Mitch Raposo had been set to face Allan Nascimento at the event this Saturday, April 18 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in flyweight action.

However, illness (reported by MMA Junkie’s Nolan King to be a virus contracted by Raposo) has forced the bout off the card. It’s now being targeted for a Fight Night event at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas on June 20.

UFC officials released a brief statement confirming the development on Thursday.

“Due to illness with Mitch Raposo, his flyweight bout with Allan Nascimento has been moved to UFC FIGHT NIGHT on Saturday, June 20 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.”

Raposo (10-3) was looking to build off his first victory under the UFC banner, against Azat Maksum last October. Nascimento (22-6) has won four straight since dropping his UFC debut in 2021, but has struggled with injuries and bouts falling through.

This Saturday’s UFC Winnipeg now moves forward with 12 fights and is headlined by Gilbert Burns vs. Mike Malott at welterweight. The following match-ups have been announced for the event:

• Gilbert Burns vs. Mike Malott
• Kyler Phillips vs. Charles Jourdain
• Mandel Nallo vs. Jai Herbert
• Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Karine Silva
• Thiago Moisés vs. Gauge Young
• Dennis Buzukja vs. Márcio Barbosa
• Julien Leblanc vs. Robert Valentin
• Tanner Boser vs. Gökhan Saricam
• Melissa Croden vs. Darya Zheleznyakova
• JJ Aldrich vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth
• John Castañeda vs. Mark Vologdin
• Jamie Siraj vs. John Yannis

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Alongside Kelly vs. Wilson on Thursday’s card, a handful of notable names including Rhys McKee in the co-main event, and Tyson Pedro. Pedro, fighting Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov, competes for the first time since March of 2024, at the end of his UFC stint, after which he retired. That retirement ends Thursday.

Where to Watch PFL Belfast

PFL Belfast takes place on Thursday, April 16, 2026 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The card airs live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes (prelims are available via the ESPN App). Full results from the event can be found below, starting at 3PM ET, 12PM PT.

PFL Belfast: Kelly vs. Wilson Results

Main Card

Lightweight: Jay Jay Wilson def. Darragh Kelly by knockout, Round 1, 0:37
176lb Catchweight: Rhys McKee def. Alex Lohore def. Tyson Pedro by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Light Heavyweight: Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov def. Tyson Pedro by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Welterweight: Eoin Sheridan def. Chris Mixan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight: Caolan Loughran def. Alan Philpott by submission (face crank), Round 1, 1:11
Welterweight: Omran Chaaban def. Chequina Noso Pedro by TKO, Round 2, 4:16
Bantamweight: Dean Garnett def. Ciaran Clarke by KO, Round 1, 1:52
166lb Catchweight: Pedro Carvalho def. Sergio Cossio by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
176lb Catchweight: David Martinez def. Giannis Bachar by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 0:53
Bantamweight: Sean Gauci def. Liam Gittins by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Bantamweight: Eoghan Masoliver def. Shane Mullen by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 1:55
Women’s flyweight: Chelsea Hackett def. Andrea Vazquez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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“I’m gonna f*ck this dude up,” said Phillips (12-4) during this week’s media day. “He’s a good opponent, but I know his antics, he likes to talk and say things, but I’m going to beat his ass.”

While Phillips is confident, he seems to find the match-up as tantalizing as the rest of the fight world. Jourdain is 2-0 since arriving at bantamweight with two victories by guillotine and two Performance of the Night bonuses. Phillips himself, well, he’s known as “The Matrix” for a reason, recent struggles not withstanding.

“It’s a sick-ass match-up if you think of it. Dude, this guy, the way he fights is pretty exciting. The way I fight— like, I ain’t trying to convince myself saying things like that. But dude, this is a cool one.”

Phillips went on to add that “the way this guy has come up in the UFC from a young age and the way I’ve come up from a young age, and we’re now in our prime. To see that and to see his recent success, and he’s come down from 45 and where I’m at— you’re just going to see my skyrocket.”

