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Bantamweights will be on the marquee for the UFC’s first trip to Iowa since 2000.

Brazilian journalist Leo Guimaraes first broke the news on Thursday that Cory Sandhagen (17-5) and Deiveson Figueiredo (24-4-1) would be throwing down on May 3. The two 135ers will serve as the main attraction to UFC Des Moines, which will take place in the Wells Fargo Arena in Iowa’s capital city. The pairing has since been confirmed by other outlets.

Both fighters are coming off five-round decision losses to top contenders. In August 2024, Sandhagen came back after a year layoff to face Umar Nurmagomedov, falling short to the Russian in a bout closer than the scorecards of 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 indicated. That defeat halted a three-fight victorious stretch for the Colorado native, who had forced the doctors to intervene in his 25-minute match against Yadong Song before claiming decision verdicts over Marlon Vera and Rob Font.

Former flyweight king also saw a three-fight win st…

Two championship bouts will get featured billing at UFC 315.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced on Wednesday night that the May 10 card will be headlined by a welterweight championship tilt between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight strap against Manon Fiorot. UFC 315 takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

While Shavkat Rakhmonov was expected to be the next title challenger at 170 pounds, White revealed that the Kazakhstan native suffered an injury and was unable to compete. That led to Della Maddalena being pulled from his original booking: the UFC London headliner against Leon Edwards on March 22.

Muhammad will return to action for the first time since capturing the welterweight crown with a five-round verdict against Edwards in the UFC 304 main event this past July. “Remember the Name” is in the midst of an 11-fight unbeaten streak in the Octagon that…

Ilia Topuria’s reign at 145 pounds will be short lived.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday night that Topuria will vacate the featherweight title as he transitions to 155 pounds. As a result, Alexander Volkanovski will face Diego Lopes for the vacant 145-pound belt in the UFC 314 main event. Topuria captured the belt with a second-round knockout of Volkanovski at UFC 298 and defended the title with a third-round stoppage of Max Holloway at UFC 308 this past October. UFC 314 takes place on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

According to White, a fight for Topuria will be announced soon.

Volkanovski has not competed since the aforementioned loss to Topuria. Prior to that, the 36-year-old Aussie had an impressive run at 145 pounds, accumulating 12 consecutive victories and five successful title defenses along the way. However, he did suffer a pair of losses against Islam Makhachev at lightweight in a bid to become a two-division champ…

Sean Brady will fill the spot vacated by Jack Della Maddalena when he meets Leon Edwards in the UFC London headliner.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the new welterweight bout on Wednesday night. Maddalena was tabbed to challenge Belal Muhammad for the welterweight crown at UFC 315, clearing the way for Brady to step in against Edwards. UFC London — also known as UFC Fight Night 255 — takes place at the O2 Arena and also includes a light heavyweight showdown between Jan Blachowicz and Carlos Ulberg.

Brady has been victorious in seven of his eight Octagon appearances, with his lone setback coming at the hands of Muhammad in October 2022. The Renzo Gracie Philly product has since rebounded to post back-to-back triumphs against Kelvin Gastelum and Gilbert Burns.

Edwards will return to action for the first time since relinquishing the 170-pound strap to Muhammad in a unanimous decision defeat at UFC 304 this past July. Prior to that, “Rocky” had gone u…

The UFC 314 card will have plenty of depth.

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In the evening’s co-headliner, Michael Chandler will lock horns with Paddy Pimblett in a five-round, non-title affair. Meanwhile, former Bellator featherweight champ Patricio Freire will make his promotional debut against Yair Rodriguez in another featured clash. UFC CEO Dana White announced the pairings on Wednesday night. UFC 314 takes place at the Kaseya Center in Miami on April 12 and is headlined by a showdown for the vacant featherweight title between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.

