MMA

9:02 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Five of the last six UFC pay-per-view fight cards have been headlined by not just one championship bout but a pair of them. That’s a lot of gold and glory on the line. By contrast, UFC 279 will have not even a single title contest. What Saturday’s event in Las

7:09 PM ET What were the biggest moments at UFC Paris? Jeff Wagenheim, Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi offer up their takeaways from a highlight-packed event in France. For the first eight minutes of Saturday’s UFC main event in Paris, you could have fit the Arc de Triomphe in the space between Ciryl Gane and

6:42 PM ET PARIS — The city of love turned into the city of fisticuffs Saturday, and native son Ciryl Gane put an exclamation point on a historic event. Gane, the former UFC interim heavyweight champion, knocked out Tai Tuivasa at 4:23 of the third round in the epic main event of UFC Paris, the

1:52 PM ET PARIS — UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou told ESPN on Friday that the most realistic timetable for his return to competition is early 2023. Some reports had surfaced that the UFC was hoping that Ngannou, who had knee surgery to repair his right ACL and MCL in March, would be back by

Tai Tuivasa and coach Shaun Sullivan go back a long way. Growing up playing rugby league in western Sydney — Sullivan played with one of Tuivasa’s older brothers — their sporting endeavors have long been intertwined. Now, more than a decade on from when a 15-year-old Tuivasa was the second heaviest player at Penrith Panthers

Aug 22, 2022 The UFC will pack a big punch for its Paris debut when top-10 heavyweight strikers Ciryl Gane and Tai Tuivasa headline Fight Night on Saturday. The fights at Accor Arena are on ESPN+, with the 3 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at noon. Gane (10-1) will be trying to bounce

5:56 PM ET Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker insists the best fights of his career are ahead of him, saying he’s hungrier than ever as he prepares to face Marvin Vettori in Paris this weekend. It has been nearly seven months since Whittaker lost to fierce rival Israel Adesanya for a second time, albeit

8:00 AM ET The 2022 PFL finals are set for Nov. 25 at a location still to be announced. The finalists in six weight classes include several familiar faces, as well as some new ones. It has been an interesting season, with plenty of upsets befalling some of the promotion’s biggest homegrown names and free

11:24 PM ET UFC middleweight Sean Strickland has been forced out of a scheduled bout against Jared Cannonier in October due to a finger injury. Strickland (25-4) revealed the injury on his social media on Tuesday. The Las Vegas-based middleweight said he was about to undergo a “minor” procedure on his finger that he said

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