MMA News

Dylan Bowker - November 28, 2025

Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria threw down in the octagon at one point, but nowadays, the former is offering his support to the latter amid a difficult time. On his X account @Topuriailia, the reigning UFC lightweight champion came out to put the kibosh on some of the recent rumors surrounding a potential return to the cage for him. Rumblings of a January 2026 bout defending his 155-pound crown against Paddy Pimblett kept circulating through the rumor mill until, on his personal social media, Topuria stated,

Fernando Quiles Jr. - November 28, 2025

Paddy Pimblett wouldn’t be surprised if fans discredit him should he emerge victorious at UFC 324. Pimblett has been put in a big spot for UFC’s debut on Paramount+. “The Baddy” will be facing Justin Gaethje for the interim UFC Lightweight Championship in the UFC 324 headliner on Jan. 24. Ilia Topuria is the main 155-pound champion, but he’s currently dealing with personal issues.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - November 28, 2025

Arman Tsarukyan wasn’t snubbed of a headlining spot at UFC 324 if you believe one MMA legend. During halftime for the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving, UFC CEO Dana White made some significant announcements. Among them was the news that Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will collide in the main event of UFC 324. The interim UFC Lightweight Championship will be at stake.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - November 28, 2025

One renowned coach believes Alexander Volkanovski is in a difficult position ahead of UFC 325. UFC CEO Dana White dropped some big fight news on Thanksgiving. White revealed that the UFC 324 main event will be an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. It was also revealed that Volkanovski will be defending the UFC Featherweight Championship against Diego Lopes in a rematch at UFC 325.

Harry Kettle - November 28, 2025

UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria has revealed that he will not compete in the first quarter of 2026 due to personal reasons. For quite some time now, Ilia Topuria has been viewed as one of the scariest fighters in all of mixed martial arts. One of the reasons for that, we would imagine, is because he has been able to knock out Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira across his last three fights.

Harry Kettle - November 28, 2025

UFC veteran Renato Moicano has responded to Dan Hooker’s amusing callout following the latter’s loss at UFC Qatar. For the longest time, Renato Moicano has been a permanent fixture in the UFC’s lightweight division. He even fought for the world title against Islam Makhachev once upon a time, but he lost in a short notice effort. Nowadays, as a veteran in mixed martial arts, it’s not quite clear as to what will be next for him.

BJ Penn Staff - November 27, 2025

Almost nobody believes Jake Paul can defeat Anthony Joshua when they box live on Netflix on December 19. There is at least one notable member of the combat sports community who is backing Paul, though. That would be Nate Diaz — and he’s putting his money where his mouth is. Speaking on the social media platform X this week, Diaz revealed that he has placed a $20,000 wager on Paul to win. Given how big of an underdog Paul is, Diaz stands to win $142,000 if he’s right.

BJ Penn Staff - November 27, 2025

NYC mayor elect Zohran Mamdani recently had a highly publicized meeting with President Donald Trump. During the meeting, which was far more cordial than anyone could have imagined, the newly-elected mayor got a glimpse at the plans for next year’s UFC White House event. The UFC White House will go down in June, and is intended to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. Both Trump and UFC CEO Dana White have gradually been leaking information about the card, which is expected to be one of the biggest in MMA history. However, fans still don’t really know what the event will actually look like.

Harry Kettle - November 27, 2025

Waldo Cortes-Acosta’s coach Javier Torres has revealed that their team would like to face UFC legend Derrick Lewis. This year alone, Waldo Cortes-Acosta has been able to go a magnificent 4-1 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In the month of November, he secured two knockout wins over Ante Delija and Shamil Gaziev, the latter of which came on short notice at UFC Qatar. So, it’s safe to say he’s vaulted himself up the ladder of relevancy in the heavyweight division.

Harry Kettle - November 27, 2025

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has revealed why he isn’t a big fan of former foe Umar Nurmagomedov. Right now, there are few better fighters in mixed martial arts than Merab Dvalishvili. He is carving out quite the legacy for himself and at this point, you could already argue that he is the greatest bantamweight of all time. He will attempt to cement that legacy for himself when he goes head to head with Petr Yan next month in the main event of UFC 323.

