Welcome to Bloody Elbow’s every day round-up of combat sports news on a day when the fallout to Netflix’s entry into MMA continued.
That is your one-stop shop for the highest five stories from February 18, 2026. One in all the important talking points stays Ronda Rousey’s MMA return to fight Gina Carano under Jake Paul’s Most Beneficial Promotions banner.
However the very first MMA event on Netflix was not the one topic of conversation on Wednesday, because of an ex-UFC fighter’s brutal elbow, Islam Makhachev’s warning to Ian Machado Garry, Conor McGregor’s deleted return claim, and the continuation of Eddie Hearn’s feud with Dana White.
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Tiki Ghosn drops ‘Deen the Great’ after the influencer’s slap threat
It’s been an unsuccessful few days for ‘Deen the Great’.
The influencer boxer – real name Nurideen Shabazz – was slapped by powerlifting YouTuber Larry Wheels during former UFC champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s livestream earlier within the week.
A good more brutal shot awaited him during a run-in with Jackson’s manager, former UFC fighter Tiki Ghosn.
Footage showed Ghosn dropping ‘Deen the Great’ with an elbow after the influencer threatened to slap him.
Eddie Hearn says Turki Alalshikh is Dana White’s ‘daddy’
Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn turned the tables on Dana White’s insult about working for his father.
The UFC president made the remark through the Zuffa Boxing 3 press conference in response to Hearn criticizing his boxing enterprise, specifically the creation of recent titles.
Hitting back during an interview with The Stomping Ground, the English promoter mocked White’s relationship with the chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh.
“Yes, I do work for my dad, but guess what? Dana White has worked for his daddy for a very long time,” Hearn said.
“The Fertitta brothers, that’s who he worked for. And immediately Dana White’s got a brand new daddy and his name is Turki Alalshikh.”
Conor McGregor claims he has accepted an opponent
Ever for the reason that UFC event on the White House was announced, McGregor has been among the many top names ceaselessly staking their claim for the important event spot.
With Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje reportedly the front-runner to headline in Washington D.C. on June 14, uncertainty surrounds the Irishman’s plan to make a comeback in 2026.
But a deleted post on X would suggest that the UFC and McGregor have selected his return date and opponent.
“I actually have been offered an opponent and a date, and I accept,” McGregor wrote on Wednesday morning.
“Waiting on my contract,” he added.
Islam Makhachev is unfazed by Ian Machado Garry’s Georgia trip
Garry has fueled talk of a Makhachev showdown by traveling to coach in Georgia, something the Irishman said he would do ahead of a title challenge against the Dagestani.
Makhachev has reacted to Garry’s Georgia trip and warned his potential next challenger of the error he’s making.
“Well, I already said that it’s a mistake, for wrestlers to go to some training camp for 2-3 months before a fight with a purpose to prepare for the fight,” he told Ushatayka.
“Quite the opposite, this plays into such a cruel mistake because he’s a one that goes somewhere for 2-3 months to arrange and begins to imagine in his struggle, after which it doesn’t work.
“It’s not possible to learn to fight in 2-3 months. That is something you might have to do since childhood for a lot of, a few years.”
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Sean Strickland roasts Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano on Netflix
Sean Strickland isn’t one to carry back together with his thoughts, and that trend continued about Rousey’s recently announced comeback.
The UFC legend will return against Carano, who can be making her long-awaited first outing since 2009. They are going to headline Netflix’s debut MMA event on May 16 on the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Ahead of his UFC Houston important event against Anthony Hernandez, Strickland didn’t hold back on Rousey vs Carano.
“Ronda Rousey’s gonna steamroll her. Ronda was an Olympian that was a multi-time world champion,” Strickland told Newsweek.
“Gina Carano was pretty in a time when women’s MMA sucked. It’s still not superb, but when Gina Carano was fighting, it was significantly worse.
“We’re just gonna watch two middle-aged women, f—ing going through menopause, fight one another.
“I actually have little interest in that. Who gives a f—?”