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Welterweight, Featherweight Rosters Set for 2025 PFL World Tournament

Professional Fighters League has officially revealed the fighters who will compete in the upcoming welterweight and featherweight tournaments.

The welterweight division is highlighted by former Bellator MMA champion Jason Jackson, who won eight consecutive fights before relinquishing the belt to Ramazan Kuramagomedov in a unanimous decision defeat at Bellator Champions Series Dublin last year. Also part of the field is Magomed Umalatov, who reached the welterweight finals of the 2024 PFL season, where he suffered a third-round technical knockout loss to Shamil Musaev. Former Bellator 170-pound champion Andrey Koreshkov and ex-interim title holder Logan Storley will also be part of the bracket.

Meanwhile, the featherweight field features the return of 2023 PFL champion Jesus Pinedo, who did not compete at all in 2024. Pinedo’s opponent in the 2023 finals, Gabriel Braga, is also part of the 2024 lineup. Another featherweight favorite figures to be M…

‘Citizen of the World’ Khamzat Chimaev Praises Countries He’s Called Home

Khamzat Chimaev recently cleared the air about his citizenship after acquiring a new passport.

Chimaev became an official citizen of the United Arab Emirates last week. This is the third country that “Borz” can now call his home. Born in the Chechen Republic of Russia, Chimaev moved to Sweden at just 19 years of age and now most recently to the UAE. Chimaev says both Russia and the Emirates are dear to him and he would love to be an inspiration to the youth in both countries.

“I’m grateful to the people who trusted me and gave me the opportunity to live both here and there,” Chimaev recently told Ushatayka. “Russia is my motherland and I represent the UAE. They always help me when I have fights. Abu Dhabi became a sporting hub. There are always events here. I’ll be happy to help the youth in these countries.”

After having built up his MMA career at the All Stars Training Center in Stockholm, Sweden, Chimaev has been blamed for deserting the c…

Javier Mendez Reveals Generous Gift From Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s kindness even extends to his fellow coaches.

American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez recently revealed yet another benevolent gesture from the former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ. During a recent episode of Mendez’s podcast, his co-host congratulated him on his new apartment.

“Thank Khabib. He got me a new apartment,” Mendez replied.

The relationship between Nurmagomedov and Mendez goes back to 2012, when the Dagestani’s father first brought him to the U.S. Mendez played a key role in shaping Nurmagomedov’s career, their relationship transcending that of just a coach and pupil. While Nurmagomedov retired from the sport in 2020, he continues to coach his cousins and teammates from Dagestan alongside Mendez.

Mendez also shared a close bond with Khabib’s father, the legendary Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Abdulmanap had envisioned his son to become a world champion and for his other pupils like Islam Ma…

Belal Muhammad Gives Breakdown of Strategy to Beat Dricus Du Plessis

Belal Muhammad claims to have the strategy to beat Dricus Du Plessis.

Muhammad is the latest of several UFC champs who are looking to move up a weight class to fulfil double-champ aspirations. “Remember the Name” is teasing a move up to middleweight to challenge Du Plessis, who recently defended his title with a dominant decision over Sean Strickland at UFC 312 last weekend.

According to Muhammad, he’ll beat “Stillknocks” in every aspect of the game for the first two rounds, leaving him frustrated by the third round. When Du Plessis attempts to implement his awkward style, Muhammad plans on taking his back and submitting him in the third frame.

“I'd come out him with a 1-2, then he'd wing an overhand. I'll duck it, change levels and take him down. Then he'd shrimp and get the underhook to get out, but he'll be too weak to get up, so then I'll hit him with ground-and-pound for the rest of Round 1,” Muhammad wrote on social media. “Round 2 start…

Coach on Sean Strickland’s Performance at UFC 312: ‘It Was Uninspired Fighting’

Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick didn’t mince words while addressing Sean Strickland’s latest loss.

Strickland faced Dricus Du Plessis in a title rematch at UFC 312 this past weekend in Sydney. Du Plessis dominated Strickland for 25 minutes to earn a unanimous decision win. While Strickland is typically known as a defensive striker, the output seemed to be below his usual standards. Nicksick could be seen visibly frustrated in the corner as he failed to motivate Strickland to go for broke even in the championship rounds.

