UFC News: Du Plessis, Bishop, Nickal vs Pyfer (Week 43)

UFC News This Week: Du Plessis Turns Down a 205 Tournament, Bishop Takes PFL Gold and Nickal vs Pyfer Moves to Cleveland

Oct 21, 2026 · By Dan Kessler, Editor

Magomed Ankalaev at a UFC Fight Night event in Moscow in 2018

Image: MMAnytt, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Du Plessis camp rejects a four-man light heavyweight tournament

The biggest story of the week is a fight that will not happen. Morne Visser, head coach of former middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis, told Fight Forecast that the UFC offered his fighter a place in a four-man light heavyweight tournament, and that they said no. Sherdog reported the comments on Wednesday 21 October.

The format Visser described would be unusual for the modern UFC: four fighters on one night, the two winners meeting, and the last man standing earning a shot at champion Carlos Ulberg. The other three names were Magomed Ankalaev, Jiri Prochazka and Navajo Stirling. Visser said the approach came roughly three weeks before his interview.

His reason was simple. Du Plessis does plan to move up to 205lb, but only after he has won the middleweight title back and defended it. Visser pointed out that the step from welterweight to middleweight took about a year to get right, and he wants the same time to build Du Plessis for a heavier division. Du Plessis lost the 185lb belt to Khamzat Chimaev, beat Kamaru Usman by unanimous decision in July and holds two wins over current champion Sean Strickland.

Ankalaev had already lit the fuse. On 19 October, in an interview with Bostanov MMA, the No. 1 light heavyweight said there had been talk of a fight with Du Plessis, that the South African "wants to move up", and that he was interested himself. Ankalaev last fought in July, finishing Bogdan Guskov in the fifth round.

The reason the UFC is looking at creative options is the champion's knee. Ulberg tore his ACL while knocking out Prochazka at UFC 327 in Miami on 11 April and had surgery five days later, with his manager saying he also suffered tibia damage and bone bruising. No interim belt has been created. For now, the clearest route to a title shot runs through Doha on 21 November, where No. 2 Prochazka meets the unbeaten No. 5 Stirling in a five-round main event.

First rankings after Edmonton: Jasudavicius up to No. 4, Malott into the top 10

The UFC's rankings update on Tuesday 20 October rewarded both of the big winners from UFC Edmonton. Jasmine Jasudavicius jumps to No. 4 at women's flyweight after her unanimous decision over Erin Blanchfield, who drops one place to No. 5.

That puts Jasudavicius directly behind Valentina Shevchenko, Alexa Grasso and Manon Fiorot in the queue for champion Natalia Silva. All three have either held the belt or fought for it, so a jump straight to a title shot still looks a stretch, but she is now the highest-ranked woman in the division who has never had one.

At welterweight, Mike Malott is now No. 10 after knocking out Joaquin Buckley, and Buckley slips to joint No. 12 alongside Uros Medic. Malott said in Edmonton that he wanted a top-10 opponent next, and he now sits one place behind Kamaru Usman at No. 9. Islam Makhachev remains champion, with Ian Machado Garry at No. 1.

Jena Bishop wins the PFL flyweight title in her rematch with Liz Carmouche

Jena Bishop is the new PFL women's flyweight champion. At Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Friday 16 October she beat Liz Carmouche by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the five-rounder 48-47, to win the vacant belt and reverse the knockout loss Carmouche handed her in the 2025 PFL World Tournament final.

It nearly went the other way early. Carmouche hurt Bishop with punches in the first round and followed her to the floor with heavy ground strikes, but Bishop survived, got back up and took over with her grappling. She scored takedowns in the third and fifth rounds, took the back twice and rode out most of the final round on top. Carmouche had cut her hair on the Thursday to make weight and looked to fade from the fourth round.

