MMA

11:00 AM ET Jose Aldo‘s legacy is rich with championships. He reigned with the UFC featherweight belt through a record seven title defenses, and before that, he was the WEC champ. But for the man known as the King of Rio, a notable accomplishment was that he made moments come alive for fans and fellow

6:23 PM ET One of MMA’s all-time greats is calling it a career. Former longtime UFC and WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, 36, has retired from the UFC, his team told ESPN on Sunday. The promotion also announced Aldo’s retirement in a tweet Sunday evening that read in part, “Congratulations @JoseAldoJunior on a legendary run.”

10:51 PM ET What were the biggest moments from this UFC Fight Night? What’s next for one of the bantamweight division’s top contenders? Jeff Wagenheim, Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto offer their takeaways from UFC’s return Saturday night’s fight card. Cory Sandhagen made 14 takedown attempts and was unsuccessful on every one of them until

10:26 PM ET UFC bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen picked up a much-needed victory over Song Yadong at UFC Fight Night on Saturday at the Apex facility in Las Vegas. Sandhagen (15-4) won for the first time since February 2021, earning a TKO when Yadong (19-7-1) was unable to continue due to a cut over his

8:52 AM ET The UFC is back at its Apex facility in Las Vegas this weekend, with a bantamweight main event between Cory Sandhagen and Song Yadong. In addition to the headliner, 33-year-old Chidi Njokuani will make his third UFC appearance against Gregory Rodrigues. Njokuani is far from a beginner in mixed martial arts. He

12:46 PM ET The UFC has rebooked a middleweight main event between Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland for Dec. 17. The 185-pound contest was originally supposed to headline a UFC Fight Night on Oct. 15 in Las Vegas, but Strickland was forced to pull out of that date because of finger surgery. UFC officials confirmed

10:32 AM ET The Professional Fighters League has signed 24-year-old Biaggio Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, to an amateur contract to compete in its tournament finals event in November. Ali Walsh is a former collegiate football player at the University of California, with an amateur MMA record of 1-1. He currently lives and trains

8:11 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a featherweight main event between Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen for a UFC Fight Night on Oct. 29, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Wednesday. Bout agreements have not been signed, but the 145-pound contest is close to being official, sources told ESPN. The UFC Fight Night

7:50 AM ET FOR MAJDI SHAMMAS, the early morning hours of Friday, Sept. 9 in Las Vegas were a manager’s worst nightmare. At approximately 4 a.m. local time, Shammas knew his fighter, Khamzat Chimaev, would not make weight for a UFC 279 main event against Nate Diaz. Chimaev and his team had done all they

8:00 AM ET The ESPN pound-for-pound MMA rankings you see below are only slightly different from the men’s and women’s top 10s we published Aug. 24, the last time our voting panel weighed in. That should come as no shock. There have been only two UFC fight cards and few other major events across the

Sep 12, 2022 ESPN News Services TORONTO — Elias Theodorou, a charismatic mixed martial artist who campaigned successfully for the right to use medical marijuana as an athlete, has died. He was 34. Theodorou’s official twitter account announced on Saturday that the former UFC fighter died Sunday in Toronto of colon cancer that metastasized. Theodorou,

6:59 PM ET The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) announced Monday that it would be launching an investigation, with the help of the UFC, into several fights that broke out backstage before the scheduled UFC 279 news conference last Thursday. UFC president Dana White ended up having to cancel the promotional event because of the

3:09 PM ET Khamzat Chimaev‘s head coach, Andreas Michael, said it was his decision to stop the undefeated fighter’s weight cut last week due to health concerns, but he still expects Chimaev to compete at welterweight. Chimaev (12-0) missed weight for a five-round welterweight main event against Nate Diaz (21-13) last week at UFC 279

2:00 PM ET MADRID — BRANDON MORENO attended a VIP party on Friday, Sept. 2, at the Eiffel Tower. The invitation was made by Ari Emanuel, the CEO of UFC parent company Endeavor. Overlooking the City of Light, the UFC’s interim flyweight champion and his manager, Jason House, chatted with Emanuel hours before UFC Paris.

1:48 AM ET What can we take away from a unique main event at UFC 279 and victories from Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev? Jeff Wagenheim, Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto offer up their thoughts from a highlight-packed event in Las Vegas. The implication behind the term “Plan B” is that it’s a lesser option

12:16 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Khamzat Chimaev missed a major opportunity to take out one of the biggest stars in MMA history Saturday, but he picked up an easy victory at UFC 279. Chimaev (12-0) submitted Kevin Holland (23-8) with a D’Arce choke at 2:13 of the opening round inside T-Mobile Arena. It was

12:55 AM ET LAS VEGAS — When this week started, Nate Diaz‘s opponent was the dominant rising star Khamzat Chimaev — a little parting gift from the UFC as Diaz heads out the door. On Saturday night, with Tony Ferguson as the opponent after a bizarre, unprecedented several days, Diaz will leave the promotion as

5:49 PM ET LAS VEGAS — When Friday ended, the UFC 279 main card was completely different than the one scheduled when the day began. In an unprecedented turn of events, the top three fights set for Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena were all altered by Friday evening, a chain reaction set off by once-headliner