12:40 AM ET UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has been forced to withdraw from UFC 226 just days before the card. “Max’s team and UFC staff noticed Max was not normal since late last week,” Holloway’s manager Brian Butler told ESPN via a prepared statement. “This became obvious to many watching his interviews and public
MMA
4:41 PM ET One of Europe’s most popular fighters is on the comeback trail. Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood has been booked against Brazilian Kalindra Faria for UFC Fight Night in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Aug. 25, multiple sources told ESPN. The promotion is expected to formally announce the flyweight fight in the coming days. Joanne Calderwood (blue
10:18 AM ET Richard Mann UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou looks back on his loss to Stipe Miocic in January and details his incredible path to this point in his career. UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has come out to Machine Gun Kelly’s song “Til I Die” ever since he won the title in 2016, and
1:52 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The way in which Francis Ngannou describes his first UFC title fight — a 25-minute decision loss to Stipe Miocic in January — is almost heartbreaking. Ngannou, of Cameroon, was favored to defeat Miocic at UFC 220, but he ran into trouble by the second round. He looked tired
5:20 PM ET Machine Gun Kelly has known Stipe Miocic for a long time, but he doesn’t hesitate when asked about his favorite memory of their friendship. Two years ago at the House of Blues in Cleveland — the city from which both the rapper and UFC heavyweight champion hail — he had just finished
12:59 PM ET The fate of Leslie Smith‘s legal action against the UFC remains undetermined for now, despite a short-lived celebration last week. A former UFC bantamweight, Smith, 35, filed a case against the UFC with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year, accusing the promotion of taking retaliatory actions against her in April
8:16 PM ET When news broke last month that Anthony Bourdain, the celebrated chef, travel show host and storyteller, had died, few were affected as much as the members of the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City. Bourdain, a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, picked up the sport only a few years ago at
5:31 PM ET The UFC is close to finalizing a light heavyweight matchup between Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir for UFC 227 on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles, according to multiple sources. The UFC 227 pay-per-view event is scheduled to take place at Staples Center. The UFC has been targeting Gustafsson (18-4) for the summer
12:03 PM ET Mixed martial arts legends Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will rekindle their infamous rivalry in a trilogy bout later this year, under the banner of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. ESPN has confirmed that Golden Boy, one of the world’s premier boxing promotions, has signed promotional agreements with Liddell and
12:26 AM ET Canelo Alvarez broke the silence he’d kept since agreeing to a rematch against Gennady Golovkin earlier this month, and he had strong words on Friday for the middleweight champion. In an interview on the ESPN Deportes boxing program A Los Golpes, Alvarez accused Golovkin and his team of “hypocricy,” saying that during