The Ultimate Fighting Championship touched down again at the SPDBank Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China, for an excitingevent.

In the UFC Shanghai headliner, UmarNurmagomedov and Yadong Songlocked horns in an exciting 135-pound tilt with **** le implications.In the co-main event, UFC strawweight veteran Xiaonan Yancollided with up-and-comer DeniseGomes. The event saw 10 fights end inside the distance, withmost by knockout.

Here's a list of possible matchups for the main card winners.
The UFC Shanghai main event ended with a huge upset as Song(24-9-1, 1 NC; 13-4-1 UFC) starched former 135-pound **** lechallenger Nurmagomedov (20-2, 8-2 UFC). Song clipped his foe witha well-timed punch right on the ear, immediately dropping him.The two follow-up punches turned Nurmagomedov's lights out, and theofficial end came at the 1:48 mark of Round 2. With the currentdivisional **** leholder Petr Yan andNo. 1 challenger MerabDvalishvili already set to lock horns in October, the logicalmatchup for Song seems to be a rematch with Sean O'Malley. "Suga"impressed in his outing at UFC White House, and the "Kung Fu Kid"looks mature enough to overcome his rival, and possibly not leaveit in the judges' hands this time. In their first encounter,O'Malley took home a unanimous decision victory.
In the co-feature, Gomes (13-3, 7-2 UFC) crushed Yan (19-6, 1 NC;9-5 UFC) in an intriguing clash in the women's strawweightdivision. Gomes landed a vicious elbow to her opponent's face before following up withmore punches, forcing the halt at 4:49 of Round 1. A surgingcontender in the women's strawweight division, the Brazilian is nowriding a five-bout winning streak and is 7-1 in her most recentassignments. A few interesting names are climbing the rankings at115 pounds, so it might be time to see who's the next big thing ina clash with AlexiaThainara. "Burguesinha" is currently riding an impressive13-bout winning streak. The winner of this clash might be next fora dance with the current divisional queen, MackenzieDern.
It took a little more than a round for Kai Asakura(23-6, 2-2 UFC) to stop onetime Wu Lin Feng **** leholder Qileng Aori(26-14, 1 NC; 4-6, 1 NC UFC) with a praiseworthy sequence started by a head kick followed by punches and punctuated by someknees to the body. The official end came 34 seconds into Round2. Asakura has scored back-to-back wins now, and it's time for theformer Rizin Fighting Federation 135-pound **** leholder to step upin competition. ViniciusOliveira is currently looking for a fight, coming off a winover Andre Fili inJune. Neither Asakura nor Oliveira backs down when it comes totrading blows, and the outcome could be a treat fortechnical-striking fans.
In a 125-pound attraction, Su Mudaerji(20-7, 1 NC; 7-4, 1 NC UFC) finally managed to overcome Alex Perez(26-11, 1 NC; 8-7, 1 NC UFC). The first time the pair met in theOctagon, it ended in no contest following an accidental groin shot.This time, Mudaerji relied on sharper strikes and so

Uncrowned has UFC Shanghai live results, round-by-round updates, highlights and start time for the Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong fight card on Saturday at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China. In the main event, top UFC bantamweight contenders Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong collide in a pivotal five-round showdown.
Nurmagomedov (20-1) enters his second UFC main event on the heels of back-to-back decision wins over Mario Bautista and Deiveson Figueiredo. The 30-year-old's lone career defeat came in his first UFC ******* le shot against then-champion Merab Dvalishvili in January 2025.
Song (23-9-1, 1 NC) returns to action after scoring a submission win over Figueiredo in May. The 28-year-old Chinese contender has won two of his past three fights, sandwiching victories over Figueiredo and former champion Henry Cejudo around a decision loss to Sean O'Malley.
UFC Shanghai starts at 3 a.m. ET with a seven-fight preliminary card on Paramount+. The six-fight main card kicks off at 6 a.m. ET on Paramount+.
Follow along with Uncrowned's live UFC Shanghai results, highlights and live blog below, including round-by-round play-by-play for the main card.

