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Alex Pereira is far from impartial when it comes to the UFC 328 main attraction.

Sean Strickland (30-7) is scheduled to challenge Khamzat Chimaev (15-0) for the middleweight title in the main event at UFC 328. The two will collide on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. To get some hard sparring in, Strickland roped in Pereira to help finalize his camp. The two former foes collided at UFC 276 in 2022, with “Poatan” crushing Strickland in the first round. An unlikely friendship bloomed from the one-sided shellacking.

Due to their growing kinship, Pereira will be rooting hard for friend Strickland. “Poatan” says he had learned a lot since he started working with Strickland a few years ago, so much so that he has become a cornerman for Strickland. Pereira lauded Strickland’s precise jab as one of the American’s best weapons, while prognosticating that the jab and front kick will be key weapons against Chimaev’s wrestling pressure. Pereira said on a UFC 3…

Aleksandre Topuria, the brother of Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Ilia Topuria, knows exactly what Justin Gaethje will bring to the table.

Undefeated wrecking machine Ilia (17-0), 29, is scheduled to defend his UFC 155-pound title against interim beltholder Gaethje (27-5) at the UFC White House card on June 14. Aleksandre, who has always been a vital part of Ilia’s camp, recently joined him in Miami for the next phase of his brother’s training.

In a thorough video on Ilia’s YouTube channel, the elder brother—by a year—Aleksandre broke down Gaethje’s style and approach. According to the bantamweight who is now 2-0 in the UFC, Gaethje can become predictable and also leaves himself open when engaging. The specific methods of Gaethje’s offense were also analyzed by the fighter, who remarked that Gaethje tends to load up and give foes opportunities to beat him to the punch.

“Justin Gaethje picks his shots when you stand in front of him,” the 30-year-…

Even after the dramatic happenings of the UFC Perth headliner, there remains a logjam in the welterweight title picture.

In an effort to separate himself from the crowded pack of contenders at 170 pounds, Prates annihilated former champ Jack Della Maddalena in the third round of a fairly one-sided beating. “The Nightmare” dropped the Aussie once in the second round and twice in the third to complete his rout, one that saw him outland his foe by 46 to 1 in the last round of their collision.

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The victor wants nothing else than a Ultimate Fighting Championship championship pairing, but he might have to wait. Rumors are swirling, with Prates the originator of at least one, that Ian Garry will be challenging Islam Makhachev for the belt at UFC 330 in August. Additional options for contention include Michael Morales, Sean Brady, Ilia Topuria should he get past Justin Gaethje in June. Kamaru Usman was even floated as a potential option to face Makhachev nex…

Sean Strickland believes he can get up if he is taken down by Khamzat Chimaev.

Strickland is scheduled to challenge Chimaev for the middleweight title in the main event at UFC 328 on May 9 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. While Chimaev is known for his suffocating brand of wrestling, Strickland has elite takedown defense.

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Fans and pundits are divided about how the UFC 328 headliner might play out. While some expect complete domination from Chimaev, who is the favorite, others believe Strickland might be the only answer to the undefeated Chechen-born champion.

Having trained together in the past, Strickland believes Chimaev knows that he can’t keep him on the ground for long. Strickland believes he can counter-wrestle Chimaev and get top control. Strickland predicts that “Borz” might even resort to a stand-up battle if he fails on multiple takedown attempts. If the fight stays on the feet, Strickland believes he will be able to have his w…

UFC 328 fight week will have a promotional press conference for UFC White House: Freedom 250.

The UFC White House card, billed as Freedom Fights 250, is a one-of-a-kind event celebrating America’s 250th year of Independence. The event will go down on President Donald J. Trump’s 80th birthday, June 14, at the South Lawn of the White House.

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The card is a star-studded affair including some of the biggest names in the sport. Ilia Topuria will look to defend his lightweight title against interim champion Justin Gaethje in the main event. Meanwhile, Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will clash for the interim heavyweight title in the co-headliner. The bill also includes Sean O’Malley, Diego Lopes, Derrick Lewis, Josh Hokit and others.

