Speaking on his YouTube channel, the UFC featherweight champion broke down the sequence and explained why he believed the veteran referee should have intervened much earlier.

“This is going to happen,” Volkanovski said. “We’re fighters. You hurt someone, you go for the finish. This stuff’s going to happen because you’re trying to go for the finish, and you’re just, you know, you’re going for it. I’m not saying that he did it on purpose, but I felt like the refs, maybe, you know, Herb, you know, I love you, mate, but I feel like you should have been pretty vocal. ‘Watch the back of the head.’

“I remember looking and seeing a couple of them, and he wasn’t. And I’m like, he’s not even telling him to watch the back of the head. I’m like, what’s going on here, type thing? But that’s how many shots to the back of the head were happening, that I would have seen a couple, then looked at the ref to see if he was even saying anything. Oh, he’s not even saying anything. Looking back, man, he’s still going. I kept looking back. Like, well, I’m talking. There was a decent amount of time with a lot of shots to the back of the head.”

For Volkanovski, the biggest issue wasn’t necessarily that Ciryl Gane intended to land those illegal back-of-the-head strikes. Instead, the featherweight champion implied that Herb Dean’s failure to issue any visible warning seemingly allowed the Frenchman to land a few more punishing shots that ended the fight.

Alexander Volkanovski comes to Alex Pereira's defense amid the recent back-of-the-head shots controversy

"Herb, I love you but you should have been pretty vocal… I don't want to throw shade on people but there was a lot of back of the head shots.

If it was someone I didn't… pic.twitter.com/xfhMmALu4o

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 23, 2026

During the fight, after a knockdown, Gane unleashed a barrage of elbows to the Brazilian’s head while Pereira desperately attempted to recover from the knockdown. However, the veteran referee did not appear to verbally alert the Frenchman to the foul he was committing amid the chaos of the high-stakes action. Without any warning, Gane continued to let his hands go and repeatedly targeted the back of Pereira’s head with his elbows and fists.

Interestingly, Dana White also pointed out something similar during the UFC Vegas 119 post-fight press conference, saying Dean should’ve at least tried to call out the fouls, if not entirely stop the bout. However, the UFC head honcho had a far more measured reaction compared to Jorge Masvidal, who called Dean “the worst referee in MMA.”

Volkanovski took the argument a step further and suggested that those shots may have directly impacted Alex Pereira’s ability to recover.

Alexander Volkanovski believes the illegal shots derailed Alex Pereira’s recovery

One of the main complaints Alex Pereira had regarding the illegal strike saga was that the Brazilian legend believed he would have recovered after Gane knocked him down with a jab. In his first response after the loss, ‘Poatan’ claimed that the fight could’ve played out differently if the illegal strikes hadn’t delayed his recovery. At first, Pereira’s take was met with plenty of skepticism. But upon closer inspection, many, including Alexander Volkanovski, believe there is some substance behind Pereira’s claim.

“I’m not taking it away from Gane,” ‘The Great’ added in his video. “I feel like maybe if Herb was saying, ‘Watch the back of the head,’ he would have maybe thought, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize I was hitting him there,’ and maybe he would think, or he would try better to get around. Could there be a different outcome if you hurt Pereira? Because he was obviously doing the right stuff to recover. So he was on his way to recover until there were a lot of other shots.

“And I explained where I thought those shots were landing. Then he was getting wobbled and wobbled. And you get direct contact on the brain like this, so that’s going to be hard to recover from. So it’s a tricky one, man. I don’t want to throw shade on people. But, I mean, there were a lot of shots to the back of the head.”

Though Volkanovski didn’t explicitly say that Pereira would’ve turned around the fight against Gane, still, he at least believes the former two-division UFC champion was on the right track to recover. But beyond that, Pereira’s past performances have also shown his ability to recover from adversity and still emerge victorious. Israel Adesanya wobbled Pereira in the first round, before the Brazilian rallied to secure a late finish in their middleweight clash at UFC 281.

At UFC 307, Khalil Rountree also dropped the former champion before Pereira regained control and secured a fourth-round stoppage victory. So, Alex Pereira’s belief that he could have recovered against Gane likely stems from previous experiences where he overcame similar moments of danger.

With Alexander Volkanovski now publicly backing Alex Pereira’s stance, the controversy surrounding Herb Dean’s officiating has only grown bigger. As of now, Pereira has even considered stepping away from the sport, hinting at a possible retirement. But with the conversation now gaining momentum, it will be interesting to see what steps the UFC and the commission take to address the issue.

The post Alexander Volkanovski Defends Alex Pereira’s Stance Against Herb Dean Amid Illegal Strikes Controversy appeared first on EssentiallySports.

“Alex is out—he’s at HW,” he wrote on X. “Jamahal is out too—also at HW. That theoretically puts me at No. 5. While Carlos heals from surgery, a tournament could be Magomed vs. Khalil and Jiri vs. Paulo. That leaves me as the next man up.

