MMA

8:00 AM ET Gilbert Burns sat at the podium of the UFC 287 postfight press conference on April 8 and issued the UFC an ultimatum: Book him a title fight next or just release him from his contract. “I’m not asking, I’m demanding,” said Burns, who had just beat Jorge Masvidal in the main event

10:59 AM ET Israel Adesanya says he suffered a Grade 1 MCL tear the week before his unforgettable knockout of Alex Pereira at UFC 287 earlier this month in Miami. Adesanya (24-2) revealed the injury via his YouTube channel Wednesday, including video of how it happened. The injury occurred when Adesanya’s leg buckled awkwardly underneath

Apr 25, 2023 Song Yadong meets Ricky Simon in the bantamweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The main card at the UFC Apex is on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET, preceded by prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+ at 4 p.m. Song (19-7-1, 1 NC) is coming off a fourth-round

12:38 PM ET Brendan Loughnane and Rob Wilkinson will look to continue their quests for back-to-back PFL championships on June 8, in the second round of the promotion’s regular-season matchups. Loughnane (27-4) will face Jesus Pinedo (20-6-1) in a featherweight main event of PFL 4. Wilkinson (18-2) will take on Will Fleury (12-3) in a

4:14 PM ET Demetrious Johnson hasn’t made a decision just yet, but the former longtime UFC champion said his upcoming fight could be the last of his storied career. The all-time great MMA fighter will defend his ONE Championship 135-pound title against Adriano Moraes in a trilogy bout May 5 in Colorado. It’ll be ONE’s

7:41 PM ET The New Orleans Police Department issued an arrest warrant Monday for former UFC star Nate Diaz on suspicion of second-degree battery, police spokesperson Karen Boudrie confirmed to ESPN. Diaz is not in custody, Boudrie said. Diaz was involved in a brawl last week on Bourbon Street following a Misfits boxing card in

9:27 AM ET UFC president Dana White went on a fight-announcement spree last week, setting up co-main-event bouts for the next two upcoming pay-per-views and filling out what looks to be a deep UFC 290 card in July during International Fight Week. The rest of the summer, though, is a bit of a mystery. The

1:32 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim One stunning knee earned Patchy Mix two championship belts. Mix landed a knee to the chin of Raufeon Stots barely a minute into the Bellator 295 main event on Saturday night in Honolulu, taking away Stots’ interim bantamweight championship in a bout that also served as the final of the

9:39 PM ET The UFC has a new heavyweight knockout king. Sergei Pavlovich flattened Curtis Blaydes via TKO at 3:08 of the first round Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Pavlovich has six straight first-round KO/TKO victories, extending his own modern-day UFC record. He is tied for second with

1:20 AM ET Bellator MMA flyweight champion Liz Carmouche defended her title for the second time on Friday by submitting challenger DeAnna Bennett via arm triangle choke at 4:29 of the fourth round. The 125-pound title fight headlined Bellator 294 inside Neal S. Blaisdell Centre in Honolulu. It was a unique situation in that it

8:19 PM ET The UFC has booked a No. 1 contender matchup at middleweight between former champion Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 in July, UFC president Dana White announced on Friday. In a video posted to social media, White said Whittaker and Du Plessis will square off on July 8 in

9:19 AM ET Marc Raimondi Ian Parker The UFC is the biggest MMA promotion in the world, with the majority of the planet’s top fighters. One look at most pound-for-pound lists makes that clear. However, there are a ton of talented fighters in other organizations. And over the past few years, many exceptional combat athletes

5:21 AM ET The UFC has announced it will return to London to stage a Fight Night on July 22. The MMA promotion was last in English capital in March when Leon Edwards (21-3) recorded his first defense of the UFC’s 170-pound championship in front of a home crowd at O2 Arena, earning a majority

9:37 PM ET UFC president Dana White went on a fight announcement spree Thursday night, making official several big upcoming bouts including a pair of pay-per-view co-main events. Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad will meet in a short-notice welterweight contender bout that will act as the co-headliner of UFC 288 on May 6 in Newark,

9:46 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Raufeon Stots has been tested repeatedly in the past year — as a fighter and owner of an unfailingly positive attitude. Shortly before the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix began last April, Stots had to move his fight preparation to a gym halfway across the country from where he’d been

Mar 14, 2023 Conor McGregor is back, lending his star power to the long-running reality TV show that might well have saved the UFC. “The Ultimate Fighter” was an instrumental force during the UFC’s explosion of popularity in the early 2000s, shining a spotlight on fighters such as Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and

2:08 PM ET Former UFC fighter Karl Roberson was arrested in New Jersey for his alleged involvement in a theft of more than $200,000 worth of jewelry and valuables from a home, the Howell Township (New Jersey) Police Department announced Saturday. Roberson, 32, is being charged with burglary, theft, criminal mischief, possession of a controlled

9:04 PM ET The next UFC women’s bantamweight No. 1 contender will likely be decided next month. Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana will meet in a rematch May 20 in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas, the promotion announced Tuesday. The two fought in July 2019, with Pennington winning