The UFC is hosting a press conference with all the fighters on the White House card on Friday, May 8 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The presser will begin at 4:30 pm ET and will be open to the public. The event will…

Tom Aspinall’s recovery is going well.

Aspinall underwent multiple eye procedures after being poked in the eye by Ciryl Gane in his first heavyweight title defense at UFC 320 last year. Aspinall recently revealed that he is recovering. While Aspinall previously couldn’t move his right eye, things have since improved. The UFC heavyweight champ is pleased with the results from his latest checkup. According to “Honey Badger,” he will be ready for contact training soon if things keep going well. While Aspinall isn’t sparring yet, he is back in the gym.

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Meanwhile, Gane and Aspinall are scheduled to fight for the interim heavyweight title at UFC White House: Freedom 250 on June 14. Aspinall claims the UFC has guaranteed that he will fight the winner.

“I had a scan and things are progressing fuc*ing nicely, which I’m very happy about,” Aspinall said on his official YouTube channel. “They’re saying, pretty soon; things keep moving in the right direction, I…

Several Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters and Zuffa boxers recently bonded over a game of paintball.

UFC fighters Alexander Volkov, Andre Fili, Mingyang Zhang, Johnny Walker and Michel Pereira took on team Zuffa, comprising of Robert Meriwether III, Floyd Diaz, Mark Magsayo and Jamar Talley in a game of paintball.

While the official scores were never announced, Fili proudly claimed that team UFC had won.

While there is no animosity between the athletes of both organizations, UFC fighters have complained about the disparity in pay. Zuffa recently signed Conor Benn for $15 million for a single fight. UFC fighters were unhappy with the signing as most don’t even make a fraction of what Benn made, despite bringing in the lion’s share of the revenue for the parent company.

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Jacob Malkoun believes he wasn’t his usual self on Saturday.

Malkoun (10-3) downed Gerald Meerschaert in a middleweight outing in front of a home crowd at UFC Perth, but he needed three full rounds to get it done. While Malkoun closed as an overwhelming -1400 betting favorite going in, the fight didn’t reflect the odds. Malkoun chose to grapple in the first round against the submission savant, who managed to control the round. Even as Malkoun bounced back in the later rounds, he could not establish the dominance expected of him. The Australian eventually earned a lukewarm unanimous decision win, one that did not earn his satisfaction.

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“Mamba” isn’t certain about what was off, and he plans to go back to the drawing board with his team. Malkoun said in his post-fight interview:

“It wasn’t the performance I was hoping to do,” the Aussie remarked with frustration. “You learn from your losses. You gotta learn as much as you do with a win like that. You’…

Wesley Schultz never had any doubt that he would pull off the victory on Saturday.

Making his promotional debut against Schultz at UFC Perth, Ben Johnston (5-3) gave his all and won the first two rounds on the scorecards. The defending Schultz had no answer on the ground, with his submission attempts for the first 10 minutes unable to land. However, when Round 3 struck, “Party Time” turned the tables courtesy of a slick guillotine choke.

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The submission danger forced Johnston to spit out his mouthpiece so he could continue breathing. As referee Rich Mitchell returned Johnston’s mouthpiece, Schultz redoubled his effort on his guillotine. The Aussie could hold on no longer, surrendering to give Schultz an impressive come-from-behind win. Schultz admits that he didn’t listen to his coaches in the early rounds, as he wanted to ease into the fight. “Party Time” was confident that he would catch his opponent eventually, but he just needed to find the right …

All Louie Sutherland had to do was listen to his team.

Sutherland took on heavyweight veteran Tai Tuivasa in hostile territory at UFC Perth on Saturday. “The Vanilla Gorilla” outgrappled Tuivasa for three rounds amidst a sea of boos to earn a unanimous decision win. The Englishman revealed that his victory over Tuivasa was the first time that he paid heed to his corner mid-fight in quite some time.

