MMA News

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 19, 2025

Heavyweight debuts carry enormous pressure. Shamil Erdogan sees opportunity rather than risk against a dangerous Japanese knockout artist fighting before his home crowd. Erdogan faces Ryugo Takeuchi in a heavyweight MMA bout at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri on Sunday, November 16, inside Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The 35-year-old Turkish powerhouse makes his divisional debut riding a four-fight winning streak after dominating at middleweight.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - October 19, 2025

One fighter who competed on the UFC Vancouver card believes he was snubbed. One of the key bouts at UFC Vancouver was a bantamweight tilt between Marlon “Chito” Vera and Aiemann Zahabi. Vera and Zahabi had a competitive three-round affair. Zahabi won the fight via split decision.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - October 19, 2025

Petr Yan’s injury claims have drawn the ire of Merab Dvalishvili’s coach. Yan is set to challenge Dvalishvili for the UFC Bantamweight Championship on Dec. 6. The title fight will headline UFC 323 in Las Vegas. This will be a rematch, as “The Machine” defeated “No Mercy” back in 2021.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - October 19, 2025

An ex-foe of Alex Pereira isn’t surprised that “Poatan” regained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship by knocking Magomed Ankalaev out. Pereira had lost the 205-pound gold to Ankalaev back in March. He got his revenge in the main event of UFC 320. “Poatan” stopped Ankalaev quickly in the opening frame.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - October 19, 2025

Brendan Allen isn’t surprised that his UFC Vancouver victory over Reinier de Ridder ended how it did. Allen stepped up on short notice when de Ridder needed a new opponent. Anthony Hernandez was scheduled to meet “RDR” inside Rogers Arena this past Saturday, but he was removed from the bout due to an injury. “All In” made the most of his opportunity, forcing de Ridder’s corner to end the bout before the start of the fifth round.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - October 19, 2025

Kevin Holland has reacted after being on the receiving end of low blows during his UFC Vancouver defeat. Holland shared the Octagon with Mike Malott in the UFC Vancouver co-headliner this past Saturday. During the first round, Holland was nailed by two inadvertent low blows in the opening frame, and many MMA fans questioned referee Dan Miragliotta for not taking a point from Malott.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - October 19, 2025

Sean O’Malley was watching the UFC Vancouver broadcast when he received an unexpected callout. UFC Vancouver took place this past Saturday, and the event featured a bantamweight clash between Aiemann Zahabi and Marlon “Chito” Vera. It was a highly competitive fight and ultimately, Zahabi earned a split decision victory. After the fight, Zahabi called for a matchup with the “Suga” show.

Chris Taylor - October 18, 2025

The Octagon returned to Canada for tonight’s UFC Vancouver event, and four fighters wound up taking home performance bonuses. The event was headlined by a high stake’s middleweight matchup featuring Reinier de Ridder taking on Brendan Allen. The bout proved to be a coming out party for the betting underdog in Allen. After enduring a brutal opening round, which saw De Ridder smother him and throw out multiple submission attempts, ‘All In’ proceeded to come back with a vengeance in round two. The American was able to take top position after scoring a sweep and proceeded to batter ‘RDR’ with some heavy ground and pound. That trend continued in both rounds three and four and left de Ridder barely able to make it back to his stool after 20 minutes of action. After seeing their fighter’s condition, the corner of ‘RDR’ opted to throw in the towel and let their man see another day.

Chris Taylor - October 18, 2025

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC Vancouver results, including the middleweight main event between Reinier de Ridder and Brendan Allen. De Ridder (21-2 MMA) will enter the contest sporting a five-fight winning streak, with his four most recent victories coming inside of the Octagon. In his most previous appearance, ‘RDR’ scored a split decision win over former division champion Robert Whittaker.

