MMA

7:51 AM ET MIAMI – Israel Adesanya tweeted a pro wrestling promo from 2001 on April 1, one week before his UFC middleweight title main event against Alex Pereira. The promo, one of the most famous in WWE (then WWF) history, featured The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin ahead of their WrestleMania 17 match

6:18 PM ET While this weekend gave UFC fans plenty to talk about and look forward to, the UFC 287 main event left us with one important question: Where does Israel Adesanya‘s middleweight championship win over Alex Pereira place him among the top pound-for-pound fighters? Beyond last weekend’s card, two upcoming fight announcements also sparked

11:22 PM ET Robbie Lawler‘s UFC welterweight title defense against Rory MacDonald in July 2015 is widely considered one of the best fights in mixed martial arts history. The UFC will honor it as such when it inducts the bout into its Hall of Fame this summer. The UFC announced Saturday the 170-pound title bout,

6:34 PM ET MIAMI — A heavyweight bout has been removed from the UFC’s prelim card Saturday. Chase Sherman has a medical issue and is out of a scheduled matchup with Karl Williams at UFC 287 here at Kaseya Center, the UFC announced at the start of the broadcast. Editor’s Picks Sherman (16-11) has dropped

5:29 PM ET The UFC is targeting a featherweight title unification bout for its annual International Fight Week in Las Vegas. According to multiple sources, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and interim champion Yair Rodriguez have verbally agreed to square off at UFC 290 on July 8. Contracts have not been issued or signed. The 145-pound

3:57 PM ET Middleweight super prospect Bo Nickal has booked his next assignment in the UFC. Nickal (4-0) will face Tresean Gore at UFC 290 on July 8 in Las Vegas. Nickal announced the fight with one of his sponsors, betr. Gore has also referenced the matchup on social media. A three-time NCAA Division I

1:43 AM ET Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, Jeff Wagenheim and Mike Coppinger react to the biggest moments at UFC 287 and offer thoughts on what might be ahead for the standouts in Miami. Raimondi: Masvidal’s ultimate rags-to-riches story is bigger than that MIAMI — Jorge Masvidal put his fists on top of his head as

12:54 AM ET MIAMI — Israel Adesanya didn’t just exorcise his demons. He put them to sleep. Alex Pereira beat Adesanya three times, twice in kickboxing and twice by knockout. On Saturday night, Adesanya returned the favor and got the albatross off from around his neck for good. Adesanya knocked out Pereira with several brutal

12:47 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Jorge Masvidal started his fighting career in Miami. On Saturday night, he decided it was time to end it in the same place. Masvidal (35-17) retired from mixed martial arts Saturday, immediately following a unanimous-decision loss to 36-year-old Gilbert Burns (22-5) at UFC 287. Just last year, Masvidal, 38, had

11:14 PM ET MIAMI — In a battle of prospects, Christian Rodriguez showed age does indeed matter. Rodriguez came back from losing the first round to win a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over the previously undefeated Raul Rosas Jr. to open the UFC 287 main card Saturday at Kaseya Center. Rosas has been one

2:15 PM ET MIAMI — Alex Pereira defends his middleweight championship against Israel Adesanya in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 287, a rematch of their November fight in which Pereira took away the belt via knockout. The main card will be on ESPN+ pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPN, ESPN

12:51 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim It would be convenient to say Larissa Pacheco has a lighter lift this season. She won the PFL women’s lightweight 2022 season championship last November, earning the $1 million bonus the hard way with a stunning upset of previously undefeated Kayla Harrison, who had beaten her the first two times

4:27 PM ET The UFC is heading back to Canada for the first time in nearly four years. Vancouver will be the host to the UFC 289 pay-per-view event on June 10, the promotion announced Friday afternoon. No main event has been officially announced yet. The UFC has not visited Canada since before the COVID-19

7:49 AM ET MIAMI — IT’S A BALMY Monday evening at the newly renamed Kaseya Center downtown, and Jorge Masvidal is looking for a legal parking spot for his classic dark blue Lincoln Continental convertible. He takes a right off Biscayne Boulevard and stops on a relatively quiet side road. Masvidal thinks the car should

7:53 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN One after another, the shiny brass-and-leather belts and oversized $1 million checks had been handed out. The 2022 PFL’s season-ending night of glory last November in New York had seen five fighters earn championships in as many weight classes. All that was left of this jamboree was the evening’s sixth

7:50 PM ET MIAMI — Jorge Masvidal said he is not sure how his rival Colby Covington is set for the next UFC welterweight title shot given legal claims Covington has made in a criminal case against Masvidal. Masvidal is facing felony charges of aggravated battery and criminal mischief stemming from an alleged attack on

9:59 AM ET A heavyweight matchup between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and surging prospect Jailton Almeida will headline a UFC Fight Night on May 13, officials announced this week. The event is scheduled to take place at Spectrum Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. It will mark the UFC’s fourth trip to Charlotte and its first since January

8:43 AM ET Alex Pereira stood with his back to the fence inside the UFC’s Octagon at Madison Square Garden. It was right before the start of the fifth and final round of a title fight in front of a sellout crowd. Pereira looked across the cage at his opponent, then-UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya,