Patricio
“Pitbull” Freire believes reconnecting with a longtime boxing
coach, Edelson Silva, played a major role in getting his career
back on track.

Freire recently returned to winning ways in the final bout of his

Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, finishing Doo Ho Choi
by first-round technical knockout at UFC
331.

Patricio Freire credits reunion with Edelson Silva for Doo Ho
Choi finish

After his victory over Choi, Freire spoke about his reunion with
Silva, which he credited as the primary factor in reviving his
career. Talking to UFC Brazil's Evelyn Rodrigues as he left the
Octagon, the former Bellator
champ said the reunion allowed him to fight more freely.

“I wasn't letting myself go in the previous fights, but thank God I
was able to find myself again in this one,†Freire said after the
victory. “Edelson worked with me from 2000 to 2015. Unfortunately,
we drifted apart for 11 years, when he worked on 10 of Anderson
Silva's camps. But we were able to work things out and make
peace.â€

UFC CEO Dana
White remained coy about Freire's future in the promotion at
the post-fight presser, but commended the Brazilian's victory.
Neither party has indicated whether he'll be offered a contract
renewal.

Manel
Kape is making his case for the next
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title shot.

Joshua
Van (18-2) successfully defended the 125-pound championship in
a rematch against Alexandre
Pantoja at UFC
331 on Sept. 19. Top-ranked flyweight Manel Kape,
seemingly the frontrunner for a shot at UFC gold, can't wait to
fight Van as he favors the matchup stylistically.

Manel Kape sees UFC champion Joshua Van's striking style as an
ideal matchup

Van has faced wrestling-heavy fighters in his two title defenses so
far, finishing Tatsuro
Taira and going the distance with Alexandre
Pantoja in a five-round war. Kape, one of the best strikers in
the division, can't wait to dissect Van's boxing-centric fighting
style and he claims he'll make it look effortless.

“The perfect style for me to paint a masterpiece,†Kape posted on
X. “You're all going to be surprised by how easy I make this fight
look.â€

The California State Athletic Commission released the fight night
weights for all UFC 331 fighters. Van weighed 145.8 pounds on fight
night, gaining 20.8 pounds after weighing in at 125 pounds. Kape
claims he'll be as heavy as 160 pounds on fight night.

“Manel Kape; event weight 160 lb,†he wrote in another post.

Kape (23-7) is currently on a four-fight knockout streak and fresh
off a come-from-behind finish over top contender Kyoji
Horiguchi.

The perfect style for me to paint a
masterpiece. https://t.co/4jtWsnH8nw

— Manel
Kape (@ManelKape)
September 20, 2026

You're all going to be surprised by how easy
I make this fight look. https://t.co/4jtWsnH8nw

— Manel
Kape (@ManelKape)
September 21, 2026

Manel Kape ;
event weight 160 lb https://t.co/tSWnc22aQH

— Manel
Kape (@ManelKape)
September 21, 2026

Henry
Cejudo doesn't want wrestlers to rush their mixed martial arts
careers.

Gable
Steveson was a -2500 favorite going into his second
Ultimate Fighting Championship bout against Sean Sharaf
at UFC
331 on Sept. 19. Sharaf pulled off a historic upset by knocking
Steveson out in just 12 seconds and Cejudo believes there's a
lesson to be learned about managing an MMA career for credentialled
wrestlers like Bo
Nickal.

Cejudo says Steveson needs more time to develop after Sean
Sharaf's UFC 331 upset

Cejudo believes fellow Olympic gold medalist wrestler Steveson is
still too green for the UFC. The former two-division champ wants
Steveson to develop a well-rounded arsenal by focusing solely on
striking for a full year. “Triple C†also hopes collegiate
wrestling standout Nickal learns from Steveson's loss.

“You cannot hurry up in the game,†Cejudo said on the “Pound 4
Pound†podcast. “And I hope Bo Nickal can also see this sh*t. You
got to be able to respect the game, focus on mixed martial arts and
just do that. My next thing for Gable Steveson is, he needs to take
a whole f*cking year and just get better defensively. Because if he
is just gonna strike, then strike for one whole year. You're still
young; forget about doing anything with matches in grappling and
all this other stuff.â€

Steveson (4-1) had finished all four of his MMA fights in the first
round, including his UFC debut, before losing to Sharaf. Meanwhile,
Nickal (9-1) had just one pro MMA fight before earning two wins on

Dana White's Contender Series to secure a UFC contract in 2023.
Nickal went undefeated in his first four UFC outings before being
stopped by Reinier
de Ridder and has since rebounded with back-to-back stoppage
wins over Rodolfo
Vieira and Kyle
Daukaus.