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The bulky Brit Sutherland stated that he lost his composure and ignored his training partners in his recent last knockout loss to Brando Pericic. While Sutherland knows that he can brawl when he wants to, it was crucial to earn his first Ultimate Fighting Championship victory. Sutherland admitted in his post-fight interview:

“It’s the first time I’ve listened to my coaches is probably about six fights,” Sutherland said sheepishly. “And that’s the result. Against Brando, I lost my composure, didn’t listen to the corner. My corner’s like, ‘Look, we know y…

Brando Pericic wants everyone to know that he is a company man through and through.

Pericic battled on Shamil Gaziev in a titanic heavyweight tilt at UFC Perth on Saturday. While Pericic hurt Gaziev early, the Bahraini refused to hit the canvas. When Pericic gain the advantage, Gaziev fired back with a vengeance, leading to a brutal slugfest. Pericic kept inflicting punishment, and Gaziev finally went down in the second round. Both fighters walked home with $100K “Fight of the Night” checks for their efforts.

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Pericic made sure to express his gratitude to the promotion as much as he could. He credited both the sport and this organization for changing his life, which inspires him to put on a show for fans every time he steps inside the Octagon. Pericic notes that he is calm and collected when he fights, as he believes he has already won tougher battles in life. Pericic expressed in his post-fight interview:

“I’m very thankful to this company,” the Au…

Marwan Rahiki always knew that his style would shine under the bright lights.

Rahiki was originally scheduled to face Jack Jenkins at UFC Perth on Saturday. However, an injured Jenkins was replaced on four days’ notice by Hungarian debutant Oliver Schmid. Rahiki dropped Schmid with a left hook in the first round, and a few follow-up shots were needed for referee Mike Beltran to step in.

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While this served as Rahiki’s sophomore UFC outing, he was the third fight on the main card at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Rahiki also debuted on a main card, appearing opposite Harry Hardwick in March and breaking Hardwick’s jaw in the process. Although Rahiki respects the competitors on the prelims, he never saw himself opening a fight card. The Moroccan-Australian always felt that his action-first style would earn him high bout order placements. Rahiki boasted in his post-fight interview:

“This is what I imagined coming into the UFC,” Rahiki said confident…

Steve Erceg had fun while he took on veteran Tim Elliott.

Erceg battled on Elliott in front of his home crowd at UFC Perth on Saturday, where he picked up a hard-fought decision. Mid-match, Elliott could be heard shouting after landing a takedown. Erceg recently revealed his mid-fight exchange with Elliott. Elliott was grinding his chin on Erceg’s eye after taking him down. As Erceg tried to get separation, Elliott accused the Australian of poking him in the eye. When Erceg accused Elliott of the same, the 39-year-old playfully proffered to him that grinding with his chin is not a foul—under the Unified Rules, an illegal eye gouge can occur from the fingers, elbow or chin. Erceg remarked in his post-fight interview:

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“He took me down in the first round. He's putting his chin in my eye,” Erceg rehashed. “I’m trying to get his chin off my eye cause it f---ing hurt. And he goes, ‘He’s poking me in the eye.’ I’m like, ‘You’re f---ing poking me in the eye.…

Still a youngster at 26 years of age, Quillan Salkilld does not want to waste any time in his Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Salkilld (12-1) faced his biggest step up in competition by getting matched with Beneil Dariush (23-8-1) in the co-main event at UFC Perth on Saturday. While Salkilld closed as a betting favorite, Dariush surprised fans by dropping the local athlete early in the first round. While Dariush controlled Salkilld against the fence for a while, the Australian maintain his composure while displaying excellent takedown defense. Salkilld finally created separation and didn’t take much longer to finish Dariush with a vicious combo followed by ground-and-pound.

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Salkilld, who celebrates a finish rate of 75% as a professional, otherwise believes he is a calm person in general. The 26-year-old never loses composure, irrespective of whether things are going his way or not. Salkilld said in his post-fight interview:

“That’s just par…

Carlos Prates knew he would beat Jack Della Maddalena after taking his first punch.

Prates (24-7) headlined UFC Perth in enemy territory against Jack Della Maddalena (18-4) on Saturday. Prates chopped at Maddalena’s lead leg early on, which left the Australian nearly unable to move in the later rounds. It was a one-sided beatdown from Prates en route to a third-round stoppage win. Prates also earned his seventh UFC bonus in as many victories.

