Last year, BKFC star Mike Perry entered into the promotional game with his own hybrid-rules fight promotion, Dirty Boxing, featuring three-minute rounds and allowing the use of elbows, among a few other rules. The promotion held its inaugural card in November, a private event in Miami, where Romero annihilated Duane Crespo in the main event. Now Dirty Boxing is jumping into the fight game in earnest and once again calling on Romero to headline.
On Wednesday, Dirty Boxing announced that Romero will face former Bellator fighter Ras Hylton in the main event of the promotion’s first public fight card, which takes place on March 22 at The Hangar at Regatta Harbour in Miami.
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Romero has not competed since knocking out Crespo at the inaugural Dirty Boxing event, however, the 47-year-old Olympic silver medalist in wrestling did recently sign with GFL where he will reportedly face Mauricio Rua sometime later this year. Hylton, meanwhile, has not competed since a knockout loss in Cage Titans back in 2023.
Alex Pereira | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The groundbreaking deal between UFC CEO Dana White and Saudi Arabia combat sports promoter Turki Alalshikh to bring TKO Group Holdings over to the boxing world could open the door for Alex Pereira to box heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in the squared circle, and “Poatan” reaffirmed his interest.
Pereira defends his UFC light heavyweight belt Saturday in Las Vegas against Magomed Ankalaev, and reacted to Wednesday’s stunning news during the UFC 313 media day.
“I jumped for joy when I saw the announcement,” Pereira said in Portuguese. “Maybe September. Saudi Arabia.
“I was the first to show interest, and then Usyk showed interest. And now we have to see the interest of the organizations. I’ll be ready.”
The only time the UFC has agreed to partner with a boxing entity for a special event was when Conor McGregor, a two-division UFC champion at the time, set up a boxing spectacle against Floyd Mayweather. “The Notorious” lost via stoppage in the 10th round, but amassed 4.3 million domestic pay-per-view buys — one of the biggest selling cards of all time —and earned hundreds of millions in profits.
White downplayed his interest in UFC fighters crossing over to his new boxing venture during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show saying “I literally don’t want to see any of that” but he also once said there was no chance McGregor would engage in a boxing match against Mayweather.
The added interest in the fight also comes Usyk serving as the current heavyweight champion, whereas Mayweather was retired for nearly two years before facing McGregor. But the Brazilian doesn’t know if his potential match against Usyk could actually surpass Mayweather vs. McGregor in terms of commercial success.
“It’s hard to answer,” Pereira said. “We know of the popularity of those two, and I’m coming. I’m on my path, I’m coming, but I still think I’m one step behind them in terms of media, so I don’t know how it would be.”
That said, “Poatan” believes he’s now the face of the UFC at the moment given his success both inside and outside the octagon and that only helps his cause.
“I think so,” Pereira responded when asked if he’s become the face of the promotion. “I’m a very active fighter, last year was a very successful year, so I think my name is being talked about, I’m on the media with good results, so I believe [I am the face of the UFC].”
While Pereira reaffirmed he’s fully focused on defending his belt Saturday against Ankalaev, reaching his fourth title defense at light heavyweight, he’s definitely keeping his options wide open for the future.
“I want to defend my belt, that’s my focus, but we definitely have options,” Pereira said. “A fight with Dricus [Du Plessis at 205 pounds] or Jon Jones at heavyweight, or boxing Usyk. These are things that are in my mind, and I think these three options are possible.
“It doesn’t depend on me, I don’t have that control. Whatever the UFC says I have to do, I’ll do.”
Magomed Ankalaev knew accepting a title fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 313 on March 8 was going to require some sacrifices because the date falls one week into Ramadan.
The holy month observed by Muslims across the globe requires fasting from dawn until sunset — avoiding all food and water during daylight hours. While none of that affected his preparation getting ready for the fight, Ankalaev admits he’s been forced to break the fast as he gets ready to cut down to 205 pounds on Friday for his fight against Pereira on Saturday.
“If we’re talking about the training or the training camp, the preparation, that was done before Ramadan,” Ankalaev said during UFC 313 media day on Wednesday. “So there was no issues with that. The only thing that we had to change is because the week of the fight is Ramadan, what I had to do was I had to break a couple of fasting sessions because I have to drink a lot of water in order for me to be able to make the weight. Other than that, everything is the same.”
