Nine fighters had UFC gold wrapped around their waist after competing on a season of The Ultimate Fighter, and Tina Black expects to “soon†join the group.
MMA
Tony Ferguson defends Misfits Boxing middleweight title with second-round knockout of Mahmood Sebie
Published
5 hours agoon
Tony Ferguson's boxing renaissance continues.
On Saturday, the latest Misfits Boxing card went down at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Fla., headlined by the Misfits debut of former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo. But before Cejudo made the walk, former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson successfully defended his Misfits middleweight title with a second-round finish over Mahmood Sebie in the co-main event.
Ferguson was originally supposed to defend his title against former soccer player Kenzo Biyong, but when Biyong withdrew from the fight just a few days before the event, Sebie — a former Olympic wrestler and MMA fighter — stepped in.
When the fight started, Ferguson came out strong with his pressure and jab, quickly putting Sebie on the back foot. After controlling the round, Ferguson then nearly scored the knockout at the end of the first, dropping Sebie with a sharp right hand. But Sebie was able to beat the count, and when he came out for the second round, he almost immediately hurt Ferguson, putting “El Cucuy†on the defensive. Ultimately, Sebie couldn't close the show, and Ferguson turned the tables on him, sticking Sebie in the corner and pouring on the punches until the referee was forced to intervene.
After the fight, Ferguson was honest about his performance, noting that the passing of his mother beforehand left him not in the best state, even agreeing with Austin McBroom — who stepped in the ring to set up a title fight between them — when he said he didn't know what he watched.
“I'm gonna be real with you, I don't know what the f*ck it was either,†Ferguson said. “I was in the back, still dazed. It was kind of like in a dream state, trying to figure everything out. Literally, I lost my mom a couple of months ago, so I'm just battling through everything I possibly can right now. That shit is not going to happen when we fight.â€
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MMA
Video: Watch vicious one-punch knockout from Too Hot to Handle star
Published
7 hours agoon
September 26, 2026
Misfits Boxing may not be the highest level of competition, but you can still get some gnarly knockouts.
On Saturday, the latest Misfits Boxing card went down at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Fla., headlined by the Misfits debut of former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo. But before Cejudo stepped in the ring, social media influencer and former Too Hot to Handle contestant Louis Russell made a splash with a devastating second-round knockout over influencer Dawson Myles Barrett on the prelims.
Before the bout even began, the commentary team noted how tentative Barrett looked stepping into the ring, but the TikTok star screwed his courage to the post and had some success early with pressure and wild punches. But by the end of the round, Barrett seemed to have slowed down, and early on in the second, Russell floored him with a perfectly timed right hook, sending Barrett sprawling unconscious.
Check out the highlight below.
MMA
Tina Black seeks history, says TUF trophy could ‘soon’ lead to UFC title win
Published
14 hours agoon
September 26, 2026
The strawweight talent, real name Valesca Machado, was Daniel Cormier's first pick on TUF 34 and made it to the final with a pair of wins over Natalia Alves and Delphine Benouaich. Fellow Team Cormier representative Melissa Amaya will be standing across the octagon at Saturday's UFC Vegas 121.
Black holds a professional MMA record of 15-4 and one no-contest, not including the two TUF wins that are officially ruled exhibitions, and has held titles in Invicta FC and A1 Combat before making it to the show.
“I'm appreciating everything that God has put in my path,†Black told MMA Fighting. “He gave me Invicta, He gave me A1, and now He has given me TUF so I can win the title in the finale, and soon the UFC belt. We're going step by step, and I'm thanking God for giving us wisdom and guidance to follow the right path.
“I always told my coaches that I wanted to come here to stay and make history. I don't want to be just another one. I want to be recognized like so many other people are. There are great names, Amanda Nunes, a great star, Alex ‘Poatan' [Pereira]. I want to get there like they did, making history.â€
The 30-year-old was victorious in seven of eight bouts between her failed Contender Series appearance back in 2021 and joining TUF earlier this year, and said that fighting twice in a short period of time on UFC's TV show wasn't the hardest task of her career.
“It's not really a big deal because when I won a belt in Invicta, it was two fights on the same night,†Black said. “I think it was harder to win the title in Invicta because I had to fight twice in one night, having to study my opponents without knowing who I was going to face, who they were going to put me against first, and then who would make it to the final. The hardest part was in Invicta. I think that [in TUF], it felt like I had already done half of the work before because of Invicta, and this was another experience that I had already been through.â€
Aside from in-cage competition, Black had to deal with beef with other two contestants on TUF. That led to some TV drama, which Black said has bothered her father watching at home.
