MMA

9:32 PM ET LAS VEGAS — They truly do not call Merab Dvalishvili “The Machine” for nothing. Dvalishvili (16-4) earned the biggest win of his career on Saturday, as he dominated former champion Petr Yan (16-5) in a five-round unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night inside The Theater at Virgin Hotels. All three judges scored

Mar 10, 2023 Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou says he has “made amends” with his split from the promotion earlier this year and is focused on booking his professional boxing debut in 2023. Ngannou, 36, was essentially stripped of the UFC heavyweight title in January, when the company said it had failed to come

12:09 AM ET Khabib Nurmagomedov has retired from fighting and coaching. But the Nurmagomedov family name is in more than good hands in MMA. Usman Nurmagomedov, Khabib’s younger cousin, stopped former UFC champion Benson Henderson via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2 minutes, 37 seconds of the first round Friday night in the main event of

9:44 PM ET After some starts and stops, the UFC 288 main event is now official. Aljamain Sterling will defend his UFC bantamweight title against former champ Henry Cejudo on May 6 in Newark, New Jersey, the promotion officially announced Friday. Cejudo is making his return from retirement after three years away. While both men

7:00 AM ET Ryan Hockensmith Close Ryan Hockensmith is a Penn State graduate who joined ESPN in 2001. He is a survivor of bacterial meningitis, which caused him to have multiple amputation surgeries on his feet. He is a proud advocate for those with disabilities and addiction issues. He covers everything from the NFL and

3:26 PM ET ESPN Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print Former UFC men’s bantamweight champion Petr Yan meets hot contender Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fights at the Theater at Virgin Hotels are on ESPN+, with the 6 p.m. ET main card preceded

9:09 AM ET There are 12 weight classes in the UFC. Only three of them have title fights booked. There’s a lot of “TBD” going on at the moment at the very top of MMA’s leading promotion. However, there are plenty of big-stakes fights either on the books, in the works or worth considering as

Mar 5, 2023 LAS VEGAS — The UFC has already crowned three Mexican-born champions in 2023 — and the loudest of the three came at UFC 285 on Saturday. Alexa Grasso (16-3) shocked the world at UFC 286, as she submitted seven-time defending flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (23-4) at the 4:34 mark of the fourth

12:53 AM ET LAS VEGAS — In mixed martial arts, there has been Jon Jones and then everyone else for more than a decade. After a move up in weight and three years away, absolutely nothing has changed. Jones defeated Ciryl Gane with a guillotine choke at 2 minutes, 4 seconds of the first round

1:22 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close Brett Okamoto ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi UFC 285 delivered. From the dominant return of Jon Jones to the shocking upset victory for Alexa Grasso, the fight night in Las Vegas was electric Saturday. The