“I fight someone around No. 9, or the true No. 7 in Azamat. Ideally, I’m the backup fighter for one of those tournament fights. If we all end up on the same card, that’s what would make the most sense. Just a thought Experiment.”

This mathematical path became available to Dominick Reyes thanks to the promotion’s brand-new “Meta UFC Rankings.” This new ranking system is a data-driven AI system built by Meta that fully replaces the previous media-voted panel. Also, it will be updated every Monday following the most recent event.

However, just a day into its debut, it has already created controversy with some dramatic shifts. One clear example was Alex Pereira debuting at No. 4 in the heavyweight rankings, just one fight into the division, and that, too, was a controversial knockout loss, as well as holding the No.1 spot in the light heavyweight division.

Alex is out—he’s at HW. Jamahal is out too—also at HW. That theoretically puts me at No. 5.

While Carlos heals from surgery, a tournament could be Magomed vs. Khalil and Jiri vs. Paulo. That leaves me as the next man up. I fight someone around No. 9, or the true No. 7 in Azamat.… pic.twitter.com/TrArCDCtkC

— Dominick Reyes (@DomReyes) June 22, 2026

Meanwhile, in the light heavyweight category, Jamahal Hill, who hasn’t won since January 2023, was ranked at No. 5, a spot ahead of Khalil Rountree Jr., despite Rountree defeating Hill last June.

But despite it all, Dominick Reyes realized he’s sitting pretty in the updated hierarchy with the number 7 spot. And, while his tournament-style concept sounds exciting, matchmakers have already poked holes in his bracket.

For starters, Magomed Ankalaev vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. is no longer a hypothetical fight; it has been confirmed as the main event for UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25. Then comes number 10-ranked Bogdan Guskov, who is scheduled to face Jan Błachowicz on August 1 at UFC Belgrade.

That leaves Jiří Procházka and Paulo Costa as the only top dogs left standing. ‘Denisa’ has been quite inactive since losing the vacant light heavyweight title to Carlos Ulberg at UFC 327, while Costa, who recently knocked out Azamat Murzakanov, has let his fight plans be known.

“I have a bunch of fights, great fights, great matches to do,” he said in a video he shared on his Instagram. “I want to fight as soon as possible. I think August is an amazing date, even July.

“So let’s move on. I can fight middleweight, light heavyweight, even heavyweight, Ok.”

Volkan Oezdemir is also sitting without a booked fight, meaning a makeshift bracket may still materialize, even though the UFC hasn’t used a true tournament system since Royce Gracie’s wild, multi-fight-night era back in the 1990s.

It is also worth noting that while a grand prix on a single event sounds like an MMA fan’s fantasy, the reality is that if Dana White actually listened to Dominick Reyes and booked it, the fans would probably protest ‘The Devastator’ being anywhere near it.

Why fight fans would want no part of Dominick Reyes in his own tournament experiment

The tournament idea is great on paper, but Dominick Reyes is currently missing momentum and fan hype. Sure, he technically went back in the win column at UFC 327 in Miami by defeating Johnny Walker by decision, but the bout was such a snooze fest that it made the entire commentary booth hate their jobs.

During the broadcast, the lack of action was so brutal that Jon Anik couldn’t hold back but let his thoughts be known.

“Not much to commentate here,” the UFC commentator said midway through the final round.

Joe Rogan did not hold back either, totally destroying the fight on the live mic.

“It’s just so cautious, so cautious,” Rogan added. “This fight sucks… a lot of calf kicks.”

So, while Dominick Reyes did walk away with a split decision win, it did nothing to make fans want to see him in a high-stakes title eliminator.

‘The Devastator’ may see himself as the logical backup fighter or the perfect dance partner for an unbooked killer like Volkan Oezdemir or Azamat Murzakanov, but until he brings some actual destruction back into the Octagon, his tournament masterplan will most likely be limited to the depths of MMA Twitter.

The post Rankings Update Makes LHW Contender Propose Tournament-Esque Matchups Amid Carlos Ulberg’s Medical Setback appeared first on EssentiallySports.

“It’s crazy because they were in the same camp,” Evans said about a potential fight between Hokit and Gable Steveson. “And speaking of Hokit, they are in the same camp, and Hokit was like, ‘Look, if we lock up, as far as the same team training together, I wouldn’t mind going to a different weight class. Hokit said that… No, he [doesn’t] want to fight a teammate. 

“Nah, he said he’s down to be a team player. He said he’s with that… That’s what I guess the whole Jackson’s, you know…”

While there are no public records of Josh Hokit claiming he wouldn’t fight Gable Steveson, Evans may have been referring to a conversation that took place behind closed doors. Still, it’s not unrealistic to imagine a potential fight between Hokit and Steveson. The two share several similarities beyond being undrafted NFL players and having wrestling backgrounds.

