Issue 232
August 2026
Paul Browne jumps into the Fighters Only wayback-when machine to recap the best of mixed martial arts in August 2026
Carlos Prates Believes UFC Title Shot Is Locked In Despite Growing List of Challengers
Carlos Prates is unfazed by the growing list of welterweight contenders calling for a fight, insisting his next appearance inside the Octagon will be for UFC gold.
Prates has positioned himself among the top contenders at 170 pounds after putting together three consecutive victories, most recently earning a dominant win over former champion Jack Della Maddalena.
His rise has made him a popular target for other contenders, with Sean Brady and Uros Medic among those who have publicly expressed interest in facing him.
However, Prates believes he has already done enough to secure the next title opportunity. With welterweight champion Islam Makhachev scheduled to defend his belt against Ian Machado Garry in the main event of UFC 330 on August 15, "The Nightmare" is confident he will challenge the winner.
Addressing the recent callouts in a post on Instagram, Prates dismissed the attention from his fellow contenders.
“A lot of you guys @seanbradymma , @medicu , and the other welterweights—have been mentioning my name. Calm down, brothers.
In my next fight, I’m taking that belt. After that, I’ll deal with all of you and take you straight to the Kingdom of Pain. Be ready.
Nothing personal, just business.”
With the welterweight title picture set to become clearer at UFC 330, Prates remains focused on championship gold before entertaining any of the challengers lining up behind him.
Mauricio Ruffy Makes Bold Title Claim After Arman Tsarukyan Fight Is Announced
Mauricio Ruffy has issued his first public reaction after learning he will face Arman Tsarukyan in the co-main event of UFC 331.
The highly anticipated lightweight bout was officially announced by the UFC on Wednesday, with Ruffy and Tsarukyan set to meet over five rounds on September 19.
Ruffy enters the biggest fight of his career riding an impressive run in 2026. The Brazilian stopped Rafael Fiziev at UFC 325 in January before delivering a highlight-reel knockout of former Bellator champion Michael Chandler at the UFC's White House event in June.
Meanwhile, Tsarukyan returns to the Octagon for the first time since defeating Dan Hooker last October. Although he has not competed in MMA since that victory, the Armenian has remained active, making 13 appearances in other combat sports disciplines, the majority of them under the Real American Freestyle wrestling promotion.
Following the announcement, Ruffy took to his Instagram Stories to share his excitement about the opportunity and made it clear he believes a win would earn him a shot at UFC gold.
"Hey guys, the big news is out, Maurício Ruffy vs. Arman Tsarukyan. When I win this fight, let's go straight for the title.
"And that's it guys, let's go give it my best. I don't feel pressured at all. I'm feeling privileged, very grateful to God for all of this.
"I'm going there to seek this knockout. I don't want to leave the Octagon without this result. I'm going to travel now, I'm going to Australia to do the whole camp there."
Ruffy also confirmed that he will complete his training camp in Australia, where he is expected to work alongside UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski as he prepares for the toughest test of his career.
With both men positioned near the top of the lightweight division, the UFC 331 co-main event could have significant title implications, particularly if Ruffy is able to extend his unbeaten run inside the Octagon against one of the division's top contenders.
Dana White Hints at UFC’s Next Groundbreaking Mega-Event
Dana White believes the UFC’s next major spectacle could be even bigger than its historic event at the White House.
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show this week, the UFC CEO reflected on the recently held Freedom 250 fight card and revealed that the promotion is already discussing another ambitious event that could potentially eclipse it.
White described the White House event as the greatest experience of his career, despite the high expectations surrounding the card.
“There will never be anything like the White House ever again,” White said. “I mean, that night, you know, we already had high expectations for it, and I was blown away. It's the greatest thing that I've ever been a part of. Being there live was amazing.”
However, White suggested that UFC head of production Craig Borsari is already thinking beyond the landmark event.
“But now, my head of production, Craig Borsari, is so cocky after he absolutely killed that event,” White said.
According to White, Borsari has proposed an idea for another major UFC production that has caught the promoter’s attention. White stopped short of revealing any details, saying he still has to do additional groundwork before deciding whether the concept can become a reality.
“We are talking about something right now that he came up with,” White said. “This was his idea, and I love it. I have to do some more groundwork on it, and if I end up doing this, I'll announce it here first.”
White’s comments suggest the UFC could be considering another unprecedented event, although there is currently no indication of what Borsari’s proposal entails or when it could take place.
For now, White is keeping the details close to the vest. But his willingness to tease the project on The Pat McAfee Show indicates that the UFC may already be working on its next attempt to create a spectacle on the scale of — or potentially beyond — its White House event.
Daniel Cormier Explains Why Khabib Nurmagomedov Still Ranks Above Islam Makhachev
Daniel Cormier believes Khabib Nurmagomedov would still rank above his protégé Islam Makhachev when it comes to determining the greatest UFC lightweight of all time.
Nurmagomedov retired undefeated in 2020 after establishing himself as one of the most dominant fighters in UFC history. Since then, he has remained closely involved with Makhachev, working in his corner throughout the Russian fighter’s dominant run at lightweight and his move up to welterweight.
Cormier, who trained alongside both Nurmagomedov and Makhachev at American Kickboxing Academy, was asked by Jon Anik during the UFC 330 weigh-in show which fighter would come out on top if the two ever fought.
“I mean, honestly, I've seen those guys spar, and it was always so fun. And sparring's different, but I'm telling you, bro, like, Khabib had something different,” Cormier said.
“Like, really. He fought Justin Gaethje and just kind of walked him down and beat him up. Dustin Poirier had him in a guillotine. I never for a second thought he would tap.
“Then when he got him in the (rear naked choke), Dustin's neck was the size of a toothpick, bro. He was going to break his neck with the rear naked choke. He had something that was just different, (that) you can't teach.”
Nurmagomedov finished his career with a perfect 29-0 record and retired as UFC lightweight champion after defeating Gaethje at UFC 254. His dominance at 155 pounds has continued to serve as the benchmark for Makhachev, who went on to capture the lightweight title and successfully defend it multiple times.
Despite Makhachev’s accomplishments, Cormier believes Nurmagomedov possessed an intangible quality that made him virtually impossible to defeat.
“I'm telling you, I don't know who would have beaten him,” Cormier said. “Khabib Nurmagomedov would still be the UFC lightweight champion today if he stayed in fighting. That's how good he was.”
Dana White Says Ian Machado Garry May Regret His Approach Against Islam Makhachev
Ian Machado Garry may look back on his UFC 330 main event against Islam Makhachev and wish he had shown more urgency in the final round, according to UFC CEO Dana White.
Garry was defeated by Makhachev in a closely contested, technical battle on Saturday, with the victory allowing Makhachev to retain his welterweight title and break Anderson Silva’s previous UFC record of 16 consecutive victories inside the Octagon.
While White praised Garry’s performance and his impressive takedown defense, he was critical of the Irishman’s demeanor throughout the fight. Garry repeatedly appeared willing to shake hands or touch gloves with Makhachev, something White felt worked against him given the stakes of the bout.
“I felt like tonight was set up for the upset,” White told reporters after the event. “I felt like the upset could happen tonight with so much on the line, all the records that Islam has, and he's going to break Anderson Silva's record. There's weight classes for a reason. Ian Garry is a big, rangy, strong guy who has great takedown defense.”
White pointed specifically to Garry’s ability to defend Makhachev’s takedowns as evidence that the 28-year-old had the tools to cause an upset.
“I mean, if you look at his takedown defense tonight against Islam, it was impressive,” White said. “I think that Ian is a talented guy.”
However, White believes Garry missed an opportunity to push for a finish in the fifth round after doing significant damage to Makhachev’s body and face.
“If he had even an ounce of killer instinct in that fifth round, you know, he had been beating him to the body,” White said. “Islam's whole, I think, right side was beat up. His face was beat up. You don't come out and hug and shake hands. That shit drives me fucking crazy when there's so much at stake.”
White also suggested that Garry could have used the final round to create a more chaotic fight and test Makhachev with an unexpected attack.
