MMA

8:38 AM ET Clay Collard will try to continue his march toward a PFL title on June 17, when he takes on Alexander Martinez in Atlanta. PFL officials announced the lightweight matchup Wednesday. The event, which takes place at OTE Arena, marks the second round of regular-season action. Collard (21-9) is on a mission in

7:47 PM ET Manel Kape is free to compete at UFC 275 following an atypical drug-test finding last month. But he will not yet be licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The NSAC ruled Tuesday at a hearing during its monthly meeting that Kape must undergo six more months of drug testing before being

11:48 AM ET The two-sport plan for WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight champion Claressa Shields over the next 18 months is starting to take shape, but it’s no longer clear whether it will include an undisputed middleweight title fight against WBO champion Savannah Marshall. Shields told ESPN on Tuesday that a possible fight with Marshall,

9:50 PM ET Aleksandar Rakic tore the ACL in his right knee in a UFC Fight Night main event loss to Jan Blachowicz last Saturday in Las Vegas, Rakic’s manager Marcelo Brigadeiro confirmed to ESPN on Monday evening. Early in the third round, Rakic took a step back following a Blachowicz combination. When Rakic planted

May 16, 2022 UFC lightweight Islam Makhachev wants to face Charles Oliveira for the vacant title in October, and believes he will beat the Brazilian at his own game of submission grappling. Makhachev (22-1) is expected to fight Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, located in a predominantly Muslim region where he is

1:43 PM ET Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was denied bail again Monday in his attempted murder case at a motion hearing in Santa Clara (California) County, per the court. Judge Shelyna Brown decided against allowing Velasquez bail for a second time, citing Velasquez’s “reckless disregard for human life.” Brown first denied Velasquez bail

8:51 AM ET With big fights happening every week and new champions being crowned along with current championship forging their legacy, it’s easy to forget that Kamaru Usman is still the pound-for-pound best in MMA today. But is it possible for Usman to catch a former pound-for-pound champ and arguably the greatest ever welterweight in

1:10 AM ET Jan Blachowicz‘s journey back to the UFC title got off to an odd start. But the former champ will certainly take it. Blachowicz defeated Aleksandar Rakic via TKO at 1:11 of the third round after Rakic suffered an injury to his right knee. Blachowicz landed a combination and Rakic took a step

7:29 PM ET Connor O’Halloran LONDON — Logan Storley claimed the interim Bellator Welterweight title in London on Friday with a split-decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46) victory over Michael “Venom” Page at the OVO Arena Wembley. Page was looking to become just the third-ever British fighter to become a world champion in MMA, following Michael Bisping

8:06 AM ET With UFC 274 officially in the rearview mirror, it’s time to recalibrate and reassess what’s at stake for the next few months in the sport. The lightweight division put on a show last weekend, as Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler secured big wins to keep their names front and center for wearing

2:28 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a welterweight matchup between Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal for Aug. 5, sources told ESPN Thursday. Contracts have not been signed but the bout has been verbally agreed to. The UFC has not announced an official location for the UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 6. Luque (21-8-1)

Mar 3, 2021 Editor’s note: Jan Blachowicz defeated Israel Adesanya to retain the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 259, but lost the title to Glover Teixeira at UFC 267. Blachowicz faces Aleksandar Rakic at UFC Fight Night on May 14. DOROTA JURKOWSKA WAS sitting in her home in Warsaw, Poland, in the middle of

8:49 PM ET The UFC is moving forward with an interim flyweight title fight on July 30, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday. Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France will meet for the interim belt at UFC 277 at a location to be announced, sources said. It will mark the second time Moreno and Kara-France square

3:38 PM ET The UFC has rebooked a lightweight bout between fan favorites Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Joe Lauzon for June 18, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. The fight was supposed to take place last weekend, at UFC 274 in Phoenix. Both lightweights made weight on Friday, but the bout was postponed on the day

May 7, 2022 The UFC is finalizing a middleweight bout between Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold for UFC 277, sources told ESPN on Saturday. Contracts have not been signed, but both sides have agreed to the bout. UFC 277 will take place on July 30 at a location to be announced. Costa (13-2) is looking

7:00 AM ET A lot happened during the 3 minutes, 22 seconds of the UFC 274 main event. Charles Oliveira had his arm raised in the end, but along the way to that big moment he got knocked down twice and bloodied by Justin Gaethje. But the biggest hit came after Oliveira finished the fight

8:50 AM ET That was a wild week in the UFC’s lightweight division, yeah? Sheesh. Charles Oliveira turns in another sublime performance. Michael Chandler with the knockout — and callout — of the decade. And after all that, we have a vacant title at 155 pounds. We’re back where we started when Khabib Nurmagomedov retired

May 7, 2022 PHOENIX — The UFC’s Hall of Fame will welcome former two-weight champion Daniel Cormier into its wings this summer. The UFC announced Cormier’s looming induction into the Hall of Fame on Saturday. Cormier, 43, was working the commentary booth at UFC 274 inside the Footprint Center and got caught by surprise. Born