Rousey was a Olympic Gold Medalist in judo and reigned as the UFC women’s bantamweight champion from 2012 to 2015, making quite a few enemies along the way.

The hall-of-famer had one of all-time worst exits from the UFC, her striking exposed in back-to-back KO losses to former boxing champion Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, who went on to become the consensus greatest female fighter of all time.

It took less Nunes less than a minute to send Rousey into MMA retirement with a standing TKO. Rousey’s head coach Edmond Tarverdyan went viral in the corner for yelling ‘head movement’ repeatedly to his fighter as she ate a barrage of punches from the champion.

Embed from Getty Images

Ronda Rousey catches stray from Cris Cyborg

Still taking shots at Rousey almost six years later is grand slam champ Cris Cyborg, a heated rival ‘Rowdy’ never fought inside the Octagon as they were in separate weight classes and for a time, different promotions.

Earlier this week, a boxing page asked how the retired Rousey would have done as a boxer: “Champion? Contender?”

Cyborg issued a brutal response.

“I once saw her shadow boxing and her shadow won,” Cyborg said of Rousey’s boxing ability.

Most of Rousey’s wins came by her signature armbar submission but her striking was highly-touted at one point for knocking out two opponents in 50 seconds combined. Joe Rogan once claimed Rousey could take out half of the men’s UFC bantamweight division in her heyday.

Cris Cyborg was considered WMMA’s scariest striker for years until she was folded by Amanda Nunes in less than a minute at UFC 232 in 2018.

Cris Cyborg nearing retirement herself

Cyborg, 39, left the UFC in 2019 with a winning record and signed with Bellator thereafter.

Cyborg won the featherweight belt in her promotional debut and defended it multiple times before crossing over the boxing ring and eventually the PFL SmartCage.

The all-time great defeated champ Larissa Pacheco to win the PFL featherweight title in October, adding another championship to her collection.

Cyborg says she currently has two fights left on her PFL contract, saying she will retire once it is completed.

“This is my legacy tour,” Cyborg responded to a fan on X.

For the time being, Cyborg returns to the boxing ring on May 17.

Prior to his first headliner, Pereira’s last defeat came in a welterweight bout he absolutely dominated.

On Feb. 15, 2020, Michel Pereira battled the first-ever ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ winner Diego Sanchez in his backyard of Alburquerque, New Mexico, in what is regarded as one of the strangest UFC fights of all time.

Before the fight began, ‘Demolidor’ performed a breakdancing routine while the announcer introduced him.

For Sanchez’s intro, the 38-year-old UFC veteran walked towards Pereira with his hands on his hips, popping bubbles in his mouth as the referee backed him away from his opponent.

Embed from Getty Images

Michel Pereira used Diego Sanchez for target practice

Two seconds after the bell sounded, Sanchez front-flipped for a rolling thunder kick that barely missed Pereira. It was all downhill for Sanchez from there.

12 years older, Sanchez was one step behind Pereira on the feet with the Brazilian spamming bruising kicks to the body. Pereira would open up his arsenal of strikes with an Anthony Pettis ‘Showtime Kick’ off the cage and a flying knee for good measure.

Meanwhile, Sanchez flipped into another rolling thunder kick that missed.

After a tough first round, Sanchez was told by his one-man corner and then-guru Joshua Fabia that he had won the opening round on points despite being massively outgunned.

In round 2, Pereira stung Sanchez with kicks to the body and a right cross that got his attention. Pereira lured in Sanchez to the cage before using it to spring off his back foot to land a sporadic combo of strikes.

“I’ve known Diego for a long period of time, this is just very strange for me,” coach-analyst Trevor Wittman said of Sanchez’s performance in between rounds.

“I don’t see what’s going on right here. For me it’s hard to watch.”

“This guy’s so much bigger than him. He’s massive,” UFC commentator Daniel Cormier said of Pereira.

“So much bigger, so much more explosive. So many things,” Wittman said.

“I’ve never seen anyone foam from the mouth. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve never seen it,” Wittman said of Sanchez.

How in the world did Michel Pereira lose after strong start?