For instance, while Hokit already has four UFC fights under his belt, Steveson was only signed by the promotion in May this year. That makes a future clash between the two a realistic possibility. But after hearing Rashad Evans’ claim that he had refused to fight Steveson altogether, ‘The Incredible Hok’ was quick to step in and dismiss it as false.

Rashad… what are we even talking about buddy… I never said this lol We aren’t teammates & he doesn’t even train in Albuquerque at JacksonWink… so nice try lol https://t.co/XeWnA1DuDY

— The Incredible Hok (@Josh_HokitUFC) June 22, 2026

“Rashad… what are we even talking about, buddy… I never said this lol,” he wrote on X. “We aren’t teammates & he doesn’t even train in Albuquerque at Jackson Wink… so nice try lol.”

Although the first part of Hokit’s comment might be true, the second half has a bit of nuance to it. 

Are Josh Hokit and Gable Steveson teammates? 

According to several sources, Steveson and Hokit both train out of Jackson Wink MMA in Albuquerque. Even Jon Jones, Steveson’s mentor, trained at the gym for years before parting ways with it. He later moved to Jackson’s MMA Acoma, a Greg Jackson-affiliated gym that operates separately from the main Jackson Wink facility run alongside Mike Winkeljohn.

Steveson and Jones have also trained together on several occasions, with clips of their sessions circulating on social media. However, those workouts appear to have taken place at different locations, including The Performance Ranch in Albuquerque. Even so, that doesn’t change the fact that Hokit and Steveson appear to be teammates. 

In a November 2025 interview with Ariel Helwani, Hokit revealed that he had sparred with Steveson, saying, “When we trained, it was real solid work. Real respectful on both ends.” While sparring together alone doesn’t necessarily make them teammates, the available information about their training bases strongly suggests that they are.

It’s also worth noting, however, that Steveson has trained at several other gyms like Syndicate in Las Vegas and Kill Cliff FC in South Florida. At the end of the day, the only people who can provide more clarity to the situation are the people involved. 

The post Josh Hokit Accuses UFC Legend of Lying Over Potential Fight Against Jon Jones’ Protege, Gable Steveson appeared first on EssentiallySports.

“Put himself in that position, not be the boss,” St-Pierre said on TheBreakTalk. “Let your coach be the boss because when you fight, it’s a very unpleasant environment. You don’t control nothing. There’s a lot of stuff that happens. You try to control as much of the things that you can control, but there’s a lot of stuff that you do not control. So you want to recreate that environment.

“But if you’re trying to always control everything in your training the way you want and not let your coaches do that for you, to put you in hell, that’s a problem because it isn’t reality. You need to prepare yourself for something that resembles, as much as you can, what you’re going to be put into.”

For the most part, Conor McGregor has maintained a cordial relationship with his coaches. Training out of SBG Ireland, the former two-division champion has long worked alongside John Kavanagh, boxing coach Owen Roddy, and other notable coaches who helped guide him to UFC gold. Despite having such an experienced team around him, McGregor has often been viewed as someone who likes to dictate his own training camps.

Back when McGregor was preparing for his comeback against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, his head coach, John Kavanagh, made a surprising admission. Speaking to The Mac Life in 2020, Kavanagh claimed that ‘The Notorious’ possessed a fight IQ and understanding of the game that often exceeded their expectations. As a result, the SBG Ireland coach suggested that there were times when McGregor pushed the coaching staff “out of the way” so he could train the way he likes.

Georges St. Pierre says it could be ‘a problem’ for Conor McGregor if he doesn’t allow his coaches to ‘be the boss’ in fight camp

“He needs to put himself into that position, not be the boss, let your coach be the boss. Because when you fight, it’s a very unpleasant… pic.twitter.com/fzRXkEh2jM

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) June 22, 2026

Following Kavanagh’s comments, many interpreted them as a sign that the former two-division champion was deviating from his team’s mentorship. However, in an interview with MMA Fighting, McGregor’s head coach later clarified that the team only helps the Irishman sharpen techniques that he feels are right for a particular fight. In fact, Kavanagh also stressed that McGregor is not the one deciding every aspect of the day-to-day training schedule and assured that he’s still in charge of that.

Even so, criticism surrounding McGregor’s camp continued to build. Back in 2022, when the Irishman began posting training footage while recovering from his broken leg, Henry Cejudo took aim at his technique. ‘Triple C’ pointed out what he believed were flaws in McGregor’s stance and urged him to get rid of the “yes men” around him, essentially implying that his coaching team was not doing their job as well as they should.

While doubts continue to surround Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon, not everyone is a skeptic. Another UFC legend and GSP’s former rival has actually backed the former champion’s mindset, believing it could end up making a major difference when he finally steps back into competition.

Michael Bisping backs Conor McGregor’s mindset to fuel a huge comeback at UFC 329

Ahead of his comeback, Conor McGregor is facing doubts about whether he’s actually taking the fight seriously. However, the former middleweight champion, Michael Bisping, believes there’s no doubt about the Irishman’s mentality on pushing himself for the upcoming showdown.