Of course, Ankalaev has also heard Pereira chirping about food being delivered to his room, although that didn’t necessarily mean the Russian actually ate anything while he was observing the fasting rules for Ramadan.
For his part, Ankalaev can’t help but wonder if Pereira is already showing his hand by making all these comments that really shouldn’t matter much to him just days away from their fight.
“He’s obviously really worried about me and what I’m doing,” Ankalaev said. “He seems to be nervous. He’s following all these things. Like what can I say? I’ll tell you again. I had to break the fast a couple of times because there’s something I need to do in order to make the weight and in order to be prepared. He seems to be way too concerned with that.
“Even if he goes to a fridge right now and he opens the food, he’ll see that there’s food with my name on it, the UFC food that was given to me. If he wants it, he can take it.”
Beyond his jabs about Ankalaev observing the rules of Ramadan, Pereira also recently suggested a wager between them about the fight where the loser would pay $ 200,000 to a charity of the winner’s choice.
Since you are so confident you will win, $ 200,000 to the winners charity of choice. Win or lose this will help those in need. It’s in your hands @AliAbdelaziz00 @AnkalaevM
— Alex “Poatan” Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) March 3, 2025
For all the ways Pereira seems to know the ins and outs when it comes to observing Ramadan, Pereira can’t help but remind him that another tenet of Islam is that Muslims aren’t allowed to gamble.
That’s why Ankalaev suggested just straight up donating to charity instead rather than attaching some bet as a condition for giving back.
“We were really clear about it online, we said as Muslims we cannot do bets,” Ankalaev said. “That’s not something that we support or that we look to do. However, if he wants to do something, any kind of charity or anything that he wants to do, we have the means to do it and I’d be happy to partake in that.”
Part of Pereira’s decision to go after Ankalaev regarding the way he practices his religion might come back to some concerns the Russian had about the light heavyweight champion potentially losing focus ahead of their showdown on Saturday.
With his title defense just weeks away, Pereira traveled to Australia to corner Sean Strickland in his fight against Dricus du Plessis not to mention conducting other business while he was overseas as well as spending a few nights out rather than extra time in the gym.
While Pereira may have taken past comments as a slight, Ankalaev promises that’s not the case and if anything, he was actually just showing concern for the UFC light heavyweight champion.
“We weren’t trying to make it personal or anything,” Ankalaev said. “We were just saying maybe we were worried about him that he’s kind of all over the place, all these different UFC events and stuff like that.
“Maybe he should have taken it as us being worried about him spending time doing something rather than being prepared for the fight. Whichever way he took it, it’s up to him. It’s not going to help him or make it worse.”
The wait for Jon Jones to return to action may be sooner than later.
On Wednesday, UFC CEO Dana White revealed his expected timeline for Jones to return to action and defend his heavyweight title after a lopsided win over Stipe Miocic this past November. While Jones hasn’t fully committed to any fight since then, White is confident that he’ll get a deal done to put him in the octagon against interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a title unification bout.
“The plan is to fight Jon this summer,” White told The Jim Rome Show. “Obviously, when, where and all that stuff is being determined. My goal this year is to make that fight [with] Aspinall.”
A potential wrinkle to those plans could come this weekend when Alex Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 313 main event.
A win would serve as Pereira’s fourth straight title defense and there wouldn’t be a lot of new challenges left for him at 205 pounds.
In fact, Pereira has already teased a potential move to heavyweight, but White says he’s actually behind hitting the pause button the Brazilian changing divisions again after conquering middleweight and light heavyweight.
“The other thing about Pereira that everybody loves is, this guy wants to go up to heavyweight and fight at heavyweight, too,” White said. “I’m the one that’s actually holding him back on that.”
Perhaps the biggest roadblock to Pereira moving up to heavyweight is White’s determination to book Jones against Aspinall before anything else.
White vows that’s the fight he wants to make most right now but assuming Jones battles Aspinall in 2025, he won’t discount the possibility that Pereira could then position himself for a massive showdown in his heavyweight debut.
“He wants to [fight Jon Jones],” White said about Pereira. “Let’s see how this fight plays out, if he wins, how he wins, all that kind of stuff.
