Martial Arts News

Alexandre Pantoja is eager to reclaim the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title.

The former 125-pound champion has been sidelined since suffering an arm injury in his title defense against Joshua Van at UFC 323 last year. "The Cannibal" has now fully healed and believes he is ready to run it back with Van.

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Alexandre Pantoja says he's fully recovered and wants another shot at UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van. Pantoja suffered an arm injury very early into his fight with Van, who caught his kick and forced him backwards before the Brazilian awkwardly posted up on his hand. The referee stopped the bout at 26 seconds, with Pantoja clearly in pain, clutching his arm. His recovery is now complete and he’s targeting an Octagon return.

“I'm ready,” Pantoja told MMA Fighting. “After December, what happened to my arm, two days after that, I went to the gym, started training with just one arm. That's who I am. I'm not done. I'm not done. I have so …

Valter Walker believes one of his teammates is going to be an Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder soon.

Walker’s friend and teammate, Bogdan Guskov, is scheduled to face Magomed Ankalaev in a light heavyweight outing, the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25. Guskov took the fight on 14 days’ notice after Ankalaev’s original opponent, Khalil Rountree, pulled out due to an injury.

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Walker backs Gor MMA teammate ahead of short-notice fight with Magomed Ankalaev Guskov is a big betting underdog going into the fight against Ankalaev, who is a massive -500 favorite on some sportsbooks. However, Walker is backing his friend to pull off a huge upset win over the former light heavyweight champion. The Brazilian heavyweight predicts that Guskov will knock out Ankalaev in the second round. He also believes Guskov will go on to become the first UFC champion from their gym, Gor MMA.

“Bogdan is certainly a talent,” Walker told Red Corner MMA. “He’s sim…

A slick exchange in RD3 🙌

[ #UFCOKC is LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/pP0dA8O1qJ

— UFC (@ufc) July 19, 2026 Four fighters pocketed an extra $100,000 after earning UFC Oklahoma City performance bonuses.

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While 12 mixed martial artists got their hands raised during the event, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made sure that four fighters will be smiling going into next week. To the surprise of no one, the main event secured fight of the night honors for Dricus Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman. The back-and-forth main event, which saw Usman never stop coming forward despite taking the best punches of Du Plessis, earned both headliners an extra $100,000. "Stillknocks" took home an unanimous decision victory, moving his professional record to 24-3.

Fans also predicted that Tommy McMillen would take home a performance of the night bonus for his TKO win over Alberto Montes, which is exactly what happened. The bre…

Getty Images/UFC

It was a matchup of former champions who could ill afford another loss in the division, and Dricus Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman fought like it.

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Former middleweight titleholder Du Plessis (24-3; 10-1 UFC) and welterweight counterpart Usman (21-5; 16-4 UFC) met in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City on Saturday at Paycom Center, and while du Plessis showed his resourcefulness and champion’s grit, Usman made him work for every bit of it. The early action was characterized by tense, awkward pocket exchanges as the ex-champs tried to figure one another out, but the balance of things appeared to be going towards du Plessis, who caught Usman with several powerful flush right hands to the head in the first few minutes. Usman weathered them well, however, and never stopped throwing back, leading to a competitive but clear first frame for the South African. After a first round that was nearly all boxing, “Stillknocks” came out ki…

Sherdog's live UFC Oklahoma City coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 281. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry…

Sherdog's live PFL Austin coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

A middleweight title fight headlines PFL Austin: Tune on Saturday, July 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 The Official Result Interim PFL Middleweight Title Fight:Johnny Eblen (184.2) vs. Impa Kasanganay (183) Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 The Official Result

From grinder to showstopper: Danny Sabatello made a statement on Saturday in Japan. | 📷: Rizin FF

Seeking to shake off his reputation as a one-dimensional wrestler, Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion Danny Sabatello put forth one of the most entertaining performances of his career in his main event victory Saturday at Rizin Fighting Federation: Landmark Vol. 15 in Hiroshima, Japan. Sabatello outstruck and outgrappled challenger Jinnosuke Kashimura before brutally knocking Kashimura out in the third round.

