Martial Arts News

UFC Oklahoma City could see a potential change of guard at middleweight. 

Former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier is set to face Chris Leroy Duncan at UFC Fight Night 281 on July 18 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. MagicM was first to report the booking on social media, and it was later officially confirmed by the UFC. The Las Vegas-based promotion also recently announced a welterweight clash pitting Kevin Holland against Jacobe Smith.

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Gatekeeper vs. Rising Talent While Cannonier (18-9) has been a perennial contender at middleweight, he has recently taken up the role of a gatekeeper at the top of the division. “The Killa Gorilla” has dropped three of his last four, with the losses coming against elite opponents in Nassourdine Imavov, Caio Borralho and Michael Page. 

Meanwhile, Duncan (14-2) is on a four-fight winning streak that includes two spinning backfist knockouts. The Englishman suffered his last loss in 2024 agai…

Eddie Hearn says Tom Aspinall is one of the most underpaid athletes in professional sports. 

Hearn is the former manager of boxer Conor Benn, who was recently poached by Zuffa Boxing, which the UFC’s parent company owns. Benn signed a $15 million contract, sparking dissent among UFC fighters. When Hearn criticized the signing, Dana White said that the Matchroom Boxing chairman should instead be happy for Benn earning as much as he can. 

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Hearn now looks to give White a taste of his own medicine. Hearn recently started managing UFC heavyweight champion. Hearn called for Aspinall's release from the UFC, although it didn’t seem very sincere. Hearn guarantees he can arrange for Aspinall to be paid three times what he is earning in the UFC. Hearn notes that according to White’s own ideology, he should be happy for Aspinall to be earning as much as possible. Doubling down on his criticism of Aspinall’s contract, Hearn says “Honey Badger” is one o…

While Carlos Prates has no plans of fighting again before he gets a title shot, he would fight Michael Morales if he had to. 

Prates (24-7) demolished former welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Perth earlier this month to firmly establish himself as a contender. However, Prates believes Ian Garry, who previously defeated him, will challenge Islam Makhachev for the welterweight title next. Prates is confident that he will be next in line for a title shot against the winner of the fight between Makhachev and Garry. 

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According to Prates, Garry will likely challenge Makhachev at UFC 330 on Aug. 15 in Philadelphia. Prates has no issues waiting for a shot against the winner of the fight. However, that could stall the UFC welterweight title picture until next year. If Prates has to fight again in the meantime, he would pick undefeated Ecuadorian contender Morales (19-0).Considering the Possibilities“If I have no choice, if I have to…

Top UFC athletes are undergoing treatment at Ways2Well on Joe Rogan’s recommendation. 

Sean Strickland recently revealed that he suffered a minor muscle tear in his right shoulder. Strickland is now undergoing treatment at Ways2Well in Austin, Texas, on Rogan’s recommendation.

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“Real small tear,” Strickland said on Instagram. “Ways2Well, they’re gonna fix me up. Joe Rogan got me to this place, he swears by it. We're gonna get back in the cage soon.”

Strickland also said that he won’t have to undergo surgery to get his shoulder fixed. 

Good CompanyJon Jones had also been treated at Ways2Well earlier this year on Rogan’s recommendation. Jones primarily underwent treatment for arthritis in his hips. 

Strickland (30-7) won the UFC middleweight title for the second time with a monumental upset win over Khamzat Chimaev earlier this month. While Chimaev is eyeing a rematch, Strickland has expressed interest in defending his title agai…

Merab Dvalishvili has some unexplained animosity towards Umar Nurmagomedov. 

Dvalishvili lost his bantamweight title in a rematch against Petr Yan at UFC 323 this past December. Dvalishvili now expects to challenge Yan for the title in a trilogy. Meanwhile, former champion Sean O’Malley is scheduled to fight top contender Aiemann Zahabi at UFC White House on June 14. 

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Dvalishvili was recently attending a presser for his upcoming wrestling match against Frankie Edgar at RAF 9. Dvalishvili was asked if he would consider a rematch against Nurmagomedov in case the winner of O’Malley vs. Zahabi jumped the queue for the next title shot. Dvalishvili confidently doubled down on his claims of a confirmed trilogy against Yan. “The Machine” then completely dismissed Nurmagomedov.Bad Blood Lingers “What kind of question is this?” Dvalishvsili said. “I’m sure you know I’m fighting Petr Yan, it's gonna be trilogy. He beat me last fight and we have to fi…

Arman Tsarukyan isn’t very excited about the backup spot for the UFC White House main event. 

Ilia Topuria will look to defend his lightweight title against interim champion Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House. Dana White recently announced that Tsarukyan is the official backup fighter for the lightweight title fight at the White House. 

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However, with no injuries reported, hardly two weeks ahead of the fight, Tsarukyan doesn’t think his services will be needed. Tsarukyan also notes that he is scheduled to wrestle Tony Ferguson at RAF 10 on June 13, which will be the same day as the weigh-ins for the UFC White House card.Booked Until September “I’m booked until September already… I have wrestling match on June 13, we’ll see,” Tsarukyan said while attending a presser for his RAF 9 wrestling match against “Mugzy.” “I am a backup, but everything is going good, two weeks left, I think they’re gonna fight. So, I’m gonn…

Overweight military personnel aren’t welcome to the UFC White House event. 

