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Tom Nolan’s only professional loss taught him a lot of lessons.

Nolan closed as a betting underdog going into his lightweight clash against Fares Ziam at UFC Fight Night 278 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Nolan outclassed Ziam on the ground while holding his own on the feet to earn a unanimous decision win. This was Nolan’s fifth straight victory after his lone professional loss in his 2024 promotional debut.

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Nolan made it to the Ultimate Fighting Championship with the reputation of a highly touted prospect. In his UFC debut against Nikolas Motta, however, Motta derailed Nolan’s hype train by knocking him out a bit over a minute into the fight. Nolan revealed that he was inexperienced and doing a lot of things wrong as a 23-year-old. However, the Aussie doesn’t want to take away from Motta’s performance. As his stock fell, he rediscovered his love for the game, slowly building himself back. “Big Train” claims he felt no fear of losing going into his clash…

Four fighters earned bonuses at UFC Vegas 118, which was a card filled with finishes.

Edgar Chairez (14-6) was the only prelims fighter to earn a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his stoppage win over Bruno “Bulldog” Silva (15-9). “Puro Chicali” dropped Silva with an uppercut before quickly snapping in a rear-naked choke to earn the tap in the opening round. The Mexican flyweight is now riding a three-fight winning streak.

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Meanwhile, Iwo Baraniewski (9-0) earned the other POTN bonus of the card for his first-round finish of Junior Tafa (7-6). “Rudy” just needed two brutal leg kicks to drop Tafa before raining vicious ground-and-pound to force the referee to show mercy in 85 seconds. Having finished all nine of his career wins in the opening frame, this was the third straight bonus in as many Ultimate Fighting Championship outings for the undefeated Polish light heavyweight. Brendan Allen (27-7) and Edmen Shahbazyan (16-6) earned $100k …

Gabriel Bonfim did not request entry to the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight elite. He demanded it.

A potent jab and devastating leg kicks carried the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate to a unanimous decision over Belal Muhammad in the UFC Fight Night 278 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges turned in 50-45 scorecards for Bonfim (20-1, 7-1 UFC), who has emerged as a genuine threat at 170 pounds.

Muhammad (24-6, 15-6) was beaten to the punch over and over again. Bonfim bloodied the bridge of the VFS Academy cornerstone’s nose with repeated jabs, controlled the real estate from the center of the cage and forced the former champion onto his back foot. He did his best work in Round 3, where he snapped back Muhammad’s head with a vicious three-two and later sent his mouthpiece flying with a mean right cross. Bonfim dialed down his aggression across the final 10 minutes but did more than enough to maintain his lead, all while a…

Sherdog's live UFC Vegas 118 coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 278. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Souza (-300); Carnelossi (+225)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Chaves (-400); Duben (+300)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result B…

Alessandro Costa took a calculated risk, filled in for Imanol Rodriguez on short notice and capitalized on his opportunity.

The Lobo Gym product took built some more momentum in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he wiped out Matt Schnell with punches in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 278 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Schnell (17-11, 7-9 UFC) bowed out of their 130-pound catchweight affair 2:32 into Round 1.

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Costa (16-5, 4-3 UFC) bided his time, made his reads and hit the accelerator when the situation called for it. He dazed and felled Schnell with a clean left hook, sprawled on a desperation takedown attempt, pinned the American beneath him and let fly with rapid-fire hammerfists until the job was done.

Meanwhile, MMA Lab mainstay Marcus McGhee outstruck and outmaneuvered John Yannis to a unanimous decision in their three-round bantamweight battle. All three judges turned in scorecards for McGhee (11-2,…

Alessandro Costa took a calculated risk, filled in for Imanol Rodriguez on short notice and capitalized on his opportunity.

The Lobo Gym product took built some more momentum in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he wiped out Matt Schnell with punches in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 278 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Schnell (17-11, 7-9 UFC) bowed out of their 130-pound catchweight affair 2:32 into Round 1.