Jourdain has said he sees the fight against Phillips as a chance to break into the top 15. Phillips has been there before, but isn’t worried about rankings at the moment.

“Numbers are like statistics, it’s just numbers. At the end of the day the cage shuts and I’m going to go in there to fight another dude. So I’m not really too worried about numbers or this and that. I’m just as much wanting to take him out as he’s wanting to get that number or whatever he’s looking for.”

Watch the full UFC Winnipeg media day appearance by Kyler Phillips above.

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Now, six months later — seemingly an eternity given the Canadian’s usual busy schedule — Jasudavicius (14-4) returns at UFC Winnipeg, where she takes on Karine Silva.

Jasudavicius explained the lessons learned from the Fiorot loss during this week’s UFC Winnipeg media day. “Be smarter with my choices. I understand that we got the small gloves on, and just because I think it doesn’t hurt doesn’t mean it’s not hurting me,” she outlined. “So I’ve discovered that you can’t just move forward and be tough. This is a thinking sport, and I have to give the sport the respect that it’s due.”

“Marital arts is kind of the best thing in the world,” Jasudavicius continued. “Life is martial arts and martial arts is life. What’s happening in the octagon is kind of a reflection of your life and vice versa.”

“I think in life and in martial arts I would push and I would try so hard, and I would do all these things that I thought were the right thing to do, just to discover that maybe once in a while you’ve got to take a step back to take two steps forward. And I think that kind of has been translating for me.”

Admittedly, Jasudavicius did try to push through the loss to Fiorot, by getting back in the cage sooner. She immediately called her manager to ask for another fight. In the long run, the layoff worked out.

“This was a longer layoff than I wanted it to be. I was begging to get back in there. But it’s a blessing in disguise. Because It’s given me the time to actually decompress and figure out what the issues were, and discover how to guide the rest of my career and beat up the rest of these broads.”

Watch the full UFC Winnipeg media day appearance by Jasmine Jasudavicius above.

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With opponent Kyler Phillips previously holding the #14 spot, “a victory over him will solidify my place as a top 15 fighter,” Jourdain (17-8-1) said during Wednesday’s UFC Winnipeg media day. “So co-main event is beautiful, I’m very happy, I think the Canadian fans are very happy with that, but most importantly for me is my shot at the top 15.”

With two straight wins since arriving at 135lbs, former featherweight (and lightweight) Jourdain has looked remarkedly improved. Part of that was the sacrifice, as he put it, of “letting my old self, the weak Charles, out of the way.”

Jourdain believes he was essentially coasting on skill alone, leading to the Quebec native trading wins and losses back and forth. “You cannot order pizza two days before leaving for Fight Week and you’re fighting Jean Silva, who rehydrates 25 pounds, something like that,” admitted Jourdain. “The sacrifice was letting go of my weak part.”

The Canadian is certain that a win this Saturday will land him in the top 15 at bantamweight. “I finished Victor Henry, who had never been finished. Destroyed Davey Grant like nobody has ever done to him. And now destroying Kyler Phillips, who’s never been finished — I’ll be the first one to put a decisive victory on him. Because you know, winning by decision is something, but me, when you need to expect fire at bantamweight, I truly believe I can finish all these guys.”

Jourdain says he did “a lot of visualization” ahead of UFC Winnipeg, and sees a couple of possibilities: a changed Kyler Phillips, or one who is a little more desperate coming off two losses.

“Sometimes fighters have a tendency to reinvent themselves. I’ve done it myself. Reinvent yourself. But if he reinvents himself, he’s not going to be peak Kyler. Or if he fights like Kyler fights, we’ve prepared a toolbox ready to destroy and counter anything he’s bringing. So whatever version Kyler will bring, we’ll be able to destroy.”

Watch the full UFC Winnipeg media day appearance by Charles Jourdain above.

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Burns (22-9) is a 12-year veteran of the UFC, and a win is key to his career with the promotion moving forward. That might explain some of the time off, though Burns had planned on being back in action a little sooner.

