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Makhachev's Next Three, Aspinall Speaks, Tsarukyan-Ruffy Pick

Islam Makhachev is already looking past his welterweight title reign, Tom Aspinall shuts down exit talk, and the NSAC hands out fines for cage-jumping celebrations.

Makhachev's Next Three, Aspinall Speaks, Tsarukyan-Ruffy Pick

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Big names dominate the news cycle today, from a champion plotting his next moves to another denying he's on his way out the door. Here's what's shaking out across the promotion.

Makhachev Eyes Three More At Welterweight

Islam Makhachev isn't slowing down after his recent title defense. We're hearing that the pound-for-pound number one, who reportedly holds a significant win streak in Ultimate history, told fans back home in Dagestan that he sees three more compelling fights ahead of him in the 77 kilogram division. That's a big statement from a guy who just cleaned out one weight class and jumped up to conquer another, and it suggests he has zero interest in a short stay at 170.

Aspinall Says He's Not Going Anywhere

Tom Aspinall put out a statement knocking down reports that he's looking to leave the UFC, this after one of his own coaches had suggested otherwise. The heavyweight champion hasn't fought since UFC 321 back in October 2025, when his clash with Ciryl Gane ended in a no contest after an eye poke stopped things cold. With Aspinall still working his way back from that injury, the timing of the exit rumors only added noise to an already frustrating layoff, and he clearly wanted to shut it down himself rather than let it linger.

Three Fighters, One Expensive Habit

The Nevada Athletic Commission handed out $2,500 fines apiece to Max Holloway, Paddy Pimblett, and Gable Steveson for hopping out of the Octagon to celebrate after their bouts at UFC 329 back in July. All three fights were already over when the leaps happened, but the commission clearly wants to put a stop to fighters treating the cage wall as a launching pad. Given how often we see fighters climb the fence after a big win, don't be surprised if this becomes a recurring line item on NAC meeting agendas.

Ulberg's Timeline For A Return

That's a long runway, and it comes as chatter about a possible interim 205 pound title fight keeps circulating while the belt sits parked. Ulberg summed up the frustration of watching from the sidelines simply, saying, "It sucks to be on the sidelines watching the guys," which tracks for any champion stuck rehabbing while his division moves without him.

From the community

Over on r/MMA, fans are talking about this: Islam Makhachev vs. Ian Garry: A Data Science-Driven Prediction.

Sources

Every source behind today's roundup (14)

We summarize the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work:

Open Scoring MMA is a daily AI-produced MMA and UFC news podcast. Listen to today's episode, read the full Feed, or get every episode by email.

