Dan Hooker is willing to fight Renato Moicano after his recent comments. Hooker (22-12 MMA, 12-8 UFC), who’s eyeing a return in June, wants Beneil Dariush next – especially after hearing Dariush reciprocate interest. But if Dariush isn’t ready by June, Hooker would be glad to face Moicano (19-5-1 MMA, 11-5 UFC), who took issue with him and Israel Adesanya picking Turner to win in a recent episode of his “Show Me the Money” podcast. “June on that card and if Beneil wants it, I would love to,” Hooker told The AllStar. “I would love to take that fight June, July for International Fight Week. I wi ..read more

PFL’s Middle East expansion will commence with PFL MENA 1. PFL’s debut season in the Middle East takes place May 10 at The Green Halls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and will air on MBC Action and Shahid, promotion officials announced Thursday. Featherweights and bantamweights take center stage for their shot to make the playoffs. The card also will include showcase bouts and an amateur women’s atomweight bout. Scroll below to see the full PFL MENA 1 lineup ..read more

Alex Perez can kick, that’s for sure. The UFC flyweight veteran put his kicking game on full display when he faced Brazil’s Jussier Formiga back at UFC 250 in 2020. Perez just needed one round and several kicks to the leg to put away Formiga in brutal fashion. Perez repeatedly kicked Formiga’s legs until he could no longer stand, forcing the referee to stop the fight for a TKO ruling. You can watch Perez’ Performance of the Night win in the video above. Perez (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) returns to the cage this Saturday in the main event of UFC on ESPN 55, which goes down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas ..read more

Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov is official. Crawford, the 147-pound champion and pound-for-pound king, will be moving up in weight to challenge the WBA 154-pound beltholder on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, it was formally announced on Wednesday. The lead promoter is Riyadh Season, which will be presenting its first event outside of Saudi Arabia. Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov first face-off ahead of Aug 3rd in LA… [@DAZNBoxing] pic.twitter.com/dItUebltq7 — Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) April 24, 2024 “We are delighted for Riyadh Season to host its first overseas event ..read more

LAS VEGAS – Matheus Nicolau has his eyes set on challenging for the UFC flyweight title, and Manel Kape is no longer a stop on that journey. Nicolau (19-4-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) headlines UFC on ESPN 55 (ESPN, ESPN+) at the UFC Apex this Saturday against former title challenger Alex Perez. It will be Nicolau’s first fight in a year, due to Kape being unable to make it to the cage for a pair of bookings. Luckily, Perez (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) stepped up as a replacement. “Right away when we got the news that Manel was out, we got frustrated,” Nicolau told reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “I was thinkin ..read more

The UFC’s upcoming trip to St. Louis now has a co-main event. Joaquin Buckley gets his wish to compete in a key matchup at the event, as he will take on Nursulton Ruziboev in a co-main welterweight bout at UFC on ESPN 56 (ESPN, ESPN+), which takes place May 11 at Enterprise Center. UFC CEO Dana White announced the matchup Wednesday on Instagram. The event is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between former title challenger Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dana White (@danawhite) Although it’s not the main event that Buckley (18-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC ..read more

Jose Aldo is leaving all his options open as he returns from retirement against Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301. Aldo (31-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC), a UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC/WEC featherweight champion, will end his retirement from MMA competition less than 20 months after his previously declared final fight, which was a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278 in August 2020. Many questioned why Aldo, 37, would return to MMA after hanging up the gloves and subsequently competing in a pair of boxing matches, which he said was much easier to train for in terms of physical toll. The ..read more

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has a trial date as he faces a handful of charges, including attempted murder. The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 9 in Santa Clara County (Calif.) court, Judge Elizabeth C. Petersen ruled during a trial setting Wednesday. Velasquez was present at the hearing and was represented by attorney Renee Hessling. Hessling asked for the trial setting to be rescheduled on the basis her recently acquired subpoena evidence was incomplete. District attorney representative Aaron French pushed back, pointing to the several trial-setting continuances over the ..read more

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev doesn’t think it’s the right time to fight former featherweight champ Max Holloway. Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) knocked out Justin Gaethje with a historic last-second finish at UFC 300, eliminating “The Highlight” from the 155-pound title race. Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) defends his title against Dustin Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) in the UFC 302 main event June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. His focus is on Poirier then Arman Tsarukyan, who cemented himself as No. 1 contender by beating Charles Oliveira. “If he beats a couple more guys in ..read more

Alejandra Lara has a new dance partner for her first fight since her release from PFL. The former Bellator title challenger was originally scheduled to take on Lucero Acosta on May 11 at a Combate Global event in Miami. The event and location still stands for Lara (9-7), but she will now meet replacement Gisela Luna after Acosta suffered a fractured meniscus in training. The news was announced Wednesday by the promotion. Lara, a long-time contender in Bellator, was released by the PFL in January following PFL’s purchase of Bellator in late 2023. She didn’t get to debut for PFL. The Colombian f ..read more