Tyron Woodley, the former UFC welterweight champion, recently spoke with TMZ about a number of MMA legends from the modern era. His remarks about former UFC lightweight champion and top men's pound-for-pound fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov may raise some eyebrows. “[Nurmagomedov] on my top 10 list? Probably not,” said Woodley when presented with a number of iconic names from MMA history. “I fuck with Khabib. I like him, I respect him a lot. I think he’s a good fighter. I think his type of fight for that weight class, nobody could do that besides Sean Sherk back in the day, but like, he was just really aggressive, but I didn’t see the wrestler with good hands fight him so I couldn’t really jump on that train.” Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from MMA in 2020 after defending his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje. His record now stands at 29-0. Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Al Iaquinta, and Edson Barboza are among his last five opponents. Along with Nurmagomedov, Woodley discussed Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Demetrious Johnson. Woodley said of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jones, "He's the best fighter we've seen, whether he's fought consistently or whatever the case." When discussing Silva, Woodley referred to him as "the GOAT." “Because he did it in a really respectful way. He beat people without being able to talk the shit that everybody else did.” Woodley also stated that Johnson is "the most well-rounded fighter we've ever seen" and that he admires GSP because "he was very respectful all the time." In 2016, Woodley defeated Robbie Lawler to win the UFC welterweight title. He successfully defended the title four times before losing it to Kamaru Usman in 2019. After going 0-3 in his next three fights, Woodley was released from the UFC. He fought and lost twice to influencer turned boxer Jake Paul after leaving the Octagon. What do you think about comments from Woodley? Let us know in the comments!

Jake Paul has managed his professional boxing career with great care and success. He made his way up the ranks in an unusual way, passing via professional sports, other social media stars, and actual MMA fighters. Even the MMA combatants were chosen with care, as Paul defeated Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, two wrestlers who were towards the end of their athletic careers rather than at their peak. Since his rematch with Tyron Woodley in December of last year, "The Problem Child" has been sidelined. In that fight, Paul knocked out the former UFC welterweight champion in a distinguished finish. Since then, the YouTuber's two scheduled fights with Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr. have been postponed. His forthcoming fight with Anderson Silva, though, carries a significant danger. Because Silva is a tremendously talented fighter and a Middleweight, unlike previous opponents, the competition is higher. The Brazilian is still a serious threat to Paul's perfect record, even though his prime years are now behind him. The current betting odds indicate that Paul is Silva's underdog after opening as the favorite. The unbeaten boxer will be the underdog for the first bout if the betting line holds. Jake Paul meets Anderson Silva in the headliner of a Showtime pay-per-view event on Oct. 29 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Since making a comeback to boxing in 2021, Silva has knocked out former UFC light heavyweight champion Ortiz and defeated former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. “I know he’s coming up on a fight now against Jake Paul,” Ortiz said on Paddy Pimblett’s “Chattin Pony Podcast.” “I don’t think Jake Paul’s going to make it out of three rounds, and that’s my opinion, but I think it’s going to be a great fight because I know Jake Paul puts in great work.” Floyd Mayweather and others have frequently slammed Paul for taking on older MMA fighters like Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren. However, Ortiz believes that the YouTube star would be seriously misguided to believe that Silva's age is an accurate indicator of his skill. “Jake Paul thinks him being 47 is going to make a difference? He’s gonna be in for a rude awakening,” Ortiz added. “One thing about Anderson, he takes this sport very seriously. He takes it as a martial arts.”

