MMA

5:47 PM ET David Purdum Close ESPN Staff Writer Joined ESPN in 2014 Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008 Marc Raimondi Fighters who remain involved with MMA coach James Krause will be temporarily banned from participating in UFC events, pending several investigations into suspicious betting activity, the UFC announced Friday. The Nevada State Athletic Commission

1:14 PM ET The world’s preeminent fight promotion and one of the world’s most important soccer leagues are teaming up. The UFC and LaLiga North America announced a partnership Thursday that includes social media and digital collaboration and promoting each other’s brands. The UFC will send fighters to Spain for LaLiga events three times a

1:13 PM ET Betting on the UFC has been banned at Ontario sportsbooks due to integrity concerns. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) on Thursday ordered registered entities to stop offering and accepting wagering on the UFC “due to non-compliance with AGCO’s betting integrity requirements” The AGCO, which oversees the regulated gaming industry

Nov 21, 2022 Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson meets Kevin Holland in the welterweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The event is the UFC’s annual “Fight Like Hell” Night, dedicated to the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund, established in memory of the ESPN personality who died of cancer in 2015.

2:10 PM ET Nate Diaz‘s time with the UFC is officially over. At least for now. The longtime UFC fighter and one of the biggest stars in MMA has officially been removed from the UFC roster, promotion officials confirmed with ESPN on Tuesday. MMA Fighting was the first to report the news. The final fight

12:57 PM ET Professional Fighters League co-founder Donn Davis says he believes a fight between two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison and MMA legend Cris “Cyborg” Justino is actually more likely to happen in 2023 following Harrison’s stunning upset loss to Larissa Pacheco last week in the PFL lightweight finals. Harrison (15-1) was set to capture

9:12 AM ET The UFC returns to Florida this weekend for the first time since UFC 273 in April. UFC Fight Night takes place at Orlando’s Amway Center on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET on ESPN+) with an intriguing card for fight fans to peruse. This will be the first UFC Fight Night event held

2:00 AM ET UFC star Conor McGregor is not currently in the promotion’s drug-testing pool and will likely need to be in the pool for six months before competing again, a spokesperson for USADA, the UFC’s anti-doping partner, told ESPN on Saturday. McGregor, the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, has been out of action

1:20 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Kayla Harrison, the two-time defending PFL women’s lightweight champion and the promotion’s most dominant fighter, is undefeated no more. Larissa Pacheco, who twice before had faced Harrison and had lost both times, got a stunning victory in her third crack at Harrison on Friday night in New York. The fight

Nov 22, 2022 UFC middleweight Derek Brunson has been forced out of his upcoming bout against Jack Hermansson due to an undisclosed injury, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. Brunson (23-8) was supposed to face Hermansson (23-7) in a highly ranked bout at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 3 in Orlando, Florida. The UFC already has

Nov 23, 2022 Ian ParkerESPN The 2022 PFL season comes to an end Friday, as all six weight classes will crown a champion at the PFL World Championships at Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York (ESPN+ PPV at 8 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m.). In the main event,

1:57 PM ET Conor McGregor‘s longtime teammate and friend is suing him for millions, claiming he was instrumental in launching McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve whiskey brand. Artem Lobov, a UFC veteran, filed a lawsuit in Ireland’s High Court on Tuesday, asserting that he was a founder of the company and has not been given his

8:05 PM ET UFC light heavyweight Glover Teixeira confirmed to ESPN the UFC offered him a title fight against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282 on Dec. 10, and that he did in fact turn it down. Teixeira (33-8) was scheduled to challenge Jiri Prochazka (33-7) for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 282, but Prochazka

7:24 PM ET UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira says he went into his title fight against Israel Adesanya at less than 100%. Pereira told ESPN Brazil’s Gustavo Faldon in an interview Wednesday that he suffered torn ligaments in his right middle finger two months ago and couldn’t grapple for two to three weeks during his

4:53 PM ET UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka has vacated his 205-pound championship after suffering a severe shoulder injury, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Wednesday. Prochazka (29-3-1) was scheduled to defend his title against Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC 282 on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas. The 30-year-old light

Nov 22, 2022 Professional wrestling’s brightest up-and-coming star has been butting heads with one of the top prospects in MMA on social media — and it could turn into a real-life confrontation. After a social media encounter with rising UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett, AEW world champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman (better known as MJF) told ESPN

7:07 PM ET Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was cleared Tuesday by a California court to perform on a professional wrestling show for the Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA, according to court records. Velasquez, 40, is still facing charges in an attempted murder case in Santa Clara County, and Tuesday’s decision comes less than

7:16 PM ET The UFC has added a highly ranked welterweight matchup between Gilbert Burns and Neil Magny to its UFC 282 pay-per-view on Jan. 21, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. The 170-pound bout should be finalized shortly. UFC 282 will take place at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Burns (20-5) recently accused UFC