“Honestly we thought we were going to come back a little earlier, I thought it was going to be February. I think that was the plan, to have a numbered event here in Canada, but then the UFC changed the plan,” Burns stated during the UFC Winnipeg media day this week.

Burns was then looking at the numbered cards in March (with the BMF title fight between Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway) and April, before the UFC settled on keeping the fight in Canada. “Then they had the dates for UFC Ottawa first, and then Winnipeg, and then the name was Mike Malott.”

The UFC did originally have Ottawa penciled in for its first Canadian date of 2026, with several fighters being told that was where they’d been fighting. When the event was shifted to Winnipeg, Burns vs. Malott was finally announced, eleven months on from Gilbert Burns’ last fight.

“So the fight with Morales was in May, around August. We had a meeting, we sat down with the team.” That’s when Burns started making plans for his return, looking “to close the little holes, to learn by my mistakes.”

Malott has shown strong grappling in his UFC run to date, and that’s something Burns has always exceled at. It’s also an area he may want to test Malott in.

“I like it, because he’s the type of guy, when he doesn’t have a fight he likes to challenge himself in grappling, and I respect it and I like that very much. And I want to try, I want to see, let’s see how good you are in grappling.” Singling out Malott’s guillotine and takedowns as strengths for the Canadian, Burns added “he’s good. He’s well-rounded. I’m here to test that.”

Watch the full UFC Winnipeg media day appearance by Gilbert Burns above.

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After winning on the Contender Series the previous year, Malott (13-2-1) rattled off three straight wins before suffering a setback against Neil Magny. He’s since bounced back with three more victories, which has landed him a spot opposite Gilbert Burns in Winnipeg.

“I think getting your name on the title of a UFC fight night is pretty is pretty damn cool,” Malott noted during this week’s media day.

Burns, a 12-year UFC veteran who previously challenged for welterweight gold, has been in a skid of late. Talk has been of the Brazilian falling off at the tail end of his career. That’s not what Malott has prepared for, however.

“I’m expecting the best version of him that we’ve seen so far. You’ve got to prepare for everything, man,” noted Malott. “You’ve got to prepare for a guy that’s going to come and fight for his life.”

That preparation has Malott “very confident going into this fight,” he added.

Mike Malott, alongside teammate Jasmine Jasudavicius, has emerged as the modern face of Canadian MMA. It’s something he has seemingly embraced.

“It’s important to recognize that people are saying that. It’s a blessing, it’s an honour to have people think of me in that way,” Malott said of his unofficial role as Canadian MMA ambassador. “But that’s not my focus and it’s not really my job to have them talk about me. My job is my performance and how I prepare for fights and the things that I can control. I can’t really control the way people talk about you. People are always in the sport going to say positive things and almost always going to say negative things.”

“So I try to just focus on what I can control and that’s what’s going to happen in the octagon, my preparation and my growth. I’ve made a lot of gains this camp, we’ve pushed in ways that I’ve never pushed before and brought the best out of me.”

Watch the full UFC Winnipeg media day appearance by Mike Malott above.

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On Tuesday, promotion officials announced that UFC 330 will be held in Philadelphia, PA on August 15, 2026 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The show marks the first UFC date in Philly since 2019, and the first numbered event there since UFC 133 a full 15 years prior to their return, on August 6, 2011. That card was headlined by Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz, meeting for the second time, and featured names like Vitor Belfort, Rory MacDonald, Alexander Gustafsson, Chad Mendes, and future welterweight champ Johnny Hendricks.

Justin Gaethje and Edson Barboza headlined the UFC’s 2019 visit to the city.

No fights have been revealed for this year’s trip to Philadelphia. However, UFC CEO and President Dana White, Philly native Pat McAfee, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro were on hand to announce the event on McAfee’s show.

“Philadelphia is hosting some of the biggest sporting events this year as part of the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary,” stated White in a press release issued in conjunction with the announcement. “It’s been fifteen years since the UFC brought a numbered event to the city, so now is the perfect time to go back. Philadelphia has always been a great fight town, and I can’t wait to return.”

