5+ day, 9+ hour ago (500+ words) Global soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo recently shared some massive news about Spanish MMA promotion The Way of the Warrior FC. Partially-owned by undefeated UFC Lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria, WOW FC is based out of Madrid, Spain and held its inaugural event back in 2019. After only holding two events during its first two years of existence, the promotion has now established itself as a major proving ground for Spanish and European fighters. Buesa Arena in Basque Country, Spain will host WOW 24: Vitoria this Saturday, and ahead of that event Al-Nassr star Ronaldo announced that he's officially set to become a shareholder in the MMA promotion. Considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time and arguably the most-recognizable athlete in the entire world, Ronaldo has played his club soccer with Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr since 2022. The former Manchester United,…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago (312+ words) WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez will look to defend his 175 lbs title for the first time on November 22, against the seasoned Anthony Yarde. Benavidez is coming off a unanimous decision win against David Morrell in his last outing back in February. Yarde, meanwhile, beat Lyndon Arthur via unanimous decision back in April. Not long after the Morrell win, interim champion Benavidez was promoted since undisputed champion Dmitry Bivol vacated the WBC belt. Benavidez vs Yarde promises fireworks. Benavidez is all about action whenever he fights. Yarde, interestingly, is cut from the same cloth. Twenty-four of his 27 professional wins have come via knockout, and the Brit has heavy hands and has seen it all inside the ring. It's a scintillating contest, to say the least. Ahead of the fight, let's have a look at more details on Benavidez vs Yarde....

2+ hour, 32+ min ago (418+ words) The UFC heavyweight division may be in limbo for longer than anticipated. That's because its champion, Tom Aspinall, is still struggling to recover from a gruesome eye injury suffered at UFC 321 during his fight against Ciryl Gane in October. This incident resulted in the fight being ruled a No Contest, capping off an otherwise exciting card in Abu Dhabi. The biggest loser from the ordeal was Aspinall himself. Speaking to longtime MMA journalist Ariel Helwani of Yahoo Sports' Uncrowned Combat, Aspinall broke down his recovery timeline since the fight transpired alongside his relationship, or lackthereof, with UFC brass. According to Aspinall, the UFC has been radio silent during the fallout from the fight. "[Dana White] hadn't spoken to me, and he was already giving updates on my health. He had no idea what had gone on," Aspinall told Helwani Tuesday....

1+ week, 5+ day ago (430+ words) Top heavyweight contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta will compete for the fifth time this year when he steps in on short notice to fight at UFC Qatar this Saturday. Set to close out a nine-week stretch of consecutive events before the UFC ends 2025 with a pair of cards in December, UFC Qatar marks the promotion's first visit to the country and is headlined by a pivotal lightweight bout between Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker. The card was also supposed to see Serghei Spivac take on Shamil Gaziev in a battle between top heavyweight contenders, but Cortes-Acosta will now step in to replace Spivac and face Gaziev on just 3 days' notice (first reported by Carlos Contreras Legaspi). Following Legaspi's initial report, Cortes-Acosta confirmed the news via both his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Estamos firmes Estamos activos estamos listos Currently the UFC's #6-ranked heavyweight…...

