"I do hate him," Morales told Alvaro Colemenoro. "We don't have a very good vibe. But at the end of the day, he's still a fighter. I'm not gonna get overconfident if I had to prepare myself to fight him... That fight is gonna be intense if it happens... I think that if I were to fight him, it would be the first time that I would fight in a very aggressive way."
Now the Saudis have turned to TKO Group Holdings and Dana White to oversee Zuffa Boxing a newly created vehicle designed to expand the footprint of its equity partners in the United States. Zuffa Boxing is taking a far less generous approach toward fighters than Sheikh did. That's evidenced by the contract that many of the fighters being recruited by Zuffa are being asked to sign.
"About the decision, about the fight, nobody stay happy. I think the only people who stay happy about the decision is my opponent and his team. The president is making the right choice with that, that's protecting the image of the company and not tainting their legacy and the sport."
If you want to make money, fight. One year ago, Tom was saying things like, 'I'm the active champion. I don't care about Jon Jones. I just care about the belt.' We all supported that because Tom was completely correct. And now one year later Tom is the one that appears to be holding out.
Perry is scheduled to fight fellow UFC alum Nate Diaz on Most Valuable Promotions' first MMA card on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. The event, which will be broadcast on Netflix, also features fights like Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano and Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins.
Octagon newcomer Imanol Rodriguez earned a $100,000 "Performance of the Night" bonus for his stoppage of Kevin Borjas in a flyweight tilt. Rodriguez survived being floored twice in the opening stanza before dropping his foe with an overhand right near the fence in Round 2. A barrage of follow-up shots sealed his victory at the 4:21 mark of the period.
On a card with just five finishes, four Performance of the Night bonuses were awarded, with the main card producing all four winners. Among them was main event winner Sean Strickland, who had a vintage showing against Anthony Hernandez across two and a half rounds. The end came care of a knee, which "Fluffy" immediately reacted to. As he tried to recover, Strickland swarmed, unloading lefts and rights and finishing with a few strikes while Hernandez was on the ground.
"As far as the pay scale, when you compare it to any other sporting event, the UFC is the most f---ed up," Strickland told Complex. "Athlete pay versus what [the UFC] is making, there is no argument there. It's not fair. It's predatory."
For years now, the entry-level UFC fighters making their promotional debuts have earned a rather embarrassingly low $10,000 to show, $10,000 to win (10/10) fight purse. Yet occasionally, a debuting fighter would pocket $12,000 to show (and another 12K to win). With fighter purses no longer disclosed in Nevada and many other jurisdictions, it's been hard to keep track of who is making what in the sport.
Paramount+ will air all 13 numbered events and 30 Fight Night events in 2026 amounting to roughly 43 live events assuming there are no changes to the schedule. Of those events, several will be simulcast on network television on CBS. Compared to the last iteration, it is clear that Paramount+ has been designed with the idea of being akin to the WWE Network in that it is not simply made to highlight the biggest
UFC 324 marked the first event for UFC in 2026 as well as the first event on the new deal with Paramount. UFC president Dana White announced that bonuses would be increased from 50k to 100k and that a finish would produce an extra 25k bonus. There were lots of weight cutting woes. A UFC and WEC legend was announced to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
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.
"The only thing the UFC told me is that I'm next for the belt," Dvalishvili told Bet25. "They said there will be a trilogy between me and Yan, and they also told me that our fight will not happen at the White House on Trump's birthday in June. Because [Yan] is Russian and that's impossible."
To go from being a UFC champion to competing in a Power Slap match is quite a contrast. Luke Rockhold is seemingly considering a move to Dana White's controversial Power Slap, league. The contest has been widely criticized for leaving athletes vulnerable to CTE, as they basically take headshots with no chance to defend themselves. Rockhold recently suffered a 12-0 loss in a wrestling match against Colby Covington at RAF 5.