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Roselle, Park, NJ (February 8, 2026)– Welcome to the Real fight media boxing and MMA fights of the weekwhere we cover the most important news of the week and the most notable fights in the sports of boxing and MMA, so you can save time by getting your best combat sports news fast.
In boxing newslast weekend, Shakur Stevenson, 28, (25-0, 11 Kos) became world champion in four divisions after a defeat Teofimo Lopez, 28, (22-0, 13 Aries) via dominant 12-round unanimous decision on January 31, 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York. All three judges scored the fight 119-109, with Stevenson winning 11 of the 12 rounds on each scorecard. Lopez couldn’t find any way around Stevenson’s right jab all night.
After the fight, Lopez said he wants to move up to the welterweight division. Conor Benn came into the ring after the fight to challenge Shakur Stevenson to a future fight. It looks like Lopez may need to put an extra trainer in his corner going forward. You can watch the video highlights, post-press conference, full card results and social media reactions here.
After this victory the WBC stripped Shakur Stevenson of his lightweight world title on February 4, 2026, declaring it vacant due to his move to a new weight class and a reported dispute over sanctioning fees.
Keyshawn Davis, 25, (14-0, 10 Kos) made a successful debut at 140 pounds and dropped out of a match Jamaine Ortiz, 29, (20-3-1) with a TKO in the 12th round at Madison Square Garden with body shots. He became the first fighter to stop Ortiz in his professional career. After the fight, Davis said he was interested in joining the 147lb division to challenge Devin Haney. You can watch the video highlights here.
Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller’s, 37, (26-1-2, 22 Kos) had a viral moment where his hairpiece was dislodged by a flurry of punches in the second round Kingsley Ibeh, 32, (16-3-1, 14 Kos). As the fight progressed, Ibeh slowed down and lost a split decision to Miller by scores of 94-96, 97-93 and 97-93. Miller explained after the fight that two days earlier he had accidentally washed his hair with “ammonia bleach” instead of shampoo at his mother’s, causing his natural hair to fall out. You can watch what happened during this fight here.
Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington’s, 28, (16-3-1, 14 KOs) overcame the setback with a 9th round knockout victory Carlos Castro, 31, (30-4, 14 Kos). Earlier in the fight, Castro hurt Carrington in round 4 with a temple shot. With this victory, Carrington captured the vacant WBC Featherweight World Championship.
Undefeated WBO and now WBA junior middleweight champion Xander Zayas, 23, (22-0, 13 KOs), defeated Abass Baraou, 31, (17-2, 9 KOs) by split decision in a 12-round junior middleweight unification showdown at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan. You can watch the recap and video highlights here.
The Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman press conference took place this week. The fight was rescheduled because Fundora suffered a hand injury. You can watch the video of the Los Angeles press conference and the new date here.
Deontay Wilder vs Derek Chisora is officially set for April 4 in London, UK, at the O2 Arena, where the promoter situation has finally been worked out. The event is promoted by Kalle Sauerland’s new entity, MF Pro, in collaboration with DAZN and Queensberry promotions. You can watch the press conference here. You can register to watch the event here.
That of Russia Bakhram Murtazaliev, 33, (23-1, 17 Kos) lost a upset to Olympian Josh Kelly, 31, (18-1-1, 9 Kos) via majority decision to capture the IBF super welterweight title in his hometown of Newcastle, England. Team Murtazaliev contacted the IBF for a possible rematch. You can view the full map results and the DAZN video highlights here.
Each Real Combat Media Newsletterso it seems Gervonta Davis makes the news. There is now a warrant out of Baltimore, MD, for Gervonta’s arrest for a probation violation after he was released on bail in Miami last week. You can read about it here.
Floyd Mayweather is back in the news this week to announce his new exhibition fight and his 340 million lawsuit Show time and his former advisor, Al Haymonfor lost income. You can read about this case here.
Zuffa boxing 2 took place on Sunday at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. You can view the results, post-press conference, video highlights and by Robert Brizel report here.
The boxing event of the week can be seen Nick Ball, 28, (23-0-1, 13 Kos)who is set to defend his WBA featherweight title against the exciting former two-division world champion Brandon Figueroa, 29, (26-2, 19 Kos) this Saturday. You can view by Robert Brizel preview, weigh-in, press conference and betting odds here. You can register to watch this event here.