Pereira’s attacks really started to wear on Sanchez’s body in the final round which saw Pereira showboating at the beginning, not even looking at his opponent while standing firm in the center of the Octagon.

Landing a takedown on Sanchez, Pereira got up to his feet to do a backflip on his grounded opponent (he nearly got disqualified for this move in a previous fight).

Not long after that, Pereira pursued the finish with massive knees to the body and to the head of Sanchez.

Pereira sat down Sanchez with a knee to the body and a likely few strikes away from the stoppage, Sanchez received an illegal knee to the head while he was grounded, opening up a cut on his forehead with blood trickling out.

The referee paused the contest, bringing in the doctor to check on Sanchez. After a few minutes, Sanchez said he could not continue with referee Jason Herzog disqualifying the dominant Pereira for the illegal knee.

Diego Sanchez got the win at home but not in the way he wanted. This was Sanchez’s final victory in his his 44-fight career. The Albuquerque-native won the premier season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ at middleweight, defeating Kenny Florian back in 2005.

As for Michel Pereira, the exciting striker is 8-1 since his DQ loss and returns at UFC Kansas City next weekend against middleweight Abus Magomedov.

However, Justin Gaethje‘s wild celebrations were temporarily put on hold after he beat Donald Cerrone in September 2021.

The former interim lightweight champion instead directed an angry outburst at referee Jerin Valel.

Justin Gaethje’s angry reaction to beating Donald Cerrone

With less than a minute left in the first round, Gaethje dropped the UFC Hall of Famer.

Donald Cerrone popped straight back up before falling face first after a series of follow up shots.

Gaethje momentarily hesitated to throw more punches as he expected the referee to step in.

The 36-year-old whacked his opponent twice more before shooting the in-cage official a dirty look.

Cerrone, who was curled up in a ball, ate one more punch before the referee finally waved things off.

After being pushed off ‘Cowboy’, Gaethje began angrily shouting and gesturing at the referee, who he clearly felt should’ve stepped in much earlier.

In contrast, Cerrone could be seen protesting the stoppage while wobbling around the UFC Octagon.

Justin Gaethje calls for title shot

Islam Makhachev hasn’t fought since quickly tapping out Renato Moicano at UFC 311 in January.

The lightweight champion is currently weighing up the options for his next UFC title defense.

Ilia Topuria, Belal Muhammad, Charles Oliveira, and Paddy Pimblett are all under consideration.

As is Gaethje, who recently revealed he hopes to face Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protege this summer.

“I’m ready to fight, I’m ready to fight in June,” he told The Schmo earlier this month.

“I don’t know, I think Makhachev said he wants to fight in June. I’m hoping I get that call sooner rather than later so I can [start preparing]

“I’m 4-1 in my last five fights, only losing to Max Holloway. We’ve got Oliveira, who already lost [to Makhachev]. [Arman] Tsarukyan really f—– it up. I don’t think they’ll give it to him, and then Topuria.

“I can see them giving it to Topuria, so we’ll see what they do.”

Mariusz Pudzianowski picked up a high-profle win over Butterbean at the start of his new career.

The Polish fan favorite also has a knockout victory over Bobb Sapp on his 27-fight record, but the most vicious win in MMA came at KSW 70 in May 2022.

Watch World’s Strongest Man’s greatest KO

Pudzianowski proved age is just a number when he went on a five-fight win streak at 45 years old.

‘Dominator’ capped off his incredible run by brutally knocking out Michał Materla.

Just 107 seconds was all Pudzianowski needed to put Materla out cold for several minutes.

An uppercut from hell sent the 31-9 fighter flying before an unnecessary follow-up punch nailed him to the floor.

Wild celebrations quickly evolved into widespread concern when Materla failed to get back to his feet.

Thankfully, he eventually walked out the cage and made a full recovery after clashing with Pudzianowski.

What’s next for Mariusz Pudzianowski?

The former strongman hasn’t fought since suffering a shock loss in June 2023.

Pudzianowski was stopped by a former heavyweight boxer, Artur Szpilka, who is famous for suffering a bad knockout loss against Deontay Wilder in 2016.

It was recently announced that Pudzianowski will return to the cage for a fight with fellow ‘World’s Strongest Man’, Eddie Hall, who will make his MMA debut at KSW 105, which takes place at the Prezero Arena in Gliwice, Poland, on April 26.

