2:00 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Yoel Romero raised his right hand and slapped his chest repeatedly. “How many years?!” Romero screamed. “How many years?!” The UFC middleweight star made Friday morning weight at 185 pounds even for his UFC 248 title challenge against champion Israel Adesanya on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. Romero, who
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6:19 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Yoel Romero wasn’t the UFC’s first choice to challenge middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. Romero had lost two in a row and three of his past four. On the surface, giving him a title shot at UFC 248 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena didn’t make much sense. Then Adesanya
8:00 AM ET Truth be told, UFC 248 will not be the company’s biggest pay-per-view event of the year when it’s all said and done. Not with Conor McGregor teasing the possibility of three fights, and 2019 breakout Jorge Masvidal on the cusp of his first UFC title shot. Not with a Stipe Miocic, Daniel
6:19 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Two weeks after former boxing champion Deontay Wilder stirred controversy with a heavy walkout costume he said contributed to his defeat, Israel Adesanya is staying quiet on what kind of entrance he’ll make Saturday at UFC 248. “We’ll see,” Adesanya said Wednesday after open workouts at MGM Grand. “I
5:37 PM ET The UFC has elected to run back one of the most controversial fights of the year, as light heavyweights Magomed Ankalaev and Ion Cutelaba will meet for the second time at UFC 249. Contracts have not been signed, but the UFC is in the process of finalizing the matchup, per sources. The
4:07 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC’s double champion Amanda Nunes will defend her featherweight title against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 in Brazil, according to UFC president Dana White. Contracts have not been signed, but verbal agreements are in place, White and additional sources told ESPN. The 145-pound title fight will serve as
10:20 PM ET Josh Barnett‘s Bellator debut has been pushed back yet again. The former UFC heavyweight champion is out of his Bellator 241 fight against Ronny Markes because of what Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation director Mike Mazzulli described Wednesday as a failed medical test. Mazzulli declined to elaborate. UFC veteran Matt Mitrione
6:07 PM ET “The Canadian Gangster” has found a new home. Former UFC veteran Olivier Aubin-Mercier has signed with the Professional Fighters League, he said on Wednesday’s episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. Aubin-Mercier (11-5) last competed in July, when he lost a unanimous decision to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 240 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
1:48 PM ET The UFC flyweight title remains vacant, despite the scheduling of a title fight for last weekend. The solution? Run that same fight right back, according to UFC president Dana White. The UFC will book an immediate rematch between Deiveson Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez for the flyweight belt, White told local media in
10:44 PM ET Kansas will host what could be a historically significant MMA event Friday night, and Max Holloway wants to have a front-row seat for it. Holloway, the former UFC featherweight champion, will fly from his native Hawaii all the way to Kansas City, Kansas, so he can be in attendance for the Invicta