Fight Matrix

Nazariy Danylyuk: Ukraine’s Submission Specialist Ready for His Next International Opportunity

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Vitaliy Vovk

Ukraine continues to produce outstanding mixed martial artists, and Nazariy Danylyuk is one of the country’s most experienced bantamweight professionals. At 28 years old, he owns a professional record of 11-5 (1 NC) and has spent the majority of his career competing for Real Fight Promotion (RFP) – one of Ukraine’s most respected MMA organizations.

It was in RFP that Danylyuk developed into a well-rounded mixed martial artist with dangerous grappling skills and an exciting finishing style. Most of his victories have come before the final bell through submissions, making him one of the division’s most effective finishers. RFP continues to be Ukraine’s leading platform for developing emerging MMA talent, providing fighters with the experience needed to progress to major international organizations.

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Magomed Ankalaev vs Bogdan Guskov Preview

Posted on July 23, 2026 by Jack Latham

For the first time since moving to Paramount, the UFC will take the violence to the Middle East, where Abu Dhabi hosts an intriguing clash at the top of the light heavyweight rankings.

Background

After losing his light heavyweight title to Alex Pereira back in October 2025, Magomed Ankalaev returns to the octagon, with his eyes firmly set on reclaiming the gold.

The 34-year-old Russian made his UFC debut in 2018 and has since recorded 12 wins, including six via knockout.

His standout victories have come against Johnny Walker, and of course Alex Pereira, when he claimed the light heavyweight title via decision.

As for his opponent, Bogdan Guskov has recorded three knockout victories in his five UFC bouts and arrives in Abu Dhabi in red hot form.

The ‘Hitman’ defeated Nikita Krylov in July 2025 before drawing with Jan Blachowicz in December 2025. These exciting fights earned him a call-up to fight Ankalaev on short notice after Khalil Rountree Jr. withdrew due to injury.

With Guskov at the peak of his career and Ankalaev a notoriously formidable force, Abu Dhabi is sure to witness a blockbuster encounter…

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Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)

Saturday, August 22nd 2026: Professional Fighters League PFL Tampa: Cyborg vs. Vieira

[#1 W145] Cristiane Justino

[#4 W135] Ketlen Vieira

Last Fight Date: 12/13/2025 [PFL]
Last Opponent: [#2 W145] Sara Collins
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 5/16/2026 [UFC]
Last Opponent: [#10 W135] Jacqueline Cavalcanti
Last 5: W L W L W

Thursday, September 10th 2026: Rizin FF - Super Rizin 5

[#1 W105] Natalia Kuziutina

[#16 W105] Rena Kubota

Last Fight Date: 4/12/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#8 W105] Ayaka Hamasaki
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 12/31/2025 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#2 W105] Seika Izawa
Last 5: W L W W L

Sunday, July 26th 2026: Pancrase - 364

[#11 SW] Kanji Funada

[#13 SW] Shunma Sasaki

Last Fight Date: 3/14/2026 [Pancrase]
Last Opponent: [#4 SW] Yuta Miyazawa
Last 5: W W W W L

Last Fight Date: 3/14/2026 [Pancrase]
Last Opponent: [#52 SW] Takafumi Ato
Last 5: L W W W W

Featured Fighters

[NR]	Matt Hughes	[#1 WW]	Islam Makhachev
[#1 LW]	Justin Gaethje	[#164 WW]	Conor McGregor
[#2 LW]	Ilia Topuria	[#279 LW]	Johnny Case
[#6 FW]	Rajabali Shaidullaev	[#104 LW]	Axel Sola
[NR]	Ramazonbek Temirov	[#117 WW]	Islam Dulatov

Dustin Poirier Says One Bad Day Nearly Destroyed Everything He Built

Posted on July 23, 2026 by Andrew Carswell

One year after laying down his gloves, Poirier opens up about the airport arrest that threatened his future, the drinking problem he could no longer deny, the painful family cycle he intends to break, and the daily work required to rebuild his life.

Dustin Poirier had every reason to cancel the interview. His flight home from Florida had been delayed, an airline change sent him through Dallas, and a missed connection forced him to rent a car and drive more than six hours through the night to Lafayette, Louisiana. He finally reached home around six in the morning, but only hours later, tired and searching for the wireless headphones he had misplaced during the trip, Poirier still appeared for his scheduled conversation with Ariel Helwani.

That small decision captured much of what followed. Poirier was exhausted, uncomfortable, and discussing the most embarrassing public moment of his life, but he showed up anyway.

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This Week’s WHR Bets/Parlays (2026/#22)

Posted on July 23, 2026 by Jason

Still trying to get out of this hole…

Fights considered must satisfy all of the criteria below:

Both fighters must be active (fought in 360 days prior to event). Reduces uncertainty.
Both fighters must have at least 7 fights in the prior 7 years, including 1+ loss. If the loss was in their debut, then 2+ losses are required.
Both fighters must be rated in the same division as the fight. Further reduces uncertainty.
Must have odds from at least three bookmakers.