Episode transcript

Read the full episode transcript

Welcome to Open Scoring MMA. This is episode 70 for August 27th, 2026, your daily look at what's happening now and next across the world of MMA and UFC. DUKE: Big one to open with, Nora. Islam Makhachev is already the longest winning streak guy in UFC history, already number one pound for pound, and after reportedly beating Ian Garry, he comes home to Dagestan and says he's got three more spectacular fights left in him at welterweight.
NORA: Three. Not one, not a retirement tour, three.
DUKE: That's the part that gets me. Most guys at the top start talking about legacy fights or a victory lap. He's talking about a whole run.
NORA: And remember, he's not just defending a belt, he moved up in weight to get it and still cleaned house. If he actually books three more at seventy seven kilos, we're talking about him building a whole second era of dominance in a new division.
DUKE: Which is insane when you think he already broke the record for consecutive wins in company history.
NORA: Right, so this isn't a guy padding a resume. This is a guy who thinks the division just doesn't have an answer for him yet.
DUKE: And speaking of that fight, the community's still buzzing about it. Over on Reddit, the r slash MMA crowd had this whole data science breakdown trying to predict Makhachev versus Garry before it happened.
NORA: People love running the numbers on Islam because on paper he shouldn't be this dominant at a weight that isn't even his natural one.
DUKE: And he just keeps proving the numbers wrong.
NORA: For now.
DUKE: Let's get into fighter health. Tom Aspinall is firing back at reports that he's on his way out of the UFC.
NORA: He posted directly, said in his own words he's not leaving the UFC. This comes after one of his own coaches said something that got people speculating.
DUKE: Aspinall hasn't fought since UFC 321 back in October, that no contest with Ciryl Gane after the eye poke.
NORA: That's the real story here, not the exit rumors. He's the heavyweight champion and he's been out for months rehabbing a serious eye injury. The exit talk is noise, the layoff is the actual problem for the division.
DUKE: Because heavyweight can't move forward with the belt sitting on ice.
NORA: Exactly, and until he's actually cleared and in the cage, every heavyweight contender is stuck waiting on him.
DUKE: Now over at light heavyweight, Carlos Ulberg gave a comeback update, and it's not the timeline anyone wanted.
NORA: He's hoping to be fit in the first few months of twenty twenty seven. That's a long runway for a reigning champion.
DUKE: He tore his ACL against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327, in that fight where he was getting his legs kicked to pieces and still landed the left hook to turn it around.
NORA: Which tells you exactly why people are already floating an interim title fight at two-oh-five. A champion out that long, with that kind of layoff, the division doesn't just sit still.
DUKE: He told Bloody Elbow, quote, it sucks to be on the sidelines watching the guys, end quote.
NORA: You feel for him. Nobody wants to watch their own division move on without them.
DUKE: Let's get into some beef. Sean Brady reportedly disagrees with how Din Thomas handled the backlash after UFC 330.
NORA: Brady thinks Thomas could've handled his own retirement from cornering better, publicly.
DUKE: This one's more about the fallout in the corner world than the cage, but it's worth watching because these coaching relationships shape a guy's whole camp heading into a fight.
NORA: If Brady's actively unhappy with how that was handled, that's a corner situation to watch the next time he's got a fight booked.
DUKE: And over on the striking side of things, Tyron Woodley's talking about Khamzat Chimaev ahead of his own return to competition.
NORA: Woodley says wrestling Chimaev will feel similar to what he called equally powerful in Joaquin Buckley.
DUKE: That's Woodley getting ready for his own bout under a different banner, but the comparison to Chimaev says a lot about how the wrestling world views him. Grown men who've felt Buckley's power are comparing it directly to Khamzat.
NORA: And Chimaev's currently sitting near the top of the middleweight picture, so any comparison like that just adds to how scary his profile already is.
DUKE: Alright, lighter one before we move to the cards. The Nevada commission finally settled up on those cage jumping fines from UFC 329.
NORA: Max Holloway, Paddy Pimblett, and Gable Steveson were each fined twenty five hundred dollars for hopping out of the octagon back in July.
DUKE: Paddy Pimblett getting fined for celebrating too hard, that's exactly the kind of chaos energy we signed up for with the Baddy.
NORA: The man just can't contain himself when he wins.
DUKE: I love it, honestly. Twenty five hundred bucks is nothing to a guy on that kind of run, he'd probably pay it twice.
NORA: The fines were reportedly already paid, so no drama there, just the commission doing its paperwork.
DUKE: Still, Holloway, Pimblett, and Steveson all in the same breath for jumping the fence, that's a fun little footnote from that card.
NORA: A footnote with a receipt.
DUKE: Let's talk roster and calendar moves. The UFC just added four more Meta Apex events to the twenty twenty six schedule.
NORA: That's the promotion leaning further into that venue as a steady house for these smaller, prospect heavy cards. More Apex dates means more opportunities for guys clawing up the rankings to get booked and stay active.
DUKE: Speaking of prospects clawing up, tough one for Bella Mir on Contender Series.
NORA: She dropped a decision to Alex Apodaca.
DUKE: And she still dropped the decision to Alex Apodaca.
NORA: She released a statement saying she's ready to move on from it, which is the right instinct. First loss of a young career, especially as a heavy favorite, that stings, but how you respond to it says more than the loss itself.
DUKE: And over in PFL land, Denis Goltsov is booked for a return.
NORA: He's a former PFL heavyweight tournament champion, and he'll face rising contender Maxwell Djantou Nana at PFL Chicago on October the sixteenth.
DUKE: That's a real gatekeeper test for Djantou Nana, if he beats a former tournament champion that's a massive resume boost in that heavyweight pool.
NORA: PFL's heavyweight picture could use a jolt like that.
DUKE: Alright, before we get to the next cards, let's talk about how we've actually been doing with these picks, because we owe the audience honesty here.
NORA: We're always looking at the numbers and how our predictions stack up against the market.
DUKE: We're always trying to find the spots where the market's wrong, not just nodding along with Vegas.
NORA: We're always trying to find the spots where the market's wrong, not just nodding along with Vegas.
DUKE: Which brings us right to tonight's pick.
DUKE: And where's the model at?
NORA: The model is showing a slightly higher probability for Tsarukyan than the current betting line.
DUKE: So we're a little higher than Vegas.
NORA: We are, and it's a strong confidence read on our end.
DUKE: Talk me into it. Why higher?
NORA: Two things. Form favors Tsarukyan right now, and stylistically this matchup favors him too.
DUKE: Ruffy's dangerous, he can hurt anybody standing.
NORA: He can, but the version of this fight that actually happens tends to favor Tsarukyan.
DUKE: So it's not that Ruffy can't win, it's that the version of this fight that actually happens tends to favor Tsarukyan.
NORA: That's exactly it.
DUKE: Alright, I trust it. Arman Tsarukyan's our pick.
NORA: We like it.
DUKE: Let's look ahead to the next two cards on the schedule. First up, this Saturday, August the twenty ninth, UFC Fight Night, Nurmagomedov versus Song.
NORA: Word is Song Yadong takes on Umar Nurmagomedov in what could be the main event.
DUKE: Umar's got that pedigree behind him, and Song Yadong's a legit gatekeeper at bantamweight, this one could shake up the top ten.
NORA: And after that, on September the fifth, we've got Dan Hooker versus Salahdine Parnasse, which is rumored to be headlining another Fight Night.
DUKE: Hooker against Parnasse is exactly the kind of scrap that turns into a war. Hooker's never in a boring fight.
NORA: And Parnasse is unbeaten coming into the UFC run, so this is a real live test for him.
DUKE: Busy stretch coming up, a lot to track.
NORA: We'll have all of it.
Before you go, two quick things. Check out our free Fight Tracker at tracker dot open scoring m m a dot com, with every upcoming UFC and PFL card, live odds, and where to watch, all in one place. And follow us on YouTube, just search Open Scoring MMA, for breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos you won't get here on the feed. That's it for today's Open Scoring MMA. Keep your hands up, and we'll see you next time.