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Prates largely kept his guard low in his signature fashion, expression zero regard for his opponent’s striking acumen. “The Nightmare” revealed that he had little respect for Maddalena’s power after absorbing the Australian’s first punch. Prates also credits Brazilian lightweight Felipe Douglas for helping him by perfectly mimicking Maddalena during fight camp. After receiving the power from Maddalena, Prates knew that it was everything he had prepared for, and there was no way he would lose. Prates also reveale…

Logan Storley rarely deviates from a playbook that continues to serve him well.

The four-time NCAA All-American wrestler held his place in the Professional Fighters League welterweight line with a unanimous decision over Florim Zendeli in the PFL Sioux Falls main event on Saturday at the Sanford Pentagon in South Dakota. All three members of the assigned judiciary scored it 30-25 for Storley (19-4, 4-2 PFL).

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Zendeli (9-2-1, 4-1 PFL) was penalized two points for repeated fence grabs in the first round, as he dug a hole from which there was no escape. Storley completed takedowns in all three rounds, and while he accumulated little to no damage, he racked up plenty of control time. Zendeli opened small cuts around the South Dakotan’s right eye late in the second round and built some momentum in the standup exchanges early in the third, only to see his progress stymied by yet another takedown.

Meanwhile, former Gorilla Fighting Championships titlehold…

Sherdog's live PFL Sioux Falls coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.

A world class welterweight clash headlines PFL Sioux Falls: Tune in Saturday, May 2 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Round 1 The Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will host a dozen matchups for the latest PFL offering this May. There may be no title on the line at night’s end, but that does not mean these matches will be any less compelling. We kick things off at the heavyweight division, as U.S. Virgin Islands native Williams (10-5, 1-3 PFL) looks to end the longest losing streak (three) of his career. To do so, he will have to get through Nana (7-2, 2-1 PFL), who saw his own victorious stretch come to a halt last October. The third man in the cage for the big men will be referee Nick Berens, who keeps watch as the fighters touch gloves.

Nana positions himself in the center of the cage, where he pushes out a few jabs right off the bat. When Williams is about to counter, Nana kicks his front…

Four mixed martial artists walked away $100,000 richer after earning UFC Perth performance bonuses.

Following the 13-fight event in Perth, Australia, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced its performance bonus winners. To the surprise of no one, main event winner Carlos Prates took home a well-deserved extra $100,000 for his TKO stoppage win over Jack Della Maddalena. The finish capped off a total one-sided beatdown of the former UFC champion, as Prates' leg kicks left the Aussie heavily damaged. "The Nightmare" lived up to his nickname and now looks forward to the title picture as a result.

Quillan Salkilld received the second performance of the night bonus for his first-round smashing of veteran lightweight Beneil Dariush. The lightweight prospect proved he's the real deal with the win, which was the biggest of his career so far. Just 26, Salkilld (12-1) is one of the most exciting young fighters at 155 and makes for an interesting addition to the current l…

Sherdog's live UFC Perth coverage will begin Saturday at 4 a.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 275. Round 1 Good evening, or as we say here in Texas, good morning! In the UFC Perth curtain jerker, Road to UFC product Mar Fan (9-2) makes his proper Octagon debut against Dana White's Contender Series Season 8 alum Steele (7-1; 0-1 UFC). The third man in the cage is referee Matt Wynne. Both lightweights set up in orthodox and it’s the taller Mar Fan pawing out with a long jab. Steele shoots a double-leg from outside and secures a clean takedown. Mar Fan closes his guard and uses his arms to control Steele’s posture. Ninety seconds in, Steele passes to half guard. He’s throwing short punches and using shoulder pressure to make his foe uncomfortable. Steele tries to pass to mount as Mar Fan looks for a sweep. He does, but Mar Fan times him perfectly and rolls him right over, sweeping to top position. Steele scrambles and they end up in an awkward-looking legloc…

Sean Strickland won’t pay heed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s attempts to keep him away from Khamzat Chimaev ahead of their fight.

