7:32 PM ET Saul Soliz, a mixed martial arts pioneer who trained some of the biggest names in the history of MMA and helped get the sport off the ground in Texas, died Tuesday morning due to complications from COVID-19, according to his wife, Toi. He was 55. Soliz, whom many have dubbed “The Godfather
MMA
7:30 AM ET It’s time for Jared Cannonier to show us who he is. Just 10 months ago, everything was laid out for Cannonier (13-5). He was 3-0 as a UFC middleweight, and the defending champion of his division, Israel Adesanya, was saying his name — instead of the other way around. Adesanya wanted to
6:22 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim As the PFL playoffs continue with semifinals in two weight classes on Thursday in Hollywood, Florida (live on ESPN+; 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+), the emerging narrative could be that a dominant champion remains in the driver’s seat. Or it could be that someone new is about to take the
11:58 PM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Kayla Harrison made it look easy once again on Thursday night, moving one final step away from her second straight $1 million championship in the PFL playoffs. The two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka remained undefeated in MMA with a first-round TKO of Genah Fabian in the women’s lightweight semifinal in
8:02 AM ET Genah Fabian‘s phone rang the night of May 23. It was a video call from Carlos Ulberg, her teammate at City Kickboxing in New Zealand. For nearly a week, Fabian had been distraught. Fau Vake, another teammate, was clinging to life in a Wellington hospital after being brutally assaulted six days earlier
11:03 PM ET The return of The Ultimate Fighter has hit an unforeseen snag. Tresean Gore is injured and out of the TUF middleweight final at UFC Fight Night on Aug. 28, UFC officials confirmed Wednesday with ESPN. Gilbert Urbina, whom Gore beat in the semifinals, will now fight Bryan Battle in the championship bout.
11:40 AM ET Editor’s note: This story was originally published in Sept. 2019. Cannonier fights Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC Fight Night on August 21, 2021. Jared Cannonier was living in Anchorage, Alaska, and doing maintenance on air traffic control equipment for the Federal Aviation Administration. It was 2009, he was almost
7:26 AM ET After a rare off weekend in the world of UFC, action returns to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday as middleweights Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum each try to come back from losses to Robert Whittaker in their most recent bouts. While it would seem to be more pressing for
10:43 AM ET After recording her first victory as a professional mixed martial artist in June, Claressa Shields will return to the PFL cage on Oct. 27, the boxing champion announced Thursday. PFL officials confirmed to ESPN that she will face Abigail Montes, 21, of Mexico. “I’m always in training. I’m always working,” Shields said
11:58 PM ET Gegard Mousasi‘s near-perfect run as a Bellator MMA middleweight continued on Friday, as he defended his 185-pound championship against John Salter in Uncasville, Connecticut. Mousasi (48-7-2) earned a TKO finish at 2:07 of the third round, via unanswered strikes on the ground. The 36-year-old veteran weathered an early, grappling-heavy approach from Salter