MVP and PFL merge to take on the UFC

Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions and the PFL merged into a single company overnight, the day's one genuine landscape-shifter, while the rest of the sport ran on fight-week fumes. UFC Belgrade and PFL New York set their scales, RAF landed Khamzat Chimaev vs. Tyron Woodley, and Sean Strickland warmed to running back the Chimaev rivalry.

MVP and PFL merge into one company, and Jake Paul wants the UFC's throne

Most Valuable Promotions and the Professional Fighters League announced a merger that will operate under the MVP banner, led by co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, with outgoing PFL CEO John Martin staying on as CEO and board member. The combined outfit claims roughly 400 fighters across MMA and boxing and five events in August, with a full relaunch targeted for early 2027. Paul framed the play bluntly: 'We don't wanna just pick a fight, we wanna win the fight' against the UFC.

Why it matters: PFL already absorbed Bellator; folding in Paul's promotional and media muscle is the most serious attempt in years to build a No. 2 that can actually bid for talent. Whether it survives where Affliction, EliteXC and Strikeforce failed is the question that shapes the non-UFC market for the rest of the decade.

RAF books Chimaev vs. Woodley for Moscow, with ex-ONE triple champ Malykhin debuting

Real American Freestyle announced Khamzat Chimaev vs. Tyron Woodley as the main event of RAF Moscow on Sept. 5, streaming on FOX Nation in the U.S. It is Chimaev's second freestyle-wrestling bout for the promotion after pinning Dillon Danis in June, and the first RAF appearance in his native Russia; Woodley is separately slated to debut against Joaquin Buckley at RAF 12 on Aug. 22. The undercard adds former three-division ONE champion Anatoly Malykhin against fellow heavyweight Pouya Rahmani.

Why it matters: Chimaev is keeping himself busy on the mats while his UFC middleweight future stalls, and RAF is quietly assembling a genuine roster of name fighters. It also underlines how far Woodley, 0-3 in boxing and eight years without a combat-sports win, has drifted from relevance.

Nurmagomedov, Colgan on weight for PFL New York title fight that could be Usman's last

PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (21-0, 1 NC) and undefeated challenger Archie Colgan (13-0) both hit 154.8 pounds for their five-round main event Friday at UBS Arena. Nurmagomedov is on the final fight of his PFL deal and has openly eyed a UFC move should he win. In the co-main, undefeated flyweight Dakota Ditcheva returns from a year out against Denise Kielholtz, with a long-awaited Liz Carmouche fight looming next.

Why it matters: The promotion risks losing its best fighter the moment it rebrands under MVP, and a Colgan upset would blow up both the division and the UFC talk. Ditcheva's return keeps the PFL's biggest women's draw in motion.

UFC Belgrade makes weight as Dana White snaps at Serbia-debut question

All 28 fighters made weight for the UFC's first card in Serbia, with Uros Medic and Daniel Rodriguez both on the 171-pound limit for Saturday's welterweight headliner and Jan Blachowicz and short-notice replacement Navajo Stirling set at 205 for the co-main. The buildup's louder story came at the press conference, where CEO Dana White dismissed a reporter asking which fight he was most looking forward to as 'a sh*tty question,' saying only that he wanted 'a few holy sh*t moments.' The exchange drew online criticism that White is disengaged from the product.

Why it matters: Medic's homecoming and Rodriguez's return from a Mexican prison give the APEX-adjacent card real stakes, but White's shrug is the more telling note about how much promotional energy a Fight Night in a new market actually gets.

Strickland warms to a Chimaev rematch as Imavov fumes on the sidelines

Middleweight champion Sean Strickland, still recovering from a shoulder injury that pushes his first defense toward late 2026 or 2027, signaled he now favors running back his split-decision win over Khamzat Chimaev, mocking 'Borz' over his fight-week weight cut. Chimaev has been calling for the rematch since the loss at UFC 328. No. 2 contender Nassourdine Imavov, who beat Israel Adesanya and Caio Borralho to build a five-fight streak, fired back in the comments: 'You'll do what you're told. See you soon.'

Why it matters: Imavov has the resume for the shot, but Chimaev has the box office and the bad blood, and Strickland's preference tilts the 185-pound picture toward the bigger sell over the more deserving contender.

Baatarkhuu defends ONE bantamweight belt vs. unbeaten Alyshov in Bangkok

Reigning ONE bantamweight MMA champion Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu (14-3) made the first defense of the title he took from Fabricio Andrade against undefeated challenger Elbek Alyshov (10-0) in the main event of The Inner Circle 24 at Lumpinee Stadium. Alyshov, an Azerbaijani-Russian judoka with nine finishes in 10 wins, entered as one of the division's most dangerous risers. The card also featured 19-year-old Muay Thai standouts Johan Ghazali and Ramadan Ondash settling a long-running rivalry.

Why it matters: A win validates Baatarkhuu's Physical: Asia-fueled breakout as a real reign; a loss hands ONE a fresh undefeated champion and reshuffles a deep bantamweight picture.

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