7:05 PM ET Throughout the history of combat sports there have been must-see, can’t-miss fights that were on the precipice of happening, but for one reason or another never came to fruition. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the volume of close calls and last-minute cancellations greatly over the past two years, along with the injuries
MMA
1:36 PM ET Phil Hawes had the possibility of two opponents this weekend, but neither bout will happen. Deron Winn, Hawes’ scheduled opponent, withdrew from the fight because of an illness, which was not weight cut- or coronavirus-related, UFC announced Friday morning. In Winn’s place, UFC signed MMA veteran Chris Curtis to fight Hawes on
2:45 PM ET The UFC is close to finalizing a barn burner of a main event between Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze in January, multiple sources told ESPN. Contracts have not been signed, but the UFC is working on booking the featherweight bout as its headliner for a UFC Fight Night on Jan. 15. Kattar
7:32 AM ET When Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Mackenzie Dern made her full transition into mixed martial arts in 2016, the sheer potential of it was intoxicating. Granted, so many things need to go right for any prospect to fully realize his or her potential, but in the case of Dern, her submission grappling is
8:01 AM ET Mackenzie Dern faces Marina Rodriguez in a meeting of ranked strawweights in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fights at UFC Apex can be seen on ESPN+, with the main card starting at 4 p.m. ET and the prelims at 1 p.m. Dern (11-1) has
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
11:52 PM ET Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will be back in action soon. But not in the Octagon. Dos Santos, who was released by the UFC in March, will make his professional wrestling debut next weekend with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), it was announced Wednesday on the AEW Dynamite program. The bout
11:24 PM ET Former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm has been forced to withdraw from a featherweight main event against Norma Dumont on Oct. 16, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. The UFC is working on finalizing 26-year-old Aspen Ladd as a replacement to fight Dumont in the UFC Fight Night main event, sources said. Once
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”
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