#umar

Welterweight champion Islam Makhachev appeared rather irked by Merab Dvalishvili's reaction to his UFC 330 win.
While watching Makhachev (29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) retain his ***** le against Ian Machado Garry less than two weeks ago, Dvalishvili took umbrage with the promotion allowing him to carry his Russian flag.
"I thought they're not allowed a flag in there? They don't let me use the flag," Dvalishvili told Nina Drama. "This flag is banned everywhere in the world, and only of course they show here in the UFC. It's crazy."
Dvalishvili (21-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) will look to reclaim his bantamweight ***** le from Petr Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) when the pair battle in a trilogy bout, which co-headlines UFC 333 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. Yan put an end to Dvalishvili's ***** le reign by defeating him at UFC 323.
"Yes, I did see his reaction," Makhachev said of Dvalishvili (h/t Red Corner MMA). "I saw the video of him watching my fight, and he didn't seem happy to see me succeed in the octagon, but I don't pay attention to things like that. He had already said some things about it a lot of times, but Petr Yan beat him and raised the flag afterwards. And I think he'll beat him again and make him silent."

#dvalishvili #title

Henry Cejudo needed only 36 seconds to make a statement Saturday at RAF 12.
Just weeks after he blew a large lead and lost a decision to Merab Dvalishvili, Cejudo exacted his revenge with a 36-second pin fall victory at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Cejudo went for a low single-leg takedown immediately from the start of the match. Dvalishvili tried to defend and spin out of it, but Cejudo reversed him and landed on top – where he got the pin.
The result of the match could propel the promotion toward a trilogy between the two men, though that remains to be seen. Both moved to 2-1 in RAF after Saturday's match.
Henry Cejudo def. Merab Dvalishvili via pinfall – Round 1, 0:36 – for lightweight crossover ******* le

#cejudo #henry #rocket

UFC 333 is official for Sat., Oct. 24, 2026, at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Headlining the Paramount+ fight card will be the featherweight ****** le fight pitting current division champion, Alex Volkanovski, against No. 1-ranked contender, Movsar Evloev. In the championship co-main event, bantamweight champion Petr Yan completes his trilogy against former 135-pound ****** leholder, Merab Dvalishvili.
BetOnline.ag recently opened the UFC 333 betting lines.
Alex Volkanovski: -105
Movsar Evloev: -115
Petr Yan: -170
Merab Dvalishvili: +150

#alex #movsar #champion

The early betting lines are in for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's next trip to Abu Dhabi.

The promotion announced UFC 333's lineup during the UFC330 broadcast, with AlexanderVolkanovski set to defend his featherweight championshipagainst MovsarEvloev. In the co-headliner, Petr Yan willrun it back with MerabDvalishvili in a trilogy bout for the bantamweightchampionship.

Furthermore, with IslamMakhachev retaining his welterweight ******* le at UFC 330, odds forhis next bout have also dropped.
UFC 333 is set for Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi and BetOnline Sports has released odds for bothtitle fights on the card. Volkanovski, the reigning 145-poundchamp, opened as a slight favorite at -130 against the unbeatenEvloev (+110).

Meanwhile, Yan is a larger favorite at -170 against Dvalishvili(+150) for their third meeting. Their two bouts so far have beenstark contrasts from one another, with Dvalishvili thoroughlyoutwrestling Yan in their first meeting and the latter putting on amasterclass in their rematch to win the ******* le.

Makhachev defended his welterweight ******* le at UFC 330, earning ahard-fought decision win over Ian Garry.The Dagestani is now targeting CarlosPrates for his next ******* le defense and opened as a -250 favoriteagainst the Brazilian (+210).

However, undefeated 170-pounder MichaelMorales, who was the backup for Makhachev vs. Garry, is also inthe running. The welterweight champion opened as a -210 favoriteagainst Morales (+180).