Strickland is scheduled to challenge Chimaev for the middleweight title at UFC 328 on May 9 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The rivalry between the two appears to be intense, especially on Strickland’s side. UFC boss Dana White also said that security will be increased and that there won’t be any face-off between Strickland and Chimaev ahead of the fight to avoid any drama.

Strickland (30-7) recently accused the UFC of trying to limit his interactions with Chimaev (15-0). Strickland warned the UFC against unfair treatment between the two camps. The former middleweight champion threatened to confront Chimaev in the hotel lobby if he is treated unequally. Strickland wrote on X:

“The @UFC is trying to limit my interactions with the dog. Listen I will say this now. I will not be controlled by a third world dog.... If I fi…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division has a new contender. Brazilian knockout artist Carlos Prates entered hostile territory and walked away with an impressive stoppage victory tonight at UFC Fight Night 275 in Perth, Western Australia. Prates methodically wore down recent UFC title challenger Jack Della Maddalena en route to a third-round TKO stoppage in the night’s featured main event.

Prates (24-7, 7-1 UFC) kept his hands low in the opening round and alternated between landing punches to Della Maddalena’s (18-4, 8-2 UFC) face and kicks to his lead leg. Della Maddalena was eventually able to score a takedown, but not before eating two knees to the face, and he was unable to put Prates in danger on the ground. In the second round, Prates landed more knees and punches early on. He eventually hurt Della Maddalena with another knee and a head kick, and swarmed on him with punches. Della Maddalena showed his resolve and fought on, but Prates knocked him dow…

Arman Tsarukyan is making the most of his time away from the Octagon.

Per wrestling organization Real American Freestyle on Thursday, Tsarukyan has been booked for his sixth match under its banner. The Russian by way of Armenia is already expecting to grapple influencer Keelon “Mugzy” Jimison at RAF 9 on May 30 in Texas. The headliner of RAF 7 and 8 may not be on the top marquee for this pairing, but he will be taking on Tony Ferguson at RAF 10 on June 13.

Tsarukyan joined up with RAF at its fifth event in January, where he tech falled Lance Palmer without allowing “The Party” to even score a single point. Since then, he has been a mainstay for the burgeoning professional wrestling league—that is, paid wrestling matches, and not of the WWE and AEW variety. After topping Palmer, he rattled off a pair of points wins over wrestler-turned-influencer Georgio Poullas in February and March.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight contender has only competed once …

Khalil Rountree recently shared an honest reaction to Khamzat Chimaev’s light heavyweight plans.

Rountree is currently helping Chimaev (15-0) prepare for his upcoming middleweight title defense against Sean Strickland (30-7) at UFC 328 on May 9 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It is widely speculated that Chimaev will move up to light heavyweight in the near future.

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Rountree admits that he wasn’t very happy to hear about Chimaev’s plans to move up. The former light heavyweight title challenger isn’t very excited about a potential matchup against Chimaev. Having trained with him, Rountree reveals that the middleweight champion gives tough competition to partners of all sizes. According to Rountree, light heavyweights are “screwed” if Chimaev moves up.

“When I first heard the news, I was a bit bummed out, really,” Rountree said in a recent media scrum captured by Cageside Press. “Just to know that a guy like Khamzat would come to the divis…

While polygraph tests are consistently labelled unreliable by the scientific community, they often make for interesting content.

Aviator, an up-and-coming YouTube channel, specializes in subjecting fighters to a lie detector test and a particular question about Dana White usually triggers what the machine operator interprets as deception.

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight ruler Charles Oliveira recently took a lie detector test and passed on most questions. Oliveira thinks that he is the greatest Brazilian fighter and the best lightweight fighter of all time. “Do Bronx” also believes that Conor McGregor is afraid to return to action.

However, the device also showed “false” on some of Oliveira’s answers. While Oliveira said that he believes jiu-jitsu is the best base for MMA, the machine said otherwise. Oliveira disagreed, claiming it was broken.

Oliveira also failed the test when he said he would fight a teammate for $5 milli…