Holland announced that he was retiring from the sport shortly after a hectic fight week at UFC 279 that saw significant card changes and altercations behind the scenes. The UFC 279 card was saved by Holland to a big extent after Khamzat Chimaev, who was supposed to compete in the main event, failed to make weight. Shortly before the bout, "Trailblazer" agreed to face the unbeaten welterweight, but lost by first-round submission. But his statement is being greeted with suspicion. Since he has quit competing in the combat sport, Kevin Holland assures us that his declaration of his retirement is genuine. Holland most recently requested support from his supporters for his future career decision through his Instagram page, where he declared his decision to retire young. When speaking about the matter in public for the first time away from social media during the launch of his new podcast. “So, I’m retired. I’m officially retired,” Holland said. “I’m retired from fighting. I had a good fight, a good payday, I had a good run. I see some of the people online [saying] ‘obviously he realizes he’ll never get the belt’ and my little psychedelic trip, that means I was wrong. I can’t be wrong on a psychedelic trip. I’ve lost coming out to Young Boy. That was my last hope, never losing coming out to Young Boy. Times are rough for your boy. “But I’m really, really happy on the green side. Unless something super-duper magical pops up, yeah, I’m pretty happy with the way things are.” After the unexpected fight with Chimaev, he received a substantial payoff, but the financial reward he received more than made up for his disappointing performance. He also claimed that after the fight, he had no ill feelings at all for Chimaev. “He put me in a very good spot in my life,” Holland said about Chimaev. “We love that guy. I’m actually thinking about getting a poster of that guy hung up in my bathroom.” Holland says he will focus on his new podcast and perhaps start his gym in the Texas city of Fort Worth now that he has retired from mixed martial arts. Although his hard-hitting news about the retirement stirred the MMA Fans, Dana White also reacted to the news in the post-event media interview for DWCS Season 6. "You know, I'm really close to this kid, and I like him a lot. I think when you are competing in a sport like this, and you've done the things that Kevin Holland has done. You know, he gets out of the fight with Derek Brunson and realizes that he needs to work on his wrestling more. So, he dives in and starts working on his wrestling and I think what happened to him happens to you, you lay in bed and go, 'Holy s**t!" "He's an emotional guy. I think the emotions got the best of him. Just take some time, get back in the gym and whatever he wants to do he can do. But it's a little too soon for him to retire."

Michael Chandler's claim to be the "next guy in line" for a title shot perplexes Beneil Dariush. Dariush returns against Mateusz Gamrot in what is widely regarded as a potential No. 1 contender bout before Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev share the Octagon for the vacant UFC lightweight championship at UFC 280. After all, the No. 6 lightweight expects to be the backup fighter for either Oliveira or Makhachev if either of them is injured before the pay-per-view event. Dariush wonders why Chandler sees himself in a better position to receive a championship opportunity next, given his current position. Chandler stated on The MMA Hour in September that a victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 should be sufficient, but Dariush disagrees. “Honestly, I think he’s just trying to hype himself up,” Dariush told Helen Yee recently. “I don’t think that’s true. But if that does happen, man, I will — that’s basically a clown show. What? The guy just had a title shot loss and then lost again. So it doesn’t make sense. After I beat Gamrot, I don’t think there’s anyone who can step in front of me. “That being said, we’ll see what happens,” continued Dariush. “I think it would be a joke if he gets a title shot.” Before Chandler can re-enter the fray, he must first defeat Poirier, and Dariush gave him a 40% chance of doing so in three rounds. The reason for this is that the Kill Cliff FC product can become too focused on entertaining rather than sticking to his game plan, which he has admitted to doing in the past. “Only because Michael Chandler focused so much on being exciting, I think he actually gives up a lot of his skill sets,” said Dariush. “I think he could do way better than he’s actually done. I think he’s, what, 2-2 in the UFC? I think he could be undefeated right now if he had a better mindset, but he’s so focused on being entertaining and exciting, he’s lost two fights and that’s why I’m leaning more towards Dustin.”

Despite all of their big claims, ONE Championship's losses are increasing at an alarming rate. ONE Championship's annual financial filings with ACRA, obtained by BloodyElbow.com, show a loss of $ 111 million, in stark contrast to the company's frequently bullish claims about its own successes — both financial and otherwise. According to the report, ONE spent approximately $56 million on "marketing expenses," $50 million on "administration and other expenses," and $36 million on "other." Despite the news, the promotion maintained that their business plan will result in a return on investment and, eventually, profitability. “We continue to grow our revenue year-on-year and enhance our cost efficiencies. We’re confident that we’re on a clear path to build a sustainable and profitable business in the long term,” a Group ONE Holdings (parent company to ONE Championship) spokesperson said in a statement to Bloody Elbow. “2020 was an anomaly due to the restrictions imposed upon us by the global pandemic as we were unable to host any live events for several months. In 2021 as restrictions started to lift, we were able to resume investment in our core product of live events. “We’ve gone from strength to strength in 2022 with multiple partnerships launched across the world that will have a significant impact on our future revenue and profitability as we continue to grow our brand globally.” That statement's tone is consistent with previous remarks made by ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong. “I’ll just say like look, the internet is a dangerous place if you believe everything you read,” Sityodtong said, speaking in September of last year. “There was tons of inaccuracies, tons of errors, it’s not even like one or two, if it were just like one or two I would point it out. I mean like, it’s not worth addressing. Again, it’s like I said, um, like, I like to let the truth speak over time.”

