UFC News

Dylan Bowker - January 16, 2026

Sean O’Malley is a big figure in the bantamweight division as the former 135-pound kingpin embarks on a key fight in terms of informing his trajectory in the weight class, and a newly minted Rizin champion has weighed in. Ilkhom Nozimov is the RFF champ in question and actually replicated O’Malley’s style for Petr Yan during training sessions at Tiger Muay Thai ahead of the O’Malley vs. Yan clash from years back. As someone who is quite familiar with ‘Suga’s style and when asked for his thoughts on O’Malley’s looming bout with Song Yadong at UFC 324 on January 24th, Nozimov said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

Curtis Calhoun - January 16, 2026

UFC featherweight star Josh Emmett will look to stop a rising contender’s quick ascent at UFC Vegas 114 in March. Josh Emmett might not be the same fighter he was earlier in his UFC career, but he remains must-see television whenever he competes.

Curtis Calhoun - January 16, 2026

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson envisions a huge send-off for his final appearance in the Octagon. UFC fan favorite Stephen Thompson is likely on the last leg of his MMA career after losses in five of his last six fights. He hasn’t fought since a controversial split decision loss to Gabriel Bonfim last July, after back-to-back stoppage defeats to Shavkat Rakhmonov and Joaquin Buckley.

Curtis Calhoun - January 16, 2026

Former UFC two-division champion Amanda Nunes shared her first message since Kayla Harrison’s shocking withdrawal from UFC 324. UFC 324 took a big hit as UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison was forced to withdraw from her scheduled fight with the returning Amanda Nunes due to an injury. Harrison, who won the UFC women’s bantamweight championship at UFC 316 last year, suffered a neck injury that will have her sidelined for at least six months.

BJ Penn Staff - January 16, 2026

Former UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland has once again divided the MMA world with a controversial social media post — and rising middleweight contender Joe Pyfer quickly followed his lead. Strickland and Pyfer are two of the top Americans competing in the UFC middleweight division. Both have big fights coming up. Strickland is set to take on surging contender Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Houston on Feb. 21. Pyfer, meanwhile, will take on middleweight legend Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC Seattle on Mar. 28.

BJ Penn Staff - January 16, 2026

Fight fans are not exactly thrilled about the lineup for UFC 325. Dana White doesn’t care at all. At least, that’s the impression he’s giving. UFC 325 goes down on Jan. 31 in Australia. The card will be topped by a featherweight title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Diego Lopes. It’s an interesting matchup. There’s just a few glaring problems with it. The first problem is that Volkanovski beat Lopes to claim the vacant featherweight belt less than a year ago, and hasn’t fought anybody since. Lopes, meanwhile, has fought just once, knocking out Jean Silva. The other problem is that there are two other contenders in the division who deserve the chance more than Lopes. Namely, Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy, both of whom are undefeated and riding big wins. Evloev even holds a win over Lopes.

Dylan Bowker - January 15, 2026

Dana White was unsurprisingly not a fan of the recent boxing bout between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul, which drew a lot of widespread attention on Netflix. While the contest drew massive viewership numbers worldwide, the bout played out in a largely farcical fashion, with the generally uneventful affair wrapping up with Joshua finishing Paul inside the distance in the latter’s first-ever stoppage loss. With White continuing to carve out more of a place in the boxing space with his Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford announcement, and now the looming launch of Zuffa Boxing, it makes a degree of sense the UFC figurehead would be asked to weigh in with his thoughts on that AJ-Paul clash. Also the public bad bloood between Paul and White adds something to the situational context. In an interview with Complex, with an excerpt posted to X account @acdmma_, White said,

Curtis Calhoun - January 15, 2026

UFC superstar Conor McGregor has weighed in on Dana White’s viral remarks dismissing Michael Chandler as his comeback opponent. Almost five years removed from his most recent UFC Octagon appearance, Conor McGregor is targeting a return to the cage at the UFC’s upcoming event at the White House in June. McGregor, who hasn’t fought since a loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, announced his comeback plans last year, not long after the news broke about the White House card.

Cole Shelton - January 15, 2026

Kayla Harrison was emotional during her statement confirming her having to pull out of UFC 324. Harrison was supposed to defend her bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes next Saturday, but a neck injury forced her out of the bout. Following the news, Harrison took to Instagram and shared an emotional video of her statement.

Curtis Calhoun - January 15, 2026

UFC CEO Dana White seemed to pivot on his earlier stance against granting Jon Jones a fight at the White House against Alex Pereira. Former two-division UFC champion Jon Jones remains optimistic about potentially changing UFC CEO Dana White’s mind and getting a spot on the upcoming White House card.

Dylan Bowker - January 15, 2026

A former opponent of Amanda Nunes has weighed in on the recent pullout that Kayla Harrison had to do from her planned Nunes clash at UFC 324. Harrison was set to defend her bantamweight crown against Nunes on January 24th until reported injury issues were said to have come up. As reported by The Eagle Tribune, Harrison has herniated discs in her neck that will have to be repaired with surgery. Cris Cyborg chimed in on the situation when the former UFC featherweight champion retweeted a Sherdog article covering the scrapped co-main event bout for UFC’s first numbered event of 2026. Cyborg lost her hold on the UFC’s 145-pound crown to the aforementioned Nunes when she was memorably finished with strikes in what remains as one of her two pro MMA losses to this day.

BJ Penn Staff - January 15, 2026

Long before moving to Las Vegas to run the UFC, Dana White trained as a boxer in his hometown of Boston. White has referenced his boxing training many times over the years. The topic most notably came up years ago, when he was briefly linked to a boxing grudge match with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. That matchup regrettably never materialized, but it was enough to get many fans wondering how good White actually is at “The Sweet Science.”