Next for Bishop is Dakota Ditcheva, the PFL's biggest female star, who faced off with her in the cage after the fight. Ditcheva is one of only three fighters to have beaten Bishop and is coming back from two broken hands; the rematch is expected in early 2027. On the same card, Shannon Clark stopped Lucero Acosta in the third round and Sarvarjon Khamidov finished Rafael do Nascimento in 1:49 of the first.

Nickal vs Pyfer leaves UFC 335 for a February headliner in Cleveland

The middleweight fight between Bo Nickal and Joe Pyfer is off the UFC 335 card on 12 December. Nickal revealed the change himself on Thursday 15 October, while speaking on stage at a political rally in Ohio, saying the fight "got moved to February" and that he would be main eventing in Cleveland.

The UFC has not yet announced the Cleveland card or its date, so treat the February headliner as Nickal's word until it does. Moving from a three-round slot to a main event would also make it a five-round fight. Pyfer told Tim Welch he had been told Nickal had tweaked something and needed more time, and reports say Nickal has been managing injuries since early this year.

Pyfer was not happy, describing himself as "red-faced, angry" when he heard. A Full Mount MMA report said he was offered Anthony Hernandez as a replacement and turned it down, with Pyfer explaining that he probably has one real run at the title given his injuries and that beating Nickal gets him closer. Pyfer is 16-3 with four straight wins, the latest over Israel Adesanya; Nickal is 9-1 and last knocked out Kyle Daukaus on the White House card.

Bo Nickal in a suit being honoured as a Hodge Trophy recipient at a Penn State wrestling match in 2020

Image: Noah Riffe, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Card changes: Yanez out of UFC 334, Gandra off UFC 335

Adrian Yanez is out of his bantamweight fight with Juan Diaz at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on 14 November. News of the withdrawal emerged at the weekend, and on Monday 19 October Yanez posted an Instagram Story from a hospital bed, saying he really wanted to fight at MSG and would be back soon. He has not said why he was being treated.

Diaz is expected to stay on the card if the UFC finds a replacement, but no new opponent had been named at the time of writing. Yanez had returned to form in July, stopping Cody Garbrandt in the first round at UFC 329. UFC 334 is headlined by Ciryl Gane defending the heavyweight title against Josh Hokit, with Kayla Harrison against Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight belt in the co-main event.

UFC 335 at T-Mobile Arena has lost a second fight too. Baisangur Susurkaev announced on 18 October that Ryan Gandra is no longer his opponent. No reason has been given and no replacement has been named. Oliveira vs Lopes remains the headliner of that 12 December card.

The Basharat row widens: manager, brother and Mokaev respond to Dana White

Farid Basharat's exit, covered in last week's roundup, has turned into an argument about why unbeaten fighters lose their jobs. After Dana White said in Edmonton that a 16-0 fighter with seven UFC wins who is not re-signed must be gone for "a reason", and spoke generally about fighters who turn down fights, Basharat's camp hit back.

His brother Javid, who was not re-signed in February and is now with the PFL, posted on 18 October that no fights were turned down and that the family "found out when everyone else found out". Manager Ali Abdelaziz followed on 20 October: "Farid Basharat did not turn down a fight." Farid himself wrote that "a lot of assumptions" had been made but no facts given.

Muhammad Mokaev then widened it. The unbeaten flyweight, released in 2024 straight after beating Manel Kape, claimed on X on 20 October that fighters are told "If you keep wrestling like that, you're going to get cut", and asked whether that amounts to influencing the competition. The UFC has not responded publicly. Most of Basharat's UFC wins went to decision, which is the explanation most often given for his release.

Elsewhere: a PFL suspension, a new ruleset push and Mike Perry back to gloves

Ketlen Vieira suspended. Sherdog reported on 13 October that the former UFC bantamweight contender has been suspended for six months, backdated to 22 August, after a positive test for a WADA-banned steroidal substance. The test followed her loss to Cris Cyborg at PFL Tampa, a non-title fight at 153lb after Vieira missed weight by more than seven pounds. Vieira has said she took the substance to treat a knee injury.

