8:09 AM ET Kayla Harrison got a call last year that would change her life forever. Her stepfather, Bob Nichols, died suddenly on May 19, 2020. On top of the grief of losing him, Harrison then had to jump into action for her family. She became the full-time guardian of her niece Kyla, 8, and
MMA
8:06 AM ET When Kamaru Usman defends his welterweight title in Saturday’s UFC 261 main event, he’ll be competing against more than just Jorge Masvidal. Usman will be competing against the legacies of the greatest welterweights in MMA history. Usman has put himself in that conversation by winning his first 13 UFC fights, something no
10:00 AM ET Khamzat Chimaev says he is finally on the mend from a very difficult bout with COVID-19 that threatened to end his promising career earlier this year. Chimaev (9-0) was scheduled to face Leon Edwards in a high-profile UFC bout in January and again in March, but he was forced to withdraw both
7:51 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Saturday’s UFC 261 pay-per-view will not be the first card in UFC history to have two women’s championships on the line. That distinction goes to a 2015 event in Melbourne, Australia, which is notable for two other reasons: first, for filling Etihad Stadium with 56,214 fans, the most ever to
7:00 AM ET Fight week for UFC 261 has arrived, and with a card of this magnitude, the stakes could not be much higher. Three title fights could reshape the trajectory of the welterweight, strawweight and women’s flyweight divisions overnight. If Jorge Masvidal defeats Kamaru Usman, they would be 1-1 in title fights. That could
1:58 AM ET The mini-middleweight tournament is over, and after Robert Whittaker dominated Kelvin Gastelum on Saturday night, he’s likely to be the next foe for Israel Adesanya. Whittaker offered a complete performance against one of the toughest fighters in the sport, earning his third straight win since he lost his title to Adesanya in
7:21 PM ET Saturday’s UFC Fight Night co-main event between Jeremy Stephens and Drakkar Klose was canceled because of an injury Klose said he sustained when Stephens forcefully shoved him during their official weigh-in on Friday. Klose’s team told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that according to his CT scan results, Klose suffered a cervical sprain of
1:30 AM ET Robert Whittaker doesn’t create a lot of headlines. He doesn’t talk any trash. Never has he made a spectacle of himself. But, quietly, Whittaker has built a resume that rivals some of the most impressive in mixed martial arts. The former UFC middleweight champion put forth another excellent performance Saturday, beating Kelvin
11:50 PM ET Alexander Volkanovski has endured the ups and downs of the UFC “roller coaster” in recent times, but he is pumped to trade positions and be one of the coaches for the upcoming series of The Return of The Ultimate Fighter. The UFC’s featherweight champion was just a week out from a second
6:46 PM ET April was always going to be a defining month for the UFC’s middleweight division, although we’ve certainly encountered a few curveballs to get here. Former champion Robert Whittaker (22-5) faces Kelvin Gastelum (17-6) on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It’s a crucial main event at 185 pounds, and it