Martial Arts News

Sean O'Malley recently revealed which was the hardest strike he’s ever taken—and it came just when things seemed to be going well.

The former bantamweight titleholder, who faces Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday at the White House, said that current champ Petr Yan hit him with the hardest shot of his career. O’Malley, still a rising contender at the time, faced Yan at UFC 280 in 2022 in his biggest step up in competition to that point in his career. Early in Round 2, O’Malley hurt Yan with a huge uppercut, leaving “No Mercy” on wobbly legs. As O’Malley gave chase, smelling blood, Yan turned the tables with a straight left that rocked “Suga.” O’Malley admits that Yan’s left hand was the hardest shot he has eaten so far. O’Malley said on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast:

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“Petr Yan, the guy that’s the champ right now. When I fought him in Abu Dhabi, second round, I came out, cracked him hard, rocked him, hit him with a right hand, dropped him.…

Michael Chandler claims he asked for a booking against Benoit St. Denis.

St. Denis is scheduled to fight Paddy Pimblett at UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Chandler takes on Mauricio Ruffy at UFC White House: Freedom 250 on June 14.

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Chandler recently revealed that he almost had a booking against St. Denis secured for the White House card. While Chandler believes it would have delivered fireworks, the matchup eventually didn’t come to fruition.

“I was actually supposed to fight BSD on this card,” Chandler told UFC on TNT Sports. “I asked for him. I told Hunter Campbell, ‘Name a better fight that you can put on the White House than me vs. BSD. He’s a hard-nosed, fast-paced brawler, fought for his country in the military. I’m a red, white, and blue-blooded American, passionate, come forward, get in your face.’ It would have been a chaotic fight. And then obviously we pivoted to Ruffy.”

While St. Denis is a slight favo…

Dricus Du Plessis claims he put pen to paper for his next fight a while ago, and that the delay is down to his fellow former champ.

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“Stillknocks” is widely rumored to be facing former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC Oklahoma City on July 18. However, the UFC has yet to announce the fight officially. Du Plessis recently accused his upcoming opponent of stalling things on their part. Du Plessis claimed that Usman’s slowness in signing the bout agreement indicates a lack of confidence in his chances of winning, writing on Instagram:

“So apparently a little someone agreed to a fight but actually signing the dotted line isn’t that easy when you know you’re just signing for a show purse. Smart-Yes Scared- Definitely Sorry people the announcement is taking longer than expected but from my side it’s been signed and sealed for a while.”

Du Plessis (23-3) won the title against Sean Strickland in 2024, then defended it twice, against Israel Ad…

Brazilian fans have always lamented the disproportion between the number of Brazilian fighters and Brazilian referees in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Even though Brazil has the second most athletes on the promotion’s roster, behind only the United States, after Mario Yamasaki withdrew from refereeing panels there was a period of several years during which no Brazilian referees were being used by American athletic commissions.

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That changed in 2024 when former Shooto and Cage Rage champion, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, began to get the call more frequently. Thanks to his excellent performances and high accuracy, the black belt under Andre Pederneiras was chosen to referee the title fight between Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira in the co-main event of UFC 328.

In an interview with Sherdog a month after the fight, Ribeiro commented on his decision to stop the fight at 1 minute and 32 seconds of the fifth round, giving the TKO win to Van. “It was a ver…

Alex Pereira has a date with history on Sunday, and if things go as planned, he will be on to the next challenge immediately.

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Pereira (13-3) faces Ciryl Gane (13-2) for the interim heavyweight title at UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday in Washington, D.C. If he prevails, he will be the first fighter to win UFC titles in three different weight classes, a feat that would bolster his already legendary résumé.

An interim title win would also set up a unification bout with Tom Aspinall, who has been out of action since his title defense against Gane ended in a no contest due to an inadvertent eye poke by the challenger. However, in light of Aspinall’s long recovery, which has reportedly required surgery and may again, “Poatan” claims to be unwilling to wait.

Pereira, who turns 39 in July, wants to fight as soon as possible and he doesn’t think Aspinall will be an option, telling UFC on TNT Sports:

“I don’t think that Tom is going to be ready. I don’t thi…

Justin Gaethje’s former opponent, Eddie Alvarez, recently shared insight on what makes him tick.

Interim champion Gaethje (27-5) challenges Ilia Topuria (17-0) for the lightweight title in the UFC White House: Freedom 250 main event on June 14. Alvarez advised Gaethje to rely on his signature leg kicks. Alvarez also believes Gaethje’s best chance at knocking out Topuria is in between exchanges. According to Alvarez, Topuria’s eyesight is too sharp for Gaethje to land flush while leading the attack. Meanwhile, Alvarez also sees holes in Gaethje’s defense. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion notes that Gaethje takes his eyes off his opponents, which is a recipe for getting knocked out. Alvarez also doesn’t like Gaethje’s defensive style of shelling up instead of moving and cutting angles.:

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“The calf kicks is what he would have to do,” Alvarez said on the Full Send podcast. “And then I would also want him to punch with Ilia. …

Darren Till may or may not be done competing in mixed martial arts for good, but he is definitely losing interest in following it these days.