Eddie Alvarez, a free agent once more, urges aspiring MMA fighters to recognize the importance of this chance. The former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion is hoping to wrap off his career domestically after parting ways amicably with ONE Championship earlier this month. He wants the upcoming generation of fighters to benefit from his knowledge now that he is free to speak with other companies and is willing to return to the UFC or Bellator if the opportunity arises. “I would love to consult with younger fighters just to explain to them the business of this sport, because no one values free agency and understands the power in it once you’ve made a name for yourself, or won a world title,” Alvarez said on The MMA Hour. “I think fighters will complain that they can’t get out of a contract, they can’t do this, but you have to remember the first day you signed that contract, you were happy with it, right? “Now, the key is to add value. Let’s say the contract is six fights, you have to add as much value to yourself and to that promotion during those six fights as possible. That way, you’re more valuable outside of the contract, but you have to leave the contract. You can’t allow a company to come in a fight or two before your contract [ends], to re-sign you for another six and eight [fights]. You can’t do that, because you’re killing yourself.” Alvarez is unsure of why there is such a separation between the fighter, the fighter's team, and the promotion they compete for, despite the fact that several fighters have made their contract statuses extremely public throughout the years. Alvarez firmly thinks that staring in the mirror is where it all starts. “I don’t know if the resentment is towards the promotion, but it should be geared back at the manager or the fighter themselves, yelling, ‘Why do you keep re-signing?’ Because the biggest value of free agency is being able to find out what you’re worth,” Alvarez said. “I don’t know who to blame. If I ran a business, and I have multiple businesses, I don’t know if I would do anything different. I would try to get my products for as cheap as possible, sell them for as much as I can, and I think that’s what the top companies do. They try to get us for as cheap as possible, then try to sell us to a larger audience for a lot more for their gain of profit. “It’s up to me, the product, to go, ‘I need to find out what I’m worth.’ It’s my responsibility. Nobody’s going to give a f*** what I’m worth more than I should. I should care more than anyone. Figure out what’s my number [everywhere], that way I can negotiate properly.” Given that Nate Diaz just completed his UFC contract, Alvarez thinks a legends bout with the Stockton, California, fighter would be valuable because it's unusual to have two well-known fighters who aren't affiliated with a major company. Alvarez claimed to have discussed a trilogy fight with two-time Bellator opponent and current UFC lightweight Michael Chandler during one of his free agent stints; they are even after two thrilling contests. “Nate is free, and I’m free, and this hardly ever happens,” Alvarez explained. “That happened with me and Michael Chandler at a certain time, and I called [him] on the phone and said, ‘Hey man, don’t go signing with anyone, let’s go walk into an office together.’ I think it’s more beneficial to walk in as a matchup to a promoter together, and that we can make a lot more money that way. “He said it’s a great idea to me, and I left the conversation hopeful — then I didn’t hear from him, and I heard he re-signed with Bellator. I was discouraging. I guess you have to hope that your rival becomes your teammate at least for five minutes, but that didn’t work.”

At Bellator 286, according to Aaron Pico, he hurt his shoulder in the first minute. On Saturday, Pico (10-4 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) was stopped in the first round of his battle with Jeremy Kennedy (18-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) because his trainer was unable to realign his injured shoulder. Pico suffered a TKO defeat as a consequence of the referee's decision to call the fight off. Pico's coach, Brandon Gibson, was shown in pictures forcibly pushing and tugging on his shoulder; nevertheless, the 26-year-old competitor claimed that he wanted him to do so. He gave an update on his injuries and vowed not to let anything stop him from winning Bellator gold. “My shoulder’s still a little sore,” Pico said in an Instagram post on Sunday. “Yesterday in the first round, I think it was the first 30 seconds, I threw a hook, and my shoulder popped out. My strategy was just try to make it through the first round to get to the second round and put the shoulder back into place, and I tried in the fight. Midway through the fight I kept trying to put it back into place, but it just wouldn’t go. So I made it out of the first round, and my order to my coach was – keep in mind, guys, he’s not an expert, he’s not a chiropractor, he doesn’t know how to put shoulders back into place." “My orders to him were, ‘Hey, my shoulder’s out, do whatever you possibly can to put it back into place.’ So we tried everything, and we couldn’t do it, and ultimately the fight was stopped, which was probably the smartest thing, and I was rushed to the hospital and put it back into place. I still feel like there’s some things that we need to clear up, but I’m gonna see a shoulder doctor on Tuesday and get some MRIs done and heal this thing. I will be champion one day. The road is a little bit rougher than I would like, but it’s all good. I’m in good spirits.” Kennedy's victory put an end to Pico's six-fight winning run. Before that, Pico had defeated five of six opponents via knockout, and with a victory over UFC veteran Kennedy, he hoped to enter the championship race. Pico wants to discuss things with Kennedy again, and Bellator President Scott Coker indicated he's open to the possibility if their schedules coincide.