#welterweight #dvalishvili #makhachev #bout

UFC 333's headlining fights are set with a long-awaited matchup between Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev, and Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili settling the score in a trilogy bout.
The UFC officially announced the fights during Saturday's UFC 330 broadcast, with Volkanovski's featherweight ***** le defense against Evloev being marked as the main event for the Oct. 24 event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski (28-4) seeks the second successful defense of his second reign, while Evloev finally gets his championship opportunity after going 20-0 in his pro career.
Yan (20-5) delivered arguably the best performance of 2025 when he defeated Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323 to reclaim the bantamweight ***** le, snap Dvalishvili's 14-fight win streak, and avenge a loss from their first meeting in 2023. "No Mercy" has now won four straight fights following a career-worst three-fight skid and looks to put the stamp on his rivalry with Dvalishvili.
For Dvalishvili (21-5), he is coming off of a well-deserved layoff after successfully defending his belt three times in 2025 before Yan foiled his attempt to become the first UFC fighter to record four successful defenses in a calendar year. Prior to that loss, Dvalishvili's seven-year unbeaten streak included victories over Yan, Jose Aldo, Sean O'Malley, Henry Cejudo, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Cory Sandhagen, among others.
All four headlining fighters hold spots in the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings, with Yan at 3, Volkanovski at 5 (tied with Tom Aspinall and Ilia Topuria), Dvalishvili at 8 (tied with Sean Strickland) and Evloev at 19.

#dvalishvili

Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili will conclude their trilogy in the UFC 333 co-main event.
After splitting results over their first two meetings, the rubber match between reigning bantamweight champion Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) and former ***** leholder Dvalishvili (21-2 MMA, 14-3 UFC) is official for the Oct. 24 fight card at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi (Paramount+).
The bout was announced during Saturday's UFC 330 broadcast.
Yan, No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings, reunited with the belt in December when he outworked Dvalishvili to a unanimous decision at UFC 323. It was a redemptive performance from the Russian, who suffered a lopsided loss on the scorecards in the first matchup in March 2023.
The 32-year-old first became champion in July 2020, but lost it in his first defense when he landed an illegal knee on Aljamain Sterling that led to him being disqualified. Yan's subsequent years included a three-fight losing skid, but he's rebounded with four in a row to become a two-time champ.

#first #fight #petr #arena

Merab Dvalishvili is giving his side of the story in response to Umar Nurmagomedov calling him out for an incident that occurred at RAF Georgia.
This past July, Dvalishvili found himself in a scuffle with a friend of Nurmagomedov's that occurred at a pre-fight press conference when the friend confronted Dvalishvili for dismissing the possibility of a wrestling match with Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov previously fought at UFC 311 in January 2025, when Dvalishvili scored a thrilling decision win to successfully defend his bantamweight ******* le.
Nurmagomedv recently spoke on the RAF Georgia altercation, asking "How do you live with that?" in regards to Dvalishvili's behavior. On Tuesday, Dvalishvili fired back.
"Umar and some small people keep talking trash about me," Dvalishvili said via a social media video. "You guys probably don't know anything about life, but I am a man, and if you come to me, pulling me over, disrespect me, start loud talk with me in a different language, I will slap your face. Because that's who I am. That's how I grew up. That's my culture and that's what you're going to get.
"So it doesn't matter if I am in U.S., if I am in Mexico, in Australia, or in my country Georgia. If you come with bad intentions, you're going to get bad intentions."

#nurmagomedov #umar #friend #going

Mark Zuckerberg shared a video of himself sparring with a UFC champion on a floating barge.
He previously posted a similar clip back in 2023.
The Meta CEO started training jiu-jitsu during the pandemic, and once tore his ACL.
Mark Zuckerberg has brought back a familiar pastime: fighting UFC stars on a barge floating in the middle of a lake.
In a Sunday Instagram post, he shared a video of himself sparring with Merab Dvalishvili, a Georgian fighter who won the 2024 UFC Bantamweight ****** le.

#himself

Mark Zuckerberg is a die-hard mixed martial arts fan.

Zuckerberg recently sparred with MerabDvalishvili on a floating platform in the middle of a lake. TheMeta CEO has been training for a few years now, evidenced by hislight sparring session with the former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight king, wherein helanded some jabs, body kicks and even a takedown.
Zuckerberg has developed strong friendships with several MMAfighters, training with the likes of AlexPereira, AlexanderVolkanovski and IsraelAdesanya, in addition to Dvalishvili. During their recentmid-lake sparring session, Zuckerberg even kicked Dvalishvili offthe barge, before the Georgian returned the favor by throwing theAmerican billionaire into the lake.

Zuckerberg has become increasingly involved with MMA, especiallythe UFC, over the past few years. He initially started training jiujitsu during the pandemic and even won a gold and a silver at BJJTour Silicon Valley in 2023. Zuckerberg's coach at the time, DaveCamarillo, who once trained elites like CainVelasquez, called the tech mogul one of his best students.

