t fluent in English, Topuria came to his defense and responded to Hokit by throwing a glass of water. Hokit was then escorted out of the presser before things could escalate. Hokit later said that O’Malley missed a perfect setup to plot a future fight against Topuria. Someone to Stand Behind O’Malley recently admitted he should have ba…

Ian Garry is expected to receive the next UFC welterweight title shot. | Getty/UFC

The Fighting Nerds coach Pablo Sucupira doesn’t think Carlos Prates needs to be overly patient for a UFC welterweight title shot.

Last week in an interview with Daniel Cormier on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast, Prates said that if the UFC required him to have one more fight before competing for the welterweight title, he would choose Michael Morales. In an exclusive interview with Sherdog.com on Monday, Sucupira disagreed with his pupil.

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“Prates knocked out two former champions in a row who had never been knocked out in the organization,” Sucupira said. “After what he did in Australia, at [Jack Della] Maddalena’s house, and the way he did it, I think the title fight is the next step. Makhachev and Garry should fight in August. We expect him to fight the winner by the end of the year.” .

In the view of the Fighting Nerds leader, the Irishman has everythin…

Approximately a year ago, Ben Askren came face-to-face with his mortality. This summer, he’ll make his return to active competition.

Askren will square off against Belal Muhammad at Real American Freestyle 11 on July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Askren initially announced the news on “"The Ariel Helwani Show,” and RAF later confirmed the booking via social media.

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“I was the first signee for Real American Freestyle back in May of 2025 prior to all my issues,” Askren said. “I love wrestling. I love what they're doing. I've been back coaching for three months or so right now on regular practices….They told me that they were doing a show in Milwaukee — I asked them to come to Milwaukee because I knew we would knock it out of the park.

“But it was July 18, and it was my birthday and I thought something spoke to me and said I need to wrestle on that. So i've been doing my very best every single day to train and to get in shape and it's feeling really good…

A rematch with Charles Oliveira appears to be a possibility for Arman Tsarukyan. | Getty/UFC

The stakes could be quite high when Arman Tsarukyan is ready to return to the Octagon.

The UFC lightweight contender offered some insight into his next MMA fight during a recent video blog posted on his YouTube channel.

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"My next fight is the title fight, which is probably in September in L.A.," Tsarukyan said. "But I'm a backup for the White House, too, if someone pulls out or gets hurt. ... I may fight him [Charles Oliveira] again.”Plenty to Be Determined There are a lot of moving parts involved with Tsarukyan’s statement. The UFC has yet to announce its schedule for September, but if Tsarukyan is correct, the promotion will hold a major event in California around that time. Ilia Topuria is currently slated to defend the lightweight belt against Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC White House on June 14. There has been speculation that if …

Islam Makhachev doesn’t hesitate to give credit where it’s due. 

Ilia Topuria will look to defend his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House. While Makhachev believes Gaethje still has a chance, he thinks “The Highlight” is a little past his prime. Makhachev believes Topuria will rule atop the lightweight division in the near future.

“Topuria is the new generation,” Makhachev told UFC on TNT Sports. “I still believe Gaethje can do something. But he’s a little bit old right now. He’s a good fighter, legend. He showed us many very good fights. But now I think it’s Topuria’s time for lightweight.”

What Might Have Been A matchup between Topuria (17-0) and Makhachev (28-1) is arguably the most anticipated matchup in recent history. Topuria was the featherweight champion when he started calling out Makhachev, who was the lightweight champion then. However, Makhachev didn’t want to give Topuria a title shot until “El …

Islam Makhachev believes Conor McGregor has a tough matchup for his return. 

McGregor is set to return for the first time since 2021 in a rematch against Max Holloway at UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. McGregor is a +300 underdog going into the fight against Holloway, a -450 favorite. While Makhachev believes McGregor’s return is good for the sport, the UFC welterweight champion is siding with the oddsmakers on this one.

Good for the Sport “It’s good. Big name for our sport,” Makhachev told UFC on TNT Sports. “But he have tough opponent, Max Holloway, against Conor. I think Max can beat him.”

McGregor (22-6) defeated Holloway (27-9) via a unanimous decision in their first matchup in his sophomore UFC outing in 2013. McGregor hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in a trilogy loss against Dustin Poirier in 2021. While “Notorious” has teased a return multiple times, it hasn’t come to fruition so far for various reasons. Meanwhile, Holloway has …

Ilia Topuria is leaving no stone unturned in preparing for his upcoming fight. 

Topuria (17-0) puts his lightweight title on the line against interim champion Justin Gaethje (27-5) in the main event at UFC White House on June 14. Topuria recently revealed a neurostimulation device he uses in fight camps. The device, which looks like a complicated headgear, has two variations. The version Topuria was wearing in his YouTube video is used to increase focus before training.

