A former UFC middleweight champion, Rockhold left MMA in 2022 and has spent the past several years mixing it up across nearly every discipline of combat sports. Rockhold was never a serious wrestler, stopping the sport after high school, but he made his RAF debut earlier this year, losing by tech fall to Colby Covington at RAF 5 in January.

Pyfer, like Rockhold, stopped wrestling in high school, shifting his focus to MMA. That choice seems to have worked out, as “Bodybagz†is currently ranked in the top-15 of the UFC's middleweight division and coming off a knockout win over former champion Israel Adesanya. Pyfer returns to wrestling to make it two-for-two over former UFC champions this weekend.

Check out the live blog for Rockhold vs. Pyfer below.

Rockhold in shockingly blond hair. He's apparently been training very seriously for this.

Tie up early and Pyfer powers through to get a bodylock. Danger for Rockhold and here comes the throw, two points for Pyfer. Rockhold rolls and there's back exposure but he gets to belly and stalls for the standup. 4-0 Pyfer.

Back on the feet and Pyfer's physicality is an issue for Rockhold who just doens't look like a wrestler. Pyfer barrels into him and forces him out. 5-0 Pyfer.

Rockhold trying to handfight and then shuck through, but can't. Pyfer powers ahead and this time Rockhold uses a whizzer to throw Pyfer out and score. 5-1 Pyfer.

Handfighting in space but nothing for the remainder of the round.

Pyfer pressing the issue to start. He's got much better feet than Rockhold, and that's been the difference. Rockhold's feet are stone. Pyfer gets into a bodylock again but he steps out first as he drives on Rockhold. 5-2 Pyfer.

Rockhold keeps looking to punch through but can't. Now Rockhold shoot his first real shot, deep on double. Pyfer uses the whizzer to toss him though! They land outside the mat, but ref calls takedown and back exposure. 9-2 Pyfer.

Back on the feet and Rockhold is trying to press the issue but it allows Pyfer to get another bodylock and lifts for the finish. Rockhold bellies down. 11-2 for Pyfer.

Now he's sensing the end and Pyfer presses forward, getting another pushout, but somewhere in there Rockhold got another point? I don't know where that happened. 12-3.

And on the restart, Pyfer bumrushes him to get another push out and the tech fall.

Joe Pyfer def. Luke Rockhold via tech fall (13-3)

On Saturday, Tsarukyan takes on Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331. The five-round lightweight fight is ostensibly a title eliminator bout, but despite his pre-fight antics hurting his reputation with the UFC before, Tsarukyan simply couldn't help himself, nearly getting into it a day early with Ruffy.

While Tsarukyan and Ruffy haven't had much friction during fight week, that all changed at the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday night in Los Angeles. After stepping off the scale, Tsarukyan made a beeline for Ruffy, who stood posing with his fist out. Tsarukyan stepped inside Ruffy's fist, leading Ruffy to use that fist to push him back, nearly starting an altercation between the two before security stepped in.

This is not the first time Tsarukyan has had issues at weigh-ins. “Batman†famously headbutted Dan Hooker at their final faceoff before their fight at UFC Qatar in November.

Saturday's main event is a flyweight title rematch between Joshua Van and Alexander Pantoja, and in contrast to the co-main event, Van and Pantoja have been feuding all week; however, none of that boiled over for their final faceoff as the two kept their hands to themselves before delivering their final statements to the crowd.

“That's opportunity. I'm grateful. But what happened in December, it's not going to happen tomorrow,†Pantoja said. “I'll see you in the octagon.â€

“It ain't no accident,†Van responded. “It happened the way it did, and it was meant to be. Tomorrow, we kill or be killed!â€

Check out the full UFC 331 ceremonial weigh-ins above.

On Oct. 24, Volkanovski looks to make the second defense of his reclaimed featherweight title when he takes on the undefeated Evloev in the main event of UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. For Volkanovski, it's a chance to add to his already Hall of Fame-worthy legacy and solidify his claim as the best 145-pounder in the world, while Evloev finally gets his shot at a UFC title. But even with so much on the line, both men looked very calm for their first faceoff at the UFC 333 opening press conference on Friday in Los Angeles.

Throughout the press conference, both Volkanovski and Evloev — who briefly trained together many years ago — were highly respectful of each other, and that energy carried through to their first faceoff, where they shook hands and then gestured to the crowd.

The co-main event for UFC 333 is perhaps even more heavily anticipated as Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili look to settle their rivalry in a trilogy bout for bantamweight gold. Dvalishvili is the last man to beat Yan, taking a decision from him in 2023, but Yan got his revenge in December, winning a decision over Dvalishvili and taking the 135-pound belt from him. With so much history between the two of them, things got a little more intense in their faceoff, though nothing untoward occurred.