Chris Taylor - October 18, 2025

Tonight’s UFC Vancouver event was co-headlined by a highly anticipated welterweight matchup between Kevin Holland and Mike Malott. Holland (28-15 MMA) was competing for the fifth time this calendar year by making the walk to the Octagon this evening. ‘Trailblazer’ had most previously competed back at July’s UFC 318 event, where he suffered a decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez. Prior to that setback, Holland was of course coming off a submission victory over Vicente Luque.

Chris Taylor - October 18, 2025

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC Vancouver results, including the welterweight co-main event between Kevin Holland and Mike Malott. Holland (28-15 MMA) will be competing for the fifth time this calendar year when he makes the walk to the Octagon this evening. ‘Trailblazer’ most previously competed at July’s UFC 318 event, where he suffered a decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez. Prior to that setback, Holland was coming off a submission victory over Vicente Luque.

Chris Taylor - October 18, 2025

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC Vancouver results, including the men’s bantamweight bout between Marlon Vera and Aiemann Zahabi. Vera (23-11-1 MMA) will enter the contest with hopes of snapping a two-fight losing skid. The former UFC title challenger is coming off back-to-back decision setbacks to Deiveson Figueiredo and Sean O’Malley respectively. ‘Chito’s’ last win came in August of 2023, where he defeated Pedro Munhoz by way of decision.

Chris Taylor - October 18, 2025

The Octagon returns to Canada for tonight’s UFC Vancouver event, a 13-bout fight card headlined by Reinier de Ridder vs. Brendan Allen. De Ridder (21-2 MMA) will enter the contest sporting a five-fight winning streak, with his four most recent victories coming inside of the Octagon. In his most previous appearance, ‘RDR’ scored a split decision win over former division champion Robert Whittaker.

Dylan Bowker - October 18, 2025

Khamzat Chimaev stands tall on the proverbial mountain of UFC’s middleweight class and hugely inspires upcoming fighters who came from the literal mountains of Chechnya. The Chechen MMA fighter in this context is Tamerlan Dulatov who will test skill with Henrique Melo at OKTAGON 78: Eckerlin vs. Trušček on October 18th. Dulatov appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts and when he mentioned the name of Chimaev, the Chechnya compatriot dynamic seemed strong. When touching on what it meant to see Chimaev ascend to being the UFC middleweight champion as a fellow Chechen combatant, Dulatov said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

Curtis Calhoun - October 17, 2025

UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria’s first title defense could come against a longtime rival after a social media post went viral. Ilia Topuria followed up his confident talk with brutal action as he knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 earlier this year to win the then-vacant UFC lightweight belt. Topuria vacated the UFC featherweight title earlier this year for a full-time move to lightweight, and dominated one of the division’s top names.

Curtis Calhoun - October 17, 2025

Former UFC star Jalin Turner has ended his retirement and is targeting a return to the Octagon in 2026. Fans, pundits, and fellow fighters were stunned when then-UFC lightweight Jalin Turner announced his retirement from fighting following a loss to Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 313. Turner, then just 29 years old, cited a lack of passion for training and the sport as a whole as significant reasons for his decision to walk away.

Curtis Calhoun - October 17, 2025

UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria wants fellow Georgian Merab Dvalishvili to take on his former featherweight rival in pursuit of a second UFC title. Ilia Topuria became the latest two-division UFC champ when he knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 earlier this year. After vacating the featherweight throne, Topuria successfully moved up to lightweight and cemented himself as the pound-for-pound king.

Dylan Bowker - October 17, 2025

Melissa Croden eyes a path similar to the one taken by Stipe Miocic as she enters the cage for her UFC debut. This will take place on Saturday at UFC Vancouver as the Canadian combatant takes on Tainara Lisboa. Prior to UFC Vancouver on October 18th, Croden appeared on MMA Canada to cover several key subjects ahead of this massive moment. One thing that was touched on was ‘Scare’ Croden’s future goal of being in firefighting and when touching on how long that has been a centred goal, Croden said [via MMA Canada],