Hall originally called to face Pudzianowski after winning a bizarre 2vs1 fight last June.

Now he’s training with UFC champion Tom Aspinall for a very serious step up in opposition.

28 years later, Joe Rogan is one of the most famous people on the planet, with a nine-digit net worth.

Still, he turns up for several UFC shows a year to provide commentary and give the event a boost.

Joe Rogan provides retirement update

A small group of fans jokingly told Rogan to retire after his awful Paddy Pimblett impression at UFC 314.

Days later, the 57-year-old revealed that he has no plans to walk away from his UFC gig anytime soon.

The only thing that could prompt his departure is Dana White quitting his role as UFC CEO.

“I just enjoy it. I don’t think about retiring, no,” Rogan said on a recent episode of his podcast.

“If Dana White quits, I might quit, but that’s it. It’s actually in my contract. If he leaves, I leave.

“In my contract if he leaves, I don’t have to stay.

“I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for him. He’s my friend. He talked me into doing it.

“I started working for the UFC in 1997 when it was nothing, nobody was watching then.”

Joe Rogan wants UFC rule changes

Rogan may be happy in his UFC job, but that doesn’t mean he’s 100 percent content with the sport.

During the UFC 314 broadcast, he called for a rule change after he saw a fighter ‘blantantly cheating‘.

Rogan says all fence grabs and eye pokes should result in an immediate one point deduction from the offending fighter.

More recently, he shared some ‘wacky ideas’ he has to improve the sport of MMA.

“There’s many times I wish I was running the UFC,” Rogan admitted.

“I would change so many different things… I got some wacky ideas.

“I don’t even think they should fight in a cage. I think the cage is an unnecessary element in fighting. To push someone against something or to be able to get up from something. I don’t think it’s necessary.

“I think it should be in like a basketball court. Like a basketball court that’s matted up. Have a big space. Have a warning track where if you go outside the warning track too many times, you could lose points.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s protege stretched his winning run to 11 in a row at Universal Studios Florida.

Just 32 seconds was all he needed to secure his place in PFL lightweight tournament semi final.

Khabib Nurmagomedov praises Gadzhi Rabadanov

Early in round one, Rabadanov caught a body kick and bundled his PFL 3 opponent to the floor.

Once there, he unleashed a series of nasty ground and pound strikes to knock Diakiese out cold.

The Russian shushed the crowd as he calmly celebrated by jogging around his rival’s lifeless body.

Soon after, Nurmagomedov shared cageside footage of his teammate’s empathic KO win.

The former UFC lightweight champion added a caption that congratulated Rabadanov.

“Dominant performance, brother,” Nurmagomedov wrote alongside clapping emojis on his Instagram story.

Will Khabib Nurmagomedov ever fight again?

Nurmagomedov retired from MMA after choking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020.

Several years later, a large group of fans are still begging ‘The Eagle’ to make a UFC comeback.

Last October, Nurmagomedov responded to rumors about his potential return to the Octagon.

“There is no chance, none. Not even 1%, minus [chance],” he said.

“If you guys need champions, I’m helping my brothers to become champions… We have Islam [Makhachev] as a champion, we have Umar [Nurmagomedov] as the next contender, we have Usman [Nurmagomedov] as champion – we have a lot of champions.

“You guys are never going to miss me because in our team and our gym, we create champions – you guys are always going to have champions, don’t worry.”

It was Leon Edwards‘ second defeat in a row, having lost to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in July 2024.

However, the attention turned to his brother, Fabian Edwards, in Orlando, Florida, on Friday night.

Leon Edwards celebrates his brother’s latest win

The younger Edwards sibling headlined PFL 3 in a fight against former light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay, who won the $1million tournament in 2023 before making it all the way to the final last year.

However, he got cut, wobbled, and taken out inside two rounds by ‘The Assassin’ at Universal Studios Florida.

Fabian immediately mounted the cage to celebrate bouncing back from a loss to middleweight champion Johnny Eblen in style.

Moments later, Leon scaled the fence and began celebrating the KO win with his brother, who he gave a high five and a hug.

