1:18 AM ET The final night of the PFL’s regular season saw the return of the heavyweights and light heavyweights — and they didn’t disappoint in terms of fireworks. After only a handful of finishes at PFL 3 earlier in the season Atlantic City, more than half (six) of the 11 tournament fights were closed
MMA
5:03 PM ET The UFC is close to finalizing two high-profile women’s bouts for UFC Fight Night on Dec. 7 in Washington. Bantamweight prospect Aspen Ladd (8-1) will face former title challenger Yana Kunitskaya (12-4), and former strawweight title challenger Claudia Gadelha (17-4) will meet the surging Cynthia Calvillo (8-1). Both fights have been verbally
11:20 PM ET One would think that a relationship between a fighter once considered the greatest women’s mixed martial artist of all time and the biggest MMA promotion in the world would be an ideal match. Well, it wasn’t. Not even close. Cris Cyborg and the UFC never seemed to get along, and her three-year
4:56 PM ET SAN DIEGO — LIZ Carmouche sat in her truck for 30 minutes, frustrated. She was physically and emotionally drained. Carmouche’s MMA teammate Ilima-Lei Macfarlane had invited her to do underwater training, a program called Deep End Fitness, last November. Carmouche, while an exceptional athlete and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, had
12:15 PM ET Former UFC lightweight champion and three-time featherweight title challenger Frankie Edgar is moving down in weight. Edgar’s longtime manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told ESPN he has informed the UFC that Edgar’s next bout will be at bantamweight, ideally before the end of the year. “We have already started discussing Frankie’s bantamweight debut,” Abdelaziz
8:13 AM ET Kelvin Tiller was one of the breakout stars of the first season of the PFL. After a first-round KO and a second-round submission finish, he was locked into the No. 2 playoff seed in the heavyweight division, lined up well for a deep run — especially considering he’d already defeated his first-round
11:18 PM ET LAS VEGAS — It was the week of the underdog on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. Four of the five betting underdogs on this week’s show managed to record upsets, including a clean, one-punch knockout from Venezuelan lightweight Omar Morales (8-0) over Harvey Park (12-3) in the main event. White awarded
12:25 AM ET Former UFC champion Holly Holm will return to the scene of one of the most stunning knockouts in combat sports history later this year. Holm (12-5) has agreed to meet Raquel Pennington (10-7) at UFC 243 on Oct. 5 in Melbourne, Australia, sources told ESPN. Contracts have not yet been signed, but
6:58 PM ET Herbert Burns thought he had his chance with the UFC locked up back in April. He was on the main card in a prominent fight at Titan FC in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sitting cageside was UFC president Dana White, with the cameras rolling for White’s “Lookin’ For A Fight” show. With an
10:50 PM ET Thiago Santos became the first fighter in UFC history to best Jon Jones on an official scorecard when he did so in their five-round, light heavyweight title fight at UFC 239 in Las Vegas on July 6. Unfortunately for Santos (21-7), he beat Jones on only one official card. The other two