Well, Bisping formed that opinion based on his own experience, believing McGregor can get himself back into proper shape through the same strong mindset that helped him do the same.

“This is a guy where I’ve been far from always seeing eye-to-eye with Conor McGregor,” he said. “We’ve gone at each other and stuff like that. But if you can’t see what he was able to do as a human being, you can change a lot and undo a lot of damage to your body. You can get really, really out of shape. I used to do it. I was a bit of a partier myself, and I would get in crazy shape for my fight. If you want it, this is the most powerful thing: the mind. You can’t doubt that McGregor’s got a strong mind.”

When it comes to being ready for a clash, Bisping set an example by answering the UFC’s call on just 17 days’ notice to fight for a world title against a rematch with Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 and win. That’s why Bisping knows firsthand how far a strong mindset can take a fighter. On top of that, McGregor’s good friend and training partner, Dillon Danis, recently revealed that the Irishman is practically living in the gym as he prepares for UFC 329.

As Conor McGregor gets set to face Max Holloway once again, his performance on fight night will ultimately reveal whether he has put in the work throughout training camp. But considering the former two-division champion has already promised to put on a good show, the audience will expect nothing less than an all-out war between the two strikers.

The post UFC GOAT Georges St-Pierre Offers Conor McGregor Crucial Advice for Max Holloway Fight appeared first on EssentiallySports.

The recent shuffle in the middleweight division, which saw Sean Strickland beat Chimaev and become a champion for the second time, gives Dricus Du Plessis an opening to reclaim his lost championship. However, the path to the matchup in the UFC’s official return to Oklahoma City for the first time since 2017 was far from straightforward, as he stressed recently. In sharp contrast to his enthusiasm, the UFC apparently needed a little more persuasion to secure Usman’s appearance.

“I know he didn’t want to sign the contract. I know that for a fact. You know, I spoke to the UFC, and they said, ‘We finally convinced him to sign.’ If you need convincing to sign, that’s a problem,” Du Plessis said on Fight Forecast. “But I can’t blame him. I would also not want to fight myself right now. It would be the smart move not to sign the fight, but you know, let’s go.”

While the exact details of those discussions remain unknown, Du Plessis’ comments point to the way the Nigerian-American fighter initially viewed the matchup. Beyond reflecting Du Plessis’ confidence in his own abilities, the remarks also align with concerns Kamaru Usman had previously expressed about the fight.

Speaking with friend and Pound4Pound co-host Henry Cejudo, Usman explained that Du Plessis had initially been presented to him as an alternate opponent. However, he appeared hesitant because, at this stage of his career, he wants to compete in fights that are “meaningful” to him, which, in his view, means positioning himself for another title shot.

Following his welterweight title defense against Colby Covington in 2021, Usman endured a three-fight losing streak that included back-to-back losses to Leon Edwards before a closely contested defeat to Khamzat Chimaev that also marked his middleweight debut. After a break that lasted nearly two years, Usman returned to welterweight in June 2025, when he secured a dominant decision win over Joaquin Buckley.

The fact that the matchup with Du Plessis marks his return to 185 pounds could be one of the reasons why there might have been a hesitation on his part that required a nudge from the UFC.

This isn’t the first time the South African has raised this point. More than a week ago, following reports suggesting DDP would headline the UFC Oklahoma City card opposite Kamaru Usman, the South African had claimed, “A little someone agreed to a fight, but actually signing the dotted line isn’t that easy when you know you’re just signing for a show purse.”

According to the former middleweight champion, it basically meant that Usman knew that he would lose and hence did not want to accept the fight just for the “show” money.

Dricus du Plessis vs. Kamaru Usman follows a similar pattern

It took another ten days before official confirmation about Kamaru Usman’s participation in the event was announced.

The prolonged wait for an official announcement also brought to mind a few recent occasions when the UFC took longer than expected to finalize major headliners.

One of the most notable examples was UFC 300. Despite putting together a stacked card months in advance, the promotion reportedly struggled to finalize a main event for its landmark April 2024 event. As speculation intensified, fans increasingly wondered who would ultimately headline the historic event.

The suspense ended on February 17, roughly two months before the card took place, when Dana White announced that Alex Pereira would defend his light heavyweight title against Jamahal Hill.

A similar situation unfolded ahead of UFC 317 as well. The promotion heavily marketed International Fight Week well in advance but waited until mid-May to officially confirm a headliner. The delay prompted weeks of speculation before Dana White eventually revealed Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title as the headliner.

Notably, both of those cases involved numbered pay-per-view events, whereas Du Plessis and Usman are set to headline a Fight Night card.

Now, with less than four weeks to go before the event unfolds in Oklahoma City, the doubts have finally been put to rest. Fans can turn their attention to what could be an interesting matchup between two former champions that has been building for months.

