11:45 AM ET Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has signed an exclusive contract to compete in the Professional Fighters League in 2021. Werdum (24-9-1) broke the news to ESPN on Monday. Widely considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, Werdum fought out his UFC contract in July, with a submission victory over
MMA
7:13 AM ET There are prospects who flash their potential by conquering opponents in their own age bracket, and there are those who prove they can handle foes of greater experience and are ready to challenge the elite of their division. ESPN’s second annual list of the top 25 MMA fighters under the age of
4:40 PM ET A heavyweight fight between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov is set to headline UFC Fight Night on Feb. 6, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Thursday. Overeem and Volkov are the Nos. 5 and 6-ranked heavyweights, respectively, according to the UFC’s official rankings. The UFC has not yet announced a location
11:10 PM ET ESPN’s panel of Ariel Helwani, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim breaks down the biggest stories coming out of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card, including a look at Rafael dos Anjos‘ split-decision win over Paul Felder and what it means. Helwani: Let’s make something very clear right off the bat: No one actually
10:26 PM ET Rafael dos Anjos is back in championship form. The former UFC lightweight titleholder returned to his longtime division Saturday and was brilliant in beating Paul Felder via split decision (47-48, 50-45, 50-45) in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Dos Anjos showed a well-rounded game, doing damage on
1:21 PM ET UFC is finalizing a light heavyweight matchup between former title challenger Thiago Santos and Aleksandar Rakic on March 6, sources told ESPN. The promotion has not officially announced an event on the date of March 6, nor given a location. Sources said the 205-pound matchup will consist of three rounds and not
1:56 PM ET The UFC is down a fight on Saturday’s card. Eryk Anders is out of a scheduled bout against Antonio Arroyo at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos in Las Vegas, Anders announced on social media. 1 Related Anders wrote that his withdrawal is “due to issues concerned with my health.” The
8:45 PM ET Nothing like a ranked UFC lightweight accepting a five-round fight … against a former champion … on five days’ notice … to stir up the MMA community. The reaction to Paul Felder (17-5) stepping into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event against Rafael dos Anjos (29-13) on short notice has been genuinely
12:30 PM ET Paul Felder didn’t even know he’d be fighting this weekend as of Monday morning. That day, he weighed more than 170 pounds. The popular UFC lightweight accepted the UFC Fight Night main event against Rafael dos Anjos this weekend on just five days’ notice later Monday. And Friday, Felder had no issues
7:48 AM ET Paul Felder was home with his family on Sunday night in Philadelphia. It was around 7:30 p.m., and while scrolling through social media, Felder saw a report that Islam Makhachev was out of his UFC Fight Night main event with Rafael dos Anjos, a bout scheduled for the following weekend. That was