UFC News

BJ Penn Staff - June 13, 2025

Artem Vakhitov didn’t like the offer he received from the UFC, so he rejected it. Vakhitov is an elite kickboxer, and is set to challenge long-reigning heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven in the main event of Glory 100 tomorrow. Before signing his new deal with Glory, he earned a UFC contract with a stoppage win on Dana White’s Contender Series. Despite his massive accomplishments as a kickboxer—which includes a win over former UFC champ Alex Pereira—it was a standard Contender Series contract. In other words, low five figures per fight. Having fought for much greater purses as a kickboxer, he turned it down.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 13, 2025

Ilia Topuria says there’s one surging UFC lightweight contender who he hopes to settle some beef with. Topuria is set to fight for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship on June 28. He will take on former 155-pound titleholder Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317 in Las Vegas. While “El Matador” must focus on the task at hand, he can’t avoid questions about the rest of the lightweight division.

BJ Penn Staff - June 13, 2025

Former UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo is considered one of the best fighters in MMA history. One of the many skills that made him so good was his takedown defense. The Brazilian was renowned for his ability to negate his opponents’ wrestling, and famously stopped 16 of 16 takedown attempts from reigning bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili when they fought. That’s pretty impressive, considering how little he actually practiced wrestling at the time.

BJ Penn Staff - June 13, 2025

Darren Till claims Nate Diaz bailed on plans to meet in the boxing ring this August. The good news is that another UFC veteran is allegedly considering accepting the fight at a later date. Till spent most of his UFC career speaking in the welterweight division, where he notably came up short in a title fight against Tyron Woodley. However, he also competed in the middleweight division.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 13, 2025

Justin Gaethje has detailed his issues with the UFC brass. Gaethje’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently turned some heads during his appearance on Submission Radio. The top MMA manager revealed that Gaethje is considering hanging up his gloves if he doesn’t get a UFC lightweight title shot in his next outing. As it stands, Gaethje is upset that he isn’t involved in the vacant title fight scheduled for UFC 317, which will see Ilia Topuria take on Charles Oliveira.

Harry Kettle - June 13, 2025

UFC star Joaquin Buckley has explained the energy that he felt during his recent face-off with opponent Kamaru Usman. Tomorrow night, Joaquin Buckley will step into the cage to fight former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. It is easily the biggest fight of his career to date and if he’s able to pick up the win, it could potentially set him up for a championship opportunity in the not-too-distant future.

Harry Kettle - June 13, 2025

UFC veteran Michael Chiesa has given his thoughts on the future of Colby Covington in the world of mixed martial arts. As we know, Colby Covington is a pretty controversial figure – and that’s us putting it lightly. He has a tendency to say outrageous things in the name of making headlines and throughout the course of his career, he’s been able to earn a lot of big opportunities off the back of that.

Harry Kettle - June 13, 2025

UFC welterweight Sean Brady has given his prediction for the upcoming Kamaru Usman vs Joaquin Buckley showdown. Tomorrow night, Kamaru Usman will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon when he locks horns with rising welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley. While many consider him to be the underdog in this fight, the 38-year-old has the kind of skill and experience necessary to overcome a tough challenge like this one.

BJ Penn Staff - June 12, 2025

Kris Moutinho took his UFC release hard. Very hard. Moutinho, 32, signed with the UFC on short notice in 2021, when he stepped in for the injured Louis Smolka against future bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley. Moutinho lost that fight—decisively—but weathered an insane amount of punishment from O’Malley, and ultimately survived all three rounds. His toughness earned him a $75,000 Fight of the Night bonus. Usually, those bonuses are just $50,000, which says something.

BJ Penn Staff - June 12, 2025

Mike Perry recently linked up for a sparring session with UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland. Apparently, it was something the BKFC star had been meaning to do for a while.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 12, 2025

Alexander Volkanovski remains out of the loop on his next UFC title fight, but that appears to be changing imminently. Volkanovski captured the UFC Featherweight Championship for the second time when he defeated Diego Lopes at UFC 314 in April. While the general consensus was that Movsar Evloev would be the No. 1 contender, he’s reportedly linked to a bout with Aaron Pico. Ali Abdelaziz, who manages both Evloev and Pico, told Submission Radio that he has yet to receive a contract for the bout.

BJ Penn Staff - June 12, 2025

Former UFC star Ben Askren is continue to battle through a frightening health crisis. Earlier this week, Askren’s wife Amy revealed that he has been hospitalized with pneumonia, and that he was effectively non-responsive. From there, several extremely worrying rumors began to surface.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 12, 2025

One old rival has weighed in on Jon Jones possibly retiring before fighting Tom Aspinall. Much has been made over Jones’ fighting future. “Bones” had long showed more interest in a showdown with Alex Pereira. This is despite the fact that “Poatan” is a light heavyweight. Jones is the UFC Heavyweight Champion, while Aspinall lays claim to the interim gold.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 12, 2025

Kayla Harrison has responded to a warning from one MMA legend regarding a showdown with Amanda Nunes. Harrison competed for UFC gold for the first time in her pro MMA career this past Saturday. She defeated Julianna Pena via second-round submission to secure the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. After the match, Nunes entered the Octagon and revealed her plans to end her retirement. She then had a staredown with Harrison.

Harry Kettle - June 12, 2025

UFC legend Kamaru Usman has responded to those who have suggested his knees will cause him problems at UFC Atlanta. For the longest time, Kamaru Usman was the man to beat at 170 pounds. Unfortunately for him, a Leon Edwards head kick changed all of that. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has now lost three on the bounce and after a period of inactivity, many are wondering what the 38-year-old has left in the tank in the world of mixed martial arts.

Harry Kettle - June 12, 2025

Rising UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer has called the commentary of Joe Rogan into question following UFC 316 last weekend. For a few years now, Joe Pyfer has been seen as one to watch in the UFC’s middleweight division. From his size to his personality to his incredible power, it’s clear to see that he’s a problem at 185 pounds. While he did experience a setback against Jack Hermansson, he’s been able to rebound well, most notably this past weekend.

Cole Shelton - June 11, 2025

Kamaru Usman believes there is a path for him to fight for the middleweight belt, but it all starts by defeating Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta. Usman is set to fight for the first time since October of 2023, when he dropped a decision to Khamzat Chimaev. Ahead of his return against Buckley, Usman has his eyes set on reclaiming his welterweight title. But, he also has his eyes set on a superfight with Dricus Du Plessis.

BJ Penn Staff - June 11, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling are two of the best bantamweights in UFC history. Interestingly, they’re also close friends and training partners. Sterling held the UFC bantamweight belt first. He won it with a disqualification against Petr Yan in 2021, and then defended it three times, against Yan, TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo. He ultimately lost the belt to Sean O’Malley, who went on to lose the belt to Dvalishvili.