Martial Arts News

Ronda Rousey will return to MMA for the first time since 2016. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

A surprise matchup between two mixed martial arts legends will go down in a few months — but it won’t happen at the White House.

Most Valuable Promotions announced on Tuesday that former UFC champion Ronda Rousey and women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano will square off in a five-round, featherweight bout at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on May 16. The fight will air on Netflix, making it the first MMA bout to be broadcast on the streaming platform. More fights are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

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Rousey, who is now 39 years old, was one-half of the first woman’s bout under the UFC banner and quickly emerged as one of the promotion’s biggest stars during her peak. The Olympic judo bronze medalist won her first 12 professional bouts — capturing titles in the UFC and Strikeforce along the way — before exiting the sport on the heels of back-to-…

Muhammad Mokaev is seemingly eyeing a Professional Fighters League contract. 

Despite being undefeated, Mokaev was surprisingly released from the UFC following a lackluster win over Manel Kape in 2024. While rumors suggested that it was due to behavioral issues, Mokaev claims he had been warned that his fighting style was not entertaining. 

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Mokaev has since picked up wins in Brave CF, 971 FC and Karate Combat. Mokaev became the inaugural Brave CF flyweight champion with a head-kick knockout win over Gerard Burns last November. Mokaev is now calling for a PFL matchup against Sergio Pettis, the younger brother of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Idols Become Rivals Mokaev recalled sharing a video of Pettis’ fight against Ryan Benoit at UFC 185 eleven years ago. Mokaev believes a potential PFL matchup against Pettis is the biggest possible flyweight fight outside the UFC right now.

“11 years ago , shared this fight on my…

Anthony Hernandez is looking forward to facing Sean Strickland on Saturday. | Getty/UFC

Anthony Hernandez is excited for his upcoming clash against Sean Strickland. 

Hernandez is scheduled to fight Strickland in the main event at UFC Houston on Saturday. Strickland is known as a wild character who doesn’t know easy sparring and often faces backlash for his unhinged comments. Hernandez loves the energy that Strickland brings. And if Strickland wants to throw caution to the wind, “Fluffy” vows to match the energy.

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“This one actually makes me super f—-ing excited because I love the matched energy,” he told the UFC. “If someone wants to get crazy, it's like, ‘Bitch, run it.’ I'm all in for it. I'm actually really looking forward to this fight. It makes me super excited. I get to go out there, show what I can do against a tough motherf—-er that everyone respects.”The Perfect Fight While Hernandez is known for wearing down his opponents…

Ramiz Brahimaj has finished his last three UFC fights. | Getty/UFC

Ramiz Brahimaj plans to put a lot on display at UFC Houston. 

Brahimaj will take on fellow welterweight Punahele Soriano at UFC Houston on Feb. 21. Brahimaj recently changed camps to train at Valle Flow Striking in Chicago. As Brahimaj braves the brutal Chicago winters, he is confident that greatness awaits. While Brahimaj has immense respect for his opponent, the 33-year-old plans to show the “greatness” that he knows is inside him.

“I respect my opponent —I really, really do,” Brahimaj told the UFC. “I have a lot of admiration for Puna —and I understand it’s just business when I walk into that Octagon on Feb. 21, but as I’ve said before, I have to display, I have to showcase my entire arsenal and the greatness that is inside of me, the greatness that has been pushing me. I know it’s gonna propel me to new heights —I feel it, I believe it; I know it’s there… Feb. 21 is my rendezvou…

Nassourdine Imavov believes his fight against Sean Strickland would have ended differently under normal circumstances. 

Imavov (17-4) was scheduled to fight Kelvin Gastelum in 2023. However, Strickland replaced an injured Gastelum on five days’ notice. Strickland (29-7) went on to score a unanimous decision win over Imavov. 

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Strickland is now scheduled to headline UFC Houston against Anthony Hernandez (15-2) on Saturday. The UFC recently posted highlights of Strickland’s win over Imavov, praising the former champion’s forward pressure. Imavov was quick to react, claiming he would have “crushed” Strickland under normal circumstances. Since Imavov didn’t make any excuses for the loss, he probably means the short-notice change of opponent.A Confident Assertion “Make no mistakes, under normal conditions, I’ll crush this guy! Mark my words,” Imavov wrote.

Strickland went on to become the middleweight champion with a huge upset win over Israel…

Jack Della Maddalena knows he has to put in some work to earn a title rematch against Islam Makhachev. 

Makhachev vacated the lightweight title and moved up to welterweight to challenge Maddalena for the title at UFC 322 this past November. There were high expectations from Maddalena after he dethroned Belal Muhammad to win the title in a massive upset at UFC 315. However, Makhachev completely dominated Maddalena on the canvas for five rounds to earn a lopsided unanimous decision win. 

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While an immediate rematch was unlikely for Maddalena, UFC 322 also saw Michael Morales and Carlos Prates emerge as fresh contenders. Meanwhile, Ian Garry defeated Muhammad a week later at UFC Qatar to make a claim for title contention. While Maddalena wants a rematch against Makhachev, the Australian knows that he will have to get past at least one hungry contender first.No Shortcuts “My goal is obviously to go back,” Maddalena told FightWave. “I want to get…

Nkosi Ndebele will look to build upon his PFL Africa championship in 2026. | PFL

The second season of PFL Africa is set to kick off this spring.

