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Sean Strickland is completely unhinged. 

Strickland recently uploaded a video of himself teaching kids “valuable” skills. Strickland can be seen teaching kids how to load a belt-fed machine gun. The UFC middleweight champion compares the feeling to that of an African rebel teaching young kids the same skill.

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Role Model? “I’m teaching the youth valuable skills… I would imagine this is how an African rebel feels, teaching kids how to load a belt-fed machine gun,” Strickland said.

“Passing on valuable skills to the youth. Pay it forward,” he added in the caption.

Strickland has faced backlash in the past over his controversial stance on gun control. Himself an owner of a large collection of guns, Strickland also encourages others to exercise their rights. Strickland had also slammed the Australian government over gun laws ahead of his rematch against Dricus Du Plessis in Sydney last year. Australia had banned guns following Martin Bryant’s …

Not everyone counted Sean Strickland out against Khamzat Chimaev. 

Strickland (30-7) challenged Chimaev for the middleweight title at UFC 328 earlier this month in Newark, New Jersey. Strickland was a massive +450 underdog going into the bout. While Chimaev controlled Strickland on the ground in the first round, the tide turned in the second round. Strickland completely took over in the third round, and Chimaev failed to mount a comeback despite a valiant effort in the championship rounds. Strickland earned a split decision victory in one of the biggest upsets in recent UFC title fight history. 

Faith in Strickland Paid OffWhile most expected Chimaev to dominate on the ground, many considered Strickland the biggest threat to “Borz.” Among the latter was UFC Hall of Famer Donald Cerrone. “Cowboy” revealed he won $45,000 after betting $10,000 on Strickland to win.

“Yeah, I won $45,000,” Cerrone told The Schmo. “I put $10,000 on Sean.”

Cerrone also showed…

Michael Bisping is not impressed with Alex Pereira’s latest sparring footage.

Pereira (13-3) is scheduled to fight Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title at UFC White House on June 14. Having started his MMA career at middleweight, the jump is massive for Pereira. 

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Pereira recently uploaded a sparring video with UFC heavyweight Tallison Teixeira. Bisping is concerned about Pereira’s heavyweight move after watching the footage. Bisping notes that Pereira doesn’t have much output and also gets clipped by “Xicao.” While Bisping gives Teixeira due credit, “The Count” doesn’t think he is on the same level as Gane. Bisping expects Pereira to have his way with Teixeira if he is preparing to fight Gane. Bisping also expects Gane to have a speed advantage over Pereira.Analyzing the Tape “Tallison Teixeira is a good fighter; he’s got a big fight coming up… But for Alex Pereira going up against Ciryl Gane, you would think that he would be having his …

Donald Cerrone is planning a grand entry for the UFC White House event. 

Cerrone (36-17) is currently taking skydiving lessons with the Golden Knights, the U.S. Army Parachute team. Cerrone, who claims to have done over 50 solo jumps in his life, plans to skydive into the White House. “Cowboy” is absolutely confident that UFC top brass will approve his special entrance.

‘It’s Easy’ “Parking’s gonna be a bitch,” Cerrone told the Schmo. “So I’m coming in on a chute… I think that’s a grand old entrance for Trump’s birthday and Freedom 250, so why the hell not?... [Dana White and Hunter Campbell] are my guys, that’s easy. They are gonna approve, it’s easy. They already approved, it’s done.”

Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-5) also joined Cerrone in skydiving lessons. Jedrzejczyk also appealed to Dana White to let her join Cerrone in skydiving into the White House. Both Cerrone and Jedrzejczyk hung up their gloves in 2022 just a month apa…

Conor McGregor will return to action at UFC 329 on July 11. | Getty/UFC

Everything is in place for Conor McGregor to make his first Octagon appearance since July 2021.

McGregor will face Max Holloway in a rematch at UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While their first meeting was contested at 145 pounds, the return date will take place in the welterweight division. Perhaps most importantly, the Irish star is happy with the financial terms that led to his UFC return.

