MMA

Feb 17, 2022 Prior to UFC 271, Tai Tuivasa was just a big man with a fun gimmick. The 28-year-old Australian heavyweight had won four fights in a row, but with none of those wins having come against a ranked opponent, Tuivasa was best known for his signature victory celebration: drinking beer out of a

9:00 AM ET Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev meet in the light heavyweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. It is a crossroads fight in some respects, as the 38-year-old Santos is nearly three years removed from an unsuccessful challenge for the UFC’s 205-pound title and Ankalaev, 29, is one

9:30 AM ET The hottest free agent in MMA has chosen her home for 2022. And it’s the same as her previous home. Kayla Harrison, a two-time Olympic judo champion, has re-signed with PFL, ESPN has confirmed. Bellator made her a lucrative offer earlier this year, but PFL had the right to match any offer

7:53 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Kamaru Usman stood on stage Friday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena, his daughter Samirah next to him. The UFC welterweight champion and ESPN’s pound-for-pound MMA king was participating in a question-and-answer session with UFC interviewer Megan Olivi ahead of the UFC 272 ceremonial weigh-ins. Usman was asked if the winner

4:11 PM ET UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou‘s first title defense will come against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January, Ngannou’s manager, Marquel Martin, confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. Contracts are not yet signed by both parties, however both sides have agreed. The fight is expected to be finalized shortly and headline a pay-per-view

4:02 PM ET In the wake of a fighter’s death, the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC) medical advisory committee has issued a statement urging athletic commissions to exercise caution when it comes to bare-knuckle fighting. In the statement written Tuesday by co-chairman and ringside physician Dr. Michael Schwartz and obtained by ESPN,

2:13 PM ET One top Bellator star will be defending her belt next month. Another will be giving up his title. Bellator president Scott Coker said Wednesday on The MMA Hour that Cris Cyborg will defend her women’s featherweight title against Sinead Kavanagh on Nov. 12 in Hollywood, Florida. Coker also announced that Patricio “Pitbull”

12:26 PM ET The UFC has quickly rebooked a middleweight contest between Kyle Daukaus and Kevin Holland, after their first meeting ended in a no-contest at a UFC Fight Night last weekend. Contracts have not been signed, but both sides have verbally agreed to run it back on Nov. 13 in Las Vegas, multiple sources

8:00 AM ET The UFC’s year-end slate is taking shape, and the promotion is already starting to fill in some big fights for 2022. Conspicuous by their absences are some prominent, pay-per-view-headlining-caliber names, including Nate Diaz, UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-crowned BMF himself, Jorge Masvidal. Other stars, such as

8:04 AM ET October got off to a less explosive than expected start in the world of MMA, as powerful strikers Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker fought cautiously and went the distance in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event. But a busy month of October has just begun. Holly Holm returns to featherweight and main

8:02 AM ET The main event and co-main event of UFC 266 featured big victories for reigning champions Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko, but the real stories of the weekend were Nick Diaz, making his return after a lengthy absence from the UFC, and Jon Jones, who after getting his fight inducted into the UFC

12:26 AM ET Dustin Poirier will indeed get his chance to hold UFC gold by the end of the year. Poirier (28-6) has agreed to challenge Charles Oliveira (31-8) for the lightweight championship at UFC 269 on Dec. 11. The matchup had been in talks for weeks, and Poirier told ESPN late last month there

9:58 PM ET A bout that was promoted as being a sure bet to produce fireworks ended up being a dud. Thiago Santos edged Johnny Walker via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fight featured two of the most explosive knockout artists

7:36 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim Michael Page made up for his only career stumble by securing the biggest victory of his career on Friday in his hometown, edging three-time Bellator MMA welterweight champion Douglas Lima by split decision in the main event of Bellator 267 at Wembley Arena in London. In a highly competitive fight,

2:44 PM ET A women’s bantamweight fight between Aspen Ladd and Macy Chiasson is off this weekend’s UFC card after Ladd appeared shaky at the weigh-in. Ladd was unsteady on the scale Friday morning as Nevada State Athletic Commission chief assistant Jeff Mullen was attempting to register her weight. Every time Ladd attempted to put

2:30 PM ET Less than one week after an impressive victory at UFC 266 in Las Vegas, lightweight Dan Hooker has already accepted his next task — and it’s a big one. Hooker (21-10) has agreed to face Islam Makhachev (20-1) at UFC 267 on Oct. 30, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Thursday.

7:23 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a bantamweight fight between two exciting bantamweight prospects in Sean O’Malley and Raulian Paiva, multiple sources told ESPN. Once finalized, the 135-pound bout will take place at UFC 269 on Dec. 11. The UFC has not yet announced a location for that pay-per-view event, but it is expected

2:34 PM ET UFC fighter Jon Jones allegedly pulled a woman’s hair and head-butted a police car hours after one of his fights was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame last week. An arrest report released Tuesday by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department lays out the sequence of events that led to Jones