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Original analysis + the rest of the news cycle.

FightIQ originals — data-driven previews, recaps, features, and explainers we wrote in-house, linked to the same model that powers our predictions. Aggregated headlines — the rest of the MMA web with full source credit + link-outs.

FightIQ news 2026-06-23

Umar Nurmagomedov wants Song Yadong, and our model didn't see a 'punching bag'

The No. 3 bantamweight called Song a "punching bag." On the same January card we modeled Song's O'Malley loss as a near coin flip.

FightIQ news 2026-06-23

Ngannou names his next dance partner, and it's Verhoeven, not Aspinall

The Predator says a Rico Verhoeven crossover is "what I have in mind for right now." The UFC superfight everyone wants is still a fan poll with no contract behind it.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-23

Du Plessis returns against Usman in OKC, and the market already picked a side

The former middleweight champ opens around -340 over a welterweight legend moving up. The odds gap is the story; our model hasn't priced this one.

FightIQ news 2026-06-23

Dana White says the White House global numbers are still coming. The ones we have are already a moving target.

The UFC sold Freedom 250 as a viewership event. A week on, the figures depend on which figure you pick, and the one White says matters most is not out yet.

FightIQ morning-report 2026-06-23

FightIQ Morning Report — Tuesday, June 23

We finished grading every 2026 card with a prediction: 67.4% across 187 calls, hits and misses. Plus Baku week, the McGregor-Holloway build, and the White House fallout.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-22

Fiziev headlines at home in Baku, and the form points at Torres

An Azerbaijani lightweight tops UFC Fight Night 280, but our model and the recent records both lean toward the younger finisher across the cage.

FightIQ news 2026-06-22

McGregor is a heavy underdog at UFC 329. The build is louder than the math.

Bisping and Pimblett both point to one number on Conor McGregor's side. We'd point to the five years no one can model.

FightIQ feature 2026-06-22

St-Pierre's three takes this week all point the same way: protect the fighter from the sport

Retire Gaethje, push McGregor into the "hell zone," defend Zahabi's plan. Different fighters, one throughline from a man who walked away on top.

FightIQ news 2026-06-22

Gaethje wants equity, not a truck: the champ is bargaining over what he's already done

Justin Gaethje turned down Arman Tsarukyan's $5.7 million-funded gift and floated a different ask: an ownership stake in the UFC. One is a feud. The other is a fighter-pay argument the sport keeps circling back to.

FightIQ news 2026-06-22

Pereira says he's 'afraid' to fight again as the Gane officiating fight rolls on

Eight days after a contested heavyweight title loss, Alex Pereira has openly questioned whether he wants to keep fighting. Joe Rogan, weighing in on the disputed blows, landed somewhere in the middle: a couple were illeg…

FightIQ feature 2026-06-21

The Comeback Index: Kyoji Horiguchi Left the UFC for Nine Years — and Won on the Way Back

Our data sweep for the sport's biggest return arcs surfaced one gap that dwarfs the rest: 3,290 days between Octagon appearances.

FightIQ briefing 2026-06-21

Kape's Climb Meets Horiguchi's Comeback at the APEX

A prospect-heavy card with a flyweight headliner that pits the division's hottest finisher against its best return story.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-21

A Rising Knockout Artist Meets the Sport's Great Comeback Story

Manel Kape is finishing everyone in front of him. Kyoji Horiguchi is two wins into a return nine years in the making.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-21

The Unbeaten Prospect vs. the Unpredictable Veteran

Navajo Stirling is 4-0 in the UFC; Ion Cutelaba has seen everything the light heavyweight division can throw at him.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-21

Two Featherweights Trying to Halt a Slide

Both men need a result — and a common opponent hangs over the matchup.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-21

A Surging Brazilian Against a Grizzled Gatekeeper

Vinicius Oliveira built a strong run before a recent stumble; Andre Fili is the 26-fight veteran who tests everyone.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-21

A Striker Rebuilding Against an Unknown

Melsik Baghdasaryan looks to recover from a brutal knockout; his opponent arrives with no UFC tape.

FightIQ recap 2026-06-21

Manel Kape waited nine years. It took him one right hand.

Kape erased a 2017 loss to Kyoji Horiguchi with a third-round knockout at UFC Vegas 119, then asked for Joshua Van. Our model went 9 of 12 on the night, but its one LOCK lost.

FightIQ news 2026-06-21

Du Plessis vs. Usman is real now, and it lands in Oklahoma City on July 18

After six months of leaks and a cryptic Instagram jab, the UFC made it official Saturday night: Dricus du Plessis returns against a former welterweight king moving up to chase a second belt.

FightIQ feature 2026-06-21

The UFC is handing its rankings to an algorithm. We run one. Here's what it can and can't do.

An AI ranking system debuts Monday alongside the media panel. As a data-led desk, we know the parts that will work and the parts that won't.