You can use the current international boxing rankings here.
In MMA News, UFC 325 took place on Sunday, February 1, 2026 (local time) at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, 37, (28-4) successfully defended his title by defeating Diego Lopes #2, 31, (27-8) in a unanimous decision rematch (49–46, 49–46, 50–45) in the main event. Volk has now passed into MMA legend Jose Aldo for the most successful UFC featherweight defenses, with 8. You can watch the video highlights, post-press conference and full results here.
#8 Benoit Saint Denis, 30, (17-3-1 NC) defeated #6 Dan Hooker, 35, (24-14) via TKO (punches and elbows) at 4:45 of round 2 in the co-main event. In the lightweight bout, Saint Denis earned his fourth straight victory with a dominant heavy ground-and-pound performance. This is Dan Hooker’s second straight loss since we started our newsletter in November 2025.
After his last injury update, Shavkat Rakhmonov, 31 (19-0)has been removed from the UFC welterweight rankings due to a knee injury and is expected to miss all of 2026, with Michael “Venom” page and returns to number 15.
UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and his ex-wife, Giorgina Uzcateguisettled and dismissed their legal battle this week. The agreement, based on terms originally proposed by Topuria, resolved allegations regarding custody and possible financial disputes. The UFC champion is now back training in Madrid, aiming for a return, possibly against Justin slave at the UFC White House event in June, following this legal victory.
MMA legend Nick Diaz, 42, announced plans to return to MMA to pursue a world title, calling it “easy money”. No official date has been announced for his return.
Jon Jones confirmed that he suffers from severe arthritis in his left hip. He revealed that the condition is so debilitating that he is already a candidate for a total left hip replacement. However, Jones stated that he still wants to compete on the UFC White House card in June before any surgery.
UFC is involved in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit, along with its CEO Dana White And Hunter Campbell testifies on February 4 and 5, 2026 on allegations of missing text messages and possible theft of evidence. Plaintiffs argue that critical communications about fight contracts did not take place, while White denied deleting messages and claimed he was less involved in matchmaking. You can read more about this lawsuit here.
PFL Champions Series 5 takes place on February 7 in Dubai and the card features two world title fights. Usman Nurmagomedov defends his lightweight title against Alfie DavisAnd Ramazan Kuramagomedov faces Shamil Musaev for the inaugural PFL Welterweight Championship. You can view the photos, an example and the weighing results here.
Aaron Tau, 32, (11-1) had to participate in one Road to UFC Season 4 flyweight final bout against Namsrai Batbayar at UFC 325, but the fight was scratched after Tau appeared to maneuver his way around the weigh-in, using the box to manipulate the reading of his weight, which showed at 122.5 pounds. Tau was asked to weigh in again due to the suspicious nature of the moment, and he weighed 129 pounds without the box on him. The UFC has decided to cut Tau. You can watch the video here.
UFC Vegas 113 will be the UFC’s first “Paramount+ Fight Night” following the UFC’s new broadcast deal, which will be headlined by a five-round bantamweight bout between #9 Mario Bautista, 32, (16-3) And #11 Vinicius Oliveira, 30, (23-3). Bautista lost to Umar Nurmagomedov in his last fight, his first loss in five years by unanimous decision; however, he did score a victory Jose Aldo, Ricky SimonAnd Patchy mixture. Oliveria is on fire with six straight wins while being undefeated in the UFC and will be hoping to move into the top 10 with a win. You can register for this event here.
PFL MMA announced some fights for the Pittsburgh event on March 28. You can view the map here.
PFL MMAThe world’s #2 MMA promotion, introduced a new rankings system last week. View the full rankings here.
The UFC has officially launched its archive library Biggest+which marks the start of its new primary streaming partnership in 2026. You can sign up here.
Upcoming Major MMA Events:
UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs. Oliveira – February 7, 2026 (Las Vegas, NV)
PFL: Road to Dubai – February 7, 2026 (Dubai, UAE)
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Hernandez – February 21, 2026 (Houston, Texas)
For PFL tee times, more informationAnd to watch PFL eventsclick here.
To view the current UFC rankingsclick here.
Prepare for the UFC in 2026 and sign up Biggest+ here.
For the most current news from the #2 MMA promotion PFLclick here.
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