MMA

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNOct 2, 2023, 12:05 PM ET Bellator 300 was to be headlined by an unprecedented four championship bouts. Now it’s down to three. Linton Vassell, who was to challenge heavyweight champion Ryan Bader at Saturday’s event in San Diego, withdrew from the fight because of illness, a Bellator official confirmed Monday. The fight

Oct 2, 2023, 09:20 AM ET The final quarter of the year is upon us. Things have been hectic — and newsworthy — in the sport of MMA in 2023. From a business perspective, the UFC has merged with WWE to form the publicly traded company TKO, under Endeavor. In the cage, UFC titles have

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 30, 2023, 12:33 AM ET Angela Lee, one of ONE Championship’s top stars for years, will retire and vacate her ONE women’s 115-pound MMA title, she announced Friday night during the ONE Fight Night 14 broadcast in Singapore. Lee’s announcement had a significant effect on the ONE Fight Night 14

Sep 29, 2023, 07:57 AM ET Back in October 2019, Stipe Miocic was the UFC heavyweight champion. Jon Jones ruled at light heavyweight. Israel Adesanya was the newly crowned king of middleweights. And, well, let’s just cut to the chase and say that all 12 of the fight promotion’s weight classes had champions who do

Sep 27, 2023, 09:00 AM ET There have been eight UFC title changes this year, if you include championships being vacated due to retirement or injury. Undoubtedly, 2023 has been marked by fluidity and perhaps a passing of the torch to the next generation. With all the fluctuations, it’s an excellent time to look at

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 26, 2023, 05:39 PM ET Rafael Fiziev suffered a torn left ACL during the UFC Fight Night main event Saturday in Las Vegas, the lightweight contender said on Instagram. Fiziev threw a kick with his right leg in the second round of the fight with Mateusz Gamrot and went down

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 25, 2023, 02:21 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office will not pursue criminal charges against former UFC star Nate Diaz related to his involvement in a street brawl earlier this year on Bourbon

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 24, 2023, 07:29 PM ET Israel Adesanya, the former UFC middleweight champion, pleaded guilty in court Monday morning to drunk driving in his home country of New Zealand, his team told ESPN on Sunday. The incident happened Aug. 19. Adesanya was driving with 87 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 25, 2023, 10:06 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun After seventeen consecutive weekends with fights, the UFC will be dark for the first time since May. In fact, it’s a quiet weekend across every major MMA promotion, outside of

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 24, 2023, 10:11 PM ET Deiveson Figueiredo will make his long-awaited move up to bantamweight before the end of the year. The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion will face Rob Font in a contender bout at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 2, sources told ESPN on Sunday, confirming a report