Martial Arts News

Khabib Nurmagomedov is supporting an underdog in the FIFA World Cup 2026. 

Nurmagomedov (29-0) recently shared his predictions for the ongoing soccer World Cup in North America. While Nurmagomedov isn’t supporting Germany, he believes the former four-time champions will lift the trophy again in 2026. “Eagle” believes the Netherlands will end up as the runner-up, with Spain following in third place.

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“Who will win the World Cup? Germany. I am not rooting for them, but I think Germany is the number one favorite,” Nurmagomedov told Okko Sport (translation via Red Corner MMA). “I would put the Netherlands in second. And Spain in third.”Talking Futbol However, Nurmagomedov doesn’t think any of the top goal scorers will be from Germany. The former UFC lightweight champion’s top five goal scorers include France’s Kylian Mbappe, Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez, Brazil’s Vinicius Jr., Portugal’s Joao Felix and England’s Harry Kane.

“Let me give you my Top …

Sean O'Malley believes Aleksandre Topuria doesn’t like him. 

O’Malley (20-3) defeated Aiemann Zahabi via a second-round knockout at UFC White House earlier this month. Meanwhile, Ilia Topuria lost his lightweight title to Justin Gaethje in a massive upset on the same card. Ilia’s elder brother, UFC bantamweight Aleksandre, cornered his brother at the White House. 

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O’Malley came across Topuria and his team backstage at the White House. While O’Malley and Ilia have traded barbs in the past, “Suga” believes there are no hard feeling between them. However, O’Malley believes Aleksandre doesn’t like him. O’Malley claims that while he shook hands with Ilia’s entire team, Aleksandre refused to acknowledge him.Lingering Animosity “If Ilia’s heard me talk about him, he knows I think he is one of the greatest of all time,” O’Malley said on Tim Welche’s YouTube channel. “I made a couple of short jokes, he’s made fun of me, like, ‘Ugly tattoo.’... But h…

Professional Fighters League featherweight Alexei Pergande has accused Ian Garry of lying. 

The spat started with Pergande posting a video of a training session where he took Garry down. Garry unfollowed Pergande on Instagram after the clip went viral. Replying to a fan, Garry said that he unfollowed Pergande because “Russian DNA” had filmed their training session without consent. Garry also accused Pergande of continuing to film even after he was asked not to.

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“Because he filmed me without permission, then secretly kept filming me after I asked him to stop and has been editing and reposting the same session for four years,” Garry wrote. “I liked the kid but respect when someone says no to filming you.” 

However, Pergande (8-0) completely denies Garry’s accusations. Pergande says his fiancée was filming the session in the presence of Garry’s wife and UFC middleweight Chris Curtis. According to Pergande, he was never asked to stop filming …

Merab Dvalishvili believes all fighters deserve respect. | Getty/UFC

Merab Dvalishvili believes fighters shouldn’t be disrespected regardless of wins and losses. 

Dvalishvili (21-5) recently lashed out on social media against “s—t talk” toward fighters. While Dvalishvili didn’t clarify the target of his rant, he issued an open challenge to talk trash to his face.

“You disrespect the dedication and hard work to the sport that every fighter puts in when you talk s--t,” Dvalishvili wrote on X. “Win or lose we are all warriors and deserve respect. F--k anyone talking what they don’t know - come say it to my face.”

You disrespect the dedication and hardwork to the sport that every fighter puts in when you talk sh!t. Win or lose we are all warriors and deserve respect. F*^k anyone talking what they don’t know - come say it to my face.

— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) June 19, 2026 Standing Up for a Fri…

Ronda Rousey and Jake Paul are mocking the viewership numbers for UFC White House card. 

The UFC hosted a one-of-a-kind event at the White House earlier this month. Billed as UFC Freedom 250, the card featured two of the promotion’s biggest stars in Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira, alongside other big names like Justin Gaethje, Sean O’Malley and Ciryl Gane. The event had 7 million average viewership in the United States. 

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Despite the magnitude of the card, it failed to beat the viewership numbers for Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" last month, which reportedly did 9.3 million in the U.S. MVP co-founder, Jake Paul, has now declared himself the biggest MMA promoter.

“As a boxing promoter it feels good waking up today being the biggest MMA promoter,” Paul wrote on X.

As a boxing promoter it feels good waking up today being the biggest MMA promoter

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) June 19, 2026 Rousey Tar…

Zabit Magomedsharipov is set to return to action after nearly seven years. 

Magomedsharipov (18-1) is set to face Raul Rosas Jr. in a no-gi grappling match at ACBJJ 21 on July 5 in Moscow, Russia. The matchup will be in the 70 kg (154 pounds) weight category. 

UFC Past and Present Collide Magomedsharipov is considered to be one of the biggest “what ifs” in MMA history. The exceptionally well-rounded featherweight prospect won four bonuses in his six UFC wins. Magomedsharipov last competed in 2019, when he beat Calvin Kattar via a unanimous decision in a “Fight of the Night” clash. Magomedsharipov then surprisingly retired in 2022 to pursue a career in medicine. 

Meanwhile, Rosas Jr. is currently riding a five-fight winning streak in the UFC. The 21-year-old is coming off his biggest career win against Rob Font. 

