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Drew Dober. | Getty/UFC

The UFC 326 card has received a boost in the form of two long-tenured lightweights.

Drew Dober and Michael Johnson will meet in a 155-pound contest on March 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dober confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. UFC 326 is headlined by a BMF title tilt between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira. The event airs in its entirety on Paramount+.

Experience Counts Dober snapped a three-bout skid in his last outing when he scored a third-round TKO of Kyle Prepolec at UFC Vancouver this past October. The 37-year-old Nebraska native is tied for eighth on the promotion’s all-time knockout list with eight. He owns notable wins over the likes of Jamie Varner, Joshua Burkman, Nasrat Haqparast, Alexander Hernandez, Terrance McKinney and Bobby Green. Dober is 14-11 in the Octagon since making his debut in 2013.

Johnson, meanwhile, is in the midst of a three-fight winning st…

Ronda Rousey was the key figure behind bringing women into the UFC. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

While Ronda Rousey essentially convinced Dana White to allow women to fight in the Octagon more than a decade ago, she couldn’t persuade the UFC CEO to book a fight between her and Gina Carano in the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion in the present day.

On Tuesday, Most Valuable Promotions announced that Rousey and Carano will square off in a featherweight bout at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on May 16. The five-round contest will air on Netflix. According to the Olympic judoka, the bout has been in the works for quite some time.

“I was nine months pregnant, and I saw a video of Gina Carano giving an interview and she didn’t look good,” Rousey told ESPN. “She gained an unhealthy amount of weight and my first thought was, ‘Oh my god, what can I do to help?’ The reason why I had that thought was because she’s the one woman not only in MMA that doesn’t…

Ronda Rousey will return to MMA for the first time since 2016. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

A surprise matchup between two mixed martial arts legends will go down in a few months — but it won’t happen at the White House.

Most Valuable Promotions announced on Tuesday that former UFC champion Ronda Rousey and women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano will square off in a five-round, featherweight bout at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on May 16. The fight will air on Netflix, making it the first MMA bout to be broadcast on the streaming platform. More fights are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

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Rousey, who is now 39 years old, was one-half of the first woman’s bout under the UFC banner and quickly emerged as one of the promotion’s biggest stars during her peak. The Olympic judo bronze medalist won her first 12 professional bouts — capturing titles in the UFC and Strikeforce along the way — before exiting the sport on the heels of back-to-…

Muhammad Mokaev is seemingly eyeing a Professional Fighters League contract. 

Despite being undefeated, Mokaev was surprisingly released from the UFC following a lackluster win over Manel Kape in 2024. While rumors suggested that it was due to behavioral issues, Mokaev claims he had been warned that his fighting style was not entertaining. 

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Mokaev has since picked up wins in Brave CF, 971 FC and Karate Combat. Mokaev became the inaugural Brave CF flyweight champion with a head-kick knockout win over Gerard Burns last November. Mokaev is now calling for a PFL matchup against Sergio Pettis, the younger brother of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Idols Become Rivals Mokaev recalled sharing a video of Pettis’ fight against Ryan Benoit at UFC 185 eleven years ago. Mokaev believes a potential PFL matchup against Pettis is the biggest possible flyweight fight outside the UFC right now.

“11 years ago , shared this fight on my…

Anthony Hernandez is looking forward to facing Sean Strickland on Saturday. | Getty/UFC

Anthony Hernandez is excited for his upcoming clash against Sean Strickland. 

Hernandez is scheduled to fight Strickland in the main event at UFC Houston on Saturday. Strickland is known as a wild character who doesn’t know easy sparring and often faces backlash for his unhinged comments. Hernandez loves the energy that Strickland brings. And if Strickland wants to throw caution to the wind, “Fluffy” vows to match the energy.

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“This one actually makes me super f—-ing excited because I love the matched energy,” he told the UFC. “If someone wants to get crazy, it's like, ‘Bitch, run it.’ I'm all in for it. I'm actually really looking forward to this fight. It makes me super excited. I get to go out there, show what I can do against a tough motherf—-er that everyone respects.”The Perfect Fight While Hernandez is known for wearing down his opponents…

Ramiz Brahimaj has finished his last three UFC fights. | Getty/UFC

Ramiz Brahimaj plans to put a lot on display at UFC Houston. 

