6:57 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s late father, Abdulmanap, had a plan for the end of his son’s career. Abdulmanap wanted Khabib to retire with a 30-0 record, which has become common knowledge in the MMA world, but what is less known is that Abdulmanap’s plan also included Islam Makhachev. When Nurmagomedov abruptly
MMA
1:21 PM ET Rising lightweight Islam Makhachev, the protege of retired former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, faces Thiago Moises in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fights at UFC Apex will be on ESPN and ESPN+, with the main card starting at 10 p.m. ET and the prelims
9:41 PM ET The UFC’s September pay-per-view event — UFC 266 on Sept. 25 in Las Vegas — will officially feature two title fights, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will face Brian Ortega in the main event of UFC 266 inside T-Mobile Arena. In the co-main event, women’s flyweight champion
7:23 PM ET Nick Diaz is officially returning to the UFC. According to his longtime attorney, Ross Goodman, Diaz, 37, signed a bout agreement Tuesday to face Robbie Lawler in UFC 266 on Sept. 25 in Las Vegas. Lawler has not signed his agreement yet, sources told ESPN, but wants the fight, and is expected
7:47 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Jake Paul had a custom gold chain made with the likeness of Conor McGregor after he was knocked out by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in January. The chain, which Paul dubbed “Sleepy McGregor,” will now be changing owners — to Poirier, who plans to auction it off for
8:00 AM ET Dustin Poirier had a pretty good weekend. He beat up Conor McGregor for the second time in six months in Saturday’s UFC 264 main event in Las Vegas, and beyond the big bump in his bank account that came with a night in the cage with the biggest star in MMA, Poirier
11:00 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Retired UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov does not believe Conor McGregor will ever return to the top of mixed martial arts, and believes the sport should stop supporting his former rival after Saturday’s loss to Dustin Poirier. Nurmagomedov, who retired from MMA in 2020, defeated McGregor in a title
7:41 AM ET The UFC 264 main event only lasted one round, but Dustin Poirier did plenty in his victory over Conor McGregor to prove he deserves the first title shot at Charles Oliveira. Is Poirier already the best lightweight in the world? As for McGregor, the misstep that caused a serious leg injury brought
4:36 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC has lost the opening fight on perhaps its biggest pay-per-view event of the year. A middleweight fight between Hu Yaozong and Alen Amedovski was canceled Saturday afternoon due to COVID-19 protocol issues in Amedovski’s camp, UFC officials told ESPN. The UFC 264 card, which takes place Saturday
11:13 PM ET A day after suffering a gruesome leg injury in his loss to Dustin Poirier in UFC 264 in Las Vegas, Conor McGregor underwent successful surgery, he and his management team said on Sunday night. “Conor is in recovery after 3 hours of surgery. The surgery was successful repairing fractures of his tibia