The 14-4 PFL star now moves on to the semi finals of PFL’s new $500,000 single-elimination tournament.

What’s next for Leon Edwards?

This is the first public appearance ‘Rocky’ has made since falling short against Brady.

In a recent Instagram post, Edwards broke his weeks-long silence after UFC London.

“Still HIM,” he captioned a image of him back in the gym working on his game.

In the build-up to his latest fight, Fabian told Bloody Elbow about his brother’s 2025 comeback plan.

“Obviously he’s in training for himself just developing and pushing and fixing whatever he needs to fix and then helping me alongside that,” he said. “Develop, help me, then look for a fight probably end of the year.

“He’s been around watching my sparring, he’s flown out with me to Florida and he’s alright. He’s around the family and everyone and that’s about it… The UFC has never done us any favors in terms of the match-ups.

“They’ve never thought, ‘okay stylistically, they’re a good matchup for Leon,’ they’ve always thought about it like ‘who can we give him to not have him win?’ They’ve been successful with the last two but we just keep pushing.

“Our coaches just say ‘keep winning, then they can’t deny you’. That’s what he done. He kept winning, got himself a title and defended it. Not many people can say they’ve done that so you can’t erase that from history.”

Adesanya was finished by current champion Dricus du Plessis and Nassourdine Imavov in back-to-back outings, putting the fighter’s future into question.

On a much-needed break, it looks things are headed in the right direction with Adesanya telling his coach he wants to fight again.

Tim Welch says Israel Adesanya wants Sean Strickland rematch

Adesanya recently trained with a fellow UFC champion in Sean O’Malley as he prepares to rematch Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316.

Along with O’Malley for the ride was his head coach Tim Welch, who apparently got some insight about who Adesanya wants for his comeback fight: #2 middleweight contender and former foe Sean Strickland.

“Another thing with Izzy, he was saying he’s kinda enjoying his life,” Welch said on his YouTube channel.

“Before, he was just taking all these back-to-back fights. If you look at some of the old pay-per-views, every other pay-per-view, he was the headliner of.

“He seemed like he was wanting that Strickland fight back,” Welch said of his conversations with Adesanya.

Adesanya’s career-worst losing skid all began with Sean Strickland at UFC 293 and he wants revenge.

Israel Adesanya wasn’t at 100% for Sean Strickland at UFC 293

It was five months after Adesanya’s title reclaim over Alex Pereira as ‘The Last Stylebender’ refused to take a break then. Adesanya was finally matched up with Strickland more than a year after they ran into each other at the UFC 276 press conference with the American talking all sorts of trash to the champion.

The mouthy Strickland backed up his words by nearly knocking out Adesanya in the opening round. Strickland went on to win the title by decision following a five-round shutout on the feet, pulling off the ultimate upset.

Embed from Getty Images

Mentally and physically, many believed it to be an ‘off-night’ for the champion Adesanya.

“They said not excuses and stuff, but his knee was f**** up,” Welch said of Adesanya’s previous training camp for Strickland.

“He was just so burnt out. It was just a bad night where he didn’t show up.”

Strickland was Adesanya’s 5th title fight in 18 months, making him one of the most active champions in UFC history.

“He said GSP [Georges St-Pierre] gave him some good advice like don’t just take these fights. Make sure you’re hungry to take a fight, especially when you’re at this level and you have enough money.”

Muhammad will face the UFC-unbeaten Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 315 main event next month in Montreal. He returns to the Octagon for the first time as a UFC champion, after outpointing Leon Edwards for the belt last July.

Muhammad was overlooked by most fans, pundits, and fellow fighters as he made his ascent up the welterweight ladder. But Nurmagomedov saw his potential right away when Muhammad joined his team ahead of UFC 304.

Khabib Nurmagomedov highlights Belal Muhammad’s attribute as the best in UFC

Since his fighting retirement in 2020, Nurmagomedov has mentored some of the best fighters in the world, including UFC pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev and PFL titleholder Usman Nurmagomedov. But according to Nurmagomedov, Muhammad stands far above the rest of his team and the sport in general in one specific way.

During a recent interview with Adam Zubayraev, Nurmagomedov blanketed Muhammad with immense praise ahead of his first title defense.