Multiple other bouts, some previously reported, were also confirmed for UFC 314: Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates at welterweight; Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes at light heavyweight; Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson at featherweight; Xiaonan Yan vs. Virna Jandiroba at strawweight; Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper at lightweight; Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa at featherweight; Sedriques Dumas vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk at middlewe…

Dricus du Plessis reacts to Belal Muhammad saying he sucks:

“Has he ever finished anyone?… the UFC doesn’t even like Belal Muhammad…

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He’s definitely better on Twitter than he is in fights.” 👀🍿

🎥 @arielhelwani #UFC #MMA

pic.twitter.com/klzBNQYrG9 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 18, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis is downplaying a potential clash against Belal Muhammad.

Muhammad recently teased a move up to middleweight to challenge Du Plessis for the title. “Remember the Name” also slammed the entire division —with the exception of Khamzat Chimaev — citing Du Plessis’ title defence against Sean Strickland at UFC 312 earlier this month.

Responding to Muhammad’s comments, Du Plessis brought up the lack of finishes on the welterweight champ’s record. The South African also noted that Muhammad has yet to defend his title since winning it against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July 2024. Du Plessis is confiden…

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While Dan Hooker would have liked to fight on the same card as his City Kickboxing teammates, he won’t mind sitting cageside for their return.

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Alexander Volkanovski is expected to challenge Ilia Topuria in a featherweight title rematch at UFC 314 on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Hooker believes their teammate, Kai Kara-France, is also likely to be on the same card. The Topuria-Volkanovski rematch has not been confirmed by the promotion.

Meanwhile, “The Hangman” will take on Justin Gaethje in fan favorite matchup at UFC 313 on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While the Kiwi would have liked to fight on the same card as his teammates, he doesn’t mind getting done with his assignment earlier.

“I'm pretty sure Alex and Kai will be on the same card,” Hooker told ESPN Australia. “I would've liked for all the three of us to be fighting in April together, but I got chucked on a little earlier. But hey,…

Eric Nicksick is owning up to his mistake.

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Nicksick recently admitted that criticizing friend and pupil Strickland in public was the wrong decision. Strickland received a lot of criticism in general for his lopsided unanimous decision title loss against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312 earlier this month. Nicksick later called Strickland’s effort uninspiring after failing to motivate the former champ to push harder until the end of the fight.

However, UFC veterans like Daniel Cormier and Matt Brown didn’t approve of Nicksick publicly denouncing Strickland. While recently commenting on the issue, Brown noted that there might be a lot more to the whole thing than is visible to the public eye. Regardless, Brown thinks the relationship between a coach and fighter is too personal for their differences to be publicly exposed.

Responding to Brown’s comments, Nicksick admitted to having a made a mistake. While the Xtreme Couture head coach says his real …

Alexa Grasso will be back in action for the first time since losing the flyweight crown when she meets Natalia Silva at UFC 315.

The promotion confirmed the 125-pound pairing on Tuesday. UFC 315 takes place on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A headliner has not been announced for the card.

Grasso is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Valentina Shevchenko in a flyweight championship trilogy bout at UFC 306 this past September. The Lobo Gym MMA standout claimed 125-pound gold with an upset victory over Shevchenko at UFC 285 in March 2023 and retained the strap following a controversial split draw against her rival at UFC Fight Night 227 in September 2023. This will be the first non-Shevchenko opponent for Grasso since she defeated Viviane Araujo in the UFC Fight Night 212 main event in October 2022.

Silva, meanwhile, is a rising star in the division who enters the matchup with Grasso on a six-bout winning streak in UFC competiti…

One Shot to WIN. One Shot to ADVANCE. One Shot at a WORLD TITLE 🏆

Get to know the Women’s Flyweights set to compete in the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ #PFLWorldTournament

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[ Friday , April 11th | 📺 11:30 PM EST | ESPN 2 | B2YB @Cloudbet ] pic.twitter.com/yJ92NHxYJT — PFL (@PFLMMA) February 18, 2025

The field is set for Professional Fighters League’s upcoming women’s flyweight tournament — but one notable name is missing from the lineup.