Nicksick didn’t sugarcoat his disappointment with Strickland when speaking of the loss. According to Nicksick, it was just “uninspired fighting” on Strickland’s part on such a massive stage. Nicksick urges Strickland to decide whether he really wants to become a champ or is just in it for a payday.

“It was uninspired fighting,” Nicksick told Ariel Helwani. “It just seemed like he was sleepwalking. It was tough man. I was j…

Dates Confirmed for UFC 317, International Fight Week

MARK YOUR CALENDARS 🗓️

International Fight Week is BACK! See you in June! 👋#UFCFightWeek pic.twitter.com/1PoN8a4k3a

— UFC (@ufc) February 11, 2025

The dates are set for one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s signature offerings.

The promotion on Tuesday revealed that UFC 317 will take place on June 28 and will be preceded by International Fight Week festivities, including the UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 26 and the UFC X immersive fan experience on June 27-28.

A venue wasn’t announced for UFC 317, but it is likely that it will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It’s the second consecutive year that the promotion has moved up International Fight Week and the ensuing event to the end of June after traditionally holding it in early July. No fights were revealed for UFC 317, but it’s an event that the promotion usually tries to fill with a number of high-profile bouts.

With UFC 315 …

UFC Featherweight Veteran Bill Algeo Announces Retirement

Bill Algeo is calling it a career at 35 years old.

The 10-time Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran announced his retirement in an Instagram post on Tuesday. Algeo went 5-5 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion. “Senor Perfecto” went 18-9 over the course of a professional career that began in 2012.

“This game has been good to me and helped me develop and become a better person,” Algeo wrote. “It’s going to be strange not having a fight coming up (unless Fauci decides to man up), but I’ll be guiding the next generation over at Algeo MMA. I’ve met plenty of cool [people] along the way chasing their dreams and shared the cage with some rivals, friends and heroes of mine.

“Thank you to the UFC and the UFC staff for taking care of me and for having the balls to bring sports back safely in the pandemic. My gym was labeled non-essential for [three to four] months and the UFC helped provide income during that weird time.”

Alge…

Gregory Rodrigues Believes Jared Cannonier is ‘Paying a Price’ for String of Tough Fights

Coming off three consecutive victories, Gregory Rodrigues has already arrived in Las Vegas to headline his first UFC card against Jared Cannonier at the UFC Apex.

“The camp couldn't be better,” Rodrigues told Sherdog.com. “I arrived in Las Vegas Monday night with Vicente Luque and my boxing coach, Dietter Navarro. Tonight [Gilbert Burns] is coming and tomorrow, Henri [Hooft]. Now I´m 100% focused on the weight cut and recovering even better.”

The Brazilian known as “Robocop” theorized as to why he received such a prominent name despite not being in the UFC’s middleweight rankings.

“I think the UFC likes to recognize hard workers,” he said. “After I accepted a short-notice call to face Leroy Duncan in Manchester, they offered me Ikram Aliskerov in December. I said yes, but he refused. I asked for [Paulo Costa], but he didn’t want the fight. Then they offered Roman Dolidze. I accepted; he didn’t. When the UFC came up with Cannonier, who has alr…

PFL Reveals First Four Dates for 2025 World Tournament

𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗢‼️ 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞

All 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ #PFLWorldTournament First Round Events will take place in Orlando!

🎟️Tickets go on sale on 𝗪𝗘𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗬, 𝗙𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝟭𝟵𝘁𝗵

For more information 👇https://t.co/eCMG4faqPw pic.twitter.com/QP4VSKD8Wi

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 11, 2025

Professional Fighters League’s new format will begin in earnest this spring.

The organization on Tuesday revealed the first four dates and venue for the upcoming 2025 PFL World Tournament, which marks a departure from the promotion’s season format of past years. The first four events will take place on April 3, April 11, April 18 and May 1 on the backlot of Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida.

The single-elimination tournament will feature brackets at heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and women’s flyweight. Athletes who win three times in five months to complete the bracket will earn a $…

Tatiana Suarez Addresses Loss to Weili Zhang in UFC 312 Co-Headliner

Tatiana Suarez’s first title opportunity in the Ultimate Fighting Championship didn’t go as planned, but that won’t stop her from moving forward with her mixed martial arts career.

