What are we to make of some puzzling UFC fight announcements for early 2026? Does anyone ever go from getting dominated in the first title fight to winning the (almost) immediate rematch? And which fighters are most likely to end up in a pickleball altercation?
All that and more in this week’s mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA.
@TonyTuperello: Asked as a Tsarukyan fan: other than the “back injury” at the 11th hour, prior to facing Islam, why is nobody talking about the other drama (up to and including the Hooker head butt) that historically accompany Arman in these events? Imagine the angst he brings a promoter.
Not sure why, as a self-professed fan of Arman Tsarukyan, you’re putting back injury in quotes, almost like you don’t believe it? But setting that aside, I see your point. The man has made some unfortunate choices, whether it’s taking a swipe at a fan on his way to the cage at UFC 300 or very intentionally headbutting Dan Hooker at weigh-ins (before later headbutting him almost in the same exact spot during the fight).
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Still, he does keep winning. And he is, according to the UFC’s own rankings, the top contender at lightweight. Whether you think he’s a wild card and a liability or not, at some point the little numeral “one” next to his name has to matter. If not, why are we even bothering with these rankings at all?
What I’d really worry about if I were Tsarukyan: What happens when Ilia Topuria finally returns, ready to defend his lightweight title? The winner of this Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett fight will be the interim champ. And wouldn’t it make the most sense for the reigning champ to fight the reigning interim champ? Isn’t that just logical? There’s definitely a potential world where Tsarukyan gets frozen out of the title picture for at least the first half of 2026, if not longer. That ought to scare the luxury watch right off the man.
@Beastin364: What happens if Diego Lopes wins this rematch? Do we then have to do a third fight and hold up the rest of the fw division even longer???
Good question. Especially since, for Alexander Volkanovski, these two title fights with Diego Lopes are coming back-to-back with nothing in between. It’s like the Max Holloway situation all over again for him, where it almost feels like the UFC is going to make him keep fighting the same guy until he finally loses one.
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That’s part of what makes no sense about it. The other part that makes no sense is the fact we have not one but two other very deserving contenders — Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy — who would have made for fresh, interesting title challengers.
Evloev is undefeated. He has a win over Lopes. Murphy is also undefeated. He just had that wild spinning back elbow knockout of Aaron Pico back in August. What more could either of these guys have done to get the call when the UFC was looking for a featherweight title challenger? What did they ever do besides take the fights they were offered and win every single one?
It’s got to be discouraging for those guys. Murphy said he “fell out of love” with the sport a little bit after getting this news, and it’s hard to blame him. He’s 34, closing in on that age when lighter fighters tend to round the bend toward the backside of their careers. If he doesn’t get his shot soon, what was all this for?
@EyeofMihawk: Have we ever seen a fighter get 50-45ed then win the rematch? I’m trying to think of an example and I can’t. I know there have been fights where someone got finished, then won a rematch but I can’t think of one where someone accomplished what Yan is attempting this weekend.
Francis Ngannou. He got utterly blanked on the scorecards in his first heavyweight title fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220. That one was 50-44 across the board, which is even worse than just losing every round 10-9. So sure, that kind of reversal of fortunes can happen.
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The big question for me in this rematch is, what’s changed? Petr Yan has looked great in his recent fights, but not in any way that makes me think he’s fundamentally different as a fighter. And none of the people he’s beaten since then is anything like Merab Dvalishvili in either style or ability. So what can he do differently this time to prevent a repeat of last time? Honestly, I think Yan’s best hope is that the pace of competition and the many weight cuts Dvalishvili has put himself through in 2025 will finally catch up to him.
@Michael64901778: Please rank your top 5 mma fighters most likely get into a physical altercation on a rec pickleball court
The tricky part about this question isn’t choosing five fighters who might mix it up in these streets. That part is very easy, since this sport has no shortage of hotheads who sometimes struggle with weighing actions and consequences in advance. No, the hard part is figuring out which of those guys would be on a pickleball court to begin with — and why. With that in mind:
5. Sean Strickland (obviously), because he walked past the court and was enraged by the sound of a type of fun he did not personally understand.
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4. Jamahal Hill, because he swore off pickup basketball after that freak injury but then someone on the pickleball court complimented his form and he somehow interpreted it as an attack.
3. Arman Tsarukyan, because he’d finally been granted another title shot and went looking for new ways to self-sabotage.
2. Merab Dvalishvili, because he is incapable of sitting still but also won’t ever let even the slightest insult slide.
1. Daniel Cormier, because he heard pickleball was a good way for retired dudes to stay in shape, but then he got out there and saw Jon Jones cheating and it was simply too much to bear.
