Martial Arts News

Professional Fighters League CEO John Martin believes the promotion needs to focus on brand building. 

While the PFL is arguably the second-biggest MMA promotion in the world, it remains well behind industry leader UFC in terms of popularity. Martin believes the focus of the PFL has shifted multiple times since its inception in 2017, hindering its growth as a brand. Martin notes that the acquisition of Bellator in 2023 also came with a lot of issues. 

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Top notch featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Martin, who joined as the CEO of PFL last year, believes the promotion is more important than individual fighters. Martin is now trying to build the brand of PFL.

Brand Over Everything “The PFL’s seven years old,” Martin told Home of Fight. “But within that seven years, the focus and emphasis of the PFL has changed many number of times. There was a world tournament. Then they bought Bellator,…

Jon Jones advises Dustin Poirier to stay busy. 

Poirier was recently escorted off a flight before being arrested at the Atlanta airport for public drunkenness. Bodcam footage also showed an allegedly drunk Poirier trying to fight a police officer. “The Diamond” was released on bail and admitted that he needs help to deal with alcohol. 

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Jones (28-1), who has had multiple run-ins with the law, assures Poirier (30-10) that this too shall pass. Considering Poirier’s retirement from MMA last year, “Bones” advises the former UFC lightweight title challenger to keep himself occupied.

“Wanted to write and tell my n—a [Dustin Poirier] to keep your head up, life happens,” Jones wrote on X. “This too shall pass. Just keep yourself busy my man, it helps. ”

Wanted to write and tell my nigga Justin Poirier to keep your head up, life happens. This too shall pass. Just keep yourself busy my man, it helps

— Jonny Meat (@Jon…

Professional Fighters League CEO John Martin admits that Most Valuable Promotions did better than his organization in some aspects in its first MMA show. 

MVP hosted its first MMA card this past May featuring stars like Francis Ngannou and Ronda Rousey. Martin admits that MVP did better than the PFL in reeling in casual fans. Martin believes MVP co-founder Jake Paul’s massive popularity played a pivotal role in bringing in casual fans. Martin also lauded MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian for building the brand. 

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Top notch featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Martin claims he was wishing MVP success for its first event, as he believes it would boost the growth of the sport as a whole. Martin is open to collaborating with MVP in the future. However, Martin clarifies that it won’t come at the cost of PFL fighters being used to build some other brand.

Bringing in the Casuals “I know Nakisa, I have …

⚖️ #PFLSanDiego Official Weigh Ins ✅

Fighters weighed in. The countdown to Fight Night is now on! ⏳

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Everything that went down at today’s #PFLSanDiego Official Weigh Ins

B2YB @gorillaenergy #PFLSanDiego | Saturday, June 27th | 📺 ESPN 2 | Prelims 7PM EST | Main Card 10PM… pic.twitter.com/mjbImUMipm

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 26, 2026 The Professional Fighters League's first event in San Diego is officially set following the official weigh-ins. Headlining PFL San Diego is the return of A.J. McKee. The former Bellator MMA featherweight champion takes on undefeated prospect Salamat Isbulaev for his second fight of 2026. All fighters made weight for the nine-fight card with the exception of Sarvarjon Khamidov, who came in 1.6 pounds over the bantamweight limit.

McKee (24-2) enters the main event having gone 3-1 inside the promotion. Since losing a split decision loss to Paul Hughes in 2024, "Mercenary" has since defe…

A member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster since 2006 is moving on.

Joining the UFC in 2006 at UFC 63, Joe Lauzon (28-15) debuted against Jens Pulver and put him away in 48 seconds. Rather than advance in the unstable lightweight division—the weight class would not have a stable title picture until B.J. Penn claimed the throne from Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 in 2008—Lauzon elected to join the massively popular reality series of “The Ultimate Fighter.” “J-Lau” competed in its fifth season, picked up by Team Penn against Team Pulver, coached by a man he knocked out not long before.

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While he never managed to vie for a lightweight championship, Lauzon kept himself in the contendership picture as an all-action figure that could all-but guarantee post-fight bonus money. The Massachusetts native amassed a whopping 15 bonus checks over the years, including a double-bonus performance when he tapped Jamie Varner in 2012 to earn both “Fight of the Nigh…

Oleksandr Usyk wants to go out with a bang.

Turning 40 years of age in January, unified heavyweight boxing champion Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) has decided to relinquish his WBA, WBC and IBF belts. The Ukrainian wishes for those next in line to vie for his old belts, while he has his sights set on one final bout. He has not tipped his hat as to whether it would be a rematch against a former foe like Rico Verhoeven or Tyson Fury, or even if there would be any gold on the line for his final bout.

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Usyk took the boxing world by storm, crushing names like Tony Bellew and Chazz Witherspoon as a cruiserweight before moving up to the heaviest division. There, he picked up the WBO intercontinental strap from Derek Chisora in 2020, and looked nowhere but up. A year later, the 18-0 big man challenged Anthony Joshua for the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts, and he claimed them all by picking up a decision after 12 rounds of combat.Rematches upon rematches upon rematchesThe n…

Even as a child, Ilara Joanne knew fighting would be her destiny, despite not knowing the sacrifices that laid ahead. While preparing for her clash against former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Shannon Clark, “Arya Stark” fondly looks back at the events that brought her to this point.