“And there's also a lot of mental, you know, gamesmanship, whatever you want to call it in this game,” White said. “You come out in that fifth round with a flying knee or something crazy and you try to finish the fight.”
Ultimately, White believes the loss could become a learning experience for Garry, particularly when he watches the fight back and assesses the opportunities he had to change the outcome.
“I think that this is one of those fights that Ian will go back and watch and say, fuck, wish I could do that over again,” White said.
Mackenzie Dern Opens Up on Frustration After Dominant Win Over Gillian Robertson
Mackenzie Dern successfully defended her UFC strawweight title for the first time on Saturday, earning a dominant unanimous decision victory over Gillian Robertson in the co-main event of UFC 330.
Dern, a multi-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, controlled much of the fight but was unable to secure the submission she had been seeking. Despite the one-sided nature of the victory, the champion admitted afterward that she was frustrated by her inability to finish Robertson.
Speaking to reporters at the post-fight press conference, Dern said she was pleased with her performance but still wanted more.
“It feels good. But I mean, it could feel even better if I would have got the submission,” Dern said. “I'm someone that like…I'm always looking for the best performance possible, so I'm happy with my wrestling, I'm happy with I guess the dominance of the fight, but I wanted to submit Gillian for sure.”
Dern’s comments reflected the high standards she has set for herself since reaching the top of the UFC’s 115-pound division. Although she secured a clear decision victory, the champion believes there are still areas of her game that need improvement as she looks to establish a lengthy reign.
“I still see lots of things that I want to get better (at) just to be able to defend it more and more times,” Dern said.
The victory nevertheless marked an important step for Dern as champion. After getting her first title defense under her belt, she believes the performance demonstrated that she has solidified her position at the top of the division.
“But (I) definitely feel like (I) solidified myself as a champ,” Dern said.
Arman Tsarukyan Names One Fighter He Thinks Could Beat Islam Makhachev at Welterweight
Arman Tsarukyan believes Islam Makhachev could face tougher challenges at welterweight following his victory over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, Tsarukyan assessed Makhachev's performance and suggested the former UFC lightweight champion did not look quite as sharp as he has in previous fights.
“This fight Islam he didn't look (as) good that he (did) before,” Tsarukyan said.
Tsarukyan pointed to a possible injury or the physical demands of Garry's defensive style as reasons for Makhachev's struggles during the fight.
“I think maybe (when) he missed that high kick or he hurt his nose…something happened and Ian Garry was defending very well against the cage,” Tsarukyan said. “He didn't let him to be on the top, you know? He always stand up and is always, like, hard to carry, you know? The fighter who knows how to defend so good. That's why he got tired.”
Makhachev moved up to welterweight for the matchup with Garry, adding another division to his championship ambitions after establishing himself as one of the UFC's elite lightweights.
Helwani then asked Tsarukyan whether Makhachev could encounter significant problems against some of the bigger welterweights, specifically naming Michael Morales, Carlos Prates and Shavkat Rakhmonov.
“Morales, maybe, yes,” Tsarukyan said. “But still, I don't know right now who can beat Islam.”
Despite acknowledging that Morales could present a difficult matchup, Tsarukyan stopped short of predicting that any of the current welterweights could defeat Makhachev.
When asked who could have beaten Makhachev at his peak, Tsarukyan pointed to former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
“Yeah, only maybe prime (Kamaru) Usman, but he's gone, he's in 84 kg (middleweight),” Tsarukyan said.
‘My Body Failed Me’: Reinier de Ridder Ready to Rewrite His Story at 205lbs
Reinier de Ridder believes the move to light heavyweight could finally allow him to show the UFC what he is capable of at full capacity.
The former two-division ONE Championship world champion makes his return to 205lbs this Saturday at UFC Sacramento, where he faces Roman Dolidze in a clash between two middleweights moving up in search of a fresh start.
For de Ridder, however, this is about considerably more than simply changing weight classes.
It is about getting his body (and his career) back on track.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's fight, de Ridder was unusually candid about the physical toll of competing at middleweight, revealing that his experience making 185lbs eventually became unsustainable.
“It’s so nice to eat food, dude,” de Ridder said with a laugh when asked how he was feeling ahead of his light heavyweight debut.