Meanwhile, Dvalishvili looked to defend his UFC bantamweight ******* lefor the fourth time in a year when he put it on the line in arematch against Petr Yan lastDecember. Yan outclassed Dvalishvili on the night, taking theirrivalry to 1-1. While there's no official confirmation from the UFCas yet, both fighters have indicated that they're gearing up for atrilogy bout next.

#dvalishvili #training #years

Conor McGregor made his Ultimate Fighting Championship return atop an action-packed UFC 329 card that ended with a whimper. The welterweight main event saw “Notorious” take on Max Holloway in a rematch of their 2013 fight that never really got started. The finish-filled card also had important fights in the lightweight, bantamweight and flyweight divisions.

Here are the matches to make for the UFC 329 main card winners.
Holloway (28-9) finally got revenge on McGregor (22-7), but it wasn’t how he wanted to after McGregor suffered a knee injury. Regardless, “Blessed” is now 2-1 in his last three fights, with a deflating loss to Charles Oliveira sandwiched between wins over Dustin Poirier and McGregor. I’d like to see Holloway take on Pimblett next, as “The Baddie” submitted Benoit St. Denis with a Peruvian necktie. It was an impressive showing for the British fighter, who proved he deserves to be among the elite at 155 pounds. Both men are among the most entertaining at lightweight and it’d be a stellar action fight after Holloway’s disappointing showings against Oliveira and McGregor.
Bautista battled back from early adversity to take a decision win and get revenge against Cody Sandhagen, who beat him in 2019. The American is now 10-1 in his last 11 bouts inside the Octagon, with the lone defeat coming to Umar Nurmagomedov. While he called for a ******* le shot, that doesn’t seem likely with champion Petr Yan having major rematches against Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley as possible ******* le defenses. Instead, a fight against the underrated Barcelos would make sense. The Brazilian is on a five-fight win streak that includes victories over Ricky Simon, Payton Talbott and Cody Garbrandt. It’s a great stay-busy fight against a tough foe that will allow the log jam at the top of the division to figure itself out.
Royval capped off an impressive back-and-forth war with flyweight prospect Lone'er Kavanagh with a rare-naked choke. That snaps a two-fight winning streak for"Raw Dawg," who fell short to Manel Kape and Joshua Van in recent fights. Royval (18-9) called out Almabayev for his next Octagon appearance in a rare post-fight callout that makes total sense. It's a fresh fight and one that will give Almabayev (24-3) the chance to get the biggest win of his career. The Kazakhstani fighter is currently on a three-fight win streak, with wins over Charles Johnson and Alex Perez being particularly impressive. Whoever emerges victorious will be a solid contender in one of mixed martial arts' best divisions.

MMA Fighting has RAF Georgia results for the Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo event and more from the Tbilisi Arena in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday afternoon.
In the main event, former UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili faces former Olympic gold medalist and UFC champion Henry Cejudo. Dvalishvili defeated Cejudo via unanimous decision at UFC 298 on Feb. 17, 2024.
2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder faces a stiff test in the co-main event as he defends his RAF light heavyweight ****** le against longtime Abdulrashid Sadulaev, the man who denied Snyder a second gold when he defeated him in the 97-kg finals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
UFC star Arman Tsarukyan also makes his RAF return on the main card against Kuat Khamitov as well.
Check out the RAF Georgia results below.

MMA Fighting has RAF Georgia results for the Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo event and more from the Tbilisi Arena in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday afternoon.
In the main event, former UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili faces former Olympic gold medalist and UFC champion Henry Cejudo. Dvalishvili defeated Cejudo via unanimous decision at UFC 298 on Feb. 17, 2024.
2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder faces a stiff test in the co-main event as he defends his RAF light heavyweight ***** le against longtime Abdulrashid Sadulaev, the man who denied Snyder a second gold when he defeated him in the 97-kg finals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
UFC star Arman Tsarukyan also makes his RAF return on the main card against Kuat Khamitov as well.
Check out the RAF Georgia results below.

