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Dakota Ditcheva breaks both hands in PFL New York win

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1 month ago

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Dakota Ditcheva breaks both hands in PFL New York win
It seems that
Professional Fighters League fans will be waiting a while to
see Dakota
Ditcheva compete again.

Dakota Ditcheva reinjured both hands against Denise Kielholtz
at PFL New York and expects to be sidelined before a potential Liz
Carmouche fight

Ditcheva (16-0, 11-0 PFL) is once again dealing with hand injuries.
The 28-year-old earned a unanimous decision victory over Bellator
MMA veteran Denise
Kielholtz in the PFL New York co-main event, with “Dangerousâ€
sweeping the scorecards. The British fighter,
who is ranked No. 10 in Sherdog's women's pound-for-pound
rankings, revealed on her YouTube channel that she had
reinjured both hands.

“Breaking news. I am injured again,†Ditcheva said in the vlog. “I
broke my hands in the [Kielholtz] fight. I could feel it from the
second I started the second round. I didn’t tell my corner. I
didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t show it this time. And I didn’t
actually tell anybody until I got out of the cage.â€

The Kielholtz bout was Ditcheva's first fight in more than a year,
following her dominant victory against Sumiko
Inaba in July 2025. Against Inaba, the
American Top Team representative broke her hands for the first
time. She suffered another hand injury early this year, forcing her
out of a scheduled meeting with Kielholtz at PFL Dubai in February
before the fight was eventually rebooked.

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

“I am back in splints until my surgeon has decided what the next
steps are going forward, which will be in the next few days,†she
added. “The good thing is I have no new breaks. It’s just that if I
explained the hand that wasn’t operated on originally that I broke
at the end of last year, I was told that if I didn’t go ahead with
the surgery at that time, there was a possibility that it would
break again in my fight. Unfortunately, I took the risk in not
doing the surgery because I was hoping that it would hold strong
without intervening with that kind of thing, and it didn't. It’s no
new injury.â€

Ditcheva said she expects to be sidelined for “a little bit.†When
she returns, she is expected to meet 2025 tournament champion
Liz
Carmouche in a highly anticipated matchup.

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MMA

Dana White adds $50K to Sean Sharaf’s bonus for shocking UFC 331 upset

Published

2 hours ago

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September 20, 2026

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Dana White adds $50K to Sean Sharaf’s bonus for shocking UFC 331 upset
Dana
White added $50k of his own to the UFC
331 bonuses.

The latest numbered event went down at Crypto.com Arena on Sept. 19
in Los Angeles. The main event earned Fight of the Night honors,
with Joshua Van
defending his flyweight title in a rematch against Alexandre
Pantoja. A special performance bonus in collaboration with the
Paramount+ series “MobLand†was also on deck.

Sean Sharaf knocked out Gable Steveson in just 12 seconds at
UFC 331

Both Van and Pantoja earned $100k each for their instant classic.
Arman
Tsarukyan earned a $100k Performance of the Night bonus for
knocking out Mauricio
Ruffy in the co-main event. Tsarukyan ate an early right hand
from Ruffy that left him visibly damaged. He then caught Ruffy in a
clinch and put him to sleep with two elbows on the break.

Casey
O'Neill (12-2) earned the other $100k POTN bonus for her
submission win over Eduarda
Moura on the prelims. Moura caught an early kick from O'Neill
and took her down. However, O'Neill maintained composure and
suddenly caught Moura in an armbar while flipping her over.

Sean
Sharaf earned a special $50k bonus from the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's broadcast partner Paramount+,
as part of the promotion for the new season of “MobLand,†for his
upset win over Gable
Steveson. The ex-United States Marine put Steveson to sleep
with a left hook in just 12 seconds in a monumental upset. White
added $50k of his own to Sharaf's bonus.

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MMA

Patricio ‘Pitbull’ makes violent case for new UFC deal with Round 1 KO

Published

4 hours ago

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September 20, 2026

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Patricio ‘Pitbull’ makes violent case for new UFC deal with Round 1 KO
Patricio
“Pitbull†Freire delivered a statement win in a bid to extend
his stay in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Freire took on Doo Ho Choi
(17-5) in a featherweight tilt at UFC
331 on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. This being
the last fight of his contract, Freire repeatedly stated his desire
to continue fighting in the UFC and promised to put on a
performance worthy of a contract renewal.