4+ week, 9+ hour ago (539+ words) Kevin Vallejos will look to cap off an incredible first year in the UFC when he takes on top-ranked contender Giga Chikadze at the promotion's final card of the year. The UFC is currently on the tail of a nine-week stretch of consecutive events that began with UFC Perth in September and will close out with the promotion's first visit to Qatar on November 22. After that, only two events will remain on the UFC calendar before 2025 ends and a new deal with Paramount replaces the promotion's current one with ESPN. UFC 323 will take place at T-Mobile Arena on December 6 before the year closes out at the UFC APEX with UFC Vegas 112, and Chikadze recently confirmed that he'll look to snap a two-fight skid when he meets Vallejos at that event (h/t Marcel Dorff). A former kickboxer, Chikadze missed out…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago (463+ words) One week removed from winning his first regional MMA title, Ethyn Ewing is set to make his Octagon debut on extremely short notice at UFC 322. Set to take place at New York City's iconic Madison Square Garden, UFC 322 is topped by a pair of massive title bouts that will see Islam Makhachev and Weili Zhang both try to claim UFC belts in new weight classes when they challenge Jack Della Maddalena and Valentina Shevchenko. The rest of the card is stacked with plenty of intriguing fights, but a scheduled prelim bout between Cody Haddon and Malcolm Wellmaker did undergo a major change the night before weigh-ins when Haddon was forced off UFC 322 due to injury. First reported by Marcel Dorff, Ewing steps in to replace Haddon for a massive opportunity in his short-notice UFC debut. Like UFC 322 headliner Della Maddalena,…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (436+ words) Gable Steveson managed to outdo his MMA debut with an even faster finish in his sophomore outing at Anthony Pettis FC 21. A busy weekend of MMA highlighted by the UFC's first visit to Qatar on Saturday also included plenty of regional action, and on Sunday night Steveson's second MMA bout was promoted to the headlining slot for Anthony Pettis FC 21 ahead of fights for the promotion's welterweight and lightweight titles. Steveson proved that he was more than deserving of the main event spotlight, as he only needed 24 seconds to knock out Kevin Hein and improve his professional MMA record to 2-0. Taking place at the Isleta Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Anthony Pettis FC 21 featured a six-fight main card following a mix of amateur and pro action during the night's prelims. Steveson was competing under the Anthony Pettis FC banner…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago (451+ words) Former UFC two-division champion Jon Jones is holding out hope for his next big fight in a triumphant return to the promotion next year. Jones (28-1, 1 NC MMA) briefly retired this summer, which allowed Tom Aspinall to get promoted to UFC Heavyweight Champion. Aspinall's (15-3, 1 NC MMA) first title defense last month at UFC 321 couldn't have gone worse, as an eye poke from former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Ciryl Gane abruptly ended their main event fight in Abu Dhabi. The fallout from the fight has been interesting, to say the least. Some suggest the fight should have been a disqualification win for Aspinall instead of the ruled No Contest outcome. Regardless, despite not defending or losing his heavyweight title, Aspinall maintained the belt as he awaits successful recovery from the eye poke. Jones, meanwhile, recently dismissed Aspinall's performance in a sit-down interview…...

4+ week, 1+ hour ago (433+ words) In the latest twist to the cancelled boxing match between Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis, former UFC star Nate Diaz claims he's agreed to step in the ring for a rematch with Paul. With only one fight under his belt so far this year, influencer-turned-boxer Paul was slated to return to the ring for a second time later this month to take on boxing star Davis in an exhibition bout at Kaseya Center in Miami, FL. Davis has officially pulled out of the fight after being handed a civil lawsuit from an ex-girlfriend in yet another legal scandal for "Tank, leaving Paul without an opponent for a Netflix boxing event that was also supposed to see former UFC titleholders Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman square off in a trilogy fight. There's been plenty of talk and speculation regarding who might…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago (377+ words) Bahrain-based BRAVE Combat Federation celebrates a historic milestone this Friday (November 7) when BRAVE CF 100 takes place at Khalifa Sports City in Isa Town, Bahrain. The main event will see Borislav Nikoli" attempt to defend his bantamweight title for the first time when he faces Bahrain's Hamza Kooheji. Nikoli" submitted Nicholas Hwende to win the bantamweight belt in June and extended his finishing streak to four fights, while Kooheji comes into the title fight after picking up back-to-back finishes last year. BRAVE CF gold will also be on the line in the co-main event, as former top-ranked UFC contender Muhammad Mokaev is set to square off with Gerard Burns in a matchup that will crown the promotion's inaugural flyweight champion. BRAVE CF 100 was supposed to feature one additional title fight between recently-inducted BRAVE Hall of Famer Mohammad Fakhreddine and Alex Lohor,…...