Alexandre Pantoja is all healed up and ready to settle the score with Joshua Van.
MMA
Alexandre Pantoja gives update on return: ‘I have unfinished business with Joshua Van’
Published
1 month agoon
In December, Pantoja defended his flyweight title against Van in the co-main event of UFC 323, but was beset by disaster when he injured his arm trying to roll away after Van caught a kick just seconds into the bout. Since then, Pantoja has been out of action while he recovers, while Van successfully defended his new title in May with a fifth-round stoppage over Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328.
But now, Pantoja is fit and ready to get back to it.
“I'm ready,†Pantoja told MMA Fighting. “After December, what happened to my arm, two days after that, I went to the gym, started training with just one arm. That's who I am. I'm not done. I'm not done. I have so much to conquer. I have so much to prove. And when you have the belt, your words [mean more]. I want to take the belt again. I want to be UFC champion one more time and keep talking to good things, about the world and things I saw in my life, make people happy. That's what I want.â€
As mentioned, while Pantoja's been out, Van has already added a title defense to his résumé, and other flyweight contenders have been busy as well, with Manel Kape knocking out Kyoji Horiguchi, and Brandon Royval psetting Lone'er Kavanagh. For Pantoja, the continued growth of the division in his absence has been great for him, too.
“Real good fight. Real good fight,†Pantoja said of Van's win over Taira. “Showed a lot of high-level skills. Don't get me wrong, on the same night, you have the Chimaev and Strickland fight, you see the difference about the pace, about the high-level. That's good to prove to everybody the flyweight division is one of the more entertaining divisions in the UFC.
“You see Manel Kape with Kyoji Horiguchi. You see Brandon Royval, all these guys put on very good show to everybody, and I think right now, flyweight is better than ever. I think what happened with me last year made the division more fire. Now I have the opportunity to take over and [beat] everybody again.â€
Pantoja was particularly impressed by Kape's win over Horiguchi at UFC Vegas 119 last month. After the win, Kape lobbied for his shot at the flyweight title, but Pantoja says he's up first. Then he and Kape can run things back.
“Beautiful performance,†Pantoja said. “I think Kyoji Horiguchi gets very close to winning the fight, but Manel is the real deal. Manel Kape, for me, is one of the most dangerous fights in the world in flyweight. He's the next contender.
“Of course, I have unfinished business with Joshua Van. Like, as an athlete, I know I lost the fight. That happened. But like a man, I don't think he beat me. I'm still here. I'm ready to fight. I'm in amazing shape. Let's see what happens next.â€
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MMA
Usman Nurmagomedov releases statement responding to post-fight collision with Song Yadong
Published
3 hours agoon
August 30, 2026
Usman Nurmagomedov is never going to apologize for caring about his brother's well-being, but that doesn't mean he was trying to attack his opponent at UFC Shanghai.
Song Yadong scored the biggest win of his career on Saturday when he blasted Umar Nurmagomedov with a perfectly timed uppercut that sent the Russian crashing to the canvas to end the fight. Immediately after the fight was stopped, Usman jumped into the cage to check on his brother and Song ended up colliding with him as he ran around the cage to celebrate his victory.
The brief physical altercation led many to speculate that Usman actually tried hitting Song with an elbow strike after running into each other, but the reigning PFL lightweight champion was quick to deny that allegation while addressing the incident on social media.
“People are making such a huge tragedy out of this, they should just calm down,†Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram (Russian-to-English translation via Red Corner MMA). “There are things far worse. You don't have to think for long, just look at what is happening in the world.
“And regarding the claims that I supposedly wanted to hit his opponent, if I had wanted to, I would have hit him.â€
For his part, Song never broke stride during his celebration and he eventually went over to Nurmagomedov's corner and spoke to his head coach Khabib to pay his respects after the fight.
“You angry, petty, and jealous people,†Nurmagomedov wrote. “Your problem is that you have never had, and never will never have, an understanding of family love. If you don't know what a brother means to his brother, then I'm not the one you should feel sorry for, you should feel sorry for yourselves.â€
It was obviously a tough moment for Usman after watching his brother suffer such a brutal knockout loss — only the second defeat of his career —but Umar eventually got back to his feet and released a statement of his own saying he was doing fine after the main event ended.
