Joe Lopez has seen major improvements in Mauricio
Ruffy’s grappling since the Brazilian joined Alexander
Volkanovski’s team.

Ruffy is preparing for the biggest test of his
Ultimate Fighting Championship career when he faces Arman
Tsarukyan in the co-main event of UFC
331 on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles. Tsarukyan’s wrestling prowess
is a key factor in the matchup, but Lopez believes his fighter has
made significant strides in that area.

Mauricio Ruffy's defensive wrestling improves ahead of Arman
Tsarukyan fight at UFC 331

Ruffy made the move from the Brazilian gym
Fighting Nerds after losing to Benoit St.
Denis in September 2025, joining Volkanovski's team in
Australia. Speaking to Submission Radio, Volkanovski's head coach
Lopez said Ruffy’s development has been particularly noticeable in
defensive wrestling and his ability to escape dangerous
positions.

“Well, it's just chalk and cheese,†Lopez said. “You can just see
how he's improving, you know?â€

Ruffy has since earned victories against Rafael
Fiziev and Michael
Chandler, finishing both lightweights. Lopez claims that even
Volkanovski struggles to keep Ruffy down in the gym. He added that
the Brazilian has improved his positioning while defending
takedowns and prioritizes keeping the fight on the feet rather than
chasing submissions.

“For this fight here, that's one of our specialties is our
defensive wrestling and our scrambles and not accepting the
position,†Lopez added. “Honestly, he's picking it up. When he
first came, he was still really stuck in his jiu-jitsu type thing
where he attached himself to the person. Now, he's not. He's
training his escapes, getting out, putting his body in the right
position, putting his hands in the right position.â€

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship has added four more Meta Apex
events to its 2026 schedule.

The Nevada Athletic Commission has approved permits for UFC events
on Sept. 29, Oct. 10, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7 at its venue. The Sept. 29
and Nov. 7 cards already have main events, with the headliners for
the two October cards yet to be announced.

Rosas Jr.-Barcelos and Brady-Bonfim are set to headline two
upcoming UFC Fight Nights

Raoni
Barcelos is set to face Raul Rosas
Jr. at
UFC Fight Night 289 on Sept. 29. The matchup pits an MMA
veteran against one of the brightest up-and-coming prospects in the
sport.

The main events for the UFC
Fight Night on Oct. 10 and the UFC
Fight Night on Oct. 31 haven't been announced as yet, but
multiple undercard fights on the cards have been revealed.

Some of the fights scheduled for the Oct. 10 card include Andre Fili
vs. Kai Kamaka
III, Lupita
Godinez vs. Ketlen
Souza, Malcolm
Wellmaker vs. Otari
Tanzilovi and Matheus
Camilo vs. Jai
Herbert, among others. Bouts slated for the undercard of the
Oct. 31 event include Julian
Erosa vs. Jeong Yeong
Lee, Francis
Marshall vs. Gaston
Bolanos, Yana Santos
vs. Luana
Santos and Andre
Petroski vs. Azamat
Bekoev, among others.

The
Nov. 7 UFC Fight Night will be headlined by Gabriel
Bonfim vs. Sean Brady,
a pivotal welterweight clash.

Should these events complete the UFC’s Meta Apex schedule for the
year, the promotion will have staged 12 events at the venue in
2026, just as they did last year.

Claressa
Shields has revealed why a boxing bout against Cris
Cyborg fell through.

During a recent interview, Shields discussed a previous offer for
the proposed Cyborg fight, which the Brazilian allegedly turned
down.

Shields says a sparring session changed her relationship with
Cris Cyborg

Shields claims Cyborg turned down a $2 million offer to box her,
despite them being on good terms.

“But as far as Cris, she turned $2 million already back when a guy
from Saudi had $3 million for her,†Shields told TMZ Sports. “Well,
$3 million for me and $2 million for her and we could [do that at]
154 [pounds]. She turned it down and that’s back when we were
cool.â€

The American now claims that they aren't on good terms, speculating
that the bad blood stems from a previous training session, which
Shields claims to have dominated.

“Right now, she got all this, ‘Oh, she don’t like me,'†Shields
added. “I think she don’t like me because I whooped her a*s in
sparring. That’s what happened. She got like this edited clip that
she begged me to let her and her team put together. But I had every
round when we sparred and I know for a fact she was a deer in
headlights. I beat her. Yeah. Yes. It was easy work.â€

Shields recently finished Kay Scott to win the WBA and WBC female
middleweight titles, while Cyborg beat Ketlen
Vieira in his last mixed martial arts bout in the
Professional Fighters League.