Japan’s own 🇯🇵@Kyoji1012 | 125 lbs

[ #UFCVegas119 | SAT JUNE 20 | 8pmET LIVE on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/f0MYUyBKXT

— UFC (@ufc) June 19, 2026 A key flyweight rematch with Ultimate Fighting Championship title implications is now official following the UFC Vegas 119 weigh-ins.

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The main event of UFC Fight Night 279 sees Kyoji Horiguchi and Manel Kape clash for a second time. Both men made weight for the rematch, which comes nearly a decade after the two met during the 2017 Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix. As for the rest of the card, all fighters made weight with the exception of Kevin Borjas, who will be fined 20 percent of his purse for coming 3 pounds overweight for his flyweight bout against Andre Lima.

Horiguchi (36-5, 1 NC) won the initial fight, submitting "Starboy" with an arm-triangle choke in the third round. "Karate Kid" enters the rematch on an eight-fight unbeaten streak and is 2-0 since returning to…

Meet Pedro Valente Jr., the only person in attendance at both UFC 1 and UFC White House: Freedom 250.

The eldest son of one of Helio Gracie's most respected disciples, Pedro Valente (1938-2016), Pedro Valente Jr. can declare that he is the only eyewitness who was at the first UFC event in 1993 in Denver and at UFC at the White House in 2026.

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“It was a unique emotion to see where this sport has come,” Valente told Sherdog. “I couldn't help but remember the tribute that Rorion [Gracie] paid to his father in the center of the Octagon at UFC 1. The old man would certainly be very emotional to see where it has come.”

Along with his brothers, Joaquim and Guilherme, Valente leads the Valente Brothers Jiu-Jitsu academy in Miami, which counts among its students children and grandchildren of U.S. President Donald J. Trump.

“We ended up creating a bond of friendship beyond the mats, which is why we were invited,” Valente said.

According to him, the ide…

Professional Fighters League is bringing a lightweight showcase bout to PFL New York in Long Island with a bit of hometown cooking. The promotion has confirmed to Sherdog that undefeated Longo’s MMA product Levan Khabalaev (5-0) will lock horns with fellow New Yorker Ryan Gerena (4-1).

Russia’s Khabalaev has had his last three fights in recognizable promotions Cage Fury Fighting Championships and Legacy Fighting Alliance, picking up finishes in two of those three wins.

Gerena has spent his entire professional career fighting for Flex Fight Series, and after losing his professional debut, he has won four fights in a row, leading him to get the call from the PFL. Of his four victories, three of them have come by way of stoppage, while he’s also gotten one victory by way of decision.

PFL New York will be headlined by a lightweight title fight pitting champ Usman Nurmagomedov (21-0) against Archie Colgan (13-0). Also on the card, superstar Dakota Ditcheva …

Erin Blanchfield is 8-1 in the UFC. | Getty/UFC

A pair of flyweights looking climb into title contention will square off at UFC 330.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Wednesday that Erin Blanchfield will meet Jasmine Jasudavicius in a 125-pound clash at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Aug. 15. UFC 330 is headlined by a welterweight title tilt between Islam Makhachev and Ian Garry, while Mackenzie Dern will defend her strawweight crown against Gillian Robertson in the evening’s co-main event.

A Common Foil Blanchfield has been victorious in eight of her nine Octagon appearances. That lone defeat, a unanimous decision setback against Manon Fiorot in the UFC on ESPN 54 headliner in March 2024, has kept “Cold Blooded’ on the outskirts of a title shot. The 27-year-old New Jersey native has since rebounded to post back-to-back triumphs over Rose Namajunas and Tracy Cortez.

Jasudavicius has also had her momentum halted by Fiorot. After winnin…

Jamahal Hill's light heavyweight tenure was highlighted by a title victory over Glover Teixeira. | Getty/UFC

Jamahal Hill is leaving the light heavyweight division.

The former UFC champ announced plans to move to heavyweight on his YouTube channel. The 35-year-old known as “Sweet Dreams” hasn’t competed since June 2025, when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Khalil Rountree in the UFC on ABC 8 main event. Hill has been sidelined by a knee injury since then.

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"I'm going to go ahead and say it now: I'm going to heavyweight," Hill said. "That's the announcement, breaking news. So, I'm officially going to say it: I'm going to heavyweight. It's been something I've been working on now for a few months, putting on the necessary weight and putting on the muscle and everything like that to move up.

"Yeah, wouldn't it be better if I came back and went and won the heavyweight title? I think that means more than winning the light heavyweig…

The day after recording a video for his channel criticizing Herb Dean's refereeing in his UFC White House fight with Ciryl Gane, Alex Pereira spoke with fellow Brazilian Renato "Moicano" on his YouTube channel.

In a nearly 30-minute conversation, Poatan reacted to the video posted by Dean explaining exactly where the area where strikes are prohibited is located, clarifying his decision.

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"This video is a joke. The guy puts a coin and says here you can't hit, but there's an area around it where you put a limit. The fact is that if he signaled during the fight, my opponent would certainly think about the possibility of the fight being stopped there," said Pereira, reiterating his desire to see the referee penalized. "Something needs to happen. Dana doesn't fire fighters, why not referees?”No More DeanThe Brazilian did not mention appealing to the athletic commission to change the fight result to no contest, but made it clear that he will no longer acce…