MMA

After months of speculation, rumors, and fighters campaigning to be a part of the event … the UFC finally made it official Saturday night, announcing the promotion's "Freedom 250" card during UFC 326!

Ilia Topuria, lightweight champ, and Justin Gaethje, interim lightweight champ, got the top spot, main eventing the historic card ... which will go down Sunday, June 14 at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C.!

Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will serve as the co-main ... with the interim heavyweight belt on the line. Pereira will look to become the first fighter to be champion in three different divisions.

The rest of the main card rounds out like this ... "Suga" Sean O'Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler, Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus, and Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia.

Each fight, except for Pereira and Gane, features an American fighter.

The announcement puts an end to months of speculation surrounding the event

As for the setup, the event is expected to take place on the South Lawn, with a limited crowd in attendance.

Just 98 days until Freedom 250!

Big shakeup in the MMA world ... Francis Ngannou is a free agent!

The PFL -- Professional Fighters League -- announced Friday that they were no longer in business with one of the most feared men in the entire sport.

"The Professional Fighters League has made the decision to part ways with Franciks Ngannou," a statement released by the promotion said.

"We have great respect for Francis as both as athlete and a person, and we wish him success in the next chapter of his combat sports career."

It's a shocking end to the 39-year-old Ngannou's tenure with the company, which started in January 2023, when he signed with PFL.

Francis fought under the PFL banner on October 19, 2024, in Saudi Arabia ... a bout dubbed the "Battle of the Giants," 'cause it featured the 6'5 Ngannou against 6'8" Renan Ferreira.

Unfortunately, the PFL and Ngannou could seemingly never get on the same page again ... so Francis didn't fight.

On Thursday, TMZ Sports happened to have PFL CEO John Martin in our offices ... and we asked him about Ngannou's future (Ngannou part is at 7:54). Martin said they were still open to working with the MMA star, as long as it made sense for both parties.

What's next for Francis, and could a UFC return be in store? Likely not ... as the former heavyweight champion and Dana White aren't exactly on the best of terms.

After nearly a decade away from the Octagon, Ronda Rousey will step into the cage once again ... as the former UFC superstar is set to make her MMA return against another legend, Gina Carano!

The shocking fight announcement dropped Tuesday morning, with Rousey saying, "Been waiting so long to announce this."

"Me and Gina Carano are gonna throw down in the biggest superfight in women’s combat sport history, and we’re partnering with the fighter-first promoter, MVP, as well as the baddest streamer on the planet, Netflix. This is for all MMA fans past, present, and future."

It's only a matter of time until Ilia Topuria's back in the Octagon ... 'cause TMZ Sports has confirmed the lightweight champ has struck a deal with his ex-wife Giorgina Uzcategui, after previously claiming he was the victim of bogus domestic violence allegations.

The agreement, first reported by Marca in Spain, comes after Topuria posted a photo to Instagram on Thursday, showing him back in the gym training ... with a caption reading, "The Champ is back!!!"

We're told the 155 lb. champion went back to training "weeks ago."

It's still unclear when Ilia wishes to return to the cage, but it'll likely be sometime in the middle of 2026 ... and fans are pumped!

It's been two weeks since Kayla Harrison went under the knife after suffering a serious injury, which forced her out of her UFC 324 co-main event fight with Amanda Nunes ... and now the featherweight champ is showing off her gnarly scar for the first time.

American Top Team -- where Harrison trains in Florida -- shared a photo on social media Thursday ... and it underscores the severity of the procedure

It's the first significant update we've received on Harrison since she posted an emotional video on Instagram after the operation, where she apologized to Nunes for missing the highly anticipated bout.

UFC 324 was costly for Rose Namajunas ... not only did the former champ come up short on the scorecards against Natalia Silva, but she also suffered a severe eye injury that's forcing her under the knife.

"Thug Rose" shared the bad news with fans on Instagram on Tuesday, showing off her shiner after her unanimous decision loss to the now No. 1 fighter in the women's flyweight division.

Namajunas says the injury stems from eye-pokes "a few times in the fight." As a result, she says her tear duct tore, and she will now require a silicone tube be inserted into her eye for three months.

Sean O'Malley says no one -- not Paramount, nor the UFC -- forced him to apologize for wearing a mask for face-offs with UFC 324 opponent Song Yadong, telling TMZ Sports it was entirely his decision!

Babcock caught up with O'Malley ahead of the UFC's big debut on Paramount+ Saturday night ... where we asked the former champion about the fallout from the faceoff with the Chinese-born fighter, after Suga rocked a medical mask, prompting an apology.