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Costa (16-5, 4-3 UFC) bided his time, made his reads and hit the accelerator when the situation called for it. He dazed and felled Schnell with a clean left hook, sprawled on a desperation takedown attempt, pinned the American beneath him and let fly with rapid-fire hammerfists until the job was done.

Meanwhile, MMA Lab mainstay Marcus McGhee outstruck and outmaneuvered John Yannis to a unanimous decision in their three-round bantamweight battle. All three judges turned in scorecards for McGhee (11-2,…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is abandoning “opinion” in its upcoming new rankings system.

The announcement was made during the UFC Vegas 118 broadcast Saturday at The Apex in Las Vegas. The new system will be based on “measurable performance instead of opinion or popularity.” The UFC stated:

“Based on measurable performance instead of opinion or popularity. Designed to reward performance & reflect results inside the Octagon.”

The current UFC rankings are decided by votes from media members from all platforms. UFC head honcho has previously expressed his disagreement with the current rankings system while hailing Jon Jones as the No. 1 pound-for-pound UFC fighter. It remains to be seen whether media members will have any say in the new rankings system.

Josh Hokit believes Tom Aspinall should be stripped of his Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title.

Aspinall (15-3) hasn’t fought since his first title defense against Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest due to a double eye poke by Gane at UFC 320 last October. Gane (13-2) is now scheduled to fight Alex Pereira (13-3) for the interim heavyweight title at UFC White House: Freedom 250 on June 14. Hokit (9-0) is also booked to trade leather in a heavyweight tilt against Derrick Lewis (29-13.)

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Hokit believes Gane and Pereira should be fighting for the undisputed title instead of an interim one. Having recently instigated a one-sided beef with Pereira, Hokit wants to fight the Brazilian next. Considering Aspinall’s claims of being unable to drive due to the seriousness of his eye injury, Hokit doubts the Englishman will return anytime soon. “The Incredible Hok” accuses Aspinall of holding up the division with his “theatrics.”

“To get the division…

While Islam Makhachev has had several dominant wins, they are not the ones he cherishes the most.

Makhachev (28-1) recently admitted that winning his second Ultimate Fighting Championship title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Jack Della Maddalena last year was an emotional moment for him. However, that is not the fight that Makhachev rewatches most frequently. Makhachev revealed that his lightweight title defense against Dustin Poirier (30-10) at UFC 302 in 2024 was the most enjoyable performance of his career. What adds to the pleasure is that Makhachev was able to finish Poirier despite throwing caution to the wind.

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“Winning the championship was very emotional,” Makhachev told RedCorner MMA. “But the fight I keep rewatching is the Poirier fight. We fought as if it was a street fight. Plus, I managed to finish him. I really enjoyed this fight.”

Poirier made his third and final UFC lightweight title bid against Makhachev at UFC 302. “T…

While Sean Strickland isn’t satisfied with Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter pay, he doesn’t think it will change anytime soon.

Strickland (31-7) recently accused the UFC of being predatory in terms of fighter pay. While Dana White claims UFC fighters are making more after the new Paramount+ deal, Strickland disagrees. Strickland recently reiterated the fact that the UFC isn’t close to any major sporting league in terms of the revenue share paid to athletic talent. However, Strickland doesn’t think that it will change for the better any time soon. Strickland notes that there will be always be struggling fighters who will be willing to compete for a lesser amount. According to Strickland, fighter pay is the reason behind the decline in the number of American fighters on the UFC roster.

“No one is getting paid more… As far as the payscale, you compare it to any other sporting event, the UFC is the most f**ked up,” Strickland told Complex. “If you compare it to ath…

Sean O’Malley claims to have heard that the date for UFC White House: Freedom 250 could change.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is hosting a historic fight card at the White House on June 14. Billed as UFC Freedom 250, to celebrate America’s 250th year of independence, the card also coincides with President Donald J. Trump’s 80th birthday. The Octagon will be set up on the South Lawn with only limited members of the military in attendance.

O’Malley (19-3) is scheduled to trade leather in a bantamweight matchup against Aiemann Zahabi (14-2) on the card. Apart from unforeseen issues like insects in an outdoor event, O’Malley recently revealed that there several uncertainties about timing for the event. According to O’Malley, the weigh ins for the fight will begin at 11 am, which is two hours later than the usual slot for UFC weigh ins. “Suga” also revealed that there is no official walkout time for fighters. O’Malley even claims to have heard that the card could eve…

Josh Hokit believes a potential win over Derrick Lewis holds little value for him.

Hokit is scheduled to meet Lewis in a heavyweight matchup at UFC White House: Freedom 250 on June 14. Alex Pereria and Ciryl Gane will clash for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event. Hokit is more interested in a future clash against Pereira than his upcoming matchup against Lewis. “The Incredible Hok” believes he is stepping down in competition by fighting Lewis. However, Hokit is sure that fighting on the iconic White House card adds to his stock, for a potential matchup against Pereira in the future. Hokit told UFC on Paramount+:

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“I would say [I’m more interested in fighting] Alex Pereira , for sure… I think I'm going down in competition from my last fight. Me beating Derrick Lewis doesn't bring no value to me, I don't think. But me fighting at the White House does. I think that's going to propel to a fight with Alex Pereira.”

Hokit (9-0) has won all…

Daniel Cormier believes Jon Jones won’t wrestle him, even for a seven-figure payday.

Cormier (22-3) and Jones (28-1) starred as rival coaches on the last season of ALF Reality, also known as the Russian version of “The Ultimate Fighter.” ALF boss Alfredo Auditore recently announced that they have almost finalized a wrestling match between Cormier and Jones.

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Cormier confirms that they have been approached by ALF regarding a wrestling match, with a seven-figure payday offered. However, “DC” believes his longtime rival, Jones, won’t wrestle him. According to Cormier, both parties know that he will beat Jones 10-0 in a wrestling match. Cormier said on social media:

“Jones and I, that is a 10-0 match every single time. I know it, and he knows it… You don’t have to goad me into this wrestling match. I will beat him 10-0 at 47 years old. Here’s the problem -- I know I’m gonna beat him 10-0, he also knows that I’m going to beat him 10-0. That’s why he won’t…

Tom Aspinall’s immediate professional future is looking murkier by the day.

Aspinall’s new manager, Eddie Hearn, has been vehemently criticising his current Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. Hearn now claims that he won’t let the UFC heavyweight champion fight under such terms.

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While Aspinall (15-3) is sidelined with an eye injury, Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will compete for the interim heavyweight title at UFC White House: Freedom 250 on June 14. The winner of that fight is expected to meet Aspinall in a title unifier. However, Hearn claims he will try his best not to let Aspinall accept that fight unless a new deal is reached. Hearn claims Aspinall’s current UFC contract would earn him 1/50th of the amount of money he would generate in a title unifier against Pereira or Gane.

“I’m not gonna let Tom Aspinall fight for the kind of money that’s in his contract,” Hearn told Bloody Elbow. “To be involved in a fight against Pereira or Gane, fo…

In a rematch nearly two years in the making, Makoto Takahashi avenged a past loss and defeated mentor-turned-rival Hiromasa Ougikubo Saturday at Rizin Fighting Federation: “Landmark Vol. 14.” Competing in front of his hometown fans in Sendai, Japan, Takahashi took a well-deserved unanimous decision victory over Ougikubo in the main event to become the new Rizin flyweight champion.

