In official parlance, he’s the
UFC’s chief business officer. In more informal settings, he’s
often referred to as the UFC’s lawyer.

For Ronda
Rousey, Hunter Campbell might as well be public enemy No. 1.
During an appearance on „The
Ariel Helwani Show” on Monday, Rousey recalled her dealings
with Campbell as the UFC considered booking a fight between the
former bantamweight queen and Gina
Carano.

Ultimately, Rousey and Carano will lead
Most Valuable Promotions first MMA foray on Saturday at the
Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The card, which includes a number of
notable names in addition to Rousey and Carano, will air on
Netflix. While Ronda
Rousey maintains a good relationship with Dana White even after
negotiations with the UFC fell apart, the same can’t be said for
Campbell.

„It wasn’t personal. Well, with Hunter it was personal because he
was just a f—ing asshole about it. He was just being such a
chauvinist prick,” Rousey said. “He was being so dismissive and
being like, just trying to get me and Gina to value ourselves less
from the get-go, like this isn’t the greatest thing that’s fallen
on his lap since he’s f—ing been there.

„He was like, ‚Oh, I don’t know. You guys are just so much older,
and I just don’t know how it’s going to do.‘ I’m like, ‚Who the f—k
is this guy?‘ First of all, I didn’t even know who he was. They
told me he’s the lawyer that’s going to come and show your
pay-per-views, and I was like, ‚Fine. I don’t care. I’m going to
knock this out of the park.‘ I love having my pay be
performance-based. F—k you, I’ll go show you.”

Dismissive and Disdainful

It wasn’t just that Campbell was dismissive toward the
Rousey-Carano fight, however. According to Rousey, the UFC
executive wanted the bout to serve as a farewell to the women’s
featherweight division. The Olympic judoka also found that to be
extremely disrespectful, not only for her — but for the big picture
in women’s MMA.

„Then Dana [White] started mentioning, because he wanted me and
Gina to fight for the 145-pound title because it was vacant, and
it’s a way to retire the belt, and then Hunter is like, ‚Yeah, and
then we can get rid of that division,'“ Rousey said. „Just the way
he spoke of it, how dismissive he was, and the disdain that he had
for the fighters for that weight. My husband is 6’7“. My girls are
not going to be 135. This is what you think of women who are
heavier than 135 pounds? They can’t offer you anything? That
they’re worthless? That they’re worth scoffing at? It really rubbed
me the wrong way that this f—king guy is going to be shepherding
the company that I helped build.”

Rousey has already stated that her MMA comeback as a fighter is a
one-time deal. However, she is very interested in continuing in a
promoter’s role, particularly as a foil to the UFC. Going
head-to-head with Campbell has only added fuel to the fire.

„This guy doesn’t have a job because he’s good at it. He has a job
because he is Dana’s and Lorenzo’s lawyer’s son,“ Rousey said. „He
was a f—ing intern when I was there before, and now he’s f—-ing
coming up to me saying, ‚I don’t know how you and Gina are going to
do.‘ Motherf—er, I’m going to put on a bigger fight with Gina than
you have your entire f—ing career. Keep trying to fail upwards,
motherf—er. Keep trying to suck the right d—-s in the right order.
I’m f—-ing coming for your job. You pissed off the wrong
bitch.”

Jake
Paul is still recovering from his fight against Anthony Joshua. |
Esther Lin/Most Valuable Promotions

Fighting Anthony
Joshua could have long-term ramifications for Jake
Paul.

The YouTube personality turned boxer squared off against Joshua on
Dec. 19, when he suffered a broken jaw during a sixth-round
knockout loss. Paul agreed to face the British heavyweight, a much
larger opponent, when a fight against Gervonta Davis fell
through.

While Paul has been front and center as his company enters the MMA
business with this
Most Valuable Promotions „Rousey vs. Carano“ card, news about
his own fighting career has been put on hold for the time being. In
an interview on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Paul revealed that his
jaw is still healing.

“I’m getting some new scans here in a couple of days of the jaw to
get an update on the healing process. We’ll see what my doctors
say,” Paul said. “I think I’ll be able to get a more accurate
timeframe or, can I even fight again? That is definitely in the
realm and possibilities of things.

“It does like feel a lot better as weeks go by and time goes by,
but I definitely need to get cleared first to be able to spar. But
I’m sort of staying in shape. I’m always in the gym pretty much
regardless. So just staying in shape and, and enjoying, some mitt
work.”