Ticket details are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

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Rumors swirled throughout the latter part of 2025 that Rodriguez, who had dropped off the public radar, was stuck in jail in Mexico. Turns out, the rumors in true in this case. Nearly nine months ago, Rodriguez was caught crossing the border with an ounce of weed. That landed him in a Mexican prison, his case stuck in the country’s laughably slow judicial system.

After announcing his return days ago, Rodriguez appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday to detail the ordeal he’d been through.

With what he termed “a wad of cash” on hand, Rodriguez tried to bribe his way out of a bad situation, but got nowhere. “I tried to offer some money to get me out right there on the spot, but they weren’t going for it man.”

“It was 27 grams, I had a fresh ounce of weed on me,” the six-year veteran of the UFC revealed. Rodriguez admitted to pulling over before crossing the border last summer and thinkin about throwing the weed away, but convinced himself that nothing would happen. “Sure enough, I should have just stuck with my gut feeling.”

Nor was he the only one in a jam. Heading to Mexico to have a good time, Rodriguez had a female companion with him. “I had someone with me and unfortunately, that person had to do the time with me. So I wasn’t alone in there, but I feel really bad about that.”

When Rodriguez finally got his release, his companion did as well. “She unfortunately- we were able to get out together. At the same time.”

Rodriguez explained that there were ups and downs in the legal process, and several points where he thought he’d be released, but wasn’t. “I got an amazing legal team, and we were able to work some things out and get me out, but there’s a whole much of requirements and stuff behind it that I’ve got to stick to,” he added.

As to what those requirements are, Rodriguez didn’t specify, instead saying that “if you know my background, you know that this is not my first time going to jail. This is just a part of my journey through the whole MMA thing. MMA has really helped me, changed things for me. We’re able to start programs and try to help people, try to get the youth and start programs for them so they can experience what I experienced, which is the discipline and looking forward to something better in life than just a lot of troubled stuff like a lot of gangs. Mexico is way much worse.”

Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega, and even the UFC tried to get involved on D-Rod’s behalf. “There’s only so much they could do. The Mexican government, they weren’t having it man.”

Luckily, Rodriguez was able to pull some strings to get exercise equipment brought it, allowing him to train, in limited amounts, while imprisoned. As he put it, he had a few people “in very, very, very high places, especially in there” who looked out for him. “I was probably in the best living situation I could be in, in there, but it was still horrible.”

“Eight, minus nine months for a bag of weed is insane. I never thought twice,” Rodriguez later added.

Daniel Rodriguez sits on a three-fight win streak and is coming off a July victory over Kevin Holland. He’s now back in the gym working on getting back in fight shape. “It’s just conditioning right now,” Rodriguez stated on Monday, saying he plans to spend “as much time as possible” at the UFC PI to get healthy and bounce back.

As for a comeback opponent, it won’t be Kevin Holland, though Holland did slide into his DMs. “I already beat him,” noted Rodriguez, saying he wanted to go as high as possible, and was looking at a match-up with Leon Edwards.

The post Daniel Rodriguez Opens Up About Months Spent in Mexican Prison appeared first on Cageside Press.

It may not have shocked the world, but UFC 327 was a reminder that, when so inspired, the UFC can still put on a very solid night of fights from top to bottom.

In fact, it was a good enough night for me to dust off this old “Aftermath” series (far from original, others sites have done them as well) for the second time in 2026. Probably because, in an era of poor booking and Apex Slop, when an event shines, it outright dazzles.

The Battle of Bellator Finally Arrives, and Does Not Disappoint

Ladies and gentleman, Aaron Pico.

The Aaron Pico we saw competing on Saturday at UFC 327 was not, despite online hyperbole, the best Pico we’ve ever seen. We have, in fact, seen a better Aaron Pico. He took too many lunging shots, was a little out of position a little too often. Peak Bellator Pico had better nights, if we’re being honest.