“It’s so nice to be able to get some carbs. Quality of life.”
The Dutchman had already made the decision to leave middleweight following his two-fight skid, but the severity of the problems he experienced during his time at 185lbs was laid bare when he reflected on his fight with Brendan Allen.
“That was a pretty eye-opening experience,” he said.
“My body failed me. It was over and then I tried once more, but still didn’t feel great.
“Just everything went to shit. All my values and my blood were bad. Just everything was shit at a point.”
De Ridder's UFC career had begun spectacularly. After joining the promotion in 2024, he rattled off four consecutive victories, including wins over Bo Nickal and former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, putting himself firmly into title contention. He subsequently suffered consecutive defeats to Brendan Allen and Caio Borralho.
But while those results told one story, de Ridder believes there was another story happening behind the scenes.
By the time he reached his final middleweight weight cut, he had already made up his mind.
“In that last weight cut, I was already saying, ‘This is the last time. I’m never going to do this again.’”
‘I’m Just Happy I Can Show Off’
De Ridder has competed at 205lbs before, including during his championship-winning run outside the UFC, but he says the circumstances are very different now.
When he fought at 205lbs previously, he was naturally much closer to the limit.
“I would weigh like 210 and I would cut down to 205 by just working out a little bit and eating a bit less carbs and salt,” he explained.
“So it was very easy. I didn’t have to do anything.”
Years of competing at middleweight changed that equation.
“Now, eating all this American food for years, I’m at around 225 normally in training camp,” he said. “So I’m still cutting like 20 pounds.”
Yet despite that sizeable cut, de Ridder believes the difference between preparing for 205lbs and preparing for 185lbs has been enormous.
His recovery has improved. His training has improved. Most importantly, he says, he can finally push himself in the areas of MMA that made him such a dangerous fighter in the first place.
“I’m just happy that I can show off and I’m getting close to being 100% in the cage again,” he said.
“We’ve seen fighters make the jump up in weight class over the years and then really blossom,” he was told. “Is that how you’re feeling here?”
“Yeah, 100%,” came the answer.
“I’m just happy that I can go hard in grappling. I can work hard to take somebody down. My sparring rounds have been so good lately.”
That ability to train at full intensity has been particularly important for a fighter whose game is built around pressure, grappling and sustained physical output.
De Ridder says the difference has been immediately noticeable.
“Everything is great. Recovery has been great in every session,” he said.
“I’ve been pushing hard twice a day for eight weeks basically. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to train this hard.”
A Different Kind of Fight
The matchup with Dolidze also gives de Ridder an intriguing introduction to the new division.
Both men are making the move to 205lbs at the same time, meaning neither has the obvious size or experience advantage that might exist if a middleweight were facing an established light heavyweight.
“I think that gives me some more time to adjust,” de Ridder said. “Give me some more time after this fight as well to try and put on some more mass.
“So, yeah, I’m very happy with this matchup.”
Dolidze is no easy first assignment. The Georgian has spent years competing around the UFC's middleweight rankings and has previous experience at light heavyweight, including a 2024 victory over Anthony Smith.
De Ridder recognises the threat, but he isn't particularly interested in dwelling on it.
“He’s a vet. He’s been around forever. He’s been at the top 10 in middleweight for a long time,” he said.
“He knows how to grapple. He’s pretty strong.
“But I don’t give a f*** about what he brings to the table at the moment.”
The reason?
“I’m just happy that I can show off.”
The Five-Round Grind Is Gone
There is another major change awaiting de Ridder on Saturday: the fight is scheduled for three rounds.
That may sound insignificant compared with the 185-to-205lb jump, but for a fighter who has repeatedly headlined UFC events, the difference in preparation is considerable.
De Ridder has spent much of his UFC run preparing for five-round fights while simultaneously putting his body through punishing weight cuts.
Now, he can concentrate on a 15-minute sprint.
“Deadly,” he said when asked how it feels.
“It’s only three rounds, so this is great.”
The shorter format also gives him more freedom to attack with the grappling-heavy style that he feels he has been unable to fully display during some of his recent fights.
