MMA

7:56 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event is a light heavyweight bout between onetime title challenger Thiago Santos and rising contender Magomed Ankalaev. There is a lot of intrigue around this 205-pound matchup, as the division is wide open at the moment. Santos (22-9) is rebuilding from a rough stretch

8:35 PM ET The UFC is targeting a middleweight matchup between former champion Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori in June, officials told ESPN on Thursday. Contracts have not been signed, but the bout is close to being finalized for a UFC 275 pay-per-view on June 11. A location for the card has yet to be

8:10 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a bantamweight bout between Rob Font and Marlon Vera to headline a UFC Fight Night event next month, multiple sources told ESPN on Wednesday. Contracts are expected to be signed shortly. The 135-pound contest will serve as the main event of UFC Fight Night on April 30. The

3:53 PM ET Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos has signed with Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s Eagle FC and will make his promotional debut against Yorgan De Castro on May 20. Nurmagomedov announced the heavyweight main event to ESPN on Wednesday. Additionally, Hector Lombard will face Thiago Silva on the card’s co-main event. The Eagle FC

10:48 AM ET Bellator is bringing one of its deepest cards in some time to Hawai’i. Cris Cyborg, one of the top female fighters of all time, will defend her Bellator women’s featherweight title against Arlene Blencowe in a rematch April 23 in Honolulu, Hawai’i, the promotion announced Wednesday morning. ESPN has Cyborg ranked as

11:02 PM ET One of the most popular women in mixed martial arts is crossing over into professional wrestling. Paige VanZant, a UFC veteran, has signed a contract with All Elite Wrestling, AEW president Tony Khan announced Wednesday night on Twitter. VanZant signed her AEW contract in a segment on Wednesday night’s “Dynamite” television show.

8:53 PM ET UFC lightweight contender Islam Makhachev claims he never turned down an offer to fight Rafael dos Anjos on short notice last weekend. Quite the opposite, in fact. Makhachev (22-1), who defeated Bobby Green in a UFC Fight Night main event on Feb. 26, publicly offered to face dos Anjos in a 170-pound

2:09 PM ET Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was denied bail Monday in his attempted murder case, per a Santa Clara County (California) court spokesperson. Judge Shelyna Brown of Santa Clara County Superior Court said the “risk is too great” to let Velasquez out on bail because of the “extreme recklessness” of the retired

1:08 AM ET Colby Covington dominated Jorge Masvidal to claim a one-sided unanimous decision Saturday night at UFC 272 at T-Mobile Arena in a grudge match between former teammates turned bitter rivals. The judges scored the bout 49-46, 50-44 and 50-45 for Covington. Covington wasted little time going to his bread and butter in the

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