Suarez suffered a surprisingly lopsided unanimous decision loss to reigning strawweight champion Weili Zhang in the UFC 312 co-main event this past Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. While Suarez’s wrestling acumen was expected to give Zhang some difficulty, the Californian landed just one of 15 takedown attempts in the fight. After a promising opening stanza in which Suarez was able to ground her foe and rack up valuable control time, Zhang imposed her will over the course of the next 20 minutes.

Suarez addressed the defeat in a statement via Instagram on Tuesday.

“‘Champions don’t show up to get everything they want; they show up to give everything they have.’ And that’s what I’ll do every single time. No matter what,” Suarez wrote. “I love it al…

Joe Rogan Wants Ilia Topuria to Fight Islam Makhachev Next

Joe Rogan wants to see Ilia Topuria vs Islam Makhachev for the 155 title, and Diego Lopes vs Alexander Volkanovski for the 145 title:

“I don’t care if [Ilia] only defended the title one time… who cares. Let’s go. Let’s f***ing go.”

🎥 @joerogan #UFCpic.twitter.com/XvQsXVmzVw — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 10, 2025

Joe Rogan doesn’t necessarily want to see Ilia Topuria defend his featherweight title again before moving up to lightweight.

Topuria dethroned Alexander Volkanovski via a vicious knockout at UFC 298 in Februrary 2024. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard then defended his throne by knocking out Max Holloway for the first time in his career at UFC 308 in October. While rising contenders Diego Lopes and Movsar Evloev are in queue for title shots, Topuria has since been teasing a move up to lightweight while citing a lack of fresh contenders.

Rogan would love to see “El Matador” challenge light…

Daniel Cormier Shares Alex Pereira’s Take on Potential Fight With Dricus du Plessis

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Daniel Cormier recently revealed a conversation with Alex Pereira about fighting Dricus Du Plessis.

Du Plessis made his second successful middleweight title defense with a dominant decision win over Sean Strickland at UFC 312 this past weekend in Sydney. In his post-fight Octagon interview, “Stillknocks” called out light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira, who was in Strickland’s corner. The South African did so by quoting the famous one liner from the movie Gladiator: “Is there no one left?”

Cormier, who was on the commentary team, subsequently made it clear to Pereira that Du Plessis called him out. Pereira allegedly dismissed Du Plessis as too small for 205 pounds. Regardless of whether the South African moves up at some point, “DC” notes that he first has to deal with at least Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight.

“Dricus Du Plessis is the man,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “In the Octagon, he called out Pereira. I told P…

Brandon Royval: Multiple Concussions Forced Exit from UFC Vegas 103

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Brandon Royval had a good reason for withdrawing from his proposed main event clash against Manel Kape on March 1.

In a video on his YouTube channel, the UFC flyweight revealed that he suffered two separate concussion in relatively close proximity. As a result, he decided that best move for his overall wellness would be to withdraw from the UFC Vegas 103 headliner. It wasn’t an easy call considering that his fight against Kape could have been a title eliminator.

“First and foremost, I’ve fought so many times injured. I’ve fought with broken hands, torn labrums, torn MCLs, all that, and for a lot less money and not as meaningful of events. Pulling out of a main event for the No. 1 spot was definitely a hard decision to make,” Royval said.

“Maybe a couple months back, I had a concussion. Nothing too crazy; I was just playing it safe, playing it smart. A couple weeks later, when I recovered, I accepted this fight, which was awe…

Brandon Moreno vs. Steve Erceg Announced as UFC Mexico City Headliner on March 29

A flyweight clash pitting Brandon Moreno against Steve Erceg will serve as the main event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming card in Mexico City.

The bout was announced during the UFC 312 broadcast this past Saturday. UFC on ESPN 64 takes place on March 29 at Arena CDMX in Mexico City and is also expected to included a middleweight showdown between Kelvin Gastelum and Joe Pyfer. Erceg had originally been booked to face Alsu Almabayev at UFC Vegas 103 on March 1 before the promotion changed course.

A two-time flyweight champion, Moreno snapped a two-bout losing streak in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 246, when he defeated Amir Albazi via unanimous decision on Nov. 2. The 31-year-old Tijuana, Mexico, native owns other notable victories over the likes of Deiveson Figueiredo (twice), Kai Kara-France (twice), Brandon Royval and Jussier Formiga during his Octagon tenure.

