ARAYA’S BED IN Albuquerque is covered with more than a dozen stuffed animals, and she has a name for every one. She has carefully placed the Hello Kitties, the snowman, the tiger and the puppy dog around her as she prepares to talk about the time the blood came pouring out of her mother’s nose
MMA
4:56 AM ET Bellator MMA is going to Japan with a nostalgic fight. Fedor Emelianenko, one of the best heavyweight fighters in MMA history, will take on fellow legend Quinton Jackson in the main event of Bellator’s Japanese debut Dec. 29 at Saitama Super Arena, it was announced Wednesday at a press conference in Tokyo.
6:05 PM ET ESPN.com staff The hottest rivalry in the UFC is one that really isn’t that close to producing a fight, but as far as a war of words goes, Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya already have a full-fledged beef. “I’m not out here searching for dragon ball Z fans, I’m in pursuit of
1:52 PM ET The UFC has found Brok Weaver‘s replacement for the UFC Fight Night Tampa card on Saturday. Mike Davis has agreed to step in on short notice to fight Thomas Gifford, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. The fight will be contested at 155 pounds, and the card will proceed with 14 fights. Weaver’s
1:35 PM ET Monday’s edition of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show featured two UFC champions, one of them crowned on Saturday night. Israel Adesanya became middleweight champ with a second-round knockout of Robert Whittaker, which was even more sensational than his inventive walkout. And men’s featherweight titlist Max Holloway was on with Helwani to talk about
12:29 AM ET Did you miss me last week? (Don’t answer. I know.) I missed you, too. A lot. And what a time to be back. We have a great Helwani Show lined up for Monday, there’s a new middleweight king in the UFC, and this week’s slate of MMA action is immense. In fact,
2:47 PM ET Tito Ortiz will in fact come out of retirement to fight a former World Wrestling Entertainment champion later this year. Ortiz vs. Alberto El Patron, a 210-pound catchweight fight, will take place on Dec. 7 in Hidalgo, Texas, and it will air live on pay-per-view, Combate Americas officials told ESPN. The time
Oct 4, 2019 Editor’s note: This story was originally published when Ronda Rousey announced her move to WWE. The worlds of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts have drawn their rosters from all walks of life, including professional football and collegiate wrestling. For any number of reasons, including similar techniques and skill sets, some of
2:35 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — The sheer noise reverberating around Marvel Stadium as Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya bumped fists inside the Octagon and readied themselves for battle told you everything about Australia’s love affair with the UFC. Here were 57,127 fight fans crammed into an Aussie rules football stadium to watch two of
7:24 PM ET ESPN’s MMA contributors break down the biggest takeaways from UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya. Ariel Helwani welcomes the Israel Adesanya era Israel Adesanya made his UFC debut on Feb. 11, 2018. That isn’t a typo. He debuted against Rob Wilkinson on the undercard of UFC 221 a year-and-a-half ago. On Saturday night,