BJJ News

Blue Belt Sandbagging: Hidden MMA Record Exposed

Jul 25, 2026 · belt-standards, bjj

Ikigai Submission Grappling removed blue belt competitor Avazbek Akyolov from their tournament bracket this month after discovering his 4-0 professional MMA record and prior freestyle wrestling competition experience. The tournament explicitly restricted entries to competitors with fewer than six ye

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Arman Tsarukyan's Olympic Gamble: What Happens to That UFC Title Shot?

Jul 25, 2026 · competition-results, makhachev

Arman Tsarukyan is ranked 2 in the UFC lightweight division. He's 23-3 in professional MMA across 26 fights since 2019.

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Jon Jones Said Gable Steveson Was 'Moving Like He Never Left.' The UFC Put Him on Prelims.

Jul 02, 2026 · competition-results, gable-steveson

There was a gap between what Jon Jones was saying and what the UFC was doing. Jones, one of the most dominant strikers in combat sports history, went on record praising his training partner Gable Steveson.

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UFC Champion Merab Dvalishvili: '99.9% of Wrestlers Sacrifice Everything and Get Nothing Back'

Jun 29, 2026 · combat-sports, competition-results

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili went on Dominick Cruz's podcast yesterday and articulated a problem that sits at the center of combat sports economics: wrestlers, particularly those who don't reach the elite level, sacrifice their entire lives to the sport and receive almost nothing in r

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Gable Steveson's UFC Debut: July 11 at UFC 329

Jun 27, 2026 · gable-steveson, heavyweight

On July 11, Gable Steveson walks into the Octagon at UFC 329 to face Elisha Ellison in his UFC debut. He's an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling (2020), two-time NCAA national champion, and he's come to MMA the only way that makes sense for someone at his level: three regional fights, thre

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