MMA

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 17, 2023, 12:23 PM ET BOSTON — Chris Weidman is poised to complete a return after one of the most devastating in-cage injuries in UFC history. The former UFC middleweight champion will face Brad Tavares at UFC 292 on Saturday at TD Garden. It will be the first time Weidman

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNAug 18, 2023, 11:52 PM ET Larissa Pacheco is one step — or maybe one punch? — away from becoming the first two-division PFL champion after a lightning-fast brutalization of Olena Kolesnyk in a women’s featherweight playoff semifinal Friday in New York. Pacheco (22-4), who won the 2022 championship when the PFL women’s

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 18, 2023, 10:42 AM ET Kevin Holland remains one of the most active fighters on the UFC roster and he’ll be back again less than two months after his last bout. The popular Holland will face top prospect Jack Della Maddalena at Noche UFC on Sept. 16 in Las Vegas,

LAS VEGAS — ALJAMAIN STERLING, arguably the best bantamweight in UFC history, casually walks into a downtown apartment complex in phenomenal spirits. He’s about to engage in one of his favorite pastimes — an activity that challenges his mind and resolve unlike anything else. It can play tricks on him, give him a sense of

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 17, 2023, 10:25 PM ET Daniel Rodriguez has withdrawn from a scheduled bout with Santiago Ponzinibbio at Noche UFC on Sept. 16 in Las Vegas due to an atypical finding in a USADA drug test, he announced Thursday night on Instagram. Rodriguez wrote that he tested positive in an out-of-competition

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 17, 2023, 05:01 PM ET Raul Rosas Jr. will try to get back on track at the UFC’s Mexican Independence Day show. Rosas Jr., a Mexican-American bantamweight, will face Terrence Mitchell at Noche UFC on Sept. 16 in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN on Thursday. ESPN Deportes’ Carlos Contreras Legaspi

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNAug 17, 2023, 02:55 PM ET The PFL once again faces the potential for a bizarre conclusion to its playoffs, after one of its competitors for Friday’s semifinals in New York missed weight on Thursday. That sets up a circumstance in which a fighter can lose a semifinal but nonetheless advance to the

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNAug 16, 2023, 10:10 AM ET When Larissa Pacheco throws her first punch on Friday, she will be aiming at two opponents. The recipient of her heavy leather inside the cage will be Olena Kolesnyk, as part of a PFL fight card at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Andres Waters Aug 15, 2023, 11:00 PM ET Cody Gibson picked up another first-round finish to secure the last spot in “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 31 finale. Gibson, coached by Michael Chandler, capitalized on a mistake by Rico DiSciullo, coached by Conor McGregor, and got the submission win to earn the right to face former

Aug 14, 2023, 09:00 AM ET The UFC returns to New England this weekend as the promotion hosts UFC 292 in Boston on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV, with prelims at 8 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN+). The fight card will be headlined with a bantamweight title fight as Aljamain Sterling looks to set