FightIQ news 2026-06-21

The Gane question nobody can settle: dirty fighter, or a referee who missed it?

A week after Ciryl Gane stopped Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title, the fight has become an officiating story. Dana White says Pereira is no whiner. MMA Fighting is asking whether Gane is the sport's dirtiest…

FightIQ news 2026-06-21

The week MMA's business problems came with price tags

A reported $100 million ask kept Trevor Wittman's gloves out of the cage, while Dana White called Tom Aspinall's deal with a boxing promoter "insane." Both fights run on the same question: who captures the value in a UFC…

FightIQ data-take 2026-06-21

UFC Vegas 119 autopsy: 9 of 12, and the one lock we flagged loudest lost

The model went 7 for 7 on finishes and called a coin-flip headliner right. It also burned its single biggest pick of the night for the second card running. Here is the full grade, misses included.

FightIQ feature 2026-06-20

Gaethje finally has the belt. Now the hard part: deciding who gets the first shot

The new lightweight champion says he doesn't want a Topuria rematch. A revenge fight, a megastar and a snubbed No. 1 contender are all circling.

FightIQ news 2026-06-20

The price of a superfight: Makhachev says money killed the Topuria fight

Makhachev put a $20M figure on the superfight that collapsed, while pouring his own money into padel and warning the UFC's pay could cost it Usman Nurmagomedov.

FightIQ news 2026-06-20

McGregor's comeback runs on noise. The fight is the part nobody's verified.

A jab at Holloway, a Tonight Show booking that drew real anger, and an International Fight Week return: the volume is back. The fighter has been gone five years.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-20

Ankalaev vs. Rountree in Abu Dhabi: a crossroads fight for a wide-open division

Two top-five light heavyweights, both off losses to elite competition, fight to lead a scrambled division. FightIQ has no model number for this card yet, so this runs on verified records and market context.

FightIQ news 2026-06-20

UFC 330 takes shape: Makhachev-Garry on top, Dern-Robertson the fight to study

Two title fights and a flyweight eliminator are signed for Philadelphia on Aug. 15. The rest is still rumor, including a light heavyweight bout the reporting suggests may not even fit.

FightIQ news 2026-06-20

Cameron Smotherman, the fighter who collapsed at UFC 324 weigh-ins, is off the UFC roster

Five months after a scary scene on the scale in Las Vegas and a first-round knockout loss in Macau, the bantamweight is gone in the latest roster purge.

FightIQ feature 2026-06-20

Usman Nurmagomedov is about to hit the open market, and his own camp is talking money

Makhachev warns the UFC's 'small purses' could stall his protege's signing, turning a routine free-agency story into a labor question

FightIQ feature 2026-06-20

Luana Santos isn't worried about bantamweight dying. First she has to beat the woman nobody's finished

The No. 15 bantamweight says the division won't die when Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes exit. The honest version of her case is more interesting than the headline.

FightIQ news 2026-06-20

Beyond the Octagon: a record-breaking weekend on the UFC's feeder circuit

Three feeder-circuit cards, one weekend, all on UFC Fight Pass: Andreeas Binder's Manchester statement, an ex-Falcon's 11-second title KO, and a four-second finish that beat Masvidal's UFC record.

FightIQ newsroom 2026-06-20

The Week After the White House: A Legacy Crowned, a Loss Litigated, a Champion Questioned

Five days on from Freedom 250, the fallout is louder than the fights. Kamaru Usman is crowning Gaethje, Michael Bisping is worried about Topuria, and Alex Pereira wants the result overturned.

FightIQ newsroom 2026-06-20

Manel Kape Waited Nine Years and Skipped a Title Shot for This

Kyoji Horiguchi submitted Kape in 2017 on his way to winning a Grand Prix in one night. Kape turned down a wait for the belt to run it back at the APEX.

FightIQ briefing 2026-06-15

History on the Lawn: UFC Freedom 250 at the White House

Two titles, a three-division bid, and a card where the model breaks from the market in three spots.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-15

Topuria Fights for History on the White House Lawn

The lightweight title, outdoors, with GOAT stakes — and a near-5-to-1 underdog selling belief.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-15

Pereira Chases History — but the Model Quietly Likes Gane

A heavyweight-debut interim title shot at becoming the first-ever three-division champion, in a fight the numbers call a coin flip.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-15

The Star Is the Favorite; the Model Says Coin Flip

Sean O'Malley is a heavy betting favorite over Aiemann Zahabi — but the numbers see a much tighter fight.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-15

The Fast-Rising Prospect Who Already Beat Blaydes

Josh Hokit is the favorite over knockout legend Derrick Lewis — and the resume backs it.

FightIQ preview 2026-06-15

A Rising Finisher Meets a Fading Star

Mauricio Ruffy is a massive favorite over Michael Chandler — the numbers see a changing of the guard.