The post Dricus Du Plessis Claims UFC Had to Convince Unwilling Kamaru Usman for Oklahoma City Fight appeared first on EssentiallySports.

“Bo Nickal takes on Max McEnelly August 22 in Cleveland at RAF12,” Real American Wrestling announced on X on Monday. 

The pair will headline a card at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. And believe it or not, there’s quite the backstory to Nickal’s participation in the event. Nickal was on the card when the promotion kicked off its first-ever event in August last year. He defeated four-time NCAA Division I Qualifier Jacob Cardenas and became the promotion’s inaugural light heavyweight champion. 

THIS MATCH UP

Bo Nickal takes on Max McEnelly August 22 in Cleveland at RAF12.

Tickets in bio. Stream exclusively on @foxnation pic.twitter.com/loEWdeb5pZ

— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) June 22, 2026

He was then set to defend his title against former UFC star Yoel Romero at RAF 04, but had to pull out of the fight. Yet the promotion really wanted this fight to happen, so they booked it again for RAF 05. As it turns out, this time Romero missed weight and Nickal became the undisputed champion. Now, whether by chance or as a planned thing, Nickal is returning for the first anniversary of the promotion. 

While that’s all well and good, Nickal’s opponent, Max McEnelly, is no easy hurdle to jump over. 

Who else is on the RAF 12 card? 

There’s no doubt that Nickal himself has accolades to back his championship claim. However, McEnelly isn’t far behind. A four-time state champion in his Minnesota high school, McEnelly eventually became an NCAA champion at 184 pounds in his sophomore campaign. If he can secure a win over someone like Nickal, it could be a signal to the UFC itself for a contract. 

Similarly, if Nickal wins, he could face the promotion’s current light heavyweight champion, Kyle Snyder, who is also an NCAA wrestling champion and Olympic gold medalist. Nickal was stripped of the belt when the promotion changed the weight class limit from 205 lbs to 215 lbs. 

The UFC allows its fighters to compete in the RAF since the latter is not their direct competitor. And it also allows the fighters to stay active, improve wrestling, and make additional money without breaking the exclusivity part of their contract. As for who else is fighting on the card, no other bouts have been revealed. 

With that said, Bo Nickal will have to move carefully. Although a loss won’t affect his UFC record, it’s not a good look for a fighter bouncing off his first career loss at the hands of Reinier de Ridder in May last year. 

The post White House Fight Winner Books Next Match Outside UFC appeared first on EssentiallySports.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Ian Garry claimed that the welterweight champion was actually the one who turned down a matchup against Ilia Topuria for the June 14 UFC Freedom 250 event.

“They spoke to me about how they needed to do their due diligence and put on one of the biggest fights they possibly could, which was Ilia versus Islam at the White House,” Garry said. “Islam turned it down, to my knowledge, from what I’ve been told. And here we are. Do you know what I mean? The right fight has been made. The fight that should be fought. And we get it on August 15, my friend.”

As Garry pointed out, the UFC actually considered a superfight between Topuria and Makhachev before ultimately settling on Justin Gaethje for the June 14th event. However, as the Irishman directly accused the Dagestani of lying about the failed negotiations, the reports show contradictory statements from both camps, which suggest that negotiations had not gone smoothly from either side.

Among several social media posts, Topuria accused Makhachev and his team of “making up stories” to avoid fighting him. The former lightweight champion even claimed that Makhachev pointed to his alleged hand injury to turn down the fight. But Islam Makhachev later flipped the script and claimed the lightweight star’s team had demanded a massive purse for the fight.

According to the 170-pound champion, he accepted the fight offer without hesitation and said that his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, had actively negotiated the deal. Makhachev claimed the discussions eventually fell apart after Topuria’s team requested a substantial amount of money for the superfight. While the negotiation saga continued to grow more complicated, Dana White added another complex layer to the story by stating that Topuria vs. Makhachev was never seriously considered for the UFC White House card because of the Dagestani champion’s hand injury.  But once again, Makhachev disputed the UFC CEO’s version of events.

Ian Garry says Islam Makhachev turned down an official offer to fight him in May at UFC 328

He also says the UFC informed him that they were trying to make Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria at the White House, but Islam also turned that down

“They told me that they needed to… pic.twitter.com/oQudMD9R80

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 22, 2026

The 34-year-old insisted that he was not injured and even claimed he could provide messages between himself and his manager to prove his side. Amid all the confusion, Ilia Topuria’s manager, Malki Kawa, appeared on the Anik & Florian Show and confirmed that the UFC had indeed approached them about a potential fight against Makhachev, which they initially accepted. However, after the promotion failed to meet their lofty financial expectations, Kawa implied that the superfight ultimately fell apart, and they instead agreed to face Gaethje.

In that case, Kawa’s admission that the deal collapsed because the UFC could not meet their asking price does lend some support to Makhachev’s version of the story. Later, Islam Makhachev claimed in an interview that Topuria’s team had requested a staggering $20 million for the fight that fizzled out the discussions.

