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Darren Elkins explains decision to retire after UFC Vegas 120, rules out going to BKFC: ‘I’d probably die’

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3 weeks ago

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Darren Elkins explains decision to retire after UFC Vegas 120, rules out going to BKFC: ‘I’d probably die’

“A warrior who never gave up on himself,†Darren Elkins enters the octagon for the final time Saturday night to face Yadier del Valle in his retirement bout at UFC Vegas 120. Elkins announced this would be his “last dance†when the promotion revealed the matchup, and he explained his decision during media day Wednesday.

“I'm older in age now, but mostly I'm starting to get hurt a little bit more often,†Elkins said. “Getting to train all the time is taking more of a toll on my body than used to, so it's time. I mean, I've been contemplating it for a while and I just talked to my family, worked it all out. I'm like, you know what? I've always wanted to lay my gloves in the octagon and do it where most people don't get that chance, right? They either get cut, or they just have to say on social media that they retired. I wanted to be in the moment, be able to lay my gloves down and ride off the sunset.â€

Elkins said it wasn't “that tough†of a decision considering the damage he's put his body through after competing 30 times under the UFC banner since 2010 for a promotional record of 19-11, but feels “blessed to be still doing something I love to do.â€

“Man, it's been fun,†Elkins said. “There's been some downs, there's been some ups, but dang, I never thought I'd be doing this for a living for this long. It was cool just to see the evolution of the game and be a part of the evolution, right? I started over 16 years ago and the reason why I'm still here is because I kept on evolving my game, so I can be proud about it. I've seen a lot of guys that stop evolving and that's when I usually get kicked out of the UFC, they start losing. I knew how to entertain, put on entertaining fights and keep evolving.â€

The 42-year-old veteran admitted he considered retirement in the past, especially after losing to Hacran Dias in Brazil back in 2014, but followed the advice to switch teams and that led to a six-fight winning streak against the likes of Dennis Bermudez and Michael Johnson, snapped only by future UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Elkins revealed he's interested in staying active in forms of competition that don't include punches and kicks to the face, like wrestling for RAF, but promised his wife he wouldn't even consider stepping into a ring for bare-knuckle boxing matches.

“I'd probably die,†Elkins said with a laugh when asked about BKFC. “My MMA fights are bloody. Could you imagine me in that? No. I promised my wife I wouldn't even look at that place [laughs].â€

Elkins' final UFC bout comes against the much younger del Valle, a 10-1 talent who was 10 years old when Elkins made his pro MMA debut in Chicago. “The Cuban Problem†dropped a decision to Jordan Leavitt in his most recent appearance after scoring back-to-back first-round rear-naked choke finishes over Connor Matthews and Isaac Dulgarian in his first UFC bouts.

“This is the UFC, there's not going to be any favors, you know?†Elkins said of the matchup. “I expected it. I mean, I've always knew what the game was. I think that's the thing why I never got surprised is I knew what the game was about. You got to go out there and do your job. That's any place you work for. If you're not doing your job, you're not doing it at a high level, they can get rid of you at any time.

“I expected when I said I was going be a retirement fight that I was going to probably be a younger guy. I'm one of the older guys in the division, so it's going to be a younger guy and probably a pretty tough guy because they know when I'm in the octagon, it's going to be a crazy fight.â€

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MMA

Tyson Fury admits he didnt train for Francis Ngannou: It was play

Published

2 hours ago

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August 27, 2026

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Tyson Fury admits he didn't train for Francis Ngannou: 'It was play'
Tyson
Fury has admitted he did not take Francis
Ngannou seriously, a mindset that nearly cost him the
fight.

Fury faced Ngannou in October 2023 in the latter’s professional
boxing debut. Despite being knocked down by a powerful punch in the
third round, Fury recovered to edge Ngannou by split decision over
10 rounds.

Francis Ngannou knocked Fury down after the heavyweight
dismissed the bout as an exhibition

In a recent interview with ALF Global, Fury admitted he was
underprepared for his bout with Ngannou. He explained that he
viewed the matchup more as an exhibition than a serious fight.

“No, I didn't train for him because I didn't think he was a good
fighter,†Fury said. “I knew he was a good fighter, but to me it's
levels to boxing.â€

Fury explained that he viewed the matchup differently because the
former
Ultimate Fighting Championship champ doesn't have any boxing
credentials or accolades. The Englishman also discussed Ngannou's
mindset going into the fight.

