First, the PFL Champions Series Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, saw a shocking conclusion to its main event middleweight title fight. Johnny Eblen, the incoming champion, was up on the scorecards heading into the fifth round. However, Costello Van Steenis pulled off a last-second rear-naked choke to snatch the title away.

UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski is looking to stay active this year after regaining his title with a win in April at UFC 314.

At UFC 245 in December of 2019, Petr Yan looked to extend his UFC winning streak to six when facing off against a true pioneer of the sport. Urijah Faber had initially retired from MMA in 2016 before he returned three years later and showed that he still had more to give by knocking out Ricky Simon in the first round.

Paddy Pimblett believes the biggest fight the UFC can make right now is a grudge match between him and Ilia Topuria.

Islam Makhachev wrapped the UAE Warriors welterweight belt around Khotam Boynazarov's waist after he defeated UFC veteran James Llontop.

His opponent for the night was bare knuckle boxer and 0-2 MMA fighter Maxim Shcherbakov. The Russian is something of a veteran in his own right at the age of 35, but was still nearly 20 years Monson’s junior as they battled it out in a ring.

The UFC has taken a significant hit. Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland, one of the top contenders in the 185-pound division, has been suspended indefinitely

In a recent interview, Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) said he thinks his first title challenger will either be Gaethje or Pimblett, who he faced off with in the octagon after knocking out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June.