9:13 PM ET Alexander Volkanovski is out of his featherweight title defense against Brian Ortega at UFC 260 because of promotion COVID-19 protocols, the UFC announced Saturday night on the UFC Fight Night broadcast. Volkanovski vs. Ortega was scheduled for the co-main event March 27 in Las Vegas. Volkanovski, a native of Australia, had already
MMA
11:02 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a bantamweight main event between former champion Cody Garbrandt and Rob Font in May, multiple sources told ESPN. Contracts have not been signed, but the 135-pound bout will headline UFC Fight Night on May 22 once finalized. The UFC has not announced an official venue for the event.
8:51 PM ET Derek Brunson has five losses over the past seven years. Every single one of them has come against a former or current UFC champion or perennial contender — Israel Adesanya is the UFC middleweight champion, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker and Anderson Silva are former UFC
2:59 PM ET Many fighters and fans woke up on Thursday morning to a number of major UFC announcements. Khabib Nurmagomedov was finally deemed officially retired by the UFC and his lightweight title would be up for grabs between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler. It was also revealed that TJ Dillashaw would be returning from
1:31 PM ET A UFC fighter stumbled and fell attempting to weigh in Friday morning, prompting the cancellation of her bout. Julija Stoliarenko, a women’s bantamweight fighter, collapsed twice attempting to make weight for her scheduled UFC Fight Night bout Saturday with Julia Avila in Las Vegas. The bout has been canceled due to weight-cutting
11:28 PM ET Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will return to action May 8 against rising contender Cory Sandhagen, sources said. The UFC is finalizing a five-round bout between Dillashaw and Sandhagen to headline UFC Fight Night. Contracts have not been signed; however, both sides have agreed to the matchup. The UFC has not
7:55 AM ET UFC middleweight Kevin Holland broke out in 2020 and has a chance to break out again in 2021 — if that’s even possible. Holland (21-5) will headline his first UFC event on Saturday when he takes on Derek Brunson (21-7) at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. The main card airs on
12:00 AM ET Khabib Nurmagomedov, arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, is officially retired, and even UFC president Dana White is ready to move on. White told ESPN on Thursday that he and Nurmagomedov met in Las Vegas, and the undefeated lightweight champion reiterated he does not intend to fight again. As
9:34 PM ET Australian Robert Whittaker admits Paulo Costa’s withdrawal from their UFC middleweight showdown “played with his OCD” but says that he has since reconciled himself to the change and is primed for a physical encounter with replacement Kelvin Gastelum. Whittaker (22-5) also says he has a couple of things “up his sleeve” should
2:23 PM ET Junior dos Santos is no longer on the UFC roster and now he is challenging the loss that ultimately led to his release. The former UFC heavyweight champion’s team filed an appeal with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) on Wednesday over his second-round TKO loss to Cyril Gane at UFC 256