Sabatello (19-4-1, 5-0 Rizin) did face some adversity early in the first round. Kashimura (12-6, 2-2 Rizin) struck first with a head kick and a left hook, but his attempt to take Sabatello down led to the American reversing into top position. Kashimura quickly scrambled and trapped Sabatello in an inverted triangle choke, but the champion was unfazed and he worked his way free. On the feet, the Bellator MMA and Professional Fighters League vete…

⚖️ #PFLAustin Official Weigh Ins

Interim PFL Middleweight World Title Main Event is official!

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Johnny Eblen: 184.2 lbsImpa Kasanganay: 183 lbs#PFLAustin | Saturday, July 18th | 📺Prelims 5:30 PM EST on the ESPN App | Main Card 8PM EST on ESPN 2 pic.twitter.com/CY1YR1q6MZ — PFL (@PFLMMA) July 17, 2026 Johnny Eblen looks to win an interim Professional Fighters League middleweight championship on Saturday following the PFL Austin weigh-ins.

Originally set to face middleweight champ Costello van Steenis in a rematch of their 2025 fight, Eblen (17-1) will now take on Impa Kasanganay for a second time instead. Both men made weight for the rematch, which originally took place in 2024 during the PFL vs. Bellator event. All fighters made weight with the exception of Jesus Pinedo, who came in .8 pounds over for his featherweight contest against Joey Ruquet. He'll be fined a percentage of his purse as a result.

Eblen is 3-1…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship may be quietly allowing its 135-pound women’s division to wind down.

MMA Fighting initially reported on Friday that Irene Aldana (15-8), former bantamweight title challenger and top-ranked athlete, has retired at the age of 38. The news has since been confirmed by ESPN Deportes, who further indicated that Aldana is not done with combat sports overall.

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The perennial contender leaves this sport behind with her name littered throughout the record books in her division. One of the more active competitors in UFC women’s bantamweight history, Aldana boasts a litany of top-10 distinctions in categories like most appearances, knockdowns and many more. Despite her last appearance in September 2024, the Mexican boxer still holds the second-most significant strikes landed in her division’s history, 1,028 compared to the leader of Raquel Pennington at 1,148.[embedded content]Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Thro…

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Valter Walker is not the type of guy who keeps his opinions to himself.

Parked outside of the UFC’s top 10 at heavyweight looking in, Walker spoke with Brazilian journalist Laerte Viana on Thursday to discuss the plight of his division. With no active champion—Tom Aspinall has stated he informed the UFC he will be coming back soon, but there is no date on the calendar—and an interim title back in the works again, Walker sees that the division may be wide open. Even so, he sees a chasm of talent in his class, while holding off-and-on training partner Sergei Pavlovich in extremely high regard.

Walker first spoke about his own prospects, where he freely admitted that he is not where he feels he needs to be to challenge the best in his weight category.

“You have to know which doors to open,” Walker said in regards to what heavyweight has to offer him in the immediate future. “For example, I don’t think I’m ready to fight any…

Prepare for a dance-off before, after or even during the matchup.

The fourth Ultimate Fighting Championship card of September was announced by ESPN Knockout’s fighter-turned-commentator Gaston Reyno, who declared on social media on Friday the first pairing slotted into UFC Fight Night 289. The event, which will likely also be titled UFC Vegas 121, will go down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 26. That matchup, which is not expected to be the main attraction, comes at 135 pounds between Norma Dumont (13-3) and Ailin Perez (13-2). The Argentinian has since confirmed this potential title eliminator on Instagram.

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War of the asses The two ladies have been eying one another in the logjammed bantamweight division since 2024, when Perez defeated Joselyne Edwards to push her win streak to three. Perez has called for the match repeatedly, even titling it “the war of the asses” in a past interview with MMA Junkie. Dumont has suggested that the matchup has…

A grand don't come for free.

Perennial Ultimate Fighting Championship contender Volkan Oezdemir made a statement on Instagram Friday revealing the news of his failed drug test. He does so prior to any statements from the organization or its anti-drug testing wing of Combat Sports Anti-Doping. In February, he failed an out-of-competition test for EPO. The Swiss athlete assumed full responsibility for his actions and explained in detail what took place in this unusual situation. The UFC and CSAD have yet to provide a public statement on the matter, but indicated to MMA Junkie that they worked alongside the World Anti-Doping Agency to review this matter.

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The former light heavyweight title challenger will be out of action for 16 months effective his failed testing date, with CSAD reducing his suspension from 18 months, two years or greater due to his alleged complete cooperation in handling the case. In his statements, Oezdemir indicated that he was app…