“I just want to show Saturday — and this is what I’ve been working on as well — show all the stuff I’ve always done well,” he said.
“Show off my clinch game, show off my grappling a lot. And this is what I want to show off.”
What He Learned From Two Straight Losses
De Ridder isn't pretending the move to 205lbs magically erases the setbacks of the past year.
He enters Sacramento having lost his last two fights, but he believes the Caio Borralho bout in particular demonstrated how compromised he had become physically.
“Caio played very well, played his game very well,” de Ridder said.
“But I noticed that I was just not able to push the way I normally can.
“It was hard for me to push in the grappling aspect.”
That is precisely what he wants to change on Saturday.
‘I Still Want to Be Very Active’
The Dutchman isn't thinking about easing his way into light heavyweight, either.
If anything, his ambitions remain as aggressive as ever.
“I still want to be very active,” he said.
“I think activity is a very useful and very valuable thing in the company.”
His immediate plan is simple.
“The plan is to put him away Saturday spectacularly,” he said, “and then get back to a top-10 guy.”
Asked whether he already had a name in mind for the post-fight callout, de Ridder smiled.
“Yeah, well, I’ll keep it to myself for a bit.”
Whatever happens against Dolidze, the former ONE champion appears convinced that 205lbs is where he belongs.
Asked whether he wished he had started his UFC career at light heavyweight, knowing what he knows now, de Ridder refused to dwell on the road not taken.
“Nah. I don’t look at life like that,” he said.
“It’s just shit happens, and every loss or every win is an opportunity to make it a positive or a negative.”
And despite the difficult stretch, he has no regrets about where his career has taken him.
“It made me end up here,” he said. “I’m very happy where I’m at in my life.”
Then came the blunt conclusion.
“And it’s time to kill [him] on Saturday.”
For de Ridder, Saturday's fight represents the beginning of a new chapter. But perhaps more importantly, it represents the opportunity to find out what he looks like when he isn't fighting his own body as much as his opponent.
“I’m looking forward to this next chapter,” he said.
And after everything that happened at 185lbs, that may be the most revealing thing about his move to 205.
Gregory Rodrigues: Nothing to Prove, Everything to Build
Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues has learned not to waste energy trying to convince people of what he already knows.
As the Brazilian prepares for his second UFC main event, Rodrigues is approaching the biggest moments of his career with a noticeably different perspective. There is ambition, certainly. There is pressure. There is a five-round fight with Anthony Hernandez waiting for him at UFC Sacramento this Saturday.
But there is also gratitude.
“I like to think I'm living a dream of someone,” Rodrigues tells Fighters Only. “If that was my dream, so that become true.”
For Rodrigues, the significance of this week is not lost on him. His UFC journey has taken him from contender to contender, through victories and setbacks, and now back into the main-event spotlight. The 34-year-old enters Sacramento on a three-fight winning streak and with six victories in his last seven appearances.
Rather than allowing the magnitude of the occasion to consume him, Rodrigues is determined to enjoy it.
“Man, the life goes fast, bro. And if you're not enjoying it…” he says. “I want to enjoy every single second in this moment here.”
That mindset is particularly striking given what Rodrigues has already experienced in the UFC.
His first main event ended in disappointment when Jared Cannonier stopped him in the fourth round in February 2025. It was the first time Rodrigues had been scheduled to fight five rounds, and he admits he did not fully understand what that preparation required at the time.
Now, with another five-round main event ahead of him, Rodrigues believes he understands the assignment.
“Henry (Hooft) always tell me, ‘Gregory, who fights three rounds can't fight five rounds,’” he says, referring to his training. “In the gym and the sparring rounds, we always spar five, six, seven rounds.”
The difference this time, he says, is understanding why he is doing it.
“Now, like, I know how important I have to give for this fight.”
That preparation has included an enviable group of training partners at Kill Cliff FC. Rodrigues singles out Nassourdine Imavov, who spent several weeks training with him, as well as Bellator/PFL champion Jason Jackson and a number of wrestlers who helped replicate the demands of a five-round fight.