“I think that the fight that everybody wants to see right now is Jones and Aspinall and then there’s no doubt that Pereira could fight the winner.”
The UFC 313 media day live stream will feature the biggest stars from Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas.
In the UFC 313 main event, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will try to retain his title against Magomed Ankalaev.
The UFC 313 media day will also feature top four fighters competing in the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 on Thursday night – Nicky Rodriguez, Renato Canuto, Victory Hugo, and Oliver Taza.
When it comes to the argument about who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, Dana White finally conceded in January that Islam Makhachev had done enough to surpass Jon Jones, but his opinion might change again after UFC 313.
On Saturday night, Alex Pereira returns to action looking for the fourth consecutive defense of his light heavyweight title when he faces Magomed Ankalaev in the main event. Since winning the title with a knockout in 2024, Pereira has followed that up with three more devastating finishes and if he’s able to do the same thing to Ankalaev, it’s possible he takes over that top spot in the mythical pound-for-pound rankings.
“He’s one of the biggest stars in the sport right now, if not the biggest star in the sport,” White said about Pereira on First Take. “What makes this weekend great is Ankalaev is a very serious threat to him. This is probably the toughest fight he’s ever had. His team always talks about his takedown defense and that the fans don’t really know how good it is. We’re going to find out how good it is this weekend.
“This is a tough fight for Alex. Alex comes out of this the way he’s come out of every other fight, he might be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”
Based on the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, Pereira currently sits at No. 2 behind Makhachev so it’s entirely possible that he could potentially jump to the top spot with a standout performance.
Ankalaev has long been considered one of the best light heavyweights in the world and he arguably should have already fought Pereira but timing and circumstances have prevented the matchup from happening until now.
The fight serves as Pereira’s fifth straight main event and seventh headlining spot overall since he joined the UFC roster back in 2021.
White praised Pereira for his rapid ascension up the ranks while providing fans with a new favorite fighter who always brings the action every time he competes. Add to that, White says that Pereira is ready and willing to face anybody the UFC throws at him — including potential fights at heavyweight.
“Alex is that guy for us right now,” White said. “The thing that people love about Alex is obviously his fighting style. He tries to knock your head off. People love that. He was on vacation in Australia and a fight fell out and we needed him. He literally left vacation and came and fought. This guy will literally fight anybody, anywhere, any time.
“He comes in, he’s pure violence. He tries to knock you out. Doesn’t duck anybody. Has moved up a weight class, is willing to move up to heavyweight and fight whoever.”
When it comes to heavyweight, Pereira has acknowledged on more than a few occasions that he’s interested in possibly challenging Jon Jones in a champion versus champion fight. Jones has also expressed interest in the fight and while White has shied away from that matchup in the past, he didn’t totally shut down the idea on Wednesday.
“He’s willing to fight [Jon Jones]. He’s willing to fight anybody right now,” White said about Pereira.
“Jones will fight anybody, too. Don’t let the internet fool you about Jon Jones. He does want to do [the fight with Alex Pereira].”
White added that he’s currently targeting “this summer” for Jones’ return, although it’s much more likely the UFC wants him to face Tom Aspinall next in a heavyweight title unification bout than throwing down with Pereira. Of course anything is possible, especially if Pereira torches Ankalaev and once again calls for the Jones fight as his next challenge.
Dana White (center left), Turki Alalshikh (center right), and Nick Khan (right) | TKO Group Holdings, Inc
Dana White has officially taken a huge step into the world of boxing.
On Tuesday, the UFC CEO alongside Saudi Arabian combat sports promoter Turki Alalshikh announced they have officially signed a deal to start a new boxing league under the TKO banner. WWE President Nick Khan is also part of the executive board.
“We have just done a deal to start a new boxing league with Turki, who absolutely loves the sport of boxing,” White said in a video on social media.
“I am very happy today,” Alalshikh said. “I am very happy today. I give the flag of boxing to the best man who can handle it. We have a tough job now, but I am sure he will be delivering to the people and the fans the magnificent league and get boxing great again.”
“The model is proven to deliver the fights that the fans want to see,” White said. “The best will fight the best and the fighters will continue to move up the rankings and become world champions. We will continue to make announcements on where you can watch and all the rest of the details on the business as we get closer to the launch.”
