6:27 PM ET UFC legend Georges St-Pierre has been officially removed from the promotion’s year-round drug-testing program, following his retirement from mixed martial arts late last month. St-Pierre, 37, announced his retirement at a news conference Feb. 21 in Montreal. According to UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky, St-Pierre also has
MMA
4:37 PM ET Ben Askren says if the UFC matched him up against Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title, he needs the approval of former champion and best friend Tyron Woodley before agreeing. Ben Askren doesn’t see the point of a rematch with Robbie Lawler, despite a controversial end to the fight. “I would consult
4:03 PM ET The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has cleared UFC welterweight Muslim Salikhov in an anti-doping case very similar to the high-profile one of Jon Jones. The UFC and USADA confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday that Salikhov, of Russia, will not be sanctioned after testing positive multiple times for a long-lasting metabolite of
2:14 PM ET A high-profile featherweight fight has been added to UFC 237. The UFC has booked Jose Aldo vs. Alexander Volkanovski for the May 11 card in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sources told ESPN. The promotion is expected to announce the fight shortly. MMA journalist Farah Hannoun first reported the matchup Monday. Volkanovski (19-1)
11:22 PM ET Rising UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker, who injured himself while celebrating a first-round TKO win against Misha Cirkunov on Saturday in Las Vegas, will need four weeks to rehab a minor shoulder injury, his manager tells ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. Walker (17-3) found out the results of his MRI on Monday afternoon.
5:38 PM ET Top UFC strawweight prospect Mackenzie Dern, who is seven months pregnant and expected to have a child in May, says she still intends to fight later this year. “I’m excited for this opportunity to maybe even make history [as the first mom to win a UFC title],” Dern said on Ariel Helwani’s
2:32 PM ET UFC welterweight Ben Askren says he will not fight Robbie Lawler in a rematch of Saturday’s bout, which ended in controversy. Askren, who was making his UFC debut in Las Vegas, defeated Lawler by first-round submission. Some — including UFC president Dana White — felt the stoppage was early. After the win,
10:41 PM ET Greg Hardy will look to win his first UFC fight in April. According to sources, Hardy is scheduled to meet Dmitrii Smoliakov at the UFC Fight Night event on April 27 in Sunrise, Florida. Hardy (3-1), the former controversial NFL star turned mixed martial artist, lost his Octagon debut in January via
12:34 AM ET LAS VEGAS — UFC welterweight Kamaru Usman once famously admitted he went only “30 percent” in a 2018 bout. There was nothing 30 percent about Saturday’s fight. Usman (15-1) claimed the UFC welterweight title in a dominant decision against Tyron Woodley, outscoring the three-time defending champion on judges’ scorecards 50-44, 50-44 and
4:29 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Kamaru Usman upstaged everyone and everything on Saturday, and that’s saying a lot. UFC 235 was a gloriously old-school night of fighting, featuring everything from the pound-for-pound No. 1 to several talents on the rise; from a high-profile debut, to an old-timer’s rejuvenation, to an ex-champion’s continued fall from grace