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Inactivity – Does Age Matter?

Posted on July 22, 2026 by Jason

Recently, I thought about the effects of inactivity and wondered if age is a compounding factor. Does an older fighter suffer more from inactivity than a younger fighter?

Below, are the statistics for win % by the amount of inactivity prior to a fight.

Once we get past the slight improvement seen in the 91-180d segment, it is a pretty gradual decline in win %.

Let’s look at some age-specific data. The age ranges themselves were driven by my desire to split the fight data (by count) as evenly as possible.

It seems that all age groups benefit from staying active, especially the “Under 23” group. They see a win percentage improvement at inactivity periods of slightly beyond one year! I would not take the large dip at the higher inactivity periods for the “Under 23” group very seriously. The data is thin — how many fighters will be in this age group and have that many years of inactivity since their last fight? Not many.

All in all, the age groups track pretty similarly, but the older groups seem to handle extended inactivity a little better than the younger groups.

Interesting. Perhaps maturity plays a role here? I would’ve expected the opposite…

Taking the sport as a whole, it is easy to say that staying active matters, but how much impact do other factors have, like matchmaking? Is a fighter returning from 4 years of inactivity more likely to have a favorable match-up or a terrible one? Does this impact fighters of different ages in a similar manner?

Note: The data that drives the line charts is a subset of the data used for the win percentages in the first image as we do not have birth dates for all fighters. The win rate for fighters with birth dates is much higher than those without. Hardly anyone records the birth date of a 0-2 fighter.

I welcome discussion in the comments section…

Fight Matrix Program – UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs Guskov (07-25-2026)

Posted on July 20, 2026 by Jason

Light Heavyweight (205)
[#2][#2UFC] Magomed Ankalaev (21-2-1, -534) vs. [#11][#10UFC] Bogdan Guskov (18-3-1, +389)
Magomed Ankalaev is the All-Time #19 ranked Light Heavyweight fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Magomed Ankalaev (2-1-0)
2025-10-04: L vs. [#1LHW] Alex Pereira (13-4-0) via TKO (Punches and Elbows) in 1:20 of round 1
2025-03-08: W vs. [#1LHW] Alex Pereira (13-4-0) via UD (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
2024-10-26: W vs. [#34LHW] Aleksandar Rakic (14-6-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Last 3 Fights: Bogdan Guskov (2-0-1)
2025-12-06: D vs. [#9LHW] Jan Blachowicz (29-11-2) via Draw (Majority) in 5:00 of round 3
2025-07-26: W vs. [#24LHW] Nikita Krylov (31-12-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:18 of round 1
2025-01-18: W vs. [#65LHW] Billy Elekana (10-2-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 3:33 of round 2

System	Favorite	Rating	Rating Diff	Win %
Betting Odds	Magomed Ankalaev	-534		80.46%
Elo K170	Magomed Ankalaev	2209.49	+335.13	87.31%
Elo Modified	Magomed Ankalaev	2195.27	+286.65	83.89%
Glicko-1	Magomed Ankalaev	2293.96	+304.82	85.25%
WHR	Magomed Ankalaev	1995.69	+128.49	67.69%

Fighter Ages on Fight Day: Magomed Ankalaev 34.1, Bogdan Guskov 33.8
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Magomed Ankalaev 294, Bogdan Guskov 231
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Magomed Ankalaev leads 2-1
.

Flyweight (125)
[#10][#10UFC] Steve Erceg (14-4-0, -122) vs. [*] Ramazonbek Temirov (19-3-0, +100)
Steve Erceg is the All-Time #50 ranked Flyweight fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Steve Erceg (2-1-0)
2026-05-02: W vs. [#14FLY] Tim Elliott (21-14-1) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2025-08-09: W vs. [#65FLY] Ode Osbourne (13-10-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2025-03-29: L vs. [#7FLY] Brandon Moreno (23-10-2) via UD (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)

Last 3 Fights: Ramazonbek Temirov (3-0-0)
2025-03-01: W vs. [#24FLY] Charles Johnson (19-9-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2024-10-12: W vs. [*] C.J. Vergara (12-7-1) via TKO (Punches) in 2:50 of round 1
2023-09-24: W vs. [#224FLY] Takaki Soya (13-8-1) via KO (Punches) in 3:15 of round 1

System	Favorite	Rating	Rating Diff	Win %
Betting Odds	Steve Erceg	-122		52.35%
Elo K170	Steve Erceg	1819.41	+23.69	53.40%
Elo Modified	Ramazonbek Temirov	1803.60	+8.34	51.20%
Glicko-1	Ramazonbek Temirov	1857.01	+24.71	53.55%
WHR	Ramazonbek Temirov	1696.92	+4.01	50.58%

Fighter Ages on Fight Day: Steve Erceg 31.0, Ramazonbek Temirov 29.5
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Steve Erceg 84, Ramazonbek Temirov 511
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
.

