Anthony Joshua has started taking the fight game more seriously
since Ilia
Topuria's loss to Justin
Gaethje in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Topuria put his lightweight title on the line against interim
champion Gaethje at
UFC Freedom 250. While “El Matador” was a massive favorite
going into the bout and nearly finished it in the second round,
Gaethje piled on the damage in the subsequent frames, leading to a
corner stoppage before the final round. It marked the first defeat
of Topuria's professional career.

Some of Topuria's pre-fight antics and the eventual result of the
recent UFC lightweight championship fight have resonated with
Joshua.

Anthony Joshua explains how Ilia Topuria's loss to Justin
Gaethje changed his approach to boxing

Joshua notes that Topuria had celebrated the night before the fight
and had done so before previous bouts. While “AJ” doesn't want to
criticize the former two-division champion, the Brit had a massive
realization. Joshua has cut all unnecessary contact with people,
making himself inaccessible, since Topuria's first professional
loss. The Englishman notes that the fight business isn't all fun
and games.

“I think you’ve got to be in the fight game to truly know; it's not
lit,†Joshua told Combat Evolved. “It's not what people think it
is. It's not all fun and games. It’s a serious, serious job. Stay
away from people who just want to get lit and get upset when you
don't return calls and stuff. It's not personal. When I watched the
Ilia Topuria fight, I stopped replying to people after that.
Because I said, ‘Yo, it's not a joke.'â€

Dissecting Topuria's loss to Gaethje, Joshua further claimed that
nothing can be taken for granted in combat sports.

“I saw someone in Ilia who was destined to win,†he added. “The
stars were aligned for him to be victorious. I think Ilia had
beaten people that Justin had lost against; the odds were in his
favor. Not a bad thing, but I saw him celebrating before. He's
entitled to do what he wants, but I just took something from it and
I said, ‘Get back to being uncontactable, less accessible, because
the fight game is so serious.' You saw his face, what he went
through. It's not a joke.â€

Joshua (29-4) is set to return to action against Kristian Prenga
(20-1) on July 25 at Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia.

OUI OUI 🇫🇷

Michael Venom Page & Nursulton Ruziboev will clash at middleweight
at #UFCParis
🤩

[ September 5 | LIVE on @ParamountPlus
] pic.twitter.com/HbzdoPnFrU
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount)
July 15, 2026

Michael
Page is among the latest additions to the upcoming
Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Paris.

Several matchups, mostly featuring European fighters, have been
finalized for UFC
Paris on Sept. 5 at Accor Arena in Paris, France.

The UFC announced several new fights for its Sept. 5 event in
France

Page (25-3) will take on Nursulton
Ruziboev (37-9) in a middleweight bout at UFC Paris. The
Englishman is 4-1 in the UFC and currently on a three-fight winning
streak. Despite a commendable Octagon record, “Venom†has been
severely criticized for the lackluster nature of his recent
outings. Meanwhile, Ruziboev is 5-1 in the UFC with four finishes.
The Uzbek middleweight is currently on a three-fight winning
streak.

UFC Paris also features undefeated heavyweight prospect Mario Pinto
(12-0) against knockout artist Ryan Spann
(24-11). Pinto earned his UFC contract with a first-round knockout
win on the Contender Series in 2024. The Portuguese prospect has
since finished two of his three UFC wins. Meanwhile, Spann has seen
the judges' scorecards only six times in his 35 career outings.
“Superman†is 10-6 in the UFC and coming off back-to-back wins.

Belgium's Losene
Keita (16-2) will take on Tajikistan's Muhammadjon
Naimov (13-4) in a featherweight clash at UFC Paris. Keita
dropped a closely contested split decision against Nathaniel
Wood in his UFC debut this past March. Meanwhile, Naimov is 5-2
in the UFC and coming off a knockout loss against Mairon
Santos.

Oumar
Sy (12-2) will have the Paris home crowd behind him when he
takes on Modestas
Bukauskas (20-7) in a light heavyweight tilt at Accor Arena. Sy
was a highly touted finishing machine coming into the UFC in 2024.
He has since gone 3-2 in the promotion and is coming off a shocking
upset loss against Ion
Cutelaba via submission. Meanwhile, Bukauskas is 7-2 in his
second UFC stint since 2023. The Lithuanian is coming off a
split-decision win over debutant Christian
Edwards.

Nora
Cornolle (9-4) will look to return to the win column in front
of her home fans when she faces Klaudia
Sygula (8-2) at UFC Paris. Cornolle is 3-3 in the UFC and
coming off a two-fight slump. Meanwhile, Sygula is on a two-fight
winning streak since suffering a knockout loss in her UFC debut in
2024.

🔥 La francophonie est bien représentée pour
cet #UFCParis
!

Ne manquez pas l'ouverture de la billetterie CE VENDREDI pic.twitter.com/9gv9x5C7MH

— UFC France (@UFCFRA)
July 15, 2026

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Ben Askren
will have a fairytale ending to his wrestling career irrespective
of the outcome of his next match.

Askren is scheduled to face Belal
Muhammad in the co-main event at RAF 11 in front of his home
fans in Milwaukee. Most thought Askren would never compete again
when he was battling a life-threatening case of pneumonia last
year. The Olympic gold medalist looked nothing like himself after
undergoing a double lung transplant exactly a year ago. However,
Askren recovered well and gradually returned to the wrestling mats
at his training academy.

UFC veteran Ben Askren returns to wrestling after surviving a
major medical scare

Currently a commentator and ambassador at RAF, Askren had no plans
to compete while urging the promotion to come to his hometown.
However, he couldn't resist the idea when he learned that RAF would
come to Milwaukee on his birthday.

Askren has confirmed that he will hang up his wrestling shoes for
good after his match against Muhammad this weekend.

“I don't want to do any more matches. This is it for me,†Askren
told MMA Fighting. “I never really even had the idea. I did
encourage RAF to come to Milwaukee because we do have a strong
wrestling base here… I knew we would sell a bunch of tickets. So, I
said, ‘Hey guys, Milwaukee's great in the summer; come to
Milwaukee.' We'll sell a bunch of tickets; we'll probably be able
to attract the Chicago crowd too, because they had a great show
there last November or whenever it was. And when they told me it
was going to be on my birthday, something just said, ‘Ben, get out
there and wrestle. It's a year after your transplant. It's your
birthday; it's your hometown. Go do it.'â€