"Most people kind of saw it a certain way," O'Malley said. "There was a few people that got offended, wasn't my intention. I just apologize if I did hurt anyone's feelings, I do feel bad, that was not the goal."

Dirty Boxing champ Jairzinho Rozenstruik was arrested Monday over an alleged domestic violence incident ... after the former UFC star is accused of getting into a blowout argument with his partner, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to an incident report from Pembroke Pines PD, cops were initially dispatched Monday morning regarding a "suspicious incident" ... which they say was later revealed to be a "domestic battery."

When they arrived, officers say they made contact with Rozenstruik, who told them his partner, who was not identified, pushed him during an argument.

Cops say the 37-year-old fighter was "uncooperative and advised they 'figured it out' and did not need law enforcement."

Dana White says there's a lot of "goofy s***" that makes rounds in the MMA world ... and the biggest case of "goofy s***" at the moment?? Conor McGregor fighting Jorge Masvidal at the White House.

The chatter picked up this week ... with Gamebred even claiming the chances were "not looking bad" that he'd get a shot at Notorious at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. later this year.

That's news to Dana ... who would probably know if that matchup was a possibility.

Some guys have plenty of confidence in their old friends ... can you guess who this former professional wrestler is?

We ran into this dude while he was signing autographs and asked him if he had any advice for his old pal John Cena as he prepared to leave the ring behind ... but he was confident his buddy had a pretty bright future outside of wrestling.

In just a few months, the UFC will bring the show to the most famous house in the world -- the White House -- and while the card is still a mystery ... the promotion's longtime commentator, Jon Anik, is telling us who he wants to see scrap at 1600 Penn.!

"I think you probably got to do the Heavyweight Championship," Anik told TMZ Sports this week in NYC. "We got to see Tom Aspinall versus Ciryl Gane again."

Of course, the men met at UFC 321 in October ... but the fight was stopped and ruled a no-contest after an inadvertent eye poke.

In the co-main event, Jon threw out another rematch ... which would pit Merab Dvalishvili against the man who just took his belt in December, Petr Yan.

Kayla Harrison is breaking her silence after a serious neck injury made her pull out of her huge co-main event fight against Amanda Nunes at UFC 324 ... posting a video from her NYC hospital bed after undergoing surgery, fighting back tears, and declaring, "I'll be back soon."

Harrison shared the video with her followers on Thursday morning, and it's crystal clear how much of a toll the situation has taken on her ... torpedoing one of the most anticipated fights in the history of women's MMA.

"I'm sorry to Amanda," Kayla said. "I was really looking forward to it."

Turns out maybe there is art in Mixed Martial Arts ... 'cause nearly 10 years after Meryl Streep famously called out the sport during the Golden Globes ... the UFC was front and center at the same show to hype up its Paramount deal!!

Brian Ortega and current women’s strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern made a brief appearance during Sunday night’s 83rd Golden Globes on CBS, which now owns the U.S. broadcast rights to the MMA organization for the next seven years.

A quick refresher on why this is quite notable -- while Streep was accepting an award at the 2017 show, she gave a speech calling out President Donald Trump. When making a comment about diversity in Hollywood, she said, “If we kick [outsiders and foreigners] out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts -- which are not the arts."

A wrestling match between a top-15 UFC heavyweight and a man with no legs? It might sound like a crazy concept ... but it's gonna be reality when Zion Clark looks to take down Valter Walker next month in Miami ... and Clark tells TMZ Sports he's gonna choke Walker out "like a boss!"

We chopped it up with Clark -- who was born without legs -- and, he is confident as ever heading into his showdown with Walker, the brother of UFC light heavyweight Johnny Walker.

Despite the clear advantage for Walker ... Clark is making it clear he's not one to be taken lightly.

UFC middleweight contender Brendan Allen is back in the gym gearing up for what hopefully will be a productive 2026 ... and while he has his sights set on former champ Dricus Du Plessis -- he tells TMZ Sports he's getting mixed signals from the Australian!!

We caught up with Allen a few months after he defeated Reinier de Ridder in Vancouver, and he told us he's hopeful a showdown with Du Plessis will be made sometime in the New Year.

But while that's his desire ... he's not so sure it's what the 31-year-old wants.

Ilia Topuria -- the current UFC lightweight champion -- announced he'll be stepping away from fighting “temporarily” as he deals with issues in his personal life ... claiming he is being extorted with "false allegations of domestic abuse unless financial demands were met."

The 28-year-old shared the news in a lengthy message posted to his Instagram, saying it was not a decision he took lightly.

"However, when circumstances arise that threaten your personal integrity, your family, and your reputation, there comes a point where you must address them directly," Topuria said.