9:00 AM ET This weekend’s UFC Fight Night in Auckland will mark the company’s third trip to New Zealand, but this one undoubtedly has a different feel than the previous two. The UFC visited Auckland in 2014 and 2017. New Zealand native James Te Huna headlined the inaugural card. Another Kiwi, heavyweight Mark Hunt, headlined
MMA
1:29 AM ET Dan Hooker and Paul Felder wasted no time making their main-event fight official. Hooker and Felder were the first and second fighters on the scale, respectively, at the UFC Auckland official weigh-ins Friday. Both made weight for their pivotal lightweight matchup, which acts as the card’s headliner. Hooker came in at 156
5:42 PM ET An intriguing middleweight bout is getting uprooted and placed on a new card. The bout between top prospect Edmen Shahbazyan and Derek Brunson will be moving from UFC 248 to UFC Portland, UFC officials confirmed with ESPN on Thursday. Shahbazyan had tweeted about a potential relocation earlier in the day. UFC Portland
3:33 PM ET Brazilian light heavyweights Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will meet for the third time at UFC 250 on May 9 in Brazil, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. The UFC 250 pay-per-view is scheduled to take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, inside Ginasio do Ibirapuera. The UFC has not yet
12:25 PM ET The UFC is targeting a middleweight bout between former champion Chris Weidman and Jack Hermansson to headline UFC Fight Night on May 2, multiple sources told ESPN. Bout agreements have not been signed, but the UFC is working on finalizing the fight, sources said. The UFC Fight Night event is scheduled to
7:12 AM ET IT WAS LATE summer 2009, and Paul Felder was at a party with his theater friends. Felder had graduated from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts the previous year, and he was revealing his new passion in life. It wasn’t what they were expecting. “They were like, ‘Wow, that was insane. That was
8:30 PM ET Dominant UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will look to defend her title next against Joanne Calderwood at UFC 251 on June 6, multiple sources told ESPN. Both sides have agreed to the 125-pound championship fight, per sources. The UFC has not finalized a location or venue just yet, although sources say it
10:50 PM ET Jared Cannonier‘s hopes for a middleweight title shot in 2020 are on hold. The UFC contender suffered a torn left pectoral muscle earlier this month and had successful surgery to repair it on Tuesday, his manager, Lou DiBono of First Round Management, told ESPN. Cannonier announced the injury last week on social
10:50 PM ET AUCKLAND, New Zealand — UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski laughed off Henry Cejudo‘s comments about a potential title showdown, saying Wednesday he would “squash” the current bantamweight title holder. Cejudo (15-2) last week called out Brazilian veteran Jose Aldo and Volkanovski as the fighters on his wish list for 2020, despite the
12:05 PM ET Tyrell Fortune Undefeated MMA heavyweight Tyrell Fortune faces the stiffest test of his career on Friday, when he meets 10-year veteran Timothy Johnson at Bellator 239 in Thackerville, Oklahoma. Fortune, 29, is one of Bellator’s most promising prospects. A former NCAA Division II national champion wrestler at Grand Canyon University, Fortune (8-0)