UFC

Dana White is opening up on the betting scandal embroiling one of his now former fighters, Isaac Dulgarian, telling TMZ Sports what caused the UFC to actually reach out to the FBI!

Dulgarian, 29, was a sizeable betting favorite (-250) over Yadier Del Valle at Saturday's UFC Fight Night, but ultimately lost by rear-naked choke in the first round.

The result, combined with something that happened hours earlier, has raised serious alarm bells for the UFC honcho ... and that's why Dana decided to loop in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Ex-UFC star BJ Penn was arrested again this week -- this time, he's accused of punching and kicking a 45-year-old man in Hawaii.

Hawaii Island Police say the 46-year-old former fighter was arrested and charged with third-degree assault stemming from an incident early Tuesday morning.

Cops were called to a residence in Hilo around 1 AM ... when the man said Penn hit him several times before he was able to flee the scene.

Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo was in a scary car accident in Brazil on Thursday ... documenting the aftermath in a social media video -- but thankfully, it sounds like he's all good.

The sixth-ranked bantamweight contender in Dana White's promotion said he was going on a local street in the city of Belém when the collision occurred ... claiming a woman was seemingly "on the run" and driving "at a high speed" prior to impact.

Figueiredo said "thank god we're fine" ... and the other party involved is okay as well. It is unclear if anyone was in the car with him.

A brutal knee injury clearly hasn't derailed Mark Zuckerberg's MMA career ... 'cause the Meta honcho was just seen mixing it up on the mats with none other than UFC champ Alex Pereira!

Check out some vids the light heavyweight strap holder posted on his Instagram page on Thursday ... he and Zuck really got after one another in an intense training session.

The guys poured sweat during grappling drills, and Zuckerberg even threw hands at the star fighter in stand-up work.

Jon Jones may tune in to UFC 321 for the hugely consequential heavyweight fight, but Tom Aspinall ain't at all concerned with Bones' Saturday night plans ... telling TMZ Sports he doesn't give a s*** about the UFC legend!

We talked to the 32-year-old heavyweight champ before his highly anticipated main event fight against 35-year-old Ciryl Gane ... where we talked about everything from his top-ranked opp, to his rival, Jon.

"I couldn't care less [if Jon Jones' wateches], to be honest," Tom told us. "Honestly, he's the last person on my mind this week."

Brendan Allen isn't mincing his words after pulling off a short-notice upset win against Reinier de Ridder ... telling TMZ Sports his opponent's team wasn't responsible for calling it quits, but the fighter himself!!

We chopped it up with Allen following his massive performance at UFC Vancouver over the weekend ... which ended when RDR failed to answer the bell to start the fifth round.

Allen said he watched back the moment RDR's corner threw in the towel ... and while Reinier's coaches swore it was their call, he had a different view.

Umar Nurmagomedov -- Khabib's cousin -- tells TMZ Sports those who tune to UFC 321 next weekend are going to see exactly "how Nurmagomedovs come back" from adversity.

The 29-year-old is slated to fight Mario Bautista on the loaded card ... and while he recorded his first-ever loss the last time he was in an Octagon (vs. Merab Dvalishvili in January), he's still as confident as ever.

In fact, he told us fans will see exactly how those with his famous last name return from setbacks once he steps foot in Abu Dhabi for the big Oct. 25 tilt.

Maycee Barber is gearing up for her UFC return after suffering a medical emergency minutes before making the walk to the Octagon back in May ... and she tells TMZ Sports she's "doing great" and is excited to get back to fighting.

Barber chopped it up with us after it was announced she will be squaring off against the ninth-ranked contender in the UFC's women's flyweight division, Karine Silva, at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 ... and her excitement for her comeback was noticeable.

"I feel good, I'm excited," Barber told us. "It's been definitely a process of mental battles, and then also the physical battle of recovering and just being back to training, and there's a lot to go through."

Reinier De Ridder may have a new opponent thanks to an injury last month, but there's still a ton on the line for the UFC middleweight contender ... including a massive title fight against Khamzat Chimaev!

RDR says whether he gets to fight for the strap will largely depend on his performance against Brendan Allen in the main event at UFC Fight Night in Vancouver on Saturday.