Takahashi (23-5-1, 1 NC; 9-4 Rizin) ducked under a wild left hand and took Ougikubo (30-9-2, 12-6 Rizin) down into back control during the opening minute of the fight. He kneeled against the cage and punched the side of Ougikubo’s head while also elbowing his ribs. Ougikubo scrambled up to his feet as the round entered its final minute and he knocked ‘Shinryu’ off-balance with a calf kick. Ougikubo got past Takahashi’s jab and landed a nice combination in the second frame, but he soon found himself on the ground again after a Takahashi trip takedown. Ougikubo stood up and he landed a series…

Derrick Lewis has been dealing with a health issue for a long time.

Lewis is coming off a second-round stoppage loss against Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC 324 this past January. “The Black Beast” was seemingly just out of the fight after a lousy slip while Cortes-Acosta rained down a barrage of shots, forcing the referee to step in. Lewis recently revealed that he was dealing with back issues during the fight. While Lewis weighed in at 263.5 pounds, he went up to 296 pounds on fight night, which triggered his persistent back issues. Lewis also revealed that his problem has forced him to pull out of fights at the last moment multiple times. Lewis told UFC on Paramount+:

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“One of my downfalls I’ve had my whole career is always my back. I’ve been having back issues; I believe that it really got down, down, down. My last fight I cut a lot of weight. I didn’t walk around to where I usually fight at. Right after I made weight, I went all the way back up to 296 …

Making it look easy 😮‍💨@bullyb170 weighs in at 170.5lbs ahead of #UFCVegas118

[ JUNE 6 | 8pmET | LIVE on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/ME9K8LlrZy

— UFC (@ufc) June 5, 2026 Every fighter ahead of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship card in June eventually made weight.

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The UFC Vegas 118 main event sees former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad return to the Octagon against rising contender Gabriel Bonfim. Both men made weight without issue for the five-round headliner. Junior Tafa, briefly checked in half a pound over the light heavyweight limit for his fight against Iwo Baraniewski, but he came back within the extra one-hour window to hit 206 pounds.

After back-to-back defeats, "Remember the Name" will look to rebound and get his first victory in nearly two years. Muhammad (24-5, 1 NC) is still one of the world's best at 170, having only lost to Jack Della Maddalena and Ian Garry since 2019. The 37-year-ol…

The main Ultimate Fighting Championship promoter is doing a bit of promoting ahead of the upcoming tentpole event.

UFC President and CEO Dana White has often stated that he feels Jon Jones is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. He has stuck to that notion so strongly that he has tried on multiple occasions to get Jones’ disqualification loss to Matt Hamill overturned to a no contest. His reasoning is that Jones should have finished the fight before the illegal strikes landed, and that referee Steve Mazzagatti failed to intervene when he should have stepped in. The argument was also made that since 12-to-6 elbows have been legalized, past fights ending via those strikes should be changed ex post facto.

The top spot on White’s MMA all-timer pedestal may be changing depending on upcoming events, according to him in an interview with Forbes on Friday. The organizer went on to declare that should Alex Pereira beat Ciryl Gane to claim the interim heavyweight bel…

One of the greatest grapplers of our generation and a one-time Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter is getting the recognition he deserves.

Thirty years after the iconic and bloody 30-minute final of the WVC 3 tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil, combatants Fabio Gurgel and Mark Kerr met again. The two came together backstage at the 30th edition of the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship on Saturday in California. Gurgel spoke to Sherdog about their reunion.

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“Mark Kerr is a very pleasant person; we talked for almost half an hour,” Gurgel explained. “We talked about his film and, since he is representing a brand of sleep measurement rings, he gave me one as a gift. Interestingly, I am launching a corporate bioperformance product in Brazil called Impulso +. Exactly with the objective of bringing the culture of jiu-jitsu, to take care of the health of employees, to large companies. We talked a lot about this synergy.”Rock the docDuring their conversation, whic…

Ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Gilbert Burns still has plenty to offer at his age.

Less than two months after announcing his retirement from the Octagon at age 39, on the heels of his fifth consecutive loss—a knockout to Mike Malott—“Durinho” Burns made a stylish comeback at UFC BJJ 9 on Thursday. The elder statesman grappler tapped out Brazilian Horlando Monteiro in just 1:22 seconds with a slick rear-naked choke.