“I believe it will be very hard to beat Belal,” Nurmagomedov said of Muhammad. “If Maddalena or Shavkat (Rakhmonov) don’t finish him early, Belal is just going to keep pressing. His endurance is really good. In fact, I think it’s the most underrated aspect in MMA today.

“Belal’s cardio is the best in this division for sure, and maybe even in all of UFC.” (h/t MMA Junkie)

Muhammad showcased his cardio in his recent title win over Edwards, outpacing the then-UFC welterweight titleholder in all facets of the fight. Despite a late threat from Edwards, Muhammad had enough energy in the closing minutes to withstand his foe’s barrage.

Nurmagomedov’s comments are striking, given Makhachev’s standing as the UFC’s pound-for-pound best fighter. But for Nurmagomedov, his longtime friend and protege Makhachev doesn’t compare to Muhammad when it comes to conditioning and stamina.

Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t a fan of Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria

Nurmagomedov has played a pivotal role in Makhachev’s ascent to the top of MMA, but isn’t a fan of Makhachev facing Ilia Topuria for his next title defense. Topuria opted to make the move up from featherweight after knocking out Max Holloway at UFC 308.

After vacating the featherweight belt, Topuria was under the assumption he’d get an immediate title shot at lightweight for his return. But while the UFC appears on board with the matchup, Nurmagomedov and Makhachev aren’t sold on granting Topuria the next shot at the belt.

Nurmagomedov believes Arman Tsarukyan, and not Topuria, presents the ‘most competitive’ challenge to Makhachev’s title reign. Tsarukyan and Makhachev battled earlier in their UFC careers, with Makhachev earning a decision victory.

Gutierrez and former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar squared off in front of a sold-out crowd at the legendary Madison Square Garden at UFC 281. It was seen as Edgar’s potential last UFC fight, but with a win, Edgar would’ve likely postponed his retirement plans.

Gutierrez was relatively unknown to the UFC fanbase entering UFC 281, as many pulled for Edgar to get back in the win column in friendly territory. But that changed as both bantamweights entered the Octagon.

Chris Gutierrez finished Frankie Edgar with a knee at UFC 281

Gutierrez quickly found his rhythm against Edgar, landing several nasty leg kicks that quickly stifled Edgar’s advances. Gutierrez had Edgar on his back foot for as long as the fight lasted, and the action lasted approximately two minutes.

At the two-minute mark of the first round, Gutierrez timed a potential takedown attempt from Edgar perfectly, landing a knee to Edgar’s chin. The knee immediately knocked Edgar unconscious and stunned the MSG crowd.

It also led to a heartbreaking moment as Edgar’s family sat cageside. But Gutierrez, classy in defeat, shared a touching moment with the former UFC champion after he regained consciousness.

The victory skyrocketed Gutierrez’s stock in the bantamweight division. But at present, Gutierrez is a featherweight and will face John Castaneda at UFC Kansas City next Saturday.

Edgar announced his retirement in the cage after UFC 281 and entered the UFC Hall of Fame last year.

🚨 Chris Gutierrez🇺🇸🇬🇹🇨🇴 éteint la légende Frankie Edgar🇺🇸 au 1er round !!

4 victoires de suite pour Chris, 8 combats de suite sans perdre et il sera désormais Top 12 des 61KG ! #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/hB7kTMeTWm

— MMA EMPIRE ⚔️ (@LempireMMA) November 13, 2022

Ian Machado Garry warned UFC Kansas City co-headliner ahead of welterweight clash

UFC Kansas City featured a welterweight headliner between Ian Machado Garry and Carlos Prates, two of the brightest young stars in the division. Prates was supposed to fight at UFC 314 before his scheduled opponent Geoff Neal withdrew due to injury.

Just days out from UFC Kansas City, Garry sent Prates a chilling warning about what he intends to transpire inside the cage. Garry and Prates are two of the most dynamic welterweight strikers, making a highlight knockout by either side a strong possibility.

Gutierrez and other top names will look to make a statement at UFC Kansas City. In a new weight class, expect Gutierrez to attempt to put out a similar performance to his Edgar knockout.