When pressed, Paul admitted that he is at least considering that
his time as a professional boxer has run its course — though much
depends on his recovery.

“Most definitely. I think it just depends on like how the bone
heals,” he said. “And then also there’s like a tooth missing. I’m
pretty sure I’m going to have to get an implanted tooth of some
sort. I don’t know how much time that’s going to add to things. But
we just have to see and figure out what the smartest thing is for
me.”

There are a few people in Paul’s life who have advised him against
moving forward with his fighting career, most notably his
doctor.

“Definitely my doctor, Arman. He’s saying he doesn’t want me to,”
Paul said. And then there’s the occasional business person who’s
just like, ‘You know, you don’t need to do this.’

His fiance, however, is taking more moderate perspective.

“She is kind of in both boats because she understands being an
athlete and having that feeling inside of you of wanting to prove
yourself more and to compete in the love of that,” Paul said.

“But she also knows that I don’t have to fight and all of these
things. And there’s so many amazing businesses that I’m working on
and are crushing it that she has also mentioned the other side of
like, ‘Yeah, you don’t actually need to do this,’ but she’s
supportive of whatever decision I make.”

A Fighting Spirit

While Paul is taking a realistic approach to his fighting career,
retirement wouldn’t be his first choice.

“Yeah, those thoughts have definitely come up, but I’m not done,”
he said. “I can just feel it in my spirit and my soul and my heart
that I have more fights left and unfinished business in my mind.
And injuries are a part of any sport. I think potentially this
could be a good outcome. You could tear an ACL and be out and keep
on tearing it and tearing it again.

“So it’s just a part of any sport. And I definitely don’t feel like
I’m done and want to keep on fighting.”

Paul owns a 12-2 mark since making his professional boxing debut in
2020. He initially made his name besting former MMA stars like
Ben
Askren, Tyron
Woodley, Anderson
Silva, Nate Diaz and
Mike
Perry. Prior to facing Joshua, “The Problem Child” earned
victories over Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Though the
Tyson fight drew scrutiny due to his opponent’s age, it also drew
massive ratings on Netflix.

Charles Oliveira has hinted that a Brazilian UFC event is in the
works for later this year. | Getty/UFC

Charles
Oliveira made an interesting statement while giving a backstage
interview at UFC
328.

Speaking to UFC Brasil reporter Evelyn Rodrigues, the BMF title
holder hinted that the promotion could return to Brazil before the
end of 2026.

„I still don’t know when it will be my return,” Oliveira said. “It
can be August, September or even in October when I was told that
UFC is planning an event in Sao Paulo. If they need me to fill up
the house, I´ll be ready.”

Nothing Official

The interview drew an immediate reaction on social media from
Brazilian fans, since the
UFC has not yet announced plans for an event in the country
this year. Sherdog.com spoke to UFC sources in Brazil who did not
officially confirm Oliveira´s statement.     

“Do Bronxs” finished the interview by correctly predicting the
outcome of the UFC 328 main event, where Sean
Strickland captured middleweight gold with a split-decision
triumph over Khamzat
Chimaev.

„Khamzat starts strong, but if the fight goes to the championship
rounds, Strickland has good chances to surprise the favorite and
win,” Oliveira said.

Gilbert Burns believes Khamzat Chimaev’s weight cut played a big
part in his struggles at UFC 328. | Getty/UFC

Gilbert
Burns had a pretty good idea of how the UFC 328
main event would play out.

Widely regarded as Khamzat
Chimaev’s first difficult test in the Octagon in their UFC 273
bout, Burns released a video on YouTube last week breaking down the
middleweight title bout between “Borz” and Sean
Strickland. Burns predicted that Chimaev would have a difficult
weight cut and also revealed that Strickland had impressed some
Brazilian jiu-jitsu aces with his high skill level on the
ground.

„He trained with some aces of UFC BJJ like Vagner
Rocha and his son Aquile, that couldn’t submit him,
and I don’t believe Chimaev will,” Burns said in the video. „When I
saw a video from Arman
Tsarukyan saying that [Chimaev] lost 20 kilograms [44 pounds] I
knew [the weight cut] would be hard.”  

After Strickland upset Chimaev to recapture the middleweight belt,
Burns released another video breaking down the happenings in the
UFC 328 headliner.

