MMA

7:29 AM ET The Ultimate Fighter was an instrumental force during the UFC’s explosion of popularity in the early 2000s — shining a spotlight on fighters like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, who coached a variety of MMA hopefuls in a season-long competition in which all of the competitors were housed

11:27 PM ET If Rob Font was underrated heading into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event against Cody Garbrandt, he took a big step toward establishing his presence in the bantamweight division with a unanimous decision win. The co-main event was considered by some to be a No. 1 contender fight. Carla Esparza was ranked

11:00 PM ET One of the best divisions in the UFC has a newly minted contender. Rob Font put on one of the best performances of his career, beating former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt via unanimous decision (48-47, 50-45, 50-45) in the bantamweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. Font’s

9:22 PM ET Paul Felder, a fan favorite and staple of the UFC’s lightweight rankings for years, announced his retirement from mixed martial arts on Saturday. Felder (17-6), of Philadelphia, broke the news during Saturday’s broadcast of UFC Fight Night, on which he was serving as a commentator. The announcement was a little surprising, as

10:07 PM ET Kevin Lee is officially moving to welterweight, and he’ll face one of the division’s fastest-rising contenders in his debut. Lee has agreed to face Sean Brady at UFC 264 on July 10 in Las Vegas, multiple sources told ESPN. Contracts have not been signed but both sides have agreed to the matchup.

3:29 PM ET The UFC has lost a bout from its event about one hour prior to bell time. A scheduled lightweight fight between Yancy Medeiros and Damir Hadzovic has been canceled because Hadzovic was experiencing health issues, the promotion announced Saturday afternoon. The bout was to be part of the UFC Fight Night: Garbrandt

4:50 PM ET Former UFC bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt will take on the surging Rob Font in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. The winner will have the inside track on a future title shot in a wide-open division, one of the best in the UFC. ESPN has Garbrandt ranked

12:37 AM ET Cris Cyborg picked up yet another victory in a long, illustrious career. But this one, unlikely many of the others, wasn’t over quickly. Cyborg defended her Bellator women’s featherweight title, beating Leslie Smith by TKO at 4 minutes, 51 seconds of the fifth round in the main event of Bellator 259 on

12:45 PM ET Juliana Velasquez has her first Bellator title defense booked. The new Bellator women’s flyweight champion will face top-tier kickboxer Denise Kielholtz at Bellator 262 on July 16 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, the promotion announced Friday. The undefeated Velasquez beat Ilima-Lei Macfarlane to win the title this past December. Bellator 262

7:52 AM ET Four years ago, Cody Garbrandt delivered an all-time classic, five-round performance against Dominick Cruz to capture the UFC’s bantamweight championship. Garbrandt hasn’t looked the same since. Going into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event between Garbrandt (12-3) and Rob Font (18-4) at the Apex in Las Vegas (7 p.m. ET, prelims at

6:12 PM ET Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is no longer on the UFC roster. The perennial UFC middleweight contender broke his arm in a submission loss to Andre Muniz at UFC 262 last Saturday in Houston. It turns out that it was the final fight on Souza’s UFC contract and he is now a free agent,

11:02 AM ET The PFL announced its next round of light heavyweight and welterweight matchups Wednesday, with the June 17 event serving as the final opportunity for fighters in those classes to earn points toward a berth in the 2021 playoffs. Among the most notable matchups, promotion newcomer Rory MacDonald (22-6-1) will face Gleison Tibau

3:43 PM ET The UFC is targeting a new date of July 24 for a bantamweight fight between former champion TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen, multiple sources told ESPN, confirming an MMA Junkie report. Contracts have not been signed, but the UFC is working on finalizing the 135-pound contest. Once official, it will headline a

11:01 PM ET There is a deal in place for a boxing match between boxing luminary Oscar De La Hoya and UFC legend Georges St-Pierre. But the fight cannot happen unless the UFC gives its approval, according to Ryan Kavanaugh, who is attempting to promote the bout under his Triller Fight Club banner. Kavanaugh told

3:22 PM ET UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush waited months for Tesla to give him some answers about a brand new car he ordered in 2020. As it turns out, all he needed to do was call out Elon Musk on live television to get the response he was looking for. Dariush, 32, defeated Tony Ferguson

8:03 AM ET Tatiana Suarez, one of the best women’s MMA fighters in the world, is finally close to returning to the Octagon. Suarez told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani in a video interview published Wednesday that she has been medically cleared by doctors and is targeting a return to the UFC in September, or perhaps even

7:30 AM ET It did not look good for Charles Oliveira. Less than a minute into last Saturday’s fight for the UFC lightweight championship, he was trapped in a guillotine choke, and Michael Chandler‘s beefy arms were squeezing the life out of him. Even after he escaped trouble and gained dominant position in control of

7:49 AM ET Charles Oliveira sits atop the UFC’s lightweight division after a thrilling second-round TKO of Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 262 on Saturday, but did the new champ do enough to surpass Dustin Poirier as the No. 1-ranked fighter in the division? Oliveira wasn’t the only one to make an