The UFC is hosting a one-of-a-kind event at the White House on June 14 to celebrate America’s 250th year of independence. The event also coincides with President Donald Trump’s birthday. 

While there will be no tickets for the general public, 4,300 special guests, mostly members of the military, will watch the event at the South Lawn of the White House. Meanwhile, 85,000 free tickets will be available for the general public to watch the event on screen at the nearby Ellipse. 

Good for Optics?Military personnel allegedly need to meet fitness requirements to be eligible to attend the event. According to a screenshot of an invite shared on social media, “Ticket recipients are required to meet the DOD waist-to-height ratio standard of less than 0.55, as well as all service-specific physical fitness test requirements.” The tickets are also not transferable, even to family member…

Things are heating up between Jean Silva and Melquizael Costa. 

Silva and Costa both recently attended LFA 234 at Ginásio do Polvilho in Cajamar, São Paulo, Brazil. Videos have since surfaced of Silva confronting Costa at the event. Costa can still be seen smiling, while an animated Silva points his finger at him and says something in Portuguese. 

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A Recent Callout Costa (26-8) had initially called out Silva (17-3) after a highlight reel spinning-back-kick knockout win over Dan Ige this past September. However, Costa has since suffered a hard-fought unanimous decision loss against Arnold Allen earlier this month. It marked the end of an impressive six-fight winning streak for “The Dalmatian.”

Costa is unlikely to get an immediate booking against Silva, who is coming off a decision win over Allen. Silva’s win over Allen saw him rebound from his only UFC loss against Diego Lopes. 

Oh a treta! 👀🔥

O Jea…

Sherdog's live UFC Macau coverage will begin Saturday at 4 a.m. ET/1 a.m. PT. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 277. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Amorim (-120); Lookboonmee (+105)Round 1 Lookboonmee (10-4; 7-3 UFC) and Amorim (10-2; 4-2 UFC) go to work in matching orthodox stances under the watchful eye of referee Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro. The Brazilian walks the foe to the fence, where she closes the distance in a hurry and takes underhooks, looking to drag the muay thai standout to the canvas. Lookboonmee is wise to it, however, and refuses to be taken down, then spinning Amorim against the cage. Amorim turns, nearly turning her back all the way to her opponent, before hauling her down with a brief kneebar attempt. She can’t get it, but ends up on top in the ensuing scramble. A little past the halfway point of the round, Amorim slides into side control at the base of the fence. Lookboonmee fights off a kimura attempt, but Amorim keeps the two-on-one a…

Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer Anderson Silva still is not seeing eye-to-eye with his former boss.

Speaking to Rolling Stone recently, UFC President and CEO Dana White spoke about a myriad of issues. One included the end of the career of Silva, which White claimed did not go well. In addition to the number of losses that Silva accrued consecutively, White suggested that “The Spider” was difficult to deal with from a negotiating perspective.

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Consider it just another day for “The Spider,” who responded directly to a post by “Canal Punch” about Dana’s comments on Instagram. In Portuguese, Silva repeatedly referred to White as “the bald guy” while dismissing most of what White had to say.The bald guy “The bald guy saying s--t,” Silva remarked. “I’ve been out of the organization for many years, but it seems neither the current fighters nor the bald guy can forget my achievements. Deep down, the bald guy knows that with me there was no whinin…

Who will stay at the top? 🗣️@SongYadongLFG vs @Daico_Deiveson

[ #UFCMacau LIVE MAY 30 at 7amET on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/8GyWM4ZgPl

— UFC (@ufc) May 29, 2026 The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to China is officially set following the UFC Macau weigh-ins.

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The UFC Fight Night event will be headlined by a bantamweight clash between Yadong Song and former flyweight king Deiveson Figueiredo. Both men had no issue making weight, nor did the rest of the card. In total, all 26 fighters hit their marks for a professional weigh-in devoid of any drama.

The "Kung Fu Kid" hasn't fought in his home country since 2018. Since then, Song (22-9-1, 1 NC) has established himself among the top bantamweights, although he's fallen short to elite fighters like Sean O'Malley, Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen. 3-2 in his last five fights, the 28-year-old will look to show he's still improving and weighed 136 pounds on the dot for…

One major voice inside of the Ultimate Fighting Championship is not a fan of the upcoming spectacle.

Speaking on his podcast of the “JRE MMA Show” on Wednesday with guests “Big” John McCarthy and Josh Thomson, color commentator Joe Rogan aired his thoughts about the UFC White House card coming up on June 14. The event is to be held on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., in an outdoor venue that will be subject to weather and more.

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Rogan has spoken up about the event in other contexts, namely that it will be going on during the U.S. war against Iran at the time. His observations and grievances this time around were largely focused on logistics and giving the fighters the best possible situation to perform for what will be the biggest fight of most of their lives.

“The ‘White House’ thing is odd,” Rogan offered. “I don’t like it. I don’t like the idea of fighting outside, at all. And then there’s June, and it’s D.C., and we looke…