BOOOOOOM!!!!! Boxing here we come pic.twitter.com/XBRBT5mr3P
— danawhite (@danawhite) March 5, 2025
Saudi entertainment conglomerate Sela is also a partner in the deal, according to a press release. Sela was also involved in the recent Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois event at Wembley Stadium in London, as well as Terence Crawford’s title defense against Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles.
The announcement was a formality at this point, with TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro recently saying the organization was in negotiations with Saudi Arabia to fund a new boxing promotion. Shapiro also teased the possibility of two major cards that could take place in 2025 and 2026 as part of the deal.
““This is a strategic opportunity to reimagine the sport of boxing globally,” Shapiro said in Tuesday’s press release. “TKO has the deep expertise, promotional prowess, and longstanding relationships. Turki Alalshikh and Sela share our passion and vision for evolving the current model. Together, we can bring the sweet science back to its rightful place in the forefront of the global sports ecosystem.”
Alalshikh’s The Ring magazine shared the announcement, which featured more details of the agreement.
‼️ ANNOUNCED: Turki Alalshikh and TKO have signed a multi-year partnership to establish a new boxing promotion with executive leadership anchored by UFC President Dana White and WWE President Nick Khan. The new promotion will feature:
A highly structured system to develop new… pic.twitter.com/tK5auLy1UO
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) March 5, 2025
The new promotion will feature:
A highly structured system to develop new talent from around the world, including athlete combines and academies.
Access for all boxers to the UFC Performance Institute, the world’s leading combat sports performance training, research, rehabilitation, and nutrition center.
TKO’s production, media, and promotional expertise, to deliver both in-arena experiences and top-tier, state-of-the-art broadcasts to fans around the world.
In the past, White has frequently criticized boxing cards for being top heavy with little attempt to build compelling undercards for the fans, which he has always seen as a strength of the UFC business model.
Alalshikh dabbled in creating a more MMA-esque card with an event on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that was dubbed “The Last Crescendo.” The lineup featured multiple title bouts, headlined by a thrilling undisputed light heavyweight championship rematch between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
It is not yet known what the new venture will be titled and fighter signings, dates, and locations are pending, with the announcement stating details are to “be revealed in the coming months.”
Valentina Shevchenko | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Valentina Shevchenko is ready to give the people what they want.
In February, UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili successfully defended her title for the third consecutive time, winning a unanimous decision over Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312. Following her win, Zhang revealed her interest in moving up to challenge Shevchenko for the flyweight title, with UFC CEO Dana White even suggesting that might be next.
However, earlier this month the UFC announced that Shevchenko will instead defend her title against Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 in May, and according to “Bullet,” that was always the plan.
“In my perspective, I knew that I’m going to face, I’m going to defend my belt against Manon,” Shevchenko told Ariel Helwani. “When Weili called me out, I thought it might be a slight change, but when UFC reached out with the final agreement for the fight, yeah, it was the same we had before all this happened.
“But yeah, I think Weili, she’s a great fighter and she showed that she can be successful for many years. She’s showed so many good fights, and I just want to congratulate her on her recent victory.”
Fiorot has been the top contender at flyweight for nearly a year, since winning a unanimous decision over Erin Blanchfield at UFC Atlantic City. But after she takes care of business against Fiorot, Shechenko says she’s more than happy to entertain a superfight with Zhang.
“I think it would be [an] amazing fight,” Shevchenko said. “I think it would be something that fans would love to see. Definitely, me being the person — I focus on the target. My next target is Manon. That’s why for me, it’s still a little bit further to think about. …
“I think making this fight, it’s going to be a huge fight for all the females [in the] sport, and all the right negotiations that have to be done leading to this fight,” Shevchenko added later. “I think this is all we have to be focusing on moving forward. But for now, let’s focus on the fight I’m going to have in two months in Montreal.”
UFC 315 which takes place on May 10 at Bell Centre in Montreal. In the main event, Belal Muhammad defends his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena, while Shevchenko puts her flyweight belt on the line against Fiorot in the co-main event.
TOP STORIES
Breakfast. Watch KSI smack Dillon Danis in the face with a pancake at Misfits Boxing 21 press conference.