The PFL announced on Tuesday that the promotion will return to the continent for an event at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa on April 10. The card will be headlined by a bantamweight showcase bout between inaugural PFL Africa bantamweight champion Nkosi Ndebele and Michele Clemente. In the co-main event, Justin Clarke will lock horns with Abdoulaye Kane at heavyweight. Broadcast information — as well as additional bouts — are expected to be announced soon.

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“PFL Africa reflects the ambition, energy, and identity of the continent,” said PFL Africa general manager Elias Schulze in a release. “It’s more than MMA — it’s a fast-rising cultural platform built around Africa’s elite athletes, delivering world-class entertainment that extends far beyond the cage. As we grow, we’re uniting sp…

Mike Tyson came up short against Jake Paul in his last fight. | Esther Lin/Most Valuable Promotions

Two of the biggest names in boxing history are reportedly set to collide in a bizarre exhibition match. 

Rumors of an exhibition boxing match between Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather have been floating around for a while now. Boxing reporter Mike Coppinger recently confirmed that the matchup has been scheduled for April 25 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Breaking the news on @InsideRingShow with details on the Mike Tyson-Floyd Mayweather exhibition in the Democratic Republic of Congo on April 25. pic.twitter.com/pbAPoRFm71

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) February 16, 2026

Tyson’s title reign was one of the most violent in the history of boxing. The former heavyweight champion officially retired from the sport in 2005. The 59-year-old has since competed in exhibition boxing matches against Roy Jones Jr. and Jak…

Zabit Magomedsharipov might not be done with combat sports just yet. 

Magomedsharipov is set to return to competition after a lengthy hiatus, but not in MMA. Absolute Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu recently announced that they have signed Magomedsharipov.

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ACBJJ president Zaurbek Khasiev wrote in a statement on social media: “Major decisions are made in silence. Negotiations are complete. Zabit Magomedsharipov joins ACBJJ. We’re assembling the elite, stay tuned.” An Early Exit Magomedsharipov (18-1) is considered one of the biggest what ifs in the history of MMA. Few have retired from the sport as early and as abruptly as the Dagestani star. Magomedsharipov has finished 13 of his 18 career wins while suffering one professional loss. Magomedsharipov was undefeated in six UFC outings with wins over Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar, which had made him relevant in the featherweight title picture.

However, Magomedsharipov was just 28 when…

Jorge Masvidal is bringing his bareknuckle MMA promotion back to life. | Jason Burgos/Sherdog.com

After a hiatus that lasted well over a year, Jorge Masvidal is reviving Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA.

The former UFC welterweight title challenger revealed to MMAjunkie.com that his organization will return on April 10 in the Dominican Republic, with another event planned for May 1 in Miami. The promotion’s relaunch is highlighted by two $500,000 tournaments, which will feature 16 fighters in brackets at heavyweight and lightweight.

Masvidal announced four of the heavyweight pairings on Monday: Anthony Smith vs. Chase Sherman; Guto Inocente vs. Mohammed Usman; Alexandr Romanov vs. Nikolay Kovalenko, and Todd Duffee vs. Bruno Cappelozza. Smith is the biggest surprise of the field: The former UFC light heavyweight title challenger retired last year.

The last Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA event was held on Nov. 15, 2024 at Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, M…

Michael Chiesa will call it a career after his fight at UFC Seattle. | Getty/UFC

Michael Chiesa plans on hanging up the four-ounce gloves in his home state next month.

“The Ultimate Fighter 15” winner will Carlston Harris in a welterweight bout at UFC Seattle on March 28, and he confirmed during an appearance on the “Anik & Florian Podcast” that it will be his retirement fight.

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’It’s Like the Universe is Telling Me Something’ "Yeah, this is my last fight. I've been kind of on the fence about it. It's a hard decision to make," Chiesa said. "I had my first fight when I was 20 years old in 2008. All good things come to an end. I wanted to fight out this contract. I just signed a new deal before the Court McGee fight. That was my plan: ‘I’m going to fight out this deal, then I'm done.' It's not like I want to go into free agency – I love where I'm at. I love the UFC. I have no reason to want to go fight anywhere else. I want …

Nate Diaz is looking for a fight.

At least that was the message from the Stockton, California, native when he briefly spoke to TMZ Sports on the red carpet during a party over Super Bowl weekend.

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“I’m ready to get back in real action,” Diaz said in a video that was posted on Monday. “I want to fight either [Conor] McGregor 3. I want to fight maybe Dustin Poirier, if he stops being such a p—y, and then maybe Mike Perry. We’ll see what happens in the future.”

Diaz rose to superstardom thanks to his rivalry with McGregor, particularly when he submitted for the former two-division champion in their first meeting at UFC 196 in March 2016. Diaz would lose the rematch to the Dublin native via majority decision at UFC 202. While McGregor has seemed intent on fighting at the UFC’s White House event, the “Notorious” hasn’t competed since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

As for Poirier, the popular Louisiana native retired from the spo…