Brahimaj will take on fellow welterweight Punahele Soriano at UFC Houston on Feb. 21. Brahimaj recently changed camps to train at Valle Flow Striking in Chicago. As Brahimaj braves the brutal Chicago winters, he is confident that greatness awaits. While Brahimaj has immense respect for his opponent, the 33-year-old plans to show the “greatness” that he knows is inside him.

“I respect my opponent —I really, really do,” Brahimaj told the UFC. “I have a lot of admiration for Puna —and I understand it’s just business when I walk into that Octagon on Feb. 21, but as I’ve said before, I have to display, I have to showcase my entire arsenal and the greatness that is inside of me, the greatness that has been pushing me. I know it’s gonna propel me to new heights —I feel it, I believe it; I know it’s there… Feb. 21 is my rendezvou…

Nassourdine Imavov believes his fight against Sean Strickland would have ended differently under normal circumstances. 

Imavov (17-4) was scheduled to fight Kelvin Gastelum in 2023. However, Strickland replaced an injured Gastelum on five days’ notice. Strickland (29-7) went on to score a unanimous decision win over Imavov. 

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Strickland is now scheduled to headline UFC Houston against Anthony Hernandez (15-2) on Saturday. The UFC recently posted highlights of Strickland’s win over Imavov, praising the former champion’s forward pressure. Imavov was quick to react, claiming he would have “crushed” Strickland under normal circumstances. Since Imavov didn’t make any excuses for the loss, he probably means the short-notice change of opponent.A Confident Assertion “Make no mistakes, under normal conditions, I’ll crush this guy! Mark my words,” Imavov wrote.

Strickland went on to become the middleweight champion with a huge upset win over Israel…

Jack Della Maddalena knows he has to put in some work to earn a title rematch against Islam Makhachev. 

Makhachev vacated the lightweight title and moved up to welterweight to challenge Maddalena for the title at UFC 322 this past November. There were high expectations from Maddalena after he dethroned Belal Muhammad to win the title in a massive upset at UFC 315. However, Makhachev completely dominated Maddalena on the canvas for five rounds to earn a lopsided unanimous decision win. 

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While an immediate rematch was unlikely for Maddalena, UFC 322 also saw Michael Morales and Carlos Prates emerge as fresh contenders. Meanwhile, Ian Garry defeated Muhammad a week later at UFC Qatar to make a claim for title contention. While Maddalena wants a rematch against Makhachev, the Australian knows that he will have to get past at least one hungry contender first.No Shortcuts “My goal is obviously to go back,” Maddalena told FightWave. “I want to get…

Nkosi Ndebele will look to build upon his PFL Africa championship in 2026. | PFL

The second season of PFL Africa is set to kick off this spring.

The PFL announced on Tuesday that the promotion will return to the continent for an event at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa on April 10. The card will be headlined by a bantamweight showcase bout between inaugural PFL Africa bantamweight champion Nkosi Ndebele and Michele Clemente. In the co-main event, Justin Clarke will lock horns with Abdoulaye Kane at heavyweight. Broadcast information — as well as additional bouts — are expected to be announced soon.

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“PFL Africa reflects the ambition, energy, and identity of the continent,” said PFL Africa general manager Elias Schulze in a release. “It’s more than MMA — it’s a fast-rising cultural platform built around Africa’s elite athletes, delivering world-class entertainment that extends far beyond the cage. As we grow, we’re uniting sp…

Mike Tyson came up short against Jake Paul in his last fight. | Esther Lin/Most Valuable Promotions

Two of the biggest names in boxing history are reportedly set to collide in a bizarre exhibition match. 

