Mackenzie
Dern believes she needs to improve a lot.

Dern put her
Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title on the line
for the first time against Gillian
Robertson in the co-main event of UFC
330. She outclassed Robertson in every facet to earn a
unanimous decision win, but still isn't happy with her
performance.

Mackenzie Dern slams her performance at UFC 330: ‘I should have
finished that fight'

The strawweight champion believes she needs to work on her cardio,
endurance, striking and grappling. While Dern credits Robertson's
toughness, she believes she should have finished her counterpart.
According to Dern, her performance might not have sufficed against
a surging contender.

“I’m not happy with my performance,†Dern told Ariel Helwani. “I
wish I did better. I wasn’t happy with my cardio, my endurance. I
wasn’t happy with my striking. I wasn’t happy with my grappling. I
wasn’t happy. I should have done a lot of that stuff better. I
should have finished that fight, honestly. Obviously, Gillian is
very tough too… If I fought that performance against someone else
coming up, that wouldn’t be good.â€

Dern won the vacant title against Virna
Jandiroba last year after former champ Weili Zhang
vacated the title and moved up. She is now looking to defend her
title against Zhang, Tatiana
Suarez, or Lupita
Godinez next.

Mackenzie
Dern has some harsh criticism for her own performance at UFC
330 and says that level won't cut it against other opponents:

“I’m not happy with my performance… I wish I did better.

I wasn’t happy with my cardio, my endurance. I wasn’t happy with my
striking. I wasn’t… pic.twitter.com/AhnhSbyakj

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
August 17, 2026

Arman
Tsarukyan believes Usman
Nurmagomedov is better than most
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights.

Nurmagomedov fought out his
Professional Fighters League contract by defending his
lightweight title against Archie
Colgan. He is currently the most sought-after free agent in
mixed martial arts. Tsarukyan claims the undefeated Russian beats
most 155-pounders in the UFC.

Arman Tsarukyan says Usman Nurmagomedov is a threat to nearly
every UFC lightweight

Tsarukyan claims Nurmagomedov (22-0) beats almost everyone in the
UFC lightweight division except him. The top-ranked lightweight
even believes that Nurmagomedov beats current UFC champion Justin
Gaethje. However, Tsarukyan says the Dagestani hasn't been
tested at the highest level in the PFL.

“He can beat a lot of guys in our division because, stylistically,
he's so good,†Tsarukyan told Ariel Helwani. “He can wrestle; he
can strike. But there are tough guys too, so let's see. Because in
PFL there is no competition… Yes, [he beats Gaethje]. Almost, yes
[I think he beats almost everyone in the division except me].â€

According to Tsarukyan, while the former PFL star is dangerous
everywhere, some UFC lightweights can still be a threat to the
undefeated Dagestani. He believes the surging Quillan
Salkilld and former champ Charles
Oliveira would be interesting matchups against Nurmagomedov. As
for himself, Tsarukyan is focused on becoming a champion before he
can consider fighting Nurmagomedov.

Cris Cyborg's
final MMA bout headlines PFL Tampa: Tune in on Saturday, Aug. 22 at
10 p.m. ET on ESPN.

“There are some new guys we have to see. The guy who choked out
Gamrot… That guy is good,†Tsarukyan added. “Charles Oliveira
would be an interesting fight too because Charles can do some
submissions, take his back, choke him out, but Usman is good
everywhere, so he's dangerous for everyone. He's legit… I've got to
do my work, become a champion, and then we can talk.â€

Tsarukyan looks to further strengthen his case for a title shot
when he takes on Mauricio
Ruffy at UFC
331.

Arman
Tsarukyan reacts to the UFC potentially signing Usman
Nurmagomedov and the possibility of a future matchup:

“He can beat a lot of guys in our division because, stylistically,
he's so good… I think he beats Gaethje. I think he beats almost
everyone in the division.

There… pic.twitter.com/AFhexlzHsJ

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
August 17, 2026

Jalin
Turner's recent win marked the start of a new
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract.

Turner took on Kaue
Fernandes in a lightweight tilt at UFC
330. “The Tarantula†took just 39 seconds to finish Fernandes,
earning a $100k performance bonus for his knockout win. Turner now
has four fights left on his current deal and recently revealed
whether he wanted to test free agency after his last contract ran
out.

Jalin Turner signed a five-fight UFC deal after his previous
contract expired

Turner's previous contract expired with his knockout win over
Edson
Barboza last December. Notably, that bout marked his Octagon
return after a brief retirement. Beating Barboza in the first round
warranted a new deal in the eyes of the promotion and Turner
subsequently signed a five-fight contract.

“My deal was up,†Turner told Ariel Helwani. “Barboza was the last
fight on my contract. So, I just signed a new five-fight deal with
the UFC.â€

Turner seemingly wasn’t too keen on free agency. He let his manager
handle offers from other promotions and negotiations with the UFC,
ultimately returning to the promotion.

“I let my manager handle all that,†Turner added. “I'm happy with
the UFC. I ain't saying nothing else about it. I mean I heard some
talks [about other offers]. But ultimately, the UFC came through;
they always come through. So, I'm still here. I'm happy. I can't
complain.â€

Turner (16-9) briefly retired from fighting following a loss to
Ignacio
Bahamondes last year. He claimed that he was emotionally
burdened by the idea of hurting others, especially after his
slugfest against Dan Hooker
and a vicious knockout of King Green.
However, Turner then came out of retirement with a changed mindset
and has since scored back-to-back first-round knockout wins.