Patricio Freire knocks out Doo Ho Choi at UFC 331 before
calling out Jean Silva

Freire backed up his promise, dropping Choi with a monstrous right
hand to earn a first-round finish. Having had a lukewarm UFC career
before UFC 331, the former Bellator
champ apologized to fans and called out Jean Silva,
who is known for barking at his opponents, to determine the bigger
dog amongst the two.

“I'm sorry about my last three fights,†Freire said in his
post-fight interview. “I feel that [UFC 331] was my debut. I don't
know what happened to me. But I'm so happy… The pressure here is
bigger [than Bellator]. But now I feel comfortable… Jean Silva,
let's see who is the dog.â€

Freire (38-9) previously lost to Yair
Rodriguez and Aaron Pico
in the UFC, while edging a lackluster unanimous decision against
Dan
Ige. Meanwhile, Silva (18-3) has finished five of his six UFC
wins, while only losing to two-time title challenger Diego
Lopes. “Lord†beat Jose
Delgado at
Noche UFC 4 earlier this month.

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MMA

Arman Tsarukyan says Justin Gaethje is scared to fight him: ‘He’s trying to avoid me’

Published

7 hours ago

on

September 20, 2026

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Arman Tsarukyan says Justin Gaethje is scared to fight him: ‘He’s trying to avoid me’

Arman Tsarukyan has a message for Justin Gaethje: I'm next.

On Saturday night, Tsarukyan scored arguably the biggest win of his career, knocking out Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331 in Los Angeles. Viewed by many as a title eliminator bout, lightweight champion Justin Gaethje sat cageside for the fight, and kicking off his post-fight press conference afterward, Tsarukyan had a simple message for the champ.

“He already knows his message; he's fighting me next,†Tsarukyan told reporters.

Tsarukyan is currently on a six-fight win streak at lightweight and was supposed to challenge Islam Makhachev for the title last year, but a last-minute withdrawal from the event, plus other incidents, put Tsarukyan in the doghouse with the UFC. As such, Tsarukyan felt extra pressure to deliver on Saturday to ensure his title shot, and he believes he did just that.

“Every fight is pressure for me,†Tsarukyan said. “It's not a joke because I want to be UFC champion. Every fight for me is so important. This fight is important too, especially finish and show the great performance. When I'm going to talk to UFC, the bosses are not going to say, ‘It was a boring decision, and you want to fight for the title.' I knocked him out in the first round, and they can see the crowd, people, and my ability in the cage. …

“I've been waiting a long time,†Tsarukyan added later. “I need a title fight, and today I proved it again. This is the third time I'm fighting for the No. 1 contender, and third year. After this fight, hopefully I'm fighting for the title.â€

Tsarukyan certainly believes he will be, saying he spoke with Dana White and the UFC after the win. But whether or not he'll be fighting Gaethje is another question entirely, and one that Tsarukyan isn't sure he knows the answer to because he believes Gaethje has no interest in fighting him.

“Justin Gaethje, he never tells my name,†Tsarukyan said. “He's scared. He wanted Ruffy to knock me out. It means he's trying to avoid me, and he's going to try to call out Ilia Topuria or tell [the UFC], ‘I want $15 million for Arman Tsarukyan or I'm retired.' He's going to play around bullshit game.

“But UFC — either he's going to fight me, or he's going to give the title opportunity for the young guys. We have a lot of contenders right now.â€

Tsarukyan added that if Gaethje does opt to retire instead of fighting him, he wouldn't be upset by that; he simply wants his opportunity to become champion. And when it comes to that, he's not fussy. Tsarukyan says he'll be ready whenever the UFC wants.

“I have no injuries. So I need one-week vacation, and then I can start training again,†Tsarukyan said when asked about when he'd like to fight for the title. “Probably middle of December, end of December. If there is a big card at end of December or middle December, so I'll be ready. Right now, I can't [say] ‘I want to fight in two months, I want to fight in three months.' Whatever they tell me, I'll be there.â€

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