Combat sports fans, buckle up—this weekend is stacked. From high-stakes title fights in the UFC to cross-promotional showdowns, tournament drama in the PFL, and a classic Muay Thai rematch at Lumpinee Stadium, the global fight calendar is on fire. Whether you’re tracking the return of Alexander Volkanovski in Miami, watching rising stars emerge in Orlando, or tuning in for elbows and intensity in Bangkok, there’s no shortage of action, storylines, and suspense.

Here’s your in-depth preview of everything going down from April 11 to 13—don’t miss a beat.

Date: Saturday, April 12
Location: Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida
Broadcast: ESPN+ PPV (Main Card at 10 p.m. ET / 4 a.m. SAST)

The UFC returns to Miami with one of its most anticipated cards of the year. The featherweight title is back up for grabs after Ilia Topuria vacated the belt earlier this year to pursue lightweight gold. Now, former champion Alexander Volkanovski (26-4) gets a shot at reclaiming the throne—but he enters under pressure. Volkanovski was last seen being knocked out cold by Topuria in a brutal loss that ended his reign and raised questions about his longevity at the top.

Volkanovski takes on Diego Lopes (24-6), a surging Brazilian finisher with a three-fight stoppage streak. Lopes is younger, fresher, and confident, with a submission game that has baffled seasoned opponents. While Lopes is clearly the more dangerous grappler, labeling this as a striker vs. grappler matchup would be misleading—Volkanovski is an accomplished wrestler in his own right, with elite takedown defense and a strong top game.

Volkanovski will be cornered by longtime coaches Frank Hickman and Brad Riddell, of Bangtao Muay Thai and MMA in Phuket, Thailand. Both Hickman and Riddell have deep roots in wrestling and striking respectively, and their influence has been instrumental in Volk's championship success. Notably, they’ve also cornered fighters at M2MMA events, bringing elite-level experience to M2MMA events. Their presence in Miami underscores how global Volkanovski’s fight preparation has become—and how the Bangtao team continues to shape elite-level performance on the world stage.

The real question is whether Volk’s well-rounded skill set, veteran grit, and experienced coaching corner can neutralize Lopes’ unorthodox submissions and fearless pace.

Whether you're a die-hard MMA fan, a Muay Thai purist, or someone who just loves a great fight night, this weekend has something for you. Clear your schedule, set your streams, and get ready—combat sports never sleeps, and April 11–13 is proof.

The Financial Fight

By Chris Cannon, M2MMA General Manager

Fighting can lead to extraordinary wealth, global recognition, and generational impact, just ask Floyd Mayweather. But for every Mayweather, there are hundreds of fighters like Aleksei Oleinik.

This weekend in Dubai, 46 year old Aleksei Oleinik stepped into the BKFC ring. A veteran of more than 70 fights across the UFC, Pride, and promotions around the world, Oleinik was once regarded as one of the sport’s most respected grapplers. But this time, he didn’t walk away with another win or a final victory lap. He left with a brutal knockout and a heartbreaking truth.

“I didn’t want to fight,” he said afterward. “I have no desire. My health isn’t what it was… But I need that money for housing. I don’t have a place to live.”

That quote hit hard. A man who dedicated his life to the fight game, who gave everything to the sport, now fighting not for glory but for survival.

We’ve seen this story before. Mark Coleman, a Hall of Famer and former UFC heavyweight champion, saved his family from a fire recently and wound up in intensive care. He’s spoken openly about the financial and physical toll fighting took on his life. Spencer Fisher, another fan favorite from the golden era, was forced into early retirement due to neurological damage and left with no safety net. Jason “Mayhem” Miller spiraled into a storm of mental health struggles, legal issues, and instability, another example of a fighter with fame but no framework for survival.

Boxing, too, is riddled with stories of shattered legends. Mike Tyson, arguably one of the most famous fighters in history filed for bankruptcy in 2003, despite earning over $300 million during his career. Evander Holyfield, a multi-division world champion, saw his estate auctioned off and struggled with financial collapse after retirement. Joe Louis, the great heavyweight icon, spent the latter years of his life fighting off IRS debts and working as a casino greeter. More recently, fighters like Riddick Bowe, who held every major heavyweight title in the 1990s, admitted to returning to the ring in his late 40s not for competition, but to pay the bills.

