Kape revenge-KOs Horiguchi, eyes flyweight gold

UFC Vegas 119 closed out a busy fight week with Manel Kape avenging a nine-year-old loss to Kyoji Horiguchi and demanding a flyweight title shot. Off the cards, the promotion stacked its International Fight Week main card around Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje confirmed he isn't retiring, and Herb Dean's officiating drew fresh heat for the second straight week.

Kape avenges 2017 loss, TKOs Horiguchi in UFC Vegas 119 main event

Manel Kape (23-7) came from behind to stop Kyoji Horiguchi via third-round TKO in the UFC Fight Night 279 headliner at the Apex on June 20, reversing his 2017 RIZIN submission loss to 'The Karate Kid.' Horiguchi appeared to bank the first two rounds before Kape wobbled him and finished with ground strikes 2:42 into the third for a Performance of the Night bonus and his fourth straight win. It was Horiguchi's first loss since 2022; the 35-year-old vowed on social media to return. Kape says the win earns him a crack at champ Joshua Van, with Alexandre Pantoja also looming.

Why it matters: Kape (8-1 in his last nine) has cleared out the flyweight contender pile and finally has the resume to force a title fight against Van or Pantoja.

UFC 329 main card set: Steveson bumped to prelims for King Green vs. McKinney

The UFC finalized the main card for its July 11 International Fight Week event at T-Mobile Arena, headlined by Conor McGregor's return against Max Holloway and co-headlined by Paddy Pimblett vs. Benoit Saint-Denis. The biggest change: Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson's debut against Elisha Ellison was pushed off the main card to the prelims, replaced by a lightweight scrap between King Green and Terrance McKinney. The card also features Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista and Brandon Royval vs. Lone'er Kavanagh. Dana White, meanwhile, downplayed McGregor's claim that his next bout is already booked for April.

Why it matters: Slotting two action lightweights over the year's most-hyped debut signals the UFC is protecting Steveson for a bigger TV window rather than burning him in a card-opener.

Gaethje rules out retirement, refuses Topuria rematch, wants equity

A week after his fourth-round TKO of Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 made him undisputed lightweight champion, Justin Gaethje told the JRE MMA Show he plans to keep fighting. He flatly rejected an immediate Topuria rematch — "He quit on the stool. He quit twice" — and suggested 'El Matador' face Paddy Pimblett first, comparing the win to how he derailed Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. Gaethje also pushed for greater purses and an equity stake in the company. Separately, he turned down a truck that Arman Tsarukyan, who won $5.7 million betting on the upset, offered as a thank-you — prompting an irritated Tsarukyan to vow to "whoop" him.

Why it matters: The new champ shutting the door on a Topuria rematch points his first defense toward Tsarukyan or the McGregor-Holloway winner, and his equity push revives the sport's fighter-pay fight.

Ian Machado Garry vows to dethrone Makhachev at UFC 330

Ian Machado Garry will challenge welterweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 330 on August 15, a bout made official last week. In an Instagram breakdown, the Irishman conceded Makhachev has few weaknesses but argued his length, speed and takedown defense present a problem the Dagestani hasn't faced. Makhachev tied Anderson Silva's record 16-fight UFC win streak by taking the title from Jack Della Maddalena and can break it here; Garry insists he'll be "the guy that stopped history from happening."

Why it matters: Makhachev is one win from the longest streak in UFC history, and Garry — a sizable underdog who's repeatedly outperformed expectations — is the obstacle standing between him and the record.

Herb Dean back under fire as back-of-the-head shots end another fight

Veteran referee Herb Dean drew fresh criticism at UFC Vegas 119 when Vinicius Oliveira finished Andre Fili with what looked like illegal elbows and strikes to the back of the head; Fili, bleeding heavily, confronted Dean afterward and the referee reviewed replays with the commission. It came a week after Alex Pereira blamed Dean for missing illegal shots in his interim-heavyweight loss to Ciryl Gane, with Pereira reposting the Fili sequence and saying "we need to retire this ref." Dana White backed Pereira's frustration as legitimate — "Alex Pereira is not a whiner" — while noting no officiating is perfect.

Why it matters: Two contested back-of-the-head stoppages in eight days, plus a champion calling for a referee's removal, put real pressure on how the commissions handle Dean and illegal-strike enforcement.

UFC's data-driven rankings overhaul debuts Monday

Dana White confirmed the promotion's new ranking system goes live Monday, June 22, describing it as an "objective, data-driven approach" designed to reward performance rather than opinion or popularity. White said he'll keep a human element alongside the AI-driven model and warned fans to expect controversy, hinting at a full reset that could sink inactive fighters and vault unranked prospects. He framed it as a year-long experiment: "We'll see how it plays out over the first year."

Why it matters: A wholesale rankings reset would reshape title pictures across every division overnight and change how contenders are made — if fighters and fans actually trust the new math.

$100 million asking price sank Wittman's eye-poke glove deal, says White

Dana White revealed that talks to bring Trevor Wittman's ONX gloves — a curved design meant to keep the hand in a fist and reduce eye pokes — to the UFC collapsed over a roughly $100 million asking price. "You know how many gloves you gotta sell to make $100 million? It's impossible," White said, while insisting he wanted the deal done. Wittman, Justin Gaethje's coach, says he's stepped back from the business side and that UFC exec Hunter Campbell reignited talks weeks ago. Gaethje added that the UFC Freedom 250 gloves felt different — thicker and easier to close into a fist.

Why it matters: Eye pokes that produced a no-contest in a Tom Aspinall title fight have made glove design a safety and potential legal liability, raising the stakes on whether the UFC finally licenses a fix.

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