In a first, no spectators nor journalists were permitted entry to UFC Vegas 61. Instead, it was held behind closed doors. Dana White firmly denied the claim made by the evening's headlining act, Mackenzie Dern, that Facebook/Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg "rented out the whole event." Wow, what a surprise. On Saturday night, the controversial social media mogul stood front and centre as the event got underway, with hardly anybody else in the space. Due to the context around the term "rent," White technically could not have lied, but everything else was true. It changed into a private gathering for Zuckerberg, who recently discovered BJJ and MMA. There were essentially only the UFC and ESPN production crew and commission officials there, aside from Zuckerberg's tight group. Nobody from the media or even any fans attended. This was not the case when the epidemic was at its worst and there were several lockdowns. This also didn't occur when prominent figures, like the US President, or A-list stars, were invited as special guests to UFC events. One of the winners decided to seek Zuckerberg for some cash after essentially battling in a cage for the billionaire's weekend enjoyment. “I know Mark from Facebook is here. You can throw in a bonus too, you know? Help us out,” Ilir Latifi said after beating Aleksei Oleinik. As would be expected, there were a variety of responses from combatants and media members online. Some were upset that it was a private event organized for one of the world's richest individuals. “Stay home bro wtf,” Al Iaquinta quipped as he noted how the crowd is the best part of UFC events. Another former UFC title contender Nate Quarry commented on how Zuckerberg “can’t be bothered to be among the unwashed masses.” Apart from the altered mood brought on by the absence of spectators, the absence of media representatives also prevented the post-fight news conference and media scrums, which reduced the exposure and attention these fighters would have otherwise gotten.

Tonight, Bellator 286 will be broadcast live from Long Beach, California's Long Beach Arena. Patricio Pitbull will compete in the main event, defending his Bellator MMA featherweight championship against the advancing Adam Borics. Pitbull's recent opponent for the title, submission-machine A.J. McKee, is in the co-main event. Spike Caryle, a recent UFC fighter, will be his opponent. On the same card, Juan Archuleta fights Enrique Barzola, while Aaron Pico squares off against Jeremy Kennedy. The main card in the US airs on SHOWTIME and kicks off at 10 PM ET. The main event may be seen by certain people outside of the US on YouTube. The prelims are freely accessible on YouTube (for everyone). At 7 PM ET, the feed that is posted below begins. Key Card (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) Patricio Freire defeats Adam Borics in a unanimous decision to win the featherweight title (48-47, 49-46, 50-45) Lightweight: A.J. McKee defeats Spike Carlyle in a decision by all three judges (29-26, 30-26, 30-27) Featherweight: Round 1 at 5:00, TKO victory for Jeremy Kennedy over Aaron Pico due to injury Juan Archuleta defeated Enrique Barzola in a unanimous decision at catchweight (141 pounds) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) introductory card (YouTube, 7 p.m. ET) Keoni Diggs vs. Ricardo Seixas in a lightweight match Bobby Seronio III defeats Miguel Peimbert in the bantamweight division by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Bobby Seronio III defeats Miguel Peimbert in the bantamweight division by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Nick Browne is defeated by lightweight Islam Mamedov in a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Lightweight: By a split decision, Jay Jay Wilson defeats Vladimir Tokov (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Middleweight: Round 2, 3:02, Khalid Murtazaliev defeats Khadzhimurat Bestaev by TKO (punches). Nadine Mandiau loses to Sumiko Inaba in a unanimous decision at flyweight (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) Weber Almeida defeats Ryan Lilley in a split decision at featherweight (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) Lance Gibson Jr. defeated Dominic Clark at lightweight in Round 1 at 1:49 by submission (triangle choke). Bantamweight: Richard Palencia is defeated by Cee Jay Hamilton through TKO (injury) in Round 2. The California State Athletic Commission declared Max Rohskopf medically unable to participate, which led to the cancellation of Mike Hamel vs. Rohskopf.