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"It's like a musical – music to my ears, it is. I'm out so long, five years,” McGregor told Mac Energy (via Championship Rounds). “My body's fresh. My mind is sharp. I'm ready to come back. I've got a great opponent. I've got a great deal off the UFC. I'm very, very happy, They honored me, finally.

"July 11, and the opponent is a man I've beaten before in Max Holloway. He's an established fighter, an accomplished fighter, former UFC world champion, mul…

Aleksandar Rakic has lost four straight UFC outings. | Getty/UFC

Aleksandar Rakic is officially headed to the big man’s division.

The former light heavyweight contender will square off against Marcin Tybura at UFC Belgrade, the Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Monday. UFC Belgrade takes place on Aug. 1 at Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia, and is headlined by a welteweight showdown between Uros Medic and Daniel Rodriguez. A middleweight tilt pitting Dusko Todorovic against Robert Valentin was also confirmed for the card.

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Time for a Change Rakic, 34, has lost his last four Octagon appearances at 205 pounds. In his lone appearance of 2025, “Rocket” suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 321 this past October. The Austrian fighter won six of his first seven outings to emerge as a contender in the light heavyweight division before his current skid, which also includes setbacks to Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka …

If career transition is one of the biggest concerns for MMA athletes after fighting, Renato "Moicano" Carneiro has reason to celebrate.

As far as MMA goes, the 37-year-old “Moicano” showed he still has plenty of fight left in him on April 4 by submitting American Top Team training partner Chris Duncan in the main event of UFC Fight Night 272.

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Thanks to the resounding success of his YouTube channel, the ATT athlete already has an excellent career transition guaranteed when he decides to retire. Last Saturday, almost a month after being awarded best influencer in Brasilia at the Brazilian internet Oscars (iBEST), “Moicano” took another step towards this successful transition. He once again used his well-known sense of humor to innovate and achieve success, this time as the promoter of Money Moicano MMA, an event with 10 MMA fights held in São Paulo last Saturday at the Cornerman Academy.

With a dwarf as the announcer, fights between amateurs regis…

Joe Schilling's first MMA fight since 2019 ended in controversy. | PFL MMA

Joe Schilling’s first mixed martial arts appearance in more than six years ended in unusual fashion at PFL Brussels.

Schilling was on his back during a light heavyweight matchup against Donegi Abena when his opponent headbutted him while inside guard. “Stitch ‘Em Up” was visibly angry as the bout was halted due to the foul. The fight appeared ready to resume after referee Mike Beltran took a point from Abena, but Schilling decided to call it quits when the fighters were repositioned on the canvas. As a result, Schilling suffered a technical knockout loss due to retirement at the 36-second mark of Round 1.

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😱 C'EST DU JAMAIS VU !

Joe Schilling met fin au combat après avoir pris un coup de tête de son adversaire, parce qu'il n'est pas d'accord avec la position pour reprendre l'action ! pic.twitter.com/hggZdvQlsU

— RMC Sport Combat…

Daniel Rodriguez has won his last three UFC appearances. | Getty/UFC

Daniel Rodriguez is going from Mexican prison to the main event of the UFC’s first ever card in Serbia.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Monday that Rodriguez will face Uros Medic in the UFC Belgrade headliner on Aug. 1 at Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. Also known as UFC Fight Night 283, the card is also expected to include a heavyweight tilt pitting former 205-pound talent Johnny Walker against Ante Delija.

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Quite the Turn of Events Rodriguez will return to action for the first time since July 2025, when he extended his promotional winning streak to three with a unanimous decision triumph over Kevin Holland at UFC 318. Shortly after that victory, Rodriguez was arrested for attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border with marijuana, and he spent approximately eight months in Mexican prison as a result of that transgression. The 39-year-old’s current winni…

Sean Strickland lashed out at the influencer community after attending Adin Ross’ boxing event. 

