10:00 AM ET Deiveson Figueiredo will make history Saturday when he puts his UFC men’s flyweight championship on the line for the second time in 21 days, the shortest span between title defenses ever in the promotion. But Figueiredo (20-1) has another fight in mind beyond this weekend’s UFC 256 main event against Brandon Moreno,
MMA
7:54 AM ET Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is headed to Bellator. In an unexpected move, the former two-time UFC title contender has agreed to terms with Bellator, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. Johnson, who has not fought in over three years, is expected to sign his deal imminently, sources said. Johnson recently mutually parted ways with
8:07 AM ET Igor Resende Deiveson Figueiredo needed less than two minutes to submit Alex Perez on Nov. 21 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas to retain his flyweight title. The plan was to return home to Brazil shortly after the fight, but then everything changed — quickly. Now, Figueiredo is set to make
1:18 PM ET UFC 256 has lost two more fights because of coronavirus, but the event also has named a replacement fighter for a third bout that previously had been canceled because of COVID-19. Dwight Grant (10-3), who was to face middleweight Li Jingliang (17-6) in an early prelim on Saturday’s card in Las Vegas,
6:54 PM ET Claressa Shields has not wasted any time jumping into mixed martial arts training. ESPN’s top pound-for-pound women’s boxer signed with PFL to compete in MMA earlier this week. And on Friday, she arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to train at JacksonWink MMA with her friend Jon Jones, one of the best UFC
7:27 AM ET Jon Jones was in his Albuquerque, New Mexico, living room in front of a projection television on July 25. UFC Fight Night aired that evening, and Jones had a keen eye on the undercard as Alexander Gustafsson, one of Jones’ main light heavyweight rivals, was making his heavyweight debut against former champion
6:27 PM ET Popular women’s flyweight fighter Rachael Ostovich is the latest victim of UFC’s planned cuts, the promotion confirmed on Monday. UFC president Dana White said Saturday following UFC Fight Night that they would be making “serious cuts” — about 60 fighters would be released before the first of the year. The UFC released
5:58 PM ET PFL lightweight champion Kayla Harrison will get a second fight in 2020 after all, as she has booked a 155-pound contest against Jozette Cotton at Titan FC 66 on Dec. 17. Harrison (8-0) is still under exclusive contract with PFL, but was given permission to fight outside the organization because of the
8:01 AM ET Already a breakout star in 2020, UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo is looking to make a rather extraordinary statement on Saturday. Figueiredo will defend his title against top contender Brandon Moreno in the main event of UFC 256 in Las Vegas. That fight will go down as the fastest turnaround in history
4:16 PM ET A Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach who trains several well-known UFC fighters has been arrested and charged with third-degree criminal sexual penetration in New Mexico, per court records. Rafael “Barata” Freitas had a court appearance Saturday where the state filed a motion to keep him detained until trial, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court public information