MMA

4:45 PM ET DALLAS — Deiveson Figueiredo says he’s almost fully healthy and is targeting a return to the Octagon this winter. Figueiredo, the UFC flyweight champion, has been out since January with injuries to both hands and a bruised knee. With him out, the UFC made an interim title bout between former champ Brandon

8:21 AM ET SUNRISE, FLA. — AMANDA NUNES SAT in a chair inside her new gym, running down all of its features like an excited real-estate agent trying to woo her first buyer. The Lioness Studio has a generous stretch of mat space for training, a full-sized cage, workout equipment and a small sauna. Upstairs

1:56 PM ET The Professional Fighters League will crown a new heavyweight champion later this year. Bruno Cappelozza, the PFL’s 2021 heavyweight title winner, is out of the promotion’s 2022 playoffs because of an undisclosed injury, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Cappelozza will be replaced by Matheus Scheffel in the semifinals against Denis Goltsov on

9:16 AM ET JULIANNA PEÑA IS one of the youngest members of a long line of Peña family members who are unbothered by judgment or criticism. Her father, Ernie, left a small agricultural village in Venezuela when he was 12 in search of better opportunities. He eventually emigrated to the U.S. through a scholarship program

10:45 AM ET The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC) has passed a pair of MMA rule changes, including one that could make a major impact in fights. On Wednesday at its annual conference, the ABC approved a rule that would give fighters on the receiving end of an eye poke five minutes

7:13 AM ET KAI KARA-FRANCE WAS staying at the SO/Auckland hotel in New Zealand in the fall of 2020. The New Zealander had to quarantine there for two weeks after returning from UFC 253 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. That was the reality for fighters from Australia and New Zealand for much

9:22 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Dana White’s Contender Series swaggered onto the scene five years ago dangling in front of fight fans a tantalizing promise. It was right there in the show’s name. This on-ramp for developing UFC talent wasn’t simply assuring MMA followers of an influx of new names for the prelims. No, the

6:35 PM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi What were the biggest moments at UFC Fight Night in London? Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi offer up their takeaways from an action-packed event in England. What does the UFC

6:24 PM ET LONDON — The UFC has hit a bad streak of luck as of late, with a second consecutive main event ruined on Saturday by freak injury. A highly anticipated heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall ended just 15 seconds into the first round, when Aspinall suffered a right knee injury.

2:30 PM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi LONDON — The UFC is back in England for the second time this year with a UFC Fight Night card on Saturday inside the O2 Arena. The promotion went three