Now, that’s not the only thing Garry has accused Makhachev of. The Irishman also claimed that the reigning welterweight champion had turned down opportunities to fight him multiple times before finally agreeing to the UFC 330 showdown.  

Ian Garry claims Islam Makhachev rejected a fight Offer for a major event

For a while, Islam Makhachev’s next title defense against Ian Garry remained one of the most likely matchups that many believed would eventually happen. Now, the fight is only a few months away from taking place at UFC 330 on August 15 in Philadelphia.

Though Makhachev’s first title defense at welterweight is set for one of the biggest events of the year, Ian Garry claims that the UFC offered him opportunities to fight the champion in January, April, and even in May at UFC 328 in Newark, where Sean Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev.

“I was told I was next in January,” Garry added in the same interview. “There were talks about April. Then there was an official offer put out for May 9, which he turned down for Newark. I threw out the idea of International Fight Week. They said they had Fight Week. We deserve to be the main event. Obviously, they had Conor and Max planned for that, which is huge. And then, yeah, it just ended up… Eventually, it was no.”

To be fair, Islam Makhachev and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, have both stated that the UFC did approach them regarding a fight in January. However, very little has been revealed regarding the welterweight champion potentially fighting in April or in May at Newark, other than Makhachev saying that he would prefer to compete in the month after Ramadan.

But it is also true that Makhachev’s camp wanted to fight in July, even though Dana White maintained that his return would likely take place in August because of the hand injury.

In that case, after months of accusing the welterweight champion of ducking him, Ian Garry has definitely launched some fresh accusations against Islam Makhachev before they eventually meet inside the Octagon in Philadelphia. That said, it will be interesting to see what kind of response the Dagestan native has in store for the Irishman as the buildup to UFC 330 continues.

The post Ian Garry Accuses Islam Makhachev of Lying About Ilia Topuria, Dana White appeared first on EssentiallySports.

In the event opener, Diego Lopes faced off against Steve Garcia. After one and a half rounds of battle, the Brazilian-Mexican featherweight managed to secure a knockout win over Garcia, who was on a seven-fight win streak. Now, after teasing a move up to 155 lbs for weeks leading up to the UFC Freedom 250, Lopes has finally revealed that he intends to move up to lightweight permanently with his next bout.

“I’m open to moving up to 155. I wasn’t expecting to be at 145 now. So I talked to UFC this week about moving to 155. UFC liked the idea,” Lopes told Ariel Helwani. “Of course, it wasn’t the best option for us. I want to fight as soon as possible. So I can fight next month if it’s possible. 155, for me, is the best option now. Because I think the ranking has a great fight for me. For my style too. So I think for me, 155 can put a great show for everyone.

“So if UFC said, ‘Ok, you keep at 145,’ Ok, I’ll keep at 145.’ But if they say, ‘OK, what’s the best chance for you to move to 155? I hope to move to 155.’”

Contrary to what Lopes says, it’s not the best option for him. Instead, it’s the only option for him. He hasn’t fought in bantamweight since 2018. If he remains at featherweight, he has no future for a title shot since Alexander Volkanovski defeated him twice already. So a climb up the rankings makes no difference at this point. That leaves him with only one option. That is to move up in weight to 155 lbs.

Diego Lopes hopes his next fight is at lightweight:

"I'm open to moving up to 155. I talked to the UFC, and they like the idea.

I want to fight as soon as possible. I can fight next month if that's possible.

I think there are some great fights for me in the rankings,… pic.twitter.com/DYf5LpHLCy

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 22, 2026

In lightweight, things would be much easier for Lopes since he wouldn’t have to cut the weight as much. It’ll also be closer to his walkaround weight of 160 lbs. For now, though, the Brazilian hasn’t decided who he wants to face at 155 lbs. 

“No, not really,” Lopes added. “I think everyone in the top six, top five, is a good fight for me.”

The top five in lightweight include Ilia Topuria, Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, and Benoît Saint Denis. Two of the fighters are currently scheduled for fights, leaving Ilia Topuria, Arman Tsarukyan, and Charles Oliveira. Topuria recently lost, so he is not coming back anytime soon. Arman Tsarukyan is trying to set up a fight against champion Justin Gaethje. 

As such, only Oliveira remains, but it’s yet to be seen whether the UFC would give him that fight as his debut at lightweight. In any case, when he does come to the lightweight division, he has already shown that he can easily make weight.

Diego Lopes’ unprecedented double weigh-in

Fans who watched the White House card weigh-ins must have noticed the Brazilian weighed in twice. If you were wondering why, the UFC confirmed that Lopes replaced Arman Tsarukyan as the backup for the main event fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje. 

“My manager saw that Arman was not coming to fight week to be the backup, so I just told him, ‘What do you think about texting Hunter and asking to be the backup?” Lopes told Helwani. “I texted Hunter. Hunter said, ‘Hey, are you serious?’ I said, ‘If you need it, I can do this.’”

