MMA

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 24, 2023, 11:28 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The PFL has suspended former lightweight champions Natan Schulte and Raush Manfio from its 2023 playoffs, following their substandard fight at PFL 6 on Friday in Atlanta. Schulte (25-5-1) defeated

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 24, 2023, 01:07 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun ATLANTA — Sadibou Sy just continues to establish himself as the man to beat in the PFL’s welterweight division — and looks really good doing it. Sy (15-6-2) secured his

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJun 23, 2023, 12:18 PM ET Rose Namajunas will make her debut in a new weight class in an iconic city. The former two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion is moving up to flyweight to fight contender Manon Fiorot of France at UFC Paris on Sept. 2., sources confirmed to ESPN on

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJun 23, 2023, 07:22 AM ET Ilia Topuria walked out of the tunnel onto the soccer pitch of the 100-year-old Estadio de Mestalla in Valencia, Spain, last Sept. 4, alongside fellow UFC fighter Brandon Moreno. The home team, Valencia CF, was warming up for its game that night against Getafe CF.

Jeff Wagenheim Jun 22, 2023, 09:21 AM ET Shane Burgos does not want to be the next Rory MacDonald or Anthony Pettis. He doesn’t want to be like Thiago Santos or Krysztof Jotko. Like Burgos, all of those fighters arrived in the PFL with notable résumés built on stints in the UFC. It didn’t go

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJun 21, 2023, 11:46 PM ET A pair of elite bantamweights will scrap in Beantown. Rob Font and Song Yadong have verbally agreed to a 135-pound contender fight at UFC 292 on Aug. 19 in Boston, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. Bout agreements have not yet been sent out, sources

Megan Anderson Jun 21, 2023, 08:35 AM ET The UFC will take center stage in front of a national audience this weekend as the promotion hosts UFC Fight Night on Saturday (3 p.m. on ABC/ESPN+, with prelims at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN/ESPN+). The fight card will be headlined by former interim featherweight title challenger Josh

Jun 20, 2023, 10:21 AM ET The 2023 ESPYS presented by Capital One are finally here. It’s time to decide which of your favorite athletes will win the show’s biggest awards. The nominees for Best Driver: Leon Edwards Jon Jones Islam Makhachev Amanda Nunes Your selections help determine the ESPYS winners! Vote now and tune

Andres Waters Jun 20, 2023, 12:34 PM ET We’re officially at the midpoint of the first round for “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 31, and Michael Chandler‘s team remains undefeated. Meanwhile, Conor McGregor‘s team has yet to win a round through four fights. Team Chandler’s Timur Valiev was the fourth consecutive UFC veteran to get a

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJun 20, 2023, 01:41 PM ET The Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz boxing match Aug. 5 in Dallas will now be contested over 10 rounds, after initially being booked for eight. The two fighters agreed to the change last week after Diaz proposed it, and on Tuesday, the Texas Department of

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJun 20, 2023, 04:50 PM ET One of the biggest non-title fights at strawweight the UFC can make will go down this summer. Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade will face the undefeated Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event of UFC Nashville on Aug. 5, the promotion announced Tuesday. Suarez

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 19, 2023, 11:27 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The UFC is finalizing a flyweight matchup between Kai Kara-France and Manel Kape for UFC 293 in Sydney, multiple sources told ESPN. The 125-pound bout will take place at UFC

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 19, 2023, 09:20 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The UFC is adding a pivotal bantamweight contest between former champ Henry Cejudo and Marlon “Chito” Vera to its UFC 292 lineup in August, UFC president Dana White told ESPN

Jun 19, 2023, 09:29 AM ET After Bellator 297 concluded on Friday night, Scott Coker made a statement about the state of the light heavyweight division across MMA. “Vadim Nemkov, to me, is the best 205-pounder on the planet,” proclaimed the Bellator MMA president. “In any MMA league, including the UFC’s 205ers.” The fact that

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 18, 2023, 01:47 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Former UFC title challenger Jared Cannonier turned in one of the top performances in middleweight history on Saturday, as he set a new divisional record for strikes landed in a

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 15, 2023, 07:52 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will get his wish, as he’ll face Chan Sung Jung in the main event of UFC Fight Night in August. The UFC announced the

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 15, 2023, 07:33 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun A massive heavyweight fight between Ciryl Gane and Serghei Spivac will headline UFC Fight Night on Sept. 2 in Paris, the UFC announced on Thursday. Gane (11-2), who is from

Jun 17, 2023, 12:45 AM ET There’s plenty of action across MMA over the weekend with PFL Regular Season: Heavyweights and Women’s Featherweights and Bellator 297 in Chicago on Friday night and UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday. In Friday’s action, defending champions Ante Delija and Larissa Pacheco got wins, but only one