MMA

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterMay 11, 2024, 06:43 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions It’s hard to remain unbeaten in mixed martial arts, especially once a fighter has reached a major promotion. This weekend’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas will

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 13, 2024, 02:20 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal’s upcoming encounter inside a boxing ring has a new date and venue. Diaz vs. Masvidal, originally slated for June 1 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, will now relocate to the Honda Center in Anaheim and take place

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 11, 2024, 10:42 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Derrick Lewis extended his lead as the all-time knockout leader of the UFC’s heavyweight division with a third-round TKO of Rodrigo Nascimento in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis And in true Derrick Lewis fashion, after

Ryan HockensmithMay 9, 2024, 01:01 PM ET Close Ryan Hockensmith is a Penn State graduate who joined ESPN in 2001. He is a survivor of bacterial meningitis, which caused him to have multiple amputation surgeries on his feet. He is a proud advocate for those with disabilities and addiction issues. He covers everything from the

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 9, 2024, 05:25 PM ET Open Extended Reactions UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has made it clear that he wants to face former champion Stipe Miocic next and has dismissed a unification bout with interim champion Tom Aspinall. “I’m in the middle of a pretty clear decision,” Jones said on X. “Stick

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 8, 2024, 01:12 PM ET Open Extended Reactions UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is willing to do whatever it takes to land a fight with Conor McGregor in what could be one of the biggest fights in UFC history. O’Malley appeared on Bradley Martyn’s “Raw Talk” podcast and revealed that he would

Mike Coppinger, ESPNMay 7, 2024, 09:06 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced Tuesday the signing of a “strategic agreement” between Riyadh Season and the UFC that extends their partnership. Alalshikh told ESPN there are plans to stage a major UFC event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 5, 2024, 01:31 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Alexandre Pantoja turned back a formidable challenge from Steve Erceg to earn a unanimous decision and retain the UFC flyweight championship in the main event of UFC 301 on Saturday night. Fighting in front of his fellow countrymen at the Farmasi Arena in Rio

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterMay 7, 2024, 12:12 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Conor McGregor and Sean O’Malley have shown a mutual respect and even admiration for each other for years — but those days appear to be over. Editor’s

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterApr 29, 2024, 05:58 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Former UFC heavyweight champion and professional boxer Francis Ngannou publicly mourned the death of his 15-month-old son on Monday. Ngannou, 37, wrote a tribute to his son, Kobe, on all

Brett Okamoto Close Brett Okamoto ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Andreas Hale Apr 29, 2024, 09:15 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The UFC heads back to Brazil on Saturday night to follow up on the wildly successful UFC 300 card. Although UFC 301

Andreas Hale, ESPNApr 28, 2024, 01:20 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Conor McGregor‘s empire is expanding. The former two-division UFC champion is now a part-owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships, he announced during the BKFC KnuckleMania 4 card Saturday night. “‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor here,” McGregor said in a video that aired before the evening’s

Andreas Hale, ESPNApr 27, 2024, 10:12 PM ET Open Extended Reactions LAS VEGAS — Alex Perez scored a scintillating second-round knockout of Matheus Nicolau in a battle of flyweights jockeying for title contention Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex. Ranked No. 8 by the UFC, Perez (25-8 MMA,

Andres Waters, ESPNApr 26, 2024, 08:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions MMA is still a relatively new professional sport, but it has created plenty of historical moments, and the UFC, the sport’s most recognizable promotion, has developed countless stars. Many fighters have built impressive records, highlight reels full of wild knockouts and crazy submissions and

ESPN Apr 22, 2024, 02:57 PM ET Email Print Open Extended Reactions Matheus Nicolau meets Alex Perez in the men’s flyweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The main card at UFC Apex will be on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+ at

Jeff Wagenheim Apr 23, 2024, 12:15 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Bellator MMA’s event in Paris next month is down to one title bout, but the fight card has added the anticipated debut of a popular Frenchman. The PFL, which owns Bellator, said undefeated lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov has withdrawn from his title defense against

Andreas Hale Apr 22, 2024, 11:59 AM ET Open Extended Reactions WWE, in partnership with the UFC, has announced that NXT Battleground will take place at the UFC Apex on Sunday, June 9 in Las Vegas. This will mark the first-ever WWE event that will be hosted at the 130,000-square foot production facility, home of

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNApr 21, 2024, 01:28 PM ET Open Extended Reactions It’s been over a week since UFC 300, and the sport is still abuzz. What keeps this milestone evening of fights at the forefront of fans’ minds, in part, is the juicy array of questions it poses. Was UFC 300 the greatest event in