So when he made weight twice for the UFC Freedom 250 on Saturday morning at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C., once at 146 and then about an hour later at 154 lbs, he became the first fighter in UFC history to successfully weigh in for two different fights in two different weight classes in the same event.

According to Lopes, his team helped him tremendously to get the job done. After his own win in the first fight of the night, Diego Lopes was ready for a second bout if the need arose. And he wasn’t kidding. 

“I would never make a joke like that,” Lopes added. “I’m here. The people know me. This is not the first time I’ve done crazy things in my career.”

And for his troubles, the UFC paid him extra for stepping in as the official main event backup fighter. While Diego Lopes has managed to butter up the UFC with his move to offer up as a backup despite fighting on the same card, only time will tell whether the UFC returns the favor by allowing him to move up.

The post UFC White House Star Eyes New Division After Being Paid Extra for Weighing-In Twice appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Speaking with JNMEDIA UK, the 32-year-old Brit confessed that he tore his LCL six weeks prior to the event. But instead of being told to rest up, he claims he was given a brutal ultimatum by the Dana White-led promotion instead.

“I torn me LCL, six weeks out,” he said. “The next day I woke up, and I got a call off my manager: ‘Do you wanna fight on UFC London?’ I said, ‘I can’t even train; I need to rehab my knee.’ And I was told if I don’t accept the fight, maybe I don’t get any fights in a long time; maybe I don’t get any favorable matchups coming forward.

“‘It’s gonna be tough for us, either fighting or sitting at the bench.’ And I’m like, ‘I can’t even spar, I can’t even…’ But I thought, ‘I’ve done this before.'”

Shem Rock eventually entered the cage compromised, resulting in a lopsided decision loss to Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady. While some may consider this an excuse, it is worth noting that his claim lines up with what former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington said before leaving the company and retiring from MMA last month.

Before his retirement, Colby Covington tried to expose the UFC for freezing out fighters when they don’t go with their ideas.

“You have no say (in what happens),” Covington said during a livestream with N3on. “Hunter Campbell, who is like the UFC lawyer, he kind of just tells you what direction they’re gonna go and it’s either you take it or leave it, so you don’t really get a choice what you want to do.

“They just leave you and ice you; they won’t give you fights. They’ll let you just sit out and say, ‘Hey, you turned down this fight; now you’re not gonna fight for the year; we’re not gonna make money.’ They just freeze you out.”

According to ‘Chaos,’ all this pressure is built to make the fighter accept the fight.

Shem Rock Claims For UFC London He Had a Torn LCL And Was Told If He Did Not Accept The Fight Maybe He Won’t Get Any More Favorable Matchups or Not Fight For a While And Decided To Still Fight

: Shem Rock IG pic.twitter.com/ymBDTy7kNb

— Kevin (@realkevink) June 23, 2026

“You’re forced,” he added. “Even if it’s not a good move and you don’t think you’re getting paid what you deserve, it doesn’t matter; they say either accept it and be a company man, or we’ll ice you and you don’t get to make money.”

And unfortunately for Paddy Pimblett‘s teammate, the gamble to fight with an LCL injury completely backfired, and he was dropped by the promotion in April with a record of 0-2 in the promotion.

What lies ahead for Shem Rock after his brutal exit from the UFC?

The submission expert entered the UFC last year with high expectations after a dominant run in OKTAGON and as a close teammate of Paddy Pimblett. However, he lost his debut to Nurullo Aliev at UFC Qatar in November before the disastrous night in London.

To make matters worse, it wasn’t just the loss to Al-Selwady that possibly sealed his fate, but also the post-fight meltdown that made headlines. After Al-Selwady refused to shake his hand due to pre-fight trash talk, an enraged Shem Rock struck him after the final bell.

And as we all know, the UFC’s top brass has no patience for such violence following a loss. As a result, the Irishman was removed from the active roster, along with veteran Pedro Munhoz, who, unlike Rock, voluntarily asked for his exit.

While Shem Rock has yet to sign with a new MMA promotion since his release, his former peer Colby Covington has proven there is life after the Octagon. ‘Chaos’ has entirely shifted his focus to the wrestling world, recently moving to 3-0 in the Real American Freestyle (RAF) after defeating Chris Weidman.

Now, the former UFC champion is all geared up to headline RAF 11 against UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan on July 18, 2026, in Milwaukee.

Given that Shem Rock has 9 submission wins on his 12-3-1 MMA record, taking his grappling skills to the RAF mats could be the best move he makes. It would certainly beat sitting on the bench, waiting for a phone call that may never come.

The post Fired UFC Fighter Claims He Was Pressured to Fight Despite Injury appeared first on EssentiallySports.

In a new video posted to Meta’s Instagram page, the head honcho went straight to the point while revealing why the promotion decided to focus solely on algorithms and machine learning.

