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
MMA
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
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
6:52 PM ET The UFC has announced a welterweight matchup between Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns for UFC 273. The 170-pound contest had been in the works for some time but was finalized only recently. The UFC announced Saturday the bout is now official for its next pay-per-view event on April 9 in Jacksonville, Florida.
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
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
10:49 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Khabib Nurmagomedov is headed to the UFC’s Hall of Fame. The UFC announced on Saturday that Nurmagomedov (29-0), the undefeated former champion from Dagestan, will be inducted as part of the UFC Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 during the promotion’s International Fight Week in July. Nurmagomedov was in
1:36 AM ET Colby Covington utilized a clear strategy to wear down Jorge Masvidal over five rounds and earned a unanimous decision victory at UFC 272. Covington’s wrestling was simply too much for Masvidal, resulting in most of the fight being contested on the mat. Masvidal did have his moments, but they were few and
3:23 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal did not touch gloves at the start of their UFC 272 main event on Saturday night, the customary show of sportsmanship and respect between athletes as their prizefights are getting underway. But for these two fighters, former teammates and roommates whose relationship soured in the