Rumors of an exhibition boxing match between Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather have been floating around for a while now. Boxing reporter Mike Coppinger recently confirmed that the matchup has been scheduled for April 25 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Breaking the news on @InsideRingShow with details on the Mike Tyson-Floyd Mayweather exhibition in the Democratic Republic of Congo on April 25. pic.twitter.com/pbAPoRFm71

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) February 16, 2026

Tyson’s title reign was one of the most violent in the history of boxing. The former heavyweight champion officially retired from the sport in 2005. The 59-year-old has since competed in exhibition boxing matches against Roy Jones Jr. and Jak…

Zabit Magomedsharipov might not be done with combat sports just yet. 

Magomedsharipov is set to return to competition after a lengthy hiatus, but not in MMA. Absolute Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu recently announced that they have signed Magomedsharipov.

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ACBJJ president Zaurbek Khasiev wrote in a statement on social media: “Major decisions are made in silence. Negotiations are complete. Zabit Magomedsharipov joins ACBJJ. We’re assembling the elite, stay tuned.” An Early Exit Magomedsharipov (18-1) is considered one of the biggest what ifs in the history of MMA. Few have retired from the sport as early and as abruptly as the Dagestani star. Magomedsharipov has finished 13 of his 18 career wins while suffering one professional loss. Magomedsharipov was undefeated in six UFC outings with wins over Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar, which had made him relevant in the featherweight title picture.

However, Magomedsharipov was just 28 when…

Jorge Masvidal is bringing his bareknuckle MMA promotion back to life. | Jason Burgos/Sherdog.com

After a hiatus that lasted well over a year, Jorge Masvidal is reviving Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA.

The former UFC welterweight title challenger revealed to MMAjunkie.com that his organization will return on April 10 in the Dominican Republic, with another event planned for May 1 in Miami. The promotion’s relaunch is highlighted by two $500,000 tournaments, which will feature 16 fighters in brackets at heavyweight and lightweight.

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Masvidal announced four of the heavyweight pairings on Monday: Anthony Smith vs. Chase Sherman; Guto Inocente vs. Mohammed Usman; Alexandr Romanov vs. Nikolay Kovalenko, and Todd Duffee vs. Bruno Cappelozza. Smith is the biggest surprise of the field: The former UFC light heavyweight title challenger retired last year.

The last Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA event was held on Nov. 15, 2024 at Mississippi Coast Coliseu…

Michael Chiesa will call it a career after his fight at UFC Seattle. | Getty/UFC

Michael Chiesa plans on hanging up the four-ounce gloves in his home state next month.

“The Ultimate Fighter 15” winner will Carlston Harris in a welterweight bout at UFC Seattle on March 28, and he confirmed during an appearance on the “Anik & Florian Podcast” that it will be his retirement fight.

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’It’s Like the Universe is Telling Me Something’ "Yeah, this is my last fight. I've been kind of on the fence about it. It's a hard decision to make," Chiesa said. "I had my first fight when I was 20 years old in 2008. All good things come to an end. I wanted to fight out this contract. I just signed a new deal before the Court McGee fight. That was my plan: ‘I’m going to fight out this deal, then I'm done.' It's not like I want to go into free agency – I love where I'm at. I love the UFC. I have no reason to want to go fight anywhere else. I want …

Nate Diaz is looking for a fight.

At least that was the message from the Stockton, California, native when he briefly spoke to TMZ Sports on the red carpet during a party over Super Bowl weekend.

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“I’m ready to get back in real action,” Diaz said in a video that was posted on Monday. “I want to fight either [Conor] McGregor 3. I want to fight maybe Dustin Poirier, if he stops being such a p—y, and then maybe Mike Perry. We’ll see what happens in the future.”

Diaz rose to superstardom thanks to his rivalry with McGregor, particularly when he submitted for the former two-division champion in their first meeting at UFC 196 in March 2016. Diaz would lose the rematch to the Dublin native via majority decision at UFC 202. While McGregor has seemed intent on fighting at the UFC’s White House event, the “Notorious” hasn’t competed since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

As for Poirier, the popular Louisiana native retired from the spo…

Everyone has a thought on the unceremonious exit of Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Jailton Almeida.

The UFC’s release of Almeida set fire to the internet on Wednesday. After two lackluster fights, the top-10 UFC heavyweight was let go despite a promotional record of 8-3. The unexpected cut immediately reached the trending topics of MMA world with media, fans and fighters discussing the reason in a division where Tai Tuivasa suffered his sixth straight loss and still remains on the roster.

