6:18 PM ET Marc RaimondiESPN Gegard Mousasi lost his Bellator title but is still getting the rematch he wanted. Mousasi will take on former UFC champion Lyoto Machida in the co-main event of Bellator’s event Sept. 28 in Inglewood, California, the promotion announced Thursday. Mousasi lost to Machida in 2014 on a UFC card in
MMA
6:18 PM ET The mid-season hiatus has ended and the Professional Fighters League is back in action as the welterweight and women’s lightweight divisions enter their second round of fights at PFL 4, in Atlantic City, NJ. The eight-fight card, which will air on ESPN+ (5:30 p.m. ET) and ESPN2 (8:30 p.m. ET), underwent some
9:21 AM ET Igor Resende UFC 239 had many astonishing moments. Welterweight Jorge Masvidal knocked out Ben Askren in fewer than five seconds with a flying knee; bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes landed a head kick to put Holly Holm down; and Jan Blachowicz sent Luke Rockhold to the mat with a vicious left hook to
1:29 AM ET She has been called the worst UFC champion of all time, the least likable fighter in MMA. She has been labeled worthless. A coward. Germaine de “Ran-away.” It has been more than two years since the UFC stripped Germaine de Randamie of her featherweight championship for refusing to face Cris “Cyborg” Justino,
8:11 PM ET The first fight of Bellator’s upcoming featherweight tournament is booked, and it involves the promotion’s current 145-pound champion. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Juan Archuleta for the Bellator featherweight title is set for Sept. 28 at the Forum in Inglewood, California, sources told ESPN. The fight will be one of eight first-round tournament
5:32 PM ET Marc RaimondiESPN Two fighters missed weight at PFL 4 weigh-ins Wednesday morning, leading to a pair of cancelled bouts and one expelled fighter. Zane Kamaka and Roberta Samad each missed weight ahead of their second fights of the PFL 2019 season. Kamaka weighed in at 171.8 points, .8 over the welterweight limit.
11:20 PM ET Marc RaimondiESPN Dana White’s Contender Series history was made Tuesday. For the first time in the show’s three-year history, every single winner earned a UFC contract from White, the promotion president. The five fighters who will be signed: Jonathan Pearce, Maki Pitolo, Hunter Azure, Antonio Trocoli and Joseph Solecki. “Tonight is what
9:24 PM ET Three-time UFC title challenger Chad Mendes has officially retired from mixed martial arts. Mendes, 34, announced his retirement to ESPN on Tuesday. Unconfirmed reports of the California native’s decision to step away have circulated since his most recent appearance in December, a knockout loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 232. Mendes, however,
9:36 AM ET Marc RaimondiESPN Jonathan Pearce had a spiritual experience four years ago that has fueled his MMA career. It happened not in a church, not even in a gym during an especially transcendent workout. It occurred in an ambulance. Pearce had been training at his gym in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and saw a man
8:36 PM ET Marc RaimondiESPN It didn’t take long for John Lineker to find a new home. Just six days after news broke that Lineker had been released by the UFC, the Brazilian bantamweight has signed with Asia’s ONE Championship, his manager, Alex Davis, confirmed to ESPN on Monday. MMA Fighting was first to report