“Honestly, I'm not a controversial person, but if people want to have beef with me, if they want controversy with me, I'll do it too,†Black said with a laugh. “Nothing I did there was because I was playing a character. If I did it, it's because I wanted to and because it was there to be done. Where I come from, from the community… When I was younger, my mom used to say that if I got beaten up in the street, I would get beaten up at home too. That's the kind of person I am. I'm not going to take disrespect and just let it go. I did everything the right way and kept my connection with God, and I asked Him to guide me and take those intrusive thoughts out of me [laughs].â€
Amaya, her opponent in the Sept. 26 final, earned the spot with finishes against Anna Melisano and GiGi Canuto. Black said “she was a real warrior inside the house†after surviving submission attempts that would have forced many others to tap, and is “very happy for her.â€
“She has a very good mindset and she didn't let herself get lost because of a tight armbar,†Black said of Amaya's semifinal win. “And after other submissions were locked in, she didn't tap. She's a warrior. That's a great achievement for her.â€
Black wouldn't go into details as to how she expects to get the job done Saturday because “I don't know what God is planning for me, but I believe I'm going to leave with my hand raised.â€
“I believe that,†Black continued. “I'm going to leave there as the champion, but I don't know how. I can't give you a spoiler about how it's going to happen [laughs], but I believe I'm going to leave as the champion. The important thing is to put another little trophy up there at my sister's home. She has a shelf there with all my stuff, so I'm going to put this little trophy there and keep moving forward to get the UFC belt.â€
MMA
Should MMA ban oblique kicks? A fighter who had his knee torn in a UFC title fight weighs in
Published
15 hours agoon
September 26, 2026
California State Athletic Commission director Andy Foster and UFC CEO Dana White recently came out to support the idea of banning oblique kicks, but one fighter who had his career changed due to those strikes has a different stance.
Thiago Santos did a good job in his UFC title bout against Jon Jones in 2019, losing a split decision despite the fact he had both knees injured. The damage caused to his left knee was caused by lateral knee kicks, and his right one was already hurt going into UFC 239.
Santos had to undergo double knee surgery, and a lengthy recovery period, before eventually fighting again more than a year later, but lost four of his next five before parting ways with the UFC.
“I personally don't see the need for it,†Santos told MMA Fighting. “I don't see it as an illegal technique, a technique that's that difficult to defend from. Then you're going to say it causes a lot of damage. Man, I think a well-placed kick, like an Edson Barboza kick, a well-placed low kick to the knee can also cause a lot of damage. And the guy has the option to block it or move his leg out of the way. So I think it works the same way. The guy can bend his knee, move his leg out of the way, move to the side. There are a few ways to avoid it. I don't know, that's just my opinion. I don't see it as something that needs to be banned.â€
Santos, in fact, would suggest once again banning 12-6 elbows before worrying about oblique kicks. In the end, “Marreta†thinks that more restrictions could “end up hurting the sport†and officials should instead focus on other topics.
“I think there are other more important things they should be focusing on,†Santos said. “Like strikes that are actually illegal, like shots to the back of the head, eye pokes. To actually change the rules and impose more severe punishments for those things. Those are the things that are really concerning. You look at the case of Alex Pereira himself, you look at the case of the former heavyweight champion [Tom Aspinall], who almost went blind. Those are things that really need attention, and they should be concerned about imposing harsher penalties on people who do that, so that fighters are more concerned about not committing those infractions. That's what they should be focusing on, not these oblique kicks.â€
Married to UFC fighter Yana Santos, and still active in combat sports at age 42, “Marreta†is on the fence about fighting again under regular MMA bouts. He won't lay his gloves down, but isn't actively pursuing long deals either.
“I consider myself retired,†Santos said. “I still do it not for the money, but because I still feel capable of doing it. If you look at my last few fights, even with the losses, I'm not a guy who gets hit a lot, and I'm not a guy that people just run through. I'm still competitive. My last fight, I lost and broke my hand in the first round against a guy who was 20 pounds heavier, a striker, and even so, I went three rounds with him and it was a split decision. You don't really see a huge disparity against me, a 42-year-old who was 20 pounds lighter.â€
“I still feel like I can stretch it out a little bit longer, but I don't have a career plan,†he continued. “I'm at the end of my career. I consider myself retired, but I'm not the kind of guy who's going to go on the internet and post that I'm retired from MMA. I look at it the same way I did when I left the Armed Forces. When you leave the Armed Forces, you go into the reserve. That's how I see myself in MMA as well.â€
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Tony Ferguson defends Misfits Boxing middleweight title with second-round knockout of Mahmood Sebie
Video: Watch vicious one-punch knockout from Too Hot to Handle star
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