The promotion announced the eight-woman roster for the 2025 World Flyweight Tournament on Tuesday, and it includes quite a few familiar faces. However, 2024 flyweight champion Dakota Ditcheva will not be part of the bracket. That likely means that Ditcheva, who is one of the PFL’s top stars, will be part of one of the promotion’s high-profile events in the coming months.

The tournament roster will include six fighters who competed in the PFL season format last year (Taila Santos, Liz Carmouche, …

Gregory Rodrigues began the UFC Vegas 102 main event like a man on a mission.

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However, after dropping Jared Cannonier twice in the opening stanza, the hard-hitting Brazilian began to fade, ultimately falling to his veteran opponent via fourth-round technical knockout this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Robocop” never looked the same after that strong first round, and as it turns out, there might have been a good reason for that decline.

“Cannonier is a highly experienced fighter who taught me a lot in this fight! I saw several details that can be improved—things that will be changed. Winning ‘Fight of the Night’ was a gift for two warriors who weren’t afraid to go to battle,” Rodrigues wrote on Instagram. “Most people don’t know this, but I had serious issues to recovery after weight cut—my body just wasn’t responding. I keep wondering how things would’ve played out if I had been at 100%.

“But no sad stories here—Robocop never d…

One last matchup announcement! (for now)

Team São Paulo's @FabricioWerdum steps into the GFL cage with Team LA's @thefrankmir in a Heavyweight bout! pic.twitter.com/iuSouahE1o

— Global Fight League (@mmagfl) February 14, 2025

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Two fights recently announced by the fledging Global Fight League immediately drew the attention of mixed martial fans.

Fabricio Werdum (Team Sao Paulo) is expected to face Frank Mir (Team Los Angeles), while it was also revealed that Mauricio Rua (Team Sao Paulo) would meet Yoel Romero (Team Miami). No dates and locations have been formally announced for any GFL events at this point in time. When Sherdog spoke to Werdum and Rua, they offered differing points of view on their respective bouts.

"I already started my physical preparation here in Florianopolis,” Werdum said. “It looks like this confrontation between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo will take place on May 11. My plan is to go to Curi…

Justin Gaethje says Khabib is the toughest opponent he’s ever faced, and his dream fight is against Islam Makhachev 👀

“[Islam] is the champ, and I do believe that is a better matchup for me than Khabib.”

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🎥 @Justin_Gaethje #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/NvMALCtqE4 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 17, 2025

While both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev rank among the best fighters in MMA history, Justin Gaethje believes he has a better chance of beating the current UFC lightweight champion.

Gaethje suffered a failed lightweight title bid against Nurmagomedov via submission at UFC 254 in 2020. During a recent Q&A session posted on his YouTube channel, “The Highlight” named Nurmagomedov as his toughest test ever. According to Gaethje, he probably couldn’t have beaten “Eagle” at UFC 254 even if he had performed better.

Nurmagomedov retired after UFC 254, citing the demise of his father and coach, Abd…

Alex Pereira is asked how he’s preparing for the Ankalaev fight:

“I’m training, honestly, as if I were fighting any other guy.

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I think the only thing that changes is that he’s left-handed, but that doesn’t make any difference.”

🎥 @markbouris #UFC313pic.twitter.com/zfk9wR7kJY

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 17, 2025 Alex Pereira (12-2) claims the preparation for the upcoming fight against Magomed Ankalaev (19-1) is just like any other.

Pereira will put his light heavyweight title on the line against Ankalaev in the main event at UFC 313 on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Despite being undefeated in 13 outings since 2018, the title shot has evaded Ankalaev up until now.

When Pereira last defended his title against Khalil Rountree Jr., Ankalaev accused the champ of ducking him. They have since been going back and forth, with Pereira claiming to have asked for an Ankalaev matchup and the D…

Austin Vanderford, who is perhaps best known for being the husband of Paige VanZant, will get his chance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship this weekend.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Tuesday that Vanderford will face Nikolay Veretennikov in a short-notice, 175-pound catchweight affair at UFC Seattle on Saturday. UFC Seattle — also known as UFC Fight Night 252 — takes place at Climate Pledge Arena and is headlined by a bantamweight showdown between Henry Cejudo and Yadong Song.