“When you do an exhibition fight, play, it wasn't really a fight,
do you understand what I'm saying?†Fury said. “It wasn't, in my
mind, a fight; it's just an exhibition, a game. To him, to Ngannou,
it was, ‘Ah, big fight, I fight Tyson Fury!' To me, it was play, a
game, you know what I mean?â€

Fury is rumored to be taking on Anthony
Joshua later this year, with negotiations still underway
regarding the date and location.

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MMA

Rafael dos Anjos nearly retired after three surgeries: Man, this is it

Published

4 hours ago

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August 27, 2026

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Rafael dos Anjos nearly retired after three surgeries: 'Man, this is it'
Rafael dos
Anjos claims multiple surgeries forced his long hiatus.

The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder returns
to the Octagon after nearly two years against Alexander
Hernandez at UFC 332 on
Oct. 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Brazilian suffered a
90-second stoppage loss after injuring his left knee in his last
outing against Geoff Neal in
October 2024.

Rafael dos Anjos details the knee surgeries that threatened his
UFC career

In a recent interview, dos Anjos revealed that he has since
undergone three surgeries on his left knee. A doctor in Brazil
initially stitched up his meniscus, which apparently was a big
mistake. He again tore his meniscus after a few months and
underwent surgery in Austin, Texas, in the U.S.

However, the American doctor allegedly left some stitches inside
dos Anjos' knee, which subsequently led to inflammation. The former
champ then went under the knife for the third time earlier this
year. He admits that the thought of hanging up his gloves has
crossed his mind in the meantime. However, the 41-year-old notes
that he hasn't been dominated in his losses and wants to give it
one more shot.

“I had three surgeries back-to-back,†dos Anjos told Ariel Helwani.
“After the Geoff Neal
fight, I had meniscus surgery, and the doctor in Brazil made a
mistake. He actually tried to stitch up my meniscus, which was a
terrible mistake. Four or five months after the surgery, my
meniscus tore again, so I had to redo it. I had to have the
meniscus removed, and the doctor in Austin, Texas, left a couple of
stitches inside my knee, believe it or not. It was causing
inflammation. I couldn't get full extension, and then I had surgery
for the third time at the beginning of this year. For a second, I
thought, ‘Man, this is it.' But looking at my results, I'm coming
from losses, but I haven't been dominated. I want to give it a
chance. I still have four more fights on my contract.â€

Now healthy, dos Anjos (32-17) will look to rebound from a
three-fight skid against Hernandez (18-9), who is coming off a loss
against Rafa Garcia
that snapped a four-fight winning streak.

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MMA

Sean Brady spots major Carlos Prates weakness against Islam Makhachev

Published

6 hours ago

on

August 27, 2026

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Sean Brady spots major Carlos Prates weakness against Islam Makhachev
Sean
Brady claims Carlos
Prates doesn't have the tools to deal with Islam
Makhachev's wrestling.

Michael
Morales (19-0) and Prates (24-7) are the leading contenders for
the next
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title shot against
Makhachev (29-1). Brady believes Morales will give Makhachev a
harder time than Prates will, citing how the Ecuadorian is more of
an unknown and his grappling hasn't been put to the test in the
UFC.

Sean Brady explains why Michael Morales poses a tougher test
for Islam Makhachev

While Brady (19-2) acknowledges Prates' dangerous knockout power,
he believes Makhachev will have his way against the Brazilian on
the ground. Brady notes that we're yet to see Morales get
challenged on the ground, hence making him more of a puzzle for the
UFC welterweight champ.

“I think Prates can knock anybody out, for sure,†Brady told Ariel
Helwani. “Out of Prates and Morales, everyone's gonna say I'm
biased because I lost to Morales, but I think Morales will give
Islam a harder time. I was asking for the Carlos Prates fight, so
I've gone back and done the tape study on him, where I've seen guys
in One FC take him down and beat him on the ground. I think Islam
will be able to do the same thing, whereas with Morales, we still
don't know how good he is. We still don't know how good his ground
game is. We don't know how good his cardio is. We don't know all
these things, and I think that's gonna play a lot more of a
factor.â€

Morales hasn't fought since finishing Brady last November and the
latter believes the unbeaten 170-pounder needs to beat either
Ian
Garry or Shavkat
Rakhmonov before fighting for the title. Moreover, Makhachev
has already set his sights on Prates for his second title defense
at welterweight.

Meanwhile, Brady rebounded from the loss to Morales with a dominant
decision win over Joaquin
Buckley. He is now scheduled to fight Gabriel
Bonfim (20-1) on Nov. 7 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

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