1:04 PM ET PHOENIX — Cain Velasquez‘s return is officially on. Velasquez (14-2), back after a 2 1/2-year layoff, on Saturday weighed in at 248 pounds for his non-title heavyweight bout against Francis Ngannou (12-3) at UFC Fight Night on Sunday at Talking Stick Resort Arena. He stepped on the scale fully clothed, with shoes.
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1:12 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Matt Mitrione floored Sergei Kharitonov with the first strike he threw Friday night, but the attempted leg kick landed flush on the groin of the Russian heavyweight and rendered him unable to continue, ending the Bellator 215 main event with an uneventful no contest at Mohegan Sun
8:45 PM ET Former UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt‘s civil lawsuit against his former employer suffered a massive hit Thursday. U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey threw out all but one of the claims Hunt made against the UFC, UFC president Dana White and former opponent Brock Lesnar in a civil lawsuit filed in early 2017.
9:48 AM ET It’s the return of Cain Velasquez at UFC Fight Night this weekend in Phoenix, as the two-time heavyweight champ will grace the Octagon for the first time since July 2016. Standing across the cage will be former title challenger and all-around scary dude Francis Ngannou, who is looking to book another shot
2:12 PM ET It’s not hard for Kron Gracie to pinpoint his least favorite thing about professional fighting. “Media obligations are what I dislike most about fighting,” Gracie told ESPN. 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;
12:00 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim Israel Adesanya woke up on last Saturday morning with the understanding that if he won that evening at UFC 234, his next fight would be for the middleweight championship against the winner of the night’s main event. Several dramatic twists and turns later, the unbeaten 29-year-old still believes he is
10:42 AM ET Two of Bellator’s biggest rivals will finally get a chance to settle their differences later this year. Featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire will move up to 155 pounds to challenge lightweight champion Michael Chandler on May 11, multiple sources told ESPN. The event, Bellator 221, is set take place at the Allstate
8:35 AM ET GILROY, Calif. — Monday evenings are a big deal in the Velasquez household. On Monday evenings, there is no mercy and no teaming up. Everyone is out for themselves, and there are no prizes for second place. The world revolves around one thing and one thing only: “The Bachelor.” Before the start
4:19 PM ET Robert Whittaker has been released from a Melbourne hospital following emergency hernia surgery last weekend, his manager Titus Day told ESPN. According to Day, Whittaker, the UFC middleweight champion, was discharged Tuesday, however, he is not allowed to fly back home to Sydney until Monday, per his doctors. Whittaker was scheduled to
8:46 AM ET Richard Mann It’s been well over two years since former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez competed in the Octagon. That drought comes to an end Sunday when he squares off against Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Phoenix. Ngannou stopped a two-fight losing skid in November and won’t