Merab Dvalishvili headlines an RAF event in his native Georgia and he’s bringing an old friend with him.
Saturday’s RAF Georgia main event sees former bantamweight champions Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo compete against each other for the first time since Dvalishvili beat Cejudo at UFC 298 in February 2024. Their rematch takes place on the RAF mats, with Dvalishvili aiming to score a second win over the Olympic wrestling gold medalist.
2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder faces a stiff test in the co-main event as he defends his RAF light heavyweight **** le against longtime Abdulrashid Sadulaev, the man who denied Snyder a second gold when he defeated him in the 97-kg finals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Snyder and Sadulaev have faced off on multiple occasions, with Sadulaev holding a 3-2 series advantage (including a medical forfeit in 2023 in what was to be their fifth matchup).
RAF Georgia streams live on Fox Nation, beginning at 12 p.m. ET.
See the lineup below.

Bantamweights Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong are set to headline the upcoming UFC Shanghai card scheduled for Aug. 29 in China.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Thursday as the UFC returns to Shanghai for the second consecutive year.
Red Fury MMA first reported the news on Instagram.
The main event comes together after Nurmagomedov was originally scheduled to fight at the UFC Abu Dhabi card scheduled in July, but his opponent David Martinez was forced out with an injury. The UFC sought a replacement, but ultimately decided to pull Nurmagomedov and match him up against Song instead with the fight now headlining the card in Shanghai.
Overall, Nurmagomedov holds a 20-1 record with his only loss coming via decision to former bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.

Jose Aldo makes a case for Sean O'Malley to get the next UFC bantamweight **** le shot.
After back-to-back **** le losses to Merab Dvalishvili, O'Malley (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) rebounded with a decision win over Song Yadong, followed by a knockout over Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250.
Meanwhile, Dvalishvili (21-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) lost his **** le to Petr Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) at UFC 323, and expects to get an immediate shot to avenge his loss. However, former UFC champion Aldo sees O'Malley in the **** le conversation.
"It all depends on what the UFC decides to do with Merab," Aldo said in an interview with Covers.com. "He was a dominant champion and maybe he deserves an immediate rematch. But if that rematch doesn't happen, I see Sean O'Malley as the leading candidate.
"After his most recent performance, he strengthened his case considerably. I still have doubts about some decisions that went against other fighters in the division, but O'Malley remains a major name and an extremely marketable one."

Mario Bautista doesn’t want to leave it up to the judges in his upcoming fight.

Bautista is set to take on Cory Sandhagen in a bantamweight matchup at UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He believes Sandhagen has a clear wrestling disadvantage against him, and plans to push the pace early.
With his last fight being a decision loss, Bautista doesn’t want to let Sandhagen use his evasive movement to bank rounds. Their upcoming clash being a three-rounder, he is eager to avoid leaving it to the judges.

Eyeing a definitive finish, Bautista told Home of Fight: “I’m gonna be hunting that finish. I think it’s obvious where he’s not really the best, which is on the mat. So I’m gonna be hunting for that finish. Pushing hard. We got three rounds. So I’m gonna have to get on the gas right away. I can’t just let him get away with a decision and run around or anything. I think it’s gonna be an exciting fight.”

Bautista (17-3) was riding an eight-fight winning streak, which was snapped by a unanimous decision loss to top contender Umar Nurmagomedov last year. He has since rebounded with a submission win over Vinicius Oliveira this past February. Meanwhile, Sandhagen (18-6) is 1-2 in his last three outings and is coming off a failed ******* le bid against Merab Dvalishvili.

Merab Dvalishvili believes his fellow Georgian fighter Ilia Topuria will return stronger and better than ever.
Dvalishvili and Topuria are going through similar situations, having gone from seemingly invincible to both losing their belts in their last fight. Dvalishvili lost a clear decision to Petr Yan in December, while Topuria got into a car wreck with Justin Gaethje that left him with two broken orbitals and a broken nose.
In a new interview with MMA Fighting, "The Machine" discussed the Topuria loss and what went wrong for Ilia in the cage.
"[The] fight was really tough," Dvalishvili said. "Unfortunately, Ilia was fighting blind since the first round. I think one moment Justin Gaethje threw a punch [with his thumb extended], I think he eye poked him. It was even worse and then Ilia [was] blind in both eyes. He [wanted] to keep fighting."
"When you got eye poked or you broke this [orbital] bone, you are blind pretty much. That affects the fight. That was the main thing. Ilia was fighting blind. That's what Ilia said."