MMA
Daniel Cormier defends Usman Nurmagomedov after altercation at UFC Shanghai: ‘He did not attack Song Yadong’
Published
4 hours agoon
August 30, 2026
Emotions were running high after Song Yadong scored a stunning knockout over Umar Nurmagomedov in the UFC Shanghai main event on Saturday. With Nurmagomedov still laid out unconscious from the uppercut that ended his night, Song was understandably elated as he ran around the cage in celebration but that also brought him in direct contact with Nurmagomedov's team including his brother Usman Nurmagomedov.
“Usman Nurmagomedov jumped into the octagon after the fight, Khabib [Nurmagomedov] tried to stop him,†Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Song Yadong is running in the direction of Usman. Usman reacts, like he reaches to stop him like they were going to make contact together.
“He did not elbow him. Let's stop making conspiracy theories out there, people. He did not elbow him. He did not attack Song Yadong.â€
For his part, Song never broke stride and continued his celebration and he eventually approached Khabib and the rest of the team to show his respect after the fight.
While Cormier is adamant Usman didn't purposefully attempt to attack anybody, he understands in the heat of the moment why the reigning PFL lightweight champion was desperately trying to get his brother after watching him get knocked out.
“What he did was try to get to his brother,†Cormier said. “That in itself is not allowed. We are not allowed to do that. But if there's anyone that you care about immensely and you want to rush to their side in that moment, it is your brother. Blood brother. Not a brother as in a friend that you love, not a cousin, not a relative. This is his actual brother.
“So he jumps into the octagon, which is not allowed but if there's any time that someone will deal on emotion, you would think that it was this.â€
That said, Cormier knows whether he ran into Song or not, Usman has to take responsibility for his actions because he shouldn't have been in the octagon in the first place.
“The reason they won't let people jump [into the octagon] is because of the things that happened with Khabib and Conor [McGregor] and all those other things,†Cormier said. “They cannot control whenever the situation gets chaotic.
“That's why Usman cannot do that. But I am more inclined to get him a bit of grace because you watch your brother get starched in that wayâ€
The incident didn't escalate and nothing else happened before doctors were able to get in the cage to check on Umar following his knockout loss. UFC officials haven't made any statement on the incident but it appears cooler heads prevailed all the way around after the brief run-in between Usman and Song in the cage.
MMA
Mike Perry dislocates shoulder, Brandon Jenkins delivers upset victory at Brand Duel
Published
14 hours agoon
August 29, 2026
Mike Perry's fight week went from bad to worse after he suffered a dislocated shoulder and a first-round TKO loss to late notice replacement Brandon Jenkins at Brand Duel in Orlando on Saturday night.
Following Dillon Danis' withdrawal just two days before the event was scheduled to take place, Perry accepted the short-notice fight against Jenkins. But early in the opening round, Perry's shoulder popped out of place and while the fight was allowed to continue, it didn't take long for Jenkins to deliver the finishing blow with a nasty body kick followed by some ground and pound to end it.
“What is it 15 hours' notice?†Jenkins said after the win. “It was a no-brainer, I was coming out here. They called me, I said yes. I asked for Nate Diaz but I got Mike Perry. Hopefully I can get a good fight with Nate Diaz next.â€
Perry was on the attack from the jump with Jenkins backing him off with a slick spinning back elbow. Jus as Jenkins was gaining some momentum, Perry unloaded a combination of punches followed by a hard left hand that landed clean.
During an exchange, Perry winced after it appeared his shoulder popped out of place and Jenkins attacked with a body kick that sent the “King of Violence†down to the canvas. Replays showed that Perry's injury really was a freak occurrence as he held onto Jenkins with his left hand while through right uppercuts but it was his left shoulder that popped out of place.
Rather than stop the fight due to Perry's injury, the referee allowed the action to continue and Jenkins stayed on the attack. He unleashed another vicious body kicks that sent Perry crashing to the canvas.
Jenkins followed him to the ground where he continued hammering away with punches until the referee saw enough and stopped the fight at 2:38 in the first round.
Perry was down on the canvas for several moments as medical personnel tended to him and attempted to put the shoulder back in place as he was writhing in pain.
It's an unfortunate ending for Perry after he signed up to fight Danis but ultimately suffered a serious injury and fell to a new opponent on just 48 hours' notice. It's unclear at this time how long Perry might be out of action with the shoulder injury but his night ends on a loss while Jenkins gets the biggest win of his career.
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