„Chimaev had a heart attack in the second round,” Burns said.
“Certainly it was due to the weight cut. He strangely stepped on
the scale for three seconds. When he stepped, it´s clear that the
scale raises in an abnormal way… Definitely his weight cut was
terrible, and the biggest proof of that was one of the best
wrestlers of the UFC pulling guard in the first minute of the
second round.”

Costa vs. Chimaev

After UFC 328, Dana White revealed that Chimaev told him that he
plans to move to light heavyweight. With that in mind, Burns
declared that Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa
is the fight to make.

„No doubt. The fight is already sold, the two already have a
history of rivalry — Chimaev vs. Costa at light heavyweight,” said
Burns, who pointed out that the promotion brought “Borrachina” to
the event in Newark, New Jersey.

Burns, who announced his retirement after losing to Mike Malott
in the UFC
Winnipeg headliner on April 18, also revealed that he has
signed to compete for UFC BJJ.

Jiri
Prochazka wants fighters to walk the talk. 

Khamzat
Chimaev put his middleweight title on the line against Sean
Strickland in the main event at UFC 328
on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. There appeared to be serious bad
blood between the two leading up to the fight. However, Chimaev and
Strickland surprised fans by touching gloves and exchanging smiles
before the opening bell. 

While Chimaev (15-1) dominated Strickland (31-7) on the ground in
the first round, the tide turned in the second round. Chimaev
completely discarded his wrestling following a failed shot in the
second round, while Strickland gradually took over. Although
Chimaev held his own on the feet, Strickland did enough in the
judges’ eyes to earn a split decision victory in a huge upset.
Strickland and Chimaev also showed mutual respect after the
fight. 

A Warrior’s Duty

Prochazka called out Chimaev for failing to back up his trash talk
with action. While Chimaev had promised to be a “bully” and a
“terrorist” to Strickland, he was all smiles inside the Octagon.
Prochazka says that while one might portray a persona to fans, they
have to live the part when the time comes. Prochazka also
congratulated Strickland on his performance.

“Whatever was decided, it was already before the match,” Prochazka
wrote on X. “You can show the world anything, but you have to live
this role to the fullest. Big congrats to Sean, to show strength
and handle this pressure. On the other side, pure hate in press
conference and smile in the cage? No, we are warriors and it’s our
mission to handle fully the fire in our heart and stillness in our
mind. Good morning from Czech, lets go to Training Chapter 1.”

Athletes competing on the upcoming
UFC White House card will be wearing some special fight gear
for the event.

The promotion announced on Monday that all fighters will wear red,
white and blue-themed gear for the June 14 card, which is also
known as UFC Freedom 250. The special uniforms are created in
colaboration with Venum, the UFC’s official outfitter. Complex Sports provided a first look at the fight kits
via Instagram.

A description of the commemorative fight kits, via a release, is as
follows:

A bold red, white, and blue palette is brought to life through
dynamic, flowing linework that conveys movement, intensity, and the
energy of competition at the highest level on the world’s biggest
stage.  A defining element of the design is a bespoke badge
featuring the official White House logo, an unmistakable mark of
the occasion. More than a detail, it anchors the kit in history and
elevates it into a true commemorative artifact.

The uniforms will also include an exclusive USA 250 patch and logo.
The fight kits are available online at UFC.com, venum.com and
fanatics.com.

UFC White House is headlined by a lightweight title unificiation
bout between Ilia
Topuria and Justin
Gaethje, while Ciryl Gane
and Alex
Pereira will vie for the interim heavyweight crown in the
evening’s co-main event. The card airs on Paramount+ beginning at 8
p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

UFC White House Card

Ilia
Topuria vs. Justin
Gaethje
Ciryl
Gane vs. Alex
Pereira
Sean
O’Malley vs. Aiemann
Zahabi
Josh
Hokit vs. Derrick
Lewis
Mauricio
Ruffy vs. Michael
Chandler
Bo
Nickal vs. Kyle
Daukaus
Diego
Lopes vs. Steve
Garcia

Jean
Silva had to issue a quick clarification after his post about
Alex
Pereira was misinterpreted by fans. 

Sean
Strickland challenged Khamzat
Chimaev for the middleweight title at UFC 328
on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Strickland earned a hard-fought unanimous decision win, handing
Chimaev his first professional loss. Strickland has now pulled off
two of the biggest upsets in his two title fight wins against
Chimaev and Israel
Adesanya. 

