8:14 AM ET Kayla Harrison left the cage, her head sank and tears welled up in her eyes. She stopped to hug one of her coaches, and then her manager, Ali Abdelaziz, escorted her backstage with his arm slung over her shoulder. For those who watched the 20-second clip on social media, it looked like
MMA
8:14 AM ET Quinton Jackson thought it was his last chance to fight in Japan. So, in 2012, the fighter known as “Rampage” went against doctor’s orders and didn’t pull out of his fight against Ryan Bader at UFC 144 despite a torn meniscus. Bader, now the Bellator heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, won via
8:28 AM ET Mulitple Contributors The evolution of women’s mixed martial arts started right at the end of the previous decade, with Cris Cyborg vs. Gina Carano headlining a Strikeforce show on Showtime in front of almost 14,000 fans in San Jose, California. And it exploded in 2013 when Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche faced
Dec 23, 2019 Over the past decade, mixed martial arts grew more than it had in all of the previous ones combined. The UFC purchased some of its biggest competitors, expanded internationally, signed multimillion-dollar broadcast deals with major outlets, and then, as the decade was winding down, the promotion was purchased by Hollywood superpower Endeavor.
Dec 22, 2019 Multiple Contributors There are fighters who found success in the Octagon, and there are fighters whose success transcended the Octagon. The latter group featured superstars whose contributions weren’t necessarily defined by their records. They didn’t just excel in the sport, they changed it. Over the past decade, three such athletes stood out
2:24 PM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi Ronaldo Souza will drop back down to middleweight with a compelling matchup waiting for him. “Jacare” and Uriah Hall have verbally agreed to a 185-pound fight at UFC 249 on
8:00 AM ET Danny Roberts will take on Nicolas Dalby in a welterweight bout on March 21, 2020 at the O2 Arena, it has been announced. It is the first fight to be announced at one of the most eagerly anticipated UFC events next year. Roberts (17-5) responded from back-to-back defeats with victory over Zelim
1:51 AM ET Two fights in her hometown of Honolulu. Two impressive title defenses for Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. Macfarlane beat Kate Jackson by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-44) to retain her Bellator women’s flyweight title Saturday night in the main event of Bellator 236 at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena. The native Hawai’ian was dominant in every
9:17 AM ET BUSAN, South Korea — The UFC’s last card of the decade showcased an exciting South Korean in his native country against one of the sport’s legends in Frankie Edgar. When it was all said and done, it was Chan Sung Jung who took advantage of the opportunity. Jung, known by the nickname
8:18 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Chan Sung Jung had not competed on South Korean soil in over 11 years. He made a triumphant homecoming on Saturday. The featherweight from Seoul known as “The Korean Zombie” put Frankie Edgar in trouble right from the get-go, dropping him with a left hand in one of their first