Blog

Matt Frevola will lock horns with Fares Ziam in a lightweight bout at UFC Paris.

Both fighters confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from Marcel Dorff. UFC Fight Night takes place at the Accor Arena in Paris on Sept. 28 and features a lightweight showdown pitting Benoit St. Denis against Renato Carneiro.

Frevola is coming off a first-round knockout loss against St. Denis at UFC 295 this past November. Prior to that, “The Steamrolla” had earned consecutive opening round stoppages against Genaro Valdez, Ottman Azaitar and Drew Dober in the Octagon.

Ziam, meanwhile, has been victorious in five of his last six UFC bouts. In his first appearance of 2024 Kill Cliff FC-trained Frenchman garnered a split-decision triumph over Claudio Puelles at UFC Fight Night 237 on Feb. 24.

🗓️ Coming 2025#PFLAfrica pic.twitter.com/oAWhQpCMwL

— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 10, 2024

The groundwork has been laid for Professional Fighters League to plant its flag in Africa.

Advertisement

The organization announced on Wednesday that PFL Africa will debut in the second quarter of 2025. Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who hails from Cameroon, will serve as chairman for the league. PFL Africa will follow a format similar to that of affiliate regional leagues PFL Europe and PFL MENA, with a regular season and postseason featuring fighters from throughout Africa.

“I am excited and honored to serve as Chairman of PFL Africa, a league that will shape the very foundation of African MMA,” Ngannou said in a release. “As we have seen there is a great wealth of talent in Africa just waiting to be given a global stage. I am so very proud to give back to my homeland and to provide great content to a region with such a passionate a…

Some prominent names have been confirmed for Bellator Champions Series San Diego.

Advertisement

The promotion announced on Wednesday that Douglas Lima, Lorenz Larkin and Raufeon Stots will all be competing on the card, which takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego on Sept. 7. Lima will face Aaron Jeffery at middleweight, while Larkin will lock horns with Levan Chokheli in a welterweight clash. Stots, meanwhile, will take on Marcos Breno at bantamweight in the evening’s co-main event.

Bellator Champions Series San Diego is headlined by a lightweight title tilt between Usman Nurmagomedov and Alexandr Shabliy. The card will air in its entirety on Max in the United States.

A former Bellator welterweight champion, Lima will return to action for the first time in more than a year. In his last outing, the 36-year-old Brazilian snapped a four-fight skid with a unanimous decison triumph over Costello van Steenis at Bellator 296 in May 2023.

Jeffery, meanwhile, …

Six contracts with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in seven appearances on Dana White's Contender Series. Twenty victories in 24 fights. Four bonuses in 2024.

Advertisement

Although The Fighting Nerds debuted in the Octagon less than two years ago, there is no doubt that the Brazilian team has made a significant impact in the sport in a short period of time. Captained by former boxer Pablo Sucupira, the team already has seven athletes in the UFC: Caio Borralho, Mauricio Ruffy, Bruna Brasil, Carlos Prates, Thiago Moises, Jean Silva and Kaynan Kruschewsky.

In an exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Sucupira revealed that the team emerged from his frustration as a fighter.

“I always say that a good coach is a frustrated fighter, as frustration in the ring leads him to develop solutions for his athletes,” he said. “And it was like that with me. I started boxing when I was 29 years old. I achieved good results, but when I realized that I wouldn't be able…

Andre Petroski has been calling Bo Nickal out since before the decorated wrestler’s Ultimate Fighting Championship debut — and he continues to do so.

Advertisement

Petroski started calling out the three-time NCAA national champion for a grappling or MMA matchup before his unanimous decision win over Wellington Turman in November 2022. Petroski doubled down on his callout after a spilt-decision win over Gerald Meerschaert at UFC 292 in August 2023.

However, Petroski has since suffered consecutive stoppage losses against Michel Pereira and Jacob Malkoun. Petroski will now look to return to the win column against Josh Fremd at UFC on ESPN 59 on Saturday. Petroski believes a win over Fremd could put him right back into talks of a potential matchup against Nickal.

