9:42 PM ET Paul Felder‘s collapsed lung did not heal on its own, so he was forced to undergo surgery at a local Phoenix hospital Wednesday afternoon, according to Felder’s manager Brian Butler. Butler told ESPN the surgery was a success. Felder suffered the injury in the closing moments of his unanimous decision win over
MMA
7:38 PM ET Brazilian legend Anderson Silva has already booked his next fight, and it will take place in his native Brazil. Silva (34-9) will face Jared Cannonier (11-4) at UFC 237 on May 11 in Brazil, according to UFC president Dana White. It will mark Silva’s first appearance in Brazil since he defeated Stephan
9:59 AM ET “Some people have that ‘it factor’ that you can’t teach people,” UFC president Dana White said of Paige VanZant in 2015. “And Paige has it.” At the time, VanZant had exactly one fight on her UFC ledger — a win via Round 3 KO in her debut — and a newly minted,
5:12 PM ET With middleweight champion Robert Whittaker still recovering from an abdominal hernia, the UFC has booked an interim title fight between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya for UFC 236, president Dana White told ESPN on Tuesday. The pay-per-view event, scheduled for April 13, will take place at a venue to be determined. Gastelum
11:07 AM ET Mixed martial arts tension is rarely a slow build. Most often, a strike connects or a submission sinks in, and that secures a swift result. The exception: when judges are needed, and their opinion is not unanimous. An announcer reads one of the scores and chosen winner. That’s followed by the winning
3:34 PM ET Cris Cyborg, one of the most dominant female fighters in MMA history, has one fight left on her deal with the UFC. Some have questioned whether the Brazilian will return to the organization, as she has voiced displeasure of their lack of promotion of her in the past. The future of the
2:11 PM ET Bellator MMA, which recently completed a Heavyweight Grand Prix and now is in the midst of a welterweight tournament, will launch a 16-fighter featherweight tournament in the fall, promotion president Scott Coker told ESPN on Monday. “When you think about all of the studs we have in that weight division, it just
1:03 PM ET The UFC’s first main event on ESPN television belonged to French-Cameroonian heavyweight Francis Ngannou. The UFC is now on ESPN and ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ to get: Exclusive live UFC events, weigh-ins and more; Ariel and the Bad Guy; Dana White’s Contender Series; and more exclusive MMA content. Ngannou knocked out two-time
10:38 AM ET Former UFC welterweight title challenger Nick Diaz has not fought since January 2015. And despite many clamoring for his return, he says fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. “I’m no role model,” Diaz, one of the most popular fighters in the promotion’s history, said on Instagram early Monday. “I’m 35 years old,
12:02 AM ET PHOENIX — Cain Velasquez’s highly anticipated return from a 2.5-year layoff proved to be short-lived, as Francis Ngannou knocked out the former two-time champion in just 26 seconds. Ngannou (13-3) dropped Velasquez with a short right uppercut just moments into Sunday’s UFC Fight Night main event. The heavyweight bout headlined the UFC’s