Yet it was a far better Aaron Pico who showed up at UFC 327 than the one who appeared in his UFC debut, and he has the win to prove it. Make no mistake, despite the loss to Lerone Murphy last year, Pico is a player in the UFC’s featherweight division. He always was. And now that the horse is out of the gate, let’s see how far he can ride.

Patricio Pitbull, were he the Pitbull of just a few years ago, would be a player as well. Now 1-2 in the UFC, at 38, it’s clear he has a ceiling. There are some fun fights for him, but I’ll go out on a very thick limb here and suggest he’ll never fight for the UFC’s featherweight title.

That said, Pitbull kept the fight with Pico interesting. One of the biggest Bellator MMA fights ever played out in the UFC octagon, and it didn’t disappoint. Bellator Never Die.

The Win that Wasn’t: Jiri Prochazka Sees Title Slip Through His Fingers

The win that wasn’t is how you can look at the UFC 327 main event.

Jiri Prochazka had the win in the bag after Carlos Ulberg either blew out his ACL or suffered a similar knee injury early in their headlining fight. No way Ulberg was ever going to be able to continue into the second round. A limping, lame duck rather than the “Black Jag” — right up until Prochazka got caught by a wounded cat striking out.

Check left hook, lights out.

Prochazka said after the fight that he had felt mercy for Ulberg, and didn’t move in for the kill like he should have. Instead, he took his foot off the gas. I’m not sure I agree fully; watching the fight, he absolutely targeted Ulberg’s leg. Yet Jiri did show more of a reserved approach considering how badly injured Ulberg was, so in the end, there is some truth to his words.

Ulberg, for one, felt Prochazka made the wrong choice. “I feel like he made the mistake there, because I would not have done the same,” the UFC’s new light heavyweight champ said following the win. “If you were in there to get that title, you do whatever it takes to get that win.”

This loss is going to haunt Jiri Prochazka for a while. He had the title in his grasp, and let it slip away. How he handles it, and bounces back, will be key. A former champion who vacated due to injury, Prochakza has dropped title fights to Alex Pereira and Ulberg now. He’s popular enough to earn another crack at gold, but he’ll need a few wins to get there. And he has only himself to blame.

Josh Hokit Is Here to Stay

Love him or hate him, and so many do the latter, but Josh Hokit is here to stay.

The Clown Prince of the heavyweight division might stumble on the mic, but he sure knows how to fight. Am I right, Miami?

Don’t take me aping Hokit’s public persona as any sort of endorsement. His routine is less late-career Chael Sonnen (when he was better on the mic, but found himself giving less in fights), and more Colby “Chaos Cringe” Covington. Just like Dana White isn’t a fan of it, it’s not my cup of tea either. Like White, however, I must concede: Hokit came to fight, and we might as well all stop harping on it, because if Josh Hokit continues to fight like that, the dumb pro wrestling promos and vaguely racist caricatures will be overshadowed anyway. In fact if he keeps fighting like he did at UFC 327, going to war with Curtis Blaydes in one of the best heavyweight fights of all time, the antics might just go away entirely.

Honestly, you don’t need them when you fight like that. And we’d all be better for it.

What Hokit did on Saturday was phenomenal. The unranked heavyweight walked into the Kaseya Center, came out guns blazing, and proved that, after both men had emptied their gas tanks, he had both the chin to withstand punches from a man 30 pounds heavier, and the wherewithal to keep himself in the fight as it drew on. The pair set a significant strikes record for heavyweight, with most of those apparently landing on “Razor” Blaydes’s face. Blaydes is now out with a broken nose and a broken orbital, while Hokit will be fighting Derrick Lewis on the Freedom 250 card at the White House.

It would be easy to write Hokit off as a clown because, well, he’s acted like one. Yet you can’t at this point. If he gets past Lewis, there are only a handful of names left ahead of him. If he doesn’t, Hokit isn’t going anywhere regardless, he’ll just be on a slower path. Credit where it’s due.

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