MMA

Andres Waters Nov 8, 2023, 08:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions After injuries created major short-notice shake-ups on last month’s UFC 294 fight card, the theme continued with this weekend’s pay-per-view. And once again both the main event and the future of the division are involved. Following the announcement that heavyweight champion Jon Jones had

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterNov 7, 2023, 05:06 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The UFC’s return to China will be headlined by one of the best Chinese MMA fighters in the world. Song Yadong will face Chris Gutierrez in the UFC Shanghai main event Dec. 9, sources confirmed with ESPN on Tuesday. MagicM_MMABets on X

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 6, 2023, 03:11 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland will defend his title against Dricus Du Plessis in January, UFC CEO Dana White announced on Monday. Strickland (28-5) will be seeking

Ryan HockensmithNov 7, 2023, 07:00 AM ET Close Ryan Hockensmith is a Penn State graduate who joined ESPN in 2001. He is a survivor of bacterial meningitis, which caused him to have multiple amputation surgeries on his feet. He is a proud advocate for those with disabilities and addiction issues. He covers everything from the

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterNov 6, 2023, 03:42 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Sean O’Malley, one of the UFC’s top up-and-coming stars, will return to the Octagon in March. And the promotion has another big main event scheduled for February. CEO Dana White announced Monday on social media that O’Malley will defend his bantamweight title

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterNov 6, 2023, 01:43 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Jorge Masvidal pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge Monday in a case stemming from an alleged attack on his former friend and UFC rival Colby Covington in March 2022, Masvidal’s attorney Saam Zangeneh confirmed with ESPN. The two felony charges

Mike Coppinger, ESPNNov 6, 2023, 09:54 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Francis Ngannou danced as he looked down at Tyson Fury and declared, “You’re a bad professor, motherf—er. … Who is taking who to school?'” That moment — really, any Ngannou success — was unimaginably hard to fathom during the buildup to the event last

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterNov 5, 2023, 12:29 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Jailton Almeida was giving up about 30 pounds against Derrick Lewis, who cuts weight to make the 265-pound heavyweight limit. And the surging Almeida was still able to manhandle the knockout artist. Almeida defeated Lewis via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-45) in

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterNov 4, 2023, 12:47 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva will fight for the vacant UFC women’s bantamweight title at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto, sources confirmed Friday night with ESPN. The title was vacated by Amanda Nunes, regarded as the greatest women’s MMA

Nov 2, 2023, 08:33 AM ET Open Extended Reactions In a few weeks, the UFC will celebrate 30 years as an MMA promotion, helping drive the sport to new heights while introducing waves of future stars turned world champions to fight fans around the world. When ESPN did this project six years ago, our experts