And those are just the names we know—the stars, the champions, the top tier talents who once earned millions. If even they could lose everything, what hope is there for the average fighter?

Because the truth is, most fighters never earn enough to begin with. They’re not headlining pay per views or signing six figure contracts. They’re grinding on regional cards, taking short notice fights, hoping for bonuses, and chasing opportunity event by event. They’re often left with one or two fight purses per year, purses that get immediately sliced by management fees, gym costs, travel expenses, medical bills, and day today survival. There’s no retirement plan. No guaranteed income. No fallback.

And the issue isn’t just money. It’s the complete absence of education around it. Financial literacy is almost nonexistent in the fight world. Most athletes are young, isolated, and focused on surviving camp, not thinking 10 years ahead. They don’t have business mentors. They don’t have long term planning tools. They don’t know what to do when the lights go off and the contracts stop coming.

And too often, their managers aren’t helping, they’re profiting.

In many cases, fighters hand over control of their careers, contracts, and finances to people they trust without really understanding the consequences. A good manager can shape a fighter’s future with strategic decisions, proper financial guidance, and post career planning. A bad one can drain their earnings, push them into unnecessary fights, and walk away once the athlete’s market value fades.

We’ve seen examples of both. Fighters like Georges St Pierre, long known for surrounding himself with disciplined professionals and smart advisors, exited the sport with his health, finances, and reputation intact. Similarly, Anthony Joshua made strategic decisions early in his career founding 258 Management with longtime manager Freddie Cunningham to retain control over his brand, endorsements, and long term financial direction. Their business savvy approach turned Joshua into one of boxing’s most successful commercial athletes, both in and out of the ring.

On the other side, we’ve seen stars like Don King’s fighters, including Mike Tyson, who famously sued King for $100 million alleged exploitation, manipulation, and mismanagement that contributed to their downfall. Another tragic example is Felix Trinidad, the Puerto Rican boxing legend who earned tens of millions throughout his career but lost the majority of his fortune due to mismanagement. His longtime financial advisor made risky investments without his full understanding or consent, leading to massive losses and a prolonged legal battle. Trinidad’s case is a cautionary tale of what can happen when fighters place their trust in the wrong hands without access to the knowledge or safeguards to protect themselves.

In boxing and MMA, it’s not uncommon to hear about fighters who never saw full purse payments, or who signed away lifetime rights without knowing it. The people managing their careers are sometimes managing their futures into oblivion.

So fighters keep going. Not because they want to, but because the people who should have protected them didn’t. Because no one taught them how to protect themselves.

This is a hidden crisis in combat sports. Not just traumatic brain injury or controversial judging. It’s the economic fragility of the very people we watch, cheer for, and celebrate. The system applauds their bravery, but gives them no protection.

At M2MMA, this is the fight we’re choosing. We’re building a promotion that sees the whole athlete, not just the highlight reel. A platform designed to help fighters build stability, not just take punishment.

That means integrating financial education from day one. We're also planning to host financial and business education seminars as part of our athlete support programs, and we’re actively seeking partners from the finance world to help deliver these resources with credibility and impact. It means giving athletes access to tools that help them plan their future not just survive their career. It means providing mental health resources that recognize the toll this lifestyle takes. It means creating mentorship systems and alternative revenue models that give fighters more than one way forward.

Supporting athletes holistically, physically, mentally, and financially isn’t a side project. It’s a core pillar of what we do. Every decision we make is rooted in the belief that fighters deserve more than just a platform to compete, they deserve the tools to build a future they can thrive in.

Because if we really love this sport, and if we really respect these athletes, then we have to do more than cheer them on. We have to give them something to walk away with. We have to stop pretending that toughness alone is a business model.

Fighters shouldn’t have to choose between their health and their next paycheck. They shouldn’t be fighting to pay for housing at 46 years old.