Malkoun recently announced a matchup with Nickal for UFC 302 in New Jersey, which was immediately denied by the latter’s management and ultimately didn’t come to fruition. However, Petroski had deeme…

More than halfway into 2024, top contender Magomed Ankalaev has vowed to knock out UFC light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira before the year ends.

Advertisement

Ankalaev is the only one of top contenders in the division who hasn’t fallen prey to Pereira. After recently defeating former champ Jiri Prochazka for the second time at UFC 303, Pereira will most likely face Ankalaev next.

However, Ankalaev has been levelling shots at Pereira since “Poatan” merely asked Anthony Joshua’s to suggest potential opponents for a future boxing move.

“[Alex Pereira] kept away from me for a reason, and I do understand this is business,” Ankalaev wrote on X. “[In the UFC the] best fight the best, and he is the best for now. I will keep my work. I will knock him out. [Mick Maynard] [Dana White] nothing better than you’ve seen an event somebody going to sleep.”

@AlexPereiraUFC kept away from me for a reason, and I do understand this is business @ufc best …

Drew Dober (27-13) is looking to make the most out of upcoming opponent Jean Silva’s (13-2) unusual walkout.

Advertisement

Silva will step up a weight class to replace Mike Davis for a short-notice lightweight clash against Dober in the co-main event at UFC on ESPN 59 on Saturday. It will also be a quick turnaround of two weeks for Silva, who brutally knocked out Charles Jourdain at UFC 303 on June 29 but missed weight for the fight.

In addition to his nearly perfect finishing rate, Silva is also known for a bizarrely long walkout that approaches five minutes in length. Dober will be walking out second and waiting in the tunnel while Silva takes his time on his way to the Octagon. However, Dober believes Silva might end up at a disadvantage at UFC Denver because of the long walkout. Despite having started his early fighting career in Denver, Dober will be fighting in the city under the UFC banner for the first time this weekend. Dober claims he will draw more mo…

Rose Namajunas believes she isn’t far away from a title shot in her new weight class.

Advertisement

Namajunas moved up to flyweight after her second strawweight title run ended with a split-decision loss against Carla Esparza at UFC 274. Namajunas dropped a unanimous decision loss against Manon Fiorot in her flyweight debut at UFC Paris in September 2023. However, Namajunas has since bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Amanda Ribas this past March to regain relevance in the flyweight division.

Namajunas revealed that winning a second title has certainly motivated her move up to flyweight — though that wasn’t the only reason.

“When I first started my career in the UFC, that was kind of like my vision that I had in mind,” Namajunas told MMAjunkie.com. “It wasn’t like super solid, but I definitely wanted to become champion. And then, somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought to become champion in two divisions as well. But that was so far in the…

[embedded content]

Flyweight prospect Stewart Nicoll (7-0) has been booked for his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in August.

Advertisement

The undefeated Australian will make his promotional debut against Jesus Santos Aguilar (10-2) in front of a home crowd at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The matchup was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

Nicoll’s UFC signing was initially announced by "From the Stands” and confirmed by Beatdown Promotions, where he has fought for most of his career.

“Stoked to see the man that has worked so hard and consistently for years to achieve a dream. Stayed the course. Well done [Stewart Nicoll],” wrote UFC alum and Beatdown Promotions owner Damien Brown on Instagram.

Nicoll has finished six of his career wins so far — four via technical knockout and two by way of submission. A former Xtreme Fighting Championships flyweight champion, Nicoll most recently scored a first-round TKO win over Japan…

A 185-pound mixed martial arts clash between Hiroyuki Tetsuka and Isi Fitikefu has been added to the ONE Championship 168 lineup.

Sherdog confirmed the booking with a source close to the situation. ONE 168 takes place at Ball Arena in Denver, and features a muay thai title bout between Jonathan Haggerty and Superlek Kiatmoo9 and a 125-pound MMA championship clash between Stamp Fairtex and Jingnan Xiong.

Japan’s Tetsuka will take a five-bout promotional winning streak into the matchup with Fikitefu. Most recently, the 34-year-old known as “Japanese Beast” scored a second-round submission victory against Valmir da Silva at One on Prime Video 21 on April 5.