“I have the best training partners. I couldn't have it on this camp,” Rodrigues says. “I have Nassourdine Imavov... We train together for like four or five weeks straight. And that was amazing.”
The work has been hard. Rodrigues wouldn't have it any other way.
“When the expensive price, you're gonna get something better,” he says. “I pay for it, and the price was expensive.”
That willingness to pay the price is central to how Rodrigues sees his career.
And it is also why he has little interest in answering the critics who questioned whether he could thrive over 25 minutes.
Following his loss to Cannonier, questions about Rodrigues' conditioning and ability to sustain his performance in a five-round fight were inevitable. Hernandez now represents a particularly interesting test: a relentless middleweight who is coming off a loss to Sean Strickland but had previously won eight straight fights.
Yet Rodrigues rejects the premise that he needs to prove anything.
“I'm not here to answer anyone's question about all Gregory can do this, can do that,” he says.
His response to the doubters is blunt.
“Those people who said that, they never fight, man. They never get like a slap on the face... They sit on the couch with the popcorn or whatever, the bad foods, the junk foods, and they keep saying about something.”
There is no anger behind the words so much as certainty.
“I know who I am and I know what I can do.”
That may be the most revealing line from Rodrigues' mindset heading into Sacramento.
He is not trying to rewrite his past. He is trying to build on it.
“Sometimes the hard times, sometimes you have to break it to build it again,” he says.
That rebuilding process has produced one of the strongest stretches of his UFC career. Rodrigues has won his last three, including first-round knockouts of Jack Hermansson and Brunno Ferreira, alongside a decision victory over Roman Kopylov. UFC's current profile lists him at No. 11 in the middleweight rankings, with 12 career knockout victories and six wins by KO/TKO inside the UFC.
Now comes Hernandez.
The stakes are substantial. UFC has described the matchup as a pivotal middleweight contest, with Hernandez ranked No. 6 and Rodrigues No. 12 when the fight was announced.
For Rodrigues, though, the broader picture remains simple.
Win this fight, and the road toward the championship becomes clearer.
Lose, and the work continues.
Either way, he refuses to look too far beyond the task immediately in front of him.
“The next fight is always going to be the most important fight,” he says. “That's the right fight, and that's the fight I want.”
Ask him where he sees himself in two years, however, and the ambition becomes impossible to miss.
“Maybe less than two years I will be fighting for the title.”
Rodrigues knows the middleweight division is stacked. He rattles off names including Brendan Allen, Joe Pyfer, Khamzat Chimaev, Sean Strickland and current champion Dricus Du Plessis, acknowledging just how difficult the climb will be.
Then comes the smile in his voice.
“When I look at it, I say, ‘Oh my God, man, I belong in this.’”
That belief is not based on entitlement. It is based on the work.
Rodrigues has already experienced the disappointment of a main-event loss. He has experienced the criticism that followed. He has gone back to the gym, rebuilt, and earned his way into another headline fight.
And now, as he prepares to walk into the Octagon in Sacramento once again, he isn't interested in making promises to anyone else.
He simply wants to cash in the work he has already put in.
“I don't have nothing to prove for nobody, man,” Rodrigues says. “I just want to do my work.”
One more win would move him another step toward the title he believes is within reach.
But first, there are 25 minutes to earn it.
And Rodrigues is ready to enjoy every second.
“Go to war, baby. That's all about.”
Anthony Wint: ‘Nobody’s Eating Until I’m Done’
Just over a week ago, Anthony Wint was preparing to make a statement on Dana White’s Contender Series. Two days from now, the newest addition to the UFC heavyweight division will make his Octagon debut.
Even by heavyweight standards, it has been a whirlwind.
Wint (7-0) knew exactly what he wanted when he walked into his Contender Series fight against Matthew Adams. He had the physical tools, the training behind him and, perhaps most importantly, a conviction that he was ready for the moment.
Before the fight, he prayed.
“God, what you want me to do?” Wint recalled asking.
The answer, in his mind, was simple: dominate.
For Wint, domination meant more than simply winning. He wanted to finish Adams inside the first round, ideally inside two minutes, and make the kind of statement that would force the UFC to take notice. He got his wish. Then he made another demand.
