#open-weight-tournament

#open-weight-tournament

The level is crazy – I had to put a lot down to get here. To win, to be a world champion on International Women's Day definitely means a lot, but there are bigger things going on. This feels huge and I am so thankful, but there are bigger things. I just pray for peace.

"This belt will be special if I win it, God willing. It's the belt that Laila Ali, Holly Holm and Amanda Serrano have held. They are legends of the sport."

For me it just came naturally. When I started doing super fights age 14, 15, and it just came naturally to me to just walk confidently into the cage or the mat or wherever I'm fighting,

Unfortunately, I lost the final fight [with Johnson] by points at a great event in Colorado. They offered to renew me [and] I accepted, but from that point on, they greatly reduced their number of MMA bouts. Things were very slow, especially after Demetrious retired.

I think they should keep [the BMF title]. But the only thing about the BMF title, you gotta run it tournament-wise, open weight class. Any person that wants to sign up for it, you can fight for it. But you can fight heavyweight, you can fight flyweight, it don't matter... But you really prove that you're the baddest motherf--er.

Islam, Conor, and Paddy. I'd love to do that - to be the first one [to KO Paddy]. If someone else did it, I can do it too. And if no one did it, I can always be the first to do it.

Early on, Kamikubo repeatedly tried to take the fight to the ground, but the takedown defense of "Mulisha" was able to keep it mainly on the feet. Kamikubo repeatedly got his opponent down as the fight went on and looked for submissions, but both men were bloodied up. Late in the third round, do Nascimento would land a spinning elbow that almost led to a finish.

Russian quasi-MMA league Hype FC released the news on Friday that it would be holding an event on March 11 in Rio de Janeiro. The top of that card will see a submission-only grappling match between "Shara Bullet" Magomedov against Masvidal, with the two tangling for five-to-10 minutes at the Farmasi Arena in Brazil's second-largest city.

The past is the past, let's write a new story, and I'll certainly be going after him with the same determination as the first time. I'll definitely be looking to secure my place in the rankings with another victory. Fans can expect a great war that will propel me up the division's rankings. As always, I'll go in to finish from the start, but if it lasts, I hope to win all three rounds.

Muhammad Mokaev has seemingly been invited back to the UFC, but not to compete in MMA. Mokaev (15-0) recently won the under-65 kilogram title at the English Senior Wrestling Championships in freestyle wrestling. Mokaev claims he has now been offered to fight jiu-jitsu ace Mikey Musumeci for a UFC BJJ title. "I have been offered to compete against Mikey Mussumeci for the UFC BJJ belt. What do you think guys?" Mokaev wrote on X.

Quillan Salkilld burst onto the MMA scene with the kind of poise, power, and finishing instinct rarely seen in a UFC debut, immediately marking himself as a problem for the lightweight division. Shot selection and ruthless efficiency made every moment he was in the cage box office, signaling that his rise isn't a flash in the pan. In a year loaded with strong rookie performances, Salkilld separated himself by looking less like a newcomer and more like a future contender from the moment the lights hit him.

Ranked #10 in the weight class per the UFC's official rankings (Valter Walker himself is at #14), Tybura is 2-2 in his last four bouts and coming off a loss to Ante Delija. The Polish star, a former M-1 heavyweight champ, will hit a decade with the UFC as of April, and has shared the octagon with some of the best, including Fabricio Werdum, Andre Arlovski, Derrick Lewis, Alexander Volkov, and current UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

It's hard not to pick Jiri Procházka's comeback knockout over Rountree Jr. when you consider how brutal those first two rounds were. Rountree appeared to be cruising to a clear decision win, but a brilliantly timed combination flipped the entire fight on its head, giving the former champion one of the year's most dramatic finishes.