MMA

4:44 PM ET Bellator will get a resolution to its light heavyweight title picture before the end of the year. Vadim Nemkov will defend his light heavyweight belt against Corey Anderson in the main event of Bellator 288 on Nov. 18 in Chicago, the promotion announced Monday. The two men met for the title and

1:18 AM ET Throughout his storied martial arts career, Demetrious Johnson has never suffered back-to-back defeats, nor has he ever lost to the same opponent twice. That is still the case following a rematch against Adriano Moraes on Friday. Johnson (24-4-1) delivered arguably one of the best performances of his career Friday, as he knocked

8:08 AM ET The sport of mixed martial arts loves itself a good set of rankings and awards, doesn’t it? Every year, we debate topics such as best fighter, best submission and best knockout. Heck, nearly every week, the UFC awards for performances of the night and fight of the night. We rank athletes within

8:08 AM ET FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — It began with a text message with an invitation to dinner. It was the start of a friendship set up by Shane Victorino. At the time, the two-time Philadelphia Phillies All-Star outfielder didn’t know Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota and UFC featherweight Max Holloway had never met. Victorino

8:00 AM ET Alexander Volkanovski was already hovering near the top of the ESPN pound-for-pound MMA rankings on the strength of last month’s dominant UFC men’s featherweight title defense against former champion Max Holloway. But there was a roadblock standing between Volkanovski and the No. 1 spot. Kamaru Usman had long held that top position,

5:26 PM ET The UFC has announced a middleweight matchup between Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland for UFC Fight Night on Oct. 15. The 185-pound contest, which the UFC announced on Monday, will headline the UFC Fight Night event. The promotion has not revealed a location, but it will most likely take place in Las

Aug 21, 2022 Tony Ferguson‘s return to the cage is imminent. UFC president Dana White said Saturday night that Ferguson will face Li Jingliang at UFC 279 on Sept. 10 in Las Vegas. Sources told ESPN that bout agreements have not yet been signed, but there is a verbal agreement in place. Ferguson will move

Aug 20, 2022 To the surprise of exactly no one, Kayla Harrison has once again clinched a spot in the PFL lightweight finals. Harrison (15-0) submitted Martina Jindrovã (6-2) via arm triangle choke at 1:17 of the first round of their 155-pound semifinals matchup on Saturday in London. Harrison put Jindrovå on her back early

8:36 AM ET We take a look at some of the biggest questions in MMA, starting with Leon Edwards‘ wild upset of Kamaru Usman, and try to separate what’s real and what’s not. SALT LAKE CITY — The fight was all but over. Aside from a takedown and a rear-naked choke attempt in the first

1:03 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — Leon Edwards has shocked the MMA world. With a head kick in the final round of a fight he was losing handily, Edwards knocked out Kamaru Usman to win the UFC welterweight title in the main event of UFC 278 on Saturday night here at Vivint Arena. The

1:27 AM ET As the fifth round progressed in Salt Lake City, the headlines were already being written. With one minute left in the main event, Kamaru Usman had coasted in his title defense against Leon Edwards. Then came the head kick that shocked the world. Edwards became the new UFC welterweight champion with the

Aug 20, 2022 UFC president Dana White said he helped broker a deal for quarterback Tom Brady to play for the Las Vegas Raiders when Brady was a free agent quarterback in 2020, but then-Raiders coach Jon Gruden nullified the deal at the last minute. White was convinced to tell the story by Rob Gronkowski

2:17 AM ET What were the biggest moments at UFC 278? Megan Anderson, Jeff Wagenheim, Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto offer their takeaways from UFC’s return to Salt Lake City. There was less than a minute remaining in Round 5 of the main event at UFC 278 and Leon Edwards was looking like a lifeless

11:13 PM ET SALT LAKE CITY — Kamaru Usman is already being asked about Khamzat Chimaev as a future contender. He has bandied about the idea of moving up two divisions to light heavyweight and challenging for that title. UFC president Dana White wants to put Usman in the greatest of all time conversation. But

11:45 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — The best pound-for-pound fighter in the world will be back in the Octagon this weekend. Kamaru Usman and challenger Leon Edwards successfully made weight Friday morning — both at exactly 170 pounds — for their welterweight title fight in the main event of UFC 278 on Saturday at

8:00 AM ET WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman hasn’t fought in nearly 10 months. Usually, those who follow this sport refer to that amount of time between fights as a “layoff” — but nothing about how Usman chose to spend those 10 months sounds like much of a break. “Everyone says,

9:26 PM ET For the second straight year, Zhang Weili will get a title opportunity at Madison Square Garden. A UFC women’s strawweight title fight between champion Carla Esparza and Zhang, the former champ, has been verbally agreed to for UFC 281 on Nov. 12 in New York, multiple sources confirmed with ESPN. The fight

9:22 AM ET Ian ParkerESPN The final event of the first round of the PFL playoffs will take place this Saturday, as the featherweight and women’s lightweight divisions have their semifinal matchups at Copper Box Arena in London (ESPN and ESPN+ at 2 p.m. ET, prelims on ESPN+ at 1 p.m.). The main event will