Some of performances rubbed the UFC brass the wrong way, namely when Almeida outgrappled Derrick Lewis in a dreadful five-rounder where he unleashed very little damaging offense. His slow, plodding decision defeats to Alexander Volkov and Rizvan Kuniev spelled his undoing, and UFC veteran Gilbert Burns picked up on that. “Durinho” shared his opinion through his YouTube channel on Thursday about his countryman’s release, bringing up two very important points that may explai…

It will be quite some time until Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Torrez Finney is up and walking again under his own power.

During his UFC 325 encounter against Jacob Malkoun, Finney sustained multiple major leg injuries early into the match. The Tennessean went on to drop a decision after three lackluster rounds. Per the fighter on social media this Thursday, his leg was torn to shreds mere seconds into the matchup. As a result, the UFC medical staff and Finney’s team determined that he needed to be rushed to surgery the day after his bout.

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“Thank God he’s built me to overcome every obstacle I’ve faced and that will be the story once again,” Finney wrote. “I tore my ACL and my both of my meniscus within my knee. Got me into surgery the next day. [Doctor] said it’s insane I was able to fight tearing that 15 seconds into the fight.”Finney Far from FinishedOn his Instagram page, “The Punisher” added additional comment of his performance, …

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is jamming the first show in April full of intriguing mid-tier matchups.

Fresh off his shocking upset of Malcolm Wellmaker at UFC 322 this past November, Ethyn Ewing (9-2) will be returning to action on April 4 at the Apex in Las Vegas as part of UFC Fight Night 272. He will be relocating to his standard weight class of bantamweight, where he will be met by ex-flyweight Rafael Estevam (14-0) who is moving up to greet him. News was first reported on Wednesday night by Ewing on his Instagram.

“The Professor Finesser” established himself as one to watch when he outworked highly touted prospect Wellmaker in a short-notice effort. Ahead of that pairing, Wellmaker closed as high as a -500 favorite, and Ewing put the screws to him across three tough, thrilling rounds. In the process, Ewing handed “The Machine” his first career defeat, halting several streaks for Wellmaker including a four-fight stretch of knockout victories.

More Macap…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight kingpin Alexandre Pantoja is only a few short months away from returning to competition.

The second-longest reign of any UFC men’s flyweight champion came to an inglorious end at UFC 323 in December, when Pantoja’s arm snapped early in what was to be his fifth consecutive title defense against Joshua Van. The Brazilian recovered apparently without requiring surgery to repair the damage, which included tendons and ligaments but no fractured bone. Much has been speculated about his return to action, and Sherdog spoke to Pantoja’s chief coach at American Top Team, Marcos da Matta, about his top fighter.

“He did the first light sparring today,” “Parrumpa” revealed the good news on Tuesday. “Everybody was able to see how hard the injury was, two months ago. But Pantoja is such a focused person, he worked hard to heal since day one. He can’t wait to return and [get a finish] against Joshua Van.”

You Bet I’ll Be Coming Up i…

The Persian Gulf will once again be the focus of a $100K Professional Fighters League tournament in a few months.

Per a press release received on Thursday, the PFL will be commencing its next and third season of the PFL MENA spinoff league come May 8. The first of four events held in the Middle East/North Africa regions will be staged at the Dharan Expo in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and it will receive the title of “Rise of the Gulf.” While last year included four brackets for tourneys in the welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight divisions, the company scales it back to three for this go-round. In lieu of 135-pounders will be what the promotion is calling “a slate of high-profile showcase bouts featuring the region’s fastest-rising stars.”

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The tournament will begin one day before last year’s, when May 9 served as the kickoff date for the grand prix that also opened in Saudi Arabia. Spanning that date to Dec. 5, four athletes picked up…

Jailton Almeida went 8-3 during his UFC tenure. | Getty/UFC

Not even the promise of a change in weight classes was enough to save Jailton Almeida.