TMZ Sports spoke with the 4th-ranked 185-pounder about his prospects of fighting Chimaev for the strap ... with a win over the 9th-ranked Allen.

Luke Rockhold has been one of the biggest Alex Pereira critics, but the former middleweight champ is ready to give Poatan his flowers ... declaring the Light Heavyweight strap holder one of the all-time greats!

TMZ Sports ran into the UFC legend leaving On The Rox at The Roxy in West Hollywood this week -- not long after 38-year-old Pereira decimated then-champ Magomed Ankalaev in the main event at UFC 320 -- when we asked Rockhold about the performance.

"I used to hate on Alex Pereira but motherf***er's a gangster. It's all about confidence. It's all about balls. He has it. He f***ing has it. I'm not gonna lie. I can't hate on the motherf***er anymore. He's one of the GOATs," Luke said.

Ronda Rousey says she's back getting after it in the gym ... but she's still not telling if she's got plans on making a UFC return.

TMZ Sports caught up with the former bantamweight champion out in Los Angeles earlier this week, and after she told us she's training hard these days ... we naturally asked, is a comeback to the Octagon on the horizon?!?

Rousey, though, remained tight-lipped ... insisting she couldn't expound on her plans because she was late for a session with her trainer.

Former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian has died at the age of 33 after being shot and killed in an alleged targeted attack in Australia.

According to The Daily Telegraph, New South Wales officials believe Mokhtarian was out for a walk when the fatal encounter happened. Witnesses told police shots rang out of a red Audi around 6 PM local time before the car sped off.

Mokhtarian was shot in the upper torso ... and paramedics tried to revive him, but efforts were unsuccessful.

Conor McGregor's going to be spending a bit more time outside of the octagon ... because he just got hit with an 18-month suspension through Combat Sports Anti-Doping, which is affiliated with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The mixed-martial-arts (MMA) promotion company shared an announcement about The Notorious' time off through its official website on Tuesday, and it was revealed his suspension was due to "whereabouts failures" under its anti-doping policy -- in other words, he no-showed for an important test several times.

Athletes in the UFC are required to give the company accurate location information at all times so they can get tested -- at random intervals, of course.

Conor missed three tests, which were all scheduled to take place in June and September 2024. He apparently accepted responsibility for the no-shows, and he ended up having his suspension reduced by six months.

We should also note the professional fighter claims he was recovering from an injury and wasn't preparing for a match when the tests were supposed to have been taken.

Conor's period of ineligibility kicked off on September 20, 2024, when he was supposed to have his third of three tests, and it'll continue until March 20, 2026.

The athlete most recently fought in 2021, when he lost to Dustin Poirier. He was set to get back to the octagon in 2024, although he pulled out of his scheduled bout after suffering an injury during training.

The most anticipated card in UFC history -- the massive event at the White House -- officially has a date ... June 14, 2026, President Trump's 80th birthday!

How's that for a bday bash?!

POTUS made the announcement on Sunday while speaking at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, saying ... "On June 14th next year, we're going to have a big UFC fight at the White House, right at the White House grounds."

Merab Dvalishvili isn't going anywhere anytime soon ... the UFC bantamweight champ says he plans to fight well beyond the point fighters normally lay down their glaves -- until his 50th birthday!

TMZ Sports talked to the 34-year-old fighter about his UFC 320 co-main event scrap against Cory Sanhagen in Las Vegas, as well as his standing in the pound-for-pound rankings, and much more.

"I'm grateful. I'm number three now [pound-for-pound], and I'm good here. If [number one] happens, then I will become number one. That's good. If not, I'm good here. I'm a champion of my division, and there are a lot of good guys here [at bantamweight]."

3:40 PM PT -- It's still unclear how Arthur Jones passed ... but according to new police audio TMZ Sports has obtained, it appears he might have suffered an issue with his heart on Friday morning.

An official can be heard in the audio stating a 39-year-old male's "defibrillator went off" and "he received a shock and now he's not answering the phone."

Former NFL star Arthur Jones -- the brother of UFC legend Jon Jones and football player Chandler Jones -- has died, the Baltimore Ravens announced Friday.

He was 39 years old.

Details surrounding his death have not been announced.