Welterweight (170)
[#117][#57UFC] Islam Dulatov (12-1-0, -734) vs. [*] Wellington Turman (18-8-0, +519)

Last 3 Fights: Islam Dulatov (3-0-0)
2025-07-19: W vs. [#459WW] Adam Fugitt (10-6-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:06 of round 1
2024-10-08: W vs. [#339MW] Vanilton Antunes (16-9-0) via KO (Elbow) in 2:44 of round 1
2024-02-10: W vs. [#735MW] Ioannis Palaiologos (20-15-1) via TKO (Knee to the Body) in 4:59 of round 1

Last 3 Fights: Wellington Turman (0-3-0)
2023-12-02: L vs. [#217MW] Jared Gooden (23-12-0) via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in 1:11 of round 2
2023-06-24: L vs. [#35WW] Randy Brown (20-8-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2022-11-12: L vs. [#93MW] Andre Petroski (13-6-0) via UD (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

System	Favorite	Rating	Rating Diff	Win %
Betting Odds	Islam Dulatov	-734		84.48%
Elo K170	Islam Dulatov	1667.86	+228.68	78.86%
Elo Modified	Islam Dulatov	1650.34	+187.98	74.69%
Glicko-1	Islam Dulatov	1745.79	+291.68	84.27%
WHR	Islam Dulatov	1592.21	+239.28	79.86%

Fighter Ages on Fight Day: Islam Dulatov 28.0, Wellington Turman 30.0
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Islam Dulatov 371, Wellington Turman 966
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
.
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Current MMA Rankings Updated (07-19-2026)

Posted on July 19, 2026 by Jason

Former WBC Africa Champion Javan Buyu Headlines International Boxing Card in Nairobi on July 25

Posted on July 12, 2026 by Heather

SportPesa Boxing presents a stacked night featuring title contention, experienced international talent, and Moroccan fighters proudly representing their city.

Event Information

Date: Saturday, July 25, 2026

Venue: The Edge Convention Center, Nairobi

Gates: 4:00 PM | First Fight: 5:00 PM

Tickets: Available at TICKETSASA.COM Keep Reading

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From fight night to first deposit: the digital infrastructure behind MMA betting

Posted on July 24, 2026 by A. J. Riot

A major MMA event can look wonderfully simple from your couch. You watch the walkouts, listen for the opening bell, follow the exchanges and perhaps decide that one fighter offers an interesting betting opportunity. UFC Freedom 250, held in June, reached an estimated 34 million viewers globally, showing the enormous scale of the audience that digital platforms, broadcasters, data providers and betting services need to support around one major event.

From your perspective, the process can involve a few taps on a phone, but that apparent simplicity depends on a sophisticated digital infrastructure connecting event data, odds, payments, identity checks, mobile software and regulatory systems.

The UFC’s 2026 partnership with bet365 offers a useful example of how closely modern sports betting now connects with live fight coverage. The agreement covers the United States and Canada, with integrations including fighter odds, on-screen betting information, intro odds and same-game parlay features. When you move from watching a fight to considering a wager, several technical systems can then connect within seconds.

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What FightMatrix Rankings Reveal About UFC Favorites and Underdogs

Posted on July 24, 2026 by A. J. Riot

Mathematical ranking systems can reveal far more about UFC matchups than public opinion alone. By looking at raw rating points instead of hype, you can better understand competitive gaps across every weight class and see where betting markets may have priced fights inaccurately.

Combat sports markets often move with popular narratives and star power. Objective ranking models cut through that noise by focusing on measurable performance instead. Studying those rankings gives you a clearer picture of where genuine value may exist when assessing upcoming fights.

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Trends in the Online Casino Industry in Italy in 2026

Posted on July 24, 2026 by A. J. Riot

Italy’s gambling sector has entered a new phase in 2026, driven by tighter licensing rules and shifting player habits. Anyone searching for the best online casino 2026 has to navigate stricter checks on payments, advertising and identity verification. Comparison resources like Bonusradar.it help players track licensed operators as the market consolidates around fewer, larger brands. The customs and monopolies authority, known as ADM, approved 46 operators holding 52 licenses under the reformed framework launched in November 2025.

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Top 10 AI Image Generators for Stunning, High-Resolution Output in 2026

Posted on July 24, 2026 by A. J. Riot

Introduction

Output quality is the only thing that survives the scroll. A user can forgive slow generation, clunky UI, even confusing pricing — but a bad image gets deleted in half a second.

This guide ranks the 10 AI image generators producing the best-looking output in 2026, judged on the image itself: photorealism at close inspection, how light behaves across surfaces and depth, prompt fidelity to specific creative direction, and whether the stated resolution ceiling actually holds up when you zoom in. Not the cheapest tools. Not the fastest. The ones where the picture is the reason to log in.

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