According to an initial report from Laerte Viana, the UFC has released the 34-year-old Brazilian on the heels of back-to-back losses to Alexander Volkov and Rizvan Kuniev. Meanwhile, MMAjunkie.com has confirmed that the promotion already has informed Almeida of its decision.

The news comes a couple days after the announcement that Almeida was planning to return to the light heavyweight division, where he began his UFC career.

“Malhadinho” earned a UFC contract by winning a light heavyweight fight on Dana White's Contender Series in September 2021. He was successful in his Octagon debut at 205 pounds, finishing Danilo Marques in the opening stanza at UFC Fight Night 200 in February 2022. After one 220-pound catchweight victory, the Brazilian moved to the heavyweight division, where he has compiled a 5-3…

Professional Fighters League continues to build the talent pool in its women’s flyweight division.

The promotion has signed former Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight queen Cheyanne Bowers, with a debut date and opponent to be determined. The PFL confirmed the new addition following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com.

A Knack for Submissions Bowers owns a 7-2 professional mark, with all but one of her bouts taking place under the LFA banner. The 31-year-old known as “The Boss” captured 125-pound gold with a first-round submission of Veronika Borisova at LFA 193 in September 2024. After losing the strap to Shannon Clark in her first title defense, Bowers rebounded to post back-to-back submission victories against Elizabeth Rodriguez and Maritza Sanchez in her next two outings. The Omaha, Nebraska, native has finished five of her career wins via submission.

Bowers will join a PFL women’s flyweight division that includes the likes of Dakota Ditcheva, Liz Carmouche, Tail…

Dana White thinks the UFC White House card will be the promotion's most-watched event of all-time. | Jim Watson/ AFP via getty

As one might expect, Dana White has high hopes for the UFC’s historic event at the White House.

The UFC CEO is expected to begin matchmaking in earnest for the highly-anticipated card this week, with bouts potentially being finalized by the weekend. Ever since the UFC White House event was announced by President Donald Trump, there has been plenty of speculation regarding what the final product will look like, and there have been numerous fighters campaigning to be on the card. Regardless of what the final lineup looks like, White expects the event to be a boon for broadcast partner Paramount.

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“We’re going to figure that all out this week. This is like a one-of-one event,” White recently said on CBS Sports. “It’s something that will never happen again. Building this card — we had this video rendering of what it …

Javid Basharat was released from the UFC despite a winning record in the promotion. | Getty/UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is moving on from some fighters following its most recent event.

The Las Vegas-based promotion has parted ways with Javid Basharat, Alex Morono and Lucas Almeida. Sherdog.com contributor Tom Feely initially brought word of the releases, which were later confirmed by MMAFighting.com. It’s unclear if the aforementioned fighters were cut, or if the UFC simply elected not to renew their respective contracts.

Basharat snapped a two-bout skid at UFC Fight Night 266 this past Saturday, earning a unanimous decision triumph against short-notice opponent Gianni Vazquez. The Dana White's Contender Series alum compiled a 4-2 mark with one no contest in the Octagon. However, all four of his triumphs came via decision.

No Last Dance Morono, meanwhile, displayed plenty of heart but was largely outmatched in a unanimous decision loss t…

On Tuesday, Flávio Alvaro revealed exclusively to Sherdog.com that he believes Jean Silva and Mauricio Ruffy will eventually overcome their disagreement regarding Ruffy's trip to Australia to train with Alexander Volkanovski.

With Ruffy's return to São Paulo, the coach believes the two will reconcile for the greater good of The Fighting Nerds team's health. During on appearance on Ag.Fight’s "Direto de Las Vegas" podcast, Silva didn’t hesitate when asked to name the best striker in the UFC.

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”Mauricio Ruffy,” Silva said. “He’s not pragmatic and manages the fight very well."

When it came time to choose the best grappler, Silva didn't hesitate either.

“[Khamzat] Chimaev. He won the belt fighting five rounds without throwing a single punch,” Silva said.

Arman Tsarukyan was named by Fighting Nerd as the best wrestler across all divisions, and he recognized former opponents Kevin Vallejos and Diego Lopes as having the toughest chins on the…