Harry Kettle - November 27, 2025

Khabib Nurmagomedov has invited Conor McGregor to a rehabilitation facility in Dagestan as their feud continues. For the longest time now, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor have been bitter enemies. It dates back almost a decade, with their one and only sanctioned fight taking place at UFC 229 in late 2018. On that night, it was Nurmagomedov who was able to pick up the win, and he did so in fairly dominant fashion, dropping Conor on his way to a submission victory.

Dylan Bowker - November 26, 2025

Keith Jardine is an acclaimed ex-UFC vet who also had a role doing some stunt work in John Wick. ‘The Dean of Mean’ has recently delved into some of his on-set experiences and the connection he had with the actor portraying the titular character, Keanu Reeves, even prior to filming. Also of note, Reeves has previously gotten in some training with world-renowned jiu-jitsu practitioner Jean Jacques Machado, working on the gentle art. When asked if there was any direct jiu jitsu training done with Keanu Reeves in terms of whether they ever got a roll in together on the mats, Jardine said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

Dylan Bowker - November 26, 2025

Arman Tsarukyan does not rate Michael Chandler highly as a top-level MMA fighter and indicated as such when blasting the former multi-time Bellator MMA champion in a recent interview. The conversation in question took place on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel as Tsarukyan fielded several subjects in the wake of his recent submission win over Dan Hooker at UFC Qatar. One of those subjects centred on the rumored UFC lightweight title fight with reigning 155-pound kingpin Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett, with rumblings about that potentially happening early next year. When asked by the former two-division UFC champion if he thinks Pimblett would have anything for Topuria, with Cormier following up with a small quip about Pimblett’s win over Michael Chandler, Tsarukyan said,

Fernando Quiles Jr. - November 26, 2025

If Jon Jones is a part of the UFC White House card but he doesn’t get the main event spot, he won’t complain about it. Jones has been pounding the table for a spot at the historic event. UFC CEO Dana White has expressed hesitancy in making that a reality. White has told reporters that he doesn’t exactly trust Jones in big situations given his legal history. There was also the debacle surrounding “Bones” pulling out of a verbal agreement to fight reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - November 26, 2025

Islam Makhachev would be in for an interesting test against Michael Morales if one UFC icon is to be believed. Morales had an eye-opening performance against Sean Brady on the main card of UFC 322. Morales didn’t allow the fight to get to the ground, as he scored a first-round TKO finish. The win has elevated Morales’ stock, and now some are wondering if he’ll be next to challenge Makhachev for the UFC Welterweight Championship.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - November 26, 2025

Shavkat Rakhmonov doesn’t believe Ian Machado Garry should be the No. 1 contender for the UFC Welterweight Championship. Rakhmonov was in attendance for UFC Qatar. In the co-main event, Machado Garry took on Belal Muhammad in a pivotal 170-pound clash. “The Future” defeated Muhammad via unanimous decision. After the fight, Machado Garry called for a shot at Islam Makhachev’s welterweight gold.

Harry Kettle - November 26, 2025

UFC 323 title challenger Joshua Van doesn’t want an old vs young storyline for his showdown with Alexandre Pantoja. At the age of just 24, Joshua Van is already on the verge of his first shot at UFC gold. In the co-main event of UFC 323, he will challenge Alexandre Pantoja for the UFC flyweight championship. It’s a fight that has been in the making for quite some time now, as the 35-year-old attempts to defend his turf and prove that he’s still the best flyweight on the planet.

Dylan Bowker - November 25, 2025

Michael Morales and Carlos Prates are some of the major players at welterweight following their UFC 322 victories, with the former expressing a willingness to fight the latter if neither gets the title shot next. During an appearance on Death Row MMA with Jorge Masvidal, the current number four-ranked contender in the weight category covered several subjects regarding his rise into the top five hierarchy. Another individual who found himself in a strong spot in the rankings hierarchy post-Madison Square Garden is Carlos Prates, who now sits at number six in the 170-pound division.