MMA

Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing InsiderJan 6, 2025, 06:27 PM ET Close Mike Coppinger has covered boxing since 2010 with roles at USA Today, Ring Magazine and The Athletic before he joined ESPN in 2021. You can follow him on Twitter: @MikeCoppinger Open Extended Reactions Former two-division champion Henry Cejudo will fight No. 8 contender Song

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJan 6, 2025, 09:15 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions A new year is upon us. It’s time for optimism and hope, right? I believe in both, but unfortunately, mixed martial arts has not been fantastic about

Jeff Wagenheim Dec 23, 2024, 09:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The year of the champion. That’s what 2024 has been in the UFC. How so?There were 16 title fights this year, and in 11 of those, the defending champion walked out of the cage still holding onto the belt. That might not seem so

Dec 17, 2024, 05:10 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Conor McGregor has not fought since a 2021 defeat to Dustin Poirer. John Locher/AP Photo Conor McGregor has said he intends to delay his return to MMA and has “agreed” to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India. McGregor, a former two-weight UFC champion, has

ESPN News Services Dec 16, 2024, 11:30 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Colby Covington on Monday decried the fact that his UFC bout against Joaquin Buckley on Saturday in Tampa, Florida, was stopped in the third round due to excessive bleeding from a cut above his right eye. “I was just getting warmed up in

Open Extended Reactions We saw possibly the greatest knockout in MMA history — authored boldly by one fighter with the unspoken cooperation of the other — punctuate a fight for the ages. Then there was the iconic KO and celebration that helped establish a stoic UFC champion as perhaps the sport’s most revered star. And

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterDec 15, 2024, 01:51 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions There’s a new era of welterweights taking over the UFC, and Joaquin Buckley is undeniably one of them. Buckley (21-6) extended his winning streak to six Saturday

Andreas Hale, ESPNDec 14, 2024, 11:23 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will compete in his first nontitle fight since 2019 when he faces Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 1. Adesanya (24-4) is coming off

Andreas Hale, ESPNDec 13, 2024, 07:49 AM ET Open Extended Reactions By the time 2024 comes to a close, there will have been 716 events in the 31 years that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has existed. But only one fight card — unless UFC Fight Night in Tampa, Florida, this Saturday pulls off a miracle

Dec 12, 2024, 07:51 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Joaquin Buckley looks to win his sixth consecutive fight as he takes on former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington in the main event at UFC Fight Night (10 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+, with prelims at 7 p.m. on ESPN2/ESPN+). Buckley (20-6), ESPN’s No. 9 ranked