Following his defeat in the general election on Sunday, Wanderlei Silva has once again been unable to win a seat in the Brazilian Congress. The PRIDE and UFC veteran received 13,907 votes in the election while running as a candidate for the Progressive Party (PP), which is linked to Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. In order to represent his home state in Congress, he need more than 61,500 votes. After failing to secure a seat in the 2018 elections, Silva will now attempt to run for congress in Brazil for a second time. The former UFC fighter then belonged to the Social Democratic Party. Following in the footsteps of former UFC champion Tito Ortiz, who served as Mayor Pro-Tem of Huntington Beach, California, until he resigned from city council less than six months later, Silva is the most recent fighter to enter the political ring. BJ Penn, a former UFC champion who fell short of winning the Republican nomination for governor of Hawaii, is one of the others. Later, on Instagram, Silva thanked his supporters and that he had "learned a lot" and "saw how much I still have to learn." Following a close election on Sunday, the former fighter has since continued to support Bolsonaro, who will face battle against longtime adversary Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a run-off. Even though Lula had received more than 48% of the vote, giving him a five percent advantage over Bolsonaro, he fell short of the required threshold of more than 50% of valid votes to avoid a run-off. Those who cast ballots now have a further four weeks to choose which of the two men will lead Brazil as its next president.

Dana White, president of the UFC, has shown off his newly ripped figure after being advised to drop weight or risk dying young. After learning he could only have 10 years to live, White, 53, has lost 30 pounds. After meeting with Gary Brecka of 10X Health Systems, who calculated White's life expectancy using blood and DNA samples, he was given the stern warning. White told the Action Junkeez podcast: "This guy can take your blood and your DNA and tell you when you're going to die, and they're right within a month. "I connect with this guy, and they come in and they do my blood work and they scrape the insides of your cheeks to do your DNA. And the following Wednesday is when my results are supposed to be back. "So, he calls me [and says] I’m going to come out personally and walk you through your blood work. He ends up coming out, he sits down for three and a half hours and goes through my blood work." White was astounded to find that he only had a little more than ten years to live. "I'm all f****ed up. Everything that can be bad can be possibly bad. He gave me 10.4 years to live," added White. On Sunday, White posted a video and a photo of himself topless in the gym on social media to display his newly toned body. He also discussed his remarkable transformation. White made the decision to change. The Baldfather claims he feels like he's 35 again after sticking to a 10-week plan that helped him lose 30 pounds. White has also resolved leg problems that have persisted despite many attempts by doctors. He added "So he says 'if you do everything I tell you to do for the next ten weeks it will change your life'. I did everything he said to the letter and I lost 30lbs. "Everything is gone in ten f**king weeks, I have been working with doctors for ten years and they haven't been able to do anything. This guy is incredible and he can literally change your life." What do you think about Dana White's phenomenal physique transformation and how will it motivate people to get back to healthy habits?

Yan Xiaonan defeated Mackenzie Dern by majority decision on Saturday, snapping a two-fight losing streak. Yan's victory was her first since defeating Claudia Gadelha by decision in November 2020. The outcome should place her in the top five of the official UFC strawweight rankings. She entered the main event of UFC Vegas 61 as the division's No. 6 ranked fighter, compared to Dern's No. 5. Yan spoke about the next step in her UFC career after the victory, telling UFC commentator Megan Olivi via an interpreter that she couldn't have been happier than she was in the moments following the upset win. “My next step right now is to have a break in Sacramento,” said the Team Alpha Male fighter, “My ultimate goal in the UFC, of course, is the belt. Now I have fought the best wrestler in the division, the best striker in the division, the best jiu-jitsu fighter in the division, so no matter who the UFC gives me, I don’t fear. Let’s fight.” Carla Esparza, the two-time (and current) strawweight champion, knocked out Yan in 2021 before defeating Dern. Yan was defeated in a split decision by Marina Rodriguez in March 2022. Clearly, Yan, 33, who made her UFC debut in 2017 and is 16-3 with one no contest in her career, believes she has the experience and readiness to fight for the title. Esparza defends her title against former champion Zhang Weili in the co-main event of UFC 281 on November 12. Perhaps a match up with Rose Namajunas will make sense for Yan Xiaonan as she has not fought anyone since her defeat back at UFC 274. What do you guys think who should Yan face next in order to close the gap for title contention?