Ross hosted the Brand Risk 14 card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Sunday. The card featured renowned personalities like musician Ray J, former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel, and former NBA players Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson. Meanwhile, it also had bizarre matchups like dwarves fighting each other in MMA. Strickland, fellow UFC fighter Arman Tsarukyan and UFC head honcho Dana White were in attendance at the event. 

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However, Strickland (30-7) regretted attending the event and vented as soon as it ended. The UFC middleweight champion claims he feels “less of a man” after being a part of the event.

“I have never been a part of anything so shameful in my life,” Strickland said on his Instagram Stories. “And I hate myself and I feel like less of a man after being here. Oh God, why did I agree to this? I'm sick to my stomach.”

Read more about Sean Strickland ‘sick to my stomach’ after attending Adin Ross’ MMA event

Conor McGregor’s manager claims fans will see more of “Notorious” in the near future. 

McGregor (22-6) is scheduled to return to action in a welterweight matchup against Max Holloway (27-9) at UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This will mark McGregor’s return to action for the first time since breaking his leg in a trilogy loss against Dustin Poirier in 2021. According to Audie Attar, McGregor plans to stay active after his return this summer. Attar claims the former UFC double-champion plans to fight again within a year. However, Attar also clarifies that they are not looking too far ahead.

One Step at a Time “He is definitely looking to stay active,” Attar told MMAjunkie.com. “Next fight, we’re not gonna wait a year, that’s for sure. We’ll see what happens from there. I don’t think we’re looking too far ahead at things. We’re just taking it one step at a time.”

While McGregor recovered from his leg injury within a year, he did not return to s…

Khamzat Chimaev believes he lost to Sean Strickland because of his nationality. 

Chimaev (15-1)was a massive favorite when he put his middleweight title on the line against Strickland (30-7) at UFC 328 earlier this month in Newark, New Jersey. However, Chimaev seemingly gassed out early and dropped a closely-contested split decision despite a valiant effort. 

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While Chimaev admits it was a close fight, he believes the scorecards swayed against him as he is not American.

“All judges are Americans, the organization is American, the opponent is American, and one is Chechen. It's a close fight. Who do you think will win?” Chimaev wrote in a since-deleted tweet.

“No excuses I [just want to] f—k him up. This s—t trying to run away.”

Khamzat Chimaev suggested in a now-deleted tweet that he was robbed against Sean Strickland because he’s not American

“No excuses I just wanna f*ck him up. This sh*t trying to run awa…

Nassourdine Imavov is adamant on avenging his loss against Sean Strickland. 

Imavov suffered his last UFC loss against Strickland in 2023. The Frenchman has since racked up a series of impressive wins to establish himself as the No.1 middleweight contender. Meanwhile, Strickland recently dethroned Khamzat Chimaev to win the middleweight title for the second time. Strickland has since acknowledged Imavov as the next deserving title contender. 

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Strickland on the Brain Imavov recently posted a skit of himself going to therapy to deal with his loss against Strickland. The therapist asks Imavov:“Are you okay, Nassourdine? It’s still him? Another bad dream recently?”

Imavov (17-4) says that everything is going well with him and he has been fishing and doing yoga for his mental well being. However, “The Sniper” simultaneously keeps texting Strickland (30-7), sending him emojis of coffins. Imavov refuses to answer when the therapist asks him who …

Conor McGregor returning at the White House was seemingly not financially viable for the UFC. 

McGregor (22-6) was originally rallying for a spot on the UFC White House card on June 14. However, “Notorious” is now set to return against Max Holloway (27-9) at UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. McGregor’s manager Audie Attar recently explained why McGregor’s return during International Fight Week made more sense for the UFC financially. 

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The UFC White House card will not have any tickets on sale for the general public. According to Dana White, 4,300 people, mostly members of the military, will be seated on the South Lawn. Meanwhile, 85,000 tickets will be made available for free to the public to watch the event at the nearby Ellipse Park. Attar notes that the UFC is sacrificing a huge amount of gate revenue at the White House event. With McGregor being arguably the biggest star in the history of the sport, the UFC would l…

Tom Aspinall believes the winner of the bout between Rico Verhoeven and Oleksandr Usyk was decided beforehand. 

