MMA

7:22 AM ET Going into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event, it’s not unfair to say we don’t really know who Dominick Reyes or Jiri Prochazka are. When it comes to just name value alone, we do. Reyes (12-2) fought Jon Jones for the UFC’s light heavyweight championship 14 months ago — and many observers

11:57 AM ET Endeavor Group Holdings, the media conglomerate and ownership company of UFC, launched an initial public offering Thursday. Executives Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, as well as UFC president Dana White, were all in appearance in New York, where Endeavor stock began trading at $24 per share. “It’s official,” White wrote on Instagram.

1:42 AM ET Diego Sanchez, one of the longest-tenured athletes in UFC history, is officially no longer with the promotion. The UFC terminated Sanchez’s contract Tuesday, according to UFC president Dana White. Sanchez, 39, basically announced the split on Thursday, as he posted “Free at last” on his personal Instagram. Sanchez was scheduled to face

12:20 AM ET Yoel Romero is out of the most anticipated first-round matchup in Bellator’s big 2021 tournament — and arguably one of the promotion’s biggest fights in recent memory. The former UFC middleweight title challenger didn’t clear pre-fight medical screening and is out of the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix, promotion officials confirmed

6:45 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim Rory MacDonald came within a round of being UFC welterweight champion. He later did win a Bellator championship. And on Thursday night, he will begin a quest to capture the PFL welterweight championship and the $1 million prize that comes with it — and it’ll take four fights to get

8:39 AM ET Rose Namajunas did not move very far, but her climb was tremendous. She entered last Saturday’s UFC 261 as the No. 2 strawweight in the ESPN divisional MMA rankings. Now she is just one spot higher at No. 1 — but she’s also once again a UFC champion, after knocking out Zhang

7:00 AM ET Former All-Pro NFL running back Marshawn Lynch has joined the PFL as an investor and brand ambassador, the promotion announced Thursday. Lynch, whose fandom of MMA is well known, is the latest celebrity to partner with the league. He joins a list that includes comedian Kevin Hart and music artist Wiz Khalifa.

8:32 PM ET The UFC has pulled a welterweight matchup between Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez from its event on May 8 and is seeking a new matchup for Cerrone on the same date, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. Sanchez (30-13) is off the UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas, sources said. The

8:30 AM ET Kamaru Usman has risen to the top of the game, taking over the No. 1 spot in the ESPN pound-for-pound men’s MMA rankings. Usman (19-1) retained his UFC welterweight championship with a dazzling knockout of Jorge Masvidal on Saturday, his 18th consecutive victory and fourth title defense. He takes over the top

7:55 PM ET UFC middleweight Chris Weidman posted X-rays of his broken leg — pre- and post-surgery — on Tuesday as he made his way home following a gruesome injury at UFC 261 on Saturday. Weidman posted the images to his social media accounts, along with a video of him and his family flying from

3:03 PM ET Conor McGregor is no longer the majority owner of the whiskey brand he founded, but the UFC star has added to his growing fortune. Proximo Spirits, the company that owns Jose Cuervo and other alcohol brands, has acquired a majority stake in Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey in a deal worth up

4:42 PM ET Conor McGregor has donated $500,000 to a Boys & Girls Club in Louisiana as an apparent resolution to an issue he had with rival Dustin Poirier. The hefty donation from McGregor’s team came in to the Boys & Girls Club of Acadiana on Monday, club president and CEO Missy Andrade told ESPN

8:39 PM ET Jorge Masvidal said Monday he feels “great” and is hoping to earn his way back to another title shot after losing via second-round knockout to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman on Saturday in the main event of UFC 261. Masvidal, 36, admitted there were brief moments when he thought about “retirement, or could

7:42 PM ET The beef between Daniel Cormier and Jake Paul seemed to come to a head last weekend during a face-to-face confrontation. But now, things have only escalated. Cormier, the former UFC double champion, and Paul, the polarizing YouTube-star-turned-boxer, have gone back and forth on social media since Paul knocked out Cormier’s friend Ben

1:22 PM ET UFC middleweight Chris Weidman provided an update on the broken leg he suffered at UFC 261 this past weekend, posting on social media on Monday. In a self-shot video posted from a hospital bed, Weidman, 36, said he broke the tibia and fibula in his right leg as he threw a kick

7:40 AM ET UFC 261 did not disappoint with its three title fights. All three ended in KOs, with Valentina Shevchenko leading off with a dominant victory over Jessica Andrade, followed by highlight-reel knockouts by Rose Namajunas and Kamaru Usman. The moments were memorable, but Jorge Masvidal was barely up off the mat after getting

8:25 PM ET The UFC’s decision to book a middleweight title fight between defending champion Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori on June 12 took many by surprise this past week, as it was widely assumed the next title shot would go to former champion Robert Whittaker. But speaking to ESPN on Sunday, Whittaker (23-5) revealed

1:47 AM ET Saturday’s UFC 261 featured two dominant performances by defending champions and one new titleholder who reclaimed her belt. Kamaru Usman proved he is still getting better when he knocked out Jorge Masvidal, and Valentina Shevchenko made a case to be included in the GOAT conversation. Meanwhile, Rose Namajunas delivered once again in