7:30 AM ET Mike Coppinger Marc Raimondi If Derrick Lewis beats Ciryl Gane in the UFC 265 main event Saturday night in Houston to capture the interim heavyweight title, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him scan the crowd for a familiar face. And he wouldn’t necessarily be searching for heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, who
MMA
Aug 4, 2021 After recently returning to Africa for the first time in nearly 30 years, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman told ESPN that an MMA event on the continent could be even bigger than the legendary Rumble in the Jungle. Usman, who became the first UFC champion from Africa when he defeated Tyron Woodley
7:52 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim In 2019, the last time the Professional Fighters League staged their playoffs and crowned six $1 million winners, the champion of each division looked indomitable on their title runs. Now, after a lost 2020 season because of the COVID pandemic, the PFL is back with playoff semifinals set for three
10:17 PM ET Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is officially headed to a new weight class in 2021. Garbrandt (12-4) will take on New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France (22-9) in a non-title flyweight bout on Dec. 11, multiple sources told ESPN. The UFC has not yet announced an official event or location for that date,
11:28 PM ET The UFC has added a high-profile lightweight matchup between Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev to UFC 267. Both sides have agreed to the 155-pound contest, which will take place on Oct. 30. The UFC has not announced a venue for the event, but it is expected to take place in Abu
10:02 PM ET The UFC is close to finalizing a middleweight main event between former title challengers Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori in October, multiple sources told ESPN. The 185-pound bout is expected to headline UFC Fight Night on Oct. 23. UFC officials have not announced an official location for the event. Costa (13-1) has
7:38 AM ET UFC 265 is set for Saturday and offers an interim heavyweight title clash as the headlining fight. Derrick Lewis faces Ciryl Gane in the main event, and if he’s able to win, Lewis would improve on one of the most impressive heavyweight resumes in UFC history. With so many big wins, including
12:47 AM ET INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Los Angeles, and the sport of mixed martial arts, has a new star athlete. The undefeated A.J. McKee submitted Patricio “Pitbull” Freire via guillotine choke at just 1 minute, 57 seconds of the first round to win the Bellator featherweight title Saturday night in the main event of Bellator
2:50 PM ET One of the biggest events in recent Bellator history is coming to the desert. The Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix semifinals will take place on the same card Oct. 16 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, sources told ESPN on Saturday. The event will be headlined by the semifinal bout between Bellator
12:01 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim There’s nothing flashy about Sean Strickland, unless you’re counting the punches he relentlessly flashes into the face of his opponent. Strickland won his fifth fight in a row on Saturday night, overwhelming Uriah Hall with five rounds of aggression and nonstop punch output to win a lopsided unanimous decision in