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“El Matador” claims the effect of the device is better than 100 cups of coffee. Topuria says there’s another version of the device that is used after training for mental recovery and sleep. Topuria jokes that the only flaw the device has is its weird appearance.Weird But Effective “This is neurostimulation with infrared light and serves for various things, to improve focus, for mental recovery, to improve sleep,” Topuria said on YouTube. “What I notice most is the focus before tr…

Magomed Ankalaev captured light heavyweight gold with a win over Alex Pereira in March 2025. | Getty/UFC

Magomed Ankalaev is set to get back to work for the first time since losing the light heavyweight crown this past October.

Ankalaev will face former title challenger Khalil Rountree in the UFC Abu Dhabi main event, while Umar Nurmagomedov will lock horns with David Martinez in the evening’s bantamweight co-headliner. The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the bouts on Monday. UFC Abu Dhabi — also known as UFC Fight Night 282 — takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and airs in its entirety on Paramount+.

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Ankalaev last appeared at UFC 320, where he suffered an 80-second technical knockout loss to Alex Pereira in a light heavyweight championship rematch this past October. Prior to that, “Big Ank” authored a 14-bout promotional unbeaten streak that saw him claim 205-pound gold with a five-round verdict over “Po…

Sean Strickland recently unveiled another controversial social media post. | Getty/UFC

Sean Strickland has changed his stance on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. 

Known for being unhinged, Strickland has previously faced backlash for insensitive comments about Palestine. That was actually the beginning of Strickland’s feud with Khamzat Chimaev while they were training together at Xtreme Couture. Belal Muhammad, who is also a staunch supporter of Palestine, had also slammed Strickland for his comments. 

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Changing His Tune However, Strickland has since changed his stance on the conflict. Strickland has been repeatedly lashing out at Israel for allegedly “bombing kids.” Following his massive upset win over Chimaev at UFC 328 last month, Strickland also made a joke about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which was censored on the Paramount+ broadcast. Strickland then had an online spat with Jew…

Melquizael Costa had a six-bout winning streak snapped in a loss to Arnold Allen. | Getty/UFC

Melquizael Costa has decided to move up a weight class. 

Costa recently announced on the MMA HOJE podcast that he is officially moving up from featherweight to lightweight. 

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It was a good run in this category, but my body can't handle cutting 22 kilos for each fight anymore.Let’s go Lightweight @arielhelwani @UFCBrasil @mmahoje

— 𝙈𝙚𝙡𝙠 “𝐷𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛” 𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖 (@MelkCostaCauthy) June 1, 2026 On the Heels of Defeat Costa’s decision comes following his unanimous decision loss against top featherweight contender Arnold Allen last month. While Costa put on a gritty performance, Allen just outclassed him in a technical affair. Costa went 1-2 in his first three UFC outings after making his debut in 2023. “The Dalmatian” then rebounded with a six-fight winning streak, with four finishes, which ended with his loss to Al…

Islam Makhachev recently shared a heartwarming moment with one of his diehard fans. 

Makhachev FaceTimed his fan, who is battling cancer. Makhachev shared words of support and invited the fan to his next fight, expected in August. Makhachev promised to send him tickets for the fight and also to give him one of his T-shirts after the fight.

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“Hey, hello uncle, how are you? When you come to visit us? I want to invite you to my next fight in August,” Makhachev said. “I will send you tickets. Uncle, be strong, we will see you soon. I will give you T-shirt after the fight.” UFC Diehard While the name of the fan is not known, he became famous on social media when his daughter shared a video of his UFC-themed birthday party. The UFC took notice and started sending him merchandise, filling up his entire wardrobe. As the man is a hardcore fan of Makhachev, people started sharing his posts so that they could reach the UFC welterweight champion. The post…

Drew Dober made some precise picks for fighters he would train, fight or party with. 

Dober was asked to choose between Michael Chandler, Ilia Topuria, and Josh Hokit to train, fight, or party with. Dober picked Chandler to fight without hesitation. While Chandler is booked to fight Mauricio Ruffy at UFC White House on June 14, Dober believes it should have been him instead of Ruffy.

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 “Why am I not fighting Michael Chandler on this card?” Dober told Max Warin on YouTube. “It’s a disservice to Americans, I feel. First and foremost, I will fight Michael Chandler.”

Dober wants to train with Topuria to learn his knockout skills. While Dober is somewhat of a knockout artist himself, he notes that “El Matador” has been putting legends to sleep.

“I would train with [Ilia] Topuria,’ Dober said. “Because 5-foot-7 knocking people out. Dude, teach me your ways. I know I knock people out but he is doing it to cooler people.”

A Potential Spectacl…