Silva subsequently shared a post of Pereira knocking Strickland out
cold in 2022. Silva wrote in quotes: „Fast tracked to a title.”

A Simple Misunderstanding

Silva immediately faced backlash from fans who failed to understand
the sarcasm. Silva then explained that he was sarcastically mocking
those who accused “Poatan” of being favored by the UFC.

“I’m clearly just taking a jab at folks who say Poatan had an ‚easy‘ path when he only faced absolute killers, and people saying
I’m hating on the guy ffs,” Silva wrote.

Pereira (13-3) and Strickland (31-7) have become good friends after
sharing the Octagon. Pereria went on to win the middleweight title
in his next fight. While Pereira failed to defend his belt, he then
moved up to light heavyweight, won the belt, and defended it thrice
before losing to Magomed
Ankalaev. The Brazilian exacted revenge by knocking out
Ankalaev in 80 seconds in their rematch before vacating the belt
and moving up. Pereira is now aiming to create history by winning a
third
UFC belt when he faced Ciryl Gane
for the interim heavyweight title at
UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House. 

Nothing appeared to be amiss with Sean Brady at UFC 328. |
Getty/UFC

The betting odds shifted drastically just hours before Sean Brady’s
UFC
328 clash against Joaquin
Buckley. 

Brady (19-2) took on Buckley (21-8) in a welterweight tilt at UFC
328 on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Brady had opened as a -250 favorite on the sportsbooks against
Buckley, a +210 underdog. However, the odds started shifting
bizarrely just hours before the fight, with Brady closing as a +220
underdog and Buckley a -180 favorite. Fans and pundits immediately
started suspecting foul play due to the shifting odds. However,
Brady allayed all fears by dominating Buckley on the ground for
three rounds to earn a unanimous decision win.

Unless a fighter knowingly takes a dive, odds usually shift
drastically if news leaks from camp about an injury. Brady revealed
that the
UFC contacted him hours before the fight to ask about his
health. While Brady’s wife knew about the shifting odds even before
that, she didn’t inform him, as she didn’t want him to lose focus.
Brady assured fans that there was nothing sketchy behind the scenes
and that the odds likely shifted due to unusual money pouring in
for Buckley. 

Nothing Unusual to Report

“Somebody at the UFC reached out to me a couple of hours before the
fight and just made sure I was fine,” Brady said at the post-fight press conference . “I was like, ‘I’m
completely fine, there’s nothing wrong with me.’ My wife was
upstairs; they already all knew about it, they weren’t telling me
because they didn’t want anything to get into my head. But as soon
as they called, I told them I’m good, it went one ear out of the
other. I could have been a -10000 favorite or a +10000 [underdog],
I wouldn’t know cause I didn’t look. I’m completely fine and
somebody just lost a bunch of money.” 

Joe
Pyfer doesn’t want to fight in his hometown if he is not in the
main or co-main event.

The
UFC returns to Philly with UFC
330 on August 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Pyfer (16-3) was born in Philadelphia and has trained
there at Balance Studios to this day. Coming off a huge win in the
main event of
UFC Seattle against Israel
Adesanya, Pyfer expects to be the main event in his hometown.
However, rumors are circulating that Islam
Makhachev could put his welterweight title on the line against
Ian
Garry in the main event at UFC 330. Pyfer says he doesn’t even
want to be on the card if he is not in the main event. 

No Hometown Love

Since numbered UFC main events are usually title fights, “Bodybagz”
is willing to settle for the co-main event. However, there has been
radio silence from the UFC with hardly a couple of months left for
UFC 330.

“I’m pissed… I should be the main event of Philly… I have no
interest if I’m not the main event,” Pyfer told Ariel Helwani.
“Where I train, where I come from, I think I should be the main
event at Philly. We have so many Philly fighters, and you got
potentially a Russian and Irish dude. Don’t make sense to me… I
would do the co-main. That makes sense maybe… 60 days left, no
contact.” 

It
was a rough night at the office for Joaquin Buckley at UFC 328. |
Getty/UFC

Joaquin
Buckley’s words are coming back to bite him after his UFC 328
loss against Sean
Brady. 

Buckley took on Brady in a welterweight matchup at UFC 328 on
Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. It was complete domination from
Brady for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision
victory. 

Former foe Kevin
Holland isn’t above kicking Buckley when he is down. Often
known for being brash, Buckley was oozing confidence with his trash
talk in the lead up to the fight. Holland posted a clip of Buckley
saying that Brady is the easiest stylistic matchup of his career.
“New Mansa” even went as far as saying that he wouldn’t even need
to train properly for Brady.

