MMA News Roundup — July 27, 2026

Introduction

Quiet weekend? Not a chance. The Octagon rolled into Abu Dhabi on Saturday and a former champion reminded everyone he never actually went anywhere, the UFC dropped one of the biggest free-agent signings of the year live on the broadcast, a September pay-per-view in Los Angeles started filling up fast, and over in Washington D.C. the PFL crowned a welterweight champion in a main event nobody had on their card 48 hours earlier.

Here is everything that mattered in MMA since Friday.

Ankalaev Grinds Down Guskov for a Fifth-Round Finish

Ankalaev Wants Paulo Costa — or an Interim Belt

Temirov, Walker and Kuniev Cash Bonus Checks

Salahdine Parnasse Signs With the UFC — Straight Into a Paris Main Event

Oliveira vs. Tsarukyan 2 Reported for the UFC 331 Headliner

UFC 331 Fills Out: Pitbull vs. Doo Ho Choi, Moicano vs. Ortega

UFC 330 Looms: Makhachev Defends in Philadelphia

PFL D.C. Chaos: Thad Jean Wins Vacant Title on a Rewritten Main Event

The Week at a Glance

References

Ankalaev Grinds Down Guskov for a Fifth-Round Finish

Magomed Ankalaev headlined UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Guskov at Etihad Arena on July 25 and did exactly what Magomed Ankalaev does — controlled the range, banked the rounds, then broke his man late. The former light heavyweight champion stopped Bogdan Guskov by TKO at 2:41 of round five, opening up in the championship rounds after three rounds of measured kicking and straight punching that Guskov never solved.

It was Ankalaev's first win since dropping the 205-pound belt back to Alex Pereira last October, and it pushed him to 13 UFC victories — the most of any active light heavyweight. It was not the flashiest 25 minutes of the year, but nobody is arguing about whether he still belongs at the top of the division.

Ankalaev Wants Paulo Costa — or an Interim Belt

The louder story came afterwards. With champion Carlos Ulberg still working back from ACL surgery, Ankalaev used the post-fight press conference to green-light a potential October matchup with Paulo Costa, who had been posting about saving the light heavyweight division from monotony. Ankalaev said he would happily return to Abu Dhabi in October, then fired back on X: “You talk a lot, but we both know you never want to fight me. If you're a real man, accept the fight and let's do it. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut. An interim title is fine with me too. No problem.”

Ulberg tore the ACL in the first round of his title-winning knockout of Jiří Procházka at UFC 327 and still finished the job on one leg. He has since had surgery and has pointed toward early 2027 for a first defense. That leaves 205 pounds in exactly the sort of holding pattern where interim-title talk starts to sound reasonable.

Temirov, Walker and Kuniev Cash Bonus Checks

Ramazan Temirov took a Performance of the Night bonus, returning from a lengthy layoff to flatten Steve Erceg with a right hand at 4:21 of round one. The Uzbek is now 3-0 inside the Octagon and riding a 12-fight winning streak — expect a ranked number beside his name shortly.

Valter Walker grabbed the other Performance bonus with a first-round calf slicer on Thomas Petersen, his fifth straight first-round finish. Rizvan Kuniev's third-round TKO of Tyrell Fortune earned Fight of the Night and handed the Russian heavyweight back-to-back wins over top-10 opposition.

Salahdine Parnasse Signs With the UFC — Straight Into a Paris Main Event

Announced during the Abu Dhabi broadcast: former KSW double champion Salahdine Parnasse has signed with the UFC and will debut in the main event of UFC Paris on September 5 at the Accor Arena. His opponent is Dan Hooker, over five rounds.

The 23-2 French-Moroccan arrives with one of the best résumés ever assembled outside the big show, and the UFC has skipped the soft launch entirely. A debuting fighter headlining a European card is about as clear a statement of belief as matchmaking gets. Hooker (24-14) needs this one badly, having dropped his last two.

Oliveira vs. Tsarukyan 2 Reported for the UFC 331 Headliner

Multiple outlets are reporting that Charles Oliveira will make the first defense of his BMF title against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331 on September 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The pair met at UFC 300 in 2024, with Tsarukyan edging a split decision.

Worth stressing: the UFC has not made it official. The report originated with Russian outlet Red Fury MMA and has been picked up widely since. If it holds, it is a rematch with real divisional stakes — Tsarukyan sits atop the lightweight rankings, and Oliveira took the BMF strap from Max Holloway back in March.

UFC 331 Fills Out: Pitbull vs. Doo Ho Choi, Moicano vs. Ortega

Two more bouts joined the Los Angeles card. Patricio Pitbull (37-9) meets UFC Hall of Famer Doo Ho Choi at featherweight. Pitbull is looking to rebound from an April decision loss to Aaron Pico that dropped him to 1-2 in the promotion; Choi arrives on three straight stoppage wins, the most recent a May knockout of Daniel Santos.

The card also re-books Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega, a rematch of Ortega's 2017 submission win at UFC 214. It was originally slated for UFC 326 in March before Ortega withdrew, and it doubles as Ortega's lightweight debut.

UFC 330 Looms: Makhachev Defends in Philadelphia

Next up on the pay-per-view calendar is UFC 330 on August 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, where welterweight champion Islam Makhachev puts the belt on the line against Ian Machado Garry. Michael Morales is expected to weigh in as the backup.

The co-feature has Mackenzie Dern making the first defense of her women's strawweight title against Gillian Robertson. It is the UFC's first numbered event in Philadelphia since UFC 133 in August 2011.

PFL D.C. Chaos: Thad Jean Wins Vacant Title on a Rewritten Main Event

The PFL's July 25 card at CareFirst Arena lost its headliner when Shamil Musaev withdrew with weight-cut complications. Ernesto Rodriguez, already booked on the card, moved up on short notice to face Thad Jean for the vacant welterweight title — and made a fight of it, dropping Jean in round two before Jean rallied for a third-round TKO.

Elsewhere on the card, Rafael Xavier knocked out former UFC light heavyweight Tyson Pedro right on the first-round buzzer. The welterweight belt had been vacant since Ramazan Kuramagomedov retired immediately after taking it from Musaev in February.

The Week at a Glance

July 25 — Magomed Ankalaev TKO5 Bogdan Guskov, UFC Abu Dhabi main event

July 25 — Salahdine Parnasse signs with the UFC; debuts vs. Dan Hooker at UFC Paris on Sept. 5

July 25 — Thad Jean TKO3 Ernesto Rodriguez for the vacant PFL welterweight title

July 26 — Ankalaev offers to fight Paulo Costa in October and floats an interim belt

Aug. 15 — UFC 330: Islam Makhachev vs. Ian Machado Garry, Philadelphia

Sept. 5 — UFC Paris: Dan Hooker vs. Salahdine Parnasse

Sept. 19 — UFC 331, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles

The Bottom Line

That is the cycle. UFC 330 in Philadelphia is next on August 15, and both the Ankalaev–Costa noise and the UFC 331 main event should firm up long before then. Keep it locked to Ultimate Fight Hub.