“I left the interior of the Brazilian state of Ceara. I’m from the back country,” she shared with Sherdog in her native Portuguese.

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“When I arrived at the state capital, Fortaleza, I found a place to train. I started training in capoeira, kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. By the time I was 19, I had my pro debut. It’s when I decided this is how I’d be spending the rest of my life. As soon as I stepped off the cage, I told my coach that this is the life I wanted for me.”Ilara Joanne's road from rural Brazil to PFL San Diego Things haven’t been easy, but she feels it’s all been worth it. “From my Bellator debut in 2019 until now, I had to overcome multiple obstacles. I worked …

It seems that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has another batch of numbers it wants to share about its tentpole fight card.

Following the UFC White House card, also known as UFC Freedom 250, the organization was bullish on the expected number of the spectacle event. The promotion put out its first crop of numbers last week, announcing an average viewership number during the broadcast of about seven million in the U.S.

This tally by itself falls short to the numbers drawn by the first Netflix MMA show headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, which reportedly capped at 9.3 million active viewers. Both Rousey and promoter Jake Paul were quick to pounce on their numerical superiority, shrugging off the UFC as the biggest MMA league on in the world. Possibly in response to the criticism, the UFC has put forth a new crop of enhanced numbers with greater locational breakdowns and several new markets in which are now available for review.

UFC Freedom 250 claims 34 …

At 32 years of age, Ariane Lipski da Silva is now fully committed to the third major stage in her professional mixed martial arts career.

After showing great promise in the local Brazilian scene, the invitation came to join Poland’s famed Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki promotion. In the KSW, not only did she win their flyweight belt, she went on to defend it twice.

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Stage one completed.After years of UFC setbacks, Lipski believes best is to come The Ultimate Fighting Championship came calling in 2018, but a reported foot injury by booked opponent Maryna Moroz meant that her actual debut wouldn’t take place until the following year. In hindsight, it may have been an omen of things to come. Her Octagon tenure may hold some sort of record to the highest percentage of canceled bouts or opponent changes. In under 7 years, da Silva racked up a record of 6-8, with nine matchups being either canceled or postponed. Twice, da Silva could not compete. Seven other can…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Azerbaijan is set after the UFC Baku weigh-ins took place.

All 26 fighters made weight for UFC Fight Night 280. The 13-fight card sees the return of fan-favorite lightweight Rafael Fiziev, who always brings action to the Octagon. He'll clash with fellow contender Manuel Torres in a five-round fight.

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Fiziev (13-5) is looking to rebound from a TKO loss to Mauricio Ruffy earlier this year. It's been a rough stretch for the Kazakhstani fighter, who is just 1-4 in his last five fights. However, two of the losses came to current champion Justin Gaethje and a win over Ignacio Bahamondes shows that he is still dangerous. "Ataman" weighed 156 pounds on the dot.

Meanwhile, Torres (17-3) is riding a two-fight win streak into the main event. TKO victories over Drew Dober and Grant Dawson have shown how skilled "El Loco" truly is. However, a recent defeat to Bahamondes in 2024 is his latest setb…

The Professional Fighters League will hold a show in Saudi Arabia this year one way or another.

In May, the promotion was slated to post up at the Dhahran Expo in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Plans changed, and that card was scrubbed and bumped back to June 19 at Jeddah instead of Khobar. Via a press release on Thursday, the company will be shipping that fight event to the Boulevard Studios in Riyadh on July 10. The lineup of this show vs. the previous one in June will remain similar, with both Hattan Alsaif and Malik Basahel seated on the marquee.

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Alsaif will be looking to make her professional debut on this date, entering into her first paid bout against 1-1 Algerian Dania Ouhachi who has both won and lost her past matches by submission. Alsaif typically competes at 105 pounds to Ouhachi’s 125, so they will be meeting in the middle at a current unlisted catchweight in the main event.

Top notch featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, J…

Photo: Getty Images/UFC | Caption: Sherdog.com/Ben Duffy

Top notch featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.

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Viviane Araujo didn’t ask for easy assignments, nor is she getting one.

After a successful debut bout in the Professional Fighters League this past April, “Vivi” now prepares to clash with a nearly irresistible force when she meets fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship alumna Liz Carmouche on June 27 at PFL San Diego.

Carmouche is the PFL’s most recent flyweight tournament champion. The 16-year veteran holds notable wins over the likes of Jessica Andrade and Valentina Shevchenko, not to mention being on a 12-1 run since 2020. Araujo is keenly aware of the potential risks and rewards. Though no belt is up for grabs this weekend, an emphatic win would most likely catapult her to title contention.

Speaking in her native Portuguese, Araujo had nothing but praise for her next o…