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Till (18-5-1), a longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight and middleweight contender who parted ways with the promotion in 2022, is aware of the UFC Freedom 250 card taking place on Sunday at the White House, but claims he couldn’t care less about it. In a conversation this week with Ariel Helwani, “The Gorilla” shared his views on what he sees as declining overall interest in the industry leader. Nonetheless, he was careful to separate his criticisms of the company from those of its CEO, Dana White. Till’s disappointment with White started when the UFC honcho said he didn’t care about criticism regarding the UFC’s use of artificial intelligence in promotional videos.

“Not interested [in the White House card],” the 33-year-old Englishman said. “As a fan, I just don't think there's that much hype…

Diego Lopes believes we might see a massive upset in the UFC Freedom 250 main event—and he is willing to explain why.

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As Ilia Topuria (17-0) looks to defend his lightweight title against interim champion Justin Gaethje (27-5) in the headliner of the UFC White House card on June 14, he figures to enter the Octagon as a 5-to-1 favorite or greater. Lopes initially favored Topuria, but claims he has changed his mind recently and is pulling for Gaethje to pull off the upset he feels is more of a possibility than most observers will admit. Lopes, who is scheduled to open up the event in a featherweight tilt with Steve Garcia, told Ariel Helwani:

“99% of the people think Topuria takes the win, I thought so before too. But now I jumped to Gaethje’s side. Because this is like a car crash. In a car crash there 50-50 [chance]. Gaethje has heavy hands. I hope Justin Gaethje surprises everyone and me too.”

Lopes also believes Topuria has yet to face a kn…

Tom Aspinall’s relationship with the Ultimate Fighting Championship may not be as sour as some think.

UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-3) is currently sidelined due to eye injuries suffered in his title defense against Ciryl Gane (13-2) last year. Gane is now scheduled to fight Alex Pereira (13-3) for an interim heavyweight title in the co-headliner at UFC White House: Freedom 250 on June 14.

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Dana White recently revealed that if Aspinall was fit, he would have defended his title against Pereira at the White House, leaving Gane out of the picture.

“100% [Aspinall vs. Pereira] would have been the fight if he was fit,” White told UFC on TNT Sports. “A lot of our champions are hurt right now. There’s a lot of things you have to deal with when you’re making these matches, with timing and everything else going on in everyone’s life, injuries. But yeah, it would have been Tom.”

Aspinall’s first title defense ended in an unfortunate no-contest …

Steve Garcia has a big fight coming up this weekend—and a similarly big chip on his shoulder.

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“Mean Machine” (19-5) is set to face two-time former title challenger Diego Lopes (27-8) in the opening bout of UFC White House: Freedom 250 on Sunday at the White House. Heading into the biggest fight of his career, the 34-year-old New Mexico native claimed that he doesn’t receive due credit for the body of work he has put in. Despite riding one of the longest win streaks in the entire division at seven straight—six of them by knockout—Garcia lamented his lack of recognition, telling Ariel Helwani:

“I do still feel disrespected. I do feel like people don't count me seriously, but I finally get a platform where I can go out there and continue to prove otherwise. I have seven knockouts in the UFC, eight wins... I've knocked out several guys, and, bro, I don't even have a Topps card. Everybody on the White House card pretty much has a Topps card… I got a bi…

Things are heating up between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje ahead of their upcoming fight.

Topuria (17-0) will look to defend his lightweight title against interim champ Gaethje (27-5) in the main event of UFC White House: Freedom 250 on Sunday, June 14. While both Topuria and Gaethje were initially respectful toward each other, they have now started a serious war of words.

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Topuria recently got divorced from his ex-wife, Giorgina Uzcategui Badell. Gaethje said he understands why Topuria’s wife divorced him, as even he wouldn’t want to be roommates with “El Matador.” Topuria did not take kindly to Gaethje’s personal dig at him. Topuria responded:

“Justin crossed a line. What happened between my ex-wife and me is our business. We may no longer be together, but she is the mother of my daughter. To everyone insulting her or speaking about things they know nothing about: show some respect. You don’t have to respect our relationship. But respecting so…

Pereira and Vakhitov went 1-1 in a pair of 2021 title fights (Photo: Glory Kickboxing)

Ciryl Gane is training with the last man to defeat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, but Pereira claims to be unfazed.

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Gane (13-2), who faces Pereira (13-3) for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday in Washington, D.C., has enlisted Artem Vakhitov in his camp to help prepare for the fight against Pereira. Vakhitov is a former two-time Glory Kickboxing light heavyweight champion with a 3-1 MMA record including a victorious appearance on Dana White's Contender Series in 2024.

Significantly, the 35-year-old Russian defeated Pereira by majority decision at Glory 78 in September of 2021, winning back the Glory light heavyweight belt and marking Pereira’s last loss in kickboxing before making his final transition to MMA. The narrow decision brought the pair even after their similarly competitive first bout eight month…