MMA

8:06 AM ET When Kamaru Usman defends his welterweight title in Saturday’s UFC 261 main event, he’ll be competing against more than just Jorge Masvidal. Usman will be competing against the legacies of the greatest welterweights in MMA history. Usman has put himself in that conversation by winning his first 13 UFC fights, something no

10:00 AM ET Khamzat Chimaev says he is finally on the mend from a very difficult bout with COVID-19 that threatened to end his promising career earlier this year. Chimaev (9-0) was scheduled to face Leon Edwards in a high-profile UFC bout in January and again in March, but he was forced to withdraw both

7:51 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Saturday’s UFC 261 pay-per-view will not be the first card in UFC history to have two women’s championships on the line. That distinction goes to a 2015 event in Melbourne, Australia, which is notable for two other reasons: first, for filling Etihad Stadium with 56,214 fans, the most ever to

7:00 AM ET Fight week for UFC 261 has arrived, and with a card of this magnitude, the stakes could not be much higher. Three title fights could reshape the trajectory of the welterweight, strawweight and women’s flyweight divisions overnight. If Jorge Masvidal defeats Kamaru Usman, they would be 1-1 in title fights. That could

1:58 AM ET The mini-middleweight tournament is over, and after Robert Whittaker dominated Kelvin Gastelum on Saturday night, he’s likely to be the next foe for Israel Adesanya. Whittaker offered a complete performance against one of the toughest fighters in the sport, earning his third straight win since he lost his title to Adesanya in

1:30 AM ET Robert Whittaker doesn’t create a lot of headlines. He doesn’t talk any trash. Never has he made a spectacle of himself. But, quietly, Whittaker has built a resume that rivals some of the most impressive in mixed martial arts. The former UFC middleweight champion put forth another excellent performance Saturday, beating Kelvin

7:21 PM ET Saturday’s UFC Fight Night co-main event between Jeremy Stephens and Drakkar Klose was canceled because of an injury Klose said he sustained when Stephens forcefully shoved him during their official weigh-in on Friday. Klose’s team told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that according to his CT scan results, Klose suffered a cervical sprain of

6:46 PM ET April was always going to be a defining month for the UFC’s middleweight division, although we’ve certainly encountered a few curveballs to get here. Former champion Robert Whittaker (22-5) faces Kelvin Gastelum (17-6) on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It’s a crucial main event at 185 pounds, and it

11:56 PM ET Vadim Nemkov has clearly established himself as the man to beat in Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament, following Friday night’s convincing title defense over Phil Davis. Nemkov (14-3) is already Bellator’s 205-pound champion, but with bigger names in the promotion’s tournament like Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Yoel Romero and Ryan Bader, it would be

7:00 AM ET Invicta Fighting Championships has a new owner and a new television home. The premier all-women’s MMA promotion has been acquired by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Los Angeles- and Toronto-based media company, Anthem and Invicta officials told ESPN. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. As a result, Invicta will now air

12:42 PM ET Eddie Alvarez is getting right back to work. The former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion will fight at ONE on TNT IV on April 28 in Singapore, sources told ESPN. The bout will take place just three weeks after his last fight for ONE. Alvarez will fight the winner of Marat Gafurov

7:40 AM ET Robert Whittaker won’t say it, but others have been (rightfully) saying it for him. He should be fighting for another UFC championship now. The former middleweight champ is set to face Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. This fight was supposed to happen in February 2019 —

6:51 PM ET Kamaru Usman was in the corner for Francis Ngannou when Ngannou won the UFC heavyweight title last month. Now, Ngannou will return the favor for his fellow champion friend. Ngannou will be a cornerman for Usman’s welterweight title defense against Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 261 on April 24

5:36 PM ET UFC two-weight champion Amanda Nunes will defend her bantamweight title against Julianna Pena this summer, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. The 135-pound title fight will take place on a UFC 265 pay-per-view event in August. The event does not yet have an official date or location, but Aug. 7 is the

7:54 AM ET UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier says he made a mistake in publicly criticizing Conor McGregor for not following through on a pledge to donate $500,000 to Poirier’s charity foundation. It was announced Wednesday morning that McGregor and Poirier — who are 1-1 against each other — would finish their trilogy at UFC

9:28 AM ET A capacity crowd will be present at UFC 264 on July 10 in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White announced on Wednesday. The pay-per-view card will be held at T-Mobile Arena and headlined by the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. “I signed bout agreement this morning,” McGregor told ESPN’s

10:43 AM ET UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz will seek his second title defense against Glover Teixeira in September, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. The 205-pound title fight will take place on a UFC 266 pay-per-view event on Sept. 4. UFC has not announced an official venue for the event. Blachowicz (28-8) is

7:47 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Seven championship bouts, with three of those fights for a belt occurring on the same night. Seven former champions trying to climb back toward the top. Old legends hanging on. New faces emerging. Between now and the end of June, there are a lot of must-see moments on the MMA