REAL COMBAT MEDIA WEEKLY BOXING/MMA NEWS REPORT (12/20/2025-12/27/2025)

REAL COMBAT MEDIA WEEKLY BOXING/MMA NEWS REPORT

*For Immediate Release to Publish

Roselle, Park, NJ (December 27th, 2025)– Welcome to the Real Combat Media Boxing & MMA Fights of the Week, where we discuss the week’s most significant news and the most notable fights in the sports of boxing and MMA, so you can save time by getting your best combat sports news expeditiously.

In boxing news, this past weekend, Anthony Joshua, 36, (29-4, 26 Kos) defeated Jake Paul, 28, (12-2, 7 Kos) by sixth-round knockout on December 19, 2025, at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Joshua knocked Paul down multiple times before stopping Paul and breaking his jaw in 2 places. Jake fought with guts on his shield in round 6; however, most of the night, he was using ineffective lateral footwork to survive the rounds.

After the fight, Paul mentioned he wants to return to Cruiserweight. Anthony Joshua is in talks to possibly face Tyson Fury in 2026. Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul drew an average minute audience of 33 million globally, according to Netflix

Alycia Baumgardner, 31, (17-1, 7 Kos) scored a unanimous decision victory over Leila Beaudoin, 29 (13-2, 2 Kos) as the Paul vs. Joshua Co-Main-Event. Baumgardner scored a knockdown in round 7 in a rare 3-minute round fight for women’s boxing. The judges scored it 117-110, 117-110, and 118-109, marking her sixth title defense. Undefeated Caroline Dubois, 24, (12-0-1, 5 Kos), who also won on the card, is interested in facing Alycia next. Baumgardner retained her unified WBA, IBF, and WBO super featherweight world titles.

At age 50, former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (4-2, 3 Kos) scored an impressive KO win over former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley, 43, (0-3). Since Tyron Woodley made his rap debut with the “I’ll beat yo ass” song in 2018, Woodley has lost 5 MMA fights and 3 boxing fights, without a win. You can view the post-press conference, Robert Brizel’s recap, social media reaction, and video highlights here.

Celebrity and former kickboxing world champ, Andrew Tate, 39, lost a close fight to actor/former college football player Chase DeMoor, 29, in an MFB Heavyweight Title Fight on Saturday, December 20, 2025, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The fight was disappointing to watch from a technical standpoint, with Tate winning the first two rounds and then gassing out from being out of the ring for 10 years, ultimately losing the rest of the fight with constant clinching and poor punching technique in this brawl.

On the undercard, former UFC legend Tony Ferguson, 41, won his second fight in his pro boxing career over Warren Spencer, 32.You can view the video highlights of this event here.

Pound for Pound star, Naoya Inoue, 32, (31-0, 27 Kos) takes on Alan Picasso, 25, (32-0-1, 17 Kos) on December 27, 2025. The bout headlines the “Ring V: Night of the Samurai” event at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Inoue is defending all four major belts (WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO) plus ‘The Ring’ magazine title. Picasso, who defeated undefeated Kyonosuke Kameda by majority decision in July 2025 to earn this title shot with Inoue. You can view Robert Brizel’s preview, betting odds, predictions, presser, and the weigh-in video here.

Lawrence Okolie, 33, (22-1, 16 Kos) won his last fight by technical knockout (TKO) against Ebenezer Tetteh, 37, (23-3, 20 Kos) on December 21, 2025, at the Onikan Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria. Tetteh retired on his stool at the end of the second round. Okolie called out rising young power puncher Moses Itauma after the fight to see who would challenge for a future world title. Okolie, who is from London, was a former World Cruiserweight champion. You can watch the TKO highlight here.

52-year-old Heavyweight Ike Ibeabuchi (21-1, 16 Kos), who spent around 20 years in prison, suffered his first professional loss in his second comeback bout against 45-year-old Kabiru Towolawi (27-16, 22 Kos) via unanimous decision on December 24, 2025, in Lagos, Nigeria. In the 90s, Ike was considered one of the best heavyweights in the world before he went to prison. You can read about that fight here.

The Shakur Stevenson vs. Teofimo Lopez Ring 6 card is scheduled for January 31st, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in NYC on DAZN. A loaded undercard was added today. Check out some of the fights added to this card here.

You can view the current international boxing rankings here.

In MMA News, PFL Africa 4: 2025 Finals, which was the inaugural season finale for the Professional Fighters League in Africa, took place on Saturday, December 20, 2025, at the Sofitel Dome in Cotonou, Benin. Francis Ngannou, the chairman, was a no-show at this event. You can check out the results from this event here.

UFC 324 returns on Saturday, January 24, 2026, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a loaded card, marking the UFC’s debut on Paramount+ for numbered events, headlined by Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett for the Interim Lightweight Title and a massive co-main event with Amanda Nunes challenging Kayla Harrison for the Women’s Bantamweight Championship. The rest of the card will feature other stars like Sean O’Malley and Derrick Lewis. There will be no UFC events for the next 4 weeks to prepare for the new network deal. You can sign up for Paramount+ here.

For PFL start times, more information, and to watch PFL events, click here.

To view the current UFC rankings, click here.

Get prepared for the UFC in 2026 and sign up to Paramount+ here.

For the most current news from the #2 MMA Promotion PFL, click here.

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