Aspinall’s longtime training partner, Verhoeven, challenged Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title on Saturday in front of the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt. Verhoeven shocked the world by taking the lead in the early rounds and appeared to be on his way to one of the greatest upset wins in boxing history. However, Usyk dropped Verhoeven in the final seconds of the 11th round. While Verhoeven returned to his feet, Usyk chased him with a barrage of unanswered shots. Referee Mark Lyson stopped the fight with a second left in the 11th round, declaring it a stoppage win for Usyk. 

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Aspinall deems it an unfair stoppage. Aspinall believes the officiating was biased towards Usyk, as they did not want a kickboxer, to win the WBC title. The UFC heavyweight champion believes boxing doesn’t like other combat sports, and the world of pugilism is closed …

Dana White lost a wager at the Brand Risk 14 influencer fight event. 

Influencer Bob Menery was knocked out in the first round by former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel at the event. White had bet $10,000 on Menery not to show up at all. White claims he had wholeheartedly believed that Menery wouldn’t show up until he stepped inside the ring. In case of Menery showing up, White had expected the fight to go exactly the way it did. Despite losing the wager, White gives Menery his flowers for showing up.

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“Menery showed up,” White told Fred Talks Fighting. “And the fight went the way I had expected if he did show up… I did [lose $10,000]. And I didn’t believe it until he actually stepped inside the ring. So he did it. I absolutely positively did not think he would show up, and he did. Much respect to Bob for showing up.”Poorly Prepared to FightWhite also confirmed that he is not interested in watching Menery fight ever again. The UFC head honcho cla…

Sean Strickland claims he isn’t earning even a fraction of what Jake Paul earns. 

Paul entered the Forbes’ list of highest paid athletes for 2026. “The Problem Child” is ranked 23rd on the list with a total earnings of $70 million. When Strickland heard the news, the UFC middleweight champion joked about terminating his contract with the promotion to go fight Paul. Strickland claims even a fraction of Paul’s earnings is more than he is earning in the UFC. Strickland is absolutely confident that he would school Paul if they met in the squared circle.

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“I gotta leave the UFC and go beat up Jake Paul. That’s it,” Strickland told Nina Marie-Daniele at a recent MMA event. “Leave my contract with the UFC. It’s time for me to leave. If I made even a fraction of that I would be making more than the UFC is paying me. I would beat the s—t out of Jake Paul.” Rare Air for MMA Athletes The only other combat sports athlete to make it to the list is Saul A…

According to Dana White, the announcement of the UFC 329 headliner had nothing to do with the Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" main card.

The Conor McGregor-Max Holloway rematch was confirmed on July 16 — just as Francis Ngannou was making his walk to the cage to face Philipe Lins at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The announcement came during a relatively nondescript UFC Fight Night 276 card, which only fueled speculation that it was made at that time to take attention away from Most Valuable Promotion’s first-ever MMA card.

Doing His Own ThingWhite claims the timing of the McGregor-Holloway announcement coincided with the bout being finalized.

"Not a coincidence," White told Fred Talks Fighting. "I had a f—king fight here that night. Anybody who thinks that I gave a s—t what was going on anywhere else is out of their f—ing minds.

"We announced it as soon as we got it done, and we were in the middle of our event. (I don't) give a f—k what those guy…

Sherdog's live PFL Dubai coverage will begin Sunday at 9 a.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round: The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tudor Leonte scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Roun…

🔥🇹🇳 MEHDI SAADI L'EMPORTE À LA DÉCISION PARTAGÉE DANS CE MAIN EVENT !!

🤩 Grâce à cette victoire, il se qualifie en demi-finale du tournoi des -66kg du PFL MENA ! pic.twitter.com/cjeP7zXSXn

— RMC Sport Combat (@RMCSportCombat) May 24, 2026 The Professional Fighters League MENA returned on Sunday, as fights in the lightweight and featherweight tournaments took center stage.

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The PFL MENA 9 main event was a featherweight quarterfinal fight between Mohammad Yahya and Mehdi Saadi. Both men came out looking to strike, with Saadi (7-2) landing hard leg kicks and Yahya (12-7) using his longer reach to find success at distance. The legs of "The UAE Warrior" were heavily damaged as the fight went on, but Yahya never stopped coming forward and throwing punches. After 15 minutes of back-and-forth striking, the judges preferred the work of Saadi, who took a split decision with scores of 30-27, 27-30 and 29-28. With the victory, th…

Justin Gaethje doesn’t think Ilia Topuria’s defense is impenetrable. 

Gaethje will challenge Topuria for the lightweight title in the main event at UFC White House on June 14. Gaethje is a +385 underdog going into the fight against Topuria, a -500 favorite. 

Topuria is coming off three consecutive knockouts against Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira. However, Gaethje saw at least two of his fellow veterans find success against Topuria. While Topuria had dominant wins over all three, Gaethje, on closer inspection, saw Oliveira and Holloway winning some exchanges against “El Matador.” However, Gaethje believes Oliveira and Holloway even made some mistakes, which he knows he can’t afford against a precise technician like Topuria.

Upon Further Review“It’s very important for me to use my head for position and put my head in his chest, push him backwards, put him in a dog fight,” Gaethje told Grind City Media. “We’ve seen him getting hit…

Punahele Soriano’s plans for his next fight have been temporarily ruined due to an accident. 

Soriano recently revealed that he is currently recovering from a car accident. While Soriano originally planned to fight in July, the Hawaiian was involved in a car accident. Soriano claims his car was very slow when it was hit by an “old man” near a red light. Soriano suffered a mild concussion and injuries to his neck.

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‘I Was Kind of Embarrassed’ “I was like, I’m gonna look for a fight in July. I’m gonna start getting healthy; I’m gonna start training hard, but I got into a car accident,” Soriano told Home of Fight. “Some old man hit me. I got a mild concussion, my neck was jacked up. I was kind of embarrassed, actually because we were going slow, we were off a red light and just kind of T-bones me. I didn’t see it. I was so confused. It kind of messed me up.”

While Soriano (13-4) started his UFC journey as a highly-touted finisher, he dropped four …

Paulo Costa is no longer interested in fighting Khamzat Chimaev.

Chimaev lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland in a massive upset at UFC 328 earlier this month. Costa had initially called for a matchup against Chimaev after he lost to Strickland. 

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However, Costa (16-4) has now changed his mind. “Borrachinha” believes Chimaev won’t be able to recover from the loss anytime soon. Meanwhile, Costa wants to be back in action as early as July or August. The Brazilian is willing to fight at middleweight, light heavyweight or even heavyweight. Costa gave his fans three potential opponents to choose from: Sean Strickland, Josh Hokit, or Mike Perry.Weighing His Options “I know many of you guys want to have me facing Gourmet Chen Chen Chimaev next,” Costa said in a since-deleted post on Instagram. “I don’t think it’s gonna happen. Why? Because he broke; I think he’s done, I don’t think he’ll be back. And even he can grow and be back, it will not be…

Rico Verhoeven believes the scorecards did the talking in his clash against Oleksandr Usyk.

Verhoeven challenged Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title in front of the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, on Saturday. Going in as a +1400 underdog, Verhoeven shocked the world by dominating the early rounds against Usyk, even stunning the unified heavyweight champion. However, Usyk gradually started landing in the later rounds and dropped Verhoeven with an uppercut in the 11th. While Verhoeven returned to his feet, Usyk cornered him with another barrage of shots. Referee Mark Lyson then unexpectedly stopped the fight with a second left in the 11th round, declaring a stoppage win for Usyk. The controversial stoppage is facing widespread backlash in the world of combat sports. 

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Verhoeven says the lesson he learned from his fight is never to get comfortable and always stay focused.

“Never get comfortable,” Verhoeven told Boxing King Media. “Stay focused, stay switc…