MMA

4:39 PM ET Two of the most explosive knockout artists in the UFC light heavyweight division will go to battle this weekend. Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker meet Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas — and it would be shocking if the bout between the two natives of Brazil

2:45 PM ET LAS VEGAS — UFC star Jon Jones was arrested Friday morning by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, just hours after a past UFC fight of his was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Jones is being charged with misdemeanor battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle, Officer

3:38 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a featherweight matchup between former champion Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez to headline an event on Nov. 13, multiple sources told ESPN. Contracts have not been signed, but the bout is expected to become official shortly. It will serve as the main event of a UFC Fight Night

12:27 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC featherweight title will officially be on the line Saturday. Alexander Volkanovski, the champion, weighed in at 144.5 pounds Friday morning and challenger Brian Ortega was 144 pounds at the official weigh-in here at the UFC Apex. The two will meet in the main event of UFC 266

9:02 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Nick Diaz never has been one to hold back, whether it be in the cage or talking with the media. On Wednesday, three days before he returns to the Octagon after more than six years away, Diaz spoke of his “resentment” toward mixed martial arts, wondered aloud why he

4:25 PM ET LAS VEGAS — A high profile rematch between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler will apparently still happen at UFC 266 this weekend, following a last-minute request from Diaz’s camp to change the weight limit of the bout. Diaz (26-9) and Lawler (28-15) originally agreed to fight at the 170-pound welterweight limit, however

11:27 PM ET Miesha Tate‘s second fight during her comeback run with the UFC will have to wait. The popular former UFC women’s bantamweight champion has tested positive for COVID-19, and her main event bout with Ketlen Vieira is off the UFC Fight Night card Oct. 16 in Las Vegas, Tate’s manager Josh Jones told

7:39 AM ET LAS VEGAS — The return of Nick Diaz is complicated. I’ve been talking to professional fighters since 2009, but I have never had an interview go the way my conversation with Diaz went this week. Diaz, 38, returns from a six-year absence on Saturday, against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. He has

8:00 AM ET Marc Ratner was sitting cageside at UFC 255 last Nov. 21 in Las Vegas. It was part of his usual routine, one the UFC vice president of regulatory affairs had upheld for hundreds of fight nights. When a video started playing on the UFC Apex screen, though, things started to feel different

7:46 AM ET HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Brian Ortega was feeling good, like his career and his life had been elevated to the next level. It was December 2018, and Ortega was invited to a holiday party at the Los Angeles home of actor Robert Downey Jr. Sure, a few weeks earlier Ortega had lost

7:51 AM ET Any pay-per-view with two title fights is going to capture the attention of the sport, but on Saturday night at UFC 266, it’s the third fight on the card that has most fight fans talking. Nick Diaz will walk to the Octagon for his first fight since 2015 to face Robbie Lawler

1:01 AM ET Yoel Romero shook his head and wagged his finger like Dikembe Mutombo. Bellator in-cage announcer Michael C. Williams was reading the results of the Bellator 266 main event and one of the judges had Romero winning the bout. Romero did not agree with the judge, pointing to his opponent, Phil Davis, and

10:17 PM ET Anthony Smith said two years ago after a title loss to all-time great Jon Jones that maybe he’d never get another chance to beat Jones. But that was OK, Smith said, because he’d simply outlast Jones — and the rest of the UFC light heavyweight division. Those comments have aged pretty well.

6:15 PM ET “Gatekeeper” is something of a dirty word in combat sports. It means a fighter who is good enough to remain near the top of a division but not quite at the level of title contender. It’s a fighter who, if you can beat them, opens the door to the upper echelon of

4:38 PM ET Veteran MMA fighter Anthony Johnson has withdrawn from a Bellator MMA title fight against Vadim Nemkov on Oct. 16 due to illness, which appears to be a potentially serious ailment. Johnson, 37, was scheduled to challenge Nemkov for the light heavyweight championship, as part of Bellator’s ongoing tournament. He announced via social

8:07 AM ET Just one year ago, UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith‘s career was in jeopardy. At least that’s surely how it felt. At this time in 2020, Smith (35-16) was coming off back-to-back losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. The losses came just three months apart, which was remarkable considering the amount of

6:35 PM ET Carlos Condit, one of the best MMA welterweights of the aughts and beyond, has retired from the UFC, his longtime manager, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, confirmed Thursday with ESPN. Nicknamed “The Natural Born Killer,” Condit was a former UFC interim welterweight champion and had been with the promotion for 12

4:54 PM ET Joseph Benavidez, one of the most influential lighter-weight fighters in MMA history, is hanging up the gloves. Benavidez told ESPN on Wednesday that he is retiring from the UFC after 10 years with the promotion and 15 years as a pro overall. News of Benavidez no longer being on the UFC roster