Vanderford began his professional tenure with 11 consecutive triumphs — including five wins under the Bellator MMA banner. During that stretch, he attempted to earn a UFC deal on Dana White's Contender Series in 2018 but didn’t receive a contract following a second-round submission of Angelo Trevino. He challenged for middleweight gold at Bellator 275, where he suffered a first-round TKO defeat to then champ Gegard Mousasi. “The Gentleman” parted ways with Bellator follo…

Nine-time Octagon veteran Joe Solecki is calling it a career. The UFC lightweight announced his retirement in an post via Instagram on Monday. The 31-year-old exits the sport with a 13-6 career mark. The Wenonah, New Jersey, native went 5-4 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

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“Today, after chasing this dream for 10 years, I am officially retiring from the sport of MMA,” Solecki wrote.

“I started this endeavor as a kid with a dream of making it to the UFC. It then grew into so many more goals and dreams, some of which I achieved and others where I fell short. In a way, despite falling short at times (especially this past year), I ‘lived my movie.’ Competing at the highest level in the UFC and grinding it out on the regional circuit to make it to the top have taught me more life lessons and things about myself, hard work, and determination than I ever could’ve imagined. This avenue in life has helped me grow in so many ways as a ma…

Miesha Tate will return to action in a bantamweight bout against Yana Santos on May 3.

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Tate initially revealed the pairing in a post on Instagram, and it was subsequently confirmed by Santos. The UFC has not formally announced the fight. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to take place in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I’ve still got what it takes and if you doubt me, please stick around. Mark your calendars,” Tate wrote.

A former Strikeforce and UFC bantamweight queen, Tate hasn’t competed since defeating the recently-retired Julia Avila via third-round submission at UFC on ESPN 52 in December 2023. “Cupcake” initially retired following a loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 in November 2016, but she returned to action in 2021. Tate has fought sporadically since then, posting a 2-2 mark within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Santos, meanwhile, snapped a three-bout skid in her last outing, when she outpointed Chelsea Chandler at UFC on ESPN 61 t…

Conor McGregor is living up to his vow to challenge the ruling that went against him in a civil lawsuit late last year.

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According to a report from BBC, McGregor filed an appeal of the verdict that found him civilly liable for sexual assault against Nikita Hand in Irish courts this past Friday.

In November, the Dublin High Court found that McGregor sexually assaulted Hand in 2018 and ordered the former two-division UFC champion to pay more than $250,000 in damages. Because it was a civil trial, McGregor did not face criminal charges in the case. He denied the sexual assault accusations during the trial and after the verdict, claiming that it was a consensual encounter.

“People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes,” McGregor wrote in a since-deleted post on social media. “Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love…

[embedded content] The Professional Fighters League has business to conduct beyond the introduction of its new World Tournament format in 2025. Francis Ngannou, the most important fighter on the company’s roster, could take his combat sports career in a variety of directions, with a host of options available to him.

Ngannou ranks as the top attraction for the PFL and also serves as the chairman of PFL Africa, enhancing his long-term importance to the organization. With the PFL looking to find success and build new stars through its international leagues across the globe, Ngannou will have a significant impact—inside and outside the cage. “The Predator” made his long-awaited promotional debut at PFL “Battle of the Giants,” where he punched out Renan Ferreira in the first round of their Oct. 19 pay-per-view headliner. It afforded Ferreira, a rising star within the company, the opportunity to challenge one of the biggest names in the sport and drew plenty of attention.

A…

It was a big deal for Youssef Zalal to share the Octagon with Calvin Kattar.

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So much so that Zalal even needed a little reminder from his coach that he belonged in the cage with the accomplished featherweight before their fight in the UFC Vegas 102 co-main event in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“I don’t think people realize how much pressure I put on myself in every single fight. I remember coach telling me before I walked out: ‘He’s just a face, remove the name.’ I’m still learning that,” Zalal said at the post-fight press conference. “I’m a fan of this sport, No. 1. Also, sometimes I go in there and forgot that I am that good. I am that exciting, I am that guy.”

Zalal relied on speed and mobility to cruise to a unanimous decision triumph over Kattar in their clash, earning his fourth consecutive UFC triumph — and seventh victory in a row overall. An accurate jab and solid leg kicks were the weapons of choice for “The Moroccan Devil” as he rac…

Belal Muhammad says he would never fight Islam Makhachev, and would rather move up to 185 and let Islam fight for the 170 title

“I think 185 is probably the easiest weight class, besides Khamzat. Bro, Strickland and Du Plessis suck.”

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🎥 @barstoolchicagopic.twitter.com/uwAKNSVHtk — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 16, 2025

Belal Muhammad would rather move up in weight than fight Islam Makhachev.

Like many UFC champs, Muhammad and Makhachev have recently expressed double-champ aspirations. However, Makhachev’s primary hindrance is Muhammad, as he is a good friend and training partner of the welterweight champ.

Muhammad also recently clarified that he isn’t willing to welcome Makhachev to welterweight under any circumstance. Muhammad would rather move up to middleweight and let the lightweight champ climb to 170 pounds. While Makhachev has defended his lightweight strap four times, Muhammad is yet to defend h…

A matchup of women’s bantamweights has been added to UFC 315.

Nora Cornolle (8-2) and Hailey Cowan (7-3) will trade leather at UFC 315 on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The matchup was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

Both Cornolle and Cowan will attempt to return to the win column after losses in their previous outings. Cornolle looked to avenge a loss in her pro debut against Jacqueline Cavalcanti when they met in a rematch at UFC Paris in September 2024. However, the Frenchwoman dropped a split decision against Cavalcanti, the only opponent to beat her. That snapped an eight-fight winning streak for Cornolle, who had been victorious in her first two UFC outings.

Meanwhile, Cowan earned her UFC contract with a split-decision win over Claudia Leite on Dana White's Contender Series in 2022. “All Hail” suffered a unanimous decision loss against Jamey-Lyn Horth in her UFC debut in 2023. She has since seen bookings against Zarah Fai…

Even at 40 years old, Jared Cannonier isn’t here to be a steppingstone in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.

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He proved that on Saturday night, when he rallied for a fourth-round technical knockout victory against Gregory Rodrigues in the UFC Vegas 102 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Rodrigues entered the bout having won five of his last six Octagon appearances, but “The Killa Gorilla” denied the Brazilian’s entry into the upper echelon of the division.

Cannonier balked at the notion that he was settling into a gatekeeper role at this point in his MMA career.

“I don’t think anybody’s put that tag on me. It’s just when I was doing all these interviews, the way I was answering the questions it sounded as if I was a gatekeeper,” Cannonier said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Because you guys kept saying ‘you’re fighting this up and comer, you’re fighting a second up and comer, you’re fighting another up…

Anthony Smith is expected to make his final walk to the Octagon against Mingyang Zhang at UFC Kansas City.

Multiple outlets confirmed the light heavyweight booking following an initial report from Kangzif on social media. The UFC Fight Night event takes place on April 26 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Kansas, and also includes a middleweight scrap between Michel Pereira and Abusupiyan Magomedov. A headliner has not been announced for the event.

Smith is coming off a 1-2 campaign in 2024. He began the year with a first-round submission of Vitor Petrino but then dropped back-to-back fights against Roman Dolidze and Dominick Reyes. After a second-round TKO loss to Reyes at UFC 310, the former 205-pound title challenger revealed that he would like to have one more Octagon appearance before calling it a career.

The 26-year-old Zhang will enter the matchup on an 11-bout professional winning streak. The Chinese standout has kicked off his UFC tenure with …