“Well, I think the old ranking system was a combination of laziness, bias, and no knowledge of the actual sport,” Dana White said. “I mean, all I care about is that the rankings are fair; they’re as close to perfect as possible.”

This technological update was honestly long overdue for Dana White, who had been against the subjective media voting panel for years. In fact, the head honcho did not shy away from speaking time and again against the old system.

One such breaking point came after UFC 307, when the media kept light heavyweight contender Khalil Rountree Jr. at No. 8, despite the fact that he pushed champion Alex Pereira to the brink in an all-out war.

“The morons strike again,” White wrote in his Instagram story. “Khalil Rountree fights that bada– fight against Pereira, and the morons rank him No. 8—keep him at No. 8. Literally this week, I have a meeting to try to fix the rankings and get all those know-nothing motherf—— out of it. So, hopefully this week I get this fixed.

“I can’t handle incompetence. I can’t take it anymore; it’s driving me crazy. And I can’t let people that I don’t believe know what the f— they are talking about deal with the rankings anymore. I just can’t do it. I have to figure out a solution.”

Now, finally, the software officially runs the show. The new system updates every Monday after an event, combining statistical modeling and machine learning with the UFC’s internal MMA expertise.

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And unlike it being a popularity contest, it actually tracks actual measures such as win types, fighter activity, and recent momentum to guarantee that a fighter’s ranking accurately reflects true performance. At least that’s what Meta claims in the press release.

“The system combines statistical modeling and machine learning with the deep domain expertise of the UFC,” the press release read. “It evaluates a comprehensive set of objective metrics, including outcome probability, win type, fighter trajectory, and weight-class sensitivities.”

While fans can still toggle back to the old media poll on the website, the computer code has become the official law of the land as far as the promotion is concerned—and the UFC roster surely has some serious thoughts about the change.

Dana White’s newly introduced algorithm has the UFC roster divided

As soon as the computer model ran the calculations, the weight classes got truly shaken up, and fighters’ reactions were all over the place. On one hand, fighters who had benefited greatly from the new system were ecstatic.

UFC Bantamweight star Luana Santos‘ recent win over Karol Rosa shot her up to No. 3 in the world, and she made sure she celebrated the new spot by posting about it on social media. “I’M NUMBER 3 IN THE WORLD! ,” she wrote.

Middleweight finisher Gregory Rodrigues also celebrated his new No. 9 ranking.

“UFC released its new AI-powered rankings by Meta today. I’m now ranked #9 in the middleweight division. Good to see the work being recognized. But I’m not done yet. It’s about time,” he wrote on Instagram.

Featherweight Patrick Sabatini (now No. 7) and heavyweight Vitor Petrino (now top 10) also shared emotional posts about finally seeing their work pay off.

“A lot of people see a number,” Sabatini wrote on Instagram. “I see every early morning, every hard round, every sacrifice, every setback, everyone that supported me and every lesson that got me here and where I am going. Grateful. Blessed. Motivated.”

Meanwhile, Vitor Petrino decided to speak directly with his home audience.

“Every time closer to our goal!” he wrote in Portuguese. “TOP #10 in the World. Updated UFC rankings.”

Even Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s powerhouse former manager Ali Abdelaziz backed the system.

“I love the new ranking,” he wrote on X.

On the flip side, several fighters looked at the rankings and had no idea what was going on. Flyweight Charles Johnson was undoubtedly the most vocal critic after the AI placed him at the No. 15 spot.

Johnson pointed out what he perceived as strange logic: Lone’er Kavanagh rose all the way to No. 5 with a comeback win against Brandon Moreno, but he was knocked out just last year by ‘InnerG,’ who, after a defeat against Alex Perez earlier this year, bounced back with a stunning win over Bruno Silva in March.

“What am I lookin at ,” he wrote on X. “This gotta be a joke. Somebody playin I can’t take none this serious ”

Lightweight fan favorite Renato Moicano couldn’t resist throwing in a sarcastic jab either.

“For the first time this bulls— ranking is right,” he wrote on X after moving up in the rankings.

Meanwhile, bantamweight veteran Yana Santos wasn’t angry, just confused after seeing the division be shuffled around her while she still stayed at the No. 6 spot.

“Interesting update from the new Meta AI UFC rankings,” she wrote on X. “Luana Santos is now ranked #3, Raquel Pennington dropped to #15, Irene Aldana moved down as well, yet I remain at #6. Not complaining—just genuinely curious about the formula behind these rankings.”

Then there’s light heavyweight Dominick Reyes, who made no complaints at all. Instead, ‘The Devastator’ instantly started looking at how the new rankings could help the promotion move towards a unique tournament system.

Whether the algorithm achieves Dana White’s desired “perfection” or introduces a whole new set of issues remains to be seen. One thing is certain: fighters will be checking those rankings every Monday, and we will get to see some more interesting reactions.

The post Dana White, Meta Explain New UFC AI Rankings System as Fighters React appeared first on EssentiallySports.