We can build something better.

And at M2MMA, we are.

Is Safe Psychology Making You Weaker, Not Stronger?

By Jeff Robinson

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer M2Bio Sciences (OTC: $MRES) & Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of M2MMA (OTC:$RLAB)

April 11, 2025

We’re living in an era where phrases like “inner peace”, “self-care”, "find yourself", and “work-life balance” are being marketed as the highest achievements of mental wellness. Scroll through any wellness blog or listen to a growing number of therapists, and you'll notice a common theme: slow down, do less, protect your boundaries, and rest your way to clarity.

But for those of us building something real, something relentless, this narrative isn’t just wrong; it’s dangerous.

The brand of soft, soothing psychology that’s gaining ground today might work for someone looking to feel momentarily better. But it won’t work for someone who wants to reach the top 1% of performance in any domain. It won’t build leaders, innovators, world-class athletes, or founders. It breeds complacency masked as self-compassion.

At The One Percent, we would never advocate for that comfort-seeking mindset. Why? It doesn’t work in elite sports, business, or when the pressure hits. Our philosophy revolves around intensity, clarity, structure, and grit - not gentle avoidance or emotional padding.

More worrying is how many mental health professionals today begin the process by trying to identify what’s “wrong” with you. The focus is often on dysfunction, trauma, and diagnosis — not strength, adaptability, or untapped potential. Instead of helping you build, many of them chip away at your foundation under the guise of healing. When you start every session with the assumption that you're broken, you forget how powerful you are. That’s not therapy - that’s limitation wrapped in empathy.

Psychologists today often glorify the idea of balance. The problem? High performers don’t operate in balance. They operate in pursuit. Obsession. Sacrifice. You don’t become elite by switching off at 5 p.m. to draw a bath and reflect on your “energy.” You become elite by doubling down and understanding when discomfort is not a warning sign but a signal that you’re on the edge of growth.

This “feel first, perform later” trend also glamorizes the idea that you're doing something wrong if you're not feeling aligned or in the flow. But the best athletes, CEOs, and creatives know that feeling off doesn’t mean you're broken; it usually means evolving. Soft psychology tries to eliminate friction. Real life requires you to work through it.

The truth is, rest and self-care aren’t the problem; it’s the framing. Rest should be earned, and recovery should be deliberate. They should serve the mission, not replace it. When mental health strategies become an escape from challenge rather than a tool to sharpen one's edge, they lead to mediocrity.

At M2MMA and within The One Percent, we design systems for those who want to rise. Whether AI-driven performance, brain-enhancing nutrition, or athlete mental resilience, we don’t build for comfort; we build for results.

Most people who buy into this softer version of psychology will never see their full potential, not because they’re incapable, but because their framework is wrong. They're told to look inward, slow down, and listen to their feelings instead of using challenge, pressure, and discomfort as fuel.

That’s the real tragedy.

If your psychologist encourages you to “rest your way to success,” you might want to ask them how many world-class individuals they’ve helped build. High performance is uncomfortable. It’s lopsided. It asks more from you than most people are willing to give. That’s why it works.

The One Percent mindset isn’t for everyone, and that’s precisely the point. It’s for the few willing to lean in when it hurts, grow when it’s inconvenient, and keep moving when others stop to self-soothe. For them, the rewards aren’t just extraordinary - they’re inevitable.

M2MMA is a revolutionary combat sports promotion that transforms the industry through cutting-edge innovation, advanced technology, and a steadfast commitment to athlete welfare. By integrating artificial intelligence, data-driven insights, and forward-thinking strategies, M2MMA enhances athlete safety, optimizes performance, and redefines the fan experience. Focusing on community engagement and fostering a dynamic future for combat sports, M2MMA stands at the intersection of technology and tradition, driving progress while honoring the sport's rich heritage.

The company is publicly traded on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) of NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "RLAB." 

RLAB/M2MMA is majority controlled by M2Bio Sciences, which is also publicly traded on the Over-the-Counter market under the ticker symbol (OTC Pink: MRES)