Australia’s Fitikefu has been victorious in eight of nine professional appearances since beginning his career in 2015. The 31-year-old earned his first promotional win in April 2023, when he submitted da Silva in the opening stanza at ONE on Prime Video 9.

𝙄𝙏’𝙎 𝙒𝙄𝙉 𝙊𝙍 𝙂𝙊 𝙃𝙊𝙈𝙀 🏆💰

The #PFLPlayoffs are here as the road to the 2024 #PFLWorldChampionship heats up 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sHnjlcrGCh

— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 9, 2024

Advertisement

The pairings are officially set for the Professional Fighters League postseason.

While the brackets were initially determined during last month’s final series of regular season events, there has been one significant change to the playoff matchups. The PFL announced on Tuesday that Linton Vassell will replace the injured Valentin Moldvavsky and face Oleg Popov in a heavyweight semifinal on Aug. 2 at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

The PFL 7 postseason event will be headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Denis Goltsov and Tim Johnson. The main card will also include a pair of women’s flyweight semifinals: Dakota Ditcheva vs. Jena Bishop and Liz Carmouche vs. Taila Santos.

Two weeks later, light heavyweights and lightweight…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Ailin Perez will lock horns with Dariya Zheleznyakova in a women’s bantamweight clash when the Ultimate Fighting Championship heads to Paris on Sept. 28.

Both fighters confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from MMA Latinoamerica. The UFC Fight night will take place at the Accor Arena and features a five-round lightweight showdown pitting Benoit St. Denis against Renato Carneiro.

After losing her Octagon debut to Stephanie Egger, Perez has rebounded to win three consecutive outings within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, the Argentinian took a three-round verdict against Joselyne Edwards at UFC 302 on June 1. Her current winning streak also includes decision triumphs over Lucie Pudilova and Ashlee …

Darren Till just got into a brawl at Social Knockout after his opponent couldn’t continue… #mma #boxing pic.twitter.com/cyVxq71p7h

— Mase (@cutman_mase) July 6, 2024

While Darren Till’s boxing debut earned him his first combat sports payday since his departure from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, it wasn’t all that lucrative.

Advertisement

Till parted ways with the UFC in February 2023 on his own request, vowing to return to the promotion in a few years after having pursued other interests. “The Gorilla” was scheduled to make his boxing debut against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on July 20 on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. However, that fight fell through due to Till’s visa issues combined with the card being briefly jeopardized before Mike Perry stepped up to replace a sick Tyson.

Till instead made a surprising short-notice debut in the squared circle against Mohammad Mutie at Social Knockout 3 on Saturday in Dubai. The …

Bobby Green is eyeing a quick turnaround going into his upcoming UFC 304 fight.

Advertisement

Green faces Liverpudlian prospect Paddy Pimblett at UFC 304 on July 27 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. Green then wants to fly across the globe for UFC 305 on Aug. 17 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Green will already be at UFC 305 to corner teammate Alex Reyes, who will seek his first UFC win against Tom Nolan after back-to-back first-round stoppage losses. Looking to make the best of his visit, Green expressed interest in a clash against Dan Hooker, who is also seemingly eager to be on the card.

“My plans is to fight Paddy, and if I can, if the UFC let me, I want to fight in Perth too,” said Green on his Instagram Stories. “You can pick that person. I heard Dan Hooker is looking for a fight. I’ll fight Dan, I don’t care. But all I need is for you to do me this favor, work out them taxes. Because I’m not trying to give up $90,000 in f—-ing t…

While Brendan Allen claims to have accepted a UFC Paris booking against Nassourdine Imavov, he isn’t settling for anything short of a main-event slot.

Advertisement

Allen revealed on Monday that he recently accepted a booking against Imavov for UFC Paris on Sept. 28. Having headlined in three of his last four outings and won all three, “All In” called for yet another main-event slot against Imavov.

However, Allen’s status as the headliner was put into question by the announcement of a five-round clash between lightweight fan favorites Benoit St. Denis and Renato Carneiro While St. Denis vs. Moicano has been booked for five rounds, it has not been officially confirmed as the UFC Paris headliner.

Allen is adamant on not getting surpassed by St. Denis and “Moicano” for the main-event spot. Allen also believes his fight against Imavov deserves a higher place on the card than St. Denis vs. Moicano regardless of how many followers the lightweights have on socia…

Alex Pereira recently shut down a callout from Artem Vakhitov, who was the last man to beat him in kickboxing.

Advertisement

Pereira defeated Vakhitov via split decision in their first encounter at Glory 77 in January 202, to win the light heavyweight title. Vakhitov exacted revenge in their rematch later that year, defeating Pereira via majority decision to win back the title at Glory 78.

Pereira had finalized his Ultimate Fighting Championship signing a day before that fight, marking the end of his kickboxing career. “Poatan” has gone on to become a two-division champ, earning four victories in title bouts within less than three years in the promotion.

Meanwhile, Vakhitov competed in one muay thai bout after his win over Pereira before switching to MMA, where he is currently 2-1. Vakhitov is motivated by the idea of a potential trilogy clash against Pereira in MMA.

The Russian believes Pereira has room for improvement in his striking defense which was e…

It appears that Cesar Gracie won’t be part of Nick Diaz’s camp for his upcoming fight against Vicente Luque at UFC on ABC 7 in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3.

Advertisement

Diaz’s longtime coach doesn’t like a few aspects of the booking, including the overseas travel and the matchup against Luque. It will be Diaz’s first Octagon appearance since a third-round TKO loss due to retirement against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 in September 2021.

“I’m really not involved in that fight. I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. That wasn’t my idea. It wasn’t a fight I would have had,” Gracie recently told Submission Radio. “Like if I was advising Nick, I wouldn’t have advised him to do that fight. It’s in Abu Dhabi. I wouldn’t advise to go fight overseas at this point, especially [because] Luque is a very tough guy. You know Nick is a tough guy, but it just doesn’t make that much sense for me where Nick is at in his career.

“And I don’t know. It’s not the fight I would have mad…

Carlos Leal Miranda delivered one of the biggest highlights at LFA 187 this past Saturday, when he defeated Manuel Mena via first-round technical knockout in a Brazil vs. Latin America-themed event.

Advertisement

After the victory, Leal revealed to Sherdog that he wants to fight for the LFA welterweight title he once held, but his real dream is to compete in the UFC.

“I showed in this fight that I am already at the level of fighting in the biggest event in the world against the best in the world,” the former Professional Fighters League talent said. “In fact, I didn't lose the LFA belt, I left it vacant when I went to the PFL. The ideal for me is to compete for the title again here at LFA. If the invitation to fight in the UFC doesn't come, I'm going to wait.”

Leal also revealed the reason why he departed from the PFL after losing to Sadibou Sy in the 2023 postseason.

“The PFL is a very good organization,” he said. “I grew and matured as a man and…

Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 59 card will end up looking a lot different than originally intended.

Advertisement

This includes two late additions to the lineup: a bantamweight clash between Montel Jackson and Da'Mon Blackshear and a women’s flyweight tilt pitting Jasmine Jasudavicius against Fatima Kline. The promotion recently confirmed the bookings on its website. Jasudavicius was originally slated to meet Viviane Araujo before the Brazilian withdrew from the event.

UFC on ESPN 59 takes place at Ball Arena in Denver and is headlined by a 125-pound showdown between Rose Namajunas and Tracy Cortez. The main event was one of six fights on the card that either changed or was canceled entirely, as Cortez is a replacement for Maycee Barber.

Jackson has been victorious in his last four promotional appearances. Most recently, he scored a first-round knockout of Rani Yahya at UFC Fight Night 222 in April 2023.

Blackshear, meanwhile, had a two-bout winning streak …

Bobby Green will have a different name when he makes the walk to the Octagon at UFC 304 later this month.

Advertisement

The veteran lightweight recently announced in a social media post that he has gone through the process to officially change his name to “King Green.” In a video on Instagram, Green displayed the paperwork that made the name change legal.

“Just to let people know. I wasn’t playing. I really changed my name,” Green said in the video.

“King,” of course, was Green’s nickname as a fighter before he made it his official first name. The 37-year-old former King of the Cage champion is scheduled to face Paddy Pimblett in a featured bout at UFC 304 on July 27 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England. Green has won three of his last four Octagon appearances and is coming off a lopsided three-round verdict over Jim Miller at UFC 300.

“I worked so hard at Bobby Green, but the point was to show [you] go from nothing to a King,” Green wrote in a c…

[embedded content]

While Dricus Du Plessis has been immensely impressed by Robert Whittaker’s latest wins, he believes “Bobby Knuckles” is still another victory away from a title shot.

Advertisement

Whittaker suffered a second-round TKO loss against Du Plessis at UFC 290 in July 2023. While Du Plessis was the only person to beat Whittaker other than Israel Adesanya since 2014, many discounted “The Reaper” following that loss.

However, Whittaker rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa at UFC 298 this past February. Whittaker was then scheduled to headline UFC on ABC 6 in a title eliminator against Khamzat Chimaev last month before “Borz” pulled out due to illness. Chimaev was replaced on nine days’ notice by unranked prospect Ikram Aliskerov, who went on to suffer a first-round knockout loss.

Closely watching the fight, Du Plessis was very happy with Whittaker’s dominant win and believes the Australian would have beaten Chimaev as well. For D…

[embedded content]

Aljamain Sterling is latest featherweight to rally for a slot at UFC 306 in September at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Advertisement

Sterling scored a unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut at UFC 300 this past April. The former bantamweight champ has since been teasing a potential clash against Movsar Evloev. While both parties initially expressed interest in the matchup, that seems to have fizzled out now.

While Evloev has accused Sterling of ducking him, “Funkmaster” claims the undefeated Russian is unwilling to accept his terms. Sterling has now redirected focus to streaking Brazilian Diego Lopesfor a clash at UFC 306 on Sept. 14.

“I’m thinking about Aljamain Sterling vs. Diego Lopes at the Sphere. It has a nice ring to it,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “Movsar [Evloev], I don’t know what the hell he’s doing. I gave him a date and he hasn’t accepted yet, started making all these excuses. So, either you …

Marc Goddard reveals why he’ll never referee a Leon Edwards fight. 👀

Full episode: https://t.co/ISAltc1GC9 pic.twitter.com/eFENek2ISk

— OverDogs Podcast | Kanpai Media (@OverDogsPodcast) July 7, 2024

Referee Marc Goddard doesn’t want the slightest personal involvement with fighters whose bouts he officiates.

While refereeing is one of the toughest parts of all sports, combat sports referees arguably have a heavier burden on their shoulders due to the lethal nature of the sport. Hence, to avoid any conflict of interest, referees at the highest level are not allowed to coach fighters.

This has also stopped Goddard from refereeing the fights of UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. The Scottish referee hasn’t been seriously involved in coaching for a while now other than a weekly class at his friend’s gym. However, Goddard revealed that he was Edwards’ first MMA coach back when “Rocky” was just an amateur. To avoid risking alleg…

Longtime Charles Oliveira coach Diego Lima believes “do Bronx” is the most logical contender for the next lightweight title shot.

Advertisement

Oliveira was dethroned by Islam Makhachev via second round submission at UFC 280 on October 2022 in Abu Dhabi. Oliveria subsequently knocked out Beneil Dariush to earn an immediate rematch against Makhachev at the same venue a year later at UFC 294. However, “do Bronx” was forced out on 10 days’ notice due to a gruesome cut suffered in sparring. The Brazilian was replaced by Alexander Volkanovski, who suffered a brutal head kick knockout against Makhachev.

Oliveira then dropped split decision against fellow contender Arman Tsarukyan in a title eliminator at UFC 300. While Tsarukyan was offered an immediate title shot against Makhachev, who was adamant on fighting in the summer, “Ahalkalakets” turned it down due the quick turnaround.

Although Makhachev had expressed interest in fighting Justin Gaethje as well, “The …