“I said, ‘We’re making our call to be on the Islam card (UFC 330), and if they say no to that, they better put me on Sacramento because I’m not going home,’” Wint said. He meant it.
“I looked Dana White in the face and I think I scared him a little bit. I said, ‘I’m not going home. Make it happen.’”
White did. And now Wint is sitting in fight week, preparing to face fellow UFC newcomer Terrance Chapman (5-1) at UFC Sacramento, barely more than a week removed from the performance that earned him his UFC contract.
“It hasn't settled in, man,” Wint admits. In some ways, that is because he refuses to let it.
He describes the experience as “a prolonged fight camp.” The sudden attention (the boost in followers, the messages, the phone calls) has been significant, but Wint is deliberately trying to shut out the noise and focus on Chapman.
There is something familiar about the spotlight, too. Before fighting professionally, Wint played in the NFL, an experience that taught him how to deal with cameras, scrutiny and the expectations that come with being an elite athlete.
But this is different. Now, there is nowhere else to hide. “It’s only about me and 12 other guys,” he says.
And Wint believes he belongs. Not because he has never experienced doubt. Quite the opposite. “I don’t believe in myself,” he says, before explaining that the confidence people are seeing now came through his relationship with God.
That distinction is central to understanding Wint. His confidence isn't presented as an act of self-hype. It is faith.
“I've doubted myself so many times,” he says. “It’s not until I started walking hand in hand with God.”
Wint's faith has become the foundation of his fighting identity. He doesn't talk about having a carefully mapped-out career or a fixed number of wins he needs to achieve. Instead, he describes himself as simply moving forward, trusting that the next step will reveal itself.
“I don't have a goal in this thing,” he says. “I'm just walking forward, and wherever God tells me to step, that's where I'm stepping.”
That belief also explains the bravado. “I’m boasting in the Lord, man,” Wint says. “And he made me. He gave me these hands, so I know he gave me power to knock out any man.”
For Wint, that mindset was forged through a series of moments when his own plans appeared to collapse.
He recalls having his heart broken in college. He suffered a knee injury and couldn't fix it himself. After leaving college, he didn't immediately receive the NFL opportunity he had hoped for.
Each setback, he says, pushed him closer to God.
When his NFL career ended, Wint believes the same process was taking place again: a period of uncertainty followed by a renewed sense of purpose.
“God saved me,” he says. “Jesus saved me, but then I made him Lord, and now I’m not here fighting by myself.”
Now that purpose is pointed directly at the UFC, and Wint has arrived at a fascinating moment for the heavyweight division.
A new generation is beginning to emerge, with athletic heavyweights entering the UFC and bringing a different kind of physicality and sporting background with them. Wint sees himself as part of that wave rather than trying to race ahead of it.
He isn't interested in rushing into a matchup with another emerging name simply because the UFC has a collection of exciting new heavyweights at its disposal. He wants all of them to develop.
“Let all the crops grow on their own,” he says. “And when it’s time for the harvest, you take the weeds out.”
The metaphor is pure Wint. He wants to see the new generation rise together. He wants the eventual clashes to mean something.
“When we’re all 10-0, 12-0, 13-0, then it’s like, okay, the best guys in the world get to fight each other.”
For now, though, there is Chapman, and Wint is convinced his preparation has given him an unusual advantage.
He lives in Homestead, Florida, but travels roughly 75 miles to train at Kill Cliff. The reason is straightforward: the room is stacked.
Wint rattles off the names of some of the fighters he has trained with, including Impa Kasanganay, Gregory Rodrigues, Eman Abdoul, Brandon Allen and Roman Dolidze. He estimates that he has worked with a significant number of fighters ranked among the world's top middleweights. For a heavyweight preparing to make his UFC debut, that experience matters.
If a little doubt creeps in ahead of Chapman, or if Wint starts thinking about the size, strength or danger of his opponent, he can remind himself of the people he has already shared a gym with.
“Is he better than RDR? Is he better than Gregory Rodriguez?” Wint asks.
The answer, in his mind, fuels his confidence.
More importantly, it means he doesn't believe he needs a traditional adjustment period once the Octagon door closes.
“I don’t need the warm-up rounds,” he says. “I don’t need to, ‘Okay, I need to get my feet wet. I need to work on this, work on that.’ I’ve worked on it in the gym.”
That is perhaps the most intriguing part of Wint's arrival. The physical gifts are obvious. The confidence is impossible to miss. But underneath the declaration of knockout power is a fighter who believes the work has already been done.
The repetitions have happened in the gym. The hard rounds have happened against experienced opposition. The uncertainty, at least in Wint's mind, belongs to everyone else.
“I can go in there and knock somebody out in 30 seconds because I don’t need the warm-up rounds,” he says.
There is no attempt to disguise the ambition. Wint doesn't want simply to survive his first UFC fight. He doesn't want to establish himself gradually.
He wants to annihilate, he wants to dominate, and he believes the timing couldn't be better.
He arrived at the UFC just as a heavyweight division hungry for new blood is beginning to welcome an influx of dangerous athletes. He is joining a group that he believes could eventually define the division's next era. But first, he has to prove that he belongs.
“I’m just happy to be a part of it,” Wint says.
Then comes the line that may best capture the mentality of the UFC's newest heavyweight.
“I was on the outside looking in like, ‘Damn, they got barbecue in there. I want some.’ And now I’m in the party.”
Wint isn't planning to stand around waiting for his plate. “God’s, ‘Yo, nobody’s eating until I’m done, and nobody’s taking any leftovers because I’m leaving with a whole pan.’”
It is an audacious claim from a man who has only just arrived, but Anthony Wint has never sounded particularly interested in thinking small. He believes he has been given the power, the opportunity and the purpose.
Now, at UFC Sacramento, he gets the chance to start proving it.
Charles Oliveira Calls for Justin Gaethje Rematch: ‘What Bigger Story Is There?’
Charles Oliveira has called for a rematch with Justin Gaethje, saying he wants the opportunity to challenge for the UFC lightweight title and believes their history makes the matchup an ideal story for the promotion.
Oliveira submitted Gaethje in May 2022 in what was scheduled to be Oliveira’s first lightweight title defense. However, Oliveira missed weight ahead of the bout and was stripped of the championship before entering the Octagon. He went on to defeat Gaethje by first-round submission.
Oliveira has since added the BMF title to his résumé earlier this year, while Gaethje captured the undisputed lightweight championship by defeating Ilia Topuria at the White House earlier this summer.
Speaking to Olhar da Luta earlier today, Oliveira made it clear that his focus is on moving forward and earning another shot at the lightweight title.
“With all due respect, I'm not looking backward. I'm looking forward. I want to fight for the title. That's what I'm focused on,” Oliveira said.
The former champion also pointed to the circumstances surrounding their first meeting and suggested the UFC has an obvious storyline available if it books a rematch.
“The UFC likes a story... I was robbed [in our first fight]. They wanted to distract me so I would go in there, have a sh*tty fight, and they could crown him champion,” Oliveira said. “He felt my hands, I dropped him and then I submitted him. There's a story there.”
Oliveira has no preference about where the rematch takes place, insisting he would be willing to fight Gaethje anywhere in the world.
“And now he's the champion. I have no problem with that. The rematch doesn't need to be in Brazil. Just like I went to his home turf before, it can be in his backyard, it can be in Las Vegas, on the street corner, in Japan, anywhere in the world,” Oliveira said. “I just need one phone call telling me the date and time.”
“So if the UFC wants a story, what bigger story is there than that?”
Oliveira also appeared willing to put his BMF championship on the line alongside Gaethje’s lightweight title, taking the idea even further after fans pointed out that the matchup could involve three belts given Gaethje’s recent history.
“There’s nowhere to run, and another thing, I said two [belts] and the internet went ‘not two it’s three! It’s the White House, the lightweight and the BMF.’ So okay, so put all three [on the line], there’s no problem at all.”
For now, Oliveira’s call sets the stage for a potential rematch between two of the lightweight division’s most recognizable veterans, with the Brazilian making it clear that he is ready to accept the fight whenever the UFC makes the call.
...