Who? Curtis Blaydes admits he had no idea who Rizvan Kuniev was when UFC offered fight: ‘I had to Google him.’
Concern. Matt Brown reveals concerns for Alex Pereira ahead of UFC 313 amid distractions and several ‘favorable matchups.’
Day 1. Dustin Poirier explains how his wife helped mold him from ‘juvenile detention’ to UFC stardom.
Rematch. Leon Edwards wanted Belal Muhammad rematch at UFC 315, Muhammad responds.
Boxing. Ryan Garcia out to change his image ahead of Rolly Romero fight: ‘This is my first fight to get respect back.’
Van vs. Tsuruya will be the first fight in UFC history featuring two fighters born in the 2000s. #UFC313 https://t.co/YlhXtIXpdK
— Michael Carroll (@MJCflipdascript) March 5, 2025
UFC 313 artists series.
Big fight, big poster! Your #UFC313 Artist Series has landed
@YellowCardas pic.twitter.com/CcFN6U1T96
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 4, 2025
Chase Hooper learning the harsh realities of capitalism.
Kind of a wild statement coming right off the Seattle card with the biggest gate and attendance for a fight night ever. The demand for in person events is higher than ever. Maybe it takes a bit of revenue off the top, but it grows the sport in the long run https://t.co/niT2bH7SNp
— Chase Hooper (@chase_hooper) March 5, 2025
Trying to confirm that this is true, but it appears a fighter and his twin may have both competed as the same person in a tournament on the regional scene, which is incredibly MMA.
Joshua Homberg wziął udział w turnieju w wadze ciężkiej na gali GMC 41. Po wygranej w pierwszej walce awansował do finału, jednak to nie on wszedł do klatki na decydujące starcie – zamiast niego bez wiedzy organizacji walczył jego brat bliźniak, który znokautował rywala… pic.twitter.com/OV0LqQTMhS
— Adrian Szymański (@adrians_mma) March 4, 2025
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Raul Rosas Jr. (10-1) vs. Vince Morales (16-9); UFC Mexico City, March 29.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Man, really hope Shevchenko beats Fiorot because Shevy Truck vs. Zhang is a deserving superfight and it would be pretty epic. But Fiorot ain’t no joke.
EXIT POLL
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It’s very difficult to find the one, especially when you’re a mixed martial artist striving to make it to the top. For former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier, he luckily found it at the right time.
“When I was in juvenile detention — and me and her might not have been dating at the time — she was writing me letters every week,” Poirier said of his wife Jolie on Outta Pocket with RGIII. “Besides my mother, the only letters I was getting was [from] her, and when I got out of juvenile detention, she was there. She drove all the way out to watch me leave and stuff like that, and I was like, ‘I’m going to marry this girl.’”
“The Diamond” plans to have one last fight in the UFC, and hopes to end his career with a bout in New Orleans this summer. In his most recent bout, Poirier lost a Fight of the Year contender to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 302 this past June.
Poirier has seen the ups and downs of the sport, and in life itself. When it comes to self-belief, Poirier, like all of us, has it at times, and other times he doesn’t. But even when he was locked up in juvenile detention, Jolie believed in him even when Poirier couldn’t.
“For sure, the letters were always there,” Poirier explained. “She would always reply. I don’t even know how she got the address, or all this stuff like that, but she did, and she was always there. Honestly, not to sound corny, cheesy, bro, I wouldn’t have made it as far — because I was living with her since I was 18, since I was an amateur fighter… I wouldn’t have had an anchor to come back home to every night to cook a meal with, to watch a movie, to go to Blockbuster back in the day, to get takeout Chinese food, that was every weekend.
“I had a girl I loved, and she loved me, and I had somewhere to be. If I was that age and fighting, and known like I was at that young age, I wouldn’t have been on schedule at the gym every day, I wouldn’t have had to lay my head on a pillow at a certain time, I would’ve been cutting up with the rest of my buddies who were doing, you know, what they were doing. So I feel like having that to come home to, and a reason to be home every night, but also her belief, because a lot of times I didn’t believe in myself. She believed in me so much that it was hard to quit on myself whenever she thinks I can do whatever I want.”
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