MMA

8:14 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN When an athlete wins a championship, those watching from the stands tend to view the achievement as an arrival at the ultimate destination. Some champions themselves even see it that way. They’ve elevated themselves above the masses, and their reign on higher ground is what will define their legacy. But

12:11 PM ET Sean O’Malley, one of the UFC’s top rising stars, confirmed Friday on his YouTube page that he has signed an eight-fight contract extension with the promotion. The top bantamweight contender didn’t disclose financial details of the deal, but said he negotiated without a manager and felt the UFC gave him the compensation

8:18 AM ET The UFC is will open its third Performance Institute training facility later this year, and the location will be in Mexico City, promotion officials told ESPN. The building is targeted to open in the fourth quarter of 2023. Currently, the UFC has Performance Institutes in Las Vegas and Shanghai, China. While the

8:33 PM ET Kevin Lee is heading back to the UFC, the former lightweight title challenger told ESPN on Monday. Lee, 30, says he has agreed to an exclusive deal with the UFC, a little more than one year after the promotion released him of his contract. Lee has not booked his return to the

2:12 PM ET Over three years since 57,127 fans crammed into Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, the UFC is officially finally back in Australia. Perth’s RAC Arena will on Sunday host UFC 284, headlined by the lightweight title fight between the champion Islam Makhachev and the challenger, Australia’s own Alexander Volkanovski. Will Volkanovski join rarefied company and

8:35 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Rankings are opinions. Opinions are debatable. Except for this one: Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski is the No. 1 fight to watch at this weekend’s UFC 284. There’s simply no other way to stack up the event in Perth, Australia. Makhachev, 23-1 and a winner of his past 21 fights,

2:00 PM ET Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic there was one constant question that plagued Australian MMA fans: When will the UFC return Down Under? This Sunday morning [AEDT], after more than 1,220 days that have come and gone, the Octagon will once again take centre stage on the Australian sporting consciousness when

12:17 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim For the retirement fight of Fedor Emelianenko, one of the greatest ever to compete in mixed martial arts and the icon of an era gone by, there was a who’s who of MMA legends gathered at Bellator 290 in Inglewood, California, on Saturday night to give one of their own

5:15 AM ET Eddie Maisonet The UFC kicked off its February schedule with a heavyweight main event, and Serghei Spivac delivered in a big way. Spivac (16-3) defeated Derrick Lewis (26-11) in the finale of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. “The Polar Bear” submitted Lewis via armbar in the first round, thus

10:21 AM ET Conor McGregor‘s return has been set, as the former UFC double champion will coach against lightweight star Michael Chandler on the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” before facing him in the Octagon. UFC president Dana White announced McGregor and Chandler as the coaches on social media Saturday. No date or location

11:15 AM ET After knocking out Tony Ferguson at UFC 274, Michael Chandler thought it might take a lapse in judgment for the UFC to book a fight with him against Conor McGregor. Instead, a coaching opportunity with The Ultimate Fighter helped put the pieces in motion for a megafight later this year. “If Hunter

10:17 PM ET The UFC has shifted a highly anticipated bantamweight main event between Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen from Feb. 18 to March 25, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. The bout was originally scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night later this month at the Apex in Las Vegas, but will now serve

10:29 AM ET The PFL’s 2023 regular season will officially kick off in April, with a three-week series of events at Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas. The season encompasses six weight classes: heavyweight, light heavyweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and women’s featherweight. The first round of season matchups will take place across three events scheduled on

8:30 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Mixed martial arts is not what it used to be. In its early days, the sport was widely dismissed as a cringey toughman sideshow and relegated to the outcast fringe. For years, MMA was sustained by an obsessive and faithful fan base that mined fight clips from dingy corners of

3:22 PM ET Editor’s note: This story was originally published ahead of UFC 238. Blagoy Ivanov faces Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night on Feb. 4. SAN JOSE, Calif. — A bit shaky, Blagoy Ivanov stood in a doorway at Pirogov Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria, on May 19, 2012. Camera flashes were going off. Questions

7:36 PM ET Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will return to the Octagon against Arnold Allen in April, multiple sources told ESPN on Monday. Both sides have agreed to the 145-pound featherweight matchup, which is expected to headline UFC Fight Night on April 15. The UFC has not officially announced the contest or location

Aug 6, 2021 Editor’s note: This story originally was published in August, ahead of Derrick Lewis’s interim title bout with Ciryl Gane. Lewis lost that one and is back this Saturday, facing Chris Daukaus. It was Oct. 6, 2018, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Derrick Lewis was losing badly, on the verge of one

10:57 AM ET The UFC is getting into the name, image and likeness (NIL) business. The world’s biggest fight promotion has signed Bella Mir, daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, as its first-ever NIL ambassador, officials told ESPN on Friday. Bella Mir, 19, is a freshman at the University of Iowa and competes