Issue 233
September 2026
Fighters Only’s social media editor, Paul Browne, picks out his highlights from the past month on MMA social media.
Islam Makhachev has discovered the diplomatic way to call someone a lifelong troublemaker. Start by saying you respect their achievements, then spend the rest of the post explaining why you don’t respect much else. It’s the social media equivalent of saying ‘no offense’ before making absolutely certain offense is taken.
CLEARED TO FIGHT, NOT TO FORGET
Ilia Topuria got the medical all-clear and immediately used his clean bill of health to reopen old wounds. The comeback announcement lasted about two sentences before Justin Gaethje’s gloves somehow ended up under investigation. Doctors may have discharged Ilia, but the grudge still needs further treatment.
STREAMING SERVICES HAVE CHANGED
Arman Tsarukyan had barely finished flattening Mauricio Ruffy before logging on to remind everyone that the man who just put him to sleep also happens to stream for a living. There was once a time when fighters had second jobs as bouncers and builders. Now apparently, they knock people out and then go live.
Jon Jones has spent months talking up Gable Steveson, but nobody gives you the handbook for what happens when your mate gets flattened. Jones skipped the post-fight niceties and took him straight backstage, then found himself explaining it to the internet afterward. Cornering might be the one part of fighting that’s easier when you’re the bloke getting punched.
Ian Machado Garry has decided that waiting for the UFC is wasting valuable time, so he’s started negotiating directly in the inbox. A few messages later and there’s a date, a country, and enough agreement to make Sean Shelby wonder why he bothers coming to work. At this rate, fight contracts will soon come with a ‘seen’ receipt.