LAS VEGAS – Levan Chokheli met the media Saturday after his win over Leon Shahbazyan at UFC Fight Night 279.
Chokheli (15-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) came right after Shahbazyan (12-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on the prelims at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. He landed an early leg kick that hurt Shahbazyan, then a combo, then body shots to put him away. The quick finish came with former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili working his corner.
Chokheli's finish came in just 23 seconds in his UFC debut. The Bellator vet was a 4-1 betting favorite against Shahbazyan, the older brother of longtime UFC fighter Edmen Shahbazyan, in their welterweight fight. And maybe the 23 seconds wasn't planned, but the delivery method sure was, he said.
"I was working on this combination the last couple weeks. That's what I was doing. You saw my knockout, right? This calf kick, 1-2 and overhand to the body – that's what I was working for," Chokheli told MMA Junkie and other reporters at his post-fight news conference.
"… I'm Georgian. My wrestling is good, but I would rather stay on the feet and throw my hands. But in the future, the welterweight division is the toughest one. There are a lot of good jiu-jitsu guys and good wrestlers. When I face them, it will be time to show you my wrestling skills and my jiu-jitsu skills. But today was today. What I did was the game plan – nothing else."

UFC Freedom 250 went down in the history books last night (Sat., June 14, 2026) in what was truly one-of-a kind event that saw all seven fights end via knockout. In the main event of the evening, Justin Gaethje became the undisputed Lightweight champion of the world after he absolutely brutalized Ilia Topuria to the point to where “El Matador” could not answer the call to come out for the fifth and final round (highlights). In the co-headlining act, Ciryl Gane once again captured UFC gold by knocking out Alex Pereira (video), while Sean O’Malley stopped Aiemann Zahabi in round two (see it here).
It’s about time UFC stops playing with Tsarukyan and give him his long over due shot at the **** le. He is currently ranked No. 2 and while he has been meaty taking on side quests in RAF, he should be ready to get back to his true calling inside the Octagon. This is another fight that has fireworks written all over it. Tsarukyan is on a five-fight win streak and was last seen submitting Dan Hooker in Nov. 2025.
After Gane stunned Pereira in round two with his heavy bombs, the hulking Frenchman can now look ahead to trying to settle some unfinished business with the current champion, Aspinall, in a rematch. The two men initially threw down at UFC 321 in Oct. 2025, which saw the fight end in anti-climactic fashion in the very first round after Aspinall was on the wrong end of an inadvertent eye poke, resulting in a no contest (NC). Since then, however, all we have been seeing is how slow the champ’s recovery has been, so there is no telling when that fight will happen…if ever.
After O’Malley took care of Zahabi last night, he called for a **** le fight against current Houston champion, Petr Yan. The two men initially fought way back at UFC 280, which saw “Suga” walk away with a split-decision win. Since then, however, Yan has become champion once again, winning the undisputed **** le more recently at UFC 323 by defeating Merab Dvalishvili. There have been talks about a potential rematch between the two, but nothing has yet become official. If and when it does, then I can see O’Malley waiting to face the winner, as he should.
Hokit secured his fourth straight win inside the Octagon in just seven months by stopping Derrick Lewis in round number two (see it here). Currently ranked No. 5, he could be moving up a spot or two following his latest win. Up next, a fight against Pavlovich could be in order, which would undoubtedly be his biggest test so far inside the Octagon. Pavlovich is currently ranked No. 3 in the division and is coming off an easy night of work, disposing of Tallison Teixeira in 39 seconds just last month (see it here). The winner of this fight could put himself in great position for a **** le eliminator fight, possibly against Alexander Volkov.

Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
Merab Dvalishvili admits he cannot take down UFC White House’s Ilia Topuria: ‘It’s impossible’: Topuria vs. Arman/Islam needs to happen, Topuria vs. Arman/Islam needs to happen, Topuria vs. Arman/Islam needs …
Ilia Topuria fires back at Justin Gaethje’s dad? ‘Your son already knows who I am … you will too’ | UFC White House: Strangest beef in recent memory?
Tito Ortiz reveals near-death boating incident: ‘I hit the water going 55 miles per hour’: **** o Ortiz is both a legend of the sport and staple of Midnight Mania — all the best in recovery, champ!