MMA

12:49 AM ET HOUSTON — Ciryl Gane is a living, breathing representation of the evolution of mixed martial arts. He’s a poised, smooth and tactical heavyweight who moves like a man two to three weight classes below him. He was born in France, a place that just legalized the sport of MMA last year. Gane

5:28 PM ET Marc Raimondi Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun HOUSTON — Derrick Lewis, who will headline Saturday’s UFC 265 main event against Ciryl Gane, got his first UFC title shot three years ago against Daniel Cormier. The self-deprecating slugger

8:05 AM ET Things are changing in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Over the past 10 years, the weight class has revolved around a handful of familiar names — relatively older names at that. For a long time, this small collection of veterans held off the up-and-comers and battled for the UFC championship among themselves. That

11:15 AM ET HOUSTON – Everything is bigger in Texas – including this weekend’s super-sized UFC main event. Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane both weighed in successfully Friday morning for their UFC interim heavyweight title bout. Lewis weighed 264.5 pounds and Gane came in at 247. The two men will meet Saturday night in the

8:00 AM ET It was Oct. 6, 2018, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Derrick Lewis was losing badly, on the verge of one of the worst losses of his career. Six-foot-7 Russian heavyweight Alexander Volkov was seconds away from victory. To add insult to dominance, Volkov was talking trash midfight. When Lewis’ cornermen were

5:13 PM ET Fedor Emelianenko has an opponent for his homecoming fight. The all-time great MMA heavyweight will fight Tim Johnson on Oct. 23 in Moscow, Russia, Bellator announced Thursday. Emelianenko has not fought in his home country for five years and has not competed in Moscow in a decade. The bout is part of

12:48 PM ET The UFC’s first-ever women’s flyweight champion is no longer with the promotion. Nicco Montaño was released by the UFC this week, officials confirmed with ESPN on Wednesday. The decision comes on the heels of Montaño missing weight last Friday by 7 pounds, forcing the cancellation of her scheduled fight with Wu Yanan

10:05 PM ET The UFC is targeting a flyweight bout between Joanne Calderwood and Alexa Grasso for a UFC Fight Night on Nov. 20, sources said Monday. The bout is not yet official but is in the process of being finalized, sources said. The UFC has not announced an event or location for the date,

7:30 AM ET Mike Coppinger Marc Raimondi If Derrick Lewis beats Ciryl Gane in the UFC 265 main event Saturday night in Houston to capture the interim heavyweight title, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him scan the crowd for a familiar face. And he wouldn’t necessarily be searching for heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, who

1:44 PM ET Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will return to the Octagon in November. Rockhold (16-5) has agreed to face Sean Strickland (24-3) at UFC 268 on Nov. 6, multiple sources told ESPN. The UFC has not announced a location for the pay-per-view event, but the current target is New York City. The

Aug 4, 2021 After recently returning to Africa for the first time in nearly 30 years, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman told ESPN that an MMA event on the continent could be even bigger than the legendary Rumble in the Jungle. Usman, who became the first UFC champion from Africa when he defeated Tyron Woodley

7:52 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim In 2019, the last time the Professional Fighters League staged their playoffs and crowned six $1 million winners, the champion of each division looked indomitable on their title runs. Now, after a lost 2020 season because of the COVID pandemic, the PFL is back with playoff semifinals set for three

10:02 PM ET The UFC is close to finalizing a middleweight main event between former title challengers Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori in October, multiple sources told ESPN. The 185-pound bout is expected to headline UFC Fight Night on Oct. 23. UFC officials have not announced an official location for the event. Costa (13-1) has

10:17 PM ET Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is officially headed to a new weight class in 2021. Garbrandt (12-4) will take on New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France (22-9) in a non-title flyweight bout on Dec. 11, multiple sources told ESPN. The UFC has not yet announced an official event or location for that date,

11:28 PM ET The UFC has added a high-profile lightweight matchup between Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev to UFC 267. Both sides have agreed to the 155-pound contest, which will take place on Oct. 30. The UFC has not announced a venue for the event, but it is expected to take place in Abu

7:38 AM ET UFC 265 is set for Saturday and offers an interim heavyweight title clash as the headlining fight. Derrick Lewis faces Ciryl Gane in the main event, and if he’s able to win, Lewis would improve on one of the most impressive heavyweight resumes in UFC history. With so many big wins, including

12:47 AM ET INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Los Angeles, and the sport of mixed martial arts, has a new star athlete. The undefeated A.J. McKee submitted Patricio “Pitbull” Freire via guillotine choke at just 1 minute, 57 seconds of the first round to win the Bellator featherweight title Saturday night in the main event of Bellator

2:50 PM ET One of the biggest events in recent Bellator history is coming to the desert. The Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix semifinals will take place on the same card Oct. 16 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, sources told ESPN on Saturday. The event will be headlined by the semifinal bout between Bellator