Erceg, meanwhile, began his UFC career with successive triumphs over Da…

UFC 314 Official for Kaseya Center in Miami on April 12

Taking our talents BACK to South Beach 🌴#UFC314 is coming to Miami on April 12!

Learn more 👉 https://t.co/bQgsUaur3q pic.twitter.com/3M5NUEqCXH

— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2025

As expected, UFC 314 is headed to South Florida.

During the UFC 312 broadcast on Saturday night, the Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed that UFC 314 will take place on April 12 at the Kasey Center in Miami. A headliner was not announced for the card.

This will mark the third consecutive year the Octagon has touched down in Miami for a pay-per-view event. In 2023, UFC 287 saw Israel Adesanya reclaim middleweight gold with a knockout of Alex Pereira and last year, Sean O'Malley defended the bantamweight crown with a dominant victory against Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 headliner.

While no fights have been officially revealed for the event, a few pairings have been reported by various outlets, including: Virna Jandiroba vs. Xiaonan Yan at st…

Sean Strickland Reveals Nose Was Broken ‘In Six Places’ at UFC 312

Sean Strickland is taking his loss against Dricus Du Plessis in stride.

Strickland challenged Du Plessis in a middleweight title rematch at UFC 312 this past weekend in Australia. Du Plessis defended his title via a lopsided unanimous decision, also leaving Strickland with a shattered nose. Addressing his injury, Strickland said that his nose is so badly broken that it was easy to reset.

“Hey, what up, guys? We’ve been here once or twice. I’m so grateful for you guys’ support. You guys are so awesome, win or lose, you guys always ride and I appreciate you,” Strickland said on Instagram. “Dricus, f—king hats off, hell of a fight, broke my nose in six places. The silver lining is my nose is so broken it’s really easy to reset, so that was a new experience.”

Strickland further thanked his fans who continue to support him while urging them to take inspiration from him during difficult times.

“I’ll be quick. I get so many messages from fans,…

Belal Muhammad Slams Sean Strickland: ‘He Fights Like a Scared Little Girl’

Belal Muhammad reacts to "racist clown" Sean Strickland's loss to Dricus du Plessis:

"He wants people to say that 'he's crazy, he's nuts'. He's not. He's just a racist little clown that's hiding in the body of a fighter. He's a coward."

🎥 @bullyb170 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/MfjDlhTHQP — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 9, 2025

Belal Muhammad has no sympathy for Sean Strickland after his loss against Dricus Du Plessis.

Strickland tried to reclaim the middleweight title in a rematch against Du Plessis at UFC 312 in Sydney this past weekend. While Strickland lost his title via split decision in their initial encounter, he suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss in their rematch at UFC 312.

Known for expressing his unhinged opinions, Strickland was already beefing with Muhammad over Islamophobic comments. The welterweight champ repeatedly called Strickland undeserving of a rematch against Du Plessis. And …

Weili Zhang Addresses P4P Standing, Potential Superfight Against Valentina Shevchenko

Weili Zhang currently has no peers when it comes to the strawweight division.

“Magnum” proved that yet again in the UFC 312 co-headliner, as she dominated Tatiana Suarez en route to a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph in Sydney on Saturday night. Heading into the bout, Suarez was tabbed as a favorite by oddsmakers in large part due to her wrestling prowess. Someone forget to tell Zhang, as she stuffed 14 of her opponent’s 15 takedowns while also outstriking Suarez by a considerable margin on the feet.

To hear her tell it, the Chinese standout will never grow tired of cleaning out her division — perhaps because there’s always more to learn.

“I think the biggest opponent to me is myself, so [even] if I stay in strawweight, if I fight different styles of opponent, I can still learn a lot from that,” Zhang said. “Eventually, to improve myself, that’s my ultimate goal. I see all my opponents as my teachers. I will learn from them and just make my…

Dricus Du Plessis Eyes ‘Poatan’ Fight Down the Road, Admits Khamzat Chimaev is ‘Next’

In the moments after closing the book on his rivalry with Sean Strickland for good, Dricus Du Plessis grabbed the microphone and stared across the Octagon.

“Is there no one else?” he yelled. “Is there no one else?”

The message was clear: The reigning middleweight champion hadn’t forgotten about Alex Pereira’s callout following his victory over Israel Adesanya last year. Since Pereira was in Strickland’s corner in the UFC 312 main event in Sydney on Saturday night, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Despite that intriguing bit of theater, Du Plessis realizes there’s a natural order to things, and that means clearing out the remaining challenges in his own division. That includes a future showdown with Khamzat Chimaev, who is the No. 1 contender in waiting following his brutal submission of Robert Whittaker this past August. Pereira, meanwhile, has business of his own to attend to — a UFC 313 title defense against Magomed Ankalaev.

“I have t…

Khamzat Chimaev Offers Generous Reward in Gym Submission Challenge

Khamzat Chimaev has an ongoing million rubles (approximately $10,000) challenge at his gym.

The middleweight contender claims he hasn’t been submitted for a long time, even in practice. While he admittedly offers some vulnerable positions while training with youngsters, Chimaev takes it to another level during serious sessions. “Borz” has an open challenge offering a million rubles to anyone who can submit him in the gym.

Chimaev also said that his teammate Abubakar Vagaev is the one who has come the closest to submitting him in recent times. The Chechen-born Swede was in Vagaev’s corner when he dethroned Albert Tumenov via unanimous decision to win the welterweight title at ACA 183 on Saturday.

“Anyone who submits me during training gets a million rubles from me,” Chimaev told media at the post-fight press conference after ACA 183 via Home of Fight). “It hasn’t happened in a long time. When I’m fooling around with young guys, I give up my ne…

UFC 312 Bonuses: Teixeira, Salkilld, Rong, Steele Receive $50K Awards

It was a night for fresh faces to shine when it came to post-fight bonuses at UFC 312.

That included towering newcomer Tallison Teixeira, who took home a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for making short work of Justin Tafa in a featured heavyweight affair at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday night. The 6-foot-8 Teixeira stunned his foe with a knee to the body and an elbow to the face, bringing an abrupt end to their bout just 35 seconds into Round 1.

Meanwhile, an even quicker finish propelled Quillan Salkilld to a $50,000 “Peformance of the Night” bonus in the opening fight of the evening. The Aussie needed just 19 seconds to wallop Anshul Jubli with a right hand behind the ear in their lightweight encounter, getting his UFC career off to a memorable start in process.

Finally, Zhu Rong and Kody Steele garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for a spirited preliminary lightweight slugfest. The combatants collaborated on a “Rou…

Dricus Du Plessis Defends Title in Nose-Busting Win Over Sean Strickland at UFC 312

In a rivalry full of close rounds and tiny adjustments, Dricus Du Plessis once again proved he has Sean Strickland’s number.

The main event of UFC 312 on Saturday in Sydney featured du Plessis (23-2) and Strickland (29-7) in a rematch of their meeting just over a year ago at UFC 297, where the South African captured the title in a closely contested split decision. With five rounds’ worth of first-hand experience about one another’s skills, the champ and challenger picked up more or less where they left off in their first go-round last year, with a few added wrinkles. Du Plessis was notably aggressive in the early going, working to keep Strickland from getting into a rhythm and chaining his formidable jab by throwing out a variety of techniques including body punches and spinning back kicks. “Tarzan,” for his part, stuck with what brought him to the pinnacle of the division in the first place: crisp, patient boxing defined by the relentless jab and well-timed right crosses. …

UFC 312 ‘Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2’ Play-by-Play, Results & Round Scoring

Sherdog's live UFC 312 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Salkilld (-575), Jubli (+425)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:

Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Jousset (-258), Micallef (+210)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Steele (-218), Rong (…

UFC 312 Prelims: Gabriel Santos Throttles Jack Jenkins

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A “Little Mosquito” is starting to make a big buzz in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division.

In the featured preliminary bout of UFC 312 on Saturday in Sydney, Gabriel Santos (12-2) survived an early scare, showed off a complete MMA skill set and earned a dominant finish over Jack Jenkins (13-4, 1 NC). A measured kickboxing match turned wild in a hurry when Jenkins uncorked a head kick that floored the “Mosquitinho.” Jenkins swarmed for the finish as the crowd exploded, but Santos recovered his wits and ensnared Jenkins in a deep triangle choke. It looked for a few tense moments as if Jenkins was going to be forced to tap or take a nap, but he managed to extricate his neck, only to have Santos switch to an armbar. Jenkins fought that off as well, and made it back to his feet, but Santos dragged him back down and finished the frame in top position. Santos wasted little time in bringing things back to the canvas…

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