10:17 PM ET Anthony Smith said two years ago after a title loss to all-time great Jon Jones that maybe he’d never get another chance to beat Jones. But that was OK, Smith said, because he’d simply outlast Jones — and the rest of the UFC light heavyweight division. Those comments have aged pretty well.
MMA
4:38 PM ET Veteran MMA fighter Anthony Johnson has withdrawn from a Bellator MMA title fight against Vadim Nemkov on Oct. 16 due to illness, which appears to be a potentially serious ailment. Johnson, 37, was scheduled to challenge Nemkov for the light heavyweight championship, as part of Bellator’s ongoing tournament. He announced via social
6:15 PM ET “Gatekeeper” is something of a dirty word in combat sports. It means a fighter who is good enough to remain near the top of a division but not quite at the level of title contender. It’s a fighter who, if you can beat them, opens the door to the upper echelon of
8:07 AM ET Just one year ago, UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith‘s career was in jeopardy. At least that’s surely how it felt. At this time in 2020, Smith (35-16) was coming off back-to-back losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. The losses came just three months apart, which was remarkable considering the amount of
6:35 PM ET Carlos Condit, one of the best MMA welterweights of the aughts and beyond, has retired from the UFC, his longtime manager, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, confirmed Thursday with ESPN. Nicknamed “The Natural Born Killer,” Condit was a former UFC interim welterweight champion and had been with the promotion for 12
2:21 PM ET ONE Championship has put together an incredibly interesting styles clash for what is being described as the promotion’s biggest show ever. Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will fight Muay Thai standout Rodtang in a “mixed special rules fight” at ONE X, the ONE Championship 10-year anniversary show Dec. 5 in Singapore,
9:57 PM ET UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno‘s first title defense will come against a very familiar foe — former champion Deiveson Figueiredo. Moreno (19-5-2) agreed on Wednesday to defend his 125-pound championship against Figueiredo (20-2-1) at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 at a site to be determined. Contracts for the matchup should be finalized
4:54 PM ET Joseph Benavidez, one of the most influential lighter-weight fighters in MMA history, is hanging up the gloves. Benavidez told ESPN on Wednesday that he is retiring from the UFC after 10 years with the promotion and 15 years as a pro overall. News of Benavidez no longer being on the UFC roster
7:54 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Yoel Romero makes his Bellator debut on Saturday night, and when he steps inside the cage to meet former light heavyweight champion Phil Davis in the main event of Bellator 266 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, it will be a long-awaited unveiling of something special. Why is
7:08 PM ET Jake Paul is moving on from the idea of a rematch with Tyron Woodley because Woodley failed to live up to a tattoo bet the pair made after the first fight, Paul told ESPN on Monday. Paul and Woodley seemed to make a gentlemen’s agreement in the ring after Paul beat Woodley