“Brady Butch easy money. I ain’t gonna train for him,” Buckley
said. “I’ll do whatever for this fight camp, I ain’t gonna lie to
you. Stylistically, this is the best fight I ever had. I ain’t
gotta do nothing this fight. I’ll let you all know, all I have been
doing is sleeping, eating, and f—-ing.” 

Keeping Receipts

In Holland’s post, Buckley’s trash talk is followed by him getting
pounded out on the ground by Brady.

“Buckley funny asf,” Holland wrote in the caption.

Holland (29-15) famously knocked out Buckley (21-8) moments after
telling him to wipe “booger” off his nose in 2020. Buckley has now
suffered two losses in a row against Kamaru
Usman and Brady. Meanwhile, Holland scored a unanimous decision
win over Randy Brown
at UFC 327 last month that saw “Trailblazer” rebound from a
two-fight slump. 

Joshua Van silenced the doubters at UFC 328. |
Getty/UFC

For some, Joshua Van’s
injury-shortened victory over Alexandre
Pantoja last December was always going to be accompanied by an
asterisk.

After all, the flyweight title fight barely had a chance to unfold
before Pantoja suffered an arm injury 26 seconds into Round 1 at

UFC 323. While Van celebrated becoming a champion, he still had
something to prove heading into his first title defense against
Tatsuro
Taira at UFC 328
on Saturday. Van delivered in that regard, weathering some early
adversity en route to a fifth-round technical knockout victory over
the Japanese standout in the evening’s co-headliner at the
Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

“I feel great. I think I have proof that I am a world champion, you
know,” Van said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “Shout out
to [Taira], nothing but respect to him. He’s a tough
motherf—er.

While Taira was able to impose his will on the ground in the early
going, Van kept his composure and gradually took control through
his superior striking. That culminated in one final barrage to put
his Japanese adversary away at the 1:32 mark of Round 5.

“I know that he’s a good grappler,” Van said. “But this is an MMA
fight, this is not a jiu-jitsu match. I know my my striking would
stand out, and that’s what you [saw] tonight.”

A Rematch Looms Large

Pantoja, who has been recovering from the aforementioned arm injury
suffered against Van, was in attendance at UFC 328. All signs are
pointing toward a rematch between Van and the Brazilian. That’s
what Van was expecting all along, but he also wanted to stay active
rather than wait for “The Cannibal” make his return.

“I thought it was gonna be Pantoja,” Van said. “But like I said, I
wasn’t gonna wait for him, for forever, so now they gave me Tatsuro
and we got it done. So now — Pantoja time.”

Dricus Du
Plessis just re-entered the
UFC middleweight championship picture almost by default.

The South African suffered a lopsided decision loss to Khamzat
Chimaev in their title clash at
UFC 319 last August, so one could excuse him if he was cheering
for Sean
Strickland on Saturday night. Strickland delivered in a big
way, upsetting Chimaev via split decision to reclaim the 185-pound
belt in the UFC 328
headliner at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Du Plessis, of course, is 2-0 against Strickland. “Stillknocks”
captured 185-pound gold with a split-decision triumph over
Strickland at UFC 297 in January 2024, and he successfully defended
the strap with a more convincing five-round verdict in their
rematch at UFC 312 in February 2025.

Just As He Expected

Du Plessis reacted to Strickland’s win on the
UFC’s Instagram account, claiming that he expected his rival to
perform the way he did against the Chechen grappler.

“Fight went exactly the way I thought it would,” Du Plessis said.
“Great, great fight by Strickland. Like I said, it’s so hard to
keep that man on the ground. He is incredibly tough to hold down.
He made Khamzat tired, and that’s exactly what happened. I knew,
and like I said in the standup [Khamzat] just won’t be able to hang
with him.

“Congratulations. I guess this makes me world champion again.”

Du Plessis hasn’t competed since his loss to Chimaev at UFC 319.
The former KSW champion was victorious in his first eight Octagon
appearances, besting the likes of Darren Till,
Derek
Brunson, Robert
Whittaker, Strickland (twice) and Israel
Adesanya along the way. While there has been no news regarding
Du Plessis’ return, he did seem to indicate an announcement was on
the horizon when he wrote “See y’all soon” in the caption of an
April 28 Instagram post.