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Burns started the fight being taken down by his opponent, but seemed to welcome that as he had a plan. “Durinho” quickly reversed the position and took Monteiro’s back, where he secured the choke that ended the fight. It marked his first victory on the grappling mats since he beat Rafael Lovato Jr. in a special match in 2021.There are a lot of good jiu-jitsu fighters who would love to competeElated in victory, Burns was able to take off some of the pressure on his shoulders coming from five straight defeats in a cage. H…

The Professional Fighters League middleweight strap will still be on the line, just in a different way.

The promotion announced on Friday that its marquee matchup for PFL Austin has changed. Due to an injury suffered by middleweight kingpin Costello van Steenis, Johnny Eblen (17-1) will be drawing a new opponent at the Moody Center in Texas’ capital city. For the interim 185-pound belt, Eblen will be rematching Impa Kasanganay (20-6).

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Top notch featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The man who currently calls himself “Pressure” was looking to exact revenge for his lone career defeat. After bringing over the Bellator MMA belt with him, Eblen vied for the PFL title in 2025 against van Steenis. Up on two scorecards, Eblen succumbed to a last-second rear-naked choke that put him all the way to sleep. He has since bounced back into the win column by wrangling Bryan Battle with a face crank in a little ov…

Depending on how the match plays out, a spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s logjammed lightweight division’s rankings may be on the line.

Heavy first broke the news on Thursday that UFC 329 would be getting a striker’s delight at 155 pounds. Per the initial report, and subsequently confirmed by one of the fighters on his Instagram Stories page, King Green (35-17-1, 1 NC) will be throwing down with Terrance McKinney (18-8) on July 11. They will be colliding inside of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, likely serving as a high-billed prelim.

Green currently rides a three-fight win streak, his longest since claiming a trio of decisions over Clay Guida, Lando Vannata and Alan Patrick in 2020. In this run, he beat Lance Gibson Jr., knocked out Daniel Zellhuber and tapped Jeremy Stephens within the last seven months. The grizzled veteran will be entering into his 31st with the promotion, having joined the roughly two dozen names who completed at least 30 UFC bouts…

Holly Holm is interested in big fights, whether that's in boxing or MMA. | Getty/UFC

The finish line appears to be in sight for Holly Holm.

Holm, who is coming off a controversial split-decision loss to Stephanie Han in a boxing match under the Most Valuable Promotions banner last weekend, gave a rough timeline for the end of her combat sports career during an appearance on "The Ariel Helwani Show.”

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I don't know, but if I'm being really honest, I want big fights. I'm not saying that all of them are big fights for a title. ..Within the year and I'm done,” Holm said. “That's where I'm at. I definitely want them to be fights that people want to see. I want it to be something big like that. And that's where I'm at, whether it be MMA or boxing.”

Holm confirmed that likely means only one or two more fights total before the Jackson-Wink MMA standout calls it a career.

Holm hasn’t competed in MMA since UFC 300, when she suffered a seco…

It's hard to imagine that 17 years ago, Alex Pereira was still working at a tire shop and had serious problems with alcoholism. That's when he decided to enroll in kickboxing — a decision that changed his life.

Since then, “Poatan” has achieved what seemed impossible for someone who first put on gloves at the age of 21. After winning two belts in Glory Kickboxing and the UFC, he will seek something that no fighter has achieved to date on June 14: a UFC title in a third weight class. To do this, Poatan will have to beat Ciryl Gane in the co-main event of of the UFC White House card.

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‘Something Very Special’ In an interview with UFC on Paramount+, “Poatan” highlighted the symbolic weight of the possible achievement, classifying the belt as something unique in his career. The Brazilian stressed that, unlike other titles in the organization, this one would have a special value because it represents his entire journey, marked by challenges and overcoming…