12:49 PM ET UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards says he wasn’t surprised by Jorge Masvidal‘s recent withdrawal from their scheduled fight at UFC 269 next month, and he has now turned his entire focus to a title fight against Kamaru Usman in 2022. Edwards, of England, told ESPN he’d heard some concerning things about Masvidal’s
MMA
7:20 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim The conventional thinking is that a fighter who has been defeated twice by the champion in his or her weight class is stuck in limbo, never to get a third glimpse of the belt unless it’s being worn by a different champion. That way of thinking does open up opportunities
1:00 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Fresh off back-to-back numbered events the past two weeks, the UFC will roll right into a massive featherweight main event on Saturday inside the Apex. Former 145-pound champion Max Holloway (22-6) will take on Yair Rodriguez (13-2) at UFC Fight Night. For Holloway, 2021 will mark the first calendar
7:17 PM ET Yair Rodriguez, blood coming from several cuts on his face, pointed his finger and planted it in Max Holloway‘s chest. Holloway, face swollen and bleeding from above his right eye, took his fist and patted it against Rodriguez’s face. Holloway’s legend continued Saturday with a unanimous-decision win (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) over Rodriguez
12:54 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Cris Cyborg just keeps rolling along. The Bellator women’s featherweight champion was as dominant as ever in defending her belt for the third time, knocking out Sinead Kavanagh in the first round of the Bellator 271 main event on Friday night in Hollywood, Florida. This fight looked like most of
12:48 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event between Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez is officially on, as each fighter successfully made weight on Friday. Holloway (22-6), of Hawaii, tipped the scales at 146 pounds. Rodriguez, who fights out of Chihuahua, Mexico, came in at 145.5 pounds. The featherweight bout will
7:51 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Yair Rodriguez is a walking highlight reel, best known for his stunning last-second knockout of Chan Sung Jung in a 2018 bout that the Mexican was on the verge of losing by decision. The KO came at 4:59 of Round 5 via a no-look, upward-trajectory elbow that collapsed “The Korean
2:55 PM ET The UFC has added a welterweight matchup between Stephen Thompson and Belal Muhammad to its event on Dec. 18 in Las Vegas, both fighters confirmed on Thursday. The 170-pound contest will take place on the final UFC Fight Night event of 2021. Thompson confirmed the news to ESPN and Muhammad confirmed it
7:01 PM ET Loopy Godinez is the busiest woman in the UFC. One month after fighting twice in the span of two weeks — a modern UFC record — Godinez will step in on short notice to fight Loma Lookboonmee at UFC Fight Night on Nov. 20 in Las Vegas, UFC officials confirmed Wednesday with
4:19 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim Cris Cyborg has long been a standard-bearer of women’s MMA. As far back as 2009, when Gina Carano was undefeated and emerging as the first star of the women’s game, Carano was put to the test by being booked against Cristiane Justino, also known as Cyborg, in the first Strikeforce