Scott Coker wants different rules in California. Ki MMA, the former Strikeforce and Bellator boss's new promotion, has asked the California State Athletic Commission to consider a ruleset that adds elements of the Global MMA Rules to the Unified Rules, while excluding soccer kicks, stomps and linear knee strikes. Coker wants it discussed at the commission's 1 December stakeholders meeting. Ki MMA's first event is expected in 2027.

Mike Perry is done with BKFC. The former UFC welterweight told Ariel Helwani in a clip posted on 20 October that he is leaving bare-knuckle boxing and that "it's gloves for me". Perry, 15-9 in MMA, became one of BKFC's biggest draws with wins over Michael Page, Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez. Since beating Jeremy Stephens in October 2025 he has fought twice in MMA, beating Nate Diaz and losing to Brandon Jenkins.

What to watch next week

Thursday 22 October: the UFC 333 press conferences at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, free for fans to attend, with ceremonial weigh-ins at the arena on Friday afternoon local time.

Saturday 24 October: UFC 333 has two title fights. Alexander Volkanovski defends the featherweight belt against the unbeaten Movsar Evloev, and Petr Yan defends the bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili in their trilogy. For UK viewers the UFC lists early prelims at 3pm BST on Fight Pass, prelims at 5pm and the main card at 7pm on TNT Sports. Aaron Pico now meets former Oktagon champion Losene Keita on the main card after Arnold Allen withdrew. Our UFC events page will carry the results.

Saturday 31 October: Renato Moicano against Tom Nolan headlines the Fight Night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Look out too for any UFC word on the Cleveland card, a new opponent for Juan Diaz and whether the light heavyweight division gets an interim plan while Ulberg recovers.

Sources

FAQs

Why did Dricus du Plessis turn down the UFC light heavyweight tournament?

His coach Morne Visser said Du Plessis wants to win the middleweight title back and defend it before moving up. The UFC offered a four-man, one-night tournament with Magomed Ankalaev, Jiri Prochazka and Navajo Stirling, the winner earning a shot at champion Carlos Ulberg. Visser said the move to 205lb is still the plan, but gradually, because the jump from welterweight to middleweight took about a year to get right.

Is Carlos Ulberg still the UFC light heavyweight champion?

Yes. Ulberg is still listed as champion in the UFC rankings updated on 20 October 2026. He tore his ACL while knocking out Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327 on 11 April and had surgery on 16 April. No interim title has been created, and Prochazka fights Navajo Stirling in Doha on 21 November in a five-round main event.

Where is Jasmine Jasudavicius ranked after beating Erin Blanchfield?

Jasudavicius moved up to No. 4 at women's flyweight in the UFC rankings update on 20 October 2026, one place ahead of Blanchfield, who dropped to No. 5. Valentina Shevchenko, Alexa Grasso and Manon Fiorot are ranked above her, and Natalia Silva is the champion. No title fight has been booked for Jasudavicius yet.

When is Bo Nickal vs Joe Pyfer now?

Bo Nickal says the fight has moved from UFC 335 on 12 December to a February card in Cleveland, where it would be the main event and therefore five rounds. He revealed it on 15 October. The UFC had not announced the Cleveland event or its date at the time of writing, so the February slot rests on Nickal's own account for now.

Who won PFL Chicago?

Jena Bishop won the main event at PFL Chicago on 16 October 2026, beating Liz Carmouche by unanimous decision with three scores of 48-47 to take the vacant PFL women's flyweight title. It avenged her knockout loss to Carmouche in the 2025 World Tournament final. Her next fight is expected to be a rematch with Dakota Ditcheva in early 2027.

What time does UFC 333 start in the UK?

UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi is on Saturday 24 October 2026. The UFC lists the early prelims at 3pm BST on UFC Fight Pass, the prelims at 5pm and the main card at 7pm BST on TNT Sports. Alexander Volkanovski defends the featherweight title against Movsar Evloev, and Petr Yan defends the bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili.